"As the time of the presidential election drew near, the Rebels expressed a desire that we should vote. upon the question ourselves. Accordingly ballotboxes were procured, and on the day when the people of the North were deciding the momentous issue, we gathered together in Millin Prison, and in the midst of great excitement, gave expression to our political preferences. We knew that it was war or peace. As we deposited our votes, so did we speak for one or the other, and show forth our position in the country's cause. At sunset the votes were counted, and the result was three thousand and fourteen votes for Lincoln, and ten hundred and fifty for McClellan.

CAME TOO NEAR THE DEAD LINE.

"I am indebted to O. R. Dahl, late lieutenant, Fifteenth Wisconsin Infantry, for the following particulars relative to the murder of Lieutenant Turbayne, which occurred after my escape from Columbia.

"About ten o'clock on the morning of the 1st of December, 1864, Camp Sorghum was startled with the report of a musket, and soon the news spread through camp that Lieutenant Turbayne, Sixtyeighth New-York Infantry, had been shot-mur

dered by one of the guard, a Mr. Williams of Newbury Court House, South Carolina:

"Turbayne was walking along a path that ran by the corner of a hut, near the "dead line," but inside of it. Along this path the prisoners had walked hundreds of times without fear, for it was on our own ground. As Turbayne came along, the guard brought his piece to the shoulder, halted, and ordered him back. He turned to go, walked a step or two, when the villain shot him through the back, the ball passing through his lungs. He staggered a few steps, fell, and died within a few minutes.

"Not only did Major Griswold refuse to investigatʊ the matter, but after the murderer had been relieved by the officer of the day, he sent him back on duty that afternoon on the front line, and also into camp next morning, surrounded by a body guard, for fear the officers would do violence to him an insult of the blackest dve."

CHAPTER XIX.

SALISBURY PRISON.

THE prison at Salisbury, North Carolina, which became so notorious during the war as one of the most loathsome dungeons in Rebeldom, was at first intended as a place of punishment for Southern soldiers guilty of military offences, and as a place of committal for hostages, who where usually sentenced to hard labor. It more recently came into general use, and hundreds of unfortunate victims said their last farewell in that miserable den. In order that we may obtain a better view of this horrible abode, I will transcribe the testimony of Messrs. Richardson and Brown, both widely known as correspondents for the public press.

The following statement was made by the former, before the Committee on the Conduct of the War:

"I was captured on a hay-bale in the Mississippi River, opposite Vicksburg, on the 3d of May, 1863, at midnight. After a varied experience in six different prisons, I was sent to Salisbury on the 3d of February, 1864, from which place I escaped on the 18th of December following.

"For months, Salisbury was the most endurable

prison I had seen; there were six hundred inmates. They were exercised in the open air, comparatively well fed, and kindly treated. Early in October ten thousand regular prisoners of war arrived. It immediately changed into a scene of cruelty and horror; it was densely crowded, rations were cut down and issued very irregularly; friends outside could not even send in a plate of food.

RATIONS.

"The prisoners suffered considerably, and often intensely, for the want of bread and shelter; those who had to live or die on prison rations, always suffered from hunger; very frequently, one or more divisions of one thousand men would receive no rations for twenty-four hours; sometimes they were without food for forty-eight hours. A few, who had money, would pay from five to twenty dollars in Rebel currency for a little loaf of bread. Many, though the weather was inclement and snow frequent, sold the coats from their backs and shoes from their feet. I was assured, on authority entirely trustworthy, that a great commissary warehouse near the prison was filled with provisions. The commissary found it difficult to find storage for his corn and meal; and when a subordinate asked the post commandant, Major John H. Gee, "Shall I give the prisoners full rations?" he replied with an oath, "No! give them quarter rations.”

"I know from personal observation, that corn