The Highland weekly news. [volume] (Hillsborough [Hillsboro], Highland County, Ohio) 1853-1886, 1876-06-01
For the News.
SOUTHERN PRISON-PENS.
Experience Of anAnderson-
Vile Prisoner in Dixie.
NO. XII.

place, with haIf-dOzen houses and perhaps u
small grocery and blacksmith shop. The prison
was situated about fourth of a mile from the
railroad station. The prison-pen contained about
nine acres, and was enclosed by a stockade, which
was made by digging out trench six feet deep,
around the outside of the lot then logs about one
foot in diameter and eighteen feet long, were set
on end in the trench, jointed together, the dirt
packed down tight around them. Sentinel boxes
were then erected, about one hundred feet apart,
on top of the stockade.
About twelve feet from the stockade on the in
side was the "dead line"-not an imaginary line,
as some suppose, but a reality, in the shape of
lath nailed on top of a post. The posts were set
about ten feet apart and about two feet out Of the
ground, and one lath nailed to each post.
There was one entrance to the pen at the north
east corner, and one exit at the northwest corner
There was stream of water running through
near the center of the grounds and on each side
of the branch was a quagmire-a black, sticky
mud that would swamp an animal, and at the time
our little squad entered that awful place there was
an alligator found in the mre four feet long. Sink
river was four miles south, and alligators would
come up from the river to Andersonville, "a noted
place for the reptiles and deposit their eggs The
young would hatch out and sport around the vii
| anu NdllOW luc uIIn lucJ HcEe ldIBe
enough to take care of themselves, then the first
time the branch rose they would float down to the
| river and new ones Iake their places.
| When the cars stopped at the station we were
counted out at the door and formed in line, a new
guard was placed over US, and we were ordered to
move forward. One of the guards told us to whet
up teeth for, said he, ''they fight in thar like
dogs!" We were marched through the gate, it
/ u
prisonI
Oh, what sight to behold How can describe
it? Those dirty, greasy, ragged poor, pale, sicky-
looking fellows-is it possible that they ever were
soldiers-erect, manly and dignihed? Were these
the brave boys that u few months before had en-
listed from their native villages in the North and
marched at the tap of the drum, with cnlors flying
and their new uniforms of Government blue Just
exchanged for their homespun suits-whose faith
ers and mothers, sisters, wives and sweet hearts
had accompanied them to She nearest station, and
with prayers and tears and Gods blessing had sac
rifced them to their country YesI Here they
were, prisoners from all parts of the North. The
greater part of them had been transferred from
other PRISONS some from Belle Isle, some from
Libby and Danvie. They had been collected from
all the other smaller pens and thrown together in
Andersonville, either so that fewer men could
guard them, or so they would die faster. Some
had been in prison for eight and ten months, and
few for one year.
Andersonville had only been known as prison
for about three months, and st the time we took
lodging there it contained about 10000 prisoners,
men from all parts of the world, Dutch, Irish,
French, English, Russians, Prussians, Spaniards,
Mexicans, Indians and Negroes. They were of all
classes and conditions-some as mean and some as
good could be found anywhere. There
were lawyers, doctors, preachers, merchants, me-
chanics, farmers, loafers, gamblers, blscklegs-aI
mingled together on one common level.
There was no shelter furnished Some few that
had blankets had stretched them over poles as
protection from sun and rain. There were some
stumps and few logs scattered over the pen, and
1 learned that the ground four months before had
been pine forest, and was selected as a suitable
place to incarcerate Yankees.
| We called for ratiOns, as we were nearly
starved. We had tasted about three days, with the
exception of the corn already referred to. 1t was
after the regular time to issue rations, but we
ceived q of pint of corn meal each, and after
hunting around for some time for some means of
baking it and not finding any, we heard of some
enterprising Yankee that had built him dirt oven
and baked on shares. went to him and contract
ed with him to bake ten rstions for one-fourth of
the raw material
There were vessels furnished to carry your ra-
tions, and some would carry their meal in their hat
if they had any, and some would rip out their sleeve
lining and convert it into poke, and carry their
rations around in 1t. The rations issued once
a day. Wood was scarce, and no d&es or anything
to chop split 1t with. The logs and stumps that
were in the pen all had owners, for prisoners had
laid their claims, and all new comers had to respect
them.
We soon learned what the guard meant when he
told us to .Shet our teeth. The prisoners were
continually fighting. You couldn't look in any di-
rection but some one fighting. Fry took a
turn the next morning after our arrival and got
badly whipped, as all of mans friends would pitch
in and help him. Disputes all settled in that
way. lean offer some apology for the irritable ma
ture of our men. They were hungry half of the
time, and they became crossiand peevish and natur
ally reckless. They had lost their finer feelings
and the animal predominated, and so it was ''a
word and knock-down."
The rations were issued once a day about
O'Clock P. NJ. and they lasted for just one meal
that was supper; the balance of the time we went
hungry. The rstions consisted of little corn mea
and sometimes a small piece of meat.
We were separated into divisions of 100 each, and
subdivided into squads of ten. There was SER
geant appointed each division and one over each
squad. The division sergeant received the rations
for the 100 men He divided it into ten piles and
for fear there would be dissatisfaction, one would
turn his back and the sergeant would put his finger
on pile and call, "whose is this?" and the teller
would say who should have it. After the drawing
took place. each sergeant of a squad would take his
lot and subdvide it in ten parcels, and tie drawing
would take place again and each of got our NOR
| sci.
The cooking arrangements were very poor 1t
was almost impossible to get meat and meal
converted into an appetizing shape. Some few of
our men had c9nteens with them, and they would
split them into halves and use them to bake bread
and fry meat in, and where you could find a friend.
you could borrow his half-canteen if he had to
lend. But the prisoners had lost confidence in
each other, and there very little lending done
If you had anything and loaned it to neighbor,
five times out of ten you would never get it again.
The party borrowing it would sell or trade it off for
tobacco, or a ration of meal, and come back and
tell you he was robbed of it.
About week before got to Andersonville there
WAS d VI Idhtu pIlSOuOAS
at Plymouth, N. C. by Gen. Longstreet's Division
and conveyed to AndersonviIle. They came in
''fush." Gen. LOngstreet was humane man snd
wouldn't permit his men to rob prisoners and there
wasn't of the Plymouth prisoners that lost any
thing by the guards. They all had money, watches,
knapsacks, blankets, &c. There were 220O of them'
and they probably brought with them into prison
$4,000. As soon as they came inside the prison
gates party organized to rob them of their money.
am sorry to hsve to confess that we had such
men with us, but it is So and the truth will tell
fearless of consequences
This party was composed of some of the scum of
N. Y. City, and other places. They were well or
ganized and collected together in of the
prison. SO that they could assist and cooperate to
. gether. There were about 600 of them, and they
were armed with knives and ''bilies," or anything
they could get hold of. The majority of them
stayed on the opposite side OF the swamp from
where the Plymouth men were quartered.
To be continued
, The State Journal has resumed
the pictorial business for the season
, of 1876. The editor takes pains to
/ tell what each picture is.-[Cleveland
Plaindealer