Secrets of the Late Rebellion, Now Revealed for the First TimeFreese, Jacob R.
History
Secrets of the Late Rebellion, Now Revealed for the First Time
Freese, Jacob R.
United States -- Politics and government -- 1861-1865
But in August, 1863, a new thought crossed the brain of the
Confederate authorities. They then concluded that, instead of shooting
bounty-jumpers as spies, they could make them serviceable to the
Confederate cause by using them as stool-pigeons, and like as
stool-pigeons are used to draw whole flocks into the net, so these could
be used to corrupt, and bring thousands into the Confederate lines.
In pursuance of this new idea, five large tobacco warehouses, on Carey
Street, each three stories high, directly opposite "Castle Thunder," in
Richmond, were converted into a prison, and called "Castle Lightning."
In this prison, bounty-jumpers alone were put, and the rations furnished
them were doubly as good as the rations furnished the prisoners in other
prisons. Whenever an exchange of prisoners was possible, those in Castle
Lightning were always given the preference, and, when about to leave,
they were told that they should take from the Yankees as many bounties
as they possibly could; that, if again sent to the front, they should
desert, and bring as many others along with them as possible; that they
would always be well treated, and given the best rations the Confederacy
could afford; that they would be exchanged, or otherwise sent back to
their homes, at the first opportunity; and that to secure safety and
good treatment, when coming into the Confederate lines, they should cry
out, "Bounty-jumper! Bounty-jumper!" This was told them not only when
about to leave, but again, and again, and again during their stay, and
the superior treatment they received while prisoners, assured them that
the promises made would all be fulfilled.
Within a few weeks after the return of the first batch of these
bounty-jumpers to the North, the effect of the new policy began to show
itself, and it steadily increased from that time onward. Hardly a day,
and sometimes several times in a day, squads of Union prisoners arrived
in Richmond, and were marched to Castle Lightning, who had voluntarily
come within the lines, and claimed to be bounty-jumpers. Nor was there
scarcely a day in which squads of these same men might not be seen
leaving the prison, on their way to be exchanged, or otherwise sent back
to the Union army, or direct to their homes. Like leaven, its tendency
was to leaven the whole lump, as the authorities of the Confederacy
believed would be the case when they adopted the policy. One such man
in a company would, in time, taint the whole company; ten such men in
a regiment would, in time, taint the whole regiment. When a battle is
progressing, a single regiment, yea, a single company, going over to the
enemy will sometimes so change the tide of battle that what seemed an
assured victory, will prove a most disastrous defeat.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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