The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1905-07-09

corn bread? Answers to these questions
I may be ahundantly found by referring to
tho orders of Major G enoral John Pope,
directing his mon 'to 1.-Two on tho coun-
try; the orders of General Sherman In
fnlfilling his nvowed purpose to make
Georgia howl" as he "sn,nshcd things
generally In that great march," which
left smoking and blackencd ruins and
desolated fields to.mark his progress; the
orders OF General Grant to his lieutenant
to desolate the rich wheat growing Val.
ley of Virginia. or the reports Of General
Sheridan, boastlng of tho number OF
barns he had burned. the mills he had
destroyed, and the large amount OF wheat
he had given TO the flames, until there
was really more truth than poetry in the
poast that he had made the Shenandoah
valley such waste that even = crow
Tying over would be compelled to carry
his own rations."
we have these and other similar orders
OF Federal Generals lin our archives I'VE
propose to give hereafter a few choice
extracts from them), and we respcctfullv
submit that, for the South to be abused
Tor not furnishing Federal prisoners with
better rations, when our own soldiers and
people mad been brought painfully near.
the starvation point by tho mode OF
adopted, is even more unreasonable than
the course of the old Egyptian task
masters. who required their captives to
make brick without straw" And to the
complaints that the sick did not have
proper medical attention. we reply that
the hospital at Andcrsonvills was placed
on precisely the same footing as the
hospitals for the treatment of our own
soldiers We have the law Of the Confea-
til,
orders of the Surgeon Gcnerll enforcing
It. Besides, we have in our archives a
large budget of original orders, telcgran,s,
letters. etc, which passed between tho
officers on duty ut Andcrsonville and
their suncrlors. We have carefully looked
through this largo mass of papers. and
we have been unable to discover a single
sentence indicating that the prisoners
were to be treated otherwise than kindly.
or that the hospital was to receive a,
smaller supply of medicine or stores
than the hospital for Confederate SOL
diers. On the contrary the whole OF
these papers go to show that the prison
hospital at Andersonville was on the
same footing precisely with every hosri-
tai for sick or wounded Confederates
and that tho scarcity Of medicines and
hospital stores OF which there was such
constant complaint, proceeded from
causes which our authorities could not
control.
But we. can make the case still strong
cr. Whose fault was 1t that tho Con-
federacy was utterly unable to supply
medicines for the hospitals OF either
friend or foe? Most unqucstonably the
responsibility rests with the Federal ali-
thorities. They not only declared mcdi-
cnes "contraband Of war"-even arrest
inE ladies coming South for concealing
little nulnine under their skirts-hut
they sanctioned the custom of their SOL
diers to sack every drug store in the
Confederacy which they could reach, and
to destroy even the little stock of medi-
cnes. which the private physician might
chance to have nnlhand
When General NIilroy bonishcd from
Winchester, Virginia. the family Of Mr.
LLOYD Logan because the General (and
his wife) fancIed his elegantly furnished
mansion for headquarters he not only
forbade their carrying with them {,
change of raimcnt. and refused to allow
Mrs Logan to take ono OF her spoons
with which to administer medicine to a
sick child but he most cmphaticnlly pro-.
hibited their carrying n small medicine
chest or even n few Walls OF medicine
which the physician had prescribed for
Immediate use. Posi- bly, some ingenious
casusist may defend this policy; hut who
will defend Mt the bar of history the
refusal Of tho Federal authorities TO
accept Judge Guilds several propositions
to allow surgeons from either side to
visit and minister to their own men in
prlson--to allow each to furnish medi-
cines. etc, 10 their prisoners in the
hands Of the other-nnd finally to pur-
chase in tho North. for gold, cotton, or
tobacco. medicines for the exclusive use
OF Federal prisoners in the South? Web
might General Lee have said to Prcsi-
dent Davis. In response to expressions q +
bitter disappointment when he reported
tho failure OF his efforts to bring about
an exchange Of prisoners: "Wc have
done everything In our power to mitigate
,, the sufferlngs of prisoners, md there is
no Just cause for sense Of further re-
sponsiblity on our part
AT the close OF COR full> discussion of
tho various phases of the prison qucs-
ton, WE said:
and now It only remains th1t we
make brief summing Up of ibis whole
| question OF the treatment Of prisoners
| during the war, w think that VIC have
| established the following points:
y, Tho laws Of the Confederate Con-
grcss, the orders os the War Depart
| mont. the regulations of the surgoon-
| General the action of our generals in
| tho field, ana the orders Of those who
| had thu immediate charge of tho prison.
Grs. all provided that prisoners in the
hands OF the Confcd"yatcs should be
kindly treated, supplied with the same
cations which orr soldiers had, and cared
for when slick in hospitals placed on pre-
clscly the same footing rs tho hospitals
for Confederate soldiers,
80 If these reGust tons were violated
| In individual Instances, ana II suborai-
| mates We're sometimes cruel to prisoners,
| 1t was without tho knowledge or con-
| sent OF thc Confederate Government,
which always took prompt action on any
| case reported 10 thorn.
80 II the prFoncrs failed 20 get their
fflll rations, and had those Of inferior
quality. the Confederate soldiers suffered
in precisely the same way. and to tho
| same extent and 1t resulted from that
| syStein Of warfare adopted by the Fed
! eral authorities, which carried desola-
ton and ruin 10 every part of the &outl
they could reach, and which, in starv.
/, ing the Confederates into submission
brought the same evils upon their own
men in Southern prisons
! -. The mortality in Southern prisons
Uearfully large, althnugh over three pc,
/ cent. less than tho mortality in Northern