Evening star., 1952-06-09
Prisoners Of War lad 1t Touqh Then
To the Editor of The Star,

To the Editor of The Stor:
The incredible tale of the doings at
Compound rs on Koje Island has left
the American public completely f1abber-
gaSted. The story of the easy life Of
prisoners of war on Koje is certainly a
far cry from the treatment meted out
to Americans by Americans in the
prisoner-ofwa camps during our Civil
War.
There is no blacker chapter in Ameri-
can history than the grim story Of the
prison camps in both the North and the
South. Though civil wars are notoriously
bitter and cruel, the American war was
not characterized by any special bitter
ness by the men who faced each other
over the muskets at Shiloh and Gettys-
burg. Often the reverse was true-and
President Lincoln firmly opposed any
proposals of bloody reprisals at the end.
But the diaries, letters, and journals OF
the veterans who were prisoners tell a
grim and horrible tale of mans inhu-
manity to his brother in helpless cap
tivity.
Pitiful beyond words are some OF
these laconic entries:
September 28-We lost two by death
today; arteries burst; surgeon absent;
bled to death. We have had nothing to
eat today. believe they mean to starve
us to death. -
"To starve us to DEATH" was the uni
versal and constant complaint OF the
prisoners both North and South. for the
food was bad and scanty in all the
camps. Andersonville. Ga, was, of
course, the horrible example. This most
dreaded Of the prison camps was much
publicized both during and after the
war, and it's commandant. Henry WirZ,
was hanged for his alleged inhuman
treatment of Union prisoners. But lest
any one think conditions were much
better in the North, let us read what
Randolph A. Shotwen, a young Con-
federate soldier captured about the time
of the battle of Cold Harbor. has to say
about conditions at Fort Delaware where
he was prisoner:
August 1O-How strange thing it is
to be hungry! Actually craving some
thing to eat. and constantly thinking
about 1t from morning until night, flom
day to day; for weeks and months! :.
For the past month our rations have been
six, sometimes four, hard crackers and
one-tenth of a pound of rusty bacon for
"a hours. But for five days past we have
not had a morsel of meat Of any kind;
the cooks alleging the supply ran short
and spoiled For fortnight before 1t
ceased to be issued, the ration was full
of worms, and stank so that one had to
hold his nose while eating it."
The drinking water was equally bad.
or worse. The water being supplied from
a boat that pumped it from the Della
ware River, supposedly above the high
tide mark, but frequently the crew Of
the boat was too Indifferent to go that
far up the river. for Shotwell writes:
"When the hose pipes from the water
boat are turned into the tanks, the in
terror sediment is stirred up, and the
whole contents becomes turgid. salty.
jellified mass Of wiggle tails, worms.
dead leaves, dead fishes. and other
putrescent denominations. most Of which
is visible in cup of it."
Under such conditions it was little
wonder that the prisoners constantly
dreamed of escaping, and many snd
ingenious were the schemes they de-
vised, some of which were successful.
At Camp Lookout. where the prisoners
were occasionally allowed to bathe st
the beach, the favored method was a
floating box or crate. BY hiding under 1t.
they could drift out of sight Of the
guards. But woe to the luckless prisoner
who was recaptured, for the standard
punishment for attempting such an es-
cape was hanging by the thumbs until he
lost consciousness. But in spite Of priva-
ton, constant hunger and misery. the
uncomfortable spirit of those Americans
rose above their hardships and they
could even laugh at their own pitiable
plight, as they crouched, club in hand
beside a rat hole. in the hope of obtain
ing some fresh meat.
No animal that wandered into one Of
these compounds was safe from the stew
pot. Marcus Toney. Tennessee boy.
among the Confederate prisoners at
Elmira, N. Y, tells the tale of dognap-
ping by some of the prisoners driven
frantic by a constant diet Of salt pork
and bean soup. H'our beans to q gallon
of water. he says) The prisoners cap
tured the dog Of the camp baker (there
Is no account Of them ever capturing q
generaD and ate it. The baker was
naturally indignant and complained to
the commandant, demanding the punish
ment Of the culprits. The dognappcrs
were punished by parading them in
barrel-shirts, bearing placards that read.
II Ate Dog" When twitted about it by
fellow prisoners they replied, 1T wasn't
common cur, but spitz. -
But in spite of such humorous tales
as the one about the Northern prisoner
who kept cutting of pieces from his
trouser legs to mend holes in the seat.
until he had nothing but trunks left; or
the Union captain who sold his boots to
Confederate sentry for one hundred
dollars and pair Of shoes, then went in
sane with rage when he found that he
had been cheated, for the shoes were
for the same foot; the lot Of the prison.
TH;@ ~~l TIL