Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1885-01-18
LIBBY PRISON.
ITS PLEASANT SIDE DESCRIBED BY
CHAPLAIN MCABE.
Men Who Did Not Want n Funeral Be-
fore They Died-An Execution Or
dered- Celebrating the Fourth
-"Sweet Home"
TRnSton Globe

odist Episcopal church for an hour and hall
the other evening with an interesting lecture
upon The Bright Side of life in Libby
Prison" The lecture was made up OF CLEAN
ings from his experience within the prison
walls and hence had genuine force, wit aud
pathos. He said: When You heard the title
OF my lecture l imagine you said: Gould
there have been bright side to that lifet IL
there WAS, it must have been on the outside "
There have been many dark stories related OF
that life and l do not charge that
they We're exaggerated, but 1 shall
show YOU We had happy days
DAYS when we forgot we were hungry.
DAYS when we forgot we had not sufficient
clothing. days when we forgot all our suffer
ing knowing We were playing our parts in
the perpetuation of the republic. l was in
Mallory's command He was brave-too
brave-and got into trouble. He was look
ing for fight and got it We were at Win
chester when Gen. Lee undertook 20 transfer
the seat of war TO the north. The south
tired of it there. The cry was "On TO the
north" Editors took it up, and they know
great deal about military matters. Then
the orators took it up. Mr. Toombs, that
most eloquent southerner, created such a
public sentiment that Lee was compelled to
70 ahead to transfer the fighting to the other
side OF the Potomac.
In our command were four musicians
They had been serenading our general, and
he was so pleased that he was just about to
make a speech when q scout came in and
announced that Lee was coming with his
whole army, and it was time for US TO get
out All agreed it was time TO get out, ex-
cepting Mallory. He stayed to figh+. He
had IS, 900 men Lee had 10000. We had
six cannons; Lee had 2S0 pieces Of artillery.
Yet Mallory proposed to stop and fight We
went out TO feel our way. We were driven
back with great loss We got behind our
intrenchments. Lee scorned to fight US Ha
kept on the road belt five miles away, be-
cause we had gun that carried shell that dis
tance and when they exploded they made it
uncomfortable. Mallory kept it red hot all
day. Gen. Buell. charged US with Jackson's
corps the greatest the rebels ever had, but
ii never won a victory after the loss of the
great general We were charged. We were
raw recruits. Mallory thought we would
finch He went along the lines saying:
Keep cool" That was good advice, but
our hair would rise. II you had heard that
rebel yell you would never forget it. When
you see the weapons pointed at you, deter
mination on every feature, with the prestige
your hair stand on end.
The general also said, GFire low and
fire often" That was good advice. 1t
takes 1900 bullets to kill q man. The
reason is men fire over each other. At
Gettysburg quarter of q million muskets
were going three days and only 81, 900 men
were hit. You don't know that You hear
such terrible noise that you fear every one
will be killed and you too. But they obeyed
the order, and am glad they did. We held
the position three days till our ammunition
gave out Then at 2 O'Clock in the morning,
June Is, 1868, horses were hitchei and We
tried to get away. Not buckle was there t.
rattle, not a soldier spoke loud word. There
is nothing so solemn as going through an
enemy's country, expecting every moment a
sheet of flame TO open upon you Marching
along an officer whispered to me, chaplain,
what did you do with that tent / lent your
What difference did it makei Why should
he thus jeopardize our safetyi leaned over
and said: Il folded it up and put'-then
there came a fash, followed by the bullets OF
the enemy. l ran one way; he the other /
met him two years afterward in Ohio 1
ran UP to him and finished my sentence, tell
ing him where Iput the tent That was the
longest time il ever took me to say what
wanted TO.
We belonged to the One Hundred and
Twenty Ohio one of the grandest
regiments ever recruited; e65 men went in
service with Grant from the Rapidan to
Petersburg; were in all the yreat fights in
the valley; were with Grant again, around
Petersburg and Richmond Only l5) men
were living when it was mustered out They
fought themselves to the death, and if
the war had continued year longer, none
of them would have been left alive Some
of the captains were shot through seven
times, and when the war was over
the old battered colonel was gathered
up in a blanket / was left behind with
the doctor. We held a council Of war. We
decided to stay with the sick and wounded
Wegot pass from Gen Early to go over the
field on parole. We got fifty ambulances
and carried / 800 wounded men to Winches-
ter Then We went to Early and said we
would like to go through the lines He looked
up at me and said: you preachers have
done more than anyone else to bring on this
war. Twill send you to Richmond" "But,
general said |, GIt is lS0miles to Richmond,
and only thirty to Harpers Ferry, and we
would rather 60 there" He said to me:
You have been shouting On to Richmond
60" We went there.
Finally we stood outside the walls of Libby
prison, waiting for some one TO come out to
notify US to conn in A gentleman finally
came out and ilvited US in. There was q
big book on a table He said it was the
registry book of Libby hotel We registered
We were taken in another room and
searched. All we possessed was taken out Of
our pockets )f worth anything it was kept,
if not it was returned. had $50. That is
vast sum for preacher to have. / will ex-
plain how i lad it 1t was not mine / had
1t in trust fur the boys, who gave it to me
for their wives, thinking / would get safely
through the lines. l said to the man,
That don't belong to me-" He said, Il
know it 1t belongs to me-" He gave me q
receipt for it and when came away was
given $500 Confederate money for it 1t took
$500 Of that money to buy pair of boots
and s., 100 70 buy barrel of -four was
cook for twenty men i made soup. When
it ran low L put in more water. / wanted
TO give it a home taste one day and put in an
onion 1t cost IS. The boys thought it
cheap.
The next man searched was a colonel from
New York. He had 500 hidden about him
ucN s1il- SOiOIcA, nave Soa diiN IicutSf
! knew he had, and wondered if he would
be forgiven for lying. But he didn't lie.
He said, Look and see." They didn't see,
and the 500 went upstairs How blessed
him ! borrowed some afterward We
went up stairs A genuine surprise awaited
us had conjured up picture of men dead
and dying, care-worn and sad. There was a
smile on every face and a shout ran but as
We entered They sprang up with CHEEK
tS see the quern and the first question he
asked was whether it could grind salt
-Grind saltl' said the owuer, Il should just
think so; and anything else you like"
Thereupon, so anxious was he to buy the
quern that he promised to pay untold wealth
for il Secured of his prize he put TO sea,
and when so far off that no one could reach
him, he said to the quern, Grind salt, and
grind both fast and good" No sooner had
he spoken than the quern forthwith began
grinding salt which in an amazing shor1