Prison Life in Andersonville Part 6

IV, pp. 306, 307:

"One of the most distressing evidences of the straits to which the South had been brought was seen in the state of the prisons in which she was forced to keep the thousands of prisoners who fell into the hands of her armies.

"More than two hundred thousand, first and last, were taken, and only some sixteen thousand of these were paroled upon the field....

"Not until the war seemed turning toward its end could an exchange of prisoners be arranged. The Federal authorities knew their superiority in fighting population and did not care to lose by returning fighting men to the South. If her soldiers died in Southern prisons, they were dying for their country there, General Grant said, as truly as if they lost their lives in battle.

"In the south men could not be spared from the field to guard the prisons; there were not guards enough; there was not food enough; and many thousands were crowded together under a handful of men.

"Proper sanitary precautions were, in the circ.u.mstances, impossible.

The armies themselves lacked food and went without every comfort, and the prisoners could fare no better--inevitably fared worse, because they were penned within a narrow s.p.a.ce and lacked the free air of the camp. A subtle demoralization touched the government of the Confederacy itself as the war went its desperate course, and those who kept the prisons felt that demoralization with the rest."

One recollection has burned itself into memory. At Andersonville there was a standing offer of immediate release to any prisoner of average strength who would take the oath of allegiance to the Confederacy and engage in non-combatant service. Officers who entered the prison with these proposals were shunned by our men. I recall a recently naturalized Federal prisoner who thus enlisted. When he re-entered the prison in Confederate uniform as a recruiting officer, his reception was such that he fled to the gate for his life; shouting to the guard to protect him. For flag and country our boys could uncomplainingly die a lingering death, but they could not turn traitor.

APPENDIX C.

WOMAN'S RELIEF CORPS MEMORIAL.

Among the heroisms of the great Civil War none surpa.s.sed the self-sacrificing devotion manifested by the women of the North and of the South. The latter are represented by an organization known as "The Daughters of the Confederacy," within whose a.s.sociations are kept alive ardent memories of heroic days.

The former have wrought enduring deeds of patriotism and of mercy, chiefly in co-operation with the Grand Army of the Republic. The work of the Woman's Relief Corps in securing and improving the Andersonville prison grounds const.i.tutes an imperishable memorial to their patriotic devotion.

To the energy and executive ability of Mrs. Lizabeth A. Turner, Chairman of the Andersonville Prison Board, is due in large measure the complete success attending the movement to gain possession of and to beautify the site and surroundings of the historic Andersonville prison.

The following letter written two years before the decease of Mrs. Turner explains in her own vigorous expressions how these great results were secured:

"Woman's Headquarters Relief Corps, (Auxiliary to the Grand Army of the Republic.) 46 Camp Street, New Britain, Conn., October 14, 1905."

"Rev. John L. Maile.

Dear Comrade: Some fifteen years ago the Department of Georgia, G. A. R., considered the idea of buying the Andersonville prison pen and holding it in memory of the men who there died for the preservation of the Union.

The committee bought all the land the owners would release and hoped to raise through the Northern posts and their friends a permanent fund for the care of the grounds.

The plan proved a failure. The G. A. R. in the South is very poor. Its members are mostly colored men who are able to make little more than their living.

On the property was a mortgage of about $750, which was paid by the Woman's Relief Corps, but money for the care of the place was lacking. The grounds were then offered to the United States Government on the condition of providing perpetual care. As Andersonville is not a battlefield, the authorities declined the proposition.

On two occasions a like proposal was made to the National G. A. R.

Encampment, but these veterans decided that the time is not far distant when they can care only for themselves.

With better success the responsibility was tendered to the Woman's Relief Corps, which felt that if there is a place on G.o.d's earth that should be held sacred, it is that prison pen. The officials accepted the obligation, trusting to woman's patriotism for support and care, and they have not trusted in vain.

The adage that "G.o.d helps those who help themselves" has been true in our case. When we accepted the sacred trust and looked the ground over, I found a large corner of the original pen and three forts we did not own.

We bought the extra grounds and the forts, paying for them several hundred dollars more than they were worth. We ventured for all or nothing--and _all_ it was.

This occurred in 1895, and in that year I was elected President of the W.

R. C. At the convention we raised by personal contributions $700 as a beginning.

During several years each member was asked to give from three to five cents; some responding, others refusing. Now all bills are paid from the general fund of the National organization.

We own eighty-eight and one-half acres of land, including the seven forts; all the earthworks and rifle pits; also the wells dug by the men in trying to reach water. These are in as perfect condition as when the war closed.

Not a well has caved in or a fort changed in shape. That hard, red clay seems as unyielding as stone.

The grounds are inclosed with a high wire fence and suitable gates. Roads are laid out and bridges built over the creek. Bermuda gra.s.s roots planted on the north side will make an even lawn.

Gra.s.s seed for a sward will not germinate in that soil. We have built over Providence Spring a stone pavilion, also a nine-room house, well furnished, and after the northern home pattern.

We also have a barn, a henyard, a good mule and all kinds of work tools for such a place.

We engage an old veteran and his wife as caretakers. From a pole 116 feet high floats in the air every day the flag those heroes died to save. At our last convention we voted to build a windmill the coming winter.

Last fall we set out 300 roses and this autumn will add 200 more. We have also set out 150 four-year-old pecan trees that are from 10 to 15 feet high. They do finely in that soil and when from ten to twelve years old will bear a paying crop. A freeze does not affect them and they are marketable without decaying.

Ohio, Ma.s.sachusetts, Rhode Island and Michigan have put up beautiful monuments in the prison pen. Wisconsin will have hers ready to dedicate on next Memorial Day.

Pennsylvania, Iowa and Maine have placed monuments in the cemetery. All this has been done through the work of the W. R. C.

While I believe the prison pen is the _only_ place for the monuments, I am thankful to have any State remember their Andersonville men wherever they think best.

"Death Before Dishonor" is the motto on all the monuments within the prison grounds.

Last year we had markers put down on all the places of special interest; also on the stockade and dead lines. Trees have grown up _through_ the forts forty feet high and are more than two feet through.

The W. R. C. has started a fund for the perpetual care of the Prison Pen Park. We began last year and have already $3,000 in the fund. The yearly income is to be added to the princ.i.p.al, and none to be used until the proceeds are sufficient to support the place.

We are to set aside annually _not less_ than $1,000 for the increase of the fund, besides caring for current expenses.

You will, I am sure, be much interested in the situation. I have been Chairman of the Board from the beginning and hope to live long enough to see sufficient money set aside to care for the place _forever_.

Yours in F. C. and L., LIZABETH A. TURNER,

Chairman Andersonville Prison Board of Control."

Mrs. Turner served as President of the Woman's Relief Corps, Auxiliary to the Grand Army of the Republic, and was appointed by her compeers as Life Chairman of the Andersonville Prison Board. Her death occurred at Andersonville on April 27, 1907.

A monument suitable to her memory, erected by the Woman's Relief Corps, adorns the prison grounds for which she spared not her life to preserve and beautify.

From the Annual Address of Mrs. f.a.n.n.y E. Minot, President of the Woman's National Relief Corps, at the Twenty-third Annual Convention, 1905:

"In March it was my privilege, in company with Mrs. Turner, Mrs. Winans and Mrs. Kate E. Jones, to visit Prison Park at Andersonville. As I walked through the grounds and read and pondered on the suffering there endured, it seemed, indeed, a hallowed spot. Just beyond is the National Cemetery, in whose broad trenches are interred more soldiers in one group than upon any battlefield on the face of the globe. A whole army perished rather than deny the country which gave them birth! The bravery of the men at Thermopylae has been the theme of song and story; but they fought in the shadows of their soul-inspiring mountains, while these men, removed from the activities of war, the flash of arms, the long array of men eager for the contest, dragged out a miserable existence till death came to their relief. If ever men were loyal, true and brave, whose names should be inscribed on honor's roll, it was these."

"Who tasted death at every breath And bravely met their martyrdom."