The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1880-03-29
A Democratic Deed.


Barrett, whom the infamous Winder ap-
pointed to Virus place for period, devised
some ingenious tortures of his own. On the
pretext of suspecting tunnel he refused to
supply any rations to the whole camp until
the tunnel diggers were given up. For three
days and nights $4,000 men grew fainter with
hunger until they were half crazed. Ex-
hausted, they rolled on the ground and pressed
in their bowels by leaning against sticks of
wood laid across their thighs. On the third
day, to save themselves from dying in these
agonies of hunger, they drew lots and deliv-
cred up four entirely innocent men as tunnel
diggers. This is what followed. ---
"The devoted four were brought out ono
by one-and their hands tied together behind
their backs. Then a moose of slender, strong
hemp rope was slipped over the first ones
thumbs and drawn tight, after which the rope
was thrown over log projecting from the roof
of the guard-house, and two or three rebels
hauled upon it until the miserable Yankee
was lifted from the ground and hung sus-
pended by the thumbs, while his weight seemed
tearing his limbs from his shoulder blades.
The other three were treated in the same
manner.
The agony was simply excruciating. The
boys were brave, and had resolved to stand
their punishment without groan. But this
was too much for human endurance. Their
will was strong, but nature could not be de-
MED, and they shrieked aloud so pitifully that
young reserve standing near tainted. Each
one screamed:
For Gods sake, kill me! kill me! Shoot me
if you want to, but let me down from herep
The only effect of this upon Barrett was to
light up his brutal face with leer of fendish
satisfaction. He said to the guards with glee-
full wink:
by God, I'll learn these Yanks to be more
afeared of me than of the old devil himself
They'll soon understand that I'm not the
man to fool with. I'm old pizen, I am, when
git started. just hear 'em squeal will YEP
Then walking from one prisoner to another
he said:
'D-n yer skins, yell dig tunnels, will ye?
Yell try to git out, and run through the coun-
try stealin' and carryin' off niggers, and m ak
in more trouble than yer ID ID necks are worth.
I'll learn ye all about that. If ketch We at
this Sort of work again, id eff L don't kill We
ez soon as ketch ye.'
How long the boys were kept up there I'M
dergoing this torture cannot be said. Perhaps
it was an hour or more. When they were let
down at last all tainted and were carried away
to the hospital, where they were weeks in re-
covering from the effects. Some of them were
crippled for life.'
Thus in that far-off Georgian swamp, per-
ished 9,479 brave men in eight months-these
are the official and admitted figures. This was
asacrifice wholly unnecessary. 1t was not war,
it was murder. Who was responsible? Little
Wirz alone has answered for these hideous
deeds, that make us blush for our civilization,
but the author of this remarkable volume af-
firms, not without reason, that other and great
er criminals than he must BEAR at the judy
ment seat of history, if nowhere else, the bur-
den which is too great for his narrow should
ers. Winder and Wirz and Barrett were but
the instruments. Howell Cobb and Jeff Davis
himself were behind and above them. Win
der was jeff Davis'S intimate friend and conf
dante. Davis knew what Winder was doing,
he must have known. His brutal ferooity was
byword in Richmond before he was sent on
= 10 DO his feh work at Andersonville 1t was
he who, when the victorious Union forces were
reported as nearing the prison pen, issued the
order, unparalleled in its savage vindictiveness,
which ran thus:
HEADQUARTERS MILITARY PRISON, |
ANDERsoNvILLE, Ga, July 27, 1864 !
The officers on duty and in charge of the battery
notice that the enemy has approached within seven
miles of this post, open upon the stockade with
grapeshot without reference to the situation beyond
these lines of defense.
JOHN II. WINDER
Brigadier General Commanding.
This man was not only unpublished, but the
government is to-day supporting his children
in luxury by the rent it pays for the use of his
which is occupied by one of the departments
at Washington.
JEFF Davis knew his man, and he must share
with his satrap the full infamy of Anderson
Vile. There were other officers of the con-
federacy, some of them Democratic leaders
to-day on the floor of Congress, who knew as
we'll as Davis knew of Winder's shameful
cruelty.