Richmond Palladium (Daily), Volume 36, Number 189, 17 May 1911 — Page 12

PAGE TWO.

THE RICHMOND PALLAJPIU31 AS1) SUN-TELEGIiAM, WEDNESDAY, MAY 17, 1911.

DOCTOR TIIURSTQII A PillSnOF WAR Well Known Physician Tells of Experience in Richmond Prisons. 4

. Dr. Josenh M., Thurston, one of

Richmond's best known physicians was for over a year during the Civil War, in which be participated as member of an Ohio regiment, a prisoner of war, being, confined , . In the terrible Pemberton and Libby prisons at Richmond, Va, and in a prison at Danville, Va. He still wonders how he was able to survive this terrible ordeal. At the request 'of the Palladium Dr.

j uui iiuu inrjnicu ait ii utis uu u experiences as a prisoner of war, in which he frequently quotes from the diary he kept while In prison. His article follows: , . Dr. Thurston's Story. - Tou have asked me to give some war experiences. In the outset let me say that I did not put down the rebellion, never was cut out for a soldier; If Mars had anything to do with It, he cut the wrong way of the cloth. My grandfather, on mother's side, was In the Mexican war. We children used to sit around the blailng fire of long winter evenings at grandfather's knee charmed beyond measure with his thrilling war atorles. Like most all boys, I grew to think or war as the very top round of fame and glory. , Fifty years ago, April 14, 1861, I was clerking In a . t general country store In Xew- Holland, O.. several of my lay associates were loafing la the store discussing the firing on Ft. Sumter, when Mr. 8mlth Chaffln, a patriarch of the town, ran In waving a newspaper and ' shouting, "Boys, Lincoln has' called for seventy-five thousand men for three months. Why yotf can lick 'em and be back home in three weeks!" We all believed . old Smith Chaffln- could not He, and ten of us took the train for Clrclevllle at two o'clock that afternoon. I even forgot to notify my parents, who lived three miles In the country: besides I

was only a little past nineteen and knew mother would object. At Circlevine we filled the quota of Captain Black's company. Immediately' took train for Columbus,' O., where volunteers were rushing from every direction. The First and Second Ohio regiments set oat at twelve o'clock that Bight for Washington, D. C. M I . a I . a . i

rramim nil ifioiner. .Returning home from the three months service, sick In body, and sick f war, I, promised mother never to do so again. Shortly I was again attacked with the war fever, but kept ttm covenant with mother until the XSrd day of July. 1862, when I enlisted In the 90th Ohio Volunteer infan-

TTts mastered out of service at Ant Ha, Mi., 0, account of general orCJ. No. 77. ' At the cte cr the mar. the 26th Cy of Jife, ltti I wsj.a corporal of Capany F. West In .with this rank pd helJ.lt faithfully until mustered

out I went In with the ambition of

major general, but was thankful to Cat out with a corporalshlp and a patriotism undamped. I saw service In several capacities; was made color guard during the chase after Bragg. There were three color guards and a color bearer, one guard on each aide of the flag bearer and one behind him. "Never allow the colors to touch the ground as-long as there Is a man of you alive and able to hold It up." These were our orders when going Into action. My place was behind the color bearer, the most dangerous, as well as responsible. . After the battle of Stone river. I took pneumonia from severe exposure on guard duty, and was taken back to Nashville to Hospital No.-14. When convalescing, served as nurse and was finally wardmaster of the large ward for the wounded. Soon made friends with the surgeons In. charge, as I bad tudled .medicine a year previous to enlistment with Doctor Davis of New Holland. O. Was put on special surgical duty with promise of a commission -as assistant surgeon. My health was bow, fully recovered and I began to .long for adventure; quiet routine hospital work became monotonous; bei sides, was getting letters from my comrades telling of the times In camp Ufe at the front. So one day I quietly (gathered up my few belongings among 'Which was a portfolio with several 'grades of Faller'a lead pencils, a case of colored pencils, a small flat Ink

lOtand. pens, drawing paper, etc., went

quietly out of the back hospital door

to the quartermaster's office, got transportation to the front and joined my regiment. Found that I was just In

time to get Into the Chickamauga cam-

tpalgn. The whole army broke camp arly next morning and set 'out on

Weary march, countermarch, maneuv

ering for position and battle. eeome a Bugler. i After returning to the front. I was

snade regimental bugler? when we were rushed double " quick Into the ifray I ran alongside the Colonel's

corse with bugle In hand, blowing '"Forward" as loud as possible. This raa a very foolish thing for me to do, but worse. In the terrible roar and excitement of battle took a gun and cartridge box from a. badly . wounded comrade, and resumed ?n- place in the company and got busy with the rest I bad to do It or "get shot In the back. Sunday, late In the afternoon of the second day's hard fought batUe of Chickamauga, September SO, 1S62. the 90th Ohio was on the left center. Gen. Craft's brigade. Gen. Palmer's' division and when the fatal mistake ;was made In moving reinforcements the right flank of our. regiment was exposed, and quickly flanked by a grand rush of the mad enemy; of course, we then knew nothing of bow It happened, but were soon surrounded and commanded sternly to surrender.,'. We ran this way and that, frying to escape but

mn mat at every hand with bavonets.

hot and shell At last we had to surrender and were bustled back to Aa Confederate rear. ...We tell into the

bands of the Mississippi Pelicans.My. gun was broken and . thrown away but I had the bugle still swung to my back. A tall, lank, greasy fellow grab-,

bed me, yelling, -"We've got Gabriel( by G ! Here's his horn," and snatching

the bugle, began to blow most un

earthly toots. The Federal forces

lost some 16,350 killed, wounded and

captured. '

About ten o'clock that night, about

f ve or six hundred of us were started.

closely guarded, we knew not where.

but after two days and nights, arrived at Rlngold, Ga. All this time we had nothing to eat and very little water; many died on the road. After a scant meal of corn bread, spoiled bacon and water, we were crammed into cattle

cars like sardines, and started for

Richmond, Va. Railroading in the Southern Confederacy at that time

was siow ana .eaious. Alter nine

days and nights of very devious traveling, stops and long delays, we finally arrived at Richmond;- part were

put on Belle Isle, a little Island in the

James River and part in Pemberton

prison. En route to Richmond. In the three months service, on envelopes and letter paper, was printed in large colored letters this legend, "On to Richmond. As we now came, ia passing through the different towns women and children and old men, too old for service, would crowd around to see the "horned Yanks" as they called us; then we would raise the roof shouting "On to Richmond," and singing "John Brown's Body Lies Mouldering In the Tomb, But His Soul Is Marching on to Richmond," and "Rally Round the Flag Boys," etc. Will not attempt to relate prison experiences for a year and fourteen days as this Is already too long, and in fact, there is much of it that I am sure your readers would not relish. For twenty years after returning home, I did not dare to talk twenty minutes about It At night I would have fearful nightmares of "prison experience, would jump out of bed and feel around the room, slap and pinch myself out of it. After the battle of Chickamaugua, the Confederate soldiers were becoming discouraged, allowing themselves to be easily captured. The Confederate prisoners were cared for so well In the Northern prisons, while we were fed on unsalted corn bread, and canal water to drink; so the Confederate authorities got at logger heada with the Federal government and refused to exchange prisoners for nearly two years, hence our long, weary, Imprisonment; about three months in Pemberton prison, nearly opposite Libby, on the same street; six months In Danville, three months and fourteen days In Llbby, making a year and fourteen days In all. The bill of fare was three ounces corn bread; coarse yellow meal with many bits of cob

and husks ground up with It, the Con

federates said to make It stick to the ribs; no salt; only canal water and meal mixed and baked in huge ovens; this with one array tlncupful of water, was twenty-four hours rations. Twice week one tlncupful of very thin soup, also, perhaps a half dozen small, bard, brown beans, and evidently, some, very ancient bacon had been In touch with It, for each cup had floating on Its peaceful bosom thirty of forty little black bugs; the Confederates told us that was pepper and they being in authority, we ate what was Bet before us and asked no questions. Now, do not blame the Confederates too hastily; it was the best they had. From the prison window, we could

see the Confederate soldiers eating the same food at their meals, only more of It; Indeed, if we had plenty to

eat, and with nothing to do, would cer

tainly have suffered from disease,

Scurvy and vermin were plentiful; we

had to go "hunting," as It was called, twice a day. Our wardrobes were conspicuous by their absence; a well worn blouse, pants, shoes, most cases old stockings, or rags on the feet all horribly dirty and ragged; no shirts

or vests, many bareheaded. At regular

hours In the forenoon and afternoon, everyone would get , busy "hunting" we would crack our jokes and make the best of it "Old Jake" and a slender

youthful looking boy were constant

companions, neither of them ever

hunted, consequently, had plenty of company. Jake sat on the eectlon of an old stove that at one distant day had warmed the room; the boy, "Brown," sat on a rickety old bench beside him. They never smiled, would say nothing from morn to night; just sit and sit; finally, old Jake gave up the last drop of blood to his pests and

died; his youthful companion was dis

consolate and died In about a week.

Two other boys, we were all boys then

who In my dairy are called "Our Desponding Neighbors," died also of

homesickness and "gray-backs."

Endowed with natural artistic tat ents. I still had my - portfolio with

drawing paper and a case of colored

pencils wrapped in a very dirty, rag

ged shirt I managed to smuggle them

through and have the portfolio yet with some of the many sketches that

were made. After fifty years they are

much prized.

We were searched every few days and everything valuable taken, except we were allowed to keep pocket

knives. I could never wear the coarse

woolen army shirts, we were not al

lowed cotton underwear, so mother

would make gingham shirts and Bend

me. We left our knapsacks at Nash

ville when starting on the Chickamaugua campaign, the portfolio, etc., was

carried, wrapped in a "dog tent"' We

were ordered to take off all baggage and carry only gun. cartridge box.

haversack, and canteen, into the bat

tie; being a bugler and determined to

stick tolhe portfolio. It was wrapped In a dirty gingham shirt and put in

my haversack.

Pemberton prison at Richmond had been an immense sugar and salt ware

house, the building was two stories and a basement was divided into two

sections by a brick wall from basement to roof. The Inquiring Yankee mind soon began looking about; holes were cut in the lower story floor into the basement or cellar and salt was found stored therein. In the meantime wireless communication was established with the boys In the other section by holes cut In the brick partition.

and they were found to be well sup

plied with sugar, so there was soon a

brisk reciprocity commercialism doing. Salt was much more valuable in the confederacy than sugar, in . fact

stood next to "greenbacks" or federal

paper currency; so that it took three cupfuls of sugar to purchase one cup

ful of salt. Finally the sugar side be

came very independent and struck for

better salt deals; so, from the salt side of the cellar, holes were cut

through the three foot brick partition and sugar was soon plentiful on our

side; strange to say the confederate

prison officers did not seem to take

any notice of the depredations, let on as if ignorant of it all; of course, the matter was kept as secret as possible by us.

Here is a leaf or two from my diary: "Second story Pemberton prison,

Oct. 22, 1863. For sometime there has been an unpleasantness between the boys on the second floor and those on the first floor; it is thuswlse we go

at night to lay In our supply of salt and sugar, so as not to attract the attention of the Confederate officers

(wonder why they take no notice of

tne mattery); tne prison is Dadiyj

crowded, have to He in rows together

like sardines when lying down at

night; so that in getting sugar we must disturb the lower floor fellows;

some take it good naturedly, others

not, and hand to hand fights are frequent. Evidently they are getting very tired of being tramped over every

night; don't know what the outcome will be, but there are signs of a gen

eral mutiny.

Friday Night, Oct. 23, 1863. The uprising came tonight about

eight o'clock. A number had gone down as usual with "dog tents' to get more sugar; they w'ere permitted to go into the cellar and get their tents full, but when they came up the ball opened. Sugar was soon scattered

a foot deep over the floor; as fast as

emptied they would dive down in the cellar and -fill the tents again, but as soon as they came up the tents were jerked off and contents scattered over the floor; thus the row was kept up, yelling and fighting, laughing and all

kinds of uproar, until about midnight

when the officers and guards filed in and put a stop to the fun. We had to clean up the spilled sugar and salt, then each floor was made to stand up in line and was coolly told that we

were to stand until the first men who

cut holes in the floor and partitions,

stepped out and confessed; the first man who offered to sit down would be

Instantly shot All was silent as the

grave, one hour passed, two hours.

three hours; we were doing our best to hold out, then a dull thud as some one fell In a dead faint; guards pointed guns, but did not shoot. Another fell heavily full length on the floor, but

was not fired on; finally the falls became thick. Then, one after another, some six or eight men stepped out and said they did it instantly every body fell to the floor. The men were hustled out. of prison and we supposed would be shot. We. have had nothing to eat yet and it Is now nearly ten o'clock a. m. October 27. Today some one in some way got hold of "The Richmond Examiner." a small dally paper printed on what looks like wall paper. In it an article entitled "Too Good To Keep." It was a description of the "sugar raid," saying "The Yanks In Pemberton prison got very sweet the other night; they broke Into the cellar and destroyed five thousand, nine hundred pounds of sugar which the rascally speculators had there, awaiting fabulous war prices; the Confederate government had offered them three dollars a pound in Confederate scrip, but they wanted gold for their stuff. Served them right." The boys that confessed, returned today; said they hung them up by their thumbs in Castle Thunder, a prison where they put spies, etc., to be shot; then they laughed. Fact is, they told the boys that if they would tell that, they would not punish them. Sai.d, "We had to satisfy the speculators, so just let on, boys, like we punished you all." In fact could have used it all and never have been interrupted if we had done so quietly and not riotously, as we did. The Federal prisoners, except commissioned officers, were all removed from Richmond to Danville, Va., a small town of perhaps three or four thousand in its palmy days, now only negroes, white women and children, with the Confederate forces sent as guards. The chief industry ." of Danville was tobacco manufacturing. There were four large brick buildings, two stories with cellar under the whole building, rough unplastered walls, no Are, . and very few. "dog tents" still remained,", for everything at all tradable was traded with the guards for bread. The fortunate possessor of a brick, r taken from the walls had a downy pillow compared with lying" fiat on the hard floor. We would have certainly frozen, especially that horribly cold night of New Year's 1864, had it not been for being eo closely crowded that all could not He down at one time. The windows, old fashioned small panes,-were closely barred. Talk about sanitary conditions, so many cubic feet of pure air per "capita, etc. etc.

It is simply beyond human compre

hension, the wonderful provision of an

All wise Creator revealed in the organic vital resistance of the living body

under most Inimical conditions.

We had the same rations as at Rich

mond. Squads .were taken from each

prison In turn to carry water for that purpose, one tlncupful of this water with a ration of corn bread, was our

dally allowance, twice a week a tln

cupful of buggy soup and a piece of meat February 1S64. Smallpox made its appearance and found a ripe harvest in

our starved, filthy bodies. My artistic

skill served me a good purpose, together with a little smattering of medical knowledge the year's study just previous to the outbreak of the Avar had afforded; so by some very pretty colored drawings attracted the attention of Dr. Ward who made the round

of our prison daily. I was so fortun

ate as to get a parole of honor and allowed to go on duty at the smallpox hospitals about a mile east of town; was finally given superintendency of them. We were closely guarded. Of course I had a Confederate as my constant companion and we became very fast friends.. I finally grew to lovehim as a brother and we parted with tears when I was sent to Libby prison. . The other Confederate officers and doctors on duty there all treated me very kindly and we be

came very good friends.

This has already grown too long and tedious I fear, so will conclude with the following from my dairy: October 7, 1864. , At 6 o'clock a. m. Sergeant Balsom and I were called for; we quickly responded and were taken to the office of Mr. Charles Ross, chief clerk of

Libby Prison, where we signed a parole not to. take arms against the Southern Confederacy until duly exchanged. At 7 a. m. about 300 of us were marched to a little rickety steamer in the James River about twenty rods from Libby and started down the river, as we declared,- for. God's country; it was very tedious, backing this way and that through the many obstructions that had been placed in the river. We finally arrived at Aiken's landing about 4 o'clock that evening, where disembarking we marched slowly because so many were helpless from starvation and sickness, over a high sloping ridge. The river takes a long sharp bend here; many gave out and several died before we reached the top. Those of us who could endure it helped the others, even carried the dead with us. We were determined to not leave one on Confederate soil dead or alive.

- We finally toiled up to the top of the

hill and were more than repaid for all that labor; a fine large ocean steamer burst in view and from her mast Old Glory floated grandly. I never beheld such a joyfully beautiful sight. The sun was just going down gilding the flag with liquid gold and Vermillion; we all shouted and cried like children, finally falling to the ground

exhausted; glancing back to the little

rebel shack of a boat in the shadow of the hill and twilight dank somber, forbidding shadows cast over it and the rebel flag, ' "Forbading to traitors, the doom of disaster." Several died coming up the hill. One poor skeleton comrade that I had carried up, when we came in sight of the flag -moaned out, "Comrade, lie me down; I can die now since my eyes have seen God's flag once more." I laid him down gently, pillowed his head as well as I could; just then a rescuing party from the Federal boat came to us with stretchers, nurses and doctors but the poor fellow, after enduring more than a year's weary Incarceration, died before they got him on the vessel. , We were taken to parole camp at Annapolis, Md. I could not endure camp life and after recuperating a week or so, got a position at College Green barracks as record clerk for paroled prisoners; remaining a parroled prisoner until mustered out, on June 26, 1S65. Joseph M. Thurston.

Hadley, Mass., has lost Its far-famed elm, by tradition the oldest in New England, says. the Hartford Courant It was twenty-nine feet in circumference and had single branches which shaded the ground for a distance of two hundred feet. It had attained its growth at the time of the Indian massacre in Hadley, more than two centuries ago, and may have been Sort years old. Having been struck by lightning, it was dangerous to let it stand.

Women's Lefts. Miss Bikley-So you bare given op advocating woman's rights? k Miss Passee Yes; I now go lo for women's lefts. "Women' lefts? What's that?" "Widowers."

A Memorable Date., "What member of the class can men tioo one ,memorable date in Roman history?" the teacher asked. "Antony's with Cleopatra." ventured one of the boys.-Everybody's.

Words are like leaves, and where they most abound much fruit of sense beneath is rarely found. Pope.

Our affections are our life. We Hve by these. They supply our warmth. C'nanning. This is the time of the year to place the svRtem on a new basis to cleanse

the blood clear the brain and gather

renewed energy. Nyal's Spring barsaparilla will do it. Qulgley Drug Stores. -;

c. s

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