Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1866-05-11
The Lingering Horrors OF the Bat
tie Field,

Roger a. Pryor, of the Memphis Argus,
has taken ride over the battlefield of Sh-
loh, and contributes many interesting and
some horrible facts to that Journal
"The whole face of the country between
Cornth and Pittsburgh Landing is Scared.
scratched and wounded with almost indeli-
BILE traces of ruthless war. Lines of earth
works and intrcnchments across all the
"thOusand and one roads: lone chimneys.
burnt and blackencd trees and heaps of rub
biSh, where once stood smiling homesteads
whole forests peeled or "barked" and dead
ened by the encampng soldiery. to make
themselves comfortable with bark beds
dwellings, stores and outhouscs in every
stage of dilapidation and decay; fields, fence
less and INTENDED, are rapidly growing wild
again-these are some of the evidences of
the fierce struggle.
The war during its progress presented
many horrible aspects, but none so horrible
as this. | saw where hundreds of Confcd-
crate dead had been rooted out of their shall
low coverings-I cannot call them graves
their flesh eaten by the hogs, and their bones
lying scattered and broken and trampled
upon in every direction. 1t transccnds any
thing recorded in civilized history; it almost
transcends belief. | was told by some OF
the people residing near that the hogs fed
so long in this way, upon human carrion,
that the pork became so offensive it could
not he eaten and to this day. some of the
ladies informed me, they dare not touch any
hogs meat killed in that vicinity; they felt
or were afraid that they would be guilty OF
cannibalism to do so.
In one place, about 300 yards south of the
church, on the Rhca place. | saw where a
large number Supposed to be $50 at least)
of COnfederatcs had been tumbled into q
gully and covered up with thin layer OF
dirt. The washing rains and the hogs, to-
gether, have exposed the bones ltcre mos
sadly. Many of the bones are broken and
shattered to pieces, evidently since they werC
unearthcd. All the other scattered grave,
of the Confcdcrates, where they were GOV.
cred up by ones. twOs. threes, and so on, III
to dozens in Il place, over the whole field, art
in the same miserable condition. In but one
place did | see "A Confederate grave that had
not been rooted up by the hogs. That wa,
on the extreme left, where as Mr.. Hargrove,
informed me, there are nearly 800 of cacl
side buried in parallel trenches.
Generally, the Federal dead, as at Cor
inth, were buried at the proper DEPTH anC
generally with head and foot boards, in
scribed with names, companies, regiments
NC. Many of these head and foot boards
however, have been destroyed or defaced by
the annual fires which burn off the grass anC
leaves of those woods. | saw but one Fed
cral trench where the hogs had upturned tn,
bones, and that but slightly. They are gen
orally buried too deep for that, and in som,
places their graves are enclosed with fence,
made of logs or rails.
At the Confederate glllly-grave, and at al
the Confederate graycs-or rather, place
where the Confederate dead were slight,
covered up on the ground where they fell
skulls, thigh, hip and leg bones, ribs, verte
brac, etc, etc, lie scattered around in all di
rections. In one place, | saw where tw'
Confedcrates had been covered up in tin
middle of the road; in another, where on
had been pitched into deep rut or hole
made by wagon wheels at the roadside, an,
so covered. In still another, [ saw wher
two Contederates had been placed betwee,
standing trees, and then covered up. Ant
in still other places, they were thrown b,
the side of logs Gas at Corinth) and only hal
covered up. In all these places the bone
were more or less exposed"