National Republican., 1886-11-30
some Fncts of HIstorr.

Jefferson Davis has recently given utter
ance to q yillainous Islander which demands
more notice than IL has received at the
bands OF the Republican press. The ven
erable calumniator charges that the confed-
crate soldiers in northern prisons dur
ing the war were systematically starved
and otherwise abused for the purpose OF
destroying their lives. So great is the
respect Of the southern people for this old
man that his outrageous calumny iuds
ready credence In many minds, although
there must be thousands Of man now llv-
ing who know, by experience, that the
southern soldiers who were captured and
sent into northern prisons Jared far better
than they had previously done In the con-
federate service. 1t is true that there was
large death.roll, for the change of climate
was too much for constitutions already
enfcebled by hard service, scant rations,
and insufficient clothing. But It is not true
1T is ga wicked, damned len-that prls-
oDcrs Of war were ill.treated at the north
The simple truth is that the confederates
in northern prisons were well treated aud,
as a general rule, they did not care for a
| speedy exchange II was no unusual thing
for them to express their deep regret when
| they were about to leave prison TO re-
turn to service. They were well housed
and well fed and subjected to no crueltles.
But how was II at the southY What Is
the record OF Andersonvillep The Colum.
bus Dispatch furnishes data Of interest in
this connection from which II appears that
this hideous hell OF horrors was opened in
February, 1864. In June, 1854, the pen
contained 10000 men. In July and August
the number reached $4,000 The crueltlcs OF
the prison were most extensively practiced
for about fourteen months. During that
time 1874 men were buried In graves near
the spot-about 600 per month; almost 80
per cent. These men were not invallds
They were strong young men; among the
very best physical specimens Of manhood
captured in battle during tho war. Thirty
five thousand Of them, at one time, were
crowded into an open pen embracing
twenty.three acres, six Of which being a
swalc, left only seventeen for occupancy.
The Dispatch adds this comment:
Think ofwhat horror It must have been
S5, Go men In a seyenteen-acre field, fed upon
so little food as to cause the walls OF the stom'
ach TO collapse; with only the water to drink
which flows in a stagnant rivulet through the
center of the area, and into which, at one side,
is thrown the excrcrent Of the population, to
say nothing of the vile uses to which the stream
is converted above the pen, and the reader will
have but n feeble idea of the horrors of the
place 1t is not matter OF wonder that men
died with Joy when n rebel sentinel, one night
instead Of proclaiming that all was well, cried
out that Atlanta was "gone TO hell"
The NATIONAL REPUBLICAN harbors nc
malice toward the south or It's people, but
II will not patiently submit to the propaga
tion Of SANDER against the states and the
men who saved this Union. There can bC
no excuse for the fendlsh atrocities ol
Arderonvlle. The story of that prison Il
the blackest and most shameful chapter IL
modern history. The contrast in the treat
ment of prisoners by the two governments
was as great as that in the objects for which
they respectively fought.