Andersonville Raiders - Organization and Methods

Organization and Methods

"The Raiders", as they were called within the camp, were known throughout Andersonville for their harsh tactics and vicious behavior towards their fellow inmates. According to John McElroy, the Raiders used various methods to get what they wanted, ranging from "sneak thievery to highway robbery". The group's most common method of stealing food and goods involved looking out for "promising subjects" in crowds of new prisoners; tricking their targets by pretending to help them find a good place to sleep; and then beating and robbing them.

Another of the Raiders' favored techniques involved sending out teams of spies to track down prisoners suspected of having valuables which could be traded to camp guards. After determining that a prisoner had something of value, the Raiders would wait for him to fall asleep and would then raid his tent. If the prisoner awoke during the robbery, the raiders would threaten him with death if he tried to resist.

The Raiders were well organized and had many members who performed a variety of tasks. It is unclear exactly how many members the group had; some sources put membership at 50, while others propose numbers as high as 500. The best estimate is that the Raiders consisted of at least 100 regular members, as well as a number of others who would do favors for the group or provide assistance in exchange for compensation.

The group was centrally organized around its six most important members, known as the "chieftains": Charles Curtis, John Sarsfield, Patrick Delaney, Teri Sullivan (or W.R. Rickson, according to other sources), William Collins, and A. Munn. According to Futch, each of the leaders had henchmen who were organized into groups named after the leaders, such as "Collins' Raiders" and "Curtis' Raiders".

As a result of their widespread thievery, the Raiders were well stocked and enjoyed considerably better living conditions than their fellow prisoners. They possessed a variety of weapons, ranging from axes to bowie knives. They were also well fed, which gave them a major advantage when it came to fighting; many of their victims were suffering from malnutrition, and consequently were considerably weaker and less able to defend themselves. In addition, for living quarters, the Raiders were able to build a tent that was large enough to fit over one hundred men, constructed mostly with stolen materials.

Given the harsh conditions, overcrowding, and scarcity of basic items needed for survival within Andersonville, the Raiders' actions often resulted in dire consequences for their victims. When the Raiders stole from a person, they would put that person at risk of dying as an indirect or direct result of the robbery. For example, according to former prisoner Warren Goss, in an autobiography of his time spent at Andersonville, the indirect effect of the Raiders "tealing blankets from boys unaccustomed to hardships was downright murder", because the victim would then be exposed to the "chill dews of evening and the frequent rains... and was sure to sicken and die". Death could also result more directly from the Raiders' actions, as when a prisoner attempted to resist being robbed by the Raiders, and was murdered in the process. Another account of life at Andersonville describes one such occurrence: "one poor fellow came to an untimely death at their hands... because he showed resistance to their inhuman attempts".

While resistance to the Raiders' actions could prove deadly, it also was sometimes effective. Victims – particularly new inmates – would often be awoken in the middle of the night with a knife to their throat, with their attackers threatening to cut their throat if they moved. Nevertheless, some victims succeeded in defending themselves from these attacks and escaping. John McElroy describes one such event, in which a young man was attacked by eleven Raiders but managed to escape by hitting one of his attackers in the head with a spade; the attacker was knocked down and his fellow Raiders retreated. It was common for the Raiders to retreat as soon as they realized a form of significant resistance was at hand.

While resistance had the potential to be successful, the camp's prisoners needed the motivation to fight the Raiders, and this proved to be a major barrier. The prisoners were suffering from widespread disease, starvation, and the effects of the other harsh conditions within the camp. In contrast to the well-fed, well-stocked, and well-organized Raiders, the prisoners' physical capabilities for resistance, and their abilities to sustain a motivated, organized resistance effort, were significantly weakened. However, by mid-June of 1864, the prisoners decided that they could no longer tolerate the Raiders' terrorization and control over Andersonville in addition to the constant threats they also experienced from the camp's guards and the constant risk of death due to the conditions within the camp. They organized to bring their complaints to Confederate authorities, and they also formed an inner prison police force to defend against and capture the Raiders.