The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1865-02-24
Treatment Of Union Prisoners bv
the Rebels.


the Rebels.
The testimony given by hir. A. d. Rich
ardsOn and j. H. Brown before the Com
mittee on the Conduct of the War, sustains
to the fullest extent the reports which We
have had from other sources, of the gross
barbarity with which our men have been
treated. Mr.. Richardson sums up his
statement as follows:
The simple truth is that the rebel auih-
critics are numbering our soldiers at Sails
bury, by cold and hunger while they might
easily supply them with ample food and
fuel. They are doing this Systematically,
and l believe are killing them intentionally
for the purpose Of either forcing our Gov
ernment to an exchange or forcing our
prisoners into the rebel army"
He describes one scenes which took
place on the 25th Nov, as follows:
On November 25. many of the prison.
ers had been without food 4S hours. Des-
perate from hunger, without any matur-
ed plan. few of them said: I'VE NAV
as well die one way as another; let US
break out of this horrible place" Some
of them wrested the guns from a relief of
ID rebel soldiers just entering the yard,
killing two who resisted, and wounding
five or six. Others attempted to open the
fence, but they had neither adequate tools
nor concert of action. Before they could
effect breach, every gun in the garrison
was turned upon them: two field pieces
opened with grape and canister, and they
dispersed TO their quarters
Five minutes from the beginning, the
attempt was quelled, and hardly prison.
er to be seen in the yard. My own quart
ers were a hundred and fifty yards from the
scenes of the insurrection: in our vicinity
there had been no participation at all in
it; and yet twenty minutes after it was
ended. the guards upon the fence upon
each side of us, with deliberate aim. fired
into the tents upon helpless and innocent
men. They killed in all Is and wounded
60, not one tenth of whom had taken part
in the attempt; many were ignorant of it
until they heard the guns.
In another part of his statement he
says:
had charge of the clothing left by the
dead. and re-issued it to the living. l
distributed articles of clothing TO more
than 1000 prisoners: but when | escaped
there were fully 500 without shoe or a
stocking; and more vet with no garment
above the waist except one blouse or one
shirt. Men came to me frequently, upon
whom the rebels, when they captured them
had left nothing whatever except a light
cotton shirt, and a pair of light, ragged
cotton pantaloons.
The books of all the hospitals were kept
and the daily consolidated reports made
up. under my supervision. During the
two months between Oct. Is and Dec Is.
the average number of prisoners was about
1900. The deaths for that period were
fully 800, or 20 per cent. of the whole
brought away the names of more than
200 of the dead; some of the remainder
were never reported; the others l could
not procure Oh the day of nv escape, with
out exciting suspicion. As the men grew
more and more debilitated the deaths in
creased. left about $500 in the gar
rison. Dec. Is. and they were then diving
at the average rate of % day, or Is
per cent.
Mr. Brown says:
The prison limits at Salisbury revealed
a scene of wretchedness, squalor. despair
and suffering such as I-accustomed Is /
am 10 army life and the horrors of military
hospitals and battle fields-had never be-
fore witnessed. The prison authorities.
especially after the massacre attending the
attempted outbreak of November %. ap-
peared not only Indifferent to the miserable
condition of the men. but to he actuated
by Il brutality and malignity toward them
that could not reconcile with my idea of
human nature.
They permitted the guards to shoot
prisoners whenever they pleased, without
the least pretext OF explanation, and no
mans life was safe for day or an hour.
The air was full of pain and pestilenoe,
and all the horrors of imagined hells seem-
ed realized in that most wretched place of
which shall never think without shud-
der and lessened faith in the possibilities
of humanity.