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diff --git a/old/50991-0.txt b/old/50991-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index a1f6a18..0000000 --- a/old/50991-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,6027 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Fifteen Months in Dixie, by William W. Day - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Fifteen Months in Dixie - My Personal Experience in Rebel Prisons - -Author: William W. Day - -Release Date: January 21, 2016 [EBook #50991] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FIFTEEN MONTHS IN DIXIE *** - - - - -Produced by David Edwards, Lisa Anne Hatfield and the -Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net -(This file was produced from images generously made -available by The Internet Archive) - - - - - - - - - - Transcriber’s Notes - - -Italic text enclosed with _underscores_. - -Small-capitals replaced by ALL CAPITALS. - -More notes appear at the end of the file. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - FIFTEEN MONTHS - IN DIXIE - - ——OR—— - - MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE IN - REBEL PRISONS. - - - A Story of the Hardships, Privations and Sufferings of - the “Boys in Blue” during the late - War of the Rebellion. - - - ——BY—— - - W. W. DAY, - - A PRIVATE OF 60. D. 10TH REGIMENT - - WISCONSIN VOLUNTEER INFANTRY. - - OWATONNA, MINN. - THE PEOPLE’S PRESS PRINT. - 1889. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - To my Comrades - who, like myself, were so - unfortunate as to have suffered the - horrors of a living death in the Prison Pens of the - South, and who, through all their hardships, privations, and - sufferings, remained loyal to our FLAG, and to my beloved Wife, - who suffered untold tortures of mind begotten by anxiety - on account of the uncertainty of my fate, for - fifteen long, weary, months,——this - work is dedicated in - F. C. & L. - by - THE AUTHOR. - - - - - COPYRIGHT, 1889, - BY - W. W. DAY. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - PREFACE. - - -I have sometimes been in doubt whether a preface was necessary to this -work; but have decided to write one, for the reason that in a preface -the author is permitted to give the reader a “peep behind the scenes,” -as he is not permitted to do in the body of the book. Since the -commencement of the publication of this story, in a serial form, a few -very good people have been so kind as to tell me, that it is “too late -in the day” to write upon the subject of Rebel Prisons. My answer is: it -is never too late to tell the story of what patriotic men suffered in -the defence of Constitutional liberty, and of the Union of States, which -union was cemented by the blood of our Revolutionary sires. It is never -too late to tell the story of,— - - “Man’s unhumanity to man.” - -It is never too late to tell the truth, although the truth may be -sharper than a two-edged sword. It is never too late to inspire our -young men to love, and venerate, and defend, the Flag of their Country; -to tell them how their fathers suffered in support of a PRINCIPLE. No, -it is not too late to tell this story, and I have no apologies to offer -any man, living or dead, for telling it. But, while I have no apologies -to offer, I deem an explanation in order. - -Since I commenced writing this Story I have felt the want of a liberal -education as I never felt it before. For, to tell the exact truth, I -never enjoyed the advantages of any school of higher grade than the -common district school of thirty years ago. Therefore, kind reader,—you -who have enjoyed the advantages of better schools, and a more liberal -education,—when you find a mistake in this book, one which can not be -laid at the door of the printer, kindly, and for “Sweet Charity’s Sake,” -overlook it; for I assure you I would be thus kind to you under similar -circumstances. - - W. W. DAY. - - Lemond, Minnesota, September, 1889. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CONTENTS. - - - Page. - CHAPTER I. - 1 Introduction - 2 The Battle of Chickamauga - 5 Captured - - CHAPTER II. - - 6 The Field Hospital - 8 A trip over the battle field - 8 The Atlanta Prison Pen - 9 The “Engine Thieves” - 10 Onward to Richmond - - CHAPTER III. - 12 Libby Prison - 13 Scott’s Building - 15 “Zult” - - CHAPTER IV. - 16 Danville Prison - 17 Bug Soup - 18 Patriotic Songs - 19 Searched—Small-pox - - CHAPTER V. - 20 The “Very O Lord” - 21 Escape of Johney Squires - 22 Skirmishing - - CHAPTER VI. - 25 En Route to Andersonville - 27 Description of Andersonville - 28 “Dugouts” and “Gophers” - - CHAPTER VII. - 29 Winder and Wirz - 31 “Poll Parrot” - 32 Georgia Home “Gyaards” - - CHAPTER VIII. - 33 Insufficient and poor quality of rations. - 34 Digging Wells - 35 Providence Spring - 35 Stealing a board from the dead line - 36 A break in the stockade - 36 Plymouth Pilgrims - - CHAPTER IX. - 38 The Raiders - 39 Capture and hanging of the raiders - 41 Spanking - - CHAPTER X. - 42 Close quarters - 43 Joe Hall and “Tip” Hoover - 46 The Negro. Catholic Priest - - CHAPTER XI. - 47 Mortality at Andersonville Dr. Jones’ report - 57 Remarks on Dr. Jones’ report - - CHAPTER XII. - 59 Progress of the war - 59 Tribute to Logan - 60 New quarters - 61 Number of deaths in Andersonville - 62 Jeff Davis - - CHAPTER XIII. - 64 Good-bye Andersonville - 65 Arrival at Charleston - 66 Historic Ground - 66 Florence - - CHAPTER XIV. - 68 Naked and cold and hungry, Sherman - 69 Letter to Wisconsin Sanitary Commission. - 70 Tribute to the Sanitary Commission. - 72 Honey - - CHAPTER XV. - 73 Vale Dixie - 74 Exchange Commenced - 75 My turn comes - 77 Homeward bound - 77 Conclusion - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - ERRATA. - - -On page 3, 23d line, 1st column, for “right” read regiment. - -On page 74, 16th line, for “adopt” read adopted. - -On page 74, 23d line, for “slowing” read slowly. - -On page 74, 2d column, 2d paragraph, 10th line, for “regions” read -designs. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - FIFTEEN MONTHS IN DIXIE, - - OR - - MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE - IN REBEL PRISONS. - - - BY W. W. DAY. - - - - - INTRODUCTION. - -On the 12th day of April, 1861, in Charleston Harbor, a shot was fired -whose echo rang round the world. The detonation of that cannon, fired at -Fort Sumter, reverberated from the pine-clad hills and rock-bound coast -of Maine across the continent to the placid waters of the Pacific, -thrilling the hearts of the freemen of the north and causing the blood, -inherited from Revolutionary sires, to course through their veins with -maddening speed. That cannon was fired by armed rebellion at freedom of -person, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and the Union of -States. That echo roused those freemen to a resolution to do and to die, -if need be, for the maintenance of the Union, and the supremacy of law. - -The outbreak of the rebellion found the writer, then a little past -majority, on a farm near a little village in Wisconsin. I was just -married, had put in my spring crop and when the first call was made for -troops, was not situated so that I could leave home, but on the 10th of -October following I enlisted in Co. D. 10th Wis. Inf. Vols. - -As this is to be a history of prison life, it is not my purpose to write -a history of my regiment but a short sketch is proper in order to give -the reader a fair understanding of my capture. - -The 10th left Camp Holton, near Milwaukee, about the middle of Nov. -1861. We went by railway via Chicago, Indianapolis and Evansville to -Louisville, Ky., thence to Shepherdsville, thence to Elizabethtown, -where we were assigned to Sill’s Brigade of Mitchell’s Division. -Wintered at Bacon Creek and on the 11th of Feb. 1862, marched with -Buell’s army to the capture of Bowling Green. Buell’s army and part of -Grant’s army arrived almost simultaneously at Nashville, Tenn. Grant -with his forces proceeded to Pittsburg Landing, Buell to Murfreesboro. -After Buell with the greater part of his army had marched to Grant’s -support, Mitchell’s Division marched on Huntsville, Ala., capturing that -place together with about 500 prisoners, 12 engines and a large amount -of rolling stock, the property of the Memphis & Charleston R. R. - -The 10th guarded the M. & C. R. R. from Huntsville to Stevenson, the -junction of the M. & C. and the Nashville & Chattanooga R. R. during the -summer of ’62. - -Early in September we commenced that famous retreat from the Tennessee -to the Ohio, and to show the reader how famous it was to those who -participated in it, I will say we averaged twenty-four miles per day -from Stevenson, Ala., to Louisville, Ky. On the 8th of October, -supported Simonson’s battery at the Battle of Perryville, losing 146, -killed and wounded out of 375 men. Our colors showing the marks of -forty-nine rebel bullets, in fact they were torn into shreds. Dec. 31st, -’62 and Jan. 1st and 2nd, ’63, in the Battle of Stone’s River, or -Murfreesboro. - -The army of the Cumberland, then under command or Gen. Rosecrans, was -divided into four army corps. The 14th, under Gen. Thomas, was in the -center. The 20th, under Gen. A. McD. McCook, on the right. The 21st, -under Gen. Crittenden, on the left and the Reserve Corps, under Gen. -Gordon Granger, in supporting distance in the rear. - -We remained at Murfreesboro until June 23rd, ’63, when the whole army -advanced against Bragg, who was entrenched at Tullahoma, drove him out -of his entrenchments, across the mountains and Tennessee River into -Chattanooga and vicinity. Here commenced a campaign begun in victory and -enthusiasm, and ending at Chickamauga in disaster and gloom, but not in -absolute defeat. - - - THE BATTLE OF CHICKAMAUGA. - -Rosecrans showed fine strategic ability in maneuvering Bragg out of -Tennessee without a general engagement, but he made a serious and almost -fatal mistake after he had crossed the Tennessee River with his own -army. He should have entrenched at Chattanooga and kept his army well -together. Instead of doing so, he scattered his forces in a mountainous -country. Crittenden’s Corps followed the north bank of the Tennessee to -a point above Chattanooga, there crossed the river flanking Chattanooga -on the east and cutting the railroad south, thus compelling the -evacuation of that place. - -McCook crossed two ranges of mountains to Trenton, while Thomas with his -corps still remained at Bridgeport, on the Tennessee, and Granger was -leisurely marching down from Nashville. - -In the reorganization of the Army of the Cumberland in Oct. ’62, our -Brigade was called 1st Brig. of 1st Div., 14th Corps. The Brigade was -commanded by Col. Scribner of the 38th Indiana. The Division was -commanded through the Perryville and Murfreesboro campaigns by Gen. -Rousseau, but through the Chickamauga campaign by Gen. Absalom Baird, -now Inspector General of the Army. - -I shall not attempt to give an historical or official description of the -Battle of Chickamauga, but a description as seen from the standpoint of -a private soldier. - -On the 18th of September our Division was bivouacked at Maclamore’s -Cove, a few miles from Lee & Gordon’s Mills. Heavy skirmishing had been -going on all day at Lee & Gordon’s Mills and Rossville between -Crittenden and McCook’s forces and those of the enemy. About 4 P. M., -the “Assembly” sounded and we “fell in” and commenced our march for the -battlefield. At dark my Regt. was thrown out as flankers. We marched -until 10 o’clock along the banks of a small creek while on the opposite -side of the creek a similar line of the enemy marched parallel with us. -We reached Crawfish Springs about 10 P. M., here we took the road again -and continued our march until sunrise on the morning of the 19th when we -halted and prepared breakfast. Before we had finished our breakfast we -heard a terrible roar and crash of musketry to our front, which was -east. This was the opening of the battle of Chickamauga. Immediately -afterward an Aide came dashing up to Lieut. Col. Ely, commanding 10th -Wis. We were ordered to fall in and load at will. Then the order was -given “forward, double quick, march,” and forward we went through brush, -over rocks and fallen trees, keeping our alignment almost as perfect as -though we were marching in review. Very soon we began to hear the sharp -“fizt and ping” of bullets, a sound already familiar to our ears for we -were veterans of two years service, and then we began to take the -Johnies in “out of the wet.” Forward, and still forward, we rushed all -the time firing at the enemy who was falling back. After advancing -nearly a mile in this manner we found the enemy, en masse, in the edge -of a corn field. Our Division halted, the skirmishers fell back into -line and the business of the day commenced in deadly earnest. We were -ordered to lie down and load and fire at will. Reader, I wish I had the -ability to describe what followed. Not more than twenty-five rods in -front of us was a dense mass of rebs who were pouring in a shower of -bullets that fairly made the ground boil. To the rear of my regiment was -a section of Loomis’ 1st Mich. Battery which was firing double shotted -canister over our heads. How we did hug the ground, bullets from the -front like a swarm of bees, canister from the rear screeching and -yelling like lost spirits in deepest sheol. But this could not last -long, mortal man could not stand such a shower of lead while he had -willing legs to carry him out of such a place. - -The rebels soon found a gap at the right of my Regt. and began to pour -in past our right flank. I was lying on the ground loading and firing -fast as possible when I saw the rebels charging past our right, with -their arms at a trail, looking up I discovered that there was not a man -to the right of me in the Regt. I did not wait for orders but struck out -for the rear in a squad of one. I could not see a man of my regiment so -I concluded to help support the battery, accordingly I rushed up nearly -in front of one of the guns just as they gave the Johnies twenty pounds -of canister. That surprised me. I found I was in the wrong place, twenty -pounds of canister fired through me was liable to lay me up, so I filed -left and came in front of the other gun just as the men were ready to -fire. They called out to me to hurry as they wanted to fire, facing the -gun and leaning over to the right I called to them to fire away and they -did fire away with a vengeance. After this things seem mixed up in my -mind. I remember getting to the rear of that gun, of hearing the bullets -whistling, of seeing the woods full of rebs, of thinking I shall get hit -yet, of trying to find a good place to hide and finally of stumbling and -falling, striking my breast on my canteen, and then oblivion. - -How long I remained unconscious I never knew, probably not long, but -when I came to my understanding the firing had ceased in my immediate -vicinity except now and then a scattering shot. I started again for the -rear and had not gone more than a quarter of a mile before I found Gen. -Baird urging a lot of stragglers to rally and protect a flag which he -was holding. Here I found Capt. W. A. Collins and several other men of -my Company. When he saw me he asked me if I was hurt. I told him “no, -not much, I had a couple of cannons fired in my face and fell on my -canteen which had knocked the breath out of me but that I would be all -right in a little while.” He then told me I had better go to the rear to -the hospital. To this I objected, telling him that I had rather stay -with the “boys.” - -We then marched to the rear and halted in a corn field. The stragglers -from the regiment began to come in and the brigade was soon together -again, but we did no more fighting that day. But just before night we -were marched to the front and formed in line of battle. About 8 o’clock -in the evening Johnson’s Division attempted to relieve another division -in our front, Wood’s, I think it was, when the latter division poured a -galling fire into the former, supposing they were rebels. Some of the -balls came through the ranks of the 10th, whereupon Company K opened -fire without orders and a sad mistake it proved for it revealed our -position and a rebel battery opened on us with shells. To say that they -made it lively for us is to say but part of the truth. The woods were -fairly ablaze with bursting shells. The way they hissed and shrieked and -howled and crashed was trying to the nerves of a timid man. - -After the firing had ceased we were marched a short distance to the rear -and bivouacked for the night. I laid down by a fire but “tired nature’s -sweet restorer” did not visit me that night. I had received a terrible -shock during the day. We had been whipped most unmercifully. The 1st -Division of the 14th Corps had turned its back on the enemy for the -first time, that day; and, too, there was to-morrow coming, and what -would it bring? Do coming events cast their shadows before? Perhaps they -do, at any rate the thoughts of all these things passing through my mind -made me pass a sleepless night. - -Sunday morning, September 20th, came. The same sun that shone dimly -through the hazy atmosphere which surrounded the battlefield of -Chickamauga, and called those tired soldiers to the terrible duties of -another day of battle, shone brightly upon our dear ones at home, -calling them to prepare for a day of rest and devotion, and while they -were wending their way to church to offer up a prayer, perhaps, in our -behalf, their way enlivened by the sweet sounds of the Sabbath bells, we -were marching to the front to meet a victorious and determined foe, our -steps enlivened by the thundering boom of the murderous cannon, the -sharp rattle of musketry and the din and roar of battle, together with -the shrieks and groans of our wounded and dying comrades. What a scene -for a Sabbath day? But I am moralizing, I must on with my story. - -Our division formed in line of battle on a ridge, with Scribner’s -Brigade in the center, Starkweather’s on the right and King’s on the -left. Soon the rebels came up the ascent at the charge step. We wait -until they are in short range then we rise from behind our slight -entrenchments and pour such a well directed volley into their ranks that -they stagger for a moment, but for a moment only, and on they come again -returning our fire, then the batteries open on them and from their steel -throats belch forth iron hail and bursting shells, while we pour in our -deadly fire of musketry. They halt! THEY BREAK! THEY RUN! Those heroes -of Longstreet’s, they have met their match in the hardy veterans of the -west. Three times that day did we send back the rebel foe. In the -meantime McCook and Crittenden had not fared so well. Bragg had been -reinforced by Longstreet, Joe Johnson and Buckner, so that he had a much -larger force then did Rosecrans. - -Shortly after noon Bragg threw such an overwhelming force upon those two -corps that they were swept from the field and driven toward Chattanooga, -carrying Rosecrans and staff with them. - -Here it was that Thomas, with the 14th Corps, reinforced by Granger, -earned the title of “The Rock of Chickamauga.” Holding fast to the base -of Missionary Ridge he interposed those two corps between the corps of -McCook and Crittenden and the enemy, giving them time to escape up the -valley toward Chattanooga. - -But to return to my division. Three times that day did we repel the -charge of the enemy, but the fourth time they came in such numbers and -with such impetuosity that they fairly lifted us out of our line. When -we broke for the rear I started out with Capt. Collins, but he was in -light marching order, while I was encumbered with knapsack, gun and -accoutrements, and he soon left me behind. - -When I left the line I fired my gun at the enemy, and as I retreated I -loaded it again, on the run, all but the cap. When Capt. Collins left me -I began to look for some safe place and seeing a twenty-four pounder -battery, with a Union flag, I started toward it. They were firing -canister at the time as I supposed, at the enemy, but they fell around -me so thickly that they fairly made the sand boil. I began to think it -was a rebel battery with a Union flag as a decoy, so I filed right until -I got out of range. - -Soon after getting out of range of the battery I came across a dead -rebel and noticing a canteen by his side, I stooped, picked it up and -shook it and found that it was partly filled with water. This was a -Godsend for I had been without water all day. The canteen was covered -with blood, but, oh, how sweet and refreshing that water tasted. Here I -threw away my knapsack to facilitate my flight. I soon came to a wounded -rebel who begged of me to give him a drink of water. I complied with his -request and again started out for Chattanooga. I had gone but a short -distance before I saw a soldier beckoning to me, supposing by the -uniform that he was a member of the 2nd Ohio. I approached within a -short distance of him, when the following colloquy took place: - -Reb,—“He’ah yo Yank, give me yo’ah gun.” - -Yank,—“Not by a thundering sight, the first thing I learned after I -enlisted was to keep my gun myself.” - -Reb,—“Give me yo’ah gun, I say.” - -Yank,—“Don’t you belong to the 2nd Ohio?” - -Reb,—“No, I belong to the 4th Mississippi. Give me yo’ah gun.” - -At the same time pointing his gun point blank at my breast. - -Yank,—“The devil you do.” At the same time handing him my gun for, you -will remember, I had loaded my gun but had not capped it. - -I think I hear some of my readers say “you was vulgar.” No, I was -surprised and indignant and I submit that I expressed my feelings in as -concise language as possible. Consider the situation, I was in the -woods, it was nearly dark, I supposed I had found a friend but there was -a good Enfield rifle pointing at me, not ten feet away, in that gun was -an ounce ball, behind that ball was sufficient powder to blow it a mile, -on the gun was a water-proof cap, warranted to explode every time, and -behind the whole was a Johnny who understood the combination to a -nicety. The fact was, he had the drop on me, I handed him my gun and he -threw it into a clump of bushes. - -While he was disposing of my case another Union soldier crossed his -guard beat, for he was one of Longstreet’s pickets. He called to him to -halt but the soldier paying no attention to him, he brought his gun to -an aim and again called, “halt or I’ll shoot yo.” “Don’t shoot the man -for God’s sake, he is in your lines,” said I, and while Johnny was -paying his addresses to the other soldier, I gave a jump and ran like a -frightened deer. Around the clump of brush I sped, thinking, “now for -Chattanooga.” “Hello, Bill! Where you going?” “Oh, I had got started for -Chattanooga, but I guess I will go with you,” and I ran plump into a -squad of men of my company and regiment under guard. - -Men, styling themselves statesmen, have stood up in their places in the -halls of Congress and called prisoners of war “Coffee Coolers” and -“Blackberry Pickers.” I give it up. I cannot express my opinion, -adequately, of men who will so sneer at and belittle brave men who have -fought through two days of terrible battle, and only yielded themselves -prisoners of war because they were surrounded and overpowered, as did -those men at Chickamauga. - -The Battle of Chickamauga was ended and that Creek proved to be what its -Indian name implies, a “river of death.” The losses on the Union side -were over 17,000, and on the Confederate side over 22,000. - -I said in the introduction that the Chickamauga campaign did not end in -absolute defeat. And, although we were most unmercifully whipped, I -still maintain that assertion, Gen. Grant to the contrary, -notwithstanding. Rosecrans saved Chattanooga and that was the bone of -contention, the prime object of the campaign. But it was a case similar -to that of an Arkansas doctor, who when asked how his patients, at a -house where he was called the night before, were getting on replied: -“Wall, the child is dead and the-ah mother is dead, but I’ll be dogoned -if I don’t believe I’ll pull the old man through all right.” - - - - - CHAPTER II. - - A PRISONER OF WAR. - - “Woe came with war and want with woe; - And it was mine to undergo - Each outrage of the rebel foe:”— - Rokeby, canto 5, verse 18. - Scott. - - -When I had thus unceremoniously run into the lion’s mouth, I surrendered -and was marched with my comrades a short distance to Gen. Humphrey’s -headquarters and placed under guard. - -I then began to look around among the prisoners for those with whom I -was acquainted. - -Among others, I found Lieut. A. E. Patchin and Geo. Hand of my company, -both wounded. Having had considerable experience in dressing wounds, at -Lieut. Patchin’s request, I went to Gen. Humphrey and obtained written -permission to stay with him (Patchin) and care for him. Patchin, Hand -and myself were then marched off about half a mile to a field hospital, -on a small branch or creek, as we would say. - -Seating Patchin and Hand by a fire, I procured water and having -satisfied our thirst, I proceeded to dress their wounds. We sat up all -night, not having any blankets, and all night long the shrieks and -groans of wounded and dying men pierced our ears. - -In the morning I went to a rebel surgeon and procured a basin, a sponge, -some lint and bandages, and after dressing the wounds of my patients, I -took such of the wounded rebels in my hands as my skill, or lack of -skill, would permit me to handle. - -I worked all the forenoon relieving my late enemies and received the -thanks and “God bless you, Yank,” from men who had, perhaps the day -before, used their best skill to kill me. Who knows but that a bullet -from my own gun had laid one of those men low? - -In the afternoon those of the wounded Union prisoners who could not walk -were placed in wagons and those who could, under guard and we were taken -to McLaw’s Division hospital, on Chickamauga Creek. - -On the way to the hospital we passed over a portion of the battlefield. -While marching along I heard the groans of a man off to the right of the -road, I called the guard’s attention to it and together we went to the -place from whence the sound proceeded; there, lying behind a log, we -found a wounded Union soldier. He begged for water saying he had not -tasted a drop since he was wounded on the 19th, two days before. He was -shot in the abdomen and a portion of the caul, about four inches in -length, protruded from the wound. I gave him water, and the guard helped -me to carry him to the wagon. His name was Serg. James Morgan, of some -Indiana Regiment, the 46th, I think. He lived five days. I cared for him -while he lived. One morning I went to see him and found him dead. I -searched his pockets and found his Sergeant’s Warrant and a photograph -of his sister, with her name and post-office address written upon it. -These I preserved during my fifteen months imprisonment and sent to her -address after I arrived in our lines. I received a letter from her -thanking me for preserving those mementoes of her brother; also for the -particulars of his death. I also received a letter from Capt. -Studebaker, Morgan’s brother-in-law, and to whose company Morgan -belonged, dated at Jonesboro, N. C., May 1865, in which he said that my -letter gave the family the first news of the fate of Morgan. - -We arrived at the hospital just before night and I proceeded to make my -patients as comfortable as possible. There were at this place 120 -wounded Union soldiers besides several hundred wounded Confederates. Our -quarters were the open air. These wounded men lay scattered all around, -in the garden, the orchard, by the roadside, any and every where. - -The first night here I sat up all night building fires, carrying water -for the wounded and dressing their wounds. Besides myself, there was a -surgeon of an Illinois Battery and James Fadden, of the 10th Wis., who -had a scalp wound, to care for these poor men, and a busy time we had. I -assisted the surgeon in performing amputations, besides my other duties. - -The rebels seemed to think we could live without food as they issued but -three days rations to us in eleven days. - -How did we live? I will tell you. On both sides of us was a corn field -but the rebels had picked all the corn but we skirmished around and -found an occasional nubbin which we boiled, then shaved off with a -knife, making the product into mush. Besides this, we found a few small -pumpkins and some elder berries, these we stewed and divided among the -men. - -About a week after we arrived here, I applied to the rebel surgeon in -charge for permission to kill some of the cattle, which were running at -large, telling him that our men were starving. He replied that he could -do nothing for us, that he had not enough rations for his own men, that -he could not give me permission to kill cattle, as Gen. Bragg had issued -orders just before the battle authorizing citizens to shoot any soldier, -Reb or Yank, whom they found foraging. But he added that he would not -“give me away” if I killed one. I took the hint, and hunting up an -Enfield rifle the Union surgeon and I started out for beef. We went into -the corn field to the east of us where there were quite a number of -cattle, and selecting a nice fat three-year-old heifer, I told the -doctor that I was going to shoot it. He urged me not to shoot so large -an animal as the citizens would shoot us for it, and wanted me to kill a -yearling near by. I told him “we might just as well die for an old sheep -as a lamb,” and fired, killing the three-year-old. You ought to have -seen us run after I fired. Great Scott! How we skedaddled. Pell mell we -went, out of the corn field, over the fence, and into the brush. There -we lay and watched in the direction of two houses, but seeing no person -after a while we went back to our game. It did not take long to dress -that animal and taking a quarter we carried it back to the hospital. We -secured the whole carcass without molestation and then proceeded to give -our boys a feast. We ate the last of it for breakfast the next morning. -After this feast came another famine. I tried once more to find a beef, -but found instead two reb citizens armed with shot guns. I struck out -for tall timber. Citizens gave me chase but I eluded them by dodging -into the canebrakes which bordered the creek, thence into the creek down -which I waded, finally getting back to the hospital minus my gun. - -You may be sure that I did not try hunting after this little episode. - -Rosecrans and Bragg had just before this made arrangements for the -exchange of wounded prisoners. Our hospitals were at the Cloud Farm, -five miles north-west from us, and Crawfish Springs, five miles south of -Cloud Farm. - -The next morning I secured an old rattle-bones of a horse and went over -to the Cloud Farm for rations. I reported to the Provost Marshal on Gen. -Bragg’s staff, and not being able to procure any rations here, he sent a -cavalryman with me as a safe guard. We went down to Crawfish Springs, -where I procured a sack full of hard tack and returned to the hospital. - -I traveled fifteen miles that day over the battlefield. Such a sight as -I there saw I hope never to see again. This was eleven days after the -battle and none of our dead had been buried then; in fact, the most of -our brave men who fell at Chickamauga were not buried until after the -battle of Missionary Ridge and the country had come in possession of the -Union forces. The sight was horrible. There they lay, those dead heroes, -just as they fell when stricken with whistling bullet, or screaming -canister, or crashing shell. - -Some of them had been stripped of their clothing, all were badly -decomposed. The stench was beyond my power to tell, or yours to imagine. -Taken all together it was the most horrible scene the eye of man ever -rested upon. - -Let me try to give the reader a description of what I saw that day. When -I first reached the battlefield my attention was attracted to a number -of horsemen dressed in Federal uniforms. These were evidently rebel -cavalrymen who had dressed themselves in the uniforms of our dead -soldiers. In every part of the field was evidence of the terrible havoc -of war. Bursted cannons, broken gun carriages, muskets, bayonets, -accoutrements, sabres, swords, canteens, knapsacks, haversacks, sponges, -rammers, buckets, broken wagons, dead horses and dead men were mixed and -intermingled in a heterogeneous mass. - -Fatigue parties of rebel soldiers and negroes were gleaning the fruits -of the battlefield. - -In one place I saw cords of muskets and rifles piled up in great ricks -like cord-wood. The harvest was a rich one for the Confederacy. - -In one place I saw more than twenty artillery horses, lying as they had -fallen, to the rear of the position of a Rebel battery, showing the -fierce and determined resistance of the Union soldiers. - -At another place, near where my regiment breakfasted on the morning of -the 19th, a Union battery had taken position, it was on the Chattanooga -road and to the rear was heavy timber. Here the trees were literally cut -down by cannon shots from a Rebel battery. Some of the trees were -eighteen or twenty inches in diameter. Havoc, destruction, ruin and -death reigned supreme. In some places, where some fierce charge had been -made, the ground was covered with the dead. Federal and Confederate lay -side by side just as they had fallen in their last struggle. But why -dwell on these scenes? They were but a companion piece to just such -scenes on a hundred other battlefields of the civil war. - -We remained at the Chickamauga hospital for three weeks. Then all who -could ride in wagons were carried to Ringgold, where we took the cars -for Atlanta. Many of the wounded had died and we had buried them there -on the banks of the “River of Death.” I presume they have found -sepulture at last in the National Cemetery, at Chattanooga, along with -the heroes of Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge. Peace to their -ashes. They gave all that men can give, their lives, for their country, -and we gave them the best gifts of comrades, honor and a soldier’s -grave. - -At Ringgold some ladies came into the cars and distributed food to our -party. It was a kindly but unexpected act, and we appreciated it the -more as we were nearly starved. We traveled all night and arrived at -Atlanta about 11 o’clock A. M. the next day. We were removed to the -“Pen” and here I was introduced to the “Bull Pens” of the South. - -The Prison Pen here was small, being used only as a stopping place for -prisoners en route for Richmond. The enclosure was made of boards and -was twelve feet in height. On two sides were barracks which would -shelter probably five hundred men. In the center was a well of good -water. The guards were on the platforms inside and nearly as high as the -fence. - -The next day after our arrival the Commandant of the Prison put me in -charge of twenty-one wounded officers. These officers elected me nurse, -commissary general, cook and chambermaid of the company. - -Our rations were of fair quality but of very limited quantity. A fund -was raised and entrusted to me with instructions to purchase everything -in the line of eatables that I could get. - -Here we found Gen. Neal Dow, sometimes called the father of the “Maine -Law.” He had been taken prisoner down near the Gulf and was on his way -to Richmond for exchange. - -Here we also found Lieut. Mason, of the 2nd Ohio Infantry, and he, too, -had a history. In the latter part of April 1862, Gen. Mitchell sent a -detail of twenty-one men, members of the 2nd, 21st and 33rd Ohio and a -Kentuckian, named Andrews, I believe, on a raid into Central Georgia, -with instructions to capture a locomotive, then proceed north to -Chattanooga, and to destroy railroads and burn bridges on the way. They -left us at Shelbyville, Tennessee, and went on their perilous errand, -while we marched to the capture of Huntsville, as narrated in the -introduction. - -These men were the celebrated “Engine Thieves” and their story is told -by one of their number, in a book entitled, “Capturing a Locomotive.” -They left our brigade in pairs, traveling as citizens to Chattanooga, -thence by rail to Marietta, where they assembled, taking a return train. -The train halted at a small station called Big Shanty, and while the -conductor, engineer and train men were at breakfast, they uncoupled the -train, taking the engine, tender and two freight cars and pulled out for -Chattanooga. All went lovely for a time but after running a few hours -they began to meet wild trains which had been frightened off from the M. -& C. R. R. by the capture of Huntsville. This caused them much delay but -Andrews, the leader, was plucky and claiming that he had a train load of -ammunition for Chattanooga he contrived at last to get past these trains -and again sped onward. - -In the meantime the conductor at Big Shanty discovered his loss. Taking -with him the engineer, and two officials of the road, they started out -on foot in pursuit of the fugitive train. They soon found a hand-car -which they took, and forward they went in the race, a hand-car in -pursuit of a locomotive. Luck favored the pursuers, they soon found an -engine, the Yonah, on a Spur road, and with steam up, this they pressed -into the service and away they go. This time locomotive after -locomotive. They pass the blockade of wild trains and on they go. As -they round a curve they see, away ahead, the smoke of the fugitive -train. The engineer pulls the throttle wide open and on they go as never -went engine before. But the fugitives discover the pursuers, and at the -next curve they stop, pull up a rail and put it on board their train, -and then away with the speed of a hurricane. But they have pulled up the -rail on the wrong side of the track and the pursuing engine bumps across -the ties and on they come. Then the fugitives stop and pull up another -rail and take it with them. The pursuers stop at the break in the road, -take up a rail in the rear of their engine, lay it in front and then -away in pursuit they go. The fugitives throw out ties upon the track, -but the Yonah pushes them off as though they were splinters. Then the -fugitives set fire to a bridge but the Yonah dashes through fire and on, -ever on, like a sleuth hound it follows the fugitives. Rocks, trees and -houses seem to be running backward, so swift is the flight. But the wood -is gone, the oil is exhausted, the journals heat, the boxes melt and the -fugitive engine dies on the track. - -But our heroes jump from the train and take to the woods. They are -pursued with men and blood-hounds, are captured and thrown into prison -and treated as brigands. Some die, some are hanged, some are exchanged -and some make their escape. Lieut. Mason was of the last named class. He -was promoted to a 1st Lieutenancy, fought at Chickamauga in my brigade -and was taken prisoner and identified as one of the engine thieves, and -held for trial. He told me this story seated upon a sixty pound ball, -which was attached to his ankle by a ten foot chain. - -Besides the Federal prisoners, there were in this prison a number of -Union men from the mountains of East Tennessee and Northern Georgia. -They were conscripted into the Confederate army, but refused to take the -oath of allegiance to the Confederacy. - -We arrived at Atlanta on the 12th of October 1863, and on the 18th we -were put on board of the cars and started for Richmond. - - - ONWARD TO RICHMOND. - -Leaving Atlanta on the 18th, we reached Augusta early on the morning of -the 19th. There had been heavy rains and as the railroad track was -washed out ahead, we were compelled to wait here until the track was -repaired. We were put into a cotton shed and a guard stationed around -us. - -No rations had been issued to us since leaving Atlanta. It seemed to be -part of the duty of the officer in charge to FORGET to feed us, and I -never saw a man more attentive to duty than he was, in that respect. -However, I procured a pass from him, and with a guard, went down town to -buy food for my squad of wounded officers. I found bread in one place at -a dollar a loaf and at another place I bought a gallon of sorghum syrup. -As my guard and I were looking around for something else to eat, we met -a pompous old fellow who halted us and asked who we were. I told him -that I was a prisoner of war with a Confederate guard looking for a -chance to buy something to eat for wounded soldiers. “I will see to -this,” said he. “I will know if these Northern robbers and vandals are -to be allowed to desecrate the streets of Augusta.” - -I could never find out what the people of Augusta lived on during the -war. I could not find enough food for twenty-two men, but I imagine that -old fellow lived and grew fat on his dignity. - -Shortly after my return to the cotton shed a company of Home guards, -composed of the wealthy citizens of Augusta, marched up and posted a -guard around us, relieving our train guard. - -The company was composed of the wealthy men of the city, too rich to -risk their precious carcasses at the front, but not too much of -gentlemen to abuse and starve prisoners of war. They did not allow any -more “Yanks” to desecrate their sacred streets that day. - -Morning came and we bade a long, but not a sad, farewell to that Sacred -City. We crossed the Savannah River into the sacred soil of South -Carolina. Hamburg, the scene of the Rebel Gen. Butler’s Massacre of -negroes during Ku-Klux times, lies opposite Augusta. - -Onward we went, our old engine puffing and wheezing like a heavy horse, -for by this time the engines on Southern railroads began to show the -need of the mechanics who had been driven north by the war. Along in the -afternoon of the 21st, while we were yet about 60 miles from Columbia, -S. C., the old engine gave out entirely and we were compelled to wait -for an engine from Columbia. We arrived at Columbia sometime in the -night and as we were in passenger cars we did not suffer a great deal of -fatigue from our long ride. On the morning of the 22d as our train was -leaving the depot a car ran off the track which delayed us until noon. -While the train men were getting the car back on the track, I went with -a guard down into the city to buy rations, but not a loaf of bread nor -an ounce of meat could I procure. - -Columbia was a beautiful city. I never saw such flower gardens and -ornamental shrubbery as I saw there, but you may be sure that I did not -cry when I heard that it was burned down. I don’t know whether any of -those brutes who refused to sell me bread for starving, wounded men, -were burned or not, if they were, they got a foretaste of their manifest -destiny. - -We arrived at Raleigh, N. C., on the morning of the 23rd. Here we had -rations issued to us, consisting of bacon and hard tack, and of all the -HARD tack I ever saw, that was the hardest. We could not bite it, -neither could we break it with our hands until soaked in cold water. - -At Weldon, on the Roanoke River, we laid over until the morning of the -24th. Here we had a chance to wash and rest and we needed both very -much. - -We reached Petersburg, Va., during the night of the 24th and were -marched from the Weldon depot through the city and across the Appomattox -River to the Richmond depot, where we waited until morning. - -Midday found us within sight of Richmond, the capital of the -Confederacy. - -As the train ran upon the long bridge which crosses the James River at -the upper part of the Falls, we looked to our left, and there, lying -peacefully in that historic river, was Belle Isle, a literal hell on -earth. A truthful record of the sufferings, the starvation and the -misery imposed by the Confederates upon our helpless comrades at that -place, would cause a blush of shame to suffuse the cheek of a Comanche -chief. - -Arrived on the Richmond side, we dragged our weary bodies from the cars, -and forming into line, were marched down a street parallel with the -river. I suppose it was the main business street of the city. Trade was -going on just as though there was no war in progress. - -As we were marching past a tall brick building a shout of derision -saluted our ears, looking up we saw a number of men, clad in Confederate -gray, looking at our sorry company and hurling epithets at us, which -were too vile to repeat in these pages. This was the famous, or perhaps -infamous is the better word, Castle Thunder. It was a penal prison of -the Confederacy and within its dirty, smoke begrimed walls were confined -desperate characters from the Rebel army, such as deserters, thieves and -murderers, together with Union men from the mountains of Virginia and -East Tennessee, and Union soldiers who were deemed worthy of a worse -punishment than was afforded in the ordinary military prisons. - -Many stories are told of the dark deeds committed within the walls of -that prison. It is said that there were dark cells underneath that -structure, not unlike the cells under the Castle of Antonia, near the -Temple in Jerusalem, as described in Ben Hur, into which men were cast, -there to remain, never to see the light of day or breathe one breath of -pure air until death or the fortunes of war released them. - -The horrors of the Spanish Inquisition in the middle ages were repeated -here. Men were tied up by their thumbs, with their toes barely touching -the floor, they were bucked and gagged and tortured in every conceivable -way, and more for the purpose of gratifying the devilish hatred of their -jailors, then because they had committed crimes. - -On we march past Castle Lightning, a similar prison of unsavory -reputation, to Libby Prison, which opened its ponderous doors to receive -us. But I will reserve a description of this prison for another chapter. - - - - - CHAPTER III. - - - LIBBY PRISON. - - “They entered:—’twas a prison-room - Of stern security and gloom, - Yet not a dungeon;”— - The Lady of the Lake, - Scott. - -Libby Prison, up to this time, was the most noted and notorious prison -of the South. It was a large building two stories high on its north or -front side, and three stories high on its south or rear side, being -built on land sloping toward the James River. - -The building had been used before the war as a store for furnishing ship -supplies. - -The upper story was used as a prison for officers. The second story was -divided into three rooms. The east room was a hospital, the middle, a -prison for private soldiers and the west room was the office of the -prison officials. The lower story was divided into cook room, storage -rooms and cells. It was down in one of these storage rooms, that Major -Straight’s party started their famous tunnel. Over the middle door was -painted - - ───┬───────────────────────────────┬─── - │ THOMAS LIBBY & SON. │ - │ │ - │ Ship Chandlers and Grocers. │ - ───┴───────────────────────────────┴─── - -Across the west end of the building the same sign was painted in large -letters. - -Before we entered the prison, all the commissioned officers were -separated from us and sent up into the officers rooms and we were -registered by name, rank, company and regiment by a smart little fellow -dressed in a dark blue uniform. This was “Majah” Ross, a refugee from -Baltimore, whose secession sympathies took him into Richmond but not -into the active part of “wah.” He was a subordinate of “Majah Tunnah,” -the notorious Dick Turner, known and cursed by every prisoner who knows -anything of Libby Prison. - -There seemed to be no person of lower rank than “Majah” in the -Confederate service. I think the ranks must have been filled with them -while “Cunnels” acted as file closers. O, no, I am mistaken. I did hear -afterward of “Coplers of the Gyaard,” but then, they were only fighting -men, while these “Majahs” and “Cunnels” were civilians acting as prison -sergeants. - -Soon after our entrance into the Prison we heard some of our officers -calling from the room over our heads. They had been appraised of our -arrival by the officers who came with us. I went to a hole in the back -part of the room and heard my name called and was told by the officer -speaking to come up on the stairs. There was a broad stairway leading -from our floor up to the floor overhead, but the hatchway was closed. I -went up on the stairs as requested. A narrow board had been pried up -and, looking up, I saw Captain Collins whom I had not seen since we left -the line of battle together on that eventful 20th of September. To say -that we were rejoiced to see each other is to say but little. Questions -were asked as to the whereabouts of different comrades, as to who was -dead and who alive, and, last but not least, “was I hungry?” Hungry! -Poor, weak word to express the intense gnawing at my stomach. Hungry! -Yes, from head to foot, every nerve and fiber of my system was hungry. -He gave me a handful of crackers, genuine crackers, not hard tack with -B. C. marked upon them, but crackers. Some of the readers of this sketch -were there and know all about it. Those of you who were never in a rebel -prison can never imagine how good those crackers tasted. One man who was -there and witnessed the above, and who was making anxious inquiries for -comrades, was Lieutenant G. W. Buffum, of the 1st Wisconsin Regiment, -now the Hon. George W. Buffum, of Clinton Falls Township, Steele county, -Minnesota. Ask him whether I was hungry or not. - -While we were talking together some one called out the name of some -comrade. No answer was given. Again the name was called and just at that -instant “Majah” Ross stepped into the room. Down went the strip of board -and we vacated those stairs in one time and one motion. But the “Majah” -had caught that name, or one similar to it, and he too became desirous -of interviewing that individual. He called the name over and over again, -but no response; finally becoming exasperated, he swore, with a good, -round Confederate oath, that he would not issue us any rations until -that man was trotted out. The man could not be found and little Ross -kept his word for two days, then, not being able to find him, he issued -rations to us. Hungry, did you say? Reader just think of it, we were -living on less than half rations all the time and then to have them all -cut off for forty-eight hours, was simply barbarous, and all to satisfy -the whim, or caprice, of a little upstart rebel who was not fit to black -our shoes. Yes, it makes me mad yet. Do you blame me? - -Thinking back upon Libby to-day, I think it was the best prison I was -in:—That comparison does not suit me, there was no BEST about it. I will -say, it was not so BAD as any of the others I was in. - -There was a hydrant in the room, also a tank in which we could wash both -our bodies and our clothes, soap was furnished, and cleanliness, as -regards the prison, was compulsory. We scrubbed the floor twice a week -which kept it in good condition. - -But when we come to talk about food, there was an immense, an -overpowering lack of that. The quality was fair, in fact good, -considering that we were not particular. But as the important question -of food or no food, turned upon the whims and caprices of Dick Turner -and Ross, we were always in doubt as to whether we would get any at all. - -I remained in Libby Prison a week when I was removed, with others, to -Scott’s building, an auxilliary of Libby. There were four prison -buildings which were included in the economy of Libby Prison. Pemberton, -nearly opposite to Libby, on the corner of 15th and Carey streets, I -think that is the names of those streets. Another building, the name of -which I did not learn, north of Pemberton on 15th street, and Scott’s -building opposite the last mentioned building. - -These three buildings were tobacco factories and the presses were -standing in Scott’s when I was there. - -The rations for all four prisons were cooked in the cook-house at Libby. -The same set of officers had charge of all of them, so that, to all -intents and purposes they were one prison, and that prison, Libby. - -Heretofore I had escaped being searched for money and valuables, but one -day a rebel came up and ordered all Chickamauga prisoners down to the -second floor. I did not immediately obey his orders and soon there was -much speculation among us as to what was wanted. Some were of the -opinion that there was to be an exchange of Chickamauga prisoners. -Others thought they were to be removed to another prison. To settle the -question in my own mind I went down. I had not got half way down the -stairs before I found what the order meant, for there standing in two -ranks, open order, were the Chickamauga boys, a rebel to each rank, -searching them. - -I had but little money. Not enough to make them rich, but the loss of it -would make me poor indeed. I immediately formed my plan and as quickly -acted upon it. Going down the stairs, I passed to the rear of the rear -rank, down past the rebel robbers, up in front of the front rank, and so -on back upstairs, past the guard. I discovered then and there, that a -little “cheek” was a valuable commodity in rebel prisons. - -We were divided into squads, or messes, of sixteen for the purpose of -dividing rations. - -I was elected Sergeant of the mess to which I belonged, and from that -time until my release had charge of a mess. - -Our rations were brought to us by men from our own prison and divided -among the Sergeants of messes, who in turn divided it among their -respective men. Each man had his number and the bread and meat were cut -up into sixteen pieces by the Sergeant, then one man turned his back and -the Sergeant pointing to a piece, asked “whose is this?” “Number ten.” -“Whose is this?” “Number three,” and so on until all had been supplied. -Our rations, while in Richmond, consisted of a half pound of very good -bread and about two ounces of very poor meat per day. Sometimes varied -by the issue of rice in the place of meat. Sometimes our meat was so -maggoty that it was white with them, but so reduced were we by hunger -that we ate it and would have been glad to get enough, even of that -kind. - -To men blessed with an active mind and body, the confinement of prison -life is exceeding irksome, even if plenty of food and clothing, with -good beds and the luxuries of life, are furnished them, but when their -food is cut down to the lowest limit that will sustain life, and of a -quality at which a dog, possessed of any self respect, would turn up his -nose in disgust, with a hard floor for a bed, with no books nor papers -with which to feed their minds, with brutal men for companions, with no -change of clothing, with vermin gnawing their life out day after day, -and month after month, it is simply torture. - -Time hung heavy on our hands. We got but meagre news from the front and -this came through rebel sources, and was so colored in favor of the -rebel army, as to be of little or no satisfaction to us. The news that -Meade had crossed the Rapidan, or had recrossed the Rapidan, had become -so monotonous as to be a standing joke with us. Our first question to an -Army of the Potomac man in the morning would be, “has Meade crossed the -Rapidan yet this morning?” This frequently led to a skirmish in which -some one usually got a bloody nose. - -News of exchange came frequently but exchange did not come. Somebody -would start the story that a cartel had been agreed upon, then would -come a long discussion upon the probabilities of the truth of the story. -The rebels always told prisoners that they were going to be exchanged -whenever they moved them from one point to another. This kept the -prisoners quiet and saved extra guards on the train. - -While we were at Richmond we had no well concerted plan for killing time -for we were looking forward hopefully to the time when we should be -exchanged, but we learned at last to distrust all rumors of exchange and -all other promises of good to us for hope was so long deferred that our -hearts became sick. - -We were too much disheartened to joke but occasionally something would -occur which would cause us to laugh. It would be a sort of dry laugh, -more resembling the crackling of parchment but it was the best we could -afford under the circumstances and had to pass muster for a laugh. - -One day salt was issued to us and nothing but salt. I suppose “Majah” -Turner thought we could eat salt and that would cause us to drink so -much water that it would fill us up. A German, who could not talk -English, was not present when the salt was divided. He afterward learned -that salt had been issued and went to the Sergeant of his mess and -called, “zult, zult.” - -“What?” said the Sergeant. - -“Zult, zult.” said Dutchy. - -“O, salt! The salt is all gone. All been divided. Salt ausgespiel,” says -the Sergeant. - -“Zult, zult!” says Duchy. - -“Go to h—l” says the Sergeant. - -“Var ish der hell?” And then we exploded. - -I remained in Richmond until November 24th, when I, with 699 other -prisoners was removed to Danville, Va. - -We were called out before daylight in the morning. Each man taking with -him his possessions. Mine consisted of an old oil-cloth blanket, and a -haversack containing a knife and fork and tin plate, also one day’s -rations. We formed line and marched down 15th street to Carey, and up -Carey street a few blocks, then across the wagon bridge to the Danville -depot. Here we were stowed in box cars at the rate of seventy prisoners -and four guards in each car. A little arithmetical calculation will show -the reader that each of us had a fraction over three square feet at our -disposal. Stock buyers now-a-days allow sixty hogs for a car load, and -with larger cars than we had. Don’t imagine, however, that I am -instituting any comparison between a car load of hogs and a car load of -prisoners:—it would be unjust to the hogs, so far as comfort and -cleanliness go. - -Our train pulled out from the depot, up the river, past the Tredegar -Iron Works, and on toward Danville. Our “machine” was an old one and -leaked steam in every seam and joint. Sometimes the track would spread -apart, then we would stop and spike it down and go ahead. At other times -the old engine would stop from sheer exhaustion, then we would get out -and walk up the grade, then get on board and away again. Thus we spent -twenty-four hours going about one hundred and fifty miles. During the -night some of the prisoners jumped from the cars and made their escape, -but I saw them two days afterward, bucked and gagged, in the guard-house -at Danville. - - - - - CHAPTER IV. - - - DANVILLE PRISON. - - “So within the prison cell, - We are waiting for the day - That shall come to open wide the iron door, - And the hollow eye grows bright, - And the poor heart almost gay, - As we think of seeing home and friends once more.” - -We arrived at Danville on the morning of November 25th, and were -directly marched into prison No. 2. There were six prison buildings -here, all tobacco factories. Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 4 being on the public -square. Nos. 2 and 3 being on the west side. No. 1 on the north side -adjoining a canal, and No. 4 on the south side. The other prisons were -in other parts of the city. - -In each prison was confined 700 men. Each building was three stories -high with a garret, making four floors in each prison. Thus we had 175 -men on each floor. The prisons were, as near as I can guess, 30×60 feet -so that we had an average of ten and one-third square feet to each man -or a little more than a square yard apiece. - -Our rations at first consisted of a half pound of bread, made from wheat -shorts and about a quarter of a pound of pork or beef. The quality was -fair. - -I had for a “chum,” or “pard,” from the time I arrived at Atlanta until -I came to Danville, an orderly Sergeant, of an Indiana Regiment, by the -name of Billings. He was a graduate of an Eastern College and at the -time he enlisted left the position of Principal of an Academy in -Indiana. He was one of nature’s noblemen, intelligent, brave, -true-hearted and generous to a fault. I was very much attached to him as -he was a genial companion far above the common herd. But after I had -been in Danville about a week, I learned that there were a number of the -comrades of my company in Prison No. 1. So I applied for, and obtained, -permission to move over to No. 1. I parted with Billings with regret. I -have never seen him since and know nothing of his fate, but I imagine he -fell a victim to the hardships and cruelties of those prisons. - -I found, when I arrived in No. 1, not only members of my own company but -a number of men from Company B of my regiment. We were quartered in the -south-east corner on the second floor. Nearly opposite where I was -located comrade Dexter Lane, then a member of an Ohio regiment, now a -citizen of Merton, Steele county, Minnesota, had his quarters. We were -strangers at that time but since then have talked over that prison life -until we have located each other’s position, and feel that we are old -acquaintances. - -I think I did not feel so lonesome after I joined my comrades of the -10th Wis. There is something peculiar about the feelings of old soldiers -towards each other. Two years before these men were nothing to me. I had -never seen them until I joined the regiment at Milwaukee. But what a -change those two years had wrought. We had camped together on the tented -field and lain side by side in the bivouac. We had touched elbows on -those long, weary marches through Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama and -Georgia, had stood shoulder to shoulder in many hard fought battles, and -now we are companions in Southern prisons. They were not as -kind-hearted, nor as intelligent as Billings but there was the feeling -of comradeship which no persons on earth understand as do old soldiers. - -The “majah” in charge of Prison No. 1 was a man by the name of Charley -Brady, a southern gentleman from Dublin or some other seaport of the -“Green Isle,” and to his credit, I will say, he was a warm hearted Irish -gentlemen. I do not call to mind any instance where he was unnecessarily -harsh or cruel, but on the other hand, he was kind and pleasant in his -manner and in his personal intercourse with us treated us as though we -were human beings in marked contrast with the treatment of the prison -officials who were genuine Southerners brought up under the influences -of that barbarous institution, slavery. - -Perhaps some of my readers who were confined in Prison No. 1 will not -agree with me in my estimate of Charley Brady, but if they will stop a -moment and consider, they will remember that our harsh treatment came -from the guards who were a separate and distinct institution in prison -economy, or was the result of infringement of prison rules. - -About a week after my arrival in No. 1 some of the prisoners on the -lower floor were detected in the attempt to tunnel out. They had gone -into the basement and started a tunnel with the intention of making -their escape. They were driven up and distributed on the other three -floors. This gave us about two hundred and thirty men to a floor and -left us about eight square feet to the person. - -About this time the cook-house was completed and we had a radical change -of diet. There were twelve large kettles, set in arches, in which our -meat and soup were cooked. Before proceeding farther let me say, that -the cooking was done here for 3,500 men. - -Our soup was made by boiling the meat, then putting in cabbages, or “cow -peas” or “nigger peas,” or stock peas, (just suit yourself as to the -name, they were all one and the same) and filling up AD LIBITUM with -water. The prisons first served were usually best served for if the -supply was likely to fall short a few pails full of Dan River water -supplied the deficiency. - -Our allowance was a bucket of soup to sixteen men, enough of it, such as -it was, for the devil himself never invented a more detestable compound -than that same “bug soup.” The peas from which this soup was made were -filled with small, hard shelled, black bugs, known to us as pea bugs. -Their smell was not unlike that of chinch bugs but not nearly as strong. -Boil them as long as we might, they were still hard shelled bugs. The -first pails full from a kettle contained more bugs, the last ones -contained more Dan River water, so that it was Hobson’s choice which end -of the supply we got. - -(I notice there is considerable inquiry in agricultural papers as to -these same cow peas whether they are good feed for stock. My experience -justifies me in expressing the opinion that you “don’t have” to feed -them to stock, let them alone and the bugs will consume them.) - -Our supply of shorts bread was discontinued and corn bread substituted. -This was baked in large pans, the loaves being about two and a half -inches in thickness. This bread was made by mixing meal with water, -without shortening or lightening of any kind. It was baked in a very hot -oven and the result was a very hard crust on top and bottom of loaf, and -raw meal in the center. - -The water-closets of the four prisons, which surrounded the square, were -drained into the canal already mentioned, and as the drains discharged -their filth into the canal up stream from us, we were compelled to drink -this terrible compound of water and human excrement, for we procured our -drinking and cooking water from this same canal. - -The result of this kind of diet and drink was, that almost every man was -attacked with a very aggravated form of camp diarrhea, which in time -became chronic. Many poor fellows were carried to their graves, and many -more are lingering out a miserable existence to-day as a result of -drinking that terrible hell-broth. And there was no excuse for this, for -not more than ten rods north of the canal was a large spring just in the -edge of Dan River, which would have furnished water for the whole city -of Danville. The guards simply refused to go so far. - -Some of the men attempted to make their escape while out to the -water-closet at night. One poor fellow dropped down from the side of the -cook-house, which formed part of the enclosure, and fell into a large -kettle of hot water. This aroused the guard and all were captured on the -spot. This occurred before the cook-house had been roofed over. - -So many attempts were made to escape, that only two were allowed to go -out at a time after dark. The effect of this rule can be partly imagined -but decency forbids me to describe it. Suffice it to say that with -nearly seven hundred sick men in the building it was awful beyond -imagination. - -We resorted to almost every expedient to pass away time. We organized -debating clubs and the author displayed his wonderful oratorical powers -to the no small amusement of the auditors. Well, I have this -satisfaction, it did them no hurt and did me a great deal of good. - -Two members of my regiment worked in the cook-house during the day, -returning to prison at night. They furnished our mess with plenty of -beef bones. Of these we manufactured rings, tooth picks and stilettos. -We became quite expert at the business, making some very fine articles. -Our tools were a common table knife which an engineer turned into a saw, -with the aid of a file, a broken bladed pocket knife, a flat piece of -iron and some brick-bats. The iron and brick were used to grind our -bones down to a level surface. - -We also procured laurel root, of which we manufactured pipe bowls. -Carving them out in fine style, I made one which I sold for six dollars -to a reb, but I paid the six dollars for six pounds of salt. - -I hope my readers will remember the saw-knife described above, as it -will be again introduced in a little scene which occurred in -Andersonville. - -Some one of our mess had the superannuated remains of a pack of cards, -greasy they were and dog-eared, but they served to while away many a -weary hour. One evening our old German who wanted “zult,” entertained us -with a Punch and Judy show. The performance was good, but I failed to -appreciate his talk. - -But what we all enjoyed most was the singing. There was an excellent -quartette in our room and they carried us back to our boyhood days by -singing such songs as, “Home, Sweet Home,” “Down upon the Swanee River,” -and “Annie Laurie.” When they sang patriotic songs all who could sing -joined in the chorus. We made that old rebel prison ring with the -strains of “The Star Spangled Banner,” “Columbia’s the Gem of the -Ocean,” and the like. The guards never objected to these songs and I -have caught the low murmur of a guard’s voice as he joined in “Home, -Sweet Home.” But when we sang the new songs which had come out during -the war, such as, “Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!” and the “Battle Cry of -Freedom,” they were not so well pleased. - -We use to tease them by singing, - - “We will hang Jeff Davis on a sour apple tree, - As we go marching on.” - -And— - - “We are springing to the call from the east and from the west, - Shouting the battle cry of freedom, - And we’ll hurl the rebel crew from the land we love the best, - Shouting the battle-cry of freedom.” - -About that time a guard would call out. “Yo’, Yanks up dah, yo’ stop dat -kyind of singing or I’ll shoot.” “Shoot and be dammed.”— - -“For we’ll hurl the rebel crew from the land we love the best, &c.” -would ring out loud and clear for an answer, and then BANG would go the -guard’s gun, answered by a yell of derision from the prison. - -We suffered very much from cold that winter at Danville for we had no -fire. It is true we had a stove and some green, sour gum wood was -furnished but it would not burn, and then we made some weak and futile -attempts to burn stone coal but it was a failure. The proportions were -not right, there was not coal enough to heat the stone, and so we went -without fire. - -For bedding, I had an oil-cloth blanket and my “pard” had a woolen -blanket. But an oil-cloth blanket spread on a hard floor, does not “lie -soft as downy pillows are.” It did seem as though my hips would bore a -hole through the floor. - -One day a rebel officer with two guards came in and ordered all the men -down from the third and fourth floors, then stationing a guard at the -stairs, he ordered them to come up, two at a time. - -I was in no hurry this time to see what was going on, so I awaited -further developements. Soon after the men had commenced going up, a note -fluttered down from over head. I picked it up, on it was written, “They -are searching us for money, knives, watches and jewelry.” Word was -passed around and all who had valuables began to secrete them. I had -noticed that this class of fellows were expert at finding anything -secreted about the clothing, so I tried a plan of my own. Taking my -money I rolled it up in a small wad and stuffed it in my pipe. I then -filled my pipe with tobacco, lit it and let it burn long enough to make -a few ashes on top, then let it go out. Then I went up stairs with my -haversack. The robbers took my knife and fork, but did not find my -money. - -A Sergeant of a Kentucky Regiment saved a gold watch by secreting it in -a loaf of bread. Lucky fellow, to be the owner of a whole loaf of bread. - -Small-pox broke out among us shortly after our arrival at Danville. -Every day some poor fellow was carried out, and sent off to the pest -house up the river. - -About the 17th of December, a Hospital Steward, one of our men, came in -and told us he had come in to vaccinate all of us who desired it. I had -been vaccinated when a small boy, but concluded I would try and see if -it would work again. It did. Many of the men were vaccinated as the -Steward assured them that the virus was pure. Pure! Yes, so is -strychnine pure. It was pure small-pox virus, except where it was -vitiated by the virus of a disease, the most loathsome and degrading of -any known to man, leprosy alone excepted. We were inoculated and not -vaccinated. On the 26th I was very sick, had a high fever and when the -surgeon came around I was taken out to the Hospital. - - - - - CHAPTER V. - - “Blow, blow, ye winds, with heavier gust! - And freeze thou bitter-biting frost! - Descend, ye chilly, smothering snows! - Not all your rage, as now united shows - More hard unkindness, unrelenting, - Vengeful malice unrepenting, - Than heaven illumined man on brother man bestows!” - Burns. - - -After I left the prison, I was marched around to three other prisons and -waited outside while the Surgeon went through them to visit the sick. It -was a damp, chilly day, and I was so sick and tired and my bones ached -so badly that I was compelled to lie down upon the cold, wet, stone -sidewalk, while the Surgeon went through the prisons. But all things -earthly have an end, so did that Surgeon’s visits, and I was at last -marched to the Hospital. - -Here allow me to describe the Hospital buildings. There were four of -them; three stood on the hill at the south part of the city, the fourth -was on the banks of the river, near the Richmond Railroad bridge. They -were about 40×120 feet and two stories high, with a hall running the -whole length, dividing them into wards, each building contained four -wards. They were erected in 1862 for the use of the wounded in the -celebrated Peninsular Campaign. - -To the rear of the north hospital building was the pest-house, a defunct -shoe shop, in which convalescent shoemakers, who were soldiers in the -rebel army, worked for the benefit of the C. S. A. To the rear of the -center building was the cook-house and eating room, where convalescents -took their meals, and to the rear of the cook-house stood the dead -house, where the dead were placed prior to burial. To the rear of the -south building was the bakery, where all the bread of the hospital and -prisons was baked. This arrangement brought the three hospital buildings -in a line, while the bakery, dead house and pest-house were in a line to -the rear. A line of guards paced their beats around the whole. - -I supposed when I was sent to the hospital that I had fever of some -kind, but in two days the soreness of my throat and the pustules on my -face and hands told the story too plainly, that the inoculation of a few -days before was doing its work. I was down with a mild form of -small-pox, varioloid, the doctors called it, but a Tennessee soldier -pronounced it a case of the “Very O Lord.” I was taken from the hospital -to the pest-house and laid on a straw pallet. My clothes were taken from -me and sent to the wash-house and I was given a thin cotton shirt and a -thin quilt for a covering. - -The pest-house was but a slim affair, being built for summer use. It -stood upon piles four feet high, was boarded up and down without battens -and as the lumber was green when built, the cracks were half an inch in -width at this time. - -January 1st, 1864, was a terribly cold day. The Rebel Steward thinking -we were not getting air enough, opened two windows in the ward I was in -and then toasted himself at a good fire in another ward. I was -charitably inclined and wished from the bottom of my heart that that -Steward might have the benefit of a hot fire, both here and hereafter. - -I nearly froze to death that day. My limbs were as cold as those of a -corpse, but relief came about nine o’clock that night in the shape of a -pint of hot crust coffee which I placed between my feet until all the -heat had passed into my limbs, which, with constant rubbing, thawed me -out. - -Our rations at the hospital consisted of a slice of wheat bread and a -half pint of thick beef soup, this was given us twice a day. - -After staying in the pest-house a week a suit of clothes was given me -and I was sent to Hospital No. 3, which had been turned into a small-pox -hospital. Nearly forty per cent. of the Danville prisoners had small-pox -yet the death rate was not high from that disease; diarrhea and scurvy -were the deadly foes of the prisoners, and swept them off as with a -besom. - -After I had regained strength I entered into an agreement with half a -dozen others to attempt an escape. Our plan was to get into a ditch -which was west of the dead house, crawl down that past the guard into a -ravine, and then strike for the Blue Ridge Mountains, thence following -some stream to the Ohio River. But the moon was at the full at the time -and we were compelled to wait for a dark night. There is an old saying -that a “watched pot never boils,” so it was in our case; before a dark -night came we were sent back to prison. - -Exchange rumors were current at this time. We talked over the good times -we would have when we got back into “God’s country.” We swore eternal -abstinence from bug soup and corn bread, and promised ourselves a -continual feast of roast turkey, oysters, beefsteak, mince pies, warm -biscuit and honey, but here came a difference of opinion, some voted for -mashed potatoes and butter, others for baked potatoes and gravy. There -were many strong advocates of each dish. The mashed potatoe men affirmed -that a man had no more taste than an ostrich who did not think that -mashed potatoes and butter were ahead of anything else in that line; -while the baked potatoe men sneeringly insinuated that the mashed -potatoe men’s mothers or wives did not know how to bake potatoes just to -the proper yellow tint, nor make gravy of just the right consistency and -richness. The question was never settled until it was settled by each -man selecting his own particular dish after months more of starvation. - -There was restiveness among the men all the time, hunger and nakedness -were telling upon their spirits as well as their health. I lay it down -as a maxim that if you want to find a contented and good natured man, -you must select a well fed and comfortably clothed man. Philosophize as -much as you will upon the subject of diet but the fact remains that we -are all more or less slaves:—to appetite. - -During the month of December a number of the prisoners in No. 3 -attempted a jail delivery by crawling out through the drain of the -water-closet. They were detected however and most of them captured and -returned to prison. Among those who got away was John Squires, of Co. -K., 10th Wis. He had part of a rebel uniform and managed to keep clear -of the Home guards for a number of days, but was finally captured and -returned to prison. But this did not discourage him. He had finished out -his uniform while at large and was ready to try it again at the first -opportunity. But Johnny was no Micawber who waited for something to turn -up; he made his own opportunities. One day he took his knife and -unscrewed the “catch” of the door lock and walked out, as he passed -through the door he turned to his fellow prisoners and remarked “Now -look he’ah yo’ Yanks, if yo’ don’t have this flo’ah cleaned when I git -back yo’ll git no ration to-day.” Then turning he saluted the guard, -walked down stairs, saluted the outer guard, walked across the square, -over the bridge, passing two guards, past where a number of rebel -soldiers were working on a fort and on to “God’s Country” where he -arrived after weeks of wandering and hunger and cold in the Blue Ridge -Mountains and the valleys of West Virginia:—another case of “cheek.” - -One day a rebel Chaplain came into our prison and preached to us. He -informed us with a great deal of circumlocution that he was Chaplain of -a Virginia Regiment, that he was a Baptist minister, and that his name -was Chaplain. He then proceeded to hurl at our devoted heads some of the -choicest selections of fiery extracts, flavored with brimstone to be -found in the Bible. In his concluding prayer he asked the Lord to -forgive us for coming into the South to murder and burn and destroy and -rob, at the same time intimating that he, himself, could not do it. I -suppose he felt better after he had scorched us and we felt just as -well. He would have had to preach to us a long time before he could have -made us believe that there was a worse place than rebel prisons. - -One source of great discomfort, yea, torture, was body lice, -“grey-backs,” in army parlance. They swarmed upon us, they penetrated -into all the seams of our clothing. They went on exploring expeditions -on all parts of our bodies, they sapped the juices from our flesh, they -made our days, days of woe, and our nights, nights of bitterness and -cursing. We could not get hot water, our unfailing remedy in the army. -Our only resource was “skirmishing.” This means stripping our clothes -and hunting them out:—and crushing them. - -On warm days it was a common sight to see half of the men in the room -with their shirts off, skirmishing. - -One day, a number of Reb. citizens came in to see the “Yanks.” Among -them was a large finely built young man. He was dressed in the height of -fashion and evidently belonged to the F. F. V.’s. We were skirmishing -when they came in, and young F. F. V. strutted through the room, with -his head up, like a Texas steer in a Nebraska corn field. His nose and -lips suggested scorn and disgust. Thinks I, “my fine lad I’ll fix you.” -Just as he passed me I threw a large “Grey-back” on his coat; many of -the prisoners saw the act, and contributed their mite to the general -fund, and by the time young F. F. V. had made the circuit of the room, -he was well stocked with Grey-backs. It is needless to add he never -visited us again. - -Scurvy and diarrhea were doing their deadly work even at Danville. These -diseases were due, largely, to causes over which the rebels had control. - -Dr. Joseph Jones, a bitter rebel, professor of Medical Chemistry, at the -Medical College in Augusta, was sent by the Surgeon General of the -Confederate army, to investigate and report upon the cause of the -extreme mortality in Andersonville. He attributed scurvy to a lack of -vegetable diet and acids. Diarrhea and dysentery, he said, were caused -by the filthy conditions by which we were surrounded, polluted water, -and the fact that the meal from which our bread was made was not -separated from the husk. - -There have been many stories told with relation to this meal; let me -make some things plain, and then there will not be the apparent -contradiction, that there is at present in the public mind. - -The difference in opinion arises from the different interpretations of -the word “husk.” - -A true northern man understands husk to mean;—the outer covering of the -ear of corn; while a southerner, or Middle States, man calls it a -“shuck.” - -The husk referred to by Dr. Jones, would be called by a northerner, the -“hull,” or bran. His meaning was that it was unsifted. - -The fetid waters of the canal, the unsifted corn meal made into half -baked bread, and a lack of vegetables and acids, together with the rigid -prison rules, which resulted in filth, and stench, beyond description, -were the prime causes of the great mortality at Danville. During the -five months in which I was confined at Danville, more than 500 of 4,200 -prisoners died, or about one in eight. - -Our clothing too, was getting old, many of the men had no shoes, others -were almost naked. Our government sent supplies of food and clothing to -us, but they were subjected to such a heavy toll that none of the food, -and but little of the clothing ever reached us, and what little was -distributed to our men was soon traded to the guards for bread, or rice, -or salt. I never received a mouthful of food, or a stitch of clothing -which came through the lines. - -In February reports came to us that the Confederate government was -building a large prison stockade somewhere down in Georgia, and that we -were to be removed to it; that our government had refused to exchange -prisoners, and that we were “in for it during the war.” - -About the 1st of April 1864 the prisoners in one of the buildings were -removed. The prison officials said they had gone to City Point to be -exchanged, but one of the guards told us they had gone to Georgia. But -we soon found out the truth of the matter for on the 15th we were all -taken from No. 1 and put on board the cars. We were stowed in at the -rate of sixty prisoners, and four guards to a car. - -The lot of my mess fell to a car which had been used last, for the -conveyance of cattle. No attempt had been made to clean the car and we -were compelled to kick the filth out the best we could with our feet. - -Our train was headed toward Richmond and the guards swore upon their -“honah” that we were bound for City Point to be exchanged. - - - A LETTER FROM COMRADE DEXTER LANE. - -Since the foregoing chapter was printed in THE PEOPLE’S PRESS, we have -received the following endorsement of the story from a comrade who knows -HOW IT WAS by a personal experience. - - EDITOR. - MERTON, MINN., March 26, ’89. - - Editor PEOPLE’S PRESS: - - I have been much interested in perusing a series of articles published - in THE PEOPLE’S PRESS from the pen of Hon. W. W. Day, Lemond, giving - reminiscences of army life, what he saw and experienced while held a - prisoner of war in various prisons in the South during the late - Rebellion. I confess an additional interest, perhaps, in the story - above the casual reader from the fact that I, too, was a guest of the - southern chivalry from Sept. 20th, 1863, until the May following. In - company with the boys of the 124th Ohio, I attended that Chickamauga - Picnic. There were no girls to cast a modifying influence over the - Johnnies, or any one else. As early as the morning of the 19th, - something got crooked producing no little confusion and excitement, - which increased as the hours wore away, up to the afternoon of the - following day, when suddenly it seemed that that whole corner of - Georgia was turned into one grand pandemonium. Everything that could - be gotten loose was let loose, many a boy got hurt that day badly. - Some bare-footed gyrating, thing got onto my head, worked in under the - hair, and twitched me down. It brought about a quiescence quicker than - any dose of morphia I ever swallowed, and I have eaten lots of it - since that time; I can feel its toes to-day. - - Time passed, night was approaching, when several Johnnies approached, - one of whom came up to where I was sitting on the ground, and spoke to - me. The man was a blamed poor talker, but I understood fully what was - wanted, and acquiesced promptly. The outcome of which was, I was - toddled off to Atlanta; from thence to Richmond and Danville, Va. I - make no attempt to write of my own personal adventures, or prison - experience. Much of it, with but few exceptions, as well as the - experience of thousands of others, may be gleaned from the papers of - Comrade Day. For a time I owned and occupied a chalk mark, as my bed, - on the same floor with Comrade Day at Danville, and I wish to say, - what he has written of the rebel management of those prisons, both at - Richmond and Danville, the general treatment of prisoners, rations, in - kind, quantity, quality, manner of cooking, &c., &c., are the COLD - FACTS. Many incidents and happenings which he refers to in his - narrative came to my own personal observation, and as related by him - accord fully with my recollections of them at the time of their - occurrence. In fact I heartily endorse, as being substantially true, - every word of the Comrade’s Prison experiences, except, perhaps, his - reference to Belle Isle. I think his statement there imbibes a little - of the imaginary, when he characterizes the place as a literal “hell - on earth.” Where did he get his facts? That’s the puzzle. No matter, - if he were there—It is a small matter however, and may be true after - all. I know something of Belle Isle, but have only this to say, if the - emperor of the infernal regions, who is said to reign below the great - divide, has a hole anywhere in his dominions, filled with souls that - are undergoing pains and miseries equaling those to which our boys - were subjected on Belle Isle, I pray God I may escape it. - - DEXTER LANE. - - - - - CHAPTER VI. - - - EN ROUTE TO ANDERSONVILLE. - - “Tis a weary life this— - Vaults overhead and gates and bars around me, - And my sad hours spent with as sad companions, - Whose thoughts are brooding o’er their own mischances, - Far, far too deeply to take part in mine.” - —Scott. - -As the train pulled out of Danville that morning, our hopes began to -rise in proportion to the distance we placed between ourselves and our -late prison. - -We had now been in the Confederate prisons seven months, and we had high -hopes that our guards were telling us the truth, for once. - -I am not prepared to say that the people of the South are not as -truthful as other people; but I will say, that truth was a commodity, -which appeared to be very scarce with our guards. - -When we left the Danville prison, we took with us, contrary to orders, a -wooden bucket belonging to my mess. - -The way we stole it out of prison was this. One of the men cut a number -into each stave, then knocked off the hoops and took it down, dividing -hoops, staves and bottom among us, these we rolled up in our blankets -and keeping together we entered the same car. After the train had -started we unrolled our blankets, took out the fragments of bucket, and -set it up again. This was a very fortunate thing for us, as it furnished -us a vessel in which to procure water on that long and dreary trip. - -Nothing of note occurred until we reached Burkeville Junction, near the -scene of the collapse of the Confederacy. Here we were switched off from -the Richmond road on to the Petersburg road. Some of us who were least -hopeful considered this a bad omen; others argued that it was all right, -as we could take cars from Petersburg to City Point. Among the latter -class were some men who had been prisoners before, and were supposed to -know more than the rest of us about the modes of exchange. We therefore -said no more and tried hard to believe that all would end well. - -We arrived at Petersburg a little before midnight. We were immediately -marched across the Appomattox River bridge into Petersburg. As we were -marching along I noticed a large building, which I recognized as one I -had seen the previous November, while we were marching through this -place on our way to Richmond. I told the boys we were going to the -Weldon Depot, the right direction for the South. The hopeful ones still -insisted that it was all right, but I could not see it that way. But the -question was soon settled, for we arrived at the Weldon Depot in a short -time. How our hearts sank within us as we came to the low sheds and -buildings, which form the Station of the Petersburg and Weldon R. R. -Heretofore during the day, “God’s Country,” and home had seemed very -near to us, but now all these hopes were suddenly dashed to the ground, -and dark despair, like a black pall, enshrouded us. I believe that most -of us wished that dark, rainy night, that it had been our fate to have -fallen upon the field of battle, and received a soldier’s burial. - -Those of us who had read Shakspere could have exclaimed with Hamlet.— - - “To be, or not to be, that is the question: - Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer - The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, - Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, - And, by opposing end them—To die—to sleep, - No more; and by a sleep, to say we end - The heartache, and the thousand natural shocks - That flesh is heir to,—’tis a consummation - Devoutedly to be wished. To die,—to sleep;— - To sleep! perchance to dream, aye there’s the rub; - For in that sleep of death what dreams may come, - When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, - Must give us pause, there’s the respect, - That makes calamity of so long a life; - For who would bear the whips and scorn of time, - The oppressor’s wrong, the proud man’s contumely, - The pangs of misprized love, the law’s delay, - The insolence of office, and the spurns - That patient merit of the unworthy takes, - When he himself might his quietus make - With a bare bodkin? Who would these fardels bear, - To grunt and sweat under a weary life: - But that the dread of something after death, - The undiscovered country, from whose bourn - No traveller returns, puzzled the will; - And makes us rather bear those ills we have, - Than fly to others that we know not of? - Thus conscience does make cowards of us all;” - -The all-wise Being has placed within us all, an instinctive dread of -death; had it not been so, I fear many poor, miserable, hopeless, -prisoners would have gone out of their misery by the suicide’s route. - -Morning came and we were in North Carolina. We took the same route back -as far as Augusta, Ga., that we had taken when on our way to Richmond, -the autumn previous. - -We suffered extremely on the way. We were not allowed to get off the -cars for any purpose whatever, except to change cars. The guards brought -us water in the bucket we had purloined from Danville. They were not -particular where they procured it. They supplied us from the handiest -place whether it was the water tank at a station, or from a stagnant -pond or ditch by the side of the R. R. track. - -The reader can imagine that such water was rank poison. The water in the -ditches of the Carolina swamps was loaded with decayed vegetable matter; -slimy snakes and filthy water reptiles crawled and swam in it, and taken -all together it was not much better than the fetid waters of the -Danville canal. - -Our guards, after leaving Petersburg told us we were on our way to a new -prison which had been made at Andersonville, Ga. They cheered us -somewhat, by saying it was a large stockade, and that we would have -plenty of room, wood and water, and more rations. Anything seemed better -than Danville to us, and visions of a camp with tents for shelter, good -water, more and better food, and opportunity to exercise, floated -through our minds, and we thought that our situation would be more -tolerable. - -From Augusta we went to Macon, thence to Andersonville, where we arrived -on the 22d of April 1864. - -Andersonville is in Sumter county, Georgia, sixty-four miles southwest -of Macon, on the Macon & Albany Railroad. The country through all that -region is a sandy barren, interspersed with swamps which were filled -with rank growths of timber, vines and semi-tropical shrubbery. - -They were the home of serpents, and reptiles of all kinds indigenous to -that latitude, and of many kinds of wild animals. The land was rolling -but could not be called hilly. - -The timber was mostly southern, or pitch pine, with the different -varieties of gum. In the swamps, cypress abounded, from the branches of -which the grey, or Spanish moss hung like the beard of a Brobdignagian -giant, through which the wind sighed and soughed most dismally. - -My impression, received at the time I was in prison, was, that it was -the most God-forsaken country I ever beheld, with the exception of the -rice swamps of South Carolina. South Carolina however, had a history -running back to Revolutionary times, while that portion of Georgia had -no history, but has acquired one which will last as long as the history -of the Spanish Inquisition. And yet at this time, Southern Georgia is -redeemed somewhat, by being the location of Thomasville, the winter -resort of some of our citizens. - -The Prison Pen, or Stockade, was located about three-fourths of a mile -east of the station, on the opposing face of two slight hills, with a -sluggish swampy, stream running through it from west to east and -dividing the prison into two unequal parts, the the northern, being the -larger part. - -The Stockade was in the form of a parallelogram, being longest from -north to south. I estimated that it was fifty rods east and west, by -sixty rods north and south and that it contained eighteen acres, but -from this must be subtracted the land lying between the Dead-line and -Stockade, and the swamp land lying each side of the little stream, known -to us as “Deadrun,” leaving, according to my estimate, twelve acres -available for the use of the prisoners. - -The author of “Andersonville” gives the area of the prison as sixteen -acres and the amount available for prisoners twelve acres. - -Dr. Jones, in his report, gives the area as seventeen acres, but does -not intimate that part of it was not available, so that his estimate of -the number of square feet to each prisoner, is nearly one-third too -high. - -The Stockade was built of hewn timbers, twenty-four feet in length, set -in the ground side by side, to a depth of six feet, leaving the walls of -the Stockade eighteen feet high. The guards stood upon covered platforms -or “pigeon roosts” outside of, and overlooking the Stockade. - -Not far from the northwest, and southwest corners, on the west side, -were the north and south gates. These were made double, by building a -small stockade outside of each gate, which was entered by another gate, -so that when prisoners or wagons entered the stockade they were first -admitted to small stockade, then the gate was closed, after which they -were admitted to the main stockade. - -These small stockades were anterooms to the main prison, and were for -the purpose of preventing a rush by the prisoners. - -Outside of the main stockade the rebels built another stockade, at a -distance of about ten rods. This was for the double purpose of -preventing a “break” of the prisoners and to prevent tunnelling. - -This second stockade was built of round timbers set in the ground six -feet and stood twelve feet above the ground. - -Outside of this second stockade a third one was started, but was not -completed when I left. This was for protection against “Uncle Billy -Sherman’s Bummers.” - -Commanding each corner of the stockade was a fort, built a sufficient -distance to give the guns a good range. These four forts mounted all -told eighteen guns of light artillery, as I was informed, and had a -general rush been made, they would have slaughtered us as though we were -a flock of pigeons. - -The cook-house was built on low ground on the border of a small stream -which ran through the stockade, and west from it. - -The guards camp was west and southwest, from the southern portion of the -stockade. - -West from the south gate Gen. Winder had his head-quarters, also the -guard house and Wirz’ quarters. - -About a quarter of a mile north of the stockade was the cemetery, then a -sandy barren, with occasional jack pine growing. - -I have now given the reader a general description of the Prison Pen, or -Stockade, of Andersonville, as seen from the outside. - -I will now attempt to give a view of the inside, as seen during five -months confinement. - -Upon our arrival at Andersonville on the 22d of April, we were halted at -Gen. Winder’s quarters and registered by name, rank, company, and -regiment. I will give the reader the form as written, in the case of one -of my tent mates who died at Charleston, S. C. the following October. - -GEORGE W. ROUSE, Co. D. 10th Wisconsin Inf.—16-3. - -Which meant that he was assigned to the 3d company and 16 detachment. - -Wirz had originated a very clumsy and unmilitary organization of the -prisoners. He had organized them into companies of ninety men and -assigned three companies to a detachment. At the head of these companies -and detachments was a sergeant. For convenience in dividing rations, we -subdivided these companies into squads, or messes, each mess electing -their own sergeant. As at Richmond and Danville I was elected sergeant -of my mess at Andersonville. - -We were marched into the north gate and assigned grounds on the east -side of the prison, next to the Dead-line, and near the swamp on the -north side. - -We were not subjected to the searching process at Winder’s -head-quarters, as most of the prisoners were. I suppose we were not a -promising looking crowd. Had we been searched, the rebs would have found -nothing but rags and graybacks. - -Thus we were turned into the Prison Pen of Andersonville, like a herd of -swine, with the chance to “root hog or die.” No shelter was furnished -us; no cooking utensils provided; no wood, nothing but a strip of barren -yellow sand, under a hot sun. - -The situation did not look inviting. Our dream was not realized. We had -fresh air it is true, for the air had not become contaminated then. We -had room for exercise, for 5,000 men do not look very much crowded on -twelve acres, it takes 33,000 men to cover that amount of space in good -shape according to the views of Winder and Wirz; but somehow it did not -seem homelike. There was a wonderful paucity of the conveniencies, the -necessities, to say nothing of the luxuries of life. - -About 4,000 men had been sent here during the months of February and -March, from Libby and Belle Isle, and 1,000 from Danville, about two -weeks before us. First come, first served, was the rule here. The first -settlers who “squatted” in Andersonville found plenty of wood and brush -and with these had, with true Yankee ingenuity and industry, constructed -very fair houses, or hovels rather. But they had used up all the -building material, had not left a brush large enough for a riding whip, -they had left us nothing but sand and a miserable poor article of that. - -But the gods were propitious, and the next day we had the privilege of -going out under guard, and picking up material for a house. Rouse and -myself brought in material enough to fix us up in good shape. We secured -a number of green poles about an inch thick, some of these we bent like -the hoops of a wagon cover, sticking the ends in the ground. Then we -fastened other poles transversely on them fastening them with strips of -bark. We used a U. S. blanket for a roof or cover. The sides we thatched -with branches of the long leaved pitch pine. In a few hours we had a -very fair shelter. - -I think the settlers in western Minnesota and Dakota must be indebted to -Andersonville prisoners for the idea of “dugouts.” When we arrived here, -we found many of the unfortunate prisoners from Belle Isle who had no -“pup tent” or blanket to spare, had provided themselves warm quarters by -burrowing into the ground. They had dug holes about the size of the head -of a barrel at the surface of the ground and gradually enlarged as they -dug down, until they were something the shape of the inside of a large -bell. These dugouts were four or five feet deep and usually had two -occupants. These gophers were hard looking specimens of humanity. They -had built fires in their holes, out of pitch pine; over this they had -done their cooking, and over this they had crooned during the cold -storms of March; they had had some bacon, but no soap, and the mixture -of lamp black from the pine, and grease from the bacon, had disfigured -them beyond the recognition of their own mothers. Their hair was long -and unkempt, and filled with lamp black until it was so stiff that it -stuck out like “quills of the fretful porcupine.” Their clothes were in -rags, yes in tatters. They were shoeless, hatless, and usually coatless. -They looked more like the terrible fancies of Gustave Dore than like -human beings. And yet these poor boys were originally fair-haired, -fair-skinned, blue-eyed, loyal, brave sons of fathers and mothers who -were in easy circumstances, and in many cases wealthy; who would have -shed their hearts’ last drop of blood, for that poor boy, if it would -have been of any avail. Or they were husbands to fair women, and fathers -to sweet blue-eyed children, who were waiting for husband and papa, to -come home. - -Alas! those fathers and mothers, those wives and children are waiting -yet, yea and shall wait until the sea, and the graves at Andersonville, -give up their dead. - - - - - CHAPTER VII. - - - WINDER AND WIRZ. - - “Lady Anne. Foul devil, for God’s sake hence, and trouble us not; - For thou hast made the happy earth thy hell, - Filled it with cursing cries, and deep exclaims. - If thou delight to view thy heinous deeds, - Behold this pattern of thy butcheries.” - —King Richard, III. - Shakspere. - -The man who had charge of the prison at Andersonville, and who was -responsible for the barbarities practiced there, more than any other -man, was Gen. John H. Winder. - -I had not the honor(?) of a personal acquaintance with that fiend in -human shape, but Comrade John McElroy of the 16 Illinois Cavalry, the -author of “Andersonville,” gives his readers a description of the man. I -quote from that work. - - “There rode in among us, a few days after our arrival, an old man - whose collar bore the wreathed stars of a Major General. Heavy white - locks fell from beneath his slouched hat, nearly to shoulders. Sunken - gray eyes too dull and cold to light up, marked a hard, stony face, - the salient features of which was a thin lipped, compressed mouth, - with corners drawn down deeply—the mouth which seems the world over to - be the index of selfish, cruel, sulky malignance. It is such a mouth - as has the school boy—the coward of the play ground, who delights in - pulling off the wings of flies. It is such a mouth as we can imagine - some remorseless inquisitor to have had—that is, not an inquisitor - filled with holy zeal for what he mistakenly thought the cause of - Christ demanded, but a spleeny, envious, rancorous shaveling, who - tortured men from hatred of their superiority to him, and sheer love - of inflicting pain. - - The rider was John H. Winder, Commissary General of Prisoners, - Baltimorean renegade and the malign genius to whose account should be - charged the deaths of more gallant men than the inquisitors of the - world ever slew by the less dreadful rack and wheel. It was he who in - August could point to three thousand and eighty-one new made graves - for that month, and exultingly tell his hearer that he was “doing more - for the Confederacy than twenty regiments.” - - His lineage was in accordance with his character. His father was that - General William H. Winder, whose poltroonery at Bladensburg, in 1814 - nullified the resistance of the gallant Commodore Barney, and gave - Washington to the British. - - The father was a coward and incompetent; the son, always cautiously - distant from the scene of hostilities, was the tormentor of those whom - fortunes of war and the arms of brave men threw into his hands.“ - -Of his personal appearance I have no recollection, but the above is a -true picture of his character. He filled a place in the Confederacy -which no brave officer of equal rank would have accepted. Hill, -Longstreet, Early, Polk, Hardee, even Forrest and Mosby would have -spurned with contempt an offer of assignment to the position occupied by -the cowardly John H. Winder. - -Of Captain Henry Wirz I can write of my own knowledge. In personal -appearance he was about five feet nine or ten inches in height, slightly -built with stooping shoulders. He had a small peaked head, small -twinkling eyes, grisly, frowsy whiskers, and the general contour of his -features and expression of eyes reminded one of a rodent. - -In character he was pusillanimous, vindictive, mean and irritable to -those beneath him, or who had the misfortune to be in his power; while -to his superiors he was humble and cringing, an Uriah Heep; a person who -would “Crook the pregnant hinges of his knee, that thrift might follow -fawning.” - -As a specimen of the contemptible meanness of these two persons, I was -told by a prisoner who attempted to escape, but was recaptured and put -in the stocks, that while at their head-quarters he saw a large -dry-goods box nearly full of letters written by prisoners to their -friends; and by friends to them, which had accumulated, and which they -had neglected to forward or distribute. The paper upon which some of -these letters was written, and the envelope in which it was enclosed had -cost the prisoner, perhaps, his last cent of money, or mouthful of food. -The failure to receive those letters had deprived many a mother or wife -of the last chance to hear from a loved one, or a prisoner of his last -chance to hear from those he loved more than life itself. - -Wirz was Commandant of the inner prison and in this capacity, had charge -of calling the roll, organization of prisoners, issuing rations, the -sanitary condition of the prison, the punishment of prisoners; in fact -the complete control of the inner prison. - -Winder had control of all the guards, could control the amount of -rations to be issued, make the rules and regulations of the prison, and -had, in fact, complete control of the whole economy of the prison; all -men and officers connected therewith being subordinate to him. - -Wirz’ favorite punishment for infringement of prison rules, was the -chain-gang, and stocks. Sometimes twelve or fifteen men were fastened -together by shackles attached to a long chain. These unfortunate men -were left to broil in a semi-tropical sun, or left to shiver in the dews -and pelting rains, without shelter as long as Wirz’ caprice or malignity -lasted. The stocks were usually for punishment of the more flagrant -offenses, or when Wirz was in his worst humor. - -Just below my tent, two members of a New York regiment put up a little -shelter. They always lay in their tent during the day, but at night one -might see a few men marching away from their “shack” carrying haversacks -full of dirt, and emptying them along the edge of the swamp. One morning -the tent was gone, and a hole in the ground marked the spot, and told -the tale of their route, which was underground through a tunnel. About 8 -o’clock in the morning Wirz came in accompanied by a squad of soldiers, -and a gang of negroes armed with shovels, who began to dig up the -tunnel. I went to Wirz and asked him what was up. He was always ready to -“blow” when he thought he could scare anybody, so he replied, “By Gott, -tem tamned Yanks has got oudt alrety, but nefer mints, I prings tem pack -all derights; I haf sent te ploothounts after dem. I tell you vat I -does, I gifs any Yank swoluf hours de shtart, undt oaf he gits avay, all -deright; put oaf I catches him I gif him hell.” Some one offered to take -the chances. “Allderights.” said he, “you come to de nort cate in der -mornick undt I lets you co.” - -The next day we heard that the blood-hounds had found the trail of the -escaped prisoners, but that all but one had been foiled by cayenne -pepper, and that one, was found dead with a bullet hole in his head. We -never heard from our New York friends and infer that that they got to -“God’s Country.” - -Many attempts were made to tunnel out that summer, but so far as I know -that was the only successful one. All sorts of ways were resorted to, -the favorite way being to start a well and dig down ten or twelve feet, -then start a tunnel in it near the surface of the ground. By this means -the fresh dirt would be accounted for, as well digging was within the -limits of the prison rules. But before the “gopher-hole,” as the tunnels -were called by the western boys, was far advanced, a gang of negroes -appeared upon the scene and dug it up. We always believed there were -spies among us. Some thought the spies were some of our own men who were -playing traitor to curry favor with Wirz. Others believed Wirz kept -rebel spies among us. I incline to the former opinion. - -Among those who were suspected was a one-legged soldier named Hubbard. -He hailed from Chicago and was a perfect pest. He was quarrelsome and -impudent and would say things that a sound man would have got a broken -head for saying. His squawking querulous tones, and hooked nose secured -for him the name of “Poll Parrott.” He was a sort of privileged -character, being allowed to go outside, which caused many to believe he -was in league with Wirz, though I believe there was no direct proof of -it. One day he came to where I was cooking my grub and wanted me to take -him in. He said all his comrades were down on him and called him a spy, -and he could not stand it with them. As a further inducement he said he -could go out when he had a mind, and get wood and extra rations, which -he would divide with me. I consulted my “pard” and we agreed to take him -in. He then asked me to cook him some dinner, and gave me his frying-pan -and some meat. While I was cooking his dinner he commenced finding fault -with me, upon which I suggested that he had better do his own cooking. -He then showered upon my devoted head some of the choicest epithets -found in the Billingsgate dialect, he raved and swore like a mad-man. I -was pretty good natured naturally, and besides I pitied the poor -unfortunate fellow, but this presuming on my good nature a little too -much, I fired his frying-pan at his head and told him to “get”; and he -“got.” - -Two days afterwards he went under the Dead-line and began to abuse the -guard, a member of an Alabama regiment, who ordered him to go back, or -he would shoot him. “Poll” then opened on the guard in about the same -style as he had on me, winding up by daring the guard to fire. This was -too much and the guard fired a plunging shot, the ball striking him in -the chin and passing down into his body, killing him instantly. - -A few days before this, a “fresh fish,” or “tender foot,” as the cow -boys would call him nowadays, started to cross the swamp south of my -tent. In one place in the softest part of the swamp the railing which -composed the Dead-line was gone, this man stepped over where the line -should have been, and the guard fired at him but he fired too high and -missed his mark, but the bullet struck an Ohio man who was sitting in -front of a tent near mine. He was badly, but not fatally wounded, but -died in a few days from the effects of gangrene in his wound. - -The author of “Andersonville” makes a wide distinction between the -members of the 29th Alabama and the 55th Georgia regiments, which -guarded us, in relation to treatment of prisoners, claiming that Alabama -troops were more humane than the Georgia “crackers.” This was -undoubtedly true in this instance, but I am of the opinion that state -lines had nothing to do with the matter. - -The 29th Alabama was an old regiment and had been to the front and seen -war, had fired at Yankees, and had been fired at by Yankees in return; -they had no need to shoot defenseless prisoners in order to establish -the enviable reputation of having killed a “damned Yank;” while the 55th -Georgia was a new regiment, or at least one which had not faced the -music of bullets and shells on the field of battle, they had a -reputation to make yet, and they made one as guards at Andersonville, -but the devil himself would not be proud of it, while the 5th Georgia -Home Guards, another regiment of guards, was worse than the 55th. - -In making up the 5th Geo. H. G. the officers had “robbed the cradle and -the grave,” as one of my comrades facetiously remarked. - -Old men with long white locks and beards, with palsied, trembling limbs, -vied with boys, who could not look into the muzzles of their guns when -they stood on the ground, who were just out of the sugar pap and -swaddling clothes period of their existence, in killing a Yank. It was -currently reported that they received a thirty days furlough for every -prisoner they shot; besides the distinguished “honah.” - -In marked contrast with these two Georgia regiments was the 5th Georgia -regulars. This regiment guarded us at Charleston, S. C., the following -September, and during our three weeks stay at that place I have no -recollection of the guards firing on us, although we were camped in an -open field with nothing to prevent our escape but sickness, starvation, -and a thin line of guards of the 5th Ga. regulars. But this regiment too -had seen service at the front. They had been on the Perryville Campaign, -had stood opposed to my regiment at the battle of Perryville and had -received the concentrated volleys of Simonson’s battery and the 10th -Wisconsin Infantry, and in return had placed 146 of my comrades HORS DE -COMBAT. They had fought at Murfresboro and Chickamauga, at Lookout and -Missionary Ridge and had seen grim visaged war in front of Sherman’s -steadily advancing columns in the Atlanta campaign. Surely they had -secured a record without needlessly shooting helpless prisoners. - -I believe all ex-prisoners will agree with me, that FIGHTING regiments -furnished humane guards. - -For the purpose of tracking escaped prisoners, an aggregate of seventy -blood-hounds were kept at Andersonville. They were run in packs of five -or six, unless a number of prisoners had escaped, in which case a larger -number were used. They were in charge of a genuine “nigger driver” whose -delight it was to follow their loud baying, as they tracked fugitive -negroes, or escaped Yanks through the forests and swamps of southern -Georgia. - -These blood-hounds were trained to track human beings, and with their -keen scent they held to the track as steadily, relentlessly as death -itself; and woe betide the fugitive when overtaken, they tore and -lacerated him with the blood-thirsty fierceness of a Numidian lion. - -These willing beasts and more willing guards were efficient factors in -the hands of Winder and Wirz in keeping in subjection the prisoners -entrusted to their care. But these are outside forces. Within the wooden -walls of that prison were more subtile and enervating forces at work -than Georgia militia or fierce blood-hound. - -Diarrhea, scurvy and its concomitant, gangrene, the result of -insufficient and unsuitable food and the crowded and filthy state of the -prison, were doing their deadly work, swiftly, surely and relentlessly. - - - - - CHAPTER VIII. - - “Ghost. I could a tale unfold, whose lightest word - Would harrow up thy soul; freeze thy young blood; - Make thy two eyes, like stars, start from their spheres; - Thy knotted and combined locks to part, - And each particular hair to stand on end, - Like quills upon the fretful porcupine.” - —Hamlet. - - -The cook-house, which I have already spoken of, had a capacity for -cooking rations for 10,000 men. Our rations consisted, during the latter -part of April and through May, of about a pound of corn bread, of about -the same quality as that at Danville, a piece of meat about the size of -two fingers, and a little salt per day. This was varied by issuing rice -or cow peas in the place of meat, but meat and rice, or peas, were never -issued together. We had no more bug soup, nor soup of any kind from the -cook-house. We got our bugs in the peas, so that we were not entirely -destitute of meat when we had peas. The rice was filled with weevil, so -that that too, was stronger, if not more nutritious. But when our -numbers were increased by the prisoners who had been captured at Dalton, -Resaca, Alatoona, New Hope Church and Kenesaw, from Sherman’s army, and -from the Wilderness, from Meade’s army, our numbers had far outgrown the -capacity of the cook-house and our rations were issued to us raw. - -Then commenced real, downright misery and suffering. These men were -turned into the prison after being robbed of everything of value, -without shelter, without cooking utensils, without wood, except in the -most meager quantities, and in most cases without blankets. - -Raw meal, raw rice and peas, and no dish to cook them in, and no wood to -cook them with, and yet there were thousands of acres of timber in sight -of the prison, and these men would have been too glad to cut their own -wood and bring it into the prison on their shoulders. But this would -have been a luxury, and Winder did not furnish prisoners with luxuries. -There was an abortive attempt made at cooking more rations, by cooking -them less, and the result was, meal simply scalded and called “mush,” -and rice not half cooked, and burned black wherever it touched the -kettle it was boiled in. - -The effects of this unwholesome, half cooked, and in thousands of cases -raw diet, was an increase of diarrhea, and dysentery, and scurvy. - -In thousands of cases of scurvy where scorbutic ulcers had broken out, -gangrene supervened and the poor prisoner soon found surcease of pain, -and misery, and starvation, in the grave. Amputation of a limb was not a -cure for these cases; new scorbutic ulcers appeared, again gangrene -supervened, and death was the almost inevitable result. - -The prison was filled with sick and dying men, indeed well men were the -exception, and sick men the rule. The hospital was filled to -overflowing; the prison itself, was a vast hospital, with no physicians, -and no nurses. - -Thousands of men had become too sick and weak to go to the sinks to -stool, and they voided their excrement in little holes dug near their -tents. The result of this was, a prison covered with maggots, and the -air so polluted with the foul stench, that it created an artificial -atmosphere, which excluded malaria, and in a country peculiarly adapted -to malarial diseases, there were no cases of Malarial, Typhus or Typhoid -fevers. - -Your true Yankee is an ingenious fellow, and is always trying to better -his situation. Many cooking dishes were manufactured by the prisoners -out of tin cans, pieces of sheet iron, or car roofing, which had been -picked up on the road to prison. - -Knives and spoons were made from pieces of hoop iron, and a -superannuated oyster or fruit can, was a whole cooking establishment, -while a tin pail or coffee pot caused its owner to be looked upon as a -nabob. - -Fortunately for myself I was joint owner with six men of my company, of -a six quart tin pail. This we loaned at times to the more unfortunate, -thus helping them somewhat in their misery. Besides this mine of wealth, -I had an interest in the wooden bucket purloined from the Danville -prison, and as Sergeant of the mess, it was in my care. To this bucket I -owe, in a great measure, my life; for I used it for a bath tub during my -confinement in Andersonville. - -Another cause of suffering was the extreme scarcity of water. When the -Richmond and Belle Isle prisoners arrived in Andersonville in February -and March, they had procured their water from Dead-run; but by the time -our squad arrived this little stream had become so polluted that it was -not fit for the wallowing place of a hog. - -Our first work after building a shelter was to procure water. We first -dug a hole in the edge of the swamp, but this soon became too warm and -filthy for use, so we started a well in an open space in front of my -tent, and close to the Dead-line. We found water at a depth of six feet, -but it was in quicksand and we thought our well was a failure; but again -luck was on our side. One of the prisoners near us, had got hold of a -piece of board while marching from the cars to the prison, this he -offered to give us in exchange for stock in our well. - -We completed the bargain, and with our Danville sawknife cut up the -board into water-curbing, which we sank into the quicksand, thus -completing a well which furnished more water than any well in the whole -prison. - -To the credit of my mess, who owned all the right, title and interest, -in and to this well, I will say, we never turned a man away thirsty. -After we had supplied ourselves, we gave all the water the well would -furnish to the more unfortunate prisoners who lived on the hill, and who -could procure no water elsewhere. - -After we had demonstrated the fact that clean water could be procured -even in Andersonville, a perfect mania for well digging prevailed in -prison; wells were started all over, but the most of them proved -failures for different reasons, some were discouraged at the great -depth, others had no boards for water-curbing, and their wells caved in, -and were a failure. There were, however, some wells dug on the hill, to -a depth of thirty or forty feet. They furnished water of a good quality, -but the quantity was very limited. - -The digging of these deep wells was proof of the ingenuity and daring of -the prisoners. The only digging tool was a half canteen, procured by -unsoldering a canteen. The dirt was drawn up in a haversack, or bucket, -attached to a rope twisted out of rags, from the lining of coat sleeves -or strips of shelter tents. The well diggers were lowered into, and -drawn out of, the wells by means of these slight, rotten ropes, and yet, -I never heard of an accident as a result of this work. - -But the wells were not capable of supplying one-fourth of the men with -water. Those who had no interest in a well, and could not beg water from -those who had, were compelled to go to Dead-run for a supply. - -A bridge crossed this stream on the west side of the prison, and here -the water was not quite so filthy as farther down stream. This bridge -was the slaughter pen of the 55th Georgians, and the 5th Georgia Home -Guards. - -Here the prisoners would reach under the Dead-line to procure clean -water, and the crack of a Georgian’s musket, was the prisoner’s death -knell. - -During the early part of August Providence furnished what Winder and -Wirz refused to furnish. After a terrible rain storm, a spring broke out -under the walls of the stockade about ten or fifteen rods north of this -bridge. Boards were furnished, out of which a trough was made which -carried the water into the prison. The water was of good quality, and of -sufficient quantity to have supplied the prisoners, could it have been -saved by means of a tank or reservoir. This was the historical -“Providence Spring” known and worshiped by all ex-Andersonville -prisoners. - -The same rain storm which caused Providence Spring to break out, gullied -and washed out the ground between our well and the stockade to a depth -of four feet, and so saturated the ground that the well caved in. We -were a sad squad of men, as we gathered around the hole where our hopes -of life were buried, for without pure water, we knew we could not -survive long in Andersonville. - -Two days after the accident to our well, we held a legislative session, -and resolved ourselves into a committee of the whole, on ways and means -to restore our treasure. No one could think of any way to fix up the -well, boards were out of the question, stones there were none, and -barrels:—we had not seen a barrel since we left “God’s Country.” As -chairman, ex-officio, of the committee, I proposed that we steal a board -from the Dead-line. This was voted down by the committee as soon as -proposed, the principle was all right, but the risk was too great; death -would be the penalty for the act. The committee then rose and the -session was adjourned. After considering the matter for a time, I -resolved to steal a board from the Dead-line at any risk. I then -proceeded to mature a plan which I soon put into execution. One of my -“pards,” Rouse, had a good silver watch, I told him to go up to the -Dead-line in front of the first guard north of our tent, and show his -watch, and talk watch trade with the guard. I sent Ole Gilbert, my other -pard, to the first guard south, with the same instructions, but minus a -watch. I kept my eyes on the guards and watched results; soon I saw that -my plan was working. I picked up a stick of wood and going to a post of -the Dead-line, where one end of a board was nailed, I pried off the end -of the board, but O horror! how it squealed, it was fastened to a pitch -pine post with a twelve penny nail and when I pried it loose, it -squeaked like a horse fiddle at a charivari party. I made a sudden dive -for my tent, which was about sixteen feet away, and when I had got under -cover I looked out to see the result. The guards were peering around to -see what was up, their quick ears had caught the sound, but their dull -brain could not account for the cause. - -After waiting until the guards had become again interested in the -mercantile transaction under consideration, I crawled out of my tent and -as stealthily as a panther crawled to my board again. This time I caught -it at the loose end, and with one mighty effort I wrenched it from the -remaining posts, dropped it on the ground, and again dove into my tent. - -The guards were aroused, but not soon enough to see what had been done, -and I had secured a board twenty feet long by four inches wide, lumber -enough to curb our well. - -Another meeting of the mess was held, the saw-knife was brought out, the -board, after great labor, was sawed up, and our well was restored to its -usefulness. - -This same storm, which occurred on the 12th of August, was the cause of -a quite an episode in our otherwise dull life in prison. It was one of -those terrible rains which occur sometimes in that region, and had the -appearance of a cloud-burst. The rain fell in sheets, the ground in the -prison was completely washed, and much good was done in the way of -purifying this foul hole. The rapid rush of water down the opposing -hills, filled the little stream, which I have called Dead-run, to -overflowing, and as there was not sufficient outlet through the -stockade, for the fast accumulating water, the pressure became so great -that about twenty feet of the stockade toppled and fell over. - -Thousands of prisoners were out looking at the downfall of our prison -walls and when it went over we sent up such a shout and hurrah that we -made old Andersonville ring. - -But the rebel guard had witnessed the break as well as we. The guard -near the creek called out “copeler of the gyaad! post numbah fo’teen! -hurry up, the stockade is goin to h—l.” The guards, about 3,000 in -number, came hurrying to the scene and formed line of battle to prevent -a rush of prisoners, while the cannoneers in the forts sprang to their -guns. We saw them ram home the charges in their guns, then we gave -another shout, when BANG went one of the guns from the south-western -fort, and we heard a solid shot go shrieking over our heads. It began to -look as though the Johnies were going to get the most fun out of this -thing after all. Just at this time Wirz came up to the gap and shrieked, -“co pack to your quarters, you tammed Yanks, or I vill open de cuns of -de forts on you.” - -I needed no second invitation after that shot went over our heads, and I -hurried to my quarters and laid low. I don’t think I am naturally more -cowardly than the average of men, but that shot made me tired. I was -sick and weak and had no courage, and knew Winder and Wirz so well that -I had perfect faith that they would be only too glad of an excuse to -carry out the threat. - -But let us go back to the month of May. Soon after my arrival, there was -marched into the prison about two thousand of the finest dressed -soldiers I ever saw. Their uniforms were new and of a better quality -than we had ever seen in the western army. They wore on their heads -cocked hats, with brass and feather accompaniments. Their feet were shod -with the best boots and shoes we had seen since antebellum days, their -shirts were of the best “lady’s cloth” variety, and the chevrons on the -sleeves of the non-commissioned officers coats, were showy enough for -members of the Queen’s Guards. - -Poor fellows, how I pitied them. The mingled look of surprise, horror, -disgust, and sorrow that was depicted on their faces as they marched -between crowds of prisoners who had been unwilling guests of the -Confederacy for, from four to nine months, told but too plainly how our -appearance affected them. As they passed along the mass of ragged, -ghastly, dirt begrimed prisoners, I could hear the remark, “My God! have -I got to come to this?” “I can’t live here a month,” “I had rather die, -than to live in such a place as this,” and similar expressions. I say -that I pitied them, for I knew that the sight of such specimens of -humanity as we were, had completely unnerved them, that their blood had -been chilled with horror at sight of us, and that they would never -recover from the shock; and they never did. - -Yes they had to come to this; many of them did not live a month, and not -many of those two thousand fine looking men ever lived to see “God’s -Country” again. - -These were the “Plymouth Pilgrims.” They were a brigade, composed of the -85th New York, the 101st and 103d Pennsylvania, 16th Connecticut, 24th -New York Battery, two companies of Massachusetts heavy artillery and a -company of the 12th New York cavalry. - -They were the garrison of a fort at Plymouth, North Carolina, which had -been compelled to surrender, on account of the combined attack of land -and naval forces, on the 20th day of May, 1864. - -Some of the regiments composing this band of Pilgrims had “veteranized” -and were soon going home on a veteran furlough when the attack was made, -but they came to Andersonville instead. - -Their service had been most entirely in garrisons, where they had always -been well supplied with rations and clothing, and exempt from hard -marches and exposures, and as a natural sequence, were not as well -fitted to endure the hardships of prison life, as soldiers who had seen -more active service. - -They were turned into the prison without shelter, and they did not seem -to think they could, in any way, provide one; without cooking utensils, -and they thought they must eat their food raw. They began to die off in -a few days after their arrival, they seemed never to have recovered from -their first shock. - -Comrade McElroy tells in “Andersonville,” a pathetic story of a -Pennsylvanian who went crazy from the effects of confinement. He had a -picture of his wife and children and he used to sit hour after hour -looking at them, and sometimes imagined he was with them serving them at -the home table. He would, in his imagination, pass food to wife and -children, calling each by name, and urging them to eat more. He died in -a month after his entrance. - -I observed a similar case near my quarters. One of this same band came -to our well for a drink of water which we gave him. He was well dressed, -at first, but seemed to be a simple-minded man. Day after day he came -for water, sometimes many times a day. Soon he began to talk -incoherently, then to mutter something about home and food. One day his -hat was gone; the next day his boots were missing, and so on, day after -day, until he was perfectly nude, wandering about in the hot sun, by -day, and shivering in the cold dews at night, until at last we found him -one morning lying in a ditch at the edge of the swamp,—dead. - -God only knows how many of those poor fellows were chilled in heart and -brain, at their first introduction to Andersonville. - -The coming of the Pilgrims into prison was the beginning of a new era in -its history. Before they came, there was no money among the prisoners, -or so little as to amount to nothing; but at the time of their surrender -they had been paid off, and those who had “veteranized” had been paid a -veteran bounty, so that they brought a large sum of money into prison. - -The reader may inquire how it was that they were not searched, and their -money and valuables taken from them by Winder and Wirz? It is a natural -inquiry, as it was the only instance in the record of Andersonville, so -far as I ever heard, when such rich plunder escaped those commissioned -robbers. The reason they escaped robbery of all their money, clothing, -blankets and good boots and shoes, was, they had surrendered with the -agreement that they should be allowed to keep all their personal -belongings, and in this instance the Confederate authorities had kept -their agreement. - -Thus several thousand dollars were brought into prison, and the old -prisoners were eager to get a share. All sorts of gambling devices were -used, the favorite being the old army Chuc-a-luck board. When these men -came in, the old prisoners had preempted all the vacant land adjoining -their quarters, and they sold their right to it, to these tender-feet -for large sums, for the purpose of putting up shelters on. This they had -no right to do, but the Pilgrims did not know it. - -As the money began to circulate, trade began to flourish. Sutler, and -soup stands sprung up all over the prison, where vegetables and soup -were sold at rates that would seem exorbitant in any other place than -the Confederacy. The result of all this gambling and trading, together -with another cause which I will mention, was, that the Pilgrims were -soon relieved of all their money, and then began to trade their -clothing. Thus these well supplied, well dressed prisoners were soon -reduced to a level with the older prisoners; but there was a -compensation in this, as well as in nature, for what the former lost the -latter gained and they were the better off by that much. - -The supplies of vegetables and food which were sold by the sutlers and -restaurateurs, were procured of the guards at the gate, they purchasing -of the “Crackers” in the vicinity, causing a lively trade to flourish, -not only in prison, but with the surrounding country. - - - - - CHAPTER IX. - - - THE RAIDERS. - - “There must be government in all society— - Bees have their Queen, and stag herds have their leader; - Rome had her Consuls, Athens had her Archons, - And we, sir, have our Managing Committee.” - -In the southern portion of the prison, bordering the swamp, there was -domiciled the worst specimens of humanity I ever knew. An acquaintance -with them would almost convince any thinking man that there was -something in Darwin’s theory of the developement of species. If that -theory is tenable, then I should argue these men had been developed from -hyenas, and not very far, or well developed either. They wore the -outward semblance of men, but retained the cowardly, blood-thirsty, -sneaking, thievish nature of the hyena. These were the Andersonville -“Raiders;” and a worse set of men never lived,—in America, at least. - -These men were from the slums of New York City and Brooklyn. I never -knew what their record as soldiers was, but as prisoners they were the -terror of all decent men. They congregated together, were organized into -semi-military organization, had their officers from captains down, and -in squads made their raids upon the peaceable prisoners, who were -possessed of anything which excited their cupidity. - -The Plymouth Pilgrims furnished a rich harvest for these miscreants, who -spotted them, marking their sleeping places, and in the dead hour of the -night robbed them of whatever they possessed; or if any of the Pilgrims -ventured into their haunts by day, they were knocked down and robbed by -daylight. - -While the raiders were constantly at war with others, they were not -always at peace among themselves. Their favorite weapon with others was -a stick; but they settled their difficulties of a domestic character -with their fists. - -Sometimes one of the small fry among these Raiders, would venture out on -his own hook, and pilfer any little article he could find in a sick -man’s tent. One day a member of my mess caught one of these fellows -stealing a tin cup from a sick man; he immediately gave chase and caught -him, then we held a drumhead court martial and sentenced him to have his -head shaved. - -Now I do not suppose there was a razor among the thirty-three thousand -men that were in Andersonville at the time; notwithstanding this -drawback, the sentence of the court was carried out with a pocket knife. -It made the fellow scowl some, but the executioner managed to saw his -hair off after a fashion. - -Another of these Raiders got his just punishment while trying to rob a -half-breed Indian, a member of the Massachusetts Heavy Artillery. The -raider attempted to steal the Indian’s boots from under his head, when -the descendant of King Phillip plunged a knife into the hoodlum, killing -him dead on the spot. - -A number of murders had been committed by these Raiders, and robberies -innumerable, when matters were brought to a focus one day in the early -part of July, by Lieutenant Davis, then in command of the Prison vice -Wirz who was sick, declaring that no more rations would be issued until -these men were given up. - -He had no need to threaten us;—we were willing to give them up;—we had -no earthly use for them. Give them up? yes; and pay boot, to get rid of -them. But it required a man of nerve to lead in the arrest of these -desperadoes. It was no child’s play, as there were between four and five -hundred of them, and to arrest the leaders meant “business.” That man -was found in the person of Sergeant Leroy L. Key, of the 16th Illinois -Cavalry, who was ably seconded by a tall, lithe, young fellow known as -“Limber Jim,” a member of the 67th Illinois. - -To the efforts of these two men, the prisoners at Andersonville were -indebted, more than any other men, for the comparative peace and -security of the prison after the 11th of July. - -Key was the head, and furnished the brains, of the organization known, -at first, as the “Regulators,” afterward as the “Prison Police.” Limber -Jim was second in command, and first in a fight. - -These two men organized a force of men in the southwest corner of the -stockade, from the best material which could be found. It needed strong -brave men for the work in hand; for these Raiders were strong, athletic -men, and desperate characters, and the Regulators must need face the -lion in his den. - -On the 3d of July Key at the head of the Regulators, armed with clubs, -made a charge on the Raiders, who had been expecting the attack and were -prepared. I was standing on the north side of the swamp, and was in good -position to see the fight. - -Key, followed by Limber Jim, led the charge; for a few minutes the -spectators could tell nothing of how the Regulators were faring. The air -was filled with clubs, which were descending on men’s heads, shoulders -and arms. The fighting mass surged, and swayed, and finally the Raiders -broke and ran; and then the spectators set up such a shout as must have -cheered Key and his brave men. - -That day and the next, the Regulators arrested one hundred and -twenty-five of the worst characters among the Raiders. Davis gave Key -the use of the small stockade at the north gate, as a prison in which to -hold them for trial. - -He then organized a Court Martial, consisting of thirteen sergeants, -selected from among the latest arrivals, in order to guard against bias. -The trial was conducted as fairly as was possible, considering their -ignorance of law. Technicalities counted for naught, facts, well -attested, influenced that court. - -The trial resulted in finding six men guilty of murder; and the sentence -was hanging. - -The names of the six condemned men were, John Sarsfield, William -Collins, alias “Mosby,” Charles Curtis, Patrick Delaney, A. Muir and -Terrence Sullivan. - -These men were heavily ironed, and closely guarded, while the remaining -one hundred and nineteen were returned to the prison, and compelled to -run a gauntlet of men armed with clubs and fists, who belabored them -unmercifully, as they were passed through one by one. - -The sentence of the court martial was executed on these six men on the -11th of July. A gallows was erected in the street leading from the south -gate, and the culprits marched in under a Confederate guard, to a hollow -square which surrounded the scaffold, and was formed by Key’s brave -Regulators, where they were turned over to Limber Jim. - -These desperadoes were terribly surprised when they found they were to -be hung. They imagined the court martial was a farce, intended to scare -them. Imagine their disappointment when they were marched to the -gallows, and turned over to the cool, but resolute and firm Key, and the -fiery Limber Jim, whose brother had been murdered by one of the number. -They found that it was no farce but real genuine tragedy, in which they -were to act an important part. - -When they realized this, they began to beg for mercy, but they had shown -no mercy, and now they were to receive no mercy. They then called upon -the priest, who attended them, to speak in their behalf; but the -prisoners would have none of it, but called out “hang them.” - -When they found there was no mercy in that crowd of men whom they had -maltreated and robbed, and whose comrades and friends they had murdered, -they resigned themselves to their fate; all but Curtis who broke from -the guard of Regulators and ran through the crowd, over tents, and -across Dead-run into the swamp where he was recaptured and taken back. - -They were then placed upon the platform, their arms pinioned, meal sacks -were tied over their heads, the ropes adjusted around their necks, and, -at a signal given by Key, the trap was sprung and they were launched -into eternity, all but Mosby, who being a heavy man broke his rope. He -begged for his life, but it was of no avail. Limber Jim caught him -around the waist and passed him up to another man; again the noose was -adjusted and he, too, received his reward for evil doing. - -The execution of these men was witnessed by all the prisoners who were -able to get out of their tents, and it is needless to add, was approved -by them, all except the Raiders. Besides the prisoners, all the rebels -who were on duty outside, found a position where they could witness the -scene. The Confederate officers, apprehensive of a stampede of the -prisoners, took the precaution to keep their men under arms, and the -guns in the forts were loaded, the fuses inserted in the vents and No. 4 -stood with lanyard in hand ready to suppress an outbreak. - -The hanging of these men had a very salutary effect upon the other evil -doers in the prison. - -Heretofore we had had no organization; we were a mob of thirty-three -thousand men, without law, and without officers. Each mess had its own -laws and each man punished those who had offended him; that is, if he -could. But now this band of thugs was broken up and their leaders -hanged. The Regulators were turned into a police force, with the gallant -Limber Jim as chief, and henceforth order prevailed among the prisoners -at Andersonville. - -The reader will readily see, from reading what I have written in this -chapter, that our sufferings did not all proceed from the rebels. - -Almost twenty-five years have elapsed since those scenes were enacted, -the hot passion engendered by the cruelties of prison life, have -measurably cooled, and as I am writing this story, I am determined to -“hew to the line let the chips fall where they will,” and with a full -understanding of what I say, I affirm that many of the prisoners -suffered more cruelly, at the hands of their comrades, than they did -from the rebels themselves. - -There was among the Pilgrims, a fiend by the name of McClellan, a member -of the 12th New York cavalry, who kicked, and abused, and maltreated the -poor weak prisoners who got in his way in a manner which deserved the -punishment meted out to the six Raiders. He had charge of delivering the -rations inside of the prison, and if some poor starved boy, looking for -a crumb got in his way he would lift him clear off from the ground with -the toe of his huge boot. - -One day while the bread wagon was unloading, I saw a boy not more than -eighteen years old who had become so weak from starvation, and so -crippled by scurvy that he could not walk, but crawled around on his -hands and knees, trying to pick up some crumbs which had fallen from the -bread; he happened to get in McClellan’s way, when that brute drew back -his foot and gave the poor fellow a kick which sent him several feet, -and with a monstrous oath, told him to keep out of his way. This was -only one instance among thousands of his brutality, yet with all his -meanness I never heard him charged with dishonesty. - -The rebels had a way of punishing negroes, which was most exquisite -torture. From my quarters in the prison I witnessed the punishment of a -negro by this method one day. He was stripped naked and then laid on the -ground face downward, his limbs extended to their full length, then his -hands and feet were tied to stakes. A burly fellow then took a paddle -board full of holes, and applied it to that part of the human anatomy in -which our mothers used to appear to be so much interested, when they -affectionately drew us across their knee, and pulled off their slipper. - -The executioner was an artist in his way, and he applied that paddle -with a will born of a determination to excel, and the way that poor -darkey howled and yelled was enough to soften a heart of stone. - -This mode of punishment was adopted by the prison police afterward, in -cases of petty larceny, and I do not think the patient ever needed a -second dose of that medicine, for there was a blister left to represent -every separate hole in the paddle, and the patient was obliged for -several days, like the Dutchman’s hen, to sit standing. - -I would recommend this treatment to the medical fraternity, as a -substitute for cupping; as the cupping and scarifying are combined in -one operation, and I think there is no patent on it. - -The battle of Atlanta was fought on the 22d day of July, and we received -the news of the victory in a few days afterward from prisoners who were -captured on that day. Our hopes began to revive from this time. We -thought we could begin to see the “beginning of the end.” Besides this -we had a hope that Sherman would send a Corps of Cavalry down to rescue -us. The rebels seem to have some such thoughts running through their -minds, as the following copy of an order, issued by General Winder, -testifies. - - “Headquarters Military Prison, - - Andersonville, Ga., July 27, 1864. - - The officers on duty and in charge of the Battery of Florida Artillery - at the time will, upon receiving notice that the enemy has approached - within seven miles of this post, open upon the stockade with grape - shot, without reference to the situation beyond the line of defense. - - JOHN H. WINDER. - Brigadier General Commanding.“ - -This order was issued at the time Gen. Stoneman with his cavalry was -trying to capture Macon. Winder, in his cowardice, supposed he might -attempt to rescue the prisoners at Andersonville. - -This order, when interpreted, means that when the officers in the forts -which guarded the prison, should hear that any of the Federal troops -were approaching within seven miles of the prison, they were to open on -us with grape shot. A simple rumor by some scared native would have -precipitated that catastrophe. - -Just think of it, twenty-four cannons loaded with grape shot opened on -sick defenseless men, not for any offense they had committed, but -because Winder would rather see us slaughtered than rescued. - -Further, the order says, “without reference to the situation beyond -these lines of defense.” This simply means that they were to pay no -attention to the attacking party, but to slaughter us. - -If the records of the Infernal Regions could be procured, I do not -believe a more hellish order could be found on file. - -We heard of Stoneman’s raid and hoped, and yet feared, that he would -come. We knew that the foregoing order had been issued, and yet we hoped -the artillerymen would not find time to carry it out. - -We would have liked, O so much, to have got hold of Winder and Wirz, and -that Georgia Militia, there would have been no need of a stockade to -hold them. - -O, how weary we became of waiting. It seemed to us that home, and -friends, and the comforts, and necessities of life, were getting -further, and further away, instead of nearer, that we could not stand -this waiting, and sickness, and misery, and living death much longer. - -The more we thought of these things, the more discouraged we became, and -I believe these sad discouraging thoughts helped to prostrate many a -poor fellow, and unfit him to resist the effects of his situation and -surroundings, and hastened, if it was not the immediate cause of death. - -Chaplain McCabe, who was a prisoner in Libby Prison, has a lecture -entitled “The bright side of Prison life.” If there was a bright side to -Andersonville, I want some particular funny fellow, who was confined -there for five or six months, to come around and tell me where it was, -for I never found it, until I found the OUTside of it. - -We heard of the fall of Atlanta, which occurred on the 2d of September, -and had we known the song then, we would have sang those cheering words -written and composed by Lieutenant S. H. M. Byers, while confined in a -rebel prison at Columbia, South Carolina. - - I. - - “Our camp-fire shone bright on the mountains - That frowned on the river below, - While we stood by our guns in the morning - And eagerly watched for the foe; - When a rider came out from the darkness, - That hung over mountain and tree, - And shouted “boys up and be ready, - For Sherman will march to the Sea.” - - II. - - Then cheer upon cheer, for bold Sherman - Went up from each valley and glen, - And the bugles re-echoed the music - That came from the lips of the men; - For we knew that the Stars on our banner - More bright in their splendor would be, - And that blessings from North-land would greet us - When Sherman marched down to the sea. - - - III. - - Then forward, boys, forward to battle - We marched on our wearisome way, - And we stormed the wild hills of Resaca - God bless those who fell on that day: - Then Kenesaw, dark in its glory, - Frowned down on the flag of the free; - But the East and the West bore our standards, - And Sherman marched on to the sea. - - - IV. - - Still onward we pressed, till our banner - Swept out from Atlanta’s grim walls, - And the blood of the patriot dampened - The soil where the traitor flag falls: - But we paused not to weep for the fallen, - Who slept by each river and tree, - Yet we twined them a wreath of the laurel - As Sherman marched down to the sea. - - - V. - - Oh, proud was our army that morning, - That stood where the pine proudly towers, - When Sherman said, “boys you are weary; - This day fair Savannah is ours!” - Then sang we a song for our chieftain, - That echoed o’er river and lea, - And the stars in our banner grew brighter - When Sherman marched down to the sea.” - - - - - CHAPTER X. - - - CLOSE QUARTERS. - - “HAMLET. I have of late lost all my mirth, foregone all custom of - exercises; and, indeed, it goes so heavily with my disposition, that - this goodly frame, the earth, seems to me a sterile promontory; this - most excellent canopy, the air, look you,—this brave o’er hanging - firmament, this majestical roof fretted with golden fire, why, it - appears no other thing to me than a foul and pestilent congregation of - vapors.” - - SHAKSPERE. - -The great influx of prisoners during the month of May and early part of -June, from the armies of Sherman and Meade, increased our numbers to -more than thirty thousand prisoners. These were crowded upon the small -space of twelve acres, or more than two thousand five hundred men to the -acre. This would allow thirty-one square feet to each man, or a piece of -ground five feet by six feet, on which to build his tent and perform all -the acts and offices of life. Indeed we were crowded in so thickly that -it was impossible for the prison officials to find room for us to “fall -in” for roll call, for more than three weeks. - -In the latter part of June, however, an addition of nine acres was -built, which gave us more room, but did not remove the filth and -excrements which had accrued in the older part of the prison. The -building on of an addition to the prison was a God-send in two ways, it -gave more room, and the old north line of stockade was cut down for -fuel. The new part was finished one afternoon and a gap made in the old -stockade through which the prisoners passed to their new quarters. After -dark a raid was made on the old part, and before morning every timber -was down, and men who had been compelled to eat their food, at best half -cooked, were now supplied with wood. - -The old part of the prison had become so foul, as a result of the -sickness and crowded state of the prisoners, that it surpassed all -powers of description or of imagination. The whole swamp bordering upon -Dead-run, was covered to a depth of several inches with human -excrements, and this was so filled with maggots that it seemed a living -moving mass of putrifying filth. The stench was loathsome and sickening -to a degree that surpasses description. With the crowded state of the -prison, the filthy surroundings, and the terrible atmosphere which -covered the prison like a cloud, it is no wonder that men sickened and -died by the thousands every month. - -These terrible surroundings made the prisoners depressed and gloomy in -spirits, and made them more susceptible to the attacks of disease. - -The bodies of those who died were carried to the south gate, with their -name, company, and regiment written on a slip of paper and pinned to -their breast. Here they were laid in the Dead-house, outside of the -Stockade. From the Dead-house they were carted in wagons to the -Cemetery, and buried in trenches four feet in depth. They were thrown -into the wagons, like dead dogs, covered with filth and lice. After the -wagons had hauled away all the dead bodies, they were loaded with food -for the prisoners in the Stockade. This was done without any attempt at, -or pretense of cleaning in any way. I shall leave the reader to imagine -how palatable that food was after such treatment. - -The monotony of prison life was sometimes relieved by finding among the -prisoners an old acquaintance of boyhood days. Many of the western men -were born and educated in the East, and it was no uncommon thing for -them to find an old chum among the eastern soldiers. - -One day as I was cooking my rations some one slapped me on the shoulder -and exclaimed, “Hello Bill!” Looking up I saw standing before me, an old -schoolmate from Jamestown, New York, by the name of Joe Hall. It was a -sad re-union; we had both been in prison more than nine months, he on -Belle Isle, and I in Danville. We had both been vaccinated and had great -scorbutic ulcers in our arms, but he, poor fellow, had gangrene which -soon ate away his life. A few weeks afterwards he went out to the prison -hospital, where he died in a few days, and now a marble slab in the -Cemetery at Andersonville with this inscription. - - Joseph Hall, Company E. 9th N. Y. Cav. - -marks the last resting place of one of my boyhood friends. Poor Joe. - -A few days after Joe’s visit to me, he introduced me to another -Jamestown boy, a member of the 49th New York Infantry, by the name of -Orlando Hoover, or “Tip” as he was called. He had re-inlisted during the -winter previous and had been home on a veterans furlough, where he had -visited some of my old friends. He told me how some of the old gray -haired men had declared they would enlist for the purpose of releasing -the prisoners, that there was great indignation expressed by many loyal -northern men, because our government did not take some measures to -release us from our long confinement. - -“Tip” had good health in Andersonville, as he did not stay there more -than two months, but when we arrived at Florence I went to his -detachment to see him, and his “pard” told me that he had jumped from -the cars, and that the guards had shot him, while on their way up from -Charleston. A little more than two months afterward, I carried the news -to his widowed mother, and sisters. - -One of my comrades, Nelson Herrick, of Company B, 10th Wisconsin, had -scratched his leg slightly with his finger nail, this had grown into a -scorbutic ulcer, at last gangrene supervened upon it, and one of the -best men in the 10th Wisconsin was carried to the cemetery. - -All the terrible surroundings made me sad and gloomy, but did not take -from me my determination to live. I knew that if I lost hope, I would -lose life, and I was determined that I would not die on rebel soil—not -if pure grit would prevent it. But one day in August I ate a small piece -of raw onion which gave me a very severe attack of cholera morbus, which -lasted me two days. I began to think that it was all up with me, but -thanks to the kindness of my “pards”, Rouse and Ole, I pulled through -and from that day began to get better of dysentery and scurvy with which -I was afflicted. I was so diseased with scurvy, that my nether limbs -were so contracted that I was obliged to walk on my tiptoes, with the -aid of a long cane held in both hands. My limbs were swollen and of a -purple color. My gums were swollen and purple and my teeth loose and -taken altogether I looked like a man who had got his ticket to the -cemetery. None of my comrades believed I could live, so they told me -afterward, but I never had a doubt of my final restoration to home and -friends, except in those two days in which I suffered with cholera -morbus. - -Of the comrades of my regiment with whom I had been associated in -prison, Nelson Herrick, Joseph Parrott, Ramey Yoht, and Wallace Darrow -of company B, had died from the effects of diarrhea and scurvy, and -Corporal John Doughty of my company had died from the effects of a -gunshot wound, received from a guard at Danville, while looking out of a -window. - -Of those names I remember at this date, who were in Andersonville, Joe -Eaton of Company A, stood the prison life very well, he being one of the -few who kept up his courage and observed, as well as possible, the laws -of health. - -John Burk of my company, seemed to wear well in this terrible place, on -account of a strong constitution and his unflinching grit, which was of -a quality like a Quinebaug whetstone. Corporal J. E. Webster, and E. T. -Best, Sergeant Ole Gilbert, G. W. Rouse, and myself of my company, and -Sergeant Roselle Hull of Company B, were alike afflicted with dysentery -and scurvy, and each had a large scorbutic ulcer on his arm. Friend -Cowles of Company B. had also succumbed to the terrible treatment of the -rebels, and had been laid to rest. - -To add to our suffering we were exposed to the terrible heat of that -semi-tropical climate. There was not a tree left on the ground, not a -bush, nothing for shade, but our little tents and huts. The sun at noon -was almost vertical, and he poured down his rays with relentless fury on -our unprotected heads. The flies swarmed about and on us by day and the -mosquitoes tormented us by night. There was no rest, no comfort, no -enjoyment, and only a tiny ray of hope for us. - -Amid all this terrible misery and suffering, there were a few who kept -their faith in God, and did not curse the authors of their misery. -Conspicuous among these was a band of Union Tennesseans who were -quartered near me. They held their prayer meetings regularly, and -occasionally one of their number would deliver an exhortation. The faith -of those men was of the abiding kind. They were modern Pauls and Silases -praying for their jailors. I too had a faith, but not of the same -quality as theirs. My faith was in a climate where overcoats would not -be needed, and that our tormentors would eventually find it. - -We had no intercourse with the guards, and could get no newspapers, -hence all the news we got was from the “tenderfeet” when they arrived. -But the news we did get after Sherman and Grant began the advance, was -of a cheering kind, and we had strong hopes of the ultimate success of -the Union cause. I cannot imagine what the result, so far as we were -concerned, would have been, had Sherman and Grant failed in their great -undertakings. Without any hope to cheer us, we must have all been -sacrificed in the arms of the Moloch of despair. - -One day in August a squad of Union Tennessee Cavalry was brought in. We -tried in vain to find out what Sherman was doing, and how large an army -he had. They only knew that they had been captured while on picket duty, -and that Sherman had a “powathful lahge ahmy.” - -Your ordinary Southerner of those days, had a profound and an abiding -ignorance of numbers. They were to him what pork is to a Jew, an unclean -thing. He had no use for them, and would at a venture accept ten -thousand dollars, as a greater sum than a million, for the reason that -it took more words to express the former, than the latter sum. - -In the winter of 1862, while Mitchell’s Division was camped at Bacon -Creek, Ky., we had a picket post on a plantation owned by a man named -Buckner, a cousin of the rebel General S. B. Buckner, he was, or -professed to be, a Union man. He went down to Green River on one -occasion to visit Buell’s army. On his return I asked him how many -soldiers General Buell had? “I can’t just say,” he replied, “but theys a -powahful lot of em.” “Yes but how many thousand?” said I. “Well I wont -be right suah, but theys a heap moah than a right smart chance of em,” -was as near an approach to numbers as I could induce him to express. - -Geography is on the same catalogue with Arithmetic. While marching from -Shepardsville to Elizabethtown, in 1861 we camped for the night on -Muldraugh’s Hill, near the spot where President Lincoln was born. After -we had “broke ranks” I went with others to a farm house not far away to -procure water. A middle aged man met us, and after granting us -permission to get water from his well, he asked me, “what regiment is -that?” I told him it was the 10th Wisconsin. “Westconstant, -Westconstant, let me see is Westconstant in Michigan?” inquired he. - -After the battle of Chickamauga, while we were at McLaw’s Division -Hospital, our Surgeon took charge of a rebel soldier lad not more than -sixteen years of age, who in addition to a severe wound, was suffering -from an attack of fever. One morning the surgeon went to him and asked, -“how are you this morning my boy?” “Well I feel a heap bettah, but I’m -powahful weak yet, doctah,” was his reply. - -Notwithstanding these people know nothing of numbers, or of Geography, -or of Orthography and not much of any ology, or ism, yet they are good -riders, good marksmen, good card players, good whiskey drinkers, and -barring the troubles which grew out of the “late unpleasantness” and -“moonshining” they are in the main kind-hearted people to the whites. - -These remarks apply to the poorer class of whites in the time of the -war. I understand there has been much improvement since that time, in -some respects, there was certainly room for it. - -But the trusty unfailing friend of the Union soldier, the caterer and -guide of the escaped prisoner, the one on whom he could depend under -any, and all circumstances was the negro. The poor black man knew that -“Massy Lincum’s sogers” were solving a problem for them which had -remained unsolved for more than two hundred years. They knew that the -success of the Union arms meant the freedom of the slaves, and they -always worshipped a Federal soldier. Any prisoner who escaped from rebel -prisons, and succeeded in reaching the Union lines, owes his success to -the negroes for without their friendly aid in the way of furnishing -food, and pointing out the way, and in most instances acting as guide, -they could never have succeeded. He was never so poor but that he would -furnish food for a fugitive prisoner and the night was never so dark but -that he would guide him on his way, usually turning him over to a friend -who would run him to the next station on the “underground railroad.” - -The negro was, on his part, the innocent cause of much trouble, for -speculate and explain as much as you will, he was the cause of the war. -On his account the exchange of prisoners was suspended and he was, at -once, the cause of nearly all our trouble, and our only friend. I said -our only friend, I mean in a general sense, for there was a class of -men, though small in numbers, who never forgot the men of their own -faith. There was never a prison so dark and filthy but that a Catholic -priest would enter it, and there was never a dying prisoner so lousy and -besmeared, but that he would administer the consolations of the church -to him in the hour of his extremity. - -In fact Catholic priests were the only ministers, I ever heard of, who -entered the prison at Andersonville to give the consolations of their -religion to dying men. I do not wish to be understood as finding fault -because this was so, for Rebel ministers would not and Union ministers -could not, enter that prison. And, indeed, we did not want the -ministrations of those Rebel preachers. What little experience we had -had with them had convinced us that they would take advantage of their -position to insult us on account of our loyalty to our flag. Not so with -the Catholic priest. He knew nothing of race, color, or politics when -dying men were considered. In his zeal for his church Rebel and Union -were alike to him, and in any place where a Catholic was to be found, -there a Catholic priest would find his way, and offer the sacraments of -his church to the dying. I can honor them for their zeal and courage, -although I cannot accept the dogmas of their church. - -Dr. Jones, in his report, speaks of the inhuman treatment of the nurses -to the sick. This may have been true of the nurses in the hospital. They -were detailed from among the prisoners in the stockade, not on account -of any fitness for the duty, but because of favor. They cared nothing -for the sick. They were after the extra rations which were allowed to -men who were working outside the stockade, and for the clothing which -fell into their hands in one way and another. - -Inside of the stockade there were no nurses for the sick, except such -voluntary care as one comrade bestowed upon another. In cases where men -of the same company or regiment were associated together the sick man so -far as I observed, was cared for as well as the circumstances would -admit of. But what could these men do for each other? There was no -medicine to be had for love or money. The surgeons prescribed sumac -berries for scurvy, and black-berry root for diarrhea and dysentery. -Little luxuries, such as fruits, jellies, and farinaceous compounds were -unknown in that place. A comrade could only cook the corn meal, and -bring a dish of water, and assist his friend to stool and when he died -pin a little slip of paper on his breast with his name, company and -regiment written on it, and assist in carrying him to the Dead-house, -and then hope that some one would do as well by him. - -Ye who growl, and snarl, and find fault with everything and everybody, -when you do not feel well, will do well to stop and think how those poor -men suffered and then thank God, and your friends, that your condition -is so much better than theirs was. - - - - - CHAPTER XI. - - - MORTALITY AT ANDERSONVILLE. - - “Let’s talk of graves, of worms, and epitaphs; - Make dust our paper, and with rainy eyes - Write sorrow on the bosom of the earth. - Let’s choose executors, and talk of wills: - And yet not so,—for what can we bequeath, - Save our deposed bodies to the ground?” - KING RICHARD II. - -The number of prisoners confined in the Andersonville prison, all told, -was forty-five thousand six hundred and thirteen. Of these twelve -thousand nine hundred and twelve died there, or in other words two men -out of every seven who were confined in that prison died there, and the -average length of time of imprisonment was only four months. - -That this was largely due to causes within the control of the -Confederate authorities I propose to show by the sworn testimony of one -of their own men who was in a position to know, and speak -authoritatively. - -On the 6th day of August 1864 Surgeon Joseph Jones, of the Confederate -army, was detailed by the Surgeon General to proceed to Andersonville, -and investigate and report, upon the phenomena of the diseases -prevailing there. His visit was not for the benefit of the prisoners, -but for purely scientific purposes. His report, from which I quote, -tells a story of such as no prisoner could tell, for, if any were -qualified to make such investigation and report, they had no opportunity -to do so. - -These extracts from the above mentioned report are taken from -“Andersonville,” a book which I wish every civilized person in the world -could read. This report was part of the testimony offered and accepted -at the trial of Wirz, and is now on file in the office of the Judge -Advocate General of the United States, at Washington. - - - “MEDICAL TESTIMONY.” - -(Transcript from the printed testimony at Wirz Trial, pages 618 to 639, -inclusive). - - “Dr. Joseph Jones for the prosecution. - - By the Judge Advocate: - - Question. Where do you reside? - - Answer. In Augusta, Georgia. - - Ques. Are you a graduate of any medical college? - - Ans. Of the University of Pennsylvania. - - Ques. How long have you been engaged in the practice of medicine? - - Ans. Eight years. - - Ques. Has your experience been as a practitioner, or rather as an - investigator of medicine as a science? - - Ans. Both. - - Ques. What position do you hold now? - - Ans. That of Medical Chemist in the Medical College of Georgia, at - Augusta. - - Ques. How long have you held your position in that college? - - Ans. Since 1858. - - Ques. How were you employed during the Rebellion? - - Ans. I served six months in the early part of it as a private in the - ranks, and the rest of the time in the medical department. - - Ques. Under the direction of whom? - - Ans. Under the direction of Dr. Moore, Surgeon General. - - Ques. Did you, while acting under his direction, visit Andersonville, - professionally? - - Ans. Yes Sir. - - Ques. For the purpose of making investigations there? - - Ans. For the purpose of prosecuting investigations ordered by the - Surgeon General. - - Ques. You went there in obedience to a letter of instructions? - - Ans. In obedience to orders which I received. - - Ques. Did you reduce the results of your investigations to the shape - of a report? - - Ans. I was engaged at that work when General Johnston surrendered his - army. - - (_A document being handed to witness._) - - Ques. Have you examined this extract from your report and compared it - with the original? - - Ans. Yes sir, I have. - - Ques. Is it accurate? - - Ans. So far as my examination extended, it is accurate. - - The document just examined by witness was offered in evidence, and is - as follows: - - _Observations upon the diseases of the Federal prisoners, confined - in Camp Sumter, Andersonville, in Sumter county, Georgia, instituted - with a view to illustrate chiefly the origin and causes of hospital - gangrene, the relations of continued and malarial fevers, and the - pathology of camp diarrhea and dysentery, by Joseph Jones Surgeon P. - A. C. S. Professor of Medical Chemistry in the Medical College of - Georgia, at Augusta, Georgia._ - - Hearing of the unusual mortality among the Federal prisoners - confined at Andersonville, Georgia, in the month of August, 1864, - during a visit to Richmond, Va., I expressed to the Surgeon General, - S. P. Moore, Confederate States of America, a desire to visit Camp - Sumter, with the design of instituting a series of inquiries upon - the nature and causes of the prevailing diseases. Small pox had - appeared among the prisoners, and I believed that this would prove - an admirable field for the establishment of its characteristic - lesions. The condition of Peyer’s glands in this disease was - considered as worthy of minute investigation. It was believed that a - large body of men from the northern portion of the United States, - suddenly transported to a warm Southern climate, and confined upon a - small portion of land, would furnish an excellent field for the - investigation of the relations of typhus, typhoid and malarial - fevers.” - - Then follows a letter of introduction to the Surgeon in charge at - Andersonville, and a letter to Gen. Winder asking permission to visit - the Inner Prison, and an order of Winder granting permission. The - report then proceeds. - - “_Description of the Confederate States Military Prison Hospital at - Andersonville, Number of prisoners, physical condition, food, - clothing, habits, moral condition, diseases._ - - The Confederate Military Prison at Andersonville, Ga., consists of a - strong Stockade, twenty feet in height, enclosing twenty-seven - acres. The Stockade is formed of strong pine logs, firmly planted in - the ground. The main Stockade is surrounded by two other similar - rows of pine logs, the middle stockade being sixteen feet high, and - the outer twelve feet. These are intended for offense and defense. - If the inner stockade should at any time be forced by the prisoners, - the second forms another line of defense; while in case of an - attempt to deliver the prisoners by a force operating upon the - exterior, the outer line forms an admirable protection to the - Confederate troops, and a most formidable obstacle to cavalry or - infantry. - - The four angles of the outer line are strengthened by earth-works - upon commanding eminences, from which the cannon, in case of an - outbreak among the prisoners, may sweep the entire enclosure; and it - was designed to connect these works by a line of rifle pits, running - zigzag, around the outer stockade; those rifle pits have never been - completed. The ground enclosed by the innermost stockade lies in the - form of a parallelogram the larger diameter running almost due north - and south. This space includes the northern and southern opposing - sides of two hills, between which a stream of water runs from west - to east. The surface soil of these hills is composed chiefly of sand - with varying admixtures of clay and oxide of iron. The clay is - sufficiently tenacious to give a considerable degree of consistency - to the soil. The internal structure of the hills, as revealed by the - deep wells, is similar to that already described. The alternate - layers of clay and sand, as well as oxide of iron, which form, in - its various combinations a cement to the sand, allow of extensive - tunneling. The prisoners not only constructed numerous dirt huts - with balls of clay and sand, taken from the wells which they have - excavated all over those hills, but they have also, in some cases, - tunneled extensively from these wells. The lower portion of these - hills, bordering on the stream, are wet and boggy from the constant - oozing of water. The stockade was built originally to accommodate - only ten thousand prisoners, and included at first seventeen acres. - Near the close of the month of June the area was enlarged by the - addition of ten acres. The ground added was on the northern slope of - the largest hill. - - Within the circumscribed area of the stockade the Federal prisoners - were compelled to perform all the offices of life—cooking, washing, - the calls of nature, exercise and sleeping. - - During the month of March the prison was less crowded than at any - subsequent time, and the average space of ground to each prisoner - was only 98.7 feet, or less than seven square yards. The Federal - prisoners were gathered from all parts of the Confederate States - east of the Mississippi, and crowded into the confined space, until - in the month of June, the average number of square feet of ground to - each prisoner was only 33.2 or less than four square yards. These - figures represent the condition of the stockade in a better light - even than it really was; for a considerable breadth of land along - the stream, flowing from west to east between the hills, was low and - boggy, and was covered with the excrement of the men, and thus - rendered wholly uninhabitable, and in fact useless for every purpose - except that of defecation. - - The pines and other small trees and shrubs, which originally were - scattered sparsely over these hills, were, in a short time, cut down - and consumed by the prisoners for firewood, and no shade tree was - left in the entire enclosure of the stockade. With their - characteristic industry and ingenuity, the Federals constructed for - themselves small huts and caves, and attempted to shield themselves - from the rain and sun and night damps and dew. But few tents were - distributed to the prisoners, and those were in most cases torn and - rotten. In the location and arrangement of these tents and huts no - order appears to have been followed; in fact, regular streets appear - to be out of the question in so crowded an area; especially too, as - large bodies of prisoners were from time to time added suddenly - without any previous preparations. The irregular arrangement of the - huts and imperfect shelters were very unfavorable for the - maintenance of a proper system of police. - - The police and internal economy of the prison was left almost - entirely in the hands of the prisoners themselves; the duties of the - Confederate soldiers acting as guards being limited to the - occupation of boxes or lookouts ranged around the stockade at - regular intervals, and to the manning of the batteries at the angles - of the prison. Even judicial matters pertaining to themselves, as - the detection and punishment of such crimes as theft and murder - appear to have been, in a great measure, abandoned to the prisoners. - - A striking instance of this occurred in the month of July, when the - Federal prisoners within the stockade tried, condemned, and hanged - six (6) of their own number, who had been convicted of stealing, and - of robbing and murdering their fellow prisoners. They were all hung - upon the same day, and thousands of the prisoners gathered around to - witness the execution. The Confederate authorities are said not to - have interfered with these proceedings. In this collection of men - from all parts of the world, every phase of human character was - represented; the stronger preyed upon the weaker, and even the sick - who were unable to defend themselves were robbed of their scanty - supplies of food and clothing. Dark stories were afloat, of men, - both sick and well, who were murdered at night, strangled to death - by comrades for scant supplies of clothing or money. - - I heard a sick and wounded Federal prisoner accuse his nurse, a - fellow prisoner of the United States army, of having stealthily, - during his sleep, inoculated his wounded arm with gangrene, that he - might destroy his life and fall heir to his clothing. - - * * * * * - - The large number of men confined in the stockade soon, under a - defective system of police, and with imperfect arrangements, covered - the surface of the low grounds with excrements. The sinks over the - lower portions of the stream were imperfect in their plan and - structure, and the excrements were, in large measure, deposited so - near the border of the stream as not to be washed away, or else - accumulated upon the low boggy ground. The volume of water was not - sufficient to wash away the feces, and they accumulated in such - quantities in the lower portion of the stream as to form a mass of - liquid excrement. Heavy rains caused the water of the stream to - rise, and as the arrangements for passage of the increased amounts - of water out of the stockade were insufficient, the liquid feces - overflowed the low grounds and covered them several inches, after - subsidence of the waters. The action of the sun upon this putrefying - mass of excrements and fragments of bread and meat and bones excited - most rapid fermentation and developed a horrible stench. - Improvements were projected for the removal of the filth and for the - prevention of its accumulation, but they were only partially and - imperfectly carried out. As the forces of the prisoners were reduced - by confinement, want of exercise, improper diet, and by scurvy, - diarrhea, and dysentery, they were unable to evacuate their bowels - within the stream or along its banks, and the excrements were - deposited at the very doors of their tents. The vast majority - appeared to lose all repulsion to filth, and both sick and well - disregarded all the laws of hygiene and personal cleanliness. The - accommodations for the sick were imperfect and insufficient. - - From the organization of the prison, February 24th, 1864, to May - 22d, the sick were treated within the stockade. In the crowded - condition of the stockade, and with the tents and huts clustered - thickly around the hospital, it was impossible to secure proper - ventilation or to maintain the necessary police. The Federal - prisoners also made frequent forays upon the hospital stores and - carried off the food and clothing of the sick. The hospital was on - the 22d of May removed to its present site without the stockade, and - five acres of ground covered with oaks and pines appropriated to the - use of the sick. - - The supply of medical officers has been insufficient from the - foundation of the prison. - - The nurses and attendants upon the sick have been most generally - Federal prisoners, who in too many cases appear to have been devoid - of moral principle, and who not only neglected their duties, but - were also engaged in extensive robbing of the sick. - - From the want of proper police and hygienic regulations alone it is - not wonderful that from February 24th to September 21st, 1864, nine - thousand four hundred and seventy-nine deaths nearly one third of - the entire number of prisoners, should have been recorded. I found - the stockade and hospital in the following condition during my - pathological investigations, instituted in the month of September, - 1864: - - Stockade, Confederate States Military Prison. - - At the time of my visit to Andersonville a large number of Federal - prisoners had been removed to Millen, Savannah, Charleston and other - parts of the Confederacy, in anticipation of an advance of General - Sherman’s forces from Atlanta, with the design of liberating their - captive brethren: however, about fifteen thousand prisoners remained - confined within the limits of the stockade and Confederate States - Military Prison Hospital. - - In the stockade, with the exception of the damp low lands bordering - the small stream, the surface was covered with huts, and small - ragged tents and parts of blankets and fragments of oil-cloth, - coats, and blankets stretched upon sticks. The tents and huts were - not arranged according to any order, and there was in most parts of - the enclosure scarcely room for two men to walk abreast between the - tents and huts. - - * * * * * - - Each day the dead from the stockade were carried out by their fellow - prisoners and deposited upon the ground under a bush arbor just - outside the southwestern gate. From thence they were carried in - carts to the burying ground, one quarter of a mile northwest of the - prison. The dead were buried without coffins, side by side, in - trenches four feet deep. - - The low grounds bordering the stream were covered with human - excrements and filth of all kinds, which in many places appeared to - be alive with working maggots. An indescribable sickening stench - arose from these fermenting masses of human filth. - - There were near five thousand seriously ill Federals in the stockade - and Confederate States Military Prison Hospital, and the deaths - exceeded one hundred per day, and large numbers of the prisoners who - were walking about, and who had not been entered upon the sick - reports, were suffering from severe and incurable diarrhea, - dysentery and scurvy. The sick were attended almost entirely by - their fellow prisoners, appointed as nurses, and as they received - but little attention, they were compelled to exert themselves at all - times to attend to the calls of nature, and hence, they retained the - power of moving about to within a comparatively short period of the - close of life. Owing to the slow progress of the diseases most - prevalent, diarrhea and chronic dysentery, the corpses were as a - general rule emaciated. - - I visited two thousand sick within the stockade, lying under some - long sheds which had been built at the northern portion for - themselves. At this time only one medical officer was in attendance, - whereas at least twenty medical officers should have been employed. - - * * * * * - - Scurvy, diarrhea, dysentery, and hospital gangrene were the - prevailing diseases. I was surprised to find but few cases of - malarial fever, and no well marked cases either of typhus or typhoid - fever. The absence of the different forms of malarial fever may be - accounted for on the supposition that the artificial atmosphere of - the stockade, crowded densely with human beings and loaded with - animal exhalations, was unfavorable to the existence and action of - malarial poison. The absence of typhoid and typhus fevers amongst - all the causes which are supposed to generate these diseases, - appeared to be due to the fact that the great majority of these - prisoners had been in captivity in Virginia, at Belle Island, and in - other parts of the Confederacy for months, and even as long as two - years, and during this time they had been subjected to the same bad - influences, and those who had not had these fevers before either had - them during their confinement in Confederate prisons or else their - systems, from long exposure were proof against their action. - - The effects of scurvy were manifested on every hand, and in all its - various stages, from the muddy pale complexion, pale gums, feeble, - languid muscular motions, lowness of spirits, and fetid breath, to - the dusky, dirty leaden complexion, swollen features, spongy purple, - livid, fungoid, bleeding gums, loose teeth, œdematous limbs, covered - with livid vibices and petechiae, spasmodically flexed, painful and - hardened extremities, spontaneous hemorrhages from mucous canals, - and large, ill conditioned, spreading ulcers covered with a dark - purplish fungus growth. I observed that in some cases of scurvy the - parotid glands were greatly swollen, and in some instances to such - an extent as to preclude entirely the power to articulate. In - several cases of dropsy of the abdomen and lower extremities - supervening upon scurvy, the patients affirmed that previously to - the appearance of the dropsy they had suffered with profuse and - obstinate diarrhea, and that when this was checked by a change of - diet, from Indian corn bread baked with the husk, to boiled rice, - the dropsy appeared. The severe pains and livid patches were - frequently associated with swellings in various parts, and - especially in the lower extremities, accompanied with stiffness and - contractions of the knee joints and ankles, and often with a burning - feel of the parts, as if lymph had been effused between the - integuments and apeneuroses, preventing the motion of the skin over - the swollen parts. Many of the prisoners believed that the scurvy - was contagious, and I saw men guarding their wells and springs, - fearing lest some man suffering with scurvy might use the water and - thus poison them. I observed also numerous cases of hospital - gangrene and of spreading scorbutic ulcers, which had supervened - upon slight injuries. The scorbutic ulcers presented a dark purple - fungoid, elevated surface, with livid swollen edges, exuded a thin, - fetid sanious fluid, instead of pus. Many ulcers which originated - from the sorbutic condition of the system appeared to become truly - gangrenous, assuming all the characteristics of hospital gangrene. - - From the crowded condition, filthy habits, bad diet, and dejected - depressed condition of the prisoners, their systems had become so - disordered that the smallest abrasion of the skin from the rubbing - of a shoe, or from the effects of the sun, or from the prick of a - splinter, or from scratching or a mosquito bite, in some cases took - on rapid and frightful ulceration and gangrene. The long use of salt - meat, ofttimes imperfectly cured, as well as the most total - deprivation of vegetables and fruit, appeared to be the chief cause - of scurvy. I carefully examined the bakery and the bread furnished - the prisoners, and found that they were supplied almost entirely - with corn bread from which the husk had not been separated. This - husk acted as an irritant to the alimentary canal, without adding - any nutriment to the bread. As far as my examination extended no - fault could be found with the mode in which the bread was baked; the - difficulty lay in the failure to separate the husk from the corn - meal. I strongly urged the preparation of large quantities of soup - made from the cow and calves heads with the brains and tongues to - which a liberal supply of sweet potatoes and vegetables might have - been advantageously added. The material existed in abundance for the - preparation of such soup in large quantities with but little - additional expense. Such aliment would have been not only highly - nutritious, but it would also have acted as an efficient remedial - agent for the removal of the scorbutic condition. The sick within - the stockade lay under several long sheds which were originally - built for barracks. These sheds covered two floors which were open - on all sides. The sick lay upon the bare boards, or upon such ragged - blankets as they possessed, without, as far as I observed, any - bedding or even straw. - - * * * * * - - The haggard, distressed countenances of these miserable, complaining - dejected, living skeletons, crying for medical aid and food, and - cursing their Government for its refusal to exchange prisoners, and - the ghastly corpses with their glazed eyeballs staring up into - vacant space, with the flies swarming down their open grinning - mouths, and over their ragged clothes infested with numerous lice, - as they lay amongst the sick and dying formed a picture of helpless, - hopeless misery which it would be impossible to portray by words or - by the brush. A feeling of disappointment and even resentment on - account of the action of the United States Government upon the - subject of exchange of prisoners, appeared to be widespread, and the - apparent hopeless, nature of the negotiations for some general - exchange of prisoners appeared to be a cause of universal regret and - deep and injurious despondency. I heard some of the prisoners go so - far as to exonerate the Confederate Government from any charge of - intentionally subjecting them to a protracted confinement, with its - necessary and unavoidable sufferings in a country cut off from all - intercourse with foreign nations, and sorely pressed on all sides, - whilst on the other hand they charged their prolonged captivity upon - their own Government, which was attempting to make the negro equal - to the white man. Some hundreds or more of the prisoners had been - released from confinement in the stockade on parole, and filled - various offices as clerks, druggists, carpenters, etc., in the - various departments. These men were well clothed and presented a - stout and healthy appearance, and as a general rule, they presented - a much more robust and healthy appearance than the Confederate - troops guarding the prisoners. - - * * * * * - - The entire grounds are surrounded by a frail board fence, and are - strictly guarded by Confederate soldiers, and no prisoner, except - the paroled attendants, is allowed to leave the grounds except by a - special permit from the commandant of the interior of the prison. - - The patients and attendants, near two thousand in number, are - crowded into this confined space and are but poorly supplied with - old and ragged tents. Large numbers of them were without any bunks - in the tents, and lay upon the ground, ofttimes without even a - blanket. No beds or straw appeared to have been furnished. The tents - extend to within a few yards of the small stream, the eastern - portion of which, as we have before said, is used as a privy and is - loaded with excrements; and I observed a large pile of corn bread, - bones, and filth of all kinds, thirty feet in diameter and several - feet in height, swarming with myriads of flies, in a vacant space - near the pots used for cooking. Millions of flies swarmed over - everything and covered the faces of the sleeping patients, and - crawled down their open mouths and deposited their maggots in the - gangrenous wounds of the living and in the mouths of the dead. - - Mosquitoes in great numbers also infested the tents, and many of the - patients were so stung by these pestiferous insects, that they - resembled those suffering from a slight attack of the measles. - - The police and hygiene of the hospital were defective in the - extreme; the attendants, who appeared in almost every instance to - have been selected from the prisoners, seemed to have, in many - cases, but little interest in the welfare of their fellow captives. - The accusation was made that the nurses, in many cases, robbed the - sick of their clothing, money, and rations, and carried on a - clandestine trade with the paroled prisoners and confederate guards - without the hospital enclosure, in the clothing, effects of the - sick, dying, and dead Federals. They certainly appeared to neglect - the comfort and cleanliness of the sick intrusted to their care in a - most shameful manner, even after making due allowances for the - difficulties of the situation. Many of the sick were literally - encrusted with dirt and filth and covered with vermin. - - When a gangrenous wound needed washing, the limb was thrust out a - little from the blanket, or board, or rags upon which the patient - was laying, and water poured over it, and all the putrescent matter - allowed to soak into the ground floor of the tent. The supply of - rags for dressing wounds was said to be very scant, and I saw the - most filthy rags which had been applied several times, and - imperfectly washed, used in dressing wounds. Where hospital gangrene - was prevailing, it was impossible for any wound to escape contagion - under these circumstances. The result of the treatment of wounds in - the hospital were of the most unsatisfactory character, from this - neglect of cleanliness, in the dressings and wounds themselves, as - well as from various other causes which will be more fully - considered. I saw several gangrenous wounds filled with maggots. I - have frequently seen neglected wounds among Confederate soldiers - similarly affected; and as far as my experience extends these worms - destroy only the dead tissues and do not injure specially the well - parts. I have even heard surgeons affirm that a gangrenous wound - which had been thoroughly cleansed by maggots, healed more rapidly - than if it had been left to itself. This want of cleanliness on the - part of the nurses appeared to be the result of carelessness and - inattention, rather than of malignant design, and the whole trouble - can be traced to the want of proper police and sanitary regulations - and to the absence of intelligent organization and division of - labor. - - The abuses were in large measure due to the almost total absence of - system, government, and rigid, but wholesome sanitary regulations. - In extenuation of these abuses it was alleged by the medical - officers that the Confederate troops were barely sufficient to guard - the prisoners, and that it was impossible to obtain any number of - experienced nurses from the Confederate forces. In fact the guard - appeared to be too small, even for the regulation of the internal - hygiene and police of the hospital. - - The manner of disposing of the dead was also calculated to depress - the already desponding spirits of these men, many of whom have been - confined for months, and even for nearly two years in Richmond and - other places, and whose strength had been wasted by bad air, bad - food, and neglect of personal cleanliness. - - The dead-house is merely a frame covered with old tent cloth and a - few brushes, situated in the south-western corner of the hospital - grounds. When a patient dies, he is simply laid in the narrow street - in front of his tent, until he is removed by Federal negroes - detailed to carry off the dead; if a patient dies during the night - he lies there until morning, and during the day, even the dead were - frequently allowed to remain for hours in these walks. In the - dead-house the corpses lie upon the bare ground, and were in most - cases covered with filth and vermin. - - * * * * * - - The cooking arrangements are of the most defective character. Five - large iron pots similar to those used for boiling sugar cane, - appeared to be the only cooking utensils furnished by the hospital - for the cooking of nearly two thousand men; and the patients were - dependent in great measure upon their own miserable utensils. They - were allowed to cook in the tent doors and in the lanes, and this - was another source of filth, and another favorable condition for the - generation and multiplication of flies and other vermin. - - The air of the tents was foul and disagreeable in the extreme, and - in fact the entire grounds emitted a most nauseous and disgusting - smell. I entered nearly all the tents and carefully examined all the - cases of interest, and especially the cases of gangrene, upon - numerous occasions, during the prosecution of my pathological - inquiries at Andersonville, and therefore enjoyed every opportunity - to judge correctly of the hygiene and police of the hospital. - - There appeared to be absolute indifference and neglect on the part - of the patients of personal cleanliness; their persons and clothing, - in most instances, and especially of those suffering with gangrene - and scorbutic ulcers, were filthy in the extreme and covered with - vermin. It was too often the case that patients were received from - the Stockade in a most deplorable condition. I have seen men brought - in from the stockade in a dying condition, begrimed from head to - foot with their own excrements, and so black from smoke and filth - that they resembled negroes rather than white men. That this - description of the stockade and hospital has not been overdrawn, - will appear from the reports of the surgeons in charge, appended to - this report. - - * * * * * - - - CONCLUSIONS. - - 1st. The great mortality among the Federal prisoners confined in the - military prison at Andersonville was not referable to climatic - causes, or to the nature of the soil and waters. - - 2d. The chief causes of death were scurvy and its results and bowel - affections, chronic and acute diarrhea and dysentery. The bowel - affections appear to have been due to the diet, the habits of the - patients, the depressed, dejected state of the nervous system and - moral and intellectual powers, and to the effluvia arising from - decomposing animal and vegetable filth. The effects of salt meat, - and an unvarying diet of corn meal, with but few vegetables, and - imperfect supplies of vinegar and syrup, were manifested in the - great prevalence of scurvy. This disease, without doubt, was also - influenced to an important extent in its origin and course by the - foul animal emanations. - - 3d. From the sameness of the food and form, the action of the - poisonous gases in the densely crowded and filthy stockade and - hospital, the blood was altered in its constitution, even before the - manifestation, of actual disease. In both the well and the sick red - corpuscles were diminished; and in all diseases uncomplicated with - inflammation, the fibrous element was deficient. In cases of - ulceration of the mucous membrane of the intestinal canal the - fibrous element of the blood was increased; while in simple - diarrhea, uncomplicated with ulceration, it was either diminished or - else remained stationary. Heart clots were very common, if not - universally present, in cases of ulceration of the intestinal mucous - membrane, while in the uncomplicated cases of diarrhea and scurvy, - the blood was fluid and did not coagulate readily, and the heart - clots and fibrous concretions were almost universally absent. From - the watery condition of the blood, there resulted various serous - effusions into the pericardium, ventricles of the brain, and into - the abdomen. In almost all the cases which I examined after death, - even the more emaciated, there was more or less serous effusion into - the abdominal cavity. In cases of hospital gangrene of the - extremities, and in cases of gangrene of the intestines, heart clots - and fibrous coagulations were universally present. The presence of - those clots in the cases of hospital gangrene, while they were - absent in the cases in which there was no inflammatory symptoms, - sustains the conclusion that hospital gangrene is a species of - inflammation, imperfect and irregular though it may be in its - progress, in which the fibrous element and coagulation of the blood - are increased, even in those who are suffering from such a condition - of the blood, and from such diseases as are naturally accompanied - with a decrease in the fibrous constituent. - - 4th. The fact that hospital gangrene appeared in the stockade first; - and originated spontaneously without any previous contagion, and - occurred sporadically all over the stockade and prison hospital, was - proof positive that this disease will arise whenever the conditions - of crowding, filth, foul air and bad diet are present. The - exhalations from the hospital and stockade appeared to exert their - effects to a considerable distance outside of these localities. The - origin of hospital gangrene among these prisoners appeared clearly - to depend in great measure upon the state of the general system - induced by diet, and various external noxious influences. The - rapidity of the appearance and action of the gangrene depended upon - the powers and state of the constitution, as well as upon the - intensity of the poison in the atmosphere, or upon the direct - application of poisonous matter to the wounded surface. This was - further illustrated by the important fact that hospital gangrene, or - a disease resembling it in all essential respects, attacked the - intestinal canal of patients laboring under ulceration of the - bowels, although there was no local manifestations of gangrene upon - the surface of the body. This mode of termination in cases of - dysentery was quite common in the foul atmosphere of the Confederate - States Military Hospital in the depressed, depraved condition of the - system of these Federal prisoners. - - 5th. A scorbutic condition of the system appeared to favor the - origin of foul ulcers which frequently took on true hospital - gangrene. Scurvy and hospital gangrene frequently existed in the - same individual. In such cases, vegetable diet, with vegetable - acids, would remove the scorbutic condition without curing the - hospital gangrene. From the results of the existing war for the - establishment of the independence of the Confederate States, as well - as from the published observations of Dr. Trotter, Sir Gilbert - Blane, and others of the English navy and army, it is evident that - the scorbutic condition of the system, especially in crowded ships - and camps, is the most favorable to the origin and spread of foul - ulcers and hospital gangrene. As in the present case of - Andersonville, so also in past times when medical hygiene was almost - entirely neglected, those two diseases were almost universally - associated in crowded ships. In many cases is was very difficult to - decide at first whether the ulcer was a simple result of scurvy or - of the action of the prison or hospital gangrene, for there was - great similarity in the appearance of the ulcers in the two - diseases, so commonly have these two diseases been combined in their - origin and action, that the description of scorbutic ulcers, by many - authors evidently includes also many of the prominent - characteristics of hospital gangrene. This will be rendered evident - by an examination of the observations of Dr. Lind and Sir Gilbert - Blane upon scorbutic ulcers. - - 6th. Gangrenous spots followed by rapid destruction of tissue - appeared in some cases where there had been no known wound. Without - such well established facts, it might be assumed that the disease - was propagated from one patient to another. In such a filthy and - crowded hospital as that of the Confederate States Military Prison - at Andersonville, it was impossible to isolate the wounded from the - sources of actual contact of the gangrenous matter. The flies - swarming over the wounds and over filth of every kind. The filthy, - imperfectly washed and scanty supplies of rags, and the limited - supply of washing utensils, the same wash-bowl serving for scores of - patients, were sources of such constant circulation of the - gangrenous matter that the disease might rapidly spread from a - single gangrenous wound. The fact already stated, that a form of - moist gangrene, resembling hospital gangrene, was quite common in - this foul atmosphere, in cases of dysentery, both with and without - the existence of the disease upon the entire surface not only - demonstrates the dependence of the disease upon the state of the - constitution, but proves in the clearest manner that neither the - contact of the poisonous matter of gangrene, nor the direct action - of the poisonous atmosphere upon the ulcerated surface is necessary - to the developement of the disease. - - 7th. In this foul atmosphere amputation did not arrest hospital - gangrene, the disease almost invariably returned. Almost every - amputation was followed finally by death, either from the effects of - gangrene or from the prevailing diarrhea or dysentry. Nitric acid - and escharotics generally in this crowded atmosphere, loaded with - noxious effluvia, exerted only temporary effects; after their - application to the diseased surfaces, the gangrene would frequently - return with redoubled energy; and even after the gangrene had been - completely removed by local and constitutional treatment, it would - frequently return and destroy the patient. As far as my observation - extended, very few of the cases of amputation for gangrene - recovered. The progress of these cases was frequently very - deceptive. I have observed after death the most extensive - disorganization of the structures of the stump, when during life - there was but little swelling of the part, and the patient was - apparently doing well. I endeavored to impress upon the medical - officers the view that in this disease treatment was almost useless, - without an abundant supply of pure, fresh air, nutritious food, and - tonics and stimulants. Such changes, however, as would allow of the - isolation of the cases of hospital gangrene appeared to be out of - the power of the medical officers. - - 8th. The gangrenous mass was without true pus, and consisted chiefly - of broken-down, disorganized structures. The reaction of the - gangrenous matter in certain stages was alkaline. - - 9th. The best, and in truth the only means of protecting large - armies and navies, as well as prisoners, from the ravages of - hospital gangrene, is to furnish liberal supplies of well cured - meat, together with fresh beef and vegetables, and to enforce a - rigid system of hygiene. - - 10th. Finally, this gigantic mass of human misery calls loudly for - relief, not only for the sake of suffering humanity, but also on - account of our own brave soldiers now captives in the hands of the - Federal Government. Strict justice to the gallant men of the - Confederate Armies, who have been or who may be, so unfortunate as - to be compelled to surrender in battle, demands that the Confederate - Government should adopt that course which will best secure their - health and comfort in captivity; or at least, leave their enemies - without a shadow of an excuse for any violation of the rules of - civilized warfare in the treatment of prisoners.” - - (End of witnesses’ testimony.) - - -This was the testimony of a scientific medical officer, who was so -thoroughly a rebel that he served as a private for six months in the -Confederate army, and yet so humane as to condemn the barbarous -treatment imposed on helpless men by such fiends as Winder and Wirz. - -Let me call the readers particular attention to a few points in the -testimony of Dr. Jones. - -First. As to his charge of filthiness. He states the truth, as any -ex-Andersonville prisoner too well knows, but he does not inform his -Government as to the cause. He does not say that these men were turned, -like so many swine, into the stockade, after being robbed of everything -of value. That no cooking utensils were furnished, that not an ounce of -soap was issued to the prisoners after May 1st, 1864. But he does tell -us that water was scarce, and filthy beyond the power of description, he -does tell how these men became dispirited by long confinement, by bad -diet and worse drink, and by their filthy surroundings, and by the -constant presence of death. What wonder that men under all these -discouraging circumstances soon fell to the level of brutes? And yet all -were not so filthy; all did not lose their instincts of manhood, but -through all these discouraging surroundings, observed, as well as -possible under the circumstances, the laws of health. Were it not so -this story would never have been written. - -Second. He speaks of hearing some of the prisoners exonerate the -Confederate Government, and lay all the blame of their continued -imprisonment on the Federal Government. There is too much truth in this -statement to be pleasant to us as patriots, but let us see if these men -were wholly to blame in this matter. - -We had heard all sorts of discouraging rumors for the last ten months. -The rebels had told us that Lincoln would not exchange prisoners unless -the negroes were put upon the same basis as whites. That was just and -honorable in the Government, but it was death to us. The fact is that of -all the forty-five thousand prisoners that I saw in Andersonville there -were not to exceed a half dozen negroes, and they were officers’ -waiters. The rebels did not take negroes prisoners who were captured in -arms, they killed them on the spot, and we knew it, but perhaps our -Government did not. - -For my own part I never exonerated Confederates for the part they took -in cases where they might have done better. It is true that they could -not furnish us such a quality of food as our Government furnished -Confederate prisoners, but the excuse that they had not enough for their -own soldiers is too flimsy as shown by the supplies that Sherman’s men -found in Georgia on that famous “March to the Sea” after we had been -removed from Andersonville. And even if they were short of food, they -had enough pure air and water, and enough land so that we need not have -been compelled to drink our own filth, nor breathe the foul effluvia -arising from the putrefaction of our excrements, nor be crowded at the -rate of thirty-three thousand men on twelve acres of ground, as we were -at Andersonville. There was wood enough so that men need not have been -compelled to eat corn meal raw. There was no valid excuse for robbing -men of their little all and then turning them into those prisons, to -live or die, as best they could. - -When we come to the part our Government took in this matter it is simply -this; General Grant was of the opinion that we could perform our duty as -soldiers better in those prisons than we could if exchanged. Exchange -meant giving a fat rebel soldier, ready to take the field, for a yankee -skeleton ready for the hospital or the grave. Considered as a military -measure I admit it was right; but considered from a humanitarian point, -it was simply hellish. - -Do you wonder that we thought our Government had forgotton, or did not -care for us? And yet when the crucial test came, when life and liberty, -food and clothing, were offered us at the price of our loyalty to our -Government, our reply was “no, we will let the lice carry us out through -the cracks, before we will take the oath of allegiance to the -Confederacy, we will accept death but not dishonor.” - -Don’t blame us if we were discouraged and disheartened, if we did growl -at, and find fault with, a government which we imagined had deserted us -in the hour of our greatest need; we were true and loyal after all, and -if you had been placed in the same condition you would have done just -the same. - -Third. Dr. Jones in speaking of those prisoners who were paroled and -were at work on the outside of the stockade says: “These men were well -clothed, and presented a stout and healthy appearance, and as a general -rule they presented a much more robust appearance than the Confederate -troops guarding them.” - -Why not? they had plenty of exercise, good water, fresh air, and enough -food so that they could purchase their good clothes with the surplus -which accrued after their own wants had been satisfied. They were -naturally more robust men than those Home Guards, and their situation -had enabled them to keep in a normal condition. Had the prisoners in the -stockade received the same treatment as the paroled men who were at work -outside of the stockade, they would have presented the same robust -appearance, but that stockade and those guards could not have held us -and the rebels knew it. - -I have introduced the report of Dr. Jones for the benefit of a class of -persons who are inclined to doubt the statements of ex-prisoners, and I -submit that he tells a more terrible story than any of us can tell. - - - - - CHAPTER XII. - - - PROGRESS OF THE WAR. - - “The news has flown frae mouth to mouth, - The North for ance has bang’d the South”; - SCOTT. - -While we were waiting, and hoping, and starving, and dying at -Andersonville our armies were fast solving the problem of the Rebellion. -Jeff Davis had tired of the policy of General Joseph E. Johnson, who was -in command of the army which confronted Sherman, and about the middle of -July relieved him of his command and appointed Hood to his place. - -Johnson’s policy during the Atlanta campaign had been that of defense. -Davis was in favor of aggressive warfare. He believed in driving the -invaders from the sacred soil of the South. A grand idea surely, but -then, the invaders had a word to say in that matter; they had come to -stay, and Jeff Davis’ manifestoes had no terrifying effect upon them. -Hood immediately assumed the aggressive and on the 2lst of July came out -from behind his entrenchments and attacked Sherman. - -On the 22d the battle of Atlanta was fought, in which General McPherson -was killed. The command of the army of the Tennessee then fell upon -General John A. Logan for a few days, when he was superseded by General -O. O. Howard. There has been much criticism upon this act of General -Sherman. Logan had assumed command of the army of the Tennessee upon the -death of McPherson, during a hotly contested battle, and he had fought -the battle to a successful termination. He had fought his way from -colonel of a regiment, to Major General commanding an Army Corps, and -temporarily commanding an army. He had shown the highest type of -military ability shown by any volunteer officer, and yet he was -compelled to give place to a transplanted officer from the army of the -Potomac. - -Logan and his friends felt this deeply, but with true patriotic -instincts he, and they, continued to fight for the cause of Liberty and -Union. No satisfactory reason has ever been given for this act of -injustice on the part of General Sherman, but it is hinted that it was -because Logan was not a graduate of West Point. The action of General -Sherman in this matter is all the more inexplicable when we compare the -stupendous failure of Howard at Chancellorsville, but little more than a -year before, with the signal success of Logan at Atlanta on the 22d of -July. But time brings its revenge. Howard has passed into comparative -obscurity. We hear of him occasionally as a lecturer before a Chautauqua -Society in some small town or city, “only this and nothing more,” while -John A. Logan went down to his grave, loved and revered, as the highest -representative of the American Volunteer soldier. His name is inscribed -on the imperishable roll of fame by the side of the names of Sheridan, -Thomas, and Hancock. - -But the victory of the Federals at the battle of Atlanta did not include -the surrender of the city. Sherman sent a cavalry corps under General -Stoneman to capture Macon, Ga. In this he failed, but he destroyed -considerable property, including railroad, rolling stock, bridges and -supplies and seriously threatened Macon, giving Winder, at -Andersonville, a terrible scare, which resulted in the General Order -which I have copied in a previous chapter. Sherman finding that Atlanta -was not to be captured without a fight more serious than he cared to -risk, moved by the flank to Jonesboro south of Atlanta, thus cutting off -the supplies for Atlanta. On the 1st of September he moved his army up -to within twenty miles of Atlanta, and on the 2d General Slocum moved -his forces into that city. - -Great was the rejoicing all over the North when the news was flashed -over the wires that Sherman had captured the “Gate City” of the South, -and a corresponding feeling of gloom settled down upon the Southern -people when they found that Hood, with the assistance of the counsels of -Beauregard, could not cope with “Uncle Billy” and his veterans. - -In the meantime the army under General Grant had not been idle. On May -3d and 4th the army of the Potomac moved from its camp on the north of -the Rapidan and commenced a campaign which was destined to result in the -downfall of the capital of the Confederacy, and ultimately of the -Confederacy itself. In the battles of the Wilderness, Spottsylvania, -North Anna and Cold Harbor, our forces showed the aggressive spirit -inspired by their great leader, ably seconded by Meade, Hancock, the -lamented Sedgwick, Warren, Wright and Burnside. While the Confederate -forces under their favorite leader Lee, with his Lieutenants, Anderson. -Early and Hill, resisted the inroads of the Federal forces with a -bravery born of a determination to die in the visionary “last ditch.” - -But superior numbers, coupled with equal bravery and ability, are bound -to win in the end and on the 15th of June 1864 Grant’s army was before -Petersburg with a determination to pound the Rebels into submission. - -If the battle of Atlanta caused fear and trembling among the rebs at -Andersonville, the fall of that city caused a perfect panic among them. - -On the 3d of September a train load of one thousand men was shipped away -from the prison, and each day after that saw the exodus of a like -number, until all who were able to walk to the station had been shipped -to more secure points. Some were sent to Millen and Savannah, Ga., and -some to Charleston, and Columbia, South Carolina. - -During the latter part of August long sheds with an upper and lower -floor, and open at the sides, had been built in the northern portion of -the stockade. The carpenters who performed the labor of building these -sheds or barracks, as they were called, were of our own numbers. They -received as compensation for their labor an extra ration of food, and -they thought themselves lucky to get a chance to work for their board, -as indeed, they were. - -On the 5th Ole Gilbert, Rouse, and myself left our quarters near the -swamp, and moved into the sheds. We gave up our well with regret, as it -had proved to be a great blessing to us, but September had come, and -soon the storms of the autumnal equinox would be upon us, and our little -tent, made of a ragged blanket and pine boughs, would but poorly shelter -us from the storm. - -We took up our quarters on the upper floor, with no straw for bedding, -nothing between our skeleton like bodies and the floor but a piece of -ragged blanket. We suffered terribly for the lack of bedding, our -protruding hip bones could not possibly reconcile themselves to the hard -floor and we were rolling about continually trying to find some part of -our anatomy that would fit a pine board, but we never found it. But we -did find a little purer air than we found down by the excrement burdened -swamp, the foul gases arising from decomposing human excrements -fermenting in a hot sun were not quite so strong and nauseous and -besides we had a little more room. Day by day the thinning process went -on, there being two strong powers at work to accomplish the task, death -and the trains of cars. - -I have never been quite satisfied with the tables of mortality published -with reference to Andersonville. Dr. Jones in his report, gives the -number who died between Feb. 24th and September 21st, 1864, as nine -thousand four hundred and seventy-nine. McElroy gives twelve thousand -nine hundred and twelve as the whole number that died during the time -Andersonville was used as a prison. - -I think both statements are far below the truth although I have only -parole testimony to prove my position. While on the way from -Andersonville to Charleston, I overheard a private conversation between -two prisoners upon the subject of the number of deaths at Andersonville. -One of them claimed to be the Hospital Steward who kept the records at -that place, and he told his companion that he had a copy of the death -record and that twelve thousand six hundred and twenty odd had died up -to the date of leaving the prison, which was Sept. 11th. and that he -intended to carry the copy through the lines with him when he was -exchanged. One of the prisoners who was paroled in December following -did have a copy of the register and showed it at the office of the War -Department in Washington, it was not returned to him and he afterward -stole it from the office, was arrested and imprisoned for the theft and -was finally liberated through the intercession of Miss Clara Barton, -“the soldiers’ friend.” The man was a member of a Connecticut regiment, -whose name I cannot recall, but I think was Ingersoll, though I would -not pretend to be positive. I think the official records show a total of -nearly fourteen thousand deaths in Andersonville. All the evidence -attainable both from Federal and Confederate sources prove that about -one third of all the men who entered the gates of Andersonville died -there, and when we come to add to that number those who died in other -prisons, and on the way home, and whose death is directly traceable to -that prison, we will find that fully one-half of the forty-five thousand -Andersonville prisoners never reached home. - -If the king of Denmark could exclaim, “O, my offense is rank, it smells -to heaven,” what shall we say of the men who are guilty of the -barbarities of Andersonville? How far will their offense smell? By a -fair computation more than twenty thousand men were,— - - “Cut off even in the blossom of their sins, - Unhouseled, disappointed, unanel’d; - No reckoning made, but sent to their account - With all their imperfections on their heads: - O, horrible! O, horrible! most horrible!” - -Rest comrades, rest in your graves on the sandy hillside of -Andersonville. The dank and the mould have consumed your bodies and they -have returned to the dust from whence they came; but a day of reckoning -will surely come. When the last trump shall sound and the dead shall -come forth from their graves, and stand before the Great White Throne, -where will your murderers be found? Surely they will call upon the rocks -and mountains to fall on them and hide them them from the face of Him -who sitteth upon the Throne and judgeth the Earth in righteousness. - -It is impossible for any person endowed with the common feelings and -instincts of humanity to understand, much less to explain, the character -of Winder and Wirz. How any person in this enlightened age could be -guilty of the cruelties and barbarities practiced by those two ghouls -surpass all attempts at explanation. I am of the opinion that the -majority of the people of the South were ignorant of the full extent of -the horrors of the Southern Military Prisons. I am led to this -conclusion by the fact, that, except upon the questions of slavery and -war, they were a kind and generous hearted people, generally speaking, -as much so, at least, as any community of people of like extent. And for -the further reason that not many of them had access to the inside of -those prisons, and they would naturally believe the report of interested -Confederates, sooner than the reports of interested Federals, -particularly, as they had no intercourse with prisoners themselves, -except in isolated cases. And still further, all escaped prisoners, who -were recaptured and returned to prison spoke highly of the kind -treatment of the middle and upper classes, only complaining of the -treatment of the lower classes or “Clay Eaters.” But somebody knew of -these barbarities and cruelties and somebody was responsible for Winder -and Wirz holding their positions, and that after a full investigation -and report upon the subject by competent men. That SOMEBODY was Jeff -Davis and his cabinet. - -The members of the Confederate Congress were aware of the treatment of -Federal prisoners and some of the members of that congress cried out -against it, in their places. But Jeff Davis ruled the South with a rod -of iron. He was the head and front, the great representative of the -doctrine of States Rights, which, interpreted by Southern Statesmen, -meant the right of a state to separate itself from the General -Government, peaceably if possible, by force of arms if need be. And yet -when Governor Brown, of Georgia, carried this doctrine to its logical -conclusion by withdrawing the Georgia troops from the Confederate -armies, to repel the invasion of Sherman and harvest a crop for the use -of his army, Davis, in public speeches, intimated that Governor Brown -was a traitor. - -President Davis and his cabinet knew of the atrocities of Winder and -Wirz, and their ilk, and connived at them by keeping the perpetrators in -place and power. Winder was a renegade Baltimorean who had received a -military education at the expense of the United States government, but -being too cowardly to accept a position in the field where his precious -carcass would be exposed to danger, he accepted from his intimate -friend, Jeff Davis, the office of Provost Marshal General, in which -position he was a scourge and a curse to the rebels themselves. Becoming -too obnoxious to the people of Richmond, Davis, at last, appointed him -Commissary General of prisoners, in which capacity he had charge of all -the Federal prisoners east of the Mississippi river. - -The antecedents of Wirz are not known. McElroy, who has investigated the -subject of Southern Prisons deeper than any man of my knowledge, has -arrived at the conclusion that he was probably a clerk in a store before -the war of the Rebellion. He arrives at his conclusion logically, for he -asserts that Wirz could count more than one hundred. - -That Davis and his cabinet knew of the terrible treatment bestowed upon -the Federal prisoners at Andersonville, we have abundant proof. The -following extract from the report of Colonel D. T. Chandler, of the -Rebel War Department, who was sent to inspect Andersonville, was copied -from “Andersonville.” The report is of date August 5th, 1864, and is as -follows: “My duty requires me respectfully to recommend a change in the -officer in command of the post, Brigadier General John H. Winder, and -the substitution in his place of some one who unites both energy and -good judgment with some feelings of humanity and consideration for the -welfare and comfort as far as is consistent with their safe keeping of -the vast number of unfortunates placed under his control; some one who, -at least, will not advocate DELIBERATELY and in cold blood, the -propriety of leaving them in their present condition until their number -is sufficiently reduced by death to make the present arrangements -suffice for their accomodation, and who will not consider it a matter of -self laudation and boasting that he has never been inside of the -stockade—a place the horrors of which it is difficult to describe, and -which is a DISGRACE TO CIVILIZATION—the condition of which he might by -the exercise of a little energy and judgment, even with the limited -means at his command, have considerably improved.” - -In his examination touching this report, Colonel Chandler says: - -“I noticed that General Winder seemed very indifferent to the welfare of -the prisoners, indisposed to do anything, or to do as much as I thought -he ought to do, to alleviate their sufferings. I remonstrated with him -as well as I could, and he used that language which I reported to the -Department with reference to it—the language stated in the report. When -I spoke of the mortality existing among the prisoners, and pointed out -to him that the sickly season was coming on, and that it must -necessarily increase unless something was done for their relief—the -swamp, for instance, drained, proper food furnished, and in better -quality, and other sanitary suggestions which I made to him—he replied -to me that he thought it was better to see half of them die than to take -care of the men.” - -This report proves two points. First that we had been living in -Andersonville during the HEALTHY season, God save the mark, and second -that Jeff Davis knew of the situation through his War Minister. But -Davis was in favor of having the prisoners receive the terrible -treatment to which they were subjected. He had, through his Commissary -General of Prisoners, made demands upon the Federal Government in the -matter of the exchange of prisoners, which no government possessing any -self respect could entertain. He demanded an exchange of prisoners in -bulk, that is, the Federal Government to give all the Confederate -prisoners it held in exchange for all the Federal prisoners the -Confederate Government held. The unfairness of such a proposition will -be readily seen when the reader is informed that at that time the -Federals held about twice as many prisoners as did the Confederates. - -The Federal proposition was to exchange man for man and rank for rank. -To this the Davis Government would not accede. Then followed the terrors -of Andersonville and Florence of which hell itself in its palmiest days -could not furnish a duplicate. - -I am well aware that I have not expressed the same opinion as other -authors, ex-prisoners, upon the subject of the complicity of the whole -people of the South in these prison horrors, but the most of these -authors wrote a short time subsequent to the close of the war, and while -their blood was still hot upon the subject; and I confess that it has -taken nearly a quarter of a century for my blood to cool sufficiently to -arrive at the conclusions I have expressed in this chapter and which I -candidly believe are correct. - -To my comrades who were prisoners let me say, our present motto is: -“FIAT JUSTITIA, RUAT COELUM.” - - - - - CHAPTER XIII. - - - GOOD BYE ANDERSONVILLE. - -As related in the preceding chapter the fall of Atlanta, and the fear of -rescue had obliged the Confederates to remove the prisoners from -Andersonville to a safer place. - -On the 11th of September the detachment to which I belonged was ordered -out. We gladly left the pen and saw the ponderous gates close behind us. -No matter to us where we went, we believed we had nothing to lose and -much to gain. If we were to be exchanged, which we doubted, then good -bye to all these terrible scenes of want and suffering. If another -prison pen was our destination, then we hoped it would not be so foul -and disease laden as the one we left, and in any case we had left Winder -and Wirz and we knew that though we were to rake the infernal regions -with a fine comb, we could not find worse jailors. With thoughts like -these running through our minds we dragged our weak and spiritless -bodies to the station, where we got into a train of freight cars as best -we could. Our train was headed toward Macon and there was much -speculation as to our destination. Somehow a rumor had got into -circulation that a cartel of exchange had been agreed upon by the -commissioners of the two governments and that Savannah was to be the -point of exchange. But we had been deceived so many times that we had -taken a deep and solemn vow to not believe anything in exchange until we -were safely transferred to our own lines; and this vow we kept -inviolate. - -Soon after passing Macon we entered the territory over which Stoneman’s -Cavalry had raided a few weeks before. Burned railroad trains and depots -marked the line of his march. At one place where our train stopped for -wood and water one of the guards was kind enough to allow some of the -men to get off the train and secure a lot of tin sheets which had -covered freight cars prior to Stoneman’s visit. These sheets of tin were -afterward made into pails and square pans by a tinner who was a member -of an Illinois regiment, with no other tools than a railroad spike and a -block of wood. - -Two brothers, members of an Indiana regiment, and coopers by trade, made -a large number of wooden buckets, or “piggins” while in Andersonville, -and their kit of tools consisted of a broken pocket knife and a table -knife, supplemented by borrowing our saw knife. With a table knife or a -railroad spike and a billet of wood, we would work up the toughest sour -gum, or knottiest pitch pine stick of wood which could be procured in -the Confederacy. Time was of no consequence, we had an overstocked -market in that commodity and anything that would serve to help rid -ourselves of the surplus was a blessing. - -Time solved the question of our destination. We went to Augusta again so -that Savannah was out of the question. Then we crossed over into South -Carolina, after which the point was raised whether it was to be Columbia -or Charleston. Many of us were of the opinion that Charleston was the -point and that we were to be placed under fire of our own guns, as many -prisoners had been heretofore, the rebels hoping thereby to deter our -forces from firing into the city. Time passed and we arrived at -Branchville. Here is the junction of the Columbia road with the Augusta -and Charleston road, we took the Charleston track and arrived in -Charleston about eleven o’clock p. m. having been two days on the road. - -After leaving the cars we were formed in line, and, as we were marching -away from the depot, a huge shell from one of Gilmore’s guns exploded in -an adjoining block. We were getting close to “God’s country,” only a -shell’s flight lying between us and the land of the Stars and Stripes. -We were marched just out of the city and camped on the old Charleston -race track. - -In the morning we were allowed to go for water, accompanied by guards. -before night all the wells in the vicinity were exhausted, and we were -obliged to resort to well digging for a supply. Fortunately we found -water at a depth of only four feet. The water was slightly brackish, but -as we had been kept on short rations of salt it was rather agreeable -than otherwise. Before dark there were more than fifty wells dug in camp -and we had water in abundance. - -Day after day brought train load after train load of prisoners from -Andersonville until there were about seven thousand prisoners in camp at -this place. There was no stockade, no fence, nothing but a living wall -of guards around us, and that living wall of infantrymen aided and -abetted by a healthy, full grown battery of artillery, that was all. - -Our rations here were of fair quality but small in quantity, consisting -of a pint of corn meal, a little sorghum syrup and a teaspoonful of salt -once in two days. Meat of any kind was not issued, from this time on it -was relegated to the historic past. The weather was pleasant, the days -not too hot and the nights not too cool. About nine o’clock a sea breeze -would spring up which felt to us, after having lived in the furnace-like -atmosphere of Andersonville, like a breeze from the garden of the Gods. -About nine o’clock in the evening a land breeze would set in and would -blow until sunrise then die away to give place to the sea breeze. I used -to sit up till midnight drinking in the delightful air and watching the -track of the great shells thrown by the “Swamp Angel” battery. Gilmore -gave Charleston no rest day nor night. The “Hot bed of Secession” got a -most unmerciful pounding. The whole of the lower part of the city was a -mass of ruins, the upper part was then receiving the attention of our -batteries on James Island. It was a grand sight at night to watch the -little streak of fire from the fuse of those three hundred pound shells -as it rose higher and higher toward the zenith and having reached the -highest point of the arc, to watch it as it sped onward and downward -until suddenly a loud explosion told that its time was expired and the -sharp fragments were hurled with an increased velocity down into the -devoted city. Sometimes a shell would not explode until it had made its -full journey and landed among the buildings or in the streets and then -havoc and destruction ensued. The most of the people lived in bomb -proofs, which protected them from the fragments of the shells which -exploded in the air, but were not proof against those which exploded -after striking. - -A little episode occurred one day that created quite a panic among both -prisoners and guards. Suddenly and without warning, a large solid shot -came rolling and tumbling through camp, from the north; this was -followed by another, and then another. This was getting serious. What -the Dickens was the matter? Where did these shots come from? were -questions that any and all of us, could and did ask, but none could -answer. But in this case, the rebel guard and officers, were in danger -as well as Yanks, and a courier was dispatched in hot haste to inquire -into the why and wherefore. It turned out that a rebel gunboat, on the -Cooper River, was practicing at a target and we were getting the benefit -of it. - -Here at Charleston we were on historic ground. Just a few miles to the -east of us Colonel Moultrie defended a palmetto fort manned by five -hundred brave and loyal South Carolinans, against the combined land and -naval forces of Sir Henry Clinton, and Sir Peter Parker, on the 28th of -June 1776, and with his twenty-six cannons compelled the fleet to -retire. There upon the palmetto bastion of old Fort Moultrie, the brave -young Sergeant Jasper supported the Stars and Stripes under a terrible -fire, and earned for himself an undying fame. Here and in this vicinity, -Moultrie, Pickens, Pinckney, Lee, Green, Lincoln and Marion earned a -reputation which will last as long as American history shall endure. -But, alas, here too, is material for a history which does not reflect -much credit on the descendants of those brave and loyal men. South -Carolina was the first State to adopt an ordinance of Secession, Nov -20th, 1860. - -Here in Charleston Harbor, on the 9th of January 1861, the descendants -of those revolutionary heroes, from the embrazures of fort Moultrie, and -Castle Pinckney, fired upon the Star of the West, a United States vessel -sent with supplies for the brave Anderson, who was cooped up within the -walls of Fort Sumter. From these same forts, on the 12th of April, was -fired the guns which compelled the surrender of Fort Sumter, and was the -beginning of hostilities in the War of the Rebellion. And all this -trouble had grown out of a political doctrine promulgated by an eminent -South Carolinan, John C. Calhoun. - -But with all their bad reputation as Secessionists, the South Carolinans -treated us with more kindness than did the citizens of any other States. -I never heard a tantalizing or insulting word given by a South Carolina -citizen or soldier to a prisoner. In the matter of low meanness, the -Georgia Crackers and Clay Eaters earned the blue ribbon. - -On the 1st of October the detachment to which I belonged, was marched to -the cars, and we were sent to Florence, one hundred miles north of -Charleston on the road to Columbia. On our route, we had passed over -ground made sacred by Revolutionary struggles. At Monk’s Corners, the -14th of April 1780, a British force defeated an American force. In the -swamps of the Santee and Pedee Rivers General Francis Marion hid his -men, and from them he made his fierce raids upon tories and British. -Marion is called a “partisan leader,” in the old histories, but I -suspect that in this year of grace, he would be called a “Bushwacker,” -or “Guerrilla” leader. It makes a good deal of difference which side men -are fighting on, about the name they are called. We arrived at the -Florence Stockade in the afternoon and were marched in and assigned our -position in the northeast corner, the entrance being on the west side. - -The Florence Stockade was about two or three miles below Florence, and -half or three-quarters of a mile east of the railroad. It was built upon -two sides of a small stream which ran through it from north to south, -was nearly square in shape, and contained ten or twelve acres of land. -It was built of rough logs set in the ground and was sixteen or eighteen -feet high. There was no such dead line as at Andersonville, a shallow -ditch marking the limits. The greatest number of prisoners confined here -during the time of my imprisonment, was eleven thousand. In some -respects our situation was better than at Andersonville. We had new -ground upon which to live. We were rid of the terrible filth and stench, -we were not so badly crowded, and we had more wood with which to cook -our food. - -The Post Commandant, Lieutenant Colonel Iverson, of the 5th Georgia, was -an easy going, but not altogether bad man, except that he was possessed -of an ungovernable temper, and when irritated, would commit acts of -which he was, no doubt, ashamed when his pulse assumed a normal -condition. Lieutenant Barrett, Adjutant of the 5th Georgia, was to -Florence what Wirz was to Andersonville. He was a red headed fiery -tempered, cruel, and vindictive specimen of the better educated class of -Southerners. It seemed to be his delight to to torture and maltreat the -prisoners. If there was a single redeeming trait in his character, the -unfortunate men who were under his care, never by any chance stumbled -onto it. His favorite punishment was to tie the offender up by the -thumbs so tightly that his toes barely touched the ground, and have him -in this condition for an hour or two at a time. The tortures of such a -punishment were indescribable. The victim would suffer the tortures of -the damned, and when let down would have to be carried to his quarters -by his comrades. - -The prisoners were organized into squads of twenty, these into companies -of a hundred, and these into detachments of a thousand. As stated before -my detachment was assigned a position in the northeast corner of the -Stockade. When we arrived there was plenty of wood, small poles, and -brush in the Stockade, and our first work after selecting our ground, -was to secure an abundant supply. - -My old “pard” Rouse, had died at Charleston, Ole Gilbert belonged to -another detachment and did not come in the same train load with me, so I -joined Joe Eaton, Wash. Hays and Roselle Hull, of my regiment, in -constructing a shelter, or house, if you please. We first set crotches -in the ground and laid a strong pole on them, then we leaned other poles -on each side against this pole in the form of a letter A. This was the -frame work of our house, which, as will be seen, consisted entirely of -roof. On this frame work we placed brush, covering the brush with -leaves, and the whole with a heavy layer of dirt. This was an -exceedingly laborious job on account of the lack of suitable tools. Our -poles were cut with a very dull hatchet and our digging done with tin -plates. After we had constructed a shelter, our next work was to wall up -the gables. This was done with clay made up into adobes. We could not -build more than a foot in a day as we were obliged to wait for our walls -to dry sufficiently to bear their own weight. We had taken great pains -to make a warm rain proof hut, as we had arrived at the conclusion that -we were destined to remain in prison until the close of the war. - -Those prisoners who arrived later were not so fortunate in the matter of -wood. The early settlers had taken possession of all of that commodity -leaving others to look out for themselves. But the later arrivals made -haste to secure poles for the purpose of erecting their tents and huts, -that is, those who had blankets to spare for roofs; but many were -compelled to dig diminutive caves in the banks which marked the boundary -of the narrow valley through which ran the little stream of water. - -Wood was procured from the immense pine forests in the vicinity. Details -of our own numbers, chopped the wood, and others carried it on their -shoulders a distance of half to three quarters of a mile, receiving as -compensation an extra ration of food. In the matter of wood Iverson was -more humane than was Winder, but in the matter of rations it was the -same old story, just enough to keep soul and body together, provided a -pint of corn meal, two spoonfuls of sorghum syrup and a half teaspoonful -of salt daily would furnish sufficient adhesive power to accomplish that -result. - -There was rather better hospital accommodations here for the sick, than -at Andersonville, but at the best it was miserably poor and -insufficient. The worst cases had been left behind, but the stockade was -soon full of men so sick as to be unable to care for themselves. The -terrible treatment at Andersonville was telling on the men after they -had changed to a more healthy location, and into less filthy -surroundings. - -Soon the fall rains set in and the cold winds, which penetrated to our -very marrow through the rags with which we were but partly covered, -warned us that winter was approaching. We tried hard to keep up our -courage amidst all these discouraging circumstances, but it was a -sickly, weakly sort of courage. Cheerful, we could not be, even the most -religiously inclined were sad and despondent. I am convinced that -cheerfulness depends and must depend on outward circumstances as well as -on an inward state of mind. Why not? We were men not angels, material -beings, not spirits; we were subject to the same appetites and passions -to which we, and others are subject, under better circumstances. -Starvation, privation, misery and torture had not purged from us the -longings, the hungerings and thirstings after the necessaries, the -conveniences, yes, the luxuries of life, but on the contrary, had -increased them ten fold. How was this to terminate? Would our Government -set aside the military policy of the Commander of the army, and take a -more humane view of the question? Would the Confederates, already driven -to extremes to furnish supplies for their own men, at length yield and -give us up, to save expense? or, must we still remain to satisfy the -insatiate greed of the Moloch of war? were questions we could and did -ask ourselves and each other, but there was found no man so wise as to -be able to answer them. Time, swift-footed and fleeting, to the -fortunate, but laggard, and slow, to us, could alone solve these -questions, and after hours of discussion, to Time we referred them. - - - - - CHAPTER XIV. - - - NAKED AND COLD AND HUNGRY.—SHERMAN. - - “‘Sherman’s dashing Yankee boys will never reach the coast!’ - So the saucy rebels said, and ’twas a handsome boast, - Had they not forgot alas! to reckon with the host, - While we were marching through Georgia. - So we made a thoroughfare for Freedom and her train, - Sixty miles in latitude three hundred to the main; - Treason fled before us, for resistance was in vain, - While we were marching through Georgia.” - -During the Summer, and up to the last of October, the condition of our -clothing had been more a matter of indecency than of actual sufferings. -But when the fall rains set in and the cold winds began to blow, then we -felt the need of good clothing. About this time a very limited supply of -clothing was issued to the more destitute. This was some of the clothing -which the United States Government furnished for the benefit of the -prisoners, but which was of more benefit to the rebels than to us. It is -very clear that our Government was a victim of misplaced confidence in -sending supplies of food and clothing through the rebel lines for our -benefit. These supplies were mostly used by the rebels for their own -benefit, and our Government aided the rebellion by that much. - -My clothing was old when I was taken prisoner, having been worn through -the Chickamauga campaign, and while I was in the hospital at Danville -some one had, without my consent, traded me worse clothing, so that by -this time I was a spectacle for men perhaps, but hardly for angels and -women. Shirt, I had none, my coat was out at the elbows and was minus -buttons, my pants were worn to shreds, fore and aft, and looked like -bifurcated dish rags. My drawers had been burned at Andersonville with -their rich burden of lice, while my shoes looked like the breaking up of -a hard winter, and yet I was too much of a dude to get clothes from -Barrett. How the cold winds did play hide and seek through my rags; how -my skeleton frame did shiver, and my scurvy loosened teeth rattle and -clatter, as “gust followed gust more furiously” through the tattered -remains of what was once a splendid uniform. Evidently something had got -to be done or I should, like a ship in a storm, be scudding around with -bare poles. My first remedy was patching. With all my varied and useful -accomplishments, I had become quite expert with a needle, (a small sized -darning needle) and I felt perfectly competent to fix up my -unmentionables, provided I could find patches and thread. I was in the -condition of the Irishman who wanted to “borry tobaccy and a pipe, I -have a match of me own, sorr,” but those to whom I applied for patches -and thread, were like an Irishman of my company by the name of Mike -Callahan. I went to him one day as he sat smoking his “dhudeen.” Said I, -“Mike, can you give me a chew of tobacco?” “I cannot sorr,” puff-puff “I -don’t use it myself.” “Well have you got any smoking tobacco?” said I. -“I have sorr,” puff—puff—puff—“joost phat will do meself,” was his -reply. After looking around for a time, I found an old oil cloth -knapsack which I cut up into appropriate patches. Ole Gilbert had a -piece of home-made cotton cloth, this we raveled and used for thread -with which to patch my pants. This shift answered to keep out the wind, -but when I sat down, Oh my! it seemed like sitting on an iceberg and -holding the North Pole in my lap. - -After the prisoners had all arrived at Florence, I changed my quarters -to those of five comrades of my own company, Gilbert, Berk, Gaffney, -Webster and Best. We had very fair quarters and were provided with two -blankets for the six. One day as we were talking over the subject of -exchange, we all came to the conclusion that we were in for it during -the war, and I was instructed to write to the Wisconsin Sanitary -Commission for clothing and other supplies. The letter was duly received -and was published in the Milwaukee Sentinel. The following is a copy of -the letter: - - “Florence, S. C., Oct. 8th, 1864. - - Secretary of Wis. State Sanitary Commission. - - Sir:—There are six members of the 10th Wis. Infantry here together, - who were captured at the battle of Chickamauga. We are destitute of - clothing, and as defenders of our country, we apply to you for aid, - hoping you will be prompt in relieving, in a measure, our necessities. - Please send us a box containing blankets, underclothing, shirts and - socks in particular, and we stand very much in need of shoes; but I - don’t know as they are in your line of business. - - “We would also like stationery, combs, knives, forks, spoons, tin - cups, plates and a small sized camp kettle, as our rations are issued - to us raw; also thread and needles. We all have the scurvy more or - less and I think dried fruit would help us very much by the acid it - contains,—you cannot send us medicine as that is contraband. We would - like some tobacco and reading matter. If there is anything more that - you can send, it will be very acceptable. - - “We should not apply to you were we not compelled, and did we not know - that you are the destitute soldiers’ friend. You will please receive - this in the same spirit in which it is sent, and answer accordingly, - and you will have the satisfaction of feeling that you have done - something to relieve the wants of those who went out at the - commencement of the war, to vindicate the rights of our country. - - Direct to Wm. W. Day and Joseph Eaton, prisoners of war, Florence, S. - C., via. Flag of Truce, Hilton Head. - - Yours, &c., - - WM. W. DAY. - - P. S. I forgot to mention soap—a very essential article.” - -At the same time I wrote to my wife in Wisconsin and to my brother in -New York, for a box but instructed them that if there was any prospect -of an immediate exchange, they were not to send them. I believe some of -the other boys sent home for boxes also. We knew that the chances were -very much against our ever seeing the boxes if sent, as we knew that -many boxes sent to Andersonville were kept and their contents used by -the rebel guards, yet I hoped that out of the three I might possibly get -one. When the letters sent to my wife and brother reached their -destination, they commenced the preparation of boxes, but before they -were complete news of exchange reached them and the boxes were not sent. -But during the spring of 1865, after I had settled in Minnesota, and -after the capture of Richmond, I received a letter from the General in -command of our forces, at that place, informing me that there was a box -there directed to me and asking for instructions as to its disposal. I -replied to him that it was a box sent to me by the Wisconsin Sanitary -Commission, and was intended for me as a soldier, that I was now a -civilian, and had no claim on it, and directed him to turn it over to -the hospital. - -Right here I wish to express my appreciation of the Sanitary Commission. -In all the loyal States they did a grand work of mercy and charity, ably -seconding the efforts of the Government in caring for sick and destitute -soldiers. In fact they performed a work which the Government could not -perform. They furnished lint and bandages, canned and dried fruits, -vegetables and luxuries of all descriptions for the wounded and sick -soldiers, thus giving them to feel that in all their hardships and -sufferings they were not forgotton by the kind loyal women of the North, -God bless them. It was the ladies of the Sanitary Commission of -Milwaukee who established the first Soldiers’ Home, on West Water -street, and which has grown into the National Soldiers’ Home near that -city. They were ably seconded by the Christian Commission, which sent -not only supplies but men and women to the field of war, to distribute -supplies and act in the capacity of nurses in the hospitals. The wife of -the Hon. John F. Potter, of the 1st Congressional District, of -Wisconsin, worked in the hospitals at Washington until she contracted a -fever and died, as much a martyr for her country as any soldier upon the -field of battle. Governor Harvey, of Wisconsin, lost his life at -Pittsburg Landing, where he had gone to aid the wounded soldiers. His -wife took up the work, thus rudely broken by her husband’s death, and -carried it on until peace came like a benison upon the land. - -All over the North, loyal men and women gave of their time and money for -the relief of their Nation’s defenders, and to-day deserve, and receive, -the thanks of the “boys who wore the blue.” - -Sometime in the month of November, a rumor was circulated that an -exchange had been agreed upon, between the two Governments, and that -Savannah was the point agreed upon for the exchange. But while we were -hopeful that this might be true, we were doubtful. That story had been -told so many times that it had become thin and gauzy from wear. In a few -days, however, a lot of prisoners came in who reported that an exchange -of sick had actually been in progress, but that the near approach of -Sherman’s army had discontinued it, until another point could be agreed -upon. - -Here was news with a vengeance. We had been told that Sherman would be -annihilated, that he could never reach the coast, and here came the news -that his army was not only all right, but was almost to the coast. And -further that our Government was still making efforts for our relief. -“Hope springs eternal in the human breast,” and here for the first time, -we had reasonable grounds for hope. - -On the 25th of September General Hood had got into General Sherman’s -rear and started north. But Sherman had anticipated just such a move and -had provided for it by sending one division to Chattanooga, and another -division to Rome, Ga. On the 29th Sherman sent Thomas back to -Chattanooga and afterward to Nashville. - -General Sherman then divided his army into two wings. The right wing in -command of General O. O. Howard, and the left wing in command of General -Slocum. Hood had started out to return a Roland for an Oliver. Forrest -was operating in Tennessee and Kentucky, and menacing the States north -of the Ohio river. Hood’s plan was to join him and while Sherman was -living upon short commons in Georgia, his army would be reveling in the -rich spoils of Northern States. The idea was a good one, the point was -to carry it out. - -On the fifth of October Hood destroyed a considerable length of railroad -north of Atlanta. Sherman, from a high point, saw the railroad burning -for miles. At Alatoona General Corse had a small force, among his troops -was the 4th Minnesota, which earned a record, in the defense of that -mountain pass which will go down to the ages yet to come, in the history -of the war. From the heights of Kenesaw, Sherman’s signal officer read a -dispatch, signaled from a hole in the block-house at Alatoona; “I am -short a cheek bone and part of an ear, but we can whip all hell yet. - - CORSE, - Com’d’g.” - -Tradition says that Sherman signaled “hold the fort, I am coming,” but I -believe Sherman denies this. At any rate, the fact that Corse did hold -the fort, and that he knew from the signal corps on Kenesaw that Sherman -was coming to his aid, gave rise to the thoughts that inspired the -writer of the little poem, “Hold the fort, for I am coming.” - -Sherman strengthened Thomas by sending Stanley with the 4th corps and -ordering Schofield with the Army of the Ohio to report to him. On the 2d -of November General Grant approved Sherman’s plan of the campaign to the -sea, and on the 10th he started back to Atlanta. The real march to the -sea commenced on the 15th. Howard with the right wing and cavalry, went -to Jonesboro and Milledgeville, then the capital of Georgia. Slocum with -the left wing went to Stone Mountain to threaten Augusta. - -The people of the South became frantic when they found Sherman had cut -loose. They could not divine his movements. He threatened one point and -when the enemy had been drawn thither for its protection, he threatened -another point. Frantic appeals were made for the people to turn out and -drive the invader from the soil. They took the cadets from the Military -College and added them to the ranks of the Militia. They went so far as -to liberate the convicts from the State Prison, on promise that they -would join the army. But Sherman moved along leisurely, at the rate of -fifteen miles a day, burning railroad bridges and destroying miles upon -miles of track. The Southern papers, from which we had received the news -at Florence, pictured the army as in a most deplorable condition. Saying -the army was all broken up and disorganized, and was each man for -himself, making his way to the sea coast to seek the protection of the -navy. Some of these papers reached the North and the news was copied -into the Northern papers and spread like wildfire, creating a great deal -of uneasiness in the minds of those who had friends in that army. - -General Grant, in his Memoirs, speaking of this matter, says: “Mr. -Lincoln seeing these accounts, had a letter written asking me if I could -give him anything that he could say to the loyal people that would -comfort them. I told him there was not the slightest occasion for alarm; -that with 60,000 such men as Sherman had with him, such a commanding -officer as he, could not be cut off in the open country. He might -possibly be prevented from reaching the point he had started out to -reach, but he would get through somewhere and would finally get to his -chosen destination; and even if worst came to worst he could return -north. I heard afterwards of Mr. Lincoln’s saying to those who would -inquire of him as to what he thought about the safety of Sherman’s army, -that Sherman was all right; ‘Grant says they are safe with such a -General, and that if they cannot get out where they want to they can -crawl back by the hole they went in at.’” - -The right and left wings were to meet at Millen with the hope of -liberating the prisoners at that place, but they failed, the prisoners -having been previously removed, but Wheeler’s Rebel cavalry had a pretty -severe engagement with the Union cavalry at that place which resulted in -Wheeler’s being driven toward Augusta, thus convincing the people that -Augusta was the objective point. The army reached Savannah on the 9th of -December, and on the 10th the siege of that place commenced. On the -night of the 21st the rebels evacuated the city and it fell into -Sherman’s hands. - -The whole march had been a pleasure excursion, when compared with the -Atlanta campaign. The rebels could never muster a sufficient force of a -quality to retard the march of the army. All their boasting of -annihilation was simply wind. The fact was they were completely -nonplussed, they did not know where he intended to go until he was -within striking distance of Savannah. Every morning a squad of men from -each command started out under command of an officer, and at night -returned with wagons loaded with the best in the land. Hams, hogs, -beeves, turkeys and chickens, sweet potatoes, corn meal and flour, rice -and honey were gathered for food, and the bummers usually captured teams -to haul the provisions in with. - -My friend O. S. Crandall, of the 4th Minnesota, who was on this march, -tells a joke on himself which I will repeat. A brother bummer by the -name of Ben Sayers, had made a discovery of some honey while the two -were on a picket post. Sayers told Crandall that if he would stand guard -in his place he would fill his canteen with honey. To this Crandall -agreed and when the relief came around told the officer of the guard -that he would stand Sayers’ relief. Sayers filled his canteen full of -honey as agreed and all was lovely; honey on hard-tack, honey on dough -gods, honey on flapjacks, was in Oscar’s dreams that night as he lay -peacefully sleeping beneath the bright moon in southern Georgia. But the -next day the sun came out hot and the honey granulated and would not -come out. Oscar had evidently got a white elephant on his hands; that -honey could not be persuaded to come out, and he was choking with -thirst. Seeing a comrade with a canteen he thus accosted him: “Say pard, -give me a drink.” - -Tother Feller.—“Why don’t you drink out of your own canteen?” - -Oscar.—“I can’t. I’ve got it full of honey and it’s candied.” - -T. F.—“Why, you poor, miserable, innocent, blankety blanked fool, if you -don’t know any better than that you may go thirsty. I won’t give you any -water.” - -Oscar.—“Say pard, how will you trade canteens?” - -T. F.—“Even.” - -Oscar.—“It’s a whack.” - -And Oscar never got his canteen filled with honey again during the -remainder of the war. - - - - - CHAPTER XV. - - - VALE DIXIE. - - “Breathes there a man with soul so dead, - Who never to himself hath said, - This is my own, my native land! - Whose heart hath ne’er within him burned, - As home his footsteps he hath turned, - From wandering on a foreign strand! - If such there breathe, go, mark him well; - For him no Minstrel rapture swell; - High though his titles, proud his name, - Boundless his wealth as wish can claim; - Despite those titles, power and pelf, - The wretch, concentrated all in self, - Living, shall forfeit all renown, - And, doubly dying, shall go down - To the vile dust, from whence he sprung, - Unwept, unhonored and unsung.” - The Lay of the last Minstrel. - Scott. - -During the time of our stay at Charleston, the rebel officers had made -great efforts to induce the prisoners to take the oath of allegiance to -the Confederacy, promising good treatment, good pay, good clothing, a -large bounty and service in a bomb proof position in return. If men had -stopped to think, these promises carried with them abundant proof of -their own falsity. Where was the evidence of good treatment, judging of -the future by the past? What did good pay and large bounties amount to -when it took two hundred dollars of that good pay and large bounty to -buy a pair of boots? And the good clothing, yes they could clothe them -with the uniforms stripped from their dead comrades upon the battlefield -or stolen from the supplies sent to the prisoners. - -But, lured by these specious promises, about a hundred and twenty-five -prisoners went out one day and, as we supposed, took the oath. They were -marched away cityward in the morning, but before night they returned. We -saluted them on their return with groans and hisses and curses. They -reported that they were to be sent to James Island to throw up -earth-works in front of the rebel lines. This they refused to do, and -they were returned to prison. - -At Florence another effort was made to recruit men. The rebels wanted -foreigners for the army, and artisans of all kinds particularly -blacksmiths, shoemakers, carpenters and machinists for their shops. Many -of our artisans went out thinking they would get a chance to work for -food and clothing by simply giving their parole of honor they would not -attempt to escape. But the rebs insisted that they must take the oath of -allegiance. A few took the required oath, but most of the boys returned -to prison, and most heartily anathematized the men who had the impudence -and presumption to suppose that they would be guilty of taking the oath -of allegiance to such a rotten, hell-born thing as the Southern -Confederacy. - -There was a great deal of discussion among the prisoners at the time -about the question of the moral right of a man to take the oath of -allegiance to save his life. It was argued on one side that our -government had left us to rot like dogs, to shift for ourselves and that -as winter was coming on and there was no prospect of exchange, a man had -a perfect right to take the oath and save his life. On the other side it -was argued that we had taken a solemn oath to support the government of -the United States and not to give aid or comfort to any of its enemies; -that war was hard at best, and that when we took the oath we knew that -imprisonment was a probability just as much as a battle was a -probability; that we had just as much right to refuse to fight and to -turn traitor upon the battle field as we had in prison. - -For my own part life was dear to me but it was dear on account of my -friends; and supposing I should take the oath and save my life; the war -would soon be over and when peace came and all my comrades had returned -to their homes, where would my place be? Could I ever return to my -friends with the brand of traitor upon me? Never. I would die, if die I -must; but die true to the flag I loved and honored, and for which I had -suffered so long. Right here we adopted the prisoners’ motto, “Death, -but not dishonor.” - -Soon after changing my quarters I succeeded in securing a position on -the police force. Another of my tent mates was equally fortunate, so we -had a little extra food in our tent. My health had been slowly improving -ever since I left Andersonville, and with returning health came a -growing appetite. We resorted to all sorts of expedients to increase the -supplies of our commissariat. Ole Gilbert was a natural mechanic and he -made spoons from some of the tin which he had procured near Macon; these -were traded for food or sold for cash, and food purchased with the -money. One day he traded three spoons for a pocket knife with an ivory -faced handle. The ivory had been broken but I fished the remains of an -old ivory fine comb out of my pockets and he repaired the handle of the -knife with it. We sent it outside by one of the boys who had a job of -grave digging, and who sold it for ten dollars, Confederate money. With -this money we bought a bushel of sweet potatoes of the sutler at the -gate, and then we resolved to fill up once more before we died. We baked -each of us two large corn “flap jacks” eight inches across and half an -inch thick. We then boiled a six quart pail full of sweet potatoes and -after that made the pail full of coffee out of the bran sifted from our -meal, and then scorched. This was equal to three quarts of food and -drink to each one of us, but it only stopped the chinks. - -I then proposed to double the dose which we did, eating and drinking six -quarts each within two hours. Of course it did not burst us but it -started the hoops pretty badly, and yet we were hungry after that. It -seemed impossible to hold enough to satisfy our hunger; every nerve, and -fiber and tissue in our whole system from head to foot, was crying out -for food, and our stomachs would not hold enough to supply the demand, -and it took months of time and untold quantities of food to get our -systems back to normal condition. - -There are many ex-prisoners who claim that Florence was a worse prison -than Andersonville. I did not think so at the time I was there, but -those who remained there during the winter no doubt suffered more than -they did at Andersonville, on account of the cold weather; but at the -best it was a terrible place, worthy to be credited to the hellish -designs of Jeff Davis and Winder, aided by the fiend Barrett. At one -time Barrett, with some recruiting officers, came into prison -accompanied by a little dog. Some of the prisoners, it is supposed, -beguiled the dog away and killed him; for this act Barrett deprived the -whole of the prisoners of their rations for two days and a half. - -About the 4th of December some surgeons came in and selected a thousand -men from the worst cases which were not in the hospital. It was said -they were to be sent through our lines on parole. Then commenced an -earnest discussion upon the situation. My comrades and I thought we were -getting too strong to pass muster. How we wished we had not improved so -much since leaving Andersonville. We were getting so fat we would -actually make a shadow, that is if we kept our clothes buttoned up. -After considering the question pro and con we came to the conclusion -that we had better not build up any hopes at present. If we were so -lucky as to get away, all right. If not we would have no shattered hopes -to mourn over. - -On the 6th another thousand was selected and sent away. This looked like -business; this was no camp rumor started by nobody knew who, but here -were surgeons actually selecting feeble men and sending them through the -gates, and they did not return. - -The 8th came and in the afternoon the 9th thousand was called up for -inspection. I went out to the dead line where the inspection was going -on to see what my chances probably were. The surgeons were sending out -about every third or fourth man. The 9th and 10th thousand were -inspected and then came the 11th, to which I belonged. I went to my tent -and told the boys I was going to try my chances, “but,” I added, “keep -supper waiting.” I took my haversack with me, leaving my blanket, which -had fallen to me as heir of Rouse, and went to the dead line and fell in -with my hundred, the 8th. After waiting impatiently for a while I told -Harry Lowell, the Sergeant of my hundred, that I was going down the line -to see what our chances were. It was getting almost dark, the surgeons -were getting in a hurry to complete their task and were taking every -other man. I went back and told Harry I was going out, I felt it in my -bones. This was the first time I had entertained a good healthy, well -developed hope, since I arrived in Richmond, more than a year previous. - -The 6th hundred was called, then the 7th and at last the 8th. We marched -down to our allotted position with limbs trembling with excitement. That -surgeon standing there so unconcernedly, held my fate in his hands. He -was soon to say the word that would restore me to “God’s Country,” to -home and friends, or send me back to weary months of imprisonment. - -My turn came. “What ails you?” the surgeon asked. - -“I have had diarrhea and scurvy for eight months,” was my reply, and I -pulled up the legs of my pants to show him my limbs, which were almost -as black as a stove. He passed his hands over the emaciated remains of -what had once been my arms and asked, “When is your time of service -out?” “It was out the 10th of last October,” said I. - -“You can go out.” - -That surgeon was a stranger to me. I never saw him before that day nor -have I seen him since, but upon the tablet of my memory I have written -him down as FRIEND. - -I did not wait for a second permission but started for the gate. - -Just as I was going out some of my comrades saw me and shouted, “Bully -for you Bill; you’re a lucky boy!” and I believed I was. After passing -outside I went to a tent where two or three clerks were busy upon rolls -and signed the parole. Before I left Harry Lowell joined me and together -we went into camp where rations of flour were issued to us. After dark -Harry and I stole past the guard and went down to the gravediggers’ -quarters where we were provided with a supper of rice, sweet potatoes -and biscuits. I have no doubt that to-day I should turn up my nose at -the cooking of that dish, for the sweet potatoes and rice were stewed -and baked together, but I did not then. After supper John Burk baked our -flour into biscuits, using cob ashes in the place of soda; after which -we stole back into camp. - -Not a wink of sleep did we get that night. We had eaten too much supper -for one thing, and besides our prison day seemed to be almost ended. We -were marched to the railroad next morning, but the wind was blowing so -hard that we were not sent away, as the vessels could not run in the -harbor at Charleston. - -Just before night a ration of corn meal was issued to us and I have that -ration yet. About ten o’clock that night we were ordered on board the -cars and away we went to Charleston, where we arrived soon after -daylight. We debarked from the cars and were marched into a vacant -warehouse on the dock, where we remained until two o’clock p. m. when we -were marched on board a ferry boat. The bells jingled, the wheels began -to revolve and churn up the water and we are speeding down the harbor. -All seems lovely as a June morning, when lo, we are ordered to heave to -and tie up to the dock. We were marched off from the boat and up a -street. It looked as though the Charleston jail was our destination, -instead of that long wished for God’s Country. - -It seemed that the last train load had not been delivered on account of -the high winds, and that we were to wait our turn. But we were soon -countermarched to the boat and this time we left Charleston for good and -all. - -My thoughts were busy as our boat was steadily plowing her way down the -harbor to the New York, our exchange commissioner’s Flag Ship, which lay -at anchor about a mile outside of Fort Sumter. To my left and rear Fort -Moultrie and Castle Pinkney stood in grim silence. Away to the front and -left, upon that low, sandy beach, are some innocent looking mounds, but -those mounds are the celebrated “Battery Bee” on Sullivans Island. To my -right are the ruins of the lower part of Charleston. Away out to the -front and right stands Fort Sumter in “dim and lone magnificence.” To -the right of Fort Sumter is Morris Island and still farther out to sea -is James Island. What a scene to one who has had a deep interest in the -history of his country from the time of its organization up to and -including the war of the rebellion. Here the revolutionary fathers stood -by their guns to maintain the independence of the Colonies. Here their -descendants had fired the first gun in a rebellion inaugurated to -destroy the Union established by the valor, and sealed with the blood of -their sires. Misguided, traitorous sons of brave, loyal fathers. Such -thoughts as these passed through my mind as we steamed down the harbor -to the New York, but it never occurred to me that the waters through -which our boat was picking her way, was filled with deadly torpedoes, -and that the least deviation from the right course would bring her in -contact with one of these devilish engines and we would be blown out of -water. - -But look! what is that which is floating so proudly in the breeze at the -peak of that vessel? - - “’Tis the Star Spangled Banner, oh! long may it wave, - O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.” - -Yes it is the old Stars and Stripes, and just underneath them on the -deck of that vessel is “GOD’S COUNTRY,” that we have dreamed of and -wished for so many long weary months. - -My friends, do you wonder that the tears ran unbidden down our wan and -ghastly cheeks? That with our weak lungs and feeble voices we tried to -send a welcome of cheers and a tiger to that dear old flag? It was not a -loud, strong cheer, such as strong men send up in the hour of victory -and triumph; no the rebels had done their work too well for that, but it -was from away down in the bottom of our hearts, and from the same depths -came an unuttered thanks-giving to the Great Being who had preserved our -lives to behold this glorious sight. - -Our vessel steamed up along side the New York and made fast. A gang -plank was laid to connect the two vessels, and at 4 o’clock, December -10th, 1864, I stepped under the protection of our flag and bade a long -and glad farewell to Dixie. - -After we had been delivered on board the New York we were registered by -name, company and regiment, and then a new uniform was given us and -then—can it be possible, a whole plate full of pork and hard-tack, and a -quart cup of coffee. And all this luxury for one man! Surely our stomach -will be surprised at such princely treatment. After receiving our supper -and clothing we were sent on board another vessel, a receiving ship, -which was lashed to the New York. Here we sat down on our bundle of -clothes and ate our supper. If I was to undertake to tell how good that -greasy boiled pork and that dry hard-tack and that muddy black coffee -tasted, I am afraid my readers would laugh, but try it yourself and see -where the laugh comes in. After supper we exchanged our dirty, lousy -rags for the new, clean, soft uniform donated to us by Uncle Sam. - -This was Saturday night. Monday morning we are on the good ship United -States as she turns her prow out of Charleston harbor. We pass out over -the bars and we are upon the broad Atlantic. Wednesday morning about 4 -o’clock we heave to under the guns of the Rip Raps, at the entrance of -Chespeake Bay, and reported to the commandant. The vessel is pronounced -all right, and away we go up the bay. We reach Annapolis at 10 p. m. and -are marched to Cottage Grove Barracks. Here we get a good bath, well -rubbed in by a muscular fellow, detailed for the purpose. I began to -think he would take the grime and dirt off from me if he had to take the -cuticle with it. We exchanged clothing here and were then marched to -Camp Parole, four miles from Annapolis. Here we were paid one month’s -pay together with the commutation money for clothing and rations which -we had not drawn during the period of our imprisonment. On the 24th I -received a furlough and started for the home of my brother in western -New York, where I arrived on the 26th, and here ends my story. - - - CONCLUSION. - -Of all the men who had charge of of prisoners and who are responsible -for their barbarous treatment, only one was ever brought to punishment. -“Majah” Ross was burned in a hotel at Lynchburg, Va., in the spring of -1866. General Winder dropped dead while entering his tent at Florence, -S. C., on the 1st of January, 1865. - -“Majah” Dick Turner, Lieutenant Colonel Iverson and Lieutenant Barret -have passed into obscurity, while Wirz was hanged for his crimes. That -Wirz richly deserved his fate, no man who knows the full extent of his -barbarities, has any doubt, and yet it seems hard that the vengeance of -our Government should have been visited upon him alone. The quality of -his guilt was not much different from that of many of prison commandants -but the fact that he had a greater number of men under his charge -brought him more into notice. Why should Wirz, the tool, be punished -more severely than Jeff Davis and Howell Cobb? They were responsible, -and yet Wirz hung while they went scot free. - -I have frequently noticed that if a man wanted to escape punishment for -murder he must needs be a wholesale murderer, your retail fellows fare -hard when they get into the clutches of the law. If a man steals a sack -of flour to keep his family from starvation, he goes to jail; but if he -robs a bank of thousands of dollars in money and spends it in riotous -living, or in an aggressive war against what is known as the “Tiger,” -whether that Tiger reclines upon the green cloth, or roams at will among -the members of Boards of Trade or Stock Exchange, or is denominated a -“Bull” or a “Bear” in the wheat ring, why he simply goes to Canada. - -Surely Justice is appropriately represented as being blindfolded, and I -would suggest that she be represented as carrying an ear trumpet, for if -she is not both blind and deaf she must be extremely partial. - -Reader, if I have succeeded in amusing or instructing you, I have partly -accomplished my purpose in writing this story. Partly I say, for I have -still another object in view. - -The description I have given of the prisons in which I was confined is -but a poor picture of the actual condition of things. It is impossible -for the most talented writer to give an adequate description. But I have -told the truth as best I could. I defy any man to disprove one material -statement, and I fall back upon the testimony of the rebels themselves, -to prove that I have not exaggerated. These men suffered in those -prisons through no fault of their own. The fortunes of war threw them -into the hands of their enemies, and they were treated as no civilized -nation ever treated prisoners before. They were left by their Government -to suffer because that Government believed they would best subserve its -interests by remaining there, rather than to agree to such terms as the -enemy insisted upon. - -General Grant said that one of us was keeping two fat rebels out of the -field. Now if this is true why are not the ex-prisoners recognized by -proper legislation? All other classes of men who went to the war and -many men and women who did not go, are recognized and I believe that -justice demands the recognition of the ex-prisoners. I make no special -plea in my own behalf. I suffered no more than any other of the -thousands who were with me, and not as much as some, but I make the plea -in behalf of my comrades who I know suffered untold miseries for the -cause of the Union, and yet who amidst all this suffering and privation, -spurned with contempt the offers made by the enemy of food, clothing and -life itself almost, at the cost of loyalty. Their motto then was, “Death -but not dishonor.” But their motto now is, “Fiat justicia, ruat coelum.” -Let justice be done though the heavens fall. - -Since writing a description of the prison life in Andersonville, I came -across the following account of a late visit to the old pen, by a member -of the 2d Ohio, of my brigade. It is copied from the National Tribune, -and I take the liberty to use it to show the readers of these articles -how much the place has changed in twenty-five years. - - THE AUTHOR. - - ANDERSONVILLE, GA. - - The Celebrated Prison and Cemetery Revisited. - - EDITOR NATIONAL TRIBUNE: - - Having recently made a trip to Andersonville, Ga., I thought a brief - discription of the old prison and cemetery might be of interest to the - readers of your paper. I left the land of ice, sleet and snow March - 26, 1888, taking Pullman car over Monon route via Louisville and - Nashville, arriving at Bowling Green, Ky., 100 miles south of - Louisville, at noon on March 27. Peach trees were in bloom and wild - flowers were to be seen along the route. Nearing Nashville we passed - through the National Cemetery. The grounds are laid out nicely and - neatly kept and looked quite beautiful as we passed swiftly by. - Leaving Nashville, I called a halt, took a brief look over the once - bloody battlefield of Stone River. I then passed through Murfreesboro - and Tullahoma. At Cowen’s Station I stopped for supper. This is the - place where the dog leg-of mutton soup was dished up in 1863. - - At Chattanooga I visited Lookout Mountain; then went to the graves of - my comrades, the Mitchel raiders, that captured the locomotive and - were hanged at Atlanta. The graves are in a circle in the National - Cemetery. For the information of their friends I will give the number - of their graves as marked on headstones: - - J. J. Andrews. 12992. Citizen of Kentucky. - - William Campbell. 11,180. Citizen of Kentucky. - - Samuel Slaven. 11176. Co. G, 33d Ohio. - - S. Robinson. 11177. Co. G, 33d Ohio. - - G. D. Wilson. 11178. Co. B, 2d Ohio. - - Marion Ross. 11179. Co. A, 2d Ohio. - - Perry G. Shadrack. 11181. Co. K, 2d Ohio. - - John Scott. 11182. Co. K, 21st Ohio. - - Leaving here, I passed over a continuous battle field to Atlanta. - Official records show that from Chattanooga to Atlanta, inclusive, - more than 85,000 men were killed and wounded and more than 30,000 - captured from Sept. 15, 1863, to Sept. 15, 1864. Arriving at - Andersonville, I found the same depot agent in charge that was here in - war times. His name is M. P. Suber; he is 76 years old, and has been - agent here 31 years. Geo. Disher, who was a conductor, and handled the - prisoners to and from the stockade, is still connected with the road. - I arrived at 2 o’clock, and after eating my first square meal in this - place (although I had been a boarder here 12 months), I started out to - hunt up my old stamping-ground. The stockade is about half a mile east - of depot. Here it was the 40,000 Northern soldiers were confined like - cattle in a pen. This prison was used from February, 1864, to April - 1865—14 months. - - The stockade was formed of strong pine logs, firmly planted in the - ground and about 20 feet high. The main stockade was surrounded by two - other rows of logs, the middle one 16 feet high, the outer one 12 - feet. It was so arranged that if the inner stockade was forced by the - prisoners, the second would form another line of defense, inclosing 27 - acres. The great stockade has almost entirely disappeared. It is only - here and there that a post or little group of posts are to be seen. - These have not all rotted away, but have been split into rails to - fence the grounds. The ground is owned by G. W. Kennedy, a colored - man. Only a small portion of the ground can be farmed. The swamp, in - which a man would sink to his waist, still occupies considerable - space. In crossing the little brackish stream I knelt down and took a - drink, without skimming off the graybacks, as of old. Passing on, not - far from the north gate I came to Providence Spring, that broke forth - on the 12th or 13th of August, 1864. The spring is surrounded by a - neat wood curbing, with a small opening on the lower side, through - which the water constantly flows. Not the slightest trace is left of - the dead-line. - - The holes which the prisoners dug with spoons and tin cups for water - and to shelter from sun and rain are still to be seen, almost as - perfect as when dug. Also the tunnels that were made with a view to - escape are plain to be seen. Relics of prison life are still being - found—bits of pots, kettles, spoons, canteen-covers, and the like. I - had no trouble in locating my headquarters on the north slope. You can - imagine my feelings as I walked this ground over again after 24 years, - thinking of the suffering and sorrow of those dark days. Visions of - those living skeletons would come up before me with their haggard, - distressed countenances, and will follow me through life. - - A half mile from the prison-pen is the cemetery. Here are buried the - 13,714 that died a wretched death from starvation and disease. The - appearance of the cemetery has been entirely changed since war days. - Then it was an old field. The trenches for the dead were dug about - seven feet wide and 100 yards long. No coffins were used. The twisted, - emaciated forms of the dead prisoners were laid side by side, at the - head of each was driven a little stake on which was marked a number - corresponding with the number of the body on the death register. The - register was kept by one of the prisoners, and 12,793 names are - registered, with State, regiment, company, rank, date of death and - number of grave. Only 921 graves lack identification. I found 35 of my - regiment numbered, and quite a number whom I knew had died there lie - with the unknown. The head boards have been taken away, and - substantial white marble slabs have been erected in their places. The - stones are of two kinds. For the identified soldiers the stones are - flat, polished slabs, three feet long, (one-half being under ground), - four inches thick and 12 inches wide. On the stone is a raised shield, - and on this is recorded the name, rank, state and number. For the - unknown the stone is four inches square and projects only five inches - above the ground. The rows of graves are about 10 or 12 feet apart. - There are a few stones that have been furnished by the family or - friends of the dead. Aside from the few, so many stones alike are - symbolic of a similar cause and an equal fate. The cemetery covers 25 - acres, inclosed by a brick wall five feet high. The main entrance is - in the center of the west side. In the center of a diamond-shaped plot - rises a flagstaff, where the Stars and Stripes are floating from - sunrise to sunset. The cemetery presents a beautiful appearance. The - grounds are nicely laid out and neatly kept, under the supervision of - J. M. Bryant, who lives in a nice brick cottage inside the grounds. - - I will close by quoting one inscription from a stone erected by a - sister to the memory of a brother. - - “They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the - sun light on them, nor any heat. - - “For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and - shall lead them unto living fountains of water; and God shall wipe - away all tears from their eyes.” - - —Rev., VII: 16, 17. - -The writer of the above article was a prisoner of war over 19 months, -was captured at the battle of Chickamauga Sept. 20, 1863; delivered to -the Union lines April, 1865, and was aboard the ill-fated steamer -Sultana. - -Would like to know if any comrade living was imprisoned this long.—A. C. -BROWN, Co. I, 2d Ohio, Albert Lea, Minn. - - -[Illustration: American Flag] - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - Transcriber’s Notes - - - Printed Corrected Page - PRINCIPLE PRINCIPLE. iii of a PRINCIPLE. - Tennesse Tennessee 2 from the Tennessee - or of 2 the command of Gen. - evacution evacuation 2 evacuation of that - Aid Aide 2 an Aide came dashing - throught through 2 went through brush - and and which had 3 which had knocked the - the the the 4 Starkweather’s on the - side side, 5 canteen by his side, - discription description 8 reader a description - heterogenous heterogeneous 8 in a heterogeneous - sorgum sorghum 10 gallon of sorghum - heavey heavy 10 wheezing like a heavy - Appomatox Appomattox 11 across the Appomattox - Said said 15 “What?” said the - Novvember November 15 until November - on an 15 was an old one and - we me 17 farther let me say, - returing returning 18 returning to prison - maching marching 18 we go marching on. - bole hole 19 hole through the - innoculated inoculated 19 We were inoculated - innoculation inoculation 20 inoculation of a few - K. K., 21 Squires, of Co. K., - his his his 22 In his concluding - Yanks.” “Yanks.” 22 to see the “Yanks.” - V V. 22 F. F. V.’s. We were - cattle, cattle. 23 conveyance of cattle. - kind kind, 24 kind, quantity - coutrary contrary 25 contrary to orders, - way way. 25 see it that way. But - laws law’s 26 the law’s delay, - have. have, 26 those ills we have, - Petersberg Petersburg 26 leaving Petersburg - animals animals. 26 wild animals. The - Deadline Dead-line 27 the Dead-line and - the the the 27 the form as written, - Inf Inf. 27 10th Wisconsin Inf. - subivided subdivided 28 we subdivided these - pine pine. 28 leaved pitch pine. - Parrott Parrott. 31 “Poll Parrott.” He - Georia Georgia 32 5th Georgia regulars. - qualiity quality 33 the same quality as - Mead’s Meade’s 33 from Meade’s army - cannoniers cannoneers 36 while the cannoneers - Connecticut Connecticut, 36 16th Connecticut, - preemted preempted 37 had preempted - law,and law, and 40 law, and without - particuular particular 42 want some particular - sea. sea.” 42 down to the sea.” - succumed succumbed 45 had also succumbed - war, war. 45 the time of the war. - alke alike 46 were alike to him - is, is 46 your condition is - examination, extended examination extended, 48 examination extended - sattered scattered 49 were scattered - his his his 50 destroy his life - petechiae petechiae, 51 petechiae, - survy scurvy 52 scurvy was contagious - ulsers ulcers 52 Many ulcers which - gangreneous gangrenous 52 truly gangrenous - orginally originally 52 were originally built - hight height 53 height, swarming with - maggots, maggots. 54 with maggots. I - poissonous poisonous 55 of the poisonous - inflamatory inflammatory 55 inflammatory symptoms - dysentry dysentery 56 in cases of dysentery - dysentry dysentery 56 diarrhea or dysentry - Savaunah Savannah 64 and that Savannah - allowed allow 64 kind enough to allow - p. m p. m. 65 eleven o’clock p. m. - tea spoonful teaspoonful 65 a teaspoonful of salt - Andersonsville Andersonville 66 as at Andersonville - letdown would have let down would have 67 let down would have - sorgham sorghum 67 sorghum syrup and a - t’was ’twas 68 and ’twas a handsome - conpetent competent 69 perfectly competent - joost “joost 69 puff—puff—puff—“joost - Richmond. Richmond, 70 capture of Richmond, - haman human 70 eternal in the human - Tennesee Tennessee 71 in Tennessee - provisons provisions 72 the provisions in - wont won’t 72 I won’t give you - offiers officers 73 the rebel officers - they they they 73 thinking they would - grim grime 77 the grime and dirt - Febuary February 79 was used from Febuary - mames names 79 names are registered - rank; rank, 80 the name, rank, state - thrist thirst 80 thirst any more; - -A number of spelling irregularities have been retained from the printed -edition. - -The form of quotations has been retained from the printed edtition. - -The corrections in the Errata have been applied. - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's Fifteen Months in Dixie, by William W. 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