The daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1863-1864, 1864-09-26
From the N. Y. Express, Monday Evening.
Union Prisoners in Georgia
prpAR1>URxs OF THE COMMISSIONERS TO
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Union Prisoners in Georgia
p,rpAR1SgRxs OF THE COMMISSIONERS TO
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, Last evening two of the Commissioners.
Messrs. Tracy and Noirot, appointed by tho
IS 600 Union prisoners in Camp Sumpter,
Anderaonyille, Ga, ts represent their case
to the President, left this city for. Washing
ton to fulfil their mission; E. W. Boate,
the Chairman of the delegation, in obedl
ence to the directions of his medical adj
wiser, DR.. John Lynch, of st. Vincents
Hospital, in consequence of his continued
illness, being unable to accompany the
other members of the Commission, re-
signed the craftsmanship to Mr.. Tracy, in
the following letter, which will be read
with painful interest by all who symps
thizs with the sufferings Of the unhappy
prisoners whose case tho wri or so wildly
depicts: sa H..
Prescott Tracy, Esq, 82d ~ Y Volunteers:
Ny Dear Tracy-It is with the deepest
regret, find the illness under which la
Dor is of such nature that | am denied
the pleasure, as we'll as singular honor, Of
accompanying my brother Commissioners
upon our sacred mission to Washington. 4
I had cherished the hope Of being able,
as Chairman of our delegation. to commu
nicate verbally the facts relative to the
state of our suffering soldiers at Camp
Sumpter, to the Executive, and help you to
describe the almost incredible wretchedness
of these brave men, in:
Their unaccountably protracted impris'
onment in the swamps of Georgia;
Their terrible privations;
Their food unfit for human beings;
Thor drink-:their only drink-swamp
water, filled with untold impurities
Without shelter of any kind from the
fierce tropical sun and the heavy rains
which alternately prevail in that region;
Their miserable clothes, Insufficient even
for the purposes of common decency;
The confinement of $4,000 human beings
Within an area of some seventeen acres,
with pestilential swamp running through
the camp; q - ~,
Without any facilities for keeping the
person clean; i. ua, .
The fact of our sick, when removed to
hospital, being utterly devoid Of any sort
of accommodation, and often three weeks
at time without particle of medlcine;
The fearful amount OF disease and the
frightful mortality consequent upon such
unprecedented sufferngs;
The despair, the mental imbecilty, the
madness which have been the result to sc
many OF those unhappy prisoners, thou,
sands of whom are confined for periods OF
from ten to seventeen months, and thou
sands of whose terms of service have long
since expired-facts which add to the hor-
rors of the picture. l.IuJ -#3!.t..
These things, with Others equally excru.
ciating, had hoped to be able to assist you
in impressing upon the mind of our Chie
Magistrate, conscious that he could not lis
ten to the tale without making an effort to
rescue from their horrible position tie brave
but unfortunate men who are thus suffering
for their devotion to the Union. My hopes
however, have turned out to lie in vain,
So far as | am concerned, the appeal of the
5000 prisoners in Camp Sumter must be
silent and ineffective, my medical adviser
DR.. John Lynch, strictly prohibiting me
from taking part in any excitement, owing
to the state of my health generally; my
left lung nearly gone, and my sigh. 50 an
paired as to be only one degree removed from
total blindness, ALL THE RESULT OF ELEVEN
LONG, WEARY MONTHS SPENT IN THE Bull
PENS OF THE SOUTHERN UoNFEDERAcY.
In your hands, however, the cause will
suffer nothing. Your great intelligence,
your long experience and intimate acquaint
ance with military life, your perfect knowln
edge of all the facts Of the case, and your
deep sympathy for the poor .fstloscs ne have
left behind as, evidently fit you for the high
and wholly mission upon which you have
been sent. To you, Therefore, I resign the
honored position as Chairman of our Dele.
CATION, which I earnestly beg you to accept,
conscious that you will do all that / could
wish and far more than ! could be able to
accomplish. .... ....'.
lam, my dear Tracy, yours truly,
EDWARD WELLINGTON BoATE.
New York, Sept Is, 1864. -
What, may We ask, IN the name OF hu
mainly, prevents our administration efect>
ing an exchange of those unhappy mon
whose condition would excite the pity of
sayapes2 The Confederates are and have