, 1863-11-10
0bicagt, Gribnne.
Inhuman Treatment Of Prisoners Of
War in Richmond.
Where the Blame Rests.
TEE PROPER IRE1IEDF,

To the Editor ofthe n. T. Tinses:
4 vast deal has been said and written at va
rous times, and bY various people, Gbout tho
b4rbarous treatment received BY the Union
prisoners In Richmond ut the hands Of those
who have always styled themselves IF f.
VIZ. the "chiyalry," &c, bnt, a. the SUB.
ject is ore en- which too muck cannot be said.
aud us our people sre oolY now beginning to
give tome slight hcHd to the cries Of mortal
suffering and anguish coming ever and anon
from the poor fellows who have had the mis-
fortune 10 lal into rebsl hands Ia Virgiafa,
venture to give -FOUR readers few particulars
phich maj ta7e escaped the no;i:e Of thnac
who have not hao the .2me o2oo:tn aIties the
writer has in ~itncelirg the bl-barittes a.
OF the "I!lhhs- Prison. 1 dsd tie tollowfcr
de: crartion n my cta'y. kept wh1'e I Htd N
inl1.ate Of that infamous abode Of rnise:y:
Clo'e on to The cennl, end At the corner of
C4sy snu TTt Dty artt streets, and within
nile u 'tRocl ett~," stands The h,rstd Libby
Prison. Tte entire length Of the bulldog oa:
q n, t. feet On Tnepsy. .fiset street It ID al
vided into ttree eectloue BY stout brick walls,
srd IL, "on The side next to the canal, four
etozise. rMle on CARY ttreet it II but taree
storice il lejglt--each Of the stories being
oivlos d INTO tn5ee ob1oDg low reoms Of Is by
90 feet On the ground floor the room uext
to Twenty frst street is appropriated to the
rebel Enhrd, the nt1t one 10 the Union OH
cerr, md the third Ia the hospital. This is on
thG Cary street. side OF fr2nt Of the building.
On The Canal tfdei the lover story, OF ground
floor, is the cook house and receptacle fur
| the dead, until a sufficient number have accu-
I uu!at:d to make it worth while to remove
| them, or unfit the stencil becomes too great
for tho 1tbelB themselves to bear. On the
.tcond door. III the two rooms next to Twen-
u. first e,Feet, aye over four hundred Union
eo1diers, and In the third room on this floor
may he found the remnant Of some one hun
dred UI1on citizens, who have been incarce-
rated since the commencement Of che War.
| sc me fen Of these prisoners were Quakers,
! ard we're released on payment Of $500 each.
| The thIee 1ooms On The upper floor contain
| 1t least TWO hundred Ucion soldiers eacn,
Four small l-sized windows at eech end Of these
| room6 admit limited amount Of light for
about twt tnty.five 1eet, .1easing about forty
be ftad in The daItiMe. Prisoners once al.
mitted 10 the Libby, never leave 1t for au In
/ stunt for any purpose, day OF night, except to
be exchanged, or to be certed to an unknoWn
grave There are i1lconst1ucted water clos.
cts In the room5, which, owing to the coatin.
ual hreskirg Of the wasta.pipes, emit u mo.t
iptolerable eff1uvia: In addition to all this,
the whole pltce ID one nest ofthe most abou1-
ioah1e vermfn. About ba'fa rstion OF f.i1
brtad q, d plate Of small dark colored beans
Tor ''co1 rtss.' Hic= d. y,t' the usual fare,
meat b.lDg issued oaly tTice week, and then
| In rery small quantities. =
| So much tor the Libby Prison itself, but al
this is capped BY the 11eatment received by
| the untortunate fnnstes.
B.,lo 1e]e {sure1y ntca1led) ia situated IL
tie Jants River, about halt gu1shot from
ihe Libby, ana rigct opposite thas famed iu-
s:itrticn Of the sunny South. 1t isa long,
low sanohapk, and when there IL ffethet il
the river, Q large portion Of It disappears be
meath The filthy waters Of the James. Il Is on
this mere sandspit that hundreds Of our poor
a.1ve1hg Union soldlera are no = he'd Ia nj.
| ter ~rctchedhete, naked and famtehIng, and
subject to ali tie dire diseases con:equeut
on exposure to tie elements In such q local
itr. It has nevtr been occupied as dwelling
place, and mas only Eitited II the daytime b
lie th-t fsher, who lad few rude hut:
there. p1:;1 the "eAiyal'y'' found 1t con
yepieat llace to set rid Of the lid Yat
| KEGS"
II The 1ele1t1ess]y cruel trestr1ent of tb'
Cuioo ptfsorere in Richmond commenced
when tue prisoners ne:e confined in ''Ligon'
Tobacco Factory" on Main aud T Twenty. 6ixtl
| stretts, tnd hae continued urata.et to tn
/ rretent day. From the beginning the pris
oIefs have been under the supreme coutro
, Of Gen Winder, but at that time Capt. Gibb
ard Lieut. Tod were his enbordinates, wh,
camo in direct cottact with the prisoners
Winder is q ruaa Of middle height, Or slight;
under It, advanced In years, rather stou'l,,
built, halr quite white. t1orid In complexion
Nth I'D noae, and cold, cruel gray eye
r be is precisely. what that eye tndie,tes to Il
| obserTes-cold, cruel and TiadIc I've. II
wears esay unlform. The last two men
4 ticned tavs been killed. as I am Informed
ard have therefore gone where The
: works;'' but may mention that # ia. unda
4 the .syfne OF Wirder, Gibbs and Tod that th
+ @'Igon Prison" was perforated Eith muske
b.1ls in At lea.t twenty placer, and that Gle
sop, Of the Fire Zouaves. a man Of the /:
= Michigan regiment. and several others. Eet
b the NIn6oNa; sud It WAS at the sane tin
that rebel soldier Was permitted In th
bread eaylight to bripg human skull. Wit
It rope pasted through the eyee, and dapgle
. in font OF the windows, ia the public stree
: shouting out, while be bsaadisned hug
; bowie Knife, "Ihis Is the last Of one =
Yspkee." :.
These ara but ieH Of the baehatisms pra
2 ;iced uncer the eyes Of the men naent1one
J aho1e; the whole would fill good-.ized 70
une Two Of these have gone to their s
count shal1 th= third escape puaf.hue,
heres
Gen. Winder still retains the chief COZ
uand, though Capt. Turner is the commau'
7 ant of the Post at the "Libby.'' Tits ma
Il though lacded continually bythc Rtchmo1
cruelty i1sK Every petty annoyance that c1
be invented Is tried In otder that some o.
may infringe in the least degree lome If
/ -1ules, 20 that he may hare the satisfaction
tsbuckiug and gaggtDg," or pnt IN irons, I
on bread and water, The offender {:} I Aa'
known him to threaten to hang one fudistd
u becauae he would not get twelve men. I
II. sweep the street In front of the prison, Al
D he put four men in Irons and In a dark foo1
Or On bread aud water for 46 hours, becau
they would not clean ont his s!Able
IL Now then for the remedy for the gross ~
disg1acetul abuses, the iuhuman and barb.
= GUS treatment which 1taye so faeblg attemE
tdt set forth. What Ehouuld I. bes
ta1iation. It Is q harsh one I admit, but
Just ore under the circumstances. It o.
requires that it should be in7oked NTH
o. cre,ion. We are not to suppose that N
will be conteEted and happy in prison 81
*hexe, but 10 such complaints are hea
ffcm any Place In the South :whers prisont
If war have been located aa fton R.chmoI
In truth everywhere elfe mare or less G.
sidesation is shown to prisoners, bnt 10 Biz
mord a p13scner Is looked upon a. d.
and t,eated accordingly. Therefore the re
edy is not to visit the sins OF the Rlchmo
rpft1sns upon soldiers from other States, t
to 1etaliate solely on Virginia soldiers. !.
worae than useless to 2e4l to the R'chmo
se. authorities, Wiuder or his euborli-att
they are insensible to he first emotions
. lindness. pity, consideration or fine chlv
rors feeliog;. they hare no hearts, or tt
| ,F nAnna-ra11 rs11ars ~runf Ma III