The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1880-08-20

,rxxrscgxcs or rHE OLD PRISON LIS TIN
aasvks Now COVERED WITH swARD AM
ONLY 4 raw ugApsroSEs LEFT-rHE SEX
rox's RECoLLgc1oxs.


torn 0Wav. NO relic Vi thc p'.O W.
nearly eighteen months was the nome OF
10. 0oo men. the flower Of the Conifdefa'e
army. and within wbose walls was tue scene
Of how msny beart-broken uHgeoy, q
s;ncrrine illness, broken hopes, and wei
conc death. now remains ! walked
over TO The north, TO tie City GENE.
terv. where the Confederate dead are
hurled. made my way through
the usuaI amount OF Browns, Joneses, and
Johnsons. with virtues glowing on freshly
en-, ersycstones, but failed TO find any spot
whore the Confederate dead lay. Al length
saw 0 wcdgt-shaped field across the road.
climbed over the fence, ADD, crossing tue
highway. entered the enclosure, with my
nat In nv hard and reyerent feelings. !
cav the turf cast up In billowy lines.
called MP all my imaginlngs OF the great
conflict OF which these men were the heroes
and this field was the final end. :" They
were buried very thick here" said 10 q
rustjc. who was leaning on the fence ana
regarding my hatless appearance ana IN
sane air With amiablc curiosity. This rs
a beet. field 80 said the rustic. The held
had been fuII-pIoughed. At the sexton ;
bonse / asked where the Confederate dead
law. He kindly gave me full direc'
lions, and showed me great map
hanging on the wall, with graves as
thick as leaves, and the name OF
each dead man printed on the spot
where he lay. There was also ledger OF
immense size, in which was kept the name.
home, age, regiment, and date OF death OF
each deceased person. Nearly three thou
sand Confederate soldiers are bu. ried in an
acre 10 the northern part Of the cemetery.
They he so tbickiy that there was barely
room TO put ones finger between the boxes.
But there Is nothing to indicate that any
dead are here. The bead-b0ards have rotted
away. and the earth ridges have been
plougbed over. They have sown grass, aud
now a green and velyety sward has sprung
up. Some balf-dozen
SCATTERED GRAvEsToYEs
remain, but appear only as so many isolated
graves. When one reads them they have a
peculiar and tender interest under the
northern sky, bearing southern names from
Virginia, Carolina, and Louisiana, and tell.
ing TO future times their simple story OF de
votion and OF the romance and poetry OF the
war.
As it grew dark saw light beam in the
window OF Mr.. Jones, the former sexton,
who buried the Confederate soldiers during
the war. He is a colored man, and 10 now
advanced 10 years. de received me WIN
great p0litfness, and found hIm one OF Inc
most intelligent OF his race L had ever met.
Death had not long before come TO his own
little family; end as we sat IN the DIN lghi
in the little room of the funeral house, and
talked of war and prison lie, his converse
ton seemed doubly pathetic from the sad
stmos sphere In which we were and our sober
surroundings. Mr.. Jones showed me his
books, carefully preserved, containing full
AMI accurqte data concerning the interment
OF all the prisoners buried here during the
war. "Tbe first day that was called upon
IN nv capacity OF sexton TO bury prisoner
who had died,o be said, "I thought no.
thing of It. Directly there were more dead.
One day had seven TO bury. After that
they began to die fast buried forty-three
in one day. ! had ten or twelve men under
me, For some time we buried twenty ana
thirty day."
Chow old The dead look?"
"Tbey were much emaciated-a all wasted
away and sunk to nothing. Ii was gbast-
Nv sight 10 see them. such sights hope
NAV never see again. 1t was unutterabiy
sad to go by the place where they were
sick. When they were dying and in deli
rum they would call the namts Of wife,
mother, sister, or brother. When they
were dying they never talked OF war.
THEY ONLY TALKED OF HOME.
II made my heart bleed to hear them. In
the winter OF ga and '65 500 died OF small
pox."
"How many prisoners were taken inthe
pris0u?"
"About $4,000"
-"Were they well fed?"
"Yes. they were well fed. They had
all they wanted to eat"
"Why did so many die?"
"WeiI, 10 the first place they were starved
when they got here. saw them Just as
they got off the cars which brought them
from Gettysburg. A boy came along with
q loaf OF bread. A prisoner looked side
long at the loaf. and said, Come here, lad |;
how much will you take for your loaf?'
The boy said he didn't want to sell it, but
the man could have it for dime, and he
would get another loaf. The Confederate
paid the boy for II, and 1t wasn't minute
before 1t was divided between six men.
The Confedera,es acted like starved men,
and looked Ike starved men. il you put
starved cattle,v he continued, son clover,
they Will have murrain and die in eight
cases out OF nine. That was the way with
the Confederate soldiers. They came from
no rations aud we gave them hot bread.
They took sick and died with the chronic
diarrhss. AT first they should have been
iieted aud gradually accustomed to plenty
OF good and nourishing food"
"Whst kind Of men were the prison.
erss"
"They were loyal to their flag. They died
in prison rather than take the oath OF ale
glance. They chose to suffer for cause
which they conscientiously thought right
rather than yield to that which they hon.
estly thought wrong"
"There was one Confederate soldier who
was
COAL BLACK NEGRO.
He had been captured In the Confederate
ranks at Gettysburg. He endured contine-
ment and chances OF deith in the prison
nearly two years rather take the oath OF oil.
legiance. He was the most bitter rebel
ever saw. Two companies Of negro SOL
diers, recruited for the Union army among
the plantation.hsnds OF South Caro-
lima, mounted guard for time
over the Confederate prisoners here.
1t was rather Calling to the Con.
federates. The colored soldiers stretted
around, proud Of their blue uniforms. brass
buttons, and shining guns, and especially
delighted In the state OF affairs, with tables
turned; In which they found themselves.
They were intensely bitter toward the Con.
iederste soldiers. One day luckless pris-
oner accidentally stepped over the dead
linernd one OF the negroes on guard shot
him. The man was picked up dead. The
negroes were then sent away for different
kind Of service. 1t Is said that one day
Confederate prisoner approached the dead
line and co,ored sentinel on guard cried