The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1876-02-09

srooKuRIpoE, Wis. Jan. 81, 1876.

b1OCh
To the Editor Of tho lnterIocean-
Asian a reader of your paper.
wish to state a few facts in regard to
Mr.. Hills speech in Congress last
week. In the FIRST place, was a sol
der in the Twcnty-6rst Wisconsin,
Infantry, and was taken prisoner on
the goth day of September, 1868. al
Chickamauga, and renamed q pris-
oner till the 9th of December, 1864
about fifteen months. | vas 10
FIVE different prisuns-at Belle Isle,
Richmond. Danville, AndersoDville,
and Florence. S. c. l know whereof
speak. Mr.. Hill says it was home
| sickness tha, caused so many to die.
| will tell what caused the death OF
so many of our brave boys. AT
Richmond, what little peat we got
was almost invariably spoiled. 1t
was brought into u prison in sbalf-
barrel, aud | have seen the maggots
one-halt inch deep in the bottom of
the tub. Our soup was thick with
sand maggots and bugs-what little
we got. For, mind you, We did not
get as much in four days as would be
a ration for one day. At Anderson
vile our fare was worse. Here we
had cooked rations one day and raw
the next; but, o God! what rations,
when cooked! They would boil what
little meat we got, which was gener-
ally full of maggots; then they
would throw in their "nigger-beans,"
as our boys called them, without
cleaning them at oil. and this stuff
was Sent in 10 us-beans, maggots,
and sand as thick as pudding. The
teams would take out a load of our
dead boys, thrown into the wagon as
YOU would so much cord wood, and
when the wagon came back they
would throw our mush into the same
wagon. When the rations were raw,
we would have one gill of 'nigger-
beans" one gill of corn meal, ground
10 the cob, and all this we had to eat
raw, for we could not get wood to
cook with. | was shipped from Dan
vile to Andersonville, or, as the boys
called it, to Hell" in q c~attle-car.
Ia nv car there were eighty-one OF
US. We were FIVE DAYS on the route,
and lot one of US had a chance to
get off the cars 10 that tiale We
had to s;and in our W 9th, lie in
u own filth, and eat what little we
had in the filth. MI. Hill calls this
death by homesickness !" At Flor
ence | was paroled to butcher cattle.
Myself and four others one night
came to Florence. Sixteen cattle had
been shipped from some place, and
they bad all died in the car-sufocat-
ed. The Quartermaster (Edwardsl
ordered US to dress these cattle.
When dressed, the meat was p%utref-
ed. He SAID it was good enough for
the I'D Yanks." He had the
meat cut up, and put in the ware
house to issue to the prisoners the
next day. Colonel Harrison COM
manded the Fourth South Carolina
Reserve at that place. was at the
warehouse when the Quartermaster
had this meat loaded for the prison
ers, and spoke to Colonel Harrison
about it. He told Edwards not to
send it into the prison. Edwards
said it was the order of Davis not to
waste any meat. and it was good
enough for the id Yanks."
Colonel Harrison told him be did not
care a.d-n il it was Davis order,
it should not be given to them, and,
thanks to Harrison. the meat was
buried. Except for hin there would
have been that much more "home-
sickness" / was fifteen months a
prisoner. and | never saw so little
homesickness among so many men in
all nv life. 1t was not inconsistencies
that caused so many to die. 1t was
your rotten meat, your soup mixed
with sand and vermin, your raw food
without fuel to cook it, and your ours
ed treatment generally of u boys
that killed them. Yours respectful
GEO. W. HOWE,
Formerly of Company f, Twenty
first Wisconsin Infantry.