The National tribune., 1900-09-20

trying. for our days ration never made |
one full meal and was greediiy devoured |
rs soon received.
Soon after the close of the war, when
the question of treatment of prisoners was
largely discussed in the public press, l |
read several articles and editorials in the |
New York Nces, New York World and |
Lacrosse tWis) Democrat which purported |
to give statistics of the mortality in pris- !
ons both North and South during the war |
The death rate among the rebel soldiers |
confined at Point Lookout, Johnson's !
Island, Elmira. Camp Douglass and Co
lumbus was made to largely exceed that |
among the Union soldiers confined at Lib |
by. Belle Isle, Salisbury and Anderson |
vile. and the assertion was often made |
by these papers that the general treatment |
of prisoners was as bad or even worse |
in Northern prisons than in Southern |
ones. l presume that no sane person |
would make like assertions now, but there |
are thousands who do not comprehend !
that the difference in the situation and |
treatment of these two classes of men was
so great as was the fact. | do not pre- |
tend to be able to make the comparison |
plain, but am able to throw perhaps a lit |
tie new light on the subject.
REBEL VERSUS YANKEE PRISONERS.
l happened to be in Baltimore, Md. in |
April. 1862 when a detachment of Union |
prisoners, recently exchanged from Savan- |
nah, think lat least, they were men who
had been confined at Andersonvillc), met
a like detachment of rebel prisoners who
had been confined at Elmira, N. Y. Both
parties were on their way home, and met
on the street, where / had n fair look at
both, and the difference in the appearance
of these men was most striking, so much
so that it was enough to convince the most
skeptical. The Johnny Rebs were laugh
ing. joking and prancing along as soldiers
on the march without arms usually were.
They looked hearty and robust, and We're
apparently happy and in high spirits. The
Yanks looked pale and sickly and worn
out took no notice of persons or objects
| along the street, and seemed hardly able
to drag themselves along. l heard MANY
people speak of this at the time as an apt
illustration Of the treatment to which
these two bodies of men had been sub
jected.
| visited the prison at Elmra, n. Y,
while at home on furlough after my es-
cape. This prison was located only 80
| miles from my home, and having only re-
Gently left the stOckade at Salisbury | had
n curiosity to see for myself and know If
the prisoners there were subjected to the
privations and hardships which we had
been obliged to endure, as was charged in
| many Northern papers at that time. The
| only similarity which / found was that
| in both places armed men watched the in
| mates. l found the prisoners mt Emira
| housed in comfortable barracks. each
| building sheltering 100 men. walked
| through one of the barrack buildings, and
found it contained large stove near each
end with well-fiiled coal-boxes near, good
hunks with plenty of clean straw for each
| two inmates / saw a large piece of fat
meat and several parts Of loaves of light
| bread lying on the floor, which indicated
to me that none of the men who boarded
| there were starving or were even mildly
| hungry. Besides this each prisoner was
possessed of a good double blanket fur
| nished him by our own Government. There
| were camp kettles, wash pans, brooms and
| soap in sight, and several parties of rebs
We're amusing themselves playing seven
| up or euchre. They had means of comfort
and enjoyment that would have appeared
| TO rival heaven itself to the wrctchnd be
ings ! had recently left in the dismal
stockade at Salisbury.
! SUPPLIES FOR PRISONERS STOLEN.
| OF all the supplies sent to us by the
| loyal men and women of the North through
the medium of the Christian and Sanitary
Commissions very little ever reached the
| inside of the prison. | recollCct gettiD.
| three small potatoes and about gill each
of molasses, vinegar and chopped pickles.
| This is all / ever received.
We were allowed to write short letters
to friends at home, provided nothing OBJ
| Jectionable was said. Each letter was
sent unsealed, and if it passed the insrec-
! ton of the commandment was forwarded
| to its destination. But few of our num-
| Der were able to procure necessary ma
terial and prepay the Confederate postage,
which was 10 cents for each letter and
was exacted in every case. | was able
| to secure materials and write several let
| tiers after got position on the wood
| train, but, while l was very careful not
to insert anything that might be objec-
| tionable, only one of my missiYes reached
its destination. This was written on IAN.
| II, 1865. and reached my mother, to whom
it was directed, after l had been at home
in person more than a week, about the last
| days of March. Several of my comrades
| received letters from home while 1T Sails
bury.
| Many letters came there for men who
lad died long before. 1 do not know what
disposition was made of such letters, but
they certainly should have been returned
| to the senders, with a statement OF the
death of the soldier addressed.
| HOW THEY WERE BURIED.
After the hospital buildings were filed
| deaths were frequent in the general prison
! and the bodies carried direct to the dead
! house.
| During the period when deaths were
| few the rebels made a pretense of fur
| nishinS collins, but we soon found it was
| only pretense. NO more than half
| dozen pine box collins were brought in al
| together, and these were managed as fol-
lows: When a prisoner died the body was