What a Yankee "Clerk" says about Prison Discipline at the South.
A. J. McCleary, of Company "C,"
California regiment, one of the
Federal soldiers captured at Ball's Bluff, was employed while in
Richmond to do the necessary "clerking" about the prisons, and therefore enjoyed "facilities of learning something of the
South." This individual was one of the number lately sent off, under flag of truce, to be exchanged, and, on his arrival at the
North, he gives the result of his observations through the columns of a Philadelphia newspaper.
After detailing the sufferings of the prisoners, he goes on to say:
‘
However, I must say that, during the past two months, our condition has been better, owing to the influence of
Mr. C. J. Faulkner, who visited us after his release from
Fort Warren, and made it his business to inquire into the condition of the
Federal prisoners.
A few days after he had been with us, comfortable were sent the men to lie under at night, and the food was better adapted to the taste than previously.
Their present healthy appearance is owing, also, to their friends in the
North, who supplied them with money, whereby the necessaries of life could be obtained.
At one time they were allowed to go to market with a guard and make purchases; but the
Southerner could not stand by and see the
Yankee prisoner buy that which he could not afford to. Complaints having been entered, this system was abolished, and a guard detailed specially for such work.
’
Conduct of the officers.
The following statement of their veritable "clerk" goes to show that kindness is entirely thrown away when bestowed upon a Yankee prisoner of war:
The conduct of some of the officers connected with the post was outrageous at times — inflicting cruel punishment on the prisoners.
But a few days before our release,
a Lieutenant Emac, originally of
Baltimore ordered some of the prisoners to do military work, which, of course, they refused, and were thrown into a damp dungeon, where they remained some six to eight hours.--Again, have I seen men "hoisted" up for the slightest offences, and an officer running in among the prisoners with a drawn sword, seeking one whom he considered an offender, whereas what had been done was perfectly justifiable.
Again have I heard one of the officers utter a remark that he wished he could only receive an order to take the Union-loving citizens — or as they call them, Southern Yankees — and shoot them down like dogs in the public highways.
Also have I heard the
Surgeon of the post, or as the boys called him, "the man who was born with a silver spoon in his mouth," wish that strychnine should be sent him, to administer to the sick
Yankees, merely because that by some mistake he appeared in the
Northern papers as an Union man. Now, such may seem impossible, but it is so, and can be substantiated.
Union sentiment in Richmond.
It will be gratifying to those who have prisoner friends in the
South to know that they will be North shortly, an order having been issued to that effect the night before our departure.
I expect by the time this letter reaches you the brave and gallant
Corcoran, of the Sixty-ninth New York, will be among us.
Of the
Union sentiment of
Richmond I shall say nothing, except that the
Government of the
United States is well represented by men who are not only willing to risk their lives, but also to give their thousands of dollars, to uphold the only free Government that ever existed.
The fortifications.
The fortifications of
Richmond, I learned, were seventeen in number, and none were armed and manned except one on the eastern side, which commanded the
James river.
The batteries along this river seem to be of but minor importance, except the one at
Jamestown and another at
Bay Point.
The gunboats
Jamestown and
Patrick Henry lie between these two batteries, and when we passed them had steam up.
