Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1921-05-11

S*4++4**s***aa ******4****ss,
Much has been written in the last
two years Of war and war horrors
of the fortitude and bravery of thou
sands Of soldiers-of dangers under
gone and OF escapes from death that
seem miraculous. Great as were
thesecases in the world war, they
were but duplicates in a way of pre-
vious wars which had tried mans
souls their nerve and their physical
strength. Thus for many years the
horrors Of that death trap, the con-
federate prison at Andersonville.
were retold as the utmost that men
were forced to undergo in war.
Comparatively few survived Ander-
sonville and Of those few the death
rate was rapid in the years that fol-
lowed. Here and there Is man still
living who went through that ex-
perience. Civil war veterans are dy-
ing at the rate Of thirty day in To-
wa we are told and it Is easily EVIL
dent that their ranks are thinning rap
idly.
One Of the few men in the state who
suffered the prison experiences of
the war and who kept a record of
those trying days was A. H. Blake Of.
Manchester, grandfather of Mrs. Geo.
Heayerman, 1885 B. avenue and Mrs.
]. w. Tolmie, 1888 B. avenue. On
one OF his visits here had the OPP
portunity of interviewing him. His
story, is one in thousand and it is
indeed miraculous that he lived until
May 2, 1921, when one considers the
prison tortures. i
In Prison Is Months
Fifteen months Of the three years
in which he was in the Union army
were spent in Conferedate prisons
and eleven months Of the fifteen
were in Andersonville from the stock
ade Of which practically no one es-:
capped and few lived to tell the tale
after the war was ended. To go to
Andersonville means being doomed
to tortuous death. Only those OF the
stoutest hearts kept their hopes
high, although each day it seemed as
though they would never live to see
the light of another dawn.
Mr.. Blake in the parlance OF the
day FUSED his head" while in prison.
He kept as complete a dairy as pos
sible Of the happenings and this
served after the war in compiling
many OF the early records and
histories Of the time. By cautious
strategy he kept the Confederates
from selling the $156 in money
which he had with him when captur-
ed. he conserved the mere scraps
of food thrown to the prisoners ana
divided it into three equal portions
for each day and when called on to
attend the sick and dying ne oo-
famed the name and company OF
each man from his state who died IN
the prison.
This later information, which ike
the money, he fastened IN MS
clothes was OF inestimable value IN
compiling the records OF his native
state Of Vermont and OF the regl-
ment in which he was a member.
In Stocks for Hours
81 think of Andersonville prison
only with horror and every time my
go back to the eleven
months Of torture / endured, say
little Of the suffering, worse tnan
death"
Sd weak that they could hardly
stand up, the prisoners were often
mt in stocks for hours at time for
some little infringement OF the rules
Of the prison camp or at some Wnam
OF Gen, Writ, the commanding OIL
Ger. Mr.. Blake was sentenced 10
twelve hours in the stock at one
time for merely asking group OF
newly arrived prisoners OF the sue
cess of the northern army, ana
showing pleasure when he heard II
was favorable to the Union cause.
The sanitary conditions were ter
rible. Thirty-five thousand men were
crowded into a space OF thirteen
acres. The food consisted mostly OF
corn meal ground up, cob and all
with no salt and then baked in
leaves about the size OF brick. "A
man was given one Of these every
two DAYS with now and then small
niece Of rancid beef, stale pork or pa
con.
at eat as much in one day now as
I did in seven then" declared MT.
blake. "Its truely remarkable how
little man can live on"
Killed for Shoes
s.Conditions became so desperate
that prisoners were killed by their
fellow captives for even pair OF
shoes, coat, blanket or some
other apparent necessity. OF this Mr.
Blake says in his diary:
..About this time" referring to the
summer, Asmany of our men were
being killed inside the stockade by
4 gang of our own prisoners
from New York and Balti-
more. This gang would select
mostly the new prisoners arriving
and kill them in the night for
pair of shoes, pair Of blankets,
q canteen or any article they could
sell the rebel guard for rations.
Detectives were selected to watch
Tor them and six of the ring leaders
we're caught and after giving them
, fair trial by our men, they were
to be hanged. The rebels
sent to Washington and asked II
his should be carried out and the