The Burlington weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington [Iowa]) 1860-1876, 1862-10-25
Can. Prcnsiss, speech at Chicago
m Tuesday evening last, Gen. Prentiss adj

IN Tuesday evening last, Gen. Prentiss ad-
dressed large and intensely enthusiastic meet
h, Of the citizens of Chicago, at Bryan Hail.
~, brief reference to the conduct of bis
..,m.nd at the Battle of Shiloh, and stating
h;s treatment in the South had made bin
W.. the wreck of once healthy and robust
nav he gave the following account OF what he
n,.od and saw while in Southern dungeons.
g. ,s.ders will find it worthy Of attentive Pc
ruaal. :,
az If men, among whom, ladies' were perhaps
wv, wv. of your brothers, wounded, sore, bleeding,
eon marched twenty-five miles through ana
We the worst and toughest road that ever men
W., W. COMPELLED to march, not having eaten any
~ since the break of day on that ever to De
'n" .ssmbered Sabbath, the 9th Of April. when
h.d dragged ourselves..over that muddv ana
1'.rsd twenty-five miles, we were compe!ied 10
~. .ase csttle cars at Corinth and hurrieo away
.broueh raging storm huddied together IKE
al Of sheeb Had it not been that tne men
nos I'd in their possession some knives, with
rh;cb to Gu. holes through these oox cars 70
sdm;t air, they would have suftocateo.
So m,s ns,s taken to Memphis, arriving there on
r,,0sd.v and here we were met by an immense
luesl - neonle cheering for the victory OF the
cfu Wv, INV The men were not fed that night
1 W, re,e taken to the City Hall. must be
W.. In that hall were the poor soldiers who
y; o,' wi, had asked for food and begged for wa
~ ,rowded together, 9, 200 Of us In one build
.s e half starved Remember it was Tuesday
. nies, and nothing to eat since Sunday morn
ing. had been on
,,.ror;pc to get these men some food. called
NON the Colonel commanding the post, toto
him the condition of the men, and demanded
Good II coud not be had. Thank heaven
rn;on man was found who furnished US some
crackers ICheers.l I went from the room IN
vbicb was confined, into that immense nall,
9TH all those wounded soldiers lying upon the
aoor-no blankets, no surgeons-no medical
assistance. Noticed at one end OF the nall the
Goddess of Liberty. mounted the table, cry
inc out. "Boys, rise to your rect, an that can
.,snd m and sing the glorious old Star Span
.,aa Rainier" IGreat enthusiasm. We sang
:, a,d then columbia the Gem of the Ocean"
The citizens came running, thinking that we
had broken loose, or we're trying to. They con-
cnded It was better to get US out OF Memphls
M, us on the cars and started US South. SUI
fee it to saw, it required some four days to take
us to matchmaking menagerie OF us-as we
nassed along-giving notice at each station,
"1 600 Yankee prisoners coming! taken at Shi-
,obn They had magnifed our numbers from
2,2oO to 1000
A. Mobile we we're placed upon transports,
md sent to Northern Alabama. The officers
were separated from the private soldiers. We
we're sent to the town of Talladega-a very plea
SAINT nlsce with good water, splendid scenery,
and hospi.able people living there, am told.
We did not experience any of their hospitality
I: had been represented to me that was to be
sent to one of those pleasant watering places in
the South and would be granted my parole, un-
til me, a townsman and perhaps an old &C
ousiutance of some of these men here, named
HunIey. no doubt known to some of these ten
der footed Union men of Chicago. He inquired
"Have YOU any Chicago men with eou?" an
swered ives, the complement for two compa--
MES" He remarked II, too, lived in Chicago
once, but. would not stand your devilsh. Adolf
tionis,s l was prosecuted for my sentimeI ts :"
replied "No doubt, as you left there, you were
guiliy Of some offence, and left in fear Of ar
rest, Please get out of our company and don't
insult Us BY your presence again. de lett
Laughter and applause.
At Talladega our fare was execrable. we
we're confined in one room, had ratlons OF so
much corn bread, and think it was quarter
ola pound of musty bacon. That was all that
composed our rations. Some OF the ofhcers
complained of being sick / became i'll myself
had always been fond of coffee, and sent
messenger, lieutenant think, who was on the
guard, to one of the hotels in this hospitable
place to obtain two gallons of Rio coffee. sent
L.. A. eat two n "
it. if necessary, but not expecting that this gen
erous, hospitable people would receive any pay,
as had told him to tell them it was for sick
officers. But, gentlemen, I'have copy at my
hotel of the receipt brought to me by him:
"R.ceived of Gen B. NJ Prentss, ten dollars
for two gallons Of Rio coffee" Roars of laugh
ter. That was my first initiation into the
swindling practices in the South.
We were soon taken from Taiadegs and sent
over to Selma. There we were placed under
command Of Col Kent. There it was We began
to feel the severity Of our shment, not al.
lowed to gaze out of a window or recline in it,
unable to place our feet on the wall without a
butternut soldier placing bayonet against them
and threatening to shoot you. One OF your
officers, Col LYNCH of this city, came very near
being shot at that prison, because he could not
hear the soldiers challenge him. The gun was
raised and pointed at him and he had to jump
before it was fred.
! But that is as nothing-come with me further
to Montgomery, the place where all our lieuten-
ants were sent. II was there Of all places that
the officers suffered most-in an old cotton
warehouse, with not blanket to lie on-not
one. There were commissioned officers, inte!li-
gent human beings, forced to use all their inge.
nnity in making bore rings to sell to the citizens
to obtain money with which TO buv the food to
sustain life Il was there that Col. Bliss, OF
Michigan, was murdered I am told today that
there are men here mean enough to try to get
you to disoeheve these accounts. Ny friends,
am here tonight 70 testify the tanth, to ben.
EFT no man, no set of men, no party. GOD
knows wish all party organization were swept
away Great cheers 1 would that every
man who lives in Illinois u!d join hand in
hand With his neghbor in the one crest cause
OF putting down this rebellion. Renewed
cheers
Col, Bliss was bsselv murdered-let me tell
you how. He was getting his canteea filed
with milk He had the privilege from the com
manccr Of the post of filing it inside Of the
gnar0 He went from the warehouse to the
cabin on tho line OF the guard, banded his can
n F9f Nd