Year: 1863

the cruelties about to be practiced upon
me- One of the prisoners having learned
few days afterwards, through the medi-
um OF the newspapers, who the mysterious
stranger was, wrote to a friend of his @tbat
Or. O'ds, Of Ohio, had been brought to
Fort Lafayette and plcaed in solitary
confinement His letter was returned to
HIM by the commandant, requiring him to
strike out so much of it as referred to tho
case of DR.. Olds.


MY dungeon was on the ground, with a
brick pavement or floor about one half Of
1t and so great was the dampness, that
IN very short time a mould would gather
upon any article left on the floor. Nv
bed was an iron stfetchcr, with very thin
musk mattress upon it-so thin, indeed.
that you could feel every iron Slat in it the
moment you lay down upon it. The brick
floor with all its dampncss, would bav.
been tar more comfortable than this iron
and husk bed, Lad it not been for the
rats and vermin that infested the room
had also in my room broken table and
chair' "A chunk of Government bread
with an oid, sinking rusty tin of Lincoln
c0Hee' with slice OF boiled salted pork.
was my fare. My only drink other than
thelr nasty coffee, was rain water. Twas
furnished with no towel, neither could anv
ehtreaty procure one for me- Neither
could induce my jailer to let me have n
candle during my long, tedious nipbts-
NO entrealy could procure for Inc the re-
TURN OF 'he medicines which had been ta-
ken from me when | was searched. Again
and again L begged for the little bII Of
opium to relieve my suffering, which had
Deem taken from my pocket with other
medicine, but all in vain.


After ten days Of such treatment and
such suffering, late one night the seryent
OF the guard brought me some medicine.
which, he informed me, the surgeon at
Fort Hamilton had sent me. This sur-
geon knew nothing about my case, having
never seen ME, or been informed by me Of
my condition. With no light in nv cell.
with no one to give me drink of NV
ram water you can well imagine that [
would not take the medicine. l did not
know but that my jailors designed to poi
son me. Their previous treatment iusti.
lied such an opinion. l made up nv
mind that, If died in Fort LAFAYETTE. I
would die natural death, unless indeed
Aucoln ordered me te be tried by drum.
head court martial and shot, which | felt
ne had just as much right to do as he had
to arrest and Imprlson me in the manner
he had done. Under such treatment, and
BY this time, you may well imagine that
had got big mad on me, and this I
think helped 10 save nay life for the truth
Is, had not got to be too mad 10 die,
and no thanks to Lincoln but under a
kind Proyldence,' began to get better
from that time on.


You can well Imagine that after such
treatment, when my son was permitted to
visit me, he found me emaciated and
care-worn.' The only wonder is that he
found me a,ive.


If anything could add to the cruelty in
Hlcted upon NE during these long days and
nights OF my sickness and suffering, it was
the re usa Of the commandant to allow me
the use OF Bible. Day after day | beg
ged the sergeant to procure one for me-
His constant answer was "The comman-
ding officer says you shan't have one." I
begged him 70 remind the commanding
officer that we lived in a Christian, and
not heathen land that was an Ameri-
can citizen, and not a condemned felop.-
Still the answer was: "The commanding
officer says you shant have one, aud you
need not ask any more"


1t was upon the sixteenth day Of my
lonely Imprisonment that my son, upon
an order Of the Secretary of War, was
permitted to see me, not in lonely cell,
but in the commandant's room and pres
ence. 1t was with much difficulty, that
even at that time, | was able to walk from
my cell to the commaudant's room. This
was the first time during my Imprisonment
that had been able to obtain an inter
view with the commandant In his week.
ly inspection of the prisoners he had care
inly avoided my dungeon. No kindly
message OF inqiIry as to my wants and
cordltlon had ever reached me from him.
| seized upon this opportunity to let him
know that / was humane being, and as
such was entitled the humane treatment
that such thing as refusing prisoner a
Bible was unknown to any civilized COM
munity.


My son was compelled to visit Washing.
ton city, and obtained from the Secretary
OF War an order to that effect, before be
could see me, As soon as he learned
how had been treated, he returned to
Washington, and with the assistance Of
very kind friends, procured an order from
Secretary Stanton for my release from
solitary confinement, and that / should
have the privileges accorded to other pris-
oners.


Such, my friends, is plain statement
of the manner of my arrest, and the treat
ment L received during the twenty two
days ofmy solitary confinement. If it al
e l.. - T. n