The Hancock Jeffersonian. [volume] (Findlay, Ohio) 1857-1870, 1864-04-22

valley tlat though he did no enoonr.
( age or countenancc his men in shoot
ing down negro captivcs, yet that it
was right and justiiablo.
Condition of On" PRISONERS ~ Richmond
-Keturn of Major McMahar, Of the
Stst, -. V. 7.
| The following is from the Perrys-
burg Journal, of last week: a. f1-
Major a. McMahan, OF the. 2lst o.
V, l., who WA taken prsoacr ut the
battle Of Chickamauga, was released
from Libby Prison on Monday, March
14th--altcr an Imprisonment of six
months lacking six days-and arrived
lat Perryshurg, on Tuesday, the 22d
ut, and we are indebted to him for
numerous interesting facts concern.
ing the condition Of affairs at Libby
Prison
On the llag-of-trucc boat. which
conveyed Major McNlahan to For
tress Monroe, were Philip Wallace
and----B Brownsbcrger, from Per
Irysburg township,) Of Company A,
100th regiment, and ---- North,
I (from Toutogany,) } Of the 9th rcgi-
meut. These were all the men on
the boat, from this county, with whom
he was acquainted; although he says.
there might have been others. These
\ mcn stopped at Annapolis, Maryland
where they will soon be furloughed.
Concerning the condition Of the en-
listed men from this county, now
held rs prisoners, he can give no in
formation. Many privates have been
removed from Richmond, to North
Carolina, Georgia, and other places.
and he had not hccn permitted to
hold any communication with those
who remained at Richmond.
He left the following officers at the
Libby in good health; Lieutenant
Colonel Hayes and Captain L. b
Blinn, of the Tooth; Captains Cantclj
Cation, Wicker and Lieutcnants Pat
tcrson Spafford, Mahony and Mason
from Wood county, Of the 2lst Reg.
iment; also, Captains Cusac and Al
ban, from Hancock county, ant
Lieutenant Clcghorn, from Ottaw;
couuty-all OF the DIST.
The standard of health Mt Libby
Prison is not the same rs in the North
tho officers there are all 'well.
hut the great majority of them are
very weak; and the Major states tia
amy person entering the prison woulC
he struck with the hollow checks
sunkeD eyes. and almost crazy lool
: Of many iumates-thc results Of hun
ger, mental anxiety, and the crowded
+, filthy and lousy condition in whicl
they are compelled to live. Whcr
walking about, during the day, it re
quires considerable care to avoiJ
collisions and when they lie dowr
at night the floor is completely GOV
cred; so that any one who attempt
, to travel around after 'bed time,
| meets with much difficulty and man.
, cxeerations. From all these cause
combined, he prouounces life in Lii
f by Prison as simply horrible F.!
= But, he says, the officers are no
, the ones who need our sympathy
| they have n roof above them, a foo
: to sleep upon; aud although the,
4 have suffered much from hunger
I none of them have actually starved
= while the enlisted men have been ey
/ posed to the weather during the en-
; tire winter. and are daily dying 70
t. want of food Major McMahan in
4 forms us tdat he has seen Union en-
listed men marched past Libby Pris
on, on their way to other points, som
of whom were uttcrl V unable to wal
| alonc-those who were strong, wer
|. holding up and helping along tn
T. weak-many of whom, with sunke
| eyes, hollow checks. ghastly couNtc
| nanccs, attenuated limbs and finger
| like claws, looking more like walkin
. corpses than living men! And o
; the boat which brought him froi
It Richmond, were some men so utterl
# prostrated by hunger, that when foo
i, was given to them and they had cat
| en-, they died, But the rebel prie
. oncrs for whom these men were eN
| changed, were hale and hearty; an
rs they were exchanging boats, tn
rebels joeosely called our men hall
= starved Yankees, and laughed ut wha
/ they termed the misfortune Of thei
1 being caught in the "Confederacy.
Concerning tie provisions sent fror
the North to our prisoners Mt Rich
5 mond he says but small porto
D has ever been received by those t
= whom sent. At the time Major Nc
2 Mahan left the prison, he says thcr
were at least twenty-five hundret
. boxes Of provisions, which had bee
= sent to officers there, lying within
, few yards Of the prison, yet nothin
| had been distributed for al days
I and he sa, S that officers who wer
= suffering from hunger could real
| their own names on boxes of provis
A ions sent to and belonging to them
, yet could obtain nothing.
. As illustrating the disposition an,
1 meanness Of the inspecting officers
= he gives the following as the metho,
, of inspecting officers boxes, whicl
} has been generally practiccd for sey
eral months past The officer t,
, whom the box is directed is calleC
| out upon the pavement, when- i'no
q already opened and its contents part
+ ly gone it is opened, the officer i
- l.