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Providence
Mon Sep 02, 2002
Listen in RealAudio 
Hi, I'm Bryan Yeaton for The Weather Notebook. In August of 1864, during the American
Civil War, Andersonville, in Georgia, became known as the site of one of the worst
prisoner of war camps in history. This situation combined with a polluted water supply
and oppressive Georgia summer heat created uninhabitable, even life-threatening
conditions for prisoners. Alan Marsh is the cultural resources program manager for the
Andersonville National Historic Site and he told us about an unusual occurrence that
happened during the worst days at the camp.
AM: It was a prisoner of war camp, but it wasn't terrible. But, more and more prisoners
arrived, hundreds, thousands, so by early August 33,000 prisoners were crammed
inside the wooden walls in Andersonville. One prisoner's diary from August the 7th
talks about it being "hot and oppressive", but then it starts to rain, to the point that a
couple of days later massive thunderstorms were moving through the area. And, of
course you can imagine a horrendous thunderstorm and downpour over a couple of
days, falling on the barren ground and as the water receded the prisoners noticed a
fresh spring was flowing out of the ground.
That flow, known as Providence Spring, appeared when over 100 prisoners a day were
dying from conditions such as dysentery and dehydration. The sudden magical
appearance of the spring is still debated today. While some prefer to believe that its
appearance was a miracle, there were locals who claimed it was already there, having
been buried when the camp was built. Marsh says that isn't the point.
AM: Whether it was a bolt of lightning from the heavens or heavy rains that freed a
spring already in existence, the thing is that spring appeared on August 9, 1864 and
probably saved the lives of many Andersonville prisoners.
The Weather Notebook is generously supported by Subaru of America and The
National Science Foundation.
Today's Links
Andersonville National Historic Site, Georgia
http://www.civilwaralbum.com/misc/andersonville.htm
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