CHAPTER XVIII.

[The succeeding pages are devoted principally to the testimony of individuals who have been confined in other prisons.]

CONSPICUOUS upon the list of Rebel prisons stands the pen known South as Camp Lawton, near Millin, Georgia.

The following is the testimony of Sergeant W. Goodyear, Seventh Regiment, C. V., who was removed to that place from Andersonville on the 1st of November, 1864.

It was pleasantly situated, about eighty miles north of Savannah, in a country where pine forests abound. Indeed, these were a prominent feature in the external surroundings of many of the Southern prisons. Trees would be felled, a clearing made, and here located the rude structure that was to be the cheerless home of thousands for long, weary months. Could a voice be given to these silent groves, and they become witnesses of what they have seen and heard, what revelations would be made of things that can never be known now!

The medium of human language fails to convey all the meaning involved in prison life in the South.

It is true that a great part of the suffering in this present war, as in all wars, must forever remain with the secrets of unwritten history. A few, who were themselves actors in the tragic scenes, may rehearse the story of their individual experience, and thus furnish, as it were, a key to unlock the gates through which others may enter and take a look. This is the only way in which the people at large can become acquainted with this thrilling portion of the war; and authentic and reliable statements are therefore of deep interest and importance.

THE INCLOSURE.

"Forty-four acres of ground were inclosed by the stockade at Millin. The large pine timber, which was cut down at the commencement of operations for building the prison, was left upon the ground ; and when the first prisoners went into their confinement there, they found these to be greatly to their advantage; for they were able to construct for themselves comfortable huts of logs and branches lying about them. In this respect they were more fortunate than many, or most others. The last division that entered had no shelter at all, or at least of any account. A small stream of good water ran through the centre, which the men highly prized, particularly as it afforded the much needed privilege of bathing. At the time of my arrival there, the list of prisoners numbered nine thousand. The weather was very cold and stormy; and as the

majority of the men were very poorly clad, many of them being without shoes, blankets, or coats, and also without shelter, the suffering was very great No medicine was issued to the men within the stock ade, and but very few were taken outside to the hospital; consequently the mortality was fearful.

AVERAGE NUMBER OF DEATHS PER DAY.

"The number of deaths averaged from twenty-five to thirty-five per day. The prevailing diseases were such as are common to almost all prisons the scurvy, diarrhoea, and rheumatism. It was no uncommon occurrence for the morning light to reveal the pallid faces of three or four prisoners who had laid down side by side, showing that death had claimed them all during the night. Such sights were heart-rending to the most unfeeling the most stoical. The prisoner is condemned to these things, and there is no alternative but for him to gaze upon them, however sad and revolting they may be. He must steel himself against that which once would have sent sympathy through his whole being a gushing tide. It could not be that the fountain of pity be stirred to its depths so often. Nature could not sustain the pressure; therefore it seems that the whole is something like a martyr process, in which the very juices of life are crushed out by an uncontrollable force.

"At the beginning of my stay at Millin, the rations which were issued were double the amount we had

at Andersonville. We drew one pint of meal, six ounces of uncooked beef, six spoonfuls of rice, one teaspoonful of salt, as our allowance for twenty-four hours. Beans were sometimes substituted for rice; but these were so much eaten by insects that they were often thrown away without being tasted. After a little while, however, the quantity decreased every day, so that it became nearly as small and poor as those issued in other prisons.

INDUCEMENTS TO ENTER THE REBEL SERVICE.

"The prospect of being exchanged or paroled was so small that some availed themselves of the opportunity to take the oath of allegiance to the Confed

rate government, and entered the Rebel service. The inducements which were offered them to do this, were three bushels of sweet potatoes, a suit of clothes, and one hundred dollars in Confederate scrip. I was myself acquainted with quite a number who did this; and although I would make no excuse for them, I know the motive by which they were actuated. They knew no chance of getting out of prison alive. They had barely clothes to cover their nakedness, and they thought to prolong their existence in this way; and coupled with this was the idea of escaping and fleeing to the Union lines at the very first opportunity. But the whole thing was considered a mean, disgraceful act by every true patriot. I would have died a dozen deaths rather than to have been guilty of such a