August 25, 1864

A sad day for the Shriver Family in Gettysburg. Unknown to them on this date, down in Georgia, their beloved husband, father sick with disease will pass away sometime today at Andersonville. George Washington Shriver dies.

George Washington Shriver was one of the first to arrive at Andersonville, since he was captured in January 1864. Andersonville prison was open for 14 months, and ten of those had soldier populations under 10,000 Union prisoners. However, in June 1864, the numbers swelled to 15,000, but it was still manageable within the walls of the stockade. However, with the Overland Campaign in Virginia and battles around Atlanta, it pushed it to its maximum. By middle of August, when Shriver finally succumbed to his death, the fort jumped to 33,000 prisoners.

Library of Congress-Andersonville Prison, Ga., August 17, 1864. Bird’s eye view

George Washington Shriver is buried in the Andersonville National Cemetery He died on August 25, 1864. His picture is shown below:

Courtesy of Kevin Frye, Andersonville Historian

One of the soldiers that Mr. Shriver may have met in Andersonville was that of some of the soldiers that were captured at the Battle of Gettysburg. A member of the 154th New York Volunteer infantry, Newell Burch recorded the poor conditions inside. He is credited with having been the longest-held Union prisoner of the Civil War with having surviving a total of 661 days. His diary is in the collection of the Dunn County Historical Society in Menomonie, Wisconsin; a mimeographed copy is held by the Wisconsin Historical Society.

Here is a diary page from Samuel J. Gibson, a soldier serving with Company B of the 103rd Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment. Every day, he would write in his diary to his wife about the conditions at Andersonville. This was the notation on Thursday, August 25, 1864:

Courtesy from the Library of Congress – Diary of Samuel Gibson

The prisoner population was 31,933 soldiers on August 25, 1864. An odd thing also happened this day was that the most guards from the Georgia Reserves passed away. These are their names:

Confederate Guards – Privates (6):

  • H. C. Bradshaw, 1st Georgia Reserves
  • Sanford Johnson, 2nd Georgia Reserves
  • James W. McDaniel, 2nd Georgia Reserves
  • G. W. Birch, 4th Georgia Reserves
  • Richmond Wooten, 4th Georgia Reserves
  • Edward Hulsey, 4th Georgia Reserves

With George Washington Shriver passing away, he was not alone to die today from his cavalry regiment. Another one of his comrades died and his name was Private John Moore. These are the number of deaths from the each states that was imprisoned who passed away on August 25th, 1864. :

  • Massachusetts: (9)
  • Connecticut: (3)
  • Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and Maine: (6)
  • New York: (16)
  • Vermont: (3)
  • Pennsylvania: (28)
  • Iowa: (3)
  • Ohio: (11)
  • Kentucky: (2)
  • Michigan, Indiana and Illinois: (9)
  • Colored Troops: (2)
  • Citizens, U.S. Navy, U.S. Cavalry/Infantry, and Sharpshooters: (12)