The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-06-16
A MONUMENT TO HIM NOW.
Forty Years Ago DOrence AtwAter Was
Convicted by COurt-MArtIaI.


T"'' ieAs Hso Dorehee A.".'e' W."
'""''e'eN ny Cour
hAhIFohp' conn, June lS'-Clara bar
ton Vlsit 70 the Conneotlcut General AS
sernDly Ihis week was the elimination OIL
WORK begun before That body forty years 9
"heh Ihe former head OF the RED cross nnAue
an appeal to Connecticut lawmakers IN ne
nan OF Dorence AtWater, who was then
sunering imprisonment Tor an ahegeu
onehce against the military laws
Inc purpose OF Miss bartons WISH thls
time was 70 attend the unVeilng oil a monu-
ment erected by the Government al rlym-
ouIh' 'onn., as d IrlpuCe W 'he eane
AtWater. The story OF MS prosecution oy
the government whlch lorty years iaVer
hohored MN as a nero Is centred aoout
the Andersonville prison and the keeping
Wy h'"aVer Oh d hH' oi V"e ueau 'h'o"
soldiers
florence AtWater was a lau OF 10 hVins az
flymouIh wheh the war Dfoke ouV. oh
August y, 1881, he enlisted. he was TAKEN
by the Confederates and landed in Ander-
sonyilIe prison in February. 1884.
Lf,ar ho,.ina hoan oonenad in tho stock-
' 80 =
aue lor lhree mohtls anu Ater III 'he NOS
pital, young Atwater was, in June, 1884
assigned as a clerk in the office Of the sur
geon j. X. White to keen the daily record
o ~. roo-oI p-Sonora Irndar
oi .he uea'is Vi re"eial pi.e 80
Instructions he maze monthly ana quarterly
reports and abstracts OF the deaths the
latter. hi WAS given to understand, to be
forwo rdad to tho Eadera, Goyernment.
W |Sn 49, 49, ra.z
Ai'er d YIN he '"HT NeS h'''
were not being received by the Govern
ment. and he undertook to copy secretly
- -N-l.- a. n
nar,as Tho lets no hid in the lining Of
NV ~ @ - -
MS Goat as ne 'ene NJ 80 80
in March, 1865, ne lett the prison ne hao
with him a valuable record of the institu-
tion
A. soo, "a ho could oct into commune
Al soon a ~ OUu g. ~ o-".n-,
cation with the secretary Oh war ne noI"ieu
him that he had the lists. While waiting for
an answer he became i'll and was bundled
off home.
on oi"e ~ p,uu.h
for SOME tin'e ne was 81 " ~ 10"
that 1t was Thought That he mad no chance
to pull through. A telegram from the
Government received on April II requested
TO come to Washington with hls
rolls, and still ill he started on the trip.
Col. Brock had been instructed to see
the lad, and when Atwater made his appear
ance the Colonel told him that the Secretary
of Var had authorized him to pay $500
the rolls.
"But l don't want to sell them urged
the lad. They ought to be published for
the benefit of the friends OF the dead, for
whom chiefly ! copied them"
The interview was cut short by the Colo
mel with the following rejoinder: If you
go to publish them the War Department
can call them c~ontraband matter and con-
fscate them. You can have until 0 o'clock
tomorrow morning to decide whether You
will take the $500 or not
He was alone in Washington without
friends and advisers, and with the threat
lowering over him that his rolls might be
taken from him Atwater gave in, and APP
bearing before the Colonel the following
day said: Give me $500, a clerkship and
my rolls pack again as soon as copied and
YOU can take them"
The bargain was concluded with the
agreement that Atwater should have the
rolls again very soon. The rest Of the story
con1arna AtUntar's various attempts to