Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1911-05-13
From The Brooklyn Eagle.

From Inc Brooklyn Eagle.
officer OF the Day George R. Brown,
OF I. 5. Grant Post, No. 327, G. A. R.,
was asked at a recent encampment to
give some of his experiences in An
dersonville prison during the civil
war, he having been there for seven
teen months, when he was not quite
seventeen years old He was a mem
Der of the Fifteenth New York Cavalry
one of the youngest of the enlisted men
Of the regiment Mr.. Brown gave the
account of the hanging of six union
prisoners by their own men. He said:
The even of which l shall speak,
the hanging of six soldiers (no, l Will
not call them by that honorable title,
brutes vii do, was the greatest an
most exciting of al that occurred while
I was a prisoner of war at Anderson
vile, in 1864.
Il was taken prisoner February 4,
/ (the adjutant generals report says it
was the 5th) and on the 18th or 26th
was turned loose in that place, being
one of 400 to arrive that day from
Richmond Four hundred preceded Us
I the day before. That was the open
ing day at TIT place. From that time
on they brought the union prisoners
from Richmond, Belle Island and other
prisons to AndersOnville, and most
OF those taken in the campaign Of
1864. On July l there We're about go
1 009 prisoners there, without any form
LOT government For convenience, we
we've divided into detachments of 270
each, and subdividad into squads of
|93, and the mess Of 80, rule of
three" established by Captain Wirz,
( the commander Of the prison.
To appreciate the condition of al
fairs, remember there We're about go
GOO boys and men without any form of
governmental and the Confederates made
no attempt to maintain order in the
I prison Their whole energies We're
concentrated on preventing our es-
cape | do not think they would have
interfered if we had killed each other.
Il was every man for himself and Wirz
for us all This being the case, the
rough element banded together to steal
and murder, if necessary, for plundae.
They We're called The Raiders. They
grew bolder and more defiant as the
days and weeks passed until there was
d reign OF terror among us. We Were
ON the same level, a sergeant being
the highest rank; there was no law,
ana no one in position to enforce it.
There was fighting every day between
the Raiders and soldiers Tor prisoners
until Sergt Key made up his mind
to crush the Raiders.
Key was from Illinois, tall, dark
man and brave as he was tall He
organized the police, or regulators, rs
we called them-about two hundred
wen men, and they started in to clean
up the Raiders. The Regulators were
all Western men and they Went TO
work about the last of June. Key in
formed Wirz what he proposed to do,
so that we would not be fired upon
from the forts outside. Wirz ap-
proved of this and allowed Key to
take the Raiders outside as fast as
he could capture them The Raiders
found oat what was up and We're ready
for battle. which began on July g. It
was life or death with them The re-
suit was. that more than one hundred
We're taken outside 1t was a great
sight Men on the inside IGN ing and
|al the forts outside v.h their can
non turned upbn US ready TO fire at
the command. There were $4,000 men
prisoners on eighteen acres Of laud
watching the fight The fight lasted
about ten minutes, and when the 20
lice or Regulators, won a shout went
up that made the earth shake This
was The beginning Of the end. Key or
gained a courtmartial Of thirteen ser
Igeants from the latest arrivals among
the prisons, that they might have no
prejudice against the Raiders. Tue
trial was carefully conducted with all
ne Formally Of legul procedure, and
six Of them were found guilty Of muir
der Quite a number We're sentenced
to wear the ball and chain and others
had 10 run the gan2det Three were
killed by this mode Of punishment.