Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1861-08-30
FROM MISSOURI.
Plumber of the HOspitaIs-Outrages on tn
Wounded and Dead.

From the St Louis Democrat 27th
GENERAL HOSPITAL, SPRINGFIELD, Aug.
17th-Our troops evacuated the city early
Sunday morning last, and within the space
OF six hours advance parties OF ten, twenty, or
more, might be seen entering the town by
different avenues, eyeng with intense interest
every house as they passed, fearing, probably,
some lurking foe from within. The famous
Capt Emmett Mcdonald, rode by the hospital
at the head OF small party OF horsemen,
and, upon recognizing him by his flowing
locks, l saluted him and invited his parlicipa,
ton i'll a solitary bottle OF choice old Monon-
gahela that | had purchased for my private
stores. We chatted together for some time,
when all of a sudden an unearhly yell
broke upon our auditory. Our attention was
now directed 10 immense cavalcades of horse
men, entering the city, shrieking and yelling
with demonacal strife, every one appearing
to outvie his neighbor. AT the head of this
diScordant phalanX of horsemen sat their
chietlain, Gen. j. S. Rains. He had not visit
ed the town but a few minutes, when induce
ments of some kind or other led him to visit
me at the hospital.
treated this distinguished stranger with all
the attention in my power; gave him wine to
drink, and invited him 10 a seat az the table,
showed him around the Hospital, and, in eve.
ry manner possible, treated him as gentle
man. In reciprOcatlon OF such treatment, you
may imagine my surprise when | learned that
he had issued an order to seize all the medicines
and hospital stores in my possession belonging to
the Hospital Department. The shirts, drawers,
slippers, SC, sent here by the female charita-
Bile associations for the sick and wounded in
Hospital, all were taken away from me by one
fell sweep of this implacabe Rains, and over
four hundred sick and wounded were by this
act denied the privilege of medical treatment.
Men, whose lives were sustained by s:imu-
lants, whose ag0nizing pains were assuaged
by opiates, were left to die by the ruthless act
of this vandal Rains.
The seizure Of the stores l reported to Gen.
Price, who gave me an official order which /
delivered to Gen. Rains, in person, to restore
the medicines and hospital supplies. This or
der Gen. Rains disregarded, and only yester.
day, after all that could be eaten and drunken
were demolished, a part of my medicines were
delivered to me. Our sick and wounded
about four hundred, are doing as well as could
be expected, considering the severity of their
wounds. Less than thirty have died of their
wounds, and probably our whole loss of all
those received into the hospital will not exceed
forty. Springfield is one vast hospita'-nearly
every house contains some of the victims of
the late battle.
On the field many of our wounded were
stript OF all their clothes by the enemy, and
cent in town stark naked, while every man ly-
ing on the field had his pockets turned in.
side ont Not only did the secesh rob the
dead, but they also pillered from the wounded
all the money in their possession, leaving them
upon the battle field without one cent to de.
fray their personal expenses while OH the
ground Such are some of the atrocities per-
! petrated upon our soldiers, and many other
deeds were done which, when known, will
darken the page ofhistOrJ the most dabol.
ical and outrageous that ever furnished civiiz.
IL.