Richmond Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1862-1865, 1864-09-02


sssssi ~ tssls SkaEs.sss&sSs + gSeai ssssst icy
Gnyshlag.
What renders their present conduct more Disgrace
ul to themselves and more cruel to their men In our
hands is that they have reason TO oeeVe tnas these
man are now suffering extraordinary hardships.
delegation Of released prisoners from Audersonvlle
have lately laid before Lincoln statement of what
they aege to be facts which, only rOximltely true'
should penetrate the sensibiies Of even his coarse
aud calous nature. WssknOW but little of the cor
rectne.s fAlsiIy Of these statements. But We do
know that whatever bardshps our capIives suffer ara
brought upon themselves, first by their coming here
to wage unproVoked and ruthless upon u second,
by their systematic efforts to produce famine and star
walton in this country; and third BY the refusal Of
their Government to relieve them Of their surings by
exchanging them, on any tsrms. In their memorial to
Lircoln the delegation to which we refer state:
For some time past there has been concentration OF
prisoners from ali parts OF the rebel territory to the
State of GeoTga-tbe commissioned ooers being con-
hned at Macon and the enlist men at AncersonVie.
cent moVem. MS Of ihe Uaion armies under General
Sherman have compelled the removal Of prisoners TO
other points, and il now understood that they will be
removed TO SaVAnI ah, Ca and Oormbus and Charles
toD s O. But no change Of this kind b Ids cut any
prospect Of reet 10 our poor men. Iodeed as the To-
cstes selected far more unhealthy t1ere must be
al Increase rather than dminuion Of suffering. DOL
HILL Provost Marshal General Confederate States
Army at Atlanta stated to Of the undersigned that
there we're IS 600 prison'rs at AndersonvlllH and
by ali accounts from the Ulted States soldiers who
have been confined there the number IL not oversta
ed By him. These thiTty.hVe thousGnd conhnedin
field OF some thirty acres nelOsed by board fence,
heavily guarded. About one-thrd have various kinds
CT ndih rect shelter but upward Of TWEEN thousand
are wholly without leter, or even . shade # any
kind, snd are exposed TO the storms and rains which
are Of almost daily occurrence: the cold deEs of the
night and the terrible scs Of the SUM- striking
with almost tropical hercsness upon their unprotected
heads. This OF men josue and crowd each osher
up ami down the limits OF their inclosu e, 10 storm or
sun and others lie down upon the pitiless earth at
night with no other covering than the clothing upon
their sacks, fsW OF them hAViog even a banke',
Upon ieriug the prison every deliberately
stripped OF oley aud other property aud as no cloth
ing blankets ever supplied to heir prisoners By
Ihsre0e suthOii the co let ion OF the apparel Of the
solders Just from active campaign, can DO easily
imagined Thousands are without pans or coats, and
hundreds without pair Of drawers to their
nAkedness.
To these men, ts indeed to all prisoners there is
issued three quarters Of pound Of bread meal
and one-eighth OF pound OF meat per day. This lie
the entire ration, and upon the prisoners must live
or die. The meal is often uusfsed and sour and the
maker. Such the rAtions upol which UniOn
soldiers are fed by the rebel authorities, aud
oy which they are barely holding on to lifs Blu. TO
saFvstol and exposure, to sHu and storm, AID the
sickness Nh Oh prevails to a most alarming and
terrible extent. o. an average one hundrel die
daily l. is mposi sls that any Uaion soldier shou
know all the facts pertaining this terrible mortality,
they net paraded Ry ths rebel suhorities Such
statements as tie foloHing made by - speak elo-
auent testimony. Said he: "0g twelve Of u who were
~ II tam in, sha I
expect 10 see them again. There buE two OF US
lsf ;" II 1862, at Montgomery Ala, under far more
favorable orcam5 suces, the prisoners being protected
by sheds from enc hundred aud fifty to two hundred
were sok nom diarrl and coils on: Of seven
drCd The same percentage would give seven thou
Or At WOsd-pAinting, TO make such picture stand
out boldly in most horrible e-lors.
Nor is this all. Among the H-fa'ed Of the mary
sho have suffered ampu in conatq fence of ipju-
res received before capture, ssnt from Ehe rebel hos
o;as before their wounds we're healed, there elo
ouens yitne sea Of tle bAroares OF which they are
victims II 10 these facts Is added this, that nothing
more dgm0ralzes soldiers and develops the evil pas
lions OF than starvation the terrible condition Of
zion prisoners at Andsrsonville can be readily
imagined. Taey are fact losing hope, and becom ng
utterly recLl of life. Numbers, crsE'd by their uk
fetngs wander about In state Of idocy; others de-
beraelY the dead lne," aud rsmoTselessly
shOt down.
We repeat, We know nothing Of the truthfalne;s or
asehoOd OF these statements but in proportion to their
truthfuness is the obligation of the Lincoln Govern
ment to fresrSe men frcm the hardships and h'nOrs
Of their situation. Toe they suffer, the greater
monster is ne for not relieving them. If they are in
torn ent, he is their tOrmensOr and they and their
fisnds must visit their msedctons and their
on bin and his ecunstllors.
msaes. lesson of all this to our own men Is that,
Ter the future they should under circumstances per-
mi themselves 10 be taken prisoners.
1t rs hardly reOessary to slate that by way of COR
recion Of the correspondence as published yesterday
that the cartel was negotiated in 1862 instead of 1862