The Tiffin weekly tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1859-1868, 1862-10-31

life. IL was there that Cok Bliss OF
Michigan was murdered. am told to-day
that there are men here mean enough to
try to get you to dsbcl:,ve these ac-
counts. My friends, | am here tonight
to testify TO the truth, to benefit no man
|, nor set of men, no party. God knows
wish all patty organisations were swept
away. tGrect Cheers. would that
every man who lives in Illinois would
ioinr hand in hand with his noighbor in
Z Q one great cause Of putting down this
rebellion. tRcncwed cheers.
Col. Bliss, was bsseiy nurdered--let
me tell You how. He was getting his
canteen filled with milk. He had tho
privileges from the commander Of the
post OF filling il inside Of the guard. He
went from the warehouse TO the cabin
on the line of tho guard handed his cam
teen to the lady, who was about filling il
when the guard called cut, " You have
been there long cnough-gct away I" He
said "wait until | get my cantcen."
He reached his hand for il, the lady
passed il to him, he turned aud was
going to his quarters, when he was
murdcred-two charges from the shot gun
cntering his breast. He fell dead. The
lcitizeus of Montgomery gathered around
aud looked at his body us il lay there,
and the only remark made was, "That
old shot gun made pretty good hole
through that damned Yankee}" tSen-
Ssliun.
That is the treatment your officers re-
ceived from that chivalry. Yet your ten
; d riooted Union men up here will not be-
lieye il. Ii is too true. | am saddcncd
to have 20 recall it.
Thank heayenl there are to-day two
good and true loyal Union men in Mont.
gomery. Thoy reside there, but | dare
moi tell their names in Chicago tonight,
in travelling over Iii nois, | dare not call
their names, for there are trntors here
that will soon let them be known as Un-
! ion men in Montgomery, Alabama.--
z Cries OF true. true. and applause. Those
Two men sent me word--'GencrIl Prem
tiss, yonr sick and wounded soldiers who
were wounded at Shiloh, are suffering
and dying in the hospital here for want
OF attention. | obtained permission of
Col. Gedd S, of Iowa, to visit these men.
We entered the hospital together. As
we entered the dOor it was announced TO
the men thut their General was coming
= to pay them visit, and oh! if ever be-
y held a sight upon earth that made me
feel bad, it was when entered that hos.
pital. There lay over one hundred OF
q those brave, suffering soldiers-some dy-
% Ing with various Diseases, and many of
=. them, although it was nearly two months
and half since they were wounded ut
Shiloh, yet wore upon their backs the
n foul and bloody shirts they had
'e brought from that field, never hav
m ing been furnished change. Invent
% among them and took thcm by the hand.
y They cried Il criod--Col. Grddes cried,
Is and could curse the man tliut would not
e cry. [Chcers. found that hospital
;. swarmlng with vermin. | found my sol
;, dicrs lying there on pallets of hay, be.
tween boards set upon the edge, with
V none to take care of them save those Of
s their own number, who had partly reeoy-
;. cred.
= turned upon my heel after convero-
ing with them and said, 'Doys | will do
something for you.' ] went to the city,
n and there l found two men from Chica-
e go-mnrrrd men. They dare not tell me
n they were Union men, but knew they
C were. ] went into the hotel AsI pass
l. cd through the hall looked to the top
% OF the stairs, and there were two ludi
1t crying. knew them; approached them
= aud told them the condition of our sol
diers, and they generously gave me two
II hundred and fifty dollars to relieve those
i unfortunate men, God bless them! Im-
- mense cheers. One Of those men took
the cars with me, aud we came flty
j. miles together. He talked secesh and /
foil .aI II,af.. q. l..s Al
d conversation he remarked gently. Gen.
= how are You OF for lnndsr i have not
5, rcd tentwas my answer. He slipped into
d my band twenty-five dollars, which d.
e yided with my fellow officers. Renewed
n cheers. Many of those men IN that
z hospital died, but let me say. in behalf
Y of tho sc ladies', that afternoon they visit.
!, ed them, taking with them scissors, cloth
i ing and other things necessary for the
d soldiers. They trimmed their hair, furn-
o ished them with clean clothing and bed
q ding, washed their soiled and wounded
limbs aud took as tender care OF them as
1 If they had been their own children. To-
: night large majority of those soldiers
t are living, and thank Heaven, are on
I their way home. [Applausc.]
He then related an instance or two of
rebel bsrbarity. and gave the following
interesting account of his own attempt
to escape:
l, too, was prosecuted like the rest.
thought it was my duty TO attempt TO es-
cape. Col. Geddes thought it was his
duty. Twenty-Five others thought like
wise,and we concluded we wond escape.
: Wewere caught in the eDdeayor. Ten
ofns were confined in dungeon sixteen
feet square, with an apartment only six
inches wide to admit tle light. We
thought we could bring away some token
: of those bitter days. We procured file
aud filed off the chain.-tbc feIons ehain
, --that hang 10 the Goor, divided the links
! among the different officers, Here is mine,
; The a dence greeted the display of the
0 iron'link exhibited by the General with
great applause. | shall carry il from
this time on through the war. | shall
have il fastened to my saddle, and every
time l enter an engagement with the en-
] emy will look again at the ring which
helped to file from the chains of our
dungeon. aad as examiDe it more close
ly | will learn 90 hate any man in onr
land who will not lend heart and hand in
putting down this rebellion,
After ayerring that the ireatmeBt was
. the same everywhere, and relating bow
Captaia Gregg, who had gone on to
Washington to negotiate their exchange
had voluntarily returned to prison, and
had saved them from starvation by pro-