The Jeffersonian. [volume] (Stroudsburg, Pa.) 1853-1911, 1864-08-11

Hlo captivity we're NANNY courteous, ulS
posed to be humane, but inattentive ant
negligent to the last degree about doing
I what would have promoted the comfort
r of the prisoners Their utter want of ad
: ministrative or executive capacity per
, mitted abuses which they would have
) been incapable Of doing themselves di.
, rectly, and which they would not know
ingly have probably permitted. Never.
thelcsS, the abuses exist, and seemed to
! be the rule instead of the exception SC
!, far as the treatment of the private sol
!, diers was concerned.
The morning of the day when Col.
Leaks's men arrived at Tyler, the 23d of
October, they had breakfast at Sabine,
Fl miles from Tyler; and, owing to ne
glect on the part of somebody, were fur
nished with nothing else until the next
day at clock in the afternoon.
4 There were at that time Y officers and
few privates lodged in an old barrack,
when Col. Leake's command arrived, a.
mounting to near 500 more. No cooking
utensils of any sort whatever were fur
nished these men, and from that time un-
til the 9th of November they had to live
as best they could. Two companies of
Texan militia, on guard duty, loaned
them, when not using themselves, five or
six pots and skillets, which was all the
prisoners had to cook their corn meal,
and often the men were obliged to eat
their corn raw and roast their beef on
sticks, or go without it at all.
Ten days rations were issued to the
men at once of corn, and no barrel, box,
nor bag of any kind existed at the stock
ade to put it in, nor would they furnish
any The men used some Of their old
drawers, the lining to their coat sleeves,
some their hats and went bareheaded !;
some took off their shirts and made a
sack, and others their blowses iu order to
save the precious meal in. On the 9Th
of November, Col. 2. Y. Allen of the
18th Texas, assumed command, who set
at work to make the men more comforta-
bic. He at once sent to Shreveport and
raised one pot and one skillet to each
squad of men, and thenceforth this part
of their troubles was ameliorated. On
the 29th of November the men were start
ed to Shreveport for exchange, as they
supposed On the previous day it had
sleeted and turned cold, the earth being
frozen some three inches in depth, and
the ground was covered with ice when
the men set out. t.sE-s ~aE
Over 100 men were barefooted, proba-
bly, 200 more had no shirts, and hardly
any had blanket, or anything which
might serve for the purpose of one. In
this pitiable plight this army Of martyrs
filed forward, marching Il miles to Saline
Town that day, with frosted, and bleed
ing feet, the blood literally tracking their
pathway as they went. Those present
tell me that the tales Of our revolutionary
fathers at Valley Forge could furnish no
sadder story than that wearisome way
where our brave hearted soldiers trod.-
But crueler STILL have from undoubted
authority that beef cattle sent along for
the subsistence of these men were never
applied to their use, but were undoubted-
ly sold and the proceeds made use of by
those who had them In charge, while our
weary men went hungry as well as naked
and shoeless on that long march to Shreve-
port Here they remained until the Both
Of last March, when they were sent back
to Tyler once more, where they had scarce
ly arrived before they were again notified
that they were to be paroled, and were
once more started toward Shreveport
They, however, only proceeded to Mar
shall, where they were detained until the
24th of May, ia the woods, with no shelf
er but the sky and the tree-tops. Their
condition at this time was pitiable in the
extreme scareel ly any had shoes, not 100
had shirts. Many had no pantaloons, and
only a breeeh clout of rags. If it were
possible to laugh at SO sad tale one
might laugh heartily at the description
one poor fellow gives CT himself. His
costume was. a little more extensive,
though not so elegant, as that of the In
dian princess, which consisted of a string
Of beads. It was an old blouse which
had been patched with profusion of col
ors, and that was all that he wore from
Marshall to Tyler, where they arrived
once more on the 9th of may, their hopes
of an exchange having died out in their
aching hearts
! l have stated above that certain of the
officers were disposed to be humane to
our men, but that through criminal re-
missness they often allowed those who
who were not so to abuse our men shame
fully. 3 ~ ss a5
tits but justice to state that Col. Allen
deserved the thanks of our men by many
courtesies. Col. Scott Anderson is gen
orally well spoken of by our officers. Al
so, Licut-Col Border did many kind acts
and neglected to do many more, He is
the officer who issued an order for the
guards toshootany Yankee prisoner whom
they apprehend after escaping from the
stockade, and directed them to bring in
no prisoners alive who had escaped and
might be caught. He is also an officer,
as In fact were all the rest, who practlced
catching our men with packs of hounds
and our affiaers show blouses today which