Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1876-04-06

as we entered that awful place. And
the sight of its inmates . God :.
could this be civilized Christian land
where such things were possible !!
There were crowded together thous-
ands upon thousands of hideous look
ing creatures, filthy TO the last degree,
hundreds with nothing to cover their
nakedness but sleeveless shirt, or
fractional pair of drawers. and that
fringed with pedent rags and covered
with filth and vermin. Thousands OF
emaciated beings, almost helpless, and
delirious from starvation and suffering,
lay or sat upon the filthy ground, look
Ing the very picture Of hopeless des-
pair. wishing and praying for the re-
lief that only death could bring them.
[ thought [ had seen suffering on the
battlefield. but it was happiness COM
pared with this. I felt it, but have
not words to descrsbe the most vivid
Imagination could not grasp.
ITS UNUTTERABLE HORRORS.
On entering we were assigned to
different detachments chat had been
thinned by death It was then we be
gan to feel our utter desolation-to
realize that we had become parts of
that ssething mass Of corruption and
misery. We were without blankets or
tents, and more than half naked,
though better off than thousands Of
the poor fellows, for we had not yet
been starved to skeletons, though it
took but short time to bring us to
their condition. There were from
80, GOO to 10000 men herded together
on an area OF about 35 acres. nearly
half of which was a marshy quagmlre.
Thousands had been there for months
without covering OF any kind, exposed
to the pelting rain and scorching sun
by day and the cold dews Of night
Il was SO crowded that one could hard
ly move about at night without tread
ing upon the poor wretches who had
lain down to try to lose, for time,
their misery in sleep-but none but the
dead could sleep in such a pandemoni-
um. The marsh that occupied por-
ton of the enclosure, and from which
the prisoners obtained their water. and
in great part their wood, By digging
out the roots = was covered foot in
depth with filth and alive with mag
gots, Some for shelter had burrowed
into the bank, near the marsh like
ground hogs, but every rain that fell
drowned them out.
SCURVY AND DIARHAHGA
were the prevailing diseases, and nine
tenths Of the prisoners were afflicted
with one or both. remember one poor
victim who had lain in one position
for two weeks unable to move, from
scurvy. His feet were swollen to
double their natural size, cracked open
and gangrene eating them off. Death
at length put an end to his sufer,ngs.
This was only one of hundreds of sim
liar. cases. The rebel authorities took
no more notice Of our suiferings than
they would of WORMS crushed beneath
their feet True, our wretched and
forlorn appearance furnished them with
sabjects for jests and ammusements,
but with that their sym?athies ended.
This was the tenderness and gener-
osity to captives'' Of which JEFF Davis
now boasts.
Our prison was enclosed by three
stockades, having wagon roads between
them, to prevent tunneling, which was
going on all the time. This, if it did
not furnish means of escape served to
divert the minds of the prisoners from
their terrible situation. When a tunnel
was discovered Quartermaster Humes
would come in with bis. probing iron to
ascertain where it commenced, and woe
to those who were found squatting
near. Everything was coniscated,
rations withheld, and often men knock
ed down and cruelty beaten Tor chanc-
ing to be near where the tunnel was
started, though perfectly innocent.
There were two
PACKS OF FEROCIOUS BLOODHOUNDS
kept constantly within sight of the
prisons, Every morning some of them
were led around the stockade to asc1r-
tain whether any prisoners had escaped
during the night They were half
starved to make them keen on the scent.
They were the special terror of the
prisoners. When escapes were report
ed the pack was let loose and they sell
dom failed to bring their game to bay.
Many half-naked victim who had
hazard the dangers IN vain hope of
liberty. have [ seen returned, terribly
lacerated by the fangs of these brute
servants of more brutal masters.
Our full rations (for much of the
time through some pretext they were
not full) consisted of, cooked "a piece
of corn bread 2 inches square, made
from corn, ground cob and all Ga
sample of which may be seen in the
State Historical! rooms at Madison),
about 2 ounces Of mule or horse flesh,
and II pint of buggy peas or, of
uncooked: II plat OF cob meal, IL