Fayette County herald. [volume] (Washington [Washington Court House], Fayette County, O. [Ohio]) 1860-1???, 1867-08-22
From the Canton Republican.
MY RECOLLECTION OF AN
DERsONVILLE.

us we were Immediately surrounded
by hundreds of the inmates Of tht
prison, and besieged by so many
questions that we could not tel
which to answer first. The ques
tions asked were such as these:
: "Is there any hopes of an ex-
changer
"Where is Sherman ?"
"What is Sherman doing?'
elias he taken Atlanta yet?",
And thousand other like ques-
tions, One poor emaciated man
came up to me and asked, "Do you
think there is any hopes of us get
ting ont of this place Soon?" I was
forced to stand and look at him
for some time ere I could find words
to answer him. Then I tried to give
him some encouragement, but | was
in no mode to give encouragement.
/ felt as if | needed some myself,
for there was, surrounded by thou
sands of starving men WHO were
mere shadows Of their former selves,
and 1 knew that I, too, would soon
be like them, for l was, not as well
off as some Of them who had some
kind of shelter to ward off the burn
ing rays Of the sun. Some had
blankets stretched up on sticks
others had caves dug in the earth,
which answered the purpose of keep |
ing the sun from them, but did not |
protect them from the frequent rain
storms. Twas thrust in without
blanket or anything to make a shell
ter with.
AS it began to grow dark l began
to look out for some place in which
| could lie down. | asked one of
the old prisoners if would have to
lie out in the open air? He replied
that would bNlucky ifI could find
a spot large Sough. So the first
place | found that was unoccupied
I took possession of, by stretching
my aching limbs down on it. But l 4
could not sleep for thinking of the
horrible situation ! was placed in.
| had not lain there long before it )
began to rain. As it poured down
in torrents my feelings can be imag- :
ined-not described. l got up and {
to walk, but it was pitch I
dark, and every step took, some {
one wonld cry out, "Don't step on
me-" and ! was forced to go back J
to my former place and to sit there t
until morning. Those were the t
longest hours that ever passed for l
me, l thought morning would new c
er come; but as everything has an a
md, so that night had, and morn "
ng came at last, and as luck would q
lave it, it stopped raining and the d
sun came out hot and scorching I
out l did not mind it then, for l was g
,hilled through and through. n
Well, as | had no breakfast to s,
ret, concluded to take q walk and al
'ecome better acquainted with my ct
lace Of abode, The first place
vas down to the little run, to get 7
drink of water and perform my q,
lorning ablutions. AS l reached hi
he edge of the swamp | was trans m
xed with horror, for just in front th
f me lay five or six men, stiff and di
old in the embrace of death, and w,
naked. l asked man who tb
as standing by how these men ey
anne to be laying there. He replied
nat he supposed that they had ii
'awled down there to get water o,,
nd were too weak to get back, and 90
nd lain there and died. -
"But how came they without
othes p inquired.
"O," he replied, "some of the liy-
g that were without clothing have
them" be
"Isn't It dreadful !" ! exclaimed. In
80, that's nothing compared with ma
hat you will see before you are as
re a week. If you want to see m'
horrible just go up to ou
e gate IN couple of hours, and Gel
e what you think of that" Il"
AS l walked on l saw men lying pri
every direction, too weak to get es
}, and no one to give them a sup ten
water, or a morsel of anything mu
herewith to sustain the brittle gui
read of life. As l passed one man hin
called to me and said, "For Gods to
1e give me a sup of water" 1 one
ID him l would, and hastened hin
nv tO Uet a cun (for 7 had nonn the