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 Duke University Libraries 
 
 Evidence taken 
 Conf Pam 12mo #732 
 
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EVIDENCE 
 
 TAKBN CETO»K THE 
 
 COMMITTEE OF TnE BOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 
 
 APPOINTED TO ENQUIRE INTO THE TREATMENT 
 OF PRISONERS AT CASTLE THUNDER. 
 
 Saturday, April l\th, 1863. 
 
 William Causey, sworn —I live in Elizabeth City county ; but have 
 been in Richmond since January, 1361, employed as a detective in 
 General Winder's detective police force. 
 
 I know something of the treatment of the prisoners. They are 
 put in huddles, sometimes five hundred and seven hundred in 
 building. Sometimes they are treated well by the commandan. 
 the wardens ; but I have seen them severely punished. I have seen 
 them tied by the thumbs, and raised up on their toes. I don't think 
 their's could have been very aggravted offences; rather think it waa 
 for disagreements among themselves. I don't know how long they 
 remained tied up, but, from the best information, they were kept some- 
 times eight hours. I don't know that any of the sick prisoners were 
 thus treated. I saw a man hand-cuffed around a post, raised up at 
 first and afterwards cut down when his blood had stagnated. I don't 
 know what offence he had committed. On another occasion a canteen 
 of gun-powder was exploded in the prison room by some of the prison- 
 ers. The powder was collected from cartridges, and was not much in 
 quantitv. I betid the report of it ten minutes after its occurrence, 
 and rode up'to General Winder's office .vith Captain Alexander. While 
 in General Winder's office Captain Alexander reported the circum- 
 stances of the powder explosion. 1 don't know what the General said, 
 but Captain Alexander went back to the prison, and put the men down 
 in the pen outside, where they remained two or three days. They 
 had no covering, and it was raining. The men in the pen were those 
 
in the room where the powder was exploded. Captain Alexander de- 
 manded the names of those who put the powder in the stove, and be- 
 cause the men refused to tell, put them all in the pen. It was last 
 fall, in the month of November, I think. I heard of some of them 
 dying shortly afterwards. They died after that I am positive, but I 
 never knew their names. Prisoners guilty of bad offences have irons 
 on them generally, but I don't think any of the men put in the pen 
 had irons on. 
 
 I think two men have been shot at the prison since Captaiu Alex- 
 ander has been in charge, and one on Franklin street at the guard- 
 house. The man killed at the guard-house was shot while attempting 
 to escape. In my opinion, all could have been arrested without being 
 shot. The desperate men were generally put in Castle Godwin. The 
 soldiers picked up on the street are put in this prison. Castle Godwin 
 is not part of Castle Thunder; Thunder was Godwin's successor in 
 cognoman after removal. The man shot a few nights ago at Castle 
 Thunder certainly could have been captured without shooting. There 
 is a standing order to shoot only if he cannot otherwise be arrested. 
 
 I have seen prisoners whipped ; but I don't know by whose or what 
 authority. I have seen men severely whipped on the buttocks with 
 straps ; don't know how many lashes were laid on, but I should think 
 about fifty. I only saw one whipping. On this occasion the officers 
 were requested by Captain Alexander to go up into the prison room 
 end see the men whipped. The whipping strap was secured on to 
 wooden handles. They were made of harness leather or sole leather 
 from eighteen inches to two feet in length. The blows were laid on 
 about as hard as a man could do it. I have seen prisoners wear the 
 feame clothes for months until they were ready to drop off in rags. I 
 think there have been instances of attempts to bribe the guard. 
 
 Schaffer, sworn. — I reside in Richmond, and am a detective in 
 General Winder's force. The prisoners are treated according to their 
 behavior. Some of them, I think, I have been cruelly treated. They 
 were punished sometimes for fighting, sometimes for stealing. I have 
 seen them whipped, one. received fifteen lasshes, another twenty-five, 
 and a third fifty lashes. The prisoner that received fifty lashes was 
 pretty severely cut. 
 
 I know something about putting the prisoners out in the back yard. 
 It was in November, and it was raining during a portion of the time. 
 They were put there for exploding gunpowder in the building. The 
 prisoners who were put out were put there because they would not tell 
 who did it. Some of those men died afterwards. I could not say 
 who gave the order to put the men in the yard, but I suppose Captain 
 Alexander ordered them to be put there. They had generally wollen 
 clothes on. Two men have been killed in Castle Thunder, and oue in 
 Franklin street guard house. The man last mentioned was attempt- 
 ing to escape when shot. Of the other men, one of them was a de- 
 ranged man, and was put in a cell. He got out of the cell, and in 
 attempting to get away was halted by the sentinel, but not heeding,^ 
 was shot by him. He was a Yankee prisoner, brought from the Libby 
 
3 
 
 prison, and shot the same night. I have seen two men whipped in 
 Castle Thunder, but it "was done by order of the court martial. 
 
 I have seen prisoners." bucked " for one or two hours. Some of 
 them had attempted to escape ; others had been insulting to the officers 
 of the prison. Some of the prisoners are well clad, and others 
 very poorly. Some have no bed clothing.- I have been connected 
 with the prison over one year. I know the prisoners need clothing, 
 and common decency requires that they should be better clothed. The 
 prison is kept very clean, as clean as it well can be. The printed 
 rules require this. I have never heard the officers of the prison 
 abuse the prisoners unless the prisoners were refractory. One pris- 
 oners' clotning is very frequently stolen by the others. 
 
 Robert B. Crow sworn. — I am a resident of Richmond, and have 
 been for forty years. I am one of the detective force under the Pro- 
 vost Marshal, or rather, General Winder. Of the treatment of the 
 prisoners at Castle Thunder, I know very little except from hearsay, 
 as my position does not require me beyond the office. I can recall an 
 instance or two of their treatment. On one occasion, I remember, 
 Captain Alexander had one of the prisoners whipped for garroting or 
 robbing another prisoner, I did not see him whipped, but heard that 
 he was whipped, and I presume the captain gave the order to have 
 him whipped. I do not know whether he was whipped on his bare 
 back or not. I say I do not know it of my own knowledge, but I 
 think he was. I know of the prisoners being turned out in the Cattle 
 yard, but do not know what their offence was. It was in quite cold 
 weather, and rainy, and they had nothing to cover them but the 
 clothing they had on, and no roof covering to shelter them. I do not 
 know what their offence was ; do not know what rations they had 
 while out there, nor whether they had bed clothing or not. The yard 
 is an ordinary one, Availed in ; do not know how large it is. I know 
 two or three prisoners to have been ki'led at the Castle. One was 
 the case of a Yankee who was shot, and the other case that of the 
 deserter, (Carroll.) shot the other night in trying to escape. The one 
 that was shot last was shot lying down, dragging himself along the 
 balcony, trying to get out. 1 was not present at the time. Some of 
 the prisoners are well clad, and others again are very indifferently 
 clothed. The prison room is comfortable; there is a very large st>vo 
 in it. 
 
 T. G. Bland sworn. — I am from Louisiana, and was former steward 
 of the prison hospital. I went there on the 10th of November last, 
 and was relieved from duty on the 4th of the present month. In 
 rd to the treatment of the prisoners confined there, I myself was 
 a prisoner four months in Fort Delaware, and, from experience, I 
 consiler the prisoners treated well there to what they are here. I 
 codsider them most barbarously and inhumanely treated. On one 
 occasion ten or fifteen of the prisoners were brought nut in a lartre- 
 hall, two of theai accused of stealing from the prisoners. Two 01 
 
of the number brought out were Dot whipped, they were sick, I believe, 
 and that was the reason. I do not think the whipping was done by 
 order of th* court martial, as Captain Alexander had the men brought 
 out himself. The prisoners were stripped and whipped on the bare 
 back, each receiving ten or twelve lashes laid on by the strongest man 
 in Captain Bossieux's company. The words Capatin Alexander used 
 while the whipping was going on were " lay it on ! " They were 
 whipped for stealing money, and, as they were all hard cases, every 
 one of them, some of them did steal it, no doubt, but none had a 
 chance of vindicating themselves. They were tied up to a post and 
 whipped. The general treatment of the prisoners is very good, but 
 some of the officers of the prison treat the prisoners as though they 
 were dogs instead of soldiers, fighting in the common cause of the 
 Confederacy. 
 
 [Captain Alexander here suggested that the witnesses be kept sepa- 
 rate from the witness delivering his testimony, as customary in pro- 
 ceedings of the kind before the committee. The Chairman of the 
 committee said he judged the witnesses present were all honorable 
 men, and would not suffer their own ideas to be influenced by the 
 testimony of a witness. He, however, yielded the point, and all the 
 witnesses except the one under investigation were sent from the com- 
 mittee room.] 
 
 Mr. Bland resumed. — I have heard of men being killed at the pri- 
 son. I helped to put one in a coffin myself, and sent the corpse to 
 the undertaker. He was shot while trying to escape. I have 
 seen men handcuffed around a large pillow, and one of these I saw so 
 punished was taken from the hospital. His offence was trying to 
 bribe the guard. Neither had iions on them. The sick man was 
 under the surgeon's care then. He was handcuffed around the pillow 
 between five and six o'clock in the afternoon, and when I got back to tho 
 prison at eleven o'clock the same night, he was still there, and I do 
 not know how long after that. The worst characters in the prison 
 are handcuffed, and wear ball and chain ; the others, who are not so 
 desperate, are left to go free. Those tied up could not have been in 
 for very serious offences. I know the prisoners were put out in the 
 yard, and kept there for two or three days. Some of them were thinly 
 and badly clothed, and others were well clad. The citizen prisoners 
 are generally clothed well, and the soldiers poorly, having no change. 
 Some of those exposed in the yard were brought up into the hospital 
 afterwards, sick with the pneumonia, and I heard the surgeon (Dr. 
 Coggin) say that the exposure in tho yard made them ill, and nothing 
 else. Several of them died in the hospital of pneumonia. The season 
 was in November, with cold, rainy weather. I know of one direct 
 violation of the army regulations of the Confederate States, and that 
 -was in regard to treatment received by myself. It was for disobeying 
 an order of Captain Alexander. The order was to prescribe for a 
 patient. I am not a graduated physician, and it was against tin 
 orders of the surgeon in charge. I was ordered to a dungeon in 
 which I could not stand up straight, a cell about six feet square. I 
 had no chance to vindicate myself, as I sent for Captain Alexander 
 
and he did not visit me. I was kept in the dungeon until the next 
 morning. I have known prisoners to be kept there three or four days. 
 I have seen, on one or two occasions, fifteen or twenty prisoners 
 " bucked" and "gagged" at a time. The "gag" is effected by a 
 etick inserted crosswise in the mouth, and the " buck" is to tie the 
 arms at the elbows to a cross piece beneath the thighs. They were 
 generally ironed, wore ball and chain, and were charged with various 
 •offences. I recollect now I only " gagged" one. I have seen the 
 "barrel shirt" worn by a prisoner. The shirt is made by sawing a 
 common flour barrel in twain, and cutting arm holes in the sides, and 
 an aperture in the barrel head for the insertion of the wearer's head. 
 The one I saw have the barrel shirt on wore it as a punishment for 
 fighting. He was tied up by the thumbs to the roof, and stood on his 
 feet, wearing it one day and part of the next day. Do not know how 
 much longer he wore it. 
 
 John Caphart sworn. — I have been employed with Captain Alex- 
 ander eleven months, on the detective force ; seven months of that 
 time I have been at the prison. I have never seen a prisoner harshly 
 treated except by orders. It was realy dangerous at times for the 
 officers to go among the prisoners, some of them were such desperate 
 characters. A new prisoner sent in among them was usually knocked 
 down, beat and robbed, if he had anything about him. I was off and 
 on duty at the prison, sleeping there. One night I would be off duty 
 and go to my room at eight o'clock, and another night at ten 
 o'clock. I remember the occasion of the difficulty between Captain 
 Alexander and Mr. Bland. The captain gave him an order to render 
 service to a sick child. Bland refused to obey, and Captain Alexan- 
 der again reiterated his order and Bland again refused with an oath. 
 I then put him in the cell, by the the order of Captain Alexander. 
 Bland was intoxicated on that occasion. I have seen men whipped at 
 the prison, by order of the court martial and General Winder, and 
 by order of Captain Alexander, through General Winder, (by the 
 latter generally) for stealing from prisoners and the mal-treatment 
 of prisoners. I have seen prisoners tied up by the arms. They were 
 two men whom nobody could manage. They were not tied up by the 
 thumbs. The whipping was all done with a leather thong or strap, 
 about two feet long. In regard to the barrel shirt, I saw one of Captain 
 Bossieux's men walking in one, by order of the court martial. 
 
 Monday, April 13, 1863. 
 
 The examination of witnesses was resumed. John Caphart, de- 
 tective, was recalled to the stand. 
 
 Question by Captain Alexander. — Mr. Caphart, how many years of 
 your life were you connected with prisons before you came with 
 me * 
 
 Answer. — Thirty-one years, sir. 
 
Question. — How does my treatment of prisoners compare with what 
 you have seen in other prisons ? 
 
 Answtr. — Very favorable. For offences such as have been com- 
 mitted in the Castb by the prisoners, they would be put in irons. 
 As I said before, at one time it was dangerous to go into the prison 
 room. It was necessary to observe great caution in going in among 
 them. I did not feci safe unless I went with one hand on my pistol. 
 
 Question. — Do you think you ever saw a worse set in any jail. 
 
 Answer. — No I never did. They would be ironed down to ring- 
 bolts in the floor, for conduct such as I have seen at the Castle. 
 
 Question. — They chain men down in jails then, do they ? 
 
 Answer. — Yes, I have seen it done, and helped to do it. 
 
 Question. — You have been eleven months with me as commandant 
 of Castle Thunder post. What is my manner and demeanor towards 
 the prisoners ? 
 
 Answer. — Usually kind on all occasions. Men reported to you for 
 misconduct you have sometimes imprisoned them. 
 
 Question. — Have you not seen persons who came to the Castle, spit 
 upon by the prisoners from the windows, and the sentinels cursed and 
 abused ? 
 
 Ansicer. — Yes, I have seen it done many times. 
 
 Question. — When prisonsrs are brought in under arrest and I am 
 present, do I not attempt to discriminate, and instruct the officers to 
 separate and classify them, and assign them different quarters accord- 
 ing to their appearance or offence ? 
 
 Answer. — Yes, I have seen it done and know it was done. 
 
 Question. — Do you know anything of the plot gotten up among the 
 prisoners to assassinate me and other officers, set the board yard od.' 
 fire, and liberate the prisoners? 
 
 Answer. — Y"es, I heard of it, and it is a well established fact, and 
 A. C. Webster, who was hanged, was the ringleader of the plot. 
 
 Question. — And all this when Webster was afterwards condemned to 
 death ; what was my conduct towards him ? 
 
 Answer. — You cut and fixed his food, and set up with him after he 
 received his injuries in attempting to escape. 
 
 Question by Mr. Ward, counsel for Captain Alexander. — Mr. Caphart, 
 will you tell the committee how James Tyree was treated by the 
 prisoners when first put into the Castle ? 
 
 Answer. — Yes ; I remember when Tyree was brought to the prison, 
 he was dressed in a suit of black and looked genteel and nice. Ho 
 was sent up stairs and put in one of the rooms. In a few minutes I 
 heard a tremendous noise of shouting, yelling and hallooing, mingled 
 with cries. I went up as fast as I could, and found Tyree all beaten 
 and gory with blood, and stripped to his drawers. He was so bloody 
 and bruised that I could hardly recognize him. I rescued him and 
 took him out from among the prisoners, and they followed and crowded 
 around, yelling "let me at him once more, the son of a bitch; kill 
 the son of a bitch, &c." I carried him outside of the railing and the 
 prisoners attempted to come over the railing after him. Tyiee had 
 nothing but his drawers on then. The clothing was never found. 
 
/ 
 
 Question by the Committee. — How many more cases of- this kind do 
 you know about ? 
 
 Answer. — I know of one case, an old man, fifty years old, who wsg 
 beaten and died from the effects of it. 
 
 Captain Alexander. — That was a case of murder outright. 
 
 Question by Mr. Ward. — Did you ever see more lenient treatment 
 by the captain of , such incorrigable prisoners? 
 
 Answer. — Never in my life, sir. Never saw prisoners better 
 treated. Such misbehavior elsewhere would have led to their close 
 confinement. 
 
 By the Chairman of the Committee. — You say the prisoners are dan- 
 gerous to each other and visitors ? 
 
 Answer. — Not now, sir, since the whipping. 
 
 Questin.— -How many do the guard number .' 
 
 Answer. — Fourteen, or' about that number. 
 
 Question. — Did you ever know visitors to the prison to be attacked ? 
 
 Answer. — Yes, sir. Always told visitors to look out when they went 
 where the prisoners were. I have seen beef bones large enougli to 
 knock a man down thrown at visitors. Once the commandant and all 
 of his officers had to retreat from a shower of beef bones. 
 
 Question. — How long since were the prisoners so desperate ? 
 
 Answer. — Before the whipping of the ringleaders. The conduct cf 
 the prisoners have improved since. 
 
 Question. — Were some of the men whipped brought from the room 
 from whence he beef bones were hurled ? 
 
 Answer. — Yes, sir. 
 
 Question. — What for ? 
 
 Answer. — For fighting, stealing, and other offences* 
 
 Question. — How did you know tbey were the men ? 
 
 Answer. — They were pointed out by the other prisoners. The cap- 
 tain said he would have them all whipped unless they pointed out the 
 guilty ones. They did so, and the guilty ones stepped out. 
 
 Question. — How many men were brought out to be whipped 2 
 
 Answer. — I think there were eight or ten. 
 
 Question. — Were these men whipped for fighting ? 
 
 Answer. — Yes, sir, they were. 
 
 Question. — How do you know they were the right men ? 
 
 Answer. — I do not know for certain whether the men whipped wero 
 the right ones or not, but the other prisoners said so. They were 
 engaged among others, and were pointed out by the other prisoners 
 
 Question. — How many prisoners were beaten in that fracas ? 
 
 Answer. — Several. One old man named Mitchell was beaten so 
 dreadfully that he has been crazy ever since. 
 
 Question. — Do you know the provocation for the fight, and was it 
 enquired into I 
 
 Answer. — I know of no provocation. The case was enquired into 
 by Captain Alexander. There was a great change after the whipping. 
 All was quiet and wo could go in and out without molestation. 
 
 Question. — How many rooms are there in the prison ? 
 
 Answer. — In the second story there is a large hall, and beyond that 
 
8 
 
 a large sized room where citizens and disloyal persons are confined,, 
 and on the third story is a very large room for the soldiers, and par- 
 titioned cells, or rather rooms, for prisoners tried by court martial, 
 and prisoners awaiting trial by court martial. 
 
 Captain Alexander to Committee. — We get so accustomed to the men 
 received at Castle Thunder, that we know their character as soon as 
 they come in, and are thus guided in our disposition of them. 
 
 Mr. Ward, counsel to Committee. — Men are often received from the 
 commanding officer of a company, accompanied by an order running 
 something like this : " Take this man and put him in a cell, and feed 
 him on bread and water till I send for him, for he is one of the damnd- 
 est rascals in the world." 
 
 Captain Alexander. — Such irresponsible orders are never observed 
 nor followed out, though. 
 
 Qucstionty Committee — Was the whipping referred to, by order of 
 General Winder ? 
 
 Answer. — Yes, sir, it was. I carried the order myself from the 
 general to the captain. 
 
 William Causey, detective, was recalled to. the stand. 
 
 Question by Committee. — Do you know anything about prisoners who 
 were whipped, and if so, whether they were Confederate volunteers ? 
 
 Answer. — Yes, sir, and I think they were volunteer soldiers, for 
 there are no others there. 
 
 Question. — Do you know what was their crime ? 
 
 Answer. — No, sir. 
 
 Question. — Did not you hear something about a row among the 
 prisoners ? 
 
 Answer. — No, sir, I only saw some men whipped. 
 
 Question. — How long have you been a detective ? 
 
 Answer. — Since March last twelve months ago. I left the Castle 
 six or eight days ago, and was transferred to the provost marshal's 
 .office. 
 
 Questhn. — Up to the time you left, were the prisoners there all Con- 
 federate volonteers ? 
 
 Answer. — Yes, sir. 
 
 Question. — Were there any Yankee prisoners there ? 
 
 Answer. — Yes ; there were some in the lower room, sent from the 
 Libby prison when it was full. 
 
 Question. — What is Caphart's character as an officer ? 
 
 Answer. — I should say he was rather rough. 
 
 Question. — In his general deportment towards the prisoners is he 
 humane or otherwise ? 
 
 Answer. — He was otherwise, I should think. He would curse them, 
 shake his stick, and talk of how he would serve them. 
 
 Question. — From the tenor of his remarks, would you suppose he 
 would be gratified rather than humiliated at the chastisement of a 
 soldier ? 
 
 Answer. — Rather gratified, I think. 
 
By Mr. Ward. — Causey, don't jou think Caphart a good officer and 
 detective ? 
 
 Answer. — I do not, sir. 
 
 Question. — Did you ever hear Caphart exult over a man whom he 
 thought was punished properly or justly ? 
 
 Answer. — I don't know his thoughts ; I can't answer that question. 
 
 Question. — From his conversation did you think he thought the men 
 were justly punished ? 
 
 Answer. — No, sir, I did not. 
 
 Question. — Did you ever hear him express any regrets that they 
 were whipped ? 
 
 Answer. — No, sir. 
 
 (Jurstion by Captain Alexander. — Do you know whether the prisoners 
 whipped were Yankees or Confederate volunteers ? 
 
 Answer. — I think they were Confederate volunteers. 
 
 Question by Mr. Ward. — Have you been in the habit of visiting tbe 
 prisoners ? 
 
 Answer. — Rarely or never, except on business. 
 
 Question. — Did you see the men whipped ? / 
 
 Answer. — I did. 
 
 Question by Captain Alexander. — How many lashes were given them, 
 and did you hear the sentence of the court martial ? 
 
 A nswtr. — I think it was by order of the court martial. 
 
 Question. — Where was the whipping done ? 
 
 Answer. — Up stairs. 
 
 Question. — On what part of the body was the lash laid on ? 
 
 Answer. — On the buttocks, I think. 
 
 Question. — Did you see any prisoners tied up ? 
 
 Answer. — Yes ; lifted up on their toes. 
 
 Question. — Did you ever knock a prisoner down ? 
 
 Answer. — No, sir. 
 
 Question. — Did you ever strike a prisoner ? 
 
 Answer. — Yes, after the prisoner struck me. 
 
 Question by Chairman of Committee — What is Captain Alexander's 
 treatment of the prisoners generally ? 
 
 Answer. — He is sometimes kind, and sometimes the reverse of 
 kindness. 
 
 Question by Mr. Ward'. — -Do you know what provocation the Captain 
 bad in thus speaking? 
 
 Ansioer. — No. But I have heard him speak very snappish when 
 prisoners were being put in. lie expressed himself only in language. 
 
 Question. — What was his language ? 
 
 Answer. — Well, something like *' shove them in there." " Tut them 
 in there, God damn them." 
 
 (Jurstion by Mr Ward. — Did not the prisoners refuse to be put back 
 sometimes, and resist, so much so as to require the exercise of 
 force ? 
 
 Answer. — I never had a prisoner to refuse to go in ; but I have had 
 them to resist me on the street. 
 
10 
 
 J. F. Schaffer, detective, was recalled to the stand. 
 
 Question by Chairman of Committee. — What is the deportment of 
 Caphart towards prisoners? 
 
 Answer. — I have known him to be very abusive, generally when 
 prisoners were impudent to him. I have heard him curse prisoners 
 under arrest, -when they held back or resisted him. 
 
 Question. — Did you ever see men tied up by the thumbs ? 
 
 Answer. — I have seen prisoners tied up either by the thumbs or the 
 wrists. It is called " trysting up," and is a sailor's punishment. 
 
 Question by Mr. Ward. — Did you ever examine to see by which they 
 were tied, the thumbs or the wrists? 
 
 •Answer. — No, sir. 
 
 Question by Chairman of Committee. — For what offences were those 
 you saw tied up ? 
 
 Answer. — For bribing the guard, I believe. I don't know whether 
 they were Yankees or Confederate volunteers. 
 
 Question. — Do you remember, on a certain occasion, when eight or 
 ten men were whipped ? 
 
 Answer. — I heard it rumored ; did'nt see it. 
 
 Qwstion. — Is Caphart's conduct towards prisoners abusive ? 
 
 Answer. — No, except on occasions ; he was rather kind. 
 
 Question by Mr. Ward. — Mr. Schaffer, don't you think Caphart as 
 good an officer as there is on the force ? 
 
 Answer. — I must say I have heard him abuse the prisoners very 
 much. I have heard him use some very harsh language towards them. 
 
 Question by Captain Alexander. — Who is the most passionate of the 
 two, Causey or Caphart ? 
 
 Answer. — I couldn't say. 
 
 Question by Chairman of Committee. — Is Caphart kind and humane 
 towards the prisoners, or the reverse ? 
 
 Answer. — I cannot say. 
 
 By Captain Alexander. — You know him to be a kind husband and 
 father, don't you ? 
 
 Answer. — I never saw him in the midst of his family ; so I cannot 
 say. 
 
 Robert B. Crow, detective, was recalled to the stand. 
 
 Question by Chairman. — You know Caphart ? 
 
 Answer. — Yes, sir, I do. 
 
 Question. — What is his general disposition ; is he kind ? 
 
 Answer. — He is exactly the reverse of that ? 
 
 Question. — Did you ever hear him express any regrets for punish- 
 ment inflicted upon soldiers? 
 
 Answer. — No, sir; he rather exulted at it. . I have heard him say 
 " damn them, I'd take a knife and cut them in pieces." 
 
 Question. — Does he treat them roughly or kindly ? 
 
 Answer. — Yery roughly indeed. 
 
 Question. — Without provocation ? 
 
 Answer. — He is generally rough; it is natural with him. I have 
 seen him shove and push prisoners about as though they were negroes. 
 
11 
 
 I never heard him express any regrets, but rather exulted at their treat- 
 ment. 
 
 Question. — How many prisoners are usually confined in the Castle ? 
 Ansurr. — Between 400 and 500 ; sometimes more, and sometimes 
 less. They are constantly being received and discharged. 
 
 Question. — How often is it found necessary to punish the prisoners? 
 . Answer. — I don't know. I seldom go up among the prisoners. I 
 have seen whippings inflicted three or four times. 
 
 Question. — Is it necessary to flog them as often as once a week? 
 As often as once a fortnight? 
 
 Answer. — I cannot say. 
 
 Question by Chairman. — What is Captain Alexander's conduct among 
 the prisoners under his charge ? 
 
 Answer, — He is sometimes rough and sometimes pleasant. 
 
 Question. — Have you seen him rough without provocation? 
 
 Answer. — Well, the Captain has a good deal to excite and provoke 
 him ; but I have seen him speak to and treat the prisoners harshly 
 when I thought there was no occasion for it. 
 
 Question by Mr. Ward. — Don't you know that the Captain has an 
 excited manner, and when he swears like a sailor, oftentimes he does 
 not mean anything ? 
 
 Answer. — I don't know. 
 
 By Captain Alexander. — Did you ever, Mr. Crow, regret a punish- 
 ment you saw inflicted on a prisoner at the Castle, and thought it was 
 wrong ? 
 
 Answer. — I have, sir. 
 
 Question. — Have not you, Crow, exulted over the seizure of liquor 
 from poor women at the depots, when you caught them smuggling it 
 into the city ? 
 
 Answer. — Yes, sir. That was my business, sir. 
 
 Question by Chairman. — Did you see the whipping of a man for 
 knocking the eye out of another man ? 
 
 Answer. — Yes, I was ordered up along with other officers to witness 
 it. 
 
 Question. — Was it a powerful man who laid the blows on ? 
 
 Answer. — Yes, sir; about the strongest man they could get. They 
 gave him I don't know how many lashes. 
 
 Question. — Was the thong made of heavy leather ? 
 
 Answer. — Yes, sir, a heavy thick strap. 
 
 Question. — Wm the man whipped tried by the court martial, or was 
 he lashed by Captain Alexander's order alone ? • 
 
 Answer. — I think it was by Captain Alexander's order. 
 
 By Captain Alexander. — Mr. Crow, do you like Caphart ? 
 
 Answer. — I do not, sir. 
 
 Question. — Haven't you had a quarrel with him ? 
 
 Answer. — I have, sir. 
 
 G. W. Bland was recalled to the stand. 
 Question by Chairman. — Do you know Caphart? 
 Answer. — Only since I have been at the prison. 
 
12 
 
 Question. — What is his general conduct towards the prisoners ? 
 
 Answer. — Very rough and uncouth. 
 
 Question. — Did you ever hear him express regrets at their harsh 
 treatment? 
 
 Answer. — No. On the contrary I always found him willing, and 
 assisting to carry out the tyrannical orders of Captain Alexander. 
 
 Question. — Did he exult over it, or appear gratified ? 
 
 Answer, — I can't say as to that, Colonel. 
 
 Question. — How long have you known Caphart ? 
 
 Answer. — Four or five months, I reckon. 
 
 Question. — Were you present at the whipping of the two prisoners 
 referred to by the other witnesses ? 
 
 Answer. — I was, sir. 
 
 Question. — Who did the whipping ? 
 
 Answer. — Two men did the whipping; one laid it on light, and the 
 other very heavy. It was in the case of an old man named Mitchell, 
 who had been badly beaten, or in a case of stealing money from pris- 
 oners. 
 
 Question. — The prisoners you saw whipped, were they Confederate 
 soldiers ? 
 
 Answer. — They were, and I don't think they were whipped by order 
 of the court martial. 
 
 Question. — Do you know anything of the case of George Wright, 
 a deranged prisoner ? 
 
 Answer. — Yes. I found him lying down behind a door in the prison 
 room, mired in his own filth, with no clothing on but a short swallow- 
 tailed coat. He was completely covered with scabs and vermin. Some 
 of the prisoners said he had been lying there a week and more. I 
 took him up into the hospital, and treated him medically. 
 
 Question. — What is Captain Alexander's treatment of prisoners un- 
 der his charge ? 
 
 Answer. — He is in some instances very kind, and in others very 
 different. 
 
 Question. — With or without provocation ? 
 
 Answer. — I can't say, but whether with provocation or not, he 
 might treat prisoners as an officer should treat them. 
 
 Question. — Were you ever in the room where the prisoners are con- 
 fined ? 
 
 Answer. — Yes, I was in there every day. 
 
 Question. — Did the prisoners ever assault, or throw beef bones at 
 you? * 
 
 Answer. — No, not to my knowledge. 
 
 Question. — Did you ever see them throw beef bones at any body ? 
 
 Answer. — No, I never did. 
 
 Question. — How many prisoners do you know to have been killed at 
 the Castle ? 
 
 Answer. — I can't say, as I was only there five months. One or two 
 killed in that time. 
 
 Question by Captain Alexander — Mr. Bland, is there not a place in 
 the Castle called the " sick bay," where the warden puts the prisoners 
 who need to be examined by the surgeon ? 
 
13 
 
 Answer. — I know there is such a place. 
 
 Question — Is it not the duty of the surgeon to look after these sick 
 cases, and have them removed to the hospital ! 
 
 Answer. — Yes, it is his duty I believe. 
 
 Question. — Have you not made threats of personal violence towards 
 me? . . 
 
 Answer. — I have not, sir. 
 
 Question. — Don't you know the cause of Wright's dementedness, or 
 insanity ? 
 
 Answer. — Yes. Masturbation. 
 
 Question. — When you were put in the cell by my order, were you 
 no't possessed of a candle and a bottle of whiskey ? 
 
 Answer. — Yes, sir, I was. 
 
 Question by Mr. Ward. — Was the cell not naturally lighted? 
 
 Answer. — Y T es, through the key hole. 
 
 Question. — Do you not. harbor an animosity against Captain Alex- 
 ander ? 
 
 Answer. — That makes no difference just now. I will tell you : once 
 the Captain sent a negro boy with a bottle to the steward's hospital 
 rcom, for a bottle of whiskey. My orders were to give nothing of the 
 kind out, ;md I so informed Captain Alexander. He then wrote me 
 an order for the whiskey, and I wrote in reply that it could not be 
 done. Captain Alexander then sent for me to come to his room. I 
 w^nt to his room, and there was a little dinner party going on. He 
 asked me to sit down, and after I rose, asked me to furnish whiskey 
 for the party, and I told him I could not. He sad : " Suppose a man 
 was suffering from a broken leg. and I was to order you to furnish 
 whiskey for his' relief, and you refuse, I would put you in the cell." I 
 was afterwards put in the cell for refusing to prescribe for a patient, 
 because I was not a graduated physician, and knew nothing about the 
 disease. 
 
 Georgf. W. Thomas, sworn. 
 
 By Chairman of Committee. — \ir. Thomas, state what you know 
 concerning the treatment of prisoners in Castle Thunder, and any 
 other circumstances bearing on this investigation. 
 
 Answer. — I am from Henrico county, and have been a detective to 
 Captain Alexander since the 13th of March, last year. The general 
 treatment of the prisoners I must say is good, as far as my knowledge 
 extends. Two classes of desperados are to be found in the Castle ; 
 one from far down South, and the other from Baltimore; the " wharf 
 rats," of New Orleans, and the plugs from Baltimore. A third class 
 is the inoffensive soldiers, who are the great majority. 
 
 Question. — Is, in your opinion, the conduct of the officials towards 
 the prisoners humane and kind ? 
 
 oer. — Generally kind, except on occasions. 
 
 Question. — On what occasion was that? 
 
 Answer. — When the prisoners were put in the back yard as a pun- 
 ishment for outrages; a committee among the prisoners, robbing and 
 beating the more inoffensive of them. I looked into the yard, and 
 
14 
 
 seeing the prisoners suffering, I reported the condition of the prisoners 
 to Captain Alexander, and he had them brought immediately. Some 
 of the prisoners were warmly clad, but the more desperate of the pris- 
 oners generally stole the blankets from the others. 
 
 Question. — Where did Captain Alexander receive his orders for the 
 punishment of the prisoners ? 
 
 Answer. — From General Winder, I think. 
 
 Question. — How often were the prisoners put out into that yard ? 
 
 Answer. — Only on that one occasion that I recollect. 
 
 Question. — Had they any blankets ? 
 
 Answer. — Some of them had, but the strongest, and more desperate 
 got them. 
 
 Question. — Was there any covering to the yard to shelter them from 
 the storm ? 
 
 Answer. — No, sir. 
 
 Question. — What is jour duty in connection with the prison ? 
 
 Answer. — I am a detective. 
 
 Question. — Are all of the prisoners without blankets? 
 
 Answrr — No, sir, not all. Men go in there, and their blankets are 
 taken from them by the desperados to make ropes wherewith to escape. 
 
 Question. — Are there any benches or seats in the prison room ? 
 
 Answer. — No sir, nothing of the kind; they would break and burn 
 them up if there was. 
 
 Question. — Have you seen men whipped there ? 
 
 Answer. — I have on one or two occasions. 
 
 Question. — Was the punishment inflicted by order of General Winder? 
 
 Answer. — It was by his order, which was carried by Caphart. 
 There were eight of them whipped on one occasion. Some two or 
 three were -struck a«dozen or more blows ; others were let off with less. 
 
 Question. — What other kind of punishment did you ever see inflicted 
 there? Did you ever see* prisoners wearing barrel shirts ? 
 
 Answer. — Yes, sir, I have. 
 
 Question. — Did you ever see men tied up by the thumbs ? 
 
 Answer. — No, sir, I never did 
 
 Question. — Have you known men to be killed there ? 
 
 Ansioer. — Yes, several were killed there. 
 
 Question. — Do you know the circumstances ? 
 
 Ansioer. — General Winder's orders were, after the discovery of the 
 plot to escape, were to fire upon any prisoner thrusting his head from 
 the windows in defiance of the guard, or attempting to escape. 
 
 Question. — Do you the think the men shot and shot at, could not 
 have been recaptured without shooting ? 
 
 Answer. — I know of one instance myself, in the case of Campbell, 
 a deserter, who escaped, and he led me a hard race. I fired at him 
 twice, and he would have escaped, but for the guard coming up in his 
 front. 
 
 Question, — Do you know of any cases of whipping at the prison ? 
 
 Answer. — Yes, several cases. One case, that of an old man, Cap- 
 tain Alexander interested himself very much in because of his age, and 
 
15 
 
 through his influence with General Winder, got the sentence of the 
 court martial remitted. 
 
 Question by Captain Alexander. — Thomas, do you think I am a cruel 
 man ? 
 
 Answer. — No, sir, I do not. 
 
 Tuesday, April 14th, 1863. 
 
 George W. Thomas was called : 
 
 Question by Chairman of Committee. — Do you know anything of 
 Caphart ? 
 
 Answer. — I am associated with him as a detective. 
 
 Question. — Is he kind and humane ? 
 
 Answer. — I have seen him treat prisoners with unnecessary harsh- 
 ness and cruelty, I thought. 
 
 Question. — Do you think his rough deportment natural with him ? 
 
 Answer. — He has a rough way and is fond of talking. 
 
 Question. — Does he seem to regret the punishment of any pri- 
 soner. 
 
 -Answer. — Caphart his filled the office of jailor to prisons for a great 
 number of years, and in the habit of dealing with bad fellows, he ha9, 
 perhaps, grown callous and unfeeling. 
 
 Question — Have you ever heard him regret or exult over the pun- 
 ishment of any prisoner ? 
 
 Answer. — I couldn't say he was a kind man, especially to bad pri- 
 soners. Never saw him exult over the punishment of any man, even 
 the hardest villains, with which he has to do. He viewed it in the 
 light of a moral corrective. Towards these he was rather rough. I 
 have heard him curse them, but at such times he had provocation. 
 The prisoners often brick-batted the sentinels; they never threw 
 bones at me ; they threw bones at Caphart, because they hated him 
 generally. He is not popular with the prisoners. 
 
 Question. — If Caphart had been kind to them do you think they 
 would throw beef bones at him ? 
 
 Answer. — I can't say as to that. I have seen them throw missiles 
 at the sentinels. 
 
 Question. — How arc the prisoners clad, generally ? 
 
 Answer — i'have seen some badly clothed, but not more indifferently 
 than at other prisons. Some of the prisoners steal from each other. 
 To relieve their destitution, after the battles around Richmond, Capt. 
 Alexander sent out men to gather up the clothing and blankets from 
 the battle fields to clothe the prisoners, who were destitute. 
 
 Question. — Was sufficient clothing obtained in that way to clothe all 
 the destitute prisoners. 
 
 Answer. — I can't say that every one was furnished ; but a great 
 many were. 
 
 Question. — Have you seen a prisoner with more than one suit of 
 clothing. 
 
16 
 
 Answer. — Yes ; some of them have not many. 
 
 Question. — Do you know such a man as George Wright, once a 
 prisoner in the castle ? 
 
 Answer. — Yes, sir. He was in the hospital when I saw him. His 
 condition was very bad. 
 
 Questiori. — Do you know anything of a deranged Yankee prisoner 
 who was brought from the Libby prison to the castle, and shot in at- 
 tempting to escape ? 
 
 Answer. — Yes. He was brought from the Libby prison for safe 
 keeping, having attempted to get out of that place. He was shot at 
 the castle in attempting to run the sentinel. The sentinels had been 
 changed, and the sentinel who shot him did not know, I think, that 
 he was crazy. I don't know whether Captain Alexander was present 
 there or not 
 
 Cap'ain Alexander. — No, Mr. Chairman, I was not at the castle at 
 that time. 
 
 Question. — What officer received him ? 
 
 Answer. — I don't know, sir. 
 
 Question. — Was it not the duty of the officer who received him to 
 notify all that he was deranged ? 
 
 Answer. — I think it should have been done. 
 
 Question. — Have you seen barrel shirts worn by the prisoners ? 
 
 Answer. — Yes ; two of them by sentence of the court martial. 
 
 Question. — When soldiers are arrested on the street and taken to 
 the castle is it customary for an examination to be made into the 
 charges against them ? 
 
 Answer. — They are never arrested except without papers, and the 
 returns are made every morning to the Provost Marshal and General 
 Winder. 
 
 Question. — Then you put them all in among the wharf rats of New 
 Orleans and the plug uglies of Baltimore ? 
 
 Answer by Mr. Ward. — If the committee will allow me, I will ex- 
 plain that point. When men arc arrested on the street and elsewhere, 
 and sent to the prison, their papers are examined ; if regular, they 
 are discharged; if irregular, they are put back until a case can be 
 substantiated or disproved. If the prisoners are sent by the Provost 
 Marshal or General Winder, the commandant of the prison has no 
 authority to discharge, and they are put back. If, at the expiration 
 of a reasonable time, their case remains undisposed of, a letter detail- 
 ing the facts i3 forwarded, asking an investigation. Some prisoners 
 have remained in the pflson a long time, it is true, the difficulty of 
 getting testimony and collecting witnesses operating against an early 
 investigation. Again, instances have occurred where they have been 
 taken out on writs of habeas corpus. 
 
 Question. — Are not a great many soldiers taken up and confined 
 there who have merely overstaid their furlough. 
 
 Answer by Mr. Ward. — Yes. Men are sent there frequently from 
 the Provost Marshal or General Winder's office, with an order to the 
 effect — " Confine these men and send them to their regiments ; " and 
 such men are sent daily to the army, or to Sergeant Crow, at the bar- 
 
17 
 
 racks, or under a guard and escort of the commandant of the prison 
 post. 
 
 Question. — You turn the prisoners all in together ; the desperadoes 
 with the inoffensive soldiers ? 
 
 Answer. — There are four or five large rooms for their accommoda- 
 tion, and we discriminate as much as possible in our classification of 
 them. 
 
 Question by Capt. Alexander. — Mr. Thomas, have I anything in the 
 world to do with the clothing of prisoners ? 
 
 Answer. — I think not, unless it was a voluntary act. 
 
 (Question by Mr. Ward. — Have you been in the army; are not the 
 prisoners in Castle Thunder clothed and fed as well as the soldiers 
 now in the army ? 
 
 Answer. — I should say fully as well. 
 
 Question. — lias not Capt. Alexander exerted himself to clothe the 
 more destitute of them ? 
 
 Answer. — Yes ; I know of many instances of it. 
 
 Question by Chairman of Committee. — Do you know Mr. Bland? 
 
 Answer. — I don't know much about him. 
 
 By Capt. Alexander. — Is Bland a drinking man ? 
 
 Ansioc- . — I dont know anything about him. 
 
 By Mr. Ward — If prisoners were put in Caphart's charge, do you 
 think he would beat them if they would go along quietly and peace- 
 ably ? 
 
 Answer. — I don't think he would. 
 
 By Capt. Alexander. — Don't you think there are as hard cases here 
 as anywhere else ? 
 
 Answer. — Yes, indeed; it would be hard to match. 
 
 Stephen B. Children, sworn : 
 
 Question by Chairmar, — What is your position at prison? 
 
 Answer. — I am the commissary of the prison. 
 
 Question, — What is the general treatment of the prisoners confined 
 there ? 
 
 Answer. — Good, very good ; good as persons in the same situation 
 •could be treated. 
 
 Question. — Did you ever see any whipping there without the 
 authority of a court martial ? 
 
 Answer — I never saw any of the prisoners whipped. 
 
 Question. — What is the general deportment of the officers towards 
 the prisoners ; is it kind ? 
 
 Answer, — As kind as could be expected. Of course harsh measures 
 have to l>e used sometimes. 
 
 fi,,n. — What is the necessity or excuse for rough language? 
 
 Answer. — 1! have some very rough characters to deal 
 
 with. If rhey were treated differently they would run over them, and 
 take the prison. 
 
 Question, — You bars never seen any whipping there ? 
 
 Answer. — No. 
 
 Question. — Seen any other kind of punishment inflicted? 
 2 
 
13 
 
 Answer. — I have seen prisoners "bucked." They were of the more 
 desperate characters. 
 
 Question — Do you know of any prisoners being killed there ? 
 
 Answer. — I know of one man dying from the effects of a beating 
 at the hands of some of the prisoners, and I know of another who was 
 shot by the guard in attempting to escape. 
 
 Question. — Do you think it was absolutely necessary to shoot th'13 
 man to have recaptured him ? 
 
 Ansioer — I suppose it was. 
 
 Question. — Was the man outside the building when fired upon and 
 killed ? 
 
 Answer. — No, sir; he was on the balcony of the second story on 
 Gary street, about jumping down. The sentinel was on the pavement 
 below him. 
 
 'Question. — Do you know anything about a crazy man who was shot 
 in attempting to escape ? 
 
 Answer. — Yes; I heard of the circumstance. 
 
 Question. — Do you know anything about the case of George Wright r 
 a prisoner, and his condition when sent to the hospital ? 
 
 Answer. — Yes, his condition was very bad. I furnished him with 
 clothing, but he would tear the clothes off his person. 
 
 Question. — In what condition was he when removed to the hospital? 
 
 Answer. — He was travelling about the prison like the other prison- 
 ers, but in a demented state of mind. I gave him his food. No filth 
 is allowed to collect in the prison. It is, I will venture to say, one 
 of the cleanest prisons in the State. Captain Alexander is as par- 
 ticular in this respect as any man I ever saw. His usual disposition, 
 when not provoked, is kind and urbane. 
 
 Question by Mr. Ward.. — You are the Commissary of the prison, are 
 you not ? 
 
 Answer. — I am. » 
 
 Question. — And as such you came in contact with the prisoners a 
 great deal ? 
 
 Answer. — Yes, sir. 
 
 Question. — From your knowledge, what is the character of the 
 prisoners, or some of them? 
 
 Ansv)er — I consider them desperate indeed. 
 
 Qu stion. — Did they ever make threats towards you ? 
 
 Answer. — Yes; the whipping had an excellent effect on them. They 
 are getting worse now again since the law was passed by Congress 
 abolishing whipping in the army. Something will have to be done to 
 stop their insubordination. 
 
 Question. — You know about the clothing collected by Captain 
 Alexander for the use of prisoners ? 
 
 Answer. — Yes, I distributed the clothing to the prisoners. I am at 
 liberty to sell them anything in the way of food, luxuries or necessa- 
 ries ; anything they want if they have money to buy. I consider 
 their rations better in quantity and quality than the soldiers in tho 
 field. 
 
 Question by Chairman of Commit ce. — Do you know anything about 
 tbe whipping at the prison? 
 
19 
 
 Answer. — I never saw any whipping, although it was done. 
 
 Question. — Do you know anything about the shooting of prisoners ? 
 
 Answer. — Yes, sir. 
 
 Question — Who gave the order to shoot the prisoners? 
 
 A. swer by Captain Alexander. — I gave the order to the sentinels, 
 based on the orders of General Winder. I was not at the prison when 
 the shooting occurred, but it is a general standing order to shoot at 
 prisoners cursing or abusing the sentinels from the windows. 
 
 Question by Captain Alexander. — Mr. (Jhildrey, do you consider rae 
 a ci uel man ? 
 
 Answer — I do net; but I consider you a positive man — one who 
 wants discipline ami ordeis carried out. 
 
 Question. — How many poor women am I not feeding from the milk 
 obtained at the castle ? 
 
 Answer. — Yes. I know you are supplying a good many. 
 
 Question. — Did I not start a hospital and place my wife in it to at- 
 tend to the sick and wounded ? 
 
 Answer. — Yes; I knew that Captain. 
 
 Quest on. — And did the Government ever pay me one cent for my 
 money expended ? 
 
 Answer. — Not that 1 am aware of. 
 
 Baldwin T. Allen, sworn. 
 
 Qu tftim h . Chairman of Committee. — What is your position at Cas- 
 tle Thunder ? 
 
 Answer. — T am warden. 
 
 Question. — What is the treatment of the prisoners ? 
 
 Answ r. — That is rather a comprehensive question. In answering 
 it I must take into consideration the character of some of the prison* 
 ers. The commandant has found it necessary to enforce very rigid 
 rules. If they had been less rigid, he would have been unable to 
 keep one of them there. 
 
 Question — Does Captain Alexander and the other officers speak 
 •kindly or roughly to the prisoners? 
 
 Answer. — I don't know of any officer being unkind to well behaved 
 prisoners 
 
 Que t'on — Have you seen whipping there without order of a court 
 
 martial ? 
 
 Answer. — I have seen whipping inflicted, but whether with or with- 
 out th • older of court martial, 1 cannot saw 
 
 Question. — Do you know that General Winder gave the order or 
 not. 
 
 Answer — I heard so; but I am not positive by whose authority it 
 was done. 
 
 Question, — Did you ever see any whipping 
 
 Answer. -~Ye$ ; I bare seen fifty laid on by order of the-; 
 
 Court martial. 
 
 Question. — Have you seen persons receive six, eight and ten lashes t 
 
 AnsW, r — Y ■] v. 
 
 Question. — Wen ... saw whipped Confederate prisoners, 
 
 tnd eoldiers of the Confederate service? 
 
20 
 
 Answer. — I think not. I think they were Yankee deserters. 
 
 Question. — Were any of thera Confederate soldiers ? 
 
 Answer. — I can't pay ; but I can get the names to-morrow. 
 
 Question. — Do you know anything about the killing of some pris- 
 oners ? 
 
 Answer. — Yes. Last fall, a Yankee deserter, who was deranged, 
 attempted to run the guard and was killed. Another was killed re- 
 cently in attempting to escape. His name was Charles Carroll, and 
 he was a Confederate soldier. 
 
 Question. — Have you ever seen men wear barrel jackets? 
 
 Answer. — Yes, sir. 
 
 Qi est ion — Have you known prisoners to be put out in the prison 
 yard, without fire or shelter in cold weather? 
 
 Answer. — Yes. Several months ago. Their offence was robbing 
 and stealing, breaking windows, and gross violation of the rules. 
 
 Question. — How long did they remain there ? 
 
 Answer. — All one day and night, and part of another day. 
 
 •Question. — Any other instance ? 
 
 Answer. — The next time the prisoners were put into the back yard, 
 it was in October or November. They had no covering or shelter 
 • except their blankets and clothing. 
 
 Question. — You say you found out they were suffering. Suppose 
 you had not taken them in promptly, what do think would have been 
 the consequences ? 
 
 Answer. — I supposo they would have been cold. They could have 
 stood it though. Our soldiers stand it. They had fuel to make a fire. 
 
 Question. — Of those placed in the yard las! fall, do you know of any 
 who were taken sick afterwards ? 
 
 Answer. — Some of them may have been sick, but whether from that 
 cause or not I can't say. 
 
 Question. — Did you ever see men tied up by the thumbs ? 
 
 Answer. — Yes ; once or twice I saw men tied by the thumbs. 
 
 Question. — What was their offence? 
 
 Answer. — Stealing, etc. 
 
 Question. — Were they Confederate prisoners ? 
 
 Answer. — Yes. 
 
 Question — Who was one ? 
 
 Answer. — Martin Darby, a young man twenty-five years of age. 
 He was tied up several hours. 
 
 Question. — ^Lave you seen men bucked there ? 
 
 Answer. — Yes, and helped to buck a good many of them myself. 
 
 Question. — What was their crime ? 
 
 Answer. — For various offences. And I may say here that all the 
 punishment inflicted is necessary to keep up the dicipline of the 
 .prison. 
 
 Question. — Did you ever see the hands of any of the men tied up, 
 black from the stagnation of the blood in them ? 
 
 Answer. — Yes I have, frequently, I think. 
 
 'Question. — Did you ever see men hand-cuffed, and their hands 
 Moody from the effects of the tying «p ? 
 
21 
 
 Answer. — Yes, one was named William Campbell. He slipped up 
 his hand-cuffs to his elbows, I believe to cause stagnation of tho 
 blood. 
 
 Question by Mr. Ward. — You are the warden ? 
 
 Answer. — Yes, and in that capacity I am generally among the 
 prisoners. 
 
 Question. — What is the character of some of the men confined 
 there ? 
 
 Answer. — I consider many of them the most desperate men in tho 
 Southern Confederacy. It would not do to treat them leniently. 
 
 Question. — Are not all picked up and put together in these rooms 
 appropriated to the prisoners ? 
 
 Answer. — But we try to separate the quiet from the quarrelsom 
 prisoners. 
 
 Question. — Have you seen prisoners there with one suit on con- 
 stantly I 
 
 Answer. — A. change of clothing is beneficial to the health and 
 comfort of the prisoners, but few of them had it. 
 
 Question. — Is it a rare or common case for the prisoners to be 
 whipped ? 
 
 Answer. — Rather rare ; but it has had a beneficial effect wherever it 
 has been done. 
 
 Question by Captain Alexander. — They say you left. George Wright 
 lay for two weeks in the prison room, sick, without attending to his 
 wants ? 
 
 Answer. — I think there must be some mistake about that. I go 
 around every morning and call the breakfast roll, and when I fiid a 
 man down by sickness, I take his name and report him to the surgeon. 
 
 Question by Captain Alexander. — I handle a great many prisoners, 
 do I not, but whipping is comparatively rare ? 
 
 Answer. — Yes, it is for so many. 
 
 Question by Mr. Ward. — Are not the prisoners in the Castle con- 
 stantly changing ? 
 
 Answer. — Yes; those there to-day are sent off to-morrow. 
 
 Dr. Lundie, sworn. 
 
 Question by Chairmau of Committee. — State to the committee what 
 you know of the condition and treatment of prisoners at Castle 
 Thunder? 
 
 Answer. — I know nothing particular about the military conduct of 
 the prison. I have been there to get prisoners out, and have received 
 notes from the prisoners. I have been through the prison and hospi- 
 tal, and the condition of the hospital and prison apartments were 
 much better than I expected to find. Below there is a good conduct 
 for carying off the filth, but the building is not well ventilated, but 
 that is the fault of the building. The hospital is clean beyond com- 
 parison, and the surgeon, from what I saw, pays all the necessary at- 
 tention. While there I saw an enclosure, the back yard, containing 
 a large number of prisoners. They were in a most woeful state, as 
 regards clothing and comfort, and I remarked that it looked like pan- 
 
22 
 
 denionium. The prisoners were growling and cursing, and I heard 
 the clanking of the chains. One of them accosted me as I passed 
 along, and asked me to get him out. I saw Captain Alexander and 
 asked him to let the fellow out. Captain Alexander remarked, "to 
 keep order here / have had to kill ten men ! 
 
 Captnin Alexander here explained that he had used the expression 
 "killed ten men" in a jocose manner, in response to Dr. Lundi'8 
 remarks. 
 
 Wednesday, April 15, 1863. 
 The examination of witnesses for the government was resumed. 
 
 T. J. Kirby, sworn.— I am at present an inmate of Castle Thunder, 
 where I have been held a prisoner as a spy for some months past. I 
 am an Englishman, a resident of Niagara, Canada, where 1 have a 
 wife and children. I came through the lines on business with the 
 government, which will be explained as I proceed. God knows I wish 
 to go back there ! 
 
 Question by Chairman of Committee. — State what you know about the 
 treatment of the inmates of the prison. 
 
 Answer. — At times I have known Captain Alexander to be extremely 
 kind to prisoners; at times the very opposite, extremely harsh and 
 domineering. I have been the recipient of his kindnesses, and on the 
 contrary, I have received treatment from him which to describe (wit- 
 ness excited) I would prefer being interrogated as I proceed. 
 
 Chairman of Commrttee. — Go on and give your testimony in your 
 own way. 
 
 Question. — Is Captain Alexander kind? 
 
 Answer. — 1 consider him the very opposite of kindness, and it is se- 
 as a gcn-ral rule. I myself have experienced some of his inhumanity. 
 
 Question. — What is the character of his usual intercourse with pris- 
 oners ? 
 
 Answer. — At times he is kind, and at other times extremely rough 
 and uncouth ; then kind again, and then rough, as the fit takes him. 
 Simply for going into the hospital by order of the surgeon in charge, 
 Dr Coggin, Captain Alexander threatened to put me in the cell. I 
 was ordered to the hospital by the surgeon to be treated for an effec- 
 <lon of the throat. I was requested, or rather invited by Dr. Coggin 
 io visit the hospital daily for medical treatment, also to wile away a 
 few moments of. my confinement in pleasant conversation. This privi- 
 lege was refused me by Captain Alexander, with the threat if I violated 
 his instructions, he would put me in the cell. I am in the hospital 
 now. I was taken from cell No. 3, last Friday, and given the range of 
 the citizen's room. On Monday morning following, while engaged in 
 cleaning my teeth. at the pump, the prisoner Campbell being present, 
 Captain Alexander came up to his room. We were talking together 
 of the Captain, and matters about the Castle, and as Captain Alexan- 
 
23 
 
 der came up I turned on my heel to enter my room, saying to Camp- 
 bell, (suiting the action to the words,) "I have no more respect for 
 Captain Alexander than I have for my royal Bengal stem" I imme- 
 diately -went to my room, and the officers came and took me out, and 
 confined me again in cell No. 3, a room about fifteen ieet square, and 
 one window therein, which was covered with boards. I had belonged 
 to a mess in the prison room, and the mess resolved t > supply me with 
 my meals Mr. Allen, the warden, refused to let me have the food 
 sent me, and sent it back. I wrote a note to the mess, and learned 
 that it was refused. I was not allowed to purchase anything from the 
 commissary; I asked for rations and they were refused me. I had 
 nothing to eat from Friday morning to Saturday sometime during the 
 day. 
 
 Question. — On what charge are you confined? 
 
 Answer. — I have been in prison since the Sih day of November last. 
 on suspicion of being a spy. I applied for, and obtained a writ of 
 habeas corpus, and on the 6th of March. Mr. Aylett, the counsel for 
 the Confederate States, closed the case, announcing that no evidence 
 had been adduced to hold me on the charge. On the 1 1th of March, 
 judgment was rendered in the case by Judge Lyons, and 1 was informed 
 that I was at liberty to return to the North by flag of truce, which I 
 refused to do, &c, &c. 
 
 Question. — What is Caotain Alexander's treatment of the other 
 prisoners under his charge? 
 
 Answer. — Captain Alexander has his favorites. There are prisoners 
 there whose sentences of court martial, condemning them to wear ball 
 and chain, have not been carried out. I know of two instances, and 
 others have been toll me by the prisoners. Any person or prisoner 
 could be Captain Alexander's favorite if he would become his pimp. 
 I. could have been one I reckon. 
 
 Question. — Relate what instances you know of sentences not being 
 carried out. 
 
 Answer. — I kn:>w of one young man who was sentenced by court 
 martial to wear a ball and chain, whose sentence was not carried out. 
 He was sentenced to ball and chain and bard labor. He was a fine 
 young man, and I assisted him to write a letter to the President of the 
 Confederate States asking a commutation of the sentence. The charge 
 against him was assaulting his superior officer and desertion, lie w;is 
 in the citizens' room and never had the ball and chain on. 
 
 Question. — Did you ever see any Confederate soldiers whip 
 there ? 
 
 Answer. — T have seen several whipping operations. 
 
 Qufslion. — Without the order of a court martial ? 
 
 Answ r — T don't know. One James McLashen, I was told, was 
 whipped twelve lashes for being quarrelsome in the prisoners' room. 
 1 have seen Yankee prisoners whipped for quarreling. I saw four 
 whipped at one time. I was not where I could see at all times. I 
 think two were whipped without the order of the court martial. They 
 were whipped on the bare back, with a leather strap. Do not know 
 that the lash drew blood ; heard that it did in one instance, 
 
24 
 
 Question — What other kinds of punishment have you seen in- 
 flicted. 
 
 Answer. — I have seen prisoners bucked. One in the condemned 
 cell was bucked for speaking to persons in the citizens' room. 
 
 Question. — How long do they remain bucked ? 
 
 Answer. — I have seen them part of two days in that condition. 
 
 Question. — Have you seen men wear barrel shirts? 
 
 Answer — Yes; I have seen two prisoners with them on about the 
 prison. 
 
 Question. — Is the punishment of the shirt severe ? 
 
 Answer. — No, not painful ; not so severe as either thumbing or 
 bucking. The humiliation is greater than the punishment. 
 
 Question. — Have you seen any thumbing ? 
 
 Answer. — Yes, I have seen prisoners tied up by the thumbs as high 
 as they could reach on their tip-toes. They were tied with a small 
 sized whip cord. 
 
 Question. — How many hours have you known them to remain in 
 that condition. 
 
 Answer. — I have known them to remain in that condition from 
 morning until night. 
 
 Question. — Did you ever examine to see if any blood was drawn by 
 the cord ? 
 
 Answer. — Once I did. The prisoner had pulled and loosened the 
 cord, and Lis thumbs were black and blue. He didn't complain of 
 pain, but rather took it as a good joke. I have seen men tied up 
 around a post so tightly that they couldn't lie down or sit down. In 
 one instance, I was told that it was the orders of Captain Alexander 
 that they should remain so all night, but some of the officers had let 
 them down so they could sit and lie down. 
 
 Question. — WJiat was the crime ? 
 
 Answer.- — Attempting to bribe the guard, I believe. 
 
 Question. — Is the foregoing all the instances you know of? 
 
 Answer. — They are all I can recall at present. 
 
 Question. — How many prisoners were put into the yard on one oc- 
 casion ? 
 
 Answer. — All in room No. 2 — about one hundred. 
 
 Question. — How long did they remain there ? 
 
 Answer. — For several days, I think. It was in the latter part of 
 November or December. Their offence was putting powder in the 
 stove. 
 
 Question. — Were any of them sick afterwards ? 
 
 Answer. — I cannot say, but I understood some were ill from the 
 effects of the exposure. They had neither covering, fire, nor shelter, 
 except the high walls, and it was raining part of the time. 
 
 Question. — Did Captain Alexander give an order to have a fire built 
 in the the yard ? 
 
 Answer. — I never heard of any. 
 
 Question. — How many days were they kept there ? 
 
 Answer. — Four or five, I understood. 
 
 Question. — Were any men shot at the prison ? 
 
25 
 
 Ansrer. — Yes, I have heard of men being shot and shot at for put- 
 ting their heads out of the window. I, myself, was threatened with 
 shooting. I know Captain Alexander gave an order to the guard to 
 shoot me while I was looking out of an open window once. I drew down 
 the window without moving my head and defied them. I remonstrated 
 with Captain Alexander, and told him my head was not cutside of the 
 window, and neither was it. 
 
 Question. — Are there any female prisoners ? 
 
 Answer. — Yes, two, I believe. 
 
 Question. — Do you know anything of their treatment ? 
 
 Answer. — No, only what has been told me. 
 
 Question by Mr. Ward. — Mr. Kirby, where are you from ? 
 
 Answer. — From Niagara, Canada, sir, and have been confined eight 
 months in the citizens' room. 
 
 Question. — What were you sent from that room for ? 
 
 Answer. — A difficulty I had with the Captain, I suppose. We were 
 ordered to scrub and prepare the room for the visit of the inspection 
 committee, and the guard would allow but two of us to go to the pump 
 for water at one time. I remonstrated with Captain Alexander when 
 he called me "a damned son of a bitch," and I called him "a damned 
 coward." I was put in the cell, but that night ordered back to the 
 citizens' room. I apologized for my conduct. 
 
 Question. — Then you were put out of the citizens' room last Friday. 
 
 Answer. — Yes; my difficulty with Captain Alexander caused it. 
 
 Question. — You have a good room and a good bed ? 
 
 Answer. — Yes. The captain hasn't taken them away yet, but I am 
 not indebted to him for my bed ? 
 
 Questio?r by Copt. Alexander. — You say I didn't carry out the sen- 
 tence of Leary, who was condemned to wear ball and chain ? 
 
 Answer. — No, you did not. 
 
 Question. — Did not you yourself petition the President for his re- 
 prieve ? And did not you sit down in my office and write a letter to 
 the President for Leary concerning his case ? And did I not allow 
 you to receive your meals from the hotels and faro banks, and gave 
 you many privileges not enjoyed by the other prisoners ? 
 
 Answer. — Yes, captain, you did all that. 
 
 Question. — You say Mr. Allen's treatment of the prisoners is inhu- 
 man ? 
 
 Answer. — He is generally intoxicated, and it is the merest excep- 
 tion in the world that I ever got a kind answer out of him. 
 
 fion by Committee.-^- What is your opinion of Caphart ? 
 
 Answer. — I t consider him in all respects a vile, low, inhuman per- 
 son. 
 
 Question. — Do you find prisoners like kind and humane officers ? 
 
 Answr. — I have heard prisoners say they could have escaped at 
 times when it was Mr. Pigg's night on, but they would not do it for 
 fear of compromising his character. All the officers are down on him. 
 I have known the Captain to treat him kindly, and at other times snubb 
 him. 
 
 Question. — Do you know Mr. Bland ? 
 
2G 
 
 Answer. — Yes, his deportment is generally kind. 
 
 Question. — Do you know about the case of George "Wright? 
 
 Answer.— Yes, but I never saw him until I saw him in the hospital. 
 
 Question. — Are you, as a prisoner, allowed to see persons from 
 without the prison ? 
 
 Answer. — Once Hon. Mr. Boteler called to see me, and I was re- 
 fused an interview with him. I have sent for persons who have been 
 refused to see .me. I have been allowed to communicate with counsel 
 several times under seal, and this privilege was also stopped. I once 
 gave a letter to Mr. Riggs to carry to the Captain to read. He said 
 it must go to General Winder, and I gave it to Mr. Ward. On Sun- 
 day morning following, some four or five days after, Mr. Ward said he 
 had gin the letter to Captain Alexander. 
 
 Question. — What became of the letter? 
 
 Answer. — I don't know, sir. 
 
 Captain Alexander — Mr. Chairman shall I send to General Winder's 
 and get it. The letter is on hie there ? 
 
 By Mr. Ward. — There is an order from General Winder that all 
 communications from the prison shall go through his office. Accor- 
 dingly all letters from the prisoners are put in a box, and taken up to 
 General Winder daily. 
 
 Question by Committee. — What did you come here fcr, Mr. Kirby ? 
 
 Answer. — I had special business to the Confederate government. 
 
 Question. — Was that business made known on your arrival here ? 
 
 Answer. — It was. 
 
 Question. — Are the authorities aware of your arrest ? 
 
 Answer. — They are. 
 
 John Siieiian, sworn. 
 
 Question by Committee. — You are a prisoner at the Castle and a Con- 
 federate soldier ? 
 
 Answer. — Yes, sir. 
 
 Question. — What is the treatment of the prisoners generally at the 
 Castle ? 
 
 Answer. — In a majority of cases I think they are treated kindly. 
 Men are whipped there. I have seen them whipped without the sen- 
 tence of the Court Martial. Captain Alexander I saw present at the 
 whipping. 
 
 Question. — How many lashes were laid on ? 
 
 Answtr. — From six to eight lashes, I should judge. They were 
 laid on hard. The offence in one case was rioting and fighting in the 
 prison room. 
 
 Question. — Have you seen any " bucking " there? 
 
 Answer. — Yes, and men whipped who were Confederate soldiers. 
 The " bucking" was for the rioting in the prison. I have known men 
 to remain '• bucked" as long as four hours. 
 
 Question. — Have you seen prisoners tied up by the thumbs ? 
 
 /Answer. — Yes, I think so. He wa^ a Confederate soldier, belonging 
 to Rogers' cavalry. His offence was thieving, I believe. 
 
 Question. — What about the prisoners put out into the yards ? 
 
 Answer. — It was in November, and they were kept there several 
 
27 
 
 days. A few had bed covering. Some were in bad health when put out 
 there, and looked miserable enough. Some were sick immediately 
 after their exposure, and I remember of one dying in the hospital. 
 
 Question. — Have you seen any men shot there? 
 
 Answer. — Yes, one was Carroll, who attempted to escape. 
 
 Queston. — Could he not have been captured without shooting? 
 
 Answer. — lie was in the act of getting out of a window on to the 
 portico, beneath which was the guard. I think he could have been 
 easily taken without killing. 
 
 Question. — Was there any investigation into the shooting? 
 
 Answer. — I did'nt hear of any. I have known prisoners to be shot 
 at for putting their heads out of the windows. The orders are to shoot 
 them if they will not obey the sentinels. They have been told that 
 often enough. I have put my head out of the window a thousand 
 times and never was shot at. 
 
 Question. — Have you got a cell or " sweat house" for the solitary 
 confinement of prisoners? 
 
 Answer.— »Yes, it is a room about eight feet square. I was con- 
 fined there once in irons. I could lay down. There are no windows. 
 There is no protection from eitherthe heat or cold. 
 
 Question. — What were you put in the cell for ? 
 
 . / swer. — For going out, as coporal of the prison, and getting drunk. 
 I am in prison for being absent from my regiment without leave. My 
 sentence will be out to-day or to-morrow. I have been in prison six 
 months. I was there one month before any charge was preferred. 
 
 Question by Captain Alexander. — You are a sailor, are you not, She- 
 han ? 
 
 Answer. — Yes, sir. 
 
 Question. — Is it not my habit to treat prisoners kindly? 
 
 Answer. — No, sir,- it is cruel and inhuman. 
 
 Question by Chairman of Committee. — What is Captain Alexander's 
 deportment towards prisoners? 
 
 . Inswi r — Sometimes he is kind as can be, and at other times he is 
 the very opposite. 
 
 Question. — You know Caphart? 
 
 Answer. — I knew him in Norfolk. He has little to do with tho 
 prison. Never saw him arrest a man. 
 
 Question by Mr. Ward. — Has my conduct been kind ? 
 
 .7 swer. — Yes, you are a gentleman as far as Iknow. 
 
 Question by Captain Alexander. — Have I not a great deal to provoke 
 and make me angry ? 
 
 Answer. — Yes, 1 know you have. You have treated me well. I 
 do not find fault with the harshness of the rules, but it is impossible 
 to keep so many men in perfect order. 
 
 Charlotte Gilmah, sworn — I have been in Castles Godwin and 
 Thunder going on twelve months all together, the last time about one 
 month. 
 
 estion, — What are you in prison for? 
 
 — I am a witness against George W. Elam for counter- 
 feiting. 
 
28 
 
 Question. — What is the general treatment of the prisoners? 
 
 Answer. — I have always been well treated. All the ladies there 
 spoke of Captain Alexander in the highest terms. All like him. I 
 know nothing of the treatment of the other prisoners. 
 
 Questivn by Captain Alexander. — Did -I not go to General Winder 
 and get an order for your washing ? 
 
 Answer. — Yes, you did. You have been very kind; and you let me 
 go out very often. 
 
 William Campbell, sworn. — I have seen no cruelty on the part of 
 Captain Alexander towards the prisoners. I think I am the only ono 
 who ever suffered. I was among the number put into the yard. I 
 was also bucked and put in the yard. The charge against me is deser- 
 tion. I am from Louisiana. 
 
 Question. — Have you been tried by court martial ? 
 
 Answer. — No sir. 
 
 Question. — How long have you been in prison ? 
 
 Answer. — Only one iLonth the last time. I have escaped three or 
 four times. 
 
 Thursday, April 16, 1863. 
 
 The examination of witnesses was resumed. 
 
 V. T. Crawford, sworn. — I am located in .Richmond, and am a 
 practicing lawyer. I was admitted to the bar some eight months ago. 
 I know nothing of the treatment of the prisoners confined in Castle 
 Thunder, but I do know something of the conduct of its officers who 
 are called upon to visit the prison in a professional w r ay. After I had 
 visited the prison once or twice without interruption, obstacles began 
 to be thrown in my way. First, an order forbidding conversation be- 
 tween myself and clients, without a third person, in the shape of an 
 officer, being present. At another time I was refused admittance be- 
 yond the guard, and all the conversation I could hold with my clients 
 had to be carried on through a wire gauze screen. At another time, 
 Mr. Ward informed. me I would have to get an official permit from 
 General Winder to see prisoners. I went to General Winder for the 
 pass, and after some delay I was furnished with a general pass, which 
 had to be renewed on the occasion of every visit. General Winder 
 asked me about the prisioners I wished to see, and said there were 
 some men there whom they did not wish to have counsel. I asked 
 him what men ? And he replied, "we have our rights and you yours," 
 and something more which I do not recollect. I have continued 
 visiting the prison up to Tuesday last on a pass, to be admitted at the 
 discretion of the commandant. Day before yesterday I wrote out a 
 pass to admit me to an interview with two prisoners, Georga Sum- 
 mers, and Lieutenant George Brown. I carried it to Captain Winder, 
 in a back room at the headquarters, and he signed it. Both of the 
 
29 
 
 men sent letters requesting to see me, six days after that. I never 
 got the letter. Enquired and found he had given it to Mr. Allen, 
 who said he had handed it to Mr. Ward to forward to General Winder. 
 Went to General Winder, but found no letter there. Eight or ten 
 days after that the letter reached me. 
 
 Question by Chairman of Committee. — Did Captain Alexander ob- 
 struct your intercourse with the prisoners? 
 
 Jjnsivcr. — He told me to do my speaking to them through the 
 guard. 
 
 Question. — Did he know your visits were professional ones? 
 
 Answer. — Yes, he was well aware of that fact. 
 
 Question. — Were not some of your clients citizens? 
 
 . Iiswer. — Yes, one. A man named Weeks ; was a citizen of Lou- 
 doun or Fauquier. He was finally tried and discharged, after an 
 imprisonment of four or five months. 
 
 Question. — Do you know anything else bearing on the subject before 
 the committee ? 
 
 Answer. — I know another affair which first raised my suspicions. 
 I was called professionally to see a soldier named Miller, b6longing 
 to Captain Thornton's company of Caroline County. I agreed to 
 undertake his case for fifty dollars, and he said he would give that. 
 Miller was discharged, and when I saw him he said Mr. Ward had 
 told him not to pay me the fifty dollars fee, as he, (Mr. Ward) had 
 done more for him than I had. Previous to this, Miller told Ward 
 to keep a note for sixty-five dollars, and give it to me. I enquired 
 for the note of Mr. Ward, and it was not to be found. 
 
 Question. — Did Miller pay Mr. Ward? 
 
 Answer. — I cannot say that he did. 
 
 Mr. Ward to the Committee. — I deny the statement Mr. Crawford 
 has made. He called on me on one occasion and desired that I should 
 solicit practice for him, or, in other words, take advantage of my 
 position to drum up clients for him at the Castle. lie said he under- 
 stood such a procedure was custom iry at the Richmond bar, and 
 offered to give me half of the proceeds of such a joint operation. I 
 told him 1 would not be a party toany such arrangement, that it was 
 unprofessional, and that a party who stooped to it would most certainly 
 loose standing and position at the bar. I did say that in case Mr. 
 Crawford was enquired for I would notify him of it. 
 
 Dennis Connf.rs sworn. — I was an inmate of Castle Thunder. I 
 am paroled to report there until I made a ch:nce of the branch of the 
 6ervice I shall enter. I prefer the navy. 
 
 Question by Committee. — How were you treated while there? 
 
 noer. — I was taken up on the street late at night by the guard 
 and sent to Castle Thunder as a supposed deserter. I had been drink- 
 put in a dungeon, a small room called the "sweat 
 house." 1 was kept there from Thursday to Saturday at 3 o'clock, 
 when I was taken up t-tairs to be flogged, by order of Captain Alex- 
 ander. 1 was ordered to take off my clothes, and I stripped. I was 
 tied up by my wrists to a post, and one of the members of Captain 
 
so 
 
 Bossieux's company laid on the lashes, and he would spring on hi3 
 toes at every lick. Capt. Alexander was present, and told the man 
 with the lash to lay it on to me. That was the only time I was 
 ever whipped. 
 
 Question. — Who arrested you ? 
 
 Answer. — Caphart arrested me. I don't know anything about his 
 general disposition, as he never came among the prisoners much. He 
 looked as if he would treat them rough if he had anything against 
 them. The prisoners all liked lliggs. He could go among them 
 without molestation at all times. Mr. Allen, the warden, is a rough 
 man. I was put into the yard along with the other prisoners. It 
 was for exploding powder in the room. There was no danger of 
 blowing up the building. It was done to frighten some North Caro- 
 lina soldiers who were lying by the wall asleep. 
 
 Question. — Did Captain Alexander find out the guilty parties ? 
 
 Answer. — No, sir. They were all put down into the yard because 
 none would tell. The orders were to take no blankets or extra cover- 
 ing, but some were lowered from the windows afterwards. Some of 
 the prisoners were in bad health ; several died from it, and several 
 were taken into the hospital. 
 
 Question. — Had the prisoners any fire in the yard ? 
 
 Answer. — -The commissary gave them some wood, a dozen sticks or 
 so at night, but none in the day time. I don't remember the month 
 but it was in November, I think. It snowed the first night, and the 
 next night it rained. The ground was not very muddy until our feet 
 cut it up. 
 
 Question. — Did you see any other whipping there? 
 
 Answer. — Oh, yes. I don't know whether by order of court martial 
 or not. I saw ten whipped for being concerned in stealing one coat. 
 All except one were whipped,. and he was a Federal prisoner. The 
 others were Confederate soldiers and two Yankee deserters. 
 
 Question. — They were whipped because the coat could not be 
 found ? 
 
 Answer. — They did not know anything about it, I reckon. The 
 coat was found. The prisoner who lost the coat selected the prisoners 
 whom he suspected to be whipped. Captain Alexander was present,. 
 and ordered the lashes to be laid on hard. 
 
 Question — How many lashes did they strike each ? 
 
 Answer. — Well, some six, some eight, and some twelve. 
 
 Question. — Have you seen any men " bucked" there ? 
 
 Answer. — Yes, for such offencea as disobeying orders, cutting the 
 walls, transgressing the rules, &c. 
 
 Question. — Is " bucking" severe ? 
 
 Answer. — No, not very severe. 
 
 Question. — Do you know of any men being killed there 1 
 
 Answer. — Yes, several men were shot. 
 
 Question. — Do prisoners who are confined in the " sweat room'* 
 suffer much ? 
 
 Answer. — There is air but no light, and the fare is bread and water. 
 I did not suffer for water. The corporal of the guard brought me 
 
31 
 
 water, and I had a bucket for slops. I could go out once a day myself. 
 
 Quotum. — When arrested were you taken before the Provost Viar- 
 shal or to the Castle ? 
 
 Answtr. — I was taken to the Castle. 
 
 By Captain Alexander.— I had your brother Thomas there once 
 Connor, what was my treatment of him ? 
 
 Ansto r. — Well, Captain, you treated me rather rough. 
 
 Question.— Are not all the prisoners glad to see me when I como 
 among them ? 
 
 Answer. — Yes, because they wanted you to transact some business 
 for them. Sometimes I wanted to get little things in, such as cloth- 
 ing, &o. f and I could not get them ; and persons wishing to see me 
 have been denied, I supposed, by your order. 
 
 Marion C. Riggs sworn : 
 
 Qui st ion bij the Chairman of the Committee. — What is your position 
 at the Castle, Mr. Riggs? 
 
 Answer. — 1 was warden. 
 
 Question.— Whtf is the deportment of Captain Alexander towards 
 the prisoners confined there ? 
 
 Anwer. — I have seen many instances of cruelty by order of Cap- 
 tain Alexander. I regard the treatment of the prisoners by Captain 
 A. and his officers as cruel and inhuman. 
 
 Que turn. — Have you seen men whipped there? 
 
 Answer.— Yes, on seveial occasions, some I knew were not by the 
 order of a court martial. They were charged with stealing from oilier 
 prisoners up stairs. Others were whipped for beating, breaking out 
 of cells, and interfering with the guard. &e. 
 
 Question. — What number of lashes did they receive. 
 
 Answer. — I have known as many as twelve to be laid on. 
 
 Question. — Did you see any bucking done there ? 
 
 Answer. — Yes, and prisoners put into the back yard and kept there 
 two or three days and nights in succession. It was in cold weather. 
 Some were well provided with clothing. There was no sheltering ex- 
 cept the wall, and no extra covering. They were fed on bread and 
 water during that time. 
 
 Hon.— Do you know of any men dying there after being taken 
 out ? 
 
 Answer. — I know of none, though several were sick. 
 Question.— -The " sweat house"— do you know of men being confined 
 there ? 
 
 Answer.— Generally men caught in attempting to escape were put 
 in there on bread and water. 
 
 Question. — What is " bucking I" Describe it. 
 
 Answer.— It is a severe and degrading punishment. It is done by 
 passing a split across the elbows and tying them beneath the thighs, 
 after the manner of a calf going to market. 
 
 Question. — Were any men shot there ? 
 
 Answer.—] recollect one man who was shot while rushing past the 
 sentinel out of a cell He was shot in the enclosed yard. °IIe could 
 
have been secured without shooting. He was making his way up 
 stairs, and was fired upon at the foot of the stairs. He died in three 
 or four days. lie seemed to be insane. 
 
 Question. — What was Captain Alexander's deportment then ? Did 
 he seem to regret it ? 
 
 Answer. — I cannot say. 
 
 Question. — "What was the man's name; was he a Confederate soldier? 
 
 Answer. — I never could find out his name. It was in October or No- 
 vember, 1862. 
 
 Questim. — Was there an investigation into the shooting ? 
 
 Answer. — I do not know. 
 
 Question. — Did Captain Alexander give orders to shoot men attempt- 
 ing to escape ? 
 
 Answer. — I never heard of such an order. 
 
 Question. — Did you hear any regrets expressed among the officers 
 for the shooting of this man ? 
 
 Answer. — Yes, several, but not Caphart or Allen. I heard the 
 surgeon of the post wasn't in, and sent for Dr. Rueker, a prisoner. 
 I picked him up. He was crazy and no mistake. 
 
 Question. — Was it known that he was deranged ? 
 
 Answer. — I could tell he was. He was brought from the Libby 
 prison where he was fired upon for the same offence, and was killed at 
 the Castle the day he entered. 
 
 Question. — What is the general character of Caphart ? Is he kind? 
 
 Answer. — I would say not; rather brutal. I have known instances 
 when he lias been ordered to tie up and buck prisoners, and he seemed 
 to take a special pleasure in it. He would tie them up as tight as pos- 
 sible, and I myself have let them down. I never heard him curse 
 prisoners, but have seen him shake his stick over them when brought 
 in. I never heard him express any regrets for them. 
 
 Question. — What of Allen ? Is he kind and humane ? 
 
 Answer. — I never saw him use physical force. I have heard him 
 curse the prisoners. 
 
 Question. — Is there any difficulty in managing prisoners ? 
 
 Answer. — Sometimes there is insubordination. They never resisted 
 me, nor threw beef bones at me, and I was frequently among them. 
 
 Question. — Do you think they would be insubordinate if kindly 
 treated ? 
 
 Answer. — I don't believe they would. 
 
 Question. — Are you connected with the prison now? 
 
 Answer. — I was discharged on the first of the month, it was said, 
 by the board of Investigating Committee, to reduce force and ex- 
 penses. 
 
 Question. — Do you know at whose instance you were discharged? 
 
 Answer. — I do not. 
 
 Question. — Are persons allowed to see prisoners ? 
 
 Answer. — Yes, if they have passes. 
 
 Question. — Do you know of obstacles being thrown in the way of 
 attorneys wishing to see clients ? 
 
33 
 
 Answer. — I have known instances. They are permitted to go in 
 ■and stand at a screen window and talk through it. 
 
 Question. — Do you consider Allen cruel ? 
 
 A nswer.— Sometimes he is kind, and at other times crabbed. I 
 like him very much. 
 
 (Question. — Do you regard Captain Alexander as cruel ? 
 
 Answer. — I have thought his punishments more severe than the 
 cases demanded. He always had some friend whom he shielded. 
 
 Qui si ion. — Do you know of any cases where the Captain has taken 
 the responsibility of remitting the sentences of court martial I 
 
 Answer. — No, sir, I do not. I was connected with the prison six 
 months, and saw punishments once or twice a week. 
 
 Question. — Hear of any complaints about food I 
 
 Answer. — Yes, there were some complaints. There were plenty of 
 food though ; a pound of meat and a loaf of bread each. The floors 
 were swept once or twice a day, and washed once a week, generally 
 on a Saturday. 
 
 Question by Captain Alexander. — What are the characters of the 
 prisoners confined there ? 
 
 Ansioer. — Very despeiate fellows, many <.f them. I saw the cases 
 of Mitchell and Tyiee, who were beaten by them, and the men who 
 were struck by a slung shot. The guilty were afterwards whipped by 
 order from headquarters (Gen. Winder's.) My position was on the 
 same floor with the mass of prisoners. 
 
 (Question by Captain Alexander — What is the cry when a new prisoner 
 enters ? 
 
 Answer. — " Fresh fish !" They are then generally beat and robbed 
 if they have anything worth while. 
 
 Question by Mr. Ward. — Has Captain Alexander been kind to you 
 and the other officers ? 
 
 Answer. — Yes. 
 
 Question by Captain Alexander. — Do you think I am unkind ? 
 
 Answei . — Yes, in some instances. 
 
 Question 6y Committee. — When Captain Alexander sent the prisoners 
 into the yard, was it done by order of Gen. Winder I 
 
 Answer. — I don't know that it was. 
 
 Question. — Wai it in the newspapers? 
 oer. — Yes, 1 think it was. 
 
 Question. — Do you think Captain Alexander, by nature, a cruel man ? 
 
 Answir. — Yes, I consider his treatment cruel. 
 
 Question. — What do the prisoners think of Captain Alexander ? 
 
 Answer. — I have heard him spoken of with disrespect. 
 
 Captain Cyrus Bossu i \ -worn. 
 
 Question by Committee. — You are stationed at the prison, are you ? 
 
 Answer. — Yes, sir. 
 
 Question. — What punishments have been inflicted there in violation 
 of law ? 
 
 Answer. — I don't know that I have seen any in violation of law. I 
 know of whippings and backings, and men being put into the yard to 
 find out the perpetrators of outrages on prisoners. 
 3 
 
34 
 
 Question. — Have you seen any tied up by the thumbs ? 
 
 Answer. — But I have seen them bucked. It is not severe, but is 
 e3teemed humiliating. I have seen men tied up to a post ; I can't 
 swear that I saw them tied by the thumbs ; but the punishment can 
 either be made light or severe. I know one who was tied up for 
 attempting to bribe my guard. The guard told me of it, and I re- 
 ported the case to Captain Alexander. Captain Alexander ordered 
 him to be handcuffed, and tied to a post. He sent for me and I ex- 
 amined his ropes. . I loosened them, and he was afterwards set at 
 liberty. There were two connected in the bribing, and they were 
 Confederate soldiers. 
 
 Question. — Do you know Riggs ? 
 
 Answir. — Yes, I do. 
 
 Question. — Do the prisoners like him ? 
 
 Answer. — Yes, they do, as one of the wardens. 
 
 Question. — Do you know Caphart ? 
 
 Answer. — I don't think him inhuman, if prisoners don't resist him 
 hard ; I don't consider him kind by any means. On one occasion, 
 Caphart, while having two prisoners, Dennis and O'Connor, in charge, 
 one of the prisoners knocked a guard down, and Caphart ordered the 
 guard to fire, which they did not do. 
 
 Question. — Do you know of any men shot there ? 
 
 Answer. — One of my guard shot a man who was attempting to 
 escape. The orders are not to shoot a man of whom there was a pos- 
 sibility of capturing. 
 
 Question. — Were these orders from the Captain ? 
 
 Answer — Yes ; Dut I don't know that the orders were peremptory 
 to shoot every one. 
 
 Question. — Is there any necessity for shooting deranged men ? 
 
 Answer. — I did not see the shooting ; never heard of that ; I did'nt 
 ppeak of that. 
 
 Question. — Did you ever hear of orders to the guard, by the military 
 commandant of prisoners, to kill them were they to put their heads 
 cut of the windows ? 
 
 Answer. — Persistent effort in that way would ensure their firing 
 cpon because it was against the rules. 
 
 Question by Captain Alexander. — The night that Riggs and Dillard 
 had the fight, Riggs says I was drunk ; was he not drunk or under 
 the influence of liquor? 
 
 Answer. — I heard he was, sir. 
 
 Question by Captain Alexander. — Do you think I am a cruel man ? 
 
 Answer. — No, sir, I do not think so. 
 
 Question, continued. — I have sometimes hard cases to deal with? 
 
 Answer. — You have some of the hardest cases in the Confederacy. 
 X have heard of no persons being privately punished; all openly, and 
 exhibitions for the public. 
 
 Question. — Has the Captain no disposition to be cruel ? 
 
 Answer. — No, sir. 
 
 Question. — Nor Caphart ? 
 
 Answ r. — Good officer, sir. 
 
35 
 
 Question. — Ever see Allen drunk ? 
 
 Answer. — I have seen hjm in liquor. 
 
 Question. — How many times have you seen Riggs drunk ? 
 
 Answer. — He was very drunk once from the way he acted. 
 
 Question. — Did he get the mania potu. 
 
 Answer. — I' don't know. 
 
 Henry Edenbokoiuii, sworn 
 
 Question. — What are you? 
 
 Answer. — I was a captain in the East India royal navy. I came 
 through from Washington in November last. The Yankees had taken 
 my papers, and I was taken and locked up in Castle Thunder by order 
 of the Secretary of War. I experienced there excellent treatment by 
 Captain Alexander. I had a good room and opportunity to see tho 
 treatment of other prisoners; never heard of harsh treatment; never 
 experienced any myself; any person who conforms to the rule will 
 never be harshly treated. I have visited and commanded military 
 prisons in Europe, in Naples, Sardinia, in I860 and '61 ; have visited 
 and seen the hulks in India and China, and have seen nothing so 
 lenient as at Castle Thunder in America. In regard to the rations, I 
 consider them fine. I got my meals sent frequently from the hotels, 
 and dined there often; and always got more than I wanted. Nothing 
 was refused to come in to any of the prisoners. Many small favors 
 the prisoners were the recipients of. Men being sent off to their 
 regiments were allowed to go into town, under guard, to get clothing. 
 I have seen prisoners leave the prison who would take an affectionate 
 and ccrdial leave of the Captain, and express regrets to him at parting. 
 
 Question. — Do you know of any soldiers put in as comfortable 
 quarters as you occupied ? 
 
 Ansioer. — Y s ; tho citizens' room was very comfortable indeed, and 
 I have seen men put there. 
 
 Question. — Then it depends on general appearance and conduct how 
 treated ? 
 
 Answer. — Yes, it depends upon behavior in a great measure. 
 
 Question. — Did the Secretary of War order your release ? 
 
 Answt r. — No ; my. arrest was by order of the Secretary of War, and 
 my release was effected through the courts. 
 
 Question by Captain Alexander. — Do you think me a cruel man ? 
 
 Answer. — No, not exactly ; but you make men toe the mark. 
 
 Question. — Did you ever see Kiggs drunk ? 
 
 A'swer. — Yes, he came in my room once very drunk. 
 
 Question by Captain Alexander. — Have you been offered a position in 
 the Confederate army? 
 
 A?iswer — Yes. major of artillery. 
 
 Questitm by Committee. — Then you consider the punishments at tho 
 Castle humane in the highest degree? 
 
 Answer. — Yes, I do, considering. 
 
 Question by Committee. — Would you take it as a mild punishment to 
 be stripped naked and whipped upon tho bare back without tho order 
 of a court martial ? 
 
 Answer. — Well, in the sen ice I belonged to, whipping was an ordi • 
 
36 
 
 nary punishment. It was not considered a great indignity in the Eng- 
 lish service to be whipped with a cat-o-nine tail. 
 
 Question. — Is that all you know ? 
 
 Answer. — That's ail I know. 
 
 Wednesday, April 22, 1863. 
 
 John Adams, sworn. — I am from this city, and have- been in Castle 
 Tl under seven months for leaving my regiment without leave, and 
 go ng home. 
 
 Question. — What was your treatment there ? 
 
 Answer. — "Well, I was treated pretty tolerable rough. The charge- 
 again 8t me was never established. There was an attempt to bribe the 
 sentinel, and I was taken and handcuffed, and ironed around a post, 
 and tied up by my thumbs with a rope, my toes just touching the- 
 floor. I was in that condition for one hour or more, when Captain 
 Bossieux came along and released me. Then I was put into the sweat 
 house, the floor of which was covered with mud and water. I was 
 kept there two days and nights. It was in March, 1862, 1 think, and 
 very cold. There was no dry spot in it. I could only stand up in it 
 half bent. 
 
 Question. — How were you fed ? 
 
 Jinswer. — I was'nt fed at all. I got nothing except what I bought 
 from the commissary. I happened to have some money. I was put 
 into the back yard, and kept there a day and a half. I was bucked 
 once, with a relief of fifteen or twenty minutes at intervals. 
 
 Question. — Were your wrists tied tight then ? 
 
 Answer. — Yes, I can show the scars of hand-cuffs on my wrists, now. 
 
 Question. — Were you ever before a court martial ? 
 
 Answer. — Yes. I was sent to wear a ball and chain for six months, 
 and to be sent to my company. The reason I don't go to my company 
 is, the Captain wants me to stay here. 
 
 Question. — Are your thumbs swollen from the tying up ? 
 
 Answer. — Yes ; it was very painful. I have seen others tied up 
 like me. 
 
 Question. — Have you seen parties whipped without the authority of 
 court martial ? 
 
 Answer. — Yes ; some five or six. Their offence Was stealing from 
 other prisoners. 
 
 Question. — How many lashes did they receive ? 
 
 Answer. — Some five or six, and some more. Captain Alexander 
 was present, and said once " dam him, give him hell: If he don't 
 need it now, he will." He seemed to take delight in punishing us ; 
 and he had a very rough manner in the administration of his punish- 
 ments. 
 
 Question. — Has his general deportment been such that you consider 
 him cruel and inhuman ? 
 
37 
 
 Jlnsioer. — Yes, I do ; and I think it gave him pleasure to punish 
 the prisoners. 
 
 Question. — Do you know anything about the shooting of men at the 
 •castle ? 
 
 Answer. — Yes ; I know of the man who was shot at for sitting in 
 the window. The sentinel ordered him to get out of the window. I 
 don't know whether he got out or not, but he fired, and put a buck- 
 shot through his hat. 
 
 Question. — Was that by order of Captain Alexander ? 
 
 Answer. — I have heard him tell the sentinel to shoot the first man 
 who put his head out of the window. 
 
 Question. — Do you know Caphart ? 
 
 Answer. — Yes, sir; and he is no gentleman. He is a harsh and 
 cruel man. Mr. Allen is rough-spoken, and I have heard him speak 
 so when a kind word would have done as well. 
 
 Question. — Did you ever see Mr. Allen drunk? 
 
 Jtnswcr. — I have seen him out of the way four or five times. Never 
 saw him so far gone that he could'nt attend to his business. 
 
 Question. — Do you know Itiggs ? 
 
 Answer. — Yes ; he is a kind man, and all the prisoners like him, 
 
 (Question. — Do you know prisoners who like Captain Alexander. 
 
 Answer. — Yes; some speak in favor of him. 
 
 Question. — Do you think if Riggs had commanded there ; you would 
 hear of any fighting or throwing of bones? 
 
 Answer. — I don't believe they would ; we would get along well. ' I 
 never heard of prisoners who had made their arrangements to escape 
 and would not because it was Riggs' night on. 
 
 By Mr. Ward. When you were tied up by the thumbs did you not 
 ask me to let you down ? 
 
 Answc — Yes, you let me go. 
 
 Question. — Was'nt the rope around your wrists and thumbs, and 
 over the nail, and not around your thumbs ? 
 
 Answer. — I don't recollect now. 
 
 Question. — What about your attempt to bribe the guard ? 
 
 Answer. — The m >ney was sent to me for that purpose. I had not 
 been accused of stealing. 
 
 Friday, April 24th, 1863. 
 
 The testimony for the defence was commenced. 
 
 Mr. Farron, M. D., maie a statement of facts that fell under his 
 notice while visiting the castle in the capacity of one of the medical 
 committee appointed to inspect the sanitary condition of the prisons 
 and hospitals. The impression made upon his mind was that every 
 care was taken of the prisoners that it was possible to take. This 
 feature, and the well ordered condition of everything about the prison 
 was remarked by all the committee. 
 
33 
 
 Captain Jackson Warner, A. Q. M. and A. C. M., sworn. 
 
 Question. — How long have you known Captain Alexander ? 
 
 Answer. — Since June, 1861. Never before. 
 
 Question. — Did you ever see him intoxicated ? 
 
 Answer. — I never saw him drunk ; but I suppose he drinks some- 
 times. I always found him attentive to his duties. I see him twice a 
 week, or oftener. I never saw or heard of him being drunk. 
 
 Question. — What do you think of his treatment of prisoners ? 
 
 Answer. — I know nothing of his associations with the prison. I 
 never heard him curse in my life; think he is a member of Church 
 
 Question. — Did you ever see him treat a prisoner roughly ? 
 
 Answer. — Never in my life. 
 
 Question — What are your ideas of the management of the prison f 
 
 Answer. — I always thought the prison was managed well, and I 
 have had opportunities to see and know. I have no prison experience 
 myself. 
 
 Question. — How long have you known Captain Alexander ? 
 
 Answer. — Since June, 186 1 - ; and since that time, intimately so. 
 
 Question. — Do you know any instiances where Captain Alexander 
 showed kindnesses to prisoners ? 
 
 Answer. — Yes, I do. In the case of Mr. Larraadoux, my clerk. 
 He wa3 put into the castle for drunkenness. He had a sick wife at 
 home, and I went to Captain Alexander, and, stating the case, asked 
 him to let him go home, and I would be responsible for his return. 
 He- did so, and the next morning he reported* He was again arrested 
 when sent to his regiment, and again released on his parole by Capt 
 Alexander, upon a statement of facts I represented to him. 
 
 Question. — In what rooom was he confined ? 
 
 Answer. — In the room in which the clerks slept, so he told me. 
 
 Question. — Do you know anything in regard to the case of Govern- 
 ment property ? 
 
 Answer. — I never saw any waste. If waste had existed, I would 
 have taken notice of it, as it is my business. 
 
 William F. Watson, Confederate States Commissioner, sworn : 
 
 Captain Alexander. — Judge, some complaints have been made of my 
 treatment of lawyers coming to the Castle on business. You .have 
 been there frequently; tell the'eommittee how you were treated, and 
 how I deal with the profession. 
 
 Answer. — I am a practising lawyer, and have frequently called at 
 the Castle on business. I have always been treated by Captain Alex- 
 ander with uniform kindness; not only by the Captain himself but by 
 all his officers. I had no difficulty at all in gaining access to the pri- 
 soner I wished to see. All, I had to do, was to go the proper officer 
 and they were either sent down to me, or DUp to them. So far as the 
 character of the majority of the prisoners are concerned, I must say, 
 to express it in common parlance, they are a hard crowd. It must re- 
 quire great coolness and determination to manage them. I s Cora- 
 iinissioner have had some of them before me. 
 
 Question — Do you regard the Captain as a cruel man ? 
 
 Answer. — No, I should say he was rather of a kindly disposition, 
 
39 
 
 rather impulsive. He can manage by an appeal about ns well as any 
 official I know. 
 
 Question. — Do you think Capt. Alexander a man not to be swayed 
 from hispurpose ? 
 
 Answer. — I consider him impulsive but positive ; one to do a tiling 
 under the excitement of a moment. 
 
 Question. — Do you think the prisoners could be managed better un- 
 der a milder or kinder man ? 
 
 Answer. — Mild men are not always the best for such posts, a little 
 blending of the severe is better. 
 
 John Df.Butts, M. I)., sworn. 
 
 I au: Surgeon of Castle Thunder Hospital. — So far as I have op- 
 portunities of observation, I regard the management of the prison as 
 good, very good. I have never had any prison experience before. 
 
 By Captain Abxander. — Have I not told you, Doctor, that your or- 
 ders in regard to the sick were supreme ? 
 
 Answer. — Yes, you have told me so. 
 
 Question. — Do you think I am a cruel man ! 
 
 Jlnswer. — I never saw any cruelty practised by you. 
 
 Question. — Doctor, what was Mr. Bland discharged from the post of 
 steward of the hospital for ? 
 
 Answer. — Moral incompetency, I call it. 
 
 ( t uestion by Committee. What is moral incompetency '. 
 
 Ansvier. — He was in the habit of appropriating the hospital liquor 
 to his own private use. No one else had access to it, for he had tho 
 key. I don't know how much was taken, but a great deal more was 
 used than went to the patients. 
 
 By Captain Alexander. — Is Kirby, the prisoner, comfortably fixe I 
 now ? 
 
 Answer. — Yes, he has the best room in the prison ; the best ventil- 
 ated and situated. 
 
 Question by Chairman. — Has Kirby the privilege of buying 
 meals ? 
 
 Captain Alexander to ^ommittee. — Gentlemen. I wish to prove by 
 De Battfl that I never refused an appeal of sickness. When a man is to 
 be branded, I direct the surgeon to indicate where the iron is tc b 
 placed, and when men are sentenced to be whipped the lashes are re- 
 mitted if in the opinion of the surgeon the party's health is nae 
 to the punishment. 
 
 Question by Chairman. — Do you know of any prisoners bein 
 in .the yard of the Castle ? 
 
 Answer. — Yes, a number were confined there. They were brought 
 in at night. I knew nothing of the whipping ; never saw it don<\ 
 know of one man who escaped and was shot, and another was shot at 
 for blackguarding the sentinel. His face was lascerated by splinter.- 1 ., 
 and T dressed it for him. 
 
 Colonel Roukrt Mayo, member of the Legislature from Henrico 
 county, sworn. 
 
, 40 
 
 Captain Alexander. — You have known me a long time, Colonel ; tell 
 the committee what you know of me. 
 
 Answer. — My first acquaintance with Captain Alexander was on an 
 occasion of a visit to him in his official capacity, in relation to some 
 abuse near my residence which he speedily caused to be corrected. I 
 found him pleasant and kind. This was when he was at Castle God- 
 win. When he moved down to Castle Thunder I saw him oftener. A 
 great many of my neighbors were in the guard, and I was frequently 
 called to see prisoners. I often remarked that I never saw so many 
 prisoners together under the same circumstances kept so ordely. They 
 were as sprightly as any people I ever saw. It was wonderful to me. 
 
 Mr. Ward. — Colonel, tell about the shooting you saw there. 
 
 Answer. — One day I was about going into the Castle a sentinel was 
 about shooting a prisoner at a window, for a violation of the rules, 
 when Captain Alexander interfered, ordered him to desist, not to shoot, 
 that he would order the prisoner to be put in irons instead. I saw 
 two prisoners shot at the Libby prison, but Captain Alexander had 
 nothing to do with that. 
 
 Question by the Committee.. — What other kinds of punishment did you 
 see there ? 
 
 Answer. — I saw prisoners wearing a barrel shirt, but" that inflicts 
 no pain. 
 
 Question. — Is it not degrading to the soldier? 
 
 Answer. — The one I saw did not think so; he was jesting about it. 
 
 By Mr. Ward. — From your knowledge cf Captain A. and his treat- 
 ment cf prisoners, do you think him a cruel man ? 
 
 Answer. — I do not consider him a cruel man ; by no means. If the 
 prisoners conduct themselves well there is no trouble whatever. 
 
 Question. — Do you know Mr. Childrey ? 
 
 Answer. — Yes, and a more honest and correct man cannot be found 
 in the city of Richmond. I also know Mr. Caphart, and Mr. Thomas, 
 another officer at the prison, and one of my neighbors. I have seen 
 them all in the discharge of their duties, and found them very atten- 
 tive. I have called on Captain Alexander to send a squad of men to 
 my neighborhood, when disturbed, and peace has been restored. 
 
 Captain Thomas P. Turner, commandant of the Libby prison, sworn; 
 
 By Captain Alexander. — Captain, describe in your own terms your 
 ideas of my treatment of prisoners. 
 
 Ansioer. — Well, I regard the prison as exceedingly well regulated. 
 The discipline maintained has been good, while the character of the 
 inmates are the worst in the land. I regard none of the means em- 
 ployed to control them too severe or unnecssary punishment. 
 
 Question. — What kind of punishment do you inflict when any is ne- 
 cessary ? 
 
 Answer. — For slight offences I make them " mark time," and for 
 graver offences, I " buck" them. 
 
 Question. — Your prisoners are Yankees, and not Confederate sol- 
 diers ? 
 
 Answer. — Yes, sir, all of them. 
 
K 41 
 
 By Mr. Ward. You have sent your worst cases to the Castle, have 
 you not ? 
 
 Answer. — Yes, I have. 
 
 Question. — Is the order to shoot an escaping prisoner a standing or- 
 der.'' 
 
 Answer. — No, I make my own orders, and have them approved by 
 General Winder. I would allow no man to be shot who could bo 
 caught without shooting. 
 
 Question, — If a prisoner was to attempt to escape from your prison 
 by running up stairs, as one did at the Castle, would you consider it 
 the duty of that sentinel to shoot him ? 
 
 Answer. — Not unless that man was about to escape, and there was 
 no possibility of capturing him. 
 
 Question. — Well, does a prisoner ever escape by running up stairs ? 
 
 Answer. — Not in my prison, sir. 
 
 Question. — Would you investigate a case of the kind ? 
 
 Ansivcr. — Yes, certainly, and report the fact3 to headquarters. 
 
 Question. — Did you send a deranged man to Castle Thunder, and 
 who was killed there in attempting to escape ? 
 
 Ansivcr. — No sir, it was done by my predecessor. 
 
 Question. — If a derarged man was brought to your prison, would 
 you not consider it your duty to warn all hands that he was deranged, 
 in order to guard against accidents, or to confine him ? 
 
 Answer. — It would be very difficult to know what to do with him. 
 The deranged man Silas Richmond, who was killed at the Castle t was 
 a Yankee. He passed the guard several times in my prison, but the 
 guard understood he was crazy. As for keeping the prisoners in the 
 yard at the Castle over night, I don't know anything about that. 
 
 Saturday, April 25, 1863. 
 
 The testimony was resumed for the defence. 
 
 Captain Thomas P. Turner, recalled. 
 
 Question by Mr. Ward. — Were you ever present at Castle Thunder 
 when punishment was biing inflicted ? 
 
 Answer. — Y r es, I witnessed one whipping not by order of court 
 martial. I think General Winder authorized it. Three were whipped, 
 I think for mal-treatment of other prisoners, stealing, &c. The lashes 
 were laid on tolerably harl, one receiving twelve, an I the other six 
 and a third only three lashes. The lashes were laid on with a leather 
 strap, about eighteen inches long, and weighing about one pound and 
 a half. The lashes were laid on tolerably hard, but left no mark ; the 
 skin was not broken. Captain Alexander had been instructed to 
 administer twelve lashes, but he used his own discretion and lessened 
 the number. After it was over he congiaulated the prisoners in the 
 manliness they exhibited, and said he was sorry the necessity for the 
 infliction of such punishment existed. 
 
42 
 
 r 
 
 Question. — Did you hear Captain Alexander say " lay it on harder.' 1 
 
 Answer. — No sir. They were tied up by the wrists around a post, 
 except one who said he could not stand it, and he was allowed to clasp 
 his arms around the post. The above was the only punishment I 
 saw inflicted there. I know Captain Alexander well, am often with 
 him, and regard him as a kind min. 
 
 Question. — Is Captain Alexander intemperate? 
 
 Answer. — I never saw him intoxicated in my life. I have seen him 
 drink. He is a sociable man, and will take a drink with his friends. 
 
 Question — What is the character of the inmates of the Castle ; are 
 they mutinous ? 
 
 Answer. — Their characters are various ; seme of the most desperate 
 men in the Confederacy are there. I was for a time the officer of that 
 post, and all passed through my hands. Once I ordered the arrest of 
 two of my guard, and sent them to the Castle. They were no sooner 
 put in the prisoners' room than they were set upon, beat, their clothing 
 torn off, and robbed of everything. The offenders in this offence were 
 whipped. I don't think there is a cleaner prison anywhere. It is 
 kept remarkably neat and orderly. 
 
 Question. — Did you ever hear any complaints respecting Captain 
 Alexexander's conduct ? 
 
 Answer. — No, sir, not until this committee met. I know he is a strict 
 disciplinarian, and keeps things straight around him. His punishment 
 is not more stringent than necessary, I suppose. At my prison, where 
 all are Yankees, I have no need for such modes of punishment. No 
 robberies are committed among the prisoners, for their money is all 
 taken away from them when they enter, and given back to them when 
 they leave. This is to prevent bribery. 
 
 By Mr. Ward. — This plan was for some time in practice at the 
 Castle, but the prisoners would hide it about their persons, and in 
 their boots. 
 
 Question. — Have you any instances of bribery ? 
 
 Answer. — No. nothing positive, though there have been attempts. 
 
 Lieutenant Dennis Callahan, sworn. — I am the adjutant of the 
 Castle, and have been there three months. 
 
 Question. — What is the general treatment of the prisoners ? 
 
 Answer. — In my opinion, judging from the time I have been there, 
 the prisoners are treated as well as they could be under the circum- 
 stances. 
 
 Question. — What is the character of the prisoners ? 
 
 Answer. — Some of them are of very bad repute. I have seen whip- 
 ping and bucking as punishment for stealing. 
 
 Question. — Are not the prisoners fed on soldiers rations ? 
 
 Answer. — Yes, and as far»as I know they get more to eat than our 
 soldiers. 
 
 Question. — Are not the soldiers among the prisoners as well dressed 
 as the soldiers in the field. 
 
 Answer. — As a general thing, I should say they were. The Captain 
 has interested himself in obtaining clothing from the government 
 authorities. 
 
43 
 
 James Jennings, sworn. ---i have been six months in the Castle, and 
 am from Maryland. I left my company on sick leave, and was walk- 
 ing around getting well when arrested. I broke out after two months 
 confinement, and started for my company, and was arrested and sent 
 back, my company being disbanded. 
 
 Question. — Have you been kindly treated? 
 
 Answer. — Yes, as well as could be expected. 
 
 Question. — Have you been punished ? 
 
 Answer. — No, sir. I was put in the cell four days, I thought that 
 perfectly right. It was for writing a letter and sending it out of the 
 prison without submitting it to the Captain. The cell is not a comfort- 
 able place ; it is dry but cold. I suffered from the cold, and was fed 
 on bread and water. 1 think I was kept there five days. I thought 
 the letter would go quicker and surer by sending through private 
 hands. I am seventeen years old. I don't know what I am detained 
 for. 
 
 John Dovle, sworn. — I have been in the Castle now four weeks. I 
 don't know Captain Alexander, would not know him if I was to see 
 him. I am treated as well as the others, I reckon. I never wa3 pun- 
 ished ; in fact I don't deserve it. I was shot at once in the window, 
 or at least I thought I was shot at; but I don't believe he intended to 
 hit me, for I don't deserve it. 
 
 Question. — Didn't a shot go through your hat ? 
 
 Answer. — Can't tell ; there is a hole through it. 
 
 James McClasher, sworn. — I am a seaman, and came from Wil- 
 mington, N. C. I came here when the war broke out. I have not 
 been treated by Captain Alexander as a man should be treated. I have 
 been tied up and flogged like a negro. 
 
 Question. — How many lashes did you receive ? 
 
 Answer. — Twelve, I think ; and by Captain Alexander's order they 
 were laid on as hard as I could well have stood it. 
 
 Question. — Was the blood cut out. of you ? 
 
 Answer. — No ; but I was black and blue, and was sore for a month 
 afterwards. I was whipped with a strap three inches wide, and the 
 blows were laid on by Caphart. I have been bucked for four hours 
 in front of the office entrance, where everybody could see me. Buck- 
 ing is not painful, but it mortifies and makes one ashamed. 
 
 Question — Do you know of any other punishments ? 
 
 Answer. — Yes ; I was shot at once for standing at a window and 
 looking out. The ball passed my head and went up through the 
 hospital, which was full of patients. 
 
 Mr. WiNNB, door keeper of the House of Representatives, detailed 
 before the committee some circumstances of his treatment at the 
 prison, when he went down to summon some officers, and the purport 
 of his conversation with several witnesses, which not being to the 
 point here, is omitted. 
 
44 
 
 Monday, JJpnl 27, 1863. 
 
 Hon. Judge Ould, sworn. 
 
 Question by Capt. Alexander. — You, as Judge Advocate of the court 
 martial, can give the committee some idea of the character of the 
 prisoners ? 
 
 Answer. — The most of the cases brought before me, were cases of 
 desertion, coupled with theft, and cases of insubordination. 
 
 Question. — Do you think I am a cruel man ? 
 
 Answer. — I do not know about that. I do not think you are. 
 
 Question. — What do you think about me carrying out an order ? 
 
 Answer. — Being a military man, you would see any reasonable order 
 carried out. I have conversed at times with pe'rsons who have been in 
 Castle Thunder, and have questioned them as to their treatment there. 
 Never heard them mention any cases of cruelty, but generally the 
 reverse. There has been half a dozen sentenced to be shot, and two 
 condemned to be hung. We have never resorted to the death penalty 
 unless the case presented the two aggravated phases, first, desertion, 
 and secondly, desertion in face of the enemy. I know nothing of the 
 punishments by the commandant of the Castle; never visited it in my 
 life, that I know of. In all sentences of court martial the lashes were 
 well laid on, except in one instance. 
 
 Lieutenant Peter Callahan, sworn. — Your conduct towards the 
 prisoners has been as kind as it well could be under the circumstances. 
 
 Question — What is my conduct towards visitors ? 
 
 Answer. — I always thought your conduct gentlemanly. 
 
 Question. — One of the witnesses swore that he saw fifteen men 
 bucked and gagged in the prison ; did you ever see such punishment ? 
 
 Answer. — I never did, and never heard of a man being gagged 
 there. I do not regard bucking as adding anything to the disgrace of 
 a man who lays himself liable to be put in Castle Thunder. 
 
 Question. — How do you know that these men were guilty of any 
 crime ; inocent men are sometimes put there ; were those men that 
 were bucked found guilty of any crime ? 
 
 Answer. — I do not know that they were. I have seen soldiers in 
 the army more severely punished than at Castle thunder. Have 
 heard of men standing on a barrel all day with the word thief written 
 on their backs, by order of their officers. Men are often bucked in 
 the army and tied up by the thumbs. 
 
 Question. — What is the condition of Castle Thunder ? 
 
 Answer. — I believe it is very good. 
 
 Question. — You inspect the prison every morning ? 
 
 ^Answer. — Almost every morning. 
 
 Question. — Then it would be impossible for a man to lie in his filth 
 behind the door without you knowing it ? 
 
 Answer. — It certainly would be difficult. 
 
 Frederick J. Wiley, sworn. 
 
 Question. — How long have you been at the Castle ? 
 
45 
 
 Answer. — Ever since it was established. 
 
 Question. — How long have you known me ? *■ 
 
 Answer. — Ever since you escaped from Fort McIIenry. 
 
 Question. — What is the condition of the prison. 
 
 Answer. — As clean as such a place can be kept. 
 
 Question.— What is the position of your room ? 
 
 Answer. — Where I can hear any conversation in the prisoners' 
 room. 
 
 Question. — What language have you heard Kirby use ?, 
 " Answer. — I have heard him curse General Winder and yourself and 
 other officials. 
 
 Question. — Did I ever do anything with him ? 
 iswer. — No; although it was reported to you. 
 
 Question. — Is there a cell in the castle that a man cannot stand up 
 erect in ? 
 
 Answer. — No, there is not. 
 
 Question — What about the whipping? 
 
 Answer. — I have seen eight men whipped without order of the court 
 martial, and by order of General Winder. 
 
 Question. — How many lashes did they receive ? 
 
 Answer. — I don't think they received six lashes apiece. Some of 
 them were Yankee deserters, and I have no doubt gome of them were 
 Confederate soldiers. 
 
 Question — Were all these men concerned in the beating of the old 
 man who died ? 
 
 Answer. — The prisoners pointed them out, and they were their 
 accessors. 
 
 Question — What authority has General Winder, or anybody else, 
 to whip a soldier on his bare back ? 
 
 Answer.- — I don't know, sir. 
 
 Question. — Do you know anything about prisoners being put out in 
 the back yard ? 
 
 Answer. — Yes. They were put out there. They had fire, and some 
 of them had blankets. It was cold weather, and the wood must have 
 been furnished them, or they could not have got it. There were about 
 sixty men in the yard. Captain Alexander ordered me to pick out 
 any that were s ; ck, and I picked out a number. The second night I 
 picked out a number more, who were sick. 
 
 Question. — Were all those men guilty of attempting to blow up the 
 building ? 
 
 Answer. — I don't know, sir. 
 
 Question. — Is it reasonable to suppose these men would blow up the 
 building and themselves with it. 
 
 Answer. — There are men without one redeeming trait in their char- 
 acters ; would be guilty of any crime, from murder down. 
 
46 
 Tuesday, April 28th, 1863. 
 
 The testimony for the defence was continued. 
 
 Frederick F. Wiley recalled. 
 
 Question. — Do you know the characters of McAlister, Shehan and 
 Adams ? » 
 
 Answer. — I wa3 informed, some months ago, that they had made a 
 rope to escape. Went to McAlisters cell, and askjd him for it. He 
 said he had none, and I made a search ; McAlister resisted with a 
 spade or shovel ; the other had a razor, and the other had a ball and 
 chain. I defended myself, and drew a pistol. I found the ropo in 
 McAlister's bag. These are the characters of men we have to deal 
 with. I would not believe McAlister on oath. One-third of the 
 blankets distributed there, I believe, are cut up to make ropes where- 
 with to escape. Men are brought there sometimes with plenty of 
 clothing and blankets, and if we are not careful they would all bo 
 stolen for the above .purpose. 
 
 Question. — What do you think of Caphart ? 
 
 Answer. — I think him one of the best officers I ever saw. If you 
 give him an order he will carry it out. I have roomed with him, and 
 consider him a kind hearted man. I never saw him strike a man unless 
 he had cause. 
 
 Questio?i.~ -On the night the prisoners were put into the yard, were 
 not those who looked sick, not taken back ? 
 
 Answer. — Yes, by your order, and I helped to sekct them. 
 
 Question.- -Do you remember people on the street being in danger 
 from missiles thrown from the windows ? 
 
 Answer. — Yes, and the mayor sent down word that it must be stopped. 
 
 Question. — Did you not report th^ conduct of prisoners to the com- 
 manding general t 
 
 Answer. — Yes; and he sent an order to have the guilty whipped. 
 
 Question. — Have I not always expressed solicitude for the 3ick ? 
 
 Answer. — Yes, you supplied many of them with clothing obtained 
 from the battle fields around Richmond. Men arc brought there very 
 badly off for clothing. 
 
 Question. — Do you know Mr. Riggs ? 
 
 Answer. — Yes, sir, I know him. 
 
 Question. — Did you ever see him drunk ? 
 
 Answr.- — Yes, very drunk, and abusive to you in your office'. You 
 said you would discharge him but for his wife and children. 
 
 Question. — Do you recollect the time Riggs went into the citizens' 
 room ? 
 
 An§iver.— ^1 have known Riggs to be in there with the prisoners, 
 disloyal persons, unionists, &c, up to midnight, associating with them, 
 drinking whiskey. My room adjoins the citizens' room, and I can 
 hear everything said. 
 
 Question. — Do yo think Captain Alexander a cruel man ? 
 
 Answer — No, sir. 
 
 Question. — How did I treat my soldiers I took down to the army ? 
 
 Answer. — Eetter than most of them in the army. 
 
47 
 
 Question. — Was the Yankee, who was shot, running in the direction 
 that he could escape. 
 
 Answer. — The steps he was running up lead to a porch, from whence 
 he could have escaped. [The witness related the circumstances of 
 the escape of the prisoner from the Libby prison, and his reception 
 at the castle for safe keeping.] I did not know he was crazy, and was 
 not told so. He called me to him before he died and asked my for- 
 giveness for anything against him. [Witness related the killing of 
 Charles Carroll alias Byzcr, over the portico, while attempting to 
 escape.] I believe Campbell was the cause of his death, as he got 
 Carroll to draw the fire of the guard, so he could get out unharmed. 
 
 Question. — How long have you beenat the prison ? 
 
 Answer. — Since its establishment. 
 
 Question. — How many men have you seen whipped there without 
 court martial ? 
 
 Answer. — Only eight. They were whipped for beating an old man 
 sixty years of age, from which he like to have died, and for stealing. 
 There is no order to take the money or valuables of prisoners. If 
 they want to give them up we take them and give them receipts. This 
 was until recently. 
 
 Question. — What is the condition of the yard ? 
 
 Answer. — It is a hard dirt floor, or clay. 
 
 Question by Captain Alexander. — It appears from the evidence that 
 one man was tied up by the thumbs ? 
 
 Answr — Yes ; the only man I ever saw, and, by your order I 
 lowered him down. His offence was stealing money and beating a 
 negro. 
 
 Question by Capt. Alexander. — Did I not punish a man for punish- 
 ing a servant without my order ? 
 
 Answer. — Yes ; your orders are to that effect. 
 
 Lieutenant Bossieux sworn. 
 
 (Question. — Do you remember the putting of some men in the yard ? 
 
 Answer. — On one instance a number were in the yard for attempt- 
 ing to blow up the building with powder. The first night others at- 
 tempted to cut out. "I staid there with the guard and caught fifteen 
 when they came out. It was very pleasant weather. On another 
 occasion, when some men were in the yard, there came up a storm, 
 and I notified Mr. Ward, and they were taken in. On another occa- 
 sion four Yankees were put out, and it snowed. They were taken in. 
 
 Question. — Do you think me a cruel man ? 
 
 Answer. — No, sir ; I do not. 
 
 Qti sfion. — Are not the doors of the cells often left open ? # 
 
 Answe r . — Yes. I have .opened them myself often. 
 
 Question by Mr. Ward. — What is your opinion of the character of 
 the men there ? 
 
 Answer. — Yes; there are some of the worst men in the world, and 
 I don't believe there is an hour that they are not concocting some plan 
 to escape. I dOnt think they could be managed with less itrictness. 
 
 Question. — Do you know of a cell a man cannot stjnd up in ? 
 
43 
 
 Answer. — No, sir. 
 
 Question. — You never knew of any secret punishment ? 
 
 Answer. — No, sir. The prisoners are generally brought out where 
 all can see them. 
 
 Question. — What month was it the men were put into the yard ? 
 
 Answer. — It was pleasant weather. I was out all that night with- 
 out my overcoat. They staid there two days, and the third day they 
 were taken up. 
 
 Question. — Do you know of any whipping ? 
 
 Answer. — I have heard of whipping; never saw it. The whipping 
 was by order of court martial and was laid on by the corporal of po- 
 lice of the castle. 
 
 Ques'.ion. — Do you know any punishment not of an ordinary char- 
 acter ? 
 
 Answer. — I recollect one circumstance. It was two men tied up to 
 a post ; don't know whether by the thumbs or the wrists. Was told 
 it was for robbing some prisoner up stairs. Don't know how long they 
 remained in that position. 
 
 Question by Capt. Alexander. — Do you remember me telling you once 
 that to abstain from shooting some whose intended escape we had dis- 
 covered ? 
 
 Ansv>er. — Yes. 
 
 Question by Committee. — What are your instructions in regard to 
 prisoners putting their heads out of the Avindows ? 
 
 Answer. — We warn them, and if they persist, the sentinels fire over 
 them. I remember, wljen on F.ranklin street, some of the prisoners 
 threw the sashes out of the windows, and tried to hit some of my men. 
 They also threw bricks from the front windows. They climbed to the 
 chimney and took bricks and threw them down. 
 
 Question by Committee. — How many men have been shot by your 
 guard ? 
 
 Answer. — None by guard. I only know of two shot there at all, 
 the crazy Yankee, and the man Carroll. We could have shot a 
 hundred men there, if the sentinels had been so^isposed. 
 
 Question by Capt. Alexander. — Then you think if the prisoners be- 
 have themselves they will be well treated. 
 
 Answer. — Yes, I do ; I know it. 
 
 George W. Waoiack, a prisoner, sworn. 
 
 Qi estion by Capt. Alexander. — Do you think a man put in the Castle, 
 if he behave well, would he not be treated woll? 
 
 Answtr. — I do. 
 
 Qmstion. — Did you ever see any act of cruelty there ? 
 
 Answer. — I never did, sir. 
 
 Question. — When you were sick, did I not let you go home ? 
 
 Answer. — You did. 
 
 Question. — When before the court martial, did I not act as your 
 counsel ? 
 
 Answer. — Yes, you did. 
 
 Question by Committee. — Where are you from ? 
 
49 
 
 Answer. — I am from Manchester, and am in the Castle on the charge 
 of desertion. 
 
 Wednesday, April %9tk, 1863. 
 
 Judge Baxter, sworn. 
 
 Question — Judge, state what you know of the condition and treat- 
 ment of prisoners. 
 
 Answer. — Captain Alexander has sent for me to examine into such 
 cases as presented mitigating circumstances, and rcommended their 
 discharge or detention, as the case migh the. I have opportunities of 
 seeing Captain Alexander and the prisoners. My belief is that he is 
 peculiarly qualified to control such a body. I think his course has 
 been one of great humanity. At his suggestion, I have discharged 
 prisoners. There have been cases of wrong imprisonment and hard- 
 ship. The management of the prison, my belief is, has been con- 
 ducted with ability, and by measures of stringency required by the 
 character of the prisoners. What was the police regulations of the 
 cells, I don't know. 
 
 Question. — Do you know Kirby ? 
 
 Answer. — I was once at the prison for the purpose of examining into 
 cases, and Kit by was in the room ; and I requested him to leave, and 
 he complained. Capt. Alexander had induced him so as to exclude 
 him from the mass of prisoners. 
 
 Question by Capt. Alexander. — Judge, do you think I am a cruel 
 man ? 
 
 Answer. — I would rather take you to be a kind man ; but firm and 
 resolute, and not disposed to allow any of your orders to be trans- 
 gressed. 
 
 Here testimony closed. 
 
 Tesitmony of Dennis O'Connor — Continued. 
 
 Prisoner is still required to report every morning at Castle Thun- 
 der upon parole. Mr. F. VViley, an officer in Castle Thunder, cursed 
 and abused witness this morning; charged him with being a thief. 
 The abuse was caused by witness having been called upon to testify 
 before the committee. Wiley has been in the habit of abusing wit- 
 ness. He told Wiley that he was in his power and compelled to 
 submit to his abuse. Wiley cursed the Irish generally, and is in the 
 habit of abusing prisoners who do not report upon their comiades. 
 Witness is acquainted with Lieutenant Bossieux Don't know what 
 character he bears. Atone time he heard Mr. Wiley curse a prisoner 
 who was in irons. Witness intended to join Captain Roger's company, 
 Robinson's battalion ; denies having voted in the election for officers ; 
 4 
 
50 
 
 never joined 19th Mississippi regiment; never was a substitute for 
 any one. 
 
 Testimony of Captain W. N. Starke — Continued. 
 
 Witness states that he has been assigned to duty by General Win- 
 der for the purpose of investigating all cases of political, citizen and 
 and military prisoners, and of obtaining all the necessary evidence in 
 relation thereto. Has been in the office but a short time, and the 
 failure to bring to trial or discharge many prisoners is attributed to 
 the difficulty in obtaining the necessary evidence both for the prose- 
 cution and defence. Witness has been in the prison several times, 
 and found it well regulated and cleanly. 
 
 W. N. STARKE, 
 Captain and Assistant Adjutant General. 
 
 Mr. Riggs' Testimony — Continued. 
 
 -State what you know of Mr. Wiley's treatment of prisoners. 
 
 Answ r. — It i3 brutal in my opinion. He cursed Webster, who was 
 hung the other day, while Webster was in double irons. His language 
 is brutal to p isoners, in my opinion. 
 
 Question. — Was any complaint ever made to Captain Alexander, or 
 any report ever made in regard to Wiley's treatment of prisoners? 
 
 Answer. — I don't know. 
 
 Question. — You being there as acting assistant warden, do you not 
 think is was your duty to report all such things? 
 
 ■ Jlnswer. — You told me to make reports in writing. I did not 
 •consider it my duty. 
 
 Question. — Did you not curse the guard on one occasion ? 
 
 Answer. — I have no recollection of so doing. 
 
 Statements, taken under oath, and made before Robert Ward, at- 
 torney. 
 
 Statement of Lewis J. Blankenship : 
 
 Question. — How long have you been in Castle Thunder ? 
 
 Answer. — I came about the 29th of July, 1862, and have been ward- 
 maeter of the hospital most of the time. 
 
 Question. — State whether you know that Kirby had a conversation 
 with McAlister Adams and Shehan in regard to giving testimony be- 
 fore the congressional committee ; if so, state all you know about it. 
 
 Answer. — On the day that Mr, Kirby was supoenaed to go before 
 
51 
 
 this committee, Mr. Shehan sent down into No. 4 room and got James 
 McAlister out, and asked me to pass him into No. 2 hospital with 
 Mr. Kirby, and there all three of these men consulted over the evi- 
 dence which they were to give before the committee. Mr. Shehan 
 made a statement of his evidence which he was going to testify to be- 
 fore the committee ; wrote it out and gave it'to McAlister. Mr. 
 Shehan also wrote out Mr. Kirby's evidence and gave it to McAlister, 
 and Macalister gave his evidence to Shehan and Kirby. Each one of 
 the three had a written statement of the testimony which they pro- 
 posed to give before the committee. The morning that Mr. Adams 
 was summoned to go before the committee, Mr. Shehan took Mr. 
 Adams into Mr. Kirby s room, and he and Mr. Kirby told Adams 
 what they had testified to, and they wanted Mr. Adams to come as near 
 as he could stating the same things before the committee, and also told 
 him as near as they could their own testimony, and requested him to 
 repeat the same as near as he could. 
 
 Question — Do you think there was a combination on the part of 
 these men to injure Captain Alexander if possible ? 
 
 Answer. — I do, sir ; I know that from the conversation they have 
 had with me. 
 
 Question. — State what conversation you allude to. 
 
 Answer. — I have heard Mr. Shehan say that Captain Alexander 
 was nothing but a God damned loafer ; that he intended to get him 
 out of here if he possibly could ; that nobody suited this place but 
 Mr. Higgs, and that if Mr. Riggs were captain of this prison he could 
 get out whenever he pleased ; that Captain Alexander was not fit to 
 have command of a parcel of hogs. Long before this committee was 
 appointed I have heard McAlister say that Captain Alexander had 
 done all he could to have him shot, and that if he ever had it in his 
 power he would have his revenge out of him. About two days be- 
 fore he was summoned he said every dog had his day and that his day 
 had just come. Mr. Kirby, Mr. Shehan, and McAlister all knew 
 that the committee was going to enter into the examination of Castle. 
 Thunder, and the three wrote a letter to Mr. Riggs about the com- 
 mittee before it was appointed, and after Mr. Riggs had been dis- 
 charged from Castle Thunder. I don't know that Mr. Riggs ever got 
 the letter, but I am confident the letter went out of the building by 
 private hands. That letter stated that a committee was going to bo 
 appointed to examine into things here at Castle Thunder, and they 
 wished him to lay the letter before Congress, and if he did not like to 
 do it himself to give it to Mr. Blane, the hospital steward. 
 
 Question. — State what was the character of these men. 
 
 Answer.-- -In regard to McAlister, I staid in No. 4 room with him for 
 about four weeks, and during the time I was in the room, I don't think a 
 night passed that some robbery of clothes, hats, shoes, or money was 
 not committed by some one in the adjacent large room, and handed to 
 McAlister through a crack or hole which he had cut through the par- 
 tition which separated the two rooms, and received by him and sold 
 by him whenever he got opportunity to sell. Frequently these stolen 
 things were handed to McAlister through the crack by Shehan who 
 
52 
 
 was then on his parole, and acting as corporal of the police about the 
 building. I don't know anything dishonest about Mr. Kirby, but I 
 know of Mr. Adams having stolen a pair of boots, and selling thera 
 to McAlister, and also he stole four sheets out of the hospitals which 
 I found in his knapsack. He also stole a blanket from the hospital 
 which I also found in'his possession. 
 
 Question. — What is the conduct of the men generally who have been 
 in Castle Thunder ? 
 
 Answer. — The largest proportion of the men are real rascals ; guilty 
 of cutting the building for the purpose of escaping, fighting, abusing 
 each other, committing, robberies and bribery of sentinels. 
 
 Question. — Have you seen any punishments inflicted in this prison ? 
 
 Answer. — None, sir, but what I thought were well deserved. I saw 
 a man of Wheat's battalion whipped for desertion by sentence of court 
 martial. I heard Captain Alexander tell him he was sorry to have it 
 to do but he was obliged to do it. Samuel Lebrick, the name of the 
 man who was whipped, shook hands with the corporal of the police, 
 and asked him for a drink of whiskey, which was given him by order 
 of Captain Alexander. He was whipped very lightly. 
 
 Statement of J. B. Evans. 
 
 Question. — How long have you been in Castle Thunder ? 
 
 Answer. — I have been here about ten weeks. 
 
 Question. — Do you know of any combination among the prisoners 
 to injure the reputation of Captain Alexander in any manner ? If 
 so, please state it. 
 
 Answer. — I saw Shehan, Adams and McAlister before they went 
 before the committee, go to Mr. Kirby, and they asked him what they 
 should say before the committee. I have heard McAlister and Adams- 
 both say thac they would swear to anything to injure the Captain. 
 Adams said that if he had one more chance to go before the committee 
 he would swear that Captain Alexander was always drunk. 
 
 Question. — What is the character of these men ? 
 
 Answer. — They are of a desperate character. Adams told me he 
 had been in the penitentiary twice. I have heard Shehan say that he 
 has received money from prisoners to get them out when he was cor- 
 poral of the police, and I heard Adams say that he had taken fifty 
 dollars from Captain Callan. I heard McAlister send word to Kirby 
 to have him summoned, that he would like to have a chance to swear 
 against the Captain ; he would do all he could to injure him. 
 
 'Question.-— Do you know whether Mr. Kirby ever sent out letters 
 privately from the building ? 
 
 Answer. — Yes, I have seen him send them out and receive them, 
 through private sources. 
 
53 
 
 ■State of Virginia, ) w \, . 
 City of Richmond, ) 
 
 I, Robert D. Ward, do certify that the foregoing statements made 
 4)y Lewis J. Blankenship and J. B. Evans, were sworn to by them 
 respectively, before me. Given under my hand this 28th day of April, 
 1863. 
 
 R. D. WARD. V. P. 
 
 Walker's Artillery Battalion, ) 
 Camp Maury, near Milford, April 26, 1863. $ 
 
 Dear Captain : The summons of Hon. C. C. Herbert, directing 
 me to appear before the special committee of Congress, on the 23d 
 inst., did not reach me until yesterday the 25th inst. I immediately 
 applied for leave of absence to enable me to obey the summons, but 
 found that no officer of the army will be allowed to take the cars, ex- 
 cept upon the special order of General Lee. 
 
 My application for two days leave (enclosing the summons) has 
 been forwarded through the regular channels to General Lee, and it 
 -will be over a week before it can be heard from. I fear that the d«- 
 liberations of the committee will be closed before I can obtain permis- 
 sion to leave camp. 
 
 If you think it important for me to appear before the committee 
 without delay, you might procure an order from the Secretary of 
 War, directing my immediate appearance. 
 
 If the committee anticipates remaining in session over a week, 
 please advise me of the fact and I will go down as soon as General 
 Lee's permit is received. 
 
 I assure you it will afford me pleasure to bear testimony to the 
 systematic and able manner in which you have managed the provost 
 prison under your charge, and to the humanity and kindness with 
 which you have treated the prisoners in your custody. 
 
 You have the greatest talent for controlling and managing des- 
 perate characters, and I have often said that I do not believe that 
 there is another man in the Southern Confederacy who can fill your 
 present position. 
 
 Hoping that the report of the committee will triumphantly vindi- 
 cate you, (as it will do) from the malicious charges which have»been 
 preferred against you, 
 
 I remain your friend, 
 
 GREENLEE DAVIDSON. 
 
54 
 
 Headquarters, Department of Henrico, ) 
 Richmond, April 28, 1863. ] 
 
 Captain Alexander, 
 
 Sir: In reply to your communication, I state that, in consequence 
 of the violent proceedings of the prisoners in blowing up the build- 
 ing, garroting and using slung shot upon the newly arrived prisoners, 
 robbing and endangering their lives, I gave you orders to punish these 
 ruffians severely, and if necessary, to resort to coporeal punishment. 
 Respectfully, 
 
 J NO. H. WINDER, Brigadier General. 
 
CAPTAIN ALEXANDER'S DEFENCE. 
 
 Castle Thunder, Richmond, April 13, 1863. 
 
 To the Honorable Committee of the House of Representatives, C. S. A., 
 for the investigation of Castle Thunder: 
 
 Gentlemen : Bonaparte said : " That the first requisite in an officer 
 was health, the second temper ; without the first the second is seldom 
 found, and without the second, a good officer, mingling the gentleman 
 with the commander, cannot exist." 
 
 "The elephant is never won with anger, 
 Not should the man who ironld r< claim the lion 
 Take him hy the teeth." 
 
 There is nothing so degrading to an officer of rank as an intempe- 
 rate reprimand, and before his inferiors. If he he respectful, as he 
 would have others respect him, and forgets not that he is a gentleman, his 
 conduct is said to have merited the rebuke from his not having defended 
 it. If both parties loose their temper, a court martial follows, and 
 neither party gains by the result. To make a good officer, a man 
 must be a gentleman, and they are inseparable. The man who cannot 
 command his tongue, is the worst man to Entrust with any command. 
 The supercilious and the arrogant, always meet from men endowed 
 with common sense the contempt such frivolity deserves. 
 
 So much for my opinion of a man placed at the head of any public 
 affair. Now, I will proceed to state, in as concise a manner as possi- 
 ble, my views, which I respectfully submit to your honorable notice. 
 This subject I feel I cannot handle, although fraught with some interest 
 to you, and much anxiety to me. When this cruel war was forced 
 upon us, on the secession of Virginia I was among the first to resign 
 from the old navy, and take up arms. I chose the army, and shoul- 
 dering my musket, enrolled myself as a private. My career and 
 advancement since then is known. I followed my unfortunate leader 
 far within the enemy's lines, never questioning an order, but obeyed all ; 
 never asking, where go we ? We fell. I suffered; but thank God escaped 
 from the tyranny of the " usurper of rights," and have tried to deal 
 them some good blows. My injuries placed me in command of this 
 post. Here, I have tried to do ray duty, and no matter what may be 
 said or done, you cannot keep this strong right arm idle ; it shall work, 
 either as an officer or private, until we achieve what we are all strug- 
 gling for — the vindication of a sacred right; self-government. I 
 trust I have clearly demonstrated to this honorable body the character 
 
56 
 
 of the men who have "been committed to my care — the murderer, the 
 robber, the deserter, the substitute deserter, the pickpocket, and worst 
 of all, the skulker ; the man who by his skulking endangers his com- 
 rades ; therefore, worse than the murderer. The spy, the ^construc- 
 tionist, the disloyal; all, all that are inimical to our glorious cause 
 are thrust upon me. Why ? Because this Castle is the only penitentiary 
 the Confederacy has. I have proved that rules and regulations were 
 regularly distributed ; that they were repeatedly told that punishment 
 would follow a persistency in wrong doing. That the place only 
 acquired a bad name by the conduct of the fiends that inhabited it ; 
 and that punishment were only resorted to when it became absolutely 
 necessary, and it had become unsafe for a man to enter the wards. I 
 !have proved that while our noble army wae in the field subsisting on 
 corn, these fiends were being fed on full rations, and then would refuse 
 positively to rejoin their suffering comrades, and could only be forced 
 there at the point of the bayonet. 
 
 That some men were whipped on the back, is true. Does it appear in 
 the voluminous evidence that there was a single man, not by the order of 
 a court martial, or one from a State represented by any representa- 
 tive in our legislative halls. It was represented by one of the 
 witnesses, that men were tied up by the thumbs and gagged. The 
 witness, who, by the way, was proven to have been discharged from 
 his place for " moral incapacity," is certainly mistaken, or saw it in 
 one of his drunken dreams, for it does not appear in the evidence, 
 and I say it is not so. In fact, I think that if those horrid brutalities 
 existed, the witnesses, or whoever made the statement, were very 
 culpable to report them only when they were turned disgracefully 
 away from this place. A man who knows a wrong to exist and re- 
 ports it not, is more guilty than the wrong doer. I might here state 
 that evidence also shows that when the hordes of .the invader threat- 
 ened close our walls, I did not rest safe within, but threw myself into 
 the breach, and when the smoke of battle receded, and we were again 
 free from their accursed presence, I turned my attention to the care 
 of those brave men who shed their blood in our defence, and who, 
 maimed, were bourne to my doors. Many remember the little hospital 
 of the " Angel of Mercy," where thirty beds were always kept, and 
 the brave were cared for by a pale, little Virginia woman — my wife. 
 Do the records 6how the loss of a single limb or life from that hos- 
 pital, or do they show a single bill paid by the Confederate States 
 government, for its support? I do not like, gentlemen, to recount 
 these things, but I am a stranger to you, and I would rather you 
 would condemn me to be shot than to promulgate, upon such evidence 
 as you have had before you — from your legislative halls — that I am 
 cruel. There are men in your honorable body, who know me and 
 know my career. All men conversant with military law, know that 
 if a man persists in passing a sentry without the countersign, he risks 
 his life. That two men have been shot here, is also true ; one, an 
 Irishman, who substituted for a gentleman from Halifax, and the same 
 night deserted, while in sight of the enemy; afterwards captured, 
 locked up here, and persisting in an attempt to escape, was killed. 
 
57 
 
 Another, a Yankee, who, rushing past the sentry, attempted to fly by 
 the back entrance — killed — they say he was crazy. The sentry did 
 not know it; nor I, or I might, for I believe one half of them are 
 crazy. 
 
 I have demonstrated here before this honorable committee that some 
 characters that have been committed here to my charge have been 
 without a redeeming point. I have appealed in every way to them, 
 until at last endurance was worn out, and corporeal punishment did 
 much good. Does it appear from the evidence that Southern volun- 
 teers were ever struck except by officer Causey in self defence ? Tho 
 committee have been made aware of the immense number of prisoners 
 I have handled — thousands — and yet it appears that only about twenty 
 have been punished. Does that look cruel ? 
 
 Are not soldiers in camp when guilty of little peccadilloes bucked 
 and made to ride a cannon or a wooden horse ? These fiends are only 
 bucked; is that in comparison cruel ? This being a receptacle for all 
 that is bad, would I not have been justifiable had I been present when 
 that master-fiend, Webster, who expiated his crimes on the gallows, 
 contemplated murder, and attempted to escape, to have shot him or 
 ordered my guard to do so. 
 
 Have I not proven, by the very prisoners themselves, whom I have 
 taken ad libitum, that the character of many of the prisoners is terrible, 
 and that I have been lenient ? Have I not proven that I have done 
 many acts of kindness and charity, yea, many, far outnumbering the 
 alleged cruelties ? Have I not proven that the only witnesses who 
 seem to think I have been in the least cruel, knew of these things 
 before, and only reported them when they had been sent away from 
 the prison, as being no farther of any use ? Have I not proven my 
 vigilance and strict adherence to right, and my energy in carrying 
 out all orders of my superiors ? Have I not proven my economy and 
 personal supervision to prevent extravagance or waste of all govern- 
 ment stores committed to my charge ? Have I not proven that by my 
 own individual exertions, I have clothed many prisoners who were 
 being sent to the field ? When, as some of the witnesses say, were 
 men exposed to the weather ? Have I not proven their infernal char- 
 acter, and were not their comrades at that time, whom they had shame- 
 fully deserted, fighting our battles, and sleeping on the cold ground, 
 without tent or other cover than the canopy of heaven. 
 
 I woula here say a few words about the witnesses examined. Mr. 
 Bland, a hospital steward, whom it appears, from the evidence, was 
 a man not fit to be about a public institution, his depravity was such 
 that he was disgracefully ordered away. lie says he was five months 
 in a Yankee prison and saw better treatment. I rather think that 
 that argues badly for Mr. Bland, for while I was a prisoner among 
 that hateful people, the only one I saw treated well was one who, 
 sycophant-like, courted favor at their hands. I was kept in a cell 
 seven by four for three weeks, that cell underground and no window; 
 moreover, prisoners of war arc entitled to better treatment than 
 murderers, deserters, spys, &c. 
 
 Witness No. 2, Kirby, the spy. I hardly think it fair to take 
 
58 . 
 
 prisoners' evidence; but I waive that and challenge the whole prison. 
 His evidence shows that although he is incarcerated as that most hate- 
 ful of all things, a spy ; yet he is put in the best room in the Castle, 
 has a fire, good bed and is allowed to purchase anything from the out- 
 side that he may require. Oh ! gentlemen, does this look cruel ? And 
 then he is only removed from this room when the true instincts of the 
 beast were developed and he proves to be a low-born blackguard. 
 
 Witness No. 3. One Adams, who served out a term in the peni- 
 tentiary, was pardoned during a second term, and deserted in sight of 
 the enemy. 
 
 Witness No. 4. A man who will not tell where he is from, and is 
 sentenced to three years imprisonment. 
 
 Witness No, 5. Shehan, a deserter, a man who has broken his 
 parole, and since he has given in his evidence has again deserted his 
 comrades. One or two others close the list, and the least said about 
 them the better. 
 
 Gentlemen, I leave the matter in your hands, well satisfied the ac- 
 tion you take will be just action. I stand before the people and press 
 of this country, and invite at any time the strictest investigation. 
 I am, respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 G. W. ALEXANDER. 
 A. A. G. and A. P. M. commanding Castle Thunder. 
 
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