Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1891-05-09

1Wo0Ds - - D1uU1oo 49,
paxspee eueui6e, ~ ~ pGisenaRs oe14
only - sheif hends NJ shsaldes- II
Ianps wsss - plnesd ~ - ssnsz
eesid ~ ~ pfisesass. ~ 80 III
iaMsagty that the pEisonsfs cenld - n
fentr:ss. and ttsif beats we're - ns1snged1
thss there vas nsvef nefs man 10 sses1
turgusrded q one tine.
Tness are, indeed, gave charge 1ne
ferce osght not to have been more mas
six fees hish, shonid rot have beea smooth.
and the sentfies shaald certainly have had
more dian their head and shoaidsfa expos
ed. T1s lamps cashf certainly 70 have
| hesn fscsd The other WY % that senffiea
cocId have been sesn vhils hey could MOI
| zee Il voslA seem - though l50 feet wss
| - much unsuxsded pafsp<t - could hsvs
been reasonably ssked; but Of ccuffe thss
| Il MISTER Of Taste.
Escape ara Capture.
a. One man having succ1ssfnlIy scaled
this smooth, z0-fo0s fence, despite the
lamp, wrote TO his comrades that he vas al
right Ia Keatueky. This tempted seven
Others to try il. -Four brave feiIows," of
these seven. we're captured, and they were
placed with their backs Against tree,
their srrs extended abcve their heads, and
there they hsd to stand through the Eight.
He wsxes eloquent npon this terrible
cruelty. II vas indeed unkind not TO pm.
them In bed and carefully nurse them 90
tbst they would have strength 70 make 8
successful break the next time. He
describes in detail the chiysfric way these
brave fellows frested the sentry. Some
40 picked men organized themselves for
escape and made ladders. armed them,
selves with stones, pieces of rood and bot
ties" and made rush, Petted the SEN
tries. and the entire asssaitiDg party gained
the outside. Some few men were recap
tursd, but the sjarity reached Canads or
the South" / Was on goafd that night,
and shall never forget our indignation that
70 pupishment vas melted out to the "brsve
fellows" Of stone, wood. and bottle fame
who we're Yecaptufsd.
Is. A detaiLconposed Of prisoners was
selected TO accompany the garbage wagon
to some distant point outside the walls.
Five persons ct preconcerted signal seized
the two guards, disafmed them, ard escaped.
At another time two men ''were MORALLY
wounded by ball, the ASSASSIN doirg his
work 20 well that the same ball passed
through both bodies" Upon this be dwells
With unusual bitterness. II was "bfave
fellow always who threw stones, wood,
and bottles, who seized and bound the
guard; it was an assassin always who
objected to being bound.
A Question OF Taste.
As to the general charge Of starvation.
He ssys they had daily dish Of vegetable
SOUP. . loaf Of bread, seven inches long
and three and q half deep and wide. and .
piece Of meat On this diet, he says, null
titudes starved to death. ard were alwsys
90 hungry that rat or dog could not come
within reach without being killed and eaten.
There is no accounting for taste. II man.
with full loaf of bread, piece Of meat
ard dish OF vegetable soup, desired rats
and dogs for dessert, 1T 10 no concaen Of ours;
but when he says tina. men were starving to
death upon such diet, we decline to Yevolu-
tionize the history Of q quarter of GEN.
tury upon such testimony.
The remsiaing charge is that multitudes
froze to death Not that they were cold
or uncomfortable, blu. literally .froze to
death The camp was in . grove and was
inclosed by . close fence 20 feet high.
They were all quartered in barracks; each
having four stoves; each man with 8
blanket. He says that each four men
formed combine, using one blanket under
them and three over them. and then they
froze to death! He saw is frozen to death
one morning. No Imagination in this, OF
course. No enlargement OF the facts in
25 years?
That same night the sentry was walking
upon bleak paIapet, 20 feet IN the air. In the
bowling wind, binding snow or singing
cold, as the case might bs, he had not .
single blanket in that exposed place, and
yet he never froze 90 much a. an ear.
There used to be some tall swearing
done By the sentIies on those nights, as, in
their loneliness, they braved the weather,
while the prisoners were comfortably
freezing to death, shut in by the high
fence, amply protected by the barracks,
with four stoves, and under three blankets.
If any one cares to believe that Is pris-
ouers froze to death under these circum-
stances, he is welcome to his faith in the
Gold Cheer" story. We have no interes.
in the opinion Of any man who can read
thst article and believe that there was much
unjusti8sble abuse or serious cruelty, who
can believe that enc man ever starved or
froze to death In one respect "Cold
Cheer is cheering. What Q world of pos.
sibiiities it opens up to the Union soldiers.
ALI that is nesded ia . few years for the
play Of the imagination to do its perfect
work, as it has done in the case Of the au-
thor Of "Cold Cheer"
High Morale OF tbs Comp.
Thus much for the work of fiction as
Illuminated in the Century. Now word
as to the facts. General Henry B. Car
fington Of the regular army, . graduate
Of Yale. a scholarly gentleman, .
thorough business man, was in command
Of the Department of Indiana, and de-
voted himself faithfully and conscienti-
ously to making Camp Morton model
prison camp, and his pride in his charge,
| if nothing else, would have prompted
him to keep it 10 frst-clsss condition. for
it was constantly visited BY the dignitaries.
General Alvia P. Hovey, in an official
report. Sept. 4. 1865, says: II repeatedly,
with pride, conducted visitors to Camp
Morton to show the military discipline and
the order and neat Tess that prevailed
throughout the barracks and prison." 1t
vas scrupulously neat and every way com
Portable for army life, but is may seem
very cruel and non-asthetic and insufficient
to the gentle man, in bis spsc ious Madison.
avenue apartments. Why, it seems cruel
to some Of the Union soldiers to Thick of
having but sl3 month for self and home.
| General Carriog.on, in detailed official
report Of July 2. 1866. says; IN 1868 4.
when dsily visits to every camp were nee
s.ary, this duty was of the most exactipg
kind. More than eleven thousand men
were in camp at one time. They had to be
| fed and mainly clothed From copies Of
his official correspondence at the time, it
sppesrs the barracks used by prisoners
we're first used by our oUn troops. When
the prisoners arrived, these barracks scere
giren to the prisoners, and the Union sol.
dters occupied tents snd temporary sheds.
The barracks occupied by the prisoners
"barn doors" aud all--were every way the
same as thoss occapied by the Uaion SOL
disrs.
| The only iEs!a, &c in which there was any
urcleanliness or rsggedness was at the time
of an unusual influx Of prisoners sf.er the
fall Of Donaldson. Tie man were in .
terrible condition-troken down physically,
ragged. uacleanly, pale, hungry, even
emaciated. The death rate following their
arrival vas large, due partly to previous
starvation The attention given to their
comfort and health by the officers and
troops Was as great a. it could have been
for the boys in blue. Hospisa, tents were
pitched, and, as by magic, pisstefed build
logs were erected for them
There was never day, even under the
greatest pressure, that the food was not
wholesome and Of full quantity. we'll re-
member the attention shown Colonel Nor
gan and his party. They requested to be
by themselves, and were given tents with
flies. and, at their request, oyster steu ras