The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1865-05-02

70 TIE Gator Of the Presss
a In fornar letter giving an account OF the
prisoners paroled from Cahawba, made men
t;on of o,bery expected from Andersonville,
and nromised to give you an account OF these
also.
,rha arst arrival was sixty Eve officers, |
mostly belonging to western regiments. On |
the assh of March one thousand privates came
in; on the goth eight hundred, and on April
Sd about nine hundred. These were the last,
as Gen. Wilson had taken and destroyed Sell
ma, Ala, and consequently their railroad was
destroyed and they had no other means of
transportation.
The suffsrings Of these prisoners have been
more than pen can tell. Their keepers hao
bat one end to accomplish, viz, to MURDER
every one who was Imprisoned there, ana TINS
was 30 successfully carried out that from Fep.
0. 1854. to Feb. rs, 1866, 36I days. 1886 were
buried there. their bodies covering fourteen
acres. more than half the extent OF the stock
AIDE. which contained less than twenty-six
acreA .-ss
/ -IIare. during the month Of July, were con.
ter at all, nOs - Thousand men, with no shell
thing to protect them from lat a shed, not q
deaths during the month were from To utEhe
per day. Some days there were not enough
well ones to bury the dead, aud then the bod
les would lie till the next day. The mode of
burying was this: trenches were dug three
feet deep, six wide, and in these the bodies
were laid without collins. When help was
scarce they would be put Ia lying on the side,
in order that they might occupy less space.---
Each trench contains from 100 to 200 bodies.
No man was ALLOW in the hospital, nor
would the surgeons prescribe for any one that
was able to walk. was told BY one who had
been there from the first, that he had seen, In
several instances. a man as for medicines the
surgeon would order him away, and 10 an
hour the poor man would be dead. As If dis
ease and starvation could not kill themfast
enough, there was a standing reward to the
guards Of $50 and furlough Of one month,
for shooting prisoner, and 1t is the common
testimony that one would be shot every day.
Inside the stockade was arailing, twelve feet
from the fence, called the '.dead line," and II .
hand or foot was seen near this the guards
were sure to shoot.
The only water afforded then was from a
small creek which passed through the officers
stockade, and then came into the one where
the privates were confined. This of course
must be terribly filthy at best, and after run
ming half the length Of the camp must be ut
terly unfit for any purpose, much less for men
TO drink. Oae day sick man knelt down to
dip some water where it first came in, and In
SO doing reached his tin cup slightly under
the railing. The guard instantly shot him
1Raaggh the head.
$3.50 ma rs all these crueties a remnant was
!, - asth al order came to parole
derson at vicksburg, for s1 &. = - M a,sA !,
blessed tidings to these noble suffsrssls nav
those. tends Ia human shape could mot let theii
| prey go so easily. The commandant of the
prison would not let any one goout without
/ paying him something. One man gave sill
yer watch, others knives, toothpicks. pipes
rings. or money, stripping themselves Of every
memento which they had made to while away
| their time.
/ great many died on the way to our lines
Buoyed up by the hope of reaching "God'.
country, = as they call 1t, they would travel as
long as they could, then lie down by the road.
side and die.
| There are now remaining In the prison about
thirty-dve hundred. The most OF these will
die there, as they were the very sickest ones
It y horrible to think OF. Some may ask, why
did not our men capture the guards and break
out from this prison pen. The reason giyer
| by them Is, that those able to leave could moi
forsake their sick and suffering comrades
Atno time have one-third of the prisoners beer
abba to march out and reach our lines, even
though they had bsen permitted to do SO. 81
1 If any did make their escape from the stock
aie it was only to be hunted down by dogs
Ike wild beasts. There were several packs OF
hounds kept BY the post authorities, and each
morning these were taken out and led around
The stockade, and If q prisoner had escaped
they were sure to and the track, and then
capture was certain. The pursuers would
take one dog they called catcher, and when
the other dogs had found the man this one
was let loose and allowed to catch, bite and
eAo UNIV sAAAesO tAStiAAAy tAc bLutal EcUcAs
sitting on their horses and histing the dogs on
This is not fiction, for i myself have seen the
torn and mangled legs of two who had thus
suffered fHtsi a9woaH SINS AsoS silsEH
But my letter is becoming too long. In an
other communication will give some account
Of their manner Of living, amusements, de-,
while In the hands Of the rebels. Z b5a r7ss
Isend you herewith list Of deaths Of Ne.
soldiers up to February 25th. This may be
relied on as correct. 1t was copied from the
records in the hospital by Charles M. Colvin,
74th N. Z. Vols. BE was a clerk there, and
copied and succeeeed in bringing away with
him a complete list Of all who have died there,
giving the name, rank, company, regiment,
date of decease, disease, and the number OF
the graveso This record is the only one In ex-
istence, and is invaluable. 1t will be publish
ed in full by the U. s. Sanitary Commission
will here say for the benefit or those who
have contributed for the relief of our soldiers.
that they would have been amply repaid could
they have seen the joy AMI heard the expires.
slons Of thankfnlness as We have dealt out to
them tEeir bounties. Truly, ut is more bless
ed to give than to receiver AiWas eNa .of
Yours sIf4tF.fs<trA TIT r Fosru,