Muscatine weekly journal. [volume] (Muscatine, Iowa) 185?-1890, 1862-10-31

| QGO ~
). of attention" obtained permission, throu
s Col. Geddes, Of Iowa, to visit these men
c entered the hospital together. As we came
, the door, it was announced to the men Il
their General was coming to pay them a Wis
! and oh if l ever beheld q sight upon ear
that made me feel sad, it was when enter
/ that hospital There lay over one hundr
, of those brave, suffering soldiers some dyi
with various diseases, and many Of thel
although it was two months and a-half sin
they were wounded at Shiloh, yet wore up,
| their backs the foul and bloody shirts tn
had brought from that field, never havir
been furnished with q change! Invent amor
them and took them by the hand. Ths
cried Il cried. COL Geddes cried, and
could curse the man who would not cry
Cheers.] I found that hospital swarmir
with vermin. found my soldiers lying thel
on pallets of hay, between boards set upo
the edge, with none to take care of them say
those of their own number who had PARTIAL
recovered. I turned upon my heel, after COZ
versing with them, and said, 'Boys, will d
something for you" [ went to the city, an
there found two men from Chicago
men. They dare not tell me they were Unio
men, but knew they were. went into tn
hotel. As passed through the hall locke
to the top of the stairs, and there were tw
ladies' crying. knew them, approached an
told them the condition Of our soldiers, an
they generously gave me two hundred an
fifty dollars to relieve those unfortunate men
God bless them! Immense cheers.] One Q
those men took the cars with me, and VI
came fifty miles together. He talked secesl
and talked Union all the time, but durin,
the conversation he remarked, gently, 'Gen
eral, how are you off for funds? ?" II hav
not o red cent" was my answer. He slippes
into my hand twenty-five dollars, which
divided with my fellow officers. Renewed
cheers. Many Of those men in that hospita
died, but let me say in behalf Of those ladies'
that afternoon they visited them, taking with
them scissors, clothing and other things
necessary for the soldiers. They trimmed
their hair, they furnished them with clear
clothing and bedding, washed their soiled and
wounded limbs, and took as tender care o
them as if they had been their own children
Tonight large majority of those soldiers
are living, and, thank Heaven are on their
way home. [Applause.
Go little farther with me in the prison
history. Go to Macon, and there you " II
find 1900 to 1900 private soldiers, all con
fined in one great crowd, among them Lieu
tenants and other officers.
may be permitted to mention Lieut.. Cot
ton, of Michigan, and the Rev. Mr.. Dean. a
Lieutenant of one of the Ohio regiments
nf4i Iol hat khosu l,,k~v
to escape. They made the endeavor, were
caught, and brought back, chained together
by log chain around their necks, padlocked
at that. They were marched through the
streets, driven to prison, and kept there for
several weeks in that condition. Tender-footed
Uni men, what do you think of that? Can
you still apologize for them and say, "com
promise with these people?" Applause. ]
Let me tell you, the Southern men don't want
to compromise. You desire to give these
people what they despise. They say, def
antly, they won't come back, and you can't
make them come back say we can. Let
US do it. Great cheers
Go little further Take Lieut.. Ford, one
of my own officers. He endeavored to es-
cape, and what was his treatment? A pack
Of those Internal bloodhounds was sent after
him. He was caught and dragged back with
handouts upon him. He got those handouts,
brought them home with him, and has them
TO- night. Let me come nearer home, /, too,
was prosecuted like the rest. l thought it
was my duty to attempt to escape. Col. Ged
des thought it was his duty. Twenty-Five
others thought likewise, and we concluded we
would escape. We were caught in the en-
deavor, Ten of us were confined in dun
geon sixteen feet square, with an apartment
only six inches wide to admit the light. We
thought we could bring away some token of
those bitter days. We procured file and
filed off the chain--the felon's chain-that
hung to the floor, dividing the links among
the different officers. Here is mine THE
audience greeted the display of the iron link
exhibited by the General shall carry it
from this time on through the war. shall
have it fastened to my saddle, and every time
enter an engagement with the enemy | will
look again at the ring which helped to file
from the chain of our dungeon, and as ex-
anime it more closely will learn to hate any
man in our land who will not lend hand and
heart in putting down this rebellion. Great
cheering.l -....
Go with me to Madison prison. COL Ged-
des says we Jared worse than any other.
say there was no difference among them
Laughter At Madison hundred and
lift en- Of US were placed in one room. For
tunately for us that that man, Capt. Gregg,
who sits by me here, and whom respect and
love, had been sent to W ashington. He edrew
for us two months pay, sending portion to
our families and a portion to us. We receiv
I'd the money gladly. He would not take his
parole, but returned to captivity to suffer with
as. God bless Capt Gregg. Applause, and
cries of "Let's see him-let us see him" ~
Captain Gregg being led forward by Gen
Prentiss, was received with storm Of cheers.
That man kept us from starving. We were
not permitted to have anything but the ra
tions that were issued to the common soldiers,
and but half rations at that. The time had
allotted to speak to you is nearly expired.
Cries Of "go on" "go on" and applause.
If | should talk to you until TO- morrow night
I could not tell you the half of the long story
Of that imprisonment. At Madison prison,
we were placed under the charge of one W.
L. Calhoun, the most contemplate wretch
that now sets foot upon Southern soil, One
Of my purposes in coming home was to talk
Of Calhoun and his sympathizers here. When
I wanted provisions, when my fellow officers
were suffering, many Of them being sick and
in want of medicine, when our money was all
gone, and Capt Gregg had not yet returned,
| had watch, present, which, I offered to
sell. "No, sir" says Calhoun, 'you can't
do it." l said, "permit one Of your bankers
to come down here, and lot me negotiate a
loan,' ".You can't do that Then said,
/" will you permit one of your officers to bor-
row some money that l may relieve these
meny' Cant do tits contrary to our
rules" got a lieutenant to take that watch
and chain, worth at least $3.50, and sell 1t for
me. He obtained for it the pitiful sum Of
1920, in Confederate scrip, and with that we
purchased provisio S. As soon however, as
it was found we had little money, provisions