Democratic Sentinel, Volume 22, Number 20, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 May 1898 — A HISTORIC SPOT. [ARTICLE]

A HISTORIC SPOT.

Andersonville, the Site of the Old Confederate Prison. Among the many places of interest which surround Americas, Ga., there is none so historic in its character or of which so much has been spoken and written as Andersonville, the site of the old Confederate prison and the national cemetery, in which lie the remains of over 13,000 Union soldiers. It lies eleven miles northeast of Americus and can be reached by rail or carriage. The drive is a pleasant and picturesque one, the road winding among the hills and valleys and passing through forests of pine. Of the old prison pen, which was, in fact, nothing but a stockade inclosing thirty acres

of land, through which ran* Sweetwater creek, little remains. A few straggling half-rotted posts mark the line of the stockade. A few low earthworks, upon which were mounted small field pieces, show where once were the Cates. Here and there are a few of the wells dng down into the hard red clay for shelter and In the hope of escape. Providence spring, which burst forth just on the edge of the “dead line” and furnished > fresh water for thousands of thirsty throats, still contributes its never falling stream to Sweetwater creek. 'The grounds are now the property of the Grand Army of the Republic, having been purchased by the department of Georgia and turned over to the national encampment. Carriage ways and walks have *een constructed through the grounds, and it is intended to erect a club house. Visitors occasionally pick up some relic of the thousands who were confined there, in the shape of a button, a buckle or a rusty canteen. The national cemetery, In which lie representatives from every State in the Union and from almost every regiment, with its 13,000 white headstones resembling a great army of the dead, lies about half a mile from the prison grounds and is surrounded by a brick wall. The grounds are neatly laid out, the walks are well paved, the lawns are kept nicely trimmed, while clumps of trees and shrubbery break the monotony of an almost level plateau. All but a few hundred of the graves are laid out in long, straight lines, with avenues between, just ns they were dug by the corps of prisoners who buried side by side their dead brethren. A wonderfully correct record was kept by this corps, and it has been transcribed and is kept in the office of the superintendent, who can in a few minutes point out the exact spot of any one buried in the grounds. Near the center of the cemetery, apart from all the others, unmarked and unhonored, lie the remains of four prisoners who were convicted by their fellows of robbery and murder and were hung upon a gallows erected within the stockade.