Knoxville daily chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1882, 1881-06-07
A RemfnisceBce Of AndersOnviEe e.

A RemfnisceBce Of AndersOnyiEe
On one Sd of July, Wiriz saw indications
Of general stampede and became alarmed.
He knew he his bloodhounds were objects
of destation by the guard. He was never
seen ont at night, and never slept without
a sentinel at his door. Such was the lack
z al of those outside the stockade, when
the 4,h day OF July, 1864, dawned upon
Andersonville. But it was mott cable at an
early hour lhat there was more moving to
and fro, and more talking among the
prisoners. A break by them was appre-
hended, AMI measures were taken to check
it, Still Writ was distrustful of his own
men. The suspicious stiffness of the hour,
at IL a. m. was broken by the putting of a
locomotive engine scuddrg through the
pines in a hot haste from the direction of
Macon. Thought drawing no train, that
engine was laden with authority, viii, b
an hority soon made itself heard to the
dismay o. many who had mapped out
routes overland FOR an arly return to their
homes in North Georgia. Mojor-General
Howell Cobb, commander of the S5h
military district of the Southern Confed-
",
welcomed by Winder and Captain Wirtz,
who with an escort had been for an hour
awaiting the distln guishe ed arrival General
Cobb VINO escorted to within one hundred
yards of the stockade, where all the troo rs
not on guard~mount had been ordered into
line. Tne three chiefs marched half way
down the line and halted. General Win
der assumed command and ordered q
hollow square to be formed. In a voice
81 L o. pnSit nj
earnestness General Cobb spoRe as follows:
"Oficers and soldiers of the Southern
| Confederacy: Ii you are surprised to see
me here to day 1t Is mine to confess q
| greater surprise that there should be deem
such necessity for my presence. Can it
| be true that Georgians are deserving their
posts in the face of an disarmed enemy q?
Can it be true thai 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
! Georgisns here to-day who are ready to
! turn loose ulOl their mothers. sisters,
| daughters wives that multi tude of robbers,
who ere painting for opportunities to burn
and ravsge eur land, as they wander back
to rejoin their comrades who are pressing
u at every. point2"
JUS at th at point in his spec b from the
prison enclosure there foated sounds OF
| voices sing in5. Perhsps the speaker had
only paused, to render more impressive by
| Intervening moment of silence his next
following utterance, perhaps it was the
remem brance Of the glorious and tranquil
days when he was high in the councils oil
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:
The star-spangled banner. o long may
| it wave
Ger the land of the free and the home OIL
the 5rave.s
AS the chorus was ended the speaker re-
sumfd: " Is there man here who would
so fail of his duty. Hear me- | announce
ia your hearing-and let no one be de
ceived by the hope Of escape-the next and
every other deserter from this post, who is
captured, Will be Immediately tried by q
drumhead court martial and executed on
the spot, and l announce further that the
commander of this post is fully invested
with authority to carry this order into ex-
ecution'
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 Wirtz,
| have the prisoners stop THAI noise! " As
Wiz was moving off, in one brief instant
that sound grew teDfold louder than be-
fore, as from more than 80 OCG voices we'll
! ing up from more than 30 tG0 hearts read Y
to bust with recollections of home and
liberty and loved ores swelled the chorus ;
The star-spar gled banner, o long may il
wave
Ger the land of the free and the home Of
the brave"
| Involuntar ly every head turned, facing
the direction whence came that musical
roar. 1t was the :uhlimest, the mo wild
| ly thrilling outburst ofsong that ever fell
on mortal years. Even Writ, as if over
whelmed by the grand refrain, stood stock
still until the end oft ecborus, when Gem
| eral Cobb shouted sternly repetition OF
his command to him, have the prisoners
stop that noise
For minute then he cssayed TO con-
tinue his speech, until the chorus was a
third time reached, when again his voice
was DIR wned and this time by an artillery
of song swelling, pealing and booming-a
deatening tornado of souDd, melodiOusly
sttuned: The Confederates in line stood
still from establishment guard upon the
stockade wall, as is ftuuned, let fall his gun
upon the insi Ie Yet ere the ecno had
caught up the closing word the thunderous
voice began to repeat the lines, when a
scene ensuek which b. ff1ss pen protrayal
Poor cripples, with only enc foot left on
which to stand caught at their neighbors
and drew themselves upright end lean,
wasted frames. within an hour of dissou-
ton, sprang like schoolboys from the burn
ing sands erect, and, waving their tony
hands aloft. united their hollow voices
with enthusiasm in the glorious invoca-
ton Letter to Boston Herald.