Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1869-06-29

a feet was so short that she alwa,
b had to be assisted to her seat. 81
b was so sick at one time that Il
/: court was compelled to adjourn.
q On the 18th of July, about mic
e night, l was conveyed to steam
boat, and arrived the next day &
Fortress Monroe, and was theme
!, taken to the gunboat Florida. TIL
7 irons on my arms were temporaril
[ removed, but Capt. Dutton, i
r charge of the guard, ordered heav,
, Lille irons to be placed on me
when Gen. Dodd, chief officer il
charge, more humanely counter
manded his order and had the iron
again removed from my arms.
was placed for security in the lowe
hold of the vessel, and compelled
to descend to it by a ladder. Tht
rounds were far apart, and, as the
irons on my feet were chained but
a few inches apart, my legs were
bruised and lacerated fearfully
The hold where was confined was
close and dirty, but after two on
three days | was allowed on deck
in the daytime, but was closely
| guarded. l was allowed to speak
to no one of the crew. We ar
rived at FsrtJ efferson, on the Dry
Tortugas, and were handed over to
Col. Hamilton, commanding, who
placed me until next day in a
casemate. The next day l was
brought before Col. H., who in
formed me that he had no more
stringent orders concerning me
than other prisoners confined there
l managed to get along comfort
ably for awhile, though to some of
the prisoners the officers were very
cruel. One man by the name Of
Dunn, while helping in unloading
government transport, got hold of
some liquor and imbibed too freely;
for which he was taken to the guard
house and tied up to the Window
frame by his thumbs for two hours.
Gen. Hill then ordered him to be
taken down and be made to carry
a thirty-two bound ball, but as the
hanging had deprived him of the
use of his thumbs, he was unable
to obey. The officers, however, put
two twenty-four pound balls in a
knapsack, and compelled him to
carry them until the sack gave
away from the weight of the iron.
He was then tied up by the wrists
and gagged in the mouth by the
bayonet from 8 P. NJ. till the next
morning. He was then taken down
and thrown into the guardhOuse,
but was so exhausted that he had to
be removed to the hospital. 1t
was decided to amputate three of
his fingers, but this was reconsid~
cred. He lost, however, the use of
his thumb and two fingers. This
punishment was inflicted by Major
Mcconnell, officer of the day, and
was carried out by Sergeant Ed
ward Donnelly.
Another poor prisoner named
Brown was once excused by the
doctor from work, on the plea of
illness, but the Provost Marshal in
sisted, and finding him too i'll, and
lacking strength, made him carry a
thirty-two pound ball. He stag
gered under the weight, and was
compelled from weakness to put it
down. He was then taken to the
wharf, and with his legs tied to-
gether, and his hands tied behind
him, rope was placed around him,
and he was thrown into the water,
and then dragged out. This was
done three or four times, he begging
for mercy most piteously. He was
finally jerked out of the water and
ordered to return to his ordinary
work. The poor wretch crept off,
apparently thankful for any escape
from such torments. Capt. Joseph
Rittenhouse was officer of the day,
and his orders were carried out by
Corporal Spear.
During the latter part of last Oc
tober l was placed on irons and
compelled to work with an armed
sentinel over me. | did not know
the reason for this, for | was I'M
conscious of having given offense,
and had conformed to every regu-
lation. / was then closely confined
and allowed to communicate with
no one for four months. The pre-
tence for this, j afterward learned,
sprang from an attempt of DIR.
Mudd to escape.
Col. st. George Leger Grenfel,
aged Go years, was taken sick
and went to the Doctor to get
excused from work. The Doctor
declined to excuse him. He then
applied to the Provost-Marshal,
who said that he could not excuse
him if the Doctor couldn't. Grenfel
then tried to work and failed. They
then took him to the guard house,
tied him up for half q day, and then
took him to the wharf, tied his
hands behind him, tied his legs tos
gether, and put a Iope around his
waist. There were three officers,
heavily armed, who drove spectators
from the wharf: / could see and
hear from my window. The Colonel
asked them if they were going to
throw him into the water, and they
answered, eyes" He then jumped
in, and because he could not sink,
they drew him out and tied about
forty pounds of iron to his legs,
and threw him into the water again,
and after he had sunk twice they
pulled him out again, and then
compelled him to go to work. The
officers who had him in hand were,
Lieutenant Robinson, Lieutenant
Pike, and Captain George W. Crabb,
assisted by Sergeant Michael Gle
ason, and assistant military store
keeper G. 7. Jackson, who tied the
iron ON his legs. Capt. Samuel Pee
bles tied up Grenfel for saying that
"he was capable Of doing anything"
Col. Grenfel was forced to scrub
and do other mental work, when he
proved he was so i'll as to have re-