Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1908-03-26
Conditions at AndersonviIIe.

II IS the testimony vi veterans WHO
visit the south, and mingle with the
confederate veterans, that those who
were in the field and did the lighting
against us are anxious to cultivate
a friendly feeling toward us who stood
in front of them in battle. They and
we learned then, though fighting
ON opposite sides, to have a certain
respect for one another; and that
feeling has in the passing years grown
stronger. But we do not have the
same feelings for those non-combat-
ants that do not yet know that the
war is over, and so keep on doing as
! they did then-fghting with their
tongues.
| One of the most unfortunate things
that could come to pass in these
days when the old soldiers on both
| sides want friendship, peace and good
will, is the movement of the Daugh-
! tiers of the COnfederacy to erect =
monument to the memory Of Captain
Henry Wirz, the fiend Of Anderson
vile. They may say what they please
about his being a gentle, kind-hoarted
man, but that will not change the
minds of those who knew him in An
Jacksonville and suffered under his
! system of torture. Go where you will
to find men who were shut up in the
prison-pen there, and you will hear
the same story. There is no differ
ence except in minor details. Also
some of the ex-confederates tell the
same things concerning his hard
hearted cruelty. A letter from one
of them was printed in this corner
two weeks ago, and no union soldier
has ever talked harded than he about
Wirz and his treatment Of prisoners.
| Others have been known to talk in
! the same way.
The best thing the Daughters of the
Confederacy can do concerning Wirz
! Is to throw over him the charitable
mantle of silence, especially if they
wish for friendly feelings between the
/ sections of our country. The more
/ they do in a mistaken effort to honor
/ him, the more will the truth be told
/ about him by those who have known
( Wirz and have remarkably good mem
cries. BY this action of theirs they
are setting these old men to talking
everywhere, and what they are saying
! is going into print for preservation
/ where intelligent men and women
/ read and think-where public opinion
4 is formed The Daughters could do
better by Wirg than that,-just keep
still
Here is an article from the editorial
page of the New York Tribune:
( Confederate Authorities Quoted on
Conditions at AndersonvilIe.
To the Editor of The Tribune.
1t is said that the Wirz monument
wifi bear certain inscriptions which
! assume, first, that Wirz was not guilty
of excessive cruenty to union prison
ers; second, that the United States
government is chargeable with the suf-
! fering at AndersOnville; third, that
! the death rates were larger in federal
| prisons than in the prisons of the con-
! federacy. VIII you allow space to
some of the facts bearing upon the
subject, mostly drawn from conf0der-
ate sources? In May, 1864, Howell
! Cobb, in command Of the district, in
spected AndersonvilIe, and in his re-
port says:
There are already 10000 prisoners
in an area intended for only 10000,
and during the warm months before US
this crowding must be attended with
increased mortality
No heed was paid TO this humane
advice. The crowding continued until
within those same limits there were
thirty thousand men. Colonel Chan
der, inspector general, c. S. A, in
July inspected the AndersonVille
prison, and in his report to the con-
federate war department says:
mo shelter whatever, nor material
for constructing any has been pro
Vided by the prison authorities, and,
the ground being entirely bare of
trees, none is within reach of the pris-
oners. *They are supplied with
so limited an amount Of fuel that they
are compelled to dig with their hands
in the filthy marsh before mentioned
for roots with which to cook their
food"
What excuse for this can be given,
when within less than seven hundred
feet Of the stockade there was for
est of towering pines? Again, he
says:
After inquiry, am confident that
green corn and other anti-scorbutics
could readily be obtained"
And yet thousands with bloated
limbs were dying for want of the
green corn which was growing IN
abundance around Andersonville. In a
supplementary report Colonel Chand-
Ter says:
my duty requires me to respect
fully recommend the removal o. Col
onel John H. Winder and the suDsti-
tuition in his place of some one who
unites both energy and good judgment
with some feelings of humanity
Colonel Chandler followed his report
to Richmond, apparently, that action
might be taken thereon. Among ether
Endorsements of this report was one
from Judge J. A Campbell, assistant
secretary of war, as follows:
These reports show a condition Of
, things at Andersonville which calls
very loudly for interposition of the