Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1862-05-15

pried them up. The information Of the
negroes Of Benjamin Franklin Lewis cor
reporsted fully the statement of this man,
Hampton. They said that good many
of the bodies had been stripped naked on
the 6eld before they were buried. and that
some were buried naked. vcnt to Mr..
Lewis house and spoke to him Of the
manne, In which these bodies had been
disinter.ed. He admitted that it was infa
nous, and condemned principally the
Louisiana Tigers. of General Wheat's di-
vision. He admitted that our wounded
had been very badly treated" In con-
firmation of the testimony of DIR. Swain
and DR.. Homiston. this witness AYERS that
Mr. Lewis mentioned number Of instan-
ces Of men who had been murdered by sur
gical treatment. Mr.. Lewis was afraid
that pestilcnce would break out in con-
sequence of the dead being left unburied.
and stated that he had gone and warned the
neighborhood and had the dead buried.
sending his own men to assist in doing SO.
"On Sunday morning yesterday l went
ont in search Of my brothers grave. We
found the trench. and Ding for the bodies
below. They were eighteen inches to two
feet below the surface, and had becen hus
tied in any way. In one end OF the
trench we foun |, not more than two or
three inches below the surface, the thigh
bone of man which had evidently been
dug up after the burial. At the other end
of the trench we found the shinbone OF a
man. which had been struck by musket
ball and split. The bodies at the ends had
been pried up. While digging there, a
party Of soldiers came along and showed
us part of shinbone. five or six inches
long. which had the enl sawed of. They
said that they had found it among many
other pieces in one Of the cabins the rebels
had deserted. From the appearance OF it
pieces had been sawed off to make finger
rings. As soon as the negroes noticed this.
they said that the rebels had had rings
made Of the bones of our dead. and tha.
they had them for sale in their camps
When DIR. Swain saw the bone he said it
was . part Of the shin bone Of a man.
The soldiers represented that there were
lots of these bones scattered through the
rebel huts sawed into rings" &c. Mr..
Lewis and his negroes all spoke Of Col.
James Cameron's body. and knew that "ii
had been stripped. and also where it had
been buried.'' 'Mr. Scholes. in answer
to q question OF the committee. described
the different treatment extended to the Un-
len soldiers and the rebel dead. The lat
ter had little head boards placed at their
respective graves and marked; none oi
them had the appearance Of having been
4 disturbed.
/ The evidence Of that distinguished and
p ,triotic citizen. Hon. William Sprague,
Governor of the State Of Rhode Island. con
/ firms and fortifes some Of the most revolt.
ing statements OF former witnesses. Hi,
object in visiting the battlefield was tc
recover the bodies Of Col. Slocum and
Major Ballou, Of the Rhode Island regi
ment. He took cut with him several e
his own men to identify tine graves. On
reaching the place he states that 1--WE con
menced digging for the bodies of Colonel
:! Slocum aud Major Ba'lou at the spot
pointed out to US by these men wht
had been in the action. While digging
some negro women came MP and asked
whom we were looking for. acd at the
same time said that Colonel Slocum" had
been ding up by the rebels. by some of {
: Georgia regiment. his head cut of. and hi.
body taken to . ravine thirty or forty
yards below, and there burned. We stop
p,d digging and went to the spot designa
, ted, where we fonud Goals and ashes ant
bones mingled to gcther. A hetle distance
from there we found shirt (still buttonet
at the neck and blanket with large quan
titles Of hair upon il, everything indicating
the burning of body there. We return
ell and Ding down at the spot indicated a
the grave of Major Dallou but found nj
body there: but at the place pointed on
as the grave where Colonel Slocum was
buried we found box, which. upon being
raised and opened. was fonnd TO contain
the body OF Colonel Slocum. The soldier,
who had burned the two bodies were salts
fed that the grave had been opened. th'
body taken ont. and beheaded. and burned
was that Of Major Ballou. because it wa
not in the spot where Col. Slocum was
buried. but rather to the right of it. The,
, at once said that the rebels had made I
mistake. and had taken the body Of Majo
Ballou for that oi Colonel Slocum. Ta'
shirt found near the place where the body
was burned recognized as one belonging
to Major Ballou. as l had been very init
mate with him. We gathered mp th'
ashes containing the portion OF bis re-
mains that were left. and put them in ,
coffin with his shirt and the blanket with
the hair left upon it. After we had done
this we went to that portion of the field
where the battle had first commenced. and
began to dig for the remains of Captain
} Tower. We brought . soldier with us te
designate the place where he ives buried
He had been wounded in the battle. and
had seen from the window of the house
where the captain was inferred. On open
ing the ditch or trench we found It filled
with soldiers. all buried with their faces
downward. On taking up some four o1
FIVE we discovered the remains Of Captair
} Tower. mingled with those Of tho men,
We took them. placed them in coffin
and brought them home
! In reply to . question Of member o.
the committee as to whether he was salts
fed that they were buried Intentionally with
their faces downward. Governor Sprague'l
answer was. "Undoubtedlyl Beyond al