, 1864-11-08

obe'1ai "efe auueeonuJ e4poeeda anu mar
TIE usual punisbmentI was to place tb
men in the stocEs: outside, near the Cap
t4}b'a quarters. II r. msn was missin7 :
roIl-csll The squad Of ninety to which h
belonged wes dtpriyed Of the ration. III
'toeau-Il bullet, already retired to, spare.
no Off nd.r. One poor fellow. inst trpu
Wsa trJiDG to wash his face near the tsdesd
ltrs" railing, wben be slipped On the cla,
bottom, snd fell with his head Just onts,d;
the tstal border. We shouted to him, but Il
Was too l.te-''another guard woul1 have ,
tuIlongb,' the NTH faad. It was comuo.
belief among our men, arising from state
mtpts na0e BY the guard, that Gen. Wioder
il command, tEeued an order that any Of t.s
guard wto ehould shoot q Yankee outside
OF tie 'tceaG-]tne" should have morth't
iurlough, but there was probably no trutt
iu this. Abont two day we're thus shot
some beibg ca.fs Of suicide, brought on bj
mental ctpr' sstoa or phJ sical misery, ths
poor fellows throwing themselves, OF msdlg
rushing outside the ..llne.''
The menta1 condition Of large portion o
the men was me1apcholF, beginniuE in de,
sponder cy md tending to Find OF stolid
and fdiotic indifference. MANY spent muct
t'mc In arouAing and encour gipg their fell 0 vi
or stalking vacantlP to and fro, quite beyond
| sny help Nhich could be given taem within
| their prison walls. These cases Were ire.
| queat among tAoee who had been imprisou
ed but short time There were those wnc
were captured at the first Bull Run, Jaiy,
| hret, ret had preserved their physical and
mental health 60 wonderful degreo, Many
| were Wise and resoiute enough t5 keen them.
Selves occupied-some in cutting bone and
Wood ornaments. making ther knives out
Of iron hoops-others In manufacturing Ink
1sn 1-T1G$ {r4sx $hn1
with rude pens sketchipg OF initiating bank
notes OF any sample that would involve long
| .and patient execution.
Let1era from home very seldom reached us
aIo few had any means of writing In the
thr1Y SUMNER, q large batch Of 1ttters-five
thousand ne arc toid-arltved, having bsau
scctnulattEg someWheru for iuany months.
Ihese WcIc brought into camp by na oflcer,
Under orders 10 collect ten cents on each-of
course NEST were returned, and we heard no
among them three from his parents, but he
Was unable to pay the charge. According
to tic rules Of transmission of letters o7er
the linfe, these letters must have already
pad teb cents 10 tho rebel Government.
II ts Mtlancloly nd nlorafytng t4ct, that
At Belle Isle ard Aldersonvtlle, there were
smtng Us q gaog Of desperate men, teady to
prey on their fellows. Not only thetts and
rohteFies. but even murders were commit.
It'd. Affairs btcame go serlous at Camp sum
ttr that IN appeal Was made to General VIM
| Criminal court. Eighty Elk were arrested,
ano six were hung, besides others who were
| etyert1y punished. These PROCEEDINGS etIec.
| ted uialE change for the better. "
Sone few weeks before being released, I
| was ordered to act ~ clerk In the hospital.
This consists simply Of few scattered trees
a1d ty tents, and is In ctarge of Dr. White,
an t1ctllent and confederate man, with verY
limited mtans, but doing all in his power
| for bis patients. He has TWENTY-FIVE assis-
tants, btsides those detailed to examine fur
adnlttsnce 10 the hospital ThIs exantna-
ton was made In small stockaae attached to
the maiu one, to the inside door Of which the
radts, tile number to be removed being lin
ited. L 4tely, In cor sidkration Of the rapidly
| increasing sickness, it was extended to one
lune and htty daily. That this was too
enan an allowance ts shown BY the TACT
that the deaths within cur stockads wef9
from thirty to forty dBy. ! have seen one
huncrt atd fifty bodies waiting passage to
| the ':deAd house." to be buried with lnose
| who died in hos:it.l. Tue average of deaths
through tee earlier months was tnlrsy day !;
at ths ttme LETT, the average wss over one
hnnd1ed and Thirty, and one day the record
Showed one Lun1red and tOtty stx.
The proportion OF deaths from starvation.
not .ncfudlpg those consequent on the dis
eases originating In the character aud limited
| quantity Of food, such us diarrhea, dy8entery
aud scnrTy, canuot state; but, to the best
q NJ knowledge, information and belief,
there were scores every month. We could,
at any time, point out many for whom euch
q fate was inevitable, as they lay or fee3ly
walked, as mere sl rtors, whose eta .clataon
excee1ed the examples given In Lekie'x Iaus-
t,ahd tor June IL, 1864 For example: In
some cases the inner edgts Of the two boaes
fhkao 1ofu i
With the tntermt d1ate blood-vessels, were
plainly Efstole when held toward tile light
Fne ration, In qnanttty, Was perhaps barely
Euthclent to enBtRfn llte, and the cases Of
starvation we're geners1ly those nhose stom-
achs could not retain what had become en-.
| tirt1y lndigestlb1e.
For man to find, on waking, that hts
conrade by h1s side was dead, was an occa-
| sion too common to be noted. have seen
death In almost all the 1orms of the hospital
and battlefield, but the daily scenes In Camp
Sumter exceeded In the extremity Of misery
| all NY previous experience.
The "ork Of burial Is performed by our
own men, under guard and orders, twenty
flve bodies being tl,ced in a single pir, with
ont head'boaroe, and the sad duty performed
| With indecent haste. Sometimes our men
were r Wardeo Tor th's WORK with afew
quarrel over dead body for the job.
III. White IL able TO give the patients
Diet but little better THAI the prison ratious
q little -four porridge, ar1owroot, whisky
| and Wild or hCg tomatoes. In tat Way OF
medicine, I saw nothing but canpnor, whis-
| KY. and decoctlon Of some Kind CT bark
white oak, think. He oiten expressed his
regret tbat te bad not more medicines. Tne
limitation Of military orders, under which
the surgeon in charge was placed, il shown
private, wounded In the thigh, WAS under
Treatment in the hospital, wnen it WAS dis
| covered that he was kiaj1r Of colored
seeiment- The Assistant Surgeon, under
| whose Immediate charge be was proceeded
at orce, not only to remove him, but to kick
| him on1, and he WAS returned to the stock
ade, to ehifs for himself as we'll a. he could.
DR.. White cou1d 1ot or did not attempt to
restore him.
| After entering On my dntifs at the hospital
was occasionanY favored with double
rationB and some wild tomatoes. a few ol
examination Of our clothes, in secrating
some greenbecks, and with these were able
| to buy useful articles at exorbitant prices
| teL-cup Of -four at one dollar; eggs, three
to SIX dollars dozen; salt, four dollars 8
| pound; mo1asse8, thirty dollars gallon
the slaves and pigs, but highly re1ished b.
us, fitty cents pint These figures, mul
| tiplled By ten, will give very nearly the price
In Confederate currency. Though the coun,
try ahounded in pine and oak, sticks were
sold to us at various prices, according tc
| size
Our meR, especially the mechanics, vert
tempted with the etter of liberty and large
| ~yEes to take the oath ot allegiance to The
| ContedeIacY, but It Wae very rare that theil
fat1iotiem, even under such fiery trial eY'
er gave way. car1y this message from QUE
Of mT companions to bis mother: "A
frtattttMt he7e IL kthing me, mother, but I dt'
ehetJInl|y jor NJ country"
Some atlenps are made to escape, bu
wholly In vain, for II the prison walls aud
guards we're psa6ed and the protecting woods
resched, ute bloodhos4Eds sce7e sure to find u
| out
Turn<llng was ouce attempted on large
scale, Int On the afternoon previous to til
| night fixed for onr escspe, an officer rode Ii
ahd announced to US that the plot was dis
covered, and from our huge pen we could Set
on tie hill lust aboVe us the regiments a1ri
| Tirg to strengthen the guard. We had bier
I httfa1 I'd. 1t was cur belief that spies Wers
Kept IL the camp, which could be yerS easily
done.
The number In camp when left was uear1.
tbirty-tlye thousand, and daily increasing
The number In hospital WAS about five tho1
sand. l vas exchanged at Port Royal Ferry
August 10th.
| PRESCOTT TRACY.
cyo caunty Of Ness - rs1E, se VI. g. 8. !. liz
eiIson and s. Nojiof, being duly AVON, aay: Tha
the aboye statement OF Prescott Tracy ,heif fellow
| prieoner, ngreee with their o1n knowledge and ex
| ptrience. b. c. HGatNsoN.
| Co. Z, 19sh Illinois Vols.
| SYLVESTER Ne1Ror,
/ Co. B, 9Th New Jereey Vols.
! There is mass Of testimony as to ths
treatment Of our prisoners in Libby Prison
Richmond, and on Belle Iale In the Jane!
| River, sho~ Ing that they were plundered
starved, frozen, and treated in almost all re-
spects with unqualified cruelty.
I Private Joseph Grider, Sd East Tennessee
infantry, testides:
| Tn 1fhhw my daily rs41nn xyaa rnrn hraad-rn,x