The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1915-03-07
SOUTH REFUTED CHARGES OF
ITS INHUMANITY.
March 6, 1865.

| Fifty years ago today citizens of Rich
mond were debating one OF the sOrcSt
points in the war the treatment of pris-
! Oners. in discussions of a report on the
| condition of Confederate and Federal
| military prisons and hospitals. submit
| ted TO the Confederate congress three
! days before by an investigating commit
| tee.
The report was an impassioncd de-
Tense Of the Souths treatment of pris-
oncrs of war. II was intended TO re-
! fut" Federal charges of deliberate and
wilIful cruelty to prisoners OF war by
| the Confedcraics.
These charges had bceu made in a
Congressional committee report. and in
a similar report of the Sanitary COM
mission. to which vas appended photo
graphs Of certain prisoners returned
from the South.
Both these reports tho Confederate in
v"stigatinS Committc" denounced as
Sensational
Til" photographs accompanying the
,, Sanitary Commissions report were term
cd misleading. in that the text accom-
panying them made it appear that the
sick and emaciatsd men pictured were
representatives of the general state of
the prisoners held by the South.
The report stated that the IOnfcdcr-
ate hospitals in which the prisoners Of
war arc treat",S are highly Creditablc to
the authorities which established them.
and L" tn" surgeons and their aids who
have 50 humancIy conducted them
Counter Charges Made.
The Confederate report declared that
tho men shown in tn" photographs had
been we'll treated in tn" Confederate
prison hospitals. that their Illness was
not tn" result Of iiI-t-eatment or neg
l"ct. and that such cases might he found
in any large hospital. North or South.
and even ia private families. where
the sufferer would hc surrounded by
every comfor: that love could hcstow"
The report made counter charges, and
presented testimony Of Confederate sur
C"ons who agreed that they had seen
among returned COnfedNrdtes several
worse cases Of emaCiation and sickness
than were represented in the Sanitary
Commission photographs. Surgeon ".
y. Spence testified that he At Sa-
vannah a number of returned prisoners
from Baltimore. and that out of $500,
Az died on tho passage Many more died
in a few DAYS.
Surgeon Alex Tinslcv. who was on
duty in Virginia. declared that in one
lot OF prisoners landed at Rockets. on
the James River. !; out Of about -
Were found dead. and at least - died in
one night after they were received.
Humanity In Hospitals.
The Confcdorat" committee declared
that Hospital No. II" in Richmond
which was attacked in tn" Sanitary
Commission report. was a well-conduct-
ed one Tho treatment of Northern
prisoners in tines" hospitals has been
everything that humanity could dictate
their wards have been weli-ven-
tiIatcd and clean; their food the hest
that could h" procured for them; and.
in fact. no distinction has been made
between their treatment and that Of our
sick and wounded mon.
"Moreover, il l. proved that il has
been the constant practice to supply the
patients out of the hospital funds such
a.ticIes as milk. butter. eggs. tea and
other deIcacos when they were rcquir-
Cd by the condition Of the patient. This
is proved by the testimony Of +. T Dali
rinple OF New York: George Henry
Brown. Of Pennsylvania. and Freeman
n. league. of New Hampshre.' Fed
eral prisoners whose dispositions accomp-
anied the reportD
In contrast conditions in the Federal
hospital on Johnsons Island. Ohio. were
cited. Col !. Fl Holman testified that
the Federal authorities there did not
furnish the sick prisoners the articles of
food that were prescribed by their own
surgeons. All that they would do. he
said. was 70 permit the prisoners to buy
stimulants, etc. if they had the money.
hut otherwise they could not get them.
There was a fund among the Confed-
crate prisoners there to purchase these
necessities for those who had no money
OF their own.
When il is remembered" the report
continued. that such articles as eggs.
milk and butter were very scarce and
high priced in Richmond and plentiful
and cheap at the North. the contrast
thus presented may well put to shame
the Sanitary Commission.
Equality In RstiOns
The allegation of tho Federals that the
qua rds at Libby Prison recklessIy and |
fnhumancIy shot down prisoners was |
termed absolutely false" II was stat
ed that only FIVE or six cases Of shoot !
ing had occurred. and that investigation |
had shown them to be justified. The re-
mort declared that at Camp Douglas. !
''hCaC 60. as many as eighteen Cnnfcder- /
ate prisoners had hccn shot in the course |
nf month. and that at Fort Delaware /
several others had been shot.
As to tho cleanliness ~ tho Southern /
prisons tho committee declared that .
Il
itarv condition. hut that MANY Of tho
prisoners were habituaIIv careless apd .
consequently offset the work OF the Con-
federatc authorities.
The report declared that the charge
that the Confederate government dclIb-
erateIy deprived Federal prisoners of
prnpcr food was erron"o Gus: that evidence p.
proved that tho rations furnished pris-
oncrs Of war in Richmond and on Bell"
Isle wer" never less than those furnish
cd 20 the Confederate soldiers who
uarded them.
Thu grievances of Confederate prison.
ers in the North were stated insult
fcient food: "ignominious. cruel and
barbarous practices. of which there is
no parallel in anything that has occur
red in the SOUTH cold. damp felon's
cells: camps infected with smallpox;
compelled to sit down naked in the
snow for 10 or 10 minutes. or to ride a
plank only four inches wide. called
'Morgan's horse"
I'VE believe the report concluded.
that there are many thousands Of just.
United States upon whom this subject.
thus presented. will not be lost; that
they will do all they can to mitigate the
horrors of war to complete the exchange
of prisoners. now happily in progress.
and to prevent the recurrence of such
sufferings as have been narrated: and
We repest the words of the Confederate
congress in their manifesto OF the 18th
of June. 1864: We commit our cause to
the enlightened Judgment OF the world: