The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1862-06-21
Narrative of a Paroled Federal officer,


Rev. L. {. Pace, Chaplain of the 18th
Missouri regiment, Col Peabody, the
brave young officer who fell at the battle
OF Pittsburg Landing, has returned to
! Nashville .
MI Pace was captured by the rebels
and taken to Mobile where he was pu. in
a miserable slave pen with Dr. Carey. of
CInclnnatii, and DIR. Young, of Terre
! Haute. The Government gave them no
! heddIng and fed them on salt beef and
: corn bread, both of poor quality. DR.
/ Mott, a citizen of Mobile, showed them
I several kindnesses, and endeavored to get
them paroled. Great destitution prevails
at Mobile. Flour Is from 500 to 50 a
barrel, salt so sack, bacon - cents. u
pound. From Mobile they were carried
| to Tuscaloosa, Ala, where they were put
, III close confinement, and were not ALLOW ed
TO look out of the grating of their window
! Their fare was of the most miserable kind
and worse than at Mobile They remain
| ed there until the 18th Of May One of
the prisoners, and mere lad, was shot
dead by the guard for looking out of the
second story window Durin. their stay
here some of the prisoners dug hole
under the wall with theirb utcher knives
and one night fifty Of them escaped OF
whom eight were brought back and put
in irons
The military and political prisoners
we're not allowed to talk with each other
y Captain was put IN chains for speaking
to one of the political pr!saners. Our sick
soldiers were crowded into small rooms,
badly ventilated, to the number of one
hundred and twenty five, without bedding
blankets, knives, forks, or any convenience
whatever. There was a great scarcity of
medicines Provisions of all kinds are
very dear E.im-y, coarse calico sells at
81 per yard Money is abundant, The
pockets Of everybody being filed with
shiuplasterS, which are issued profusely
by nearly everybody. Terrible demorali-
cation prevails.
Ee.i2!on Is despised, and drunkenness.
profanity and RIGHTEOUSNESS prevail every
y here. The families Of rebel soldiers ar..
III great destitCti1u and wholly urcared
ior. Numbers of the wealthy men IN Mo
bile are Union uiea at heart one OF
them, after cursinc green back money
in pubic as worthless, offered NJ. Pace
twenty five per cent. for some after he
had taken Aim back into HI. counting
room. The officers admit that We viii
take Nchmond and occupy the Mss;>-ip-
Pi river, and they say they will make a
guerrilla war oil il IN the future
From Tuscaloosa Gir. L. went back TO
Mobile, and thence to Montgomery. Ala. I
where lie was p1roied He says that deep
discontcnt exists Throughout the South
on account OF the coEscr:pt act. In pass
inc through Selma, Ala, On the 2Jth, he
heard that Gen. Prenti-s was there lie
conducts himself in the most defiant ulan-
ner towards hIs captars. 1T Montgomery
Ae noticed large military supplies OF every
Elat provisions. t,nts, t-c., he.u. shipped
70 Columbus, Mss All their supplies
aprearrd 20 bc go.n. in that direction -
H. thinks that ;Le Tcie. arur vii fall
back there The wheat and cat crops o..
the South are almost universally eaten up
" th rust The prospect for corn IS only
t0.o.aO.y good. Hogs ara very scarce.
The .-tel troops Al IusraI I58sa ase exceed .
iag'y iss-gaat, hardly ANY of them be.u-
abe 10 reed COR p.isonc5> would pas
oil the labels Of guacli medicine bottles
on them as noacy.
...e ~ iasca.ooSa, L.eu;cut E..ss. one
oi tie ri --.-, fine young officer. had
Str!isJ ar' Tie street, a- he was p!iyi-
!".--l tc 30 by lae officers to get q c,Iu ot
;ili!i- As the woman was waiting on
some others, the guard oIG-ged him back
lie answered thar lc Hyu.I return as soon
as he could --t h.~ mix. YL-u the -..r.i
sao: III dad i'm tae street The man
VS. tried and acquitted readily and 's,a,-
p-'sa Nj L. speaks with the greatest
:. :nuaihy Of political prisoners at Tusca-
iuc-1. brought there from last Tennessee
for uo other crime but loyalty. They arc
treated 4" the most cruel manner.