The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1876-01-12


1864, was not answered until December,
1864, when some ships were sent to So.
vannah. The record will. show that the
chief suffering and the chief mortality al
Andersonvi.le was between August and
December, 1874 We sought to sllsy
that suffering by asking you to take your
prisoners of. our hands without an equiv
alent, and without asking your return of
q man for them, and you refused to do it.
Mr., Hill went on to quote series of
Resolutions Passed by The Federal
Prisoners at AndersOnville,
on the 2Sth of September, 1864, in which
all due praise Is given to the Coptederate
| Government for the attention paid to
them, and in which it is said that the
suferings which they endured were not
caused Intentionally by the Confederate
government, but by force of circumstan-
ces. Commenting on that resolution Mr..
Hill said: "Brave men are always honest
and true men never SANDER. l would
believe the statements OF those gallsnt
soldiers at Andersonville, rs contained
| in that resolution, in preference
to the whole tribe of Republican politi =
clans. Laughter on the Democratic side.
What can be said ola people which could
reject such appeals from Union soldiers,
vet even in response 10 that succor did
not Gomez "Why," he continued "were
all these appeals resisted? Why did the
| Federal authorities refuse to allow their
own surgeons to attend upon their own
soldiers when prisoners Of war, and TO
carry them medicines and comforts?
Why did the Federal government refuse
to exchange prisoners, man for man and
officer for officer? Why did it refuse to
stand upon its own solemn engagement,
made in 1862, for the exchange of pris-
oners? Who is in fault. There must
be reason for this great atrcclty, and
that is the next point to which | wish to
call the attention of the House.
Who Is Responsible for the Ander-
sonviIIe Mortality:
Il suppose you would believe the
Tribune in 1864 if you do not believe it
now.) Laughter. In August the
man for man. General Grant telegraph
ed the following important order: ut is
hard on our men held in southern prisons
not TO exchange them, but it is humane
TO those left in the ranks to fight our
battles. Every man released on parole
or otherwise becomes an active soldier
against us at once, either directly
or indirectly. If We commence
system of exchange which lbcrstes all
prisoners taken, we will have u fight on
till the whole South is exterminated. If
we hold those caught they count for no
more than dead men at this time. To
release all rebel prisoners North would
insure Shermens defeat and compromise
our safety here"
MIR. Garfield asked Mr. Hill from what
he was reading.
Mr. Hill said the volume from which
he was reading was the Life of jeff
Davis" Laughter on the Republican
side He asked Mr.. Garfield whether
be would say that the telegram was not
true.
Mr.. Garfield haven't said word
about the telegram. ! merely a-ked
what book it was.
taken from the New York Tribune Of
1864 but here is General Grants testl-
mony before the Committee on the Con-
duct Of the War, taken on the llth OF
February, 1865 You believe him. don't
you?. Laughter
Mr.. Hill here read General Grants
testimony before the Committee, explain
ing She reason why he was opposed 10
exchange of prisoners, and which WAS in
effect the same rs was given IN the tele.
gram quoted, one sentence of which be-
ing in these words: do not deem il
advisable or just to reinforce the enemy,
and an immediate exchange Of prisoners
would have that effect without a cores
ponding benefit. Mr.. Hill then quoted
from letter from Junius Henry Browne,
in the New York Tribune, to the effect
speech at Lowell, Massachusetts, that he
had been prompted by Mr. Stanton to
put forward the negro question IN order
| TO complicate the exchange Of prisoners.
Mr.. Brownies comment on II being that
| Stanton WAS the digger Of the unnatural
graves which crowded the vicinitles Of
every southern prison with never 10 be
forgotten horrors. Mr. Hill proceeded
TO sum up the argument and said, what
have we proven? lhave proven that the
federal authorities broke the cartell
deliberately; we have proved that
they refused 10 reopen that csrtell
when approached by Mr.. Stevens as
committee, solely on the ground of
humanity. i have proven they made
medicine contrabsnd of war. and there
by left US TO the dread necessity of tup.
plying prisoners with such medicine. as
could he provided in the Confederacy. |
have proven that the Confederates pro.
posed 10 return your sick and wounded
without equivalent, in August, 1854, and
that you never designed 10 reply until
December, 1854 / have proven your
high officers in command gave ss the rea-
con why they would not exchange men
tha, it would be humane 10 the prisoners.
but cruel 70 the soldiers in the field. II
was part of the military policy to let your
prisoners suffer rather than that the Con-
iederacy should have an Increase OF It's
military force. ] have proven that with
sll the horrors you have made such noise
about ss occurring at Andersonville, the
greater horrors occurred in the prisons
whereyou had our men, and that the per
cent was three greater among our prison.
ers in your hands than among your men
in our hands When the gentleman from
Maine rises SgaIn 70 give birth 70 that
unmittigated etfusion Of genius
without fact TO sustain it, in
which be says: "And here before my
God, measuring my words, and knowing
their full intent and import, ] declare
tha! neither the deeds of the Duke Of
Alva in the low countries, nor the mas
sacre Of ST. Bartholomew, nor the thumb
screws Of the Spanish lnquisitiOn begin
TO compare in stroc;ty with the hidious
crime If Andersonville" Let him add
10 Il, and the atrocities OF Apdcrs0nville
do not begin 70 compare With the stroci-
ties Of EImira, OF Fort Doug
las or Fort Delaware" and of all
the atrocities both at Andersonyille