Delaware Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1843-1874, 1866-06-21

|
urther resistenee, began to rsmsnstrAts point p
az out In brief, clear language, that this g
,ourse was madness, and that orders must be 4
enforced OF any cost. @why compel me-" he c
uaid, ITO add the further indignity Of personal
violence to tn necessity Of your being ironed !" =
al am prisoner Of war;" hercely rstorted n
Davis; II have been soldier in the armies of c
America, and know how to die. Only kill me =
and my last breath shall be blessing on your | I
head. But while have life and strength to
resist, for myself and for my people this thing
shall not be done"
Hereupou Captain Titlow called In sergeant
and lie OF soldiers from the next roem, aud
the sergeant advanced to seize the prisoner
Immediately Mr.. Davis few on him, seized
1, musket and attempted to wrench it from
his grasp.
VI course such scene could have but one |
issue. There was short, passionate scuftie
In q moment Davis was hurg upon his bed,
and before his four powerful assailants reno
we'd their hands from him, the blacksmith and
his assistant had done their work-one seeur-
| ing the rivet on the right ankle while the 9TH
| er turned the key in the paddock on the left.
| This done, Mr.. Davis lay for moment as II
in stupor. Then slowly raising himself aid
turning round, he dropped his shackled feet to
the floor. The harsh clack of the striking
chain seems first to have recalled him to his
situation, and dropping his face into his hands
| ne burst into O passionate food OF eob0ing,
cooking to and fro, and mutteriug 1T briet in
| Iervals, "Oh the shame, the shameP
Itmay here be stated though out OF Its due
| order-that We may get rid of In haste an I'M
pleasant subjsct--thst Mr.. Davis, some two
months, afterwards, when frequent vista had
made him more free In conversation, gave me
q curious explanation of the last feature in this
. incideat.
He had been speaking OF suicide and de-
bouncing 1t as the worst form OF cowardiee
and folly
"Liie is not like commission, that we car
resiga when disgusted with the service. TAX
ing it by your own hand is confession
liadgment to all that your worst enemies cau
AIlege. It has often flashed across me as
tempting remedy for neuralgc torture, 6n
I thank God, never sought my own death bu
once, and then completely frenzed and no
master of my action. When they came TO iro
H. me that day, as a last resource OF Desperate
[ seized a soldiers nusket and attempted I
wrench 1t from his grasp, hoping that in u
ara cufis and surprise some one OF his comrau'
would sheet or bayonet me.
The moral and physical effect OF the indil
atty is shown in the fact that during the tin
Mr.. Davis wore the manscles his health steH
lily declined until DR.. Craven felt compelled
report that medical necessity called for the T
oval of Che shackles. 1t was on the Gath 4
| Doctor paid his first visit, when be found
patient ieverish and emaciated, suffering fro
great irritation OF mind and body, and a chr'
&c neuralgia which had destroyed the sight
his right eye.
The doctor told him to spend as little til
In bed as possible; that exercise was the bt
medicine for dyspepto patients. To this
answered by uncovering the blankets from
feet and showing me his shackled ankles.
at is impossible for me, Doctor | CAM
AND even stand cree: These shac l,s are,very hes
d IL know not, with the cnain, how many pour
zen If try to move they trip me, ana have alre'
bra. abraided broad patches OF skin from the ps
pur sney touch. Can you devise no means to
!, 10 or cue hiou them, so that when try to d
cs OF them along they may not cbafe mt so into
uant ably? My limbs have So little aesh GU ID
gooh aud that so weak as to be easily lacerated.
the That afternoon the Doctor reported to
trese Miles, urging that the continued irritatio
nber he letters was contemplating whatever M
cines might be given.
,am- Ga the 26.h he found Mr.. Davis In bed, CT
the planning Of intense debility, but could
leral point to any particular complaint The r
'tani in nis head, however, after leaving him 10
d, Of ght, had been brought back BY the noi5
cap workmen emp ed that morning in tnL
Miles down wooosI doors snd putting iron grsunl
now tween his cell and the a iling roou,i So
U. U. he could at all times be seea b. the sentfi
way friends" who were the unspeaking comp
ions OF his solitude.
Is cell Ou the 9th, found the patient very weak
ndow depending, having been kept awake all L
Idiers by the surgug of The storm.
I'd re- o. tue 2s.h Eve days after the shae
indi | ware put on they were taken on. The Do
age Of called at o'clock P. N. Immediately on
Bible terng, Mr.. Davis rose from his seat, beth h
'us Of extended, and his eyes filed with tears.
rtook was evidently about to say something
Says checked himself; or was checked by rus
emotions, and sat down upon lis bed.
t Bit From June to November We have acco
1T "a representative Of deterioratiug health ant
odern frequent protest against the rigo- and 10
ID en- nifty of his treatment as the head of six mi
Ie rsou OF people, and the prisoner refused inps
4 the trial. June 9th, the torment OF bis head
tomac 90 great he feared he must lose his mind
ndred | ready his memory, vision and hearing
tans- impaired. June 18th, General Miles, lea
of the that the pacing OF the two seatinels IL
ndless room at night disturbed Mr.. Davis and
Presi. vented his sleeping, gave orders that tht
he ma. should stand at ease during their two
OF the Of guard.
ne was The constant watching to which Mr.
was sui jected seems to have wern very hi
isylva- upon him, add on the 24th OF June, the Z
by the found Mr.. Davis, for the first time, alone
int the cell, the two guar Ia having been remov
sckles. his report that their presence counter
ish and every effort for quieting the nerves Of tt
placed tieut. On the same day he was permit
g I'M walk out upon the ramparts, and TO hay
d side. the hrst time, miscellaneous reading ma,
pg his bis cell. His walk on the rauparts W
lowed afterwards for an hour each day, 4
i, slr,' be WAS too i'll at first to stand more thsl
Ike the an hour.
I'm his On tue goth OF July, found him In
critical state; his nervous debility ext
lmben, complexion livid, and pulse denotng
a mo- proslration OF all the physical energies.
'id and much alarmed, and realized with painful
clutch iety the responsibilities of my position.
Ia right were to die in prison, and without tria
Y, while iect to such seventies as had been in
height, on his attenuated frame, the world woul
ion and unjust conclusions, but conclusions
ed from enough color to pass them into histoi
/ slowly seemed to me, let me frankly confess,
the honor OF America and the future Il
sent to our struggle Tor national existence, tn
result should not happen. He asked mt
9 officer nothing be done to better his condition,
ID, who cure him the justice of trial before de
,Ck and The effort OF his people to establish C
q, prob had failed, and they had no country nj
sss, and America. 1t was for the honor OF Al
be same no. less than for his own, and for Jul
his cause, that he pleaded.
lie pris- Mr., Davis in August began 10 SUITE
pm as ii erysipelas and from carouucle on his
ructon. For these Or. Craven treated hin,
see the 2lst OF August he made report Of tn
lat sreh ! oner's Ill health TO General Miles. DaI
custo- long complained of his cell as having 3
q such a mstc atmosphere from the moat ousit
being damp, seriously affected him.
Captain 2lst Of Sept ,moer the doctor says;
gtos, as Assured Mr.. Davis tina: his opinion
matter had for some imo been my ow
r Davis that on several occasions had called
ke. No tention Of Major General Miles to the s