He has never seen you. Report
to me his answer."
When Socola explained to Wirz in sympathetic tones the offer of the
Government to spare his life for the implication of Davis in direct
orders from Richmond commanding cruelties at Andersonville, the
condemned man lifted his wounded body and stared at his visitor.
His answer closed the interview.
"Tell the scoundrel who sent you that I am a soldier. I was a soldier in
Germany before I cast my fortunes with the South. I bear in my body the
wounds of honorable warfare. If I hadn't time to learn the meaning of
honor from my friends in the South, my mother taught me in the old
world. You ask me to save my life from these assassins by swearing away
the life of another. Tell my executioner that I never saw the President
of the Confederacy. I never received an order of any kind from him. I
did the best I could for the men in my charge at Andersonville and tried
honestly to improve their conditions. I am not a perjurer, even to save
my own life. A soldier's business is to die. I am ready."
Socola extended his hand through the bars and grasped the prisoner's.
The deeper he dived into the seething mass of corruption and blind
passion which had engulfed Washington the more desperate he saw the
situation of Davis at Fortress Monroe.
Pages:
571
572
573
574
575
576
577
578
579
580
581
582
583
584
585
586
587
588
589
590
591
592
593
594
595