The daily Evansville journal. (Evansville, Ind.) 1862-1863, 1863-03-10
From the indianapolis Journal
A Prisoners Experience in Rebel.
dom,
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind, March 8. '63

I'D, JOURNAL: Having recently return
ed to the 'land of the free" from "pil-
grimage" in Dixie, by your permission I
will give the readers of the Journal an
mixing OF my experience down dar."
On the 9th of May, 1862, while guard
ing railroad bridge near Athens. Ala.
Capt Comet, with detachment of Co.
Il, 9th Indiana Volunteers, was attack
ed by Woodward's regiment of Kentucky
cavalry, and party of eight Texan
Rangers Being without artillery, and
having no stockades or breastworks (the
Captain had only arrived and assumed
command half hour prior to the attack
the contest of course was UNEQUAL, and
we were forced to surrender, but not until
We bad killed and wounded of the enemy
number greater than our entire force,
and had lost nearly One-third of our own
little band
Alter the surrender we were compell
ed to march on foot (that is, all except
those who were so severely wounded
that they could not, among whom was
our brave and gallant Captain, who was
shot IN the face, wrist, leg, thigh and
breast, and also seriously injured by
musket ball which lodged in his right
knee, where it yet remains) over the
mountains N two hundred and fifty miles,
sort of .BIaek hole of Calcutta, )" or Mig
ger shamble, and fed on stale corn bread
and half rotten mule meat for ten days,
with no other "calls' from the chiral,y
than the uninterrupted visitations of in
terminable vermin, and countless swarms
of flies Of course the place was, as A
Ward would say-not healthy.
From "Tusky Lucy" we were shipped
to Montgomery, where we were confined
in a large cotton-house with some 200
other prisoners The ''feed" here was
bacon shipped to the South during the
reign of the facile Jeems, and bread CD
made from corn ground "cob, shuck and
all"
Three weeks let US out of Alabama,
and we next ''found ourselves" at Ma
con, Ga. The prison there was an old
fair ground called Camp Oglethorpe, an
exceedingly loathsome and unhealthy
place. The sanitary regulations were
damnable The hospital stunk worse
than slaughter house To go there for
treatment was almost certain death. 1t
seemed the authorities had a parcel of
young medical squirts there whose bust
ness it was to experiment upon the id
Yankees" and they did experiment with
vengeance, for during the four months
we remained at Macon, although the
number of prisoners in camp was not
large, no less than 231 died in that hos
pital
The fare at Camp 0glethorpe was but
little better than absolute starvation
Many of the men were sans cuIotte, sans
coat, and some even within a shirt
sans everything" Of course all were
strapped
Many expedients were resorted to for
raising the needful." | I"raised mine
from tfve-cent Southern shinplasters to
ffties, by which means | managed to get
so-nething for the g inner man both for
myself aid half famished comrades.
Others manufactured breast-pins and
fnger-rings from bone and such sub
etuHvcs,- -eAlling them to the rebels at
fabulous prices, and using the proceeus
-" in like manner, as above. 1t is GER
tain that many more would have died
had it not been for the efforts made in
this way, for they were sick and starv-
ing.
At the end of five months of prison
life our little squad vas sent to Rich
mond to be paroled. The horrors of that
trip are indescribable We were eight
days on the route! In open cars, like so
many hogs, without clothes, or even a
blanket and often without anything to
eat, we were forced to travel standing,
as there was no room whereon to sit or
lie, except where we made room for a
sick comrade Two of our little band
died of this barbarous treatment and
needless exposure. Finally, we reached
Richmond, where we remained three
days, when we were marched to Aiken's
Landing, paroled, and put aboard the
United States steamer Commodore.
have been asked by some of the GU
prum coputs if didn't think the South
treated prisoners as well as the North
did? My opinion is, that there is about
as much difference between Northern
and Southern military prison as there
is between Hades and Elysum
From Aiken's Landing we were sent
to Fortress Monroe, and thence to Wash
ington. There the sick were put in hos
pital and given every attention. The
convalescents were sent to camp at AL
exandria, and the rest of our number to