Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1902-12-16

OF Captain Henry Benmer.s lighthouse
and retfed to Il pair Of steps bv his hilfIds
and wrists. his piercing shrieks during
the operation filing every space.
CRIES WE'RE sMoTHERED.
no s,nnther the Sc cries he was taken
down, gagged with bayonet, and bur.
riedly hoisted UP again. His smothered
tones could now alone be heard. as he
hung SUSPENDED between heaven and
earth For the most part of the night ne
hung III this manner in almost lIfeless
condition. Next morning, ct guard mount
while seated on the steps at the guard
house, I requested that he would ano"
me to see his hands. I found them swol-
len and lacerated in many places, nas,ns
a, sangrene appearance. and perfectly
HELPLESS. rot being able to move them IN
any particular.
From the guarci-house he was taken to
the hospital, placed under medical treat
ment, where he remained during the pc
Rod of his confinement. some three or
four months. It was decided at one time
that it would become necessary TO resort
to amputation OF one of his hands, but,
through careful attention paid him, ne
finally recovered, sustaining the loss OF
nearly the entire use of his left hand
Colonel George ST. Leger Grenfell made
note Of the fortunes to Dunn, and in a
Communication to a friend OF ms re-
siding in Richmond. Vas gave a truth
mar punishment which was being lnlllct-
ed unon both soldiers and prisoners: his
trend. deeIning that the country should
be informed. sent the article. to New
the month OF November it appeared IN
pint. BY chance. one OF the oillcers
attached to the garrison had been sent
North in charge OF four prisoners from
g look
daily paper his eye came in contact with
tlla article.
The officer returned to the fort before
the mails had been received a the post,
tie article, which he presented to Briga-
dier-General 3. II. Hill, commanding
Tha, it was startling news to them
proved itself in the rigid search that was was
ricion centered itself upon Colonev Gren,
fell as it's author. and mis- quarters ana
lis papers were carefully searched, when
il diary kept by him was found copy
Ut the article sought after.
For the hcinous offence OF publlsninG
to the world the brutal tyranny existing
upol the island he was removed from
his quarters and placed within dungeon
cielied pen paper or ink, reading mat
ter of every description. and all inter
course and. communication with every
one at the fort. Small openings which
fort for ventilation We're tightly boarded
up and closed by orders from the COM
nisndant. His quarters were visited ire
quently during the day by the of1lcef
the Colonel to be carefully searched to
prevent the secreting Of paper, etc.
Truth had awakened them ana startled
then. from their seeming security when
been exposed to the country, and they
became very careful that it should not
again happen. Colonel Grenfell from TINS
time out became the object Of all their
and guarded from the 18th of November,
1866 until September. 1867. in the misera-
bic eel! allotted to him. suffering intense
ly from heart and other ailments arising
from his ill-ventilated quarters.
TROUBLE BEdINS AGAIN.
Feeling secure. now that the object OF
their solicitude had been placed beyond
the power to do more harm, as they sup
lished article were again enacted: Private
&c sner, of Company D, mere boy. was
cruelty maltreated. his body being coy
cred with bruises. received at the hands
pany. 1 saw this myse- he having
come to my quarters. He disrobed him
sci: to show his bruised person to me-
Duffy. another member of his company,
passed through the same ordeal; in fast,
these instances We're so numerous that 1t
would be impossible to give full ac-
count OF them. Suffice it to say they were
OF daily occurrences and inflicted by the
commands of officers who were more CT
less under the influence of LIQUOR.
The press of the country soon cried out
against these practiced crueltles. and &c
manded that an investigation OF the ma t
ter should forthwith be made. In the
meantime General 3. II. Hill, command
ing. wrote denial IN toto OF the en-
tire article and forwarded the same 10
the adjutant general, United States army,
assigning many untruths as to the cause
which led TO its publication by Grenfell.
IL a very short time after the War De
partment had been communicated win
ar officer was sent sent from General
Sheridan's department and ordered TO
pr oceed to Fort jefferson, Fla.
General Hill! was absent at the tim. time o, on
Ing in command. The investigation was
farce Parties desiring to lay complaint
were denied speech with the officer, and
others We're fearful of opening cir Fps
become slaves to their tyrant rulers: and
tre,nbled at ---ar approach The officers
had picnic over the matter, lndulSlns
il frequent draughts from the Old brown
acts smoothed over and for the time
being hushed up.
Leut eF had aE Msio assunef ha wing
been placed on detached service. ana .'?,,
branded the entire article as lie. as Will
b., seen by the following article pubiiShed
by him in q Philadelphia paper OF date
July Z. 1861:
JEFFERSON.
II desire to make q statement through
your columns relative to some reports
which have been going the rounds OF the
newspapers in the North An abstract
of letter purporting to have been writ
ten from this post was published in New
York, containing false and scanIalous ac-
counts of the trea tment of prisoners by
the officers here. The author OF this let
ter. il is ascertained, is one G. st. Iegor
C.renfell an EnglShn1an ana an eX-Rebel
officer who is now confined a hard labor
hausting every means OF procuring his
release this man seems to have hit upon
the plan of endeavOrinS to excite public
s, mpath in the North and also in Eng
land by having published in such papers
as were willing to lend themselves to
the transa ctiOn the statement referred to,
in hopes that more active measures would
be adopted by his friends in the latter
country and elsewhere to effect his re-
lease.
ed kindness by all of the officers here
and by orders Of General Hill. very
pleasant ana easy duty was assigned him.
ana greater limits were allowed him than
any other prisoner. BY some means he
secured 2 medium OF corresponding Sc.
cretly, and an examination of his papers
shows tat he has forwarded similar
falsehoods 10 various places. and that the
letter published in New York was sent
through Bradley Johnston, of Richmond
Va.
iTT{n In cI,f, oc-