The Alleghanian. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1859-1865, 1862-05-15
NUMBER "a.

condemned principally the Louisiana IT,
gers, Of General Wheat's division. He
admitted that our wounded had been very
badly tieated. In confirmation of the
testimony of Dr. Swain and DIR. Homis-
ton, this witness AYERS that Mr.. Lewis
mentioned a number Of instances of men
who had been murdered 10y bad surgical
treatment.
Mr., Lewis was afraid that a pestilence
would break out in consequence of the
dead being left unburied, and stated that
he had gone aud warned the neigh borhood
and had the dead buried, sending his own
men to assist in doing so. 'sOn Sunday
morning yesterday, l went out in search
OF my. brothers grave. We found the
trench, and dug for the bodies below
They were eighteen inches TO two feet be-
low the surface, and had been hustled in
In any way. In one end of the trench,
we found, not more than two or three in
ches below the surface, the thighbone of
man which had evidently been dug up
alter the burial. At the other end of the
trench, we found the shinbone of man,
which had been struck by musket ball
and split. The bodies at the ends had
been pried up.
"W hile digging there, a party of SOL
diers came along and showed us part of
a shlnbone, five or six inches long, which
had the end sawed off. They said they
had found 1t, amcng many other pieces,
IN one OF the catins the rebels had deser-
ted. From the appearance of it, pieces
had been sawed off 70 make fineer-rings.
As soon as the negroes noticed this, they
said that the rebels had had rings made
OF the bones Of our dead, and that they
had them for sale in their camps. When
Dr.. Swain saw the bone, he said it was a
part. OF the shinbone Of man The SOL
dlers 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 cit had
been stripped, and also where it had been
buried" Alr. Scholes. 10 answer to a
question OF one of the committee, descri-
bed the different treatment extended to
the Union soldiers and the rebel dead
The latter had little headboards placed at
the head of their respective graves and
marked; none of them had the appearance
of having been disturbed
The evidence of that distinguished and
patriotic citizen, Hon. William Sprague,
Governor of the State of Rhode Island,
confirms and fortifies some of the most
revolving statements OF former witnesses
His object in visiting the battlefield was
to recover.the bodies Of Colonel Slocum
and Ma or Baliou, OF the Rhode Island
regiment. He took out with him several
of his own men to identify the graves
On reaching the place, he states that .'wo
commenced digging for the bodies OF Col.
Slocum and Major Balou at the spot
pointed out TO us by these men who had
been in the action. While digging, some
negro women came up ana asked whom
we were digging for, and at the same time
up by the rebels, by some men Of Geor-
gia regiment, his head cut off, and his
body taken to ravine thirty or forty
yards below, and there burned. We stop
ped digging and went to the spot designa7
ted, where we found Goals and ashes and
bones mingled together. \ little dis
tance from there We found shirt (still
buttoned at the neck) and blanket with
large quantities of hair upon it, every
thing indicating the burning of a body
there. We returned and dug down at the
spot indicated as the grave of Major Bal
lou, but found no body there ; but at the
place pointed out as the grave where Col.
Slocum was buried, we found a box,
which, upon being raised and opened, was
found to contain the body Of Col. Slocum.
The soldiers who had buried the two bod
les were satisfied that the grave which had
been opened, the body taken out, behead-
ed, and burned, was that of Major Ballou,
because it was not in the spot where Col
Slocum was buried, but rather to the
light of it. They at once said that the
,ebels had made mistake, and had taken
he body Of Major Ballou for that of Col.
Slocum. The shirt found near the place
shere the body was burned [ recognized
IS one belonging to Major Ballou, as had
,een very Intimate with him. We gath,
red up the ashes containing the portion
# his remains 'l.at were left, aud put
Lem in elm, together with his shirE
md the blanket with the hair left spou
I. After We had done this, we yrnt to
hat portion OF the field where the battle
lad first commenced, and began to DIG
or the remains of Capt. Tower: We
brought soldier with rs TO designsfe the
'lace where he was buried He hai been
in the battle, and had seen from
he window of the house where the Cap
ain was inferred. On opening the ditch
II trench We fn,,n1 n ElleA with soldier