The Tragedy of Andersonville TRIAL OF CAPTAIN HENRY WIRZ THE PRISON KEEPER BY GENERAL N. P- CHIPMAN Judge Advocate of the Military Court Lt. Co. H, and Major 2d Iowa Inf'y; Co!, and Adj't A. D. C. U. S. Vol. Brevet Brig. Gen'l SECOND EDITION Revised and Enlarged Price $2.00 Distributing Agency: Captain E. L. Hawk, 18th and 114th Ohio Inf'y. Geo. W. Kicks, 50th Pa. Vols. Sacramento, California Address: Geo. W. Kicks, Manager EL(oV Published by the Author 1911 By Transfer D. C. Pult>ii« Library APR • - 1«88 Copyright August, 1911 By N. p. Chipman Sacramento, California THE BLAIR-MURDOCK COMPANY SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA. CONTENTS CHAPTER I. Motive Sliowu for the Publication of the Evidence Taken at the Trial of Wirz — Charges Made by Jefferson Davis in 1890 — The Eevival of these Accusations by the United Daughters of the Confederacy, in 1905, that Wirz Was "Judi- cially Murdered" and Died a Martyr after Conviction upon Charges of Which He was Innocent — Erection of Monument to Wirz in 1909 at Andersonville — False and ^Misleading Inscriptions on the Monument — Protest of the Grand Army of the Republic — Proceedings at National Encampment in 1906 at Minneapolis — Important Feature of Trial — -Exposure of Confederate Policy and Its Guilty Participation in Crime — More Union Soldiers Died at Ander- sonville Than Killed in Action in Combined Battles of Second Bull Run, Antietam, Chaneellorville, Gettysburg, and the Wilderness. Pages 11-18. CHAPTER II. Jefferson Davis and Andersonville — His Published Article Briefly Outlined and Its Specific Charges Noted and Examined — Some Gross Misstatements Cor- rected — His Accusations Revived and Reasserted by the United Daughters of the Confederacy by Inscriptions on the Wirz Monument — Issues of Wirz's Defenders and Confederacy Clearly Defined — Charge Refuted That Federal Government Responsible for Deaths. Pages 19-26. CHAPTER III. Some Hitherto Unpublished Facts^Organization of the Court — The Charges and * • Specifications — Special Pleas Interposed. — Jurisdiction of the Court — Once in Jeopardy — Right of Parole Claimed — Argument — Pleas Overruled — Facts as to Wirz's Arrest — Wirz Pleads Not Guilty — Rules of Procedure — Circum- stances of Wirz's Arrest — Wirz's Military Status — His Place of Burial — The True Significance of the Trial. Pages 27-50. ^ CHAPTER IV. < ~ Location of Andersonville Prison — Description of the Prison Pen — Wirz Assigned to Its Command — Early Condition of the Prisoners Deplorable — Official Re- ■^ ports of Rebel Officers — Injunction to Abate Prison as a Nuisance Because a: of Noxious Odors — Upon Whom Rested Responsibility of — Origin of Dead ^ Line — Rebel Authorities at Richmond Informed — Mortality Increased — In One Month 2,993 Died. Pages 51-64. CHAPTER V. Condition of the Prison Continued — Sufferings of Prisoners Depicted — Report of Colonel D. T. Chandler — Report of Dr. Joseph Jones — Causes of Sickness and > Death Shown — Responsibility Fixed — Confederate Authorities at Richmond Had Full Knowledge — Colonel Chandler's Testimony — Testimony of Dr. Jones — Six Square Feet to the Man — Barely Room to Comfortably Lie Down — Inadequate Police Control — Prisoners Try, Condemn, and Hang Six of Their Number — Prisoners Murdered by Their Fellow-Prisoners for Their Clothing ^ and Food— The Bodies of the Dead Mutilated— Reports by Surgeon Stevenson, K Surgeon White, and Surgeon Thornburg— Dr. Jones's Report Graphic Descrip- g tion of Prison and Hospital— Causes of Death and Unparalleled Suffering. Pages 65-110. CHAPTER VI. Conditions at the Prison (continued) — Eeports and Testimony of Surgeons on Duty at the Prison, Namely: Dr. Amos Thornburg; Dr. F. T. Castlen; Dr. G. S. Hopkins; Dr. G. LeB. Rice; Dr. John C. Bates; Dr. R. G. Roy; Dr. B. J. Head — Testimony of Dr. William Balser, Who Had Occasion to Treat a Large Number of Prisoners from Andersonville on Their Way to Freedom from Prison Life — They were Living Skeletons — Seventy-five Per Cent of Dead Might Have Been Saved by Proper Care — Actual Square Feet to Man 27, or 3 by 9 Feet. Pages 111-142. CHAPTER VIL Conditions at Andersonville Continued — Testimony of Rev. Father Hamilton — No Shelter from Sun or Storms — Father Hamilton Crawled into Burrows to Ad- minister Last Sacrament to Dying — Prisoners Covered with Vermin — Tes- timony of Citizens Living in the South — Publicity of the Suffering of Pris- oners — Supplies Were Obtainable and Sufficient to Have Sustained the Prison- ers — Prisoners Might Have Been Sheltered — The Prison Might Have Been Enlarged — Means of Transportation Available — Supplies Sent by Sanitary Commission. Page 143-162. CHAPTER VIII. Testimony of Union Soldiers, Prisoners at Andersonville — Their Descriptions of the Horrors of That Prison Pen — Personal Experiences — ^len Fight for Room to Lie Down — Private Property Taken from Them — Testimony of Major- General J. H. Wilson and Colonel George Welling of the U. S. Army on Con- dition of Prison at Close of the War — Simple Remedies Pointed Out — General W^ilson Concludes that There was Sinister Design in the Location and Its Restricted Area — Goldwin Smith's Opinion of Treatment of Prisoners on Both Sides — General Sherman Found Supplies Abundant in Georgia in 1864. Pages 163-191. CHAPTER IX. Conditions at Prison (continued) — Testimony of Father Hamilton and Other Witnesses Called for the Defense — Horrors of the Prison Pen Confirmed — Witnesses for Defense Corroborate Testimony of the Prosecution in Many Essential Particulars — Diary of Rev. Father Clavereul — Father Clavereul's Account a Most Pathetic Picture of Human Suffering. Pages 192-239. CHAPTER X. Treatment of Prisoners (continued) — Cruel and Inhuman Punishments Inflicted — BaMs and Chains Used as Means of Punishment — Prisoners Confined in the Stocks and Left Exposed to the Weather — The "Dead-Line" and Its Attend- ant Perils — Ferocious Dogs Used to Hunt Down Escaping Prisoners — Prison- ers Torn and Mutilated by These Dogs — Prisoners Die from Effects — Imjiure and Deadly Vaccine Matter Used for Vaccination of the Prisoners, Causing Many Horrible Deaths — Wirz Boasts of His Service to the -Rebellion in Slaying Prisoners — Revolting Manner of Handling and Burying the Dead — Testimony of Rebel Witnesses Confirms Testimony of Wirz's Cruelty to Prisoners — Report on Prisons by United States Sanitary Commission and Committee of House of Representatives. Pages 240-300. CHAPTER XL Testimony of Witnesses for Defense upon the Specifications of Acts of Cruelty and of Murder in Violation of the Laws of War — Man Shot on Dead Line — Hunted Down by Dogs — Put in Stocks and Chain Gang — Wirz Kicked and Abused Prisoners — Very Profane — High Temper — Carried Pistol — Threatened to Use It — Some Acts of Kindness Shown — Witnesses Never Heard of His Killing or Treating a Prisoner Cruelly — Negative Testimony. Pages 301-332. \/ CHAPTER XII. Testimony of Witnesses to the Charge of Murder— Prisoners Shot by Wirz— Pris- oners Shot by His Order— Prisoners Killed by the Dogs— Many Instances of Wirz's Brutality— Men Killed by Being Shot in Stocks and Chain Gane. Pages 333-353. ^ CHAPTER XIII. Resume of the Foregoing Chapters — Some Comment upon and Deductions from the Evidence— Mortuary Statistics— .Johnson's Island and Andersonville Com- pared—Table of Deaths by Months— Number of Dead at Andersonville, 13,171 —Deaths in Twenty-five Federal Prisons in 1864 Compared with Anderson- ville — Stockade and Its Terrors Described — Condition of Prisoners Known at Richmond — Hospital and Prison Co-ordinated to Destroy Life — The Conspiracy — Charge of Murder — Photograph of Johnson's Island Prison— Statement of Soldiers on Duty There and at Fort Delaware Prison. Pages 354-385. CHAPTER XIV. Some Interesting Facts as to the Preparation of the Case for Trial — Personnel of the Court. — Proceedings at Close of the Trial — .Jurisdiction of the Court Dis- cussed — The Law and Facts as to Conspiracy Stated — Review of the Record by the Judge Advocate-General — Approval of the Sentence by the President — ■ Execution of the Sentence — Law of Nations Systematically Violated — Con- ditions Surrounding Prisoners Who Were AVitnesses— -Burial of Wirz's Body. Pages 386-437. CHAPTER XV. The Cartel Suspended — Exchanging of Prisoners Interrupted — Causes Therefor — Violation of Cartel by Rebels — Right to Exchange Denied to Negro Soldiers and Their Officers — When Captured Treated as Felons — Sufferings of Prison- ers Due to Treatment They Received, not Because Cartel Was Suspended — Rebel Commissioner Robert Ould, Maneuvering to Get Excess of Prisoners Held by Federals and Use Them at Critical Period of War — Action of Our Government Fully Vindicated — Report of General Hitchcock, Federal Com- missioner of Exchange, Covering Entire Subject — Letter of General Grant, Part of Which is Inscribed on the Wirz Monument — Interview with Colonel John McElroy, a Prisoner at Andersonville — The Evolution of Slaves to the Status of United States Soldiers — Some Interesting Facts About the Negro as a Soldier. Pages 438-473. CHAPTER XVI. Andersonville Cemetery Made Beautiful — Expedition in Spring of 1865 to Provide for Its Permanent Care — Report of Captain Jas. M. Moore, U. S. A. — Impor- tant and Interesting Report of Clara Barton, Founder of the Red Cross Society, to the American People — Report of Dorence Atwater, Who Kept the Death Register, to the Relatives of the Martyred Dead — Interesting Letter of Superintendent of Cemetery — Inscriptions on State Monuments — Patriotic Work Done by Woman's Relief Corps at Prison Park — A Parting Word with the Reader by the Author — Bill Pending in Congress to Appropriate Money by Government to Erect Monument to Confederate Navy — Discussion in United States Senate — Views Expressed in Public Press — Dangerous Sten for Govern- ment to Thus Give Official Sanction to Rebellion and Treason. Pages 474-521. ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE. Frontispiece — The Author. Members of the Court 29 Judge Advocates 36 Group — Wirz Monument, Captain Wirz, Jefferson Davis 43 Plan of Stockade 56 Prison Grounds 57 Map of Georgia 71 Plan of Bakery 71 Prison Grounds and Stockade 113 Scene at the North Gate — Issuing Rations 142 View of South Gate from Outside 167 Dividing Squad Rations by Numbers 167 Prison Relics Gathered by Clara Barton 203 Burying the Dead in Trenches 215 Prison and Surroundings, and Scenes Enacted. Sketched by Thomas O'Dea, a Prisoner 245 A Typical Soldier — Figure Surmounting the Connecticut Monument 269 Monument Erected by Massachusetts 303 Group of Views of Cemetery 317 Monument Erected by Michigan 329 Indiana 337 Wisconsin 345 Rhode Island 357 New Jersey 367 Iowa 373 Ohio 394 Pennsylvania 418 Illinois 437 Connecticut 450 Maine 466 Monument to Lizabeth Turner 476 Tablet of Woman's Relief Corps 482 Providence Spring 484 Group — Entrance to Prison Grounds and to Cemetery ; Views within Cemetery and Photograph of Jas. M. Bryant, Superintendent 494 Johnson's Island, Photograph of Buildings 377 Group — Members of Woman's Relief Corps ; Committee on Transfer of Prison Grounds to the Government 500 Group — Members of Woman's Relief Corps ; Board of ^Managers of Prison Grounds 506 The Empty Sleeve 511 o LOSING OUR STANDARDS. NE IS TEMPTED TO ASK OF WHAT USE ARE STANDARDS OP ANY KIND. Why SEEK TO HAVE ANY, EITHER PRIVATE OR PUBLIC. IF IN A FEW YEARS THEY WILL DISSOLVE IN A FLUX OF GOOD FEELING? If THERE EVER WAS A WAR FOUGHT ON BEHALF OF DEMOCRACY, OF INDI- VIDUAL LIB;ERTY, OF SUBSTANTIAL CHRISTIANITY, IT WAS THE AMERICAN Civil War. Both sides cannot have been right; nor is it true THAT both were READY TO SPILL BLOOD MERELY BECAUSE OF A CONSTI- TUTIONAL QUESTION. To INSIST NOW THAT THERE WAS NO DIFFERENCE IN THE IDEALS AND PURPOSES OP THE TWO FORCES OF 1861 IS TO REDUCE HISTORY TO THE PLANE OP THE MOVING-PICTURE SHOWS, TO MAKE LIGHT OF THE GREATEST SACRIFICES EVER OFFERED IN THIS OR ANY COUNTRY FOR PRINCIPLE OR PATRIOTISM. It IS TO DECRY THE MEN THAT SAVED THE Union ip we declare that there was only a chance difference BETWEEN their VIEWS AND THOSE OF THEIR OPPONENTS, OR TO ASSERT THAT TIME HAS WIPED OUT ALL THE PRINCIPLES FOR WHICH LINCOLN AND HIS FOLLOWERS STOOD. To TAKE SUCH A POSITION IS TO SAY THAT THERE IS NOTHING STEADY IN OUR POLITICAL FIRMAMENT, THAT THERE ARE NO FIXED STARS OP MORALITY BY WHICH HUMAN BEINGS MUST STEER. — The Nation, New York. PREFACE "O ECENT events, to which I shall call attention in the opening chapter of this volume, imperatively demand the publication of the evidence taken at the trial of Captain Henry Wirz, the keeper of the rebel prison at Andersonville, Georgia, to place before the world the facts upon which his conviction and sentence to death were founded. A monument has been erected to his memory, close by the scenes of the crimes with which he was charged, avowedly intended to pro- claim his innocence; to condemn those who participated in his trial; to discredit the proceedings themselves as illegal; to denounce the witnesses as having given false testimony; and to declare that the Federal government was responsible for the terrible sufferings of the Union prisoners at Andersonville. The erection of this monument has opened a chapter in the history of the Rebellion upon which the public now demands that the light of truth be thrown. Happily for the realization of this demand, the history of this one of the many rebel prisons was laid bare by judicial investigation, in the trial of Captain Wirz, and that inquest was so full, and the character of the proof so indisputable, that the faithful historian need never hesitate in portraying the sufferings of Union soldiers, or of fixing the responsibility where it rightfully belongs. Ever since the inauguration of the Wirz monument movement, I have been urged to publish a fuller report of the evidence adduced at the trial than has heretofore reached the public, especially as the in- scriptions engraven upon the monument renew the misleading and un- supported charges made by Jefferson Davis in his lifetime, as will hereinafter appear. Finally, at the National Encampment of the Grand Army of the Republic, at Atlantic City, having received the following letter, I resolved, in obedience to it, to undertake the task; and I offer this volume in vindication of the verdict rendered in this remarkable case, and as the record of sufferings such as no prisoners of war in any civilized country, at any modern period, were ever called upon to endure : Forty-fourth National Encampment, Grand Army of the Republic, Atlantic City, New Jersey, September 19, 1910. Gen. N. p. Chipman, Sacramento, California. Comrade: In the passing years since the close of the Civil War an endeavor has been made to create the belief in the public mind that Captain Henry Wirz, C. S. A., commander of the Andersonville Rebel Prison, who was tried and convicted by a military commission of which you were Judge Advocate, for cruel and inhuman treatment of Union prisoners, in violation of the laws of war, was innocent of the charges laid against him, and suffered an ignominious death through false and exaggerated testimony, sacrificing his life rather than make a defense which would fix the guilt upon officers of the Confederacy higher in authority; that in fact there were no preventable cruelties or suffer- ing at that prison, and that the thirteen thousand Union dead who lie in the Andersonville Cemetery perished of disease and climatic causes wholly unavoidable. Recentty, in line with this studied effort to falsify what we believe to be the truth of history, the organization known as the "Georgia Division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy" has challenged the facts as they were recorded in the trial of Wirz ; has proclaimed him a martyr, and, in sight of the cemetery where repose the bodies of our noble dead, has erected a lasting monument to his memory. We deem it just and right that the world should know the truth disclosed at this important trial, for the evidence, as we understand the findings of the court, not only justified the verdict against Wirz, but implicated and held responsible some of the Confederate officers high in authority, in the execution of a policy which made a charnel- house of the Andersonville Prison. In justice to the memory of the brave and unhappy Union soldiers who perished miserably through the enforcement of that inhuman policy, we call upon you to place within the reach of the public the facts relating to this trial ; and we trust that, in the volume that you may publish, you will make it so complete in its presentation of the evidence that the truth may be vindicated and the falsity of the inscriptions placed upon the Wirz monument be made clearly to appear. Yours in F. C. & L., Harry White, Commander of the National Association of Union Prisoners of War. Joseph C. Killgore, President, Robert B. JMcCully, Secretary, National Society of Andersonville Prisoners. J. H. Stibbs, 12th Iowa Infantry, Brevet Brigadier-General; Member of Wirz Military Commission. The necessity at the present time for an honest statement regard- ing the Wirz trial seems to be paramount, and we believe no one more fitted to perform this duty than yourself. Louis Wagner, Past Commander-in-Chief. Thos. J. Stewart, Past Commander-in-Chief. S. S. Burdett, Past Commander-in-Chief. RoBT. B. Beath, Past Commander-in-Chief. Leo. Rassieurs, Past Commander-in-Chief. S. R. Van Sant, Commander-in-Chief. C. Mason Kinne, Past Senior Vice-Commander-in-Chief. John McElroy, Past Senior Vice-Commander-in-Chief. Wm. James, Junior Vice-Commander-in-Chief Elect. Chas. C. Royce, Past Vice-Commander-in-Chief. E. L. Hawk, Department Commander, Department of Cali- fornia and Nevada. CHAPTER I. Motive Showx for the Publication of the Evidence Takex at the Trial OP WiRZ — Charges Made by Jefferson Davis in 1890 — The Revival of these Accusations by the United Daughters of the Confederacy, in 1905, THAT WiRz Was "Judicially Murdered'' and Died a Martyr after Conviction upon Charges of Which He Was Innocent — Erection op Monument to AVirz in 1909 at Axdersonville — False and Misleading In- scriptions on the Monument^ — Protest op the Grand Army of the Ee- puBLic — Proceedings at National Encampment in 1906 at Minneapolis — Important Feature op Trial — Exposure op Confederate Policy and Its Guilty Participation in Crime — More Union Soldiers Died at Axderson- ville THAN Killed in Action in Combined Battles of Second Bull Eun, Antietam, Chancellorville, Gettysburg, and the Wilderness. TWENTY years ago I was urged to write the story of the Ander- sonville Rebel Prison, as disclosed by the evidence at the trial of Captain Henry Wirz, its keeper. It had seemed to me that this w^as one of the chapters of the Rebellion better kept closed. As an illustration of the horrors of war it will always stand unparalleled. As furnishing a study of human suffering upon a stupendous scale, and as showing that modern civilization has not mitigated the cruelties to which a professedly Christian people may resort, the past century has exhibited nothing like it. But even this seemed not to justify the portrayal at a time Avhen the healing processes after national disrup- tion might, presumably, be doing their perfect work. It was left for Jeiferson Davis to furnish the motive for recalling the true story of Andersonville and to induce me to publish at that time a small volume in reply to his statements, to which wide publicity had been given. Whatever of responsibility there then was for opening this ghastly w^ound to bleed afresh, rested upon the head of the late Confederacy, for he not only invited reply, but he imperatively challenged it. And now after twenty years the whole grim and gruesome story of the Andersonville Rebel Prison is revived and a fresh challenge thrown down, carrying with it the reiteration of the charges made by Mr. Davis as published in 1890, and demanding their refutation. Upon leaving the cars at Andersonville, Georgia, the visitor who goes to pay a tribute of love or respect to the memory of the Union dead who lie in the National Cemeterj^ nearby must first pass by an 12 THE TRAGEDY OF ANDERSONVILLE. enduring monument erected near the station, to the memory of Cap- tain Wirz, by the "Georgia Division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy." Some facts which should be given touching the erec- tion of this monument will confirm the opinion, widely expressed, that the time is opportune for the publication of the evidence adduced at the Wirz trial. In the Confederate Veteran for October, 1906, published at Nash- ville, Tennessee, is an article from which I quote as follows: Initial movement for Wirz monument. Mrs. A. B. Hall, of Savannah, Ga., on Dec. Sth, 1905, sent a greeting to the Chapters of the Georgia Division, U. D. C, and published the following proceedings: the resolutions of Mrs. L. G. Young, of Savannah, read at the convention of the Georgia Division, U. D. C, held in Macon, Oct. 25, 1905, were as follows: "Whereas, Captain Henry Wirz, commandant of the stockade prison at Ander- sonville, Ga., was judicially murdered under false charges of cruelty to prisoners; and whereas, after an interval of forty years, these false charges are reiterated on signboards in public places, from the pulpit, and on monuments; therefore, be it resolved: That the United Daughters of the Confederacy in Georgia use their influence to obtain the necessary funds to place a suitable memorial to Captain Wirz in Andersonville, Ga., upon which a statement of facts shall be engraved in enduring brass or marble, showing that the Federal government was solely re- sponsible for the condition of affairs at Andersonville." "Committees to carry out the resolutions were appointed, — on selection of site, on inscription, on designs, — and an advisory board and a treasurer were appointed." When this movement came to be generally known, a universal protest was evoked in all parts of the North, and in many parts of the South it was strongly condemned. The surviving Union veterans of the Civil War, of whom there still remain more than half a million, were vehement in their expressions of indignant disapproval, and, in their organized capacity as members of the Grand Army of the Republic, they voiced their feelings with burning emphasis. Commander-in-Chief Tanner, at the National Encampment at Minneapolis, in August, 1906, made it one of the subjects of his annual address.^ He said : In the course of the last few months I have received quite a number of com- munications concerning the proposition to erect at or near Andersonville a monu- ment in honor of Captain Wirz, who was in charge of Andersonville Prison. Most of these communications were appeals addressed to me as Commander-in-Chief, imploring me to take steps to prevent the erection of such a monument, urging me, if necessary to that end, to lay the matter before Congress, or to bring it to the attention of the President. •Proceedings at Minneapolis, 1906, p. 109. THE TRIAL OF CAPTAIN WIEZ. 13 After pointing out that he had no power to comply with the re- quest, he continued : Since the manuscript was placed in tbe hands of the printer I have been reliably informed that the plot of ground upon which to place the Wirz monument has been purchased. The veterans of the Confederate army are not to any appreciable degree interested. I first learned of the monument early in the year and quietly and earnestly canvassed the matter with qiiite a number of prominent ex-Confed- erates, for I recognized on the first meeting thereof that such a matter carried out would do more to interrupt the flow of good feeling between the North and the South, and would roll back more effectively the waves of reconciliation, than any other one matter of which the mind of man can conceive. A good many of them [ex-Confederates] had no hesitation in privately telling me that they agreed with me that the erection of the memorial to such a character could have no practical result except to smirch to a greater or less degree every memorial erected throughout the South to the real representatives of valor in the Confederate army. The subject is one which I deprecate extremely the necessity of calling to public attention. It is a matter I would have preferred that the hallowing effects of time might wipe from the memory of man; but under the circumstances, standing as I do, I have felt it would be cowardly not to make mention of this matter as I have. The committee on resolutions, to which this and other subjects dealt upon by the Commander-in-Chief were referred, recommended that the matter be passed over to the incoming Council of Administration. General Ketcham, of Indiana, presented a minority report, as follows :^ Commander and Comrades : The Wirz monument movement is in the air. It cannot be overlooked or ignored. Prisoners of War Associations have passed resolutions on the subject. Department Encampments have discussed and acted on it, and the Commander-in-Chief has called the attention of this encampment to it. Under these circumstances we cannot close our eyes nor hide our heads in the sand and say we know naught of it. To pass it by silently is to leave it open for the suggestion that the Grand Army of the Republic is either tacitly acquiescing in the movement or fears to take a stand in regard to it. On behalf, thereof, of the minority of your committee, and in obedience to the wishes of the Department of Indiana and its delegates in this encampment, I beg leave to submit the following memorial and resolution : "We learn with deep regret and profound sorrow of the intention of the United Daughters of the Confederacy to build a monument to the memory of Captain Wirz in the vicinity of Andersonville National Cemetery and Andersonville Prison, now the property of the Woman's Relief Corps. We are told that this action is taken by the ladies in a spirit of equity; believing he was unjustly hanged, and feeling it just that the world should know the Confederacy's treatment of prisoners, of war was conducted on humane principles. ' Proceedings at Minneapolis, 1906, p. 182. 14 THE TRAGEDY OF ANDERSONVILLE. "We are wholly at loss to perceive how a supposed spirit of equity could be subserved by seeking to keep alive the darkest blot in the history of the Eebellion. "Captain Wirz was tried by a commission of just men, of high character and lofty patriotism; competent and capable to hear and weigh the evidence and determine the law and the facts. It had jurisdiction beyond question; its per- sonnel was of the highest character; the trial covered a period of nearly two months, and the testimony of the witnesses, some one hundred and forty in number, including the witnesses called on his behalf, covered some five thousand pages of written matter, and a synopsis of it covers some six hundred printed pages. "It is now too late to attempt to revise, reverse, or discredit the findings and judgment of that commission. Its conclusion will stand through the ages as the verdict of history. "We had hoped in this, the dawning of the new century, when the bitterness and animosities of the century that is dead and gone ought to be buried in oblivion, that a newer, brighter, loftier spirit of patriotism would have grown in that sec- tion of the country that over forty years ago found itself in armed rebellion against the power and authority of the nation. Time has softened if not effaced the physical effects of the bitter strife; the moral effects, we regret to see, largely remain. "The intelligent lover of his country — the whole country — can only view the proposed monument as symbolizing the old spirit of the Eebellion, and as com- memorating the prowess of a convicted and executed felon, whose title to fame rests upon his success in destroying the armies of his country by cruel and barbarous atrocities inflicted upon helpless prisoners committed to his custody, by which thirteen thousand of the country's defenders were sent untimely to their long homes, and other thousands suffered beyond the pen of man to describe or the thoughts of men to conceive. "A monument to him will represent not honor but infamy; will belittle the meed of praise bestowed by monuments to the real soldiers who accomplished great deeds in a great way, although in a misguided cause; will detract from their just fame and glory, and constitute not only an affront to the conscience and patriotism of the land we love, but a reproach to the quickened and enlightened spirit of the age. "We wish to go on record in solemn and deliberate protest against such a cruel and wanton affront to the ideals represented by this Grand Army of the Republic, and by the patriotic citizens of the nation throughout its entire length and breadth. "Resolved, That the Commander-in-Chief communicate with General Stephen E. Lee, Commander-in-Chief of the Confederate Veterans' Association, and express to him the hope and wish of the Grand Army of the Republic that the association of which he is commander would in such manner as may to it seem proper express its disapproval of the proposed action." Respectfully submitted, William A. Ketcham, Of the minority of the Committee on Resolutions. A comrade asked General Ketcham what evidence he had that these women intended erecting the monument or could build it. Comrade Ketcham said: THE TRIAL OF CAPTAIN WIRZ. 15 "I wrote to Miss Alice Baxter, Secretary of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, to know what the fact was and I have her letter here as follows : Replying to your letter, I take pleasure in sending you the enclosed articles. These articles with reference to the building of the monument, the steps that are being taken, the subscriptions that are being made, and the papers that are being written in the public schools telling how atrocious was the conduct of the Union officials, and how humane and just was the conduct of the Confederate officials. Please return when you are through. We propose erecting the monument to Captain Wirz in a spirit of equity, believing that the world should know that the Con- federacy's treatment of prisoners of war was conducted on humane principles. I note you are a lawyer. Perhaps if you study both sides of this question you will come to see there are two sides to the question. We were much pleased with Corporal Tanner when he was South. We do not desire to stir up bitterness, but we are unwilling for the South to remain under false charges. Sincerely yours, Alice Baxter. Past Department Commander Ketcham supported the minority re- port in a vigorous and eloquent speech. Past Commander-in-Chief Torrance followed in advocacy of the majority report. He said : Do not let us open up Pandora's box of evils. Let us quietly suffer the indig- nity, if it is an indignity. And what will the monument be when erected? When you present yourself before a monument the question arises, What is it, and in whose honor is it erected? When you come in front of the Wirz monument it will not be to a soldier, not to a man who gained distinction on the battlefield, but one whose only claim to recognition is that he was hanged as a murderer, just as a thousand of other criminals have been hanged in this country. And I will tell you, my comrades, that neither the Daughters of the Confederacy nor the men of the Confederacy, nor the men nor the women of the North and South, nor all com- bined, can erect a monument in memory of any one that will live an hour unless the monument rests upon a noble life and represents a living truth and principle. Commander-in-Chief Tanner then took the floor and, among other things, said: My good friend Torrance has just said that the best thing to do is to keep silence. If we keep silent we will be with the comrades who were murdered in Andersonville. They are silent; they have been silent all these years. Before my mind's eye to-day there comes a picture of the horrors of that awful time, when they stripped the dead and chucked their corpses in wagons and dragged them out and chucked them in a ditch, and there comes to me an hour when I walked the wards at Annapolis going up and down looking for comrades of my own regi- ment, and behind me came my name in a faint voice. I looked about me and none of the emaciated faces could I recognize. I turned back to the third bed and said. My poor fellow did I ever know you? With a sob in the throat he 16 THE TRAGEDY OF ANDERSONVILLE. answered. Don't you know Billy Moore? He was one of the stalwart men of my own company. The mother of the boy would not have recognized him. You can all recall such instances as that. To get down to the concrete matter here, I did know last January that this thing was being talked of. "When I went South in March to attend Joe Wheeler's funeral at Atlanta every moment that I could spare I was conferring with Con- federates of high and low degree. Not one had a word in favor of the monu- ment. It is the women — and we cannot get into a warfare with women; but we can stand up for conscience and right, if we are men, without getting into a war- fare with women. Finally, last night, or this morning at one o'clock, it came to this, that those who feel as I do would voice this matter in a dignified appeal from the Grand Army of the Republic, that appeal to be prepared by your incoming Commander-in-Chief and such as he may see fit to call to his aid, that appeal to be addressed to that splendid gentleman Stephen D. Lee, one of the few surviving lieutenant-generals of the Confederate army, the present chief of the Confederate Veterans, and with that an appeal to him to use his influence to prevent this out- rage from being perpetrated. I came into this encampment to-day caring not what was done so that it might be done dignifiedly and be true to the truth of history, but if you take no action then I tell you that your silence will be seized upon, and in every chapter of the Daughters of the Confederacy it will be said that you felt that you could not consistently protest and that you were afraid to meet the issue that they raised. I say that my friend the distinguished attorney-general of Indiana never put more strength and conservatism in any document in all his brilliant career than when he appeared before you with that memorial culminating as it did in a plain, simple, dignified resolution asking of the Commander-in-Chief of the Confederate Veterans, on the part of the Grand Army of the Republic, that he use his influence to prevent the erection of the monument. It is no time to keep silent. It is time to speak out man-fashion in a dignified way, and let the country know that the Grand Army of the Republic makes its dignified protest against the exaltation of the man who sent to horrible death so many of our comrades and who caused such inexpressible anguish in the hearts of the people of the North. With all my heart and soul I second the resolution offered by Comrade Ketcham. On motion the previous question was ordered, and, the main ques- tion being put, the minority report and resolution were adopted. Whatever may have been the opinion of individual ex-Confeder- ate soldiers or individual citizens of the South, it is quite certain that no serious effort was made to prevent the erection of this monument with all that was proclaimed in its justification and with all its false implications. In reviewing the matter in an extended article, the Confederate Veteran concludes: The purpose of this article is not to antagonize our friends, the enemy. Indeed, it is not to condemn them, as from their point of view many of them honestly think such a monument should not be erected ; but the opportunity by these issues THE TEIAL OF CAPTAIN WIRZ. 17 is improved to make fresh record of the deeds of that ill-fated Confederate ofScer. As Americans honor the French officer Lafayette, the Southern people should ever specifically honor the name of Captain Henry Wirz. Our Grand Army friends are not so bad as many believe them to be. Men here actually opposed the Wirz mon- ument movement through a misconception of the facts. ... I am attempting the delicate and diflScult task of rescuing a wronged man's memory. They never fail who die in a great cause. Let the monument be built." On the title page of this magazine is printed the following: "Offi- cially represents : United Confederate Veterans ; United Daughters of the Confederacy; Sons of Veterans and other organizations; Confed- erate Brethren Memorial Association. The Veteran is approved and indorsed by a larger and more elevated patronage than any other pub- lication in existence." If it be true, as Miss Baxter wrote as late as in 1905, that papers were being written in the public schools telling "how atrocious was the conduct of the Union officials, and how humane and just was the conduct of the Confederate officials," and if the Confederate Veteran, with its large and "elevated patronage," in advocating the erection of this monument, expressed a widespread sentiment, can there be any doubt that behind the movement was the purpose to revive and reassert the charges which Mr. Davis, among the last acts of his life, defiantly published to the world ? Can it be wondered at that there is a fresh demand for the means of obtaining the evidence upon which he was found guilty of conspiracy with Wirz in the commission of the awful crime for which Wirz suffered? Is the revered name of Lafayette to have no higher place in the hearts of the Southern people than the name of Wirz? Are the por- traits of the noble Marquis and Captain Wirz to hang side by side equally honored in Southern homes? Past Commander-in-Chief Torrance gave expression to a commend- able sentiment, when he said that the men and women of the North and South combined can never "erect a monument in memory of any one that will live an hour unless the monument rests upon a noble life and represents a living truth and principle." It has never been claimed, and never will be claimed, by the authors of the Wirz monument that it "rests upon a noble life" or that it "represents a living truth or principle." Captain Wirz was not a citizen of Georgia; he had no military record of consequence; his residence in Andersonville was that of a soldier in camp for the time only; he did not fall in honorable battle. 18 THE TRAGEDT OF ANDERSONVILLE. Witnesses at his trial testified tliat lie boasted that he was destroy- ing more ' ' Yankee soldiers than General Lee was killing in the Wilder- ness"; and it is true that under his ministration more prisoners were killed, through causes into which we are now to inquire, than were killed in action in the Union ranks in the combined battles of the Second Bull Run, Antietam, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, the Wilder- ness, and Appomattox. What, then, was the motive, what the true significance, of this shaft erected at that particular place ? The services which the monument was meant to signalize, and for which Wirz was to be immortalized, were performed at Andersonville. but their commemoration at that place has a deeper meaning. The Wirz shaft was to be a perpetual interrogation — "Why this awful slaughter ? " To which the inscriptions give answer : That the Federal government was alone responsible; that Wirz was falsely accused, illegally tried, and condemned upon charges of which he and the Confederate government were alike innocent and that — "To res- cue his name from the stigma attached to it by embittered prejudice this shaft is erected by the Georgia Division of the Daughters of the Confederacy. ' ' The most important feature of the record of this trial, however, is its exposure of the policy of the Confederate government and its guilty participation in the crime of Andersonville. And it is this fact that will always attach historic value to the evidence taken at this remarkable trial, which it is now proposed to lay before the world./ INSCRIPTIONS ON WIRZ MONUMENT. The Daughters of the Confederacy originally formulated inscriptions to go on the Wirz monument in somewhat different and more offensive form than finally adopted, as will appear from their proceedings already quoted. The terms "judicially murdered" were eliminated and one or two other changes made, but the true purpose and meaning of the challenge are in no substantial sense modified. NORTH SIDE, "When time shall have softened passion and prejudice, when Reason shall have stripped the mask from misrepresentation, then Justice, holding evenly her scales, will require much of past censure and praise to change places, — Jefferson Davis, December, i8S8," SOUTH SIDE, "Discharging his duty with such humanity as the harsh circumstances of the times, and the policy of the foe admitted, Captain Wirz became at last the victim of a misdirected popular clamor. He was arrested in time of peace while under the protection of parole, tiied by a military commission of a service to which he did not belong, and condemned to ignominious death on charges of excessive cruelty to federal prisoners. He indignantly spurned a pardon proffered on condition that he would incriminate President Davis and thus exonerate himself from charges of which both were innocent." E.\ST SIDE. "In memory of Captain Henry Wirz, C. S. A. Born Zurich, Switzerland, 1822. Sentenced to death and executed at W^ashington, D. C, November 10, 1865. To rescue his name from the stigma attached to it by embittered prejudice this shaft is erected by the Georgia Division, United Daughters of the Confederacy." WEST SIDE. "It is hard on our men held in Southern prisons not to exchange them, but it is humanity to those left in the ranks to fight our battles. At this particular time to release all rebel prisoners would insure Sherman's defeat and would compromise our safety here. — Ulysses S. Grant, August 18, 1864." CHAPTER II. Jefferson Davis and Andersonville — His Published Article Briefly Out- lined AND Its Specific Charges Noted and Examined — Some Gross Mis- statements Corrected — His Accusations Revived and Reasserted by the United Daughters of the Confederacy by Inscriptions on the Wirz Monument — Issues of Wirz's Defenders and Confederacy Clearly De- fined — Charge Refuted That Federal Government Responsible for Deaths. IN Belford's Magazine for January and February, 1890, are two articles contributed by Mr. Jefferson Davis, entitled "Andersonville and Other War Prisons." In the opening article Mr. Davis says: ' ' Some eminent citizens of the North, who are furthest removed from the class known as Southern sympathizers during the war between the States, but who desire to know the whole truth, have requested me to write an article, to appear in some periodical published in the North, on the subject of the prison at Andersonville, Ga. The invita- tion is accepted, both as to the subject and place of publication, from the wish to vindicate the conduct of the Confederacy, and because the proposed channel is that which will most assuredly reach those who have generally seen but one side of the discussion."^ The history of Mr. Davis's article is not without interest. It was originally prepared for the North American Review, through the urgent request of Mr. Charles Redpath, who, as the managing editor of that periodical, visited Mr. Davis. Mr. Allen Thorndike Rice, the editor, whose death occurred soon thereafter, from political motives postponed the publication. Meanwhile the Bevieiv had published an article by Lord Wolseley reflecting somewhat upon Mr. Davis, and the latter was asked by Mr. Rice's successor to reply. This he did, but his contribution was severely pruned by the editor, which so incensed Mr. Davis that he withdrew his article on Andersonville, and among one of the last acts of his life, turned it over to Belford's for publica- tion. The article must therefore be considered as premeditated ; it had been under examination for over a year, and finally went before the public, by Mr. Davis's request, without alteration or abridgment, and as a last message in defense of his beloved Confederacy. 1 Belford's Magazine, January, 1890. 20 THE TRAGEDY OF ANDERSONVILLE. Mr. Davis's long public service, his high position in the Confeder- acy, his intimate knowledge of all its movements as the head of the Rebellion, his generally conceded character for honesty and integrity gain for his statements of fact prima facie acceptance in the minds of many. I think, however, that before the unprejudiced reader has reached the final chapter of this book he will have concluded that neither Mr. Davis's statements nor his method of dealing with this grave matter can be received as at all satisfactory or reliable. He first charges that Andersonville became necessary as a prison because of the Federal violation of the cartel for the exchange and parole of prisoners. But the admitted failure or refusal of the Federal authorities to observe the cartel furnishes no justification for cruel and unusual treatment and starvation of prisoners in his power. If, as he claims, the prisons at Richmond had become so overcrowded as to make the stockade at Andersonville a necessity, or if after its estab- lishment the number greatly exceeded any possibility of adequate or humane care, still its enlargement was but the obvious demand of humanity, and should have been made. ]\Ir. Davis characterizes it as "offensive" to make inquiry why this overcrowding was not provided against and he scorns to make answer. We shall see, as we progress wath the evidence, how simple a mat- ter this expedient would have been ; how ready and willing hands besought and were refused the privilege of enlarging the boundaries of their prison pen and relieving its congestion. The alleged violation of the cartel is wholly irrelevant as a defense for violating the usages of civilized warfare. It was so decided by the military court which tried "Wirz, and all writers on civil or military law support that decision. There is, however, a full and satisfactory defense of the Federal action in this matter which will be made the subject of a chapter of this volume, but in no event can it be allowed that the fact that Mr. Davis had more prisoners than he wished to feed relieved him from the duty of feeding them. He informs us that Andersonville, Ga., was selected after careful investigation for the following reasons: "It was in the high pine wood region ; in a productive farming country, and had never been devastated by the enemy,- w^as well watered, was near Americus, a central depot for collecting the tax in kind and purchasing provisions for the armies." ^ Much evidence was adduced at the trial of Wirz. as we shall see, confirming the very important fact here admitted, for it l)ore ^ Bel ford Magazine, January, 1890. JEFFERSON DAVIS AND ANDERSONVILLE. 21 directly upon the issue whether short rations resulted from any scarcity or physical inability to supply sufficient food. Mr. Davis seems to have assumed that because an abundance of food was avail- able it must logically follow that it was furnished to the prisoners, properly prepared for consumption and in proper quantities. But here was the very issue being tried. In this high pine w^ooded region prisoners perished for lack of shelter and fuel; in this productive farming country they wasted away to skeletons and died of starvation ; in this well watered region was enacted the tragedy of the Ancient Mariner : "Water, water, everywhere, Nor any drop to drink." Having satisfied his conscience with the statement that food, fuel, water, and pure air abounded, he adds: "It was not starvation, as has been alleged, but acclimation, unsuitable diet and despondency which were the potent agents of disease and death. These it was not in our power to remove. The remedy demanded alike of humanity and good faith was the honest execution of the cartel." Mr. Davis seems to have been obsessed with the idea that the cartel was the cause of all this suffering. Is it true that these potent agencies of disease and death w^ere beyond his power to remove? Let me not anticipate too much the proofs that are to be marshalled in proper sequence, from the lips of eye-witnesses, many of them having been in the rebel service. We shall see as we advance whether the cartel or starvation was the more potent agent of disease and death at that fateful place; whether it is conceivable that the failure to exchange prisoners, in the face of the terms demanded by the rebel government, can acquit that government of its culpability in the treatment of prisoners; and whether it was not in the power of the Confederacy to have properly fed and cared for these brave men. These were all matters of legitimate inquiry at the trial, and it is my purpose to make known the evidence, that the world may judge between unsupported statements and conclusions and the sworn testi- mony of the witnesses of the harrowing scenes in this tragic chapter of the Civil War. If human testimony, subjected to all the tests of its credibility known to the law, can be believed, there will be laid before the reader such an array of proofs as to place beyond the realm of reasonable doubt that not less than seventy-five per cent of the thirteen thousand 22 THE TRAGEDY OF ANDEESONVILLE. who perished at Andersonville and the two thousand who died on their way to their homes or shortly after reaching them, died from the effects of starvation and other preventable causes — chiefly, however, from simple undoubted starvation, or causes directly induced thereby. To show the nature and character of the alleged facts assumed to have come to the surface since the trial, and upon which rest the conclusions to which Mr. Davis would lead his reader, something should be said. As an example, he quotes from an anonymous letter published in the New York News of August 5, 1865, and to give it weight he attributes the authorship to an officer on General Sheridan 's staff. This writer was one Martin S. Harris, private of the 5th New York Artillery, and never had any relations with Sheridan. He was a witness for the defense at the trial and testified at great length. His testimony will be noticed in its proper place. Mr. Davis speaks of Wirz as the unhappy victim of a misdirected popular clamor, and says he was denied the favorable testimony of those who came as witnesses in his behalf, and "died a martyr to a cause through adherence to truth." He cites as an instance of the unfairness of the trial the case of the Rev. Father Peter Whelan, who was a witness for the prisoner. He quotes this gentleman as saying that, upon reporting at Washino-ton, the Judge Advocate of the court found out what he knew and dismissed him without allowing the prisoner to call him as a witness. So glaring a perversion of fact as Mr. Davis is here guilty of should excite grave doubt as to his veracity in other particulars, and shows with what reckless abandon Mr. Davis came to the defense of Andersonville. The fact is that Father Whelan was called by the defense and testified at great length. ^ His testimony will not be overlooked in subsequent pages. Mr. Davis quotes from General Imboden, as showing "that after the bulk of the prisoners were removed, leaving in the fall of 1864 about five thousand, who could not bear transportation, by renovation of the post the premises were much improved ; that at one time it was thought by the medical officer nearly all the sick would die, but by the use of vegetables in such quantities as could be procured and an acid beer made from corn meal and sorghum molasses, the death rate fell from about three thousand in August to one hundred and sixty for the month of December. ' ' The inquirer after the truth in reading this paragraph could not fail to conclude that the physical condition. • Record, p. 426. JEFFEESOX DAVIS AND AXDEESONVILLE. 23 of these five thousand unfortunates must have been low indeed if they could not stand the fatigue of being moved in ears, and that the con- dition of the sick was such as to indicate their speedy death. Appar- ently some were sick unto death and the remainder were too sick to bear transportation — i. e. all were grievously sick, but impending death did not threaten all. But mark how adroitly this report of General Imboden is woven into the defense — "the death rate fell from three thousand in August to one hundred and sixty in December." Why? Because resort was had to a very simple expedient. But in August there were over thirty-two thousand prisoners in that same enclosure, while in December there were about five thousand. In August the country abounded in vegetables of all kinds ; corn meal and sorghum molasses were equally available from which to make acid beer. We shall see how insistent was the demand for resort to the simple means used by General Imboden to preserve these precious lives. Mr. Davis nowhere suggests that acid beer and vegetables could not be had in August. The evidence is full and conclusive on the point. It may not be doubted that to this humane officer many of the hapless prisoners owe their lives. But what shall be said of the policy pursued previous to December and of those responsible for its execution ? Colonel Robert Ould, Confederate Commissioner of Exchange, is quoted b^^ Mr. Davis as having said that he was subpoenaed for the defense, but that the prisoner was denied the privilege of calling him. Here is told but a half truth, manifestly as a reflection on the fairness of the trial. Colonel Ould was subpoenaed by the defense to testify to matters relating to the exchange of prisoners. After discussion, upon the objection of the Judge Advocate, the court held the testimony to be irrelevant, and Colonel Ould was discharged by request of counsel for the prisoner. Perhaps the most glaring departure from the truth to be found in Mr. Davis's article is the statement, "based upon what Mr. Davis understood Colonel R. H. Chilton to have written, that Colonel D. H. Chandler, assistant adjutant-general and inspector-general of the Con- federate army, testified to the single fact that his report Avas never seen hy Mr. Davis, and that this officer was asked no^ other question. Col- onel Chandler's report, made August 5, 1864, will be laid before the reader. His oral testimony will also be given, showing a condition at the prison which he reported to the secretary of war, Mr. Seddon, to be a "disgrace to the Confederacy." Evidence will be given from which the court was fully justified in finding that this report was 24 THE TRAGEDY OF ANDERSONVILLE. traced to ]\Ir. Davis, and from which the inference was plainly deduc- ible that the rebel authorities at Richmond supinely ignored Colonel Chandler's recommendations and permitted the shocking slaughter of innocent men to proceed — at that time dying at the rate of over one hundred per day. Mr. Davis closes his first article by the remarkable charge, based upon a letter received by him from a fellow-prisoner of AVirz, that a night or two before his execution three men came to Wirz's cell and had some conversation with him ; that "Wirz told his fellow-prisoner, after the visitors had departed, that they offered him his liberty if he would testify against Mr. Davis. This instance has no especial bearing upon the justness of the verdict of the Wirz trial. The story has grown into historical proportions by its iteration and reiteration, and was finally adopted by the Daughters of the Confederacy as one of the inscriptions to be placed on the Wirz monument. If it found credence sufficient to warrant its so bold use, it must mean that Wirz preferred death to committing a breach of fidelity to his chief, and thus showed himself a brave and worthy subordinate if not an innocent man. This story, coming from an unnamed and unknown fellow-prisoner of AVirz, itself based upon a statement of Wirz, the United Daughters of the Confederacy have engraved upon the Wirz monument in the follow- ing form : "He indignantly spurned a pardon proffered him on condition that he would incriminate President Davis and thus exonerate himself from charges of which both were innocent." But history is not made of such unsubstantial figments of the imagination as came secondhand to Mr. Davis in this unconfirmed and anonymous manner. In truth, the government needed the support of no such witness as Wirz would have been. No human being, under the circumstances surrounding him, would have believed Wirz's testi- mony. Besides no such confession was necessary. Wirz had claimed at his trial that he was obeying the orders of his superiors, and that the Richmond authorities were responsible and not he, as will appear in the course of this volume. It is unbelievable that so dastardly a proposition came from Federal authority, and it finds place in this publication only because it apparently has some believers and because Mr, Davis had the audacity to give it currency by his public indorse- ment. Mr. Davis was himself a prisoner at Fortress Monroe at that time. He was not being held as a murderer or common malefactor. The crime with which he was to have been tried was high treason, as JEFFERSON DAVIS AND ANDEESONVILLE. 25 defined by the Constitution, and not for specific incidents occurring during the war, however much he might be responsible for them. And he was finally so indicted but never tried. Not to overlook the single remaining item to which Mr. Davis de- voted his attention in his first Belford article,^ he makes passing men- tion of the charges that bloodhounds were used to capture prisoners, but dismissed the subject with a mere statement that "he had been informed that some fox and deer hounds were used to track prisoners, and that no bloodhounds were used." The evidence will be given upon this point, and it will show that ferocious dogs were employed and were the means of several deaths. This pack of dogs was part of the force under "Wirz's direction, and was in charge of an enlisted man by the name of Wesley W. Turner. We shall hear much of these dogs and the part they played in the Andersonville horror. I have thus sketched the points made by Mr. Davis on the general subject of the treatment of prisoners; also, the data on which he would have the public rely in reaching its conclusions. The true facts are to follow as narrated by witnesses subject to the pains and penal- ties of perjury, and in part from unimpeachable official reports of rebel officers and agents, recounted under circumstances and at a time when, if there was a motive to color the record, it was a motive to minimize rather than exaggerate what they saw and wrote down. Mr. Davis's second article - is exclusively devoted to the cartel of which I have already spoken and will be given consideration in a chapter on that subject, although it formed no part of the case for or against Wirz. So great stress, however, has been laid on its alleged violation by the Federal authorities, as the chief cause of the suffering of our soldiers, that it must not be ignored. One of the inscriptions on the Wirz monument reads : "It is hard on our men held in Southern prisons not to exchange them, but it is humanity to those left in the ranks to fight our battles. At this particular time to release all rebel prisoners would insure Sherman's defeat and would compromise our safety here. — Ulysses S. Grant, Aug. 18, 1864." This unexplained statement confronts every visitor at Ander- sonville, and the plain implication is that when he enters the National Cemetery his eyes are to behold the resting place of thirteen thousand ^ Belford's }ilagazine, January, i8go. ^ Belford's Magazine, February, 1890. 26 THE TRAGEDY OF ANDERSONVILLE. Union soldiers who perished through the neglect of their government. and who could have been saved only, as Mr. Davis charged, by "an honest execution of the cartel." Can we marvel at the indignation aroused among the victorious men who followed Grant from Belmont and Fort Donelson to Appo- mattox, when they see emblazoned on the Wirz shaft this atrocious perversion of history — this impeachment of the honor of a great name and the wisdom, justice, and humanity of a great nation ? With the issues thus clearly defined by the defenders of Wirz and the Confederacy, we now approach the blackest page anywhere to be found in the annals of war among civilized nations in recent times — a page, too, written amid internecine strife, on the one side to preserve the Union of states believed to be the most beneficent in existence ; on the other avowedly, by its constitution, founded on the righteousness and rightfulness of human slavery. The one was fundamentally right and the other was fundamentally and eternally wrong. It was in this struggle that the tragedy of Andersonville became possible. CHAPTER III. Some Hitherto Unpublished Facts — Obganization of the Court — The Charges and Specifications — Special Pleas Interposed — Jurisdiction OF the Court — Once in Jeopardy — Right of Parole Claimed — Argument — Pleas Overruled — Facts as to "Wirz's Arrest — Wirz Pleads Not Guilty — Rules of Procedure — Circumstances of Wirz's Arrest — Wirz's Military Status — His Place of Burial — The Trxje Significance of the Trial. ^nr^ HE trial of Henry Wirz in many respects brought to light the -*■ most startling page in the history of the Eebellion. Some inter- esting facts relating to that trial were not known to the public at the time ; other facts of the greatest significance were brought out by the record, such as, for example, those implicating the rebel government. These were buried out of sight by the universal demand that the pris- oner, w^ho was regarded as immediately responsible, should not escape punishment; and, with his execution, the secondary, but really the most important, result of the trial was overshadowed by the rapidly recurring political movements of that eventful period. It is now pro- posed to give the true history and exact results of that trial. I was at the time on duty at the War Department at Washington, and at times had been assigned to try cases as Judge Advocate of courts-martial and military commissions. The Andersonville horror had made so deep an impression upon the nation that when it was known that Wirz, the keeper of that prison, was under arrest, his trial became imperative. He was lodged in the old Capitol Prison, in Washington, and I w^as directed by Secretary of War Stanton, upon the recommendation of Judge Advocate-General Holt, to prepare the case for trial. It was known that the mortality had been great, yet few persons at the North, not even the prisoners themselves, were aware that over 13,000 had died miserably at that horrible place, and few had any conception that a great crime had been committed. While Secretary of War Stanton and Judge Advocate-General Holt, and probably some other high officials, as well as President John- son, suspected that the heads of the rebel government were largely 28 THE TEAGEDY OF ANDEESONVILLE. responsible for the awful suffering, it was not until I had spent some months in searching out proofs, and arranging the facts, that this sus- picion deepened into conviction. By August, 1865, the evidence had been marshalled, charges and specifications were prepared and served upon the prisoner, and the military commission constituted to try him. The arraignment of Wirz upon these charges and specifications, then for the first time published to the world, sent a thrill of horror throughout the United States. Mr. Davis was a prisoner confined in Fortress Monroe. The ques- tion as to what proceedings should be taken against him as the leader of the Rebellion was before the cabinet and was a serious problem. His complicity and that of some of his cabinet officers in the crime of Andersonville was for the first time charged. It was thought unde- sirable for many reasons to furnish any pretext for bringing the ex- president to the capital. But to proceed against Wirz with Davis named as a co-conspirator presented a question of some moment. The nature of the charges was known to Secretary Stanton, and I had reason to believe that he was familiar with the form and sub- stance of the specifications, although it is quite probable that neither the president nor other members of the cabinet had such knowledge. Wirz had pleaded not guilty and the court had adjourned until the next day. Upon reassembling a package was placed in my hands from the War Department which proved to be an order dissolving the court. Wirz was remanded to prison, and I was ordered to report immediately to the War Department, while the members of the court went their way in the greatest perplexity, and in utter ignorance of the meaning of so abrupt a termination of the trial. This proceeding, as we shall see later on, formed the basis of a special plea interposed by Wirz. I have never been informed of the reason that impelled this extraor- dinary and precipitate action by the secretary of war, for of his knowledge of every step taken in the case, I had every assurance, and yet he appeared to be unusually disturbed at the coupling of Davis's name and other high rebel functionaries with that of Wirz. The result of it all was that I was directed to prepare new charges and specifica- tions, leaving out the names of Davis, Scddon, and others of Davis's cabinet, and proceed against Wirz. General Holt alone knew, for I had talked much with him, of the extent and character of the evidence I had gathered in support of the GENERAL MOT- ;-ENER,AL BALLJER L= ' Record, p. loi. THE PRISON PEN AND ITS COMMANDER. 55 I received an oflScial communication from General Howell Cobb, of Georgia, in which he asked me if I was going to appear. [Mr. Baker objected to witness stating the contents of the communication.] I expect I destroyed that oflScial correspondence; I have no recollection whether I destroyed it or put it away. I have not thought of it since. General Cobb asked me if that bill was to be charged to' me, the bill against my govern- ment, as he termed it. In reply to his communication, I wrote him that I drew the bill, and that it could be charged to me. He replied, through his adjutant- general. Major Harrit, that he deemed it inconsistent with my duty as a Con- federate oflScer to appear in a case like that, of a bill against the government; and he therefore ordered me out of the case, and I obeyed the order. General Cobb at that time commanded the department of Georgia and the reserve force of Georgia. I said that he ordered me out of the case. Let me be more ex- plicit on that point. He wanted to know if I drew the bill; I said that I did; I discovered by the tenor of his communication that I would be treated by court-martial, or something of that sort, and, to stave the matter off, I said to him that if he deemed what I had done in the matter unoflScerlike, I would retire from the case. He said he did deem it that way, and would be glad if I would retire without being driven from it. UPON WHOM THE RESPONSIBILITY FOR OVERCROWDING THE PRISON RESTS. Of the conditions which led to the attempt to abate the nuisance, Colonel Persons testified : That camp was a nuisance to all intents and purposes. The first reason was that the dead were buried so near the surface of the ground that it gave out an intolerable stench. A swarm of green flies spread like locusts over that section of the country. Then the filth of the camp, arising from different causes, necessarily concentrated there. That, with divers other causes, made it a terrible nuisance. I could not have had it otherwise if I had been in command there. If I had ordered it otherwise, I do not think the order could have been carried out, for this reason : when that prison was in its very infancy, in its very inception, and when the officers were instructed not to build accommodations for more than 10,000, there were 40,000 prisoners sent there. Captain Wirz was not to be bl9,med for that. The authorities were responsible for that; I cannot say who. The great blunder on the part of the government was the concentration of so many men at one place without preparations being made to receive them. The authorities were notified of the fact, but to no advantage. I think that some of the higher oflScials were responsible, but who they were I cannot say. I sent notifications through General Winder that the prison was worked beyond its capacity, that it was a vast, un- wieldy thing, and to send no more prisoners; but they kept coming. After I left there, there came over 40,000; no man on earth could have abated the rigors of that prison except the man who wielded the power over them. I do not know that man. General Winder was in advance of me, and several others were in advance of him. Who was responsible I cannot say. About that time an order was issued from the office of the adjutant and inspector-general putting General Winder in command of all the prisoners east of the Mississippi, giving him absolute control 56 THE TRAGEDY OF ANDERSONVILLE. PLAN OF STOCKADE AND SURROUNDINGS AT ANDERSONVILLE Tlie outlines of tlie fciUs reiirL-scnkd in II, e i.bi.vf cut differ from those on liie ojifj ..site |,:ige. wliich to the fatt th;it the ijcrson «lio made the sketch «as not :illowed to :i|>])roacli the fjrts. and dominion over them. That order came from General S. Cooper, adjutant and inspector-general. I saw that order; I read it closely. The substance of it was about this: They were reorganizing the different prison departments. Some man was put in command the other side of the Mississippi, and General Winder was put in supreme command on this side. No oflQcer had any right to interfere with him in any shape, form, or fashion; and it was made the duty of all officers at adjacent posts or anywhere else, on requisition made by General Winder or any of his subordinates for troops, to furnish them forthwith. The order gave him absolute supreme dominion and control over that thing. All officers in command of prisoners were to report to him, and to take orders from him. I do not recollect the date of that order; it was about the last of summer. I saw the name of General S. Cooper, adjutant and inspector-general, to that order. I studied it particularly because I com- manded an adjacent post, and I wanted to understand my duty. I do not know whether it said it was by order of the president or not. I simply know that General Cooper's name was to it. THE PEISON PEN AND ITS COMMANDEE. 57 PLAT OF ANDERSONVILLE PRISON GROUNDS er,ri£ "'^"q^JP." ■■ } Care-taber's House, erected by the National W. R. C. 2 'Providence hpring. d bite of proposed National Monument. 4 Outline of purchased property ^'^n;l!f^l^H. -^'°r,'"'^''i''"'''?.^'"<'. SS'"'^'"/- 14 Wells and Tunnels dug by prisoners. ■ 15 Site of Dead House s ^'S^^i^^''^n^''°'J'-^"' ^"""'t^- Jl P«adway. 100 feet wide, leading to railroad station r«t^ n? kf^tS/''''h, ni^'"S^''»°^ Sweetwater. 19 North Gate of Sfockade. 20 South 'J me oi oiocKaap. J I I'lag staff. Of the origin of the dead-line he testified : I do not know who originated the dead-line. It originated some time after Captain Wirz reported there, while I was in command of the post. I did not originate it. It was the duty of the commanding oflBcer to originate it. 58 THE TEAGEDY OF ANDERSONVILLE. It -will not be found practicable to follow the history of the prison in chronological order. ]\Iost of the records pertaining to the prison were destroyed or scattered to the four winds when the Rebellion col- lapsed, and it was possible only to obtain fugitive and fragmentary documents throwing light on the subject. The following extracts from the record will show that the condition at Andersonville was not unknown at Richmond.^ TESTIMONY OF C, M. SELPH. I have been in the Confederate army for the last four years as captain in the adjutant-general's department — assistant adjutant-general, — and also in the in- spector-general's department. Those departments were combined — they were sep- arated about the beginning of 1864; I was assistant inspector-general, on duty in the oflSee. I am acquainted with the handwriting of Major-General Howell Cobb. [A letter was here handed to the witness.] I am pretty sure that is a letter from Howell Cobb. It was received in the adjutant-general's oflSce, May 21, 1864, and was sent to the inspector-general's office May 26th. [The Judge Advocate read to the court and put in evidence — stating that he did so to show that the rebel war department at Richmond was cognizant of the condition of Andersonville Prison — a letter of which the following is a copy:] Headquarters Georgia RESER^^ES, Macon, Georgia, May 5, 1864. General: Under your orders to inform myself of the condition of the prison at Andersonville, with a view of furnishing from the reserve corps the necessary guard for its protection and safety, I made a visit there and have just returned, and now submit the result of my examination. There are now in the prison about twelve thousand prisoners, in an area of less than eighteen acres, with a stockade around it about fifteen feet high. I presume the character of the prison is well understood at Richmond, and therefore give no description of it. The danger of the prisoners escaping is not so great as I had supposed. With a guard of twelve hundred men, four pieces of artillery, and a cavalry company, all apprehension of escape would be quieted. . . . I took the liberty of making several suggestions for rendering the prison more secure; and if the tools could be had. I would recommend that the entire prison grounds should be surrounded by fortifications, which could be put up by the troops, whose health would be promoted by the employment. The most important change is the one suggested in the accompanying report of my chief surgeon, Dr. Eldridge, that is, the erection of hospital buildings outside of the prison. Upon that point there cannot be two opinions among intelligent men. It ought to be done at once, and such is the opinion of every sensible man that has examined the prison. The prison is already too much crowded, and no additional prisoners should be sent there until it can be enlarged. The effect of increasing the number within the present area must be a terrific increase of sickness and death during the sum- mer months. T understand that an order has been given for enlarging the prison. If it was possible to make another prison it would be much better, for I doubt very much whether the water will be sufficient for the accommodation of the ' Record, p. 219 et seq. THE PRISON PEN AND ITS COMMANDER. 59 increased number of prisoners. The general management of the prison under Colonel Persons is good, and he manifests a laudable desire to discharge his duties in the most eflScient manner. The duties of the inside command are admirably performed by Captain Wirz, whose place it would be diflSeult to fill. I take the liberty of enclosing a copy of Dr. Eldridge's report. I am, general, very respectfully, yours, &c., Howell Cobb, ■General S. Cooper, Major-General, Commanding. Adjutant-General, Biclimond, Va. [Indorsed:] Howell Cobb, Major-General, Headquarters Georgia Reserves, Macon, May 5, 18G4. Report on the prison at Andersonville, Georgia. One enclosure. A. & I. G. O. received May 26, 1864. Received A. & I. G. O. May 21, 1864. Witness. Howell Cobb was brigadier-general of the Georgia Reserves at that time. [Another paper was here handed to the witness.] This paper bears official marks of the department; it is the enclosure which ac- companied General Cobb's letter. [The Judge Advocate read to the court and put in evidence the paper, of which the following is a copy:] Headquarters Georgia Reserves, Macon, Georgia, May 6, 1864. Major: In obedience to instructions from Major-General Howell Cobb, I have the honor to make the following report of my visit in company with the general to the prison camp at Andersonville. I found the prisoners, in my opinion, too much crowded for the promotion or even continuance of their present health, particularly during the approaching summer months. The construction of properly arranged barracks would of course allow the same number of men to occupy the enclosures, with material advantage to their comfort and health. At present their shelters consist of such as they can make of the boughs of trees, poles, &c., covered with dirt. The few tents they have are occupied as a hospital. I found the police of the camp, though not very good, as well arranged as their crowded condition and the limited number of shovels would allow. Since necessary tools have been received for ditching, &c., (which has been very recently,) it is proposed to arrange the sinks so that the fecal matter may be at once carried away by the stream running through the enclosure, which will at once materially improve the condition of the camp. I found the condition of a large number of the Belle Island prisoners on their arrival to be such as to require more attention to their diet and cleanliness, than to the actual administration of medicines, very many of them suffering from chronic diarrhoea combined with the scorbutic disposition, with extreme emaciation as the consequence. The hospital being within the enclosure, it has been found im- practicable to administer such diet and give them such attention as they require, as unless constantly watched, such diet as is prepared for them is stolen and eaten by the other prisoners. There is a fine stream within a few hundred yards of the present enclosure, across which, in my opinion, there should be made another enclosure, with suflScient hospital buildings, two stories high, to accommodate from eight hundred to one thousand patients. Such an enclosure as I should suggest (a plank fence ten feet high) would require but very few additional guards, which guard appears to be the objection urged at Richmond to a separate enclosure. The patients upon their admission into the hospital should be well washed, and a pool arranged on the side of the stream, and furnished only with a clean shirt, with which dress they would hardly attempt to escape. The nurses could be detailed with such discretion that but few would attempt to escape, and with frequent roll-calls, they would be absent but a few hours before detected, and would be readily caught by the dogs always at hand for that purpose. I consider 60 THE TEAGEDY OF ANDERSONAaLLE. the establishment of a hospital outside of the present enclosure as essential to the proper treatment to the sick, and most urgently recommend its immediate con- struction. I would also recommend the construction of as many bathing-pools within the prison as the stream would warrant, feeling assured from the appearance of the prisoners that their use would contribute materially to the health of the bathers. Other improvements would be suggested, but for the difficulty of obtain ing labor, tools, and materials; but with those above mentioned, the urgent necessities of t-he prison would be supplied. The bakery just being completed will be the means of furnishing better-prepared food, particularly bread, the half-cooked condition of which has doubtless con- tributed to the continuance of the bowel affections. I will add that as far as I have been able to judge from my short visit, the management of the medical department of the prison, under the direction of Chief Surgeon J. F. White, reflects credit upon that officer, who seems well qualified for the position he occupies. I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant, E. J. Eldridge, Major Lamar Cobb, Chief Surgeon Georgia Eeserves. A. A. and I. General, Georgia Reserves, Macon, Georgia. [Indorsed:] E. J. Eldridge, Chief Surgeon, Headquarters Georgia Eeserves, Macon, May 6, 1864. Eeport of the prison at AndersouA ille, Georgia. [A letter from Captain Wirz, the prisoner, was here handed to the witness.] I do not know whether that letter bears the marks of the department; it may be the mark of General Winder's office. He was commandant of the post in the city of Richmond; Major Turner was commandant of Libby Prison, Richmond. I do not know whether these reports were made through him. [The handwriting of the prisoner, and of General John H. Winder, to the letter, was proved by Captain J. H. Wright, previously sworn as witness for the prosecu- tion; and the Judge Advocate offered the letter in evidence. Counsel for the accused objected, on the ground that there was no proof of the official character of the paper. The objection was overruled and the paper was received in evidence. The following is a copy:i] Camp Sumter, Andersonville, Georgia, May 8, 1864. Major: I have the honor to make the following report in regard to the Con- federate States military prison at this post. I was assigned to the command of the prison by Colonel A. W. Persons, the commandant of the post, on the 27th of March, 1864, having reported to him for duty by order of General J. H. Winder, commanding Confederate States military prison. I found the prison in a bad condition owing to the want of tools, such as axes, spades, and lumber to erect proper buildings; Captain W. S. Winder, and his successor. Colonel A. W. Persons, had left nothing untried to supply th[ese] so important articles. Only two weeks ago I received axes, spades, &c., from Columbus, Georgia, and went to work cutting ditches, &c., and I hope to have everything in the interior of the prison completed in two weeks. The bakery, which could not be completed for want of lumber, is now in operation. The neces- sity of enlarging the stockade is unavoidable, and I shall commence as soon as I can gather a sufficient number of negroes. I would most respectfully ask you to present to the authorities at Eichmond the impediment thrown in my way by having the hospitals inside the prison. ' Record, p. 221. THE PRISON PEN AND ITS COMMANDER. 61 The mimber of prisoners on the 1st day of April was 7,160 I received up to to-day, from various sources 5,787 I received to-day, recaptured 7 Total 12,954 The number of dead from the 1st of April to 8th of May is 728 The number of escaped from the 1st of April to the 8th of May is. . 13 741 Leaving on hand 12,213 I would also call your attention to the danger of having our present guard force withdrawn and their places supplied by the reserve forces of Governor Brown. In conclusion allow me to make a few remarks concerning myself. I am here in a very unpleasant position, growing out of the rank which I now hold, and suggest the propriety of being promoted. Having the full control of the prison, and con- sequently of the daily prison guard, the orders which I have to give are very often not obeyed with the promptness the occasion requires, and I am of opinion that it emanates from the reluctance of obeying an officer who holds the same rank aa they do. My duties are manifold, and require all my time in daytime, and very often part of the night, and I Avould most respectfully ask that two commissioned officers (lieutenants) would be assigned to me for duty. I am, major, most respectfully, your obedient servant, H. WiRZ, Major Thos. Turner, C. S. A. Captam Commanding Prison. [Indorsed : ] Andersonville, Georgia, Camp Sumter, May 8, 1864. Captain Henry Wirz, com- manding prison, reports in reference to the general condition of the prison, and suggests the propriety of increased rank being given him. Richmond, Virginia, May 25, 1864. Respectfully forwarded, recommended. Thos. P. Turner, Major Commanding. Approved and respectfully forwarded. Captain Wirz has proved himself to be a very diligent and efficient officer, whose superior in commanding prisoners and incident duties I know not. JNO. H. Winder, Brigadier-General. I have had opportunities of noticing the signatures of J. A. Seddon, rebel secretary of war, and of Colonel H. L. Clay, assistant adjutant-general. [A paper was here handed to the witness.] I recognize here the signature of Colonel H. L. Clay, assistant adjutant-general, and the initials of Mr. Seddon, secretary of war. Mr. Seddon was in the habit of signing papers and referring them by his initials. [The signature of Brigadier-General Jno. H. Winder was identified by Captain J. H. Wright, heretofore sworn as a witness for the prosecution. The Judge Ad- vocate then read and put in evidence the letter from John H. Winder, brigadier- general, to General S. Cooper, of which the following is a copy:] Camp Sumter, Andersonville, Georgia, July 21, 1864. General: Your indorsement on the letter of S. B. Davis, relating to the strength of the guard of this post, contains a very severe censure, which I am sure would not have been made if you had had a clear comprehension of this post, of its wants and its difficulties. Reflect for a moment; 29,201 prisoners of war, many of them most desperate characters, a post a mile long by half a mile wide, the stockade for prisoners within 160 yards of a mile in circumference, numerous avenues leading to the post to be guarded, public property to be cared for, guards for working parties, and the ordinary camp guards for the troops, and you can form some estimate of the number iF would require for these purposes. . . . 62 THE TEAGEDY OF ANDEESONVILLE. You speak in your indorsement of placing the prisoners properly. I do not exactly comprehend what is intended by it. I know of but one way to place them, and that is to put them into the stockade, where they have between four and five square yards to the man. This includes streets and two (2) acres of ground about the stream. Eespectfully, your obedient servant, JNO. H. WlXDEK.l General S. Cooper, Brigadier-General. Adjutant and Inspector-General. [Indorsed:] Camp Sumter, Andersonville, Georgia, July 21, 1864. Brigadier-General J. H. "Winder reporting condition of this post, its wants and difficulties. Eespectfully submitted to the secretary of war. H. L. Clay, Assistant Adjutant-General. Adjutant and Inspector-General's Office, August 3, 1864. Xoted. Filed. J. A. S. [Counsel for the accused asked the Judge Advocate to indicate for what purpose these papers were put in evidence.] The Judge Advocate. In the introduction of these documents, I do not hesitate to state generally that while the government considers the prisoner an atrocious criminal, there are others above and higher than him, whom the government will seek to hold responsible for these great crimes; and it is for the purpose of proving on those who had the power to alleviate the sufferings of Union prisoners a knowledge of their condition, that these documents were introduced.- Mr. Baker. That will be satisfactory, if you state in that general way what is introduced for such and such general purposes. The Judge Advocate. I state that generally with reference to the papers I am now introducing. It will be observed that early in May, 1864, the prison was reported as too much crowded, and General Cobb recommended that no more prisoners should be sent until it was enlarged ; that the result of increas- ing the number within the present area must be "a terrific increase of sickness and death during the summer months." He also suggested that another prison would be better, for he doubted that there would be sufficient water if the present enclosure were enlarged. Notwithstand- ing these recommendations, prisoners continued to arrive until it con- tained, at the time of its enlargement, over twenty-two thousand. It was some time before Surgeon Eldridge's recommendation to erect a hospital outside the stockade, and remove the sick for treatment under more favorable conditions, was attempted to be carried out. And when the attempt was made, instead of being a building two stories high, it offered little better facilities for treating the sick than were given them inside the enclosure, and, as we shall see. the sick prisoners in the hospital died about as fast as the sick in the stockade for whom there was no room in the hospital. The lumber which ^ Winder gives the swamp area as two acres. Deduct this and the streets and dead-line area, and note the small space to each prisoner. THE PEISON PEN AND ITS COMMANDEK. 63 Colonel Persons had assembled in large quantities was used neither for barracks, for the well, nor at the hospital for the sick. And the temporary shelter constructed outside the enclosure was inadequate to receive more than half the number requiring treatment. We learn from Dr. Jones's report that the mean strength of the prison in March was 7,500, and the total deaths 283 ; in April, mean strength 10,000, and deaths 576; in May, mean strength 15,000, and deaths 708; in June, mean strength 22,291, and deaths 1,201. In March they died at the rate of 37 per 1,000, and in June at the rate of 53 per 1,000. From a table found in Dr. Jones's report, which covered the months of ]\Iarch, April, May, June, July, and August, the following appears : "Per cent of deaths to mean strength, sick and well: March, 3.77; April, 5.76; May, 4.72; June, 5.38; July, 6.64; August, 9.09." This report shows that the ratio of mortality was progressive, and the fore- cast made by General Cobb proved all too true. And in August it reached the frightful proportions of nearly one in ten of all the sick and well per month. In General Winder's report of July 21, 1864, he says he knows of no way to place the prisoners, except to put them in the stockade, "where they have between four and five square yards to the man. This includes streets and two acres of ground about the swamp." Upon its reference to the secretary of war it received scant attention, as is shown by the indorsement: "Noted. File. J. A. S." (James A. Seddon.) TESTIMONY OF CAPTAIN J. H. WRIGHT.^ I have been in the Confederate service. I was captain and quartermaster for the Confederate troops at Andersonville. I know the signature of J. H. Winder. [A paper was here handed the witness.] That is his signature. It resembles his son's signature very much, but I am coufident it is his from the fact that he signed his "Jno. H. Winder," and his son signs his "J. H. Winder." I know the handwriting of the prisoner. I find the prisoner's handwriting on that paper. [The following paper was put in evidence:] Consolidated Beturn for Confederate States Military Prison, Camp Sumter, Ander- sonville, Georgia, for the Month of August, 1864. Prisoners on hand 1st of August, 1864: In camp 29,985 In hospital 1,693 31,678 Received from various places during August 3,078 Recaptured 4 3,080 Total 34,760 ^ Record, p. 147. 64 THE TRAGEDY OF ANDERSONVILLE. Died during the month of August 2,993 Sent to other parts 23 Exchanged 21 Escaped 30 3,067 Remaining on hand 31,693 Of which there are on the 31st of August — In camp 29,473 In hospital 2,220 — ; 31,693 The same complaint has been made again against the carelessness and insuffi- ciency of the guard of the thirty prisoners. Eleven escaped while on parole of honor not to escape as long as they would be employed to work outside. The balance of nineteen escaped, some on bribing the sentinel with greenbacks, some simply walking off from the guard while returning from the place where the tools are deposited at night that are used in the stockade in daytime. Perhaps twenty-five more escaped during the month, but were taken up by the dogs before the daily return was made out, and for that reason they are not on the list of escaped nor recaptured. That only four were recaptured is owing to the fact that [neither] the guard nor the officers of the guard reported a man escaped. The roll-call in the morning showed the man missing, but he was too far gone to be tracked. As we have no general court-martial here, all such offenses go unpunished, or nearly so. The worthlessness of the guard forces is on the increase day by day. H. WiRZ, Captain Commanding Prison. [Indorsed:] Consolidated return for Confederate States military prison for the month of August, 1864. Respectfully forwarded to General S. Cooper, adjutant and inspector- general. September 5, 1864. Jno. H. Winder, Brigadier- General. It thus appears that in Aiig-ust, there were 34,760 prisoners in con- finement, of whom 2,993 died. It will be remembered that Surgeon Eldridge spoke in his report, as does Captain Wirz, of dogs being used to "take up" escaped prisoners. We shall see that these animals were not used alone to track escaped prisoners, but that they were per- mitted and encouraged to attack and rend them. ^' wKJ CHAPTER V. Condition of the Prison Continued — Sufferings of Prisoners Depicted — Report of Colonel D. T. Chandler — Report of Dr. Joseph Jones — Causes of Sickness and Death Shown — Responsibility Fixed — Confederate Authorities at Richmond Had Full Knowledge; — Colonel Chandler's Testimony — Testimony of Dr. Jones — Six Square Feet to the Man — Barely Room to Comfortably Lie Down — Inadequate Police Control — Prisoners Try, Condemn, and Hang Six op Their Number — Prisoners Murdered by Their Fellow-Prisoners for Their Clothing and Food — The Bodies of the Dead Mutilated — Reports by Surgeon Stevenson, Surgeon White, and Surgeon Thornburg — Dr. Jones's Report Graphic Descrip- tion OF Prison and Hospital — Causes of Death and Unparalleled Suf- fering. WHILE Captain C. M. Selph was on the witness-stand, he was called upon to identify the report of Colonel D. T. Chandler and other documents, which will now be laid before the reader. It must be conceded by any one who will read the report of Colonel D. T. Chandler that it was of supreme importance in the inquiry. Colonel Chandler was assigned to the duty of inspecting this prison and of reporting thereon. He was an officer of high standing in his department and was a graduate of West Point. It was of first import- ance also to show that this report and its enclosures reached Richmond, and had the attention of the proper officers of the rebel government. And it was of no less importance to ascertain what action, if any, was taken upon the report. Upon these points the testimony found in the record makes it clear that the Richmond authorities had full knowl- edge of the facts. That such is beyond dispute, and that nothing was done to carry out the recommendations of Colonel Chandler or to ameliorate the sufferings at the prison by those who had ample power to act, when so strongly urged, appears indisputably throughout the record. The significance of this report from every standpoint justifies its publication with but little abbreviation. I quote from the record i^ [Another paper, being a report from Lieutenant-Colonel Chandler to R. H. Chilton, was here handed to witness.] This document bears the signature of Lieutenant-Colonel Chandler, assistant adjutant and inspector-general in the same department as mine. It is marked as being received August 17, 1864. [The paper was read and put in evidence. The following is a copy.] * Record, p. 224 et seq. 66 THE TRAGEDY OF AXDERSONVILLE. Anderson, July 5, 1864.i Colonel: Having, in obedience to instructions of the 25th ultimo, carefully inspected the prison for Federal prisoners of war and post at this place, I re- spectfully submit the following report: The Federal prisoners of war are confined within a stockade 15 feet high, of roughly hewn pine logs, about 8 inches in diameter, inserted 5 feet into the ground, enclosing, including the recent extension, an area of 540 by 260 yards. A railing around the inside of the stockade, and about 20 feet from it, constitutes the "dead- line," beyond which the prisoners are not allowed to pass, and about 3\i acres near the center of the enclosure are so marshy as to be at present unfit for occupation — reducing the available present area to about 23% acres, which gives somewhat less than 6 square feet 2 to each prisoner. Even this being constantly reduced by the additions to their number. A small stream passing from west to east through the enclosure, at about 150 yards from its southern limit, furnishes the only water for washing accessible to the pi"isoners. Some regiments of the guard, the bakery and cook-house, being placed on the rising grounds bordering the stream before it enters the prison, render the water nearly unfit for use before it reaches the prisoners. This is now being remedied in part by the removal of the cook-house. Under the pressure of their necessities the prisoners have dug numerous wells within the enclosure, from which they obtain an ample supply of water to drink, of good quality. Excepting the edges of this stream, the soil is sandy and easily drained, but from 30 to 50 yards on each side of it the ground is a muddy marsh, totally unfit for occupation, and having been constantly used as a sink since the prison was first established, it is now in a shocking condition and cannot fail to breed pestilence. An effort is being made by Captain Wirz, commanding the prison, to fill up the marsh and construct a sluice — the upper end to be used for bathing, etc., and the lower end as a sink, but the difficulty of procuring lumber and tools very much retards the work, and threatens soon to step it. No shelter whatever nor material for constructing any has been provided by the prison authorities, and the ground being entirely bare of trees, none is within reach of the prisoners, nor has it been possible, from the overcrowded state of the enclosure, to arrange the camp with any system. Each man has been permitted to protect himself as best he can, stretching his blanket, or whatever he may have, above him on such sticks as he can procure, thatches of pine or whatever his ingenuity may suggest and his cleverness supply. Of other shelter there is and has been none. The whole number of prisoners is divided into messes of 270, and subdivisions of 90 men, each under a sergeant of their own number and selection, and but one Confederate States officer. Captain Wirz, is assigned to the supervision and con- trol of the whole. In consequence of this fact, and the absence of all regularity in the prison grounds, and there being no barracks or tents, there are and can be no regulations established for the police consideration of the health, comfort, and sanitary condition of those within the enclosure, and none are practicable under existing circumstances. In evidence of their condition, I would cite the facts that numbers have been found murdered by their comrades, and that recently, in their desperate efforts to provide for their own safety, a court organized among themselves by authority of General Winder, commanding the post, granted on their own application, has tried a large number of their fellow-prisoners, and sentenced six to be hung, which sentence was duly executed by themselves within the stockade, with the sanction of the post commander. His order in the case has been forworded by him to the war department. There is no medical attendance provided within the stockade. Small quantities of medicines are placed in the hands of certain prisoners of each squad or division, and the sick are directed to be brought out by sergeants of squads daily, at "sick call," to the medical officers who attend at the gate. The crowd at these times is ' The true date was August 5th, as appears further along. - The original report reads 6 square feet, and not 6 feet square, and probably e.xcluded the swamp. CONDITIONS AS DESCRIBED BY CONFEDERATES. 67 so great that only the strongest cau get access to the doctors, the weaker ones being unable to force their way through the press; and the hospital accommoda- tions are so limited that though the beds (so-called) have all or nearly all two occupants each, large numbers who would otherwise be received are necessarily sent back to the stockade. Many — twenty yesterday — ^^are carted out daily, who have died from unknown causes and whom the medical officers have never seen. The dead are hauled out daily by the wagonload. and buried without coffins, their hands in many instances being first mutilated with an axe in the removal of any finger rings they may have. The sanitary condition of the prisoners is as wretched as can be, the principal causes of mortality being scurvy and chronic diarrhoea, the percentage of the former being disproportionately large among those brought from Belle Island. Nothing seems to have been done, and but little if any effort made to arrest it by procuring proper food. The ration is % pound of bacon and I14 pound unbolted corn meal, with fresh beef at rare intervals, and occasionally rice. When to be obtained — very seldom — a small quantity of molasses is substituted for the meat ration. A little weak vinegar unfit for use has sometimes been issued. The arrangements for cooking and baking have been wholly inadequate, and though additions are now being completed it will still be impossible to cook for the whole number of prisoners. Raw rations have to be issued to a very large proportion who are entirely unprovided with proper utensils and furnished so limited a supply of fuel they are compelled to dig with their hands in the filthy marsh before mentioned for roots, etc. No soap or clothing has ever been issued. After inquiring, I am confident that by slight exertions, green corn and other anti-scorbutics could readily be obtained. I herewith hand two reports of Chief Surgeon White, to which I would respectfully call your attention. The present hospital arrangements were only intended for the accommodation of the sick of 10,000 men, and are totally insufficient, both in character and extent, for the present' needs; the number of prisoners being now more than three times as great, the number of cases requiring medical treatment is in an increased ratio. It is impossible to state the number of sick, many dying within the stockade, whom the medical officers never see or hear of until their remains are brought out for interment. The rate of death has been steadily increased from 37 4-10 per mil. during the month of March last to 62 7-10 per mil. in July. Of the medical officers, but ten hold commissions ; nearly all of the others are" detailed from the militia, and have accepted the position to avoid serving in the ranks, and will relinquish their contracts as soon as the present emergency is passed and the militia is dis- banded. But little injury would result from this, however, as they are generally very inefficient. Not residing at the post, only visiting it once a day at sick call, they bestow but little attention to those under their care. The small-pox hospital is under the charge of Dr. E. Sheppard, P. A. C. S. More than half the cases in it have terminated fatally. The management and police of the general hospital grounds seem to be as good as the limited means will allow, but there is pressing necessity for at least three times the number of tents and amount of bedding now on hand. The supply of medicines is wholly inadequate, and frequently there is none, owing to the great delays experienced in filling the requisitions. It is believed no other point in the State offers the same advantages of healthy location and facilities for safe-keeping of the prisoners, that is not more accessible to raids. Nor can I learn that any advantage can be gained by removal to any other part of the State. I am decidedly of opinion that not over 15,000 prisoners should be kept at this point, the running water not being sufficient for more than that number, and because it is impossible for one man to exercise a proper super- vision over them, and that all over that number should be sent elsewhere. At my request a survey of the grounds has been made by Colonel Harkie, Fifty-fifth Georgia Regiment, and civil engineer, with a view to drainage. His report is herewith submitted, with a recommendation that his plan be carried out by the engineer department, that being the only one authorized to impress the necessary labor. The necessity for it is urgent. I also recommend that a supply of clothing be furnished for issue to the prisoners, and that soap and anti-scorbutics be regu- larly issued to them. Attention is specially invited to the report of Chief Surgeon 68 THE TRAGEDY OF ANDEESONVILLE. White, relative to the construction of barracks, and the supply of additional tents for hospital use, and I would respectfully suggest that commissioned officers of the medical staff be sent to replace the contract physicians and doctors detailed from the militia, and that they be required to reside at the post. The transportation of the post is entirely insufficient, and authority is needed by the quartermaster to impress wagons and teams and saw-mills, when not employed by the government or railroads and kept diligently occupied, and instructions given to the quarter- master in charge of transportation to afford every facility practicable for trans- porting lumber and supplies necessary for prisoners. Bake-pans, or sheet-iron for making them, should at once be furnished. The telegraph line should be continued from Fort Valley to Andersonville, thirty-one miles. Attention is respectfully called to the accompanying copy of an order issued by Brigadier-General Gardner, to convert all moneys belonging to prisoners, in the hands of the quartermaster at Richmond, into Confederate currency, and at the prices established by government, without consulting the wishes of the prisoners on the subject. It will be seen by the account book forwarded with this, that some of these claim considerable amounts. The injustice of compelling them to receive our currency against their consent is apparent. In conclusion I beg leave to recommend that no more prisoners be sent to this already overcrowded prison, and that at the two additional localities selected by General Winder under instructions from General Bragg — the one near Milan, Georgia, the other some point in Alabama south of Cahawba — arrangements be at once made for the excess over 15,000 at this post, and such others as may be captured. Since my inspection was made, over 1,300 prisoners have been added to the number specified in the reports herewith. With a view of relieving to some extent this point as soon as possible, I respectfully suggest that 2,000 of those who most need the change, especially the Belle Isle prisoners, be at once sent to Macon, to occupy the quarters vacated by the Federal officers, that being the greatest number that can be properly accommodated with shelter at that point. It is absolutely necessary that the regulations for the government of the pris- oners be legibly painted on boards and exposed in conspicuous places, say by nail- ing on the sutler's shop and on the inner face of the stockade at various points. Those established by Captain Wirz, herewith submitted, are approved, with the exception of paragraph 4th, which it is recommended shall be stricken out. I am, colonel, your obedient servant, D. T. Chandler, Assistant Adjutant and Inspector-General. Colonel R. H. Chilton, Assistant Adjutant and Inspector-General. Colonel Chandler made a supplemental report on August 5, 1864, which went forward with the principal report. In it he commends Captain Wirz as an efficient officer, and closes with the following recommendation as to General Winder: My duty requires me respectfully to recommend a change in the officer in command of the post, Brigadier-General J. H. Winder, and the substitution in his place of some one who unites both energy and good judgment with some feeling of humanity and consideration for the welfare and comfort (so far as is consistent with their safe-keeping) of the vast number of unfortunates placed under his control ; some one who at least will not advocate deliberately and in cold blood the propriety of leaving them in their present condition until their number has been sufficiently reduced by death to make the present arrangement suffice for their accommodation; who will not consider it a matter of self -laudation and boasting that he has never been inside of the stockade, a place the horrors of which it is difficult to describe, and which is a disgrace to civilization ; the condi- tion of which he might, by the exercise of a little energy and judgment, even with the limited means at his command, have considerably improved. CONDITIONS AS DESCRIBED BY CONFEDERATES. 69 In obedience to instructions, I shall next proceed to the headquarters of the army of Tennessee, and request that any communications for me be forwarded there to the care of the chief of staff. I am, colonel, very respectfully, your obedient servant, D. T. Chandler,! Assistant Adjutant and Inspector-General. Col. R. H. Chilton, Assistant Adjutant and Inspector-General, C. S. A., Bichmond, Va. [Another paper being exhibited to witness, he identified it as another enclosure of the report previously read. It was offered in evidence. The following is a copy : ] Consolidated Beturn for Confederate States Military Prison at Camp Sximter, Andersonville, Georgia, for the Month of Jidy, 1864. Prisoners on hand on 1st of July, 1864, in camp 25,005 in hospital 1,362 26,367 Prisoners received during the month from various places 7,064 recaptured 12 7,076 Total 33,443 Died during the month 1,742 Escaped 20 Sent to other posts 3 1,765 Total on hand 31,678 Of which there are in camp 29,998 Of which there are in hospital 1,680 The number escaped from stockade and not recaptured, from the 1st of April up to date, is 27 men. Average number of prisoners each day 29,030 Average number of dead each day 56^4 H. WiRZ, Captain Commanding Prison. There was a consolidated report submitted by Wirz for the week ending July 31, 1864, which shows that 529 died in that week, 96 having died on July 31st. On that day 1,776 were reported in hos- pital and the deaths daily were 5.4 per cent. At this rate, in IS^/o days the entire 1,776 would be in their graves. I think the reader should learn from the witness and the official papers just what became of this damning record of the tragedy being enacted at Andersonville, and what action, if any, it evoked r ^ Record, p. 227. » Record, p. 230 et seq. 70 THE TEAGEDY OF ANDERSONVILLE. Witness. When these papers were submitted to the department they were forwarded to the secretary of war with indorsement, immediately on their receipt by Colonel Chilton, inspector-general. [A paper was here shown to the witness.] That is Colonel Chilton's signature; that is his indorsement made at the time. [The paper was then offered in evidence. The following is a copy:] Adjutant and Inspector-General's Office, August 18, 1864. Respectfully submitted to the secretary of war. The condition of the prison at Andersonville is a reproach to us as a nation. The engineer and ordinance departments were applied to for implements, autho- rized their issue, and I so telegraphed General Winder. Colonel Chandler's recommendations are concurred in. By order of General S. Cooper: R. W. Chilton, A. A. 4' I- G- Q. This reads, "respectfully submitted to the secretary of war, etc." Was the report so submitted? A. Yes, sir. Q. In whose handwriting is the name "Mr. Wellford" on this paper (Exhibit 23)? A. It is in the handwriting of Judge Campbell, assistant secretary of war. Q. Who is Mr. Wellford? A. He was the attorney for the war department. Q. [Another paper being shown to witness.] Whose indorsement is that? A. That is the indorsement of Judge Campbell to the secretary of war. Q. [The attention of witness being directed to another part of the same paper.] Whose writing is that? A. Mr. Wellford's writing. Q. What was Mr. Wellford's duty? A. To examine the papers, to make an analysis of them, and submit them to the secretary of war with his opinion. [The paper was then offered in evidence. The following is a copy:] Secretary of War: These reports show a condition of things at Andersonville which calls very loudly for interposition of the department in order that a change may be made. J. A. Campbell, Assistant Secretary of War. Beport of Inspection of military imson at Andersonville, Georgia — (18 enclosures.)^ D. T. Chandler, Lieutenant-Colonel, etc. This report discloses a condition of things imperatively demanding prompt and decisive measures of relief. The discomforts and sufferings of the prisoners seem almost incredible; and the frightful percentum of mortality, steadily increasing until in the month of July it had attained the extent of 62 and 7-10 per thousand, appears to be only a necessary consequence of the criminal indifference of the authorities charged with their care and custody. No effectual remedy for all the evils seems available so long as the numbers are in such large excess over that for which the prison was designed; but some things can be ... at once to ameliorate the con . . . Colonel Chandler, whose recommend . . . are approved by Colonel Chilton, suggests the relief of General Winder and substitute . . . some other com- mander. The state . . . things disclosed in the reports cannot — ^ This indorsement is given as fully as its mutilated condition made possible. CONDITIONS AS DESCRIBED BY CONFEDERATES. 71 wtc^--^^ .ciiiif;^^ PU/VN OF PRISON BAKER-f ANDERSONVILLE GA. I Map of Georgia. Witness. These indorsements show the report was laid before the secretary of war. I do not know of any action taken on the report by the secretary of war. General Winder was assigned to the command of all the prisoners about two weeks afterwards, I think. He was assigned as commissary-general of prisoners. An analysis of the report was made and extracts were sent to the surgeon-general, the quartermaster-general, the commissary-general; in fact all the bureaus of the war department. I have no evidence that this report went before Jefferson Davis. I have no positive evidence at all that it ever went to Mr. Davis. Q. Did you learn from a staff oflScer of Jefferson Davis that this report was laid before him; and if so, in what way did you receive the intelligence? [Mr. Baker objected to the question on the ground that the charges and specifica- tions embraced no charge against Jefferson Davis. The Court, after deliberation, overruled the objection.] A. I cannot say that I did. It is mere inference that it was so laid before him, and I would hardly be authorized in stating that inference. Q. Can you recollect the language made use of by the officer referred to? Mr. Baker. We object. The President. Cannot the witness state the facts on which the inference is founded? Witness. I have a very indistinct recollection of the conversation with the aide of Jefferson Davis. [Mr. Baker objected to the witness stating the facts on which his inference is founded. The Court, after deliberation, overruled the objection.] 72 THE TRAGEDY OF ANDERSONVILLE. Witness. As I said before, 1 will not hazard a statement of the conversation that I had. My recollection is so indistinct that I am not willing to hazard my own inference. The question of the judge-advocate was doubtless suggested by a remark which I made to him yesterday, though I stated at the time that I would not hazard it as testimony. Consequently T cannot state any facts on which I base the inference. By the Court : The conversation was between Colonel Woods and myself in regard to the Andersonville Prison, and during that conversation I obtained the impression that President Davis had some knowledge of it ; but I am not willing to hazard that as testimony, for I have a very indistinct recollection. The inference to which I allude was formed at the time of this conversation. I recollect that that was my inference. By the Judge Advocate: It was subsequent to these reports. I don't recollect how long after; it must have been very shortly afterwards. Colonel Woods was John Taylor Woods, a lieutenant in the navy, and aide to President Davis. I think a paper of this kind, on a subject of this magnitude, would find its way to the president of the so-called Confederate States, in the ordinary course of proceedings. Extracts were made and sent to the quartermaster and commissary departments about the time the report was handed in. [Exhibit 19 was here shown to witness.] These words, "Extract made for C. S. General," are in mv handwriting. [Exhibit 18 was here shown to witness.] These words, "Extracts from within report have been sent to the different bureaus, and directions to General Winder for correction and remedy of the evils, etc.," are in my handwriting. [A paper was here exhibited to witness.] The endorsement upon that paper is by the surgeon-general. The paper was an enclosure of Colonel Chandler's report. S. D. Moore was the surgp'^n-general of the Confederate army. [The paper was then offered in evidence. The following is a copy:] Chief Surgeon's Office, August 2, 1864. Colonel: I have the honor to submit the following report of the sanitary con- dition of the Confederate States military prison : The number of sick on morning report is one thousand three hundred and five (1,305) in hospital, and five thousand and ten (5,010) in quarters. The total number of deaths from the organization of the prison, (February 24, 1864,) up to date, is 4,585. The following table exhibits the ratio per one thousand (1,000) of mean ."Strength during the different months: Mean Ratio per t,000 Month. strength. Deaths. of mean strength. March 7,500 283 37.4 April 10,000 576 57.6 May 15,000 708 47.2 June 22.291 1,201 53.87 July 29,030 1,817 62.7 There is nothing in the topography of the country tlint can be said to influence the health of the prison. CONDITIONS AS DESCEIBED BY CONFEDERATES. 73 The land is high and well drained, the soil light and sandy, with no marshes or other source of malaria in the vicinity, except the small stream within the stockade. The densely crowded condition of the prisoners, with the innumerable little shelters irregularly arranged, precludes the enforcement of proper police, and prevents free circulation of air. The lack of barrack accommodation exposes the men to the heat of the sun during the day and to the dew at night, and is a prolific source of disease. The margins of the stream passing through the stockade are low and boggy, and having been recently drained, have exposed a large surface covered with vegetable mould to the rays of the sun, a condition favorable to the development of malarious diseases. It is the design of the commandant of the prison to cover the surface with dry sand, but the work has been unavoidably retarded. The absence of proper sinks (and the filthy habits of the men) have caused a deposit of fecal matter over almost the entire surface of this bottom land. The point of exit of the stream through the walls of the stockade is not suffi- ciently bold to permit a free passage of ordure. When the stream is swollen by rains the lower portion of this bottom land is overflowed by a solution of excrement, which, subsiding and the surface exposed to the sun, produces a horrible stench. Captain Wirz, the commandant of the prison, has doubtless explained to you the difficulties which have prevented these, with other projected improvements, in the way of bathing and other arrangements for cleanliness. Eespectf ully submitted : Isaiah H. White, Colonel Chandler. Chief Surgeon Post. [Indorsed:] Andersonville, Ga., August 4, 1864. Respectfully submitted with inspection report. D. T. Chandler, A. A. & I. G. [Remarks in pencil:] Surgeon Cooney has been ordered to inspect and report on hospital accommodations for prisoners. Surgeon White was authorized some time since to send his requisitions for sup- plies direct to the medical purveyors. Not having supplies is his own fault; he should have anticipated the wants of the sick by timely requisitions. All requisi- tions are approved by the medical directors. It is impossible to order medical officers in place of the contract physicians. They are not to be had at present. S. D. Moore, Surgeon-General. ' ___ Colonel Chandler testified as a witness at great length and explained in much detail the character of his inspection and from what data his report was made. As we have the result of his investigations in his report, it is not necessary to set out his testimony at length. Among other things, he said: I have no retraction to make in regard to the condition of the prison at Ander- sonville, as represented in my report. ... I noticed that General Winder seemed indifferent to the welfare of the prisoners, indisposed to do anything, or to do as much as I thought he ought to do, to alleviate their sufferings. I remonstrated with him as well as I could, and he used that language which I reported to the department. When I spoke of the great mortality existing among the prisoners, and pointed out to him that the sickly season was coming on and that it must necessarily increase unless something was done for their relief, — the swamp, for instance, drained; proper food furnished them, and in better quantity; and other sanitary suggestions which I made to him — he replied to me that he thought it was better to let half of them die than to take care of the men. I would like to state 74 THE TRAGEDY OF ANDERSONVILLE. to the court that before he used this language to me, my assistant, who was with me, Major Hall, had reported to me that he had used similar language to him, made use of similar expressions. I mention this to show the court that I am not mistaken; that my recollection is clear. I told him (Major Hall) I thought it incredible; that he must be mistaken. He told me no; that he had not only said it once, but twice, and, as I have stated, he subsequently made use of the same expression to me. Colonel Chandler points out some things that might easily have been done: that the prison pen might, with little labor, have been drained to a stream a few hundred yards off on lower ground ; that more wood might have been furnished; that the cook-house should have been moved from the stream above the stockade, as also should the gar- rison camps; that green corn should have been purchased, of which he saw plenty, also cabbages and other vegetables ; that a large number of the prisoners should be sent elsewhere, or the stockade much en- larged; that in its crowded condition, six feet square, as he estimated, being available to the man, it was not possible to erect shelter or bar- racks. Of Wirz he said : "Facts have come to my knowledge in rela- tion to Captain Wirz of which I had no suspicion at the time I recom- mended him as an efficient officer." Of the prison rules he said : I cannot speak positively as to my recollection of paragraph 4 of the rules sub- mitted by Captain Wirz, which I did not approve. My impression now is that it had reference to punishing men who attempted to escape. I remember having a conversation with General Winder on this subject and calling his attention to the fact that it was the duty of a soldier to his country to escape if he coiild, and that it was his duty to keep him, to prevent escape, but not to punish him for doing his duty, and he concurred in that. We shall see how inhumanly and recklessly Wirz enforced his rule in disregard of this plain injunction. Speaking of his report, Colonel Chandler testified : On my return to Eichmond in October, 1 spoke to Colonel Chilton, chief of the bureau, with reference to my report, and he told me that it had not been acted upon. The former secretary of war had been relieved and General Breckinridge appointed secretary. At my instance Colonel Chilton urged the department to take the matter up, for the reason that General Winder had rather decried the correct- ness of some statements that I had made, and I made a counter report, furnishing evidence of the accuracy of my report. I went myself to Judge Campbell and asked him to take it up, and he promised that he would do so. I do not believe it was ever taken up ; that is to say, I do not think it was ever decided. Judge Campbell might have been considering it at the time of the evacuation. If it seemed incredible to Colonel Chandler that General Winder should recommend so atrocious a policy as that of starving the pris- CONDITIONS AS DESCRIBED BY CONFEDERATES. 75 oners to death or killing them off by exposure, in order to relieve the congestion, what must we think of the Eiehmond authorities who, knowing what was transpiring at Andersonville, not only lifted not a hand to stay the slaughter, but promoted Winder to larger po^m^s in his command over the prisons? \, Incredible as it may seem, we yet have the proof that with knowl- edge of the fact that General Winder proposed to relieve the crowded condition of the prison by a process which meant death to thousands, the Richmond authorities promoted him and increased the scope of his opportunities for further enforcing his diabolical policy. Further evidence was introduced to show what was done with this report. TESTIMONY OP R. T. H. KEAN. ^ I was employed as a private soldier for some eight or ten months in 1861, in the army of Northern Virginia, then commanded by General Johnston. From Febru- ary, 1862, till April, 1862, I was assistant adjutant-general of the brigade com- manded by Brigadier-General George W. Randolph. In April, 1862, when Mr. Randolph became secretary of war, I was appointed chief of the bureau of war at Richmond, and remained so until April of the present year. I know Mr. Seddon's handwriting. The words "Noted, filed, J. A. S," on General Winder's report, are, I believe, his handwriting. T am familiar with the handwriting of the assistant secretary. Judge Campbell. The indorsement signed "J. A. Campbell, A. S. W.," on Colonel Chandler's report, is in his handwriting. . The brief is in the handwriting of R. B. Welford, who was a clerk in the war oflSee. He was an intelligent lawyer, and his duties were chiefly of a legal character. When legal questions were to be investigated they were referred to him for evisceration, and bulky documents were frequently referred to him and he digested and briefed them; he would sometimes at the same time express an opinion on the contents. I remember that a report was made by Colonel Chandler with regard to the Andersonville prison. I was on duty there as chief of bureau of war. ... It was laid before the secretary of war, Mr. Seddon, I think, by the assistant secretary, Judge Campbell. Judge Campbell and myself had some conversation about it. I am not quite certain whether it was before or after it was submitted to the secretary, but I think it was on the day the report was received in the war oflSce from the adjutant-general's oflSce. After I had got through with the press of my own duties I glanced over it hastily, not having time to read it very deliberately, and it was the subject of some conversation between Judge Campbell and myself, the conversation being some comments on matters stated in the report. The conversation on the part of Judge Campbell is very well indexed by this indorsement. I do not remember to have had any conversation with him about the report after it was submitted to the secretary. ... I do not know that the report was acted upon by the secretary of war. I think I should have known it if it had been. I do not mean to say that I knew all the action the secretary of war took by a great deal, but it would probably have been in my way ' Record, p. 309 et seq. 76 THE TEAGEDY OF ANDEESONVILLE. to know it if action had been taken upon it. I am unable to say how long it lay upon his table. . . . The matter was subsequently called to his attention. About the 1st of February, I think, a day or two before his resignation, after his resigna^ tion was sent in and before it was accepted, Lieutenant-Colonel Chandler, the officer who made the report, was in Eichmond for the purpose of desiring some action upon it. A controversy had grown up between him and General Winder in reference to the subject-matter of the report, which had resulted in an issue of veracity between them. That, as Colonel Chandler stated to me, and as Colonel Chilton, the inspector-general, adjutant-general's office, stated to me, rendered it very desirable to Colonel Chandler that some disposition should be made of the paper. I do not know that any action was ever taken upon it. None was taken at that time. As I stated, the resignation was pending at the time, and he went out of office on the 7th of February. General Breckinridge came into office on the Sth, and gave very little attention to the papers from that time. The indorsement on this paper was made by me and that is my signature. I was at that time acting chief of the bureau of war. This indorsement was in relation to the same report, and was the same matter in controversy between Colonel Chandler and General Winder. I was in the habit sometimes of presenting such matters to the secretary with a verbal statement ; at other times when it was difficult to speak to him, I would put the paper on his table, with a memorandum of this kind, not intended as an official document, but as a memorandum, merely to accompany the paper into his hands and draw attention to it, and then it was of no further use. This is a paper of that character. [The paper, of which the following is a copy, was submitted in evidence by the judge advocate and is appended to this record : ] Honorable Secretary of War: These papers involve a painful personal issue between the inspecting officer and General Winder. Colonel Chilton, acting inspector-general, has requested, for this reason, that action be taken on them, so as to relieve one or the other of the parties. Eespectfully, E. T. H. Kean, \ February 6, 1865. Chief of Bureau of War. From the way in which Judge Campbell spoke of this report at the time referred to just now, I think it excited special interest on his part. That was the first and only conversation I distinctly remember. Throughout the history of Anderson ville, it will be found that Gen- eral Winder was the moving spirit of evil. It was he who suggested to Colonel Chandler that it was better to let the prison relieve its conges- tion by death than by enlargement, — a sentiment in harmony with the policy pursued by his faithful subordinate Wirz. The removal of "Winder was urged by Colonel Chandler, but he was not only not removed but was promoted. The testimony of J. B. Jones and Philip Cashmyer will explain Winder's hold at the source of all power in the Confederacy : They testified : CONDITIONS AS DESCRIBED BY CONFEDERATES. 77 TESTIMONY OF J. B. JONES.^ I was a clerk in the rebel war department during the past four years. I received from the mails all the letters addressed to the secretary of war ; they were brought to me from the post-ofSce by messengers. It was my duty to open them and read them. I made a brifef synopsis of the contents and sent them to the secretary. The report of Colonel Chandler in relation to the Andersonville Prison was a report that should have gone to the adjutant-general, but that document was sent to my oflSce by mistake. I turned it over and looked at it ; I did not pretend to read it. I read a few heads of paragraphs, and it was either sent by me immediately to the secretary, or possibly, probably it was sent for by the secretary, because he may have expected it. I did not read lengthy reports; indeed they did not come there. I was in the office after Mr. Seddon took charge of the war department. I remained there till the evacuation, this spring. I cannot be positively certain about his custom with regard to laying business before the president, but he had frequent conferences with the president, almost daily when they were both well. I have seen him going there, taking his papers himself. TESTIMONY OF PHILIP CASHMYER." For the last four years I was detective officer under General Winder. I was with General Winder from the time he commenced his duties as provost marshal until he died. I was his special confidential detective. Well, my duties were, any important matters such as detectives have to attend to I attended to for him, such as examiniug prisoners and making reports upon them and matters of that sort. I was admitted into his family also. The relations existing between him and Mr. Jefferson Davis were very friendly indeed, very confidential. I often heard General Winder say so. I often saw him go there and come from there. I remember when an effort was made by Generals Bragg and Ransom to have him removed, Mr. Davis — President Davis — was his special friend then. When the order relieving General Winder came from the war department he took it and went up to Mr. Davis. The order was relieving him from duty in Richmond. He took it and went over and saw President Davis, and he indorsed on it, as well as I can recollect, "that it was entirely unneces- sary and uncalled for." After that General Winder was sent to Goldsboro, North Carolina, to take the field; he was there a week or two, and an order then came for him to go to Andersonville and take command there. His powers were not extended for some months after that. They were then. They made him commis- sioner-general, commissary-general of prisoners. They called him commissioner- general. I still continued with him till he died in my tent at Florence, South Carolina. As well as I can recollect, the order sending W. S. Winder to Anderson- ville to lay out the prison came from the war department. General Winder desired to send him, and the war department sanctioned it. I saw the son go with the general down to the war department and come from there. There are certain indisputable facts established by the Chandler report and its history which can never be explained away nor changed ' Record, p. 419. =» Record, p. 421 78 THE TRAGEDY OF ANDERSONVILLE. nor affected by inscriptions upon monuments to Wirz or to any or all others implicated in the crime of Andersonville. Early in May, as we have seen, the situation was brought home to heads of departments at Richmond; they were warned that the very fate which later befell the unhappy prisoners would surely overtake them unless remedial measures were promptly taken; they were not only not taken, but every movement at Richmond aggravated the existing conditions and made more certain the deadly result. And when Chandler arrived upon the scene his quickened sense of justice and humanity revolted at the picture spread out before him. Soldier- like and manlike, he laid the facts in their true light before his supe- riors at Richmond. A hundred Union veterans were dying daily in a pen not fit for occupancy by dumb animals. Half -fed with indigestible food, without shelter, many of the sick without medical attendance, and none of the sick with adequate care or attention, this mass of human beings was crowded into an open space, with but six feet square to the man, — a picture of human wretchedness and neglect unpar- alleled ! The record traces this picture, faithfully drawn, through the hands of high officials, bearing indorsements which left no doubt of the importance of the document. On its face it pointed out the inhuman sentiment uttered by the man Winder, who was the guiding spirit at Andersonville, recommending his removal and the appointment of some one who would not deliberately say that it was better to let the men die and thus relieve the survivors. On this document as it passed along to the secretary of war and to the President, Adjutant-General Cooper, by his assistant, Colonel Chilton, indorsed his opinion as follows: The condition of tlie prison at Andersonville is a reproach to us as a nation. Colonel Chandler's recommendations are concurred in. Assistant Secretary of War Campbell made this indorsement: These reports show a condition at Andersonville which calls loudly for inter- position of the department in order that a change may be made. The evidence was that the secretary of war took no step to better conditions at Andersonville. General Winder was promoted to a sphere of enlarged authority over prisons. The papers bear the mark : "Noted. File. J. A. S.," which were known to be the indorsement of Secretary of War Seddon. As late as February 6, 1865, the chief of the bureau of war makes the following indorsement: l^' CONDITIONS AS DESCRIBED BY CONFEDERATES. 79 Honorable Secretary of War: These papers involve a painful personal issue between the inspecting oflSeer and General Winder. Colonel Chilton, acting inspector-general, has requested, for this reason, that action be taken on them, so as to relieve one or other of the parties. February 6, 1865. R. T. H. Kean, Chief of the Bureau of War, By this time the policy of AA^inder had been fully executed, and nearly thirteen thousand hapless, helpless defenders of the Union had perished miserably. In the volumes of the AVar of the Rebellion some light is thrown upon the action of the rebel war department. The following letter written by Major Hall will be read with interest : Wytheville, November 22, 1864. i Colonel R. H. Chilton, Assistant Adjutant and Inspector-General, Eicliviond. Colonel: I am surprised to see that Captain Wirz, commanding prison at Andersonville, Ga., in his report of 27th of September, makes me responsible for the following: "Major Hall remarked that it, the prison at Andersonville, was about on par with the Federal prison on Johnson's Island." I did not express any such opinion, nor did I ever use any language, which the utmost ingenuity could pervert into such a misrepresentation of my conviction. The report of inspection of the post and prison at Andersonville forwarded by Colonel Chandler, assistant adjutant and inspector-general, 5th of August ultimo, was made by notes taken by both of us on the spot. He consulted with me while preparing it, and as you will perceive, the fair copy is in my handwriting. I fully concur in it. Colonel Chandler's communication to you of this date is also in accordance with my observation of the facts and the statements in which reference is made to me and with my full knowledge and consent. My recollection of General Winder's language, quoted by Colonel Chandler and Captain Wirz, relative to the issue of peas, rice, fuel, etc., is clear and distinct. No vestige remained of the 1,000 posts to which Captain Wirz refers and no allusion to them was made. The only hut or other building in the stockade was a small frame house used exclusively as a sutler's shop. On each of my visits of inspection to the interior of the stockade, I noticed a large number of men digging in the marsh for roots and learning their purpose, called Colonel Chandler's attention to the fact. At my request, Captain Wirz went with me to the stockade on one occasion specially to attend "sick call," as I desired to obtain accurate information in regard to the manner of conducting it. I am, colonel, very respectfully, your obedient servant, W. Carvel Hall, Major and Assistant Adjutant-General. This letter was sent to the war department at Richmond, at its request, for an explanation of the damaging report made by Colonel Chandler in August. It seems that the war department was busying itself to discredit Colonel Chandler's report and him personally, when it ought to have been putting forth every possible effort to relieve the conditions at Andersonville which were pronounced a "disgrace to the Confederacy" by official reports. The carnival of death was allowed ' War of Rebellion, vol. VII, series 2, p. 1 1 $6. 80 THE TRAGEDY OF ANDERSONVILLE. to proceed unchecked, in pursuance of the policy announced by Gen- eral Winder to Colonel Chandler, that it was better to let the con- dition of congestion in the prison be relieved by death than by any of the means recommended. Major Hall reiterates the fact that he saw many men digging in the swamp for roots for fuel. Remembering what a disgusting and offensive place this swamp had become, saturated as it was with human excrement, we may understand the meaning of the lack of fuel to cook the raw rations issued to the prisoners, when men would resort to such a place for what existed in abundance within sight of the prison and the prisoners begging for the privilege to go after it. By far the most comprehensive report made of the prison conditions at Andersonville was made by Dr. Joseph Jones, who tells us that while on a visit to Richmond, in August, 1864, "hearing of the unusual mortality among the Federal prisoners at Andersonville, he expressed to the surgeon-general, S. P. Moore, C. S. A., a desire to visit Camp Sumter, with the design of instituting a series of inquiries upon the nature and causes of the prevailing diseases." It will be seen that he was sent by the surgeon-general, not to devise methods to alleviate any suffering which he might find to exist among the prisoners, but "in order that this great field for pathological in- vestigation may be explored for the benefit of the medical department of the Confederate army." Surgeon-General Moore confessedly knew at that time the conditions there existing and his letter of introduction is dated August 6, 1864. It is true, as will appear, that Dr. Jones's report never reached Surgeon-General Moore, as explained by Dr. Jones, but the facts recorded by him are none the less important or significant in the inquiry we are making, and were know-n at Richmond through other sources.^ This report is valuable to the medical pro- fession, but for our present purpose it furnishes indubitable proof that the horrors of Andersonville have not been overdrawn, and it corroborates in many particulars the report of Colonel Chandler; in fact, for graphic and soul-harrowing description of human suffering, it excels anything spoken by witnesses who were themselves victims. Surgeon Jones testified that he went to Andersonville about Septem- ber 16, 1864, and that after examining the prison hospital he entered the prison pen. His permit is dated September 17, 1864, and he says that he spent three weeks in his examination of the sick in the hospital ' But see preliminary report by Dr. Jones, infra. CONDITIONS AS DESCRIBED BY CONFEDERATES. 81 and in the stockade, going so far in his investigations, as he testified, to make "some score of post-mortem examinations." With this intro- duction to this important evidence, let the record speak.i TESTIMONY OF DR. JOSEPH JONES. By the Judge Advocate: Q. Where do you reside? A. In Augusta, Georgia. Q. Are you a graduate of any medical college? A. Of the University of Pennsylvania. Q. How long have you been engaged in the practice of medicine? A. Eight years. Q. Has your experience been as a practitioner, or rather as an investigator of medicine as a science? A. Both. Q. What position do you hold now? A. That of medical chemist in the Medical College of Georgia, at Augusta. Q. How long have you held your position in that college? A. Since 1858. Q. How were you employed during the Rebellion? A. I served six months in the early part of it as a private in the ranks, and the rest of the time in the medical department. Q. Under the direction of whom? A. Under the direction of Dr. Moore, surgeon-general. Q. Did you, while acting under his direction, visit Andersonville, professionally? A. Yes, sir. Q. For the purpose of making investigations there? A. For the purpose of prosecuting investigations ordered by the surgeon-general. Q. Y'ou went there in obedience to a letter of instructions? A. In obedience to orders which I received. Q. Did you reduce the results of your investigations to the shape of a report? A. I was engaged at that work when General Johnston surrendered his army. [A document being handed to witness.] Q. Have you examined this extract from your report and compared it with the original? A. Yes, sir; I have. Q. Is it accurate? A. So far as my examination extended, it is accurate. [The document just examined by witness was offered in evidence, and is as follows:] Observations upon the diseases of the Federal prisoners, confined in Camp Sumter, Andersonville, in Sumter County, Georgia, instituted with a view to illustrate chiefiy the origin and causes of hospital gangrene, the relations of continued and malarial fevers and the pathology of camp diarrhoea and dysentery, hy Joseph Jones, surgeon P. A. C. S., professor of medical chemistry in the Medical College of Georgia, at Augusta, Georgia. ' Record, p. 6i8 et seq. 82 THE TEAGEDY OF ANDERSONVILLE. Hearing of the unusual mortality among the Federal prisoners confined at Andersonville, Georgia, in the month of August, 1864, during a visit to Eichmond, Virginia, I expressed to the surgeon-general, S. P. Moore, Confederate States of America, a desire to visit Camp Sumter, with the design of instituting a series of inquiries upon the nature and causes of the prevailing diseases. Smallpox had appeared among the prisoners, and I believed that this would prove an admirable field for the establishment of its characteristic lesions. The condition of Peyer's glands in this disease was considered as worthy of minute investigation. It was believed that a large body of men from the northern portion of the United States, suddenly transported to a warm southern climate, and confined upon a small portion of land, would furnish an excellent field for the investigation of the relations of typhus, typhoid, and malarial fevers. The surgeon-general Confederate States of America furnished me with the fol- lowing letter of introduction to the surgeon in charge of the Confederate 'States military prison at Andersonville, Georgia: Confederate States of America, Surgeon-General's Office, Richmond, Virginia, August 6, 1864. Sir: The field of pathological investigations afforded by the large collection of Federal prisoners in Georgia, is of great extent and importance, and it is believed "that results of value to the profession may be obtained by a careful investigation of the effects of disease upon the large body of men subjected to a decided change of climate and the circumstances peculiar to prison life. The surgeon in charge of the hospital for Federal prisoners, together with his assistants, will afford every facility to Surgeon Joseph Jones, in the prosecution of the labors ordered by the surgeon-general. Efficient assistance must be rendered Surgeon Jones by the medical oflScers, not only in his examinations into the causes and symptoms of the various diseases, but especially in the arduous labors of post m.orteni examinations. The medical ofiicers will assist in the performance of such post mortems as Surgeon Jones may indicate, in order that this great field for pathological investiga- tion may be explored for the benefit of the medical department of the Confederate army. S. P. Moore, Surgeon-General. Surgeon Isaiah H. White, In charge of hospital for Federal prisoners, Andersonville, Georgia. In compliance with this letter of the surgeon-general, Isaiah H. "White, chief surgeon of the post, and E. E. Stevenson, surgeon in charge of the prison hospital, afforded the necessary facilities for the prosecution of my investigations among the sick outside of the stockade. After the completion of my labors in the military prison hospital, the following communication was addressed to Brigadier-General John H. Winder, in consequence of the refusal on the part of the commandant of the interior of the Confederate States military prison to admit me within the :stockade upon the order of the surgeon-general: Camp Sumter, Andersonville, Georgia, September 16, 1864. General: I respectfully request the commandant of the post of Andersonville to grant me permission and to furnish the necessary pass to visit the sick and medical ofiicers within the stockade of the Confederate States prison. I desire to /institute certain inquiries ordered by the surgeon-general. Surgeon Isaiah H. CONDITIONS AS DESCKIBED BY CONFEDEEATES. 83 White, chief surgeon of the post, and Surgeon E. E. Stevenson in charge of the prison hospital, have afforded me every facility for the prosecution of my labors among the sick outside of the stockade. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, Joseph Joxes, Surgeon P. S. C. S. Brigadier-General John H. Winder, Commandant, Post Andersonville. In the absence of General Winder from the post, Captain Winder furnished the following order: Camp Sumtek, AxDEKSOxviLLE, September 17, 1864. Captain : You will permit Surgeon Joseph Jones, who has orders from the surgeon-general, to visit the sick within the stockade that are under medical treat- ment. Surgeon Jones is ordered to make certain investigations which may prove useful to his profession. By direction of General Winder: Very respectfuUv, W. S. WiNDEE, A. A. G. Captain H. Wirz, Commanding Prison. Description of the Confederate States Military Prison Hospital at Andersonville. Number of Prisoners, Physicial Condition, Food, Clothing, Habits, Moral Con- dition, Diseases. The Confederate military prison at Andersonville, Georgia, consists of a strong stockade, 20 feet in height, enclosing 27 acres. The stockade is formed of strong pine logs, firmly planted iii the ground. The main stockade is surrounded by two other similar rows of pine logs, the middle stockade being 16 feet high, and the outer 12 feet. These are intended for offence and defence. If the inner stockade should at any time be forced by the prisoners, the second forms another line of defence; while in case of an attempt to deliver the prisoners by a force operating upon the exterior, the outer line forms an admirable protection to the Confederate troops, and a most formidable obstacle to cavalry or infantry. The four angles of the outer line are strengthened by earthworks upon commanding eminences, from which the cannon, in case of an outbreak among the prisoners, may sweep the entire enclosure; and it was designed to connect these works by a line of rifle-pits, running zig-zag, around the outer stockade; these rifle-pits have never been com- pleted. The ground enclosed by the innermost stockade lies in the form of a parallelogram, the larger diameter running almost due north and south. This space includes the northern and southern opposing sides of two hills, between which a stream of water runs from west to east. The surface soil of these hills is composed chiefly of sand, with varying admixtures of clay and oxide of iron. The clay is sufficiently tenacious to give a considerable degree of consistency to the soil. The internal structure of the hills, as revealed by the deep wells, is similar to that already described. The alternate layers of clay and sand, as well as the oxide of iron, which forms in its various combinations a cement to the sand, allow of extensive tunneling. The prisoners not only constructed numerous dirt huts with balls of clay and sand, taken from the weUs which they have excavated all over those hills, but they have also, in some cases, tunneled extensively from these wells. The lower portions of these hills, bordering on the stream, are wet and boggy from the constant oozing of water. The stockade was built originally to accommodate 84 THE TEAGEDY OF ANDEESONVILLE. only 10,000 prisoners, and included at first 17 acres. Near the close of the month of June, the area was enlarged by the addition of 10 acres. i The ground added was situated on the northern slope of the largest hill. The following table presents a view of the density of the population of the prison, at different periods: Table illustrating the mean number of prisoners in the Confederate States military prison at Andersonville, Georgia, from its organisation, February 24, 1864, to September, 1864, and the average number of square feet of ground to each prisoner. Mean strength Area of Average number of of Federal stockade in square feet allowed prisoners. square feet. to each prisoner. March, 1864 7,500 740,.520 98.7 April, 1864 10,000 740,520 74 May, 1864 15,000 740,520 49.3 June, 1864 22,291 740,520 33.2 July, 1864 29,030 1,176,120 40.5 August, 1864 32,899 1,176,120 35.7 Within the circumscribed area of the stockade the Federal prisoners were com- pelled to perform all the offices of life — cooking, washing, urinating, defecation, exercise, and sleeping. During the month of March the prison was less crowded than at any subsequent time, and then the average space of ground to each prisoner was only 98.7 feet, or less than seven square yards. The Federal prisoners were gathered from all parts of the Confederate States east of the Mississippi, and crowded into the confined space, until in the month of J,une the average number of square feet of ground to each prisoner was only 33.2, or less than four square yards. These figures represent the condition of the stoclcade t?i a better light even than it really ivas; for a considerable breadth of land along the stream, floioing from west to east, between the kills, was low and boggy, and ivas covered with the excrement of the men, and thus rendered wholly uninhabitable, and in fact useless for every purpose except that of defecation. The pines and other small trees and shrubs, which originally were scattered sparsely over these hills, were in a short time cut down and consumed by the prisoners for firewood, and no shade tree was left in the entire enclosure of the stockade. With their characteristic industry and ingenuity, the Federals constructed for themselves small huts and caves, and attempted to shield themselves from the rain and sun and night damps and dew. But few tents were distributed to the prisoners, and those were in most cases torn and rotten. In the location and arrangement of these tents and huts no order appears to have been followed; in fact, regular streets appeared to be out of the question in so crowded an area; especially, too, as large bodies of prisoners were from time to time added suddenly without any previous preparations. The irregular arrangement of the huts and imperfect shelters was very unfavorable for the main- tenance of a proper system of police. The police and internal economy of the prison was left almost entirely in the hands of the prisoners themselves; the duties of the Confederate soldiers acting as guards being limited to the occupation of the boxes or lookouts ranged around the stockade at regular intervals, and to the manning of the batteries at the angles of the prison. Even judicial matters pertaining to themselves, as the detection * Other reports and most of the authorities say the stockade was enlarged about one-third. CONDITIONS AS DESCEIBED BY CONFEDEEATES. 85 and punishment of such crimes as theft and murder, appear to have been in a great measure abandoned to the prisoners. A striking instance of this occurred in the month of July, when the Federal prisoners within the stockade tried, con- demned, and hanged six (6) of their own number, who had been convicted of stealing and of robbing and murdering their fellow-prisoners. They were all hung upon the same day, and thousands of the prisoners gathered around to witness the execution. The Confederate authorities are said not to have interfered with these proceedings. In this collection of men from all parts of the world, every phase of human character was represented; the stronger preyed upon the weaker, and even the sick who were unable to defend themselves were robbed of their scanty supplies of food and clothing. Dark stories were afloat, of men, both sick and well, who were murdered at night, strangled to death by their comrades for scant supplies of clothing or money. I heard a sick and wounded Federal prisoner accuse his nurse, a fellow-prisoner of the United States army, of having stealthily, during his sleep, inoculated his wounded arm with gangrene, that he might destroy his life and fall heir to his clothing. The large number of men confined^ within the stockade soon, under a defective system of police, and with imperfect arrangements, covered the surface of the low grounds with excrements. The sinks over the lower portions of the stream were imperfect in their plan and structure, and the excrements were in large measure deposited so near the borders of the stream as not to be washed away, or else accumulated upon the low boggy ground. The volume of water was not siifScient to wash away the feces, and they accumulated in such quantities in the lower portion of the stream as to form a mass of liquid excrement. Heavy rains caused the water of the stream to rise, and as the arrangements for the passage of the increased amounts of water out of the stockade were insufficient, the liquid feces overflowed the low grounds and covered them several inches, after the subsidence of the waters. The action of the sun upon this putrefying mass of excrements and fragments of bread and meat and bones excited most rapid fermentation and developed a horrible stench. Improvements were projected for the removal of the filth and for the prevention of its accumulation, but they were only partially and imperfectly carried out. As the forces of the prisoners were reduced by confine- ment, want of exercise, improper diet, and by scurvy, diarrhoea, and dysentery, they were unable to evacuate their bowels within the stream or along its banks, and the excrements were deposited at the very doors of their tents. The vast majority appeared to lose all repulsion to filth, and both sick and well disregarded all the laws of hygiene and personal cleanliness. The accommodations for the sick were imperfect and insufficient. From the organization of the prison, February 24, 1864, to May 22nd, the sick were treated within the stockade. In the crowded condition of the stockade, and with the tents and huts clustered thickly around the hospital, it was impossible to secure proper ventilation or to maintain the necessary police. The Federal prisoners also made frequent forays upon the hospital stores and carried off the food and clothing of the sick. The hospital was, on the 22nd of May, removed to its present site without the stockade, and five acres of ground covered with oaks and pines appropriated to the use of the sick. 86 THE TEAGEDY OF ANDERSONVILLE. The supply of medical oflScers has been insuflSeient from the foundatiou of the prison. The nurses and attendants upon the sick have been most generally Federal prisoners, who in too many cases appear to have been devoid of moral principle, and who not only neglected their duties, but were also engaged in extensive robbing of the sick. From the want of proper police and hygienic regulations alone it is not wonder- ful that from February 24 to September 21, 1864, 9,479 deaths, nearly one-third the entire number of prisoners, should have been recorded. I found the stockade and hospital in the following condition during my pathological investigations, instituted in the month of September, 1864: At the time of my visit to Andersonville a large number of Federal prisoners had been removed to Millen, Savannah, Charleston, and other parts of the Con- federacy, in anticipation of an advance of General Sherman's forces from Atlanta, with the design of liberating their captive brethren; however, about 15,000 prisoners remained confined within the limits of the stockade and Confederate States military prison hospital. In the stockade, with the exception of the damp lowlands bordering the small stream, the surface was covered with huts, and small ragged tents and parts of blankets and fragments of oilcloth, coats, and blankets stretched upon sticks. The tents and huts were not arranged according to any order, and there was in most parts of the enclosure scarcely room for two men to walk abreast between the tents and huts. I observed men urinating and evacuating their bowels at the very tent doors and around the little vessels in which they were cooking their food. Small pits, not more than a foot or two deep, nearly filled with soft offensive feces, were everywhere seen, and emitted under the hot sun a strong and disgusting odor. Masses of corn-bread, bones, old rags, and filth of every description were scattered around or accumulated in large piles. If one might judge from the large pieces of corn-bread scattered about in every direction on the ground, the prisoners were either very lavishly supplied with this article of diet, or else this kind of food was not relished by them. Each day the dead from the stockade were carried out by their fellow-prisoners and deposited upon the ground under a bush arbor, just outside the southwestern gate. From thence they were carried in carts to the burying ground, one-quarter of a mile northwest of the prison. The dead were buried without coflSns, side by side, in trenches four feet deep. The low grounds bordering the stream were covered with human excrements and filth of all kinds, which in many places appeared to be alive with working maggots. An indescribable sickening stench arose from these fermenting masses of human dung and filth. There were nearly 5,000 seriously ill Federals in the stockade and Confederate States military prison hospital, and the deaths exceeded one hundred per day, and large numbers of the prisoners who were walking about, and who had not been entered upon the sick reports, were suffering from severe and incurable diarrhcBa, dysentery, and scurvy. The sick were attended almost entirely by their fellow- prisoners, appointed as nurses, and as they received but little attention, they were compelled to exert themselves at all times to attend to the calls of nature,. CONDITIONS AS DESCRIBED BY CONFEDERATES. 87 and hence they retained the power of moving about to within a comparatively short period of the close of life. Owing to the slow progress of the diseases most prevalent, diarrhoea, and chronic dysentery, the corpses were as a general rule emaciated. I visited two thousand sick within the stockade, lying under some long sheds which had been built at the northern portion for themselves. At this time only one medical oflScer was in attendance, whereas at least 20 medical officers should have been employed. I found no record of the sick in the stockade previous to September 14, 1864. It appears that previous to this date no record was preserved of the diseases treated within the stockade; and the following includes all the medical statistics which I was able to collect within the prison walls proper: Morning reports of Acting Assistant Surgeon F. J. Wells, in charge of Federal sick and wounded in stockade. Date. In O Oh m .s "3 (33 a 03 .a 05 • ft P 'S* CO o a

n3 _fl to .9 '3 o3 .s > t-l . cS s m O « np o; peujn^^ajj CO CO to tH ira to t- iH CO -rfH^cg^co^ r4~td~io" •a^BSaiSSy 3,061 9,605 10,590 •q^uora Suunp 5(018 U9J[BJ, O kO CO 05 CO e.1 00 to lO^ '^^ "^ o^, i-Tcg^oo't-" o 03 CO .2 '3 "3 S 05 ■moj. 636 1,022 2,621 •^a90S9[BAU0Q • to -* — 1 • CO lO t- • r-l lO ^_^ ; I-T ■^3IS • O 00 o • o to lO • lO -* 1— 1 1 r-T 00 March . April. . May. . . June.. p . o^ P o P Cl, 05 05 ^ c3 o ■5 "I^^ox T— 1 CO_^ 00 to 00^ lo" •8i3;iBnb uj tH eo t- CO •l'B;id8oq nj CO CO l-Tr-T -a "So p 05 f-, a a 05 1^ •IB^Oi O 05 CO Oi O 00^ oi'ecT eg CO •nara pa;si[na O 05 CO Ol O^00_^ oTeq" t- to CD in to cq CO tc X, cf ■^ C-" 0" iH cq' cq' cq' 1-1 c^f CJ DEATHS AT ANDERSONVILLE PRISON, 13,171. Surgeon Isaiah White, when on duty there, in an official report to the end of July, reported 4,585 deaths. Captain Wirz reported the deaths for August at 2,993, and Dr. Jones reported the deaths for August as 2,992, less than either Stevenson or Bryant, making to the end of August 7,577, as against 7,494 compiled by Superintendent 376 THE TRAGEDY OF ANDEESONVILLE. Bryant. In his book, Dr. Stevenson states the deaths for September at 2,794 (Mr. Bryant's figures give 2,677), making the total, as shown by official reports and Dr. Stevenson's table, to October 1st, 10,371. Dr. Stevenson made an official report to General Winder for October in which the dead are given for that month as 1,595, the same as by Mr. Bryant. This brings the total to the end of October to 11,966. For the remaining six months Dr. Stevenson in his book states the dead at 1.205, and Mr. Bryant at 1,144. Taking Mr. Bryant's figures for these last months, we have a total of 13,110. Using Dr. Stevenson's figures, we have 13,171. There cannot be any doubt that the dead exceeded thirteen thou- sand. Both Dr. Stevenson and Mr. Bryant have failed to get the cor- rect figiTres for the period to the end of August as to which we have the official reports. In his table Dr. Stevenson gives the total to August 31st at 7,156, whereas the official reports show the correct figures to be 7,577, a difference of 421. Mr. Bryant's table shows 83 less than the official figures. There are but 12,912 graves identified or marked, including 443 marked as "unknown." The actual deaths, as I have shown, were 13,171. The question arises, Where are those 259 nameless bodies to be found? The evidence was that men died and were buried who re- ceived no medical treatment and whose identity was lost. The reports show 443 of these unidentified dead whose graves are known. But as to names marked "unknown" ! Where are the bodies of these addi- tional 259? They lie scattered somewhere among the bodies of their comrades, and are not even designated as "unknown." We are told, by Dr. Jones and other witnesses, that numerous post-mortem exam- inations were made "in the interest of science." Can it be that the dissection of the dead so dismembered the bodies as to leave them unrecognizable? Who shall answer for this desecration, this mutila- tion of the dead, thus leaving in painful uncertainty the fate of men supposed to have been tenants of that wretched prison pen ? Four hundred and forty-three bodies of Union soldiers lie in Ander- sonville Cemetery whose identity has been lost, but their graves are marked. Two hundred and fifty-nine others died there, and not even the place of burial is known or their remains marked in any way! There is no angle, no perspective by which to view Andersonville that does not present the same criminal mismanagement; the same revolting, condemnatory picture of suffering and death which no C o 5q M tj O ° " M 3 2 « o o^ m O.T3 S « « ^ en ho M ra-" ^; S u n 3 ■ao°(i7 ^|i 378 THE TEAGEDY OF ANDERSONVILLE. consideration now put forward can for one moment offer excuse or palliation. The monument to Wirz may stand with its misleading and false inscriptions. The children in the schools of the South may be taught, as the young lady informed General Ketcham they were being taught, "how atrocious was the conduct of the Union officials and how humane and just was the conduct of the Confederate officials," but the truth of history can never be effaced. The cruelty, the sufferings needlessly and wickedly inflicted upon helpless Union prisoners may be forgiven, — the thirteen thousand victims of that needless suffering at Andersonville may be counted among the hundreds of thousands who willingly gave their lives to save the Union, — but it is not in the nature of man to forget such sacrifices. Mr. Scott Doane, a prominent citizen of Red Bluff, California, was on duty as guard at Johnson's Island Prison. He has furnished me a photograph of that prison and a photograph of a sketch of the prison drawn by a Confederate soldier who was a prisoner there. Mr. Doane states that the prison grounds contained fourteen acres. There are 43,560 square feet in an acre and in fourteen acres 609,840 square feet. The table I have given at page 372 shows that the average monthly number of prisoners at Johnson's Island was 2,636. The largest number was in January, 1865, there then being 3,256. The prisoners thus had 187.3 square feet to the man. Taking the average number, each man had 231.4 square feet. But the barracks were two stories, which added to the available space. Compare this with An- dersonville, where each man had but 27 square feet — a space 3 by 9 feet. Now look at the well-appointed barracks as shown in the picture of Johnson's Island and turn back to page 245 and look upon the picture sketched by O'Dea. Imagine that mass of crowded human beings without shelter of any kind and given but 3 feet by 9 feet in which to live and surrounded by a moving throng equally restricted in their movements. Compare this scene with the ample quarters given the rebel prisoners at Johnson's Island. Is it not amazing that at this late day the school children of the South are being taught, as Miss Baster says is being done, "telling how atrocious was the conduct of the Union officials and how humane and just was the con- duct of the Confederate officials." Mr. Doane's letter follows : RESUME AND COMMENTS. 379 Eed Bluff, Calif., Sept. 28, 1911. Gen. N. p. Chipman, Sacramento, CaL Bear Sir and Comrade: Yours of the 24th ult. came duly to hand. About John- son's Island Military Prison: The sketch was made by a Confederate prisoner in the summer of 1864 and was photographed soon after. I got one of the photos at that time and carried it in my pocket for many years. It is very correct as to the inside of the prison, so much so that many of us who had been familiar with the post for years throught it a photograph taken in the usual way and not from a sketch. You will notice that there are six buildings in each of the two rows and one in the center between the rows. Each of these thirteen buildings was about 30 X 120 feet, two stories of about ten feet each in height. They were ceiled up with matched lumber all through the same as the barracks for the garrison. The two long, low buildings to the left of the barracks were for bathing and washing clothing. I have a photograph of the upper left-hand corner of the prison as shown in sketch, which gives a good view of one of the prison barracks and some of the garrison buildings, also the prison wall, etc. The size of this photo is about 6x8 inches, and will just fill one full page of your book. It is an unquestionable evi- dence of the comfortable way in which the prisoners were housed. I will lend it to you if you think you can make use of it. About the size of the prison inclosure: It was always called 14 acres, and my estimate would be that it was about 60 rods the way the rows of buildings run and about 35 to 40 rods the other way. From the time I was first stationed at this prison in September, 1862, to the time of my discharge from the army in June, 1865, there was only one prisoner killed by the guards. That was during an attempted wholesale scaling of the walls at night in the winter of 1864-5, in which about two hundred prisoners took part. Not one succeeded in making good his escape. I was at various times employed at headquarters, examining the correspondence to and from the prisoners ; in the commissary department, dealing out rations to both prisoners and garrison, and know that all were served alike, except that pris- oners had a little less in quantity than our men, who were constantly engaged in active duty. I also for a time had charge of the examining and delivery in prison of goods sent by flag of truce and from friends in the north, amounting to about a two-horse wagon-load per day. This latter duty took me into the prison every day, so that I had a chance to know fully what their condition was, and can truly say that they were treated with humanity and justice, and that they had everything provided for their health and comfort, the same as Federal soldiers. In case of death a squad of Confederates went out under guard and buried their comrade with such services and ceremony as they saw fit. If there is any further information on this subject that will be of service to you that I can give, will be pleased to serve you. If you wish to have a cut made for your book of the prison sketch, I can send you the original photograph, which is much better than the copy I sent you. Very sincerely yours in F. C. & L., Scott Doane. I have no hesitation in placing before the reader another letter bearing upon the treatment of rebel prisoners of war while in Federal prisons. Mr. A. D. Cutler, treasurer of the Cutting Packing Com- 380 THE TRAGEDY OF ANDERSONVILLE. pany, San Francisco, has written me his observations at Fort Dela- ware. He was in a position to know whereof he speaks and his repu- tation as a man of honor and integrity is so well established that his statements may be received as importing verity. He writes: San Francisco, August 25, 1911. Gen. N. p. Chipman. Dear Sir: I notice in your recent publication of the trial of Wirz comparison and conclusions between Northern prisons for Confederates and Andersonville. My regiment (Sixth Massachusetts Infantry) was on duty at Fort Delaware, one of the largest of the Northern prisons, during September and October, 1864. There were about 9,000 Confederates confined there, the greater part of them from the battlefields of the Richmond campaign. They were fed, clothed, sheltered and treated every way with the utmost kindness when well, and when sick there was no perceptible difference between their clothing, fare, accommodations and treatment and that of our own men. They usually arrived from recent battles, often wounded and sick and generally dirty and ragged. When destitute they were supplied from new but condemned clothing of which a quantity was supplied by our Quarter- master's Department for that purpose, while blankets and quarters were practically the same as furnished our men. A considerable knowledge of the facts qualifies me to say that their treatment at this post was above that of our men in the average Federal hospitals from Washington to Florida. There was but little illness and their wounded recovered rapidly. Had it not been for an influx of smallpox, the percentage of mortality among them would not have exceeded that of the garrison. The pleasantest relations existed between the garrison and prisoners, and so far as regulations allowed, there was satisfactory and in some cases agreeable inter- course. Of course there were infractions of prison rules and regulations and extreme cases were punished with the necessary severity, even to the shooting of prisoners who attempted to escape. In such cases there was always, however, a prompt and rigid investigation of all the circumstances by a court as to the necessity for so extreme a penalty and our oflBcers and men were always held to a strict accounta- bility for such doings. The usual punishment for minor offences was by enforced labor in improving the post with new buildings, renovating old buildings, cleaning old quarters and hauling military stores around the post. There was a large, commodious chapel at the post to which prisoners were wel- come with our men and at which there were services twice each Sunday. Its admin- istration was non-sectarian and non-partisan, as may be believed when I recall that Stonewall Jackson's father-in-law. Rev. Dr. Jenkins, preached there on one occasion and labored zealously among the prisoners. My experience from I'ebruary to June, 1865, at Hilton Head, S. C, so far as the condition and treatment of Confederate prisoners is concerned, was practically the same as at Fort Delaware, although the number was inconsiderable, a few hundred at the most, but seldom as many. While the quarters and hospital accommodations were limited compared to Fort Delaware, they were on a par with those of our men, and their rations practically the same, — at least, I recall no difference either of qual- ity or quantity. So far as their health was concerned, I am, at this late date in- clined to believe they had an advantage over our men, in being acclimated and immune as to certain ailments common to our Southern coast. EESUME AND COMMENTS. 381 In May, a large number of Federal prisoners, perhaps several thousand, were brought to Hilton Head by steamers from Confederate prisons in the interior of Georgia, presumably from Andersonville and Macon, en route to the North. They were landed temporarily only until transportation north could be arranged and also to fit them out with clothing and otherwise place them in a fit condition for the voyage. It was also necessary to separate the dead from the living and to retain at Hilton Head those unable to travel. The condition of these men as a whole is difficult to describe and our people to-day, the two generations since the war especially, would not, in fact could not, understand how or why such conditions should have existed, or, if known, allowed to continue. Nothing of the kind would be tolerated in these days among civilized nations. I have read carefully the testimony of the witnesses at the Wirz trial as to the condition of our men while prisoners at Andersonville, and none of them exag- gerate or exceed that of hundreds of the men I saw landed at Hilton Head in May, 1865. In fact, although 46 years have passed, the picture was so startling that my recollection of it is complete and vivid and will never be effaced. I have in mind one among them from my native town, who returned there and lived a quarter century after, but never recovered mentally, although physically com- petent, after a year or more of home nursing. I am positive that in all my varied experiences in such matters there has been no parallel to what I saw there and that the appearance and actual condition of the men — dead and living alike — confirms and substantiates the testimony of witnesses for the prosecution at the Wirz trial. The picture is still vivid in my memory — the river boat tied up at the long wharf, the men landing and being brought to land in ambulances, the groups standing and others (both the dying and the dead) lying beside them on the sandy beach — all as though it occurred yesterday and no language is adequate to describe their con- dition. Yours truly, A. D. Cutler. Believing that every fact that can throw light upon the question relating to the accuracy of the number of Union dead at Andersonville Cemetery, and also thinking that it would be of interest to know what States contributed to this melancholy record, I am able in this second edition to give the following statement, furnished by Superintendent Bryant : Number by States of Union Soldiers Beported as Buried at Andersonville National Cemetery. Maine 252 Kansas 4 Vermont 248 Wisconsin 260 Connecticut 306 Alabama 16 New York 2,529 Territorial Infantry 2 New Jersey 189 U. S. Army 368 Delaware 42 U. S. Colored 28 North Carolina 19 New Hampshire 153 Kentucky 444 Massachusetts 800 Indiana 652 Rhode Island 74 Missouri 105 Pennsylvania 1,863 382 THE TRAGEDY OF ANDERSONVILLE. Maryland 189 Minnesota 86 Virginia and West Virginia .... 285 Michigan 662 Tennessee 730 Mississippi 8 Ohio 1,072 District of Columbia 7 Illinois 924 U. S. Navy 121 Iowa 209 Undesignated 180 A recapitulation by Superintendent Bryant is as follows: — Total number, supposed to be correct 12,806 Total unverified by State Adjutants-General 1,010 Total who survived the war 56 Total duplicates found to date 6 Total 13,878 This makes an apparent excess of fourteen over number carried as buried at Andersonville. There have been a few disinterments since the cemetery was established, and in making up the figures it was not thought necessary to separate these from the total; it would have required considerable labor and the error is too small to warrant it. The following explanatory letter will be read with interest : Andersonville, Ga., National Cemetery, October 7, 1911. Honorable N. P. Chipman, Presiding Justice District Court of Appeals, Sacramento, Cal. (Through depot quartermaster, U. S. Army, Jeffersonville, Indiana.) Sir: Referring to your letter of August 30, 1911, requesting authority to have a photograph made of the Illinois Monument, and to be furnished with a list of the dead in this cemetery from each state, you are respectfully informed that the photograph was mailed to your address some days ago and letter of ad- vice mailed same day. I enclose a list of the dead here, as near correct as it is practicable to make it at this time. You will notice that a large number appear as "not verified," "sur- vived the war," "died elsewhere" and "duplicates.'-" It must not be understood, however, that the 1010 appearing as "unverified" are not buried here. It means that the soldier's name cannot be found in the records of the state to which credited. Probably the wrong state appears on our records and that he belonged to another state. In fact, we have found several such errors, and in the course of time we hope to eliminate the greater portion of them. At the beginning of the work of verifying our records we prepared lists of each state and submitted them to the various state adjutants-general, who com- pared them with the muster rolls and made notations opposite each name of any correction required. In this manner we found that several supposed to be buried here are yet alive or have died in recent years. Some were found to have died elsewhere. Two men from the Sixteenth Connecticut Infantry, killed at the battle of Antietam, September 17, 1862, appear on our list and their graves are marked with the regulation headstone. In several cases we have got into communication with men reported as having died at Andersonville, but who are yet alive, and have learned how some of the errors occurred. I EESUME AND COMMENTS. 383 Mr. Silas D. Burdick, formerly of Company C, Eighty-fifth New York In- fantry, appears as being buried in grave No. 10,924. His name is recorded and a headstone marks his grave, yet he is still living at Cuba, N. Y., and is one of the commissioners for the erection of the New York monument in this cemetery. Thinking it would interest you, I enclose a letter from this gentleman. Be sure and return it promptly. Quite a number of .similar letters are on file, and when [ we get through with the work of gathering material for corrections and the job I is finished, there will not be many errors left. I There are a number of errors that can never be corrected; so many men gave ! the Confederate authorities fictitious names when captured and placed in prison, in addition to which there were quite a large number in Sixteenth Connecticut j and Eighty-fifth New York, captured at Plymouth, N. C, who were deserters from i the Confederate army, and for their protection in case of recapture were given j the names of former members of those regiments who had been lost in battle, discharged for disability or for other causes. These men when captured gave the names by which they were known in the Union army. When they died they were buried under those names. Consequently, when the list is compared with the muster rolls, it is learned that the soldier was mustered out at the end of the ; war, or was killed in battle elsewhere, or died and was buried at another point. By taking these cases up with the commissioner of pensions we have, in many cases, got a history of the matter, and if the soldier supposed to be dead yet lives, his postoflSce address. The nature of this letter and the fact that absolute correct information can- ; not be supplied at this time renders it desirable, if not necessary, to forward through the quartermasters department. Very respectfully, Y''our obedient servant, J. W. Bryant, Superintendent Mr. Burdick's letter here follows : Cuba, N. Y., E. 2., Aug. 26, 1909. J. W, Bryant, Andersonville, Georgia. My Dear Sir and Comrade: In answer to your letter of August 23, 1909, in reference to error in records, I will explain how my name is on tombstone 10,924. It happened thus, I think: On leaving Andersonville prison-pen, September 9, 1864, I gave my blanket to Addison A. Burdick of my company (C, 85th). In the corner of the blanket was my name on a sampler, which my mother had made in 1862 and sent me so that I could identify my blanket if lost or stolen, or that others might recognize my body if I should be killed or should die away from my company. I sewed the sampler onto the blanket. When we were to leave Andersonville the rebels told us we were to be taken to Savannah for ex- change and as Addison was not able to walk to the station and, further, had no blanket, I gave him mine. I think he was alone so far as any of the Eighty-fifth boys were concerned at the time of his death, and no doubt was carried out in 384 THE TRAGEDY OF ANDERSONVILLE. his blanket and the person who made the record, seeing the name on the corner of the blanket, supposed that was his name. On May 30, 1890, a party of ten, five men and their wives, members of the Eighty-fifth New York, visited Andersonville. The men had all been prisoners at Andersonville and were much interested in revisiting the place. I found my name on the grave of Addison A. and after studying the subject for some time I came to the conclusion I have given you. You may recall our party, as my wife read the poem on that day, which she had written for that occasion. With this I send you a roll of the Eighty-fifth dead who died in rebel prisons. No other regiment in the service lost as many men in prison as ours. A few errors crept in in this way. At the time of our surrender there were two companies of loyal North Caro- linas, many of whom had been conscripted into the rebel ranks, but having a chance had deserted and then joined the Union forces. After our capture, as many of these men as possible took the names of men of the Eighty-fifth who were away from the regiment or had been killed during the battle. Eugene Shippy of Company D was on detached duty, but he is recorded as having died at Andersonville. I have made a pretty careful study of our regiment and still have never been able to get a complete record of the losses of the regiment while prisoners of war. I and my wife remember you with pleasure, on account of the courtesies you showed us at the time of our visit in 1890. Yours in F. C. & L., S. G. BuRDiCK, Co. C, 85th N. Y. RULES IN TIME OF WAR. Let us stop for a moment and consider some of the principles upon which civilized nations long ago agreed should govern belligerents when engaged in war. The War Department promulgated a code of rules for the govern- ment of the army which was prepared by Francis Lieber, LL. D., an eminent authority on international law. These rules or instructions were embodied in General Orders No. 100, Washington, April 24. 1863. They are but codified from the best writers on the customs and usages of civilized people to be observed in time of war. I quote certain paragraphs found in section 2 of the Orders : 56. A prisoner of war is subject to no punishment for being a public enemy, nor is any revenge to be wreaked upon him by the intentional infliction of any suffering, or disgrace, by cruel imprisonment, want of food, by mutilation, death, or any other barbarity. 57. So soon as a man is armed by a sovereign government, and takes the soldier's oath of fidelity, he is a belligerent; his killing, wounding, or other warlike acts are not individual crimes or offenses. No belligerent has a right to declare that enemies of a certain class, color or condition, when properly organized as soldiers, will not be treated by him as public enemies. RESUME AND COMMENTS. 385 58. The law of nations knows no distinction of "color, and if an enemy of the United States should enslave and sell captured persons of their army, it would be a case of the severest retaliation, if not redressed upon complaint. The United States cannot retaliate by enslavement; therefore, death must be the retaliation for this crime against the law of nations. 71. Whoever intentionally inflicts additional wounds on an enemy already wholly disabled, or kills such an enemy, or who orders or encourages soldiers to do so, shall suffer death, if duly convicted, whether he belongs to the army of the United States, or is an enemy captured after having committed his misdeed. Turn back and read rule 56 and reflect how flagrantly and merci- lessly it was violated. Witness our brave men in the stocks and chain-gang with heavy balls of iron riveted to their feet, sufl^ering the disgrace and ignominy accorded common felons ; see them blister- ing in the sun in cruel imprisonment, without semblance of shelter, or brought back torn by dogs when making a justifiable attempt to escape; consider their physical suffering for want of food and water; think of all the barbarities to which they were subjected in the face of the rule of conduct laid down for belligerents. Read again rules 57 and 58. The law of nations knows no distinction of color and to have enslaved captured persons who had taken the oath of fidelity to the United States and had been armed by its sovereign authority as soldiers, was a crime against the law of nations and punishable by death. We have seen how captured negro soldiers were driven with the last to perform menial services. In a subsequent chapter we shall see how serious a matter it became to refuse them the right of exchange and to claim the right to return them to slavery when captured. Now read rule 71 and ask yourself if a case was not made out against Wirz and all equally guilty with him, bringing him and them within the purview of the principle there laid down ? These rules were made for the government of the Federal army and are cited to show the re- straints which all civilized nations seek to place upon their soldiers in the field and to hold them to the observance of conduct in some sort of keeping with the demands of a Christian civilization. The subject will be further called to the reader's attention in the chapter on Exchange of Prisoners, as well as elsewhere in the course of these pages. CHAPTER XIV. Some Inteeesting Facts as to the Preparation of the Case for Trial — Per- sonnel OF the Court — Proceedings at Close of the Trial — Jurisdiction op the Court Discussed — The Law and Pacts as to Conspiracy Stated — Keview of the Record by the Judge Advocate-General — Approval of the Sentence by the President . — Execution of the Sentence — Law of Nations Systematically Violated — Conditions Surrounding Prisoners Who Were Witnesses — Burial of Wirz's Body. THE rule of procedure in military courts requires the address of the accused and of the judge advocate to be submitted in writing, the accused to first address the court, and the judge advocate to close. When the court called upon counsel for the prisoner to state at what time they would be ready, they asked for an adjournment of two weeks. The judge advocate stated that he would be ready in two days after the address of the prisoner was in his hands. In criminal courts counsel are always supposed to be ready to go to the jury upon the close of the evidence. An adjournment such as was asked would have been without a parallel. The court was of the opinion that the time i asked by counsel was unreasonable, and, after some parleying, offered to give the prisoner's counsel twelve days ; but they declined to accept the offer, and left him without the benefit of their argument. Accord- ing to military usage, the duty was cast upon the judge advocate to ; sum up for both the government and the prisoner — a most embarrass- • ing task, which, in view of the circumstances, was practically impos- ' sible for the judge advocate to do, in fairness to the prisoner. There ' were three stenographic reporters of the court, who were regularly employed in the House of Representatives when in session — Mr. Henry i G. Hayes, Mr. D. Wolfe Brown, and Mr. Nelson Hinks. They were among the most accomplished reporters of that day. The judge advocate appointed Mr. Hayes to assist the prisoner in the prepara- ■ tion of his address to the court, which was accomplished to the satis- faction of Wirz. THE PERSONNEL OF THE COURT. ! General John H. Stibbs, the only surviving member of the court except myself, has recently published an interesting lecture which he gave on Andersonville Prison. In it he makes reference to the per- THE COUET AND THE TEIAL. 387 sonnel of the court, which may interest the reader. I will be pardoned for retaining what he was pleased to say about me : The military commission that met and tried Wirz held their sessions in the Court of Claims rooms in the capitol building, Washington, D. C, and was made up as follows: At the head of the table sat Major-General Lew Wallace, the presi- dent of the court. Any of you who did not know hipi must have known of him. He was at that time a man of mature years, a lawyer by profession, and of recog- nized ability. On his right at the table sat Major-General G. Mott, who subse- quently became governor of New Jersey. He was a man then of forty-five or fifty, a lawyer, and a man of excellent judgment and discretion. Opposite him sat Major-General Lorenzo Thomas, the adjutant-general of the United States army. He was then fully sixty-five years of age, had been for many years connected with the regular service, and was an acknowledged authority on military law and the rules and usages of war. On General Mott's right sat Major-General John W. Geary, who, after his discharge from the military service, was made governor of the great state of Pennsylvania, a man aged fifty or more, and possessed of more than ordinary ability. Opposite him sat Brigadier-General Francis Fessenden, of Maine, son of old Senator Fessenden, a man aged about thirty-five, a lawyer, and one who in every sense might have been called an educated gentleman. On General Geary's right sat Brevet-Brigadier-General John F. Ballier, of Philadelphia, Pa., an educated German, aged fifty or more, and who had commanded the 98th Penn- sylvania Infantry. On his right sat Brevet-Colonel T. Allcock, of New York, a man of forty or more, and a distinguished artillery ofScer; and finally, on the opposite side of the table, was placed the boy member, your humble servant. Possibly it might have been truthfully said of me that I was too young and inex- perienced to fill so important a position, I being then only in my twenty-sixth year; but I had seen four years of actual warfare, had successfully commanded a regi- ment of Iowa men, and I thought then, as I think now, that I was a competent juror. The judge advocate of the commission was Colonel N. P. Chipman, who early in the war served as major of the 2d Iowa Infantry. He was severely wounded at Fort Donnelson in February, 1862. When sufiiciently recovered to return to duty he was promoted and became chief of staff for General S. R. Curtis, and later on was placed on duty in Washington. He was a lawyer by profession, a man of superior education and refinement, and withal one of the most genial, kind- hearted, companionable men I have ever had the good fortune to meet. The average, good, level-headed citizen, while considering the verdicts rendered in an ordinary criminal case, is generally ready to say, "The jury are the best judges of the evidence; they heard it all as it was given, had an opportunity to judge of its value and estimate the credibility of the witnesses, and their judg- ment should be accepted as correct and final." It seems to me the American people, and especially the future historian, should be equally fair in dealing with, the Wirz commission, and I believe they will, as I do not see how it would be pos- sible for an intelligent, unprejudiced, fair-minded reviewer to conclude that sucb a court could or would have rendered a verdict that was not in full accord with the evidence presented. I assure you no attempt was made to dictate or influence our verdict, and, furthermore, there was no power on earth that could have 388 THE TEAGEDY OF ANDEESONVILLE. swerved us from the discharge of our sworn duty as we saw it. Our verdict was unanimous; there were no dissenting opinions, and for myself I can say that there has been no time during the forty-five years that have intervened since this trial was held when I have felt that I owed an apology to any one, not even to the Almighty, for having voted to hang. Henry Wirz by the neck until he was dead. The trial was a long one and taxed the physical and nervous forces of all who took active part in it to the verge of exhaustion. The preparation of the case for trial was itself a great labor. An extensive correspondence in all parts of the Union became necessary, and it was largely through this means that much important evidence was obtained. It may be of interest to the reader to relate two or three instances. The report of Dr. Jones came to my knowledge by the merest accident. I learned that he had visited Andersonville and had a report ready for delivery. I sent an officer to his home in Georgia with instructions to subpoena him and to make sure to get possession of the report. In both he was successful, Dr. Jones making no attempt to conceal or destroy the document so anxiously desired. The report of Colonel Chandler, another most important document, was picked up in the streets of Richmond and carried home by a Union soldier as a souvenir of the war. This I traced with some diffi- culty, and it was fully identified, and its use by the rebel government clearly shown. The letter of Robert Ould, in which, speaking of the effect of his policy as commissioner of exchange, he said they were getting rid of a lot of miserable wretches (victims of Libby and Belle Isle) and receiv- ing in exchange some of the best material he ever saw, was first brought to my attention by General Benj. F. Butler, who had had much to do with Colonel Ould in matters of exchange. After considerable corre- spondence, I traced the letter to the hands of Samuel F. Hunt, at that time living I think in Cincinnati, Ohio, and through him it was brought to the light. It is due the prosecution to explain somewhat further the course pursued in subpoenaing witnesses for the government. When it be- came generally kno\\Ti that Wirz was under arrest at Washington, to be tried for his complicity in the sufferings at Andersonville, and that I was to have charge of the ease, hundreds of letters came pouring in from all parts of the North filled with accounts of personal experi- ences and personal observations. It was known at Washington that there had been great suffering at Andersonville, but the full extent of it was not known, as the suffer- II THE COUET AND THE TEIAL. 389 ings at Libby and Belle Isle were known, until the close of hostilities and the prisoners began to return in large numbers. Their condition was such as to challenge inquiry, and this inquiry led to the arrest of Wirz, and, through correspondence with the prisoners, I learned not only of the general facts but of the personal acts of cruelty and the personal responsibility of Wirz. Before subpoenaing w^itnesses of this class I required of them a statement verified by their affidavit of the facts they could testify to. From these statements I selected and subpoenaed the persons who seemed to relate the facts with least apparent bias. Upon the principal facts, aside from the charge of murder, the evidence was cumulative and might well have been greatly shortened. But the facts were so startling, and in some respects so apparently unbelievable, exhibiting treatment of our soldiers in a manner so atrocious, that I was unwilling to rest the case short of proofs irrefrag- ible and impossible of refutation in the future. The wisdom of thus fortifying the record, if at the time thought unnecessary, is now mani- fest, in view of the fact that a respectable body of citizens has recently in the most public manner denied that the verdict spread upon the record in the Wirz trial has any basis of truth. THE JURISDICTION OF THE MILITARY COMMISSION — SOME PRINCIPLES OF LAW^ GO\^RNING TRIALS FOR CONSPIRACY TO COMMIT CRIME — THE EVIDENCE OF CONSPIRACY AS REVIEWED BY JUDGE ADVOCATE. Before reaching the concluding pages of this remarkable and im- portant trial, the reader should be given some answer to the inscription placed upon the Wirz monument — that he was tried by an illegal court. In the proceedings of the Daughters of the Confederacy, as shown on preceding pages, it was declared that Wirz "was judicially murdered." This very grave charge rests alone on the claim that the court was without authority to try the prisoner. In the earlier pages of this volume the circumstances attending the arrest of Wirz were fully given, showing that there was no violation of any parole or promise by the government. The point now to be considered is. Had the court any authority to try Wirz for the alleged crimes ? I will content myself with some extracts from the argument of the judge advocate made to the court,i to show that the power is the same as that exercised, about the same time, by the military commission which tried the assassins of President Lincoln : ^ Record, p. 723 et seq. 390 THE TEAGEDY OF ANDERSONVILLE. JURISDICTION OF THE COURT. Among the numerous special pleas filed by the counsel, denying the right of the court to try the prisoner, there is but one, I believe, which has not been abandoned. This is the plea to the jurisdiction. I can hardly suppose that any member of this commission entertains a doubt on this point ; yet I do not feel at liberty to pass unnoticed a question so seriously made, and about which honest and loyal men differ. If there be neither law, safe precedent, nor right, upon which to base this proceeding, then it is a serious as- sumption of power, and alike dangerous to yourselves and the prisoner, and one in the exercise of which the order of his excellency the president will not protect you. While I have yet to read the adverse opinion of a single lawyer given outside the court-room, who speaks from the standpoint of one who knows from the teach- ings of experience how strong has been, and is still, the necessity of cheeking and punishing crimes against the laws of war, committed in rebellious districts, during and in aid of rebellion against the government, yet it must be conceded that there is a color of reason in the argument, and it is because with great persistency your right to proceed is denied that I shall presume to address myself to this question. As we recede from a state of actual war and approach a condition of profound peace, we doubtless travel away from the corner-stone upon which the military commission as a judicial tribunal rests; but that your right to try the case before you is disturbed by a mere suspension of hostilities on the part of rebels in the field, while the spirit of rebellion is still rampant, I do not for a moment suppose, and in a very brief resume of the argument on the subject I hope to make it so appear. As I view this question of jurisdiction, it is one of both law and fact, to determine which each case must rest upon its own merits. It involves a question of law in determining whether a court of this kind can be legally constituted, and a question of fact as to whether the present case can be thus tried; for a military court may be properly constituted, yet the case brought before it not properly triable by it. If this be true, the subject may be disposed of in the examination of the follow- ing questions : 1st. lias the president of the United States the constitutional power to convene a military commission for the trial of military offenses committed in time of war? 2d. Is this case triable by military commission? First. I believe it is not claimed by any that the power assumed by the president in convening this commission for the purpose named in the order dwells in him, ex- cept in time of war and great public danger, or during insurrection or rebellion. Your jurisdiction is a special one, resting upon no written law, but derived wholly from the war powers of the president and Congress, which are themselves of course derivable from the constitution. If it can be shown to safely rest upon these, you become invested not only with a right but with a high duty to sustain it in obedience to the proper order of your commander-in-chief. On an examination of the opinions expressed against the right claimed, you will discover the whole argument to rest upon the negative declarations or prohibitory clauses of our fundamental law, denying to Congress the exercise of certain powers, as for example: "No person shall be held to answer for a capital or otherwise infamous crime unless on presentment or indictment of a grand jury," &c. ; "in all criminal prosecutions the accused shall enjoy the right of a speedy and public . THE COURT AND THE TEIAL. 391 trial by an impartial jury," &c. (Amend. Const., arts. V, VI.) "The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeachment, shall be by jury." (Const., art. IT, sec. 2.) Whatever else may be brought into the argument, these and kindred clauses are the real source of complaint whence a misguided loyalty, a super-technical judgment, have found reason for vrithholding their approval of the measures adopted by the government through the military commission, to aid in suppressing a rebellion for its overthrow. And hence you are told gravely the act of the president is a usur- pation of power, this court without a legal existence, your proceedings a nullity. For a moment, let us try and ascertain the purpose of those who framed the constitution, and by fair interpretation arrive at the true meaning of that great chart of liberty. Alexander Hamilton wrote at the time the constitution was being canvassed before the people for final adoption: "The circumstances that endanger the safety of nations are infinite, and for this reason no constitutional shackles can wisely be imposed on the power to which the care of it is committed. . . . This is one of those truths which to a correct and unprejudiced mind carries its own evidence along with it, and may be obscured, but cannot be made plainer by argument or reasoning. The means ought to be proportioned to the end, the persons from whose agency the attainment of any end is expected, ought to possess the means by which it is to be attained." (Federalist, No. 23.) Mr. Madison, in speaking of the impossibility of anticipating the exigencies which might arise, and the futility of legislating for what could not be anticipated, at the same time insisting that the powers as granted to the president and Con- gress are now ample for every emergency, says : "It is vain to impose constitutional barriers to the impulse of self-preservation. It is worse than in vain, because it plants in the constitution itself necessary usurpation of power." (Federalist, No. 41.) Many years later, and after its adoption, with such light flooded upon it as the great minds of those early days could shed, Mr. Adams, in unequivocal phrase, enunciated the same idea. In speaking of the authority of Congress in time of war, he says: "All the powers incident to war are, by necessary implication, con- ferred upon the government of the United States. . . . There are then, in the authority of Congress and of the executive, two classes of powers, altogether dif- ferent in their nature and often incompatible with each other, the war power and the peace power. The peace power is limited by regulations and restricted by provisions prescribed within the constitution itself. The war power is limited only hy the laws and usages of nations. This power is tremendous; it is strictly con- stitutional, but it breaks down every barrier so anxiously erected for the protection of liberty, of property, and of life." These are bold words, uttered when Civil War was not impending, when a power- ful rebellion to overthrow this great nation could hardly have been anticipated; the opinion of a great mind and a pure patriot, with judgment free from the tyranny of partisan clamor, they come to us with all the force of law itself. Do you find diflSculty in reconciling these constitutional incompatibilities? Your statute punishes assault and battery, yet a law underlying the statute, not ex- pressed, says you may resist force with force; and this well-grounded rule will allow you to defend yourself even to the slaying of your antagonist. Necessity 392 THE TEAGEDY OF ANDEESONVILLE. knows no law inadequate to its demands, and self-preservation antedates all law. Who shall say that a government in whose perpetuation rest the hopes of the world, a constitution broad enough and liberal enough to protect the rights of all over whom it reaches — a people whose confidence in the perfection of their form of government four years of internecine war have not shaken — who shall say that these are denied nature's first law? No, these law-givers and wise men of olden and modern times spoke truly when they laid down the doctrine that the principle of self-preservation belongs to nations no less than to individuals, and that it is not in the power of a nation to code away this right. The supreme court of the United States has, in numerous decisions, declared that Congress and the executive possess the right to do whatever the public safety may require to suppress rebellion or repel invasion. (4 Wheaton, 420; 12 Wheaton, 119-128; 8 Cranch, 15.) This opinion was entertained by the fathers of the con- stitution and is found embodied in congressional legislation as early as 1792, reiterated in 1795 and 1807, which seem to have been statutes made to meet just such emergencies as this war brought upon us. (See 1 Stat. L., pp. 264, 424; 2 Stat. L., p. 419.) In 12 Wheaton (Martin vs. Mott) Mr. Justice Story, in an opinion sustaining the constitutionality of these laws, says: "The president is the exclusive judge of the exigency, and his action must be conclusive of the exigency." Thus taking from the supreme court the right to impeach the president's judgment. This same opinion is sustained in Luther vs. Borden, 7 Howard, 42-43. I suppose it will not be denied that war changes the relations of all parties brought into antagonism as belligerents by it. No one can attack me without for- feiting his right for redress if I injure him by proper resistance without resorting to the forms of law to make him keep the peace; and no one can levy war upon our government without placing himself beyond the aegis of the constitution. It must be remembered when objection is made to the exercise of this necessary power of the president that what might be a good plea for a loyal citizen who has committed a civil offense against the criminal statutes of the land is not a good plea for a traitor who is on trial for the commission of a military offense against the laws of war. As we are endeavoring to determine whether the president can by right exercise the power to organize a court for the trial of military offenses committed by those not in the military service, it may not be necessary to pursue this line of argu- ment further. Let me, however, place by antithesis some things expressly pro- hibited in the constitution, but which it is generally conceded may be done in time of war. "The United States shall guarantee to every state a republican form of govern- ment, . . . and shall protect each of them against invasion," (Const., art. IV, sec. 4) ; yet the whole power of the government has been concentrated in one grand invasion of the South for four years. "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, [&c.,] against search, [&c.,] shall not be violated; and no warrant shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath," &c., (Amend. Const., art. IV;) yet, I sus- pect, an action of trespass would not lie against the officer who broke open certain 1 THE COURT AND THE TEIAL. 393 escritoires, bringing to light the proofs of conspiracies entered into by leading rebels South and North to poison, burn, and assassinate. "No soldier in time of war shall be quartered in any house without the consent of the owner, but in a manner to be prescribed by law," (Amend. Const., art. Ill;) yet it was hardly expected that our generals in an enemy's country would consult the statutes "in such case made and provided." "The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed," (Ibid., art. I;) yet the general or executive who would, fearing to violate this right, permit the Knights of the Golden Circle, or any other hostile combination, to organize or menace the government could hardly defend himself before his country. "The freedom of speech shall not be abridged," (Ibid., art. I;) yet who would hesitate to say that the inciter of treason by speech is no less a traitor than he who raises his hand against the government? "Private property shall not be taken without just compensation," (Ibid., art. V;) yet during the Rebellion millions of dollars' worth have been seized and used for military purposes without any process of law whatever, and millions more have been libelled under the confiscation act of Congress and converted to public use without just compensation. Who so bold as to deny the principle upon which this has been done? Article IV, section 11 of the constitution provides for the recapture of slaves escaping to free states, and, the supreme court of the United States has said, also pledges the Federal government to protect the rights thus secured to slave-owners: against and in violation of which rises like a pillar of fire the proclamation of freedom, apotheosizing its author — the crowning glory of his administration; the highest proof that our cause is approved in the forum conscientice. How can there be such antagonisms in our magna charta? How are these things defensible? They are the "incompatibilities" of which Mr. Madison speaks. We see here the harmony, at the same time, the conflicts between the war powers and the peace powers of which Mr. Adams speaks, and there is presented in strong light the adaptation of means to ends, which Mr. Hamilton insists upon; and above all, that inherent power which spurns all barriers and grounds itself upon great first principles, dwells always with the source of all power and is inseparable from it — the people — and declares as fearlessly as it battles, that in times of war and great public danger laws and constitutions are silent if they stand in the way of the nation's life. But it is said that Congress may have the power to create military commissions, yet as it has not done so, or conferred that right upon the president, it is, there- fore, an unwarrantable assumption. It seems to me that, as the constitution expressly confers no power of this kind upon Congress, it matters little whether Congress or the president exercise it; and if one can do so, with equal right can the other. The whole question still rests upon necessity, to meet which the neglect of one will not excuse the other. Still, inquiring whether this can be done in any case, let us recur a moment to opinions cotemporaneous with the constitution. We began our struggle for independence under the articles of confederation, and it is well known that the colonies reserved all rights to themselves, not expressly delegated to the Confederacy. Then, as now, there were traitors, whose Monument Erected by ihe Si ate of Ohio. THE COURT AND THE TRIAL. 395 crimes parteking of the nature of military offenses, were made punishable by military courts. If you will examine the legislation of the country, it will be found that from 1775 down to the present time, authority has been conferred upon military courts to try civilians for the commission of certain offenses. (See acts of Congress, 7th November, 1775; 17th June, 1776; 27th February, 1778; 23d April, 1800; 10th April, 1806; 13th February, 1862; 17th July, 1862.) Con- gress conferred this jurisdiction on both courts-martial and military commission, until during this war, however, resorting to the court-martial. Now, it has been frequently decided by the supreme court that a court-martial is a tribunal provided for in the rules and articles of war, but with a jurisdiction limited to military persons, as well as military offenses, so that it is as much a usurpation to try a civilian by court-martial as before a military commission. Admitting this, we find ourselves strongly fortified by those early enactments, especially in the light of the decisions of the supreme court. Stewart vs. Laird (1 Cranch, 299) decides that "a cotemporary exposition or construction of the constitution acquiesced in for a period of years fixes it beyond the reach of doubt," and we are compelled to conclude that the power assumed grows out of a necessity of which Congress or the president must judge at the time. Many things are proper to be done in time of war, which in time of peace be- come high crimes. No criminal code and no civil criminal tribunal can reach these; they are incident to and grow out of a state of war. Every student of history, whether or not he may have studied law, understands this. It is a timid loyalty, a yielding to doubtful and hasty clamor, that, during this war, questioned a practice sanctioned by all nations and which began on this continent contemporary with the constitution. But, again, a declaration of war institutes a code of laws for the government of the belligerents, known as the laws of nations. And this is true of an insur- rection, as well as of a foreign war, so that we are to look more to the custom of nations than to our own constitution for guides. We have enumerated some of our constitutional guarantees intended to protect all persons, but it will hardly be pretended that rebels, traitors, assassins in aid of rebellion, banditti, guerrillas, and spies, could plead them or derive any immunity by them. The true guide and the higher law is the law of war and the customs of civilized nations. From a recent opinion of the present attorney-general, given in support of the commission for the trial of the president's assassins, taking this view, I extract the following: "A military tribunal exists under and according to the constitution in time of war. Congress may prescribe how all such tribunals are to be constituted, what shall be their jurisdiction and mode of procedure. Should Congress fail to create such tribunals, then, under the constitution, they must be constituted according to the laws and usages of civilized warfare, and they may take cognizance of such offenses as the laws of war permit. That the laws of nations constitute a part of the laws of the land is established from the face of the constitution, upon principle and by authority." (See, also, 1 Opinions of Attorneys-General, p. 27 ; 5 Wheaton, 153.) He then proceeds to show that an army has to deal with two classes of enemies, one of which is the open active belligerent or soldier in uniform, who observes the law of war; the other is a violator of the laws of war, and usages of civilized 396 THE TRAGEDY OF ANDERSONVILLE. nations, -vrlio, when caught, may be shot down as an enemy to the human race, or tried by military courts and subjected to such punishment as the laws of war authorize. Here, as before, we see that the only safe rule is to place in the hands of the commander-in-chief of the army, or his subordinates acting under proper orders, full and exclusive discretion as to the means to be used to protect the existence of his army, subject only to be held responsible for the abuse of the discretion so conferred. And whether he resort to military commission, court- martial, drumhead court, summary and instantaneous execution, right, reason, and wise public policy must sustain him so long as he keeps within the code of civilized nations. I do not think it necessary to notice the distinction made between martial law and military law, your guide being, as I conceive it, the law of nations rather than either. I might remark, however, that military law is a part of the law of the land in times of peace and war; but martial law is an incident of war, and may or may not be declared. I do not rest your right, however, to sit as a mili- tary commission, upon the action of the president in this particular. He may not have declared martial law to be in force, still your existence be legal. He may not have suspended the writ of habeas corpus, still your jurisdiction be un- disturbed. To declare martial law is one act of the war power; to suspend the writ of habeas corpus another; to order this court to try the prisoner before it, another. It is an error to suppose there must be an enemy menacing you pendente lite, a declaration of war, a suspension of trial by civil tribunal before you can pro- ceed. The civil courts may be in never so complete operation, the enemy in a remote part of the country, and the place of trial in the midst of a peaceful por- tion of the land; still, if there be a necessity, and the offense be properly punish- able by the laws of war, the duty at once falls upon the proper officer to meet that necessity as the public safety may require. I believe this view to be sus- tained by the best military writers, and a legitimate sequence of the argument in support of military commissions. The practice of European powers confirms this opinion, the right having never been seriously questioned, but its abuse being provided for by bills of indemnity. If further precedent be required it is amply presented in the action of President Washington during the "whiskey insurrection" of 1794 and 179.'3 ; of President Jefferson during the Burr conspiracy of 1806; of General Jackson in 1814, at New Orleans, and afterwards in Florida, in all of which cases, though of infinitely less moment compared with the exigencies growing out of the present war, it was enunciated that whatever the existing necessity demands must be done. (See Halleck's International Law, pp. 371, 380, and cases cited.) Second, Having presented sufficient reasons for concluding that the president has usurped no authority and violated no law in constituting you a military court for the trial of military offenses, it remains to notice whether the present case comes within the scope of your jurisdiction. Here I think we will have less difficulty, as it is more a question of fact than law. This prisoner is charged with the perpetration of offenses many of them un- known to common law or statute law; they were committed by a belligerent, in his own territory, in the exercise of a commission assigned him by the enemy, THE COUET AND THE TRIAL. 397 and in the execution of the orders of his superiors, given in violation of the laws of war. The government he served never did and never can try him; no civil tribunal is possessed of power; the duty then, as I think, devolves upon you. But it is said the war is over, there is no longer any necessity for military tribunals, and however proper in times of war and public danger to assume the functions of civil courts, there is now no reason for doing so. If it were necessary I would traverse the fact. The war is not over. True, the muskets of treason are stacked; the armies of the Rebellion are dissolved, some of the leaders are in exile, others are in prison ; but by far the largest portion, sullen, silent, vengeful, stand ready to seize every opportunity to divide the loyal sentiment of the country and with spirit unbroken and defiant, would this day raise the standard of rebellion if they dared hope for success. This opinion of the war still existing is not mine alone. The attorney-general in his return to Judge Wylie's writ of habeas corpus, issued for the surrender of the body of Mrs. Surratt, spoke of it in that sense. i Congress in many of its enactments provided for a state of war after a cessa- tion of hostilities. The whole policy of the government towards the Southern states sustains this idea. The president, by suspending Judge Wylie's writ in the Burch case on the 16th of September, since this trial began, his adherence to President Lincoln's proclamation of martial law, and his declining to take any action that might be construed into a proclamation of peace, all show beyond doubt that the time of public danger has not passed. But, however this may be, with the fact you have nothing to do. The president, by constituting you a court to try this prisoner, has, by that act alone, declared the presence of a public danger, and that a necessity exists to still cling to military tribunals for the punishment of military offenses; and it is beyond your power to dispute his judgment. You may per- haps pass upon the question as to whether you are a court, but as to the emer- gency requiring you to try and punish this prisoner if guilty, the president is the sole judge. The supreme court has so decided, as we have before seen. 1 hope then, gentlemen, you may find it not against your consciences or judgment to proceed to a final verdict in this case, and that you may illustrate the wisdom expressed in the judicial opinion of one of our most eminent jurists, given in 4 Wheaton, 316: "The government of the Union is a government of the people, it emanates from them, its powers are granted by them, and are to be exercised for their benefit; and the government which has a right to do and act, and has imposed upon it the duty of performing the act, must, according to the dictates of reason, be allowed to select the means. "2 SOME OBJECTIONS BY THE PRISONER NOTICED A FAIR TRIAL WAS GIVEN HIM. Having thus disposed of the question of jurisdiction, I ask indulgence a moment to notice some of the objections which have been made by the counsel for the prisoner in the progress of the trial. • In the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia. 2 Was not Chief Justice Marshall the first person to announce that this is "a government of the people, by the people, for the people?" 398 THE TRAGEDY OF ANDERSONVILLE. 1 am not prepared to believe that this court would stultify itself by declaring that their action, after argument pro and con as to the admissibility of evidence, overruling of motions of pleas or sustaining the same, was wrong, and that they now desire to correct it; however, as the conduct of the case has been somewhat criticized, and as the counsel, who declined to argue the defense, intimated that a large part of the address would have been directed to those objections, and has asked that they be not wholly overlooked; I think it is not entirely out of place to review at this time, very briefly, the points of objection. It has been frequently asserted in court by counsel that the whole power of the government was concentrated upon the prosecution of this prisoner, and that he, single- handed and without the aid of the government, has been conducting the defense. It is well known that witnesses for the defense receive a per diem and their actual expenses in coming to the court and returning to their homes. The records of this court will show that every subpoena asked for has been given, except in the cases of a few rebel functionaries who, for reasons stated at the time, were not sub- poenaed. Of this, however, there should be no complaint, as the facts which those witnesses were expected to establish were shown by other witnesses, and as a proposition was made by the judges advocate to admit that those witnesses thus excluded would testify here as to the same facts, a proposition which was de- clined by the counsel. The records of this court will also show that there have been 106 witnesses subpoenaed for the defense, of whom sixty-eight reported. Of these, thirty-nine, many of them soldiers of our army and sufferers at Andersonville, were discharged without being put upon the stand, the counsel, for reasons known only to himself, declining to call them. Besides this the government has, without a precedent, furnished, at great expense, to the prisoner a copy of the record from day to day during the progress of the trial. The government has also given his counsel the benefit of its clerical force, and, in short, shown the prisoner indulgences which should forever close the mouth of one whose treatment of its soldiers was in such striking contrast, that he must have felt the more deeply his guilt. Again, it has been frequently complained of during the trial, that the court has excluded the declarations of the prisoner, made in his own behalf, and has refused to allow him in other instances to show what he did. I think the court will remember that in every case the whole of any particular transaction has been given for and against the prisoner, and that the res gestce, properly so called, has never been excluded. All the prison records in possession of the government which could throw any light upon this case are in evidence. The prisoner has been allowed to show acts of kindness wherever they could, with any legal propriety, be given, as, for instance, the taking of drummer boys out of the stockade because of their youth, the allowing Miss Eawson to admin- ister to the wants of one soldier, the giving of passes to ministers of the gospel to enter the stockade, his letters and reports with reference to the wants of the prison, his kindness to the prisoners whom he detailed for duty outside the stockade, and many other things, all of which, we shall show hereafter, are not incompatible with the idea of his guilt. But even admitting more than is claimed or proved for the prisoner, in regard to his urging Winder and the rebel authori- THE COURT AND THE TEIAL. 399 ties to do certain things, the law is clear that if a party remain in a conspiracy, though protesting against it and seeking to escape from it, or if he continue in an unlawful enterprise, insisting that he does not mean to do harm, yet if harm results or serious and criminal consequences follow, he is nevertheless responsible. If in the course of one year's pursuit of an illegal business, a stupendous crime indeed, the perpetrator could show less than this prisoner has shown in his favor, he would not be entitled to the human name. It would be strange indeed if this record of five thousand pages, of sixty-three days of weary, laborious trial, presented no wrong rulings, no improper exclusion or admission of evidence in a greater or less degree pertinent to some issue made; but I assert with all confidence and with honest belief, that the interests of this prisoner have not been and cannot be affected injuriously by such action in any instance that can be named. It must not be forgotten, and to do this I call the special attention of the counsel and of the court, that nowhere in this record can there be found the exclusion of a scintilla of evidence bearing on the defense to the charge of mur- der, and to which this prisoner is more especially called to answer. There is another fact to which I would also call the attention of the counsel and the court, and it is this: that if after a careful examination of the evidence there be found sufficient legal proof, legally spread upon the record, you must proceed with your finding without regard to any illegal evidence, and not, as the counsel would insist, declare the whole vitiated. This is sustained by reason and by law, wherever it comes up to the true standard, which after all is but the perfection of human reason. The only instance in which appellate courts remand cases for new trial is where, from the bill of exceptions presented, they cannot determine whether the jury were or were not misled by the evidence improperly admitted; but where they find that the errors complained of were not material, or where the verdict is sustained after disregarding the errors, no courts will subject the parties to a second trial, or interpose to save the complainant. Out of place as this may be in the order of my argument, I have deemed it just to say this much. CHARACTER OF TESTIMONY. It is argued that the evidence presenting the horrors of Andersonville is not of that class which is entirely reliable; that those who were in the Eebellion have been brought here forcibly by the government, and made to testify in anticipa- tion of reward by pardon or through fear of being themselves punished, and that the evidence of soldiers who were sufferers at Andersonville were highly colored, testifying as they did under the sense of the injuries inflicted upon them while prisoners, and warmed to enthusiasm in the enumeration of their wrongs. 1 need say only in reply, that the careful observer of this trial must have discovered how utterly powerless has been the language of witnesses to describe the condition of affairs at Andersonville; that where science has spoken through her devotees, where inspectors have tried to convey a correct idea, where the artist has sought to delineate, or the photographer to call the elements to witness, they have all uniformly declared that with all these appliances, nothing has presented in their true light the horrors of that place. 400 THE TRAGEDY OF ANDEESONVILLE. The evidence before you is of the highest character. It consists of many kinds, from many directions, from persons speaking in the interest and for the good of the rebel government, from persons under a strong sense of the wrongs done those miserable wretches, from disinterested observers neither in the one nor the other army, and from the injured themselves. And yet there is a most striking concurrence in all this testimony all agreeing that history has never presented a scene of such gigantic human suffering. If I can succeed in presenting to your minds a faithful picture of Andersonville as it was, or make such an analysis and grouping of the testimony as to show to the civilized world a tithe of its horrors, the suffering endured, I shall have accomplished all I can hope, and shall have done more than I fear I am able to do. THE CONSPIRACY CHARGE. The record of the trial presents a question far more important than the inquiry whether Wirz was innocent or guilty. It presents a ques- tion of guilt or innocence of many others — some of them high in au- thority — and involving the president of the Confederacy. The evi- dence has been laid before the reader. The charge of conspiracy was a grave one — the gravest and most important involved in the trial. It was due the court that the law and facts should be placed before it in some proper sequence. This w^as done by the judge advocate, and it is due the reader that he should have the opportunity of judging whether the court found support in the evidence for its conclusions. Upon this branch of the case the judge advocate addressed the court citing the evidence which will be recalled by the reader as set forth in preceding pages. I quote r^ We now come to a consideration of the third branch of the subject. Having presented a faithful representation — faithful because the witnesses have given it — of the condition of the stockade and the hospital, we shall proceed to unfold the extent of the conspiracy, the purposes of the conspirators, and the cruel and devilish means resorted to to accomplish their ends. I confess to you, gentlemen, that I enter upon this branch of the argument with regret and reluctance. I confess that, to a greater or less extent, our nation- ality, and the good name we bear, are involved in the issue; but I do not fear to present to the world, on this account, this great conspiracy of treason, this confederation of traitors, though it shock the moral sentiment of the universe; for, however much we may deplore the fact that its head and front were Ameri- cans, once prominent in the councils of the nation, they have forfeited all rights; they have ceased in any way to represent the true spirit of Americanism; they are outlaws and criminals, and cannot by their crimes taint our fair escutcheon. It is the work of treason, the legitimate result of that sum of all villainies, and which, by many, very many, proofs during the past four years, has shown itself capable of this last one developed. When we remember that the men here ' Record, p. 599 et seq. THE COUET AND THE TEIAL. 401 charged, and those inculpated, but not named in the indictment, are some of them men who were at the head of the late rebellion, from its beginning to its close, and as such chiefs, sanctioned the brutal conduct of their soldiers as early as the first battle of Bull Run; who perpetrated unheard-of cruelties at Libby and Belle Isle; who encouraged the most atrocious propositions of retaliation in their Congress; who sanctioned a guerrilla mode of warfare; who instilled a system of steamboat burning and firing of cities; who employed a surgeon in their service to steal into our capital city infected clothing; who approved the criminal treatment of the captured prisoners at Fort Pillow, Fort Washington, and elsewhere; who were guilty of the basest treachery in sending paroled prisoners into the field; who planted torpedoes in the paths of our soldiers; who paid their emissaries for loading shell in the shape of coal, and intermixing them in the fuel of our steamers; who ordered an indiscriminate firing upon our trans- ports and vessels and railroad trains, regardless of whom they contained; who organized and carried to a successful termination a most diabolical conspiracy to assassinate the President of the United States — when we remember these things of these men, may we not without hesitancy bring to light the conspiracy here charged ? Before entering, however, into a discussion of the evidence, let me present the law governing in cases of conspiracy. I quote from the very able argument of John A. Bingham, delivered for the prosecution in the trial of the conspirators for the assassination of President Lincoln, whose law propositions and authorities given cannot be gainsaid: If the conspiracy be established as laid, it results that whatever was said or done by either of the parties thereto, in the furtherance or execution of the com- mon design, is the declaration or act of all the other parties to the conspiracy; and thig, whether the other parties, at the time such words were uttered, or such acts done by their confederates, were present or absent. The declared and accepted rule of law in cases of conspiracy is that — ■ "In prosecutions for conspiracy it is an established rule that where several persons are proved to have combined together for the same illegal purpose, any act done by one of the party, in pursuance of the original concerted plan, and in reference to the common object, is in the contemplation of law, as well as of sound reason, the act of the whole party; and therefore the proof of the act will be evidence against any of the others who were engaged in the same general con- spiracy, without regard to the question whether the prisoner is proved to have been concerned in the particular transaction." (Phillips on Evidence, p. 210.) The same rule obtains in case of treason: "If several persons agree to levy war, some in one place and some in another, and one party do actually appear in arms, this is a levying of war by all, as well those who were not in arms as those who were, if it were done in pursuance of the original concert, for those who made the attempt were emboldened by the confidence inspired by the general con- cert, and therefore these particular acts are in justice imputable to all the rest." (1 East., Pleas of the Crown, p. 97; Roscoe, 84.) In Ex parte Bollman and Swartwout, 4 Cranch, 126, Marshall, Chief .lustice. rules: "If war be actually levied, that is, if a body of men be actually assembled for the purpose of effecting, by force, a treasonable purpose, all those who perform any part, however minute, or however remote from the scene of action, and who are actually leagued in the general conspiracy, are to be considered as traitors." In United States vs. Cole et al., 5 McLean, 601, Mr. Justice McLean says: "A conspiracy is rarely if ever, proved by positive testimony. When a crime of high magnitude is about to be perpetrated by a combination of individuals, they do not act openly, but covertly and secretly. The purpose formed is known 402 THE TRAGEDY OF ANDERSONVILLE. only to those men who enter into it ; unless one of the original conspirators betray his companions, and give evidence against them, their guilt can only be proved by circumstantial evidence." . . . It is said by some writers on evidence that such circumstances are stronger than positive proof. A witness swearing positively, it is said, may misapprehend the facts or swear falsely, but that circumstances cannot lie. The common design is the essence of the charge, and this may be made to appear when the defendants steadily pursue the same object, whether acting separately or together, by common or different means, all leading to the same unlawful result. And where prima facie evidence has been given of a combination, the acts and confessions of one are evidence against all. ... It is reasonable that where a body of men assume the attribute of individuality, whether for commercial business or the commission of a crime, the association should be bound by the acts of one of its members in carrying out the design. It is a rule of the law, not to be overlooked in this connection, that the con- spiracy or agreement of the parties, or some of them, to act in concert to ac- complish the unlawful act charged, may be established either by direct evidence of a meeting or consultation for the illegal purpose charged, or more usually from the very nature of the case, by circumstantial evidence. (2d Starkie, 232.) Lord Mansfield ruled that it was not necessary to prove the actual fact of a conspiracy, but that it might be collected from collateral circumstances. (Par- sons's case, 1; W. Blackstone, 392.) "If," says a great authority on the law of evidence, on a charge of conspiracy, "it appears that two persons by their acts are pursuing the same object, and often by the same means, or one performing part of the act, and the other completing it, for the attainment of the same object, the jury may draw the conclusion there is a conspiracy; if a conspiracy be formed, and a person join in it afterwards, be is equally guilty with the original conspirators." (Roscoe, 415.) The rule of the admissibility of the acts and declarations of any one of the conspirators, said or done in furtherance of the common design, applies in cases as well where only part of the conspirators are indicted and upon trial. Thus upon an indictment of murder, if it appear that others, together with the prisoner, conspired to commit the crime, the act of one, done in pursuance of that intention, will be evidence against the rest. (2d Starkie, 237.) They are alike guilty as principals. (Commonwealth vs. Knapp, 9 Pickering, 496; 10 Pickering, 477; 6 Term Reports, 528; 11 East., 584.) Let us see what the evidences are of a common design to murder by starva- tion these hapless, helpless wretches. First, then, who are oflScers, high and low, civil and military, whom the evidence implicates in this great crime? As I shall show you by the testimony, there are associated in this conspiracy, as directly implicated and as perpetrators, the prisoner at the bar, and others named in the charges. Remote from the scene, but no less responsible than these named, nay, rather with a greater weight of guilt resting upon them, are the leader of the Rebellion, his war minister, his surgeon-general, his commissary and quartermaster-general, his commissioner of exchange, and all others sufficiently high in authority to have prevented these atrocities, and to whom the knowledge of them was brought. Chief among the conspirators and the actual participators in the crime, the immediate tool, first and last, of the rebel government, we shall see was General Winder. It is proper, therefore, that we should know who he was, and the precise rela- tions which he bore to the government which he represented. We learn from many sources that he had for a long time prior to the organization of the Ander- Bonville prison been at the head of the military prisons in and around Richmond, THE COUET AND THE TEIAL. 403 holding also the position of provost marshal of that important center of the Rebellion. "We learn from the witness J. B. Jones (record, p. 2531; manuscript, p. 1219) tnat his rule as provost marshal was almost a reign of terror; that his authority was so great he could arrest men indiscriminately even in distant states, and that he was constantly sustained and supported by Jefferson Davis and his con- fidential adviser and premier, Mr. Benjamin. The witness Cashmeyer (record, p. 2840-41; manuscript, p. 1221), the con- fidential detective and constant companion of General Winder till the close of the Eebellion, says: "Their relations [those of Davis and Winder] were very friendly indeed, and very confidential; I often heard General Winder say so; I often saw him go there and come from there." About the time that General Winder's reign of terror was at its climax, and there was great opposition felt and expressed towards him, both in and out of the rebel congress, a combined effort was made to have him relieved and sent away, Generals Bragg and Eansom being prominent in the movement. At this time Cashmeyer says: "President Davis was his [Winder's] especial friend. When the order relieving General Winder came from the war department, he took it and went up to Mr. Davis; President Davis indorsed on it, as well as I can recol- lect, that it was entirely unnecessary and uncalled for." Some time after this it was thought wise by the rebel authorities to organize the Andersonville prison, and the whole matter was placed in the hands of Gen- eral Winder by the orders issued from the war department for the purpose. General Winder himself did not go to Andersonville till about the first of June, but he sent forward, as we learn from the testimony of Cashmeyer (record, p. 2842; manuscript, p. 1221), of Spencer (record, p. 600; manuscript, p. 1056), of Captain Wright (record, p. 790; manuscript, p. 1177), and others, his son, Captain W. S. Winder of his staff, as his special executive oflBcer, and as we learn from the testimony of Colonel Persons (record, p. 613; manuscript, p. 250), "with absolute discretion in the location of the prison." This was in the latter part of December, 1863. Shortly after, another oflBcer of General Winder, a nephew of his. Captain E. B. Winder, a quartermaster, arrived at Andersonville and assumed the duties of his office. Captain Wright, in speaking of him (record, p. 2447; manuscript, p. 1177), says: "He told me that he had no orders to report to any quartermaster at all; that he reported directly to Eichmond, and received his instructions from Eichmond." Subsequently in the month of March, 1864, General Winder sent still another of his staff officers, the prisoner at the bar, who, as we learn from his report, made May 8th (see exhibit 16; manuscript, p. 658), was assigned to the command of the prison on the 27th of March. Of him, Colonel Persons says (record, p. 602 and following; manuscript, p. 249) : "He came direct from Eichmond, my understanding was, by order of General Winder; I saw an official order to that effect; I received a communication about the time Captain Wirz reached there from General Winder; it stated that Captain Wirz was an old prison officer, a very reliable man and capable of govern- ing prisoners, and wound up by saying that I would give him command of the prison proper." 404 THE TRAGEDY OF ANDERSONVILLE. From the return of staff officers made by General Winder after he had him- self arrived at Andersonville, and who he says were "acting under the orders of Brigadier General John H. Winder, commanding the post at Andersonville, Georgia, commanding the camps and stockade containing Federal prisoners of war and the guard troops for the same, the prison for Federal prisoners of war at Macon, Georgia," &c, we find that Dr. Isaiah II. White, also on his staff, was assigned to duty at Andersonville, by orders of the war department at Rich- mond, as chief surgeon in charge of the prison hospital; he arrived at Anderson- ville about the same time as the two Captains Winder. This comprises the original corps of officers sent from Richmond to carry out the hellish purposes of the rebel government", and which, as we shall see as we advance, was most faithfully done by them. Can there be any doubt as to what the original purpose of the rebel government was? Let us go to the very origin of the prison. Ambrose Spencer testifies (record, pp. 2472-74; manuscript, p. 1056), as follows: "I saw Captain W. S. Winder: at the time he was laying out the prison. ... I asked him if he was going to erect barracks or shelter of any kind; he replied that he was not, that the damned Yankees who would be put in there would have no need of them. I asked him why he was cutting down all the trees, and suggested that they would prove a shelter to the prisoners, from the heat of the sun at least ; he made this reply, or something similar to it : That is just what I am, going to do; I am going to build a pen here that will Jcill more damned YanTcees than can be destroyed in the front. These are very nearly his words, or equivalent to them." How was this plan, thus emphatically avowed, carried out? The stockade was located across a stream which General Wilson of our army says (record, p. 1839 ; manuscript, p. 822) "would not run more water than would supply for the pur- poses of an army a larger command than four or five thousand men," — "a sluggish stream," as Dr. Jones calls it, — which with the springs along its banks, sufficient probably to supply a regiment more, was the only water originally intended for the prisoners. From the inside of the prison everything was taken which could in any way contribute to the comfort, convenience, or health of the prisoners, and was never replaced by shelter, neither during the burning heat of the summer, which Dr. Thornburg tells you was not much short of 150 degrees in the sun, nor the cold which followed in the winter, sufficiently severe, as is shown by several witnesses, to freeze and which did freeze many prisoners to death. It will be remembered, too, that not 400 yards distant, below the site selected for the stockade, was a stream of water which General Wilson says was ample for any number of troops, a stream that could not have been exhausted, and which, after careful examination, as he says, was found to flow a volume of water equal to fifteen feet by five feet, with a velocity of a mile an hour (record, p. 1876; manuscript, p. 822), and which Colonel Persons says (record, p. 610; manu- script, p. 250), it occurred to him would have been a preferable place to the one where the prison was located, adding, "I suggested it to W. S. Winder, I believe; I recollect distinctly it was one of the Winders." THE COUET AND THE TEIAL. 405 The mere location of the prison in the absence of other facts would not per- haps, of itself, convey a criminal intent; but when we remember what followed, and certain other facts which will be presented, it becomes a very important link in the chain of evidence leading to the guilt of the parties alleged. It will be remembered that the immense bake-house, the only accommodation of that kind furnished for the prisoners until late in the year, was located so that all the filth and garbage, and offal of that place, which is described as itself almost as filthy as the stockade, passed directly through the prison. This, it is testified to by, many, could with equal convenience have been located elsewhere, and this was suggested to Captain E. B. Winder, the quartermaster, at the time of its erection, immediately below the stockade, as appears from the evidence of Dr. Jones, Dr. Eoy, and others, trees were felled in the stream and brush thrown into the swamp, so that the filth escaping from the prison, which ought to have been allowed to pass rapidly off, was here caught, spread over the surface and disseminated in the soil, till, as these medical gentlemen say, it became a prolific source of disease, and sent back into the prison a horrible stench. These preparations of death did not cease here, but with incredible malice, or with recklessness equally criminal, the troops arriving at the post for the purposes of defense were encamped above the stockade and along the stream in such a manner that, as many witnesses testify, all the washings of the camps and over- flowings of the sinks during storms swept into the stockade. Into this horrible pen were the prisoners of war ushered, and here were they confined in hopeless captivity. Here, too, for many months, with all these surroundings, and every- thing calculated to make it certain death for the sick, was the hospital retained; and not until after earnest protests from many officers, not until after frequent representations through official channels to the rebel government, through General Winder, who was still in Eichmond, not until after, as we learn from the testi- mony of Colonel Persons, humanity impelled him to take the responsibility, was the hospital removed outside, and this he tells us (record, p. 3059; manuscript, p. 1304), was done in violation of General Winder's orders, and was tardily acquiesced in some weeks after by an order from Eichmond. About the time of this clamor for the removal of the hospital, considerations of humanity pleaded with equal fervor for an enlargement of the stockade. Prisoners had been sent forward, under orders from Eichmond, with such rapidity and in such numbers that they could only be turned into this place like cattle, until at the time we speak of, within an enclosure of little more than twelve acres, excluding the swamp, unfit for occupation, and the dead-line space, the frightful number of over 18,000 were confined. Protest after protest went up through many sources to General Winder at Eichmond. Colonel Persons says (record, p. 2061; manuscript, p. 1305): "We sent an objection to the authorities at Eich- mond, to General Winder, and urged him to hold up, and not ship any more prisoners there, but he paid no attention to it." This seething mass of humanity, with scarcely room to stand upon, crying for help, the more conscientious officers of the post doing all in their power to alle- viate their sufferings, the commanding officer notifying the rebel government what they must have known all the time, that the mortality was great, and must be still greater unless something should be done, Colonel Persons was aroused upon 406 THE TRAGEDY OF ANDERSONVILLE. this subject, as he had been upon the matter of removing the hospital, and here again he took the responsibility, as he tells us (record, p. 621; manuscript, p. 258), to order an enlargement of the stockade about one-third, which was done under the direction of Captain Wright by the prisoners themselves. Colonel Per- sons says (record, p. 3063; manuscript, p. 1306) that when he saw they did not intend holding up, but continued to ship more prisoners, and saw that the prison was overcrowded, he directed the enlargement of the prison, and he says : "After I had finished the extension, or, perhaps, after I had got it partly finished, orders came giving me permission to do it." There can be no doubt that during all this time the precise condition of affairs at Andersonville was well understood at Richmond. General Winder, to whom the entire business of organizing and conducting the prison was assigned, re- mained in Richmond as the representative of the prison at that place. He was in constant correspondence with the officers on duty at Andersonville, as is fully shown by what has just been stated. That he frequently conferred with the oflBcers of the war department is not only reasonably inferable but is absolutely certain. General Cobb, in his letter to the adjutant-general of May 5, (see exhibit num- ber 15; manuscript, p. 649), says: "I presume the character of the prison is well understood at Richmond, and therefore give no description of it." The introduction of his letter, showing that his presumption was well founded, is as follows: "Under your order to inform myself of the condition of the prison at Andersonville, with the view of furnishing from the reserve corps the necessary guard for its protection and safety, etc." Dr. Eldridge, in his report, forwarded to Richmond at the same time as Gen- eral Cobb's, in speaking of the necessity of removing the hospital outside and endeavoring to meet the objections made at Richmond, says: "Such an enclosure as I should suggest — a plank fence ten feet high — would require but very few additional guards, as the guard appears to be the objection urged at Richmond to a separate enclosure." On the 8th of May, 1864, the prisoner at the bar made a report to Major Turner, who, as an officer on duty pertaining to prisons, connected with the war department (see exhibit 16; manuscript, p. 658), in which the condition of affairs at Andersonville at that date was fully set forth. This report reached Richmond during the same month, and was submitted to the war department by General Winder, with the following indorsement: "Approved and respectfully forwarded. Captain Wirz has proven himself to be a diligent and efficient officer, whose superior in commanding prisons and incident duties I know not." We all know, as officers of the army, that the furnishing of subsistence, of the material used by quartermasters, and of hospital supplies and medicine, was aU done either through the chiefs of those several departments at Richmond, acting under the supervision of the secretary of war himself, or by virtue of the orders of these chiefs and of that secretary. It is not credible that such an immense prison as that at Andersonville, used as a receptacle for prisoners from all parts of the South, was unknown to the Richmond government, and that the whole management, the subsistence of the prisoners, their comfort, their safety, everything was left in the hands of this heretofore obscure man, now on trial. But it is said that during these straitened THE COURT AND THE TRIAL. 407 times the prisoner and the other officers charged were doing all in their power to alleviate the sufferings, so well known at Richmond and at Andersonville. Without stopping now to inquire what could have been done, and what is shown by a cloud of witnesses to have been in their power, notice a moment what was done, and whether or not it was in furtherance of the conspiracy. Captain E. B. Winder, as we learn from Captain Wright's testimony (record, p. 2747; manuscript, p. 1177), came to Andersonville untrammelled by any orders, reported to no one, but received his instructions from the quartermaster general. He told Captain Wright that "all the quartermasters had been ordered by the quarter- master general to furnish him with what supplies he needed to fill his requisitions." With powers thus ample he erected a few scanty, miserable sheds at one end of the stockade, which were then used as a hospital, and were not sufficient for the sick; he built a cook-house which was a prolific source of suffering and death, and which was not of sufficient capacity to prepare rations for more than 5,000 men properly. He built a hospital enclosure with some sheds within it, covered but not sided; he furnished the prisoners with wood for cooking purposes, as we learn, at the rate of three cord wood sticks to a squad of ninety; he managed to transfer to his private till a large amount of money sent him by his government, as intimated in the testimony of Captain Wright; he folded his arms while Colonel Persons enlarged the stockade and removed the hospital, work which belonged exclusively to him; he did this, omitting to do many things that were not only in his power, but which it was his duty to do, leaving the post finally in the latter part of the summer, taking away nearly everything, as Captain Wright says (record, p. 2749; manuscript, p. 1178), that pertained to his department. Not, however, until by his acts of omission and commission he had become answerable for the deaths of hundreds of these unfortunate prisoners. Captain W. S. Winder remained true to his purpose, as declared to Mr. Spencer, and in more ways than one demonstrated how true was his declaration: "I am going to build a pen here that will kill more damned Yankees than can be de- stroyed in the front." Dr. Isaiah H. White, an important adjunct to this scheme, and indispensable to its faithful execution, was at the head of the hospital, whence he reported to his superior officers at Richmond, from time to time, the dreadful and increasing mortality. The prisoner now before you, despite all his pretended protests at the time, despite the individual and widely separated instances of humanity which have been paraded here, remained, as he truly said in his letter to Major-General Wilson, which was the first item of evidence introduced in this trial, "the tool in the hands of his [my] superiors." (See exhibit number 1; manuscript, p. 1.) He had introduced himself to the prisoners by stopping their rations the first day he was on duty; he had instituted, between that time and the time of General Winder's arrival, a system of the most cruel and inhuman punishments; he had made his name a terror among the prisoners, and his society a reproach to his comrades upon whom he inflicted it; he had established the dead-line and all its accompanying horrors; he had given the prisoners a foreshadowing of the stocks, of the balls and chains, of the chain-gang, of starvation as a punishment, and all that black catalogue of cruelty and suffering unknown even to a "Dra- 408 THE TRAGEDY OF ANDERSONVILLE. coDian code" ; he had declared to several of the prisoners engaged in the burial of the dead, "This is the way I give the Yankees the land they came to fight for" ; he had scores of times told the prisoners, when maltreating them, that he intended to starve them to death; he had boasted that "he was doing more for the Con- federacy than any general in the field" ; he had paraded the chain-gang for the amusement of his wife and daughters; he had with drawn pistol told a prisoner who dared to complain of the rations, "Damn you, I'll give you bullets for bread." Are you not prepared then to believe that at the time of General Winder's arrival the prisoner was in the execution of the common design, with a knowledge of its object, and acting in harmony with its chief instrument. General Winder? This is Andersonville in part, the sufferings of the prisoners in part, and some- thing of the evidence of the conspiracy begun and continvied up to the time of General Winder's arrival. We shall see now whether the law governing this question, after a recital of the facts which follow, does not direct you to find a verdict of guilty. You will remember that when Colonel Persons was on the stand, he told you that, assuming to do what the law and the army regulations made it the duty of the quartermaster to do, and which in this case Captain Winder had wholly neg- lected to do, he sent to the different saw-mills along the line of the railroad for lumber, moved, as he tells you, by a feeling of humanity and a desire to alleviate, in some way, the sufferings of the prisoners. He says (record, p. 608; manu- script, p. 252) : "I had concentrated there, I suppose, about five or six trainloads of lumber; I suppose nearly fifty carloads." I quote further from the record the following: Q. Were you permitted to erect a shelter? A. I was in the act of doing so, was just carrying the lumber, when I was relieved. Q. By whom? A. By General Winder. Q. Had he arrived on the same day? A. He arrived there about that time. Q. Was your plan carried out? A. I went into the stockade several times after T was relieved from duty and I saw no shelter there. I saw forty or fifty houses springing up outside of the grounds. The lumber disappeared in that way. At this time, the journal of the prison shows there were over 19,000 prisoners in the stockade. This was the first ofiicial act of General Winder on his arrival. It was the third time Colonel Persons had given mortal offense, and he was no longer to be tolerated. What could more strongly present the unmitigated diabolism of that friend of President Davis, that man upon the order relieving whom the rebel chief wrote, "It is entirely unnecessary and uncalled for"? This was the man who found a ready advocate in the rebel premier, Mr. Benjamin, and who was not only sustained from first to last by his chief, but was rewarded for official conduct that will place his name amongst those of the most infamous of any age or clime. General Winder's second act was to establish himself comfortably and at a respectful distance from the prison, where he remained from the first of June until early in the fall. Notice now, as we advance, how the sufferings of this THE COURT AND THE TRIAL. 409 prison increased ; how everything from which torture and death could result was resorted to; how all those methods of inhuman punishment instituted by the prisoner were approved and sanctioned by General Winder, and that, during the whole period of his command, not a single act is recorded which does not prove him to have been not only "a brutal man," as Mr. Spencer says he was, but that he was the chief instrument in the hands of a wicked, treasonable conspiracy to murder the prisoners of war in his custody. He came there with authority unlimited, with discretion to do whatever circumstances required to carry out the purposes of his command. In an appeal published by him to the citizens of the surrounding counties (see exhibit 27; manuscript, p. 707) he calls for "2,000 negroes properly supplied with axes, spades, and picks, and supported by the requisite number of wagons and teams," for the purpose of rendering more hopeless the imprisonment of our soldiers, holding over the people of that vicinity the terrors of impressment, which, in this appeal, he claims to have authority to make; yet, with all this power, with all these appliances at hand, and within reach of his call, not a single shelter did he ever erect; not a ditch did he dig to drain that horrible cesspool below the stockade, and within it ; not a tithe of the wood absolutely necessary did he cause to be taken into the stockade; not once did he visit that place over which he had supreme control; not a well did he cause to be digged within it; not an order did he issue to abate one jot or tittle of the frightful rigors of that prison pen ; not a kindly or humane sentiment has he shown during that whole time to have uttered towards these prisoners in his custody. On the contrary, he scattered to the four winds, as we have seen, that immense pile of lumber accumulated by Colonel Persons for the purpose of erecting shelter in the stockade ; he approved all that had been done by his subordinate, the prisoner, even recommending him for promotion ; he legalized the detail of Turner, who was a Confederate soldier, to take command of a pack of hounds to run down prisoners, and afterwards permanently detached him from his regiment for that purpose; he authorized and ordered the hanging of six prisoners of war within the stockade, which, by all the laws of war, was no more nor less than murder, so far as he was concerned; he brutally refused the philanthropic ladies of Amerieus twice in their attempts to render assistance to the sick at the hospital, even intimating on one of those occasions, to those ladies of the highest respectability, that a repetition of their humane efforts would bring upon themselves a punishment too infamous to be named. Is it still contended that there was no conspiracy; that these things evinced no common design to destroy; that of all these things the Richmond government was in blissful ignorance? Let us see. On the 21st of July, 1864, General Winder addressed a letter to the war department at Richmond (see exhibit 17; manu- script, p. 662), dated Andersonville, in which he uses the following language before quoted : "You speak of your indorsement of placing the prisoners properly. I do not exactly comprehend what is intended by it ; I know but of one way to place them, and that is, to put them into the stockade, where they have between four and five square yards to the man." Is it possible that he did not comprehend what was intended by the war department? Can it be that he knew of but one way to place those prisoners properly? /[/Cou/vy^^ (f- \iA- 410 THE TKAGEDY OF ANDERSONVILLE. His government did not dare to speak more definitely, nor was it necessary, to such a man as General Winder, occupying the position he did, and with the letter of Robert Ould in his private desk, written as early as March, 1863 — a private letter to himself and indorsed by his own hand. The one way was the way given in his original instructions; it was the way understood by W. S. Winder, when he said it was the intention to kill more Yankees at Anderson- ville than they did at the front ; it was the way meant, and well understood by General Winder, when he said to Mr. Spencer that, for his own part, he would as lief the damned Yankees would die there as anywhere else; that, upon the whole, he did not know that it was not better for them (record, p. 2467; manuscript, p. 1054), and which he afterwards disclosed to Colonel Chandler in the remark: "It is better to leave them in their present condition until their number has been sufficiently reduced by death to make the present arrangements suffice for their accommodation." It was the way well understood by the rebel government, when, in the face of the protests of humane officers, and in the face of the official reports of the mortality of that place, they continued to forward prisoners, trainload after train- load, to an already overcrowded prison. It was the way dictated to the agent of that government, Robert Ould, and revealed by him in his letter to Winder (see exhibit, manuscript, p. 1920) when he declares, speaking of exchanges: "The arrangement I have made works largely in our favor. We get rid of a set of miserable wretches, and receive in return some of the best material I ever saw," adding, "This, of course, is between ourselves." It was the way understood perfectly by General Howell Cobb, when, in a speech at Andersonville, he pointed with terrible significance to the graveyard, remarking: "That is the way I would care for them." It was the way well understood by the prisoner at the bar, who is shown to have uttered sentiments similar to those expressed by W. S. Winder on more than a hundred occasions. It was the way, and the only way, ever indicated by the chief of the rebel government and his secretary of war, else why did he, with this frightful picture before him, deliberately fold General's Winder's letter, indorsing it "Noted filed.— J, A, S." Let us advance another step in the evidence connecting the Richmond govern- ment with these atrocities. Colonel D. T. Chandler, of the rebel war depart- ment, pursuant to an order of his chief, of July 25, 1864, directing him to make an inspection at Andersonville, and other places in the Confederacy, submitted a report dated Andersonville, August 5, 1864, and which reached the war depart- ment August 17, 1864. This officer, from whose report we have already quoted, gives a graphic description of the sufferings of the prisoners of war, and in earnest terms beseeches his government that no more be sent forward to that place, and that immediate steps be taken to relieve the sufferings of those prisoners already there; making many practical suggestions for their comfort which he thought could be readily carried out. In a supplemental report, also dated August 5th, and which was received in Richmond with the report first named, he says: My duty requires me respectfully to recommend a change in the officer in com- mand of the post, Brigadier-general John H. Winder, and the substitution in his place of some one who unites both energy and good judgment with some feelings THE COURT AND THE TRIAL. 411 of humanity and consideration for the welfare and comfort, as far as is consistent with their safe-keeping, of the vast number of unfortunates placed under his con- trol; some one who, at least, will not advocate deliberately, and in cold blood, the propriety of leaving them in their present condition until their number has been suflSciently reduced by death to make the present arrangements suffice for their accommodation, and who will not consider it a matter of self-laudation and boast- ing that he has never been inside of the stockade — a place the horrors of which it is difficult to describe, and which is a disgrace to civilization — the condition of which he might, by the exercise of a little energy and judgment, even with the limited means at his command, have considerably improved. In his examination touching this report. Colonel Chandler says : I noticed that General Winder seemed very indifferent to the welfare of the prisoners, indisposed to do anything, or to do as much as I thought he ought to do, to alleviate their sufferings. I remonstrated with him as well as I could, and he used that language which I reported to the department with reference to it — the language stated in the report. When I spoke of the great mortality existing among the prisoners, and pointed out to him that the sickly season was coming on, and that it must necessarily increase unless something was done for their relief — the swamp, for instance, drained, proper food furnished, and in better quantity, and other sanitary suggestions which I made to him — he replied to me that he thought it was better to see half of them die than to take care of the men. And to show that he cannot be mistaken In what he avers. Colonel Chandler speaks of Major Hall, his assistant, having first reported to him similar language used by General Winder to him, and remarks: "I told Major Hall that I thought it incredible, that he must be mistaken. He told me no, that he had not only said it once, but twice; and, as I have stated, he subsequently made use of this expression to me." Let us now see what the rebel government had to do with this report. As I before remarked, it reached Richmond on the 17th day of August. Immediately on its reception, as we learn from Captain C. M. Selph, of the rebel war depart- ment, it was carefully briefed, and extracts made and sent to the heads of the different bureaus, the commissary-general and the quartermaster-general; a report of Dr. White's, an enclosure of Colonel Chandler's report, being sent to the surgeon-general. The entire report was then laid before the secretary of war, Mr. Seddon, and there cannot be a shadow of doubt that it was immedi- ately, and fully, and seriously considered; nor can there be any doubt that Mr. Davis and his war minister conferred together with regard to this momentous subject. Captain Selph, speaking of a conversation between himself and Colonel Woods, a staff officer of Jefferson Davis, in regard to the prison at Andersonville, says: "During that conversation I obtained the impression that President Davis had some knowledge of it." (Record, p. 1161; manuscript, p. 659.) "This," he says again, "was subsequent to the receipt of Colonel Chandler's report." To the question, "Would a paper of this kind, on a subject of this magnitude, find its way to the president of the so-called Confederate States in the ordinary course of proceedings?" he answers, "Yes, sir; I think it would." It will not do to say that this report was buried among the multitude of papers that arrived daily in the war office, or that lay upon Mr. Seddon's table with piles of other papers unnoticed. Mr. J. B. Jones, private secretary to Mr. 412 THE TRAGEDY OF ANDERSONVILLE. Seddon, says (record, p. 2836; manuscript, p. 1218) that he remembers when the report was received, but only read the headings enough to see the purport of it; and adds that he thinks it was sent for by the secretary of war. Mr. R. T. H. Kean, chief of the bureau of war, says that he saw it lying on the secretary's table. He also speaks of a conversation between himself and the assistant secre- tary of war, Judge Campbell, in which the report was spoken of, and in which Judge Campbell, speaking of the fearful mortality, remarked, "This looks very bad." Captain Selph also testifies that the report excited general comment in the department. But we are not left with this evidence alone. This report was not sent in like ordinary inspection reports, but special attention was drawn to it by three oflScials. On the day of its receipt, it was submitted to the secretary of war, as the follow- ing indorsement proves, beyond doubt : Adjutant and Inspector-General's Office, August 18, 1864. Respectfully submitted to the secretary of war. The condition of the prison at Andersonville is a reproach to us as a nation. The engineer and ordnance depart- ments were applied to for implements, and authorized their issue, and I so tele- graphed General Winder. Colonel Chandler's recommendations are coincided in. By order of General Cooper: R. H. Chilton, Assistant Adjutant and Inspector-General. The report passed through the hands of R. B. Welford, a confidential clerk employed in the war department for his legal abilities, who also made a brief analysis, strongly commending Colonel Chandler's recommendation, Mr. Welford's analysis being again indorsed, and the whole laid before the secretary by J. A. Campbell, assistant secretary of war, with the following indorsement : These reports show a condition of things at Andersonville which calls yery loudly for the interposition of the department in order that a change may be made. J. A. Campbell, Assistant Secretary of War. What more could have been needed, or what more done, to bring authoritatively and strongly before the proper authorities at Richmond the subject of the Andersonville sufferings? Here were an intelligent inspecting ofiicer of high rank, Colonel Chandler, the chief of the inspector's bureau. Colonel Chilton, the chief of the bureau of war, Mr. Kean, a confidential clerk, Mr. Welford, and the assistant secretary of war. Judge Campbell, all pressing in the strongest terms the necessity of an immediate interposition by the department, and not hesitating to declare the prison at Andersonville "a reproach to them as a nation." These appeals might have moved hearts of stone, but addressed as they were to these representatives of a government based upon wrong and injustice, that had its origin in a treasonable conspiracy to overthrow the best govern- ment on the face of the earth, however much they may have moved the hearts of those representatives as individuals, they seem to have felt it their duty to adhere to a purpose so cruelly and wickedly begun and thus far so faithfully carried out; and they dared not, or would not — for it is certain they did not — abandon, even then, this atrocious conspiracy. Mr. Kean says he is not aware the report was ever acted upon. Captain Selph says the same, and we learn from his testimony that the report remained with the secretary, never having come back to the inspector-general's department, where it properly belonged, till THE COURT AND THE TRIAL. 413 about the time Mr. Breckinridge succeeded Mr. Seddon — some time in 1865— when Colonel Chandler having returned and demanded that some action should be taken on the report or he would resign, it was brought to light and laid before Mr. Breckinridge, who would have acted upon it, as Captain Selph thinks, but for the rapid change of affairs in the Confederacy, and the dissolution of their government soon after. And here let me diverge a moment and follow a portion of this remarkable report to the surgeon-general's office. We find indorsed upon exhibit 24 (manu- script, p. 695) the following: Surgeon "White was authorized some time since to send his requisitions for supplies directly to the medical purveyor. Not having supplies is his own fault ; he should have anticipated the wants of the sick by timely requisitions. It is impossible to order medical officers in place of the contract physicians. They are not to be had at present. S. P. Moore, Surgeon-General. This is the flippant indorsement of the surgeon-general, and the only evidence showing his notice of the condition of things at Andersonville, and this is all that he seems to have done in the matter, while Dr. White was allowed to remain in charge of the hospital, which, as described by the surgeons who were on duty with him, seems to have been little else than a dead-house. . . . It is strange, truly, that the surgeon-general passed over the matter with so slight a notice of it, when we remember that, several weeks previously, it is shown that he had the whole matter before his office and took action upon it, which makes him no less culpable than the others we have mentioned. He had called into his counsels an eminent medical gentleman, of high attainments in his profession, and of loyalty to the rebel government unquestionable. Amid all the details in this terrible tragedy, there seems to me none more heartless, wanton and utterly devoid of humanity, than that revealed by the surgeon-general, to which I am about to refer. I quote now from the report of the same Dr. Joseph Jones, which, he says, was made in the interest of the Confederate gov- ernment for the use of the medical department, in the view that no eye would ever see it but that of the surgeon-general. After a brief introduction to his report, and to show vmder what authority it was made, he quotes a letter from the surgeon-general dated "Surgeon-General's Office, Richmond, Virginia, August 6, 1864." The letter is addressed to Surgeon I. H. White, in charge of the hospital for Federal prisoners, Andersonville, and on September 17th reecived the following pass: Sir: The field of pathological investigation afforded by the large collection of Federal prisoners in Georgia is of great extent and importance, and it is believed that results of value to the profession may be obtained by careful examination of the effect of disease upon a body of men subjected to a decided change of climate and the circumstances peculiar to prison life. The surgeon in charge of the hos- pital for Federal prisoners, together with his assistants, will afford every facility to Surgeon Joseph Jones in the prosecution of the labors ordered by the surgeon- general. The medical officers will assist in the performance of such post mortems as Dr. Jones may indicate, in order that this great field for pathological investiga- tion may be explored for the benefit of the medical department of the Confederate armies, S. P. Moore, Surgeon-General. Pursuant to his orders, Dr. Jones, as he tells us, proceeded to Andersonville. and on September 17th received the following jsass: 414 THE TEAGEDY OF ANDERSONVILLE. Andersonville, September 17, 1864. Captain : You will permit Surgeon Joseph Jones, who has orders from the surgeon-general, to visit the sick within the stockade that are under my medical treatment. Surgeon Jones is ordered to viake certain investigations which may prove useful to his profession. By order of General "Winder: Very respectfully, W. S. Winder, A. A. G. Captain H. Wirz, Commanding Prison. When we remember that the surgeon-general had been apprised of the wants of that prison, and that he had overlooked the real necessities of the prison, shifting the responsibility upon Dr. White, who he must have known was totally incompetent, it is hard to conceive with what devilish malice, or criminal devotion to his profession, or reckless disregard of the high duties imposed upon him — 7. scarcely know which — he could sit down and deliberately pen such a letter of in- structions as that given to Dr. Jones. Was it not enough to have cruelly starved and murdered our soldiers? Was it not enough to have sought to wipe out their very memories by burying them in nameless graves'? Was it not enough to have instituted a system of medical treatment the very embodiment of charlatanism? Was this not enough, with- out adding to the many other diabolical motives which must have governed the perpetrators of these acts, this scientific object, as deliberate and cold-blooded as one can conceive? The surgeon-general could quiet his conscience, when the matter was laid before him through Colonel Chandler, by indorsing that it was impossible to send medical oflScers to take the place of the contract physicians on duty at Andersonville. Yet he could select, at the same time, a distinguished gentleman of the medical profession and send him to Andersonville, directing the whole force of surgeons there to render him every assistance, leaving their multiplied duties for that purpose! Why? Not to alleviate the suffer- ings of the prisoners; not to convey to them one ounce more of nutritious food; to make no suggestions for the improvement of their sanitary condition; for no purpose of the kind; but, as the letter of instructions itself shows, for no other purpose than "that this great field for pathological investigation may be explored for the benefit of the medical department of the Confederate armies." The Andersonville prison, so far as the surgeon-general is concerned, was a mere dissecting-room, a clinic institute to be made tributary to the medical department of the Confederate armies. But let me return from this digression. One can hardly believe all these things of a government pretending to struggle for a place among civilized nations, yet horrible as it seems, the facts cannot be resisted. Do I injustice to the leaders of the Rebellion? Have I drawn infer- ences that are unwarrantable? Is it indeed true that these men, high in authority, are not responsible? I think not; motives are presumed from actions, and actions speak louder than words. What was the action of Jefferson Davis and his war minister upon these reports? The papers were pigeonholed in the secretary's oflSce, not even being dignified by being placed upon the regular files in the proper office, while General Winder, the chief accomplice, instead of being removed immediately, and broken of his commission, and tried for violation of the laws of war — for cruelty, inhumanity, and murder; instead of being held up by THE COUKT AND THE TEIAL. 415 that government as a warning to others, giving a color of justice to their cause, was promoted, rewarded, and given a command of wider scope and greater power, but still in a position to carry out the purposes of his govern- ment towards prisoners of war. History is full of examples similar in character, where a government, seeking to carry out its ends, has selected as tools men not unlike General Winder, and history, faithful in the narration of the facts, la faithful also in fixing upon the government who employed such persons, and sustained and rewarded them, the responsibility for the acts of their agents. James II had his Jeffreys, Philip II his Duke of Alva, Louis XIV his Duke de Louvois, the Emperor of Austria his Haynau, and Jeferson Davis Ms Winder. The closest scrutiny of the immense record of this trial will show that, up to the very close of that prison, there were no steps taken by the rebel government, by General Winder, or by any of the oflBcers of his staff clothed with proper authority, to alleviate in any material particular the great sufferings of that place. You will remember the uniform testimony of the medical ofBcers, as well as of the prisoners who remained there during the winter of 1864 and 1865, that there was no perceptible change in the condition of the prison, and an examination of the hospital register, and the death register, will show that the mortality was even greater during that period, in proportion to the number of prisoners confined, than it was during the months of its most crowded condi- tion. From the prison journal, kept by the prisoner himself, we find that in September, the mean number of prisoners being 17,000, the deaths were 2,700; in October, the mean strength being about 6,700, the number of deaths was 1,560 — nearly one out of every five; in November, the mean strength being 2,300, the deaths were 485; while those who remained to the very close, till the prison was broken up, are described by General Wilson and others as having been "mere skeletons," "shadows of men." Nor must it be forgotten that the marks of this cruelty were so indelibly stamped upon its victims that thousands who survived are yet cripples, and will carry to their graves the evidence of the horrible treatment to which they were subjected. The surgeons of our army who treated those shadows of men when they arrived within our lines at Jack- sonville and Hilton Head tell you of hundreds who died before they could be resuscitated; of others permanently disabled; of others who, upon their partial recovery, were started on their way homeward, being again treated at Annapolis. Dr. Vanderkieft, of our army, speaks of the condition of those prisoners while under his treatment at that place. He says: "They were reduced, suffering from chronic diarrhoea and scurvy; some of them in a dying condition; some of them died a few days after they arrived; and those who did recover were obliged to remain a long time in hospital before they were able to return to their homes." And with that certainty with which science reasons from effect to cause often- times, after descri^sing the condition of the men as it has been brought out in this testimony, he concludes, "The symptoms and condition of the patients pre- sented cases of starvation." Nor must it be forgotten, in the summing up of the cumulative proofs of the Andersonville horrors, that numerous photographs of returned prisoners were introduced here, and identified by Drs. Vanderkieft, Balser, and others, as representing cases no worse than hundreds and thousands they had seen. So impressive indeed and so strong seemed this evidence of 416 THE TRAGEDY OF ANDEESONVILLE. rebel cruelty, that the counsel for the prisoner sought, in his cross-examination, to show that they were fancy sketches.^ Are we told that these things are improbable, and cannot be believed, because it is said that Mr. Davis is a good man, not capable of such cruelty? Are we told that no direct order of his is shown, and therefore, notwithstanding all these facts and circumstances narrated, he must be acquitted of all blame? The law governing cases of conspiracy does not require us to show a direct order ; circumstances from which guilt may be inferred are sufficient. The rebel chief did not find it necessary to issue direct instructions, nor indeed could it reasonably be expected. He was too wary, too sagacious for that. Michelet relates an anecdote of Louis XV, not malapropos: The illustrious Quesney, physician to Louis XV, who lived in the house of the latter at Versailles, saw the king one day rush in suddenly, and felt alarmed. Madame D. Haussett, the witty femme de chambre, inquired of him why he seemed so uneasy. "Madame," returned he, "whenever I see the king, I say to myself, there is a man who can cut my head off." "Oh!" said she, "he is too The lady'B maid thus summed up in one word the guarantees of monarchy. The king was too good to cut the man's head off; "that was no longer agreeable to custom ; but he could with one word send him to the Bastile, and there forget him. It remains to be seen whether it is better to perish with one blow, or suffer a lingering death for thirty or forty years." Mr. Davis was not capable of being the instrument of death. He was too good to be keeper of a prison and withhold from starving men their scanty rations; but he could send them out of his sight, away from the prison in plain view of his own residence, into the dense forests of Georgia, and there forget them. If Jefferson Davis be ever brought to trial for his many crimes— and may Heaven spare the temple of justice if he be not! — it will not do for him to upbraid and accuse his willing tools. Winder and Wirz, as King John did Hubert for the death of Prince Arthur; they will turn upon him and say, " 'Here is your hand and seal for what I did.' And in the winking of authority, did we understand a law." THE LAW OP NATIONS. Before advancing further in the argument, let us define briefly the laws of war, which, it is alleged by the government in its indictment against this prisoner and his co-conspirators, have been inhumanly and atrociously violated. One would suppose that an enlightened conscience need not consult the opinions of writers upon law or ethics to determine the violation of rules governing civ- ilized warfare with sufficient certainty to condemn the treatment of prisoners at Andersonville ; yet, as the averment is traversed by the prisoner, and it is insisted that no violation of the humane principles governing nations in war is shown, I must trespass upon the court a moment before proceeding. In the forum of nations there is a higher law, a law paramount to any rule of action prescribed by either of them, and which cannot be abrogated or nullified by either. What- ever the peculiar forms or rights of this or that government, its subjects acquire no control or power other than is sanctioned by the great tribunal of nations. We turn then to the code international, where the purest morals, the highest sense of justice, the most exalted principles of ethics, are the corner-stones, that we may learn to be guided in our duties to this prisoner. ' It is to be regretted that these photographs were not preserved, for had they been they would have strongly corroborated the testimony of witnesses. THE COURT AND THE TRIAL. 417 Grotius derived the jus gentium from the practice of nations, and living in j an age when the greatest cruelties were practiced in the operations of warfare, ! his rules as laid down often seem to have been the inspiration of barbarity itself, rather than laws which should govern nations ; yet even he, in Books 3 and 4, insists that all acts of violence which have no tendency to obtain justice or terminate the war are at variance both with the duty of the Christian and with humanity itself. Manning, an author of great force and clearness, says: At the present day a mild and humane treatment exists with regard to prisoners of war, which is perhaps in some degree attributable to the deference paid to the writings of Vattel, who appeared to have been the first author who established the true principle upon which prisoners should be treated. He says that, "as soon as your enemy has laid down his arms and surrendered his person, you have no longer any right over his life unless he should give you such right by some new attempt, or had before committed against you a crime deserving death." "Prison- ers of war," he says, "may be secured but cannot be made slaves unless for personal guilt which deserves death, nor be slain unless we be perfectly assured that our safety demands such a sacrifice." After having discussed at some length this subject, he sums up the whole question thus: It may be remarked in conclusion that the same principles which have been appealed to in the preceding chapter afford also a clue to the right treatment of prisoners of war. The usages of former ages proceeded upon the supposition that any violence was allowed in warfare and that the rights of the victor upon the vanquished were unlimited, and that having the right to deprive his antagonist of life, the captor had a right to impose any treatment more lenient than death upon his prisoner. But we have seen that so far from the rights of the belligerent being unlimited, the law of nature strictly limits them to such violence as is necessary, that thus, when an antagonist no longer resists, there can no longer be any right to use violence towards him; and that whenever the purposes of warfare are not frustrated by the granting of quarter, the belligerent cannot refuse to give quarter without a direct violation of the law of nature, which warrants no further hard- ships towards prisoners than is required by the purposes of safe custody and security. Another author remarks: Prisoners of war are indeed sometimes killed, but this is not otherwise justifiable than it is made necessary either by themselves, if they make use of force against those who have taken them, or by others who make use of force in their behalf and render it impossible to keep them ; and as we may collect from the reason of the thing, so it likewise appears from common opinion, that nothing but the strongest necessity will justify such an act, for the civilized and thinking part of mankind will hardly be persuaded not to condemn it till they see the absolute necessity of it. (Rutherforth's Institutes, page 525.) Kent, in speaking of the barbarous usages of war, checked and done away with by the progress of civilization, says: "Public opinion, as it becomes enlightened and refined, condemns all cruelty and all wanton destruction of life and property as equally useless and injurious, and it controls the violence of war by the energy and severity of its reproaches. . . . Grotius, even in opposition to many of his own authorities and under a due sense of the obligations of religion and humanity, placed bounds to the ravages of war, and mentioned that many things were not fit and commendable, though they might be strictly lawful; and that the law of nature forbade what the law of nations (meaning thereby the practices of nations) tolerated. . . . Montesquieu Monument Erected by the State of Pennsylvania. THE COURT AND THE TRIAL. 419 insisted that the laws of war give no other power over a captive than to keep him safely, and that all unnecessary rigor is condemned by the reason and con- science of mankind. . . . Vattel has entered largely into the subject, and he argues with great strength and reason and eloquence against all unnecessary cruelty, all base revenge, and all mean and perfidious warfare; and he recommends his benevolent doctrine by the precepts of exalted ethics and sound policy, and by illustrations drawn from some of the most pathetic and illustrious examples." To the same effect writes Wheaton and Halleek. So strongly did the principles here laid down impress themselves upon our government, that during General Jackson's administration Mr. Livingston, then secretary of state, instructed Mr. Buchanan, our minister in Russia, to insert in the treaty proposed to be negotiated stipulations "in order to restrain citizens or subjects of the one or the other of the high contracting parties respectively from infringing any of the known rules of modern warfare," and among other things mentions "for injuries offered to the bearers of flags of truce, for the massacre of prisoners who have surrendered, for the mutilation of the dead, for other breaches either of this treaty or of the laws of nations; for preserving peace or lessening the evils of war." The object of this, Mr. Livingston said, was "to express a national reprobation of the doctrine which considers a state of war as one of declared hostilities between every individual of the belligerent nations respectively. ... To massacre an unresisting and unarmed enemy, to poison his provisions and water, to assassinate a prisoner, and other similar acts, are universally acknowledged to be breaches of international law, and to justify retaliation and an increase of the horrors of war." (Ex. Doc. No. Ill, 1st sess. 33d Congress, H. R.) It would seem that these teachings, so long recognized, so long practiced by civilized nations, ought to have found some advocate even among the councils of treason. Whatever the form of government may have been to which the leaders of the Confederacy, so-called, aspired; whatever of wrong and injustice they sought to embody in their system, with whatever of oppression and tyranny they sought to grind down their subjects, the moment they asked a place among the nations they were bound to recognize and obey those laws inter- national which are and of necessity must be applicable alike to all. With what detestation, then, must civilized nations regard that government whose conduct has been such as characterized this pretended Confederacy. An ordinary com- prehension of natural right, the faintest desire to act on principles of common justice, would have dictated some humane action, would have extorted from some official a recognition of international rules of conduct. It was not retalia- tion, for they had the example of our government, in sending to their homes: on parole whole armies that had been captured; it was not punishment, for these unfortunate prisoners had been taken in honorable battle; it was not ignorance- of the law, for they had constantly with them all those great lights just quoted,, and if these failed to convince, they could have found recorded back of these, "If thine enemy hunger, feed him," and still further back they might have found an example worthy of imitation, which I cannot refrain from here giving. A large number of Syrians had been by a cunning piece of strategy taken captive, and became prisoners of war, whereupon the following dialogue occurred: "And the King of Isrsl said unto Elisha, when he saw them, my father shall I smite 420 THE TRAGEDY OF ANDERSONVILLE. * l them? Shall I smite them? And he answered, thou shalt not smite them; 'j wouldst thou smite those whom thou hast taken captive with thy sword and with •■ thy bow? Set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink and go ' to their master. And he prepared great provision for them ; and when they had ^, eaten and drunk he sent them away and they went to their master. (2 Kings, ch. vii.) - No gentlemen, it was not retaliation, punishment, nor ignorance of the law; ' it was the intrinsic wickedness of a few desperate leaders, seconded by mercenary and heartless monsters, of whom the prisoner before you is a fair type. CRUELTIES PRACTICED TOWARDS PRISONERS. \ Thus far we have not pretended to enter with any particularity into the ques- tions of the cruel treatment of prisoners. There may be two objects, or two reasons, for at this time dwelling more in detail upon the conduct of the prisoner, * These are, first, to connect him more certainly with the conspiracy, and, second, ' to enable us more understandingly to examine the second charge. Here, as at other points in the argument, I desire only to present the evidence, avoiding all embellishment and all argumentation, for this case must be decided upon the facts proven, and not the coloring of counsel. I cannot hope to recapitulate all the facts bearing upon this point, as it will be remembered that each day's record bears witness to an accumulation of horrible details which there can be no necessity for now repeating, and to give all of which would require almost the entire proceedings to be duplicated. We may, how- ever, perhaps to some purpose, present briefly the proofs of each phase of cruelty n alleged. The judge advocate then takes up the evidence of the numerous forms of cruelty inflicted on the prisoners — the stoppage of rations, which must have contributed greatly to the mortality; the dead-line, with its numerous victims; the stocks, the chain-gang, and other means of punishment; the use of ferocious dogs to run down escaped prisoners. Upon this last of the methods of prison government some remarks of the judge advocate should be read. I quote : In this connection, as further illustrating the barbarous treatment of our soldiers and the cruelty of the prisoner at the bar, as well as the systematic violation of the laws of war at Andersonvilllc, it seems proper to notice the method adopted for recapturing prisoners. The court will remember that the counsel for the prisoner laid great stress on the fact that a law existed in the state of Georgia authorizing the use of dogs for the capture of fugitive slaves, and an attempt was made to prove by Judge Hall, the witness who testified to this fact, that a justice of the supreme court of that state had made a decision sustaining the law. The court very properly excluded the evidence, but I will give the prisoner the benefit of the decision. It was made by Justice Lumpkin, and is another evidence of the extent to which a naturally strong mind may be warped and turned from a strict view of THE COURT AND THE TRIAL. 421 justice when compelled to square it with a system of slavery. The case referred to is Moran vs. Davis, (18 Ga.). The facts were substantially these: A negro ran away, was pursued by dogs, and in trying to escape from them plunged into a creek and was drowned. The slave had been hired to the man who pursued him, and the owner brought suit for the value of the negro. The court below held "that the hirer or overseer had no right to chase the slaves with such dogs as may lacerate or materially injure the slave; should he do so he will be responsible to the owner for all damage that may ensue to the slave." Ex- ceptions were taken to the rulings of the court, and on appeal Justice Lumpkin reversed the decision, remarking, "The South has already lost 60,000 slaves, worth between twenty-five and thirty millions of dollars. Instead, therefore, of relaxing the means allowed by law for the security and enjoyment of this species of property, the facilities afforded for its escape, and the temptation and en- couragement held out to induce it, constrain us willingly or otherwise to redouble our vigilance and to tighten the cords that bind the negro to his condition of servitude, a condition," he adds with a flourish of rhetoric and a shameful dis- tortion of Scripture, "which is to last, if the apocalypse be inspired, to the end of time." Unfortunately for the argument of counsel, prisoners of war are not property, neither are they slaves, and with all his adroitness he can hardly torture this case to his purpose, especially in view of the fact that the decision was given in support of a relic of the dark ages now happily passed away. When two nations are at war, neither has a right to prescribe a code of laws for the other; a moment's reflection will show the injustice of such a thing; but both are governed by a higher law than that prescribed by either — that is, the law governing civilized nations; and it seems to me that no refinement of reason- ing is necessary to show that Judge Lumpkin's decision, given in the interest of barbarism, is plainly in violation of the rules of enlightened civilization. Dogs were kept at Andersonville from the organization to the close of the prison, and of this the rebel government had notice from several sources. Dr. Eldridge reported it, as we learn from exhibit 15A. The prisoner also reported it, as we learn from exhibit 13. Benjamin Harris and a man named W. W. Turner were employed and paid for this despicable business. The first named, a citizen, was a professional negro catcher who kept a pack of hounds for that purpose; the other was a detailed soldier, detailed by order of General Winder, and paid as an extra duty man. (See testimony of Colonel Fannin, Captain Wright, and Ambrose Spencer.) These hounds were fed with provisions taken from the cook-house and furnished the prisoners of war, taken, too, from the scanty supply issued by the commissary for those prisoners. (See testimony of Jasper Culver.) They were mustered into the military service of the rebel government the same as cavalry horses. (See testimony of Colonel Gibbs, commandant of the post at Anderson- ville. ( They were of two kinds, "tracking hounds" and "catch dogs," and if any- thing were wanting to show the deliberate purpose to injure prisoners by resorting to this means of capture it will be found in the presence of these packs of hounds of "catch dogs," which are described by many as fierce and bloodthirsty. If there had been no desire to injure, why were they used at all? They have none of those qualities peculiar to the tracking ; they run only by sight, and, as has been 422 THE TEAGEDY OF ANDERSONVILLE. testified to, always remained with the pursuer until approaching a prisoner. The tracking hounds would have been sufficient to discover the prisoners, and as they are usually harmless, would have served the purpose of the pursuer and at the same time inflicted no injury upon the pursued. The evidence, however, convinces one that this was only another means of putting prisoners of war out of the way. The prisoner at the bar frequently accompanied Harris and Turner in their chases after prisoners, and, as we shall see hereafter, gloated over the pain inflicted by those bloodthirsty beasts. Cannot we safely stop here and ask that the prisoner at the bar be recorded as one of the conspirators? I know that it is urged that during all this time he was acting under General Winder's orders, and for the purpose of argument I will concede that he was so acting. A superior oflBcer cannot order a subordinate to do an illegal act, and if a sub- ordinate obey such an order and disastrous consequences result, both the superior and the subordinate must answer for it. General Winder could no more com- mand the prisoner to violate the laws of war than could the prisoner do so without orders. The conclusion is plain, that where such orders exist both are guilty, and a fortiori where the prisoner at the bar acted upon his own motion he was guilty. You cannot conclude that this prisoner was not one of the conspirators because he is not shown to have been present and to have acted in concert with all the conspirators. If he was one of the conspiracy to do an illegal thing, it matters not whether he knew all his co-conspirators or partici- pated in all that they did. It is not necessary to prove any direct concert or even meeting of the conspirators. A concert may be proved by evidence of a concurrence of the acts of the prisoner with those of others, connected together by a correspondence in point of time and in their manifest adaptation to effect the same object. (Starkie's Evidence, pp. 323-324.) These rules of law place beyond doubt the guilt of the prisoner, for in every respect there is plainly dis- coverable "a correspondence of time and a manifest adaptation to effect the same object," in all that he did ; and these principles apply not only to the prisoner, but to all others on duty at Andersonville, whose acts concurred with those of others of the conspiracy and were adapted to effect the same object. The prisoner at the bar appeals to you through his letter of May 7th, directed to General Wilson, and asks, "Shall I now bear the odium (and men who were prisoners here have seemed disposed to wreak their vengeance upon me for what they have suffered) who was only the medium, or I may better say the tool, in the hands of my superiors." Strongly as it may strike you that strict justice would require the punishment of the arch-conspirator himself; strongly as this wreck of a man, with body tortured by disease and over whom already gather the shadows of death, may appeal to your sympathies, you cannot stop the course of justice or refuse to brand his guilt as the law and evidence direct. While I would not dignify the chief conspirators in this crime without a name by associat- ing with them the prisoner at the bar, yet he and they, so closely connected as they are, must share the same fate before the bar of a righteously indignant people. Nothing can ever separate them, and nothing should prevent their names going down to history in common infamy. I have said that Phillip II had his Alva, that Jefferson Davis had his Winder. I might add that the Duke of Alva had his de Vargas, and Winder his Wirz. THE COURT AND THE TRIAL. 423 As the Duke of Alva rises out of the mists of history the agent of a powerful prince, so Winder stands out with fearful distinctness no less perfect for his willing obedience to the government he served than for his skill to devise and ability to select agents as capable to execute the refinements of cruelty. Nor does the parallel cease here; has not history repeated itself in making Wirz a man cast in the same mould as the infamous de Vargas, a hand to execute with horrible enthusiasm what his superior had the genius to suggest? Motley tells us, in his "Rise of the Dutch Republic," of these men Alva and De Vargas, whose spirits, after the Pythagorean theory, seemed to have centuries afterwards infused themselves into the bodies of this prisoner and his immediate superior, Winder. He says of the subordinates of Alva: "Del Rio was a man without character or talent, a mere tool in the hands of his superior; but Juan de Vargas was a terrible reality — no better man could have been found in Europe for the post to which he was thus elevated. To shed human blood was in his opinion the only important business, and the only exhilarating pastime of life." "He executed the bloody work with an industry which was almost superhuman and with a merriment which would have shamed a demon; his execrable jests ringing through the blood and smoke and death cries of those days of perpetual sacrifice. There could be no collision where the subaltern was only anxious to surpass an incomparable superior." After pointing out the evidence as to the quantity served as a ration, the judge advocate concluded his argument upon the charge of con- spiracy as follows : Thus we have shown from evidence of the highest character, that the defense based upon want of supplies within the reach of the rebel authorities, and which is popularly believed to have been the real cause of the sufferings of Anderson- ville, is entirely overthrown, and without foundation in fact; and the same may be said of every question entering into the defense incident to the matter of supplies. With whatever truth the straitened circumstances of the South may be urged to exculpate those in charge of other prisons, certainly, so far as Andersonville is concerned, no one will hereafter with seriousness dare to urge it. Having shown with certainty that supplies were abundant and available, T cannot omit to mention what amount was actually issued as the only means of sustenance to the prisoners. I quote Dr. Bates, whose acknowledged credibility on the part of the accused in his statement to the court makes it unnecessary to support him by the many witnesses who testify to the same point; but the court will remember that his estimate is several ounces more than the prisoners themselves testify to having received. He says: "I wish to be entirely safe and well guarded on this point. There might have been less than twenty ounces to the twenty-four hours; but I do not think it could have exceeded that." The ration, it will also be remembered, consisted of one unvarying diet of corn bread and salt meat, with an occasional issue of peas, and with no vegetables whatever. In comparison with this scanty allowance which the concurrent testi- mony of all the witnesses shows was the immediate cause of the great mortality at that prison, I desire to call your attention to some interesting and instructiye 424 THE TRAGEDY OF ANDERSONVILLE. facts, showing the amount of food necessary to sustain life. I quote from a work on the economy of armies, by medical inspector Lieutenant-Colonel A. C. Hamlin, United States Army: The data of French's shows that eighteen ounces of properly selected food will be suflScient, and the observations of Sir John Sinclair are to the same effect, yet Dr. Christison maintains that thirty-six ounces are required to preserve the athletic condition of prisoners confined for a long term. To preserve the athletic condition with these small quantities, the nutrient substance must be of known value. In the public establishments of England the following quantities are given : British soldier, 45 ounces; seaman, royal navy, 44 ounces; convict, 57 ounces; male pauper, 29 ounces; male lunatic, 31 ounces. The full diets of the hospitals of London give, Guy, 29 ounces, with one pint of beer; Bartholomew, 31 ounces, with 4 pints of beer or tea; St. Thomas, 25 ounces, with 3 pints of beer or tea; St. George, 27 ounces, with 4 pints of beer or tea; Kings, 25 ounces. The Russian soldier has bread 16 ounces, meat 16 ounces ; Turkish soldier has bread 33 ounces, meat 13 ounces; French soldier has bread 26 ounces, meat 11 ounces; Hessian soldier has bread 36 ounces, meat 6 ounces; English soldier has bread 20 ounces, meat 16 ounces. The United States soldier receives % pound of bacon, or 1^4 pound of fresh or salt beef; 18 ounces of bread or flour, or % pound of hard bread, or I14 pound of corn meal; with rice, beans, vegetables, coffee, sugar, tea, etc., in proportion. When we remember that there seems to have been no difference made in the rations issued to the sick in the hospital and prisoners confined in the stockade; that, as we have seen by the testimony of Dr. Jones, the mortality was propor- tionately the same in both places, and all the surroundings so prolific of disease, added to the fact that for months the prisoners had barely room to stand upon, we are prepared to comprehend the force of the illustrations above given and those which I shall now give. The number of patients treated in the hospital at Andersonville is shown by the hospital register to have been something less than 18,000, the number of deaths a little short of 13,000, and to this number must be added 2,000 more, who, as we have shown with reasonable certainty, died before reaching their homes, making in all 15,000, and this falls far short of the maximum number, giving, as we see, the frightful ratio of mortality of over 83 per cent. Quoting from the same learned author we find that "the average mortality of the London hospitals is nine per cent; in the French hospitals in the Crimea, for a period of twenty-two months, mortality was fourteen per cent. The city of Milan received during the campaign in Italy 34,000 sick and wounded, of whom 1,400, or four per cent, died. The city of Nashville, Tennessee, received during the year 1864, 65,157 sick and wounded, of whom 2,635, or four per cent, died. During the year 1863 Washington received 67,884, and of these but 2,671, or less than four per cent, died; and in 1864 her hospitals received 96,705 sick and wounded (49,455 sick, 47,250 wounded), of whom 6,283, or six and four-tenths per cent, died. The mortality of the rebel prisoners at Fort Delaware for eleven months was two per cent; at Johnson's Island during twenty-one months 134 deaths out of 6,000 prisoners." THE COUET AND THE TEIAL. 425 This is the record of history, against the charnel-house of Andersonville. Let the mouths of those who would defend these atrocities by recrimination, charging the United States government with like cruelty, forever hereafter be closed. Fort Delaware and Johnson's Island, with their two -per cent of dead. Ander- sonville with its eighty-three per cent! Look upon that picture and then upon this, and tell me there was no design to slay! Let no mind, be it warped ever so much by treason and treasonable sympathies, doubt this record, for "If damned custom have not brazed it so that it be proof and bulwark against sense," it must believe; it cannot deny these things. May it please the court, I have done with the argument under charge first. I leave it with you to answer by your verdict whether this charge of conspiracy, solemnly and seriously preferred, can. be frittered away and disposed of without a single explanatory line in defense. I place before you, gentlemen, on the one hand the protestations of this accused, who speaks for himself and his co- conspirators; on the other the testimony of Dr. Bates, where he declared, as you well remember, with faltering tone and feelings overpowered, "I feel myself safe in saying that seventy-five per cent of those who died might have been saved had those unfortunate men been properly cared for." I leave it with you to say whether the prisoner at the bar can acquit himself and his associates in crime by declaring the charge here laid to be, as he has told you, "a myth," "a phantasy of the brain," "a wild chimera, as unsubstantial as the baseless fabric of a vision." CONDITIONS SURROUNDING WITNESSES. In his argument upon the charge of murder the judge advocate called attention to the conditions surrounding the witnesses at the time of which they testified. He said: I have thus hastily passed over the evidence touching this class of murders. I shall presently endeavor to individualize the instances mentioned and to recon- cile and unite the separated, and in some instances apparently complicated, cir- cumstances. But, before doing so, let me suggest that on the review of this evidence, while the testimony must be and ought to be subjected to the closest criticism and scrutiny, and while the court should be convinced, beyond a reasonable doubt, of the guilt of this accused, still I submit it as worthy of grave con- sideration that there are many circumstances peculiar to prison life, as it was at Andersonville, which make the ordinary test applied in tribunals of law for the verification of testimony altogether inappropriate in this case. The court will not forget that there existed at Andersonville a condition of affairs for which it would would be impossible to find a precedent. The prisoners were de- prived, to a great measure, of facilities for ordinary intelligence or for communi- cation with each other and the outer world. They were subjected to the closest and most cruel confinement and discipline. Most of them were constantly racked with the pangs of hunger or disease, or engrossed from hour to hour in a struggle with death in which the odds were fearfully against them. Their companions were constantly dying around them, either from emaciation, disease, or acts of violence, so that, as the prisoners themselves have declared in the presence of 426 THE TKAGEDY OF ANDERSONVILLE. the court, they became so habituated to these horrible surroundings, that the death of a comrade, under what would ordinarily seem the most frightful circum- stances, made in many cases but a slight impression upon their minds; and cer- tainly they would not charge their memory with dates or circumstances, even should they be able to fix the time, and it will be remembered that many of them state that they lost all knowledge of the days of the week and the month. Be- sides, they never expected to emerge from that scene alive, and never hoped that a day would come when their persecutor should be arraigned before a tribunal of justice, and they themselves be summoned as witnesses to his iniquitous acts. It is not to be expected that, under these circumstances, witnesses should evince such precision as to dates and minute particulars as might be expected in an ordinary trial for the investigation of offenses disturbing but rarely the tran- quillity of civilized society. A court of justice never requires higher evidence than the best of which the case will admit; for, as has been well remarked by a distinguished legal writer, "The rules of evidence are adopted for practical purposes in the administration of justice, and must be so applied as to promote the end for which they were designed." (1 Greenleaf's Evidence, sec. 83.) But I have no apology to offer, no defense to make for the testimony upon which the prosecution relies for the conviction of this accused under the charge now being examined. In every case where you are asked to hold the prisoner responsible for the death of any one of those in his custody, you will find the evidence direct, posi- tive, and clear; you are not asked to find this prisoner guilty upon vague, uncer- tain, doubtful testimony, but you are asked to apply the rules of evidence prop- erly applicable to eases occurring under the peculiar circumstances to which we have alluded, always remembering that your duty is to arrive at the truth in the most direct manner possible. After having given to the court his analysis of the evidence bearing upon the charge of murder, the judge advocate concluded his address as follows: I have thus, without regard to the evidence under charge first, presented the evidence under charge second, as spread upon the record, showing that this accused, while acting as commandant of the prison at Andersonville, deliberately, wantonly, and maliciously destroyed the lives of eighteen prisoners of war in his custody. I confess myself too much overcome with the melancholy details of this trial and the frightful disclosures to dwell longer on so sad a theme. If this accused still answer that, admitting the facts charged, he did these things in the exercise of authority lawfully conferred upon him, and that what he did was necessary to the discipline and safety of the prisoners, I answer him in the lan- guage of Lord Mansfield, given in an important case : In trying the legality of acts done by military oflficers in the exercise of their duty, particularly beyond the seas, where cases may occur without the possibility of application for proper advice, great latitude ought to be allowed, and they ought not to suffer for a slip of form, if their intention appears, by the evidence, to have been upright. It is the same as when complaints are brought against inferior civil magistrates, such as justices of the peace, for acts done by them in the exercise of their civil duty. There the principal inquiry to be made by a THE COUET AND THE TRIAL. 427 court of justice is, how the heart stood, and if there appear to be uothing wrong there, great latitude will be allowed for misapprehension or mistake. But, on the other hand, if the heart is wrong, if cruelty, malice and oppression appear to have occasioned or aggravated the imprisonment, or other injury complained of, they shall not cover themselves with the thin veil of legal forms, or escape, ur.dcr the cover of a justification the most technically regular, from that punishment which it is your province and your duty to inflict on so scandalous an abuse of public trust. (Wall vs. MacNamara.) May it please the court, I have hastily analyzed and presented the evidence under charge second. If we had not travelled through the history of those long weary months of suffering, torture, starvation, and death, and become familiar with each day's roll of those who passed away, the mind could not contemplate this last though briefer roster of the dead without feelings of utmost horror. Mortal man has never been called to answer before a legal tribunal to a catalogue of crime like this. One shudders at the fact, and almost doubts the age we live in. I would not harrow up your minds by dwelling further upon this woeful record. The obligation you have taken constitutes you the sole judges of both law and fact. I pray you administer the one, and decide the other, meting out to those involved in this crime of the universe all justice, without fear, favor, or partiality, and without regard to position, high or low, of those proved guilty. "J^The address of the judge advocate was made under strong con- viction not only of the prisoner's guilt, but that a crime of monu- mental proportions had been committed in which many others besides the prisoner were involved. He spoke at a time when the atmosphere was surcharged with the enormity of the terrible consequences which had accompanied the Rebellion, and which were weighing heavily upon the hearts of the loyal people of the country. It was too soon after the arms of rebellion had been laid down for the North to forgive or forget. Our President had been cruelly assassinated; many of the leaders of the Rebellion were in confinement under charges of high treason ; the public mind was feverish and in a condition of high tension. The crimes with which Wirz and his co-conspirators stood charged, were of such a character as to arouse in the minds of those who had suffered by the Rebellion, a spirit of deep resentment, and to demand speedy punishment where guilt was shown. Under such circumstances and in such atmosphere, a prosecuting officer may well be excused for some extravagance of speech, some comments and criticisms which, in after years, may seem unnecessarily, even unwarrantedly, harsh and severe. Recalling those days, now forty-five years past, remembering the vivid impressions the evidence of the frightful sufferings and needless 428 THE TRAGEDY OF ANDEESONVILLE. mortality at Andersonville made upon my mind, I cannot bring the judgment of my maturer years to doubt the righteousness of the verdict, nor can I find it in my heart to offer apology for the ardor and zeal with which I prosecuted the prisoner. The court made the following findings and pronounced the follow- ing sentence : The court, being cleared for deliberation, and having maturely considered the evidence adduced, find the accused, Henry Wirz, as follows :i Of the specification to charge I, "guilty," after amending said specification to read as follows: In this, that he, the said Henry Wirz, did combine, confederate, and conspire with them, the said Jefferson Davis, James A. Seddon, Howell Cobb, John H. Winder, Richard B. Winder, Isaiah H. White, W. S. Winder, W. Shelby Reed, R. E. Stevenson, S. P. Moore, Kerr, late hospital steward at Andersonville, James Duncan, Wesley W. Turner, Benjamin Harris, and others whose names are unknown, citizens of the United States aforesaid, and who were then engaged in armed rebellion against the United States, maliciously, traitorously, and in violation of the laws of war, to impair and injure the health and to destroy the lives, by subjecting to torture and great suffering, by confining in unhealthy and unwholesome quarters, by exposing to the inclemency of winter and to the dews and burning suns of summer, by compelling the use of impure water, and by furnishing insufficient and unwholesome food, of large numbers of Federal prisoners, to wit, the number of about forty-five thousand soldiers in the military service of the United States of America, held as prisoners of war at Andersonville, in the state of Georgia, within the lines of the so-called Confederate States, [The remaining portion of the specification was found as charged.] Of charge I, "guilty," after amending said charge to read as follows: 2 Maliciously, willfully and traitorously, and in aid of the then existing armed rebellion against the United States of America, on or about the 27th day of March, A. D. 1864, and on divers other days between that day and the tenth day of April, 1865, combining, confederating and conspiring together with Jef- ferson Davis, James A. Seddon, Howell Cobb, John H. Winder, Richard B. Winder, Isaiah H. White, W. S. Winder, W, Shelby Reed, R. R. Stevenson, S. P. Moore, Kerr, late hospital steward at Andersonville, James Duncan, Wesley W. Turner, Benjamin Harris and others unknown, to injure the health and destroy the lives of soldiers in the military service of the United States, then held and being prisoners of war within the lines of the so-called Confederate States and in the military prisons thereof, to the end that the armies of the United States might be weakened and impaired; in violation of the laws and customs of war. Of specification first to the charge II, "guilty," adding the words "or about" immediately before the phrase "the ninth day of July." Of specification second to charge II, "guilty." Of specification third to charge II, "guilty," after striking out "June," and inserting instead "September." ' Record, p. 805. ' Record, p. 807. THE COURT AND THE TEIAL. 429 Of specification four to charge II, "not guilty." Of specification five to charge II, "guilty," after striking out the phrase "on the thirtieth day," and inserting instead the phrase, "on or about the twenty-fifth day." Of specification six to charge II, "guilty," after striking out the word "first," and inserting "fifteenth," and also striking out the phrase "on the sixth day," and inserting instead the phrase "on or about the sixteenth day." Of specification seven to charge II, "guilty," after striking out the word "twentieth," and inserting instead the word "first," and also after inserting "or about" immediately before the phrase "the twenty-fifth day." Of specification eight to charge II, "guilty." Of specification nine to charge II, "guilty." Of specification ten to charge II, not guilty." Of specification eleven to charge II, "guilty," after striking out the word "first," and inserting instead the word "sixth"; after striking out also the phrase "incite and urge" and the phrase "encouragement and instigation," and by adding the words "or about" after the word "on," where it last occurs in the specifica- tion; and also after striking out the phrase "animals called bloodhounds," and inserting the word "dogs" ; and also striking out the word "bloodhounds" where it afterwards occurs, and inserting the word "dogs"; and also striking out the words "given by him." Of specification twelve to charge II, "guilty." Of specification thirteen to charge II, "not guilty." Of the second charge, "guilty." And the court do therefore sentence him, the said Henry Wirz, to be hanged by the neck till he be dead, at such time and place as the President of the United States may direct, two-thirds of the members of the court concurring herein. Lew Wallace, N. P. Chipman, Major-General and President of Com.. Col. and Add. A. D. C, Judge Advocate. And the court also find the prisoner, Henry Wirz, guilty of having caused the death, in manner as alleged in specification eleven to charge II, by means of dogs, of three prisoners of war in his custody and soldiers of the United States, one occurring on or about the 15th day of May, 1864; another occurring on or about the 11th day of July, 1864; another occurring on or about the 1st day of September, 1864, but which finding as here expressed has not and did not enter into the sentence of the court as before given. Lew Wallace, N. P. Chipman, Major-General and President of Com. Col. and Add. A. D. C, Judge Advocate. OPINION OP THE JUDGE ADVOCATE-GENERAL. Military records are first examined by the judge advocate-general and his opinion and recommendation taken. All sentences involving death penalty go to the president for final action. The Wirz record 430 THE TRAGEDY OF ANDERSONVILLE. had careful scrutiny, and went to the president with an elaborate written opinion of the judge advocate-general. Some extracts only will be here given :^ It is not necessary for the purposes of this review to go into an elaborate dis- cussion of the question involved in the findings on the first charge. From the document of the proceedings, containing more than 5,000 pages, presenting a mass of evidence bearing upon these questions, no brief summary can be made which would do justice to the subject. The argument of the judge advocate sets forth an able and exhaustive examination of the material legal points raised and proof established by the trial, and forms a part of the record. It may be relied on as giving a full and just exposition of the matters which entered into the deliber- ations of the court, and, as particularly applicable to this branch of the case, reference is respectfully invited to pages 4838 to 5148. The opinion is expressed that the conspiracy, as described in the findings above recited, was clearly made out, and that the conclusions arrived at by the court could not, in the light of the evidence this record contains, have been avoided. Language fails in an attempt to denounce, even in faint terms, the diabolical combination for the destruction and death, by cruel and fiendishly ingenious pro- cesses, of helpless prisoners of war who might fall into their hands, which this record shows was plotted and deliberately entered upon, and, as far as time permitted, accomplished by the rebel authorities and their brutal underlings at Andersonville prison. Criminal history presents no parallel to this monstrous conspiracy, and from the whole catalogue of infamous devices within reach of human hands, a system for the murder of men more revolting in its details could not have been planned. Upon the heads of those named by the court in its findings the guilt of this immeasurable crime is fixed, a guilt so fearfully black and horrible, that the civilized world must be appalled by the spectacle. There remains yet to be noticed the matter involved in the second charge. The homicides alleged to have been committed under this charge, and which the •court found were committed, are of four classes : First. Those cases of death which resulted from the biting of dogs. (Specification 2.) Second. Cases of death which resulted from confinement in the stocks and chain-gang. (Specifica- tions 5, 6, 7.) Third. Cases of prisoners killed by guards, pursuant to direct orders of Wirz, given at the time. (Specifications 8, 9, 12.) Fourth. Cases of prisoners killed by Wirz's own hand. (Specifications 1, 2, 3.) That all the deaths embraced in these four classes resulted from the causes and in the manner set forth in the specifications, is conceived to be very clearly established by the evidence adduced by the prosecution, and it is not deemed necessary, in the absence of any contradictory testimony directly bearing on these instances, to recite the evidence applicable to each, except, it may be, briefly, that relating to the fourth class (Specifications 1, 2, 3) and some acts of a similar character. The testimony supporting the first specification is that of Felix De la Baume, a Union soldier, who states that on or about the 8th of July, 1864, he was one of a detachment of prisoners taken to Wirz's headquarters to be enrolled, before » Record, p. 8o8. THE COUET AND THE TRIAL. 431 being sent into the prison ; that one of his comrades was attacked with epilepsy, and some of his companions, by permission of the guard, ran to the creek for water; that he, the witness, heard a shot fired, and, on turning, saw Wirz fire two more, wounding two prisoners, one of whom the witness never saw nor heard of afterwards; and the other of whom he saw carried up to Wirz's headquarters, in a dying condition, the wound being in the breast. There is also the testimony of George Conway, who states that on or about the 11th of July, 1864, he saw Wirz shoot a Union prisoner within the stockade as he was stooping to pick up his cup, which had fallen under the dead-line, and that the man died almost instantly. Which of these two cases (either being, it is conceived, sufficient to sustain the allegation) the court relied on, does not, of course, appear. In support of the second specification, Martin E. Hogan testifies that some time in September, when the prisoners were being removed from Andersonville to Millen, he saw Wirz take a prisoner, who was worn out with hunger and disease, by the coat-collar, and, because he could not walk faster, wrench him back and stamp upon him with his boots ; that the man was borne past him (witness) bleeding from his mouth and nose, and died in a short time. The third specification is supported by the testimony of George W. Gray, who states, that about the middle of September, 1864, he and a comrade named William Stewart, a private belonging to a Minnesota regiment, went out of the stockade, in charge of a guard, to carry a dead body, and that after laying it in the dead-house they were on their way back to the stockade, when Wirz rode up to them and asked, "by what authority they were out there" ; that Stewart replied, they were out there by proper authority; whereupon Wirz drew his re- volver and shot Stewart, the ball taking effect in his breast and killing him in- stantly; and that the guard then took from his body some twenty or thirty dol- lars, which Wirz received and rode away. Further evidence in regard to Wirz killing certain prisoners was presented, but the dates given by the witnesses show the murders to have been other than those alleged in the specifications. They will be referred to as illustrating the character of the prisoner, and establishing a frequency and repetition of like crimes. James H. Davidson testified that in April, as he remembered, Wirz came into the stockade one day, and a lame man went up to him and asked him a question, whereupon Wirz "turned around" and shot him, and he died. Thomas C. Alcoke states that one day (the witness seems to have no knowledge or recollection of dates) Wirz came into the stockade and a man asked of him permission to go out and get some fresh air ; that Wirz asked him what he meant, and that after a few more words had passed between them, Wirz "wheeled around," pulled out a revolver, and shot him down, the ball taking effect in his breast, and death occurring about three hours afterwards. It also appears by this witness that when he remonstrated Wirz told him he "had better look out, or he would be put in the same place," and that soon after Wirz came in with a guard and put him in irons. Hugh R. Snee testified that some time in September, 1864, a party of Union prisoners were to be exchanged under an arrangement between General Sherman and the rebel Hood ; that they were taken from the stockade after dark, as the heat 432 THE TEAGEDY OF ANDEESONVILLE. in the day was so great that the men would have fainted; that none but able- bodied men were selected, it being stated when they were called out that any one who could not walk eighteen miles a day would be shot; that notwithstanding this the men were so anxious to escape imprisonment that some too weak to perform the day's travel came out. The witness states that three, who belonged to some western regiments, were able to go but a short distance before they fainted and fell out of the ranks, and were pushed one side by the guard; that thereupon a man ran back, and speaking in a voice he thought at the time to be that of Captain Wirz, wanted to know why they were there; that they replied, they wished to get out of prison; whereupon this man said, "I'll help you out, God damn you." Witness then heard six pistol-shots, followed by a cry as if some one was hurt, "and imm.ediately after, a rebel lieutenant came past remarking that it was a brutal act ; that one of them was dead," and, when asked who did it, replied, "The captain." The most prominent features of the defense under this second charge will now be considered : An attempt was made to prove that during the whole of August and parts of July and September the prisoner was sick and confined to his bed, and could not have committed the crimes charged to him in those months. In his state- ment to the court, however, he made no reference to his absence — doubtless for the reason that the testimony was of too general and loose a character to set up as contradictory to the explicit statements of numerous witnesses as to the dates when the crimes recorded in the finding were committed, corroborated as those statements were, by official papers, bearing his signature, showing that at differ- ent times during those months he was in the performance of his ordinary functions as commandant of the prison. It was claimed that deaths resulting from the use of dogs, in the capture of escaped prisoners, were not crimes fastened upon Wirz, he not being present at the pursuit and therefore not responsible. But it appears to have been the fact that this use of dogs was under Wirz's special direction ; that the pursuit of prisoners was in many instances initiated under his immediate orders, and in some cases captures were made under his personal supervision. It was also clearly proved that a part of each pack were ferocious dogs, dangerous to life, so as to make it probable that the men on whose track they were sent would be killed. A man overtaken by these beasts, and desiring to surrender, could not, by coming to a stand, save his life; the instinct of the dogs was for human blood, and to surrender to them was death. A most shocking illustration will be given. Two soldiers had escaped, but were overtaken ; the party who captured them returned with but one (who was so mangled that he died), and the chief of the party, known as Turner, exulted in accounting for the other, stating that they allowed the dogs to tear him in pieces, and left him in the woods. As applying to the question of criminal responsibility involved in this class of homicides, the judge advocate referred the court to the well-settled principle of law, that it is not essential that the hand of the party should be the immediate occasion of the death, but that if it be shown that means were used likely to occasion death, and which did so occasion it, the party using such means is to be held responsible for the consequences. THE EXCHANGE OF PRISONERS. 433 There is but one of this class of homicides which enters into the findings of "gaiilty," under this charge. A discussion of the legal points involved is con- ceived to be needless, inasmuch as the charge is sustained by a conviction on nine other distinct allegations of murder. As to the deaths resulting from the use of stocks and chain-gangs, the defense urged that the men were placed therein for the purposes of discipline; that they were commonly used for such purposes; and that their use at this place was attributed to those higher in authority than Wirz, to whose orders he was subject. Upon this point it is to be observed that prisoners were put in these instruments of torture as punishment for having escaped, or having made attempts to escape from their captors, which attempts, whether successful or not, it was their right and duty as prisoners of war to make. Any punishment inflicted upon them, therefore, by their captors was a violation of the laws of war, and deaths resulting from such unlawful punishment are murders. This would be the judgment of the law apart from some of the peculiar circumstances which surround these crimes, and which so decidedly indicate their true character, prominent among which is the often declared animus of the prisoner, showing conclusively that in these and kindred barbarities he was deliberately seeking to sacrifice the lives of his victims. It was shown that these stocks and chain- gangs were under Wirz's immediate and direct control; that he exercised full authority in committing prisoners to both. While it may be, and probably is, the fact that his action in this matter was sanctioned by the rebel Winder when he was on duty at that place, it does not relieve the prisoner of responsibility for the result. Relating to the three homicides embraced in the third class, the prisoner makes no special defense, except as to the killing of the man known as Chick- amauga. He urges in his final statement, that his order to the guard to shoot this man was only intended as a menace. It is clear, however, from the tes- timony, that his order in this case, as in the others, was peremptory, and, accord- ing to his own version, it was not a command that could be construed by any subordinate as merely a menace; moreover, it was distinctly proved to have been accompanied by a threat that he would shoot the guard if the guard did not shoot this crippled soldier. He states further, and it is so found by the record, that this poor man desired to be killed, it would seem, because he was suspected by his comrades of having given information to the prison-keepers of some attempts of prisoners to escape from the stockade. This fact, however, in no degree palliates his murderous guilt. Of the homicides embraced in the fourth class (those committed directly by his own hands) the prisoner's statement notices but one, that of Stewart, sworn to by the witness Gray. It is asserted that the testimony of this witness is a pure fabrication. There is nothing found in the examination of the record which casts a doubt on his veracity, and the court seem to have discovered nothing in his manner on the stand to raise the question of his credibility. As to all those cases not heretofore specially mentioned, the defense insists that the allegations were too vague and indefinite, and that the testimony is insufiicient to sustain them, and also that it is altogether improbable that such murders could have been committed without coming to the knowledge of various witnesses, 434 THE TRAGEDY OF ANDERSONVILLE. who stated that they had never heard of such crimes at Andersonville. No evi- dence being submitted which contradicts the concurrent and explicit statements of the witnesses who gave positive testimony of their perpetration, these murders are fastened to Wirz's hands. Many points were raised by both sides relating to the admission of evidence as the trial progressed. These were fully debated at the time. No discussion of them here is deemed necessary, it not being found that competent proof material to the prisoner's defense on the specific offenses of which the court pronounced him guilty was excluded. Much latitude seems to have been given him. He was allowed to show special acts of kindness to prisoners, and to introduce declarations made by himself in explanation of his acts. Letters and official reports, and oral testimony of his personal efi'orts, offered as indicating his interest in, and a care for, the comfort of the prisoners, were also admitted. It is shown that every witness asked for by the defense was subpcenaed, except certain rebel functionaries, who, for reasons stated at the time, did not appear on the stand. But the judge advocate pro- posed that if the counsel for the defense would set forth, according to the common rule, by affidavit, what he expected and had reason to believe any witness who did not so appear would testify, it would be admitted of record that such witness would so testify. This proposition was not accepted. One hundred and six witnesses were subpoenaed for the defense, of whom sixty-eight reported, but thirty-nine of these, many of them soldiers of our army, and sufferers at Ander- sonville, were discharged by the prisoner's counsel without being put upon the stand. A review of the proceedings leads to the opinion that no prejudice to the legal rights of the prisoner can be successfully claimed to have resulted from any decision which excluded testimony he desired to introduce. The trial is believed to have been conducted in accordance with the regulations governing military courts, and the record presents no error which can be held to invalidate the pro- ceedings. The annals of our race present nowhere and at no time a darker field of crime than that of Andersonville, and it is fortunate for the interests alike of public justice and of historic truth that from this field the veil has been so faithfully and so completely lifted. All the horrors of this pandemonium of the Rebellion are laid bare to us in the broad, steady light of the testimony of some one hundred and fifty witnesses who spoke what they had seen and heard and suffered, and whose evidence, given under oath and subjected to cross-examination and to every other test which human experience has devised for the ascertainment of truth, must be accepted as affording an immovable foundation for the sentence pro- nounced. The proof under the second charge shows that some of our soldiers, for mere attempts to escape from their oppressors, were given to ferocious dogs to be torn in pieces, that others were confined in stocks and chains till life yielded to the torture, and that others were wantonly shot down at Wirz's bidding or by his own hand. Here in the presence of these pitiless murders of unarmed and help- less men, so distinctly alleged and proved, justice might well claim the prisoner's life. There remain, however, to be contemplated crimes yet more revolting, for THE COUET AND THE TEIAL. 435 which he and his co-conspirators must be held responsible. The Andersonville Prison records (made exhibits in this case) contain a roster of over thirteen thousand dead, buried naked, maimed, and putrid, in one vast sepulchre. Of these, a surgeon of the rebel army who was on duty at this prison testifies that at least three-fourths died of the treatment inflicted on them while in confinement ; and a surgeon of our own army, who was a prisoner there, states that four-fifths died from this cause. Under this proof, which has not been assailed, nearly ten thousand, if not more, of these deaths must be charged directly to the account of Wirz and his associates. This widespread sacrifice of life was not made suddenly or under the influence of wild, ungovernable passion, but was accom- plished slowly and deliberately, by packing upwards of thirty thousand men, like cattle, in a fetid pen — a mere cesspool, there to die for need of air to breathe, for want of ground on which to lie, from lack of shelter from sun and rain, and from the slow, agonizing processes of starvation; when air and space and shelter and food were all within the ready gift of their tormenters. This work of death seems to have been a saturnalia of enjoyment for the prisoner, who amid these savage orgies evidenced such exultation and mingled with them such nameless blasphemy and ribald jests, as at times to exhibit him rather as a demon than a man. It was his continual boast that by these barbarities he was destroying more Union soldiers than rebel generals were butchering on the battle-field. He claimed to be doing the work of the Rebellion, and faithfully, in all his murderous cruelty and baseness, did he represent its spirit. It is by looking upon the cemeteries which have been filled from Libby, Belle Isle, Salis- bury, Florence, and Andersonville, and other rebel prisons, and recalling the prolonged sufferings of the patriots who are sleeping there, that we can best understand the inner and real life of the Rebellion, and the hellish criminality and brutality of the traitors who maintained it. For such crimes human power is absolutely impotent to enforce any adequate atonement. It may be added, in conclusion, that the court before which the prisoner was tried was composed of oflScers high in rank, and eminent for their faithful services and probity of character, and that several of them were distinguished for their legal attainments. The investigation of the case was conducted throughout with patience and impartiality, and the conclusion reached is one from which the over- whelming volume of testimony left no escape. It is recommended that the sentence be executed. J. Holt, Judge Advocate-General. ORDER OF THE PRESIDENT. [General Court-martial Orders No. 607.] War Department, Adjutant-General's Office, Washington, November 6, 1865. I. Before a military commission which convened at Washington, D. C, August 23, 1865, pursuant to paragraph 3, Special Orders No. 453, dated August 23, 1865, and paragraph 13, Special Orders No. 524, dated October 2, 1865, War 436 THE TEAGEDY OF ANDERSONVILLE. Department, Adjutant-Generars Office, Washington, and of -which Major-General Lewis Wallace, United States Volunteers, is president, was arraigned and tried Henry Wirz. [Here follow the charges, specifications, findings, and sentence.] II. The proceedings, findings, and sentence in the foregoing case having been submitted to the President of the United States, the following are his orders: Executive Mansion, November 3, 1865. The proceedings, findings, and sentence of the court in the within case are approved, and it is ordered that the sentence be carried into execution, by the ofiicer commanding the department of Washington, on Friday, the 10th day of November, 1865, between the hours of 6 o'clock a. m. and 12 o'clock noon. Andrew Johnson, President. III. Major-General C. C. Augur, commanding the department of Washington, is commanded to cause the foregoing sentence, in the case of Henry Wirz, to be duly executed, in accordance with the President's order. IV. The military commission, of which Major-General Lewis Wallace, United States Volunteers, is president, is hereby dissolved. By command of the President of the United States : E. D. Townsend, Assistant Adjutant-General. Official: E. D. Townsend, Assistant Adjutant-General. LETTER OF THE COMMANDING GENERAL, DEPARTMENT OF WASHINGTON, REPORTING THE EXECUTION AND BURIAL OF HENRY WIRZ. Headquarters Department op Washington, Washington, D. C, November 11, 1865. Sir: I have the honor to report that the sentence and orders of the President in the case of Henry Wirz, as promulgated in General Court-martial Orders No. 607, dated War Department, Adjutant-General's Office, Washington, November 6, 1865, have been duly executed (between the hours of 10 and 11 A. m.) yesterday, November 10, and his body has been interred by the side of Atzerodt, in the arsenal grounds. i I am, general, very respectfully, your obedient servant, C. C. Augur, Major-Gen. Vols., Commanding Department. The Adjutant-General of the Army. ' Later removed to Olivet Cemetery near Washington. CHAPTER XV. The Cartel Suspended — Exchanging of Prisoners Interrupted — Causes therefor — violation of cartel by rebels — elght to exchange denied TO Negro Soldiers and their Officers — When Captured Treated as Felons — Sufferings of Prisoners Due to Treatment they Received, not because Cartel was Suspended — Rebel Commissioner Robert Ould, Man- euvering TO Get Excess of Prisoners Held by Federals and Use them at Critical Period of War — Action of Our Government fully Vin- dicated — Report of General Hitchcock, Federal Commissioner of Ex- change, Covering Entire Subject — Letter of General Grant, Part of WHICH is Inscribed on the Wirz Monument — Interview with Colonel John McElroy, a Prisoner at Andersonville— The Evolution of Slaves to the Status of United States Soldiers — Some Interesting Facts about the Negro as a Soldier. T^HE slavery question not only led to the Civil War, but, in the -■- midst of the struggle to preserve the Union, it was largely in- strumental in causing the suspension of the cartel and breaking off a general exchange of prisoners of war. It will not be without interest to trace briefly the evolutionary processes through which, prior to President Lincoln's proclamation of freedom, large bodies of the slaves of the South passed, and by which they attained recognition of their liberty by our government, and were mustered into military service, and partly in consequence of which the exchange of prisoners was interrupted. The secession of the Southern states from the Union and the taking possession by them of the forts, buildings, arsenals, custom-houses, and other public property of the government within their borders, necessarily made the army for the restoration of the Union an army of invasion of the rebel territory. The border slave states of Mary- land, Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri, and a considerable portion of West Virginia refused to join in the Rebellion, but to reach the armed forces of the enemy the Union armies Avere compelled to pass over this slave territory', and they necessarily came in contact with the system of slavery and with slave-owners. Many of these latter were loyal to the Union, but still many others had either gone south to THE EXCHANGE OF PEISONERS. 439 join the enemy or were disloyal, and, though remaining in loyal ter- ritory, secretly gave such aid and comfort to the enemy as they could with safety to their persons and property. Prior to President Lincoln's inauguration, the newspapers and public men of the South had proclaimed that war was inevitable, and that the purpose of the North was to free the slaves. Naturally, as the armies of the North passed into slave territory, the negroes flocked to the camps in the hope of enjoying that freedom which they had been taught to hope was the purpose of the North to give them. And this was the situation from Maryland to Missouri — touching thousands of helpless men, women, and children. A similar condition also arose along the Atlantic Coast wherever our army, with the aid of the navy, was able to maintain a footing — notably along the eastern shore of Virginia and at points on the Carolina coast and the coast of Florida, So anxious was the government to give the loyal slaveholders and the world generally the assurance that its object was to restore the Union, and not in any way to interfere with slavery, that every effort was made to prevent the coming of slaves into our lines, and when there to compel them to return to their masters. On August 30, 1861, General Fremont, commanding the western department, at St. Louis, Missouri, issued a proclamation declaring martial law throughout the state of Missouri, and ordering all persons found with arms in their hands to be tried by court-martial and, if found guilty, to be shot, besides confiscating all property of such per- sons and liberating their slaves.^ This led to a retaliatory order by General Jeff. Thompson on Sep- tember 2, 1861, in which he declared that "for every member of the Missouri state guard or soldiers of our allies, the armies of the Con- federate States, who shall be put to death in pursuance of said order of General Fremont I will hang, draw, and quarter a minion of said Abraham Lincoln."^ On September 2, 1861, President Lincoln wrote General Fremont, pointing out the embarrassing nature of his order, and asking him on his own motion to withdraw it.^ Fremont refused to voluntarily mod- ify his order, and the President promptly did so on September 11th. '* General Halleck, who later succeeded to the command of the depart- ment, on November 20, 1861, issued general orders No. 3, directing that "no such person [slave] be permitted to enter the lines of any ' War of Rebellion, vol. i, series 2, p. 221. •War of Rebellion, vol. i, series 2, p. 181. ^ War of Rebellion, vol. i, series 2, p. 766. * War of Rebellion, vol. i, series 2, p. 778. 440 THE TRAGEDY OF ANDEESONVILLE. camp or of any force on the march and that any now within such lines be immediately excluded therefrom. "i The following resolution was introduced in the House of Repre- sentatives December 9, 1861 : Whereas, Major-General Halleck of the western department has issued an order prohibiting negroes from coming within the lines of our army and excluding those already under the protection of our troops; and whereas, a different policy and practice prevails in other departments by the direct sanction of the administra- tion; and whereas, said order is cruel and inhuman and in the judgment of this house based upon no military necessity; . . . That the president be respectfully requested to direct General Halleck to recall said order or cause it to conform with the practice in other departments of our army. 2 On December 11th this resolution was laid on the table by a vote of 78 to 64. On November 23. 1861, at Fort Holt, Kentucky, the commanding officer issued an order reading: "No officer or soldier will be allowed to arrest, secrete, or harbor or in any way interfere with persons held to service [negroes], property of citizens in slave states."^ General Grant addressed a letter to Colonel Cook, commanding at Fort Holt, on December 25th, calling attention to General Halleck's order No. 3, and said : "I do not want the army used as negro-catchers, but still less do I want to see it used as a cloak to cover their escape. No matter what our private views may be on this subject, there are in this department positive orders on the subject, and these orders must be obeyed."^ A similar policj^ was enforced in other parts of Kentucky. General W. T. Sherman, then commanding at Louisville, Kentucky, wrote to Colonel Turchin on October 15, 1861. as follows: "Two gen- tlemen unknown to me, but introduced by Mr. Guthrie, say some negro slaves have taken refuge in our camp and are there sheltered. The laws of the United States and of Kentucky, all of which are binding upon ils, compel us to surrender a runaway negro on appli- cation of negro's owner or agent. I believe that you have not been instrumental in this, but my orders are that all negroes shall be delivered upon claim of the ow^ner or agent. Better keep the negroes out of j^our camp altogether unless you brought them along with your regiment."^ ^ War of Rebellion, vol. i, series 2, p. 778. 2 War of Rebellion, vol. i, series 2, p. 784. ' War of Rebellion, vol. i, series 2, p. 779. * War of Rebellion, vol. i, series 2, p. 794. ^ War of Rebellion, vol. i, series 2, p. 774. THE EXCHANGE OF PEISONERS. 441 In the armies of the East commanders were confronted with the same problem and surrounded with like embarrassments. The negroes were put to work and otherwise cared for while the permanent solu- tion of the difficulty was in abeyance. General Benj. F. Butler was in command at Fortress Monroe, Vir- ginia. A better lawyer than military tactician, he was, I believe, the first to make the point — the theory on which slaves were held, i. e. as property — that when captured or otherwise coming into our pos- session they became contraband of war, and the appellation of "contra- bands" was thereafter applied to them. It has always seemed to me that a much broader principle was applicable to these unfortunate human beings, which would carry with it, under the existing circum- stances, a right to freedom, and to be treated by us as entitled to such right, and not merely as property contraband of war. And the status of absolute freedom was finally given them by our government and resolutely and to the end maintained. The following correspondence will illustrate that as early as in May, 1861, at Fortress Monroe, Virginia, the question had become a serious problem in the conduct of the war : Headquarters Department of Virginia, Fort Monroe, May 27, 1861. Lieutenant-General Scott. Sir: . . . Since I wrote my last despatch the question in regard to slave prop- erty is becoming one of very serious magnitude. The inhabitants of Virginia are using their slaves in the batteries and are preparing to send the women and children south. The escapes from them are very numerous and a squad has come in this morning to my pickets bringing their women and children. Of course these cannot be dealt with upon the theory on which I designed to treat the services of able-bodied men and women who might come within my lines, and of which 1 gave you a detailed account in my last despatch. I am in the utmost doubt what to do with this species of property. Up to this time I have had come within my lines men and women with their children, entire families, each family belonging to the same owner. I have therefore determined to employ as I can do very profit- ably the able-bodied persons in the party, issuing proper food for the support of all and charging against their services the expense of care and sustenance of the non-laborers, keeping a strict and accurate account as well of the services as of the expenditure, having the worth of the services and the cost of the expenditure determined by a board of survey to be hereafter detailed. I know of no other manner in which to dispose of this subject and the questions connected therewith. As a matter of property to the insurgents it will be of very great moment, the number that I now have amounting as I am informed to what in good times would be of the value of $60,000. Twelve of these negroes I am informed have escaped from the batteries on Sewall's Point, which this morning fired upon my expedition 442 THE TRAGEDY OF ANDERSONVILLE. as it passed by out of range. As a means of offense therefore in the enemy's hands these negroes, when able-bodied, are of the last importance. Without them the batteries could not have been erected, at least for many weeks. As a military question it would seem to be a measure of necessity to deprive their masters olE their services. How can this be done? As a political question and a question of humanity can I receive the services of a father and mother and not take the children? Of the humanitarian aspect I have no doubt; of the political one I have no right to judge. . . . Very respectfully, your obedient servant, B. F. BUTLER.l Washington, May 30, 1861. Major-General Butler: Sir: Your action in respect to the negroes who came in your lines from the service of the rebels is approved. The department is sensible of the embarrassment which must surround oflScers conducting military operations in a state by the laws of which slavery is sanc- tioned. The government cannot recognize the rejection by any state of its federal obligations nor can it refuse the performance of the federal obligations resting upon itself. Among these federal obligations, however, none can be more important than that of suppressing and dispersing armed combinations formed for the purpose of overthrowing its whole constitutional authority. While there- fore you will permit no interference by the persons under your command with the relations of persons held to service under the laws of any state, you will, on the other hand, so long as any state within which your military operations are con- ducted is under the control of such armed combinations, refrain from surrendering to alleged masters any persons who may come within your lines. You will employ such persons in the service to which they may be best adapted, keeping an account of the labor by them performed, of the value of it, and of the expense of their maintenance. The question of their final disposition will be reserved for future determination. Simon Cameron, Secretary of War. ~ General Dix, at Baltimore, on Au^ist 25, 1861, wrote to General McClellan as follows: Headquarters Department of Pennsylvania, Baltimore, Md., August 25, 1861. Maj.-Gen. G. B. McClellan, Commanding Army of Potomac. General: Early this morning three negro men came to Fort McHenry repre- senting themselves to be runaway slaves from Anne Arundel County. I declined to receive them into the fort on the ground that I could neither harbor them as fugitives from service nor arrest them for the purpose of restoring them to their ' War of Rebellion, vol. i, series 2, p. 754. * War of Rebellion, vol. i, series z, p. 754. THE EXCHANGE OF PRISONERS. 443 masters. In a former letter I stated the view I take in regard to my duty in such eases, and having no instructions from the government I acted on it and directed the negroes to leave the fort. I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, [John A. Dix,] Major-General Commanding. i Colonel Harvey Brown, commanding at Fort Pickens, department of Florida, wrote Assistant Adjutant-General Townsend at Washing- ton on June 22, 1861, as follows: "I shall not send the negroes back, as I will never be voluntarily instrumental in returning a poor wretch to slavery, but will hold them subject to orders."- General T. W. Sherman wrote the Adjutant-General from Port Royal, South Carolina, on December 15, 1861 : General L. Thomas, Adjutant-General U. S. Army, Washington, B. C. Sir: For the information of the proper authorities and for fear lest the gov- ernment may be disappointed in the amount of labor to be gathered here from the contrabands, I have the honor to report that from the hordes of negroes left on the plantations but about 320 have thus far come in and offered their services. Of these the quartermaster has but about sixty able-bodied male hands, the rest being decrepit and women and children. Several of the 320 have run off. Every inducement has been held out to them to come in and labor for wages and money distributed among those who have labored. The reasons for this apparent failure thus far appear to be these: First. They are naturally slothful and indolent and have always been accustomed to the lash, an aid we do not make use of. Second. They appear to be so overjoyed with the change of their condition that their minds are unsettled to any plan. Third. Their present ease and comfort on the plantations as long as their pro- visions will last win induce most of them to remain there until compelled to seek our lines for subsistence. Although comparatively few have thus far come in it is therefore probable that in time many will, and if they are to be received and taken care of some provision should be made to cover them. They are a prolific race and it will be found that for every able-bodied male there will be five to six females, children and decrepit. It is really a question for the government to decide what is to be done with the contrabands. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, T. W. Sherman. Brigadier-General Commanding. 3 ^ War of Rebellion, vol. i, series 2, p. 766. ^ War of Rebellion, vol. i, series 2, p. 755. 'War of Rebellion, vol. 1, series 2, p. 785. 444 THE TEAGEDY OF ANDEESONVILLE. The following confidential letter will show with what hesitating policies the negro question was being treated and indicates the embar- rassment of the President in dealing with it : [Confidential.] Headquarters op the Army, Washington, July 16, 1861. Brigadiek-General McDowell, Commanding, 4~c. SiE: The general-in-chief desires me to communicate to you that he has re- ceived from the president of the United States a second note dated to-day on the subject of fugitive slaves in which he asks: "Would it not be well to allow owners to bring back those which have crossed" the Potomac with our troops? The general earnestly invites your attention to this subject, knowing that you with himself enter fully into his excellency's desire to carry out to the fullest all constitutional obligations. Of course it is the general's ivish the name of the president should not at this time be brought before the public in connection with this delicate subject. I remain, very respectfully, your obedient servant, Schuyler Hamilton, Lieutenant-Colonel and Military Secretary.'^ Thus we see that an officer in Florida positively refused without orders to return negroes to slavery. And yet we find that about the same time such orders were sent to General McDowell with the sanc- tion of the president. On January 7, 1862, in his instructions to General Burnside, who was about to embark with the navy on an expedition along the south- ern coast, General McClellan cautioned him that in making any proc- lamation to "say as little as possible about politics or the negro. Merely state that the true issue for which we are fighting is the pres- ervation of the Union and upholding of the laws of the general gov- ernment, and stating that all who conduct themselves properly will as far as possible be protected in their persons and property. "- But it soon became apparent that it was practically impossible to hold the slaves back or prevent their coming, and to drive them out of camp and away from protection and support meant starvation in some cases and in others their restoration to families whose heads were in active rebellion, with arms in their hands, fighting the very soldiers who were engaged in restoring to them their slaves. Secretary of War Cameron, on December 6, 1861, very clearly put the situation before Congress, as follows: 'War of Rebellion, vol. i, series 2, p. 760. ^ War of Rebellion, vol. i, series 2, p. 79S. THE EXCHANGE OF PRISONERS. 445 It is already a grave question what shall be done with the slaves abandoned by their owners on the advance of our troops into Southern territory, as at Beaufort district of South Carolina. The number left within our control at that point is very considerable and similar cases will occur. What shall be done with them? (Dan we afford to send them forward to their masters to be by them armed against us or used in producing supplies to sustain the Rebellion? Their labor may be useful to us. Withheld from the enemy it lessens his military resources and with- holding them has no tendency to induce the horrors of insurrection even in the rebel communities. They constitute a military resource, and being such, that they should not be turned over to the enemy, is too plain to discuss. Why deprive him of supplies by a blockade and voluntarily give him men to produce them? The disposition to be made of the slaves of rebels after the close of the war can safely be left to the wisdom and patriotism of Congress. The representatives of the people will unquestionably secure to the loyal slavehoJders every right to which they are entitled under the constitution of the country. Simon Cameron, Secretary of War A The Congress was not indifferent to the exigencies nor unmindful of the anomalous position the army was being placed in by being called upon to return negroes to slavery. A resolution was introduced in the House of Representatives and adopted on December 23, 1861, and on March 13, 1862, it was enacted into law as an army regulation. The resolution was as follows: Resolved, That the committee on military affairs be instructed to report to this house a bill for the enactment of an additional article of war for the government of the army whereby the officers in the military service of the United States shall be prohibited from using any portion of the forces under their respective com- mands for the purpose of returning fugitives from service or labor, and providing for the punishment of such officers as may violate said article by dismissal from the service.2 SLAVES MUSTERED IN AS UNITED STATES SOLDIERS. General Hunter had established a hold upon the coast of South Carolina. He took the bull by the horns, and not only set the negroes at work, but organized them into companies and armed them. This called for an inquiry from Congress, through Secretary Stanton, to which General Hunter replied in a characteristic letter. Hunter was a trained soldier, a stern, fearless, and uncompromising patriot, who saw farther into the causes and purposes of the Rebellion than many others of that day. His letter ^ is a valuable contribution to the con- ' War of Rebellion, vol. i, series 2, p. 783. -War of Rebellion, vol. i, series 2, p. 791. ^ War of Rebellion, vol. i, series 2, p. 820. 446 THE TEAGEDY OF ANDERSONVILLE. flicting sentiment of the period on the relations of the slaves to the war, and is good reading at this time. It is as follows : Headquarters Department of the South, Hon. Edwin M. Stanton, Port Royal, S. C, June 23, 1862. Secretary of War, Washington, D. C. Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of a communication from the adjutant-general of the army, dated June 13, 1862, requesting me to furnish you with the information necessary to answer certain resolutions introduced to the House of Representatives June 9, 1862, on motion of the Hon. Mr. Wickliffe, of Kentucky, their substance being to inquire: 1. Whether I had organized or was organizing a regiment of "fugitive slaves" in this department? 2. Whether any authority had been given me from the war department for such organization; and 3. Whether I had been furnished by the war department with clothing, uniforms, arms, equipments, etc., for such a force? Only having received the letter covering these inquiries at a late hour on Satur- day night I urge forward my answer in time for the steamer sailing to-day (Monday), this haste preventing me from entering as minutely as I could wish upon many points of detail such as the paramount importance of the subject calls for. But in view of the near termination of the present session of Congress and the widespread interest which must have been awakened by Mr. Wickliflfe's resolutions, I prefer sending even this imperfect answer to waiting the period necessary for the collection of fuller and more comprehensive data. To the first question therefore I reply that no regiment of "fugitive slaves" has been or is being organized in this department. There is, however, a fine regiment of persons whose late masters are "fugitive rebels" — men who everywhere fly before the appearance of the national flag, leaving their servants behind them to shift as best they can for themselves. So far indeed are the loyal persons composing this regiment from seeking to avoid the presence of their late owners that they are now one and all working with remarkable industry to place themselves in a position to go in full and efi'ective pursuit of their fugacious and traitorous proprietors. To the second question I have the honor to answer that the instructions given to Brig.-Gen. T. W. Sherman by the Hon. Simon Cameron, late secretary of war, and turned over to me by succession for my guidance, do distinctly authorize me to employ all loyal persons offering their services in defense of the Union and for the suppression of this Rebellion, in any manner I might see fit or that the circum- stances might call for. There is no restriction as to the character or color of the persons to be employed or the nature of the employment — whether civil or military — in which their services should be used. I conclude therefore that I have been authorized to enlist "fugitive slaves" as soldiers, could any be found in this depart- ment. No such characters, however, have yet appeared within view of our most advanced pickets — the loyal slaves everywhere remaining on their plantations to welcome us, aid us, and supply us with food, labor and information. It is the masters who have in every instance been the "fugitives," running away from loyal slaves and loyal soldiers, and whom we have only partially been able to see — THE EXCHANGE OF PKISONEES. 447 chiefly their heads over ramparts or rifle in hand dodging behind trees in the extreme distance. In the absence of any "fugitive-master law" the deserted slaves I would be wholly without remedy had not the crime of treason given them the right to pursue, capture and bring back those persons of whose protection they , have been thus suddenly bereft. j To the third interrogatory it is my painful duty to reply that I have never received any specific authority for issues of clothing, uniforms, arms, equipments j and so forth to the troops in question. My general instructions from Mr. Cameron to employ them in any manner I might find necessary, and the military exigencies of the department and the country being my only but in my judgment sufficient justification. Neither have I any specific authority for supplying these persons with shovels, spades and pickaxes when employing them as laborers, nor with I boats and oars when using them as lightermen; but these are not points included in Mr. Wickliffe's resolution. To me it seemed that liberty to employ men in any j particular capacity implied with it liberty also to supply them with the necessary tools, and acting upon this faith I have clothed, equipped and armed the only loyal regiment yet raised in South Carolina. I I must say, in vindication of my own conduct, that had it not been for the ! many other diversified and imperative claims on my time and attention, a much j| more satisfactory result might have been hoped for, and that in place of only one, as at present, at least five or six well-drilled, brave and thoroughly-acclimated |i regiments should by this time have been added to the loyal forces of the Union. The experiment of arming the blacks, so far as I have made it, has been a com- plete and even marvelous success. They are sober, docile, attentive and en- I thusiastic, displaying great natural capabilities for acquiring the duties of a soldier. They are eager beyond all things to take the field and be led into action, ij and it is the unanimous opinion of the officers who have had charge of them that ' in the peculiarities of this climate and country they will prove invaluable auxiliaries, fuUy equal to the similar regiments so long and successfully used by the British I authorities in the West India Islands. In conclusion I would say it is my hope — there appearing no possibility of other I' re-enforcements, owing to the exigencies of the campaign in the Peninsula — to have organized by next fall, and to be able to present to the government, from 48,000 to 50,000 of these hardy and devoted soldiers. Trusting that this letter may form part of your answer to Mr. Wickliffe's resolutions, I have the honor to be, most respectfully, your obedient servant, D. Hunter, Major-General, Commanding.'^ It thus will be seen, by gradual and inevitable progressive steps, thousands of negro slaves became free and were so recognized before the immortal proclamation of universal freedom. From slavery to ' No one can fail to admire the bold frankness of this letter and the obviously practical view of the situation taken by General Hunter. It will be recalled that many eminent men in the South advocated arming the slaves in defense of the Rebellion— most remarkable, indeed, as it would have been asking the slaves to fight for the privilege of having their fetters more Strongly riveted upon them. 448 THE TRAGEDY OF ANDERSONVILLE. the proud position of a United States soldier, an honored defender of the Union, was indeed a remarkable transformation and a most striking departure from the earlier reception given to fugitive slaves. The organization of negro companies and regiments to aid in the preservation of the government which was then protecting them and their families in the enjoyment of their liberty, and whose former J masters were in the armies of the Rebellion, seeking to destroy that government, was justifiable on principles of international law, of self- preservation, and on the part of the slaves was as an acknowledgment of a reciprocal obligation due for the protection and freedom bestowed upon them. And when once enlisted as soldiers, they became entitled to the same protection from our government, should they become pris- oners of Avar, taken in honorable battle, as any other of our prisoners. And this brings me to one of the causes for the breaking off of the general exchange of prisoners which had theretofore taken place under the cartel. The rebel congress passed an act outlawing any white officer who when taken prisoner was in command of negro troops and prescribing as penalty the fate of a felon. The negro troops themselves were to be restored to their masters or put to hard labor. This brutal and barbarous policy was to some extent enforced. In some instances negro troops and their officers were shown no quarter when captured and were murdered in cold blood. The Fort Pillow massacre will be recalled. The right of exchange was denied them, officers were igno- miniously treated, and the enlisted men were, as at Andersonville, put to work on fortifications or other defensive work, were treated with great severity, — at times punished by whipping, — and at no time and I in no instance given recognition as soldiers. When this policy became known to the Federal authorities a most vigorous protest was sent through the officers of exchange; threats of retaliation were made, £ind, pending the settlement of the question upon a basis that would accord equal treatment to all United States prisoners of war, general exchanges, Avhich had been going on under the cartel, ceased. THE NEGRO AS A SOLDIER. In a very interesting and instructive lecture delivered at Boston by Brigadier-General Andrew S. Burt, U. S. A., retired, on December 12, 1910 and published in the New York Evening Post December 17, 1910, he shows what splendid soldiers the negroes made and how valu- able their services became in the struggle to maintain the Union ; and THE EXCHANGE OF PEISONERS. 449 that now, in time of peace and in garrison duty, they have shown themselves to be model soldiers. There were 187,000 negroes enlisted during the Civil War, many more than most people realize. I quote: They participated in 213 battles and engagements, and never permitted the Union colors to be dishonored by cowardice or treachery. . . . The glorious achieve- ments of the negro soldiers in the war for independence were forgotten in the second war with Great Britain, and when they drove back General Packenham, and kept him out of New Orleans in 1812, it was hailed as a new discovery of the military capacity of our people. When the Civil War came on, it was not until the second year of that death- grapple that the negro soldiers were permitted to enlist and then on half -pay; but before the terrible struggle was concluded they had written a new chapter in heroism and one which will never perish. Their brilliant achievements at Forts Wagner and Olustee, Fort Hudson and Milliken's Bend, made them welcome into the flower of the army — the Army of the Potomac — in the closing months of those bloody conflicts in front of Richmond and Petersburg. In the battles of Wilson's Wharf, Deep Bottom, Chapin's Farm, and Hatcher's Eun they won for themselves immortal glory. On May 24, 1864, Gen. Fitzhugh Lee, then in the prime of youth- ful vigor, at the head of 4,000 dismounted Confederate cavalry, attacked Wilson's Wharf, defended by two negro regiments under Gen. Wild, but the chivalry of the South was compelled to retire precipitously before the desperate counter charges of the negroes. A government that would withhold its protection from such men and such of its defenders would be unworthy fighting for. It cannot for a moment be admitted that our government was M-rong in the stand it took upon this issue. It would have been a dastardly betrayal of its duty to defenders of the Union to have yielded its position and conceded to the rebel government the right to treat our officers as felons and enslave our soldiers. It is cowardly and atrocious at this day to attribute blame to our government for the wanton cruelties to prisoners at Andersonville, in its stand taken with reference to col- ored troops and their officers, the justice and humanity of which no one not blinded by hatred and prejudice can gainsay. But this was not the only ground on which our government justified its action, though in itself all-sufficient. Exchanges were proceeding without serious interruption, although, as the rebel commissioner, Ould, said in March, 1863, they were sending to us miserable wretches and receiving some of the best material he ever saw. The facts are very clearly stated in a report made to the secretary of war by Gen- eral Hitchcock, our commissioner of exchange. His statement of the case will be received with that confidence in its truth and fairness which his high rank, his known uprightness of character, his devotion THE EXCHANGE OF PEISONERS. 451 to the cause of the Union, and his familiarity with the subject must inspire. His report to the secretary of war covers the whole ^ound, and is a most convincing vindication of the course taken by our gov- ernment, and is a complete defense of General Grant's attitude in dealing with the subject of exchange, and should be carefully read.^ SUSPENSION OF THE CARTEL — REASONS THEREFOR. Washington City, D. C, November 22, 1S65. Hon. Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War. Sir: I have the honor to submit the following statement as my general report for the current year on the subject of the exchange of prisoners of war; in doing which I find it necessary to revert to some facts of a precedent date in order that the subject may be better understood. At an early period of the Eebellion a cartel for the exchange of prisoners was agreed upon in conformity with the authority of the president, as communicated to General Dix by the secretary of war in the following despatch, which contains on its face an important limitation, carefully guarding against any recognition of the rebel government, the object having expressly in view the humane purpose of extending relief to prisoners of war: War Department, Washington City, July 12, 1862. Maj.-Gen. John A. Dix, Fort Monroe. The president directs me to say that he authorizes you to negotiate a general exchange of prisoners with the enemy. You will take immediate measures for that purpose, observing proper caution against any recognition of the rebel government and confining the negotiation to the subject of exchange. The cartel between the United States and Great Britain has been considered a proper regulation as to the relative exchange value of prisoners. Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War, The agreement, signed by General Dix on the part of the government, and General Hill on the part of the rebels, was duly announced in public orders by authority dated war department, adjutant-general's office, Washington, September 25, 1862, a copy of which is hereunto annexed. So long as the cartel for exchange of prisoners was respected in the South it was faithfully observed by the government, and there is no doubt that its faithful execution would have been continued by the government until the end of the war, unless properly revoked by competent authority, if the rebel authorities had not most distinctly violated its terms, under circumstances, indeed, of great aggra- vation. The first indication on the part of the rebels of a disposition to disregard the cartel became public through a message by Jefferson Davis to the rebel congress, in which, after alluding to the proclamation of the president announcing emancipa- tion, he makes use of the following language: "I shall, unless in your wisdom yon deem some other course more expedient, deliver to the several state authorities; all commissioned oflScers of the United States that may hereafter be captured by our forces in any of the states embraced in the proclamation, that they may be ' War of Rebellion, vol. 8, series 2, p. 799. 452 THE TEAGEDY OF ANDERSONVILLE. dealt with in accordance with the laws of those states providing for the punish- ment of criminals engaged in inciting servile insurrection." i This announcement of Mr. Davis was made January 12, 1863, and received the modified approval of the rebel congress, as shown in the following sections of an act approved May 1, 1863, to wit : 2 Sec. 4. That every white person, being a commissioned officer, or acting as such, who, during the present war, shall command negroes or mulattoes in arms against the Confederate States, or who shall arm, train, organize, or prepare negroes or mulattoes for military service against the Confederate States, or who shall voluntarily aid negroes or mulattoes in any military enterprise, attack, or conflict in such service, shall be deemed as inciting servile insurrection, and shall, if captured, be put to death, or be otherwise punished at the discretion of the court. Sec. 5. Every person, being a commissioned oflScer or acting as such in the service of the enemy, who shall during the present war excite, attempt to excite, or cause to be excited, a servile insurrection, or who shall incite, or cause to be incited, a slave to rebel, shall, if captured, be put to death, or be otherwise pun- ished at the discretion of the court. Sec. 7. All negroes and mulattoes who shall be engaged in war or be taken in arms against the Confederate States, or shall give aid or comfort to the enemies of the Confederate States, shall when captured in the Confederate States, be de- livered to the authorities of the state or states in which they shall be captured, to be dealt with according to the present or future laws of such state or states. 3 When the message just referred to became known to the president, he saw at once the necessity of meeting it, and gave instructions to retain such rebel officers as might be captured, in order to be in a position to check the rebel government and restrain the execution of its avowed purpose, in violation of the cartel. This proceeding, initiated by the rebel government in violation of the cartel, ultimated in the cessation of exchanges, which, as the history of the matter shows, became unavoidable, and was entirely due to the rebel government. Coincident with the proceedings with regard to the exchange of prisoners of war, the rebels inaugurated a system of seizing unoffending citizens of the United States and subjecting them to maltreatment, in various ways, in order to effect a particular object, which became apparent when a demand was made for their release. For this purpose quite a number of citizens of Pennsylvania were carried into captivity by General Lee when he penetrated into that state in 1863. When a demand was made for the release of this class of prisoners it was met by a most positive declaration that no citizen prisoner in rebel hands should be released unless the government would enter into an agreement with the rebel authorities not to arrest any one on account of his opinions or on account of his sympathy with the rebel cause; and this declaration was repeated again and again by the rebel authorities whenever the government demanded the release or exchange of said citizen prisoners. It will require but the slightest glance at this subject to convince any one of the utter impossibility of acquiescing in the demand of the rebel authorities as a prerequisite to the release of the citizens thus held in bondage. Such an agree- ' The state laws made such offense a felony with a felon's punishment. - Joint resolution. See War of Rebellion, vol. s, series 2, p. 940. ' The rebel congress attached the death penalty for the alleged crime of commanding negro troops in aid of the suppression of the Rebellion. THE EXCHANGE OF PRISONERS. 453 ment on the part of the United States would have been a virtual acknowledgment of the independence of the rebel government, and would have foreclosed all pro- ceedings of the United States against all persons whomsoever, engaged in the crime of treason and rebellion. It was absolutely impossible to acquiesce in the demand of the South on that point, and this is the reason why this class of pris- oners was beyond the reach of the government, except through the power of its armies, which finally settled the entire question by putting an end to the entire Rebellion itself. At the commencement of the cessation of exchanges the rebels held a few ■prisoners of war over and above the number of rebels held by the government, but the capture of Vicksburg and Port Hudson threw the balance largely the other way; and, as the prisoners captured by General Grant and General Banks were left in the South on parole, the rebel authorities determined to make use of them, not merely in violation of the cartel, but in open contempt of the laws of war. They first ordered that body of men to be assembled at a place called Enterprise, in Mississippi, on pretense of facilitating measures for their supplies, but in reality for the different purpose, as we are now compelled to believe, of throwing them into the rebel ranks to meet the anticipated conflict which, it was seen, was near at hand in East Tennessee, and which accordingly took place at the memorable battles of Chickamauga and Chattanooga ; in which battles many of the captured prisoners, paroled in the South by Generals Grant and Banks, took part without having been duly exchanged, although the rebel authorities made an ex parte declaration of exchange in their favor without proper authority, which was pro- tested against by the United States. It must be understood that the rebels might at any time have resumed the system of exchange agreed upon in the cartel by receding from the assumed right of disposing of captured Union officers as required in the act passed by the rebel congress, before alluded to, and agreeing to the exchange of colored troops; but they would never agree to acknowledge the right of colored troops to treatment due to prisoners of war; and as the government of the United States had exercised the right of employing colored troops as a part of the force against the rebels, their claim to such protection as the government could give was one which did not admit of discussion. When the rebels discovered that the suspension of exchanges was operating against them they resorted to the horrible expedient of subjecting the prisoners they held to starvation and exposure to the elements, without the protection of quarters or tents, after first robbing them of their money and most of their cloth- ing, and without regard to seasons or their inclemencies, in the hope of forcing the government into a system of exchanges which should have the effect not onlv of leaving in their hands all the colored prisoners they had taken, but of throwing into their ranks the entire body of prisoners held by the Federal power, then greatly in excess over the prisoners held by the rebels. i This fact is proved by the declarations of the Richmond papers at the time when a few exchanges were made, that the rebel agent, Colonel Ould, had not sent over the lines the number of pris- oners equivalent to those received, but only a proportionate number, the ratio being 1 Andersonville and its horrors justify the view thus taken of the treatment given Union prisoners. 454 THE TRAGEDY OF ANDERSONVILLE. determined by Colonel Oulcl, in view of the number of prisoners held in the South against those held in the North, the claim to hold in reserve the colored prisoners in the South having never been abandoned. This fact was further established by the oflScial records of the commissary-general of prisoners, by which it appeared that, after sending several boatloads of exchanged prisoners each way, the rebels were constantly falling in debt. Upon observing this fact, and noticing the publications in Richmond, I called upon the commissary-general of prisoners for a tabular statement of the result, and the statement showed an indebtedness in our favor of over 500 men, which statement was handed to the secretary of war, who thereupon directed an order to General Grant to assume the entire control of the matter of exchanges, with authority to give such orders as he might think proper on the subject. General Grant at once reverted to first principles, and directed that Colonel Ould or the rebel authorities should be notified that colored troops should be treated as prisoners of war when captured; and, as the rebels were not willing to accede to this requirement, no further exchanges were made. Upon the receipt at the war department of the first intelligence of the inhuman treatment to which our prisoners were subjected at Richmond,i the secretary of war, without a moment's hesitation, gave instructions to our agent of exchange at Fort Monroe to send forward supplies from the public stores for their relief, and large quantities of provisions and clothing were accordingly sent for dis- tribution among the prisoners, and every possible effort was made to afford that sort of relief, even at the hazard of large portions of the supplies being wasted, or, what was worse, misappropriated to the benefit of our enemies, who, it soon appeared, made use of these supplies for their own advantage, leaving our prisoners still to suffer.2 But even this did not destroy the hope of the secretary that some portion of the supplies would, at least, be permitted to reach its des- tination, and the orders to send that relief were left in force until the rebels themselves, shamed, perhaps, by the scandalous state of things, then likely to become historical, refused to receive any further supplies through the agents of the government. In the mean time the sympathies of friends in the North were naturally awakened, and large quantities of supplies of all kinds were sent to Fort Monroe, whence they were forwarded for the relief of the prisoners at Richmond; but the moment they passed beyond the control of our agents they fell into the hands of the most unprincipled and shameless scoundrels that ever disgraced humanity. It is in proof that large quantities of supplies furnished by the benevolence of the North for the relief of suffering humanity in Southern prisons were piled up in sight of the objects for whose relief the supplies were sent, but beyond the line of the prison guards; and while the prisoners were thus in sight of their own boxes they were not only forbidden to touch them but compelled to witness depredations upon them by the guards themselves, who feasted upon their contents, leaving the victims of war a prey to that merciless barbarism which will make one of the darkest pages in the history of a rebellion which will itself remain an aston- ishment to all posterity for its almost causeless existence. Many have supposed that it was in the power of the government to afford relief to the prisoners in the South by a resort to retaliatory treatment of rebel prisoners ' This was in 1863, and before Anderson ville Prison was created. ^ This was true at Andersonville. THE EXCHANGE OF PEISONEKS. 455 in the North. It is difficult to meet a suggestion of this kind by an appeal to the instincts of civilized humanity, because the mere suggestion supposes the absence of those instincts, and implies a willingness to see the public sentiment degraded into barbarism, which would have put the nation itself on the footing of savages, whose only excuse for their barbarity is their ignorance and their exclusion from the civilized world. The day must come when every true American will be proud of the reflection that the government was strong enough to crush the Rebellion without losing the smallest element of its humanity or its dignity, and stands before the world unimpeached in its true honor and glory. It may be observed that no one imagined, prospectively, the horrors that came to light ali Andersonville, the full enormity of which only became known at the close of the military events which ended the war. Had they been known when at their worst the government would have had the choice of but three measures: First, the rebel prisoners might have been sent South, we to receive in return euch white prisoners as they might have held, leaving the colored troops to their fate; second, a resort to retaliatory measures; or lastly, for the country to wage war with increased zeal to bring it to a legitimate end. No man can doubt which of these plans the Northern people would have approved if submitted to them, and the government only assumed to represent the people in the question. i It ought to be mentioned here, as a beautiful illustration of the moral sublime, that among the many memorials, some of them very numerously signed, which reached the war department, praying for relief to Federal prisoners suffering in the South, in nearly all of them there was an express protest against a resort to retaliation. And what was the real effect of the barbarity upon the prisoners in the South! Certainly it was most deplorable and shocking upon individuals for the time being; but no one whose moral eyes are open can fail to see that it became in many ways a signal step, under the guidance of Providence, for bring- ing the rebel cause to destruction. It strengthened the feeling in the North in favor of warlike and determined measures against the Rebellion ; it sent thousands into the army who took the field resolutely determined to punish the authors of a great crime against humanity. The enemy might almost literally have felt that it is "a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God." An erroneous opinion appears to have been circulated, more or less widely, with regard to the number of colored Federal troops who fell into the hands of the enemy, which makes it important to state that the actual number thus exposed to injurious treatment was very much greater than has been commonly supposed. This will sufSciently appear from the fact that, on the 21st of January, 1865, Lieut. O. 0. Poppleton, adjutant of the 111th U. S. Colored Infantry, addressed a letter, dated at Nashville, Tenn., to Major-General Butler, in the following words, to wit: I have the honor to enclose herewith a copy of a Mobile paper (rebel) contain- ing, over the signature of D. H. Maury, Major-General, C. S. Army, the names of 569 soldiers belonging to the One hundred and sixth, One hundred and tenth, and One hundred and eleventh Regiments of U. S. Colored Infantry, who were taken prisoners by a force of the enemy under Ma j. -Gen. N. B. Forrest at Athens 1 After having read this scathing indictment of the rebel authorities and this exposure of their perfidious conduct, can the reader view with complacency the attempt to charge upon General Grant the responsibility for the sufferings at Andersonville? 456 THE TRAGEDY OF ANDEESONVILLE. and Sulphur Branch Trestle, Ala., on the 24th and 25th of September, 1864, and placed at work on the defenses of Mobile, Ala., by order of the rebel authorities. Lieut. William T. Lewis, adjutant One hundred and tenth U. S. Colored In- fantry has a paper of later date than this, containing the names of nearly 300 more soldiers of the same command also at work on the defenses of Mobile. This is an official report from the adjutant of the One hundred and eleventh Regiment Colored Infantry, showing that there were then, in January, 1865, at work on the fortifications about Mobile 569 colored soldiers belonging to three regiments only; and a reference is made to another paper as being at that time in the hands of another officer, an adjutant also of one of those regiments, em- bracing the names of "nearly 300 more soldiers of the same command," making in all over 800 colored soldiers of the United States army at work under rebel officers on the fortifications around Mobile alone. When the government determined to employ colored troops in its armies the principle was recognized that they were entitled to protection; and accordingly it was claimed that the class of trooj^s referred to should receive such treatment from the army as was due to other troops employed in the defense of the govern- ment. The assertion of this principle did not depend upon the number of colored troops who might at any time be in the hands of the enemy. Every consideration of honor and humanity required the assertion of this principle as due to the troops employed in the service of the government; and accordingly, in various communi- cations, when the subject required it, the government agents connected with the duties of exchange of prisoners invariably set forward the principle. But this did not prevent the exchange of prisoners, man for man and officer for officer; the difficulty on this subject was due, first, to the message of Mr. Davis to the rebel congress, already referred to, declaring his purpose to deliver to Southern state authorities such white Union officers as might be captured for trial under state laws unknown alike to the laws of Congress and to the laws of war, as also stated above, in the fact the rebel authorities released from the obliga- tions of their parole a number of rebel prisoners and placed them in their ranks without exchange. During the brief period prior to the capture of Vicksburg the rebels held more prisoners of war than the government ; but after the date of that event the case was reversed, and from that time forward the government made every effort to obtain exchanges — man for man and officer for officer — but without avail, the rebel authorities persistently resisting applications for exchange unless the gov- ernment would release all rebel prisoners, after they had openly violated the cartel themselves, claiming that the government should deliver to them all rebel prisoners, while they on their part declared their purpose of withholding from exchange such colored prisoners as they might have in their possession. It is important to observe here that while this controversy was pending we actually held in prison depots in the North about 70,000 prisoners of war, over and above which we had a just and valid claim for more than 30,000 men who had been captured and paroled in the South, chiefly at Vicksburg and Port Hud- son, and who had never been properly exchanged; making in all at least 100,000 men whom the rebel authorities wished to draw from us in exchange for about 40,000 of the white troops of the United States, the effect of which would have been to throw into the army of General Lee an effective force of about 60,000 or THE EXCHANGE OF PEISONEES. 457 70,000 men, in fine health and able in all respects to be put immediately into the field against General Grant's army, or with which General Lee might have obtained a disposable force of some 50,000 or more men for the purpose of entering the states of the North, and thereby possibly compelling General Grant to raise the siege of Kichmond or expose the Northern states to devastation by the enemy.i ■ It was the desire of the rebel agent of exchange to avoid making special ex- changes, in the hope of drawing from us the whole of the rebel prisoners of war we held in return for inferior numbers held by the enemy. To accomplish that object the rebel commissioner or agent of exchange not only declined to make exchanges on equal terms in any considerable number, but refused to make special exchanges, except under extraordinary influences brought to bear by the friends of interested parties; and in repeated instances the rebel agent took care to indorse upon special applications the express declaration that he neither made nor coun- tenanced such applications. In consequence of this state of things, and while there was a hope of effecting general exchanges, only a few applications of a special character w«re forwarded over the lines; but when it became apparent that a general exchange could not be effected I received your instructions to forward all special applications for ex- change, in order, as you explained the purpose at the time, to afford every possible opportunity to extend relief to as many individuals as might have the good fortune to secure Southern influences for that object; and great numbers of such applica- tions were sent over the lines, most of which, however, were never heard from afterward. Another fact I beg to state in connection with this subject, as a further illus- tration of the efforts of the department to extend relief to Federal officers and soldiers imprisoned South, to wit: The rebel authorities resorted to the system of placing individuals in close confinement, in alleged retaliation for what on our side was but the legitimate operation of the laws of war in the punishment of spies and other offenders against those laws. In the endeavor to afford relief in a particular case of this kind the rebel agent seized the opportunity of pro- posing the mutual release and exchange of all prisoners in close confinement, although at that time we had no rebel prisoners thus confined except by due course of law. This proposition was manifestly unfair, and a recovered letter from the rebel agent has shown that he knew it was so. Nevertheless, the proposition was accepted by your orders, and although it effected the release of some criminals belonging to the rebel army, it carried relief to a number of Federal officers and soldiers in the South, who thus obtained liberation, the concession on your part having had in view the relief it promised, and to some extent effected, in favor of a few of our officers and soldiers. The recovered letter alluded to was dated at City Point, March 17, 1863, and addressed to Brigadier-General Winder, in the following words: Sir: A flag of truce boat has arrived with 350 political prisoners, General Barrow and several other prominent men amongst them. I wish you to send me at 4 o'clock Wednesday morning all the military prisoners (except officers) and all the political prisoners you have. If any of the political prisoners have on hand proof enough to convict them of being spies, or having committed other offenses 1 Does not General Hitchcock make perfectly clear that the course our government pursued was the only one consistent with national honor and the plainest principles of justice? 458 THE TRAGEDY OF ANDERSONVILLE. which should subject them to punishment, so state opposite their names. Also, state whether you think, under all circumstances, they should be released. The arrangement I have made works largely in our favor. We get rid of a set of miserable wretches and receive some of the best material I ever saw. Tell Cap- tain Turner to put down on the list of political prisoners the names of Edward G. Eggling and Eugenia Hammermister. The president is anxious they should get off. They are here now. This, of course, is between ourselves. If you have any female political prisoner whom you can send off safely to keep her company I would [like] you to send her. Two hundred and odd more political prisoners are on their way. I would be more full in my communication if I had time. Yours truly, Ro. OuLD, Agent of ExcJiangeA It should be noticed in this report that when the subject of exchange became embarrassing, because of the unwillingness of the enemy to exchange man for man, he demanding all of the rebel prisoners we held in exchange for the white prisoners held by him, Major-General Halleck, by the direction of the secretary of war, made an effort to obtain exchanges on equal terms. For this purpose he sent a flag of truce to General Lee, then in force on the Rapidan, and proposed that species of exchange; but General Lee declined to act upon the proposition, and answered, evidently in accordance with instructions from Richmond, that the subject of exchange was in the hands of a commissioner and he preferred to have nothing to do with it. As a further effort to obtain this class of exchanges the secretary authorized various commanders, distant from Washington, to open communications vnth the enemy, and to effect exchanges whenever they could be made on equal terms. In the midst of these diflSculties I was painfully impressed with the impossibility of effecting exchanges on equal terms with Judge Ould ; and having understood that General Butler was of the opinion that, if empowered to do so, he could make exchanges, I addressed a note to the secretary of war and proposed to withdraw from the position of commissioner of exchange in favor of any officer who could accomplish so desirable a result; upon which, however, the secretary did not see fit to make an order. A few days after this I was sent for from the war office, where I found the secretary in conversation with General Halleck on the subject of exchanges. The secretary then informed me that General Butler had expressed the opinion above stated, and that several members of Congress had expressed a similar opinion with regard to General Butler's ability to effect exchanges, if empowered to do so. I at once said to the secretary, "If General Butler is of opinion that he can make exchanges, I think, sir, you had better let him try." He then said that it was his wish that I should go to Fort Monroe and confer upon General Butler the requisite power by his authority, and he thereupon wrote, in the presence of General Halleck and myself, the following order : War Department, Washington, December 16, 1863. Major-General Hitchcock, Commissioner of Exchange of Prisoners. General: You will proceed immediately to Fort Monroe and take any meas- ures that may be practicable for the release, exchange, or relief of U. S. oflScers and soldiers held as prisoners by the rebels. You are authorized and directed to confer with Major-General Butler on the subject, and may authorize him, as special agent, commissioner, or otherwise, to ^ This is the letter I discovered and introduced at the trial. — N. P. C. il THE EXCHANGE OF PRISONERS. 459 procure their release or exchange upon any just terms not conflicting with prin- ciples on which the department has heretofore acted in reference to the exchange of colored troops and their officers, and not surrendering to the rebels any prisoners without just equivalents. You may, if you deem it proper, relieve General Meredith and direct him to report to the Adjutant-General for orders. Yours truly, Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War. Within half an hour after the writing of the above order I was on my way to Fort Monroe, and on the morning of the 17th of December I reported to General Butler. After stating the limitations under which he would be authorized to make exchanges I requested him to prepare instructions for himself, giving him the authority he desired, in accordance with the orders of the secretary, stating that when ready I would sign them in the name of or with the authority of the secre- tary. In two or three hours thereafter I called again upon General Butler and made the instructions he had prepared official. They contained the following para- graphs : You are hereby instructed not to make any exchange which shall not return to you man for man, officer for officer, of equal rank with those paroled and sent forward by yourself, regarding, of course, for motives of humanity in the earlier exchanges, those officers and men on either side who have been longest confined. Colored troops and their officers will be put upon an equality in making ex- changes, as of right, with other troops. You are permitted, in conducting the exchange, to waive for the present the consideration of the questions of parole and excess now pending between the Confederate belligerent authorities and this government, leaving them untouched as they stand until further interchange of views between those authorities and yourself. The above instructions to General Butler will show precisely the animus of the secretary of war on the subject of exchanges. He was perfectly willing and anxious to make exchanges, man for man, officer for officer, and gave, as must be seen, the fullest power to General Butler to effect those exchanges. General Butler in his conversation with me expressed no desire to have any other instruc- tions or powers committed to him, and appeared to be very confident of his ability to accomplish the desired result, giving me in detail many reasons for that con- fidence. I returned to the city of Washington, and within a few days the public prints announced General Butler's first attempt to make exchanges and the result. General Butler sent a boatload of prisoners under a flag of truce to City Point, where they were offered for a like number of Federal troops. It appears that when this was reported to the rebel government violent indignation was expressed by the rebel authorities on the alleged ground that General Butler was an outlaw by the proclamation of Mr. Davis, and that it was an insult to employ him to accomplish any result requiring any sort of intercourse between him and the rebel authorities; but it was concluded that, inasmuch as a certain number of their troops were actually within their lines as returned prisoners of war, they should be received, and a like number of Federal prisoners should be exchanged for them; but notice was given to our agent that no more prisoners would be received in that manner, and it was reported at the time that General Butler was informed that a flag of truce even should not protect him within the rebel lines. When this was reported in Washington the president himself, in the presence of the secretary of war, declined to give any order on the subject, unwilling to 460 THE TRAGEDY OF ANDEESONVILLE. concede to the rebels the right to dictate what agents this government should employ in its public business; but it was plain to be seen that the real object of the rebel authorities was to avoid making equal exchanges of man for man and officer for officer, their purpose being to deliver to us, as before stated, only a proportionate number of prisoners held by them as against those held by us; and because General Butler's instructions required the exchange of man for man, made the employment of General Butler in the business of exchange the pretext for refusing those equal exchanges. This was evident, because, in point of fact, General Butler did not personally appear in the business — that is, he did not accompany the flag of truce — and if there had been any disposition on the part of the rebels to make equal exchanges they knew those exchanges would be made through the agency of another officer and not personally by General Butler; and thus the real purpose of the rebels becomes manifest, their object being to draw from us all of their own troops in our hands, giving us in exchange only such white troops of the Federal forces as they might hold. After this experiment by General Butler matters remained in suspense for some time, no exchanges being made. At length two Federal officers who had escaped from rebel prisons gave me their opinion, in this city, that if we would send to City Point for exchange a body of 300, 400, or 500 rebel officers, demanding a like number in return, the feeling in the South, they believed, would be such that the rebel authorities would not dare to refuse the exchange; and if that succeeded, they would not dare thereafter to refuse to exchange private soldiers. I thought very well of this suggestion and addressed a note to the secretary of war, communicating it and recommending its trial. The secretary at once accepted the suggestion and directed General Canby, then on duty in the war office, to require General Butler to make that trial. But General Butler thought proper to send a mixed boatload of officers and men. Here, then, was another effort to make exchanges on equal terms. The enemy accepted the prisoners sent over the lines but did not return a like number. This fact was publicly stated by the newspapers at Eichmond and was confirmed by official reports received at the office of General Hoffman, the commissary-general of prisoners, after several boatloads had passed. When the purpose of the rebel commissioner became apparent, not to make exchanges man for man but only in proportionate numbers, the fact, with the evidence for it, was submitted to the secretary of war, and then it was, as stated above, that General Grant was in- structed to take the subject under his own supervision, with the result already alluded to. After General Butler took charge of the duties in connection with the exchange of prisoners I was not officially advised of his proceedings, because he, being of senior rank to myself, made no reports to me; but in August, 1864, there waa published in the journals of the day a letter, over the signature of General Butler, of the highest importance in connection with this subject. No official copy was furnished to me and I have never seen the letter of Judge Ould to which it refers, the authenticity of which, however, is sufficiently vouched in the letter of General Butler, which commences, addressed to Judge Ould, in these words: Sir: Your note to Major Mulford, assistant agent of exchange, under date of the 10th of August, has been referred to me. You therein state that Major Mul- ford has several times proposed to exchange prisoners respectively held by the THE EXCHANGE OF PEISONEES. 461 two belligerents, oflScer for oflScer and man for man ; and that the offer has also been made by other officials having charge of matters connected with the exchange of prisoners, and that this proposal has been heretofore declined by the Confederate authorities. That you now consent to the above proposition and agree to deliver to you (Major Mulford) the prisoners held in captivity by the Confederate au- thorities, provided you agree to deliver an equal number of officers and men. This letter, cited by General Butler, from Colonel Ould shows conclusively by whom the proposition for an equal exchange was originally made. It shows also that it had been repeatedly made by the government and had been as repeatedly refused by the rebel authorities. The matter had been placed in General Butler's hands, and he answered Judge Quid's letter, asking some preliminary explanations, which I believe were never made, and the opportunity of a final action upon Judge Quid's letter was thus cut off by himself. The reasons that induced General Butler's action may no doubt be seen, in part at least, in the letter he addressed to Judge Ould, which was published in the journals of the day. I have never heard that the matter was referred to the secretary of war, and have never understood that he gave any order in the premises. We learn from General Butler's letter that Judge Ould did not reach his con- clusion in reference to Major Mulford's proposition until a period of eight months had elapsed. It is impossible to approach the subject of this report without being solemnly impressed by a sense of the horrors inflicted upon the prisoners of war in the South; but in making the report I have felt imperatively called upon to confine myself to facts connected immediately with the subject of exchanges, leaving inferences to be drawn by others. I attach hereto such official letters and tele- graphic despatches as have either originated in my office or have reached me as may throw light upon the subject of this report. I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant, E. A. Hitchcock, Maj. Gen. of Vols. Commissioner for Exchange of Prisoners. On October 20, 1863, General Halleck at Washington wrote General Grant, then at Louisville, Kentucky, after General Rosecrans' defeat at Chicamauga :^ It is now ascertained that the greater part of the prisoners paroled by you at Vicksburg (July 4th), and General Banks at Port Hudson, were illegally and improperly declared exchanged, and forced into the ranks to swell the rebel num- bers at Chickamauga. This outrageous act, in violation of the laws of war, of the cartel entered into by the rebel authorities, and all sense of honor, gives us a lesson in regard to the character of the enemy with whom we are contending. He neither regards the rules of civilized warfare, nor even his most solemn engagements. You may, therefore, expect to meet in arms thousands of unex- changed prisoners released by you and others on parole, not to serve again until duly exchanged. • General Sherman's Memoirs. 462 THE TRAGEDY OF ANDEESONVILLE. The inscription on the Wirz monument, giving a quotation from General Grant's letter of August 18, 1864, was placed there for the obvious purpose of fixing upon him the responsibility for the suffer- ings of our soldiers. It is due to the truth of history and to General Grant's memory that the correspondence, of which his letter forms a part, should be read. It will thus appear that General Grant was consistently adhering to a policy which would not only have been base treachery to the negro troops to abandon, but, as he points out, inhumanity to our soldiers in the field. The correspondence is as follows : City Point, Va., August 18, 1864. Major-General Butler, Commanding, etc. I am opposed to exchanges being made until the whole matter is put on a tooting giving equal advantages to us with those given to the enemy. In the mean time I direct that no flags of truce be sent to the enemy nor any arrangements or agreements entered into with him without my first being fully advised of what is being done and yielding my consent to it. The steamer New York will not be permitted to proceed to Aiken's landing until I receive a report of the full object of the mission and the load she now has on board. U. S. Grant, Lieutenant-GeneralA Butler's Headquarters, August 18, 1864, 7 p. m. Lieutenant-General Grant : Telegram received. No exchange has been made or will be made which will give the enemy any advantage. To show that my views and the lieutenant-general's are in exact accordance, I will Send letter written to General Hitchcock to-day upon this subject with the indorsements referred to. I have exchanged nobody but wounded men since the first of May, except surgeons, non-combatants, and a few cases of special exchange. A full report will be made to the lieutenant-general of all that was intended to be done in the matter. Benj. F. Butler, Major-General, Commissioner of Excliange. [Enclosure.] Hdqrs. Dept. of Virginia and North Carolina,2 In the Field, Va., August 18, 1864. Major-General Hitchcock, Commissioner of Prisoners, Washington, D. C. General: I have one or two indorsements from you which say in substance that "it is desirable to have all our prisoners exchanged." I agree [to] that if all means all. But does the government intend to abandon the colored troops? That is ' War of Rebellion, vol. 7, series 2, p. 606. General Hitchcock's report shows very clearly why it would have been inhumanity to our soldiers in the field to have yielded to the rebel demands. ^ War of Rebellion, vol. 7, series 2, p. 606. THE EXCHANGE OF PEISONEES. 463 the only question now pending. All others can be settled. From my conversation with the lieutenant-general he does not deem it desirable to move from the position taken on that question. I will again call the subject to the attention of Mr. Ould and obtain an interview with him if possible. I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant, Benj. F. Butler, Major-General and Commissioner of Exchange. City Point, Va., August 18, 1864. Major-General Butler, Commanding, etc. I am satisfied that the object of your interview had the proper sanction and therefore meets with my entire approval. T have seen from Southern papers that a system of retaliation is going on in the South which they keep from us and which we should stop in some way. On the subject of exchange, however, I differ from General Hitchcock. It is Jiard on our men held in Southern prisons not to exchange them, iut it is humanity to those left in the ranks to fight our battles. Every man we hold, when released on parole or otherwise, becomes an active soldier against us at once either directly or indirectly. If we commence a system of exchange which liberates all prisoners taken, we will have to fight on until the whole South is exterminated. If we hold those caught they amount to no more than dead men. At this particular time to release all rebel prisoners North would insure Sherman's defeat and would compromise our safety here. U. S. Grant, Li&utenant-General.^ When General Hood moved up the Chattanooga Valley upon Resaca, which was held by a small force under Colonel Clark R. Weaver, he sent a demand for surrender October 12, 1864, in which he stated that if the commander yielded without resistance "all white officers and soldiers will be paroled in a few days. If the place is car- ried by assault, no prisoners will be taken." In the face of the "no quarter" threat of General Hood, Colonel Weaver replied, much as General Corse had done shortly before at Altoona: "In my opinion I can hold this post. If you want it come and take it." This incident is referred to as illustrating that the policy not to treat negro troops or their officers as prisoners of war was then in force. Headquarters Armies of the United States, October 2, 1864.2 General E. E. Lee, Commanding Army of Northern Virginia. General: Your letter of yesterday proposing to exchange prisoners of war belonging to the armies operating in Virginia is received. I could not of a right accept your proposition further than to exchange those prisoners captured within >War of Rebellion, vol. 7. series 2, pp. 606, 607. Note.— The inscription on the Wirz •monument is that portion of General Grant's letter marked in italics. 2 War of Rebellion, vol. 7, series 2, p. 909. 464 THE TRAGEDY OF ANDERSONVILLE. the last three days and who have not yet been delivered to the commissary-general of prisoners. Among those lost by the armies operating against Richmond were a number of colored troops. Before further negotiations are had upon the subject I would ask if you propose delivering these men the same as white soldiers? Very respectfully, your obedient servant, U. S. Grant, Lieutenant-General. General Lee declined to decide the question, and the Richmond authorities adhered to their refusal to treat captured negro soldiers as prisoners of war. Looking back upon this painful controversy, the surviving veterans of the Union army, as well as all fair-minded persons must feel that our government took the only course open to it consistent with national honor and national safety. Colonel John McElroy, of Washington City, editor and proprietor of the National Tribune, an able and prolific writer of Civil War sub- jects, was a prisoner at Andersonville. In my quest for information upon certain points, I sought an interview with him. I do not offer his opinions and statements of fact as evidence, but coming from one so well informed, and himself an eye-witness of many things to which his attention was invited, I do not hesitate to commend them to the careful consideration of the reader. Those who know Colonel Mc- Elroy will accept his statements as importing verity. Chipman. — Did you ever hear of a report made by the Confederate Congress upon the treatment of prisoners — a public document printed by the Confederate government? Mr. Brooks, past department commander, told me last night that he had seen such a report and had once had it, but I had never heard of it. McElroy. — The only things that I know were the report made by the inspector- general, C. S. A., and the proceedings of the grand jury of Sumter County, Georgia. C. — Where are the proceedings of that grand jury to be found? McE. — I do not know where to find them, but I think I made reference to it in my book on Andersonville and must have had it in an authoritative form at that time. C. — You were about to tell me some important facts that I should not overlook. Will you state them? McE. — The main element in the whole consideration of the prison question is the fact that the exchange definitely stopped July 4, 1863. Prior to that time there had been a cartel in operation by which prisoners were to be paroled and reported to their respective sides. This cartel was abused in ways that any one can see it would be, and finally modified to an agreement that all captures should be reduced to possession and delivered to the respective authorities at City Point or Vicksburg. After the capture of Vicksburg ard Port Hudson, General Pemberton applied to THE EXCHANGE OF PRISONEES. 465 General Grant for a guard to take the prisoners outside his lines and deliver them to the Confederate authorities. General Grant refused this from reasons of good policy, the strongest being his belief that as a large portion of Pemberton's forces had been drawn from the country which was now in our possession, if these men were turned loose they would go back home and take no further part in the war. In fact. General Grant furnished transportation to all those who wished to go back to their homes. C. — Well, then, what Pemberton was seeking to bring about was to have his soldiers return to the army and not return to their homes? McE. — Yes. We all know that where the rebel armies advanced they con- scripted every able-bodied man and put him into the ranks. This was the recognized policy of the Southern Confederacy and the real reason of many of their forward movements. Naturally, these men, if they could escape and go back home, living under the protection of the Union army would remain out of the Confederacy. At the battle of Gettysburg Lee captured a great mass of Union prisoners and made a proposition to Meade to exchange them, but Meade pointed out this clause in the cartel compelling the reduction to possession, and then properly refused to receive them, they not having been reduced to possession flince Lee was at least one hundred miles from his own lines. A great many of the prisoners — in fact the great body of them — understood this clearly and refused to accept the paroles which were offered them. There is a statement that General Couch, then commanding the district of the Susquehanna, not understand- ing the situation, did accept the paroles of a number of the Pennsylvania militia. There had come in at the same time the question of the colored troops to com- plicate the situation. Immediately upon the formal announcement of the policy of the government to accept negro troops the so-called Confederate government had responded with a law that the enlisted men among the colored troops who were captured should be returned to their lawful owners, and if these could not be found they should be sold at auction, while their white officers should be turned over to their several states to be dealt with according to the laws punishing those who incite servile insurrection. In one notable instance, that of Milliken's Bend, a number of captured officers were formally hanged, in terrorem, in front of General Dick Taylor's army at Richmond, Louisiana, which paraded to witness the execution. These officers were in command of colored troops. You will find in the war records that General Grant addressed a note to General Dick Taylor asking if this were true. Taylor denied it, in spite of the fact that it had been witnessed by the entire division and the deaths of the officers who were so executed. This may be found in the Rebellion records under proper index. You will find in the "Volunteer Army Register" for 1865 (part 8, p. 152), published from the adjutant-general's office, the following note in the casualties of the 5th U. S. Colored Heavy Artillery: "Capt. Corydon Heath, taken prisoner June 7, 1863, and murdered by the enemy at or near Monroe, La., June — , 1863." Possibly Captain Wm. A. Skillen, Sidney, Ohio, if alive, can furnish some facts relative to this. C. — Did that policy with regard to exchange continue as it stood at that period? MoNUMENi Erected rv tiik State of Maine. THE EXCHANGE OF PRISONERS. 467 McE. — Our government insisted that all the men who wore its uniform and bore its commissions should be treated alike as prisoners of war, and consequently those who had been taken in the operations subsequent to July 1, 1863, were held in possession in abeyance to this discussion. The year 1863 ended with the Con- federates having about 15,000 Union prisoners in their possession, and this gov- ernment having about 25,000 Confederates in its prisons. A still further com- plication arose on account of an order by Robert Ould, the Confederate commis- sioner of exchange, declaring all those prisoners captured at Vicksburg and Port Hudson to be duly exchanged. The Confederate secretary of war then ordered them into the field, and it is estimated that 10,000 of them fought us at Chicka- mauga when Jefferson Davis made the crowning effort to crush Rosecrans. C. — Had Ould any authority for making this declaration? McE. — The only basis that I can remember for this action was the alleged acceptance of paroles of Pennsylvania militia by General Couch. I should have said that in the cartel as modified there was a provision for exchange of man for man and the parole of the surplus. This question of surplus immediately began to be of interest from the preponderance of prisoners in our hands and with Davis and Ould, insisting that they would not exchange man for man unless the surplus in our hands was paroled. My remembrance is that on February 11, 1864, General B. F. Butler, who had been appointed to the command of the department of Virginia and North Carolina, and became ex-oflScio commissioner of exchange, owing to City Point being in his department, wrote a letter in which he said: "For the sake of humanity let us return these men to their homes. Leaving the questions in dispute in' abeyance, I will send lip to-day 500 prisoners for which you can return a like number, and this can continue until all these men are returned to their homes." My remembrance is that perhaps two or three squads of 500 each were so exchanged, when Davis interposed with this demand that the surplus be paroled. As the operations which began on both fronts May 4, 1864, advanced, the disparity in the number of prisoners reduced to possession on both sides increased daily in favor of the government. According to the letter sent to the House of Representatives by Secretary Stanton, enclosing one from Major- General Hitchcock, then commissioner of exchange, we had by that time accumu- lated 220,000 rebels in our prisons, while they had 127,000 of us. This must have been in February or March of 1865. This disparity bears upon the question of paroling the surplus. This great disparity in our favor made Grant, who I am convinced stood firmly all the time for an exchange of man for man, determined against the paroling of the surplus, which would put at least 100,000 fresh, well- fed, well-rested troops in front of his army or that of Sherman, and he very properly said that hard as the lot of us prisoners was it was much better that we should suffer than to have such a prolongation of the war as would result. This, then, will explain the letter which Grant wrote in August, 1864, part of which is inscribed on the monument to Wirz. C— What was the relative condition of the prisoners, federal and rebel, as to numbers in the beginning of 1864? McE. — My remembrance from statements which I saw in the public press is that the year 1863 ended with the Confederates having 15,000 Union soldiers in prison, while the government had 25,000 Confederate soldiers. According to the report 468 THE TRAGEDY OF ANDERSONVILLE. of General Hitchcock, the year 1864 ended with the government having 220,000 Confederate prisoners, while the Confederates had 127,000 Union soldiers in prison. C. — Andersonville was established February 24, 1864. I wish you would give me generally a statement as to the different places where our prisoners were at that time imprisoned, and approximately the number at the different prisons when Andersonville became an establishment. McE. — When it was seen that there was to be a prolonged discussion over the question of exchange, it was decided to be too dangerous to have such a body of prisoners in Eichmond, and besides there was a difficulty in supplying them, as the resources of the Confederacy were taxed to supply Lee's army. There were also small bodies of prisoners at Danville, Virginia, and Cahaba, Alabama, east of the Mississippi. The prisoners west of the Mississippi were collected in a prison called Camp Ford, at Tyler, Texas. Therefore it was decided to build a general prison remote from our armies, and Andersonville, Georgia, 120 miles south of Atlanta, and in the midst of the unsettled piny regions, was selected as a general prison in which all of the prisoners east of the Mississippi could be gathered. This prison was opened when not yet finished, February 24, 1864, I being in the first squad of about 800 which marched in from Eichmond. C. — At that time how many prisoners were in Eichmond? McE. — There must have been about 10,000. When we entered the prison we found that it consisted of a heavy stockade 1,100 feet north and south and 700 feet east and west, extending on both sides of a small creek which ran through a swamp in the center. We were turned in there without shelter or cooking utensils. Seeing that we had to stay there, we immediately began erecting shelters. Every- thing inside of the prison had been cut off except two pine trees in the southwest corner. We took poles from the rank growth in the swamp and bending them over like a wagon-cover fastened them together with grapevines and briars and then thatched them with the long-leaf -pine leaves, which we took from the trees which had been cut down. This was an exhibition of ingenuity which much astonished the Confederates. The records show that March, 1864, ended with 4,603 prisoners inside this stockade. This may be found in the American Cyclopedia (vol. 1, p. 474). We got along tolerably well, though this ground was not larger than what is usually taken for the camp of a full regiment of infantry, of 1,000 men. The end of April saw this number increased to 9,577. The operations on both fronts began May 4, 1864, and by the end of the month there had been gathered into the prison 18,454. C. — You mean the operations in the Wilderness? McE. — I mean the operations in the Wilderness and the advance on Atlanta. The end of June saw 26,867 there. There was then not room enough to lie down, and the Confederate authorities increased the prison by a stockade enclosing about seven acres more on the north side of the creek. The original area had been estimated at thirteen acres, and it was now increased to twenty-odd acres. This was reduced, however, by a dead-line twenty feet from the stockade running around the whole interior of the stockade. By the end of July there were 31,678 in the prison, and at the end of August there were 31,693. I think the record for August is too low. We were divided into squads of ninety, three squads to a detachment, which were numbered consecutively. These detachments were kept THE EXCHANGE OF PEISONERS. 469 full. Oue day, through curiosity, I counted 137 sergeants coming up to draw rations for their detachments. This would show 36,990. Atlanta fell September 1st, and brought our armies into such close proximity that it was necessary to remove the prisoners. There had been some efforts made by the cavalry of Sher- man's army to reach and release us before Atlanta fell. The dispersion of the prisoners began September 7th, I going out with the first squad to Savannah. It is my impression that probably 8,000 or 10,000 were sent to Savannah in Septem- ber. Everybody who was able to walk was taken out of the prison before the middle of the month, and September ended with only 8,218 in the prison. Those not taken to Savannah were sent to Florence, South Carolina. In October those of us at Savannah were sent to a new stockade built near Millen, at the junction of the railroad from Augusta to Savannah with that running to Macon, where we remained until some time in November, when Sherman having begun his march the prison at Millen was broken up. We were taken back to Savannah, and some 5,000 of us sent down the coast to a place called Blackshear. There 1,000 of us were taken out and paroled and sent back to Savannah, where it was represented to us we should meet our ships and be exchanged. A partial exchange had been declared of 10,000 sick. As Sherman had passed on, leaving Andersonville behind him, the three or four thousand at Blackshear were taken across the country back to Andersonville and remained there until the close of the war. The squad in which I was was taken to Charleston and thence to Florence, where we found 8,000 or 10,000 of our former companions in Andersonville. In the mean time the prisoners who were being taken from the armies in Virginia were collected at Salisbury. Salisbury had been maintained as a prison from the beginning of the war, but no considerable number confined there until late in 1864. Those of us in Florence remained there until toward the close of the war. As Sherman ad- vanced a large portion of them were taken out of Florence and sent up into North Carolina, but there was no safe place for them up there, and all were finally delivered to our authorities at Wilmington, North Carolina, after the capture of that place. The few thousand who went back to Andersonville had their number augmented somewhat by the prisoners captured by Hood, and were kept there until the 17th of April, 1865, when the last of them were sent to Florida and reached our lines in front of Jacksonville. C. — On several of the monuments erected in the cemetery is inscribed the state- ment "Death before dishonor," apparently the sentiment which arose in the prison times. I wish you would explain that. McE. — All the time that we were in prison there were Confederate emissaries among us trying to incite discontent with our government and encouraging the sending of delegations to Washington demanding our exchange. The bulk of the prisoners understood the situation very clearly and refused to join in these demon- strations and clubbed severely men who were promoting them. C. — There is to be found in the Rebellion records a paper signed by a large number of sergeants of squads petitioning the government and setting forth the condition there to some extent, which was carried to Washington I believe by permission of the rebel authorities. What is your recollection about that? Did it represent anything like the universal sentiment? 470 THE TRAGEDY OF ANDERSON VILLE. McE. — It never was allowed to be generally known. As an illustration of that, while we were in prison at Savannah, the rebels came into the stockade and had a stand erected for speaking. When the stand was completed a shyster from New York, a very despicable fellow, named Pete Myers, got up on the stand and began a harangue to the effect that our government had abandoned us, had de- nounced us as "coffee-boilers" and "blackberry-pickers," and he proposed that we pass a resolution to the effect that if we were not exchanged within thirty days that we would join the Confederate army. That was at Savannah, after we had left Andersonville, and immediately the whole camp was thrown into a fever of excitement, and had it not been for the Confederates guarding Myers and helping him at once out of the prison he would have been beaten to death. At Millen, where I was a sergeant of a squad, an order came in for us to make out a list of all the men whose terms of service had expired and who had been born abroad. Thinking that it might help us to exchange I made out my list, making every man foreign born. The next thing was an order for all those whose names appeared on the list to fall in. We were marched outside the prison, surrounded by a strong guard, when a man on a stump told us the old story of our government having abandoned us; that we had done our duty faithfully to it; that it was apparent to all of us that the Confederacy was about to succeed; and that if we would join its ranks we would receive the same treatment in bounty lands and other considerations that their soldiers were to get. Before he had finished his speech a sergeant named Tom Lynn sprang out in front of his detachment and ordered it to about face, and we all marched back into the prison. I remember the incident particularly, as the rebels were determined to punish us for it. We had with incomprehensible labor split off slabs and made shelters for ourselves. The guards followed us directly into the prison, drove us up into a corner, and began to destroy these shelters which we had erected. The feeling was very bitter, but the comrades stood firm. C. — What was the physical condition of the prisoners when they left Richmond? McE. — It was tolerably fair. Those who went from Belle Isle had been much reduced by the scanty fare and the inclement weather there, to which they had been exposed without shelter. Those of us who had been in the buildings in Richmond were in better condition. C. — It is stated in excuse for the mortality at Andersonville, that the prisoners when brought there were on the verge of death, and that the mortality did not result from their treatment at Andersonville. McE. — In reply to that I will say that of the 45,000 men who so much as set foot in Andersonville, in round numbers 14,000 died. The bulk of these men were active, fit-for-duty soldiers who had been taken either in battle or on picket or in some other active service. The worst part of Andersonville lasted only about four months. That is from the time of the great crowd coming in in the middle of May until the middle of September. During that time, one out of four of these strong, healthy, present-for-duty men died, without taking into account those who were broken down there and died while being removed to other prisons or in those prisons. My remembrance is that we would be put on the cars and ride for a day or night and when we got off every car would have men who had died. We would camp in the woods or some place and move on leaving dead men lying all around. THE EXCHANGE OF PRISONERS. 471 Those men have not been counted in the record of the mortality of Andersonville. I notice in the record in the American Cyclopaedia that 149 died of gunshot wounds. This seems to me a great understatement. The orders were very stringent about approaching or touching the dead-line. The only water that came into the prison was from the creek which previously passed through the camps of the five or six thousand rebel guards, and further became polluted by passage through the swamp lying in the center of the prison. It seems to me that every day, and some- times twice during the day, the guards would kill a man who was reaching up under the dead-line to get water less foul than that below. C. — Colonel Chandler in his report concerning the prison management says that he heard no complaint as to the want of good drinking-water — that he inquired particularly of the soldiers if they had plenty, and so far as he could learn there was no complaint. McE. — Those of us of the older prisoners immediately began digging wells, and some of these were dug down as deep as thirty feet in the clay, and we used water from these wells. The newer prisoners of course did not have these and had to drink water from the creek. C. — Can you explain Providence spring? McE. — I do not know anything about Providence spring of my own knowledge. It appeared in August. In the early part of that month I had made an effort to escape, and being barefoot at that time and running through the briars in the swamps, had hurt my feet so that I was unable to get around as I had formerly done, and I remained so lame that on September 7th, when we went out of the prison, I was still hobbling along with a stick. The spring broke out while I was in that condition, so I never saw it. C. — Some criticism is made of the findings of the court as to the individual murders committed by Wirz, on the ground that names of parties and definite statements as to dates could not be given, and it is urged that convictions under such circumstances are wholly without foundation. What explanation can you give of the conditions existing there that would make it probable that men might be killed and witnesses who saw it not know personally the person who was killed? McE. — You must remember that here were 30,000 or more men gathered from all the armies of the United States, coming in sometimes singly, sometimes in squads, and we did not know each other usually, more than the number of our regiments. For example, they all knew me as "Little Illinoy," as I belonged to an Illinois regiment. We were all in there in absolute barbarism. All that we wanted was to live until we could escape. There was no thought of records, organ- ization, or anything, and we were all looking forward to the next day when we might either escape or be exchanged. I was engaged in digging tunnels and plan- ning escape and getting what rations I could, and such things as that. The first man that I knew to be killed there was a poor half-witted German who we called "Sigel." This, it seems to me, was only a few weeks after we got into prison. Somebody had got hold of some biscuit that were moldy and had thrown them under the dead-line. Sigel came along and reached under the dead-line for them and was killed. I remember they came to me and said, "Let's go up there and look up that fellow that killed him. We may meet him later." 472 THE TRAGEDY OF ANDERSONVILLE. C. — Give your explanation of the condition of things that led up to the trial and execution of some of our own soldiers by their comrades. McE. — While we were in Eichmond there were a number of acknowledged thieves, criminals, and bounty-jumpers who had deserted to the rebel army. The rebels did not want them, but were holding them there. After we had been in Andersonville a few days they brought these men down and put them over on the south side of the creek to themselves, and they immediately began preying on us. These noted thieyes stayed in a little bunch by themselves, and we older prisoners knew them. We had several fights with them, and confined ourselves after that to taking care of ourselves. We called these scoundrels "Raiders." I was in com- mand of fifty men formed for our own protection in the southwest corner of the stockade. Great numbers of prisoners would come in, and a great many from the Army of the Potomac would bring in blankets, watches, and money, and these thieves would watch for them and rob them. I have known them to kill as many as three of our men in one of these fights. The great mass of the prisoners could not be made to understand that it was only a small body that was doing this robbing, and they thought that we were all thieves. Finally a man who was commissary-sergeant of Company M of my regiment, decided to put them down, and got Wirz's permission. At this time, when we were digging tunnels and mak- ing other efforts to escape, Wirz had put up a row of poles around the inside of the stockade and issued orders that any assembly of more than 100 men passing these poles would be the signal for the artillery opening upon them without warning. Sergeant Key got him to allow us to make a fight against these men, and assembled us to the number of about 500. The "Raiders" had a big tent which they had made of blankets taken from the other prisoners, and on the second of July we armed ourselves with clubs and went up and attacked them. There were about 400 or 500 of them, and we arrested about 125. Wirz agreed to take charge of these. Then Wirz said that he would not take care of so many, and we turned back all but a few. We found in the meanwhile that the camp had understood what we were doing and were with us, and when these men that were turned back came in they had to run the gauntlet, and several were killed. I remember one man particularly who was a well-known criminal. The fighting for the day was over, and I had gone up to my quarters at the end of the street on the north side, taking no part in the gauntlet running. A sailor, one of the worst of the criminals, cut his way through the gauntlet and started up the street toward me. I picked up my club. A man was standing there holding a rail, and just as the sailor came in front of him he dropped the rail across the back of his neck and killed him. The others were given as fair a trial as we could by a court-martial consisting of thirteen sergeants chosen from the new prisoners. All the men accused were brought before this court, where they had the benefit of counsel and were confronted by the witnesses of their crimes. The decision of the court was that six should be hanged, and this was carried out by us on the 11th of July, 1864, which resulted in introducing order into the camp and terrorizing these criminals, who had before held the camp in terror. Wirz simply gave us permission to carry out the execution, but had his whole garrison under arms with the artillery turned upon us. He brought the condemned in to us and told us that it was none of his business; that we had tried them and condemned them ourselves. THE EXCHANGE OF PEISONEES. 473 and he washed his hands of the whole affair. Subsequent developments showed that every one of these men whom we had hanged had a long record of criminality both in the Confederate army and in our own. They were men who had deserted back and forth from the Confederate army to the Northern army. The men merely rotted to death in Andersonville. We got nothing to eat but corn meal without salt, and no meat. The men literally rotted with what we called "scurvy," and what is now known as pellagra, due to insufficient quantity of one kind of food. The record of the rebel surgeon-general says that there were 10,000 men at one time in there dying of scurvy. The rebel medical department applied to the rebel secretary of war for a commission to go to Andersonville and study the effect of crowding such an immense number of men together without sufficient food in such foul surroundings, but my remembrance is mostly of scurvy. It would begin usually with a man's ankles stiffening and his legs swelling. Then his gums would protrude beyond his lips, his teeth would drop out, ulcers would appear all over him, and he would simply rot to death. CHAPTER XVI. Andersonville Cemetery Made Beautiful — Expedition in Spring of 1865 to Provide for Its Permanent Care — Report of Captain Jas. M. Moore, U. S. A. — Important and Interesting Report of Clara Barton, Founder of the Red Cross Society, to the American People — Report of Dorence Atwater, Who Kept the Death Register, to the Relatives op the Martyred Dead — Interesting Letter of Superintendent op Cemetery — Inscriptions on State Monuments — Patriotic Work Done by Woman's Relief Corps at Prison Park — A Parting Word with the Reader by the Author — Bill Pending in Congress to Appropriate Money by Govern- ment to Erect Monument to Confederate Navy — -Discussion in United States Senate — Views Expressed in Public Press — Dangerous Step for Government to Thus Give Official Sanction to Rebellion and Treason. Peaceful lie sleeps, with all our rights adorn'd, Forever honor'd and forever moiirn'd. — Illiad. And here were men (coequal with their fate), Who did great things, unconscious they were great. — Lowell. There are eighty-four national cemeteries in the United States under the supervision of the quartermaster's department of the army, in which are buried 350,000 soldiers. Not all, but most of these contain the bodies of soldier-patriots who gave up their lives during the Civil War that this government of ours should not perish. The major part of these cemeteries are nearby or on the battlefields where their tenants fell in defense of the nation's flag and nation's honor. If their spirits visit the scenes of their valor and could speak to us, would they name a spot for the resting-place of their earthly remains of more glorious memory or more to be pre- ferred than the hallowed ground where they so nobly died? We may well conceive, too, that they would behold w^th pride and satisfaction the loving tenderness with which the nation they helped to save is protecting, beautifying, and making forever sacred these last resting- places of its patriotic dead. The spirits of the thirteen thousand martyrs at Andersonville Ceme- tery have not the satisfaction of feeling that their earthly bodies lie in some one of the great battlefields where in life they bravely fought, but they will find at Andersonville the assurance of their country's appreciation for their sufferings and sacrifices. All that art and nature can do to dispel the gloom and sadness which hung over that valley of despair in 1864, and to brighten and make attractive the resting-place of these heroes, is being done by our government ; and thanks to the noble efforts of the Woman's Relief Corps, auxiliary of ANDERSONVILLE CEMETERY, AND CONCLUSION. 475 the Grand Army of the Republic, the prison grounds and ample sur- rounding area have been acquired as a national park, and by these patriotic women conveyed to the nation. More than ordinary interest attaches to these grounds and I find satisfaction in giving such illustrations as I have been able to obtain showing how completely the scene has changed. I also feel quite sure that the reader will be glad of the opportunity to read the reports of an expedition promptly sent to Andersonville by the quartermaster- general, upon the order of the secretary of war, to take possession of the cemetery and initiate the necessary steps for its permanent im- provement. This expedition was under the direction of Captain Jas. M. Moore, assistant quartermaster United States army, with whom went Miss Clara Barton, widely known for her Red Cross work of mercy and charity during the Civil War, and Dorence Atwater, who had been a prisoner at Andersonville and had kept the death register. Each of these made a report of more than ordinary interest, which I am glad to include in this volume. Captain Moore's report is an official docu- ment addressed to the head of his department. Miss Barton's is semi- official, but is addressed to the people of the United States. Dorence Atwater's statement is rather the story of a personal experience, which would seem incredible as exhibiting a species of arbitrary power by our government of which he was the victim, and which can only be ac- counted for, if not justified, by some imperative necessity of which we can now but speculate. It is addressed to the surviving relatives of the martyred dead at Andersonville. Miss Barton's account of the expedition, read in the light of the testimony found in this volume, shows how an observant and sym- pathetic mind can discover the true situation by a priori reasoning. She saw everywhere effects of which the cause could unerringly be traced. The inscriptions on the monuments erected by state authority can- not fail to touch the hearts of all who read them. REPORT OF THE EXPEDITION TO ANDERSONVILLE, GEORGIA, DURING THE MONTHS OF JULY AND AUGUST, 1865. Assistant Quartermaster's Office, Washington, D. C, September 20, 1865. General: In accordance with Special Orders No. 19, quartermaster-general's office, dated June 30, 1865, directing me to proceed to Andersonville, Georgia, for the purpose of marking the graves of Union soldiers for future identification, and enclosing the cemetery, I have the honor to report as follows: (N «NDCRSONVIl.l,C ^RI*ON l»AHK. " «^Dtl^•oNwfULc, «|^. (Inscription) LiZABETH A. Turner Past National President Woman's Relief Corps, Auxiliary to the Grand Army of the Republic. Life Chairman Andersonville Prison Board. Died at Andersonville April 2j, 1907. Erected by the Woman's Relief Corps to Memoralize Her Work in Hallowing These Grounds. ANDEESONVILLE CEMETERY, AND CONCLUSION. 477 I left Washington, District of Columbia, on the 8th of July last for Anderson- ville, Georgia, via Savannah, with mechanics and material for the purpose above mentioned. On my arrival at Savannah, I ascertained there was no railroad communication whatever to Andersonville — the direct road to Macon being broken, and that from Augusta, via Atlanta, also in the same condition. I endeavored to obtain wagon transportation, but was informed by the general commanding the department of Georgia that a sutEcient number of teams could not be had in the state to haul one-half my stores; and, as the roads were bad, and the distance more than four hundred miles, I abandoned all idea of attempting a route through a country diflScult and tedious under more propitious circumstances. The prospect of reaching Andersonville at this time was by no means favorable, and nearly one week had elapsed since my arrival at Savannah. I had telegraphed to Augusta, Atlanta and Macon almost daily, and received replies that the railroads were not yet completed. At length, on the morning of the 18th of July, the gratifying telegram from Augusta was received, announcing the completion of the Augusta and Macon road to Atlanta, when I at once determined to procure a boat and proceed to Augusta by the Savannah River. The desired boat was secured, and in twenty-four hours after the receipt of the telegram alluded to, I was on my way with men and material for Augusta. On my arrival there I found the railroad completed to Macon, and that from Macon to Andersonville having never been broken, experienced little difficulty in reaching my destination, where I arrived July 25th after a tiresome trip, occupying six days and nights. At Macon, Major-General Wilson detailed one company of the 4th IT. S. cavalry and one from the 137 regiment U. S. colored troops to assist me. A member of the former company was killed on the 5th of August, at a station named Montezuma, on the Southwestern railroad. The rolling stock on all the roads over which I traveled is in a miserable con- dition, and very seldom a greater rate of speed was attained than twelve miles an hour. At the different stations along the route the object of the expedition was well known, and not infrequently men wearing the garb of rebel soldiers would enter the cars and discuss the treatment of our prisoners at Andersonville; all of whom candidly admitted it was shameful, and a blot on the escutcheon of the South that years would not efface. While encamped at Andersonville, I was daily visited by men from the sur- rounding country, and had an opportunity of gleaning their feelings towards the government ; and with hardly an exception, found those who had been in the rebel army penitent and more kindly disposed than those who had never taken a part, and anxious again to become citizens of the country they had fought to destroy. On the morning of the 26th of July, the work of identifying the graves, paint- ing and lettering of head-boards, laying out walks, and enclosing the cemetery was commenced, and on the evening of August 16th was completed, with the ex- ceptions hereafter mentioned. The dead were found buried in trenches on a site selected by the rebels, about three hundred vards from the stockade. The trenches vary in length from fifty 478 THE TEAGEDY OF ANDEKISONVILLE. to one hundred and fifty yards. The bodies in the trenches were from two to three feet below the surface, and in several instances, where the rain had washd away the earth, but a few inches. Additional earth was, however, thrown upon the graves, making them of a still greater depth. So close were they buried, without coffins or ordinary clothing to cover their nakedness, that not more than twelve inches were allowed to each man; indeed, the little tablets marking their resting-places, measuring hardly ten inches in width, almost touch each other. United States soldiers, while prisoners at Andersonville, had been detailed to inter their companions, and by a simple stake at the head of each grave, which bore a number corresponding with a similar numbered name upon the Anderson- ville hospital record, I was enabled to identify and mark with a neat tablet, similar to those in the cemeteries at Washington, the number, name, rank, regiment, com- pany, and date of death of twelve thousand four hundred and sixty-one graves, there being but four hundred and fifty-one that bore the sad inscription "Un- known U. S. Soldier." One hundred and twenty thousand feet of pine lumber were used in these tablets alone. The cemetery contains fifty acres, and has been divided by one main avenue running through the center, and subdivided into blocks and sections in such a manner that, with the aid of the record, which I am now having copied for the superintendent, the visitors will experience no difficulty in finding any grave. A force of men is now engaged in laying out walks and cleaning the cemetery of stumps and stones, preparatory to planting trees and flowers. I have already commenced the manufacture of brick, and will have a sufficient number by the first of October to pave the numerous gutters throughout the cemetery; the clay in the vicinity of the stockade being well adapted to the purpose of brick-making. Appropriate inscriptions are placed through the grounds, and I have endeavored, as far as my facilities would permit, to transfer this wild, unmarked, and unhonored graveyard into a fit place of interment for the nation's gallant dead. At the entrance gate, the words "National Cemetery, Andersonville, Ga.," designate this city of the dead. On the morning of the 17th of August, at sunrise, the stars and stripes were hoisted in the center of the cemetery, when a national salute was fired, and several national songs sung by those present. The men who accompanied me, and to whom I am indebted for early completion of my mission, worked zealously and faithfully from early in the morning until late at night, although suffering intensely from the effects of the sun. Unacclim- ated as they were, one after another was taken sick with the fever incident to this country, and in a brief period my force of mechanics was considerably lessened, obliging me to obtain others from the residents in different parts of the state. "S-ll my men, however, recovered, with the exception of Mr. Eddy Watts, a letterer, who died on the 16th of July of typhoid fever, after a sickness of three weeks. I brought his body back with me, and delivered it to his family in this city. Several of the 4th United States cavalry, detailed by General Wilson, died of the same fever shortly after joining their command at Macon. ANDERSONVILLE CEMETERY, AND CONCLUSION. 479 Andersonville is situated on the Southwestern railroad, sixty miles from Macon. There is but one house in the place, except those erected by the so-called Con- federate government as hospitals, officers' quarters, and commissary and quarter- masters' buildings. It was formerly known as Anderson, but since the war the "viUe" has been added. The country is covered mostly with pines and hemlocks, and the soil is sandy, sterile and unfit for cultivation, and unlike the section of country a few miles north or south of this place, where the soil is well adapted to agricultural purposes, and cotton as well as corn are extensively raised. It is said to be the most un- healthy part of Georgia, and was probably selected as a depot for prisoners on account of this fact. At midday the thermometer in the shade frequently reaches one hundred and ten degrees and in the sun the heat is almost unbearable. The inhabitants of this sparsely-settled locality are, with few exceptions, of the most ignorant class, and from their haggard and sallow faces the effects of chills and ffever are distinctly visible. The noted prison pen is fifteen hundred and forty feet long, and seven hundred and fifty feet wide, and contains twenty-seven acres. The dead-line is seventeen feet from the stockade, and the sentry boxes are thirty yards apart. The inside stockade is eighteen feet high, the outer one twelve feet, and the distance between the two is one hundred and twenty feet. Nothing has been destroyed; as our exhausted, emaciated, and enfeebled soldiers left it, so it stands to-day, as a monument to an inhumanity unparalleled in the annals of war. How men could survive as well as they did in this pen, exposed to the rays of an almost tropical sun by day and drenching dews by night, without the slightest covering, is wonderful. The ground is filled with holes where they burrowed in their efforts to shield themselves from the weather, and many a poor fellow, in endeavoring to protect himself in this manner, was smothered by the earth falling in upon him. A very worthy man has been appointed superintendent of the grounds and cemetery, with instructions to allow no buildings or structures of whatever nature to be destroyed, particularly the stockade surrounding the prison pen. The stories told of the sufferings of our men while prisoners have been sub- stantiated by hundreds, and the skeptic who wiU visit Andersonville, even now, and examine the stockade, with its black, oozy mud, the cramped and wretched burrows, the dead-line and the slaughter-house, must be a callous observer, indeed, if he is not convinced that the miseries depicted of this pen are no exaggerations. I have the honor to be, general, very respectfully, your obedient servant, [Signed] James M. Moore, Captain and Assistant Quartermaster, U. S. Army. Brevet Major-General M. C. Meigs, Quartermaster-General, U. S. Army, Washington, D. C. 480 THE TEAGEDY OF ANDEESONVILLE. REPORT BY MISS CLARA BARTON. Keport of an Expedition to Andersonville, Georgia, July, 1865, for the Piir- POSE OF Identifying the Graves and Enclosing the Grounds of a Cemetery Created there During the Occupancy of that Place as a Prison for Union Soldiers in Kebel Hands. To the People of the United States of America: Having by an oflScial invitation been placed upon an expedition to Anderson- ville for the purpose of identifying and marking the graves of the dead contained in those noted prison grounds, it is, perhaps, not improper that I make some report of the circumstances which induced the sending of such an expedition, its work, and the appearance, condition and surroundings of that interesting spot, hallowed alike by the sufferings of the martyred dead and the tears and prayers of those who mourn them. During the search for the missing men of the United States army, begun in March, 1865, under the sanction of our late lamented President Lincoln, I formed the acquaintance of Dorence Atwater, of Connecticut, a member of the 2nd New York Cavalry, who had been a prisoner at Andersonville and Belle Isle twenty-two months, and charged by the rebel authorities with the duty of keeping the death register of the Union prisoners who died amid the nameless cruelties of the first named prison. By minute inquiry I learned from Mr. Atwater the method adopted in the burial of the dead, and by carefully comparing his account with a draft which he had made of the grounds appropriated by the prison authorities, I became convinced of the possibility of identifying the graves simply by comparing the numbered post or board marking each man's position in the trench in which he was buried with the corresponding number standing against this name upon the register kept by Mr. Atwater, which he informed me was in the possession of the war department. Assured by the intelligence and frankness of my informant of the entire truth- fulness of his statements, I decided to impart to the officers of the government the information I had gained, and accordingly brought the subject to the attention of General Hoffman, commissary-general of prisoners, asking that a party or expedition be at once sent to Andersonville for the purpose of identifying and marking the graves and inclosing the grounds, and that Dorence Atwater, with his register, accompany the same as the proper person to designate and identify. The subject appeared to have not only been unheard, but unthought of, and from the generally prevailing impression that no care had been taken in the burial of our prisoners the idea seemed at first difficult to be entertained, but the same facts which had served to convince me presented themselves favorably to the good understanding and kind heart of General Hoffman, who took immediate steps to lay the matter before the honorable secretary of war, upon whom, at his request, I called the following day, and learned from him that he had heard and approved my proposition, and decided to order an expedition consisting of men and materials, under charge of some government officer, for the accomplishment of the object set forth in my request, and invited me to accompany the expedition in person, which invitation I accepted. ANDERSONVILLE CEMETERY, AND CONCLUSION. 481 Accordingly, on the 8th of July, the propeller Virginia, having on board fencing material, headboards, the prison records, forty workmen, clerks and letterers, left Washington for Andersonville, under the command of Captain James M. Moore, assistant quartermaster U. S. army; Dorence Atwater and myself, via Savannah, Georgia, arriving at the latter place July 12th. Having waited at Savannah seven days and then resumed the journey by way of Augusta, Atlanta and Macon, the entire party reached its destination in safety about noon on the 25th of July. We found the prison grounds, stockade, hospital sheds and the various minor structures almost in the same condition in which they had been evacuated; and care is taken to leave those historic monuments undisturbed so long as the elements will spare them. There is not, and never was, any town or village at this place except what grew out of its military occupation. Andersonville station, on the railroad from Macon to Eufala, Alabama, was selected as a depot for prisoners, probably on account of its remoteness and possible security, and the prison itself, with the buildings which sprang up around it, constituted all there was of Andersonville. The land around is broken and undulating, and at the time of the occupation was covered with forests, mostly of the long-leafed pine common to the uplands of the South. The bases of the hills are lined with oozy springs, which unite to form little rivulets, one of which winds sluggishly through each of the intervening valleys. The original enclosure of nineteen acres was made in the unbroken woods, and the timber was only removed as it was wanted for the necessity of the prison. The enclosure was made in January, 1864, and enlarged during the summer to twenty-five and three-fourths acres, being a quadrangle of 1295 by 865 feet. The greatest length is from north to south, the ground rising from the middle towards each end in rather a steep, rounded hill, the northern one being at once the highest and of the greatest extent. A small stream, rising from springs a little to the westward, flows across it through a narrow valley filled with a compost washed down by the rains. The enclosing stockade is formed of pine logs, twenty feet in length, and about eight inches in diameter. This is again surrounded by two successive and precisely similar palisades — a portion of the last of which is gone. It seems never to have been completed. The two inner walls remain entire. Within the interior space, at a distance of about seventeen feet from the stockade, runs the famous dead-line, marked by small posts set in the ground, and a slight strip of pine boards set on the top of them. The gates, of which there are two,, situated on the west side, were continuations of the stockade, inclosing spaces of thirty feet square, more or less, with massive doors at either end. They were arranged and worked on the principle of canal locks. Upon the inner stockade were fifty-two sentry boxes, raised above the tops of the palisades and accessible by ladders. In these stood fifty-two guards with loaded arms, so near that they could converse with each other. In addition to these, seven forts mounted with field artillery commanded the fatal space and its masses of perishing men. Under the most favorable circumstances, and best possible management, the supply of water would have been insufficient for half the number of men who had to use it. The existing arrangements must have aggravated the evil to the utmost extent. The sole establishments for cooking and baking were placed on the bank (Inscription.) This tablet is erected in commemoration of the patriotic work of the Woman's Relief Corps, auxiliary to the Grand Army of the Republic, in the preservation and improve- ment of this historic site comprising 87 acres, of which 72.5 acres weie acquired in i8g6 by deed of gift from the Grand Army of the Republic of Georgia and 14.5 acres were acquired by the Woman's Relief Corps by purchase to complete the tract. The Woman's Relief Corps was incorporated under the laws of Ohio for charitable and patriotic purposes on February 3, 1904, by the following named women: Sarah D. Winans, Jennie F. Wright, Kate P.. Sherwood, Cora Day Young, Mary C. Wcntzel, Mary M. North, Sarah E. Phillips, Lizabeth A. Turner, Clara Barton and Allaseba M. Bliss. During the convention held in 1908 the Woman's Relief Corps having improved and cared for those grounds at its own expense formally tendered the land to the United States Government as a gift free ot all indebtedness, and in pursuance of an Act of Congress approved March 2. 1910. the Secretary of War was authorized and directed to accept the land so tendered with all improvements thereon. Bo.ird of Trustees. 1909-1910. Sarah D. Winans, Chairman Abbie \. Adams Allaseba M. Bliss Sarah E. Fuller Carrie R. Read Committee on Transfer. 1909-1910. Kate E. Jones, Chairman Kate B. Sherwood Mary L. Gilman Mary M. North ANDEESONVILLE CEMETEEY, AND CONCLUSION. 483 of the stream immediately above, and between the two inner lines of palisades. The grease and refuse from them were found adhering to the banks at the time of our visit. The guards to the number of about 3,600, were, principally, encamped on the upper part of the stream, and when the heavy rains washed down the hill- sides, covered with 30,000 (at one time 35,000) human beings, and the outlet below failed to discharge the flood which backed and filled the valley, the water must have become so foul and loathsome that every statement I have seen of its offensiveness must be considered as falling short of the reality. And yet within rifle-shot of the prison flowed a stream fifteen feet wide and three deep of pure delicious water. Had the prison been so placed as to include a section of the "Sweet Water" (Sweetwater), the inmates might have drank and bathed to their hearts' content. During the occupation a beautiful spring broke out, like the waters of Meribah, from the solid ground near the foot of the northern slope, just under the western dead-line. It is still there, cool and clear, the only pleasing object in this horrid plaee.i The scarcity of water, the want of occupation, and perhaps the desire to escape by tunneling, impelled the prisoners to dig wells. Forty of these, finished and unfinished, remain, those on the highest ground being sunk in the hard soil to the depth of eighty feet. The work was done with knives, spoons, sticks, and other tools but little better. The diggers brought up the earth in their pockets and blouses and sprinkled it about the ground to conceal the quantity. In some wells excellent water was reached, and in others horizontal galleries were attempted for escape. In at least one instance a tunnel- was carried through the hill and a few prisoners are said to have got through. The steep face of the northern hill is burrowed throughout its whole extent. The little caves are scooped out and arched in the form of ovens, floored, ceiled and strengthened so far as the owners had means, with sticks and pieces of boards, and some of them are provided with fireplaces and chimneys. It would seem that there were cases during the long rains where the house would become the grave of its owner by falling in upon him during the night. In these burrows are still found remnants of wretched food and rude utensils of the occupants — drinking cups made of sections of horns, platters and spoons wrought from parts of old canteens, kettles and pans made without solder from stray pieces of old tin or sheet iron. I brought away a considerable number of these articles, which may some day be of interest to the curious. Five sheds stand on the top of the northern hill, erected in the early part of the occupation, and five more on the opposite height, built a short time before the evacuation. Like nearly all Southern land, the land is liable to be washed away by the rains, and on the slopes of the hills ravines are now formed, gullied to the depth of twelve feet. It seems impossible that men could have kept their footing on these hillsides when slippery with rain. Outside the enclosure ond nearly parallel with its south end is the hospital stockade, 800 by 350 feet. It contains twenty-two sheds, for the most part without sides, erected about three months before the place was abandoned. The old hos- ' This is now known as "Providence Spring." See photograph. Providence Spring. Many prisoners believed that it guslied forth in answer to their prayers. ANDERSONVILLE CEMETERY, AND CONCLUSION. 485 pital, occupied up to that time in which so many brave men died, consisted only of tents enclosed by a board fence and surrounded by a guard. Confused heaps of rubbish alone mark the place it occupied. About half a mile from the main prison, and near Anderson station is the oflScers' stockade, a small enclosure, in which were never imprisoned more than 250 officers, and it was chiefly used for the confinement of rebel offenders. The cemetery, around which the chief interest must gather, is distant about 300 yards from the stockade in a northwesterly direction. The graves placed side by side in close continuous rows cover nine acres, divided into three unequal lots by two roads which intersect each other nearly at right angles. The fourth space is still unoccupied, except by a few graves of Confederate soldiers. No human bodies were found exposed, and none were removed. The place was found in much better condition than had been anticipated, owing to the excellent measures taken by Major-General Wilson, commanding at Macon, and a humane, public- spirited citizen of Fort Valley, Georgia, a Mr. Griffin, who, in passing on the railroad, was informed by one of the ever faithful negroes that the bodies were being rooted up by animals. Having verified this statement he collected a few negroes, sunk the exposed bodies and covered them to a proper depth. He then reported the facts to General Wilson, and requested authority to take steps for protecting the grounds. That patriotic officer visited Andersonville in person, appointed Mr. Griffin temporary superintendent and gave him such limited facilities as could be furnished in that destitute country. It was determined to enclose a square of fifty acres ; and at the time of our arrival the fence was nearly one-third built from old lumber found about the place. He had also erected a brick kiln, and was manufacturing brick for drains to conduct the water away from the graves and protect and strengthen the soil against the action of heavy rains. We found Mr. Griffin with a force of about twenty negroes and a few mules at work upon the ground. I have understood that that gentleman furnished the labor at his own cost, while General Wilson issued the necessary rations. The part performed by our party was to take up and carry forward the work so well begun. Additional force was obtained from the military commandant at Macon for completing the enclosure and erecting the headboards. It seems that the dead had been buried by Union prisoners, paroled from the hospital and stockade for the purpose. Successive trenches capable of containing from 100 to 150 bodies each, thickly set with little posts or boards with numbers in regular order carved upon them, told to the astonished and tear-dimmed eye the sad story of buried treasures. It was only necessary to compare the number on ea&h post or board with that which stands opposite the name on the register and replace the whole with a more substantial, uniform and comely tablet, bearing not only the original number, but the name, company and regiment and date of death of soldier who slept beneath. I have been repeatedly assured by prisoners that great care was taken at the time by the men to whom fell the sad task of originally marking this astonishing number of graves to perform the work with faithfulness and accuracy. If it shall prove that the work performed by those who followed under circumstances so much more favorable, was executed with less faithfulness and accuracy than the former, it will be a matter of much regret, but fortunately not yet beyond the possibility 486 THE TRAGEDY OF ANDERSONVILLE. of correction. The number of graves marked is 12,920. The original records, captured by General Wilson, furnished about 10,500 ; but as one book of the record had not been secured, over 2,000 names were supplied from a copy (of his own record) made by Atwater in the Andersonville Prison and brought by him to Annapolis on his return with the paroled prisoners. Interspersed throughout this death register were 400 numbers against which stood the dark word "unknown." So, scattered among the thickly designated graves stand 400 tablets, bearing only the number and the touching inscription "Unknown Union Soldier." Substantially nothing was attempted beyond enclosing the grounds, identifying and marking the graves, placing some appropriate mottoes at the gates and along the spaces designed for walks and erecting a flagstaff in the center of the ceme- tery. The work was completed on the 17th of August, and the party took the route homeward by the way of Chattanooga, Nashville and Cincinnati, arriving at Washington on the morning of August 24th. The health of the party during the expedition was remarkably good, when the season of the year, the fatigue and want of customary accommodations are taken into consideration. Cases of slight chills and fever were not infrequent; but during the entire time we had only one case of severe illness, and that, to our grief, terminated fatally. Edward Watts, of Georgetown, D. C, a clerk in the quarter- master's department, in this city, sickened of typhoid fever during the passage up the Savannah River, and died on the 10th day of August. His remains were taken home to his friends. Mr. Watts was a young man of education and refine- ment, and of the highest type of moral and religious character ; he suffered patiently, and died nobly and well. I have thought that ho might be regarded as the last martyr of Andersonville. The future of this historic spot cannot fail to constitute a subject of deep and abiding interest to the people of this entire country, and it would seem fitting that it should be preserved as one of the sanctuaries of the nation, and in due time dedicated with appropriate honors. Its susceptibility of internal improve- ment was very great. Water can be had for irrigation, and the climate will pro- duce nearly all the flora of the temperate zones. Both national gratitude and personal affection will suggest the erection of a suitable monument within the cemetery, where, if desirable, may be preserved in durable form the names of the martyrs who sleep around. And as the land on which these interesting associations are clustered is still the property of private individuals, never having passed from the hands of the original owners, it would seem desirable that the cemetery, at least, and its immediate surroundings become the property of the nation. A mile square will embrace all points of general and historic interest. There are numerous smaller burial places in the state of Georgia, which from their seeming lesser importance, will scarcely be kept up as national cemeteries, and in reference to which, without venturing to suggest, I would merely remark that the fifty acres enclosed at Andersonville would afford ample space for all whom it might ever be deemed advisable to remove to that point. During the occupation of Andersonville as a prison it was a punishable offense for a colored man or woman to feed, shelter, aid, or even converse with the prisoners on parole. To others they had no access. I have been informed that they were ANDERSONVILLE CEMETERY, AND CONCLUSION. 487 not allowed about the prison grounds; and so great was their superstitious horror of the cruelties perpetrated upon the prisoners that only a comparatively small number had ever found the courage to visit the cemetery up to the time of our arrival. But the presence of so many Northern people on such an errand, and especially a lady, entirely overcame their fears, and they visited the cemetery and myself by scores, men, women and children, sometimes a hundred in a day. It was no uncommon occurrence, upon opening my tent in the morning to find a group standing in front of it who had walked fifteen or twenty miles to see the "Yankee lady" and ask her "If it were true that Abraham Lincoln was dead, and they were free," and "How Massa Lincoln's paper read," and "What they ought to do," and tell her how the "poor Yankee prisoners" ran before the dogs "like us" and they could not save them — starved, and they could not feed them — died — and they could not see them. Remember, mothers, that the pitying tear of the old-time slave, whom your son helped to freedom, is the only tear that falls upon his distant grave to-day. I have endeavored to point out to you, as faithfully as I am able, the various objects of interest, painful or otherwise, which presented themselves to my observation during the time occupied in the work of the expedition ; and while I could not dwell vipon the terribleness of the sufferings imposed upon our prisoners, nor stir the hearts already sunk in grief to deeper woe, still we owe it alike to the living and the dead that a proper knowledge and a realization of the miseries which they endured be entertained by all. We are wont to attribute their chief suffer- ings to the insufficiency of the food, and while this is probably just, still to the mind of one who has looked over the scanty, shelterless, pitiless spot of earth to which they were confined, and taken into consideration the numberless trials which must have grown out of the deprivation of space and necessary conveniences of life, the conviction will force itself that these latter woes fell but little short of the former. It is to be remembered that during thirteen months they knew neither shelter nor protection from the changeable skies above or the pitiless, unfeeling earth beneath. The treacherous nature of the soil, parching to seams in the sun, and gullying and sliding under their feet with every shower, must have augmented their ills almost beyond conception. I watched the effect of a heavy fall of rain upon the enclosed grounds, and in thirty minutes the entire hillsides, which had constituted their sole abiding place, were one rolling mass of slippery mud, and this the effect of a mere summer shower. What of the continued rains of autumn? Think of thirty thousand men penned in by a close stockade of twenty-six acres of ground, from which every tree and shrub had been uprooted for fuel to cook their scanty food, huddled like cattle, without shelter or blanket, half clad and hungry, with the dreary night setting in after a day of autumn rain. The hill-tops would not hold them all, the valley was filled with the swollen brook; seventeen feet from the stockade ran the fatal dead-line, beyond which no man might step and live. What did they do? I need not ask you where did they go, for, on the face of the whole green earth there was no place but this for them, but where did they place themselves? How did they live? Ay! how did they die? But this is only one feature of their suffering, and perhaps the lightest. Of the long dazzling months when gaunt famine stalked at noonday, and pestilence walked by night, and upon 488 THE TRAGEDY OF ANDERSONVILLE. the seamed and parching earth the cooling rain fell not, I will not trust me to speak, I scarce dare to think. If my heart were strong enough to draw the picture, there are thousands upon thousands all through our land too crushed and sore to look upon it. But after this whenever any man who has laid a prisoner within the stockade at Andersonville would tell you of his sufferings, how he fainted, scorched, drenched, hungered, sickened, was scoffed at, scourged, hunted and perse- cuted, though the tale be long and twice told, as you would have your own wrongs appreciated, your own woes pitied, your own cries for mercy heard, I charge you listen and believe him. However definitely he may have spoken, know that he has not told you aU. However strongly he may have outlined, or however deeply he may have colored his picture, know that the reality calls for a better light and a nearer view than your clouded distant gaze will ever get. And you need not confine your sympathies to Andersonville, while similar horrors glared in the sunny light and spotted the flower-girt garden fields of that whole desperate, misguided people. Wherever stretched the form of a Union prisoner, there rose the signal for cruelty and the cry of agony, and there, day by day, grew the skeleton graves of the nameless dead. But braving and enduring all this, some thousands have returned to you. And you will bear with me, and these noble men will pardon me, while in conclusion I speak one word of them. The unparalleled severities of four years' campaigns have told upon the con- stitutional strength even of the fortunate soldier, who alone marched to the music of the Union, and slept only beneath the folds of the flag for which he fought. But they whom fickle fortune left to crouch at the foot of the shadowless palmetto, and listen to the hissing of the serpent, drank still deeper of the unhealthful draught. These men bear with them the seeds of disease and death, sown in that fatal clime, and ripening for an early harvest. With occasional exceptions, they will prove to be short-lived and enfeebled men, and whether they ask it or not, will deserve at your hands no ordinary share of kindly consideration. The survivor of a rebel prison has endured and suffered what you never can, and what I pray God your children may never. With loss of strength, and more of sad and bitter memories, he is with you now, to earn the food so long denied him. If he ask "Leave to toil" give it him before it is too late; if he need kindness and encourage- ment, bestow them freely while you may; if he ask charity at your hands, remember that "The poor you have always with you," but him you have not always and withhold it not. If hereafter you find them making organized effort to provide for the widow and orphan of the Union soldier, remember that it grows out of the heart sympathy which clusters around the memories of the comrades who perished at their side, and a well grounded apprehension for the future of their own, and aid them. In conclusion, tremulously, lest I assume too much, let me hasten to commend to the grateful consideration of this noble, generous people alike the soldier who has given his strength, the prisoner who has sacrificed his health, the widow who has offered up her husband, the orphan who knows only that its father went out to battle and comes no more forever, and the lonely distant grave of the martyr, who sleeps alone in the stranger soil, that freedom and peace come to ours. ANDEESONVILLE CEMETERY, AND CONCLUSION. 489 One word of explanation, in conclusion, and I have done. You have long and justly felt that some report of this expedition, embracing a record of the graves identified was your due, and three thousand letters addressed to me upon the subject have revealed only too plainly and painfully the bitter anxiety with which you have watched and waited. A mere report, unaccompanied by the "record," seemed but a hollow mockery, which I would not impose upon you, and this is my first opportunity for such accompaniment. For the record of your dead you are indebted to the forethought, courage and preserverance of Dorence Atwater, a young man not yet twenty-one years of age; an orphan, four years a soldier, one-tenth part of his whole life a prisoner, with broken health and ruined hopes, he seeks to present to your accept- ance the sad gift he has in store for you, and, grateful for the opportunity, I hasten to place beside it this humble report, whose only merit is its truthfulness, and beg you to accept it in the spirit of kindness in which it is offered. [Signed] Clara Barton.i THE DEAD AT ANDERSONVILLE — REPORT BY DORENCE ATWATER. To the Surviving Eelatives and Friends of the Martyred Dead at Andersonville, Georgia : This record was originally copied for you because I feared that neither you nor the government of the United States would ever otherwise learn the fate of your loved ones whom I saw daily dying before me. I could do nothing for them, but I resolved that I would at least try to let you sometime know when and how they died. This, at last, I am able now to do. So many conflicting rumors have been in circulation in regard to these rolls — the list of the dead — and myself, that I deem it prudent to give a brief statement of my entire connection with this death register, and to show how and why it has been so long withheld from you. On the 7th day of July, 1863, I was taken prisoner near Hagerstown, Maryland, and taken to Belle Isle, Eichmond, Virginia, via Staunton, where I remained five months. I then went to Smith's tobacco factory, Richmond, where I kept the account of supplies received from our government, and issued to Federal prisoners of war. In the latter part of February, 1864, I was sent to Andersonville with a squad of four hundred other prisoners from Belle Isle, arriving there on the first day of March. I remained inside the stockade until the middle of May, when I was sent to the hospital. On the 15th of June I was paroled and detailed as clerk in Surgeon J. H. White's oflSce to keep the daily record of deaths of all Federal prisoners of war. I also made monthly and quarterly abstracts of the deaths. The latter one was said to be for the Federal government, which I have since learned was never received. The appalling mortality was such that I suspected that it was the design of the rebel government to kill and maim our prisoners by exposure and starvation so that they would forever be totally unfit for military service and that they withheld these facts. Accordingly, in the latter part of August, 1864, I began to secretly 1 I am indebted to Mr. J. M. Bryant, superintendent of the cemetery, for copies of this and other reports referred to in this chapter and also for the copies of inscriptions on the monu- ments there erected. 490 THE TRAGEDY OF ANDEESONVILLE. copy the entire list of our dearl, which I succeeded in doing and brought safely through the lines with me in 1865. Arriving at Camp Parole, at Annapolis, Mary- land, I learned that I could not get a furlough on account of my term of service having expired some seven months before. I immediately wrote to the secretary of war, asking for a furlough for thirty days, for the purpose of having my death register published for the relief of the many thousands anxious in regard to the fate of their dead. Before an answer could have returned I received a furlough from the commandant of the camp. I then went to my home in Terryville, Con- necticut, where I was taken sick the next day after my arrival, which confined me three weeks. On the 12th of April I received a telegram from the war depart- ment requesting me to come immediately to Washington and bring my rolls, and if they were found acceptable I should be suitably rewarded. I started the next day for Washington. Arriving there I went to the war department and learned that the person (Colonel Breck) with whom I was to make arrangements was absent at the Fort Sumter celebration. I left my rolls with the chief clerk for safe keeping. In a day or two Colonel Breck returned, and he informed me that the secretary of war had authorized him to pay me three hundred dollars ($300) for the rolls. I told him I did not wish to sell the rolls, that they ought to be published for the benefit of the friends of the dead for whom chiefly they had been copied. He told me that if I meant to publish them the government would confiscate them; that I could have until 9 o'clock the next morning to decide whether I would take the three hundred dollars or not. The rolls were then in his possession. I told him if I could have a clerkship in the department which he had described to me, three hundred dollars and the rolls back again as soon as copied, I should consider it satisfactory. To this he agreed. He then informed me that it would be necessary for me to enlist in the general service in order to get the clerkship. To this I objected, but in no other way was it available, and I accepted. I was then mustered out of my original enlistment, and given permission to visit home, and return for duty by the first of June. While in New York the latter part of May I telegraphed Colonel Breck, asking if my rolls were copied, to which I received a reply, "Not yet." Soon after my arrival in Washington in June I called upon Colonel Breck, and asked the privilege of taking sheets of my rolls out after business hours, to copy and return them the next morning. He said he would have to ask General Town- send's consent. I again met him in a few days. He told me that he had been unable to see General Townsend. I then wrote to Colonel Breck asking if he did not intend to return my rolls; that I had promised that the rolls should be pub- lished for the benefit of the friends of the deceased. He returned my letter, indorsed as follows: "I have fully explained the matter to General Townsend, and he says the rolls shall not be copied for any traffic whatever." I had never spoken of traflScking in them ; I only wished to give them to the people for whom I had copied them at some personal risk. Nothing more was said about the rolls until after my return from Andersonville in August. Miss Clara Barton, of Washington, D. C, upon learning the condition of the cemetery at Andersonville, and that the graves could be identified, had reported the facts to the secretary of war, who ordered the necessary arrangements to be made for marking the graves. A party charged with this duty left Washington ANDERSONVILLE CEMETERY, AND CONCLUSION. 491 on the 8th of July, consisting of Miss Clara Barton, Captain James M. Moore, myself and forty-two letterers, painters and clerks, arriving at Andersonville on the 25th of July. Before leaving Washington it was found that the original register captured by General Wilson, was deficient in one book containing about twenty-four hundred names, and my rolls were sent to supply this deficiency. The original was also found blurred and imperfect, through want of care, and my rolls were frequently needed to aid this defect. They were, therefore, publicly and constantly in the hands of all who had occasion to consult them and so came into my hands in the course of duty. They had been copied in Washington, according to my agreement with Colonel Breck, and were mine, and lawfully in my possession. I proposed to retain them and give them to you as soon as I could. I did not propose to injure anyone, to do anything unlawful or improper with them, much less to traffic or speculate on the information they contained, but I did retain them. When the originals were needed in the Wirz trial at Washington, they and my copy were in my tent when the messenger arrived at Andersonville. He took the original and left my copy. When we started home I placed these rolls with my other property, in my trunk, and brought them to Washington. Upon my arrival I reported to Colonel Breck, at the war department. He asked if I knew where my rolls were. I said, "I have them; will you allow me to keep them, now you have them copied here?" He told me, "We might as well come to an understanding about these rolls. This is the last conversation we shall have about them ; if you will pay back the three hundred dollars you can keep the rolls, otherwise you must return them." I asked him "if he did not agree to give them back when copied." He said "Yes, but you are going to set yourself up in business by publishing them, and. we do not consider our- selves held to our agreement." I told him "I had a right to publish them (if he called that setting myself up in business), and it was my duty to do so." I then turned to leave, intending to see Secretary Stanton. He said, "I infer that you do not intend to give up the rolls." I said, "Not yet; I must go further to see about them." He said, "You will go to the Old Capitol if you do not give them up" and then sent for a guard and had me arrested. My trunk and room were searched, but the rolls could not be found. I was then put in the guard-house for two days and then transferred to the Old Capitol prison and in a few days I was arraigned and tried by court-marshal on the following charges and specifications: Charge 1. Conduct prejudicial to good military discipline. Charge 2. Larceny. Specifications : In this that said private Dorence Atwater, of the general service of the United States army, did seize and unlawfully take from the tent or quarters of J, M. Moore, assistant quartermaster, U. S. army, certain property of the United States then and there in the proper charge and custody of the said Captain J. M. Moore, to wit: A certain document, consisting of a list written on about twenty-four sheets of paper, of Federal prisoners of war who had died at Ander- sonville, Georgia, the same having been prepared by the said Atwater, while a prisoner of war at Andersonville and sold and disposed of by him to the United States for the sum of three hundred dollars, and did appropriate and retain the 492 THE TRAGEDY OF ANDEBSONVILLE. said property to his own use. This at Andersonville, Georgia, on or about the 16th day of August, 18G5. I was convicted and sentenced as follows: To be dishonorably discharged from the United States service, with loss of all pay and allowances now due; to pay a fine of three hundred dollars; to be confined at hard labor for the period of eighteen months, at such place as the secretary of war may direct; to furnish to the war department the property specified in the second specification as the property stolen from Captain J. M. Moore, and stand committed at hard labor until said fine is paid, and the said stolen jjroperty is furnished to the war department. On the 26th of September I arrived at Auburn state prison. New York, where I remained over two months at hard labor, when I was released under a general pardon of the president of the United States. I reached New Haven, Connecticut, the following day, and learned that the record had not yet been furnished you. I immediately set about preparing it for publica- tion, and have arranged to have it printed and placed within your reach at a cost of the labor of printing and material, having no means by which to defray these expenses myself. I regret you have waited so long for information of so much interest to you, [Signed] Dorence Atwater. There is no doubt but that we are indebted to Dorence Atwater for the preservation of the names of a large number of the dead at An- dersonville, and that he performed the labor of copying the death register at great personal risk and when he was scarcely physically able to use the pen. Of his career after having been pardoned by President Johnson I find the following in the San Francisco Chronicle of May 28, 1911, written by Mr. A. V. H. Hoffman : In 1867, under date of July 4th, the state of Connecticut presented Dorence Atwater with a testimonial signed by John T. Waite, speaker of the House of Eepresentatives ; James E. English, governor, and Eph. E. Hyde, lieutenant-gov- ernor, "in grateful remembrance of the courage and patriotism by him displayed in the late war for the suppression of rebellion and the preservation of constitu- tional liberty." In 18G8 President Andrew Johnson appointed Dorence Atwater consul at tb-' Seychelles islands in the Indian ocean. In 1870 he was appointed by President Grant to the consulship at Tahiti if. tne Pacific ocean. In 1898, during President McKinley's administration. Congress removed all re- maining disabilities. On July 18, 1872, while serving as consul at Tahiti, Dorence Atwater was married to Princess Arii Noore Moetra Salmon of the royal family of Tahiti, and nearly forty years of happiness followed this union. Desiring to visit his old home again, he returned to the United States last summer, was taken ill in this city, where he passed away on November 28, 1910, in his sixty-fifth year.i ^ On January lo, 1912, his remains were, by members of his family and surviving widow placed aboard ship for final interment at Tahiti. A large number of his comrades of the Grand Army of the Republic participated in the impressive burial ceremonies of the Order, lilacing the American flag on the casket as a final tribute to his memory. ANDERSONVILLE CEMETERY, AND CONCLUSION. 493 It should be explained that Atwater's story was written in explana- tion of his original purpose to relieve the anxiety of thousands of widows and orphans, the fate of whose dear ones was shrouded in mystery. I believe his motive was upright and honorable, and that he was most unjustly accused and convicted. And yet the war depart- ment was not without some justification, though less severity might have been equally effective of its object. It was thought to be unde- sirable that the list of the dead should be published at that time, and before all doubt had been removed as to its accuracy, and this view has since to some extent been confirmed. The Atwater list has been published in at least two books which I have read, and I had thought of including in this volume the true and corrected list, but as it would occupy not less than one hundred pages it seemed better to use the space with other matter, especially as the war department has not yet given out the finally corrected roster of the dead. The doubt has not been as to the number, but as to the identification of the graves and their occupants. When we consider the evidence, the method of keeping the records, the manner of handling and burying the dead, the great number dying daily in hospital and in the stockade, many of them so disfigured by disease and the unclean surroundings as to be unrecognizable, I cannot myself feel any assurance that the markings of the graves can be implicitly relied on as correct in all cases. The dead are there and the identity of the dead reasonably assured, but the identity of the place where the remains of a particular soldier lie I cannot regard as certain in every instance. And we know that several hundred graves are marked "unknown soldier." Mr. James M. Bryant, the superintendent of the cemetery, to whom I wish to acknowledge my indebtedness for many courtesies in the preparation of this volume, has written some facts relating to the subject which will be read with interest. In his letter he states the reasons for his belief that the markings may be relied on as "fairly correct." His letter follows: ANDERSONVILLE, GEORGIA, NATIONAL CEMETERY, June, 10, 1910. Honorable N. P. Chipman, Sacramento, Cal. Dear Sir: Your letter of 2d instant reached me yesterday, and was read with much pleasure, and I trust with profit also. I regret having kept you waiting so long for the photographs, but it was not as easy to find the Wirz photograph as I supposed it would be. The photographer who made that picture moved to Birmingham some little time ago, but I supposed 494 THE TRAGEDY OF ANDERSONVILLE. Center: J. M. Bryant, Superintendent of Andersonville Cemetery. Upper left hand: Entrance to Cemetery. Upper right hand: Entrance to Prison Park. he continued to have the picture for sale, but receiving no response to a letter sent him relative to it I went on a hunt for what was wanted, and the one sent you was taken out of a show case, none others being on hand. This either indicates an unusual demand for the view of the mounment, or else that they want to have them disappear from the market, and to that extent, reduce the talk about the monument, and I am inclined to think the latter is the explanation of the matter. As I wrote you the Wirz photograph costs fifty cents, the others twenty-five cents, including postage. I sent more views of the cemetery and prison grounds than you will want, but you can select such as you desire and return the others. You write you would like to use a portion of my letter of May 20th in your book. I did not keep a copy and cannot recall just what I wrote, therefore will take the liberty of writing a rather lengthy letter, and if you are able to cull from it anything that will be of use to you there is no objection on my part. . . . I thank you very much for your remarks relative to the Wirz trial. It seems quite plain to me, after reading your explanation, that one might very easily see one kill another, identifying the murdered, but being a perfect stranger to the one killed he could not name him, though perfectly able of swearing to the act itself. I am glad I referred to that part of the trial as your remarks have removed a doubt from my mind regarding the matter. ANDERSONVILLE CEMETERY, AND CONCLUSION. 495 The report of Miss Clara Barton will doubtless give you a better idea of the conditions prevailing at Andersonville in the summer of 1864 than anything I can produce. Yet there are two or three facts connected with the matter she fails to refer to, and are not mentioned in the other papers I am sending you, and which are necessary to a clear and full understanding of the question. When a man died there was an effort made to identify him, and I am informed by ex-prisoners that usually there were members of the same regiment near by, who furnished the facts needed. Where identified a small card or piece of paper was secured to whatever the deceased might have on in the way of clothing, and that card bore merely a number, which corresponded with the same number in the burial register, where the name and record were written out as full as circumstances permitted. When a man's body was placed in the trench, a small post or board was put at the head bearing the number found secured to the remains when received from the prison. By looking up any number found on one of these posts, in the register, all the known facts in the case would be found. Where the dead man could not be identified he was buried as "Unknown." I have talked with two or three ex-prisoners who were on duty at the cemetery, and they assure me that every possible care was exercised in performing their tasks with accuracy. You will notice Miss Barton refers to the same matter. Since I first came to Ander- sonville (1883) we have disinterred three or four bodies for shipment to friends and re-burial in family lots. In two of those cases the bodies were identified through a peculiarity of the teeth, which last, perhaps, longer than any other part of the body. From what I have learned by reading articles written by eye-wit- nesses, and in conversation with those who took part in the sad duty of burying the dead at Andersonville, I am quite confident the records are, with exceptions mentioned later, fairly correct, and that when a grave is pointed out to anyone as containing the remains of a certain soldier, the probability is that it does. Miss Barton is a clear-minded woman, one of varied experience, and I imagine it would be somewhat difficult to mislead her in a question of this nature, and you will see from her report that she has entire faith in the accuracy of the method used. And the government would hardly have spent thousands upon thousands of dol- lars for headstones unless it was satisfied the stone would mark the grave of one of its soldiers, and would stand just above where he slept. That there were errors made, a great many of them, is only what might reason- ably be expected from the conditions and circumstances surrounding the prison and everything connected with it. When all the facts are considered, the large number of deaths, the rush and turmoil that is never absent under such environments, the hardened, calloused con- dition of the men in constant contact with the dead, it appears wonderful that we have as correct a record as we now possess. We commenced, three years ago, an effort to eliminate as many of the mistakes known to exist in the records as possible. New York having the largest number of any state buried here (over 2200), we commenced with that state. I first made an alphabetical list and sent it to the adjutant-general of that state for comparison with his records and such corrections as might be found necessary. As a result we learned of quite a number of men supposed to be resting beneath the sod here but 496 THE TRAGEDY OF ANDERSONVILLE. who the adjutant-general's records show were mustered out with their regiments, or died elsewhere than at Andersonville. I made a separate list of these cases and sent them to the commissioner of pensions. Through him we learned that several were yet alive and on the pension roll, others had died during recent years (since the close of the war). We have got into communication with some of those still living, and know just how the error was made. In one case a soldier had a blanket, on one corner of which appeared his name and record. He was on the list for exchange, and on leaving gave his blanket to a cousin who was very sick. This man subsequently died and the record found on the blanket was supposed to be his record. In another case two men, both named "Smith," were in the hos- pital, one a patient, the other a nurse. The patient died, and in some way the nurse's name was recorded as the one who died. Two men belonging to the 16th Connecticut infantry, supposed to be buried here, were reported by the adjutant-general of that state as having been killed at Antie- tam, Maryland, and buried on the battlefield. The commissioner of pensions re- ported that a widow was drawing a pension in one of the cases, and that claim was filed on account of children in the other case, and that both men were certainly killed at Antietam in 1863. We then got into communication with sergeant-major Kellogg of the 16th Connecticut infantry, and the explanation in these cases is very interesting indeed. I enclose a newspaper clipping giving all the particulars. Please return it. These are samples of the causes leading to some of the errors, and doubtless the others are of a similar nature. The percentage of real mistakes is very small, and will approach the vanishing point when we get through with the list. Every available source of information has been followed out, and within a year we will be in a position to commence writing up the new register, and while there are some errors that can never be corrected, yet in comparison with the whole are not a drop in the bucket. You stated that it might be advisable, or rather would add interest to it (the book) if it contained a list of the dead. Any list that could be supplied at the present time would necessarily be inaccurate, for reasons given above, for in addition to the errors mentioned are those of spelling of names, errors in rank, company and regiment, etc. These are simply innumerable. Then we have found several duplicates. The greater portion of these will disappear in the new register. If you will not need the names before another year rolls around it would afford me pleasure to prepare the list for you. But as stated, a correct, approximately correct list, cannot be supplied at the present time. I am through with the preliminary work, and the list of dis- crepancies, which number thousands, is now in the hands of the quartermaster- general for the purpose of being verified. As soon as returned I can make a commencement on the new register, and when once under way it can soon be completed. . . . One who had viewed the cemetery as the Washington expedition left it in 1865, in its crude and unimproved state, would hardly recognize it at the present day. It has been improved from year to year by the government, trees and shrubs in large numbers have been planted, and every effort put forth to give the grounds the appearance of a park. Pennsylvania, Maine, Indiana, Iowa, Connecticut and ANDERSONVILLE CEMETERY, AND CONCLUSION. 497 New Jersey have erected handsome monuments within the cemetery. "Wisconsin, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Michigan and Ohio placed their mounments within the old prison grounds, now known as "Prison Park." That property is now owned by the Woman's Relief Corps; but an act has passed Congress and been approved by the president, authorizing the government to accept it as a gift.i The details of the transfer are now being worked out by Colonel Hopkins, of Wash- ington, and probably within a year the title will pass to Uncle Sam. . . . It will give me real pleasure to aid you in any way within my power. Any time I can serve you please command me. Very truly yours, J. M. Bryant, Superintendent. ANDERSONVILLE, GEORGIA, NATIONAL CEMETERY, July 6, 1910. Honorable N. P. Chipman, Sacramento, Cal. My Dear Sir: Referring to my last letter I append the inscriptions on the state monuments within the cemetery, namely, IOWA. On the west side of the die the seal of Iowa is engraved, beneath which are the words "Iowa honors the turf that wraps their clay. The Unknown. Their names are recorded in the archives of their country." On the base: "Act Thirtieth General Assembly." On the south side of the die is engraved a water scene with overhanging willows and a mountain rising in the background, under which is engraved the following quotation from the seventh chapter of Revelations, sixteenth and seventeenth verses: "They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them and shall lead them unto living fountains of water; and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes." On the base : "God smote the side hill and gave them drink: August 16, 1864." On the east side of the die are the words "Death before Dishonor." Beneath that legend are the names, with company and regiment, of one hundred and seven Iowa soldiers who died while confined in prison. On the base: "Erected A. D. 1905." On the north side of the die are the words "Death before Dishonor" and the names, with company and regiment, of one hundred and seven more Iowa soldiers who died while confined in the prison. On the base: "Commissioners: Sergeant D. C. Bishard, Co. M, Eighth Iowa cavalry, prisoner nine months; Corporal M. V. B. Evans, Co. I, Eighth Iowa cavalry, prisoner eight months; Captain J. A. Brewer, Co. C, Twenty-third Missouri infantry, prisoner seven months; Captain M. T. Russell, Co. A, Fifty-first Indiana infantry, prisoner eighteen months; Corporal W. C. Tompkins, Co. D, Twelfth U. S. infantry, prisoner eight months." INDIANA. South side: "Under authority of an act of the Sixty-fifth General Assembly of the State of Indiana. Indiana mourns for her fallen heroes, the 702 brave sons, who for the cause they loved, gave up their lives in Andersonville Prison from February, 1864, to April, 1865. Death did not affright them, nor fear subdue them nor could famine break their incorruptible spirit." ' Since conveyed to the United States by the Woman's Relief Corps. 498 THE TEAGEDY OF ANDERSONVILLE. East side : "With great pity for their sufferings, but a greater admiration for their unfaltering fidelity." West side: "Not theirs the matchless death by sword or shot; instead the agony of martyrdom." North side: "Till the mountains are worn out, and the rivers cease to flow, shall their names be kept fresh with reverent honors, which are inscribed upon the book of national remembrance." PENNSYLVANIA. This monument is built with an enclosed arched passageway through it, and the inscriptions are upon bronze tablets secured to the walls within the arch. On the east side is a bronze engraving illustrative of the stockade, showing the palisades, dead-line, guards in their guard-boxes, and the prisoners procuring water from the spring by using long poles with cups on the ends of them. Above cut in the marble wall are the words "Death before Dishonor." West side: This monument has been erected by the State of Pennsylvania in pursuance of an act entitled an act to commemorate the heroism, sacrifices and patriotism of the Pennsylvania soldiers who died in Andersonville Prison, Georgia, while confined there as prisoners of war : by the erection of a suitable monument in the cemetery at that place ; creating a commission for such purpose, and appropriat- ing the necessary money therefor. Approved July 18, 1901, by His Excellency, William A. Stone, Governor. Commissioners: James Atwell, president; Ezra H. Ripple, secretary; William T, Ziegler, Harry White, James D. Walker, superintendent. On another bronze tablet adjacent to the above appears: In Memoriam Pennsylvania's So7is at Andersonville. To the 1849 of her devoted sons who died at Andersonville Prison, where they were held as prisoners of war, in the years 1864 and 186.5, and who are buried here, Pennsylvania dedicates this memorial of her undying love. The faithful men whose names adorn this monument and the pages of their country's history, were loyal unto death, to the flag of the Republic, their lives are woven into the precious fabric of American freedom. Through their sufferings they have left a legacy of strong, patient endurance to the coming generations. With gratitude to Almighty God, who gave this nation such heroic spirits in the time of trial, Pennsylvania cherishes their memory, their loyalty, their sacrifices and their graves, a priceless heritage for evermore. This monument to their soldiers, is here built by a people ever fretted, blazoned and decked with the hearts they built it of; and let it here securely stand, in form, in stone, in cap, in gate, till every shrine in every land will their lives commemorate. MAINE. North side: First are the words "Death before Dishonor." Then comes a bronze shield with the coat of arms engraved on it, "In grateful memory of those heroic soldiers of Maine who gave their lives that the Republic might live, and of those who daring to die, yet survived the tortures and horrors of Andersonville Military Prison. 1864 and 186.5. The word "Maine" is cut in large letters on each side of the monument. ANDERSONVILLE CEMETERY, AND CONCLUSION. 499 NEW JERSEY. West side: First there is a scroll cut from the solid stone with the words "Death before Dishonor." "Go stranger, to New Jersey, tell her that we lie here in fulfillment of her mandate and our pledge to maintain the proud name of our state unsullied, and place it high on the scroll of honor among the states of this great nation." North side: "Number of dead, 255." East side: "Erected by the state of New Jersey in commemoration of the fidelity and heroism of her soldiers, who died at the Andersonville Confederate military prison, Georgia, in faithful adherence to their pledge of patriotism." CONNECTICUT. West side: First a bronze shield containing the coat of arms of the state. "In memory of the men of Connecticut who suffered in Southern military prisons, 1861-1865." These are all the monuments that are completed within the cemetery. New York and Illinois have monuments under way. The inscriptions to be placed on the former are not yet known. Those on the Illinois monument will be as follows: ILLINOIS. In the center: "Erected by the state of Illinois in grateful remembrance of the patriotic devotion of her sons who suffered and died in the military prison at Andersonville, Georgia, 1864-1865." Left side: "We here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom and that govern- ment of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth." — Abraham Lincoln (Gettysburg address). Eight side: "The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriotic grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature." — Abraham Lincoln (first inaugural address). The following are the inscriptions on the monuments erected within the old prison grounds: WISCONSIN. West side: Near top is cut the coat of arms of Wisconsin. "This monument erected by the state of Wisconsin, in grateful remembrance to her sons who suffered and died in Andersonville Prison, March, 1864, April, 1865." On the base, in large letters, "Let us have Peace." On one of the projections is inscribed: "Commissioners appointed in 1904 by R. M. La Follette, Governor." On another projection appears: "D. G. James, president, Richland Center, Wisconsin, 16th Wisconsin Infantry." East side: First is cut the coat of arms of Wisconsin. "Known dead, 378. To live in hearts we leave behind us is not to die." On one of the projections is in- scribed: "L. Williams, treasurer, Columbus, Wisconsin, 1st Wisconsin Cavalry." On another projection appears: "C. H. Russell, secretary, Berlin, Wisconsin, 1st Wisconsin Cavalry." Ou north and south sides appears "W" within a wreath. The Illinois monument has since been erected; see page 437, and the inscriptions are as above given. Committee on Transfer of Andersonville Prison Property. ANDERSONVILLE CEMETERY, AND CONCLUSION. 501 RHODE ISLAND. West side, coat of arms and names of the dead; east side, names of the dead; north side, names of the dead; south side, names of the dead. MASSACHUSETTS. Near the top is cut the words "])cath before Dishonor," and underneath that the coat of arms. "Erected by the commonwealth in memory of her sons who died at Andersonville, 1864-1865." At the bottom in large letters, "Massachusetts." East side: Cut with a keystone, "Known dead 765." Beneath, "Resolves 1900, chapter 77, approved May 28th. William Murray Crane, Governor. "Commissioners: Charles G. Davis, Thaddeus H. Newcomb, Francis C. Curtis, Levi G. McKnight, Everett S. Horton." North side : Coat of arms. °°^°- West side: "To her 1055 loyal sons who died here in camp Sumter from March, 1864, to April, 1865, this monument is dedicated." South side: Seal of the United States. East side: "Death before Dishonor." MICHIGAN. West side: "In mcmoriam. Erected by the state of Michigan to her soldiers and sailors who were imprisoned on these grounds, 1861-1865." INSCRIPTIONS ON MONUMENT TO MRS. LIZABETH A. TURNER. Badge of Woman's Relief Corps at top. "Lizabeth A. Turner, Past National President, Woman's Relief Corps, Auxiliary to the Grand Army of the Republic. Life Chairman Andersonville Prison Board, died at Andersonville, April 27, 1907. Erected by the Woman's Relief Corps to memorialize her work in hallowing these grounds." INSCRIPTIONS WITHIN THE PAVILION OVER PROVIDENCE SPRING. In center over the fountain : "With charity to all and malice towards none." Marble tablet at left of fountain: "This pavilion was erected by the Woman's Relief Corps, Auxiliary to the Grand Army of the Republic, in grateful memory of the men who suffered and died in the Confederate prison at Andersonville, Georgia, from February, 1864, to April, 1865. "The prisoners cry of thirst rose up to heaven, God heard, and with his thunder cleft the earth, and poured his sweetest waters gushing here." "Erected in 1901." ENTRANCE GATE. A large arch spans the entrance, on which appears in large letters the words, "Andersonville Prison Park." Suspended under the arch is a tablet with follow- ing inscription: "This arch was erected by the Woman's Relief Corps, No. 9, Department of Kansas, and Woman's Relief Corps, No. 172, Department of Massa- chusetts, in memory of the unknown in Andersonville, Georgia." The above comprises all the inscriptions you asked for, possibly more. Very truly yours, J. M. Bryant, Superintendent. 502 THE TRAGEDY OF ANDERSONVILLE. PROVIDENCE SPRING. "Providence Spring" has been the source of much speculation, and by many its appearance was attributed to the direct interposition of God in answer to the prayers of the prisoners. Mr. Hiram Bucking- ham, who was quartermaster's sergeant, Sixteenth Connecticut In- fantry, and a prisoner at Andersonville, now residing at Washington City, v5Tote me of date October 18, 1910, the following account of the appearance of this spring. I think it will be accepted as the true explanation at least of the physical fact : You asked me about Providence Spring. The majority got their water by reaching under the dead-line, as it came in through the rebel camp above. The prisoners went from north to south of the prison by following the dead-line ; by so doing they had packed a hard path. One afternoon in August, an awful thunderstorm came up, flooded the stream through the prison, undermined the stockade and swept it away and the next morning a spring broke out on the side- hill just under the dead-line. It was a natural spring; our tramping up the hill near the dead-line had so packed the earth that the spring was forced to empty in the stream out of sight, but this heavy rain forced it to resume its old opening up on the hill. It now opens into a handsome marble house. There have been some unexpected and disappointing delays in getting out this volume, but they are not without their compensations. The published proceedings of the Woman's Relief Corps have just been placed in my hands, in which I find some very interesting matter relating to Andersonville Prison which should in addition to what has already appeared, have place among these pages. Enhanced value is given to the book in the half-tone likenesses I am able now to present of the noble women who have done so much to glorify and perpetuate the memory of the martyred dead at Anderson- ville. The committee having charge of the transfer of this property re- ported to the national secretary of the Woman's Relief Corps the progress of its efforts, culminating in the formal transfer of which we have just read. This report should appear in this volume and is as follows : Ilion, N. Y., August 4, 1910. Georgia Wade McClj:llan, National Secretary Woman's Belief Corps. Madam: The Committee on Transfer of Andersonville Prison Property respect- fully submit the following report: The failure to pass the bill by the Sixtieth Congress was reported; also that it had been put on the calendar of the Sixty-first Congress in special session, both House and Senate. ANDERSONVILLE CEMETERY, AND CONCLUSION. 503 With renewed courage and a prayer for success, your chairman began making a list of new Representatives in the House where our bill 6971 was resting. Book- lets and letters sent to them brought favorable replies. Representatives General Isaac Sherwood, Ohio; and Major Thomas W. Bradley, New York, who from the beginning had been deeply interested in our bill, had it taken up in the House at an early period, and on December 10, 1909, our Bill H. R. 10,106 was "committed to the committee of the whole House on the state of the Union, and ordered to be printed." January 17, 1910, the bill passed the House of Representatives unanimously, and victory was assured. Senator William Warner had charge of the bill in the Senate, but business called him out of the city and its passage was delayed some weeks, when it passed the Senate without opposition. Vice-President Sherman was favorable. On March 2Dd, William H. Taft, President of the United States, signed our bill and it became a law. The last clause of the law, "the details incident to the transfer of said land to be arranged and perfected by the secretary of war," made it necessary for the Woman's Relief Corps to employ an attorney-at-law. Colonel Thomas S. Hopkins, of Washington, D. C, a comrade and able lawyer, by advice of Mrs. Sherwood and national president, was consulted, and he has given undivided attention to the land survey, and all legal lines of the deed of transfer. Much research has been necessary to unravel the tangle of deeds of conveyance and disputed land survey; but Chief Clerk Lewis W. Call, of Judge Advocate- General Davis's department, has promised Attorney Hopkins that he will submit to him the deed of transfer approved by the judge advocate-general in time for presentation at the G. A. R. encampment greetings in Atlantic City, September 20, 1910. Our national president requested me to extend an invitation to General Davis to be present to receive the final deed of Andersonville Prison property to the United States government. The Woman's Relief Corps is greatly indebted to Honorable Joseph B. Foraker, who introduced Bill 6971 to the Senate, May 5, 1908, and safely piloted it to the House; also to Representative John A. T. Hull, chairman of the House military committee, and Senator William Warner, of the Senate committee. Your transfer committee, Kate B. Sherwood, Mary L. Gilman and Mary M. North, have rendered valuable assistance, also Carrie Sparklin Read, while it was pending in the Senate. Your chairman has tried to do her duty in superintending detail work to its final completion. Looking back to March 27, 1908, when as national president, with the consent of my executive council, in the name of the Woman's Relief Corps, I formulated and proffered the free gift of Andersonville Prison property to the United States government, my heart is full of thankfulness and gratitude to our national convention and national president that I was con- tinued to the end of the work, and thus permitted in my declining years to see the glorious fruition of the cherished hope of years. It was the harvest time of the work while the veterans of the Civil War held high places in legislation, while many women of the war yet lived and remembered the suffering of Andersonville Prison, the greatest battlefield of mental and physical 504 THE TRAGEDY OF ANDEESONVILLE. suffering known in the annals of war, and we are proud of our government to-day, that has accepted the gift, and will perpetually guard Andersonville Prison grounds in honor of our Nation's defenders. The Woman's Eelief Corps has been faithful to a sacred trust. Lizabeth A. Turner, as our national president, sixteen years ago received the gift of the Ander- sonville Prison pen from the G. A. R., department of Georgia. She devoted the remaining years of her life in hallowing the grounds as a sacred spot. It was a beautiful devotion of the Woman's Eelief Corps to care for and beautify these grounds, and in surrendering them to the higher care of our government, we will not forget. It will ever be a sacred memory, and our offerings of love will continue in gifts to the beautiful rose garden that is consecrated to Memorial Day in Ander- sonville Cemetery. Eespectfully submitted in F., C. and L., Kate E. Jones, Chairman, Kate B. Sherwood, Mary M. North, Mary L. Gilman, Committee. I find in the proceedings referred to the report of Mrs. Sarah D. Winans, chairman of the prison board, to the national secretary of the Woman's Relief Corps, which will fittingly round out the account of the work of this valuable and patriotic auxiliary to the Grand Army of the Republic. I quote : Toledo, Ohio, August 1, 1910. Georgia Wade McClellan, National Secretary, Woman's Eelief Corps. Madam: I have the honor herewith to transmit to you, and through you to the Twenty-eighth National Convention, the report of the Andersonville Prison Board for the past year. On account of the great distance, it has never been possible to hold a meeting of the board at Prison Park. On that account the responsibility of the care and improvements has rested chiefly upon the chairman of the board. I have endeav- ored to keep in close touch with its members by writing, and am proud to say that I have had their most loyal support in all that seemed necessary to be done. Early In April I- was directed by the national president to go and make nil necessary repairs and put everything in good order before making the transfer to the government. Upon my arrival there I found work which detained me over three weeks. Both wells were in bad condition ; the quicksand had to be drawn out and a new curbing put in; their depth now is ninety feet, with fifteen feet of water. Much to our surprise, the pump at the windmill during the winter froze and burst, necessitating the purchase of a new pump. The tank was also newly painted, and now there is an abundance of good water for use at the house and at the rose garden. Providence Spring was never in such fine condition as now. I had the floor of the pavilion newly cemented. The water is running through the fountain furnished by the Ex-Prisoners of War Association into a basin, and into a pool in the floor. AWDERSONVILLE CEMETERY, AND CONCLUSION. 505 and out through the pavilion, clear and sparkling as when it first burst forth to quench the thirst of the starving prisoners. The ground around is beautified by growing ferns. The pecan orchard is well cared for, and in a few years will be bearing nuts for profit. The grounds are well kept, and the Woman's Relief Corps can well be proud of what has been accomplished by the indomitable will and perseverance of her whose monument stands under the folds of the flag near by the rose garden she loved so well, Lizabeth A. Turner. During the past year four hundred and eleven visitors have registered, thirty- eight ex-soldiers and eight ex-prisoners. The caretaker, Comrade Bickell, and his wife have proven themselves the right people in the right place. Having been a prisoner there, he is interested in pre- serving all the landmarks, and the wells where the boys dug in vain for water. These wells, some seventy and eighty feet deep, are well preserved and will stand forever in memory of those who made the great sacrifice loyal and true to their country and died for the cause of freedom, and whose bones are washing out of the ground on the hillside at every heavy rainstorm. Mrs. Bickell, a typical Southern woman, proves herself an agreeable hostess; she is loyal and fully in sympathy with the oft-repeated story of starvation and suffering, as told by the ex-prisoners while visiting there, and repeats the truth of the same to those who would fain believe that such inhuman cruelties never could have existed in a civilized country. The Wirz monument, standing in the village, is its own condemnation. It need only stand there; a time will come when the South will be glad to bury it from sight. Our gifts this year are not numerous, but much appreciated. Through Kate G. Raynor, national patriotic instructor, the Sons of Veterans Auxiliary gave cocoa matting for the main hall in the cottage. The Department of Ohio, through its president, Mary C. Wentzel, gave a large wool bunting flag for the flagpole which was dedicated on Memorial Day. Mr. William Easterlin has promised to give land for a boulevard to connect Prison Park with the cemetery, making a deed to the government when the trans- fer is made. To make and keep our country great and strong, education must go hand in hand with patriotism; and as the Woman's Relief Corps transfers to the United States government her sacred trust of preserving the hallowed spot where thous- ands suffered martyrdom because of their patriotism, what more fitting use could be made of a part of the fund, set aside for Andersonville Prison Park, than to use it to encourage this grand moral sentiment? . . . The Memorial University, located in the geographical center of the United States and dedicated to the veterans and loyal women of 1861-65, is only in its infancy and needs our patriotic and loving support. We now have the opportunity of helping to build this living monument to a size as big as the biggest. . . . And now as this sacred place is about to pass into other hands, and I think of laying down the work so near to my heart, and in which I have labored for fourteen long years, I must confess a feeling of loneliness comes over me, and I shall long to journey to that Mecca once more and see it made more beautiful as the years go by. Andersonville Prison Board. Woman's Relief Corps Committee, Andersonville Prison Board, who have had the care and keeping of the prison pen grounds for years; and who have restored this sacred spot from a withering waste to a place beautiful in memory of nearly 14,000 soldier boys who suffered "Death Before Dishonor." ANDEESONVILLE CEMETERY, AND CONCLUSION. 507 To the members of the board and members of the advisory board, who with kind words and advice have rendered valued assistance, I return sincere thanks. I wish to express to the national president my thanks for the trust, confidence and counsel throughout the entire year; and to all who have placed a flower in my pathway I express heartfelt thanks. Respectfully submitted in F., C. and L., Sarah D. Winans, Chairman. At the National Encampment of the Grand Army of the Republic, convened at Atlantic City in September, 1910, there was a semi-official meeting of welcome held on the evening of September 20th. Among other interesting proceedings, all of which were of the most inspiring and patriotic character, was the formal transfer of the title to the prison grounds. I quote as follows : Commander-in-Chief Van Sant: The next number on the programme is of great interest to every member of the Grand Army of the Republic, the presenta- tion to the United States government, by the national president of the Woman's Relief Corps, of Andersonville Prison grounds. Jennie Iowa Berry, national president of the Woman's Relief Corps: Com- mander-in-chief and friends : One of the great spots of American history, hallowed by sufferings known to America and to the world, the sight of Andersonville Prison pen, is about to pass from the keeping of the Woman's Relief Corps to that of the United States government, and I have requested the woman who has been instrumental in bringing about the acceptance by the government of this historic and sacred spot to make the presentation, Kate E. Jones, past national president of the Woman's Relief Corps. Kate E. Jones : Commander-in-chief, veterans of the Grand Army and citizens assembled: Sixteen years ago the department of Georgia, Grand Army of the Republic, presented to the Woman's Relief Corps a tract of land known as the Andersonville Prison pen, famous in the history of the Civil War. The Woman's Relief Corps accepted the gift as a sacred trust, and year after year improved, cultivated and beautified the grounds till the barren desert waste became a garden of beauty. Five states erected beautiful monuments thereon to the memory of their heroic dead, and far above the highest ground in the old stockade the stars and stripes floated in the breeze, seen for miles around. As the years went on the feeling grew apace among comrades and members of the Woman's Relief Corps that these hallowed grounds should be under the care of and belong to the United States government. March 27, 1908, I, as national president, in the name of the Woman's Relief Corps, proffered, as a free gift, the Andersonville Prison property to the United States government. Finally, after some delay, the bill passed the Senate and House of Representatives unanimously, and March 2, 1910, President William H. Taft signed the bill, and it became a law. To-night I have the honor to present to the representative, Lewis W. Call, chief clerk of Judge Advocate-General George B. Davis of the war department, the transfer deed of Andersonville Prison property from the Woman's Relief Corps •508 THE TRAGEDY OF ANDERSONVILLE. to the United States government. It is a deed of a battlefield, the battlefield of the greatest mental and physical suffering known in the annals of war, where nearly 14,000 men imprisoned, suffered, starved and died in defense of their country, preferring death to dishonor. It is land blessed by God in Providence Spring when The prisoners' cry of thirst rang up to Heaven ; God heard and with his thunder cleft the earth And poured His sweetest water gushing there. a crystal spring to-day. We are proud of our government that it accepts our gift, and will perpetually guard and care for this hallowed spot in honor of our nation's defenders. As I surrender to you this deed to the Andersonville Prison property the heart of the Woman's Relief Corps goes with it. Many of us are old, gray-haired women of the war, that knew of the sufferings of Andersonville. We shall never forget, but continue our gifts to the beautiful rose garden with its wealth of blossoms consecrated to Memorial Day and the graves in Andersonville National Cemetery. Lewis W. Call: Ladies of the Woman's Relief Corps: In accepting from you this gift to the government of the hallowed spot which has been your care for sixteen years I feel that it is fitting that it should pass into the hands of the government for whom 14,000 men suffered martyrdom, and especially fitting that it should be placed under the care of the war department, whose judge advocate- general has authorized me to accept your donation. I feel sure that your trust will be faithfully executed, that the grounds will ever be held as a memorial of the heroism of the men who there proved them- selves the highest type of patriots, that future generations may journey there, and reading the inscriptions upon the monuments you have caused to be erected, honor their memory, and realizing, in a measure, the individual sacrifice and patriotism that were necessary to preserve this nation, be inspired to do their part to keep this a government of the people, for the people and by the people. I thank you in the name of the United States government for this gift. Some of the defenders of Andersonville Prison have alluded in con- temptuous phrase to the fact that many prisoners believed that Prov- idence Spring burst forth as a direct answer to their prayers for relief from the thirst which was consuming them. Inscriptions on some of the monuments erected at the cemeteiy have crystalized this belief. Are we at liberty to treat the matter as pure superstition — the idle con- juring of disordered minds? This spring figures throughout the testi- mony ; several lives were sacrificed at this spot in cases where the cry of suffering nature overcame the dictates of prudence and the fatal dead-line was unintentionally infringed upon. But these life-giving waters saved many souls from perishing, and can we wonder that Providence Spring was worshipped with unreasoning superstition — a ANDEESONVILLE CEMETERY, AND CONCLUSION. 509 sort of fetishism ? What right have we dogmatically now to say that God's hand was not made manifest in this unexpected source of relief? While these pages were being passed through the press the bronze tablet to the Woman's Relief Corps was on Memorial Day, 1911, dedi- cated at Andersonville. Mrs. Sarah D. Winans, chairman of the Andersonville Prison Board, has sent me a report of the dedicatory proceedings as published in the Atlanta Constitution June 4th, which will be read with interest by all who are in sympathy with the noble work of this patriotic organization. Among the illustrations in this volume I have been able to secure two of especial value — namely, the monument to Lizabeth Turner and the tablet commemorating the work of the Woman's Relief Corps. The report of the proceedings on the latter occasion follows : At the dedication on Tuesday, May 30, of the bronze tablet to the Woman's Relief Corps, recently erected in Andersonville Park, interesting addresses were made by a number of prominent men and women, and many visitors were present to witness the exercises which commemorate the work of the Relief Corps, auxiliary to the Grand Army of the Republic, in presenting the park to the United States government. The opening number on the programme was the raising of "Old Glory," which was presented by past department presidents of the Vermont Woman's Relief Corps. After the ceremony, Mrs. Harris, national president of the corps, sang the "Star Spangled Banner." Mrs. Crane, national chaplain of the ladies of the G. A. R., gave the invocation. The history of the purchase of Andersonville by the department of the Georgia G. A. R. was read by Past Department Commander W. M. Scott, of Atlanta. A poem, written for the occasion by T. C. Harbaugh, was read by Mrs. Emmo- gene Marshall, whose brother was among the first to enter Andersonville, and lies buried there. The history of the work of the Woman's Relief Corps at Andersonville since 1896, was given by Mrs. Sarah D. Winans, chairman of the Andersonville prison board. The monument was turned over to the national president of Women's Relief Corps, she in turn presenting it to the United States government, through Captain Bryant, superintendent of Andersonville cemetery, who responded briefly for the government. The address of the afternoon was delivered by Mrs. Lue Stuart Wadsworth, of Boston, national patriotic instructor of the Woman's Relief Corps, and was a finely worded and inspiring tribute. Preceding her address Mrs. Wadsworth recited her original poem, "A Tribute to the Heroes of Andersonville," among whom was her uncle. Mrs. Dr. Bliss, of Saginaw, Mich., paid a tribute to the women of the war, and an original poem by Past National President Mrs. Kate Brownlee Sherwood, of Toledo, Ohio, was read, and also a letter from Miss Barton, an honored member 510 THE TRAGEDY OF ANDERSONVTLLE. of the order, after which there was a song by National President Mrs. Harris, "The Flag Without a Stain." The exercises closed with singing of "America" and the benediction. The monument was unveiled by Master J. Corey Winans, Jr., of Ohio, and three hearty cheers were given by the veterans for the completed work of the noble women. Members of the two G. A. R. posts in Fitzgerald and their auxiliaries of Woman's Relief Corps and Ladies of the G. A. R. were present in large numbers. Many members of the order were present, among whom were National President Mrs. Belle C. Harris, of Emporia, Kansas; National Patriotic Instructor Mrs. Lue Stuart Wadsworth, of Boston, Massachusetts ; Chairman of the Executive Board Mrs. Alice C. Dillworth, of Omaha, Nebraska ; Past National President Mrs. Sarah D. Winans, of Toledo, Ohio; Mrs. Allaseba M. Bliss, of Saginaw, Michigan; Assistant National Press Correspondent Mrs. Isabel Worrell Ball, of Washington, D. C. ; Mrs. Elenora Marshall, of Sandusky, Ohio; Past Department President of Idaho, Mrs. Emma C. Grinnell, of Beloit, Wisconsin ; National Chaplain of the Ladies of the G. A. R. Mrs. M. C. Crane; Mrs. T. C. Wainman, of Bainbridge, Georgia. Comrade J. T. Bicknell and Mrs. Bicknell entertained those who remained over- night at the park. In reply to inquiries made relative to the work of the Woman's Relief Corps at the Andersonville Cemetery, Mrs. Winans has written me some facts which should find a place in this volume. I quote : You refer to the work of the Woman's Relief Corps in beautifying the cemetery grounds. In this you are under a misapprehension. The cemetery has always been cared for by the general government. It is the prison pen, the ground where the boys suffered and starved that we thought should be held as sacred ground. It lies about one-fourth of a mile from the cemetery and contains eighty-seven acres, which include all the earthworks and forts surrounding the stockade; also Wirz's headquarters. The Grand Army of the Republic organization of Georgia first purchased the grounds but were not able to improve them and asked the Woman's Relief Corps to accept them as a gift, which we did, pledging ourselves to improve and keep them in order. We found it necessary to purchase fourteen acres additional to include all the forts. We took possession of the property in 1896. We put a woven wire fence around the entire eighty-seven acres, built a nine-room house and placed a care-taker on the ground. Later we built a granite pavilion over Providence Spring and made improvements from year to year. Five states have erected monuments in the stockade, believing they should stand on the ground where the men whose memory they commemorate suffered and died. The monuments erected by Ohio, Michigan, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Wis- consin are within the grounds. ... I presume you are aware that the govern- ment has accepted a deed of this property from the Woman's Relief Corps. I am yet in charge, but they promise to take possession very soon. We have planted 400 pecan trees that are now coming into bearing. I think the government will make a boulevard joining the stockade and the cemetery. ... I do feel that as the English government guards with reverent care the "Black Hole of Calcutta," so THC £MPTV SLEEVE «o^yv»3V»t The Empty Sleeve. John S. Koster, a Union soldier now residing at Port Leyden, N. Y., and his little grand- son "Bob." This picture has no direct relevancy to Andersonville, but it represents a phase of the sacrifices caused by the rebellion which should lead us to pause before bestowing honors and rewards upon the participants in that rebellion. The touching story told by this graphic picture will appeal to the surviving veterans of the Union Army and, it is hoped, may not be without its lesson to the youth of our country. 512 Tin-; TRAGEDY OK AN'DKKSOX VILLE. we should with mnro rovcront care guard the sacrod ground on which so many suffered and died for our Hag. Then the miracle of Providence Spring should be recorded in history. The wolls dug there are in perfect preservation — some seventy to eighty feet deep. . . . After a heav}' rain you can pick up human bones in the stockade grounds. When they dug to set up the i^ag-polc they came ujion the remains of a body; also when the Michigan monument was erected; and also when the pecan trees were being set out, which proves that many lie buried there in addition to those buried in the cemetery. We gathered and placed some of these bones in our monument. "i After the first edition of this volume had eonie from tlie press I received from ('omr;ul(^ Ji>1ni O'Breiter. a. eopy of ;i IcIIim- wrilton to liim by UzalxMh A. Turner, wlio trave her life to Ihe restoration and preservation of the Andersonville ]n'ison-pen. The story of the labors and saiM'iliees of the nolile woiikmi who stood by this j^athetie work should have ptu-mniKMit plaee in the history T have tried to i^ive of that prison. "the HIGGEST nATTEE KIEEO OF THE CIVlI; \V.\K\'" New Britain. Conx.. Doc. 5, 1903. John O'Rrkiter. Esq.. Lancaster, Pa. Dear Comrade: I was nuich ])loased to roeoivo your letter of November ^iith. Yes, there is much to be done to make Andersonville all we hope to do for the place. Coiild you have seen the place .seven years ago when the Relief Corps began work th(Mo. you would wonder how it was possible for them to accomplish so much as they have done. It was then wild land, no fences, and covered with scrub oaks and poisonous vines. The sw;iiup w:is entirely impassable, and wh;it is now a good road from outside our grounds and through the entrance gale io the main road was a washout and a gully. You can have no idea of the place and its deso- lation when the wonuMi took hold of it, and no one but women wouhl have had the courage to try to improve the jilace in that country unless they had a mint of money Ml tlu'ir disposal. (Iiir oaretaker slept for three years with a pistol under his pillow .•ind an axe under his bed; his life was threatened, and I was looked upon as a woman interloper; but we j^loddod on nuietly. but determined to keep the grouiul and iuiproxe it in memory of the nuM\ who g;ive life .-ind health for the Union. We have become respected, and Andersonville is now the show-place of the two counties. We own the roadway (l(tO feet inside) from the entrance to the county road. So you see there was no other suitable jdaee for the gate but at the en- trance to our projierty. as we must fence in the land to keep out cattle and hogs, as they would ruin our grounds. Our fences and gates cost us over seven hundred dollars, the house nineteen hundred, barn three hundred, planting the ' Witnesses trstificit th.it liodics were buried in the prison pen licc.Tiise their eondition made their rcmov.-tl to tlic cemetery impossible. Tluis is confirmed the horrors which surrounded those unhappy prisoners. ANDKRSONVrLLE CEMETERY, AND COl^CLVmO^. 513 prison f.on to fVirmiKla grftss roots two hnn(lre