The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1908-12-16
A MEMORABLE CHRISTMAS SEASON
"reminiscences of a Happy Deliverance
from the Pen at AnderSOnviIIe.

Will Carleton, in one of his home
Iy poems, intimates that the best in
surance for the enjoyment of hea-
ven is to spend few hours in the
other place. 1t must have been a
sensation of that kind that was the
lot of J. B. Robinson of this city Al
years ago last Thursday. Comrade
Robinson is not generally fond of
recalling his horrible experience of
eight months in Anderson and Sails
bury prisons, but the writer hap
pened to hear him mention last week
that the 10th was the anniversary of
the day that he stepped on board a
Union transport on the Carolina
coast and felt himself safe under the
folds of Old Glory, after eight
months spent in the inferno of the
AnGersonville stockade, during the
hottest part of the year 1864. There
were fifty-four comrades of his reg
iment in the squad of prisoners cap
tured along with Comrade Robinson.
About twenty lived to return to the
Union lines, almost all of them more
or less broken in health.
The experiences of Union prison
ers in that Infamous prison pen is a
part of history that every American,
south as we'll as north, would gladly
blot out. We shall not recall any of
the details, except a few words of
Comrade Robinson explaining how
he managed to live through that
awful experience and how he hap
! pened to be released. The prisoners
released on that 10th day of Deem
Der were a portion of 10000 sick and
wounded prisoners exchanged by
mutual agreement between the con-
tending armies. Mr.. Robinson was
not helpless enough to be classified
as sick, but was fortunate in being
detailed as a nurse to wait on his
sick comrades, one nurse being a.
lowed for a given number of sick.
incidentally we learned that Com
rade Robinson ascribes his escape
from disease to the fact that as or
derly sergeant it naturally developed
upon him to look after a bunch Of
prisoners from his company, to.nurse
the sick, cheer up the disheartened
/ and all too soon to assist in the buri-
al of the dead. One hot day in Aug
) ust lives in his memory when three
Z out Of that squad of 81 were carried
out and cast into the trench that
! soon contained a great many more
t of the dead than were among the
! living inside the stockade.
] Trying to find something encour-
' aging to say to cheer the boys
t helped me to keep heartened up,
e and waiting on them kept me busy"
s was the substance of the old veter-
n ans conclusions, and all the older
: residents of Redwood Falls know
!, that Brother Robinson has never
;. got over the habit of helping the
e sick and afflicted and keeping busy.
d How about that first Christmas
o at homer" was asked by the inter
g viewer. Il didn't get home in time
n for Christmas" was the answer. ]
remember where we ate our Christ.
mas dinner, though. 1t was in q
Baltimore restaurant that we boys
# looked up, and at least one thing
il about that dinner ! remember very
= well. When a nice loaf of southern
corn bread was brought to the table
20 by the girl who waited on US. thu
N boys began to laugh, but ! though
m it was no laughing matter. aftel
IS eight months of corn bread and moth
Y, ing else. to haye the hateful stuff il
N sight. and politely asked the waitel
!" to remove it."
le Next day the the train took tn,
y. squad back to their home in western
New York, and it needs no assur
g ance that their first Christmas wee
f. at home was round of deligh
e. IL - x.@@x,~~~ - 1@r