Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1862-11-06

same time. has been held a prisoner g
war, until few days ago, when an ex
change was effected and they were sen
North. On his way home Gen. Prentis
stopped in Chicago. and. at public meet
/. ing. gotten up by his friends, he made :
short speech. the subsistence Of which W
give below. When our Democratic friend
feel like throSing up their hands with ho
ly horror at what they are pleased to tern
the sufferings Of southern, rebels, W
would ask their attention to the treatmen
which our own brave Union soldiers re
ceive at the hands of their southern friends
GEN. rRESTrss' SPEECH. =
Ny friends. feel free to night; am a
home in Illinois. [Cheers.] Ihave beel
six and half months confined in South
ern dungeons. as belie:e. by the efforts o
demsgogues North and South. Zap
planse. Permit me, my friends. to plac,
myself and these officers, tonight, upor
the record concerning our captivity.
1t was represented. as have learned
since my arrival here, and as was reported
to us previously in. prison. that we were
taken at the battle of Shiloh. on the morn
ing of the sixth of April last. The true
history Of that battle is yet to be swrittcn
On the morning of-the sixth day of last
April. the sixihsDivision, which had the
honor to command, was in line Of battle
fully one quarter OF a mile in advance o
my camp. before the hour of six o'clock
perhaps at half past FIVE. sa'is- ..ni
We were driven from that DO ition ia
the front Of our camp, at which time, un-
fortunately for us, some other regiment
act from Illinois, not from Iowa, not from
Missouri--ieft that field and permitted the
enemy to flank us on onr right. Viewer
then compelled TO retire short distance,
perhaps three nr five hundred yards, to the
rear. taking a position upon the left OF
General Wallace and right Of Gen. Hurl-
Lut. thereby becoming the center Of Our
army on that DAY. aud at precisely half
past nine o'clock. having been. under fire
from half past five o'clock till that time,
and having witnessed hundreds OF my men
"bite the dust, )" and,if Imay use the lelm
IN defending cur government. (Chcers) J
we tcck our position and we Leld it. thank
heaven. unti, a qraiter after six in The eve
ming. [Gleat applause
Here let me say what have not said in
public leforc. but what / claim the right
of saying. calling upon my Maker to wit
ness that tell tic truth, that it is my
opinion that none but the gallant wounded
who lay around us. and the prisoners who
are represented here to night, were left at
that bour on that hard fought field. We
.cmsncd until half past five before we mo-
ved from tile line. We determined to
hold our position; we determined to sus-
tain cur government; We determined tl.crc
TO save the army of Gen. Grant. ! think
we d,d il. My officers think we did it.
care not what others may think Loud
applause,
And now will give you brief history
of our jouneyings. Of our Imprisonment.
Before do this. if you have any tender
footed Union men here want 10 see them
tonight. Great and prolonged applause
You may be cxcusable in some things. but
in the name OF heaven. can you refuse to
rciieve Your countrymcn returning from
the Southern prisons. jaded with suffering
and wrecked in constitution? ] say for
myself tonight. am but tho wreck Of a
once healthy. robust man. made SO by six
months close confinement in Southern
prisons--dungeons. asm at l
We wesestaken from the battle field and
marched % miles through and over the
worst and roughcst road that ever men
were compelled to march; not having cat
en- any thing since the break -of-day on that
ever to-be remembered Sabbath, the sixth
of April. When we had dragged our
selves over that muddy and rugged 22
miles. we were copelled tootake cattle cars
at Corinih and hurried away through ra
ging storm huddled together like a flock
Of sheep. Had il not been that the men
had in their possession some knives with
which to cut holes through those box cars
to admit air, they would have been suffo-
Gated. ls - : .re ts.isH 2 ~ ,..sa s1sa
We were taken to Memphis. not yet
having had any thing to eat We were
taken to the City Hall In that Hall were
the poor soldiers, who in vain had asked
for food and begged for water. crowded to.
gether, 2. 200 of us in one building. hall
starved. Remember it was Tuesday night,
and nothing to eat since Sunday morning
Wednesday, morning came HAD been
endeavoring to get these men some food
called upon the colonel commanding the
post. told him the condition Of the men,
and demanded food. 1t could not be hail.
Thank heaven a Union man was found
who furnished lis some crackers. TCheers.
1 went from the room in which was con-
fined. into that immense hall, with all
those wounded soldiers lying upon the
foor-no blankets. no surgeons-no med
ical assistance ! noticed at one end ol
the hall the Goddess of Liberty. mount
ed the table, crying out Boys. rise to your
feet. all that can stand up. and sing the
glorious old .'Star Spangled Banner
[Great enthusiasm. We sang it, and
then "Columbia the Gem Of the Ocean
The citizens came running. thinking that
we had broken loose. or were trying to.
They concluded il was better to get as out
Of Memphis, put us on the cars and start
ed us south Suffice il to say. it required
some four days to take Us to Mobile-ma.
king menagerie Of us--as We passed a
long-giving notice at each station. ~ .O00
Yankee prisoners comingl- taken at Shi-