Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1865-02-10
SALISBURY PENITEHTlGRY.
Systematic Starvation Of the
Inmates.
THE QUANTITY AND QUALITY
OF PRISON RATIoNS.
FRIGHTFUL MORTALITY AMONG
THE PRISONERS.
Brutal Treatment of the Dead.

THE PRISONERS.
Brutal Treatment of the Dead.
Mr.. VIM. E. Davis, of the Cincinnati
Gazette, who was captured by the rebels,
publishes long accounted his experiences
in the South, at Atlanta, Richmond and
Salisbury. We have room for a few
highly interesting extracts:
THE CASTLE THUNDER RATION.
The bread was made of coarse, unsifted
meal, having great portion of the cob in
it. 1t was cut in rstions weighing about
six ounces each. The rations of pork
weighed from one and half to two
ounces, and were always rancid and unfit
to eat. Some days no meat was issued.
The soup was generally made of peas
known there as COW peas, often Wormy
and containing little nourishment. Some
times rice soup was issued in lieu thereof,
but to make this unpAlatsble they mixed
with it the grease from the rancid pork.
The sutler had wheat bread which he sold
to us at $I.5O loaf but ten days after my
arrival we were positively prohibited from
purchasing anything, and this prohibition
continued until I left. That they could
have fed US better do not doubt, for when
the railroad communications were disturb
ed, and they could get no more of the
miserable meal, they furnished wheat-Aour
bread. The negroes informed us thatthere
were large warehouses stored with Govern
ment -four, and that it had been on hand
for some time. Among other prohibitions
wss that of refusing Us the daily news
papers; another, was the services of q
Chaplain on Sunday, or any other day of
the week. For this special application was
made, but it did no good. The minister
could have been procured, but the suthori-
ties would not allow him to preach to
Yankees.
THE CELLS AND THEIR INMATES.
The cells of the Castle were 8 terror to
all the prisoners-dark, damp and loath-
some-literslly alive with vermin. They
were almost fatal to every man that was
kept in them for any length of time. The
room in which was kept was so infected
with bed bugs and body lice, that men
could scarcely rest at night. The most of
US laid on the floor, and would have been
without a single blanket to lie upon had it
not been for the kindness of some of my
fellow-prisoners, who had received some
from persons previously released.
The scenes of brutal treatment to others
that myself witnessed there mingled
with the constant clsnking of chains and
rumbling Of iron balls on the floor over
head, the groans of agony from those so
closely and roughly ironed, that their fAsh
was bleeding from the wounds, and the
curses and appeals Of those who were
starving in the cells, shall never forget,
and l think they will haunt the keepers of
Castle Thunder in their dying hour. These
officers were Just such characters as to
willingly infiict torture on any man sus-
pected even of love for the Union. A set
of men, who, 1 am credibly informed, hsd
either filed the hsunts of vice and crime
in Baltimore ia former days, or who were
the ecounterpsrts of those deprsved wretehes
They were the appointees of General
Winder, himself a Bsltimorean. Heaven
protect mankind from tho rule of such
devils incarnate on earth.
=
THE SALISBURY PRISON RATION.
. W ullo III buls uT6hului CODQiLlO0, the
rstions were most scanty. Some received
from four to six ounces of course corn
bread, others received a little raw meal
with the cob ground in it-while some di-
visions of one thousand men each. were
without any food forthe twenty four hours.
In addition to the bread they issued about
half pint of thin rice soup each dsy' and
two and three times week they Issued
from two to four ounces of beef-this was
sometimes the heads and shanks of cattle,
and was not always very sweet.
PRISONERS EAT RATS AND DOGS To PREVENT
STARVATION.
have seen the prisoners eat the raw
flesh from sleeps heads, and they we're
known to eat rats and dogs, and in one in
stance cat that had belonged to our mess.
Many could be seen searching the yard
for bones, to crush for their marrow, and
scraps of any kind of meat. saw man
in front of hospital, so emaciated that he
could scarcely walk, gather up and eat the
vomit Of sick man, who had but short
time before thrown it up.
THE SUPPLY OF WATER AND FUEL.
The water in the camp was not sufficient
for drsnking purposes alone, and men
were constantly suffering from thirst They
were standing at the wells all night draw
ing in their cups, not being able to get
more than pint at time and that yerv
muddy. Some water was carried from a
crek outside, but the supply was always
as scsnty as have described. The sup
ply Of wood was not sufficient to keep the
men warm, six sticks or what three men
could carry was the allowance for one hun
dred men, and this too when the weather
so cold that men had their feet frozen in
the camp.
THE HOSPITAL AND THE SICK.
Tne number of sick men during the first
week that the prisoners came was so great
that the surgeon in charge saw the neces-
sity of enlarging his hospital sccommoda-
tions, and began the work. I was appoint
ed General Superintendent of all the hos
pitfalls, with instructions to appoint ward
masters, attendants &c, and have the sick
carried TO hospital and cared for. There
were no beds, blankets, quilts, or anything
of the kind furnished, with the exception
of one old ward containing forty beds.
Some straw was furnished but when it was
worn out and thrown away, the quarter
master was so slow to get any more, that
the men one-half of their time lay on the
bare floor. No garments were to be had,
SO the poor fellows were compelled to lie
in their often dirty and filthy clothing, and
30 closely were they crowded together that
they could not move without touching
each other. The scarcity of water was
such that none could be washed, and soap,
bandages, and other articles were also very
scarce.
THE HOSPITAL RATION.
The rations consisted of about geven
ounces of wheat bread, from four to six
ounces of meat, about three times each
week, and rice soup daily. A few sweet
potatoes were issued in lieu of beef. In
the space of two months had purchased