The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1875-09-23
"AndersOnyilte."
A STATEMENT OF THE CONFEDERATE SURGEON OF
THE PRISON JEFFERSON DAVIS NOT REsPoN-
slBLE FOR THE ALLEGED HORRORS.

THE PkISON JEFF phf NoA ifcoA N-'
slBLE FOR THE ALLEGED HORRORS.
Correspondence of the Couricr-Journal.l
PRINCE EDWARD COUNTY, Va, September
Q. lS75.-At Rockford, Ill.,, MIR. Davis was
very kindly invited by the secretary OF the
Winnebago Agricultural Socie'y to deliver
an address before that body. Whereupon
ma>s.meeting was held by branch of the
"Grand Army of the Republic" at which
resolutions were passed to the eff CT that it
was an insult to the loyal citizens Of
Winnchqgo "to invite the arch-trator
jeff. Davis to address the relatives
and surviving friends OF thirteen thou
sand men murdered at AnderSonvllIe
alone by bis ORDERS" pledgng themselves,
further, not 10 attend the lair, nor DO any
thing towards making it a success, if tie
Board should bring forward this "arcn-
traitor and coward" Is this the manner in
which the ha Chef is to be buried by our
northern brethren? Does the Radical party
of the North still have to keep "Apderson-
vile" as the skeleton in the closet 10 frigbten
wayward politicians into ranks? Does any
sane man believe at this late date that Mr..
Davis is responsible for the martyrdom Of the
Union prisoners at Andersonvlle? History
tells US upon whom the responsibility rests.
luuy ClautUUldu Cll4uC ~ w aSuihS'ob
must forever share the obloquy Of erecting
this hccatomb Of martyrs rather than accedc
10 the humane proposals of the Confederate
Government 10 exchange the prisoners ard
the eoy relieve their SutfcriugS. In vain
may the "Grand Army of the Republic"
ho,d up the photographs of the poor Fede.
raj cipiives, their limbIess bodies and tester
Ing corpseS. to the gaze Of borrOr.stricken
world as evidence OF "rebel barbarltes," OF
which MIR. Davis, they say, was the "rccog-
nizad chlet"; but that mysterious veil, by
which this Clique" sought to cover up heir
own crimes in the "WiTZ trial." has been
rent asunder, not by the idle curiosity of
hcarlless world, but by the penetrating rays
of truth in history; and to-day we are happy
TO see bat the fair daughters of our land oil
ilowers can slrew, without hesitation, their
s4rlands alike over the sentry's grave rs well
As the unfortunate prisoners tomb.
1t is true that awe search history III vain
for parallel to the graveyard at Anderson
VILE" Thirteen thousand men lie buried
here. Beneath the white sands Of that me-
morable field are stretched g. side by side "
more men than persisted n the Mexican war;
more than all the soldiers who were killed on
the bloody fields OF the Crimea or the great
struggle of Waterloo; but the responsibility
OF this great destruction OF human life does
not rest upon Dir. Davis nor with those who
wee in charge at hndersonvil!e. Confederate
ard Federal history prove that the RESPONSE
bIlity rested upon the Federal authorities at
Washington. No one darcS to deny this
fact. Did not General Grant instruct Gene
raj Butler TO moke any excuse lie liked with
the Confederates, but on no account what.
ever to exchange for single man. Did not
the writer OF this, who was the surgeon OF
the Andersonvile prison, draft petition
for exchange to Mr.. Lincoln, setting forth
fully The miseries and sutte1ings of the priS-
oners? This was signed by thousands of
prisoners, and forwarded through Colonel
Ould, the Confederate agent of exchange, to
the Federal Secretary of War. This petit
ton was never submitted to Mr.. Lincoln
| for his action. General Lee offered to
General Grant to send into bis Grants lines
all the prisoners in his (Lee's) department,
EN- bracing Virginia and North Carolina, pro-
vided he (GranD would return him (Lee)
man for man and when General Lee in
formed the Confederate authorities Of bis
proposition he was authorized TO dispose Of
all the Federal prisoners then confined 10
the South in the same n,anoer. General Lee
also, through the United States sanitary COM
mission that visited Petersburg, tried TO ef.
feet an exchange Of prisoners of war in the
same manner, but all of bis propo.
sitons were scorued by the Federals,
as well as those OF Colonel Guild, the
Confederate commissioner Of exchange.
What a sad commentary on justice and q
travesty of outraged humanity for this
Grand Army of the Republic" at this late
date, to accuse MIR. Davis of numbering pris-
oncrs of war when 1t is we'll known that q
selfish, bieeted, ard iphuuan policy, dictated
by despolic government, that failed to
subdue the South by an open and manly
conflict, se'z,d upon the more savage
and atrocious mode Of warfare-that OF
destroying all means of subsistence in
the South. Vandalism, the torch and
The match-bos,' consummated that wh Oh
the force of civilized warfare found made
quate-the suhjugation of brave and manly
foe. The Tiberiuses and Caligulas Of the
p.s! were. oulherOded by the cunning arti-
fees of the "clque" that ruled the Federal
Government during the unfortunate col flct.
Is record must forever shock the student Of
Amer lean history. To compare them to the
ancient barbariaDs who overran and desolated
the fair fields OF southern Europe would be
to insult the virtues of the latter; for though
they reyelled in bloodshed and cruelty they
sought not TO conceal their crimes beneath
Toe fiiDsy prefer ce of humanity. But what
shall be said of these men at Washington,
living in the full blsze OF the light Of Chris.
tiln civilization In the nineteenth century!
They seem to have been the very corporate
embodiment of cruelty, their souls residing in
an abyss too dark, too deep to be sounded.
They could listen to the piteous appeals for
exchange OF thousands OF starving, dying
soldiers that were perisbiDg in prison Tor
The proper kind OF food, medicine, and raj.
ment, with the same competency that the
Bengal tiger views the ebbing blood of his
prey. No petitions for exchange, however
strong, could move their stony hearts.
The hasIiles North and South. That con.