Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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WAR SI JLii'e in a B^ec C. M. Douglas, Sergean4.-3Iojor, 17th ? Thinking4 that thc readers of Thc Suoday State might be interested in a description of life in a F?deral prison just at tbe close of thc civil war, 1 shall attempt to give suoh a descrip tion, trusting that the long period of time that has elapsed sinco I had the fortune or misfortune to spend three months or moro in ono Of them, will serve as an excuse fer such inaccura cies of detail as may be found herein. As an aid to memory I shall first re count the events leading up to my cap- ' ?ure and imprisonment. About thc beginning of the year '65-being then on the lines at Peters burg-I received a furlough to visit zay home at Charleston. At the ex piration of that furlough, being in ill health, an extension was granted to mo. Before that extension expired military movements plainly indicated the speedy evacuation of Charleston 'by the Confederate forces, and as I -did not want to be caught in a trap I .started to rejoin my command in Vir igiaia. My transportation was made ?oat for me via Florence, Columbia aaa* Charlotte. Trains were awfully slew io thoBO days, for as woll may be imagined railroading was a difficult job, and so, when at last tho train by vhioh I traveled from Florence, reach ed Ringville, which was the junc tion of tho South Carolina and the Wilmington and Manchester railroad -i Xis was before the days of the At .lanyis Coast Line-Sherman was shell er* Columbia, and the train was order en ?j.m'i? io Florence. At that point ii was rumbred\hat Wilmington was ia tho hands of the enemy. I was.in * Quandary-r-HardeVs corps from tho roast was then passing through Flor ence en route to North Carolina. Everything Was in turmoil and oon fusion; Quartermasters were too busy : to pay any attontion to a soldier de-' airing to rejoin his oommand in Vir ginia,* and so I sought out Capt. Ben Webb of tho Palmetto Guard siego frais, under whom I hid onco served, and with his permission marohed with .is company from Florenoo to Oheraw, thence to Fayetteville and remained with thom until thc butti o of Averys . toro.. Thoo I managed to get through somehow tb Virginia, and succeeded ia rejoining my own regiment, the, 17th S. C. V., just about twenty-four hours boforo tho disastrous battle of five Forks. My recollection of the topography of the country thereabouts . ? somewhat confused, but Orelie ve she place where that ba ttl o waa fought as sot far from Dinwiddi?', G,'-!'fs;'and : mot moro than a half day's march from Petersburg, perhaps even nearer, than that. Anyhow on tho morning of the 1st of April, 1865, we were attaoked at this point by an overwhelming Jswce under Sheridan. Our brigade ^Wallace,*s) held our part of the line against repeated assaults, but massing %?B troops against a weaker portion on wa? left, Sheridan broke through and ve Were soon under a murderous fire afeara both front and rear. Col. Mo Master having been captured in tho \ ?Msaulton Fort Steadman inf rout'of Petersburg,; our' regiment was in corn sand of Lieut. Col. Culp, who main sained his position gallantly until wounded in the hoad. Seeing tho &}pod< pouring from his . wound and (thinking at the moment that he was seriously if not mortally hurt, Iran towards him to assist him, but it proved to bo only a slight wound and .se' needed no help, but joined hie aSortf; with those of other officers to lally for another stand, the men from eur left who were rushing by us pell ? mell utterly routed and panic stricken. ;It waa in vain, and a moment later we were surrounded by Federals yelling to us to throw down our ??ns5 and surrender, To have done otherwise would have been sheer sui aide, and Col. Culp called out "We surrender.'' My last view of tho battlefield of Five Forks was the sight ; of our brigadier (Wm. H. Wallaee) oome hundred yards off to the right . " waving his hat on the point of hie sword and calling t? the flying men to xaHjj to him. He did succeed in stop ping soma of them, .and with a small remnant of his command drew off from ,4he field without capture. P?BD LUCK. :To me ft seemed the irony of fate to have struggled flo hard; to get back to tay regiment only to be captured, and I was nearly beside myself with rage ?nd' m?rtUo?t?v?. Thoao of us who lad surrendered were now pushed >fcack rapidly to the rear of tho firing 'Mino, and finally halted in an old field srhere we were "corralled" and thus 'Ve.remaiued huddled together. on the v liare.ground.without blankets, food or v waler for many long weary hours. I V j&acLuot had a morsel io eat or ?. drop Hto'drink since early dawn and we did not get anything until lato in the .sight. l am not blaming the Federals, j OR?ES. leral 3?ris?ri. S. C. V., C. S. A., iu Columbia State. for doubtless it could cot bc helped under thc circumstances, lut as a prisoner, if never before, I realized the truth of thc saying attributed to Sherman that "war is bell." I do not remember clearly how long we were "corralled" in that old field. I think we stayed there all the next day and the next night, ard then wo were formed in lino to bo marched to City Point where wo were to take boats to Point Lookout. I say m arch i ed, but it would be more aoourate to say "driven." There was no neces sity for haste so far as we could see. Things were nearing the end, and Leo being in retreat from Petersburg, there was no dangor of attack, and yet we were forced to move rapidly and if anyone lagged he was prodded with the bayonet. My heel was sore and I was limping, and yet a huge bruto in blue prioked me with thc bayonet until the blood vauiv, simply because I did not move along, fast enough to suit bim. On our way to City Point we passed at least fifty regiments of Grant's "reserves" who had nevor boon in action. I understood that they were going to occupy Petersburg in placo of their foroo that was follow iog Lee. They wero io high glee and as they passed along would shout, "How aro you, Petersburg?" thus ex pressing their joy over the evacuation of a oity that had withstood nine months siego by an army that out numbered its defenders ten to one. TUE YANKEE'S VA8T ARMIES. As this vast host of fresh troops passed by I realized I had never seen before the immensity of the odds against us in the struggle we hid been waging. But le't met me get on with, my story. T do not remember how long it took us to march to City Point, but I remember vividly that before getting there we bsd to pass through a groat encampment of negroes or "Contrabands," as they were (termed in. Federal military parlance. All of those, big and little, male and female, lined the side of the road applying to us all the foulest and vilv.it epithets that man. ever heard. Evon . our guards were disgusted, and some of them, I am glad to, say, wero liberal users of the bayonet in pushiog back thfs noisy and nasty horde of semi barbarians. At City Point after some necessary delay we embarked on a troop steamer for. Point Lookout? Transportation must have been aoar??L for our boat was unoomfortabiy^rowd ed; so much so that as wo huddled together on the decks we were in tho Way pf the grew who made no scruple about cursing us and even ' kioking us when they stumbled against us. One fellow nearly broke one of my ribs by a blow from his booted foot. . At last we arrived at pur destina tion and were disembarked and taken into the prison. This was an immense encampment on the point surrounded hy a high stockade fenoe,, the river on one side and the Chesapeake bay on the other. Inside of the stockade we were taken to n cleared off space and thefe our descriptive list was taken by a number of orderlies. Then we wera tolled off iu companies and oar ried to where we were to put up our tents. Thi9 done our prison life began. THE PRISON CAMP. The prison camp was divided into sections called "divisions" and num bered from one upward. Eaoh divi sion was in charge of a Federal ser geant and oorporal and each company in a division was in ohargo of. the ranking Confederate ta that company.. I was placed in ch argo of the company to. which I had been assigned and was told it would bo my duty to oall the roll morning and evening, report the eich, superintend the polioing of the camp, march them back and forth from thc mess hall, etc., and for this duty I reoeived one extra ration. My duties commencedithe next mo-nin& after our arrival at the camp, and I am glad to say that I must have per formed them satisfactorily, JIB there was no complaint mad?j?fcd ncv,e of my men were ever ^uWm'l by the prison authorities-many^ihera,,were. Oar rations were a cup of pea soup, a hunk of bread and a> piece of mess pork. No variation in diet morning, noon or night except that occasionally a piece of beef was substituted for tho pork, and some times molasses was furnished to go with the bread. We got enough, to eat; it is duo to the Fcdoral authorities to say thai. Our punishment, was net starvation, it assumed other forms to which I will refer later. Shortly sifter our arrival at the camp, iiews reached us of the assassi nation of President Lincoln and al thtfigh She prisoners with scarcely an exception were genuinely sorry and so expressed themselves, , c wo*4 met on aj?sides by black and scowling looks und we beard ibo opinion; often ex j pressed with blasphemous emphasis ! that, (he last mother's non of us ought to bc huDg by way of retaliation. Perhaps such a feeling was natural to our guards during the first shock of grief and indignation that uwept over thc land, aud I am glad to say that thc better sense of the Federal sol diers soon asserted itself aud we heard no more talk of retaliatory measures. I never had any idea that these were more than idle threats, but many of our men took the matter more seriously. NEOROES AS GUARDS. I think the ccm?ia?usQ?. of the prison was a humane man, and that it was his desire that discipline, whilst rigid, should not be unnecessarily harsh, but some of his underlings abused their authority grossly and a I number of cases of petty tyranny were of daily occurrence in the prison camp and these beoamo more and more gall ing when negroes were substituted for white soldiers as our guards, and it is a fact that more than one poor fellow was shot down in cold blood foi some slight infraction of the rules. To cross the "dead line" meant in stant doath, and it was dangerous tc even approach too near to one of thc negro sentinels, for as one of our boy'f remarked, they Were "too careless I with their guns." . On the bay side of the stockade I there was a small strip of land and wc I were allowed to go out there in th? I day time, and here the boys amused j themselves playing "chuck luck.' I Very few of us had money, so th? I stakes were usually small pieoes ol I tobacco about tho size of one's finge I nail, and men gambled as eagerly fo these as they would for gold or silvor Incidentally I may say that tobacc was very sesreo and very precious and it was a common sight to seo man pick up an "old sogei," as I ohewed put quid was called, und nfte I drying it out put it in his pipe am I smoke it. I commuted my extra ra I tion for tobacco, and so would hav I had enough for my own use, bute I course I shared it with my tent mates I and it wa? not. enough for all of ut I We thought, however, that a li ttl I was better than none and were gla I enough to have any at all. There were as well as I can remen I ber about 11,000 of na inside of the I Point Lookout stockade. Of ooursi I all mail to or from the prisoners wi I "censored," and if any money wa I sent to the prisoners and somo of the I did get money either from relatives i I home or from philanthropie Northen I ers-rthey were given credit for it i I ihe post sutler's and had to trade j out; at least so I was told, for I wi I not one of tho fortunate ones, ai I never had anything but Confedera I money during the whole time ? spei in prison. If I got anything extra I was by barter, for we did a lively ba I ter business in that stockade. It is I forcible illustration of the prevalen* I of the commercial spirit ^c;;? ^ I that although in its crudest form \ had all the elements of a city there Point Lookout. We had church se vices Jiad schools, we had a book sto and newspaper exchange, barber shop I dental offices, pawn shops, gamblii dens, even "blind tigers," all run 1 by prisoners. How the latter-ma aged to get their liquor inside of t: prison is a mystery I never was at I to solve. We even had manufacture for eom? of tho mon who were ski ful with their pocket knives ma rings and trinkets of various sorts ? of bone, others made baskets a other straw work, and for these th found ready sale among the visite who frequently came to tho stockai These visitors were erasy for souvc irs, and would buy their. Confedere buttons'from any of the men w woull sell them, buy Confeden money pr anything else that a prise I er bad to sell. As a rule visit were kind and consid?rate, but so of them offensively thrust upon their views of the horrors of slav? and tho henious sin of rebellion. POISON DISCIPLINE. Stealing was punished with a st? hand by the prisoners themselv We never bothered to report a th to \ the authorities for . punishme but managed that for ourselves-du lng at the pump, sousing in the s barrels, whipping on the' bare bi were tho usual modes of deal with Mr. Thief when he Vas oauj in the aot or forcer? to make a eon! sion. I was released in July, being ab three and one-half months from date of my capture. It was we waiting with but little to relieve monotony cf prison life, but. it mi have been worse, and? there was s< consolation in that thought. C sidering the large number of mei Point Lookout and other military y ons who had tobe provided with tri partition; I ?Muk we were dUohai as soon as could have been expe< under the oiroumstaneet. JVhcu were discharged wc wont fay bot Bichmond, thence hy rail to Banv .and from there through North South Carolina to our homes, hai to walk a goodly portion of tho because of the destruction of n miles- <>? y&ilw&y aloag tho route had. to travel. I have tried to write these rem: CO'DCCH of prison Jife without exaggcra- i tipo, misrepresentation, or bitterness. Aa I said in thc outset I am trusting to memory entirely, and if I have mis stated anything it has uot been done consciously. ' , --es-? -1--j (?cnernl Lee's Report Forty Yean Ago. The following official report of Gen eral Lee waB received in Richmond December IC, 18(32. Headquarters Army Northern Va., . December 16,1862. To the Hon. Seo. of War, Bichmond, Va. : Sir-On tho night of the 10th in stant the enemy commenced to throw three bridges over the Rappahannock -two at Frcdericksburg and the th i rd about a mile and a quarter below near the mouth of Deep Run. . Tho plain on whioh Frederioksburg stands is so completely commanded by the hills of Stafford, in possession of the enemy, that no effectual opposi tion could be offered to the construe tion of the bridges or the passage of the river without exposing our troops to the destructive fire of his numerous batteries. Positions were therefore taken to opposse his ; advance af ter crossing. The narrowness of ?ho Rap pahannock, its winding course and deep bed afforded opportunity foi- thc construction of bridges at points be yond the reach of our artillery, and the banks had to be watched by skir mishers. The latter sheltering them selves behind houses, drove back thc working parties of the enemy . at the bridges opposite the oity, but at the lowest. point of crossing, where nc shelter could bo had, bur sharp-shoot era were themselves driven off, auc tho completion of the bridge wei effected about noon on the 11th. In the afternoon of that day th? enemy's batteries opened upon th city, and by dark had so demolishei the houses on ?he river bank as to de privo our skirmishers of a shelter, an? under co - er of his guns he off coted i lodging in the town. : The troops which had so gallant}: held their position in the city unde the severe cannonade during thc day resisting the advance of tho vfe'nomy a every Btep, wero withdrawn durin the night, as wero also those wh'o witl equal tenacity had maintained thei post j at tho lowest bridge. ?nde cover of darkness and of a dense) foe on the 12th, a large force passed th river and took position on ibo rigfa bank, protected by their heavy gun on thc lett. The morning of the 13tl the arrangements. for attack bein completed, about 9 o'clock--thermqv'e ment \ :iled by a fog--he advauce boldly in large force; against our righ wing. General Jackson's corps oeotiple tho right of our line, which rested o the railroad, General Longstreet's, tl left, extending along tho heights 1 the Rappahannock above Frederick! b?rg. General . Stuart, wita two br gades of cavalry; was sos^ed in tl extensive piain.co our extreme righ As- soon as the advance of the enera was discovered through the fog Gei orel Stuart with his accustoms promptness, moved up a section of h horse artillery, wbioh opened wil effect on his flank, nod drew upc the gallant Pelham a heavy fire, whic he sustained unflinchingly for aboi two hours. In the meantime the enemy w. fiercely encountered hy General A. 1 Hill'? division, forming Gen aral Jud sou's right, and after ian obstina combat, repulsed* Puring this at tao whioh waf protracted and hot'.y co tested, two, of General Hill's bi gades were driven back upon our se ond lino. General Early, with part of his c vision being ordered to hi? suppoi drove the enemy baok from the poi of woods he had seined, and pursu him into' the plain until arrested i his artillery. The right of tho enomj column extending beyond Hill's f rot encountered the right cf \Ge?e< Hood, of Longstreet's corps. T enemy took possession of a sm , copse in... front or Hood, but wc quickly disposBoseed and repule W?th'"iOS8, During the attack on our kig?it t enemy waa crossing troops over 1 bridges at Fredcrioksburg and massi them in front of Longstreet's Iii Soon after his repulse on our right; commenced a series-' of attacks on < left, with a view of obtaining poss sion of the heights immediately ov looking the town. These repeal attacks were repulsed in gallant at by tho Washington artillery, um Colonel Walton and a portion of I Laws' division, which captured th heights. Th o last assault was mad* ai dark, when Colonel Alexander's I talion had relieved tho Washing ar lery (whose ammunition had b exhausted) and ended the oontest the day? The enemy was suppoi in his attacks hythe* fire of slr batteries of artillery co the right bi of tho river as wall aa by his nun ous heavy butanes on tho Staff bights. Our loss dubing tho operations, si thc movements of the enemy be; amounts to about 1,800 killed wounded. Among t.bte former Iroj to report the death of the patriotic Hol?hr and statesman, Brigadier Gen eral T. B. B. Cobb, who fell upon dar left ; and among tho latter, thal bravo soldier and accompli sh ed gentleman, Brigadier General Maxey Gregg* "bo was very seriously and it ia ?eared mortally wounded during tho attack on our right. The enemy today has been apparent ly engaged in oaring for his wounded and burying his dead. His troops?ire visible in their first position in line of battle, but, with the exception of some desultory cannonading and firing between skirmishers ho has not at tempted to renew the attack. About 550 prisoners were taken during the engagement, but the full extent of his loss is unknown. I have the honor to bo, very respect fully, your obedient servant, B. E. Lye, General. Chas. Marshall, Major and A. D. 0. The above report wa* pi in ted ii ibo j Southern Recorder, ia Milledgjvillo, Ga., December 30,1862. Yours very truly, D. Lyle, Co. I, 26th Ga. Vole , Gordon, Ga. Romance of Boxer War. Chicago, August 7.- A romaneo te gua during the Boxer uprising ia Chi-1 na has ju3t culminated io the mar riage in Chicago of Philip Herbert? former gunner; of tho navy, and Mrs. Pearl Seamen, the American widow of tho Shanghai merchant. Gunner Herbert sorved on the Olympia in tho battle of JJaoila, af terwards saw service ia Chinese waters during the Boxer uprising. ^ . While on ehore leave ono night he I encountered an overturned palanquin in one of Shanghai's narrow streets. The occupant was . pissed beneath the vehicle an.d was screaming for help while the bearers fought tr* keep oaVa dozen Chinese clamoring for blood of "foreign de vila. "? A few blows urove them away and Herbert carried her several blocks to Bafety. The gunner returned to bis ship, but when he left Shanghai h? carried with him the heart of the young widow and tho promise that she, would beoorao his wife on the expiration of his enlist-: mont. The sailor waa discharged in Feb ruary. He was notified later that he bad b?cbme hoirto ^O.OOO ia England. Suicide Among Physicking. Suicide among ! physicians in nbtr* bly on the increase in England. The reason, ia the opinion of Tho" ?iijy; Chroniole, is not far to aeek. It has recently bean shown that a doctor who might calculate on an income of over $1,000 a few years ago can count to day, in corresponding circumstance , op only something over. $500. ^IVc simple causes-of this are two; fin?, and most important, the increase \ health of tho country at large, and th? (diminishing death rate. Tho medical profession, as a matter of fact, is working in; tucue days ot preventive medicino in the direction of its own )xti notion. When the last Anopheles mosquito; for instance, is killed, and malaria pass?e into history, most of tho, doo* tors of the tropics may'pack up their { baggage and depart. Another cause is ra ???HipHcation of the Universi-{ tics to whose interest ifc ia to turn out as many graduates as possible, and the increasing competition whioh ensue*. And, again, the hospitals are daiij^AiK ingused more and moro by people wHo can afford to pay. - Lots of men have sb much genius that they aire unable to do anything but sit in tho shade and think about it. Whether & vfemati ic tearful cr cheerful depends not OG what saunas materially, cntWba^ahe . ^?3?^""'''' Stony au inr . M?Sfi?mL?.:. dulgent hus- - . %?$$5jffi?g. band ia ^?s3rlF - lift,1 ? ? iSS?> d r i v en al- . JS? Saw - - ?HOS?^ w de . ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 11 despondent. Such ? condition is canally related te some form of wcssanly dbease. . mm mmeor ms msm, ' Backed np fey over? third of a century Of rematkible.and unlfotm^cctes, a recos? auch aa no oth*r remedy for thc diaeaaea aud we&kneaaes peculiar to women e?r attained, tbejpromci???? .*'^?L?&SS* ;l*T*tite Smaerlpao* now fcc! ?t?ly war ranted M ofifc?nx to pay te? in lctfal money of the United SMtea, ?ter ?reas* ena, or 3?a?linff of Womb which they can not cn?. Att^y ajfcm ji fair and teaaoe able trial cf their mit?n? rf ?ire. .eSfc?aSfl^ Irt y^kniw h?wt;a5^ ??n?ar hf Oo>a Keep the bowe?a heelthy hv ?hc tiwcl^ sae of pt, Pietce'a P?casast Pelleta The Kind Toa Ha- ? Always Bought, and willoh bas bee* In use for over 30'years, lias borne tho s?gnatnr? of and has been made under ills per? sonni supervision since Its Infancy. . Allow no one to deceive yon in this* AU Counterfeits, Imitations and ?? Juafc^good'? aro but Experiments that trifle with and endanger tho health of Infants and Children-Experience against Experiment, What is eASTOR?? Cos torin is a harmless substitute for Castor Oil? Fare? goric. Drops and Soothing Syrups* It? is Pleasant;. ?fr contains neither Opium,. Morphine nor other Narcotic* substance. Its ago is its guarantee. It destroys Worms and allays Feverishness. It. eures Diarrhoea and 3$$jl^tl Colic, It relieves Teething Troubles, cures Constipation and Flatulency, It assimilates the Food, regulates tho Stomach and Dowels, giving healthy and natural sleep, The Children's Panacea-Th? Mother's Friend? GENUINE ?ASTORI? Beata tho Signature of ALWAYS In Use For Over 30 Years. -TM* otMTAun eawwuiY? vf ?wnrwv VTMCKT.' ?sw vonsi oiw. Thc McCormick Vertical Lift Mower, a vi?w of which is presented here with, is specially designed for cutting on. rough and stumpy ground, but is also well adapted for gene?al use! This machine combines all the essential features of the moat perfect grass-cutting machiner By virtue of its achieve ments on rough and nueves fields, as well as on. smooth and level meadow lands, the Vertical T?& Mower is generally recognized as being the baofc all purpose Mowing Machine manufactured. The .McCormick is eciuipped -with devices by means of which, the cutter-bar eau be raised to a vertical position and lowered by the driver, the machine being thrown in and out of gear au tomatically without stopping the team. This form of construction is found invaluable, as*it enables the operator of tho McCormick Vertical Iiift to out elise up to tres# stump or rockland eave all the hay. The' cutter<bar is easily raised for .passiog any obstruction, and the ma chin? is thrown out of gear automatically, Without any loss of time that would otherwise be consumed in operating an ordinary machine jandar such advert conditions. S?IXJ7AN HABDWABE Ga This is the ideal season to ozyoy a : : : : . ::f: ' ?nd W have a splendid line of them to select from at reasonable prices, you need a nice N?wBu^y, Surrey^o: . . Set of Tia: It will pay you*to see ne before you buy? Yours for Now Btiggu sr, VANDIV?R BR?S, & We haveaboutTweaty SKeelieat WGOND-II^ND; ORGiM|S? 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