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An Open Letter This letter from John H. Stibbs was originally privately printed in Second Reunion of the Twelfth Iowa V. V. Infantry held at Manchester, Iowa on Wednesday and Thursday, May 21 and 22, 1884 (Dubuque, Iowa: C. B. Dorr Press, 1884), pp. 38–39. Gen. Stibbs corrected an error of Comrade Clarkson, concerning the names of places where the returning prisoners were entertained and subsequently wrote a letter on the subject which is given in full: Chicago, May 23, 1884 R. P. Clarkson, Esq., Des Moines, Iowa. Dear Dick: During the proceedings at the reunion, yesterday, I made an attempt to correct a statement of yours; but as you know, the subject proved too difficult for me to handle, and I was unable to finish my story. I regretted it sincerely, for there was a bit of inside history in what I tried to tell, that would have been new and interesting to many of our comrades. When I was released from prison in 1862, being a captain at that time, I together with other officers of our regiment, was sent to Washington, D.C., and there furloughed for thirty days. We knew nothing, then, of the whereabouts of our enlisted men, and I went at once to visit my parents, at Wooster, Ohio. Within an hour after I reached home, I received a telegram from my brother Joe, telling me our boys were at Annapolis, Md., and asking me to come and take him from the hospital. I started on the first train, and found the poor fellow a living skeleton, debilitated beyond recognition. He died afterwards, from the effects of his imprisonment, and I am sure my comrades will approve my assertion, that no braver, better boy than he, ever shouldered a musket in defence of his country. When I reached Annapolis, I found the boys so anxious to get nearer home, that I determined to take them west, and when it was announced that I had secured an order to take them all to St. Louis, Mo., there was a joyful shout over the good news, and every sick man who had strength enough to stand on his feet, came forth from the hospital, all insisting { 123 } that they were sound as a dollar, and fully able to stand the journey west. But I soon found that I had as many as seventy-five men in the party who were too weak to sit up in their seats, and in no condition to subsist on the army rations provided. At Baltimore we were given a supper at the Soldier’s Rest, and a good, big lunch for each man to carry with him. The next evening, in response to my telegram, the ladies of Altoona, Pa., came to our train and provided us with a bountiful supper, and the following morning I sent, from a station on the line of the P. & F. W. R. R.,88 a telegram in substance as follows: ‘‘To the President of the Ladies’ Soldiers’ Aid Society, Wooster, Ohio. I am coming on No. 4, in charge of 250 returned prisoners, many of whom are sick. Can you give us a breakfast?’’ I did not know into whose hands this telegram might fall; but I felt sure it would be someone who would recognize my name, and that it would at least result in the furnishing of a breakfast for my sick men. We were but two hours’ run from Wooster, when my message was sent, and there was but little time for preparation; therefore we were surprised beyond measure at the reception given by the generous people. As I learned afterwards, the merchants had closed their stores, workmen left their shops, and every body had rushed home pell mell, to gather up whatever could be found in the way of eatables. It seemed as though the entire city had turned out to meet us. Gallons upon gallons of good, hot coffee were furnished us, together with an abundant supply of delicacies of every description and a store of substantials that lasted us throughout the remainder of our journey. The conductor came to me and said he was already four hours late, and could not hold his train to have men fed; but that he would carry forward and return a committee of citizens, who might be detailed for that purpose. Accordingly, fifty or more ladies and gentlemen boarded our train with their supplies, and distributed them as we journeyed...

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