The National tribune., 1882-11-30
PRISON EXPERIENCES.
Little Red Cap Continues His Descrip-
ti0l Of AnderSOaVille.
cenffnxss rem les. ssssA.i

thing in the crowded pens. The high walls
OF the stockade prevented the prisoners from
! getting the benefit Of any breeze that might be
stirring outside, and the foul stench from the
swamp was fairly sickening. Indeed the air
we breathed seemed TO be loaded down with
the germs of disease and death. The water,
too, was utterly unfit for use, and the prisoners,
with their half canteens, were forced to dig
wells SIS last resort Some of them were as
much rs forty feet deep, but it was difficult to
keep the sides from falling in, and many 3 poor
fellow wGs injured thereby. The water how
over, which was obtained thereby was much
better than that to be had at the creek, although
it wa3 still far from being pure being impreg-
mated to some extent by the seepage from the
filthy ground. Naturally the intense heat
caused intense thirst, and as consequence
the men drank large quantities of water, which
was, in ITSELF destructive to health, and in
many cases hastoned death.
So scanty were our rations that the appor-
tiOnment of them became a very nice question.
Before | was taken outside the stockade my
own mess adopted quite a novel plan of division
The sergeant would cut up tho rations into as
many little pieces as there were members in
the mess, then one of the boys would take
position few feet distant, with his back
to the rations, and the sergeant, in the presence
Of the men, would point in the direction Of one
of the piles, calling out as he did so "Whose
isthis?" to which our comrade would reply men
tioning certain number when the man who
had that number would take the ration. The
routine was something like this:
"Whose is this?"
Number ten"
"WAose is this?"
Number one"
And as each mans number was called he
stepped forward and received the miserable
pttance that WAS to support life for that day.
LETTERS FOR ZONE.
BY this time [ had gained to some extent,
the confidence of Commander Wirz, and he
took very little notice of what | did. One
day was with him at headquarters where he
was engaged in reading the letters which the
prisoners had written for transmission to
their friends and families in the North. He
invariably destroyed all letters in which ref
erence was made to the condition of the
prison, Or anything else concerning the confed-
eracy.
l sat alongside of him, and seeing that he
was not observing my movements, began taking
the letters out of the box in which he had
placed them to be destroyed, and passing them
into the other. l removed quite o number,
but fearing that l would be caught, did not
dare to change them all. He was accustomed
to fly into terrible fits of passion, and 1 did not
care. TO arouse his anger.
great many of the prisoners had written
honp 70 their friends for boxes of provisions
Food was what they desired most Of all. Those
Of tho prisoners who had been sometime in the
stoclade were by this time anxiously awaiting
the answers to their letters. Many, l regret to
say, died before the answers came. One day,
aos long after this; it was announced that the
ioug-desired boxes had arrived. had written
home myself for one, and accordingly went
over to the depot to see if it had come. |
searched around for some time, and when l did
find the box directed to me it was Only to dis
cover that there was nothing left but ham
b0na. The rebels had broken it open and
rihed it Of tho contents. Some Of the other
boxes however, contained deicacics of the
choicest kinds, prepared at home by loving
iitAIii'o' NAlAtt ptltAS, ItkItI 10 bSN, were
nearly, if not quite empty, and l also was of
the opinion that they were rihed before they
reached the stockade. In fact noticed on
Wirzs own table many tempting dainties that
certainly had the appearance of having but
lately come from the North.
Time now moved with leaden feet The
routine of camp life occupied but 4 small por-
tion of the day, leaving many weary hours of
idoucss. The boys were no longer good com
pany for each other. Their stock of stories
had become exhausted, and the recital of per
interest The evenings, however, were cool |
and pleasant and the men were in the habit of /
forming themselves into little groups and |
chatting far into the night. Ii there happened |
70 DO good singer in the mess his services |
were in great demand, for nothing so cheered !
the hearts of the men as to hear some stirring !
war song. Those who were SO fortunate as to
have anything to read thumbed their books /
until the leaves fell apart from constant use.
Those who had paper, pens, and ink, amused .
themselves by writing descriptions of prison .
life, and some of them kept faithful journals of |
events, although, as a rule, they usually aban-
IOIFt t.!N44I tL4tCA DCli4S SOIlIItt = lew weeks
in the pen.
BOSTON CORBErTs PRAYING BAND.
One Of the institutions of the prison was little
band Of devoted Christian workers. One Of the
most energetic, L well remember, wGs Bos-
ton Corbctt, who afterwards shot John Wilkes
Booth, the assassin of President Lincoln They
were untiriug il their efforts to evangelizo the
prison. Every once in while one of their
number could be heard in some part of the
3tocbude striking up some familiar hymn, AS,
for instance, "Como Thou Fount of Every
Blessing and ut once an audience of thousands
would be attracted by the music After the
lil.,ring regular services would be held during
which addresses would be made by various
members Of the band. In spite of the obstacles
with which they had to contend they did
rreat deal of good work Mt Andersonville; but
for them no funeral services whatever would
have been held over the dead. They were
,sgiduous, too, IN caring for the sick and
imoothed many poor fellows pathway to the
Zravo.
The only minister who ever visited the
;tockade was Catholic priest. His ministra-
ions 10 the sick were of the most devoted and
,ender character, and he was unwearying in
MA attentions to those who were in need of
,Diritual consolation. He was known as Father
IIo,,iIton and he had been statiOncd at Macon