Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1906-04-27
A SONG FROM PRISON..
Story of the Rousing Fourth of July
Demonstration at Ander-
sonville.


should not be enough left to guard the
$4,000 union prisoners. He appealed
for reenforcements to Gen. Cobb, COM
mander of the district, but none were
to be had. On the Fourth of July Gen.
Cobb with several staff officers visited
Andersonville, and the general made
an address to the troops of the post,
who had been formed into n hollow
square facing the center. The follow
ing, taken from the Grand Army Sem
tinel, is a graphic description of what
followed
Soldiers of the confederate states.'
began Gen. Cobb, what news Is this
that has been borne to your district
commander from the commandant OF
this post? Can 1t be possible that SOL
diers of the -Georgians-have
been guilty of desertion-of abandon
ing the duty assigned them Of guard
ing yonder horde of vandals, whom
your more valorous brothers in arms
have captured upon many we'll
fought field?
cat this instant, u o'clock, from the
center of the prison pen was heard the
sound of song. Turning my eyes in
that direction saw that several thou->
sand men had congregated, while 9TH
ers were fastening toward the assem-
blage. Perhaps not more than 80 voices
were wording the first verse of the fa-
miliar anthem. The speaker outside
was continuing expressions of aston
ishment at what he had heard. when
the chorus was reached, and with de-
donations like an explosion 5000 voices
pealed
The Star spangled Banner, o long may It
wave,
Ger the land of the free and the home OF
the brave!
"The song-burst had startled the
speaker or drowned his utterance, for
he had suddenly stopped and turned
his face toward it, When 1t had
ceased, and only few score voices
were singing the second stanza, he
commanded Wirtz, Go stop that
noiseH Wirtz hastened away, and
Howell Cobb resumed:
Would you see that horde turned
loose within your state, to pillage and
burn your homes, with your wives.
sisters and daughters at their mercy?'
THE verse was sung and the chorus
reached again. The congregation num-
bered 10000 more than before. Heaven!
what swell of sound! The very air
seemed 70 quiver with the concussion
the stockade. wall to tremble. The
guards on mount stumbled with won
derment. Writ, who had reached the
great gate, stood stock STILL as If para
lyzed. The soldiers forming the square
were all now facing the prison.
"The storm lulled, the speaker
sought to resume, but his manner was
disconnected. Writ was moving ner-
vously about but essaying nothing.
They heard the breeze of song sweep
ing the lines of the third stanza, but
knew it only foreboded the return of
the tempest. And now 1t comes:
There are 10000 throats swelling
the call of the pennant under which
they had fought, and 5000 more joined
in the invocation
% long may it wave
Ger the land of the free and the home OF
the brave.
THE echo of the last word has but
struck the branches of the pines,
when they begin to repeat. Higher,
wider, deeper, stronger, louder, the
swell! 1t peals-it roars-it booms-
it thunders. 1t is an artillery of song!
The speaker outside stands transfixed.
He has heard the anthem before, but
never as now. Perhaps 1t is remind
ing him of the high position he has
but lately held under the flag it de-
fines. The listeners appears almost
panicked. a guardsman's gun drops
from his hands without his missing
it.
Again they repeat, and now the
scene grows wild. Thirty thousand
voices are changing the chorus-3O, 900
bosoms swelling with thought of coun-.
try and flag and loved ones from whom
they are parted. Men with but one leg
Chamber up, and supported by their
stronger comrades, wave their caps
aloft and join in the chorus:
The star-spangled banner, long may it
wave
Ger the land of the free and the homo of
the brave,
"Once more they repeat. and now all
the prison is in the sky-rending peal
the very walls, the ground. Poor,
fever-wasted frames, within an hour
of dissolution from their spirits, half
uprise and propping upon one hand
raise the withered fingers of the other
aloft while they unite their cracked
voices in the refrain they will hear
never more:
The star-spangled banner o long may it J
wave
Ger the land of the free and the home of
the brave"