Delaware gazette. [volume] (Delaware, Ohio) 1855-1886, 1867-09-27
A Page Of History from a Living
Witness.

w AbA68as
IF the Prisoners at AndersoautHe
and Libby aUers not treated s05tb tind-
ness and consideration a0hich people are
entitled to a0leB they remain at home
l5J1dGqg their Ot07s proper business, an
stead Of taking up arms IN a bloody
and des0Latjng crusade against their
aetghbOrs and bTetbreg. zee hare only
to sag that they got their deserts. "
II Marion Democrat, (ofhciRl Demo-
cratic paper of Marion county, Ohio.
The Cincinnati Gazette publishes the
following letter which very mildly,
represents what in the estimation Of
the Confederate Democracy we're the
deserts" Of the men who fought for
the Union and were martyred for their
patriotism within the Dead lines of
Southern prison-pens-
SHINY attention has been called
to letter writer BY an ez-rebel, in
the Cincinnati Enquirer. August 9Th,
giving his experience In Northern pris-
ons, and. by way of comparison, I shall
give you a brief sketch of my ex peri
ence IN Southern prisons, with thous-
ands of others of those who suffered
for our cause.-The salvation of this
Union.
On the I'D of July, 1864, was ta-
ken prisoner in front Of Atlanta, Goor-
gia, BY Gen. Wheeier's cavalry. In q
few minutes 1 was stripped Of hat, boots,
money and penknife, and then had to
go it barefOOted, and keep mp with
these meu on horseback Before we
got to JonesbOrO they turned US over
to the infantry. At JOnesborO each
of us received tRO hard tacks and q
small slice of pork. This was all we
got to eat till we reached Anderson
ville-a period of Ave days. Here we
were driven into the slaughter pen,
with Capt. WiFtz (shame to his memo
ry) to help our tired aud sick boys
through the gate with his foot, for i
assure you, IL was with some reluctance
that we entered this HE'LL on earth,
as we had heard from it before but
we knew not the first part, as expert
ence afterward proved to US. There
we're then IN the iuclosure (I7 acres)
81 thousand Union soldiers, according
to rebel calculation. The next morn
ing after I arrived in AndersOnville, I
went down to a small ravine to wash.
There I combed out Of my hair nine
live maggots. We had no barracks or
shelter of any kind, not even a dog
tent, while Capt. WirtE's blood hounds
we're provided with good quarters and
had enough TO eat 70 keep them in
good running order, as many of our
boys could testify After dusk the
ground in many places had the ap-
peaTance of being covered with light
drift of snow, the worms (maggots)
were so thick, crawling around ready
to feast on the sores of our sick and
dying. [ have seen dozens of our men
lying around with these worms work
ing il their flesh, before life was yet
extinct. Confed. g. r. OBJ. how does
this compare with your treatment at
old Castle William and Fort Delaware?
No man, or set Of men, need preach uD
to me that they could use us no better,
for I saw many fields Of corn In shock,
and large piles In sacks, in the vicinity
Of AndersonVille. They could at least
have given US enough bread, but in
stead we got half a pint of sour corn
meal ground with cob, and two spoons
full of rice when we got no meal our
ration was one pint of black peas, full
of bugs, and two spoOusful of mOlasses.
have often seen the boys skim off
the bugs while the peas we're boiling,
and eat them for meat-glOriOus sweet
pork, this-but we thought it excel
lent, when we could get nothing better.
For the first two weeks we got occa-
Hionally a small piece of fresh beef s;
after this we got no meat of any kind
except the pea bugs. The water we
had to drink was impure and filthy.
We had no blankets; mother earth
was our bed, the canopy of heaven our
covering; but the stars looked down
upOn US and smiled. and by their
brightness were we cheered, trusting
in God and the strong arm Of our ma
ton to deliver US from these portals Of
death and hell.
Our treatment was severe. I could
narrate many bloody scenes of bar
barous cruelty, but enough has been
said by thousands Of those who suffer
| ed 10 the prison pens of the South, to
/ convince every loyal man who desires
the truth. do not give this state
ment for the purpose of justifying any
/ III treatment Of rebel prissners-if
such they received-but simply that a
/ true comparison may be given TO the
/ public between life In our Northern
/ prisons and confinement in Southern
| prisons. ISAIAH ROSE
Late Private Co +, SD o. V. 1.
P S.-The Cincinnati Enquirer is
! welcome to copy this, if they desire
| their readers 90 hear true statement
from bUth sides l. r.