Gallipolis journal. [volume] (Gallipolis, Ohio) 1837-1919, 1865-04-06

dukcc WIZ iSAfuCu Ills hOioC w Nv
without eating, SO our boys were
trained at Andersonyille. The re-
suit in both cases was the same. i
have not more inclination to commit
crime than other men but if any thiLg
will force me to it, starvation will.
The sight of food to starving man,
excludes from his moral vision every
thing like the rights of other l ear
nestly pray i may never experiences
the like feeling again
The demoniac cruelty OF the
guards at Aniersonville in shooting
down those whom starvation could
not kill. is without parallel in the
history of the world. i once read Of
the English in East India, shooting
men out of cannon. This was mercy
compared With the fate of our boys
at Andersonville. The fieDds who
guarded us embraced every oppor
tunity OF shooting a Yankee. They
were stimulated to do this, hy the
prospect of a furlongh, for every one
so killed Nor was it only men who
violated prison rules. that thus lost
their lives. The firing was indis-
crimatelv prac;isrd and many an in
ocent man met his death by a shot
not probably designed for him, but
for another This constant dread
of being shot, was a great augmen
tation of our suffering. / saw two
men killed for merely placing their
heads over the dead line. One of
these merely placed his head over
the line at place where it crossed
the run, in order to get some Gear
water He, was carried out on a
stretcher in, few minutes dead =
The other was poor fellow who had
lost leg. hobbling on crutches, who
happened to step over The line
The sentinel was above him on the
platform He fred and killed the
man instantly The man was not in
his right mind at the time he st, pped
over the line.
Your readers are doubtless weary
of this tale of CRIME and blood But
the half has not been told. When /
reflect over the long weary hours of
my life in that hell" / sometimes
wonder if there can he another, or
. if so whether the devils who rule it
I had not better resign in favor of the
demons who guarded us at Ander
sonville. 1t can hardly be doubted
{ by those of us who have experienced
the horrors of that place, that the
guards could give lessons to the
devils in cruelty refined. in hatred
diabOlicaI aud malignity extreme,
and all combined of a character so
odious that the arch fiend, would
blush to acknowledge himself the
author or instigator OF it.
1 OF the crowds at the prison up to
/ lst Sept 1864, about S,640 men died.
Every morning more or less were
/ carried ont dead / know of ~ car
ried out in one morning that had
died during the night They were
carried to the gate on stretchers by
our men, and thence taken to the
dead house and stripped of their
clothing il they had any worth steal
Ing. From that they were thrown
into an army wagon, like so many
logs of wood. and hauled to- the
grave yard aud buried in trenches.
| saw % men taken in one wagon, no
collins nor scarcely any clothing. In
order to obtsin a little wood, four
OF us proposed to the officer Of the
guard to carry ont man- we repre-
sented as a special friend. and bury
him. lie gave us leave under guard
and out we went, we laid this poor
I fellow down in treLc ch, already dug,
about two and half feet deep. In
/ this trench bodies of men were lying
in nearly a nude state, that had been
taken out the day previous, and still
were uncovered This sight so lis
gusted me that | resolved not to die
[ in the Confederaey if possible. which
resolution, thanks to good consti-
tuition I have been able TO keep.
On the hole, Anderson,ille may
be regarded as the scene Of the crown
! ing wicaeduess of this rebellion. A
few days experience of it would con
vert the rankest copperhead of your
county into a Union man, or il not,
then he would prove too mean even
Tor prison guard, and / thought
they were selected from the very
scum OF rebeldom, for the purpose
of carrying out the original plan o.
starving Us to death.
In my next / shall give YOU an ac.
count of my trip to Charleston. and
what | saw there. ii. T. WOOD.