The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1891-09-06
NO STARVATION OF PRISONERS.

NO STARVATION OF PRISONERS.
The April number Of the Century con-
tanned an article, "Cold Cheer at Camp
Norton" whose author, John A. Wyeth,
charged the military authorities at this
Confederate prison camp with having
starved and subjected to other inhuman
treatment or neglect its inmates during
the war. The g. A. r. of the department
OF Indiana appointed committee to in
vestigate these charges against the official
management of Camp Morton, and the re-
suit of their investigation appears in the
current number of the Century in shape of
reply by Colonel w. r. Holloway. This
paper has been examined and all it's origi-
nal official documents verified by the COM
mittee of the G. A. +. and the witnesses
cited by Colonel Holloway are vouched for
by General Lew Wallace, General NJ. d.
Manson and General John Coburn, of
Indiana, as personally known to them as
men of high character, who enjoy the con-
fidence of the communities in which they
reside.
During 1862 Camp Morton was under
the supervision of Governor Morton and
Colonel Richard Owen. brother of the
distinguished philanthropist, Robert Dale
Owen, and Colonel d. G. Rose. These men
were personally beloved by the Confeder-
ates under their charge, as the letters to
grateful ex-prisoners abundantly attest.
IF ha in,
was Captain ID. w. Hamilton, of the Sew
enth Regiment, Indiana Volunteers, a
we'll known resident of Indianapolis. He
served until November, 1863, when he was
relieved at his own request, and to the re-
greet of many of the prisoners, by whom
he was well liked. His successor was Gen.
eral A. A. Stevens, of the Fifth Regiment.
Veteran Reserve Corps. General Stevens
was a man of high character and brave
soldier.
The commanders Of the military distric:
for Indiana were General II. II. Caring
ton, late colonel Of the Eighteenth Regular
Infantry; Major-General o. u. Wilcox,
graduate Of West Point, and commander
of the Ninth Corps in the Army of the
Potomac under Grant, and General A. 2.
Hovey, the present governor Of Indiana.
These tive gentlemen are all living and are
among the witnesses cited by Colonel Hol-
loway TO contradic. the charges of DR..
Wyeth. Colonel Holloway, the author of
this reply, was private secretary to Gov
ernor Morton until June, 1864, and testi-
fies as follows:
| talked with the prisoners in Camp Morton
almost daily, visited their barracks, and ate OF
their food / saw the bread baked in the
bakery. II they were hungry, cold, or mall
treated. they made no complaint to me, nor to
any one of whom ever heard. They Jared az
well as the Union soldiers who guarded them,
If not better, and surely this is all that could
have been expected.
The report of the adjutant general of In
diana states that the prisoners were profuse
in their commentator of their treatment
after Fort Donelson in 1862, and that 2.O6i
were released on taking the oath of al
legiance, go of this number enlisting in
the United States service. Camp Morton
was a splendid grove adjoining Indian
apolis on the north, and contained thirtv-
five acres. 1t was located on high ground.
an abundance of pure water, and was ex-
cellently shaded with the walnut. mamie.
elm and oak trees of the original forest.
and had formerly been the Indiana State
Fair ground and a favorite locality for
Methodist camp meetings. The barrack
buildings occupied by the prisoners had
been occupied by our own troops, and
considered comfortable by them. Stoves
were set every twenty feet, and straw and
blankets were furnished to make every
man as comfortable as possible The usual
garrison equipage and cooking utensils.
with regulation -ations and plenty
of dry fuel, were precisely iden-
teal with what was issued to our
own troops. and there never was a
time when the buildings occupied by them
were not equal to any occupied by our
troops who were guarding prisoners or
who were quartered in the various camps
near by.
No deaths from disease occurred in the
barracks. The worst cases of sick were
sent to the city hospital. DR.. Kitchen
testifes:
Governor Morton ordered that there should bs
no distinction made between the Union soldiers
and prisoners of war All were treated alike:
they had the same beds and bedding clean IN
derwear nursing, and medical aid food, ETC.
etc. No complaint was ever made of bad treat
ment OF prisoners in the city hospital so far as
know, and | have letters from eX-prisoners
written sluce the war, expressing their gratitude
for Kindness aud attention shown them while
under my care.
The camp hospitals were furnished ex-
actiy as were the hospitals for our men:
the diet was the same; and the patients
were treated by the same physicians as our
men and were nursed by men selected
from their own comrades. The official
records at Washington show that during
the winter months of lS63-64 81, 272 hounds
of straw were issued to the prisoners. The
building, eighty feet long, was heated by
four box stoves, taking in four foot stick
Of wood, and as theENere but twenty
feet apart, no man could be farther
away than ten feet from a stove
In the cold snap of January, 1864
seven hundred extra blankets were
issued, and while the guards exposed to
the weather were frostbitten, no prisoner