The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1864-12-16
TIE .'ALED ONIAN \.


l"rn. Onr q, tnS C6l34dt"~ OF me NHflo-
tan Commission, The following I...tlcu-
lar> Of the o>ttution Of the prisoners at
Sumplcr Prison Mo were tried and CON
dcmncI l., their fellow prisoners for rob-
berry and murder. The statement l. mace
by Leroy l.. Key. who acted a' cill'I u
the police, al under who-c direction INV
execution took place. He say;
When arrived there were some 4ooo
prisoners, bla Inc number increased TIL
in SEPTEMBER there were from $1,000 to
$1,000. In .Au@u-; and September the
deaths were. from - TO l25 per day
For Il time the prisoners treated each 9th
cr decrutly, but there were some bad tel-
lows among them. These bad men in.
creased in number. and BEGAN series OF
alrocou> wrongs against their fellow pris-
uncrs.
They would dccov men into their tents
with the promise of Il blanket or IN extra
ration. or something desirable. and thcI
rob and plumber them. and all resistanc,
WAS in vain a. they had the victim fully
in their power iii their own tent.
,. They. would 90 out in Il body. anC
meeting Il IMAM in the street, would de-
mand of him his money. or whatever h,
had. If ne would not give ii up it wa.
forced from him If he resisted they
would beat lin 50 that he would die OF
lis injuries. The surgeon declared that
not less than - men died from this cause
alone
;. >prttn" 4 tent in the daytime
they would 20 onl at night five or six in
number. enter The tent. and. with knife
~ razor threaten the victim till he ">heli-
ct ont" Some men Were thus severely
wounded before they would "sheIl out
/. Many men trad Il 10 make little
money to get an extra ration. These
"rlId"r-.' going t. these petty traders
inquired OF them how they cot along in
Ih'lr ha>inr~-. AMI then demanded IF them
tax, saving, in two hours Won must
pay IL 500. or more" II The man re-
tu>,l thyl beat him.
These thing run on and became worse
;m wor>'. untIl We could bear il no long
rr Railr>" numbered about Che 10Th
"f Jun, LOO or 20l. and it brclmr abS,,-
HIriy necessary for the other prisoners 10
take some measures for defense; for the
rail ~ >wpr' ;hat by til, ith Of .iulv they
would have every cent in camp or kill the
r'-l~,'1- | = |" this tim, the Contc,lcr-
ate authorities kept no order or discipline
within the lines. spoke to few of NV
irlcnl, 20 organize a band OF protectors
ag.rin-l ih,'>e raiders We brg;,n 10 or
@tnil,, ami had proceeded to the torfna
non OF thirteen companies. with thirty
men and Il captain in each. Before the
organization Wa complete, was one day
walking on the north side of the camp.
when | saw ahead OF me the chief of the
railrS, and in pursuit OF me five men on
the "doubir quick" with knives in their
han i. The chief slapped me- on the
shoulder and turned me round. saving to
!n2: i understand You are getting up IA
blHd to ri2am out the Irish | replied:
- The report i false and YOU are miSta-
ken" well. YOU are getting up a band
for some purpose what is it for. if not to
clean OFT the Irish ;" Meanwhile the five
men closed around lis. forming a ring
around Curt, ami myself
lie again demanded To know the object
of the band. SAID to him, boldly. We
are organizing a band to clean out the
rai'icr,, and ii you are one of them we
lHtcnl to clean Won out" They did not
proceed TO violence. but In" leader put
his knife into his lett hand and with his
right offered to shake hands with me.
They then let ne 90. That night much
raldln@ was done in camp. and we heard
in various quarters he cries Of men. ''help.
murder. The cookhou~t. WIS on the
outSld" OF the camp. ON the stream above.
ana men were detailed from The prisoner,
on parole OF honor to do the cooking
All rItJon- were drawn into the lines OF
the otor>a'!r III DEMONSTRATIONS of corn
bread, a small piece of pork or beef:
sometimes Il pint Of cooked beans to Il man
not amounting i'll all to enough for one
meal day. Soup wa~ probably allowed
once Il week bat W. did not gct i; otiqnar
than once III three weeks or a month. and
thrn II was netting bat a little crease on
a chip.
The condition OF the prisoners was re-
level bv the arrival of some men cap
turtd at Plymouth. who had llst been
paid Oft, and who brought into camp
thousands of dollars. BY trading and
bartrrn@ round, most of the men cot
some OF this money. | rgarl it As an
act Of Il m,rciul Providence that those
men Were apturel anI sent to Sampler
Prison. for otherwise many more men
must nave died from starvation.
The day after Curtis stopped me in
the street. word came that no more ration>
would be sent into camp until We deliver
ed up the raiders into the hands of the
rebel authorities; for they had raided up
on the WAGONS, and had stolen the ra,ionS
belonging to detachment ON the south
side OF the camp, We then perfected the
organization OF our band. and commenced
seeking for ana arr2>ting the raiders. We
iaid hold OF 80 or 200 men. who We're
known to he engaged in raiding. and
turned them over Out of this number,
TN. Wnrst l.asps tMnnty in Ill u.nrn rntn