The Cleveland leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1865-1865, 1865-08-07
DAILY LEADER.
THE REBEL GOLGOPHA.
The AndeFsOnv1IIe acknowledgements
Torture OF Onr Soldiers terrible
Facts Brought TO Light,

fishes a letter upon the manner IN Wnlei
our soldiers, prisoners at Andersonvnle
were tortu ed. We presume lts sut9or,
Ambrose Spencer, formerly Of New forK
but for many yesrs q resident Of Anderson
vile, who has voluntarily came North t
testify in the case of Capt Henry WIZ
who is soon 70 be tried for his inhumal
treatment of our soldiers while keeper o
the prison at the latter place.
The prison is q stocksde of about eigh
team feet high, the posts being sunk aDou
Eve feet; il originally contained eighteen
but was afterwards enlarged TO twenty.
seven acres situated on q hill side, st tnG
foot of which flows q brock five feet wide
and as many inches deep. The poshlor
was selected by Cspt. Winder, son OF Gen
John q. Winder, in the lstterpsrt OF 1868
When it was suggested to him to leave thf
trees standing as . shade for tho prisoners
be replied: Shat was Just what he WsS
not going to do; he was going TO make
pen for the id Yankees, where they
could rot faster than they could be SEN
there"
Colonel Parsons was first commandment
Of the posi-, but was soon succeeded BY
General Winder, with his son IS AdJutsnt
his nephew SIS C0mmissary and suffer, and
Henry WHz IN immediate command otthe
prisoners.
: When prisoners were irst received it
was usual TO subject them TO 8 search for
money, vslusbles etc, which ostenslbly
were 70 be restored when they were Teieas-
ed from captivity, but which in reality went
into the pockets Of those who controlled
the prison. Notwithstanding = law Of the
coniederscy expressly prohibited the deal
ing in 'greenbscks,p Jet the initiated, 9
Tow h~~- m~zalLpn wss-unnnestioned,
would always obtain for a considerEEIon
the ~greenbEcks which they required.
The writer of this was the foreman Of
the last grand jury which was empAneled
for Sumter county, Ga, and in the per
Torrance of his duty he had to investigate
q large number of p~resentments for deal
ing in the forbidden currency which were
brought against poor Union men in every
instance. Struck by this fact he resolved
to examine, IS his position gave him q
right to do, into sl the circumstances
where the money originally came from,
who did the selling of it-indeed, the
whole nIodus operandl-And he ELECTED the
facts above stated, how the money was OBJ
tanned; that Winders and Wirz were the
principals, scting through subordinates, in
gathering bushels of plums, in the way Of
premiums, &c. Mesnw while, the poor pris-
oners were left to the tender meTcies Of
their jailor and cOmmissarY for their food,
which might have been improved in quality
st least, if their money had been left in
their own possession.
At first it was customary to send 8
wagon into the stocksde every morning at
ten o'clock, loaded with the ratIons for the
dsy-bacon and corn bread, nothing else
but IS the number of prisoners increased
and the greed of gain grew upon the trio
above mentioned, the corn bread was re,
6uced in its quality, being then mAnufse-
tured of equsl proportion of ground field
peas and corn, unbolteJ, unsifted, uDclean-
sed indeed, from the dirt and trash which
pess naturally accumulate and st last,
when the number of prisoners increased to
over thirty.seven thousand, the meat
rations PER week were reduced tos piece Of
bacon for each man about three inches long
and two wide, with one pound OF the bresd
above described per day. Then, also, the
custom of carrying the rstions into the
stocksde was abolished. They drove up tc
the gates, which we're slightly opened and
the scsnty food, foul and unhealthy IS ii
was, was thrown inside by tfe guard, &c
scrambled for by the wretched prisoners,
the strongest and those nearest the gate
getting the largest share, the weak and
sickly getting none.
l have mentioned the small brook which
runs through the lower part Of the stock.
sde, Rnd which HuPPlio4-th--AAEE
drinking and washing. This brook has its
rise IN 3 swamp not lar from Thu prison
and at no time, certainly not for a le 9Th
ened period, was the water suitable Oh
healthy; but when the fsces and filth, the
drainage of the whole camp of prisoners,
came TO be supersdded to the natural IN.
fitness Of the water for drinking or cleans
ing purposes, my readers can judge whA'
thirst was assusged, or fever cooled, o
thIobbing temples washed, by this floating
stream of filth and disease At any time
under the most rigid hygienic restrictions
it is difficult to maintain health and clean
illness amongst 8 large body of men-whs
do YOU think was the condition of thirty
seven thousand half-nsked, hslf+starvet
men, without any police regulations, unde-
no moral or restraining influences fifth
remnant who were finally allowed 70 pas
ont of this military GOlgoths we're no
wild beasts, unwsshed, befOuled devils, n
thanks are to be given to Henry Wirz 70
lack Of effort to produce such 8 consumms
ton.
When it rsined, as it does in that climst
almost continually during the spring an
fall months, the soil within the enclosur
was one msss of loblolly, soft mud, at less
fifteen inches in dep'h, through whic
staIked and staggered the gsunt, half-clA,
wretches thus confined. The stencil froE
the PRISON could be perceived TOR tS0O mile,
and farmers living in the neiS hbOThood b.
gan to fear for the health of their fGnTilie
As q consequence of this, the hospitals
facetious was Writ in bis horrible humsI
ity-were crowded TO replelion with th
emancipsted, starved and diseased me
who we're trundled into them. The hosp
tails we're constructed of logs, unheWeC
the interstices, untitled and open, sdmitte
the rain, without floors, cots, hunks {
blankets filthy and fetted with the fes'e.
ing, putrid bodies of the sick, the dyin
and the dead. Words fail, language
impotent to describe one Of these dens
disease and death. 1 once mustered Il
courage, impelled by the earnest entreatit
of q Northern friend, TO enter one of then
to visit one who was tenderly reared, an
walked in the best ranks of Connection
society l believed l had seen before tn
what l deemed to be human wretchedne
in its worst forms. l thought that l coul
nerve myself to witness mortal agony an
w~reichedness, and restitution, as l be
heard it described, without b~lsnching
trembling. But if the condensed horro
Of 9 hundred "blRck holes had bee
brought before my mind to prepare me f
the ordeal, they would have failed TO rea
ize the facts IS I saW them face to face.
cannot, in a daily paper read by inn
cenee and virtue, detSil what met u
sight on the occasion refer to. I will u
p0llute any page ave the records Of +
court that must try the culprit for 81
crime Of torture by disease and filth, wi
the details Of that caravsnsary Of horrib
, Intentional slaughter. Tor fear that SOL
may think 1 have exaggerated, an episo'
here peIhssps dispel such illusion. Co
victed by the horrible fact that was q d
gushing stencil in his nostrils, Genel
Winder, then Commissary General
PrisOnB, but having his headquarters
Andersonville, wa forced by deesBey, 1
humanity, for this he himself asserted,
ssk the aid of the Presiding Elder of /
Methodist Church of that circuit TO ado
son a means TO alleviate the miseries q