Evidence relating to United States stations for rebel prisoners                    

Testimony taken at Fort Delaware, June 21st, 1864

COMMISSIONERS PRESENT:— Dr. Wallace, Judge Hare.

Captain GILBERT S. CLARK, sworn and examined:—

            I came to this post 18th March, 1862, and the Subsistence Department at this post has been under my charge since May, 1862.

            The rations were as follow:

            Bread —18 ounces per ration; or,

            Corn Meal — 20 ounces per ration.

            Beef— 1 pound per ration; or,

            Bacon or Pork — ¾ pound per ration.

            Beans— 8 quarts per one hundred men; or,

            Hominy or Rice —10 pounds per one hundred men.

            Sugar —14 pounds per one hundred men.

            Rio Coffee—7 or 9 pounds per hundred men.

            Adamantine Candles—5 per one hundred men; or,

            Tallow Candles — 6 per one hundred men.

            Soap—4 pounds per one hundred men.

            Salt — 2 quarts per one hundred men.

            Molasses — 4 quarts per one hundred men, twice per week.

            Potatoes— 1 pound per man, three times per week.

            When beans were issued, hominy or rice not issued.

            These were the rations to which the prisoners were entitled. Bread was issued, in point of fact, and not corn meal. Fresh beef was issued, during this time, four times a week. When we had to give them hard bread they received a pound. When fresh beef was given, a pound and a quarter was given, and a less proportion of salt meat.

            This was done by orders of the commanding officer, with a view to the sanitary condition of the men.

            According to instructions for the Commissary-General of Prisoners, a fund was created by selling all surplus rations, under regulations, and with this fund were purchased vegetables in addition to the regular rations. The order referred to, under which this course was adopted, was as follows:

               CIRCULAR.

    *  *  *.  *  *  *.  *  *  *.  *  *  *.  *  *  *.

            "V. A general fund, for the benefit of the prisoner, will be made by withholding from their rations all that can be spared without inconvenience to them, and selling this surplus, under existing regulations, to the Commissary, who will hold the funds in his hands, and be accountable for them, subject to the commanding officer’s order to cover purchases. The purchases with the fund will be made by or through the Quartermaster, with the approval or order of the commanding officer, the bills being paid by the Commissary, who will keep an account book, in which will be carefully entered all receipts and payments, with the vouchers ; and he will keep the commanding officer advised, from time to time, of the amount of this fund. At the end of the month he will furnish the commanding officer with an account of the fund for the month, showing the receipts and disbursements, which account will be forwarded to the Commissary-General of Prisoners, with the remarks of the commanding officer. With this fund will be purchased all such articles as may be necessary for the health and comfort of the prisoners, and which would otherwise have to he purchased by the Government: among these articles are all table furniture and cooking utensils, articles for policing purposes, bedticks and straw, the means of improving or enlarging the barracks accommodation, extra pay to clerks who have charge of the camp, post-office, and who keep the accounts of moneys deposited with the commanding officer, &c.,

            The provisions, according to my return, actually issued, were the same as for the garrison troops. The rations detailed above were the rations actually given to the men. The amount drawn on the books, for their account, was larger — and as large as that issued to the garrison, with the exception of flour or bread, which was eighteen ounces instead of twenty-two ounces. When I say actually issued, I mean when entered on my returns as issued. The difference between the amount thus issued, and the amount given as above, was sold and converted into a fund for the benefit of the prisoners, as I have stated, according to the order of which I have given an extract.

            This fund was expended and applied for their use in the purchase of extra vegetables and articles of comfort.

            This course is pursued towards our own troops in camp and garrison; the surplus which they do not use being sold for their benefit to the Commissary of Subsistence, and regularly entered, and the proceeds applied to their use.

            The surplus rations sold for the prisoners were about the same as those sold for the garrison at the same time, showing that the amount actually consumed by the prisoner was abut the same, per man, as that consumed by the garrison. When hard bread is issued, prisoners not unfrequently leave a portion of it on the table. A large amount of bread has been found stowed away by them in the barracks. The rations are precisely the same as that used for garrison, and of very good quality.

            My expenditures for vegetables alone, for the use of the prisoners, out of the fund arising from the sale of the surplus rations, amounted, at times, as high as from $2,000 to $3000 a mouth. For instance, I would buy extra quantities of potatoes and onions, turnips, cabbage, pickles, carrots.

            I have frequently asked my overseers if the prisoners complained of not having enough, and if they did, to give them more, and to let no man want, as I could afford to do from the savings. During all the time I have been here, I have scarcely heard a complaint. No material change was made in the rations given to the prisoners till the first of this month, (June ‘64); since this date, the following has been the ration given the prisoners:

            The rations issued on the returns remained the same as before. The amount given was reduced to the following quantity, by order of the Secretary of War:

“B.”

“RATION:

Pork or Bacon	10 ozs. (in lieu of fresh beef.)
Fresh Beef	14 “
Flour, or Soft Bread	16 “
Hard Bread	14 “ (in lieu of Flour or Soft Bread)
Corn Meal	16 “ (in lieu of Flour or Soft Bread)
Beans or Peas	12 ½ lbs		to 100 rations
or, Rice, or Hominy	8    “
Soap	4    “
Vinegar	3  qts
Salt	3¾ lbs
Potatoes	15  “

            Sugar and coffee, or ten, will be issued only to the sick and wounded, on the recommendation of the surgeon in charge, at the rate of twelve (12) pounds of sugar, five (5) pounds of ground or seven (7) pounds of green coffee, or one (1) pound of tea, to the one hundred rations. This part of the ration will be allowed only for every other day.”

            The difference between the ration given and the ration issued continues to be sold, and the proceeds applied to the benefit of the prisoners, as before. The consequence is that the surplus fund for their use is larger.

            I refer to the circulars issued by the War Department, April 20th, 1864, and June 1st, 1864, as containing the regulations under which I am now acting, hereto appended, marked “A” and “B.”

            The bread, as now issued, is made one-fifth of corn meal and four-fifths of flour. This change was made at the request of the prisoners. I use the same quality of bread.

GILBERT S. CLARK,

Captain and C. S. Vol.

Sworn to and subscribed before me,

   June 21st, 1864.

     D. P. BROWN, JR.,

        United States Commissioner.

OFFICE OF COMMISSARY-GENERAL OF PRISONERS, WASHINGTON, April 20, 1864.

[CIRCULAR]

            “By authority of the War Department, the following Regulations will be observed at all stations where prisoners of war and political or State prisoners are held. The regulations will supersede those issued from this office July 7,1861:

            I. The Commanding Officer at each station is held accountable for the discipline and good order of his command, and for the security of the prisoners, and will take such measures, with the means placed at his disposal, as will best secure these results. He will divide the prisoners into companies, and will cause written reports to be made to him of their condition every morning, showing the changes made during the preceding twenty-four hours, giving the names of the “joined,” “ transferred,” “deaths,” &c. At the end of every month Commanders will send to the Commissary-General of Prisoners a Return of Prisoners, giving names nod details to explain “alterations.” If rolls of “joined” or “transferred” have been forwarded during the month, it will be sufficient to refer to them on the return according to forms furnished.

            II. On the arrival of any prisoners at any station, a careful comparison of them with the roles which accompany them will be made, and all errors on the rolls will be corrected. When no roll accompanies the prisoners, one will immediately be made out, containing all the information required, as correct as can be, from the statements of prisoners themselves. When the prisoners are citizens, the town, county and State from which they come will be given on the rolls under the headings — Rank, Regiment, and Company. At stations where prisoners are received frequently, and in small parties, a list will be furnished every fifth day — the last one in the. month may be for six days— of all prisoners received during the preceding five days. Immediately on their arrival, prisoners will be required to give up all arms and weapons of every description, of which the Commanding Officer will require an accurate list to be made. When prisoners are forwarded for exchange, duplicate parole rolls, signed by the prisoners, will be sent with them, and an ordinary roll will be sent to the Commissary-General of Prisoners. When they are transferred from one station to another, an ordinary roll will be sent with them, and a copy of it to the Commissary-General of Prisoners. In all eases, the officer charged with conducting prisoners will report to the officer under whose orders he acts, the execution of his service, furnishing a receipt for the prisoners delivered, and accounting by name for those not delivered; which report will be forwarded, without delay, to the Commissary-General of Prisoners.

            III. The hospital will be under the immediate charge of the senior Medical Officer present, who will be held responsible to the Commanding Officer for its good order and the proper treatment of the sick. A fund for this hospital will be created as for other hospitals. It will be kept separate from the fund of the hospital for the troops, and will be expended for the objects specified, and in the manner prescribed in paragraph 1212, Revised Regulations for the Army of 1863, except that the requisition of the Medical Officer in charge, and the bill of purchase, before payment, shall be approved by the Commanding Officer. When this “fund” is sufficiently large, it may be expended also for shirts and drawers for the sick, the expense of washing clothes, articles for policing purposes, and all articles and objects indispensably necessary to promote the sanitary condition of the hospital.

            IV.       Surgeons in charge of hospitals where there are prisoners of war will make to the Commissary-General of Prisoners, through the Commanding Officer, semimonthly reports of deaths, giving names, rank, regiment, and company; date and place of capture; date and cause of death; place of interment, and No. of grave. Effects of deceased prisoners will be taken possession of by the Commanding Officer, the money and valuables to be reported to this office (see note on blank reports), the clothing of any value to be given to such prisoners as require it. Money left by deceased prisoners, or accruing from the sale of their effects, will be placed in the Prison Fund.

            V. A fund to be called “The Prison Fund,” and to be applied in procuring such articles as may he necessary for the health and convenience of the prisoners, not expressly provided for by General Army Regulations, 1863, will be made by withholding from their rations such parts thereof as can be conveniently dispensed with. The Abstract of Issues to Prisoners, and Statement of the Prison Fund, shall be made out, commencing with the month of May, 1864, in the same manner as is prescribed for the Abstract of Issues to Hospital and Statement of the Hospital Fund, (see paragraphs 1209, 1215, and 1246, and Form 5, Subsistence Department, Army Regulations, 1863), with such modifications in language as may be necessary. The ration for issue to prisoners will be composed as fellows, viz.:

            When beans are issued, hominy or rice will not be. If at any time it should seem  advisable to make any change in this scale,  the circumstances will be reported to the  Commissary-General of Prisoners for his consideration.

            VI  Disbursements to be charged against  the Prison Fund will be made by the Commissary of Subsistence, on the order of the  Commanding Officer; and all such expenditures of funds will be accounted for by the  Commissary, in the manner prescribed for the disbursements of the Hospital Fund.  When in any month the items of expenditures on account of the Prison Fund cannot  be conveniently entered on the Abstract of  Issues to Prisoners, a list of the articles and quantity purchased, prices paid, statement of services rendered, &c., certified by the  Commissary as correct, and approved by the  Commanding Officer, will accompany the Abstract. In such cases it will only be necessary to enter on the Abstract of Issues the total amount of funds thus expended.

            VII At the end of each calendar month, the Commanding Officer will transmit to the Commissary-General of Prisoners a copy of the “Statement of the Prison Fund,” as shown in the Abstract of Issues for that month, with a copy of the list of expenditures specified in preceding paragraph, accompanied by vouchers, and will endorse thereon, or convey in letter of transmittal, such remarks as the matter may seem to require.

            VIII The Prison Fund is a credit with the Subsistence Department, and at the request of the Commissary-General of Prisoners, may be transferred by the Commissary-General of Subsistence in manner prescribed by existing Regulations for the transfer of Hospital Fund.

            IX. With the Prison Fund may be purchased such articles not provided for by regulations as may be necessary for the health and proper condition of the prisoners, such as table furniture, cooking utensils, articles for policing, straw, the means for improving or enlarging the barracks or hospitals, &c. It will also be used to pay clerks, and other employees engaged in labors connected with prisoners. No barracks or other structures will be erected or enlarged, and no alterations made, without first submitting a plan and estimate of the cost to the Commissary-General of Prisoners, to be laid before the Secretary of War for his approval; and in no case will the services of clerks or of other employees be paid for without the sanction of the Commissary-General of Prisoners. Soldiers employed with such sanction will be allowed 40 cents per day when employed as clerks, stewards, or mechanics; 20 cents a day when employed as laborers.

            X. It is made the duty of the Quartermaster, or, when there is none, the Commissary, under the orders of the Commanding Officer, to procure all articles required for the prisoners, and to hire clerks or other employees. All bills for service, or for articles purchased, will be certified by the Quartermaster, and will be paid by the Commissary on the order of the Commanding Officer, who is held responsible that all expenditures are for authorized purposes.

            XI The Quartermaster will be held accountable for all property purchased with the Prison Fund, and he will make a return of it to the Commissary-General of Prisoners at the end of each calendar month, which will show the articles on hand on the first day of the month; the articles purchased, issued and expended during the month; and the articles remaining on hand. The return will be supported by abstracts of the articles purchased, issued, and expended, certified by the Quartermaster, and approved by the Commanding Officer.

            XII. The Commanding Officer will cause requisitions to be made by his Quartermaster for such clothing as may be absolutely necessary for the prisoners, which requisition will be approved by him, after a cartful inquiry as to the necessity, and submitted for the approval of the Commissary-General of Prisoners. The clothing will be issued by the Quartermaster to the prisoners, with the assistance and under the supervision of an officer detailed for the purpose, whose certificate that the issue has been made in his presence will be the Quartermaster’s voucher for the clothing issued. From the 30th of April to the 1st of October, neither drawers nor socks will be allowed, except to the sick. When army clothing is issued, buttons and trimmings will be taken off the coats, and the skirts will be cut so short that the prisoners who wear them will not be mistaken for United States soldiers.

            XIII.     The Sutler for the prisoners is entirely under the control of the Commanding Officer, who will require him to furnish the prescribed articles, and at reasonable rates. For this privilege the Sutler will be taxed a small amount by the Commanding Officer, according to the amount of his trade, which tax will be placed in the hands of the Commissary to make part of the Prison Fund.

            XIV.    All money in possession of prisoners, or received by them, will he taken charge of by the Commanding Officer, who will give receipts for it to those to whom it belongs. Sales will be made to prisoners by the Sutler on orders on the Commanding Officer, which orders will be kept as vouchers in the settlement of the individual accounts. The Commanding Officer will procure proper books in which to keep an account of all moneys deposited in his hands; these accounts to be always subject to inspection by the Commissary-General of Prisoners, or other inspecting officer. When prisoners are transferred from the post, the moneys belonging to them, with a statement of the amount due each, will be sent with them, to be turned over by the officer in charge to the officer to whom the prisoners are delivered, who will give receipts for the money. When prisoners are paroled, their money will be returned to them.

            XV.      All articles sent by friends to prisoners. if proper to be delivered, will be carefully distributed as the donors may request; such as are intended for the sick passing through the hands of the Surgeon ,who will be responsible for their proper use. Contributions must be received by an officer, who will be held responsible that they are delivered to the person for whom they are intended. All uniform, clothing, boots, or equipments of any kind for military service, weapons of all kinds, and intoxicating liquors, including malt liquors, are among the contraband articles. The material for outer clothing should be gray, or some dark mixed color, and of inferior quality. Any excess of clothing, over what is required for immediate use, is contraband.

            XVI. When prisoners are seriously ill, their nearest relatives, being loyal, may be permitted to make them short visits; but under no other circumstances will visitors be admitted without the authority of the Commissary-General of Prisoners. At those places where the guard is inside the enclosure, persons having official business to transact with the Commander or other officer will be admitted for such purposes, but will not be allowed to have any communication with the prisoners.

            XVII. Prisoners will be permitted to write and to receive letters, not to exceed one page of common letter paper each, provided the matter is strictly of a private nature. Such letters must be examined by a reliable non-commissioned officer, appointed for that purpose by the Commanding Officer, before they are forwarded or delivered to the prisoners.

            XVIII. Prisoners who have been reported to the Commissary-General of Prisoners will not be paroled or released except by authority of the Secretary of War.

W. HOFFMAN,                                            

Col. 3d Infantry, Commissary-General of Prisoners.

OFFICIAL:

W. T. HART,

Assistant Adjutant General.

S. R. CRAIGE, sworn and examined: —

            I have been Quartermaster here since August, 1863. The amount of clothing issued to the prisoners from September 1st, 1863, to May 1st, 1864, by the Quartermaster’s Department, will appear from the following statement prepared by me from the books:

QUARTERMASTER’S OFFICE, FORT DELAWARE,

                                                      June 21st, 1864.

CAPT. S. R. CRAIGE,

                    A. Q. M. Volunteers.

Statement of Clothing issued to Prisoners of War, from Sept. 1st, 1863, to May 1st, 1864:        7175 Pairs Drawers (Canton flannel).

            6260 Shirts (Flannel).

            8807 Pairs Woolen Stockings.

            1094 Jackets and Coats.

            3840 Pairs Bootees.

            1310 Pairs Trowsers.

            4378 Woolen Blankets.

            2680 Great Coats.

            The principal part of the clothing was is sued in October and November, 1863, and every prisoner not having an overcoat and blanket of his own was provided with one.

           All that were in want of clothing received it.

           The barracks were kept comfortable by stoves; no stint in fuel that I know of; the attendants kept the fires up. Three hundred tons of coal provided by me, were consumed by the prisoners in the winter and spring. This, in addition to wood used for baking, and to the coal supplied by Capt. Clark. I am satisfied the prisoners were as comfortable as could be.

S. R. CRAIGE,

Captain and A. Q. M.

Sworn to and subscribed before me,

      June 21st, 1864.

     D. P. BROWN, JR.,

                 United States Commissioner.

Captain G. S. CLARK, recalled.—

I have purchased and used for the prisoners about one thousand tons of coal during the winter. I would say, in my judgment, that the barracks were sufficiently warm during the season requiring fires. I was Quartermaster here, as well as Commissary, until Captain Craige assumed the Quartermaster’s Department. The destitute prisoners were supplied with sufficient clothing during the time I acted as Quartermaster.

Attest:

GILBERT S. CLARK.

     D. P. BROWN, JR.,

     United States Commissioner.

Captain GEORGE W. AHL, sworn and examined:—

            My rank is Captain; Acting Assistant  Adjutant-General for six months, and  Commissary of Prisoners for about a year  and a half.

            Q. Can yon state whether the rations is sued to prisoners at this post were actually  given them in full ?

            A. To the best of my knowledge and belief they were.

            Q. Were the rations issued sufficient for  their subsistence? had they at any time  saved any rations, and was there any waste  of their rations at any time ?

            A. The rations issued to them were at all  times sufficient for their subsistence; and  sometimes greatly in excess of what they could eat. In policing their barracks some time ago we tore up the lower bunk board, under which we found about eight (8) barrels of hard bread and meat, which they had secreted there, because there was more than they could eat. At that time we had only about three thousand prisoners here.

            According to official monthly reports made to the Commissary-General oft prisoners, there were at this post in July, 1863, 8,982 prisoners, of whom 111 died during the month.

            The greater mortality during the summer and fall months of 1863, was attributable to the following causes: Small-pox; the majority of the prisoners not having been vaccinated before they came here, and those who were vaccinated had been vaccinated with impure matter; at all events, the vaccination resulted in breaking out over their body in sores; and from the prostrated condition of the prisoners from Vicksburg, a great many of whom had to be carried, on their arrival here, from the boat to the hospital, and many of whom represented that they had been limited to half and quarter rations of an inferior quality during the siege of Vicksburg. Many died also from wounds received in different engagements. Many, when brought here, were suffering from chronic diarrhœa and other diseases. The general effect of our treatment of the prisoners at this post has resulted in great benefit to their physical condition. In reference to vaccination, being desirous of obtaining the true cause of its bad effects on their system, I inquired of them (the prisoners) the cause of it; they stated that they had been vaccinated by their own men with impure matter.

GEORGE W. AHL,

Captain and A. A. A. G. and

Commissary of Prisoners.

Sworn to and subscribed before me,

   June 21st, 1864.

     D. P. BROWN, JR.,

        United States Commissioner.

Lieutenant A. G. WOLF, sworn and examined :—

            I am a Lieutenant in charge of prisoners at Fort Delaware; have been here since 23d September, 1862; have had charge of the prisoners about eight months.

            The order is that the men shall be sent out every day for air. The barracks are then entirely cleansed out. At one time we turned the prisoners out, and found enough of crackers to have paved the barracks two crackers deep, and they are an average of five hundred feet. They had stowed and concealed them away in various places. As a general thing, when the barracks were cleaned out, there were always a number of rations, bread and meat, found stowed away. We have always found a quantity of blankets and clothing stowed away under the floor during the winter season. We have allowed men two blankets apiece, and when they were delicate, three blankets and an overcoat.

            They are allowed to bathe in the river twice a week. We have to take a guard to get some of them to go out to bathe. We issue a regular prisoner’s ration of soap; we have found as much as ten pounds secreted in their haversacks.

            They had five stoves within five hundred feet during winter, and were warm enough in their barracks.

            There has never been an order to fire at any man looking out the windows, and no man has ever been fired at for looking out; there have been five men shot; three killed and two wounded here, since this has been a prison. One killed while in the river making his escape, about one hundred yards from the shore, at night; one killed for attempting to climb over the fence towards the river; one man was wounded—he died since—for committing a nuisance on the bank contrary to rule, and was ordered by the sentry to stop. He called the sentry “a Yankee son of a bitch,” and would not stop. The ball wounded two men. The other one said that he deserved all he got. Another was killed accidentally, by the sentry shooting at one who was committing a nuisance, and who would not obey the order. These orders are to prevent nuisances occurring in the barracks, which would be destructive of health and cleanliness. Even with these rules, nuisances are not unfrequently committed.

            Special orders No. 157 are the same as those I refer to, and are as follow:

 SPECIAL ORDER No. 157.

HEADQUARTERS, FORT DELAWARE,

June 1, 1864.

            The officer of the Guard must read and explain these orders to each relief of his Guard regularly before having it posted.

            I. No sentinel must communicate with nor allow any person to communicate with any of the prisoners, nor permit any of the prisoners to go outside of the limits of their barracks, without the permission of the Commanding General or the officers in charge of the prisoners.

            II. It is the duty of the sentinel to prevent the prisoners from escaping, or cutting, defacing, or in any way damaging any of the Government property, or from committing any “Nuisance” in or about their barracks, or from using any abusive or insolent LANGUAGE towards them, and from any violation of good order.

            Should the sentinel detect any prisoner in violating these instructions, he must order him three distinct times to halt! and if the prisoner obeys the order, the sentinel must call for the Corporal of the Guard, and have the prisoner placed in arrest — but should the prisoner fail to halt, when so ordered, the sentinel must enforce his order by bayonet or ball.

            III.  The sentinels are required to exercise the utmost vigilance, and to exact from prisoners a strict compliance with these instructions, and must always be duly impressed with the nature and extent of their responsibility.

            By command of BRIG. GEN’L SCHOEPF.

            (Signed)           GEO. W. AUL,

                          Captain and A. A. A. G.

            They exist in all prisons.

A. G. WOLF

Lieutenant,

and Commissary of Prisoners.

Sworn to and subscribed before me,

   June 21st, 1864.

     D. P. BROWN, JR.,

        United States Commissioner.

Surgeon H. R. SILLIMAN, sworn and examined :—

            I have been in charge here as Surgeon-in-Charge of the books since July, 1863. The condition of the prisoners, upon arriving here, was that generally of men suffering from over-exertion and bad diet; chronic diarrhœa and scurvy prevalent among them; they improved very materially shortly after their arrival here.

            The sanitary conditions here were such as to be conducive to their health. Prisoners who arrived here from Vicksburg and the Mississippi Valley were laboring under miasmetic influences, under which a great number of them died. From their condition, I should judge they had been on a diet of salt meat. Some of the men arrived here in a good condition of health. The men from Gettysburg were generally in good health, though they soon broke down, showing the effect of their violent exertions; they rallied again under good food and good clothing. The condition of the men brought here within the last few months, captured in Virginia, has been better than that of those brought here heretofore. A large number of the men had never been vaccinated, and many others imperfectly so. The scars were imperfect, in my judgment. They vaccinated themselves in the barracks with pen-knives, after their arrival here, producing diseases of the blood and skin. In my experience, the proportion of the unvaccinated men, among the prisoners, is far greater than in our own army, for I have never known of an unvaccinated man in our army.

            I consider the amount of food and clothing allowed to prisoners here, during the past winter, reasonably sufficient for the preservation of life and health.

            I don't know of any man who has suffered from a want of food or clothing, and unable to procure them, on proper representations.

            I do know of one man who was brought into the hospital last winter, during a severe spell, severely frost-bitten. I don't know how this occurred. This is the only instance that has come to my knowledge.

            The men sent away from here were sometimes sick; and sometimes well; they were in general well; and the physical condition of the well men was good. The sick were sent away under special orders, going as sick.

            The order was from Surgeon-General Hammond; it was not an order to send away any who could not bear the journey; it was left to my discretion who to send away, and I sent none who I believed would die on the passage; I was careful about that.

            I think the treatment of the sick prisoners here is equal to the treatment of our own sick men anywhere.

            I expend as much as $1,700 per month, saved from the surplus rations, on delicacies for the sick.

H. K. SILLIMAN,

 Assistant Surgeon U. S. A.

Sworn to and subscribed before me,

   June 21st, 1864.

     D. P. BROWN, JR.,

        United States Commissioner.

Lieutenant A. G. WOLF, recalled:—

            I am acquainted with the case of frost- bite spoken of by Dr. Silliman. The prisoners reported to me that the man was taken with cramps in the barracks; they exposed his person and rubbed him to ease the pain, and found that they could do no good, and then brought him to the hospital in that condition of exposure. I attributed the frostbite to these circumstances.

A. G. WOLF,

Lieutenant and Commanding Prison.

Attest,

     D. P. BROWN, JR.,

United States Commissioner.

Surgeon COLIN ARROTT, sworn and examined:—

            I am acting assistant surgeon at this place; have been here over two years. When I first came here the water used for drinking was rain water, and after I came here the water was brought from the Brandywine, in casks by sloops. I cautioned all the prisoners that came here against drinking the water of the Island, as it was unhealthy. They would frequently persist in doing it, although there was fresh water provided for them. They did this to save themselves from the trouble of going about a hundred yards for fresh water. They would dig little wells for the water, a few inches deep; I think that water produced sickness, though I frequently cautioned them, and at different times. This was two years ago.

            For a year the water has been brought here in large quantities by boats. There are 30,000 gallons of water brought here now a day, besides what rain water is caught. There is now, and always has been, as far as I know, a full supply of water on the island.

COLIN ARROTT,

Acting Assistant Surgeon.

Sworn to and subscribed before me,

   June 21st, 1864.

     D. P. BROWN, JR.,

        United States Commissioner.

I certify that the foregoing testimony, taken at Fort Delaware, June 21st, 1864, was taken and reduced to writing by me, in the presence of the respective witnesses, and by them sworn to and subscribed in my presence, at the time and in the manner set forth.

     D. P. BROWN, JR.,

United States Commissioner.