New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1864-11-04


,nen seen men with little bag Of meal in hand gain
cred from several rations, staroirS TO 6eam Jo'
.c,t Rad and IN deportation uovA mir TIC rae mae
r.al KIN ratcr and fry to cat 1t.
The clothing Of the miserable in the extreme
Pew fec bod sloss Of any kind not two thousanu 10"
coats and pants and those were late corners. h0' ""
oo,Lolf ofrs ndecenfly exposed and many rrs hoA''
The usual punishment was to place the men III 'Ne
stocks outside near the Captains quarters Al mo"
Was missing at rocG the squad OF ninety 10 "ncn
belonged was deprived Of the ration Inc ueH"n de
bullet already referred to, spared no ohenuer' O''
poor fo Just from She,aGEs army-hi' name N"' 100
er,sxas trvia9 10 rash his face near the Gedd~ TH''
ing uAen he slipped The olasey bottom, ana Jf2 N"h ms
head Just outside The fatal border We shouted 10 hm ON
u eas too a.e-" 6aotRer guard could haze J"T10Hg"
es men said II was a common belief among our men,
arising from statements made by the guard that ten
era WIsDER in command, issued an order that an! one
Of the guard who should shoot Yankee OUTSIDE ol INC
dead line" should have months furlough' but 'here
probably was truth in this. About tFo doy Ne''
th, shot some being cases Of suicide brought on 0y h
taldeprssioa or phy,ical misery the poor JeoT' ro'"S
hksse!rss or nadly rustiHs outside me " line
! The mental condition of arge portion Of the men
WAS melancholy beginning in dependency and tending
10 Kind of sold and idioe indifference Many spent
much time in arousing and encouraging thelf ieno"s
bnt hundreds were lying about moonless OF stalking
vacanty to and fro quite beyond any help when eoud
be given them within their prison walls. Ihese cases
were frequent among those who had been imprisoned
bnt a short time. There were those who were cap
ured at tie first Bull Run July, 1861, and had known
Belle Isle from the first, yet had preserved their pn!
cal aud mental health 10 n wonderful degree MANY
we're wise and resolute enough to keep themselves oe
avIxu Oh aTDn
making their knives ont Of iron hoopsOthers in manu-
featuring ink from the rast from these same hoops ana
with rude pens sketching Initiating bank notes OF
any sample that would involve long and patient eAeeu
ton.
Letters from home very seldom reached us, and few
had any means Of writing. In the early Summer aarge
hatch Of letters-fyc thousand we were told-arrved
having been accommodating somewhere for many months
These were brought into camp by an oheer under
orders 10 collect ten cents eachof course most were
/ returned and we heard no more Of them. One oimy
COMPANIONS saw among them three from his parents
hut he was unable pay the charge According 10 the
rules OF transmission of letters over the lines. these
letters must have already paid ten cents to the Rebe
| Government.
/ TITS melancholy and Notifying fact that some OF
our trials came from own men. At Belle Isle and
Audersonyie there among us gang OF desperate
men, ready 10 prey their fellows Not only theits and
robberies but even murders were committed. Affairs
became 20 serious at Camp Sumter that appeal was
made 10 General WNDER who authorized arrest and
trial BY a criminal court Eghty-six were arrested,
and Fix were hung. beside others who severely
punished These proceedings effected marked change
for the better.
Some few weeks before being released. wac ordered
to act as clerk in the hospital This consists simply Of
few scattered trees and fly tents and is in charge Of
Dr. WHITE, an excellent and consderate man with
very limited means, but doing oil in his power for bis
patients. He has twenty-five assistants, besides those
detailed to examine for sdmtiance to the hospital.
This examination made in a small st0ckade at
teched to the main one the inside door of which the
sick brought by their comrades, the mum
Der to be removed being limited. Lately, il cOnsdera
ton Of the rapidly Increasing sickness it extended
to one hundred and fifty daily That this too small
an allowance is shown by tho fact that the deaths wh'
in stockade were from thirty 10 fity day. Rae
seen Aund,ed aud fry bodies rafting passage TO III
dead house." 10 BE- Jured ih those rio died IN Lospa
The average Of deaths through the earlier months waf
thirty day at the time left tie average over on,
hundred and hty, and day tie record showed one
hundred and forty-sE.
Nc Dioporon Of deaths fron starvation not ncud.
IlOab consequent On ID
character and limited quantity Of food such asdiarrhea
dysentery and scuryy cannot state bat 20 the best
Of my knowledge Information and belief here were
.e0,es erery aoHl. We could at any time point on,
irauy FOR whom such fate was inevitable os they Ing
OF feeby walked skeletons, vhogc cmaciaion ox
eeeled the examples given in Lesi.es ILLUSTRATED for
June t. 1864. Tor examples IA some cases the inner
edges OF the two bones Of the arms. between the elbow
u fhc
plainly visible hen held toward the ght Tic ration
&c quantity, was perhaps barely sufficient to sustain
life and tie Of starvation generally those
whose stomachs could not retain what had become en-
trely indigcstible
For man 10 fad 'oafiHg, that his eoprode by Lis
eide deaa oeeu,ra.ee be no,d.
have seen death in almost al the forms Of the hospital
and battle field but the daily in Camp Sumter
exceeded in The extremity Of misery all my pre- ex
pcrlcnce.
TIE woIk Of burial is performed by own men, IN.
der guard and orders twenty-five bodies being placed
in single pit without head.boards and the sad duty
performed with indecent haste. Sometimes our men
were rewarded for this work with few sticks of fire.
wood, and have known them TO quarrel over dead
body for the job.
d. WHITE j. able 70 give the patients q diet but little
better than The prison raionsa little -four polridge
arrOwiOOt whisky and Wild or hog tomatoes. In the
way Of medicine saw nothing but csmphor, whisky
ard detection OF some Kind Of bark--whte oak, l
hiut lie often expressed his regret that he bad not
more medicines The Limitation of military orders. IN.
der which the surgeon III charge placed is shown
By the following occurrence: a supposed private,
wounded in tie thigh, under treatment in The hos.
pital when it discovered that he major Of
coloFed regiment The asSistant-surgeon under whose
imutiliel el9YCc he VIZ dafa