The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1903-04-30
Libby and Belle Isle.

EDITOR NATIONAL TRIBUNE: / can
fully cOrroborate the statements of Capt.
Beecham and Comrade J. w. Rodgers,
I'D Ohio, regarding the horrors of Libby
and Belle Isle. l was one of the party
with Comrade Rodgers who smashed the
locked door of Libby Prison and liberated
the prisoners. who were i'll imminent dan
ger of losing their lives in burning Rich
mond. The scenes were narrowing i'll the
extreme. The helpless inmates of the
prison Were apparently forsaken-all hope
gone. Serving in the I'd w. Va, l was
captured. April 8. 1864. My experience
was similar to that of Othcrs-marched
through rain and mud. with little to eat
and broken rest at night. 1t is the same
old story of suffering and indignities en-
durcd. In Libby we were stripped in the
presence of old Gen. Winder While the
other boys were undergoing the stripping
process. l backed against the office door
and surreptitiously abstractcd the key and
slipped it into my pocket. or course. the
key was useless TO me. l simply wanted
Ia annoy old Winder and his myrmidons.
When they raised the trap door of the
second floor preparatory to ushering us
into the presence of those prisoners who
had gone before we We're greeted with
the cry. Fresh fish, The stencil coming
from that hole was sickcning and over
| powering. When we entered it was dark
the solid windows being nailed down. The
place was so crowded that / could scarce
| ly find room to lie down.
When transferred to Belle Isle I came
in contact with the wicked old Doctor.
At sick call" the unsympathctic Escula
plan gruffly asked. whats the matter
with YOU" ! told him that | had fever
Nothing of the kind said he: there's
nothing whatever the matter with you
or course. l knew | was sick, if that
adamantine practitioner" didn't.
One Summer day smOOth-faced boy
so sick that he ought to have been in the
hospital sat with NE all day long by the
StOckade, without n mOuthful to eat. the
fierce rays of a hot sun beating upon us
the while. About shutdown Il gentlemanly
officer approached us and said: You
sick boys must 20 to the hospital. The
boat is waiting. Come along" The mere
presence of that gcntlemanly fellow had
| an cyhila.ating effect upon orr depressed
| spirits. He was an infinitely better ply.
stefan than the wicked Doctor" When
we were near the other shore, several
shots We're fired. apparently at us. from
an old mill. Letting the boat drift 70
ward the shore, the officer turned and
| fired a few shots ut the window whence
he supposed the hostile shots had come
When We landed some young girls met us
and with inGuiring eyes viewed our rag.
Sed regimentals."
L witnessed the bread riot. IN Rich
mond. A red-headed woman marched in
front of the crowd. crying: Bread OF
blood" That woman and her followers
were aware that in n great warehouse OH
Ferry street. within sight of Libby Prison
were stored immense quantities of pro-
visions. while the poorer citizens and The
soldiers were in state of semi-starvation
When the city was being evacuated and
pandemOnium reigned supreme. the whisky
gtn tIa
the street. filling a cellar and flooding the
sewer.-WM. III. SHRIvER, Co. c. Sd w
Va, and Go. i, 9th w. Va. Cav, Randall
w. Va.