The true northerner., 1876-03-03
Gruc Nortberner.
Paw Paw, MIcmGAN, MARCH 3, 1876.
Continued from 9Th page.

] need not STATE tue Iact tnat not one OF the
men who thus gave up hls money ever re-
clev,d penny of it again. Indeed, nearly
one-balf OF them died in prison, / have often
wondered II the Confederate Government was
party to this robbery-an accessory before or
after the fact. From Belle Isle we could
plainly dee the Confederate Capitol building
and people going out and in through it's doors,
and a large stone building of beautiful design
standing in plain sght-from the windows OF
which the whole of the Island could be seen
was said by the guards to be the Executive
Mansion and home OF jefferson DAVIS. We
we're removed from Belle Isle about the first OF
October, 1864, and were transferred to Sasbury,
n. c.. in freight and cattle cars, aud the car in
which was placed with one hundred and three
other men was foul with the dung of cattle
and swine. Salisbury Prison Stockade was an
nclosure containing about five acres fenced
about with oak plank set upright twelve feet IN
height and spiked on to a solid frame OF posts
and tmbers. Three feet from the top on the
outside was platform on which the sentinels
walked back and forth. Inside this was the
dead line, which, for the first three weeks was
hr imaginary line, the prisoners being forbid
den 10 go within ten feet of the stockade, but
afterwards to prevent humelling by the prisoners
for the purpose of escape, ditch four feet
vide aud six feet deep was dug entirely around
he enclosure inside. and this then constituted
the dead line, Not much has been said Of
SslisbuIy Prison save by Albert ID. Richardson
ane ,lunius Henri Browne, who we're Tribune
Correspondents" and were confined there until
they made their escape, December 18th 1864,
as they have recorded in theig respective books.
There was never any record kept OF the prison
aad is oc c'upants. by the officer 10 charge,
Mai. zee, and consequently it is not known
precisely how many men died there, but ii is
cafe TO say, that OF the 10000 men who were
confined there on the 10th dav of October
1864 not more than $500 were paroled on the
I'D day OF February 1865. and Of the balance
q .4j0 died literally of starvation and exposure.
think this is not over stated in the least re-
soect
For nearly month, following october 10th,
g large number Of commissioned officers were
confined in Salisbury Prison who were seperat-
cd from the rest OF the prisoners by a line Of
guards. One Sunday morning Lieut.. Davis, Of
the 155th Y. Y. Infantry, was busy looking the
ground over under one OF the many oak trees
hat grew inside the inclosure. for acorns to
eat, q have many times seen men in the fierce
less OF their hunger struggle and fight with
each other over bitter acorns that fell from
those trees. and men too, who at home we're
surrounded with plenty, and many of them the
owners Of comfortable housee). He seemed
10 forget where he was, and absentmindedly
stepped over the line. Several who saw him
we're on the point of calling his attention to it,
myself among the number, when, without a
tound or sign Of warning the guard nearest
him on the stockade shot HIM through the
heart and he fell dead. This guardian insig-
nltcant looking monkey faced fellow, said cool
". I've sent one more Yank to hell" A
t:ieud of the Lieutenant-a brother officer
rUshed forward at the rick Of beng shot him
self. and dragged the body inside the lines and
knethng on the ground, held the head of the
dead officer on his knee 70 see if thsre was any
lie remaining, but there was none.
Lieut.. Davis, in conversation with this officer
that morning, IN q very Respondent mood told
him. that just before hs capture lie had re-
cieved intelligence Of the death Of his wife,
and ttlt hls two children Ht,le boy and
sir,-were wiJlout friends OF relatives, save
SUCH aa camo 20 them in charity. and he was
iaelin very sad and depre.sol IN spirits about
hem. This brother officer AMI friend is now
our Register Of Deeds for Van Bdren County
lr. Kilko IS. Noyes, and to him refer to
confirm tho truth OF this incident, rebel
ap,a1 after this said in my presence that
t.is guard received alurlough for 30 days for
shooting him, and there is a standing order
,Lat any guard who shoots q Yanll who
reahng any rule shall get 80 days lease to
20 home. After this, ! knew personally %
more than fifteen instances Of prisoners being
shot foc equally trivial offences, and always
without any previous warning.
As ! have described the shelter afforded rebel .
lrsouers is our Government as far as It came
7DdsI nv roh,c, VII now describe the shell
ter @ given US at salisbury. From the if-
,eenth to the twentieth of November, 1864, it
vas only the si.y above us. and nothing else,
save that some OF the more industrious, made
walls OF mud bricks, behind which they could
lie down aud he partially sheltered from the
wind and sleet. But it was a common thing
for the boys TO lie down together c. spoon
down as they called it from its beng spoon
fashion, to sleep at night, and the entire ex-
posed surface would be coated with ice aud our
scanty clothing frozen TO the ground in the
morning chis kind OF exposure soon began
10 tell on the boys coupled as it was with their
awful hunger, and it was not an unusual sigllt
~ any means to zee IN the early morning, men
lying, after the rest had arisen, scattered about
here and there under the trees, who would
Dever respond to another reveile, save that of |
thc morning of the resurrection
!. J. :.
To be Continued.
ST NICHOLAS FOR MARCH OF the contents