The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1904-08-04
DOES THIS STIR YOUR SOUL?
One Comrades Experience in Andsrsonvill

EDITOR NATIONAL TRIBUNE: l was
taken prisoner at Fort Darling, Va, May
Ii, and was parOled Nov. %, 1864. We
were taken to Libby Prison and kept
there two weeks; then taken to Salisbury,
n. c.; thence to Andersonville, Ga: l was
taken sick with two most painful, DIS
tressing and weakening diseases. Cob
meal did not agree with me. When l was
taken prisoner l weighed 16O pounds, and
six months in rebel prisons reduced me TO
% pounds. My sickness reduced me to a
skeleton. / got so weak that l be-
came blind and had to be led about. My
Sergeant led me to the rebel doctor, and
he told the Sergeant to take me out of the
stockade and leave me ON the ground; that
Sergeant left me on the ground, to die;
but l would not die for them. l crawled
around on my hands and knees, and found
some oak roots, and l gnawed the bark off
the roots, and it helped me. Then with
others, / was taken to Savannah, Ca, and
back again to Andersonville. When we
went through Savannah l had scurvy in
my legs, which were all drawn up; and
went through Savannah on my hands and
knees. From Andersonville l was taken
to Millen. There l came near dying, and
was put in the hospital for about six
weeks; then was returned to Anderson
vile. The old Dutchman there said: Il
hat got you some more allretty." There
were only about 800 in the prison at that
time. l was there in the time of the raid
ers. l saw the six men hung. l stood
near the dead line, near where Providence
Spring broke out of the sand. / was there
at the time of the freshet. Comrades, dear
comrades. l have almost starved in that
Andersonville hell! have crawled around
on my hands and knees and picked up old
rotten potato skins and ate them; i have
gnawed and sucked old bones that the sun
had fried the grease out of; have taken
stick and poked the maggots out of meat
that was issued to us by the rebels as our
rations--and it was the sweetest meat
ever ate! / had scurvy. and my gums
rOtted off: my teeth crumbled and fell out
my hair fell off; had wasting and pain
full diseases that tortured me but cannot
be written here; my flesh was wasted
away; all my senses were impaired; my
shrivelled. wrinkled, broken skin was my
chief attire; the rags l wore were filled
with vermin. l saw men SO lousy that
they died. l was there in the great rain.
storm. l was there in bean-soup time
and turned my cap wrongside out and
drew my bean soup in that. l had little
wooden paddle that [ ate my bean soup
with-and my boiled rice, and my mush.
was there when the big tunnel was being
dug and a number of small ones were under
way. Perhaps, comrade, l was there
when you were there.
have seen q great deal in the newspa-
pers about the blue and the gray uniting.
Well, the rank and file may unite in other
wars. all right. and touch elbows, and
march and fight together in good-fellow-
ship, but not unite! Nor their officers, at
all.
The rebel Gen. Gordon said in his lee
ture in Richmond that Anderson Vile
Prison was like a second-class hotel!
Now. for all my suffering in those rebel
bells l was granted a pension of 81 q
month! and l was IL years getting that
and six years getting 50 month more.
And have been trying for six or eight years
more to get IN increase, only to be re-
jected by Evans, on the ground that Sc
was all that was allowed to an old soldier
who could not perform manual labor This
is the truth. comrades. l have earned
about $40 or $12 in year; and have a
wife. who is almost totally blind, to sup
port. out of an income of $3.50 q month
and 1 have to pay house rent out of that.
Comrades. will this Government do some
thing for us by and by. before we are all
dead? If it does. it will have to hurry up;
for soon there will be no old soldiers to
pension! Not after death. but now. is the
time it will do US the most good
CURTIS III. TERRY