The Highland weekly news. [volume] (Hillsborough [Hillsboro], Highland County, Ohio) 1853-1886, 1880-08-19
d IzlH s'DiSClPEiNE.9
WAS IT DISCIPLINE, OR WAS
fe- fIF BRUTALITY

IT BRUTALITY
Rwid Wright, adl6z,soldier of the
Thirty-ffth Massachusetts volun-
toers, is now a resident of ChiIlioothe.
He was until recently q Iocomo-
tive engineer on the Marietta &
Cincinnati railroad, but was com
PEELED to retire because Of disability
incurred by exposure while in the
army. The Ross County Register
says:
Hearing that he had some griey-
ance against General Hancock,
Register reporter called upon Mr.
Wright Thursday morning. He
found him in-bed looking quite pale
and weak, but he cordially greeted
the Register representative, and ex-
pressed his entire willingness to
give any information in his power.
YES" he said, IN answer to a
question, "a little incident did oc
eur IN my aEulylllifs not calculated to
give me a very high opinion of Gen.
Haueook 7 don't lalpw as it will
make much Of an item.
The Register manl FASTENED to in
sure him that anything relating to
General Hancock would be interest
irg reading just nov. ~
Well, then, you can have it. Il
was a private in the 35th Massachu-
sets regiment, and under Hancock's
command. We were lying before
Fredericksburg at the time. The
men were allowed to go out and
gather FIRE wood within the lines,
and one day WhileI was engaged in
that way, I uniRten6ionally strayed
beyond the lines. It wasn't very
long before a provost marshal's guard
nabbed me, and I was marched ten
miles to headquarters. The upsbot
Of it was, I was sent to the guard
house, where 1 stayed a month.
'Guard-house, however, is a misno-
mer. It didn't happen to be a house
at all s.
"What was it, then ?" asked the
reporter
Nothing more nor less than
big stockade, or pen, with the sky
for a roof. 1t was in winter when I /
was placed there, and a terrible win
ter it was, showing almost ali the
time, when not showing it was rain
ing. There were forty or fifty men /
in tho stockade, and we could have
put a roof over it in two hours with.
out driving a single nail We could |
have cut down the big pine trees |
growing about there, split them and I
laid them over the pen, and made a /
perfectly water tight roof IN less
than two hours. But we were not /
allowed even to do that"
''Did you ask permission 2"
''Over and over again. Why, man, |
we we're suffering in there. I had
40 blanket even, to shelter me from |
the rain and snow. Some of the |
men were more fortunate in that re- |
5pect, but the great majority were !
fixed Just as I was. There was a log /
fire kept burning in the center OF !
the stockade, and we clustered about /
chat, lying down in the mud before it. |
But we couldn't keep warm that /
way, for while one side would be /
roasting the other would be freezing, /
and when we would turn to thaw
out the other side, the roasted one
would Immediately begin to stifien.
''Did General Hancock know Of
the suffering Of the men in>the stock
ade 2" .-
"Know Of it! How could he help !
knowing? His headquarters were
right next to the guard pen. Every
time he stepped out Of his warm,
comfortable quarters he could see
the rain falling in there, and
of course he must have known of
our petitions to be allowed to put
roof on. A man with any humanity
in him would have done something
to mitigate our suffering. It was
as bad as AudersOnville. But those
regular army officers are terrOrs.
Were you obliged to stay there
all the time ?'
sob mol" said Mr.. Wright with g
grim smile. ''I was allowed a little
diversion. Every morning I was
marched under guard, in front OF
headquarters, and furnished with o
saw and O saW-buck. I was also
considerably supplied with pile Of
wood, and on that I praeticed from
early morn until dewy eve, with an
hours intermission for dinner. /
had to saw right ahead too, for
when I stopped to rest, the gentle
man with the bayOnet would prod |
me in the rear. In the evening /
was taken back to my mud bed IN
the stOckade"
Glow did you finally get out 2"
"Well, after a months imprisOn-
ment, a sergeant of my company
saw me one day, and got an order
for my release.
you viii support Hancock, OF
course"
Hardly said Mr.. Wright, dryly.
81 shall vote this fall, but not for
Hancock"
Thus, for trifing offenses, were
the brave soldiers Of the Union
treated by this epauIetted aristocrat.
It is not likely that many of them
viii have an affectionate recollection
of him at the polls.
Doesn't Require Much Talent"
The Adams COuntv New Era has