The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1888-10-18
PRovIDENTIAL SPRING.
VISITING THE CELEBRATED PRISON AT *
DERsoNyTIIE

EDITOR NATIONAL TRIBUNE: In your issue
OF Sept. 90 William Feaga, Co. A, I'D Ohio,
Wits from Stillmore, Ga, making inquiry as
to who the old soldier is of whom he has the
picture described in the act of dipping cup
Of water from the so-mueh talked-of Providen-
tial Spring at Andersonville, Ga.
Hoping it may not be considered person
ating" l will give the comrade key to the
solution of his query. l am one of those a
part of whose lifes history is made up IN wit
Messing the sad scenes and experiences in An
Jacksonville during 1864, having been an inmate
of that hell-hole from the 25th of May to the
10th of September, 1864, the horrors of which
tongue and pen have failed to describe, and
will make 20 attempt at it now. When LETT
the place, more dead than alive, the thought
impressed me, as it did hundreds of others, that
/ would never wish to look upon the place
again; that it might be lost to Gods footstool
as completely as it is TO the knowledge of the
inhabitants of that country 20 miles distant;
and that is as to what / know of the habitats
of the North Pole. This may sound strange,
but Comrade Feaga will bear me out Many
people are utterly ignorant of such place,
though they live within days march OF there.
Three years ago comrade and myself planned
q trip to Florida, with the Ostensible purpose
of taking in the sights en- route, viz battleneids
and cemeteries Of Nashville, Stone River, Chat
tanooga, ETC.; on my part in particular Ander-
AndersonYlle Station three other gentlemen
stepped from the train also-one, the Superin-
tendent of the Atlantic & Georgia Railway, over
which we had travelled another was reporter
on the staff of the Morning Telegram of Elmira,
N. Y; and the third, a Mr.. Perriere o. Ravens,
photographer, from Savannah, Ga. Each Of
these gentlemen represented their own inter
ests in particular and the railroads as a whole
il such a way as to interest travel over that
road TO the far South. On alighting from the
train inquiry was made for the keeper of the
lodge at the National Cemetery, Anderson
vile. We soon found him in the person of
Comrade Bryant. Introductions followed, and
the photographer and correspondent congratu-
lated themselves upon meeting with an old
prisoner III the person of myself. Under the
guidance Of Comrade Bryant we were soon at
the entrance to the cemetery, where our artist
brought his camera into play, taking q fine
negative of the entrance, gateway, flagstaff,
with the Stars and Stripes flying in the breeze
and the keepers lodge in the distance
From here we proceeded through the cemetery
TO the old stoCkade or prison-pen, where our
artist again availed himself the opportunity
of catching view of the broken line of stock
ade as at this point most all the timbers had
been cut and hauled away for wood and rails
Here and there one was standing, as now seen
in the picture l have hanging on the wall
in my home. At this point the question
NdS dSheu, NHeTe is the 1fOVlueOJlal cpTlnRf
Lead us to it," This / did without difficulty.
We were soon at the foot of this sparkling
fountain, of which so much has been written.
For years there has been in the columns of
THE NATIONAL TRIBUNE much controversy
over its location. To me there never has been
doubt as to its origin. Why so many claim
to have been eyewitness to its breaking out
and then differing in regard to its location
never coRld fathom. Whoever quenehed his
thirst with its cooling waters could make no
mistake as to its location Here our company
assembled, lunched and drank its cooling water
OF the Sth Of January, 1885. The writer was
kept busy answering questions and relating
incidents and experiences as would come to his
memory of the scenes of 90 years before. At
the suggestion of Comrade Shannon, who ac-
companied the writer on his trip South, that
no more appropriate picture could be made than
the one which the spring offered, with an old
ex-prisoner in the act of dipping cup of water
therefr0m. This. Comrade Feaga. is your pics-
ure and its history.-ALBERT MILLS, Go. B,
5Sth Ind, Princeton, Ind.