Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1867-10-15

Southern prisons These men affect to be ignO-
4 rant of the factthat ttdead lines 1wereas COM
mon at the North as the South. They affect to
be ignorant of the fact thai, they were North
ern invention, There was not a single Federal
prison that had not its dead line" There
was tsdead linen at Camp Chase before such
a thing was heard of in Dixie And at all
/ Northern prisons men were shot at and often
| killed for passing them: and no one had right
to complain They were clearly deined-the
hazard of crossing them was known to all
there was no necessity for crossing them |; and
the man--no matter whether Confederate or
Federal-who was killed in the violation of the
regulation was not fit object of pity ~
| The killing of innocent men, however, was
johnson Island to my own knowledge, and at
all the other Federal prisons as may be easily
proved by gentlemen as worthy of credit as the
| ferocious j ohm A. Logan, of Illinois. 1Ja Z"
90 In,l863aa Confederate officer standing quiet
ly in the door Of Block II, at johnson Island,
was brutally murdered by a sentinel. In 1864,
| two Of my acquaintances in Block 5, Lieutenant
John w. billiard, ,of Mississippi, now of Mobile,
Alabama, and Lieutenant Inman, of North
Carolina, were badly wounded by the same ball,
| fired into the room at night when all were in
bed and perfect quiet prevailed. Lieutenant
Inman was sleeping soundly when struck. The
offenders were neither tried nor punished. 1t
was not unusual for our quarters to be Wantonly
| fired into at night 1t was often extremely
| hazardous to visit the sinks at night On an
occasion of this sort, as has been repeatedly
charged, Colonel J ones, of N orth Carolina, then
at Fort Delaware, was halted and ordered back.
Being terribly afflicted with rheumatism, he
| could not turn about quick enough to suit the
sentinel, and was shotidead asisaob y1aa5q
/ AT Johnson' s Island Confederate officers were
madeato stand on the head Of a barrel between
| the dead line and the prison wall for the
most trivial offences. Adjutant John w. Short
er, of Alabama either a son or nephew of ex-
/ Governor John Gill -Shouer-was subjected to
this indignity. | think the offence charged was
| refusing to disclose the name of a Federal sol
| dier who had carried out letter for him. 1
/ read an account of Confederate officer at Fort
! Delaware who was subjected to the most cruel
torture suspended by the thumbs, &e, until
| he was well nigh dead-tor similar offence. -
The epithets ''d-drebele and "d--drebel S N
| OF b--hlp were frequently applied by the
guard with little or no provocatlOn. This was
! by the l28th Ohio, regiment that never heard
| the crack of a hostile rife. Soldiers who had
| seen service were generally respectful, Inter-,
views between mothers, and sons, and husbands,
| and wives We're denied, though the ladies had
travelled hundreds Of miles, and had not spoken
| to the loved ones for years. [ have seen them
| their hearts were breaking, but not gesture
was allowed to be made or a word to be uttered.
| At such times the ladies were beyond the Wali
the men at the head of the flight OF steps near
| est the wall, leading to the second story of
| Block No.l1 Uoa "a feas d5 5o ci46
| 1t is said that at Rock Island starvation was
| deliberately planned and carried out to force
| Confederate prisoners to take the oath and en-
list against the Indians L heard OF one young
man who, to save his life, yielded, and then
wrote to his widowed mother In Dixie, stating
what he had done, and why, and after implor
ing her not to judge him too harshly, bade her
final farewell, saying he felt that he dare not
ever look her in the face again. A North Ca
rolna regiment, captured at Cumberland Gap,
in 1868, entered Camp Douglass five hundred
strong, and up to March, 1861 one-half had
perished. The officers of this regiment were
confined in the same block No. 81 with me,
and they corresponded with their men and kept
an account Of the deaths, which they showed
me. a-I
But Mr. Logan says Confederate prisoners
were not only 'ihumanely, but kindly treated, "
and we all know that Mr.. Logan is an honor
able mani There is one point, however, MIR.
Logan should explain. How was it that
greater per cent of Southern than OF Northern
prisoners died In prison? That has an ugly
look, Dir. Logan. And why was it, Mr.. Logan,
that while you have resolved to investigate the
treatment of your men, you have refused to in
vestlgate the treatment of ours? That has an
ugly look, Mr.. Logan. The man who refuses
to be searched is sure to turn out the thief 1t
is a confession of guilt You are dared to in
vestigate, and you refuse to respond to the chal-
lenge, with the false and pitiful ''come off !"
that ''no one ever pretended that rebel prison
ers were not kindly treated, and that rebels are
unworthy ofcredit.''' Ithas been charged from
the beginning that rebel prisoners. were treated
cruelty 1t is charged now, and can be proved
by the oaths of thousands Of men, who, though
rebels are as worthy of belief as you ought
to be. Be not deluded, sir. There is some
common sense outside of Congress- and an i'm
partial world will correctly interpret the course
OF yourself and colleagues In regard to this mat
ter. .ao aprtua 4ft
LEwIsBURG, W. Va, August 2l, 1867. 81
ABOLITION OF THE REpUBLIc.-T bill to