Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1880-01-10

NOT dffora@ Inc an0SDlI2l ScTFlc
was reasonably wen performed
I Qainine and some other medicine
were worth their weight iii gold 4
/ times, and surgeons had to work q
best they could. The mortality wa
never greater lin the prisoners hos
] pifal than in those of the service
This / know from frequent visits t,
the hospitals. Such visits weR,
frequently allowed by the C0nfed
crates, and in one case permission
| was given to attend funeral of ont
of the more distinguished of ths
Federal prisoners.7
In regard to Gen. Winder, of Bal
timore, who had charge Of the Fed
erals, Colonel Mines said that ht
was the best abused man in the
Southern Confederacy, and had
least deserved it. Unfortunately
/ for himself, Gen. Winder died Just
as the war closed, and he thus be,
came a convenient scapegOat fol
ISLANDERS. The dead man could not
reply. But even at this late day
the speaker desired to do justice tO
a brave soldier and humane man.
lie was bluff In manner and quick
of speech, but he had been Just to
our men and courteous in his inter
course with them. In the speakers
case he had literally obeyed the
Scripture Injunction, sIf thine enc
my hunger feed him. for on his
release he had furnished him with
money to pay for breakfast at Pc
tersbIrg. Many other similar acts
of kindness ought long ago to have
redeemed his memory from re-
proach.
At this point the speaker went
into details Of life in a Confederase e
prison, depicting graphically the
daily occupations and amusements
of the men, quoting from the songs
of the day and the speeches of the
men and giving a gloomy descrip-
ti0n of the nightly meetings of the
famous Richmond Prison Ass0eia-
tiOn, of which he was sergeant-at-
arms. Except for the perpetual
longing for release, he admitted
that their festive nights were full of
"real, rollicking, roaring fun, and
that the prisoners gave their guard
ians annoyance enough to Justify
much more restraint than was in
ficted. But though there seems to
be much romance in the retrospect,
there was none in reality. Restraint
was the great sorrow. They wanted
to get out. Liberty never looked so
sweet as there. But beyond the
fact that they were confined in close
quarters there was nothing to justify
the staIwart assertion that Federal
prisoners were treated with barbar-
ity by the Confederates. "This,"
said the lecturer, SIS the truth of
history, as borne out by my expert
.ence and the testimony of my COM
panions in misfortune. After the
lapse of these many years of peace
it is time that the truth of history
should be spoken on this point.v
But some man would ask, "What
of Andersonville ?o The speaker
said he did not. know personally
about it, except that the mortality
among Confederate prisoners at Ell
mira was proportionately greater
than at Andersonville. In order
therefore to defend the North from
the charge OF neglect and cruelty to
its prisoners, he must deny any ex-
cessive mortality at AndersonviIle
Yet there might have been fault on
both sides. A gentleman in the
audience had in his possession a
copy of an official communication
from the chaplain of one of our own
prisons at the; West IN which. he
spoke of having begun "a system of
retaliation" for reported cruelties at
Andersonville. Over such conduct
we could only throw the mantle of
forgiveness. AS for the South, the
entire weight of testimony went to
show that they did what they could
for the Northern men whom the
fortunes of war had placed in their
charge.
The speaker closed with an earn
est plea for justice to the South,
without regard to past prejudices,
and for the vindicatiOn of the truth.
Toe gospel of hate had had its day
and must give place to the better
gospel of fraternity. The hum of
the machinery that gathered in the
full harvest at the South, and the
shrek of the locomotive that dis
tributed it to the waiting States
spoke of the dawn of a new day
wherein the mission of the stalwart
disturber of unity would forever
vanish.