The weekly north Iowa times. [volume] (McGregor, Iowa) 1857-1867, 1864-10-12
From the New York Espsssa,
Horrors Of q Re bel Prison,

the Chairman Of the delegation, in obedi.
ence to tho directions of his medical adviser.
| DR.. John Lynch, Of st. Vincent's Hospital
in consequence Of his continued illness, be-
ing unable to accompany the other mem-
bcrs 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 sympathize with the suffer
inngs Of the unhappy prisoners whose case
the writer SO vividly depicts:
Prescott Tracy, EGG, sgd ~ Y Eol.:
MY DEAR TRACY lit is with the deep.
est regret, fiud the illness under which
labor is of such nature that I am denied
the pleasure, as well as singular honor of
accompanying my brother Commissioners
upon our sacred mission to Washington.
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 describe
the almost incredible wretchedness of these
brave men, in: l.s
Their uncountably protracted imprison-
ment in the swamps OF Georgia;
Their terrible privations;
Their food unfit for human beings; r.
Thtir 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 region;
Their miserable clothes, insufficient even
for the purposes Of common decency; s
The confinement of 80, 900 human be-
ings within an area Of some seventeen acres.
with pestilential swamp running through
the camp;
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 q
time without particle of medicine;
The fearful amount Of disease and the
frightlul mortality consequent upon such
unprecedented sufferings; s.
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 10 to II months, and thousands Of
whose terms of service have long since ca.
pired-facts which add to the horrors Of
the picture. t.-.. s.-~e-
These things, with others equally excru-
ciating, had hoped to be able to assist you
in impressing 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
suffering for their devotion to the Union.--
Ny hopes, however, have turned out to be
in vain. So far as | am concerned, the
appeal Of the 35 900 prisoners in Camp
Sumter must be silent and Ineffective, nv
medical adviser, Dr. John Lynch, strictly
prohibiting me from taking part in any cx.
citement, owing to the state of my health
generally; my left lung nearly gone, and
my sight SO impaired as to be only one de.
gree removed from total blindness, all
the result of eleven, long weary months
spent in the Bull Pens Of the Southcrn.
Confederacy. ..,
Ir your hand, however, the cause will
suffer nothing. Your great intelligence.
your long experience and intimate acquain-
tance with military life, your perfect knowl-,
edge Of all the facts Of the case, and your
deep sympathy for the poor fellows we have
left behind us, evidently fit you for the high
and holy mission upon which we have been
sent. TO you, therefore, resign the hon.
ored position as Chairman Of our Delega-
ton, which earnestly beg you to accept.
conscious that you will do all that could
<rieh ~esl far-n,ors thaa I -easld Aa ahla tn,
accomplish.
am, my dear Tracy, yours truly,
EDWARD WELLINGTON BOATS.
New York, Sept. Is, 1864. f&
What, may we ask, in the name of hu-,l
manity, prevents our administration effect
ing an exchange of those unhappy men
whose condition wculd excite the pity Of
ho
been for some time willing to exchange man
for man and officer for officer with our
administration, and to leave the excess Of
prisoners in our hands still with us, and
not ask single man on parole. The rea-'
son is palpable. Thousands of those poor
sufferers term of service is out for months
thousands of them can never be Of any
further use to any body-broken down in
body and mind as they are from captivity !,
therefore our rulers quietly resign them to-.
their miserable fate. Oh, the humanity
that weeps over Pompey's and Samb0's
have fought and blcd for the Union to q
fate such as they are enduring, and never
extend helping hand to save them. Oh,
that humanity, how sincere, how noble,
how true Out upon you, hypocrites -:
Well indeed might we apply to these un-1
happy prisoners the line of Byron ,5t
Tho broken tools that tyrants throw away. .Faf
What encouragement TO volunteer and
patriotic enlistment is this? But, then,
what need Of Encouragement to enlistment ?
The Conscription will do all that. Blessed
country happy people thrice blest and
thrice happy in having such rulers.