Martyria Part 22

Here is alone sufficient material for the iron fingers and forges and the steam power to fabricate the vegetable growths, the harvests of the vast and fertile plains of the entire South, and to build up with enduring form those great and thriving cities which are seen in the dim vista of the future of the Mississippi Valley, with its hundred millions of people.

These elevations, when denuded of their immense primeval forests of pine and oak, will be covered with constant verdure, affording sure sustenance to numberless flocks and herds of kine, which will require less care than the cattle of the plains of Texas or the pampas of Peru, since Nature, with her caverns and narrow valleys, will afford shelter from the destructive storms of winter and the chilling blasts of spring.

Between the two great spurs of the divided mountain range which encompa.s.s the head-waters and tributaries of the Tennessee, appears the garden spot of the Republic: the soils, enriched by the decomposition of the blue limestones, are here of great strength and endurance; the innumerable streams are of sufficient force and volume to satisfy the wants of industry and mechanics, whilst the lofty mountains, which rise to the height of seven thousand feet above the ocean, with their broad and impressive shadows, temper the atmospheres, so that the body can labor and the mind expand.

To the natural beauties of the landscape art has yet added nothing: from the teeming harvests of the valleys, from the ma.s.sive ledges of minerals, man has yet detracted nothing.

Nature here is almost inexhaustible.

No wonder that the dying Indian returns to the region of the Hiwa.s.see to end his days on earth, impelled by an irresistible desire to behold once more the wonders and beauties of natural scenery, which are preserved among the fading traditions of the tribes that have been banished to the far off western frontiers.

x.x.xIII.

From beneath the eastern aspect of the mountains of Alabama, a broad belt of metamorphic rocks bursts forth, and trends to the north-eastward, following the mountain ranges in almost parallel lines through the States of Georgia, South and North Carolina, and disappearing in Virginia beneath the waters of the Potomac. These lands of decomposed mica and talcose schists contain throughout their broad extent particles of gold; and some of the narrow and circ.u.mscribed fields are unsurpa.s.sed in their undeveloped richness by any of the known gold fields of similar extent in the world. These auriferous soils, owned or controlled by the slaveholder, have yielded, by the superficial scratchings and washings of the slave and the poor white, during the period since the discovery of the precious metal, about forty millions of dollars. There are not less than one hundred millions more within the reach and grasp of skilled and determined labor.

Along beside, and traversing through and through these golden rocks and sands, occur immense bands of itacolumite, known, from its flexibility, as the elastic sandstone. They stretch from Alabama to the interior of North Carolina, bursting forth now as great flexible bands of stone, and then bulging out as entire mountains. This singular formation is the same that has been recognized in Brazil, Ural Mountains, and Hindostan, as the matrix of the diamond; and here, nearly one hundred of the precious gems of fine water have been picked up from the earth, from time to time, by the careless observer.

x.x.xIV.

This upheaval of the earth's surface, reminding the geographer of the Italian peninsula, vaguely perhaps in form, in natural fertility and in purity of climate, is destined to play an important part in the future advancement of the Republic. For here is the heart of the eastern portion of the continent, geographically, climatologically, and mineralogically.

Here Nature is too prolific to be long neglected by the cupidity or the ambition of men, when the barriers and obstructions of inquiry and settlement, which have been reared against the advance and design of civilization by the Slave Faction, shall have been removed. When the tide of European emigration, which steadily brings to the New World the pure blood and youth of races, turns its stream of industrial life towards these valleys, mountain slopes, and terraces; when the laws of alimentation are understood and properly observed; when the spire of the school-house rises in the vista of every landscape, or points the way at every cross-road,--then we may expect to see a new variety of the human race appear, possessed of remarkable physical strength and beauty, and whose ideas and efforts, typical of the healthy and developed mind, will, like the influences of New England and Scandinavia, give fresh impulse and impress to the civilizations of the earth.

x.x.xV.

Races of men--nations--even the lesser communities, during the periods of their social existence, erect monuments, or leave, unwillingly sometimes, traces of their progress, their advancement, their culture, as memorials for the admiration, or as the objects of horror for the contempt, of future generations.

The gigantic pyramids and sphinxes of Egypt tell of the civilization of their extinct founders; the airy and graceful columns, with the wonderful sculptures of the Parthenon, disclose the degree of the perfection and the delicacy of the Greek mind. Rome, though long since vanished from among the nations of the earth, has left the impress of her force, grandeur, and wisdom in those laws which now direct the tribunals of men; the lofty and colossal structures of the temples of the Rhine are the emblems of faith as well as the masterpieces of the Gothic heart and intellect; even the mysterious and history-forgotten Druids have left their rude reminiscences in those weird circles of enormous and cyclopean rocks, beyond which all is darkness.

Thus men perpetuate their memories among the annals of the earth. But after their long period of existence and progress, what have the Slave Faction left for the historian to contemplate with satisfaction? for an attentive world to study, imitate, and admire? What beyond this appalling cloud of ignorance have they left as legacy to the poor white? What besides misery, violence, and crime have they bequeathed to the black man?

With what treasures, in the estimation of mankind, have they enriched themselves, or left as inheritance to their degenerate offspring?

The history of this remorseless party, its selfish and sordid aims, its cruel results, will always find place among the annals of civilized man so long as the n.o.blest acts of men are admired, and so long as the dark deeds of cruelty appall and overshadow our better nature. Thermopylae, Marathon, and the holy sites where Liberty has struggled for existence, and where men have risen above the trammels of their earthly natures, will be remembered no longer than this field of blood and torture among the obscure forests of Georgia.

x.x.xVI.

Who will say that Nature and Liberty were the genii who directed the labors of the leaders of the Rebellion?

Soil, climate, hereditary traditions, and customs of society, give to a people the fierceness and gentleness of character, as well as the perfection of mind and body. This fatal Stockade, with the silent mound of earth which contains its harvest of death, is a fair and just exponent of the bigoted and selfish policy that struck down the Flag of the Republic; of that cruel and unearthly spirit which has despised all the "attachments with which G.o.d has formed the chain of human sympathies," and which, without a tear of remorse, has strewn the Atlantic Ocean with a broad pathway of human bones!

APPENDIX.

NOTES.

Since the close of the war, and since the time when the sketch of the graveyard was taken, Colonel Moore, of the U. S. Quartermaster's Department, has been to Andersonville, under orders from the Secretary of War, and arranged the cemetery in a very acceptable manner. All of the stakes were removed, and neat head-boards placed instead, with the names of the dead properly painted in black letters. The ground has been cleared up by this efficient officer, and the cemetery carefully laid out into walks, adorned with flowers and trees. Colonel Moore, in his report to the Quartermaster-General, writes the following account:--

"The dead were found buried in trenches, on a site selected by the rebels, about three hundred yards from the stockade. The trenches varied in length from fifty 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 washed away the earth, but a few inches. Additional earth was, however, thrown upon the graves, making them of still greater depth.

So close were they buried, without coffins, or the 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 similarly numbered name upon the Andersonville 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, company, 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, 'Unknown U. S. Soldier.'"

Extract from letters of the rebel Senator Foote, dated Montreal, June 21, 1865.

"Touching the Congressional report referred to, I have this to say: A month or two anterior to the date of said report, I learned from a government officer of respectability, that the prisoners of war then confined in and about Richmond were suffering severely from want of provisions. He told me, further, that it was manifest to him that a systematic scheme was on foot for subjecting these unfortunate men to starvation; that the Commissary-General, Mr. Northrup (a most wicked and heartless wretch), had addressed a communication to Mr. Seddon, the Secretary of War, proposing to withhold meat altogether from military prisoners then in custody, and to give them nothing but bread and vegetables; and that Mr. Seddon had indorsed the doc.u.ment containing this communication affirmatively. I learned, further, that by calling upon Major Ould, the commissioner for exchange of prisoners, I would be able to obtain further information upon the subject. I went to Major Ould immediately, and obtained the desired information. Being utterly unwilling to countenance such barbarity for a moment,--regarding, indeed, the honor of the whole South as concerned in the affair,--I proceeded without delay to the hall of the House of Representatives, called the attention of that strangely const.i.tuted body to the subject, and insisted upon an immediate committee of investigation."

As to the capacity of the bakery, any one can make his own estimates from the plan given. The foreman of the government bakery at Nashville, gives his views in the following note:--

"SIR: Our system in wheaten flour bread is, five men bake six ovens full in the twelve hours; one oven full, 36 pans; 9 loaves (18 rations) in each pan; 36 pans 18 = 648 6 ovens full = 3888 2 (for twenty-four hours) = 7776 rations: this is done by two ovens. Say six men on each oven (any more would be in the way), two and a half hours to knead and bake each oven full (almost impossible), ten ovens full in the twelve hours in the day time (two ovens five times full in the twelve hours), ten ovens full in the twelve hours in the night time, each oven full 40 pans, 12 rations in each (20 oz. of corn bread); 40 pans 12 = 480 10 for day's work = 4800 + 4800 for night work = 9600 rations in the twenty-four hours.

Sir, all the above are in the extreme.

Most respectfully, JOHN WITHERSPOON, Foreman U. S. Bakery."

The hospital register gives the following data as to the number of prisoners present during each month, the number treated medically, and the average number of deaths:--

=============================================================== Number of Number in Average Month. Prisoners. Hospital. Daily Deaths.

--------------------+--------------+------------+-------------- February, 1864 1,600 33 ..

March, " 4,603 909 9 April, " 7,875 870 19 May, " 13,486 1,190 23 June, " 22,352 1,605 40 July, " 28,689 2,156 56 August, " 32,193 3,709 99 September, " 17,733 3,026 89 October, " 5,885 2,245 51 November, " 2,024 242 16 December, " 2,218 431 5 January, 1865 4,931 595 6 February, " 5,195 365 5 March, " 4,800 140 3 ===============================================================

The greatest number of deaths, on any single day, was on the 23d of August, 1864, and was 127, or one death every eleven minutes.

The fact of the employment of blood-hounds is too notorious to admit of doubt. Many packs of dogs were kept, and a profitable business was done in the catching of escaped prisoners. Ben Harris was seen to receive pay for the capture of sixty prisoners, at thirty dollars apiece. That some of the pursued were killed in the forests during the pursuit, there is no doubt in the writer's mind, from the evidence offered.

The following table was collated from the hospital records of the prison, and is believed, by the writer and clerks who were employed at the rebel office, to be quite correct:--

=============================================================== Deaths Deaths Deaths in Month. in in Small Pox Total.

Hospital. Stockade. Hospital. -----------------+-----------+-----------+------------+-------- February, 1864. 1 .. .. 1 March, " 262 15 5 282 April, " 471 71 34 576 May, " 633 65 10 708 June, " 1,041 150 10 1,201 July, " 1,119 614 5 1,738 August, " 1,489 1,592 .. 3,081 September, " 1,255 1,423 .. 2,678 October, " 1,294 301 .. 1,595 November, " 494 .. .. 494 December, " 166 2 .. 168 January, 1865. 191 8 .. 199 February, " 147 .. .. 147 March, " 100 .. .. 100 +-----------+-----------+------------+-------- Total 8,663 4,241 64 12,968 -----------------+-----------+-----------+------------+ Hung in stockade for crime 6 +-------- Total deaths as registered 12,974 ===============================================================

The hospital records show that 17,873 patients were registered, and that 823 of these were exchanged, and about 25 took the oath of allegiance, leaving 17,048 to be accounted for, giving a mortality of seventy-six per cent. Besides the registered dead, there were some who perished by the falling of the excavations in the stockade, and others destroyed by hounds and hunters in the forests.

The meteorological tables and the vegetal charts of Blodgett will give the rain-fall of this region in comparison with the other districts of the United States.

The following table, which was compiled by the author from the official records of the British army, gives the number of soldiers who were killed in action, or afterwards perished from their wounds, in many of the great battles of the British empire:--

===================================================== Total Strength Estimated Year. Battles. engaged. Deaths.

----------+-------------+-----------------+---------- 1809. Talavera, 22,100 1,445 1811. Albuera, 9,000 1,358 1812. Salamanca, 30,500 770 1813. Vittoria, 42,000 890 1815. Ligny, ... ...

.. Quatre Bras, ... ...