John Levi Maile

Born in Cambridge, England, in 1844, John Levi Maile later became known for his memoir Prison Life in Andersonville, With Special Reference to the Opening of Providence Spring. The book draws on his own experience as a Union soldier held at Andersonville during the American Civil War.

Maile’s writing stands out for its direct, personal view of camp life rather than a distant historical retelling. Readers come to his work for its eyewitness detail and for the way it records both the cruelty of the prison and the resilience of the men who endured it.

Available records indicate that he lived a long life after the war and died in 1934 in California. Although not a widely documented literary figure, he remains of interest for preserving one survivor’s testimony of a defining and devastating chapter of American history.