Brownlow's Knoxville Whig, and rebel ventilator. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1863-1866, 1865-01-11
For the Knoxville Whg,
THE PRINTER AND 1.
ny QulHZlCAL y, QUOG.
ill,sI sKRlke. no. II.

only in time of war, occurred n couple o
weeks since, Standing ono day with my
Captain at the Lamar House corner, he
| Ponlco out to me n man walking hurricdly
along the street, He wa. as ragged a.
some modern Lazarus, The lining Of his
| pants was nearly all thcro his hat was not
all u hat, part OF the rim was gone, and tho
crown was ventilated by holes the sizo of a
walnut his coat was bcggarly apology for
Il covering, and wo uld have made an excel
lent sign for rag gathercr, and the man
had either been ncgloctiu of his linen, or
had been whore soap and water were at too
high premium for his limited means
lou might have taken him for rebel pris
oncr in the last stage ofphyscal dcstituton,
had not that look Of keen intelligence; that
flashing Of conscious merit in his dark eve
that open, expansive brow, and that firm
yet rapid tread and soldicrly bearing, told
you that beneath that shower Of rags-for
they seemed to have fallen on him during
some storm Of old ciothes--wa. not a mur.
dcrer and cut t-throat, but man, honest and
fearless. No guerrilla there
Quog was in quandary. He followed
that bundle of rags, mado its acquaint-
ancc for he felt as if those rags enclosed
man, and that man had Il history, and that
history the Printer might like to learn. So
Quog invited that bundle of rags around to
the office. 1t did not come, but instead
thereof came the wcarer, now clad in new
suit of Uncle Sans blue, for that large
hearted man, Surgeon c., had interested
himself in this ragged man and his com
panions, and they were exulting in new
suits instead Of scratching in old ones,
That bundle Of rags had contained the
person of Lieutenant h, Gordon, Slst In
diana Volunteer Infantry His companion
was Lieutenant o, Powell, 42d Illinois Vol
untecr Infantry, And they sat down and
told Quog their story They were among
those taken prisoners by the rebels at the
bloody fight Of Chickamauga, September
10th, 1868, For four weeks they laid there
cars to Atlanta, and three days after to
Richmond, Va. Here they lay in the hos
ptal for the wounded five months Their
diet was not choice as to quality, nor did
the quantity make them gluttonous. Tn
siilcd corn meal, without salt, with now and
then chunk of rotten meat, sufiiced to
keep life alive with some, AT the end of
the five months, they were sent to the
quarters Of the well, where the process of
starving is based on purely scientific prin-
ciplcs. Here the system of dieting would
have done credit 10 Il homeopathic physi-
elan, They lived almost on shade, and ma
turally became almost shadows. Once in
while there came Sanitary stores from
the North. They dovoured them with
tears in their eyes, and thanks to God on
their lips between the delicious mouthfuls
When an officer was shot down by rebel
guard for daring to peep through the iron
bars at Gods sunlight it gricvcd their
hearts, but it rested their legs, for it gave
them little more room to stretch in.
On May 9TH, 1864, they left Richmond,
and arrived at Macon, Georgia, on the 18th.
Here $50 officers remained until July Goth,
occupying open stockades until permission
was given them to build sheds six cannon
staring at them grimly by way of reminder.
A Captain approached too near the pre-
scribcd line-not to it-but the guard
thought it was nothing but n Yankee Abo-
litionist, nobody would make fuss if he
merely got rusty load out of his gun, and
five minutes after the body of the Captain
was tossed into a ditch to sleep the sleep
that knows no waking. 1t was only desc
lation carried to another Northern home;
but ammunition is too scarce among the
rebels to be thrown away, and when they
burn powder, il must Kill!
On July 9th, our prisoners were hurried
off to Savannah, Georgia, and into u stock
ade surrounding the old United States Ma
rnc Hospital. Herc-let us give even such
devils their due-thc rebels supplied our
officers with wholesome food, corn meal
they parched the bran to make coffee with
fresh beef, molasscs, rice, &C., though what
the exc" was, the Lieutenant could not re-
collect The First Georgia Regulars acted
as their guard. With the exception of Col
oncl Wayne, a demon incarnatc, the officers
and soldiers of the First treated our pris-
oncrs humanely. Let this be borne in mind
when the day of final reckoning comes
The Regulars only want time and opportu-
nifty to fly to the defense Of the Union
While in Savannah, a lady from the North,
who was on visit to some Southern friends,
/ and who had been detained by the rise of
! Il =. 4