New-York tribune., 1897-08-26
IL 1NUERNONIILLE PIRk.

The attention Of the Grand Army of the Re-
public is to he called afre>h AT Buffalo this week
to the cxpcdiency OF countcnancng or di>coun-
tenancing Il project set on foot Il year or more
ago for The conversion OF the old prison grounds
nj Andcrsonville into a National memorial park.
The undertaking Is AT present in the hands joint
" of the Georgia Department, of the EraId
Army and the Woman's Relief Corps. one Of is
auxiliary branches The Georgia veterans. it
seems. originally purchased portion Of the An
dcrsonville SITE and al the National Encamp-
ment of 1896. held at 81 Paul, transferred the
deed to the property 10 the Womans Relief
Corps. which AT once started a subscription 10
complete the purchase. and thus recover ana
presorve for memorial purposes the tragic and
fatal arena in which the brutal Wirlz long tX-
ercsed his infamous seventies. The fund ncccs-
sary to maintain the proposed park has already
reached respectable proportions. and plans have
been sketchcd out for the conversion OF the
once loathsome prison pen into decorouS and
slightly public reservation. Meanwhllc the fur-
thcr sanction and cooperation OF the National
Encampment are 10 he asked in the work ot
establishing the Andcrsony,lle park. and so
marking il as to commemorate appropriately the
struggles and sufcrings of The Union prisoners
who faced a lingering and horrld death within
It's once frownins siockad"S
The nincty acres of ground 10 which the Wom
ans Relief Corps has already obtained title
cover not only the site OF the former prison pen
but also the lines Of The Confederate works sur
rounding it. II is now proposed by the pro-
motcrs Of the reservation project 10 cncrcle the
whole purchase with an iron fence, 10 plant
hcdgerow along the path Of Ihe old wooden
stockade 10 build a marble pavilion over what
was known aS "Providence Spring" 10 mark
with tablets all points Of interest within the
former incosurc. and 10 erect Al or near i's
centre a monument with an inscription COM
memoraiiv. Of the h.ro>m and mi>forinnes OF
thc II g26 Federal soldiers who perisled within
lis forbddlng walls. driveway i To De
OPENED 10 the Andersonville National Cemetery
pear bv where most of the victims of NiriZ :
brutality and incompetency W. buried. and a
strenuous effort is To he made To impart to the
new memorial reservation all the impressveness
and beauty of suggestion encountered in Ma
tional cemeteries like Arlington or battle parks
like Gettysburg.
whether soil 81 saturated with associations
of misery and horror as that Of Andersonville
can ever hope to evoke the feelings and memo
ries which Arlington and Gettysburg inspire
| Is however. far from certain; and the en-
campment at Buffalo might easily br justified
in hesitating before lndorsing absolutely the
proposal 10 rechrSten ;he fOulest OF Southern
prison camps II public memorial park
battlefield may properly be preserved and
marked 10 recall to the world the valor and
sacrlices, the sutfcrngs and triumphs Of a
patriotic soldiery Its monuments tell only
stories Of courage. endurance. discipline and
| glory. and commemorate only Tho heroic side
of National and military life. Perhaps no
nober courage WAS displayed In siege or battle
than that which faced with hopefulness the
desperate and wasting ordeal >of confinement
behind the ADdcrsonville stockadc. Bu, 80
grewscme, so painful, SO revolving are the