Newspaper Page Text
THE DAILY Da?7 Paper $10 a Year. "Let our Just Censure PIKES IX. Attend the True Event. Tri-Weekly $7 a Year - ? -a BY J. A. SEL?Y. COLUMBIA, S. C., FRIDAY MORNTNTT, SEPTEMBER 22, 1865. VOL. I-NO. 15 18 PUBLISHED BAILY AND TRI-WEEKLY. ?.V1> TEK jr WEEKLY GLEMEB EVEKT WEDXBSDAX. BY JULIAN A. SELiiY. TERMS- -LY A T) V A NOE, T SUBSCRIPTION. Dai?v Paper, fax months.$5 rio Tri-Weekiv, " " . 3 5? Weekly, * - " ..~.a 00 Single espies of tho BwPy and Tri? weekly; 10 cttus: of tbs WeeKly, 15 cents. A11V E1 .Tiri KM ENTS Inserted in either the Daily or Tri-Wcckly at fl per square for th* first insertion, and 75 "?ents for each subsequent insertion, in the Weekly. S? a square. JBSTSpecial notices 15 cents a line. CENTRAL KENTUCKY, Sept. 3, 1865. j To the Editor of the Nero York New?: j Several, of your late issues contain i detailed and horrible accounts of the j way Federal prisoners suffered at Anderson ville and other places of in carceration down South. I have read these details with much interest, but J no pleasure, for that mind must be | indeed depraved which delights in the j recital of cruel deeds .and "man's in- j humanity to man." I was myself a prisoner once for the long period of eighteen months at Camp Douglas, Chicago, Illinois, and my experience there very often made me believe that both of the con? tending "parties, or those, at least, entrusted with the care of the many unfortunate in captivity, liad lost ail j their religion, and the greater part of their humanity. It is xiscless to in<- j dulge in recrimination/ The commis- ? sion of one wrong ought not to justify j another; and no circumstances, how- ! ever anomalous in character, should 1 palliate" Lhc action;; of cruel, ue.-ehei ous and cowardly natures. I propose to give you a few painful j reminiscences of '.('amp Douglas by j the Lake,'' and the facts are?.stated j just as they are; nothing being cxte- ; rraafced or aught set down in malice, j I do not make the narration for the | purpose of reviving vindictive feef- j ings. God forbid! Having passed through the perils and hardships of j three consecutive campaigns-having ; spent one long Arctic night ol' a year j and a half in duration, within the narrow limits of a prison wall-and, j most of all, having passed "sub j jugum," and come home a disfran chised and suspected man, I do not j feel bellicose in the least. I only want to show you that,a great many people assume a refined humanity entirely foreign to their natures, and that ininiaeulate characters rarely ever stand thc test of experience. Some time during the sultry month of August, 1863, several thousand prisoners were transferred from dif? ferent localities to Chicago, and among the number your correspon? dent. Col. Charles V. De Land was then the commandant of the post, his regiment, the 1st Michigan Sharp? shooters, and a detachmont of the 65th Illinois, composed the garrison. I do solemnly * affirm that from the very beginning, the officers and men of the 1st Jtlichigaii adopted and practiced measures Ainwarrantably harsh. This regiment had from time to time been recruited to the number of 2,500, but the material was so bad, and desertion so fi ?quent, it then numbered only 600 It had never been to the front, nor seen the smoke of a single battle; the members of it, consequently, knew nothing of tho courtesies of civilized warfare; they were equally ignorant of the ameni? ties-of social life. '.Prisoners," says Vattel, "are not to be treated harshly, unless person? ally guilty of some crime against him who has them in power. In this ease, .ho is at liberty to punish them; other? wise, he should remember that they are men and unfortunate. A man of exalted seul no longer feels any emo? tions but those of compassion toward i a conquered enemy, who has submit j^ted to his arms." Whether Col. Do j^Land had ever read the "Laws of Natio?s}" T have no knowledge; if he had, and all epauletted gentlemen cer ? tainly should, his nairne ignored the I existence of all principles relative to prisoners of war. i -7 ' This man i? jusijy responsible for ail the atrocities committed by his? ? subordinates. Instead of restrain ; ing, he kept alive and encouraged the ; i eMiibu nsxiigmij ?... i.?.- men. .? seu 1 say prisoners were shot down in cold blood without siny real provoca? tion-that they wore often hungup lr ?he thumbs until fainting relieved th ;r suffering-that blows, kicks and eui cs were expended on us in lavish proVsion, I toll the truth, so help : me'? v)d! The most exact obedience to 9. .ers. the most servile submission j in ?, oortment, *did not exempt us : rom the exercise of a brutal authority. ; A tho at-and and one petty regulations were adopted; not for the purpose of ' insuring a stricter custody, but to an? I noy mid humili?t*.' us; and the least infringement of any order was pun? ished with a severity altogether in? compatible with the nature of the of? fence. For instance, a few members of duke's regiment (the Eighth Ken? tucky) were discovered excavating n tunnel under their barrack. Instead of punishing the guilty ones, the colonel commanding ordered the en? tire regiment to stand up in line foi a whole d?iy, beneath a broiling sun; toward night, the guard fired into them,.killing one, mortally wounding another, and crippling a third. On several occasions our barracks were fired into at night, and men killed while sleeping. These outrages wert justified by no circumstance of time or place. No conspiracy or disordei was going on. Every man of us wai so well acquainted with the proclivi? ties of our keepers, that we actualh studlea how to demean ourselves witl becoming humility; no course of con duct seemed to propitiate. Then was a talisman, however, which nevei failed to win the latent kindness ol the guards, and that was the "oil o: rta?*.? Twenty-five, dollars worth of this invaluable elixir, gently rubbed 01 tliehand ol' a '"sharp-shooter," alway, carried a rebel over tjie wall to tin nearest depot. The cabalistic "opel sesame" of the Arabian tale was no more potent than this same oil. Dur ing the hix months of Col. De DaiuV administration, over two hundred an< fifty prisoners made good their es cape; and I do verily believe if green backs laid berni plentiful, bur entir command would have gradually evaeu ated their position. The winter ol 'GS v. ill never bo for gotten by any of us. A locality ii the forty-second degree of North In titude, always subject to the fiore breezes of Lake Michigan, was ox tremely cold to mon accustomed t the genial sun, and soft, vernal'show ers of the South. Our barracks wer nothing more than large sheds, ope and dilapidated, with scarcely asingl window, and no floors. As the col weather approached,* we commence making preparations, with the cor sent and approbation of the "Chm missary of Prisoners." Sufficien clothing was sent for to make all cou fortable; it safely arrived, per ej press; but conceive our surprise an disappointment, when we were ii formed that a late order from the Wt Department limited our costume to very few articles, and prohibited ovei coats entirely. The consequence wat we only got what they chose to gh us; and all goods having to pa? through two offices-an examinir and deb very ?ftiee-and every folio connected with each having to steal certain per cent, of what passe through his hands, we scarcely g< anything at all. Had there been ai other office, we would have got c< thing. At one time during the eolde season, there were several hundrt overcoats and a large quantity < other clothing at headquarters awai ing distribution. Earnest peMtioi were made by the destitute for Lian ets, woolen shirts, etc., but in no 01 instance were they favorably receive It was at a time, too, that tried 01 very souls, the month of Januar 1HG4. One-half of the miserai: wretches in each barrack were coi pelled to be* shivering and 'cloaw packed in their banks, while ti others crowded around the stovt two in number, trying to keep fro freezing to death. A great many, e fccblod and emaciated by chronic d eases, silently gave up the ghost i the still honre of the night, their com ! panions knowing nothing of their de I parture. Hundreds wore frost-bitten, j Fuel was doled out in Shilling quan I Lilie?, .ind, although (nerv little piece i of coal and wood was hoarded with j miserly caro, still we suffered in i tensely. Toward the latter part of ? Febrnary, iii recollect twight, it was j bruited alio^lt the camp, and generally i believed, that CoL De Land's com I maud had marching oriers. The re I yurt proved to be confect, and wc ? boiled their departure with sincere I joy, anticipating a ehr'--o of condi i ti ju in a cbaage of mit "is. Col. B. J. j Sweet assumed command. Every? thing progressed with admirable or I der And cleverness until tin- following j day. During this happy interval, we I were comparatively well-treated. "With the Colonel's, approval, aa?? under the supervision of men appouH ed by him, ve improved our barracks, ditched and made cleffnly our grounds, erected new buildings for"various pur? poses, and ia short did all that, we could to male ourselves comfortable, fully expecting to remain there until the -close of ibo war. Hard times came on again, however, in ?July. In the first place, came an order from the "War Department curtailing our ra? tions so frightfully that we began tc feel hungry at the very - prospect. Secondly, we were prohibited receiv? ing articles from the outer world. This was another cruel stroke of "outrageous fortune," for many be? nevolent persons* in Kentucky and other States had been daily sending j us mighty hampers and boxes ol wholesome provisions. The sutlers j rere also prohibited selling us any? thing to eat. Our sufferings now com menced in dead earnest. We drew just enough meat and bread to sustain life an? . keep us ra ?nciiousiy luiugxy ail tnettiine. i'ti aL prolonged tortures, I think a gnawing anet everlasting hunger the worst. The fabled agony of Tantalus must have been something like it. Likt Oliver Twist in the poor house; w< went to bcd hungry, dreamed oi something to eat all night, and g?' np the next morning hungrier thar ever, to breakfast on a cold crust and pass the long, weary day with ou; "aching voids" unfilled. This wai the case day after day, week af te: week, month after month. The niosi rigid economy and careful manage ment did no good. Some would ea ?heir rations for a day at one meal others thought it best to have two which was something like conjuring s quart out of a pint bottle. In a camp of ten thousand men, : hound puppy would have starved U death, provided it-wasn't killed am eaten. This teas the unhappy fate o a corpulent canine tlud was decoyef into Barrack No. 9 l^y^reen W'illiami and Milton Volker, of Company C 2d Kentucky, killed and cooked b; these gents, and eaten with infijnib gusto. ? Capt. Welk Sponable, the commis sary- of prisoners, hearisg of .th affair, summoned the wretches befon his awful tribunal, and giving them i sound cursing, committed diem to tin dungeon. "Both mongrel, puppy, whelp und hound, And curs of low degree." were carefully kept out of reach fron that day. Petition after petition wa sent to headquarters, setting fort! the insufficiency of our rations, nn< praying for more, but we invariabl; got the same reply-"the Govern ment allow you so nmoL and n< more." This state of things con tinned for eight months, only time grew worse as the winter of 'o-i ap proached. We did not get stove and fuel until December. In thu latitude it is rather cold the, 1st t October. We were vastly better situ ated in respect to warm quarters tba during the preceding winter. 1 seemed, however, that fate, as sh bestowed one blessing, gave us. o the same time, ;? still greater cur? "We were, theuceforth, tormented b the "Police Guard," a set of men c brutal, cruel and stony-hearted ? were ever the task-masters of th land of Egypt. It was the duty < these fellows to be with us at a times, to see thai no regulation wi infringed, and if any were, to punis the offenders at pleasure. Being ii vested -with plenary powers by their superior officer?, they camed their authority to a barbarous and un? reasonable-* extent. Punishment, or rather cruelties, the most revolting and humiliating were daily inflicted. Blows, kicks and curses, incarceration in tlie dungeon, the ball and chain, were the order of the dav. The police were armed with revolvers and heavy sticks; they used both without remorse. Among them there was one pre-eminent in savageness of heart. His name was Chapman, but his bull-dog finalities had gained him the appropriate soubriquet -of "Old Brindle." The physique of this ex-i traordinary personage well indicated his moral turpitude. Of Herculean ' build and stature, with a huge angu? lar hoad, set on a short brawny neck, I ^big jaws and big mouth, with pro- I Jtruding fangs, restless grey eyes and ! 'a dark, sinister cast of features, this | ! lineal descendant ?f the Anthropo- j phagi was "the right man in the right place," to exemplify the beau- I ties of the coercive system. One bitter night in last December, this | man. with two others, stealthily en- j I tered<our barracks and caught three t men 'standing by. the stove. It was 1 against orders for any prisoner to bo i I out of his bunk after sunset, but the intense cold had driven some to the fire. Chapman, with his pistol cock l ed and presented, made these men I kneel on. the floor, while he severely whipped them with the heavy buckle of his pistol belt, saying,, at the time, ' 'God d-n you, I'm printing United States on your back." .The men thus cruelly . outraged were Bane, Pettway and Cox, and the atrocity was committed in the presence of a hundred and eighty tuen, any or all ^)f whom will corroborate this state nifli^ TV.- +v<uisuii''tJc"l a TfiDOVt **?e whole athur to Ooh Sweet, out with no | good result. Chapmr a was immediate- j ly promoted a grade higher; he be came "Sergeant of the Kitchen,"and j shortly afterward shot down and kill- ! ed a half-famished Carolinian, for j picking bones out of the refuse, bar- | reis. This crime added a good deal i to his prestige, and he was still fiorr- j rishing in undiminished brutality i when I left there last February. To * him, more than to any mau I ever j saw, are applicable the words of ? Signor Gratiano: be'thou damn'd, inexoiablc dog, And fer thy life let justice be nceused! ^ , Thon almost inak'st mc waver i:: my faith, To hold opinion with Pythagoras, That souls of animals infnse'theinselyes ! Into thc trunks id' men: tliycnrrish spirit Governed a wolf, who, hanged for ?inman slanghter, 4 j Even from the gallows; did his fell soul licet, ; And whilot thou lay'st in thy unhallowed j dani, j Infused itself in thee; for thy desires Are wolfish, bloody, starv'd?nd ravenous." j I could give you many other sick- I ening details similar to those above j related, but "it is unnecessary, and! I will trespass on your natience j no longer. I have written these J disgraceful facts to show you that j cruelty to the unarmed and help- I less is not confined to" any particular \ . locality; that all men are more or less j. depraved, and that depravity is dove- j loped to a frightful degree in times of war. MIGHTY BLIGHT. . --*-j. ' DEATH OF CH.VRI.ES L. TKEXUOI.M, ESQ.--This useful citizen and well- ; j known gentleman died in this city, of a severe attack of fever, on yesterday. < From early boyhood, he has been con- I nected with mercantile. pursuits, and ! ( for many years previous to the war j <. was interested in and had the manage- I . ment of that valuable property known j as Fraser's or ?Central Wharvar,. i 1 There are few among us who would be ' considered his equal ir? untiring ap? plication to business, and in an intel- j ' ligent and sagacious management of I the affairs entrusted to his charge. The deceased is a younger brother of " nur fellow-citizen, Geo. A. Trenholm, Esq., now confined in Fort Pulaski, i ^ Mr. Trouholin was still in the prime ? ^ of life, being only a few years over i . fifty. - C/tar/eston IVeiDS. A few cases of yellow fever report? ed in New Organs, but they excite no ] uneasiness, :j? they are of a mild type, | md yield readily to en ref ul treat- I r ment 'The health of the city gene- ? 0 rallv was never better. The robberies continue in Charles? ton. On Monday night, a residence in Bee street was robbed, and several ? attempts were made in other parts of the city. , . There wore more marriages in Pe? tersburg, Va., during the last month I of August than in any une month for j ten years past. ; The French Government is about ] to send out an engineer to Japan' to ! establish an arsenal at Yokohamo, on the ground ceiled to France. ThS Russian telegraph through Si? beria will be economical on account of the number of Poles on the ground. Attempts at outrages on ladies are frequent now at Portland, Maine. NEW- GOODS ! SEW GOODS ? JUST RECEIVED AND FOR SALE BY At Iiis New Store. Washington Street, juSt Opposite the Old Jail. DRESS GOODS, Colored and Mourning, consisting of : Plain, Plaid and Striped ALPACAS. LUSTRES and DELAINES. Also, CALICOES. BROADCLOTHS and CASSIMERES. TWEEDS, Ar. ALSO, UMBRELLAS, BALMORAL SKIRTS. CRASH, for Towelling. LOVE VEILS. LINEN SETTS, with and without Lace, and with Mourning Edges. Black Silk and Colored Silk Cravats. Elastic Garters, Men's Buck Gloves. Ladies* Gauntlets and Gloves. Embroidered Handkerchiefs. Linen Cambric Handkerchiefs, for Ladies and Gentlemen. Cent's Linen Collars. Fancy Hair Nets, for Waterfalls, and plain Silk Nets. Hair Brushes and Combs. Scent Papers. Trish T.me.n. of allnim-l?Mas. Lonjrciotjjs, Ladies Und$rvests. Rubber, Coat and Vest Buttons. Gent's Half Hose, of excellent quality. Men's line Felt Hats, black and colored. Colori d Woolen Shirts and Drawers. Corsets, China Dolls of all sizes. Hoop Skirts, Perfumery. Castile Soap, Suspenders. Head Handkerchiefs. Paney Dress Buttons. Belts of every variety. Belting Ribbon. Scissors, Tooth and Nail Brushes, &C GROCERIES. Whkc'? ml Brown SUGAR. Green and Black TEA, COFFEE. Starch, Soap, Candles. Molasses, Brooms, Herrings. Sardines, Matches, Blacking. Rut A Baga Turnip,Seed, ?fcc. Sept 20 UQU0&8, GROCERIES AND DRY- GOODS. C1< INSTANTLY on hand, and at the LQW J EST MARKET PR.'CES, a line and varied assortment of . ?A LIQUORS, W GROCERIES AND DRY GOODS. Best AOURBON WHISKEY hy thc barrel, gallon or by bottle, ' ' SIMONS' A KERRISON, Assembly street, opposite Cathedral. Sept ll * Imo RITSON LEE & CO., " Auctioneers, General Com. Agents anti Exchange Brokers, COLUMBIA, S. C. A NY business entrusted to them will re ?\. ceive prompt attention. COLD, SILVER, SECURITIES and BANK NOTES bought and sold. Refer to Messrs. WILLIS ? -^HISOLM md Messrs. JOHN FRASER A Co., Charles on, S. C. GEORGE SCHLEY, Esq., and Messrs. F. 3. BAItliER A: CO.. Augusta, Ga. Messrs. STENHOUSE A MCCAULEY, Charlotte, N. C. Office for the present at Messrs. Zealy, Scott & Bruns. Aug 10 6tuf8 fi?ST.UU.ISIIEU is 1818.] WM. SSIT?1 BROWN & CO., WHOLESALE OEALEfaS Hf No. 53 Chambers St., New York. \1TM. SMITH BROWN will receive con W signments of C OTTON for sale, oft ommission, and make cash advances on dinmont s. His arrangements are sjfch as o insure faithful?attention to the interest d' the consigner. Sept 17 2ino mum WEAB?T Photographic Artist. "MAKES pleasure in announcing to 1) L friends and patrons that he has i pened his Gallery, on Assembly stn .ear Plain street. Sept