The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1869-06-29
prisoi. LIE iH- fhe. Dry
~, ment OF Elman SpangIer.

sentenced by military commission, in
May, 1865, on charge OF being engaged
In the plot to assassinate President Lin.
coln,. and pardoned by President John
son, has prepared statement, asserting
his Innocence OF all knowledge of the
crime, and detailing the cruelties prac.
tlced on the prisoners before and after
conviction Spangler, it will be recol-
lected was scene shifter al Ford's the
atre, and was on the stage in that capa-
| city when Wilkes Booth shot Mr.. Lin
coin, and jumped from the box. He also,
at times, cared for Booths horse. The
| evidence against him was of the flimsiest
character Nearly everybody believed
him innocent, and the military commits.
sion only sentenced him to six years at
the Dry Tortugas, while the others were
sent for life. Spanglers statement is
sworn and subscribed to, and appears
among the Washington correspondence
IN the New York World, Of yesterday.
He says
huve deemed it due to truth TO pre-
pare for publication the following state
ment-at time when hope the temper
OF the people will give me n patient
hearlng-of my arrest, trial and impri-
sonment, for alleged completely in the
plot to assassinate the late President
Lincoln. L have suffered much, but I
solemnly assert now, as [ always have
since Was arraigned for trial at the
washington arsenal, TINT am entirely
innocent OF any fore or after KNOWLEDGE
OF the crime which John Wilkes Booth
commltted-save what I knew in COM
mon with everybody after it took place.
L further solemnly assert that John
Wilkes Booth, or any other person.
never mentioned to me any plot, or in
tlmatlon of plot, for the abduction or
ASSASSINATION of President Lincoln; that
did not know when Booth leaped from
the box to the stage at the theatre that
he had shot Mr.. Lincoln; aud that 1 did
not, III any way, so help me God, assist
III his escape; and further declare that
am entirely innocent of any and all
charges made against me in that connec-
tlon. never knew either Surratt.
Payne, Atzerodt, Arnold, or Harold, or
any OF the so-called conspirators, nor
dl'l L ever SEQ any of them until thev
appeared IN custody. While imprisoned
with Atzerodt, Payne and Harold, and
after their trial was over. was allowed
lew minutes exercise in the prison
yard: L heard the three unite in assert
ing Mrs. Surratt's entire innocence. and
acknowledge their own guilt, confining
the crime, as they did, entirely to them.
selves
The statement then details the particu
lars OF his arrest, which occurred on the
10th OF April, 1866; how he was hand
cutfed with his arms behind his back.
ana conveyed to the navy yard, where
his legs were manacled and a pair of
Lilll handouts placed on his wrists. He
was next conveyed to monitor and
thrown into small, dirty room. Here
he was kept for three days, when he was
told by Captain Munroe that the Secre-
tary OF War had ordered bag to be put
on his head, which was done. He could
then neither see nor eat, but through
hoIe ont into the bag near his mouth;
Two klnd-hearted soldiers took compass
sion on him, and while one watched, the
other fed him. These tortures were con-
tinued until his trial commenced before
the military commission, and even then
he was carried before that court with his
head bagged and his limbs heavily.
manacled
1.-The first time I ever saw Mrs. Sur
ratt was in the Carroll Prison yard, on
Capitol Hill. 1 did not see her again
until we were taken into court the first
day at the arsenal. My cell was on the
same corridor with hers, and had to
pass 1t every time was taken into court.
frequently looked into her cell, q small
room, about four feet wide by seven feet
long: The only things in her cell were
an old mattress laid on the bricks and an
army blanket. Icould see the irons on her.
feet, as she was generally lying on the
mattress, and was the last one brought
into court. She occupied seat in the
court near the prison door. The seat
was twelve inches high, and the chains
between the irons on her feet were 80
short that she always hnd to be assisted
to her seat. She was so sick at one
time that the cour: was compelled toiad-
journ." ::
The remainder of the statement is oc.
cnpled with his treatment on the Dry
Iortngas, and what he witnessed Of the
cruel punishment inflicted on other pri-
soners, and especially Col. St. George
Leger Grenfel. The treatment of this
officer he describes as brutal in the ex-
treme, and worse than death, the Colonel
frequently declaring his intention of run
ming any risk to escape. rather than .'be
tortured to death there" which he final
lv carried into effact SnonoIar ,ors.