The Weekly Perrysburg journal. [volume] (Perrysburg, O. [Ohio]) 1861-1???, 1864-12-07
23 to Sopt. 5, in yLnsiVo:
HOW TnR MEN APPEARED.


Tho HerdLtfS account vf the appearance
of those Of our prisoners who have been
recently exchanged, presents an awful pic
ture from which we take tho following:
"Odr men were ragged beyond dsscrip.
tion. Some of them had nothing on them
but pantalo ans, and noticed one pair Of
inexpressi6les the logs Of which reached
only part way to tho knees of the wearer.
Others had their limbs bound up with
strips OF blankets, in place of any other
covering. Still others, whose garments
hal 10y great care been kept together, were
covered with vermin, which ratified from
thom like sand. The sick who were una.
bic to help themsc yes at ALL wcre certain.
ly tho m >st pitab!e objects ever bched
they were covered With gansrenous, fun
gous sores, harbors for worms AMI m lgots
to crawl and wriggle in. They wore
double up as if in u pc mlnont cramp.
Somo OF them lad their lips eaten away by
thcir loathsomc disease, aad were unable
even TO pronounce their names. They
were washed and shaved. and furnished
with new clothes; aud then, having been
placed upon clean cots, were fed with bis
cult, coffee and little milk punch.
| have spoken of the Joy these poor fell
lows mnifestel. OIe of them so distot.
ed by scurvy that his knees and chin touch
ed each other, excllim3d with COOL humor
as he was brou5 5ht in, Pm your mal for
half mattress; you can fin another like
R9 and save a little room" Another, when
his coffee was brought to him, aud he was
lifted 50 that tho ragrant cup might reach
his lips, broke out: How are you Java?
You put me in mind of how like Go0r-
gian." Still another. rec o5nizn5 an old
friend across the cabin, cried out: III say
jim. what dye think when ye saw the old
hag?P 81 didn't think, 1 only holered,
was the response. And another, answering
the same question, said, in his weak and
quiet voice, " thought was in Paradise,
aud couldn't say word"
The terms of impriSonmont which these
men had suffered varied from four mouths
to twenty. In all that time they had not
tasted, seen or smct the 0dor of coffee
Such a thing as a common lucifer match
had almost escaped their memory, and as
the doctor struck one to light his seyar he
was besct by fifty voices begging single
one, just as keepsake. Tne tompcrs of
many of our inen, as we'll as their physical
frames, were worn out. and after getting
taste OF biscuit aud coffee some of them
cried for more. as babies cry for breast
milk, and yet they COATES ed that they had
not in any three days of their imprison-
ment eaten so much as they had just dovour.
ed.
recall tho case of tall, powerfully
built man, whom | saw sitting on a bar
rel head on board the New York ths other
day. His hair was hanging like tangled
black moss down his bare back; his whis.
kers, jet and curly, covered his tace nearly
to his eyes; his countenance, tanned in the
Southern summer sun, and begrimmed by
the smoke OF Southern pine, was like that
of nogro in complexion. Aud yet this
powerfully built, enormous man was so
worn away that lady's bracelet might |
have slipped from his wrist to his shoulder. |
His eyes were sunken in their caverilous
sockets. and he trembled like an aspen leaf
from weakness. His lips were swollen
and great sores covered his limbs. | ask
cd him what was the matter. "S,lurvey."
"What regiment d. you belong tor "Hnn. |
gerd Shirteenth Indiana" hadn't tho
heart to question him hirtler, but turned |
to fair skinno |, briSht-eye'l youth beside
him, who in tuTn began to question mo-
"I look well enough, don't I!' he asked.-
Il should think you did" answered, II
ha'n't got any Scuryey, either!" Mo-
"Well, was prisoner alongside of this
man for fourteen months. washed my
self often, and kept my clothes as clean
as could. and took exercise, and didn't get
sick. The sickest men were always the |
dirtiest, AM the dirtiest is dead"
At AndersonVille there were at one time
over thirty thousand prisoners confined in
an eighteen acre lot, and during the month
of August there died in this deld two thou
sand nine hundred and ninety nine men.-
At frat the graves were markell by head.
boards. but so rapidly did the men die at
last that they were carried away in the
wagons used TO haul the rations in, and
wero dumped in bitches by the so Ise. The
story o. suffering at Andersonville has
been often told. ani ( will not attempt an
other recital. ss.s..