The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1881-06-16
A Reimbursement Andersonyille.


On one Sd Of July Writ saw indications
Of = general stampede and became alarmed.
he knew that he and his bloodhounds were
objects Of detestation bv the guard. He
was never seen out at night, and never
slept without sentinel at his door. Such
was the lack-zeal of these outside tho
stockade, when tho 4th day Of July, 1864,
dawned upon Andersonville. But it was
noticeable at an early hour that there was
more moving to and fro, and more talking
among the prisoners, A break by them
was spprehendcd, aud measures were taken
to check it. Still Writ was distrustful of
his own men. The suspicious stiffness of
the hour, ut II q. NJ, was broken by the
putting Of locomotive engine scudding
through the pines in hot haste from the d.
rection of Macon. Though drawing no
train, that engine was laden with authority,
which authority soon made itself heard, to
the dismay of many who had mapped out
routes overland for an early return to their
homes in North Georgia. Major General
Howell Cobb, commander Of the 9Th mill
tary district of the Southern Confederacy,
alighted from the engine, and was vel
coined by General Winder and Captain
,Wirtz, who with an escort had been for IN
hour waitiag the distinguish ed arrival. Gen.
Cobb was escorted to within one hundred
yards Of the stockade, where all the troops
not on guard-mount had been ordered into
line. The three chiefs marched way down
the line and halted. General Winder as
sumed command and ordered a hollow
square to be formed. In voice just
husky enough to convey intensity Of
earnestness General Cobb spoke as follows:
Officers and soldiers of the southern
confederacy: If you are surprised to see
me here to day it is mine to confess great
er surprise that there should be deemed
such a necessity for my presence. Can it
be tue that Georgians are deserving their
posts in the face of disarmed enemy?
Can it be true that Georgians are refusing
in safety to guard the vandal horde within
that den, whom your more valorous
brothers have captured on hundred
bloody fields? Can it be true that there
are Georgians here to- day who are ready
to turn loose upon their mothers, sisters,
daughters and wives that multitude of
robbers, who are painting for opportunities
to bum and ravage our land, as tley wan
der back to rejoin their comrades who are
pressing us at every point?'
just ut that point in his speech from the
prison enclosure there fioated sounds of
voices singing. Perhaps the speaker had
only paused. to render more impressive by
intervening a moment of silence his next
following utterrances; perhaps it was the
remembrance of the glorious and tranquil
days when he was high in the council of
the nation, whose sweet national ode was
now being sung, that made him pause
when, for the first time in years. he heard
that chorus:
''Ihe star-spapglod banner, o long may it
Ger tie land of the free and the home Of the
brave
As the chorus was ended the speaker
resumed: rs there man here who would
SO fail Of his duty? Here me. announce
in your hearing and let no one be deceiv-
ed by the hope of escape-the next and
every other deserter from this post, who is
captured, will be Immediately tried by q
court martial and executed on the spot,
and announce further that the command
er Of this post is fully invested with author
ity to carry this order into execution
The last of these words were almost
drowned by the sounds from the stockade,
and, turning to the post commander, Cen
eral Cobb exclaimed, Captain Writ, have
the prisoners stop that noise!' As Writ
sound grew tenfold louder than before, AS
from moro than 10000 hearts ready to-
burst with recollections of home aud iber-
ty and loved ones swelled the chorus:
''The star. spaDgled banner, Olong may it wave
Ger the land Of the free and the home Of the
brave.
Involunhrily every head turned, facing
the direction whence came that musical
roar. It was the sub1imest, the most wild
ly thrilling outburst of song that ever fell
on mortal ears. Even Writ, as if over
whelmed by the grand refrain, stood stock
still until the end of the chorus, when Gen.
eml Cobb shouted sternly repetition of
his command to him, to have the prisoners
step that noise.
For minute, then, he essayed to con-
tinue his speech, until the chorus was a
third time reached, when again his voice
was drowned and this time by IN artillery
Of song swelling, pealing and booming-a
deafening tornado of sound, melodiously
attuncd. The confederates in line stood
still from establishment, n guard upon the
stockade wall, as if stunned, let fall his gun
upon the inside. Yet, ere the echo had
caught up the closing word, the thunderous
voice began to repeat the lines. when a
scene ensued which battles pen portrayal.
Poor cripples, with only one foot left on
which to stand, caught at their neighbors
and drew themselves upright; and lean,
wasted frames, within an hour of dissolu-
ton, sprang, like schoclboys from the burn
ing sands, erect, and, waving their bony
hands aloft, united their hollow voices in
the glorious invocation