Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1884-06-19
ANDERSONYTLLE AS IT Is.
The Famous Rebel Prison Twenty
Years After the War-A Visit 30 tile
Historic Slaughter Pen by an Eoyva
Eeteran-The Changes that Have
Taken Place.

Eeteran-The Changes that Have
Taken Place
Twenty years have come and gone
since the enactment of the great ira
gedy at Andersonville that will
forever associate this obscure little
town with horrors indescribable.
The driving rains of twenty winters
have beaten upon the sandy slopes of
the old inclosure where there was
gooped up within its walls more of
human misery than was ever before
found upon an equal area OF earth's S
surface. | have traced out the three
stockade walls by the continuous
ridges of decaying palisades that mark
the lines they occupied. On the west
SIDE many of the palisades have been
cut down and split into rails, while
mostof the others have rotted off and
be IN decaying masses on the ground.
Hereand there a fire -blackned senti-
mel still stands in the place as it was
planted IN 1854. On the east side Of
the main line the palisades remain in
a fair state of preservation, showing
the height and strength of this for
midable wooden wall.
The old ditch that surrounded the
stockade is still plainly visible on the
south, west and east sides, although
in places it is nearly filled by washing
and caving in. On the north and
south sides the imbers of the stock
AIDES have been removed in clearing
up the ground for cotton planting.
Two negroes with a mule each, were
marking out the ground for the rows
of cotton en- the south side of the
creek. On the north side many of
the old wells remain in a good state
of preservation. I counted over 90 of
them ranging in depth from ten to
thirty feet. Young pines, oaks and
blackberry bushes have grown up
thickly all over this side. The mounds
and depressions where caves were dug
by the perishing prisoners, are plainly
to be seen all over this sandy hill.
The massive old gates at the west en-
trance have fallen down, and the
owner of the land is working the tim
bers of which they were constructed
into canes to be sold as relics of the
old stockade.
Outside of these gates on the road
tpSf .rds AndersonviIle are the ruins
Of Wirz's old bakery, where the un-
bolted cornmeal and fat bacon were.
cooked for the prisoners. Leading
from the store house at the railroad
station to the stocKade is the old
cordoroy road along which the teams
transported the meal and bacon to
the bakery. The ground was so
swampy that logs had to be cut and
laid side by side for a quarter of a
mile to make a road that would bear
up a team and wagon In looking
for relics [ found a scantling, two by
four, sticking in an old we'll, that was
once a part of the dead line" Ny
guide was DR.. Harrison, who was a
surgeon in the confederate service
stationed here during the most deadly
months, to aid in treating the Federal
prisoners in that hospital shed where
SO many thousands perished. He
pointed out the various places Of in
terest, and gave me many items
relating to the prison keeper, Wirz.
On the west side of the stockade
near the north gate is the
NOTED ''PRovIDENTIAL SPRING"
that broke out one August morning
wheG the water in the creek had be-
come so filthy as to be no longer en-
durable. The story as told is that
one day there came terrific storm Of
thunder, lightning, wind and rain,
which suddenly raised the water IN
the creek SO high as to sweep down
the walls of the stockade on the west
side where the creek enters the ia
closure; that when the flood subsidized
it was discovered that spring of
clear, pure water had gushed out of
the hillside, near the dead line, !"
which flowed from that time forward
IN such abundance as to supply the
entire army of more than 10000 in
mates with pure water Many of the
famlshing soldiers looked upon this
as direct interposition Of the AL
mighty to save them from the horrors
OF the polluted creek, That no spring
was visible up to this time all the in
mates of the stockade agree IN declar-
ing.
That such a spring did burst from
the sand OF the hillside Is as clearly
established by thousands of grateful
witnesses. |, too, saw its clear crystal
waters boil up from the white sand in
a stream large e.ough to supply the
city of Des Moines with drinking
water; but not being disposed to accept
the special providence" theory with
out thorough investigation, [ sought
out the oldest resident of the place,
M. T. Suber, tho station agent, who
has lived here thirty-six years, and
asked him to tell me what he knew of
the origin of this spring He inform
ed me that he had known the spring
for more than thirty years. That
when this region was an ul.broken
forest. this spring was favorte resort
for deer. That when the stockade was
erected IN February, 1864, the work
men IN excavating the trench, filled
up the spring so that the water oozed
through the sand to the creek be-
low without rising to tie surface. The
flood that swept the stockade walls
away during that terrible August
storm washed tho aartb from over IN q