New Ulm weekly review. [volume] (New Ulm, Minn.) 1878-1892, 1880-03-31


|Isle, Danyille. Salisbury, Florence,
|Colpnl biia and CahaWba opened only
lin elniity There afe few famil-.
Eies III the North who have not at
Eleast one dear relative 81 friend
among these 60, GOO whose sad for
tune It was to end their service for
the Onion by lying down and dying
for itinsa Southern prison pen. The
manner Of their death, The horrors
that clustered thickly around every
moment Of their exist the loyal
unfaltering steadf astness with which
they endured all that fate brought
them has never been adequately told.
It was not with them as with their
comrades in the field, whose every
act was performed in the presence
Of those whose duty it was to oh.
serve such matters and report them
to the world.
Hidden from the view Of their
friends in the North by the impene-
trable veil which the military opera
tions Of the Rebels drew around the
so.called Confederacy, the people
knew next to nothing Of their career
or their suffering. Thousands died
there less needed even than the
hundreds who persisted on the bat.
tie field. Grant did not lose as many
men, killed outright, in the terrible
campaign from the Wilderness to
the James River-43 days Of 6esper-
ate fighting as died in July and
August at Andersonville. Nearly
twice as many died in that prison as
fell from the day that Grant crossed
the Rapidan, till he settled down in.
to the trenches before Petersburg.
More than four times as many I'm
ion dead lie under the solemn,
soughing pines about that forlorn
little Village in Southern Georgia
than mark the course of Sherman
from Chattanooga to Atlanta. The
Nation stands aghast at the expen-
diture Of life which attended the two
bloody campains of 1864 which
virtually crushed the Confederacy,
but no one remembers that more I'm
ion soldiers died in the rear of the
Rebel lines than were killed in front
of them. The great military events
that stamped out the Rebellion drew
attention away from the sad drama
which Starvation and Disease play.
ed in the gloomy pens in the far re-
cesses Of somber Southern forests.
The author begins with an &C.
count Of the raid made into the enc.
my's country by the cavalry CON-
mand in which he was serving as an
enlisted man. They meet the Rebel
cavalry, and after a sharp fight,
wort it badly, sending it flying from
the field. For. a while the Union
cavalry live Of the fairness of the
land, butat length they are trapped
in narrow valley. and after des.
perate resistance, are all captured,
and sent to Richmond. Two months
Of hardship and exposure on Bell
Isle, and in the tobacco factories end
by their being sent to Andersonville
the author arriving in the first
squad that enters the pen. Then en-.
sues six months Of terrible suffering, in
which four out of FIVE Of those around
him die. This is ended by the fall Of
Atlanta, Immediately upon which the
Rebels, fearful Of the safety Of so
great a mass of prisoners in such
proximity to the National lines as the
fall Of that stronghold has brought
about, hurry the bulk Of them off to
another and more remote places of
confinement.
The author is first taken to Savan-
nah; after short stay there, to Mil.
len; thence to Savannah again; thence
to Blackshear, where he is paro)ed
and sent back to Savannah again,
ostensibly to be exchanged, but real
" to get him and his companions safe.
II past Sherman advancing lines and
take them to Florence, S. G., where
they are kept until the Confederacy
began going to pieces in March 1864.
Into this warp and wool Of daily
history are woven numberless bits Of
fascinating description of thrilling
incidents. and even laughable episodes
for there was fun, even in that
dreary experience. Among the most
thrilling recital to be found anywhere
is that Of the story Of the fights with
and the capture and execution Of the
Raiders a band Of murderous des.
perados who infested the prison, and
six Of whom were hanged IN te,rorem
and as punishment for their multi
farious ofenses. This is the only full
and accurate account of this noted
episode that has ever been written.
Many versions have been given Of
this, but they have all been written
BY men who were misinformed as the
real facts in the case. The
author, being one of tile very few Of
those now living who were actively
identified with the affair from first to
last, has exceptional knowledge Of
that Of which he speaks.
Letters from more than 3, 600 sur.
viying prisoners testify in the strongest
terms to wonderful accuracy Of the
book. Such a testimonial -unfeckt
by q single dissent from any living
prisoners-is one Of the marvels Of cur
rent literature 81
The press has been no less kind to
the book than the general public, and
it has received the highest eulogiums
from political, religious and literary
papers, which unite in saying that for
vividness Of descriptio realism Of
detail, and fascination Of style it has
no equal in the literature Of the war.
The book contains CSC large, hand.
somely printed pages, illustrated with