The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1890-10-10
BATTLE OF POINTLOOKOUT.
ADMIRABLE ADDRESS BEFORE
PICKETT CAMP.

| mapder Charles n. Loehr-Memoran-
| dun From ne Ply Leaf OF mn Old Bi-
bi.-The Confederate Hero.
| George T.. Pickett Camp Confederate Vet |
eraps held meeting which was largely |
attended last night. Past Commander
Charles T. Lochr read an interesting and
valuable paper on Point Lookout. for which
the Camp returned him hearty thanks. Fol
lowing is the address in full:
III u pere not for Hope h0tg could zoe he IN a
| place iike this - Point Look Ou', June 3,
| on a fiy-leaf of a small New Testament ap- |
| pear these words, as well as the sketch oil q |
cross and anchor, also the date June 81 |
1865. and the place. Point Lookout; 10 All oil
| which acknowledge myself AS the author.
| In turning back 10 those dark days OF our
country's history do so simply To present
| facts and incidents i'm which 4 was a particle /
| tant want 10 show now the Confederate |
| SOLDIER suffered even after General Lee nad
bid farewell to his army az Appomattox. The I
! words Surrendered at AppOmattoX,' 50
ofleu quoted by our Southern orators u de- /
| note '.the soldier who has done his duty" i |
but partly true. General Lee sure ndercd /
about 10000 men, OF which only 7,S0Z were /
| armed. A greater part OF them were men /
| that were on detail duty or held some posi- /
| ton which kept them safely in the rear. III /
| Is fact That few. very few, indeed, OF Ewelis
4
| that stool in battle line doing their duty |
on the evening OF April q. 1865, at the |
bloody ridge OF Sailors Creek the men left |
| there as fOTlOm hope to do the lighting, |
with few exceptions. were captured or killed; |
and / assert without fear Of contradiction |
that there were more Fighting men al the |
close OF the war IN Point Lookout prison |
alone, not to mention Fort Delaware, Harris |
| Island, Johnson's Island, Newport News and |
other questionable places Of amusement, |
| than there were in Lees whole army at the |
surrender. think these remarks necessary |
| I'm justice to the Confederate soldiers who
| suffered and starved in the fearful prison |
pens OF the North, but did not "surr endor at
| Appomattox."
BATTLE OF FIVE FORKS.
TO begin on April /, 1865, the battle of |
Five Forks was fought. Our thin lines were |
pushed back and broken by force perhaps |
| ten times rs large and many Of our men were |
| forced TO surrender. our position was about |
twenty miles west Of Petersburg and the |
enemyis infantry broke through our |
line between US and that city, while |
ms cavalry (Sheridans) attacked our front.
where. however, for a time they were
easily repulsed until our men were with
drawn 10 face the infantry columns advance
| ing from our rear and left. This forced our
thin lines 10 retire from the dense masses IN
blue Many of our men were not made aware
that the enemy had passed them until they |
found themselves within their lines OF battle
and prisoners, among the latter was ming
at column which was across our WORKS,
when some one called To me the Yankees
are passing us look Dehndl' and sure enough,
certainly two lines had already passed us
and the third was but short distance
OF. | started Ia run between these lines
To get out, but was noticed and found 10 i'm I
possible 10 get through alive. Seeing PIT
where several wounded and scared Yankees
were huddled together, | jumped In among
them, they yelling at their men for Gods |
sake stop firing. When the line reached
us, got up, and very poll,e Federal stepped
out OF the ranks, saying, sergeant allow me
. escort you 10 the rear" His captain, how
ever told him: You let him alone, he can
find The way by HIMSELF" but my new ac
ambulance Insisted on taking my arm, and |
together We left the field Ofbattle.
SERGEANT KEPLER.
Hearing some one behind me / looked |
around and there was my friend and cOmrade, |
seigeantJ. II. kepler. ON my remarking lIa.- |
loo Ken: they have got YOU, too, - he replied. |
nearly breathless, Eyes; cOnfOund them, they |
nave got me sgan.' lie had just come back |
To us from prison, having been captured at |
Gettysburg. That night We remained on the |
bait e-neld Of DinwiIdie Courthouse, where |
the dead OF the 3lst Of March were /
siil living unburied around. There were, |
perhaps. two thousand OF us gath
| cred together, captured In the days
battle. The next morning our march com |
menced towards Petersburg. aud after a |
march of three days, we reached city Point |
on the 4th, having nothing 10 eat until the
night OF the Sd. When near Petersburg We |
received q small amount OF crackers and
meat
Al City Point several transport steamers
were lying and were ordered ON board OF
them, each boat being packed with human
freight TO It's fun capacity
UNWILLING PASSENGERS.
Some Of the boats landed their unwilling
passengers at Newport News, while most OF
them and the one was on reached Point
Lookout on the morning Of the 9TH. Land
ing at the wharf. we were formed In open
line for Inspections: that is. we had 10 empty
our pockets and lay our baggage on the
ground before us. while the Federal ser
geants amused themselves by kicking over
coats blankets. oilciOths. ctnteens, and
everything that had q L. = on II, into the
BAY This left us in a sad condition for there
was very little III our possession THAT had not
been the property of L. :. at one time
or another and became ours by the |
many victories and captures we had helped
| to gam. AFTER putting US In light marching
order, we were marched into the prison pen,
or "bull PEN a IL was called. ihe prison
| consisted OF a space OF about twenty acres,
surrounded by "A high board fence, on the
on side of which there was, near the top, !
platform for the guard TO walk upon. fhe
| guards consisted of negroes Of The worst sort.
Inside OF the grounds, about fifteen feet In
| font OF the fence, was q ditch called the
dead line The sentrytifed upon any one
who crossed IT, The camp was laid IN
regular rows Of small tents, each dOu-
| BILE row being division, Of which
there were ten. These were again sub
divided into ten companies Of about
| two hundred men each. Through these
streets or rows thereIan small bitches, but
The LAM being very shallow, the drainage
was very imperfect. Point Lookout being
tongue Of land where the Potomac joins the
Chesapeake Bay, barely over five feet high OF
lis highest point, and herein was the worst
feature Of the prison. There was no good |
drinking water 10 be had. the water was inn
prcguated with cOpperas. and tasted quite
brickish To this source was a great deal of
the fearful mortality that occurred there
| traceabe.
When we came there the prison was al
ready full, and the small tents were totally |
inefficient to accommodate us. Many were
without shelter OF any kind, and exposed 10
the bad weather which prevailed for the
greater part Of our stay. We had but few
blankets and most Of US had To lie on the
bare ground, 80 when II rtined our situation
became truly deplOrable. our ratlOns were
iust such as kept us perpetually on the point
OF starvation, causing painful feeling Of
hunger To us helpless, half starved prisoners.
-Four small crackers, or small loaf Of bread
per day and a cupfui Of dlshwa called pea
: up Horrible 10 taste, aud small piece Of
rancid 81 { meat, was our daily taTe. 30 hun
gry Were the men that they would eat almost
ANYTHING they could pick up out side from the
sewers: potato peelings. cabpage-stnlks. OF
most any kind Of refuse lhat hardly The cat
tie would eat. was greedily devOured. The
scuryy, brought on by this Wretched diet,
was prevalent In lis most awful form.
It was not unusual 70 hear IL stated that
sixty or sixty-hve deaths hal occurred In
federates were buried near that prison pen.
HUMAN ENDURANCE.
IL Is wonderful how much a human being
can stand. | myself, who was never sick
during the whole war, was taken down with
the erysipelas. IL was bad case. SO the Fed
etal surgeon said who examined me, EN-
tireIy TOO late To- do anything for him; neck
and face swollen black and green" Those
who did the packing up. that Is, placing The
dead bodies In rough boxes, seeing me, one
OF them said there goes fellow we Will
have to box up Tomorrow | was removed
To The hospital pen, and with two of my Com
pany Alexander Moss ara John Harris, both
OF whom | saw stretched out Ia the
dead house on the following day. The hOspi-
tai could only accommodate about loo sick
and there were no less than 6,OOO sick and
dying men lying within the main building
and in the tents surrounding IL. Being AZ
signed to tent where there was room for
about sixteen, but which had no lees than
forty in II, was placed on the damp ground.
only one thin blanket being given me. The
two nights spent there were simply hOrri-