The Highland weekly news. [volume] (Hillsborough [Hillsboro], Highland County, Ohio) 1853-1886, 1876-08-24
IFor the News.
SOUTHERN PRISON-PENS.
Experience of anAnderson-
vile Prisoner i'm Dixie.
NO. X X I

Vile PRISONER IN Dixie.
NO. XXI.
The Confederate authorities con
; tinued the removal of prisoners until
they had taken out of Andersonville
about $4,000 men, all that were able
to move. A few days before they
stopped transferring men, the divi-
sion that the S9th o. V. 1. belonged
to was called out. Cyrus Barrett
came to me and bid me farewell.
was lying down when he came. He
told me to hurry and get well, and
that he thought I would get well;
but 1 could see by his looks that he
thought I never would go out of that
prison alive.
This was discouraging blow to
me. That one last look that Barrett
gave me almost convinced me that
would never go out any other way
than feet foremost, which was a COM
mon expression among the prisoners.
But I believe the impression Barrett
gave me, though at first depressing,
produced a kind of reaction, which
made me more determined to live to
get through.
Another thing had the same effect
on me. Wood had become quite an
object. The rebels had quit issuing
it, and it was impossible to get any
The swamp had all been dug over
and every root as big as a mans fin
ger had been taken up, dried and
burned. Not stump on the ground,
nor a root left of q stump. ALI
had been dug ont and used, and a
wilderness of trees and stumps had
been transferred in a short time into
an old-looking place. The anxiety
to get wood or chips was great, and
there was another even stronger
temptation. 1t was to get something
green to eat-tomatoes, cabbage
leaves, or any thing green, and there
was only one way to get out of the
prison to obtain any of those luxu-
ries. When a man died it took four
men to carry him out, and there
were always four ready and anxious
to perform the duty, so that it got |
to be business to watch a poor fell |
low who was near his end, and speak |
for the jobl, I Iactualy knew men. to
fight and quarrel about which had
the best claim, while the poor dying
prisoner was still alivel I think that
very circumstance gave me a strong
er desire to live.
There was a squad of four men
quartered near where 1 was lying,
and l overheard some remarks one
day that convinced me that I was
spotted" and they expected to get
an airing in few days at my ex
pense, and lay in a supply of wood.
1 would have been glad for them to
have the wood, but 1 had decided
objection to being the means of fur
nishing it in the way they proposed.
1t reused my obstinacy little, and
1 determined to disappoint them if
possible. They watched me very
closely, and I watched them with an
equal interest. I thought they were
very selfish and heartless. 1 don't
know what they thought of me, but
they thought was a very
stubborn and unreasonable fellow to
keep them waiting so long.
There were about 6,000men left in
the prison at this time, and out of
that number not over 1000 were well.
We had more room, but the treat
ment was not improved. Our ra-
tions were getting worse. We re-
ceived a ration of fresh beef, but it
was soured when we got it. The
men would eat anything
they could find. I actually knew a
man to eat beans that another man
had vomited up. This is hard sto-
ry to believe, but it is fact that can
be proved. In the branch there was
a kind of mud eel, species between
a lizard and an eel. The men were
catching and eating them. They
didn't wait to see whether they were
poison or not, but the supply soon
ran out.
Cohagon, Smith and myself were
quartered together, and all three of
US were unable to carry water. 1
had crawied to the spring a few
times and worked bucket of water
back to our little tent, but it was al
most impossible to accomplish the
feat, and we concluded to move down
nearer to the spring. After that
matter was settled, the question was
how were we to get there? We
couldn't walk, and we couldn't crawl
and take our little possessions along.
L called to man who was passing
by and asked him to help US. He
took hold and stayed with US until
we were located near the SPRING
that cool, clear, pure little stream of
II L