The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1881-05-11

was paid to them. Promotion was
the punishment 5r crueIy ther,s
The inmates g-Ee skeletons. Hell
could have 10 terror for any man
who died there except the inhUman
+ kecrc !"
"Wlo 54s the g5aler in charge p
"A man from Florida named
Major Gee lie was q match for
WiFz Cruelty never raised in this
age Of the world more fayorite son.
+ lis heart was dead to sensibiiity.
Sinking the battlefield to keep this
f. prison, he wei understood the re-
quigoment5 Of the place in the in
tenti0ns OF lis superiors. ard that It
was no part Of their siaicsmalship
. TO let strong we'll mcn u Acuanect.
I He hamessed no Death ard drove
him through tic naked field, and
I yonder Is the cemetery to tell how
many perisbed under his chariot
/ wheels Upward Of eleven thousand
+ men-more than the battle of Get
tysburg killed, ezpect-were the
trophies Of Maior Gee. On one Oc-
easion q small party OF prisoners
were sent out TO cut and haul wood
One poor fellow, weak with exhaust
ing disease. had 10 stop. The guard.
without one word shot him dead.
+ On this tie murdered mans brother,
q man OF spirit, said that the guard
should feel tie PaDg his BROTHER felt.
As the guard came ia the gate this
brother snatched the mUsket and
9ayOnet from tie guards shoulder,
and with one movement Of O vcGge-
fdl arm drove the DayOnet through
the villains heart On this Gee
ordered tho artillery with canister
shot to play ON the whole pen.
There were thousands Of men asleep
in tents OK holes, unknowing Of any
difficulty. ald there was 10 other
difficulty than that. Tic cruel iron
came tearing, the canister manning
and killing, and ( heard myself, the
cries Of agony From q single tent
SIX dying, howling men were taken.
On one side Of the pen the artillery
officer elevated his pieces to shoot
over, and Tor this Gee cursed him.
"What became Of Gee fualy?'
"ie was tried by court martial, I
believe, but cot OF. We always
believed here that money bought
bis life. lie ought 20 have been
hanged. Everybody VIII tell YOU
that"
This pen was abandoned toward
tie close Of the war, when StOneman
r1ided IN here from Knoxville, go
miles to Che west. with 1900 men.
BeauTe-ard had the same uumber,
out drew them oi 10 Lexington. As
an instance Of the different civili-
zation q. work recall o tale Stone
man once told me, 81 his orange
arm, uCar L-e Au Jos. California.
Ike ea.I
-Bc.1.a I went Co Salisbury I had
nay spies .aere, taking account Of
everything. When / got there and
burnt the rebel supplies and reliev-
cd what prisoners they had left,
won 70 dinner with o citizen, who,
with lis family, were polite and
gave me q good meal. After It was
over, Isaid to themm OF the house
a person Of substance DO you
want q guard for that money buried
IL the ceilar2 de looked bewilder-
Cd and guilty, but [ said: Never
mind. ] know all aboat it. il you
want q guard ] VIII let you have it.
In few minutes he came back and
said: General | would ike 10 have
q guard. L gave It to him, and lis
money was never disturbed. y
The prison pen stood almost IN
town, on a graYelly old field, with
red clav on the surface, and on the
edge OF q deep cut on the railroad
track. Over this cut led bridge,
by which the prisoners were march
Ell to their camp Of horrors. Into
the cut Richardson and his com
rades dug their way one dark night,
and escaped TO the mountains. The
field Is now bare as yoUr hand the
holes OF the posts of the palisades
. are occasionally seen, the wells dug
to give water are again filed up by
the elements. An agricultural fair
ground. with a racing stand, occupies
the further boundry OF the field. 10
the west Is a hollow and gully Ii
which the-dead are buried, and now
It is q national cemetery, made green
by grass and the gardner's care, and
planted with Young trees, and the
slopes oft are terraced, while q
granite monument about thirty feet
high tells the awful story of those
thousands Of skulls, all Of unknown
name and fame. re-buried there IN
rows that certain vain politicians
might not 20 ont of office \ tall
mast carries q small American flag
streaming at the peak. A One-armed
soldier in Il little stone lodge keeps
The calcincd relics Of bravery and
torture and oblivion. To the west
single knob Of blue hillso mount
ain raises Its head above the woods.
rs ( looked n the great chaTnel,
tie immemoriaI monument Of .he
Confederacy OF our fellow-ci,izen,
Davis. I remembered another SAILS
bury and the story of the Shepherd
OF Salisbury Plain, whose hut a
traveller listened by end heard
little bov within say: Father, we
are not like poor folks we have
salt with our potatoes.
/ Here at Salisbury were thousands
with neither potatoes nor salt; yet
were the salt Of the earth, the phos-
phorus Of history, whose bones line
the isolated gully and grow into the
( blooms OF cotton that the negro
/ picks. Yet the world is freer and
conscience IS returned for their
/ labors, even here 3. IN Nc,c
I TorL Tribune.