The weekly north Iowa times. [volume] (McGregor, Iowa) 1857-1867, 1864-10-05
From the New York EspfseS.
4 a Rebel Prison.

From the New York Espess,
Horrors Of q Rebel Prison.
Last evening two Of the Commissioners,
Messrs. Tracy and Noirot, appointed BY the
So, 900 Union prisoners in Camp Sumter,
Andersonville, Ga, to represent their case
to the President, left this city for Washing.
ton to fulfill their mission; E. w. Boste,
the Chairman of the delegation, in obedi-
ence to tho directions of his medical adviser,
DR.. John Lynch, Of st. Vin:ents Hospital
in consequence Of his continued illness, be-
ing unable to accompany the other mem
bers of the commission, resigned the chair.
manship to Mr.. Tracy, in the following let
ter, which will be read with painful inter.
est by all who sympathze with the suffer
ings Of the unhappy prisoners whose case
the writer SO wildly depicts:
Prescott Tracy, Esq, ED ". Y. Hl.:
NY DEAR TRACY:--I is with the deep;
est regret, fiud the illness under which
labor is Of such a nature that am denied
the pleasure, as we'll as singular honor OF
accompanying my brother Commissioners
upon our sacred mission to Washington.
l had cherished the hope Of being able. as
Chairman Of our delegation, to communi-
cate verbally the facts relative to the state
of our suffering soldiers at Camp Sumter,
to the Executive, and help you to descrios
the almost incredible wretchedness OF these
brave men, in: .- g..
Their uncountably protracted imprison-
ment in the swamps Of Georgia;
Their terrible privations;
Their food unfit for human beings;
Th,ir drink their only drink) swamp
| water filed with untold impurities;
Without shelter Of any kind from tho
fierce tropical sun and the heavy rains
which alternately prevail in that r:gion
Their miserable clothes, insufficient even
for the purposes Of common decency;
The confinement of 80, 900 human be-
| ings within an area OF some seventeen acres,
with pestilential swamp running through
Without any facilities for keeping the
person clean
The fact that our sick when removed to
hospital being utterly devoid of any sort OF
accommodation, and often three weeks at .
time without particle OF medicine;
The fearful amount Of disease and the
frishtlul mortality consequent upon such
unprecedented sufferings;
The despair, the mental imbscility, the
madness which have been the result to 50
many of those unhappy prisoners, thous.
ands of whom are confined for periods OF
| from ~ u ~ HOutus, anu ttAouo""N" W
whose terms Of service have long since cA.
pired-facts which add to the horrors Of
; the picture. --#
These things, with others equally excru-
ciating, had hoped to be able to assist you
, in imprcssing upon the mind Of our Chief
+, Magistrate, conscious that he could not
: listen to the tales without making an effort
) to rescue from their horrible position the
! brave, but unfortunate men who are thus
0 suffering for their devotion to the Union.-
!; Nv hopes, however, have turned out to DO
in vain. So far as | am concerned, the
8 appeal Of the $4,000 prisoners in Camp
J. Sumter must be silent and Ineffective, my
:, medical adviser, DR.. John Lynch, strictly
: prohibiting me from taking part in any ex.
J. element, owing to the state OF my health
d generally; my left lung nearly gone, and
nv sight so impaired as to be only one de.
. gree removed from total blindness, all
;, the result of eleven, long,, weary months
r. spent i'm the Bull Pens Of the Southern
!; Confederacy. .-r -,
lie Ir your hand, however, the cause will
'r suffer nothing. Your great intelligence,
- ycur long experience and intimate acqua'n-
J. lance with military life, your perfect knowI'
ne edge Of oil the facts of the case, and your
&c deep sympathy for the poor fellows we have
Is left behind us, evidently fit you for the high
and holy mission upon which we have peer
n. sent. To you, therefore, l resign the non
ys ored position as Chairman Of our Delega
ad ton. which earnestly beg you to accept
ad conscious that you will do all that coult
n r;sh ~,,I -c.~ moro thAa -nanld- ha -ahla Il
'at accomplish. : .t-
Die am, my dear Tracy, yours truly, .,
ov EDWARD WELLINGTON BoATE
us New York Sept Is, 1864. 1853
US What may we ask, in the name OF I'D
~ manitv, prevents our administration effect
T., ing an exchange Of those unhappy me-
'v whose condition wculd excite the pity
savagcs? The Confederates are and hav
been for some time willing to exchanges ma
ING for man and officer for officer With on
ual administration, and to leave the excess I
nd: prisoners in our hands still with US, an
no, not ask a single man on parole. Inc re-
l'c) son is palpable. Thousands OF those pc.
ass sufferers term of service is out Tor montf
10 thousands of them can never be OF ar
the further use to any body-broken down
Sc body and mind as they are from captlv't!
wn therefore our rulers quietly resign them
,oV' their miserable fate. Oh, the humanl
TO- that weeps over Pompey's and Sambs
lost condition, and leaves the white soldiers VI
al have fought and bled for the Union te
we fate such as they are enduring, and ne,
'der extend a helping hand to save them. 7
asses that humanity, how sincere, how mob
in how true Out upon you, hypocrites
are Well indeed might we apply to these
very happy prisoners the line Of byron d
sex The broken tools that tyrants throw away
'ne What encouragement to volunteer q
'o Son patriotic enlistment is this? But, tn
ooo what need Of encouragement to enl's.me'
oo se The Consumption will do all that. Bles
INT country happy people! thrice blest I
a Zoe. thrice happy in having such rulers.
not DEMOCRATIC NopwEsIAN PAPER.-Our d
male ocratic Norw egan friends in this county
hem, elsewhere, will take notice, that Democr
'por. Norwegian Paper and documents, can be
IS in. tanned at the Office of the La Crosse Ds'noe
shes; at the rate of SIS per hundred. Mr. Pom'
or has secured the services ola talented MOI
100 eian editor, which with his own wit and {
ILL., ble sarcasm, will make it most desir
su campaign paper. Democratic Clubs thro