, 1865-04-13
FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF
M1GtA H1UND.
The Great ConanEratton ii the city
Libby and Lahile 1Lundtf

Correspondence Of the n Y. Times
RICHMOND. April 7, 1885.
So many Thousand tacts Ire presented to
the mind Of the visitor heie In d rerY short
space Of time that to record them system.tI-
catly is almost impossible.
Let me say st the outset That the best part
OF the city Is rrin.. 1hat the awful hse kiu.
died BY the enemy, and which at FIRST PROM
ised to consume but a few buildings, was 80
famed by the rising wind that. before 1t Iu1d
be got under subj. ction, thirty squares, cont
prieing not kess than etght hundred buildings In
tAt t*ry 6est and most ,atuable business part Of
Richnond 1rere in dShes- What the pecunia1Y
principal mills, tactoljes, warehouses; stores,
banks and insurance Offices were de.
stroysd, and the losses being so heavy,
the insurance companies, perhaps inaol-
vent already from the1- countenance Of
the rebel currency, are now more than bank
Tupted, and thousands Of property owners,
comput: d wealthy In their actual possess
beegary. It is among the things easily dis
ceTnablr, that this run, wrought By their
own friends. to whom they. have given all,
and to whose tyranny they have submitted,
with even cheerfulness, is the cause Of far
deeper gloom among MANI. than that pro-
dnced bY the loss Of the city or the defeat Of
Their Amy. 1t Is apparent indeed that the
only not datast:(ul 10 tfry large portion Of The
people, many Of item among tae best c1asses
dat em's highly gratifying. No captured
city, not even Savannah nor Columbia, can
Present the ruin apparent here In RicaInond.
1t will carry its painful evidences tor half q
ecore Of years; and the only thln.. which will
speedily alleviate the dire distress that must
recoYe'y ''om its present etagnation, is in.
mediate peace. It is R:chmond's only salYa-
:tfon. The origin Of the fire aud the incendl-
aries are so vel and positively known that
no extended investigation on these points Is
required. II seems that Ge,s. L.e 1uas mol re.
*ronsiA< for Z, but fhdt 1!f. Ddpis and his Sc
Ttfary y Har. .Breekinrid3e 1eere. The de-
s,ruct'on Of the supplies and the arsenal in
volyed the destruction Of the citf, and II Was
50 decided BY the leading citizens. General
Ewell aud Mtjat Darlington both protested
against II In tie most ea nest manner, as did
also \ eemnst'ee Of citizens. but Breckin.
ridge. IN reply, exclaimed that h. didnI care
d-n fett1y house in Rica,aotad ,cas consumed,
The teaTthouse nattst BE- burned. Thus this
wKetchsd rebel, ttistcd into 3 powerful posi-
tson Ti}h no constituents, is responsible for
the dteadlul ruin, and his master Davis is
Likewise responsible, because he silently
countenanccd it,,
The fire was started In two places, among
the supply warehouses; near the wharves aud
at ihe DanVille depo', where there we're I.500
hogsheads of tobacco belonging to the Con-
fc1erate Government. This consumed the
Danyil1c depot, also the Petersburg~depot,
and the bridge over The James to Manchestcr.
The famous Libby Prison mud Castle Thunder,
as have already informed sou, were not
appropriate fate. I visited them yesterday,
aud found Castle Thunder used as guard
ht use for tactiCus and thleying uegfoes>
caught In acts Of p'under, while the Libby
contatned 200 rebel prisoners, officers and
p'iyates, temporarily SHUT up toge' her: They
countenances, willie the Union g,lard outside
seemed to richly enjoy the transition that the
famous buidlng had undergone, evidently
lasing been there himself. The whirligig Of
time makes all things even, aud the thou
sands OF loyal officers who ba7e suffered the
tofturcs and horrors Of these dungeons may
now contemplate their present lses with &C.
rene satisfaction, and ret without resentment,
A close inspection Of Castle Thunder re-
yeuls ole OF the most hfdeous dungeons that
can he conceived. We failed to SEC 1t, ho1-
ever, in oil Its filth and nnstInesg, for strong
force ot men Lad been engaged two days III
carrying out the accumulation Of the rast
three years. The corporal OF the guard, who
conducted US through, pointed out spot on
cltaued, where the dirt Vas three inches thick.
and alive with VeIDtn, and Irt on this floor, IN
tbs e6addtoH, prisoners terrt obliged 10 detp,
eiAtr upoa.( .(he dirt ifalf or upon paaets Of d..
tdptng t&ratu.
But will not descant further upon this vile
relic OF the rebellion. Its career Is too well
known. The prisoners confined here, it Will
BE- recol1ccted, were tl1ose against whom spe-
ctal vengeance was Observation-Disclosures Of
State, persons charged with harbolins Union
prisoners, Union officers charged with being
fpies, blockade runners, dc. Well has 1t been
taid that 8 confinement In Castle rhunder is
= foretaste Of the fortunes OF the damned.