East Saginaw courier. (East Saginaw, Mich.) 1859-18??, 1863-12-23
Libby Prison.

III bcclns unaccOuntaDle tnut III t1ls
enlightened age, in christian coun-
try, among people claiming to be
civilized, we should read accounts Of
accumulated horrors, too shocking, al
most, to be creditable, and evincing a
spirit of barbarism scarcely TO be look
ed for even amoug brutes and savages,
but the testimony comes in too relia-
BILE shape to be questioned, and the
name Of Libby Prison and Belle Is
land will go down to posterity with
those of the Black Hole of Calcutta,
the Prison Ships of the Revolution and
other places and incidents which the
reign of beastly brutality has made
disgraceful and notorious. We copy
below an exuTucJ from tha statoinea.t
of DIR. VIM. Forester Of the 9th Ken
lucky cavalry, recently prisoner i'll
Richmond which we find in the Lou
isville Journal.
Arrived at Richmond on the LIST. Of
October, ii Z. M. The enlisted men
were sent to various buildings; the Of
Gcers taken to the famous Libby.
The sensation a prisoner feels upon
seeing Libby for the first time is in
describable. He certainly feels as if
he had already lost all of his friends,
and now his own turn had come.
In the office of the prison, as much
of our money as could be heard from
was taken from us and credited. No
search was made.
We were taken into the third story,
directed down dark pair of stairs
into darker room, and told to ego
down thar" A horrible stencil greet
cd us; the floor was wet, and covered
nvl, end go tho othor by human
bodies BY climbing upon and under
a large table i'll the room, wo manag-
eli to find space upon which to lie.
The rations Of the officers we found
to consist of eight or ten ounces of
light bread, two to four ounces of
spoiled or badly cured bacon, smelling
so badly that we were obliged to hold
our nostrils in order TO eat it.
In addition to this we received n
small quantity of peas, full Of worms,
or, in Leu of peas, three quarts of
rice, for fifty mon. We afterwards
received about four ounces Of beef per
day, instead of bacon, and corn bread
took the place Of wheat bread.
AT one time the ration of meat was
stopped, two or three small frosted
sweet potatoes being given instead, -
The reason for issuing such potatoes
being that they were commissary
stores, and unless used would rot en-
tirely. AT times we received no food
for two days. Then meat would be
withhold for several days, and the
privilege of buying denied us. The
surgeons left Libby on the oath Of
November. On the Dist, 22d, 23d,
and oath, no meat had been given us,
and the bread was of such character
that we could scarcely eat it. On the
Goth of November the prisoners in
Castle Thunder had been nine days on
bread and water. One of them, cit
izon prisoner from Connecticut, nam
ed Thompson had received from home
a box containing clothing, valued at
perhaps $50, which he offered to give
freely for one pound of meat. Some
times our supply of wood was cut off
for a day, though many cords were "
ing within twenty yards of our prison.
1t may well be asked how we could
live on such fare. L am certain that
not more than five officers of the hun
dreds in Libby lived for more than
week at any time upon the rations fur
nished by the prison authorities
Those who attempted it, from being
too proud or too foolish TO receive
from their more fortunate fellows,
soon became lean, lank, cadaverous
frequenters to the kitchen TO keep
warm, or were sent as patients to the
hospital. We were divided into mess
o. of about thirty each, with one OF
the members as commissary, who lev
led weekly tax upon those who had
money. This money was spent Tor
vegetables to put into our soup and
hash; strip and burnt rye to be used
as coffee. We also divided ourselves
into smaller messes of from four to
six members, with a caterer, who
would buy butter, eggs, coffee, meat,
and extra bread for mess. When the
market was denied us, long faces were
decidedly in the ascendant. Besides
the privilege of the market, officers
are allowed to receive boxesAof pro-
visions from homo. These boxes,
believe, are, almost without an excep-
ton, received by those to whom they
are sent.
The officers were confined lii six
rooms, each 43 feet wide by 102 feet
in length. In one end Of each room
was the sink, which, often neglected,
would become so offensive that we
could scarcely bear the stencil. The
floors were frequently washed and
scrubbed just before dark, and this
gave us a wet floor to sleep upon,
thus adding another item to the list
of our discomforts.
For time many of the officers had
no blankets or other bedding--the /.
bare floor to lie upon, nothing to keep
them warm. Very few had more than
one blanket, until supplied by the U.
s. Sanitary. Commission aud friends at
home. There were no glass in the
windows; hence many were compelled
by the cold wind whistling through,
to pace the floor for half the night to
save themselves from freezing.
On November Goth the following
prices were paid by officers in the LIB
by Prison for the articles named -
Flour per Dbl, 5000; meat of any kind