The Lancaster gazette. [volume] (Lancaster, Ohio) 1863-1886, 1865-08-24
The ApdersOnvllls Prison ana ths Trial
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OF wIrI.
In the North Eastern part of the
State of Georgia oearthe s. Carolina
line, is situated the little town of.An-
dersonville. the site Of tho famous, or
rather infamous Andersouvllle prison
-aname hereafter to be associated
with all that is sickening and revolt
ing in human suffering and human
punishment.
In the latter part of 1863 an agent
was sent from Richmond to select q
site as a prison for Union soldiers; the
side of a hill at AndersonSille lying
towards he-South and exposed to the
burning rays of the summers sun and
and the storms of winter, with scarce
ly atree for shelter, was the spot de-
cided upon. rl q, ..,Elg.t -gla
The prison was made in the torn
of a stackade or pen, the stocks being
eighteen feet high aud five feet deep,
and was entirely destitute of covering
or shelter; the enclosed area original
ly eighteen acres, was afterwards en-
larged to twenty,seven. 'Ed
Into this loathsome pen of horror
and death, upwards ofl3O,OOO of our
soldier boys, already oppressed with
the fatigues of camp, and march, and
field were driven, many of them never
again to come out alive. And for
what? What crime brought upon
them such tOrturing punishment?-
Fighting for their Country 8 flag
There is some dispute in regard to
the details of this loathsome pen; as.
whether the creek that flowed near by
was fre or Seuen feet wide; whether
there was one tree, or no tree in the
stockade to afford shelter, &c; but. all
this has little tendency TO Tighten the
much suffering and wrong that exist
ed there, while the most reliable iac-
counts agree that there were no trees
or other means of shelter in the pen;
that in rainy weather the mud was fif7
teen inches deep; that the stuff given
for food was insufficient for nutriment,
and so filthy and rotten that many,
unable to cat it, were forced to starve;
that many of the poor fellows had not
sufficient clothing to cover their ma,
kedness-much less protect them from
the sudden changes of weather, and
that every day large numbers were
dying for want of the common care
and necessities OF life. A writer in
the New York Post giving his evil
denee, says: "the stench' from the
prison could be perceived for two
miles, and farmers began to fear for
the health of their families = and yet
ifany one attempted to escape from
this worse than human slaughter
house, he was instantly shot or hunted
down by blood hounds. .t
Every one must feel q degree of min
gled satisfaction and shame that the
heartloss jaiIor of Andersohville is
about to be brought to trial by the
authorities at Washington;-s satisfac-
tion that the wretch is to be brought
to sense of his crime; shame, that
such inhuman barbarities should have
been practiced in the nineteenth cen
tury and in the American Republic
The Washington Indictment charges
Wrz, as having had charge of the
prisoners, with being the cause of un-
told suffering to the prisoners, which
might have been avoided by proper
treatment; with causing many deaths
resulting from starvation, and want,
and filth; with robbing the prisoners
of their clothes; with shooting them
and hunting them down with blood
hounds when attempting to escape
from, tneir misery IF these charges
be proved, as most Of them doubtless
will be, the lost wretch has but one
life with which to answer for his guilt;
yet if he had a thousand, one TO be ta-
ken on the gibbct every day, it would
be a small atonement for the misery
of Andersonvillc.
Living witnesses, though mained,
and shattered in mind and
body by disease contracted while pris-
oners will crowd the court to "tell OF
the horrors Of this prison house," and
no less strong will be the evidence of
those unnumbered skeletons that lie
on the hill side at Anderson
vile. Nor is this the only place
where inhuman crueltes have been
practiced upon our prisoners. Libby |
md Belle Isle also have their dark /
catalogue of horrors. Although the
Investigation about to commence must
disclose facts that "wlll harrow the
soul, the agony suffered by the poor
prisoners in those southern pens can
never be told, God only knows what
suffering there was! The French
gillotine, with all its wrongs and hor-
'ors, would have been an acceptable
lcath to the sickened, emaciated suf-
erer who with all his heart could say,
lulce est mori. Even the old Inqulsi-
lion OF Spain appears less black and
'evolting now that it appears in the
same catalogue with these robel pens
'f torture, where "idiocy was mercy
md death Gods best blessing
Is one insignificant man 10 be held
for all this crime? What
'hall we say Of Davis now in Fortress
MonrNo? But he has enough to an
'wer for. What shall we say of Lee,
who is permitted to go unarrested in
,he country and who by one word