Daily Republican., 1879-08-16
FIRST EDITION.
,uc HORRORs OF ANDERSON
WILLIE.

HOE 1VSD
WILLIE.
,-.,nte Pen Picture - the
....Ity Practiced Towards Del
sre soldiers-The Death Line
ArD,trer Of Cruel Fate
~" w.. only survivsr Tells Of Its
I"o..-His ~" Miraculous Pre-.
n.,,.tion From the General De.
,truetien-
yo,loving the appearance Of the
.,o,. to in relation to the physical phe-
'ls~ msuou that had been found in the
nOu .Don Of Mr.. John H. Coleman OF this
.,' n. who desired to sell his body to the
wv, ''svy,.icians for $4,000, Mr.. Thomas
pa;.rs who resides on the farm Of Chas.
= ' Iors informed US that he has had
D, ,smuthine n Of the same experience only
Sors svu intense. He had been in
llu0dsrsonvills l0i prison for IS months and
h.d come out Of there q wreck, and
s;ue. M then has iaborsd under the same
svm,toms .,uo as described by Mr.. Coleman.
Snry @ are not a phenomena but are COM
mon @ among those who have felt the
.sms missries and experienced the
same privatisns. Eo
Mr. Peters is the only one Of 81 men,
hsrs Of the End Delaware Regiment who
vrrs M taken prisoners with him, who
survived. He depicts graphically the
sua.rjpgs he and his comrades expe-
|,isnc.d. His recollections Of these
urups the bare mention Of which fills
avery human heart with horror are
vivid. His story is simple.
He was q member Of Company h.,
Second Delaware Regiment, Captain
william Plunkett commanding. This
,seimsut went out in 1861 but was moi
,sp, to the front until 1862, joining
l;spsral McClelland at Chickahominy
| and participating in the march upor
Richmond. The terrible struggles on
|tbe Peninsula he witnessed. Gaines
| [Mill, Fair Oaks, White Oaks, Swamp,
|Aptietam, Charlottesville and Gettys'
|burg we're all vast chapters Of hor-
rors to him. He was taken prisoner al
Mine Run, near Bristow Station, Va
|The Second Delaware was in this battle
Ii. with other regiments, to the mum
| ber Of 1900, were stationed on q hill to
check the rebel advance. The rem
nants Of Company I. H and another
| Delaware company, were combined and
we're under the command Of Captain
William H. Brady, the same gentle
man who is now Squire in this city.
1t was a dangerous situation. The
little band was left on the summit while
the entire rebel force was approaching
An attempt was made to dislodge the
defenders of the hill but it was repul'
.ed. The successive charges Of ths
rebels were covered by the fire from
the main body below. The situation
was terrible. The small band feugh'
bravsly. Each rebel charge was but 4
rebel defeat. The ridge of the hill was
covered with the bodies Of the slain
while the brave defenders loss was
|cOrrespondingly great. 1t was one o
those conflicts which not being record
ed upon the storied page, where NOR
| tai deeds unknown and unhonorsd g
down to oblivion with the memories Of
the brave men who performed them.
Although repulsed, and driven bach
they however by the force of numbers
captured the hill and made grea
number prisoners. Amongst this mum
Der were MIR. Peters and his thirty five
comrades. After the battle they were
taken on to Richmond and placed il
Libby prison. They we're there three
weeks. after which they were sent tt
Belle Island. Here they remained
three months when preparations were
begun to transport them to Anderson
vile, Georgia. They had been duriL {
this time treated very well, or as wei
as prisoners Of war could expect to b.
Treated.
ON HIS WAY TO ANDERsONvILLE.
When the prisoners received wore
that they were destined for Anderson
vile they were then In sore distress
being sick and having no clothes. Mr.
Peters had no pants only what huns
loosely together hung above the knee
His limbs were bare, he having tori
his trousers legs out 10 patch the otheI
portion of his clothes. His blouse was
stuffed in what was left of his pants
and fastened together with sticks. HI
was hatless and shoeless. His !condi
ton was good in comparison with tha'
|ol the ethers.
The way was an uncertain one, anc
some thirteen days were consumed II
reaching the place. The first three
days rations were an eighteen ounce
loaf of bread divided among three men
After getting there they had an oppor-
tunity to walk around. Andersonvll.
was not q town, il was only hamlet
Where resided three or four negro fami
lies. The prison was square OF eigh
'ern acres in sort of gully. On two
sides were hills from which frowneC
down the heavy guns of the rebel ar
nllpry. Three acres were enclosed by
a stoskade formed of logs up-epded
and we're twenty. five feet in height
These were placed tightly together anc
banked on the outside with earth. Or
the outside of this was another stock
ade, hut not so high, while beyond tn.
second was a third. Outside Of al
these, surrounding the camp, were tht
Orstling cannon Of nine forts. so di
rected that at a moments sign Of un
easiness below the whole seven thou
sand prisoners could in few moments
oe swept out of existence.
About the lst of May, 1864, the ration'
were reduced in quantity as we'll al
quality. The genuine hardship Of ths
U.amp began then to be experienced. Az
'Ae days went by the rebel guard grew
more brutal. Men began to drop dead
IN their tracks. Filth became a mass
Of fostering rottennsss. Nothing car