Hellmira! Execution-Retribution-or War Crimes?

[Craig Hipkins]

The first time that I ever heard the word "shebang" used in terms of a shelter was in Warren Wilkinson's book Mother May You Never See The Sights I Have Seen. It is a history of the 57th Massachusetts infantry. My G-G Grandfather served as a drummer boy in that Regiment. Wilkinson describes a shebang as "torn blankets and rags thrown over crude stick and brush frames."
It seems to me that they were made out of any type of material that a prisoner in one of those camps could find. In this case the prison that Wilkinson was referring to was Andersonville. I imagine that it was a pretty common term used by soldiers in those days.

Craig