The Jeffersonian. [volume] (Stroudsburg, Pa.) 1853-1911, 1868-04-30
correspondence ofthe Boston Transcript
AnderSOnVille.

historic place may prove interesting tC
some of your New England readers; per-
haps 1T may fall under the eye Of some
who were at one time of that vast num ber
who, as captives, swarmed the hill slopes
in the then populous steckade, and, re-
minding them of those days Of woe, may,
moro comfortable.
Andersonville, Sumpter county, Ga, is
sixty miles southwest of Macon, on the
Southwestern Railroad, running from
Macon to Albany and Eupaula, and is,
with all its sad mementoes, in plain sight
from the railroad station.
The village consists of about twenty
log and frame houses, church, two
warehouses, blacksmith shop, railroad
station, &C., &c The most of the build
ings were erected during the war, and !,
with but few exceptions, are held by the
( Quartermaster' Department, as Offices
and quarters for the employees at the Ma
tional Cemetery
Andersonville, to- day. presents strik-
ing contrast, to the Andersonvile of the
" Confederacy." Then it swarmed with
rebel troops and officers, and, with its
stockades full to overhowing with human
misery, and death reaping daily harvests
from among the emaciated soldiers in the
rude hospitals, looked little like the quiet
village of today as it lies beneath the
f.! warm pleasant sun of Southern spring,
with the gentle breeze dalIying with the
beautiful flag of the Republic as it floats
from the staff in front Of the Office of the
cemetery. No bayonct CLEANS from the
sentry boxes on the stockade or the dark
red earth works DO frowning muzzle of
field artillery glowers from the embra-
sures of the battery, overlooking town
aud prisons, no swarms Of hungry, half
naked prisoners throng the hillsides, but
| all quiet as death, except when the silence
is broken By the passing trains of cars, or
the echoing horn calling the workmen to
and from their labors.
Within distance of less than a thou
sand yards of the railroad station, and
due east from it, stands the 4" stockade."
or, as it is often called, the "prison pen"
1t is an enclosure, without a roof, about
1000 feet long by 500 wide, and is built
Of logs from ten TO twelve inches In diam
eter, set upright and close together in
trenches about five feet deep. At about
one hundred feet from this is another
stockade, which completely surrounds
the other; this was built to prevent tun-
nelling, and as an additional obstacle in
case Of an outbreak of prisoners. Around
the top of the inner stockade, and at
distance of about sixty feet apart, are
sentry-boxes, from which the guards could
overlook their charges. About twenty
feet from the base of the stockade was
the " dead line -; traces of this are still
abundant, bat the relic hunters are max
ing nroads on it, and in few years not
trace of it will be left
The ground inside the stockade slopes
down from the north and south towards a
small stream about FIVE feet wide and six
inches deep, which crosses the enclosure
at right angles with its longest sides.
Traces of the occupants still exist in the
shape of mud aud stick huts, mud chin
neys, burrows" rusty canteens, old
shoes, beef bones, aud such debris as usu-
ally remains in an old camp. Nine wells
were dug by the prisoners, though the
main supply of water was obtained from
the stream, but the tramp of so many
thousand feet and the filth of the ground
kept the water in a condition that rem
dered it altogether unfit for use. The
water to day is clear and beautiful
From ten to thirty thousand prisoners
were usually confined here = the highest
number at one time was thirty three
thousand. They had no shelter except
few sheds, without sides or chimneys, and
such huts as could be built Of mud, sticks,
old blankets, pieces of tents, etc. The
best idea of the interior of the stockade
during its occupancy can be obtained
from series of photographs taken by
Mr..A j. Riddle, Of Macon, Georgia.
These pictures give views from all points
of interest, and exhibit the method of
burial, etc.
South of the stockade, aud about three
hundred yards distant, is the hospital
stockade, which surrounds fourteen open
sided sheds like those of the prison pen,
with the exception of having mud and
stick chiwneys, but they are far better
protected from winter winds by their
4 proximity to the stockade logs.
Directly west from the hospital stock
ade, and two thousand feet distant, stands
the Confederate hospitals, two large frame
buildings, well built and comfortable.
These buildings are now occupied by
! frcedmen's schools, and are under the
immediate charge of Miss Mary S. Bat
| tey of Providence, Il. l. The school is
carried on under the auspices of the
American Missionary Association, and is
very successful indeed.
Two hundred yards southeast from the
railroad station is a small stockade, built
for the confinement of Federal officers
This was mostly used for citizens and
turbulent rebel soldiers About 1000
yards northwest from the prison pen, and
about 200 from the railroad station, is
/ III, ora h1,iaA aho