October 15, 2025 • 24 mins
While at Andersonville Prison Camp, Father Henry Clavreul, a Catholic Priest, ministered to the Union Soldiers captured on battlefields across the south. From 15 July to 20 August 1864, Father Clavreul and one other Priest, were the only religious men with authorization to enter the overcrowded camp to render aid. He lasted only 36 days among the sick and dying before he came down with an illness that forced him to depart the camp for Savannah.
Sources for this episode:
Clavreul, Henry. Diary of Rev. H. Clavreul. With Names of the Dying Federal Soldiers to Whom he Ministered at Andersonville, Ga., During July and August 1864, edited by George Robbins. The Connecticut Association of Ex-Prisoners of War, 1910. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nnc1.cu54239966&seq=5.
Ainsworth Fred C. and Kirkley, Joseph W. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. ser. 2, vol. 7. Government Printing Office, 1899. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=coo.31924079575266&view=1up&seq=3.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:02):
An incident which might haveproved decisive with no other
results, however, but amomentary excitement occurred in
the early part of the month ofAugust, a thunderstorm
accompanied by torrential rainand violent wind amounting to a
hurricane torn down a part ofthe stockade enclosure.
Leaving a gap a few hundred feetwide, I saw thousands of men
(00:25):
pressing on towards the gap nearthe deadline.
It was a moment of awfulsuspense.
The guards outside stood withloaded muskets and fixed
bayonets.
The battery in front, ready toopen at the command.
All seemed to wait for somebodyto lead on, but no one took the
initiative and hardly an passedthat the stockade had resumed
(00:48):
its dead appearance.
(01:14):
hi, my name is Bill Coghlan andhost the first person Civil War
podcast.
While the generals of both sidesget most of the recognition, the
Civil War was fought by the menin the ranks, and they told
their stories during and afterthe war.
Follow me as I reveal what thesemen and civilians witnessed in
(01:35):
the battles, and in thisepisode, the prison camps of the
Civil War.
Episode 53 is entitled FatherOnri Kla at Andersonville and
relies on his book.
Diary of Reverend h Clare withnames of the dying federal
soldiers to whom he ministeredat Andersonville Georgia during
(01:59):
July and August, 1864.
And published in 1910 by theConnecticut Association of
Ex-Prisoners of War.
On Ri.
Peter Cla was born on fourJanuary, 1835, somewhere in
France, and ordained a priest inthe Catholic church on 19 March,
(02:22):
1859 that same year, AugustineVeau, the Vicar Apostolic of
Florida, traveled to France torecruit priests to serve in that
state.
In September of 1860, father CLAwas one of six who volunteered
and immigrated to Florida, butdid not become a naturalized
(02:42):
citizen.
At the beginning of the war,father Clal was assigned to
Fernandina, Florida on AmeliaIsland, administered to the
Catholic population.
This island sits at the mouth ofthe St.
Mary's River and was ofstrategic importance to both the
Confederacy and the Union.
(03:03):
The Confederates occupied FortClinch, located on Amelia Island
at the beginning of the war, butwas seized by the Union in March
of 1862 as part of the Anacondaplan.
Up to the time I was called toAndersonville.
My experience with the Army havebeen confined to the
(03:23):
Confederates first inFernandina, Florida.
When early in November, 1861,2000 men Infantry and Cavalry
Garrison, that place I was therewhen the city surrendered to the
US Naval forces after a shortand desultory resistance,
reprehensible acts.
(03:44):
It is true occurred, whichcannot be questioned in
Fernandina and at St.
Mary's where both Catholicchurches were ransacked in
fernandina.
Among other valuables.
I lost a chalice.
Donated to me by a brotherpriest when I left France in
September, 1860.
(04:06):
As a result of the lootingvicar, apostolic Vero withdrew
the clergy from the region andsent them to Savannah, which
included Father Clare, who wasstill in Fernandina.
Leaving Fernandina a few weekslater.
I was thanks to the courtesy ofthe federal officer in command
(04:27):
at Jacksonville, enabled tocross the lines.
At the time, skirmishing wasrife between the contending
armies on the railroad linebetween Jacksonville and Lake
City.
In Savannah Wilston charge ofthe Orphan Boys.
I visited the Confederatesoldiers stationed at
Thunderbolt.
And outlying posts, and at theforts on the Savannah River.
(04:52):
As battles rage across thecountry, men from both sides
were eventually captured.
Rather than keeping prisoners ofwar for extended periods of
time, both sides eventuallyagreed upon a system of prisoner
exchanges known as the DicksHill cartel, which began in July
of 1862.
(05:12):
Signed during the Peninsulacampaign between Major General
John a Dix from the Union andConfederate major General DH
Hill.
This agreement meant capturedsoldiers would only stay within
enemy prisons for a brief time.
One who experienced this systemof prisoner exchange was
Corporal John R.
(05:33):
McBride of the 33rd Indiana.
By his own account.
He was captured in early March,1863 at the Battle of Thompson
Station in Tennessee, but justone month later was exchanged in
Virginia and reconstituted tohis regiment and the Western
Theater.
(05:54):
By April of 1864, the agreementfor prisoner exchanges broke
down.
Despite this grand campaigns inGeorgia and Virginia were
underway and now capturedsoldiers and officers on both
sides, were now held permanentlyin prisoner of war camps, both
North and south.
(06:15):
At Camp Sumter or AndersonvillePrison, so named after the local
town, the camp, with an intendedcapacity of 10,000 enlisted men
became overwhelmed well beyondits intended capacity.
Which was noted by CaptainWalter Bowie of the Inspector
General Department from Richmondon nine, May, 1864.
(06:38):
Who estimated that 12,180prisoners were currently at
Andersonville.
The prison is composed of anarea of ground 16 and one half
acres and extent situated on twoopposing banks or sides of a
stream of water, which furnishesample supply of water for
(06:59):
drinking and bathing purposes.
This area is enclosed by astockade made of heavy pint
posts placed vertically in theground to a depth of five feet
and rising 17 feet above it.
This enclosure is entered by twostrong gates.
The space enclosed is in theform of a parallelogram
(07:20):
approaching very nearly asquare.
On each side of the enclosureupon the top of the stockade so
as to overlook the interior.
Our arranged eight century boxesor platforms, which are about 40
yards distant from each other.
The location of the prisonground is elevated and dry.
Accept that portion borderingimmediately on the stream of
(07:43):
water and comprising about onefourth of the whole space
enclosed by the stockade, whichis wet and marshy, and its
present condition is alltogether unfit for an
encampment.
So that the prisoners reallyoccupy only about 12 acres.
The space, therefore allotted toeach man is seven by six feet.
(08:06):
Despite this limited spacecaptured, union soldiers
continued to arrive as evidencedby the correspondence with the
Confederate military prisonsfrom across the south and orders
issued from that department.
General orders number 45.
Agitant and Inspector General'soffice, Richmond, May 2nd, 1864
(08:31):
prisoners captured south ofRichmond will be sent direct to
Andersonville Sumter County,Georgia by order s Cooper Adant
and Inspector General.
Captain Gibbs commander ofpresence in Macon on June 5th,
1864.
The Yankee major of a Negroregiment who was captured at the
(08:53):
Battle of Ocean Pond, Florida isand I think very properly
confined with Negro prisoners atAndersonville.
I would like to obtainpermission to send to the same
place Lieutenant JO Lad ofcompany E 35th US Negro
Regiment, who is now a prisonerhere, who also was captured in
(09:16):
Florida?
Brigadier General John Winder,commander of Prisons,
Andersonville, July 26th, 1864to General S Cooper.
There are 29,400 prisoners.
2,650 troops, 500 Negroes andother laborers, and not a ration
(09:37):
at the post.
There is great danger in thisstate of things.
I have ordered that at least 10days.
Rations should be kept on hand,but it has never been done.
From 1862 onward.
Father remained in Savannah, buteventually he received a new
assignment to minister atAndersonville.
(10:01):
It was in July, 1864 that I leftSavannah for Andersonville.
Being sent there to help thevenerable father Wheelin, who
had been ministering to theprisoners since March.
Their number kept increasing,owing the advance of the
federals towards Georgia beingestimated at the time at 30,000.
(10:23):
Father wheen was already an oldman over 60 years of age.
He assisted the prisoners notonly by his administrations as a
priest, but also by materialhelp through his influence among
the Catholics of Georgia.
As for me, unknown and withoutinfluence.
I could only weep over themiseries.
(10:44):
I hourly witnessed.
While officially sent toAndersonville by Augustine
Varrow, now Bishop of Savannah,father Clare still had to seek
permission from the Confederatesoldiers manning the camp to
minister to the prisoners.
The only officers I saw weregeneral winder in command of the
(11:06):
stockade prison and theunfortunate major words.
It was from the latter.
I got written permission tovisit daily the prisoners.
Father Cla lived in a smallwooden hut about one mile away
from the prison camp.
And began his ministry withinAndersonville on 15 July, 1864.
(11:31):
After a restless night spent inour hut on bunks and a hurried
breakfast, five o'clock found usevery morning at the entrance of
the stockade where we remainedthe whole long day till sundown
with one hour of recess atmidday.
A common occurrence as thecampaigns unfolded was the
(11:52):
arrival of more prisoners to thestockade entrance.
Father was seeing with his owneyes the gradual overcrowding of
Andersonville.
A stir was occasionally feltwhen, for instance, long files
of federal soldiers captured onthe battlefields, which were
then being fought in Tennesseeand northern Georgia.
(12:15):
Were marched into the prison.
All lies for the moment.
Turn in that direction.
500 men, sometimes more formedin ranks at the railroad
station, a half mile from thestockade.
And from there were marched tothe prison guards with loaded
muskets on both sides of theranks and near the stockade, a
(12:37):
battery of six guns wasstationed on a slight eminence.
A telling sign from FatherClarel that the conditions of
Andersonville had alreadygreatly deteriorated were the
expressions of the soldiers asthey entered the camp.
The military bearing of the menwith uniforms still brilliant
(12:59):
and spotless, was in strongcontrast with the wretchedness
of the place where they weresoon to be confined.
A sudden change was noticeableon their countenance.
The moment they stepped insideas if they realized the horrors
of the situation.
They were often followed byhundreds of their companions.
More unfortunate still, whobecause of their wounds had to
(13:22):
be carried from the train,unable as they were to walk or
even stand.
For the soldiers kept withinAndersonville.
Each day was a struggle forsurvival.
Witnessed by Father cla.
The food consisted of unboltedcorn meal and cow peas with now
(13:44):
and then vegetables sent by thecountry.
People of the neighborhood, asmost of the prisoners suffered
from scurvy, sore gums, andloose teeth.
They could not eat the coursefood, and thus numbers of them
died with their allowance ofcornbread nearby.
Starvation, however, was not theonly cause of the terrible
(14:05):
mortality, which in these eightweeks must have carried off some
8,000 victims.
Exposure to the inclemency ofthe weather was another, the
stockade being entirely bare,and besides with not a tent
under which to find shelter, theclothes the prisoners had on
when they arrived soon becamemere rags.
(14:26):
Thousands were met without ashred of clothing.
Stark naked who were busyburrowing in the ground to find
protection against the rain orthe scorching rays of a
midsummer sun.
To the scurvy was added, thediarrhea and the middle of the
stockade between the banksslightly.
Inclining was a branch ofrunning water.
(14:47):
The ground trotted by thousandshad soon become boggy, making it
impossible for many among thesick to extricate themselves
from the mire.
When Father CLA rule was not atthe stockade entrance, he was
likely with the soldiers held inthe hospital.
Just as a warning to theaudience, this account contains
(15:09):
descriptions of the dead anddying.
The hospital was a mile from thestockade.
It had tents, but no floor.
Only the bare ground.
There, it was that most of thecases, not utterly hopeless,
were carried.
The removal took place generallyin the four noon after the
(15:30):
morning inspection made by thesurgeons near the entrance of
the stockade.
At the entrance of the hospitalthere stood a wooden shed 50 by
30 feet.
Called the Dead House, where thebodies of those who died within
the past 24 hours were laid onthe bare ground.
I walked the narrow aisle of thedismal room.
(15:53):
Where lay in four rows, 120corpses.
The shreds of clothing found onthem at the time they died,
thrown over their emaciatedbodies.
In front of this shed were thewagons drawn by four mules to
carry a mile away the dead to beburied in shallow trenches.
(16:13):
Not a day past that I did notmeet the gruesome sight of these
wagons.
Piled with bodies, head, feet,or arms dangling from the
vehicle, transporting them totheir final rest.
What kept the prisoners insidethe stockade was a light rail
fence known as the deadline.
(16:36):
It was approximately 20 feetfrom the interior stockade wall
and crossing.
It meant instant death from theConfederate centuries.
While the deadline kept thepossibility of escape to a
minimum, father CLA rule didwitness a potential mass escape
from the prison.
An incident which might haveproved decisive with no other
(16:58):
results, however, but amomentary excitement occurred in
the early part of the month ofAugust, a thunderstorm
accompanied by torrential rainand violent wind amounting to a
hurricane torn down a part ofthe stockade enclosure.
Leaving a gap a few hundred feetwide, I saw thousands of men
pressing on towards the gap nearthe deadline.
(17:21):
It was a moment of awfulsuspense.
The guards outside stood withloaded muskets and fixed
bayonets.
The battery in front, ready toopen at the command.
All seemed to wait for somebodyto lead on, but no one took the
initiative and hardly an passedthat the stockade had resumed
(17:41):
its dead appearance.
Knowledge of the conditionswithin Andersonville.
Were not confined to thesurrounding area, but managed to
spread even outside the state ofGeorgia.
In a letter to the commander ofthe Confederate Department of
South Carolina, Georgia, andFlorida, Union, Brigadier
(18:02):
General HW Wessels, himself, aprisoner of war in Charleston,
requested supplies to be sent tothe prison camps as especially
Andersonville.
It is respectfully submitted toyour consideration that the
proximity of these places toHilton Head and the abundance of
supplies there, especially incharge of the sanitary
(18:25):
commission.
That is the US SanitaryCommission will permit important
relief to be given particularlyto the sick.
I therefore request yourpermission for the sanitary
commission to send whatever maybe deemed advisable by its
agents by Savannah, if proper onaccounts of more convenient
(18:45):
transportation, and that one ofits agents or an officer from
this place may be designated andpermitted to proceed with these
supplies to superintendent,their distribution.
This request was ultimatelydenied and the prisoners at
Andersonville had to rely on thescant supplies given to them, as
(19:07):
well as the Ministry of FatherClare and his fellow priest.
The crowded condition of theplace in which they were
confined, the food insufficientand loathsome their clothing and
rags, their exposure to theweather, the suffering, which
all this entailed rarelyelicited from them a word of
(19:27):
anger.
They seem to look upon theirmisfortunes as a visitation from
the Almighty to this may beascribe the success of our
spiritual administrations, notonly with the Catholics, but
with men of the variousdenominations and those who
profess none.
They saw, besides that the twopriests ever within their midst
(19:49):
we're the only clergymen whohave volunteered to them their
services.
The religious work among theprisoners found expression in
the throngs of individuals.
We met here and there bowed downin the attitude of prayer or
listening to a comrade who wasreading from the Bible or
addressing to them words ofexhortation.
(20:12):
Being near the sick, dead, anddying.
Finally took its toll on FatherClav rule.
In late August, he contracted anunknown illness and was forced
to depart Andersonville.
On the 20th day of August.
That is 36 days.
After my arrival atAndersonville, I was taken sick
(20:34):
with continued vomiting.
Father wheen decided that Ishould leave, and so I took the
train back to Savannah.
Wills, the heroic old priestretraced his steps back to the
stockade.
I spent that day and followingnight on board the train wholly
unconscious, recovering mysenses, only when on arrival at
(20:56):
Savannah, they dragged me fromunder the car seat where I was
lying.
On September 24th, 1864, Iresumed at Savannah, my
administrations among the 10,000prisoners who.
But a few days before have beenbrought from the Andersonville
stockade.
By early September, 1864, theUnion Army under major General
(21:20):
William T.
Sherman had captured AtlantaAndersonville.
Approximately 120 miles to thesouth, was no longer a viable
location to house prisoners ofwar.
And those who were well enoughwere transported to prison camps
away from Sherman's Army, whichincluded Savannah.
The Union Army liberatedAndersonville Prison in May of
(21:43):
1865, which still held prisonerswithin the stockade.
Andersonville.
Prison has become synonymouswith intense suffering the
survivors of that place formedassociations after the war for
the benefit of their members,but also to record as much of
the history of the prison campas possible.
(22:06):
George Robbins, a prisoner atAndersonville and a member of
the Connecticut Association ofEx-Prisoners of War.
Contacted Father CLA Rule in1908 to provide an account of
his time at Andersonville.
George Robbins received a copyof Father Clav Rule's Diary and
hundreds of names.
(22:28):
I take from my diary written atthe stockade at Andersonville,
the names of federal prisonersto who I administered the
sacraments of penance andextreme unction from July 15 to
August, 2018, 64.
Organized by day, name, age, andstate or country of origin are
(22:51):
the names of hundreds of men whodied, and at least 14 who
received baptism by Father Clarewhile in the stockade at
Andersonville.
Thank you for listening to the53rd episode.
The link to Father Clare's bookis now available on the podcast
website, first person Civil Warpodcast.com.
(23:16):
On Facebook, Instagram, x andLinkedIn.
This week you will find apicture of Father CLA sometime
after the war.
Please like, follow andsubscribe to the podcast on
whatever platform you use as ithelps to grow the audience.
And in two weeks time, SergeantEdwin c Bennett of Company G
(23:41):
22nd, Massachusetts providesnext episode's first person
account at the battle.
Of Malvern Hill, my name is BillCoghlan, and thank you for
listening to First Person CivilWar Podcast.
An incident which might haveproved decisive with no other
results, however, but amomentary excitement occurred in
the early part of the month ofAugust, a thunderstorm
accompanied by torrential rainand violent wind amounting to a
hurricane torn down a part ofthe stockade enclosure.
Leaving a gap a few hundred feetwide, I saw thousands of men
(00:25):
pressing on towards the gap nearthe deadline.
It was a moment of awfulsuspense.
The guards outside stood withloaded muskets and fixed
bayonets.
The battery in front, ready toopen at the command.
All seemed to wait for somebodyto lead on, but no one took the
initiative and hardly an passedthat the stockade had resumed
(00:48):
its dead appearance.
(01:14):
hi, my name is Bill Coghlan andhost the first person Civil War
podcast.
While the generals of both sidesget most of the recognition, the
Civil War was fought by the menin the ranks, and they told
their stories during and afterthe war.
Follow me as I reveal what thesemen and civilians witnessed in
(01:35):
the battles, and in thisepisode, the prison camps of the
Civil War.
Episode 53 is entitled FatherOnri Kla at Andersonville and
relies on his book.
Diary of Reverend h Clare withnames of the dying federal
soldiers to whom he ministeredat Andersonville Georgia during
(01:59):
July and August, 1864.
And published in 1910 by theConnecticut Association of
Ex-Prisoners of War.
On Ri.
Peter Cla was born on fourJanuary, 1835, somewhere in
France, and ordained a priest inthe Catholic church on 19 March,
(02:22):
1859 that same year, AugustineVeau, the Vicar Apostolic of
Florida, traveled to France torecruit priests to serve in that
state.
In September of 1860, father CLAwas one of six who volunteered
and immigrated to Florida, butdid not become a naturalized
(02:42):
citizen.
At the beginning of the war,father Clal was assigned to
Fernandina, Florida on AmeliaIsland, administered to the
Catholic population.
This island sits at the mouth ofthe St.
Mary's River and was ofstrategic importance to both the
Confederacy and the Union.
(03:03):
The Confederates occupied FortClinch, located on Amelia Island
at the beginning of the war, butwas seized by the Union in March
of 1862 as part of the Anacondaplan.
Up to the time I was called toAndersonville.
My experience with the Army havebeen confined to the
(03:23):
Confederates first inFernandina, Florida.
When early in November, 1861,2000 men Infantry and Cavalry
Garrison, that place I was therewhen the city surrendered to the
US Naval forces after a shortand desultory resistance,
reprehensible acts.
(03:44):
It is true occurred, whichcannot be questioned in
Fernandina and at St.
Mary's where both Catholicchurches were ransacked in
fernandina.
Among other valuables.
I lost a chalice.
Donated to me by a brotherpriest when I left France in
September, 1860.
(04:06):
As a result of the lootingvicar, apostolic Vero withdrew
the clergy from the region andsent them to Savannah, which
included Father Clare, who wasstill in Fernandina.
Leaving Fernandina a few weekslater.
I was thanks to the courtesy ofthe federal officer in command
(04:27):
at Jacksonville, enabled tocross the lines.
At the time, skirmishing wasrife between the contending
armies on the railroad linebetween Jacksonville and Lake
City.
In Savannah Wilston charge ofthe Orphan Boys.
I visited the Confederatesoldiers stationed at
Thunderbolt.
And outlying posts, and at theforts on the Savannah River.
(04:52):
As battles rage across thecountry, men from both sides
were eventually captured.
Rather than keeping prisoners ofwar for extended periods of
time, both sides eventuallyagreed upon a system of prisoner
exchanges known as the DicksHill cartel, which began in July
of 1862.
(05:12):
Signed during the Peninsulacampaign between Major General
John a Dix from the Union andConfederate major General DH
Hill.
This agreement meant capturedsoldiers would only stay within
enemy prisons for a brief time.
One who experienced this systemof prisoner exchange was
Corporal John R.
(05:33):
McBride of the 33rd Indiana.
By his own account.
He was captured in early March,1863 at the Battle of Thompson
Station in Tennessee, but justone month later was exchanged in
Virginia and reconstituted tohis regiment and the Western
Theater.
(05:54):
By April of 1864, the agreementfor prisoner exchanges broke
down.
Despite this grand campaigns inGeorgia and Virginia were
underway and now capturedsoldiers and officers on both
sides, were now held permanentlyin prisoner of war camps, both
North and south.
(06:15):
At Camp Sumter or AndersonvillePrison, so named after the local
town, the camp, with an intendedcapacity of 10,000 enlisted men
became overwhelmed well beyondits intended capacity.
Which was noted by CaptainWalter Bowie of the Inspector
General Department from Richmondon nine, May, 1864.
(06:38):
Who estimated that 12,180prisoners were currently at
Andersonville.
The prison is composed of anarea of ground 16 and one half
acres and extent situated on twoopposing banks or sides of a
stream of water, which furnishesample supply of water for
(06:59):
drinking and bathing purposes.
This area is enclosed by astockade made of heavy pint
posts placed vertically in theground to a depth of five feet
and rising 17 feet above it.
This enclosure is entered by twostrong gates.
The space enclosed is in theform of a parallelogram
(07:20):
approaching very nearly asquare.
On each side of the enclosureupon the top of the stockade so
as to overlook the interior.
Our arranged eight century boxesor platforms, which are about 40
yards distant from each other.
The location of the prisonground is elevated and dry.
Accept that portion borderingimmediately on the stream of
(07:43):
water and comprising about onefourth of the whole space
enclosed by the stockade, whichis wet and marshy, and its
present condition is alltogether unfit for an
encampment.
So that the prisoners reallyoccupy only about 12 acres.
The space, therefore allotted toeach man is seven by six feet.
(08:06):
Despite this limited spacecaptured, union soldiers
continued to arrive as evidencedby the correspondence with the
Confederate military prisonsfrom across the south and orders
issued from that department.
General orders number 45.
Agitant and Inspector General'soffice, Richmond, May 2nd, 1864
(08:31):
prisoners captured south ofRichmond will be sent direct to
Andersonville Sumter County,Georgia by order s Cooper Adant
and Inspector General.
Captain Gibbs commander ofpresence in Macon on June 5th,
1864.
The Yankee major of a Negroregiment who was captured at the
(08:53):
Battle of Ocean Pond, Florida isand I think very properly
confined with Negro prisoners atAndersonville.
I would like to obtainpermission to send to the same
place Lieutenant JO Lad ofcompany E 35th US Negro
Regiment, who is now a prisonerhere, who also was captured in
(09:16):
Florida?
Brigadier General John Winder,commander of Prisons,
Andersonville, July 26th, 1864to General S Cooper.
There are 29,400 prisoners.
2,650 troops, 500 Negroes andother laborers, and not a ration
(09:37):
at the post.
There is great danger in thisstate of things.
I have ordered that at least 10days.
Rations should be kept on hand,but it has never been done.
From 1862 onward.
Father remained in Savannah, buteventually he received a new
assignment to minister atAndersonville.
(10:01):
It was in July, 1864 that I leftSavannah for Andersonville.
Being sent there to help thevenerable father Wheelin, who
had been ministering to theprisoners since March.
Their number kept increasing,owing the advance of the
federals towards Georgia beingestimated at the time at 30,000.
(10:23):
Father wheen was already an oldman over 60 years of age.
He assisted the prisoners notonly by his administrations as a
priest, but also by materialhelp through his influence among
the Catholics of Georgia.
As for me, unknown and withoutinfluence.
I could only weep over themiseries.
(10:44):
I hourly witnessed.
While officially sent toAndersonville by Augustine
Varrow, now Bishop of Savannah,father Clare still had to seek
permission from the Confederatesoldiers manning the camp to
minister to the prisoners.
The only officers I saw weregeneral winder in command of the
(11:06):
stockade prison and theunfortunate major words.
It was from the latter.
I got written permission tovisit daily the prisoners.
Father Cla lived in a smallwooden hut about one mile away
from the prison camp.
And began his ministry withinAndersonville on 15 July, 1864.
(11:31):
After a restless night spent inour hut on bunks and a hurried
breakfast, five o'clock found usevery morning at the entrance of
the stockade where we remainedthe whole long day till sundown
with one hour of recess atmidday.
A common occurrence as thecampaigns unfolded was the
(11:52):
arrival of more prisoners to thestockade entrance.
Father was seeing with his owneyes the gradual overcrowding of
Andersonville.
A stir was occasionally feltwhen, for instance, long files
of federal soldiers captured onthe battlefields, which were
then being fought in Tennesseeand northern Georgia.
(12:15):
Were marched into the prison.
All lies for the moment.
Turn in that direction.
500 men, sometimes more formedin ranks at the railroad
station, a half mile from thestockade.
And from there were marched tothe prison guards with loaded
muskets on both sides of theranks and near the stockade, a
(12:37):
battery of six guns wasstationed on a slight eminence.
A telling sign from FatherClarel that the conditions of
Andersonville had alreadygreatly deteriorated were the
expressions of the soldiers asthey entered the camp.
The military bearing of the menwith uniforms still brilliant
(12:59):
and spotless, was in strongcontrast with the wretchedness
of the place where they weresoon to be confined.
A sudden change was noticeableon their countenance.
The moment they stepped insideas if they realized the horrors
of the situation.
They were often followed byhundreds of their companions.
More unfortunate still, whobecause of their wounds had to
(13:22):
be carried from the train,unable as they were to walk or
even stand.
For the soldiers kept withinAndersonville.
Each day was a struggle forsurvival.
Witnessed by Father cla.
The food consisted of unboltedcorn meal and cow peas with now
(13:44):
and then vegetables sent by thecountry.
People of the neighborhood, asmost of the prisoners suffered
from scurvy, sore gums, andloose teeth.
They could not eat the coursefood, and thus numbers of them
died with their allowance ofcornbread nearby.
Starvation, however, was not theonly cause of the terrible
(14:05):
mortality, which in these eightweeks must have carried off some
8,000 victims.
Exposure to the inclemency ofthe weather was another, the
stockade being entirely bare,and besides with not a tent
under which to find shelter, theclothes the prisoners had on
when they arrived soon becamemere rags.
(14:26):
Thousands were met without ashred of clothing.
Stark naked who were busyburrowing in the ground to find
protection against the rain orthe scorching rays of a
midsummer sun.
To the scurvy was added, thediarrhea and the middle of the
stockade between the banksslightly.
Inclining was a branch ofrunning water.
(14:47):
The ground trotted by thousandshad soon become boggy, making it
impossible for many among thesick to extricate themselves
from the mire.
When Father CLA rule was not atthe stockade entrance, he was
likely with the soldiers held inthe hospital.
Just as a warning to theaudience, this account contains
(15:09):
descriptions of the dead anddying.
The hospital was a mile from thestockade.
It had tents, but no floor.
Only the bare ground.
There, it was that most of thecases, not utterly hopeless,
were carried.
The removal took place generallyin the four noon after the
(15:30):
morning inspection made by thesurgeons near the entrance of
the stockade.
At the entrance of the hospitalthere stood a wooden shed 50 by
30 feet.
Called the Dead House, where thebodies of those who died within
the past 24 hours were laid onthe bare ground.
I walked the narrow aisle of thedismal room.
(15:53):
Where lay in four rows, 120corpses.
The shreds of clothing found onthem at the time they died,
thrown over their emaciatedbodies.
In front of this shed were thewagons drawn by four mules to
carry a mile away the dead to beburied in shallow trenches.
(16:13):
Not a day past that I did notmeet the gruesome sight of these
wagons.
Piled with bodies, head, feet,or arms dangling from the
vehicle, transporting them totheir final rest.
What kept the prisoners insidethe stockade was a light rail
fence known as the deadline.
(16:36):
It was approximately 20 feetfrom the interior stockade wall
and crossing.
It meant instant death from theConfederate centuries.
While the deadline kept thepossibility of escape to a
minimum, father CLA rule didwitness a potential mass escape
from the prison.
An incident which might haveproved decisive with no other
(16:58):
results, however, but amomentary excitement occurred in
the early part of the month ofAugust, a thunderstorm
accompanied by torrential rainand violent wind amounting to a
hurricane torn down a part ofthe stockade enclosure.
Leaving a gap a few hundred feetwide, I saw thousands of men
pressing on towards the gap nearthe deadline.
(17:21):
It was a moment of awfulsuspense.
The guards outside stood withloaded muskets and fixed
bayonets.
The battery in front, ready toopen at the command.
All seemed to wait for somebodyto lead on, but no one took the
initiative and hardly an passedthat the stockade had resumed
(17:41):
its dead appearance.
Knowledge of the conditionswithin Andersonville.
Were not confined to thesurrounding area, but managed to
spread even outside the state ofGeorgia.
In a letter to the commander ofthe Confederate Department of
South Carolina, Georgia, andFlorida, Union, Brigadier
(18:02):
General HW Wessels, himself, aprisoner of war in Charleston,
requested supplies to be sent tothe prison camps as especially
Andersonville.
It is respectfully submitted toyour consideration that the
proximity of these places toHilton Head and the abundance of
supplies there, especially incharge of the sanitary
(18:25):
commission.
That is the US SanitaryCommission will permit important
relief to be given particularlyto the sick.
I therefore request yourpermission for the sanitary
commission to send whatever maybe deemed advisable by its
agents by Savannah, if proper onaccounts of more convenient
(18:45):
transportation, and that one ofits agents or an officer from
this place may be designated andpermitted to proceed with these
supplies to superintendent,their distribution.
This request was ultimatelydenied and the prisoners at
Andersonville had to rely on thescant supplies given to them, as
(19:07):
well as the Ministry of FatherClare and his fellow priest.
The crowded condition of theplace in which they were
confined, the food insufficientand loathsome their clothing and
rags, their exposure to theweather, the suffering, which
all this entailed rarelyelicited from them a word of
(19:27):
anger.
They seem to look upon theirmisfortunes as a visitation from
the Almighty to this may beascribe the success of our
spiritual administrations, notonly with the Catholics, but
with men of the variousdenominations and those who
profess none.
They saw, besides that the twopriests ever within their midst
(19:49):
we're the only clergymen whohave volunteered to them their
services.
The religious work among theprisoners found expression in
the throngs of individuals.
We met here and there bowed downin the attitude of prayer or
listening to a comrade who wasreading from the Bible or
addressing to them words ofexhortation.
(20:12):
Being near the sick, dead, anddying.
Finally took its toll on FatherClav rule.
In late August, he contracted anunknown illness and was forced
to depart Andersonville.
On the 20th day of August.
That is 36 days.
After my arrival atAndersonville, I was taken sick
(20:34):
with continued vomiting.
Father wheen decided that Ishould leave, and so I took the
train back to Savannah.
Wills, the heroic old priestretraced his steps back to the
stockade.
I spent that day and followingnight on board the train wholly
unconscious, recovering mysenses, only when on arrival at
(20:56):
Savannah, they dragged me fromunder the car seat where I was
lying.
On September 24th, 1864, Iresumed at Savannah, my
administrations among the 10,000prisoners who.
But a few days before have beenbrought from the Andersonville
stockade.
By early September, 1864, theUnion Army under major General
(21:20):
William T.
Sherman had captured AtlantaAndersonville.
Approximately 120 miles to thesouth, was no longer a viable
location to house prisoners ofwar.
And those who were well enoughwere transported to prison camps
away from Sherman's Army, whichincluded Savannah.
The Union Army liberatedAndersonville Prison in May of
(21:43):
1865, which still held prisonerswithin the stockade.
Andersonville.
Prison has become synonymouswith intense suffering the
survivors of that place formedassociations after the war for
the benefit of their members,but also to record as much of
the history of the prison campas possible.
(22:06):
George Robbins, a prisoner atAndersonville and a member of
the Connecticut Association ofEx-Prisoners of War.
Contacted Father CLA Rule in1908 to provide an account of
his time at Andersonville.
George Robbins received a copyof Father Clav Rule's Diary and
hundreds of names.
(22:28):
I take from my diary written atthe stockade at Andersonville,
the names of federal prisonersto who I administered the
sacraments of penance andextreme unction from July 15 to
August, 2018, 64.
Organized by day, name, age, andstate or country of origin are
(22:51):
the names of hundreds of men whodied, and at least 14 who
received baptism by Father Clarewhile in the stockade at
Andersonville.
Thank you for listening to the53rd episode.
The link to Father Clare's bookis now available on the podcast
website, first person Civil Warpodcast.com.
(23:16):
On Facebook, Instagram, x andLinkedIn.
This week you will find apicture of Father CLA sometime
after the war.
Please like, follow andsubscribe to the podcast on
whatever platform you use as ithelps to grow the audience.
And in two weeks time, SergeantEdwin c Bennett of Company G
(23:41):
22nd, Massachusetts providesnext episode's first person
account at the battle.
Of Malvern Hill, my name is BillCoghlan, and thank you for
listening to First Person CivilWar Podcast.
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