Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1879-07-24
A Soldiers Reasons for not VO-
ting the Democratic Ticket.

Harvey Campbell, in Steubenville Herald.
Ny brother Will went on the famous
Andrews railroad expedition, sent out
by Gen. Mitchell from Shelbyville, Ten
nessee, to cut off the rebel communica-
tions by tearing up tracks and bridges
and cutting telegraph wires. He was
taken prisoner. and though l was close
enough at one time with a rescuing par
ty to wave my hand at him as they took
him from Chattanooga, we couldn't save
him, and with seven others he was taken
to Atlanta, and without any warning,
except the words of the guard, ~come
along, we want you," the eight soldiers
were taken out of the prison, and con-
fronted with their cofins in the carts
ready to take them to the gallows. The
whole eight were hung, and though the
rope broke with Will and let him fall to
the ground, and he begged for an. hours
more time to make some little prepara-
tion, it was not granted him. and he was
hung uR like dog The hangmen were
all Democrats, and don't propose to
vote with shen to-day. Brother James
was shot throuGb at Perryville, KY, and
died IN hospital at Louisville-sent out
of the world by the men voting the same
ticket as those who hung Will. All
Democrats together, and / don't want to
vote with them. Then, there was JO-
seph, another brother, shot by Democrat
ic bullets at Stone River, and died in the
Evansville hospital. That's another rea-
son don't want to vote with them now.
Then l had cousin, Wash. Hunt, from
New Cumberland, who was in Anderson
vile with me, and starved, sick and YER
min eaten, life became such q burden to
him, that one day he rolled, he was too
weak to walk, poor fellow, over the
"dead line" in that awful place, and
guard not ten steps away, who ii living
to-daE votes the Democratic ticket, shot
the helpless man through the heart, and
l found him lying there dead. don't
feel like voting the same ticket that
guard votes, would you Then / staid
in Andersonyille myself for sixteen long
months with 10000 Others no better off
than l, and al of us there because we
were fighting 10 maintain the Republic
aud Keep it united. There we were, all
in dtwenty-acre lot without covering of
any kind, subjected to the cold in win
ter, the blazing sun in summer, spoiled
cornbread and water for food and not
much-of that, no clothes, no beds except
the sand, alive with lice and fleas, only
a little water that ran drip by drip
from the spring in the corner of the stock
ade,and each one of us liable to be shot at
at any minute by the guards. tell you
it was awful. One day it stormed and
the stockade was partly washed away,
and we couldn't resist the flow of water,
and 800 prisoners were shot in cold
blood as they were swept through the
opening in the broken stockade. think
of these things and can't vote for a
Democrat because Andersonville was
run by Democrats. Eve had a bullet
and three buckshot through my leg too,
and the same crowd shot them there, /
vote against to-day. Brother John went
through the army of the Potomac, and
We two are all that is left, and we don't
think any Democrat will ever get our
votes. We withstand by the flag as we
stood by her during the war, and we are
ready to do it all over again, if there
should eyer, come the terrible necessity
of doing gitagain. ls ts~ ~.-+.