Worcester daily spy., 1872-11-14
AnderronrLIIe To-Day.

The first thing that strikes the traveller as he
approaches this memorable place is the Old flag
suspended $50 feet in the air, waving gracefully
TO the breeze and standing sentinel over what
remains of 1S, ,716 departed faithful soldiers for
the UriOn.
have made il my business 10 make extensive
inquiries before reaching this place, and have
heard condemned in unmeasured terms, the
course pursued by Wirz and his small ring, who
they sav, were not actuated by any love for the
lost cause, but by a desire to profit from the
misery of those under their authority. Every
soldier that came into camp had money, and
many, watches and rings, all Of which found its
way into the hands Of few outside the stock
ade. Principle never governed Wirz. There
was a total want of moral sense. He never
knew a generous emotion; cold and heartlesS,
he thought only of gain and selfish gratihca-
ton. But he is dead; peace TO hls ashes. The
cemetery is under the immediate charge OF John
Maonev, an IriShmau, who, in one year, will
have served in the army, under the stars and
stripes, quarter of century. He was among
the faithful betrayed by Twiggs in Texas. He
loves the old fac as be loves his life. 1t does
one good to see this old veteran sufuse with
tears, as he recounted his hopes and fears dur
ing the severe struggle through which we have
Just passed.
The cemetery is beautifully situated, just
north from the stockade, on gently rolling land,
embracing in the inclosure thirty-seyen acres Of
ground; neat, substantial ience surrounds il,
and within this an Usage hedge is being cult-
vated that will ultimately serve as q fence, and
also add much TO the beauty of the place. Fine
carriage avenues are being constructed, many
Of which are completed; trees are planted ana
are growing finely on the sides OF them, and III
a few years the :ops will meet, creating dense
and cool shade, making a delightful drive.
Five thousand FIVE hundred feet OF surface drains
have been LAID along the avenues, The soil
washes so easily here that brick drains are
necessary. There are employed here, beside the
superintendent tour cOlOred laborers and TWO
mules, all of whom are kept constantly busy
A comfortable house is erected at the entrance
gate for the superintendent, where he always
keeps spare room for any chance visitor who
may happen to pass this way, which is not very
Often as the place is too secluded and remote
from the great lines OF travel, and then South
ern Georgia, with its chills and fever has no
attractions for visitor, or even the native cit-
zen. The dead were laid in trenches side by
side and if tLey had any article OF clothing
worth wearing our own men would take 1t to
cover their nakedness, or keep out the chilling
blast of winter-nO coffin, no clothing, nothing
often (aud nearly always) but their naked
frames. A neat headboaTd made of wood now
marks their last resting place, with name, age,
regiment, and company. And yet there are
many marked unknown" and will always re-
main so until the great muster day in that eter.
nal world above.
The first man buried here was j. Swarner, a
German, company H, I'd New York cavalry
dIed February u, 1864. The last man that died
was X. Hanson, company f, 1St Wisconsin in-
fantry; died April 2S, 1S65-a period of fourteen
months. During this time ,716 brave soldiers
passed away nearly one thousand month. The
largest number dying any one day was on the
26Ih day of August, 1864, when one hundred
and sXty-siX were buried. The most painful
spot 10 visit was the graves Of those executed
in the stockade by our own men for the murders
and violence they had committed. The galows
is sull partially standing, an additional monu-
ment Of the accumulated miseries our men sul-
lered. The superintendent is making good use
of Wirtz'S bath tub; filling it wIb dirt; he is
propagating flowers to ornament the grounds.
After visiting the cemetery we went to the
stockade. 1t is fast falling into decay, and in a
year or two will all be down, and everything
that marked the suferings of our soldiers will
have passed away. The grounds within the
stockade, that was once so bare of every shrub,
and even root (for was Informed that the SOL
diers would dig for the tineSt root, to secure
fuel to warm their aching limbs), is now grown
up with scrub oak and bushes until you can
hardly get through them. Tne dead line, Just
seventeen feet from the stocEade, is so far
decayed that but few traces Of it are left. Here
many a poor victim has bitten the-dust, it may
be from q chance miSstep or a determination to
end his misery. There are about thirty-hve
wells still remaining that were dug with spoons
uSeu
TO draw up the dirt and afterward the water.
They are from sixty to eighty feet deep, and
while peering into them, side entrances may be
discovered that led some to light, outside and
freedom. Every prisoner here doubtless re-
members the providential spring that opened
near the dead line, on the hill side,
during a violent thunder storm one au.
tumn night, and continued to flow so freely
as to supply nearly the whole camp with deli
cious water. Well this spring Is running as
freely still, and at it quenched my thirst, and
also in the stream, where so many have washed
their aching bodies, |, too, stripped off my cloth
inc and took generous bath, thankful that it
was under so different auspices
The forts, of which there are several, still pre-
| serve their original appearance, and show less
of decay than ANYTHING else about here. Yet
| trees are growing in them, and soon these, as
well as the space within the stockade will be so
densely covered with thicket as to be rendered
| impossible, and thus hiding everything that
makes it an object for stranger to visit here
| All the money and labor is spent on the GENE.
| terry, and no pains are taken to preserve the
| stockade grounds in their original condition.
The cemetery excited but little emotion in me,
| for there felt the soldier secured relief There
| they were beyond the reach of mans inhumani-
| ty. BUT this Stockade should he preserved
throughout the coming ages of our country's
history as a monument, not of the soldiers suf.
tering so much, as of mans cruety,-Letter 10
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