Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1864-12-13

ing able TO connect with trains going west,
they remained at the Homo over Sunday.
They were mostly Michigan boys, going
hone on furIough Of twenty or thirty days.
Some of them were captured at Cbicamau-
ga, Others at Gettysburgh, SO that ali Of
them have Jeen enjoying the blessings of
Southern hospitality in prisons and hos
pitfalls for more than a year.
The PhystgWe of most of the boys, If not
the best IL ths-wosld to look ppon, was by
10 means unsiphtly, or extremely, or even
soy bsd. Thanks, in great part for their
a1nelioration, 10 the. excellent dietic care
they have received since their exchange,
which care has evidently reclOtbed dry
bones with IOug uuaccustomed flesh. For
there is thst in their aspect now
which indicates an experience Of great
privation, neglect, cruelty and suffering.
And one has easy filth in listening to their
stories of personal calamity, and can readi-
" believe, on their recital OF woes, the
published accounts of the bsrbarity Practic-
edupon our boys who have been confined
| within the walls of Southern pr;nonsJ with
no companions but scurvy, diarrhUe, fever,
starvation, Ico, maggOts and general mis-
cry.
Sergeant 7. H. Sheppard, Company E,
1st Michigan cavalry, kindly gave US the
following condensed written statement:
After haYing been in prison sixteen
'mOuLus ana Heg SEtOeu dGy55 during
| which time have been treated uniformly
! in the most brutal manner possible, I am
! thus fer on my way homa- ncvor ex-
J peeted to see home again. ! was Bostrat-
| ed with sickness for four months in Camp
! Sumter oocasioced by starvation and expo
| cure. The treatment We received was
enough 20 .'bresk the heart of stone."
| We wera turned into Bull Pen, without
! shelter, Tand fed scrimpin gly or corn meal
and putrid meat, until I3, ,723 of NV fellow
comrades laid their bodies down Tor long
! rest in Camp Sumter, Georgia. Their deaths
were caused by nothing but starvation and
| exposure. Men were found dead every
morning in all parts Of the camp, This
| was the sight we had 10 witness every day
| for six long months, until the rebels were
| forced To remove Us to Savannah. There
! We received better tTeatment, but it did
| not last long; for when the authorities
! discovered that the citizens were covertly
! giving cur sick clothes, food and bedding,
! they removed Us 10 another Bull Pom in
! Alillen, where we were closely guarded be-
| Gauss Of the fear the rebels had that Sher-
man would come to effect our release, or
! that we would escaps and succeed in reach
| ing MS army. If q man CHANGED to escape
| he was hunted by fends with q pack of
| blood hounds. IfOv5rtakeu, the dogs were
/ suffered, in several instances, to tear in
/ pieces the unfortunate man. ] myself and
| q comrade escaped, but were captured by q
| squad Of fifteen men with hounds, after
! travelling four days end nights, and we
wero taken back to prison, and had nice
present made us Of q ball and chain at
| taebed to our legs and arms, which we were
| permitted to wear six long weeks until we
were nearly deed. They did not suffer US
| to die quite dead, but removed the orna-
| Inents and sent US back to the Bull Pen,
| among the common herd. This treatment
was served up TO us by the commandant of
/ the post, Captain Worts, whose name our
prisoners viii remember long.
This squad of Michigan boys went on
their way home rejoicing yesterday morn
ing. We saw smother exchanged prisoner
at The Home yesterday, an intelligent
young private Of tho 1Oiss 0. V. L, who
was en- route for his home in Yermillion,
Erie county. He was csptured at the dis
astrous fght at Cicamauga, September 1eth,
tand was tsken frst 70 Richmond. He was
G prisoner fourteen months, and hes been
all over the COnfederacy. Was in six diff
fereut prisons and two hospitals. From
Richmond he went to Danville. There
they spent . part of the winter in an old
building, all the windows Of which were
out, and they had no fire, but plenty OF
fresh air. The rebels took great care to
give the prisoners the boon Of excellent
ventilation. From Danyills they went to
AndsrzonvilIeys where they received the
worst fare they experienced during the
entire Imprisonment
They were confined on a low tract of land
twelve acres in ares, surrounded BY a Chi
nese wall, in tho shape of a,Stoekade, and
housed in tents which they had TO make o.
their own blankets. In the center Of the
| grounds was marsh, through which {
sluggish stream lszily coursed. This spo
was the sink or cess-pool Of the camp which
was tenantod BY thirty thousand men. II
juno Il rained twenty-five days, almost
uninterruptedly, and the men, exposed tt
such weather, and N such place, died Of
like flies.
Tho refuse of the camp, hurled into tina
cess-pool in tho centre of the grounds, made
it Tophet, bred vermin and every abom'
motion, and magEofs crswled from end t.
end of the encampment, covering the men
many of whom,Egrown too listless and dis
heartened TO care to live, took no pains witt
themselves, and were literally eaten t,
death of worms, who thus, in manner
out-heroded Hercd.
| But maggots, scurvy, diarrhea and rebels
were not their only enemies. There were
foes Of their own household. A large bod ;
Of New York soldiers occupied one part 0
the grounds, who were for long time tbs
terror Of the camp. They were full of lies
theft, fraud, ouarrels and murder.
If they learned Of q man having money
a gang of them would seek his quarters g
night, knock him on the head with club,
and fleece his pocket. Many soldiers were
found dead in their tents, their sKullI
broken by these devils. They carried ST
fairs TO that pitch, the prisoners appealed
/ to the rebel authorities to interfere. Bu
they were told TO take the case n their owr
hands, try the -murderers, and administer
justice, judgment and vengeance in their
own style. They accordingly impGuneled
jury and appointed judge from a body
of prisoners who had just arrived, and whc
knew nothing Of the mf tier, tried some Of
the New York sporting gentry, convicted
six, and stretched up every mothers SOL
of the internal scOundrels. This righteous
procedure brought order and peace and
| - e,4-- ,,,4 Of tl,e cbonu Of 1,iolar.a -obLo--