Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1879-07-18

Two or JEFF Davis Cabinet VIsIt the
Prisoners, but Give Them Cold Com.
fOrt-Vlslt " Vice President Ste.
vens-lils Expressed Sympathy for
the PrIsOners-TerrIble Suffering
aud Death from Scurvy-Letter
from liome-Negr0cs Made stupid
Win Rum TO Bury the Dead, &C., &c.
BY VIM. F. oR1ERsoN, co. n, $50 o. v. NJ.
NUMBER THREE.
My last chapter concluded with notice
OF the band of desperadoes com posed Of
union prisoners. Before give an account
OF them will first mention that although
our ranks were thinned every day by death
IN some form, either by disease or shooting,
we were really increasing in numbers from
the almost daily arrival OF prisoners who
were captured during the active campaign
which was then in progress. Among the
number that were brought in were the boys
from General Vessels brigade which had
surrendered at Plymouth, North Carolina,
Februtry 20lh, 1854. These, according to
the terms OF capitulation, we're permitted
which gave circulation to quite n sIm OF
money in the prison. This presented fine
opportunity for those desperadoss to reap
n rich harvest The desperadoes alluded
to, were set OF unprncipled men who
were urged on to an excess of their natura |
meanness by hunger. They had secretly
organized themselves into Il company and
bound themselves under an oath, to pro g.
cure means by which they could out-livc
the Southern confederacy, il il cost the
| life OF all the rest of the prisoners; conse-
quently, II any Of them knew that any 9TH
er prisoner had little money or anything
that would sell or trade, they would report
to some Of their leaders who Mt once de-
vlsed plan by which they could obtain
possession; they scrupled not to resort to
amy means To accomplish their object.
| These dcSperadacs were SO in number, or
ut least that was all thas were arrested
They were discovered by the following
means: In several OF the detachments Of
prisoners, who were divided INTO compa-
nies for the purpose of drawing ratiOns,
there were men missing almost every morn
ing, and there could he no account given
as to heir whereabouts. This being re-
ported 10 WirZ he issued orders to the pris-
oners that until some tidngs were given of
the missing men, he, (Wirz) would issue
no more rations to the prisoners. The
result Of these orders was that some pris.
Oner who knew what had become of the
missing men, reported to the officer of the
guard and lie 10 Wirz. A search was iii.
| rected to be made, and several ali mites
were pointed out I'M the homes of the sus-
pected murderers. The result was that 36
dead bodies were found inferred in tile
earth beneath those shanties. The inmates
and owners, together with all that were
connected with the murders, were arrested
and taken outside Of the stOckade and tried
Six OF them were condemned and executed
on the galows. One of them, a verv large
man by the name of Curtis, broke his rope
in falling, and as soon as he struck the
ground he jumped up and ran across the
slough, in order to make his escape. He
WAS soon caught, taken back and hung by
the neck with his confederales until they
| were all dead. They were then taken down
and buried This affair created the most
intense excitement among the prisoners;
some were in favor Of shooting, others of
hanging, and some wan ed the rebel officers
10 take special charge of them and keep
them III close confinement until exchanged.
The jury which convicted them were al in
favor OF executing them summariIy. Al
ter the execution we enjoyed IL great quiet
it put Il stop to all personal disputes and
stopped fighting among the prisoners.
few days after the even just men,
toned we were surprised ut the appear
"ae~ "s .-,,-vry d;-.;"s,iai.sI ueInt,rrs
OF old Jeff's cabinet. They were Secre-
tnries Selden and Benjamin. They passed
aronnd the stockade-j jnst inside of The dead
line. They pnt on Il great many airs and
Southern style; they would give no satis-
factory answers to any questions put To
them concerning the horrible condition We
were in, and whether they would not give
u| more to eat. Some one Of the sergeants
that were passing along with them made
this remark: "Mr. Sedden, il we don't
get better rations than we nrc getting we
will Soon die;" to which Sedden replied,
" that in just what we want, that is Just us
| would have it," Secretary Benjamin
made use of Language like this. Az they
plSHed by some "f The poor union prisoners
who were in the last stage of that luath.
some disease, scurvy, he said to his com
pnion; "by sd, secretary, this looks
ike business, this is better than exposing
our boys to the bullets, it won't take long
10 flush the work after we get hold OF
them aud get them in here" JUS nlwsuch
'polnglStE for the arch traitor, jeff Davis,
= confederates Hill, Tomos and orhers
w1ul | like 10 make it appear that D,vfs
Knew nothing about our condition or snf-
tering, nn assertion which We who were
here, know tp I've basely false Besides the
two above officials referred to, vice presi-
lent Stephens was also there in company
with two Others ut the very time when we
were getting our rntons. Mr.. Stephens'
manifestations of ofsympathy for our neglect
ed condition were of far different churac.
Ter. will give az near as can the exact
ltngnage which he used after having
viewed sight similar to the one Just re-
fsrred to. "Oh, God and this is but one
of the horrors OF war! Poor fellows, il
had my way about this matter | would
send you all home M soon as | could ge
you there" Turning to the other two
men he said: This il the mesl intuler-
'ble sight Of human suffering that ever
beheId;" and he said, 81 have no desire
TO linger long in viewing this spectacle" "
So saying he turned away with leepex-
pressinn of sorrow aud guilt commimgled,
on his countenance, and with his two COM
panions lett the stocknde.
At this time the deaths were very MINER
pHH lIou HcHINN anu HHN. IL WAS near the
frat OF July, 1864 | will here relate one
Of the most wanton acts Of cruelty by Wlrz
that il an record. On the 2nd day of Ju'y
he told us that he wonld give us a 4th OF
July dinner, This we suppused would b.
something better than usual. We waited
on the very tiploe of expectation, until
the morning of The fourth, to receive the
much coveted food. Weat length received
IL and in such II manner M to satisfy MS
that Capt. Wirz was the meanest white
man living. 1t consisted of very inferior
mnsh that had been made two or three
days and left standing in large store boxe.
in the sun until it Was actually alive with
maggots. jeff. Davis says that we fired
better than the rebel prisoners did in the
northern prisons, and that nothing like the
same per cent. died in southern prisons
that did in the northern. or the number