The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1896-02-14

side the stockade that a cOrporals guard
was twice sent in to quell the disturb,
ance and capture the flag. Finally the
officer of the day, backed by body OF
guards, appeared on the scene and de-
manded the surrender of the flag. Lieu
tenant Colonel Thorpe of the First Now
York dragons was speaking at the time,
and turning to the Confederate Officer
said:
Lieutenant, please say to Captain
Gibbs that the flag is the property of the
prisoners and will not be surrendered. y
Colonel Thorpe occupied at the time
the honorary position Of interior com
mandant, but his retort to the officer OF
the day cost him his position, as will be
seen by the following order:
G. s. MILITARY PRISON,
MACON, Ga. July 4, 1854.
SPECIAL ORDERS NO. 6.
First.-Lieutenant Colonel Thorpe is relieved
from duty as senior officer of prisons for VIC
1ation of prison rules, and Lieutenant Colone
McCrary will again assume that position.
Second.-The same order and quiet will be
observed on this day as on any other.
Third.-A disregard of this order may sub
ject offenders to unpleasant consequences.
GEORGE G. GIBBs
Captain Commanding
During the latter part of July Gener-
al Stoneman approached so near to Ma
con that the authorities became alarm
ed for the safety of the prisoners. On
July ~ the first body of 500 officers was
started for Charleston to be placed I'M
der the fire of the Morris island batter
les in retaliation for the situation of
1000 Confederate officers in an open
stockade between Batteries Gregg and
Wagner. The second 500 followed i'm
mediately, and the remainder of the
camp was sent to Savannah. went
with the first trainload to Charleston.
We made the journey in box cars, two
guards being stationed in each of the
open doors, and on our arrival we were
marched across the city to the Jail.
One side of the Charleston jailyard
was formed by the inner wall of the
seen the roof of the Roper hospital. The
Charleston contingent was distributed in
these three buildings, occupying the
same square, together with the marine
hospital and the medical college. The
only tree in the yard was scraggy fig
tree, which grew in one corner OF the
wall and had at the time of our arrival
few purple figs on its limbs. A tall
gallows stood midway of the rear wall,
and near it an artesian well supplied us
with water for washing. We drank rain
water, as all the citizens did, and every
roof and parapet in sight was thickly
set with broken bottles to protect the
unused watershed from the turkey buzz
yards.
Prisoners were new fad with the
Charleston authorities, and we began
our career with very generous supplies.
New A tents were pitched in white
blocks for our shelter; fresh beef was
furnished daily and camp kettles of
shining tin were distributed to the
messes. We learned to boil rice without
burning in these tin kettles over open
fires and to make light dumplings in
our soup by serving the meal the mo-
ment the dumplings rose to the top.
Some of the prisoners slept in the rear
wing of the Jail, and many night we
who lay in the tents below listened to
the voices at the open windows singing
"Tramp, Tramp" "John Browns
Body" "The Red, White and Blue"
and all the other patriotic songs. The
three bodies of prisoners had no means
of communication with each other, but
T 90 tho iail xyaT1 n tha
hospital and ON returning was put for
short time in the workhouse with Gen
eral Stoneman and party and removed
thence to the Roper hospital; SO that /
had experience of all the quarters.
have no recollection why went to
a hospital or of anything that transpired
there, but the journey across the city
with my guard was walk never to be
forgotten. King street was the principal
business street and led from the water
front across the town. For the first mile
the shops and the houses were barred
and deserted. Here and there cornice
was crushed in by shell, the dooryards
were choked by a rank growth of bushes,
and in the cross streets the thin blades
of green grass were sprouting thickly
among the cobblestones. As we got far
ther from the range of the Morris island
guns we occasionally saw an open store
door opening into darkness and silence.
The Roper hospital was much the
more desirable quarters, standing In
grounds filled with tropical plants and
having an unobstructed outlook in front
across the burned district to the harbor.
Along the Queen street front we were
only restrained by an ornamental iron
fence, and ON account of the weakness
of this barrier we were required to give
our individual paroles, which we will
ingly did, for, although we were nom
inally under fire, we were actually in a
paradise for prisoners.
Outside this fence all day, from the
arrival of The Courier, printed on the
reverse side of a sheet of wall paper, for
% cents, to the going down of the sun
a row of colored hucksters exposed and
cried their wares. Eggs were 50 dozen,
butter 50 a pound, watermelons from
So to SIC and S1S apiece. Some old
aunties in highly colored turbans sold
boiled shrimps, others shrimp pies, sweet
potato pones, COOLERS, yams and all the
delicacies of the market. Hanging over