Reports of the Committee on the Conduct of the War Part 70

Answer. Yes, sir; and that in many cases their statements fall short of the truth, as evinced by the results shown in their physical appearance; and these men are in such a condition that even if they recover, we consider them almost entirely unfitted for further active field service--almost as much so, we frequently say, as if they had been shot on the field.

Miss Abbie J. Howe, sworn and examined.

By Mr. Gooch:

Question. From what State are you, and what position do you occupy in this hospital?

Answer. I am from Ma.s.sachusetts, and am here acting as nurse.

Question. How long have you been here?

Answer. Since the 15th of September, 1863.

Question. Have you had charge of the sick and paroled prisoners who have come here during that time?

Answer. Yes, sir; some of them.

Question. How many of them have you had charge of, should you think?

Answer. I should think I have had charge of at least 250 who have come under my own charge.

Question. Can you describe to us the general condition of those men?

Answer. Almost all of them have had this dreadful cough. I do not think I ever heard the like before; and they have had chronic diarrhoea, very persistent indeed. Many of them have a great craving for things which they ought not to have. One patient who came in here had the scurvy, and he said: "I can eat anything that a dog can eat. Oh, do give me something to eat;" and in their delirium they are crying for "bread, bread," and "mother, mother." One of them called out for "more James river water to drink."

Question. What has been their general complaint in regard to their treatment while prisoners?

Answer. Their chief complaint has been want of food and great exposure.

Many of them who had clothes sent them by friends or our government, were obliged to sell everything until they were left as dest.i.tute as at first, in order to get more food. I have seen some of their rations, and I would myself rather eat what I have seen given to cattle, than to eat such food as their specimens brought here. One man had the typhoid fever, but was in such haste to get away from the hospital in Richmond in order to get home, that he would not remain there. He had the ravenous appet.i.te which men with typhus fever have; and other men told me that they gave him their rations which they could not eat themselves.

This produced a terrible diarrhoea, and he lived but a few days after he arrived here.

Question. What has been the physical condition of these, emaciated or otherwise?

Answer. Just skin and bone. I have never imagined anything before like it.

Question. Have their statements, in relation to their exposure and deprivation of food, corresponded entirely with each other?

Answer. Yes, sir, entirely so, except those who were able, by work, to get extra rations; and those extra rations were not anything like what our men have here, but it gave them as much and as good as their guards had; and they have not only been treated in this way, but they have been ill-used in almost every way. They have told me that when one of them was sitting down, and was told to get up, and was not moving quickly in consequence of his sickness, he was wounded by the rebels in charge.

They have often told me that they have been kicked and knocked about when unable to move quickly. I could give a great many instances of ill-treatment and hardships which have been stated to me, but it would take a great deal of time to tell them.

Rev. H. C. Henries, sworn and examined.

By Mr. Odell:

Question. What is your position here?

Answer. Chaplain of the hospital.

Question. How long have you been here?

Answer. I have been on duty since December 7, 1861.

Question. You are familiar with the facts connected with the condition of paroled prisoners arriving here from the south?

Answer. Yes, sir.

Question. Will you state generally what was their condition?

Answer. I think it would be impossible for me to give any adequate description, for I think all language fails to fully express their real condition as they land here. Their appearance is haggard in the extreme; ragged, dest.i.tute even of shoes, and very frequently without pants or blouses, or any covering except their drawers and shirts, and perhaps a half a blanket, or something like that; sometimes without hats, and in the most filthy condition that it is possible to conceive of either beast or man being reduced to in any circ.u.mstances; unable to give either their names, their residence, regiments, or any facts, in consequence of their mental depression, so that I believe the surgeons have found it quite impossible some times to ascertain their relation to the army. Their statements agree almost universally in regard to their treatment at the hands of the rebels. There have been a very few exceptions, indeed, of those who have stated that perhaps their fare was as good as, under the circ.u.mstances, the rebels were able to give them, but the almost universal testimony of these men has been, that they were purposely deprived of the comforts and medical care which could have been afforded them, in order to render them useless to the army in the future. That has been the impression which a great many of them have labored under. They have given their testimony in regard to their condition on Belle Isle. There were three in one room here not long since, who told me that some eight of their comrades died during one or two days, and their bodies were thrown out on the banks that enclosed the ground and left there for eight days unburied, and they were refused the privilege of burying their comrades, until the hogs and the dogs had well-nigh eaten up their bodies. Yesterday, one man told me that he was so starved, and his hunger had become so intolerable, that his eyes appeared to swim in his head, and at times to be almost lost to all consciousness. Others have stated that they have offered to buy dogs at any price for food, of those who came in there; and one actually said that when a man came in there with a dog, and went out without the dog noticing it, they caught him and dressed him and roasted him over the fire, over a gas-light, as best they could, and then ate it; and, as he expressed it, "it was a precious mite to them." Their testimony in regard to the cruelty of the guards and others set over them is to the effect that in one instance two comrades in the army together, who were taken prisoners together, and remained in the prison together, were separated when the prisoners were exchanged. One was returned here and the other left. The one who was left went to the window and waved his hand in adieu to his comrade, and the guard deliberately shot him through the temple, and he fell dead. I mentioned this fact to others of our prisoners here in the hospital, and they said that they knew it to be so. Some of them were there at the time the man was shot.

Question. Do you keep any record of the deaths here?

Answer. I have not kept a record. I have the official notice of the deaths; but inasmuch as the records are kept at the office, and we have had so many other duties crowding upon us--so many deaths here--it has been almost impossible for us to keep any record. I think it is impossible for any description to exaggerate the condition of those men.

The condition of those here now is not so bad, as a cla.s.s, as some we have received heretofore.

By the chairman:

Question. Has the treatment of our prisoners latterly been worse than before, from their testimony?

Answer. I think there has been no very material change of late. I think it has grown worse from the very first; but for a year past, I should judge it could not be made any worse.

Question. Just the same thing we now see here?

Answer. Yes, sir. I would give just another fact in regard to the statements made here by large numbers of our returned prisoners. On Belle Isle, their privies were down from the main camp. From 6 o'clock in the morning until 6 o'clock in the evening they were permitted to go to these sinks or privies, but from 6 at night until 6 in the morning they were refused the privilege of going there, and consequently, so many suffering with diarrhoea, their filth was deposited all through their camp. The wells from which they drew their water were sunk in the sand around through their camp, and you can judge what the effect of that has been. Some of these prisoners, soon after they were put on Belle Isle, not knowing the regulations there, and suffering from chronic diarrhoea, when making the attempt to go down to these privies after 6 o'clock at night, were shot down in cold blood by the guards, without any warning whatever. Several such instances have been stated to me by parties who have arrived here.

By Mr. Odell:

Question. You make these statements from the testimony of prisoners received here?

Answer. Yes, sir; from testimony that I have the most perfect confidence in. Men have stated these things to me in the very last hours of their lives.

By the chairman:

Question. Were they conscious of their condition at the time they made their statements?

Answer. Yes, sir; I think they were perfectly conscious; yet there is one thing which is very remarkable, that is, these men retain their hope of life up to the hour of dying. They do not give up. There is another thing I would wish to state: all the men, without any exception, among the thousands that have come to this hospital, have never, in a single instance, expressed a regret (notwithstanding the privations and sufferings that they have endured) that they entered their country's service. They have been the most loyal, devoted, and earnest men. Even on the last days of their lives they have said that all they hoped for was just to live and enter the ranks again and meet their foes. It is a most glorious record in reference to the devotion of our men to their country. I do not think their patriotism has ever been equalled in the history of the world.

The committee then proceeded, by steamer, from Annapolis to Baltimore, and visited the "West Hospital," and saw the patients there. As they presented the same reduced and debilitated appearance as those they had already seen at Annapolis, and in conversation gave the same account of their treatment at the hands of the rebels, the committee concluded their examination by taking merely the testimony of the surgeon and chaplain of the hospital.