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XMJS PENSACOLA JOURNAL SUNDAY MORNING DECEMBER 19 1909 1t 29

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HORRORS OF FORT DELAWARE ViVIDLYRECALLED BY ONE PRISONER OF WAR

X 7E BY WILLIAM H TRIMMER X X-ZVAA +S + <

At last after 45 years the UnitedStates government through the con-gress

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s has appropriated about 10000to be used to build a monument tomark and honor the dead Confeder-ate

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prisoners of war who died itFort Delaware from 18C3 to 1SG5about two years

Its sense of justice is shown byobliterating sectionalism and ani-mosity

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Fort Delaware is situated onan Island In the Delaware river about50 miles below Philadelphia and about-a mile to the eastward In New Jer ¬

sey and about the same distance tothe Maryland shore Over on theNew Jersey shore the Confederate-dead were carried and here theUnited States government intendsputting up a monument This is quite-an honor to these poor fellows whodied of starvation and diseaseatl-east we the comrades and suffererswith those who left their bones therethink so

The deaths became so numerousIn the fall of 1864 after the small ¬

pox broke out among us that de-tails

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from the prisoners were madeand large squads of us were carriedby boat over to the Jersey shore andput to work digging a ditch in whichthe dead could be put This ditch wasmade over 50 yaXJs long and somesix feet deep From my diary I copy

Nov 18 1864At daylight the Yan ¬

kee sergeant came into the pen anddetailed alot of us turning us overto the guard who carried us up to thedead house near the hospital Pitch-in you dammed Johnnies and getyour dead out from here

Litters were laid on the ground andon each tied up in his blanket welaid a festering body that had diedfrom smallpox Two of us toted thisputrid mass of former comrades some300 yards to tho boat laying alongsideuntil we had 14 The trip over tookabout half an hour and arriving onthe Jersey shore we were made tounload our dead each being toted tothe ditch edge and put down the car-cass dumped into the ditch Theblanket was thrown aside in a pile tobe returned for another

Some Horrible Experiences-Have any of you my readers seen

or had to handle a rotten putrid bodythat had died from smallpox or yellowfever If you have not you can rea ¬

lize what disagreeable things wehave to do sometimes Now I moral ¬

ize

Their PrecIous blood though vainlyshed

Long as thy shore old ocean lavesWell bow wth revrence oer our

deadAnd bless the turf that wraps their

graves

Nov 22Last night I slipped bythe Yankee sentinel and got into the

Alabama quarters here Up on thetop tier about nine feet from thehoer I found my friend John VIIejof Mobile formerly in the firm of HA John Wiley cotton brokers noworderly sergeant of company B 15thAlabama regiment The sergeantwith lots of his regiment had beencaptured at Gettysburg on July 41SU3 so had been a prisoner in thishell over a year A pure cold nightbut by sleeping close spooning it-I shivered out the night In themorning at day my next neighbor onthe bunk was dead The poor fellowhad been lading there sick for a weekwith smallpox The hospital wascrowded and the doctor got round to

I the sick laying upon the bunks once-a day his eyes wide open and glazedthe poor fellow in his agony and suf ¬

fering died among his comrades whorendered him no assistance so cal ¬

loused were our hearts that suffering-did not trouble us

One Agonizing CaseThe poor fellow begged and moan¬

ed for water but we lay there help ¬

less to aid him At 9 a m the Yan ¬

kee sergeant Hicout came on hismorning round he and his guard

Throw down your dammed deadyou rebs up there he sung outto us on top tier Thud after thud otdead were thrown down onto thefloor Afterwards we were made topick up and tie in blanket longstout poles were run through and eachload carried to the dead house towait their turn to be toted to thedead boat

These are then some of the deadthat are at last honorednot by namefor we did not know one from theother The big ditch I helped to digaccommodated over 2000 rebel deadand 100 barrels of lime were thrown-in

Delaware Like the OthersHere I might finish The readers-

of this paper have littie interest infollowing up the horrible life prison-ers

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of war were made to endure solong ago Fort Delaware was noworse than Elmira or Camp Cnase or I

Johnsons Island or Point LookoutThe Yankees had the prison businessdown fine as I will show-

I was captured in February 1S64and taken to Jacksonville and turnedover to the 5th Massachusetts regi¬

ment and thence taken to HiltonHead Here we suffered very muchfrom told as none of us had eitherblankets or overcoats

From Hilton Head we were puthboard a steamship and tairn toNew York haflbor and put in the oldYellow fort on Governors island

Here 69 of us from Florida were putinto a casemate which is a bomb ¬

proof from which cannon are firedthrough embrasure The embrasure-was closed by iron railing that andthe ironbarred entrance was the only

ventilation we could get This case ¬

mate was 20 feet by 20 feet and herefor one month laying en the cement-ed

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floor 69 of us were fed twice dailyand not allowed outside for any pur ¬

pose not even for sanitary purposesTrue it was cold weather and thenatural warmth of our bodies kepteach of us alive at night

If this is not hell what is itTreated Worse Than Convicts

We had committed no crime butwere treated far worse than convict-ed

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prisoners In the early part ofMarch orders came to remove usagain The fort and island were socrowded with their own deserters-and bounty jumpers that we hadto vacate A tug boat carried us tothe steamship Baltic one of tho oldCollins liners that ran to Liverpoolin opposition to the Cunarders TheBaltic and Atlantic propeller steam ¬

ships had been chartered by the gov-ernment

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The Cunarders then wereall paddle wheelers The Baltic car¬

ried us up to the Delaware rivertransferring us to a flat that put usashore on the island known as FortDelaware

Arriving there we were examined-and passed through the gates thatclosed on us for 15 long months Thestockade or bull pen covered aboutfive acres A number of large framebuildings about 25 had been builteach capable of holding 400 men Atthe Florida quarters I found severalold comradesRice Love and ArchieLove of Quincy who belonged to theSth Florida infantry I also foundJohn Cromartye and others fromMiccosukee Leon county boys Thesawere captured at Gettysburg hencethey had been in this pen over ninemonths Separating us by a highboard fence some 1500 officers of allgrades were also held

To Feed 10000 MenTo feed twice a day 10000 prison-

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besides the officers was quite itask by 7 a m The men by stateswere formed in long lines TodayFlorida with her 150 is first in linwaiting for the eating room door toopen Entering in line we file downthe long aisle of the building 300 feetlong four feet apart and on eitherside are tables three feet wide uponwhich rations of four crackers andtiny pieces of beef are laid One hun ¬

dred rations are laid in a row and 100prisoners march down each to hisplace takes it and marches out Thissystem is kept up till all are fed twice-a day

Now fancy you readers to your ¬

selves what a sight you have of 10000 hungry dirty ragged men twice-a day rain snow or sleet standing inthe open weather to receive this pit¬

tance Still we did not starveDuring the long and terribly severe

winter of 1S645 to keep from freez-ing

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every man wrapped the blanket

he had round him and laid down in uI at night Dec 24 1S64 my diaryreads was an Intensely cold nightSleeping was out of the questionMany froze to death on their bunksThe allowance of coal for each stovewas only one wheelbarrow full toeach man for 24 hours The strongerones controlled the stove and theweak ones stood no show No milkof human kindness here Ve all act ¬

ed liJrp beasts Hunpr and coldmade each of us perfectly indifferentto his fellow comrade

Sick and In PrisonLarge numbers of men were sick

with chronic diarrhoea Others hadtheir bones and gums rotting fromscurvy The sinks were situated over

I the river fully 200 yards from thenearest quarters The orders to theYankee sentries were very rigid andstrict Day or night rain or shineour orders were imperative to go tothe sinks or the sentry will kill youif you stop they said-

I have made as plain as I can whyso many unfortunates were killed in l

their tracks almost nightly The sentries on top of the buildings at tincorners were furnished each with bigreflector lanterns that worked on apivot so that light could be thrown-all over the pen at any time Num-bers

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of these poor humans were kill ¬

ed this way and this class also werehonored by laying on the big ditchthe monument will cover

Full Regiment on GuardTho prison and fort as a garrison

required a full regiment to guard usIt was in command of Gen Sehopf aHungarian and a brigadier He couldnot speak English nor could his staffThe were all German and only th <

adjutant Capt Aul spoke so that wecould understand I have previouslymentioned Sergeant Hickout a Geman A human brute he was in fullcharge of the prisoners in the perAn escort of four armed men alwaysattended him to out his ordersOutside on Hells half acre whichheld us after leaving the dining room I

Hickout had constructed a dozenwooden houses some seven feet highconeshaped at the top and harpUpon these daily he had men whohad taken some ones ration besidestheir own made to mount and straddlethe horse Weights were attached toeach foot and there for one hour hesuffered often after a severe clubbingfrom Hickout

Some Cruel PunishmentsAnother favorite punishment was I

to make the man tqtq a log of woodon his shoulder march up anddown If he stopped the sentry jog J

ged his bayonet into him Tying upby the thumbs and hoisting till thetoes just touched the ground wascommon-

I never experienced any of thesepunishments myself I took no

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TART THE NEW YEAR RIGHTTo Be a True Pensacolian You Must Be a Property Owner-

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10 STARTS YOU5 MONTHLY CARRIES YOU I

ENGLEWOOD HEIGHTS is regarded as one of the choicest subdivisions inthe State of Florida It is restricted against nuisances and negroes The roads-are being hardened It is being beautified with shade trees It is high t dry and cleanand commands a beautiful view It is accessible to the car line Now is thetime to take advantage of the low prices and easy terms The lots will be worthdouble in two years Today they are 150 to 400 In case of your death whileyou are paying for them we give your family a free deed No further paymentsrequired In case of loss of employment and you cannot keep up your paymentswe carry you Is that fair g

Cut This Out and Mail todayPensacola Realty Co-

AmericanPensacola Real ty Co

National Bank Bldg

Please send me your illustrated literature iAnroan National Bank Bid-

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about Englewood Heights cost to mei

Name1309Gr g

Address

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MANUFACTURERS AND EXPORTERS OF

Yellow Pine Lumberand TimberM-

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at Muscogee Fla Shipping points Pensacolar

Perdido Wharf and manufacturers of

Magnolia Farm Pure Cane Syrup1 k V rP S y S 1 i-t

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MAGNOLIA FARM CANE MILLFour Miles West of Muscogee-

If interested in this section from an agricultural stand ¬

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PERDIDO COUNTRYII iI

Southern States Lumber CompanyOf-fice

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7th floor American Bank Building

< lances Fortunately I had sonifriends in Maryland who kept me-wth a little greenback and I faredi little better being able to buy from

the Yankee sutler The sutler did aood business with those who hadgreenbacks and though we paid douh3 prices we got something extra-o eat and those who wanted somehirvg stronger could by calling forJamaica ginger and paying 75 cents-or It get whiskey in very small doses

Water for this large body of menhas quite an Important necessity andto obtain It two large steam waterSats were employed to bring waterfrom some of the fresh water creeksaway off The Delaware river wassalt High cisterns wore located atjoints and kept full the water boatssing hose and pumping daily oftenfrom laziness or meanness the wa ¬

ter would be brackish and unfit todrink Complaints would ibe sent toGen Schopf but they rarely were at-

tended¬

to-

Even Water Was Guarded-At the faucet of the tank stood an

armed sentry who did not allow anyof us to carry water away You willwonder how we washed That we did j

not do for the ditches were slimy i

from filth and the water lot into themwas salt Washing Why I had thsame rags en when released as I wenin with

For those of us who bad a dimeHickout always of an evening wouldhave brought in to the pen big strings i

of rats big fat fellows caught 1 > hisfrrrits round on the love To cooktlif rat after getting him was a harlob and often he was eaten half raw j

I have eaten rat and I cannot tell any I

difference between that and squirrel-I have seen men sit for hours at a rathole with a sharp stick to jab himwhen h wt his head out This was i

sheer hunger that caused this-I have often seen men blankets i

taken from off their shoulders andaid on the ground waen masss of

vermin How could it he otherwiseSrme were worse than others but allsuffered from the same cause i

In the later part of lv 64 a rei i

r nt of three Massaebuet and Ohiorn were brought to guard us to re-

live the veterans to go to the frontTiese Ohio boys had never sm lledpowder and they were the most cruel I

Hard we bad I

We occasionally sot a newspaperfrom the sutler The PhiladelphiaIrnuirer a bitter black Republican J

raper gave us the onesided newso j we heard of the risases thaware occurring in Dfx 1 11 i I

April we got news r tvi SM ir I

rf Lee and at nigh f lit i

up and we eouW = hrJersey snore Mg T r thesky-

L About day t SL Tj L to

quarters and told me that they hadkilled the president Lincoln at thetheatre last night We noticed thelag halfmasted on the fort at dayand the news spread in the penFeeble attempts to cheer were made-in some of the quarters

Cheering Was Cut OffThe adjutant Capt Aul hearing-

this cheering immediately had theI guard doubled with orders to snootif any laughing was indulged in Fourbrass guns were hurried into the penand loaded with canister shot CaptAul now had us massed and he gaveout his orders Our rations were rfduced to one a day and all lettersand communications from either wawere stopped For the next 30 daisthey sure made us suffer

The Ohio regiment was removedand a negro regiment put on guarin its place w ho treated us onusbetter than the white troops-

On May 20 I with over 00 rers was iparolled Among thosetake from my diary were one from rrFirst Florida 26 from the Her orFlorida four from the Third Florid

two from the Fourth Florida °C fro

the Fifth Florida three from t

Sixth Florida one from the SevernFlorida 40 from the Eighth Florid

111 from the Tenth Florida 13 fn-jthe Second Florida cavalry thnfrom artillery eoirnanies140 tnll-from Florida The men in the Sriond Fifth and Eighth Florida wercaptured at Gettysburg-

They Died Like SheepI cannot fissh this article more ap

priately than by adding the wordsspoken to us on April 26 this year atthe memorial exercises Harrassed-bv guards kept on insufficient rationsand many discomforts and often beg-ged

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to abandon our cause with offers-of liberty money employment andalmost anything they might ask yetthey preferred to remain prisoners-of war and to suffer on to the endrather than to deny their country or-lJeray her cause They died likesheep yet remained faithful Noth-ing

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could demonstrate their honestyintegrity and patriotism more thanthose men did in Northern prisonsTheir graves should never be for ¬

gotten though they died in prison J

and were buried in potters fields I

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Why He Was SadSeymourDid Grimmer seem to be

very sad after his auto had run downthose two men

Ashley Xot at first but when I methim a few days after the accident bewas the saddest man I na1 ever seenHe told me he would have to pay 2tot m damages

ccribsSub for The Journal I

THE DEAR OLD TREEt

By FRANK H SWEETTheres a dear old tree an evergreen-

treeAnd it blossoms once a year

Tis loaded with fruit from top toroot

And it brings to all good cheer

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For its blossoms bright are smallcandles white

And its fruit is dolls aid toysAnd they all arc free for both you

and meIf were good little girls and boys

The Christmas Manger-In France may be almost univerv

seen representations of for mailerwhich Christ was born wirb figurenary Joseph and the child Jesus vcattle feeding near by

His Natural WishHes certainly a big one Qxcla n-

ed Piker who was gazing with admiration on the mounted remains c-

an immense trout which Basse hadcaught in Canada

He is big admitted Basse brwhenever I look at him I cant helpwishing he had gotten away

Gotten away repeated Pikerwith surprise

Yes explained Basse if be hadgotten away I could swear be was atleast five times bigger

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