p. 242 | ANDERSONVILLE by Jos. Clarke

The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Apr 30, 1867

ANDERSONVILLE.

By Jos. Clarke

A VILLAGE of South Carolina, at the junction of the Tugaloo and Kiowee Rivers, which form the Savannah, one hundred and forty-five miles West North West of Columbia, is remarkable for having been selected by the rebels, as a place of confinement for prisoners captured by them, from the union armies, during the late war.

The prisoners’ camp included about fifteen acres, and was surrounded by palisades, that is, large posts set in the ground, so closely and firmly, as to form a strong wall, some twelve feet in height. A brook ran through the encampment, upon which the prisoners depended for water: but as a rebel army was encamped upon the same stream a little above the prisoners’ camp, the filth which accumulated in the stream caused the water to be nauseous and unwholesome to our men, who were below. In this enclosure, our men were huddled together, without shelter, with little or no food, and depending for drink upon the stream which cleansed the rebel camp. The ground was sandy; it was some fifty or sixty feet to water; spades were out of the question, for the rebels had barely sufficient for their own use; and how could our men dig fifty feet in the ground (with their tin cups) for water, sufficient to supply thirty thousand men?

Great as was the suffering for food, there was a louder cry for water: at length a rain storm of unusual power came on, and for three hours the heavens seem to have been opened, and torrents of rain descended. The ground was covered with water to the depth of six inches. An eye witness informs us, that he never saw such a storm of rain. And now, wonderful to relate, a spring of pure soft water sprang out of the ground, (near the middle of the camp,) which supplied the prisoners from that time forward with an abundance of excellent water: and it has been found by analysis to be as good and as pure as any that can be found; and this too, in a country where the water is generally hard.

A hogshead was procured from the rebels, and set in the spring, and although the soldiers drew water constantly from it, for all purposes, yet they could not lower the water in the hogshead. At last accounts, the spring continued to flow as plentifully as ever.

So great was the demand for the water of this spring, that it became necessary to organize the men and cause them to march in order to the fountain, so as to prevent confusion; and often, as they fell into the ranks, those behind waited for hours their turn at the spring; yet the hogshead was always full, although such an army drew their supply from it. It is needless to add, that the soldiers considered this supply of pure water a special and miraculous interposition of Providence in their behalf.

Jos. CLARKE.