author

John L. Ransom

1843–1919

A Union soldier who turned one of the Civil War’s harshest prison experiences into a vivid firsthand record, he is remembered for the diary he kept after being captured and sent to Andersonville. His writing remains valued for its plainspoken detail, human feeling, and close view of survival under extreme hardship.

1 Audiobook

Andersonville diary : escape, and list of the dead, with name, co., regiment, date of death and no. of grave in cemetery

Andersonville diary : escape, and list of the dead, with name, co., regiment, date of death and no. of grave in cemetery

by John L. Ransom

About the author

Born in 1843, he served in the Union Army during the American Civil War with Company A of the 9th Michigan Volunteer Cavalry, where sources describe him as a quartermaster or quartermaster sergeant. In 1863, while still a young man, he was captured in Tennessee and sent to the Confederate prison camp at Andersonville, Georgia.

Ransom became best known for Andersonville Diary: Escape, and List of the Dead, a firsthand account drawn from his experience as a prisoner of war. Published in 1881, the book records daily camp life, illness, death, attempted escape, and the emotional strain of imprisonment with unusual immediacy.

He died in 1919. Today, his work is still read as both a gripping personal narrative and an important primary source for readers interested in Civil War history, prison conditions, and the lived experience of ordinary soldiers.