Martyria; or, Andersonville PrisonHamlin, Augustus C. (Augustus Choate)
History
Martyria; or, Andersonville Prison
Hamlin, Augustus C. (Augustus Choate)
Andersonville Prison; United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Prisoners and prisons
49. A prisoner of war is a public enemy, armed or attached to the hostile
army for active aid, who has fallen into the hands of the captor, either
fighting or wounded, on the field or in the hospital, by individual
surrender or by capitulation.
52. No belligerent has the right to declare that he will treat every
captured man in arms, of a levy en masse, as a brigand or bandit. * * *
56. A prisoner of war is subject to no punishment for being a public
enemy, nor is any revenge wreaked upon him by the intentional infliction
of any suffering, or disgrace by cruel imprisonment, want of food, by
mutilation, death, or any other barbarity.
57. So soon as a man is armed by a sovereign government, and takes the
soldier's oath of fidelity, he is a belligerent; his killing, wounding, or
other warlike acts are no individual crime or offence. * * *
67. The law of nations allows every sovereign government to make war upon
another sovereign state, and therefore admits of no rules or laws
different from those of regular warfare regarding the treatment of
prisoners of war, although they may belong to the army of a government
which the captor may consider as a wanton and unjust assailant.
The use of poison in any manner, be it to poison wells, or food, or arms,
is wholly excluded from modern warfare. He that uses it puts himself out
of the pale of the laws and usages of war.
71. Whoever intentionally inflicts additional wounds on an enemy already
wholly disabled, or kills such an enemy, or who orders or encourages
soldiers to do so, shall suffer death if duly convicted, whether he
belongs to the army of the United States, or is an enemy captured after
having committed his misdeed.
72. Money and other valuables on the person of a prisoner, such as watches
or jewelry, as well as extra clothing, are regarded by the American army
as the private property of the prisoners, and the appropriation of such
valuables or money is considered dishonorable, and is prohibited.
74. A prisoner of war, being a public enemy, is the prisoner of the
government and not of the captor. No ransom can be paid by a prisoner of
war to his individual captor or to any officer in command. The government
alone releases captives, according to rules prescribed by itself.
75. Prisoners of war are subject to confinement or imprisonment, such as
may be deemed necessary on account of safety, but they are to be subjected
to no other intentional suffering or indignity. The confinement and mode
of treating a prisoner may be varied during his captivity, according to
the demands of safety.
76. Prisoners of war shall be fed upon plain and wholesome food whenever
practicable, and treated with humanity. They may be required to work for
the benefit of the captor's government, according to their rank and
condition.
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