Daily national Republican., 1865-08-04

wore crowded 10 repletlOn WIN tno omtci-
ated, starved, and diseased men who were
trundlod into them The hospitals were con
struoted Of logs, unhowod, the interstices un-
filed and open, admitting the rain, without
floors, cots, hunks, or blankets filthy and
fstid with the fostering, putrid bodies Of the
sick. the dying, and the dead. ~.
Words fail, language Is impotent TO de.
scribe one Of these dens Of disease and death.
once mustered tho courage, impelled by
the earnest entreaties Of n Northern friend,
10 enter one Of them, TO visit one who was
tenderly reared, and walked In the best ranks
Of Connecticut society. believed I had
seen before this what deemed 10 be human
wretchedness In its worst forms. thought
that could nerve myself to witness mortal
agony and wrstchedness, and destitution, as
had heard II described without blanching
or trembling. But II the condensed horrors
OF a hundred "black holes" had been brought
before my mind % prepare me for the ordeal
i saw them face 10 face. - ... .-..r
I cannot, in a daily paper read by inno-
cence and virtue, detail what met my sight
on the occasion 1 refer 10. will not pollute
any page, save the recordS.of the court that
must try tho culprit for the crime Of torture
by disease and 6lth, with the details Of that
caravansary Of horrible, intentional slaugh-
ter. For fear that some may think have
exaggerated, an episode here will perhaps
dispel such illusion. Convicted by the hor-
ribie fact that was disgusting stencil in his
nostrils, General Winder, then Commissary
General Of Prisons, but having his head
| quarters ut Andersonville, was forced by de-
ce,ey, not humanity, for this he himself as
serted, to ask the aid Of the Presiding Elder
of tho Methodist church Of that circuit to
adopt some means to alleviate the miseries
and soothe the wretchedncss OF the poor in
mates Of that Andorsonville hospital. This
gentleman invoked the cooperation Of the
women of Sumter county, who responded
with clothing and necessaries only, for these
alone were allowed, to the amount Of four
wagon loads.
Upon the day appointed four ladies, ac-
companied by their husbands, went to the
prison, and sought from the Provost Marshal
| pass, to take their benefactions to the sick
prisoners. IL tcas refused vith a curse :
The party proceeded to Winder's headquar-
ters, whore Henry Wertz was in company
with the General. The demand for pass
was repeated. Understand, the ladies were
present, and the reason given why the party
were there, in accordance with Winder's
special request. To their astonishment they
were met with this reply: I'D d-n you,
have you all turned Yankees here ?" ..
"No, General" responded the spokesman
Of the party, 81 am not, as you know, nor
are any here present; we have come, as you
requested us, through Rev. Mr.. D., TO bring
necessary articles for the Federal hospitals,
and ask pass for the purpose Of delivering
them"
"It's d-n lie never gave permission
for anything Of the kind Be of with you,
all Of you ~
As II this fearless display Of martial valoi
and gentlemanly bearing was not sufficient
Henry WertI essayed to and did eclipse hii
general in profanity and indecency-and
here assert that If the lowest sinks Of tn,
most abandoned parts Of your city were
Cleaned, they could not surpass the ribalt
vulgarity and fiendisb profanity of this jailor
exhibited in the presence Of refined and
"loyal" ladies.
Shocked, terrified, beaten to the very dus
with modification, the party retired, and
foiled in their efforts to sucoor the sick o
alleviate the tortures Of the dying Union sol
dier, they gave their loads Of clothing ant
food to passing colu.nn Of Federal prison
ers on their way to another place--Millen
They at least had the satisfaction Of knowing
that some were benefited, even If they had
failed in their efforts for those who mos
needed their assistance.
During the last winter-which was unusual
ly cold for Georgia, when the ice made al
inch thick-no shelter, no blankets o
clothes, no wood was provided for tn,
wretched inmates Of that prison. Squad
were permitted, to the number Of thirty, I,
go.out under guard daily, for one hour, with
out axes or any cutting tool, to gather tn,
refuse and rotten wood in the forests; and |
they out-staid their time they were tried by
: drum-head oourt-martial, charged with VIC
lating their parole, and, IL found guilty wer,
hung myself saw three bodies hanging
who were thus executed. Poor fellows,
thought, God has taken pity upon you ant
given you deliverance from your cruel jailor
When you and he meet, at another judgmen
seat, woe to him if his authority be fOunI
insufficient for this taking Of your lives
wretohed though they be. -.
My house was the resort, or, should say
refuge, of most of the prisoners who mad
their escape from the stockade, and the tale
would have melted aa iron heart. mus
close my hurried account Of what have seen
1t is far from full; not one half has been told
by far the most has been kept back from yer,
shame, and in respect TO your readers.
have not embellished. The pictures were to,
rough, the characters too foriorn, for tn,
flowers of rhetoric to bloom in their presence
Broken hearts, crushed spirits, and manhoo,
trampled on, may answer rs fitting subject
for the romancer's pen, but the horrible 70
ality, SO seldom seen, burns its images upor
the beholder's soul, that no other impres
sions can eiface, and they remain life pictures
indeed. .'' s.