The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1907-04-07

Ills IlcllcI, BlIS llSNlCaI tOluCelf SuS
"And hundreds Of sick, who could In no
wise obtain medical aid, died ',iti-
knoled, uncoflincd ana unknown"
Yet the death ratio ut Emlrn was
small compared to Rock Island, III.
Rock Island has u history within 1T
sclf. No space now for 1t. Jefferson
Davis, Abraham Lincoln and Robert u.
Lee arc connected with its history.
Being far removed, Isolated and worry
secure, 1t was chosen az a military
prison In tile full sof 1868 for Confcd
crate prisoners. The climate lnliosplta-
bic, cold winds. merciless blasts. Here
our mon. fio2e to death. rho death rate
was It'd, and three times as great as
ut Andersonville,
South that we also offered a gift Of
well" prisoners 1t was understood
that vessels on tho coast OF Florida
would take the Andcrsonvllle prisoners.
They were, nccordingly, marched by
short stages to the coast. rho captains
and commanders refused to accept the
gift, saying they had no orders to take
them. And we had to march those
poor fellows baclSFto Andersonvillc, ana
they died like sheep along the way
back, too Respondent to live. Here
Stanton refused the g''we1l"-yet when
they received tho sick they retail
iated' because they were the sick and
not we'll Spurned Alexander II. Ste
venss mission, rejected tho mission OF
relief. refused the "well" In Florida
and forced them l,ncl1 to prison, yet
grow ferocious and persccuted vilely.
our prisoners on account OF tho cmn-
ciated appearance Of tho 10000 sick
sent MS a gift for humanity's sake! ,
Truth is stranger than fiction The
gift" was their own men; not Tro-
In \ at. Il
When Mr.. Stephens had failed in his
humane mission for exchange ana fol.
purchase OF medicines and to secure
doctors and hospital supplies for the
| Federal captiyes, and Robert Ould had
failed41n, all his efforts, then Gen. Lee
himself undertook to do something
with the military commanders in the
| field Gen.. BENJAMIN T. Butler was In
| charge Of the prison department, and
he referred the matter to Gen. Grant
| approvingly, and Gen. Grant thus re-
| piled: .s5i5 FL
CITY Point Aug. 10, 1Ss4.-ro
| Gen. Butler: On the subject of ex-
change I differ from Cen Hitchcock.
1t is hard on our men held in South
ern prisons not to exchange them, but
every man of theirs released becomes
an active soldier against us, directly
| exchange to liberate all prisoners we
will have to fight until the whole South
| Is eNterminated. II we hold those
| caught they amount to no more than
dead men. 10. exchange prisoners
| would insure Sherman's defeat and
| compromise our safety
| What an unconscious tribute General
Grant pays to those old veterans lnger
| ing Mn Northern prisons! Grant. mag
! nmOl1S of CHI Ins trn,
| heart here.
Mr.. stanton's official report made on
July 10. 1866, shows that Federal prls-
i oners died, 22,246. while Confederate pris-
| oners died 2G,576. The Surgeon General
| of the United States reported the Fed
| eral prisoners held by US were 100000 T;
the Confederate prisoners held North,
100000. This tells the pathetic story OF
that fatal gift" of 10000 sick sent home
| to get WE'LL No sick were given in re-
turn But they died, bound hand and
| foot, In "retalatory' shackles. Oh, that
fatal Gift" of $4,000 sick! After that
gift 1t was as If sentence Of death were
1 passed upon all our prisoners. @
Reference has been made to marching
i the well prisoners to Florida and the
refusal of the gunboats to accept them.
But there was second march to
1 Florida. In the winter OF 1866 orders
camo from General Howell Cobb to talk.
the Andersonville prisoners to Jackson
Vile, them in possession of the Federals
/ Captain John c. Rutherford, the lamcnted
Macon lawyer, had CHARGE The prisoners
We're marched in sight CT Jacksonville
and the order given: Go to your own
whether they receive you or not" and
our soldiers withdrew, and thus closed
4 lAndersonville, except Lieutenant Faster
lin, of Company y. Third Georgia Re-
serves, was placed In charge Of the sicl
and feeble at Anderso-,vlle, and wa:
there when the surrender came
That fatal gift and Stanton's con.
duct dlsSing the "retaliatory period" from
the arrival Of the $4,000 emaciated unit
the close OF the war; was the cause OF
4 the refusal of a relief fund. Mr.. i. A
l3eresford Hope, member of Parliament
sent over shipload of blankets to tn,
thinly clad Confederate sufferers. stan.
ton sent them back,
Percy Grey the English his
torian. speaking of prison treat.
after all, the Federal prisoner.
did not die so fast as the Con.
iederate prisoners, and tho North wa
without excuse for inflicting cruelty an;
hardships. If the sick Federals persisted
for want of medicines and hospital SUP
plles, It was the fault OF their own GOV
eminent"
Grey further says: 1.-THE Confederat
reports suffice TO show that the Confed
crate Government anxiously desired t,
alleviate the miserles they lacked TIN
power to cure, waving every point dis
puted by the North
At Andersonvlllc the food issued 1,
confederatcs was, largely, unbolted corr
meal, COW peas. sour cane syrup u littl
flour and such beef as could be pur
chased. But there was no discriminate
as to rations. Tho prisoners got VIVA
was issued to Confederates. The dealt
rate at Andersonvle was % per cent
and our men were likewise stricken wit
diarrhoen, the cause of tn greatest mum
Der Of deaths
Captain Wirz, to whom monumen
Will be erected, had deep sympathy TO
The prisoners, and sometimes had ho
words with General Winder ana his soi
Captain Winder, for the meagre provisio
for the prisoners comfort. They Away
replied that they We're doing the hes
they could.
But to the writer 1t was always uuee
I that parole WAS not permitted 10 thci
own prisoners, and Queorer still that med