The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1904-03-24
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CorYRsHr BY TIL TRIBUNE

/ COPYRIGHT 1908. THE Pc Bills
The Boys Visit Castle Thunder, and Get
some Marvellous Language and History
From Colored Orderly Sergeant.
| If you are looking for the real qun-
tessence of misery in the Southern Confed-
eracy." continued the Captain, fright
down there is where they had it on tap all
the time. red-hot from tire lower regions.
Ii there was any sort of agony that that
place did not know, and didn't know pref
ty nearly all the time, it hasn't been de-
scribed. That big barn-like brick, with a
high wall around it, is Castle Thunder"
Castle Thunder" exclaimed Monty
Scruggs. scanning the dingy, commonplace
building, which looked like as if it had
been originally an overgrown tavern or
dwelling of the Colonial period, mo castle
about that old rat harbor, that I can see.
Where are its meats, portcullises, draw
bridges, and other castle dinguses, appur-
tenances and belongingsT'
| Don't know anything about that. /
haven't probably been reading as much of
Sir Walter Scott as you, and am not so
particular about castles. Any old thing
VIII DO Tor castle, SO far as l am con-
cerned. The rebels called it Castle Thun-
der, and that goes with me. If I'd been
naming it I'd'ye called it the rebel Inuui-
sitlon, the Calcutta Black Hole, the Vene-
tan Council of Tens Dungeon, the Bas-
tile, or some of those other awful prisons
| that you read about in history. 1t was as
bad as any one of them.'
I've heard something about Castle
Thunder" said Harry Joslyn, but did not
get any very clear idea of it,
The reason you didn't hear more about
Castle Thunder" said the Captain, sis
that it was private concern, so to speak,
of the Southern Confederacy. Libby
Prison was the prison for Union men, of
| hcers and soldiers, and we heard about
it all the time. 1t was the same with
Belle Isle, and the other prisons where
der was the private domain of Gen. John
II. Winder, the ProvostMarshal-Gen General
| of the Southern Confederacy, and the real
| author of Libby Prison, Belle Isle, Ander-
sonville, Salisbury and the other prisons
| In them he had to deal with prisoners of
war, and was in some manner restrained
by the ordinary laws of war On the
other hand Castle Thunder was the place
| where any man charged with treason
against the Southern Confederacy, with
spying or other offences, was confined
The only Union soldiers who got in there
were those accused Of offenses against the
laws of war. The cold-blooded, malig
nant Winder conld therefore do about as
he pleased in Eastle Thunder, and he
pleased to do about as bad as any man
in history. The Southern Confederacy
had great deal of, business on hand
| about that time, and was not paying
much attention to what its Hangman-in-
Chief, for that was what he was, was do
ing Any man sent to Castle Thunder
no fn ho haI as,.Jo
| and but little attention was paid to what
was being done with him. A great deal
of trouble was saved by disposing of him
at the end of =, rope, or standing him
fagainst that high wall there. in front of
| squad of musketeew. / doubt if the
walls of any building outside Spanish or
Turkish prison could, if they had tongues.
tell such tales as that high wall there and
those of that gloomy old building When
| man went inside there he left hope be-
hind as completely as 1t seems to me
| have seen written some other place. Few
ever got out. Those who didn't die of star
walton or disease generally made their exit
at the hands of a hangman or a file of sol
| diers. No record was ever made Of it
nothing was ever said about it. All that
we know of it is from an occasional pris-
| Oner, who had the rare good fortune to
have those big doors there open out again
for him into the living world"
Say, We want to go up there and see
that place" said Monty scruggs. "rhis
| about in the stories of the Inquisition and
the Dark Ages. 1t begins to look more
| like castle to me. Old Winder seems to
have been built something on the lines of
old Bluebeard, except that he had a
taste for cutting mems threats instead of
women's."
well" said the Captain, "if you could
get hold of the records of that place
| which you can't, for the men who man
aged it made sure that they would never
see the light Of day, you would get ma.
terial enough for dozen of Fox's Book
OF Martyrs, and other similar grewsome
as that so. Captain?" said Monty
greatly interested. ''Come on, boys; let's
go up there and look through it."
Eyes, this is Castle Thunder all right"
said Harry Joslyn, as the boys stopped in
front of the gloomy portal, and read the
sign over the door.
Everything about told of long and hard
usage. 1t had that understandable appear
ance only given by men kept constantly
on duty, month in and month out, day and
night. The idling guards had bored holes
in the bricks with their bayonets, carved
their initials on the woodwork. worn paths
in the bricks where they paced their BEATS
made rude seats here and there on which
1
which was a semi-circle Of ancient crusted
tobaco-j juice.
| A mulatto, superbly built. with a COM
plexion Of rich coffee just touched with
cream. and wearing on his spotless. close
ly-itting uniform. the diamond and chew
r0ns of an Orderly-Sergeant, appeared
His features were regular and European,
his hair as straight and black as an In
dams, and a coaEblack. carefully-tended
mustache brought out in strong contrast
his large. perfectly regular, glittering
white teeth. His fawless attire was COM
pleted by paper collar and cuffs, neat
white gloves, and a polished black belt.
from which hung in FURNISHED scabbard
n Sergeant's straight sword. The boys
eyes took him in with, complete approval
In appearance hezWas all that a soldier
an Orderly Sergeant-should be. His
manner was stern and commanding.
A tall, broadshouldered. fine-looking
negro stood on post of the left Of the large
door, and presented arms as the Orderly
Sergeant approached. The boys had noted
him as they approached as good illus
tration Of what Iconld be done with
negro by strict OF training aud discipline.