Show r LJ f 1 Ji > JS I J II PRISON i LIFE ARNOLDS CONfESS AT DRY TOTtJGAS LiNCOLN CONSP RACY I7r1IrT 1vl Jr7U W o1I = r I Ths opening chapter of the confcs siGn of Samuel Blaiul Arnold detailing detail-ing for the first time the conspiracy to kidnap President Lincoln and phicli resulted in his assassination applared in The Tribune Sunday Te I ccnbcr 7th This remarkable history I will bo continued from day to day In I 110 Tribune until concluded f CopyrilitU 1MJ hy the Baltimore Amcricinl Pbl8hd JJ xJunvoly In Utali by Spo clJd AnanKccicnt by The Sal Triko TrJIjuncJ ConllKucil From Yesterday In tIe brief pace of a month after the killing1 of Winters our 4mall Ifland nd Incloaure was visited by yellow fever It made fearful ravages among hc limited number stationed there weeping nearly every oflicer at the ix ot away It struck from earth our om f rs and permitted CITc heartless ones to recover to repeat again I suppose more of their cruelties upon hvmanlty under their command Tile ways of providence arc mysloilous and 00 iloubi Ii was done for some good nnd w1o l purpose Among the first to succumb to the drturJ disease was Brevet Major J Sim Smith surgeon In charge Dr Smith on arrival at the post which was but B few month before corrected In van lUij Instances the abuse and reIgn hu terrors which abounded then He WIN Indeed a man of humanity and tlndnesj a gentleman by birth and ulturtllw soldiers and prlsoncis friend and protector and his memory lei In the mind and the heart of all by whom he vac then surioumled iu nil that was Rood pine upright and nobk fie worked with untlrlnfer zeal HhilPt the fever raged until the fatal malady struck him down upon the bed pt sickness whore he lingered but three days and dc l l He received even attention I I tention from Dr Mudd who at that ptiloil hid charge I Mi s Smith wns lying In an adjacent room sick with the lever Dr Mudd paid her every attention nnd worked unfnlulnifly to saver her life His ef forts vctc c owned with UCCIS and chf if CONMVCI from the disease During Dur-ing the period of tin nlcknebs of Dr Smith and family there was neither an otllccr nor an officers wife that came per them to ndniluister to their wants their catcs devolving upon the care of Dr Mudd and faithfully did he perform all that lay within his power l t In n short time the fever proved epidemic and mon could be JMJCII falling down In every section of the fort ns the dread malidy seized then t When In former times ofllccis wore parading I about dovlblng plans wherewith to Jloriurp ho soldiers and prisoneis nothing noth-ing was seen or heard of them they keeping themselves coely closeted a pall like death seemingly hanging over the ofJlcerH quailoi Fear was depict de-pict upon the countenance of every jno on the Island each looking for his turn next Two of the companies were removed kto the adjacent Islands thereby being nCi < t from the fevers fearful lavagcs Two companies Aero relalncd to guard Ltho fort and prisoners Prisoners had to FtanJ tin brunt of the fever their I only pafcty being In an overruling provlrlfnce Out of the fiftytwo prlboniro confined there but two died jvhenur the garilaon lost In olllccr and I men thirtyseven HAD COFFINS READY I i1oii at ihKt when taken sick were rirrled to the small key termed Sand Key upon which a small temporary ihed 11Jld been erected sic a honpttal the pomriuindlns ofllcer thinking thereby to Invent the garrison from being In f cttd Sick patients soatcdm a small boat wcro convoyed over confronted by colllnn whkh were piled up In the bow of the bolt This of itself was Kulttclent to causo alarm and even to kill the fiOmh arted of whom there were quite a number collected on that small area of 81 en and a halt acres f K With but f < w exceptions those who were conveyed to the key In the small Jboat 1 fell victims to the disease and vare bulled beneath the sandy yoll When Di iludil was given charge he jSlatfJ to the commanding officer that I it would IJl advisable to discontinue IhLs practice that the fever was In our Imhlt > and that it could not be dls lodged until the poison had expended Iturlf advising that all cases be bi ought to nd treated at the hospital This was t ceded to and from his manner of trcutment In the disease a great hunge was soon to be noted 1 From this period until the arrival rom Key West of Dr AVhltehurst Everything waa progressing favorably no dpitli occurring Dr Whltchurat perfectly convernant with the mode of treatment he having had Immense practm in the disease approved Dr iudd 1 manner of treatment and It was continued throughout the period the feir raged In our midst The fever iogan tu assume a more virulent type and in spite OL the untiring exertions of both began to make sad Inroads Into our number J Elrjone now thought of self alone Theie uas no respect shown by the attendant at-tendant they uuhig soldiers taken from illiTfiont rompnnles to either the dead or the dying No sooner hud the i breath kft the body than It was I cuifln < d and hurried over to Its last I estleg plueo there being a boat with i a lrew dotaikd as the burying party Iwao waiting In many instance OffiliM rr NrouRht Into the hospltnl nod platil 1 alongside of the bed to ro cetve th body uf some one expected to die u tIi had to be remove 1 again Jjie pall nl Hill tenaciously clinging to life l f rivR REIGNED SUPREMIJ I I Men kr I < sick were startled viewing 4 hts proLeidlngB It having a ten I ny to enuse their own condition to U tmip oiac Dating the terrible oral P1 or-al uf thf fever the garrlgou kept rl i lultJ bring neglected by both dui jt nd fiohllcro During lt K prog tin liund usfliimed a different 1It I Th Island which before was tOr like A place peopled by lends rn lJ ihlnu else It could be com r 1 u nil muMenly became calm M ail poucpful Foar stood out upon tho fa < i of every human being I Sunif < ttirnpted to assume the torte f gthty and Indlffcruncu but upon clr fti c r could bo read traces of other 4lhni For two months tho fsvnr IJ in our mldBt creating havoc QIiJ thi c dwelling there During ills tlm Dr Mudd wins nor Idle lie Orkl huh day and night and uau iWSyc at pout faithful to his calling eing the sufferings of humanity as I W J L t r = far as laid within hlJ power The I fever having abated through the want of moresubjectp a contiact physician fiom New York arrived at the post and relieved Dr Whitohurpt of his duties When the new doctor tool charge there were but two or three sick and they were In s state of convalescence con-valescence Soon thereafter Dr ModEl was taken down with the fever In his quarters and dining the entire perIod of his lll miens was never visited by the Now York doctor the Burgeon In charge he remaining closeted In his room The only medical treatment rec eivcd by Dr Mudd during his Illness was administered adminis-tered at the hands of Spongier and myself True neither of us knew much about the disease or Its treatment a111 the experience cither pogsecscd being derived from observation during Its prevalence and the mode of treatment having been learned from personal PX perlencc In the nursing ofjatlenta under un-der our charge TREATED DR MUDD Dr Mudd was watched over by us I both day and night in trms We adopted the same method of treatment In his case as had been administered by him In ours through which he happily recovered He stated upon his recovery that mid It not been for our care and watchfulness he would have died and thanked each of us in unmeasured un-measured terms Icr our friendly l consideration con-sideration Dr Mudd had worked during the prevalence of Lime yellow fever with an unfaltering zeal until nature was wellnigh exhausted relieving In every way at hla command and knowledge I thp funcrlngd of humanity but when afflicted himself he was left entirely I to Hhe merccfl of his God and the I limited knowledge of his two companions compan-ions which fact had the appearance of a desire for his death on the part of those at the head of affairs We felt from the first that we had been transported to Dry Tortugas to fall victims to the many dreadful poisons poi-sons of malaria generated In that ell mate Happily wo lived through it all and I am permitted to give to tile I world at large some Inkling of the many wrongs tortures and sufferings Inflicted upon us dining the period of nearly four long ycais of exile In the month of October 1857 the fever having exhausted Itself and finally stamped out with It to a great extent the harsh and rigorous measures which had heretofore been adopted In the manner of our linnilsonm some of the privileges which we had taken during dur-ing Its prevalence were curtailed but for the most part the others were not countermanded by the officer in command com-mand The officers who garrisoned the fort at this time with the exception of two fell victims to the disease A lieutenant iccovoied alone through the kind care and watchful nursing and attention of Col Grenfell who remained re-mained with him day and night administering ad-ministering to his slightest want The otllccrs who died of the disease were coJllned and borne to their last resting rest-ing place by the prIsoners of the post no respect being shown by the other officer1 Even wives were carried In like manner to the grave the husband remaining In his quarters Everything went on smoothly after the fever until the month of December laG when there arrived upon the Island a notary public purporting to be from the State of Florida His business at first was unknown as it frequently happened that strangers caniu into our midst on a visit to the commanding officer His business however was soon made known to us We were ordered separately to his presence and found he was one of the commissioners appointed by the Congressional Con-gressional committee into Investigate Into the particulars connected with the assassination of President Lincoln Letters were shown us as coining from Benjamin F Butler authorizing the notary public to obtain our voluntary volun-tary statements etc We were forced Into his presence did not go voluntarily volun-tarily accompanied by an armed guard When I was sent for by him and seated lie handed me his credentials creden-tials to pciusc which I carefully did I returned them to him stating that I i knew nothing of the business he was upon that a statement of all the facts that 1 knew of had been placed In the hands of the Government upon my arrest ar-rest and that the Government was perfectly conversant with all the knowledge that 1 possessed and from my trial knew more than I or any one else did supposed to be connecttd therewith there-with and refused to make any further fur-ther statement A TALK WITH THE NOTARY I Informed him that he was a stranger stran-ger to roe that he might be as bum aa those wlio had already dealt with mp that I did not trust him nor any other man etc staLIng that a burnt child dreaded the fire He told mo to consider It and I was dismissed and sent to my quarters After conversing with my roommaU5 over the matter we each arrived at the conclusion that it could do no harm to ua nor the living nor the dead and concluded to con II form to his request I called however upon the commanding I com-manding officer Maj George P Andrews An-drews and stated my situation to I him I told him that I war a prisoner pris-oner under his charge and as ouch demanded his protection Sire told mo that I should have it andjthua feeling safe I gave a statement of similar purport as that first made During Its writing the notary held out every Inducement to cause not only myself but the others to swear falsely stating that if we could implicate Impli-cate any others wo would be released from our Imprisonment and carried loa lo-a lJJton as witnesses Ills advent was about the time of the attempted Impeachment of Andrew Johnson President of the United States and his visit I alone vts to attempt to cause uu to falsely implicate Andrew Johuson In the assassInation There war a great deal of unpleasantness unpleas-antness pervading our interviews and high words followed when he wished me to append my signature to an affidavit affi-davit drawn up by himself Throughout Through-out my statement he attempted to place his construction upon it and obliterated obliter-ated my writings until finally I requested re-quested to be Informed whether he came to write my statement himself or did he como to obtain mine 1 refused re-fused to sign my name to his affidavit as drawn up by himself stating that It Inferred that of which I knew nothing noth-ing He handed it to Maj Andrews who was tcated In the room to read The Major could not see It in the same light that I did stating that It waD all correct etc Soelaj that neither Justice nor pro toattai T70 bo given me T ulalud I thu S E5 l3 2i5 rtjn It nnd if he was 1ll1t t l I if j 1 ft v H not satisfied I would destroy that which I had written and end the Interview that J asked alone for my rights and protection In them from the commandIng command-Ing officer A THREAT TO SHOOT Maj Andrews Immediately rose up and s okc thus SIr I will take you out on the parade I pa-rade ground and shoot you I I replied I am your jnlsoner Major You certainly can do with me as you please and If j ou deem you have the I authority to shoot me all that Is left me sit I suppose Is to fraud Iu I was not shot however neither did I sign my name to the affidavit but I wioto out one that suited my way oC thinking alco wrote my own itnte moat about the notarys assistance and I Jn the end complied with his request giving m statement t I was quite 111 before I had completed com-pleted It and vasNinnoytfd by this man until he nearly worried me to death the surgeon repeatedly cautioning him not to visit me In my low condition He came In spite of all these things Col Grenfell writing my expressions down for me my condition beltig such that I was unable to 11lse my head from my pillow The aame wan likewise like-wise done to the others and he left the post much disappointed UH I afterward af-terward learned from some of my frlcndc In Key West After he had left the post we were Informed through reliable authority that he was armed with the power in case wt refused to furnish him our statements to place us In solitary confinement con-finement and to be fed upon bread and water whereas by Ms papers exhibited exhib-ited to us he was to obtain our voluntary volun-tary stat mcntP There was nothing voluntary upon our pan throughout tho whole affair but force In every instance In-stance ivan used and threats made besides be-sides the inducements held out to swear falsely I in the premises OLD COMMANDER RETURNS Our condition from this time on remained re-mained unchanged until iMurch 18GS when ilnj Andrews wa9 relieved of command of the post Brevet Major Col George St Legcr Gren fells inveterate enemy was ordered back to the fort and assumed command com-mand At the same time a new provost marshal was appointed Between the pair the Island became a hell again they devising measures to maker prison era uncomfortable amid Imprisonment more galling To be Continued Tomorrow |