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 some- times 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.
Certification for statements taken June 21, 1864 (There was only one certification for this date in the document; however it is being included on the web-page for each applicable statement - MpG ):
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.
Evidence evidence relating to United States stations for rebel prisoners. Testimony taken at Fort Delaware, Delaware, June 21, A.D. 1864.