Year: 1862

| Ex-Governor Morehead, in his descrip-


ton of Fort Lafayette, says: rr


was seized at two O'Clock at night in m v


own bed, dragged from it and my family,
without moments warning, and carried


across the Ohio River in defiance of the writ
/ of habeas corpus The soldiers took me and


ran me by night by specialt train to Indianap-
oils. One of the Judges of tho Supreme


Court sent Marshal with habeos corpus to


bring me back; but was carried by special
train to Columbus, Ohio. There was kept
awhile, and aiterward I was carried on to
New York, and afterward hurried on to the
prison of Lafayette. / can not we'll con-
| ceive of any horror more dreadful than that
which was experienced in that prison. 1t


has a small court. not much larger than this
room, for exercise. Thirty ight of us were


placed in one room, five thirty-two pound or
cannons OCCUPYING one portion Of the room,


which was 60 feet in length and % in depth


The floor was a brick floor so damp tn at
your boots would be covered with green
mold every morning. They gave me four
teen pounds Of straw to sleep on, carefully
weighed, about half rotten. 1t was placed
in a very coarse tick. l am, without nv
Shoes. six feet in hight, and the bed m ca
sured four feet seven inches. We had one
very dirty tin cup to drink out of. and the
water we drank was filed with tadpoles.-
We had to hold cur noses when we drank
and strain every drop Of it.


We were lock- ed up at six at night, and
kept till six next morning, without any nat
ural convenience whatever. suffering the
agonies of death. There was an old man
brought from Kentucky upward of seventy
years of age. A friend had sent me some
liquors. and l asked him if he would not
like to have little whisky or brandy, and
he said yes, it was the only time in his
life that he felt that good dram would be
of service to him. So he took the bottle and
poured out a very heavy drink. He drank


it off without mixing it with water, and took
up a glass of wster-we had purchased
glasses at that time-to drink after it, and
saw the tadpoles. He set it down again,
shaking his head, and said be could not
stand il, and walked away; but the brandy
burned him so much tina. he came back and
took it up, and held it up between the light
Of the sun and himself, and. solioluizing,
said: well. tadpoles. il YOU can stand it,
| cam" and drank it off. Laughter We
wrote a letter to Mr.. Lincoln, signed by
every Individual who was IN the fort, telling
him OF the horrors Of this prison. stating that
we did not pretend to discuss the rishtful-
ness of our imprisoumen but that we sup


osed we were entitled to the common
rights Of human beings


The result of that was that in about a
month we were taken to Fort Warren. They
put on vessel to be taken there by sea.
The Captain told me himself thst the YES
sci was ca'culat to take about $50 persons.
and they took l 100. We were fiftv hours
in making the voyage. and all that was
given to us to eat during that time was a
piece of raw fat barrel pork, perfectly raw,
about the size of my hand. and three
crackers and saw the poor soldiers eating
that raw meat. We had furnished ourselves
with some hing better, hut could not
feed them all with the little we had. We
were placed afterward in Fort Warren upon
the naked floor, without he'd or blanket, or
any thing-not a wisp Of straw even-and
there in that condition we had to rem ain
until We supplied ourselves with such things
is We needed, buvipg beds and bedsteads.
and being allowed by a very kind. excellent
and humane officer, Colonel Dymck k-who
did all he could to alleviate our condition.
being allowed by him to employ a cook aud
% buy PROVISIONS we lived very omfortab,e
there. An order came TO Fort Warren while
they were there. forbidding them TO employ
it being stated shat the mere fact of
EN- y,loying counsel would be sufficient
cause for continuing them in prison.