The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1866-01-19
From the Erening Transcript.
Maltreatment Of Prisoners.

From the Erening Transcript.
Maltreatment Of Prisoners.
We copy the following paragraph, which
we see going the rounds OF the press
1.-THE ConImissary General Of Prisoners
has found, on examination of the reports
of cemmaudau,s of our prisons for captnr.
cd rebel soldiers, that SO fur from their
having been any lack Of ioodDfor the pris-
oners, rs alleged in rebel papers, there was
an excess ofproVisious over what was con-
sumed, 10 the ratia0s issued, TO an cx-
tent which realized by its sale fund Of
over three millions Of dollars, one-half Of
which was expended for wines and deli
cacjcs in the hospitals for sick aud wound
ed rebels. 1t has been established be-
You'd the possibility of successful coutra-
diction that priEo#rrs in our hands, either
sick or we'll, were hatter fed. and iDeyery
respect we're more comfortable than when
10 the rebel army, or in their own hospi-
tails"
Now, it is not By such official ce pnrte
statements IS these that every impartial
mind can be satisfied "a 10 the grave nile
cations made against the Federal Govern
u'ent by returned prisoners Of war. 1t
requires no very minute knowledge of the
routine Of srmy reports to enable one to
see that it is quite in the power Of u frau
duent officer TO make n leturn which shall
exhibit him as faithful, diligent and
economical disturscr OF the public money
entrusted 10 his care, whilo in reality he
is pursuing n persistent and profitable
cou,se of systematic peculation.'
1t is e matter Of public notoriety, that
tie Southern press charged upon the Gov
ernment of the United States an attempt
to weaken the cause of the South, by
system Of starvation and ili-treatment Of
those prisoners who were about to be ex-
changed, so that upon their return TO
their own 'fficcrs, they should be unable,
by reason Of exhaustion aid prostration
Of their vital force, to take their places in
the ranks of their regiments. 1t was pub
li:ly announced over and over again,
while the exchange was going on, on the
authority, not only of the medical officers
Of the Confederate army, but on the tes-
timopy of respectable citizens, who claim
ed be eyc-witnes>es Of the suffering they
described, that the prisoners were deliver
ed into tie hands Of the agents Of exchange
in many instances, in astaryiGg condition;
that their power of life had been so de-
pressed by course Of low diet, " hich
brought them to the brink If the grave,
Il a; many of them never rallied.
The prisoners themselves, in many in
stances complained that during the whole
term Of their imprisonment they had beer
kept upon the lowest supply of food by
which lie could be maintained that they
bad b, en- robbed If money and of cloth
ing that they had been exposed TO the
ipcleneney Of Northern, winters, not only
WI bout tho proper supply of fuel and
clothing trHm their cap'ors, but even with
out the blankets they had with them when
they were taken, they having beeu de-
prived of these by the officers Of the pris-
ons, or by the guards put over them
They also assert that they were fed scaDt.
lily upon rations which they were unable
to eat; that much of their food was far
advanced in state of decomposition
that they were supplied with desiccated
vegetables and meats, SO putrid that their
mere presence nauseoted them; that they
drove brisk trade with the sentinels ia
rats, and such other dclicacies, in crder -
get soale fresh meat which did not dis
gust their nostrils.
Some OF them believed this TO be the
result Of orders from Washington, while
others maintained that it arose ron the
speculative tendencies of commanders and
commlssarles, who reserved for their own
benefit the army rations furnished to the
prisoners, and bought up for the captiv"s
the condemned provi ions, and any
other che"p trash they could fud 10 mar-
ket. 1t vas asserted that at sun,c roiuts
they were FED BY contract, and thai cum
rsctors made close study of physiology,
to ascertain the minimum amount of food
that man could live N. They com
planned that many Of their number per
lshed with cold and hunger in their tents
and 'hntthe morning report stated them
Us missinI, 10 knowledge of the facts
being allowed to get into the official pa
pcrs Of the prison
f. They also detailed all the enormi;cs
charged upon Wirz at Andersouvile be-
lore Andersonyille existed as prison.
They said that men had boon frequently
murdered by the guards upon the slightest
prorocatiop, and upon no provocaton at
all that there was contest among the
occupants OF tents who should ge! nearest
the wall in order to be protected, by the
rising ground outside, from the bullets
which the guard was in the habit of dis.
charging at random into the pris
quarters, and that all complaint of mall
treatment useless.
Now these accusations have gone
abroad to the world From the Southern