The National tribune., 1905-11-16
PRISON MEMORIES.

guard was sent to escort us-the con-
scripts and me-tO our quarters.
| AS in the Mobile and Mississippi pris-
ons where / had been confined some
regard was had for the stomachs of
captive Yankees, / was foolish enough
| to wonder at this time what we were to
have for supper, for l had not tasted
| food since morning. But it soon
Gawned upon me that, veteran as /
might me. l had many things to learn.
| Richmond was too near the seat of
| treason and the malign influence Of it's
| leaders to permit any catering to such
small matters as the hunger Of a Yam
| kee prisoner.
The Motley and Brutal Inmates of Castle
| Thunder.
Thus, with the cravings of the hun
CRY stomach of robust youth, with the
cold of a windowless room, in which no
| fire was ever lighted, and with snow
on the ground, and no friendly blanket,
| with feet soaked in snow water, and
| being among and surrounded by
la pack of demoniac ruffians who
alton of Dante himself, I spent a
night of horror, a few repetitions Of
| which would seem to suffice to drive
| reason from its throne in stole or phil
| osopher.
To reach this chamber our guards
L
mentioned above. at the end Of which
we found sentry on guard to prevent
any captive from coming down. Pass
| ing this sentry we entered upon the
| passage of two long flights of stairs
| leading to the third floor, where we
| found another sentry standing guard
over the stair entrance and over a cot
| on which lay a man covered, body and
| face, with a blanket. Still another
| flight assembled from this floor, for the
Castle was fOur-storied. But, leaving
| room for passageway to the foot of
TINS last stairway, partition of pal
ings was thrown across this third floor.
which partition separated the stair and
the man on the cot, with his guard
| from the main prison hall, into which
we were put through a gateway. A
| very large gasflame was burning in this
small room, making it almost as light
as day. and this threw an uncanny light
through the latticework of the parti-
| ton and upon as motley and brutal
crowd as ever cut a throat or scut-
| tied Ship"
Our passage up the stairs had at
tracted the attention of the inmates.
and Immediately we came in view at
the head Of the stairway a most un-
earthly yell was sent up. Fresh
| fish,! Fresh fish," they bawled, and
as soon as the turnkey put us among
them they lowered about us like a set
| new arrivals Of whatever they pos
sessed which seemed to them desirable
| The cOnScriptS had some bundles Of
! clothing, which were cOnfiscated with
! little ceremony and less courtesy. The
only thing they saw about me to at
/ tract their cupidity was my hat, which
they took, and for the next term Of
weeks 1 saw that hat on the head Of
| one OF the worst deSperadoes that ever
| went unhanged as long as he did. file
was Federal deserter and all-around
| deSperado, who Is months later met
his just doom at the hands OF the suf-
| fering heroes in Andersonville His
| name was Curtis, and he was credited
in Castle Thunder and later I'm Sails
bury, where we again met, with having
been deserter first from a New Or
leans organization in the Confederate
service, and later still from the Fed
eral army before Fredericksburg. Be
| this as 1t may, he met with q we'll
deserved fate when he was hanged by
the prisoners in Andersonville. He,
with several others, mostly deserters,
was convicted Of robbery and murder.
and all were put to death on the gal
lows In that prison-pen in the Summer
of 1854, as history records. We have
several Minnesota citizens who wit
messed the execution.
Desperate and dastardly as was Cur
tbs, he found plenty Of boon compan-
u
leader among them but more from su-
perior physical strength than from ex-
cessive moral delinquency over the
band OF, cut-throats with whom he
trained in the Richmond Bastile. AS an
instance Of their murderOus instinct. I
recall that two of them deliberately
cut OFF the finger Of a sleeping Fresh
fish" who wore a gold ring that fitted
too tightly to be removed. The victim
had come In from some distant part.
and was completely wornout. which
caused him to sleep an almost wakeless
slumber. and he did not arouse from the
attempts to remove the ring until the
fiends applied the knife.
McMahon's Fate.
These were my companions, most of
whom were not only criminally brutal,
but were the sworn and deadly enemy
to the Yankees. My first night was a
sleepless one, and the morning light
failed to reveal a friendly face. Some
of them. as later appeared, were not
criminals, and gradually I came to
know the sheep from the wolves I
i found one interesting character named
Mcmahon, who had lived in Philadel-
phia. but who, being South at the out
break OF war, had taken service in some
local organization, but had been ac-
cused Of disloyalty and an attempt to
desert. He did not consider the charges
against him as serious, and the fact that
he was not put I'm cell was an evidence
that his offense was not particularly SO.
However. before / left Castle Thunder
he was taken from our room and sent
TO the floor above, which indicated
graver charges; and later in the sea-
son. while was confined in Libby Pris-
on. l saw poor Mac marched by that
place with his hands manacled behind
him and I'm charge Of the notorious and
infamous detective Caphart and a file
Of soldiers. He was marched to a place
below Richmond called the Rockets.
and there at sunrise was shot to death.
He was courteous gentleman Of good
education, was intelligent, and enter
tanning In conversation and in general
intercourse. To me he appeared to de-
serve a better fate.
I have mentioned the man on the
couch at the head Of the stairs, over
whom guard stood. From Mcmahon
learned that this man was charged
with being q spy and was considered
to be one Of the most desperate and
courageous men known to the authors
ties. Immediately took q deep inter-
est In him and used to 60 to the bar
rier between us and try to enter into
conversation with him. He would talk
quite freely until I expressed sympathy
for him and told him I was q friend.
and then he closed like an oyster.
II NehafAp. The U~~~-0~-