The National tribune., 1882-10-19
SOUTHERN PRISON LIFE.
Horrors Dished Up by "Free Lance
from His Memory.
XVI.

Ian. 10th-The deliberate cruelty of the
rebels is evidenced from the fact that, while
men have been actually freezing to death in
this Stockadc all winter, extensive pine forests
cover the country around us. The price Of
fuel on the outside must he insignificant
negro labor is abundant, and we would eagerly
cut the wood ourselves if only permitted to do
So large proportion of the men who die
here are the victims of deliberate official muir
der. 1t would be more humane for the rebels
to slaughter their prisoners ON the battlefield
than TO slowly kill them rs they are killed
here. On June p. 1865, Senator Foote, of the
confederate Congress- wrote from Montreal, and
said: n month or two anterior To the date of
said (U. s. congressional report, learned from
n tcOufcdcrate) government officer of respccta-
hilty that the prisoners of war in and about
Richmond were suffering severely from want
of provisions. He told me, further, that it was
manifest to him that systematic scheme was
on foot for subiccting these unfortunate men to
starvation; that the cOmmissary- general, Mr..
Northrup, a most wicked and hcartlcss wretch,
had addressed communication to Mr.. Seddon,
confederate secretary of war; proposing to
withhold meat altogether from military pris-
oncrs then in custody and to give them moth
ing but bread and vegetables; and that Mr..
Scddon had indorscd this communication
atlirmatively." At no time did the meat we
received from the so-called confederacy ever
amount to so much that the Withholding of it
could seriously inconvenience us. If Northrup
had made his proposition read "to withhold
food altogether from military prisoners" he
would have made the murderous and cowardiy
work of the cOnfederacy only little more
completed
Jan. 11h.-It is reported that son of old
Windor is at this time serving as an officer in
the Regular army of the United States-not in
the field, but back somewhere at the rear liv
ing luxurously on his salary. There are men
in this stocbade who car run pins into their
legs without suffering pain. They are gradu-
ally becoming living corpses from the dry
rot" The feet of many of them drop off. One
day at Andersonvile, IL aiming at a bean, one
of my teeth struck a chunk of gravel and broke
Off at the middle. There is no danger of such
an accident here. Our mush is so thin here
that we hardly require jaws to eat it. We
might pour it right down our throatS
Jan. 12M.-It transpires that there was bull
pen at Savannah, which our division happened
not to get into. 1t was near the old Jail, and
consisted of an area enclosed by a tall tight
board fence. At one time three or four thou
sand prisoners from Andersonville were con-
fined there The guards consisted of foreign
born sailors from the rebel navy, who treated
the prisoners kindly. Twenty-four pieces of
field artillery were planted around the pen.
At first very good rations were issued, consist
ing of hard tack, molasses, vinegar, and an
occasional taste of meat. Even limited guam
titles of tobacco We're dealS out Suddenly
these rations were reduced to pint of corn
meal and teaspoonful of salt per man. When
the prisoners were first confined there more
than a thousand of them tunneled out one
night, but they were all recaptured.
Jan. 13h.-One of my prison acquaintances
was scout in Kilpatrick's famous raid around
Lees army, and was captured in that campaign.
He had been in Richmond only short time
when he escaped, but in few days was re-
captured and brought back. 1t is an estab-
lished practice with the rebels to punish
DlISohCIo lpI dIbSiiiHblAS ~ S'NtlPC' -AS h'iNA'
mond they frequently placed such prisoners in
irons and nearly starved them. This man was
condemned to solitary confinement in cell,
and came near famshing on the stinted rations
allowed him. In one corner of his cell was a
hole, from which a rat would occasionally dart
out, view him with salutary caution for few
moments, and then beat a retreat. He was
hungry enough to eat raw rats In his cell was
a small board. He would watch the rat. hole
patiently for long period, and then, when a
rat came out, would shove the end of the board
over the hole and catch the rat and eat it. But
for this expedient he believes he would have died
from starvation. The rebels consider that if a
man has pluck enough to try to get away, the
best method of dealing with him is to starve
him into a condition Of feebleness that will
render it impossible for him to make any more
such attempts Turner, the commander Of
Libby Prison, is drunken brute, who was ex-
pellcd from the West Point Military Academy
for forgery. Last winter the prisoners at Libby
suffered extremely from cold. They had no
blankets or fires; the climate there is cold in
the winter the iTon-gratcd windows of the
old warehouse were unglazed; any prisoner
who looked out was fired at by the sentries
and often the wrong man was killed; and there
was no place to sit down or lie down, excepting
on the crowded, filthy, vormin-covered floor.
Jan. 14th.-To-day l saw prisoner shot dead
for vcnturing too near the dead-line. This is
a common occurrence. At the close of the
war a letter was found at Salisbury, n. c., ad
dressed to Jeff Davis, dated October 10Th, 1864,
and signed by Sabina Dismakcs. The writer
spoke as follows of the suficrings of the prison.
ers at Florence: " If such things are allowed
to continue, they will most surely draw down
some awful judgment upon our country. 1t is
a most horrible national sin that cannot go un-
punished. If we cannot give them food and
shelter, for Gods sake send them back to
Yankeeland, but don't starve the miserable
creatures to death" Accompanying the letter
was an article cut from the Sumter IS. c.
Wdtcllmdn, which described the prisoners as
"flthy, diseased and furnished men, in rags,
barefoOted, crawling with vernin, and with no
hope of relief except by death" Nothing is
more certain than that JEFF Davis knew our
condition, and that we were starved intention
ally. The confederate prison system was the
same everywhere, excepting at Raleigh, n. c.,
where a strong Union sentiment existed. The
prison ration issued by the United States Gov
ernmcnt TO captured rebels, for twenty four
IL IT,r ri h-aa