The Wyandot pioneer. (Upper Sandusky, Ohio) 1853-1868, 1864-05-13

tlon. During the forenoon OF the SlXtl
of July, all the Captains in the house (7'
in number) were taken down in lowe
room, hollow SQUARE was fortified, wher
Capt. Turner read an order from Gen
Wiuder, instludtihg him to ilrithediatelj
select by lot two Captains from among
those then in his custody, those selected
to be executed in retaliation for two huns
as spies by Gen. Burnside. The ballot,
~ in number, each containing the name
and rank Of the captains was placed in 4
box, and we were informed that ne could
select some person to make the draw,
Chaplain Brown, one of the Oldest men
In the room was selected, and closing his
eyes, aud while all around were wrapped
in the strictest silence and great anxiety
depicted OH their CONTINGENCIES; he pro-
ceeded to take two slips. from the boz
handing them to Capt. Turner, who
opened them and read the names of Capt.
Sawyer, lst N. j. cavalry and Capt.
Finn, 5lst Indians. The countenances
Of al present. excepting those two
unfortunate men, but only momen-
tarily when they again became clouded
at the thought of the expected fate of
those two unfortunate innocent men,
The two condemned were Immediately
taken to Gen. Winder's quarters, who
after telling them they were all set o.
tbieving yankees, "aud ought 10 be hung
every id one of them," lie informed
them that they could send for their wives,
which Sawyer done, but when she ar
rived at City Point, she was not permitted
to come any Gurther. The two men were
taken to their cells at night, until the
news was received that Gen: Lee and
Cant. Winder had been selected as hos
tages and placed in close confinement;
when they were released from the cells
and placed with the other prisoners. The
siippy of water, which was conveyed
into the building by pipes, though some
what filthy, was always sufficient for all
Purposes; OFT the ., 10 and 1.-The OF July,
owing to heavy rains and the high state
eff the rivet, the water was cut off from
the buldtg and all the water we received
during those days was what the negroes
brought UP in small Quantities, on the
Ith of July Brig Gen. Neal Dow (olI
Maine Law notoridty was brought in and
remained hers Until the wien he
was taken to Mobile, and rettrred here
aeain Oct. 18th. He gave us Temper
ance Lecture one evening. which he as
stirred us could be of very littls benefit
except as prastine; for we were of a.
necessity compelled to belong to the
Total Abstinence" Society SO long as
We RETAINED inmates of Libby!
The arrival Of the tnai1 from the North,
by Flag of Truce boat. was always an ex-
citing time, large crowd would imme-
diately assemble, and some man with a
GOOD pair of lungs would proceed to call
off the list of names, Although paper
and ENVELOPES were scarce, large num-
ber Of letters were written by the prison
ers, of which no doubt good many never
went further than the Office below. DC
casionaly a few would be returned en-
dorsed "too long" as we were restricted,
to one page letters: Odce in a while we
would also receive paper of two from
the North. Some difficulty was expert
euced during the whole Of otr stay, by
the insufflciencs Of our cooking arrange
fhents. For the 500 men sllotted to these
t57o eoouis, we had three old stoves, and
about two thirds erottgh table ware, such
is knives and forks, plates spoons, cups
Nc. The men were pretty equally di-
vided into large and small messes. The
large ones consisting Of about twenty per-
sons, the small ones of about four, all
aanting to cook and eat at nearly the
same time oftsn,occasion disputes and we
Hould all have to wait and watch for
fishes to use for cooking or eating pur-
5oses. I originally belonged to "large
ness" but soon joined a "smalf mess"
# six, and we purchased set Of table
ware, after which we got along quite well
n that respect. We had a Comissary in
n each room, and then a general one,
trough whom all orders for extras, were
ent outside. Instead of sending for so
many bushels Of potatoes. or pounds of
,,or mo eant for so many dollars worth