Maryland free press., 1866-11-29
From the .Rich,nond Times.
MerFors OF the Dry Tortugas.-A stain

From the Richmond Times:
Horrors OF the Dry Tortagas.-A stain
ON the American Ch aracter.
On the Dry Tortagas,. the most desohts and
barren almost known, there languish in illegal
imprisonment, several huudsed State prisoners
rent thithsr by military tribunals -tribunals
That have been denounced by the United State.
supreme Caart as prknown to,apd upwarrantcd
hy law, and from whose commitments that Courl
hts released all prisohers confined in Northern
Pen''ontiartes--<these men are.pew under going
and have undergone, torture st the hanis of bru-
tai effi5als (disgraces to the uniform, Of SOL
dier) that mike life iatJier.blc, AMI which
would, exposed, rous0,ibs horror and .indigpa-
lion OF the civilized world. Confined on this
desolate spot, with no means of communication
with their friends, m.ny Of the N entirely inno
cent OF charges for which those military .ess~,s.
'o-c led have condemned them, they are ex-
l~'s'd u rueities aud punishments al the hands
ef bruI" sereraR's md commissioned officers, ad.
minisiered at their caprice and whim for coinpar
sons OF which we would have to 60 back to the
Dark Age, or search the records of the Inqui ii.
tion. - I-+ &.
Aahor time sin o We saw.a letter from. an In
tellisent State prisoner, Confined upon the Dry
Tortusas, m,n Of ysracity aud character. Civ
Ing an account of tho inhlrn,u and harbarous
panishments inflicted not only on The poor Con:
fed trafe prisoners confined there, but on the Fed
eral soldiers 6f the garrison. Til; recital liz
writer gava ofthe facts, of which he hid been nm
eyewitness, Fwss sicken:ng, and made one Liasb
"r humanity. ltwasia tale of woe that would
have melted heart Of stone--tte atrocities com.
mistsd there by United States oil ,ers anil under
the United States flag, .f,uatiu s.n idle ,nockerv
AS the guardian of liberty, the protector of hl:
man rights. lts gave the names of the sufferers
the names OF the brutes in human shape who or
"ered and executed them. 1t seems that the dey-
'lish tyranny Of the jailors wreaked itself alike
ON itsd.States and Confederate prisoners.
In August last, while q party of prisoners we're
unloading a vessel. some of the crew gave them
liquor, and one of tho poor unfortunatcs became
hslplessly drunk. In this condition he was tied
up by the thumbs by order Of the officer Of the
day, aud kept suspended for hours, the cords cut.
ting the flesh to the bones, AMI until the poor
wretch, to all appearances, was evidently dying
Then the commandant, a Brigalier- General, ae-
eidentaliy passing, and dsbseryed the mlln s,cop.
dition, ordered him to be taken Gown, aand be
conveyed to- the hospital with one Of its band.
disabled for life, Could the Russian punishment
Of the knout be worse than this? Was the ,huml,-
screw applied to DR., Muil to extort. from. him
tue named Of bis .nplices Id la attempt to es-
cape, seversr. - - ~''.
But another case which the writer Of The lettsr
saw. and We have done with this shocking reci.
tai for though wo could quote other INSTANCES
Of barbariiy that would startle the demons I'm
hell, We shrink from the melancholy record. 1t
was that of . Uaited States soldier, who, for al
trivial offence, some petty neglect Of his equip
msns, vas tied up by the thumbs for hours.
Manned, With the tepdons Gf his arms stretched
sud Displaced, bis hands useless and ineapacita.
ted, he was ordered TO pick up a forty pound
hall and carry it Or a certain uamber Of hours
in the broiliag Sun. His hands refused their du-
ty-'hey could clasp nothing, MUCH less .ft a
tsrty.pound ball,' and the poor fellow said he
sOuld not. lie Was then crdered to Le tied, ta-
Ken to the end of the garrison wharf, and there,
iosnd hand and foot, he was thrown into the
water. to be ducked uutil he promised TO carry
the ball. The severest punishment known in tie
British navy, when Rrittahnis's marine was no
ted for its baFbarols pnnisbmeuts, was keel I
TO which the terrible cat was mercy. |
and ''keel-hauiing' man under the
sssssl-was iGentically the Same punishment this |
poor wretch Of a soldier was subjected to by his
officers ct Tortugas. lie was allowed to sink
several moments, and then, being drnwu up, he
was asked u be would carry the ball. His mouth
and throat being filled with water, he could not
~ once reply, and was again allowed to siak.-l
\ second time he vas dsavn ur; land making
soms gesture of assent to the intcrrcgatory sfI
his brutal torturer, he was taken ou:.
These things, and many similar ones, are per-
petraed daily in this enl .ghtened nineteenth CEN
tary on the poar unfOrtunatcs at the Dry Tortl-
gss. While Exeter Hall Is moaning over the
sufSerings Of the negro slave-while Plymouth
Church and other political radical association
sre weeping over the outragcs on the freedmen
by unrepentcnt ''rrbels''-these horrors are he.
Ing perpetrated on white men, by United States
officers, under tho United States flag, on that
barren island of the coast Of Florida. We call
upon the United Scates authorities 10 Investigate
these matters, and to send to the Dry Tortugas
. commission Of honorable soldiers, officers who
sre gentle men, to examine into and report upon
the cruelties and bnrbarties practicod upon these
helpless prisoners, and these unfortunate solders
Were not our informant q man of rsracity, and
IN eyewitness Of what he relates in lis letter,
Ss could scarcely credit the details he sent US
in the name Of humanity, let these brutal wretch
q 10 brought to account.
~ '-A-------S-N-&-y--- =,
Terms o.cs Onered By Congress.
II ought seves to Be- forgotten that In 1854,
Congress -psovossx the came Tecpastrustion peH-
q, for uPts sing which. shey now dssounce
pEesidens JohnsoA as traitor, and insist that hs
SHOULD Be lmpsaehsd.' That body in 1854 pro-
sideA an amendment 10 the constitution. ts ~,t:
fnS the abolitioz ~ dayerx the rseao,;,;ou nfslr