Cleveland daily leader. [volume] ([Cleveland, Ohio]) 1865-1873, 1865-10-19

The cemetery contains 50 acres, and has
been divided by one main avenue running
through the centre, anu subdivided into
blocks and sections in such a manner that
with the aid of a record which | am now
having copied for the Superintendent, Wis
itors will exptriehce no difficulty in finding
any grave. force of men is now engaged
laying out walks and clearing the cemetery
81 stumps, Preparatory to planting trees and
fOwers. | have already commenced the
Manufacture of brick and will have a sufh-
clent number by the 1st of October TO pave
the numerous cutters throughout the ceThe-
try, the clay in the vicinity Of the stdckade
being well ddaptedfor the purpose Of brick
making
Appropriate inscriptions are placed
through the grounds, and have endeavered
as far as my facilities would permit, to trans
fer this wild, unmarked and unhonored
graveyard into a fit place Of interment for
the nations honored dead. AT the entrance
the words A National Cemetery, Andersen
vile, Ga, designate the city Of the dead.
| On the morning of the 18th of August, at
sunrise, the stars and stripes were hoisted
in the centre Ofthe cemetery, when national
salute was fired and several pAtri0tie songs
sung by those present who acconpguisII
me, and to whom ami Indebted for tHe early
completion. of my mission. They have
worked zealously and faithfully from early
in the morning till late at night, although
suffering intensely from the heat, as fbev
We're one after ANOTHER taken sick WifK tBa
fever ihcideat 20 the country. and in \ bricf
period my force of mechanics was consider
ably lessened, Obliging me to obtain others
from the residents IN different parts of the
State. All my men, however, recovered,
with the exception of bGr. Eddy Watts, who
died ON the 10th of July, of typhoid fever,
after a sickness of three weeks. | brought
-his body DacK with NE and CtE1T-eTed 1t 10
his family in this city.
Several members of the United States
cavalry detailed by General Wilson died of
the same fever shortly after Joining their |
command at Macon. Andersonyille Is stu |
ated on the Southwestern Railroad, sixty |
miles from Macon. There is but one house |
in the place except those erected by the So !
called Confederate Government as hospitals, |
office quarters, C6Ihmissary and Quartermas- |
ter buildings. 1t was formerly known as |
Anderson, but since the war the ''ville" |
has been added. The country is covered |
mostly with pine and hemlock trees, and the |
soil is sandy, sterile and unfit for cultiva-
ton and unlike that section of the country, !
and only few miles nerth and south of the |
place the soil is well adapted to agricultural |
purposes and corn as well as cotton is extern
sively raised. 1t is said to be the most un-
healthy portion of Georgia, and was prob
ably selected as depot for prisoner on ac-
count Of this fact. At midday the thermom-
eter IN the shade reaches frequently 110o
and in the sun the heat is almost unbear-
able. The inhabitants of this sparsely set
tied locality are, with few exceptions. of the
most ignorant class, and from their haggard
and sallow faces the effects of chills and
fever are distinctly visible
The noted prison pen is 1,540 feet long,
$50 feet wide, and contains twenty-seven
acres. The dead line is seventeen feet from
the stoekade, and the sentry boxes are thirty
yards apart, The inside stockade is eighteen
feet in height and the outer one is twelve
feet high, and the distance between the two
is one hundred and twenty feet Nothing
has been destroyed and as our exhausted
and enfeebled soldiers left it so it
now stands to-day, as a monument to an in
unparalleled in the annals of war
How men could survive as well as they did
in this pen, exposed to the rays of an almost
tropical sun by day and drenching dews by
night without the slightest covering is won
dertul. The ground is filled with holes
where they had burrowcd in their
efforts to shield themselves from the
weather, and many poor fellow, in endea-
voring to protect himself in this manner,
was smothered to death by the earth falling
in upon him.
A very worthy man has been appointed
the grounds aud cemetery
with instructions to allow no buildings or
structures, of whatever nature, to be des-
trOyed, particularly the stockade surround
ing the prison pen.
The stories toll of the sufferings of our
men while prisoners here have been sub
by hundreds, and the skeptic who
will visit Andersonville even now and ex-
lmine the stoekade, with its ooEy sands,
and wretched burrows, dead line
md slaughter house, must be a callous OBJ
server, indeed, if he is not convinced that
he miseries depicted of this prison pen are
Iot exaggerations.
l have the honor to be,
General,
Your obedient servant,
[Signed,l JAMES NJ. Moore,
Capt. and A. Q. NJ, U. S. A.