not dressed, and that they had not been dressed for four days when he was taken from the hospital and carried on the flag-of-truce boat for Fortress Monroe. In reference to the condition to which our men were reduced by cold and hunger, your committee would give the following extracts from the testimony:

One witness testifies-I had no blankets until our Government sent us some.

Quest.-How did you sleep before you received those blankets?

Ans. We used to get together just as close as we could, and sleep spoon-fashion, so that when one turned over we all had to turn over.

Another witness testifies:

Quest.-Were you hungry all the time?

Ans.-Hungry! I could eat anything in the world that came before us. Some of the boys would get boxes from the North, with meat of different kinds in them, and after they had picked the meat off, they would throw the bones away into the spit-boxes, and we would pick the bones out of the spit-boxes, and gnaw them over again!

In addition to this insufficient supply of food, clothing, and shelter, our soldiers, while prisoners, have been subjected to the most cruel treatment from those placed over them. They have been abused, and shamefully treated, on almost every opportunity. Many have been mercilessly shot and killed when they failed to comply with all the demands of their jailors; sometimes for violating rules of which they had not been informed. Crowded in great numbers in buildings, they have been fired at and killed by the sentinels outside, when they appeared at the windows for the purpose of obtaining a little fresh air. One man, whose comrade in the service and in

captivity had been so fortunate as to be among those released from further torments, was shot dead as he was waving with his hand a last adieu to his friend. Other instances of equally unprovoked murder are disclosed by the testimony.

The condition of our returned soldiers, as regards personal cleanliness, has been filthy almost beyond description. Their clothes have been so dirty and covered with vermin, that those who have received these men have been compelled to destroy their clothing, and re-clothe them with new and clean raiment. Their boots and hats have been so infested with vermin that, in some instances, repeated washings have failed to remove them, and those who have received them in charge, have been compelled to cut all the hair from their heads, and make applications to destroy the vermin. Some have been received with no clothing but shirts, and drawers, and pieces of blankets, or other outside covering; entirely destitute of coats, hats, shoes, or stockings; and the bodies of those better supplied with clothing have been equally filthy with the others, many who have been sick and in the hospital having had no opportunity to wash their bodies for weeks and months before they were released from captivity.

Your committee are unable to convey any adequate idea of the sad and deplorable condition of the men they saw in the hospitals they visited, and the testimony they have taken cannot convey to the reader the impressions which your committee there received. The prisoners we saw, as we were assured by those in charge of them, have greatly improved since they have been received in the hospitals, yet they are now dying daily, one of them being in the very throes of death; and your committee stood by his bed-side and witnessed the sad spectacle

there presented. All those whom your committee examined, stated that they have been thus reduced and emaciated entirely in consequence of the merciless treatment they received while prisoners, from their enemies. Physicians in charge of them-the men best fitted by their profession and experience to express an opinion upon the subject-all say that they have no doubt the statements of their patients are entirely correct.

It will be observed from the testimony, that all the witnesses who testified upon that point, state that the treatment they received, while confined at Columbia, South Carolina, Dalton, Georgia, and other places, was. far more humane than that they received at Richmond, where the authorities of the so-called Confederacy were congregated, and where the power existed, had the inclination not been wanting, to reform these abuses, and secure to the prisoners they held, some treatment that would bear a feeble comparison to that accorded by our authorities to the prisoners in our custody. Your committee, therefore, are constrained to say that they can hardly avoid the conclusion expressed by so many of our released soldiers, that the inhuman practices herein referred to, are the result of a determination, on the part of the rebel authorities, to reduce our soldiers in their power by privation of food and clothing, and by exposure, to such a condition that those who may survive, shall never recover so as to be able to enter into effective service in the field; and your committee accordingly ask that this report, with the accompanying testimony, be printed, with the report and testimony in relation to the massacre of Fort Pillow-the one being, in their opinion, no less than the other the result of a predetermined policy. As regards the assertions of some of the rebel newspapers, that our prisoners have received at their

hands the same treatment that their own soldiers in the field have received, they are evidently but the most glaring and unblushing falsehoods. No one can, for a moment, be deceived by such statements, who will reflect that our soldiers who, when taken prisoners, have been stout, healthy men, in the prime and vigor of life, yet have died by hundreds under the treatment they have received, although required to perform no duties of the camp or the march; while the rebel soldiers are able to make long and rapid marches, and to offer a stubborn resistance in the field.

There is one feature connected with this investigation to which your committee can refer with pride and satisfaction; that is, the uncomplaining fortitude, the undiminished patriotism exhibited by our brave men under all their privations-even in the hour of death. Your committee would close their report by quoting the tribute paid these men by the Chaplain of the hospital at Annapolis, who has ministered to so many of them in their last moments, who has smoothed their passage to the grave by his kindness and attention, and who has performed the last sad offices over their lifeless remains. He says:

"There is one thing I should wish to state. All the men, without any exception, among the thousands that have come to this hospital, have never, in a single instance, expressed a regret (notwithstanding the privations and sufferings they have endured) that they entered their country's service. They have been the most loyal, devoted, and earnest men. Even in the last day of their lives, they have said that all they hoped for was just to live and enter the ranks again, and meet their foes. It is a most glorious record in reference to the devotion of our men to their country. I do not think their patriotism has ever been equalled in the history of the world."

TREATMENT OF PRISONERS CAPTURED AT THE BATTLE OF CHICKAMAUGA

DIARY OF A SOLDIER.

STEWARD'S HOSPITAL, September 20th, 1863.

AT nine o'clock this morning, I was wounded and captured by the rebels; was hurried to the rear as fast as possible, with quite a number of our wounded. We were taken to the Steward's Hospital, some three miles from the battle-field; were put out upon the ground, with no shelter whatever, and a great many of us had no blankets. There were some eighty of our wounded at this place. Dr. Hamilton (rebel) came round and examined our wounds. Some of the worst cases were washed, and partially dressed. Toward evening, all that were able were marched off-Captain McWilliams and Lieutenant Cole, of the Fifty-first Illinois Infantry, were among them; about sundown we were forced to believe our troops were falling back. The rebels are jubilant; they say they have captured half of Rosecrans's army.

September 21st.-To-day the rebels have been so jubilant on what they term the "Yankee rout," that they have taken no notice whatever of the men lying weltering in their blood, suffering beyond description.

September 22d.-To-day we had a man die. Dr. Story (rebel) has been put in charge of all the Yankee wounded. He appears to be a gentleman, but as yet there has been nothing done for the wounded, who are suffering intensely.

September 23d.-To-day the doctors dressed most of the wounds. Many of the men have shattered limbs, and are suffering beyond description. We have had nothing to eat since we came here.