Barbarous punishments.
The punishments often inflicted on our men for slight offences have been shameful and barbarous.
They have been compelled to ride a plank only four inches wide, called “
Morgan's horse;” to sit down with their naked bodies in the snow for ten or fifteen minutes, and have been subjected to the ignominy of stripes from the belts of their guards.
The pretext has been used that many of their acts of cruelty have been by way of retaliation.
But no evidence has been found to prove such acts on the part of the
Confederate authorities.
It is remarkable that in the case of
Colonel Streight and his officers, they were subjected only to the ordinary confinement of prisoners of war. No special punishment was used except for specific offences; and then the greatest infliction was to confine
Colonel Streight for a few weeks in a basement room of the
Libby Prison, with a window, a plank floor, a stove, a fire, and plenty of fuel.
We do not deem it necessary to dwell further on these subjects.
Enough has been proved to show that great privations and sufferings have been borne by the prisoners on both sides.
