The Weekly Perrysburg journal. [volume] (Perrysburg, O. [Ohio]) 1861-1???, 1864-03-16


Prisoners Fare at Richmond.
4 lctter from Colonel Sroicht to the
House Military Committee, contains some
new items in the indictment which civili2a.
ton brings against the harharans who
have control oi the prisoners mt Richmond.
The following are some Of his statements :
Tho rations furnished both officers and
men hy the lchClS consist of about one
pound ot corn bread, made from mholtcd
meal, and ouc.lourth Of puuud Of poor
fresh meat per day. Meat has been ISSUED
30 tho prisoners but about ono half vt tho
time sinca thn list Of December last In al.
duidn to ratious Of bread and meat, prison.
crs draw about two quarts Of rico Ia ono
hundred men. An insufficient quantity ur
salt is furnished. and very small qran.
tity Ot vinegar I'm n few instances, say
six or eight times at most a small quantity
ot sweet potatoes las boon issucd, instead
or ratiou6 of meat. Tho above is the sum
total of rations issued to our officers and
men, now prisoners Of war The condition
of our unfortunate enlisted men now in the
hands of tho enemy, is much worse than
that OF the officers. From carly in MAY last,
when arrived in Richmond, to about the
lst ot December, all enlisted men wcrc tax
en- to what is called Belle Island. and turned
into an inclosurc like SO many cattlo in "A
slaughter pen. Very few of them had tents
or shaltcr 0C any kind, and tho few tcnts
hrni=lod were so poor and lcaity as to rem.
der them hut lilto hottor than none at ALL
The prisoners are taken to Libby when
they first arrive in Richmond, for the pur-
pose of counting them and enrolling their
names. had fair chance TO SEQ their
condition when they arrived. Fully one
halt taken since May last were robbed hv
their captors of their shoes, and nearly all
were robbed of their ovorcoats, blankets,
and havCrsaCks. At least ono-third of them
had been compelled to trade their pants and
blOusCs for mere rags that would scarcely
hide their nakedncss. Very many Of thom
were entirely arc-headcd, and not few
as late as the middle of December we're
brought in, who had nothing on but a pair
ol ragged pants and shirt, being bare headed
barC-Lootcd. and without blouse, ovcrcoat
or blanket, J have seen hundreds of our
men t0Ecn to the hospital thus clad, and in
adying condition. have frequently visited
the hospital, and have cOuvorsod with largo
numbers Of dying men brought there from
the Island, who assured me that they had
been compelled 10 lie out in the open mir
without any medical attendance, though for
several days they had been unable to walk
destitute ot anything like Quarters, and
nearly naked, during the cold, stormy and
chilly fall season the first and ehiot COM
plant of all those saw and talked with
was the insufficient quantity of food. In
no instance have the rebel authorities fur
nisliod oIuthing or BLANKETS to our men.
During tho wintor, largo numbers Of our
men were frozen. | heard one of the rebel
surgeons say that there were over 20 of
our mon who would have to suffer amputa.
ton from tho onccts of the frost. This
was before the coolest weather had com.
menccd,
Some timo in iha roro mari If Doocr,l,cr
4 rortiou g., a,,r r,.n v.crc rrn,,nJoJ G.on,
fine island +, sonr L,ro LuiIlh,,, vl,,rn
thcv wore p,oro cn,,C,rt,lly c,,,r,nrI Inn,
there has bncn mo- timo sin,t Nav ,.,cn
moro or loss mon hovn not bccr trrt an
ihc Island in tbc oncn mir and vitbort
fnod This wa. n,rtirur,rIv iI,a c,sn ,.;T,
a norton of tbe GctlvsLurr nrisonors
Some won't os Inu,r go sir dovs w,ithnri
fool and worn oon,ncllod to r,rrh Lrrin,,
fine ti,nn Tho olfrcrs c,nturoJ nt rLicG
manga assure mo that thcv and thc;r mem
,,,rrr rolLc1 or cvrrviI,inI N,ny NJ u,o,,,
LOST conts hats and Lnnts 40 snGr no ,,,,,
ured and thcn wcro nGarIv st,r,oI N"r w.
frozen. On thc ION urDncnrnLor rocoi,,
ed communication. nrrnoriinr tn con'o
from one in nnthoritr stotin~ th@i far @Ino
in ,rronrLocl.s ouL Two siIvop ,,at,J,na ,,,,.
eoI1I and frieud would he ncrmittcI ~ rnSs S
ihc cu,rj s"''
some dave rrovious T., r,is o,o or ms,
officer, snccncJed in MAXIM his oscam, .
in this wov and oItLor,b v,ns not
without onnrchnnsion th,t + u,os " ,,.,,,
rcsolyoJ 10 tv thr rynrrimcnt Ncrnr'
linrly, Cantain B. G.. & Reed of ti,c al
Ohio, and myself went to the designated
place. mt tho appointed hour, where
we wcro assured that it was all
right. No Unmplicd with the terms
and passed ont, but no sooner were we out
side the guard lines than Lieut.. Latouchc,
Adit. of prison, and seven men, spranr ont
from concealed place and commenced mr.
ing on us before hating ia. We were I'M.
armed and could do nothing but surrender
We were taken hack to prison mt in irons
and thrown into one Of those filthy holes
called cells, where we were kcpt for three
weeks on bread and water. The weather
WAS very cold during, the time. and we
nearly p5rishcd.
There was a I,r,,a amount IF BIl;, Ia H.,
cell, which ! could not induce them to re.
move, nor could get them to permit me
to remove it, | asked for paper, pen and mll
to write to the rebel authorities also for a
box t1 sit ON, of which th5ro were large