The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1914-08-15

been raining and the ground was COW
cred with sleet. We had absolutely no |
protection. He'll would have been a |
luxury to us that night says Mr.. |
Fisher
"Scurvy long before this had caus-
cd all of my teeth to fall out and my
finger nails to come off | could stick |
a pin into my legs without a particle |
of feeling. But there were two rays
of light during our time in the pen. |
They were two priests, Fathers Whalen
and Hamilton. There was nothing with
in their power to do that they did not
accomplish. They collected by their
own efforts $4,000 worth of flour, but
not one ounce ever got to us. One day,
the putrid brook that flowed from the
camps of the guards through our en-
closure and was our only water supply,
had almost dried up. Father Hamilton
! dropped on his knees near me and pray
ed with uplifted hands:
| :" Most HOLY Father we are famish-
| ing for water. Give us, we pray Thee,
water. - Almost Immediately water
boiled up and today there is stone
spring house erected over this spring
which was named Providence Spring.
| Gin April, 1865, we were taken
out and taken by train to the Tom
! bigby river where we were put on
boats and taken to Montgomery, Ala.
We were herded up through the streets
and most of us did not have so much
as a slit skirt to cover US. From there
we went to Jackson, Miss, and finally
to point IL miles from Richmond
where we were par0led.
4" When we reached Vicksburg a sa-
lutte of 100 guns was fired and hundreds
of the starved boys grabbed the folds
Of the new garrison flag that was so
large it hung to the ground and wet
it with their tears. Scores died right
there, unable to stand the strain. The
first people we saw there were Catholic
Sisters. They cut our hair, wrote let
ters and aid everything within human
power for us.
We were put on the boats Sultana
and Olive Branch. about 1900 on each
and at Cairo the SUltana blew up, kill
ing or drowning most of the 1900. The
rest of us got to ST. Louis and on May
Is, 1865, all of us were declared ex-
changed.
1--WE finally reached Brattleboro on
May IS. | never lost minute from
The firing line during my service ex-
cept while prisoner but my war rec
Crd does not warrant me an increase in
, pension because of total disability, al
: though | worked up to a few years
: ago.
MIR. Fisher SAYS it took him about
= three years to get enough to eat K
make Up for what he had been denied
lie spCut q short time in the West an,
u few months in Florida. He was EN-
ployed in the Estey shops for Is year
= and then worked as a stone mason
= helping to build among other building
the Canal street school house and tn,
L Home for the Aged.
> He married. Miss Laura Stanton o.
! Lcyden. Mass, in West Brattleboro
= Sept. %, 1856. Rev. Joseph Chandler
" performing the ceremony. Mrs. Fishe
Is a cousin of Secretary of War Stan
ton during the Civil war and grea
{ niece of General Israel Putnam. The
| have two sons, Herbert Stanton an
- Arthur Roscoe, both of Newport, \. H
= Mr.. Fisher has three brothers, Harriso
i of BrattIeboro. Oscar of Keene. \. H
{ and Eugene of Prosser. Wash. and on
. sister, Mrs. May Fisher LOOMS 0
!. Akron, o. He is a member of Sedg
= wick post.
! Mr.. Fisher has in his possession wha
"a he believes to be the only copy in e1
- istance of war time prices of commot
tiles which could be purchased of pri;
q on guards providing any of the prison
= ers had been fortunate enough to &c
u by them with money. A teaspoonfI
. of salt cost five cents pound of gin
~ ger, Sl5, pound of ham, 80. The mos
&c interesting figures are the money va
y ues which show that one dollar
>, gold was worth $35 in Confederat
~ money; one dollar of silver, $40; an
~ one dollar in greenbaeks, 81.