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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/24385-8.txt b/24385-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3b2b9bc --- /dev/null +++ b/24385-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,4974 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Lights and Shadows in Confederate Prisons, by +Homer B. Sprague + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Lights and Shadows in Confederate Prisons + A Personal Experience, 1864-5 + +Author: Homer B. Sprague + +Release Date: January 21, 2008 [EBook #24385] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CONFEDERATE PRISONS *** + + + + +Produced by Stephen Blundell and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + + + + + + [Illustration: Portraits of Fellow Officers in Prison + + Left to right--Top line: Capt. Cook, Capt. Burrage + Middle line: Adj't. Gardner, Col. Sprague, Capt. Howe + Lower line: Lieut. Estabrooks, Adj't. Putnam] + + + + + _"Forsan et haec olim meminisse juvabit"_ + + + Lights and Shadows in + Confederate Prisons + + A Personal Experience + 1864-5 + + + By + + Homer B. Sprague, Ph.D. + Bvt.-Colonel 13th Conn. Vols. + + Sometime Professor in Cornell and President of the University + of North Dakota + + Author of "History of the 13th Conn. Inf. Vols.," "Right + and Wrong in our War between the States," and + "The European War, Its Cause and Cure" + + + _With Portraits_ + + + G. P. Putnam's Sons + New York and London + The Knickerbocker Press + 1915 + + + + + COPYRIGHT, 1915 + BY + HOMER B. SPRAGUE + + The Knickerbocker Press, New York + + +Transcriber's Note: + + Minor typographical errors have been corrected without note, whilst + more significant amendments have been listed at the end of the text. + Dialect and archaic spellings have been retained. The letter 'e' + with a macron has been transcribed as [=e]. + + + + + TO + THE ALUMNI OF + THE UNIVERSITIES OF + YALE, CORNELL, AND NORTH DAKOTA + + IN WHICH RESPECTIVELY THE AUTHOR WAS + STUDENT, PROFESSOR, PRESIDENT; + TO + THOUSANDS OF HIS PUPILS YET LIVING; + TO + HIS COMPANIONS OF THE LOYAL LEGION, + COMRADES OF THE GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC, + ALL SURVIVING OFFICERS AND SOLDIERS + UNION OR CONFEDERATE; + ALL WHO CHERISH THE MEMORY OF THE PATRIOT DEAD + AND ALL WHO HATE WAR, + THIS RECORD IS AFFECTIONATELY + DEDICATED + + + + +PREFACE + + +This narrative of prison life differs from all others that I have seen, +in that it is careful to put the best possible construction upon the +treatment of Union prisoners by the Confederates, and to state and +emphasize kindnesses and courtesies received by us from them. + +For the accuracy of the facts stated I am indebted to a diary kept from +day to day during the whole of my imprisonment, and to the best +obtainable records. The exact language of conversations cannot of course +always be remembered, but I aim always to give correctly the substance. + +I am aware that the opinions I express in regard to Sheridan's strategy +at the Battle of Winchester are not those generally entertained. But I +give reasons. His own account of the battle is sadly imperfect. To +capture but five guns and nine battle flags at a cost of four thousand +six hundred and eighty killed and wounded, and leave almost the entire +rebel army in shape to fight two great battles within a month, was not +the programme he had planned. Early said "Sheridan should have been +cashiered." + +I shall be blamed more for venturing to question Lincoln's policy of +subjugation. He had proclaimed with great power and in the most +unmistakable language in Congress that "any portion of any people had a +perfect right to throw off their old government and establish a new +one." But now, instead of standing strictly on the defensive, or +attempting by diplomacy to settle the conflict which had become +virtually international, he entered upon a war of conquest. + +I do not blame him for refusing to exchange prisoners, nor President +Davis for allowing them to starve and freeze. Both were right, _if war +is right_. It was expedient that thirty, fifty, or a hundred thousand of +us should perish, or be rendered physically incapable of bearing arms +again. The "deep damnation of the taking off" was due not to individual +depravity but to military necessity. + + H. B. S. + BRIGHTON, MASS., U. S. A., + _1915_. + + + + +CONTENTS + + + PAGE + PREFACE v + + CHAPTER I + + The First, or Forenoon, Battle of Winchester, Indecisive--Sheridan's + and Early's Mistakes--The Capture 1 + + CHAPTER II + + At Winchester--On the Road thence to Tom's Brook, New Market, and + Staunton 17 + + CHAPTER III + + At Staunton--Thence to Waynesboro, Meacham's, and Richmond 32 + + CHAPTER IV + + At Libby--Thence to Clover, Danville, Greensboro, and + Salisbury--Effort to Pledge us not to Attempt Escape 43 + + CHAPTER V + + At Salisbury--Great Plot to Escape--How Frustrated 60 + + CHAPTER VI + + From Salisbury to Danville--The Forlorn Situation--Effort to + "Extract Sunshine from Cucumbers"--The Vermin--The Prison + Commandant a Yale Man--Proposed Theatricals--Rules + Adopted--Studies--Vote in Prison for Lincoln and + McClellan--Killing Time 77 + + CHAPTER VII + + Exact Record of Rations in Danville--Opportunity to Cook--Daily + Routine of Proceedings from Early Dawn till Late at Night 93 + + CHAPTER VIII + + Continual Hope of Exchange of Prisoners--"Flag-of-Truce + Fever!"--Attempted Escape by Tunneling--Repeated Escapes by + Members of Water Parties, and how we Made the Roll-Call + Sergeant's Count Come Out all Right every Time--Plot to Break + Out by Violence, and its Tragic End 106 + + CHAPTER IX + + Kind Clergymen Visit us and Preach Excellent Discourses--Colonel + Smith's Personal Good Will to me--His Offer--John F. Ficklin's + Charity--My Good Fortune--Supplies of Clothing + Distributed--Deaths in Prison 120 + + CHAPTER X + + Results and Reflections--The Right and the Wrong of it All 138 + + APPENDIX 153 + + INDEX 157 + + + + +Lights and Shadows in Confederate Prisons + + + + +Lights and Shadows in Confederate Prisons + + + + +CHAPTER I + + The First, or Forenoon, Battle of Winchester, Indecisive--Sheridan's + and Early's Mistakes--The Capture. + + +"War is Hell," said our great strategist, General W. T. Sherman. +According to its latest code, with few or no exceptions, the end +justifies the means, and, if necessary to success, it is right to do +wrong. + +Fifty years ago one of the fairest regions on earth was that portion of +Virginia extending southwesterly about a hundred and twenty miles from +Harper's Ferry to the divide beyond Staunton, where rise the headwaters +of the James. Walled in by the Blue Ridge on the southeast and parallel +ranges of the Alleghanies on the northwest, it takes its name from the +beautiful river which winds along its length, and which the Indians +poetically christened Shenandoah (Daughter of the Stars!). When some +three hundred of us prisoners of war walked wearily a hundred miles from +Winchester to Staunton in September, 1864, it was still rich and lovely. +A few weeks later, the necessities of war made it a scene of utter +desolation. + + Grant had rightly concluded [says Sheridan[1]], that it was time to + bring the war home to a people engaged in raising crops from a + prolific soil to feed the country's enemies, and devoting to the + Confederacy its best youth. I endorsed the program in all its parts; + for the stores of meat and grain that the valley provided, and the + men it furnished for Lee's depleted regiments, were the strongest + auxiliaries he possessed. + +Accordingly Grant issued orders with increasing emphasis, particularly +in August and September, to make the whole region "a barren waste," to + + destroy or carry off the crops and animals; do all possible damage + to railroads; seize stock of every description; take away all negro + laborers so as to prevent further planting; hold as prisoners of + war, if sympathizing with the rebellion, all male citizens under + fifty years of age capable of bearing arms, etc. + +In obedience to these commands, Sheridan engaged with alacrity in the +work of destruction. In a few weeks he reported as follows: + + I have destroyed 2000 barns filled with wheat, hay, and farming + implements; over 70 mills filled with flour and wheat; and driven in + front of my army 4000 head of stock. + +Said one of his officers who knew whereof he was speaking, "A crow +flying through the valley would have to carry his own rations, for he +could pick up nothing!" + +At Winchester, the principal town in the Shenandoah Valley, one hundred +and fifty miles N. N. W. of Richmond, with a population of about four +thousand, the 19th of that September was a day of glory but also of +sorrow. Four thousand six hundred and eighty of the Union Army, killed +and wounded, told how dearly Sheridan's first great victory was gained. + +The battle was fought over three, four, or five square miles, east and +north from Winchester, for the most part near the Opequon Creek, from +which it is sometimes called the "Battle of the Opequon." To reach the +field, the bulk of Sheridan's army, starting at three o'clock in the +morning from Berryville ten miles east, had to pass through a gorge in +which for a considerable distance the turnpike extends towards +Winchester. Sheridan's plan at first was to bring his army, except +Merritt's and Averell's Divisions of Torbert's Cavalry, through the +defile, post the Sixth Corps on the left, the Nineteenth on the right, +throw Crook's Army of West Virginia across the Staunton turnpike +(leading southwest from Winchester), and so cut off all retreat up the +valley. Meanwhile those two cavalry divisions were to make a long detour +on our right to the north from Berryville, and close in upon the +Confederate left. Sheridan felt sure of victory, for we outnumbered the +enemy nearly two to one. Had our army got into position early in the +morning, we should have captured or destroyed the whole of them. + +At early dawn McIntosh's Brigade of Wilson's Division of Torbert's +Cavalry dashed through the ravine, closely followed by Chapman's Brigade +and five batteries of horse artillery. Sheridan and his staff followed. +They surprised and captured a small earthwork, and, though fiercely +assaulted, held it till the van of the Sixth Corps relieved them. + +The narrow pass of the Berryville pike was so obstructed by artillery, +ambulances, ammunition wagons, etc., that it was nearly eight o'clock +before the Sixth Corps, which should have been in position with Wilson's +Cavalry at sunrise, began to arrive; and it was fully two hours later +when the Nineteenth Corps debouched and deployed. Here was +miscalculation or bad management or both. + +This long delay, which the quick-moving cavalry leader Sheridan had not +foreseen nor provided for, gave time for Early to call in the strong +divisions of Generals Gordon, Breckenridge, and Rodes, from the vicinity +of Stephenson's Depot several miles away. They left Patton's Brigade of +Infantry, and a part of Fitzhugh Lee's Cavalry to oppose Torbert. + +Hearing nothing from Torbert, who had now been gone seven or eight hours +on his circuitous route, Sheridan suddenly changed his whole plan of +action, a perilous maneuver in the face of an active enemy while the +battle is already raging intermittently. Instead of flinging Crook's +Army of West Virginia, 17 regiments and 3 batteries, across the Staunton +pike, to front northeasterly and cut off all possible retreat of the +Confederates, he determined to move it to our right and deploy it in +line with the Nineteenth. Doubtless this was best under the +circumstances, though it left to the enemy the broad smooth highway as a +line of retreat up the valley. + +Grover's Division (2d of the Nineteenth Corps) in four brigades formed +line of battle in front and to the right of the gorge. In touch on the +left was Ricketts' Division of the Sixth Corps, and resting on Ricketts' +left was Getty's Division of the same corps. Getty had 16 regiments in +line; Ricketts, 12 with 6 batteries; Grover, 20 with 3 batteries. + +Had Sheridan been able to strike Early by half-past eight with the Sixth +and Nineteenth, he would have crushed him in detail. Had Early massed +the divisions of Gordon, Breckenridge, and Rodes, and hurled them at the +mouth of the canyon at ten o'clock while half of the Nineteenth was +still entangled in it, he would probably have split our army into three +parts, and destroyed those already arrived. + +It was now eleven o'clock, and the Army of West Virginia at last emerged +from the defile. To make room for its movement in our rear behind +Grover's Division, and to hold the enemy in play until it should have +taken its place on the right of the Nineteenth, and perhaps to await +there the appearance of Torbert's Cavalry, it was desirable that Grover +should advance. Sheridan of course meant the whole front of the Sixth +and Nineteenth to keep in a continuous line. At first it seemed to me +that the regiments of the Nineteenth overlapped; but the lines of +advance were slightly divergent, and wide breaks began to appear between +battalions. Especially on the left of the Nineteenth a large and +widening gap appeared; for Ricketts had been instructed to guide on the +Berryville pike, and that bore away to the left and south. + +My battalion, the veteran Thirteenth Conn. Infantry, should have been +led by my Colonel, C. D. Blinn: but he was sick the night before, and in +the morning, at the crossing of the Opequon, he fell out, and left the +command to me. He had no part in the battle. Our Thirteenth deserves a +passing notice. It was the favorite regiment of General Birge, its first +colonel.[2] When he was made brigadier, the regiment entered the brigade +commanded by Colonel E. L. Molineux. Birge was never so happy as when +riding into action, and Molineux, who had been severely wounded in the +same battle with me, was not over-cautious. My regiment and both +brigades, the first and second of Grover's Division, had caught the +spirit of those two commanders. Quite generally they mistook the +forward movement for an immediate charge. + +We had been under an intermittent fire for some time, but now the +advance intensified the conflict. The chief anxiety of good soldiers at +such a time, as I often noticed, is to get at the enemy as soon as +possible, and cease to be mere targets. Their enthusiasm now accelerated +their pace to a double-quick, and was carrying them too far to the +front. Birge and Molineux endeavored in vain to check their rapidity. My +battalion, I think, was nearest the rebel line. + +Between eleven and twelve the divisions of Getty, Ricketts, and Grover, +forty-eight regiments in all, to which were attached eight light +batteries with reserve artillery, began to move forward. It was a grand +spectacle. At first the movement was steady, and we thought of Scott's +lines, + + The host moves like a deep-sea wave, + Where rise no rocks its pride to brave, + High-swelling, dark, and slow. + +But all is quickly changed. + +Looking back upon that scene after the lapse of more than fifty years, +its magnificence has not yet faded. I see as in a dream our long bending +wave of blue rolling slowly at first but with increasing speed, +foam-tipped with flags here and there and steel-crested with Birge's +bayonets yonder; glimpses of cavalry in the distance moving as if on +wings with the lightness of innumerable twinkling feet; numberless jets +of smoke across the fields marking the first line of Confederate +infantry, their musketry rattling precisely like exploding bunches of +firecrackers; batteries galloping to position, the thunder of a dozen +smiting the ear more rapidly than one could count; the buzz, hiss, +whistle, shriek, crash, hurricane of projectiles; the big shot from +batteries in front and from Braxton's artillery on our right ripping up +the ground and bounding away to the rear and the left; horses and riders +disappearing in the smoke of exploding shells; the constant shouting of +our officers indistinctly heard, and now and then the peculiar +well-known "rebel yell"; and finally the command, HALT! LIE DOWN! +Molineux and Birge were too far to the front, and the line must be +rectified. Ricketts, as we pressed forward, had thrown Keifer's Brigade +(2d of Third Division, Sixth Corps), seven regiments, into the +broadening interval directly in front of the mouth of the gorge; but it +was not sufficient. + +It was now Early's opportunity; but he was hours too late, just as +Sheridan had been. He had seen our Sixth Corps and Nineteenth emerge +and deploy, had beheld our rapid and somewhat disorderly approach, had +noted the widening spaces between our battalions and divisions, had +observed the havoc wrought by his artillery and musketry, ten thousand +of our soldiers seeming to sink under it; had had time to mass his +forces; and now it was "up to him" to hurl them against our centre. It +was the strategy inaugurated by Epaminondas at Leuctra and perfected by +Napoleon in many a hard battle, breaking the enemy's centre by an +irresistible charge, dividing and conquering. Rodes had been killed at a +battery in front of our brigade. His veterans and Gordon's, six thousand +strong[3] constituted the charging column. Neither Sheridan nor any +other Federal historian appears to have done justice to this charge. +Pickett's at Gettysburg was not more brilliant. + +With yells distinctly heard above the roar they advanced. The batteries +on each side redoubled their discharges. From our irregular line of +infantry extending more than a mile blazed incessant sheets and spurts +of flame, the smoke at times hiding the combatants. Gordon was heading +toward the now nearly empty ravine. My horse had just been shot under +me. I lost two in that fight. Dismounted I walked from the right of my +battalion to the left, cautioning my men against wasting their +ammunition, bidding them take sure aim, pick out the rebel officers, and +not fire too high. They were shooting from a recumbent position, or +resting on one knee; lying flat on their backs to reload. As I reached +the left, I glanced to the right and saw several of them starting to +their feet, and a little further on, two or three began to run back. I +rushed to the spot shouting, "Back to your places!" I saw the cause: the +regiments on our right were retreating. I was astounded, for we were +expecting an order to advance instantly. At that moment Lieutenant +Handy, an aide of our brigade commander, rode up, pale, excited, his +hands flung up as if in despair. My men were springing to their feet. + +"What are those orders?" I demanded. + +"Retreat, retreat! get to the rear as fast as possible," he replied. + +"Battalion, rise up; shoulder arms--" I commanded. Before I could finish +the order, one of Sheridan's staff came on a swift gallop, his horse +white with foam. + +"For God's sake, what does this mean?" said he; "this retreat must be +stopped!" + +"Battalion, lie down," I shouted; "our brigade commander ordered +retreat!" + +"It's all wrong. If this position's lost, all's lost. Here you have some +cover. Hold it to the last. I'll bring supports immediately." Striking +spurs into his steed, he vanished in the direction of the retreating +regiments. + +Except the few who had heard my command and remained in position, +perhaps seventy-five or a hundred, who kept blazing away at the +Confederates, rising a little to kneel and fire, Grover's Division, and +all we could see of that of Ricketts, had gone to pieces, swept away +like chaff before a whirlwind. Not a Union flag now in sight, but plenty +of the "Stars and Bars!" Our sputtering fire checked some directly in +front; but most of the on-rushing masses were deflected by the nature of +the ground. + +Out of our view and about half a mile in our rear was Dwight's Division, +the First of the Nineteenth Corps. It had been left in reserve. It was +in line of battle and ready for the onset. The confused fragments of +Grover were rallied behind it. Had the ground been favorable, and had no +unexpected opposition been encountered, Gordon would have crushed +Dwight. + +But in fewer minutes than we have occupied in describing this charge, a +tremendous and prolonged roar and rattle told us that the battle was on +behind us more than in front. Amid the din arose a quick succession of +deafening crashes, and shot and shell came singing and howling over us +from the left. Russell's Division (First of the Sixth Corps) comprising +eleven infantry regiments and one of heavy artillery, behind which the +broken battalions of Ricketts had been reassembling, was now smiting the +right flank of Gordon's six thousand. Although the charge came too late +we cannot but admire the strategy that directed it, and the bravery of +the infantry of Gordon, Rodes, and Ramseur, as well as that of the +cavalry of Lomax, Jackson, and Johnson, and of Fitzhugh Lee who fell +severely wounded. But they had not foreseen the terrible cross-fire from +Russell, who died at the head of his division, a bullet piercing his +breast and a piece of shell tearing through his heart. Nor had they +calculated on confronting the long line of Dwight, nine regiments with +the Fifth New York Battery, all of which stood like a stone breakwater. +Against it Gordon's masses, broken by the irregularities of the ground, +dashed in vain. Under the ceaseless fire of iron and lead the refluent +waves came pouring back. Our army was saved. + +But we few, who, in obedience to explicit orders from headquarters, had +held our position stiffly farthest to the front when all the rest of +Grover's and Ricketts' thousands had retreated--we were lost. A column +behind a rebel flag was advancing straight upon us unchecked by our +vigorous fire. Seeing that they meant business, I commanded, "Fix +Bayonets!" At that instant the gray surges converged upon us right and +left and especially in our rear. We seemed in the middle of the rebel +army. In the crater of such a volcano, fine-spun theories, poetic +resolves to die rather than be captured--these are point-lace in a +furnace. A Union officer, Capt. W. Frank Tiemann of the 159th N. Y., +Molineux's Brigade, was showing fight, and half a dozen Confederates +with clubbed muskets were rushing upon him. I leaped to the spot, sword +in hand, and shouted with all the semblance I could assume of fierce +authority, + +"Down with those muskets! Stop! I command you." They lowered them. + +"Who the hell are you?" they asked. + +"I'll let you know." Turning instantly to four or five Confederate +officers, I demanded: "Do you mean to massacre my men?" + +Two or three replied: "No. By G--! You've shown yourselves brave, and +you shall be respected. Yes, you fought d--d well, seein' you had the +d--dest brigade to fight against in the whole Confederate Army." + +"What brigade are you?" I asked. + +"Ramseur's old brigade; and there's nothin' this side o' hell can lick +it." + +"You're brave enough," said another; "but damn you, you've killed our +best general." + +"Who's that?" I asked. + +"Rodes; killed right in front of you." + +"I thought Early was your best General." + +"Not by a d-- sight. Old Jubal's drunk--drunk as a fool." + +I was never more highly complimented than at this moment; but the +stunning consciousness of being a prisoner, the bitterest experience of +my life, the unspeakable disappointment, the intense mortification--these +are even to this day poorly mitigated, much less compensated, by the +excessive praises heaped upon me by those Confederate officers for my +supposed bravery. That they were sincere I cannot doubt; for it was +customary on the battle-field for the rebels to strip prisoners of all +valuables, but no one of the fifty or one hundred near me was robbed. +Tiemann, whose life I had perhaps saved, was even privileged to keep his +canteen of whiskey, of which he gave me a drink by and by to keep me in +good spirits! I realized the truth of Burns's lines: + + Inspiring bold _John Barleycorn_! + What dangers thou canst make us scorn! + Wi' tippenny, we fear nae evil; + Wi' usquebaugh, we'll face the devil! + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] _Personal Memoirs_, vol. i., p. 487. + +[2] In New Orleans it was known as "Butler's Dandy Regiment"; for it was +then better dressed than any other. It wore dark blue, which Birge had +procured through his uncle, Buckingham, the war governor of Connecticut. +At the siege of Port Hudson it had distinguished itself above all other +regiments by furnishing as volunteers nearly one-fourth of the +celebrated "Storming Column" of one thousand men called for by General +N. P. Banks the second day after the disastrous assault on that fortress +(June 14, 1863). Birge was selected by Banks to lead the forlorn hope. + +[3] Six thousand is Gordon's statement in his _Reminiscences_, page 320. + + + + +CHAPTER II + + At Winchester--On the Road thence to Tom's Brook, New Market, and + Staunton. + + +There were two battles that Monday between Sheridan and Early, the first +indecisive, though bloody, a drawn game; the second, after a comparative +lull of several hours, a fierce struggle in which the whole front of the +Sixth, Nineteenth, and Crook's Corps simultaneously advanced, and +Torbert's Cavalry, arriving at last after their unaccountable delay upon +our extreme right, made a magnificent charge crumpling up all the +enemy's left. The victory was real, but not so complete as it should +have been. Sheridan ought to have captured or destroyed the whole of +Early's army. Instead, he had left them an open line of retreat. He took +only five pieces of artillery, nine battle-flags, and some twelve or +fifteen hundred prisoners; and, to use his own words, "sent the +Confederates whirling up the valley." + +In the recoil of Gordon's brilliant charge of six thousand about noon, +we prisoners were swept along into Winchester, and then locked in the +old Masonic Hall. The sociable guards took pains to emphasize the +statement that George Washington, "glorious rebel" they called him, had +presided as Grand Master in that very room! + +After several hours we heard a great noise in the streets. Looking out +we saw men, women, children, moving rapidly hither and thither, the +current for the most part setting toward the southwest. The din +increased; the panic became general; the Union Army was advancing on +Winchester! + +We were hustled into the street now filled with retreating hundreds, and +were marched rapidly along the turnpike toward the setting sun. The road +crowded with artillery, army wagons, common carriages, all pouring along +in the stampede; a formidable provost guard enclosing us prisoners in a +sort of hollow column; cavalry in front, flank, and rear; the fields on +either side swarming with infantry, the whole of Early's army in +retreat, we apparently in the middle of it; Sheridan's guns still +booming in our rear--such was the scene as we two or three hundred +prisoners were driven on. Our mingled emotions can be better imagined +than described. The bitter regret that we had not been slain; the +consciousness that we had done our whole duty in facing unflinchingly +the storm of shot and shell, never retreating an inch; the evident +respect and even courtesy with which I was personally treated; the +inspiring certainty that our army was victorious, the unspeakable +mortification of being ourselves prisoners of war!--we sorely needed all +our philosophy and all our religion to sustain us. + +Marching moodily along I was aroused from a sort of reverie by an +experience far too common in those days. I had been sick the night +before, and had worn my overcoat into battle. My horse was shot. The +blood was spurting from him. As he seemed likely to fall, I leaped down. +We were in the midst of a rapid advance and I had not time to throw off +my overcoat. I was now carrying it swung over my arm. It was growing +dark. A mounted soldier, whom I took to be an officer, rode up to my +side and seized hold of the coat. He said, "I want that overcoat." I +replied, "You can't have it." "I must have it." "You shan't have it." He +tugged and I tugged, and as I was on foot and sober I nearly dragged him +from his horse before he let go. During the tussle I repeatedly shouted, +"Captain of the Guard--Help! Help!" The provost captain instantly came +riding to the spot. "What's the matter?" he asked. "That rascal has +tried to rob me of my overcoat," I answered, pointing to the villain +who was beginning to slink away. The captain appeared to recognize him, +said not a word to him, but whispered to me a moment later, "You are +entitled to keep your overcoat." + +We had had little breakfast and no dinner nor supper, but we suffered +more from thirst than hunger. Can we ever forget it? Will the long +flight never end? On through Kerrstown without halting we march, with +promise of rest and water at Newtown; no rest nor water there. On from +Newtown with assurance of water at Middletown. Five minutes at +Middletown, and a little muddy water that seems to aggravate our thirst. +Farther on we cross a bridge under which the water is dashing as if in +mockery, and the cry "Water! water!" rises from a hundred lips, the +guard joining, for they are suffering like ourselves. Some comfort in +that! Past midnight we reach Strasburg and are halted around an old +wooden pump. It is broken! No water there. Still on and on at a +snail-pace, up and over the almost interminable stretch of Fisher's +Hill. At three o'clock in the morning we arrive at a place known by the +classical name of Tom's Brook about twenty-five miles from Winchester. +Never was nectar more delicious than the water of this stream, nor downy +pillow more welcome than the sod on its banks. Without blankets or +covering we sank in each other's arms for mutual warmth on the +dew-drenched grass; and blistered feet and aching limbs and hunger and +thirst and suffocating despair are all forgotten! + +Morning came unnoticed, except by those whom the keen cold permitted to +sleep no longer. Towards noon we rose, washed without soap or towel, +were made to form line, had our names taken, and received as rations a +pint of flour per man, with a little salt, nothing else. How to cook or +prepare the flour? We learned of the rebel guards a process not laid +down in the cook-books. Mixing with water they made a stiff paste or +dough. This they put around the end of a stick about the size and half +the length of a walking cane. The end thus thickly coated they hold over +a little fire till the smoke and flame have sufficiently hardened it. +Then pull out your stick and you have a thick chunk or cylinder of +bread, not quite so tough as a gun-barrel, but substantial! + +I contrived to keep a little memorandum book. In it I noted down that +there were three hundred and eleven of us prisoners; two +lieutenant-colonels, two majors, four captains, nine lieutenants, and +two hundred and ninety-four enlisted men. These were in the march from +Winchester. A few may have been added to our number at Tom's Brook. + +I have stated how it happened that none of those near me were robbed +when captured. Those at a distance were not so fortunate; for, if +circumstances permitted, the Confederates, being themselves sadly in +want, often improved the opportunity to grab every article of value. At +Tom's Brook I noted in my diary the following: + + Major A. W. Wakefield, 49th Pa. Cav., was robbed of hat, blanket, + and $100 in money. Adjt. J. A. Clark, 17th Pa. Cav., was robbed of + cap, boots, mug, pocket-book and money. Lieut. Harrison, 2d Regular + Cav., was robbed of gold watch and money. Capt. John R. Rouzer, 6th + Md. Inf., was robbed by an officer of hat and $20 in money. Lieut. + Wesley C. Howe, 2d Mass. Cav., who recently died at Kansas City, + Mo., was robbed by Lieut. Housel of the 6th Va. Cav., of silver + watch, spurs, gloves, and $10 in money. Major August Haurand, 4th N. + Y. Cav., was robbed of a watch and $60 in money. + +It was a common practice to snatch from a Union prisoner his cap, and +clap on in lieu of it a worn-out slouched hat; pull off his boots, and +substitute a pair of clumsy old shoes. The plundering was so thoroughly +done that it was poetically termed "going through" a captive! + +As I was the senior officer among the prisoners, and we seemed likely to +remain a long time there, I went to the Confederate commander and +besought him to allow our three hundred prisoners to occupy a barn near +by. He refused. I then asked that we be allowed to build wigwams for +shelter, as there was abundant material at hand. This too was not +permitted. I also begged in vain that a surgeon should be got to dress +the wounds of some of the prisoners. + +The second morning after our arrival, the sleeping men were aroused by +the loud voice of Lieutenant Sargent of the 14th New Hampshire Regiment +exclaiming: "If you give me any more of your lip, I'll annihilate you! +I've but one arm" (his right arm was disabled by a shot), "but even with +one arm I'll annihilate you on the spot, if you give me any more of your +lip!" This was exceedingly gratifying, for it proved that at least two +of us were not yet "annihilated!" + +During our sojourn at Tom's Brook the Confederates labored hard to +induce us to exchange our greenbacks for their paper currency. Our own +was sadly depreciated, one dollar of silver or gold being equal to two +of greenbacks; but one in United States paper was equal in purchasing +power to eight of theirs. They argued that our money would certainly be +forcibly taken from us by rapacious guards farther south, and kindly +offered us four for one. Sergeant Reed of the Provost Guard was quite a +character. Like Gratiano in _The Merchant of Venice_, he talked loud and +long, speaking "an infinite deal of nothing." He had a mania for +watches. He told me he now had twenty-seven which he had obtained from +Yankee prisoners, always paying them in good Confederate money. He set +his heart upon a little silver watch of mine, which he said he wished to +buy and present to one of his lady admirers. I asked: + +"Why do they admire you?" + +"Because of my bravery," he replied; "none but the brave deserve the +fair." + +"If you are so brave, why are you back here? Why are you not at the +front?" + +"Colonel, I've been in the forefront of the hottest battles. I've been +fearfully wounded. I'll be hanged if I haven't been one of the bravest +of the brave. Twice, Colonel, I was shot all into inch pieces; and so +now I'm put on light duty!" + +On Thursday, the third day after our arrival, two "india-rubber men," +circus performers, of the 22d Indiana Regiment, gave an exhibition of +"ground and lofty tumbling" for the entertainment of their fellow +prisoners. They had somehow contrived to retain the gaudy costume of the +ring. They were really skillful. While we were watching with interest +the acrobatic performance, a squadron of the Confederate General +Imboden's Cavalry dashed past us. Sergeant Reed, who had just made me an +offer for my watch, sprang to his feet, exclaiming: "I swear! there must +be a battle going on in front, for there goes Jimboden's Cavalry to the +rear! Sure sign! I'll be hanged if we ain't gettin' licked again!" We +had heard the cannonading in the distance, but paid little attention to +it. The Richmond papers, announcing that Fisher's Hill was impregnable +to the whole Yankee army, were said to have been received about an hour +before the heights were actually carried by storm. Again Early's army +was not captured, but sent "whirling up the valley." + +We prisoners thoroughly enjoyed the changed aspect of affairs. At first +they marched us directly back a short distance up the slope towards the +advancing Yankees; but they seemed suddenly to discover their mistake; +they halted, faced about, and marched down. Hilarious and saucy, our +boys struck up the song and three hundred voices swelled the chorus: + + Rally round the flag, boys, rally once again, + Shouting the battle-cry of Freedom-- + The Union forever! hurrah, boys, hurrah! + Down with the traitor! up with the star! etc. + +till Captain Haslett of the provost guard came riding into the midst +with savage oaths shouting, "_Silence!_ SILENCE! SILENCE!" + +Twenty-seven miles, first through stifling dust and then through pelting +rain, past Hawkinstown, Woodstock, Edenburg, Mount Jackson, brought us +to New Market. On the march Colonel Brinton of a Pennsylvania regiment, +a new arrival, planned with me an escape. He had campaigned through the +valley, was familiar with the lay of the land, and said he had friends +among the inhabitants. Our plan was to run past the guards in the +darkness. As a preliminary step I cut off my shoulder-straps which were +very bright. Within half an hour Sergeant Reed came up to me and asked, +"Colonel, where's your shoulder-straps?" I replied, "I don't wear +shoulder-straps now I'm a prisoner." "But, Colonel," he answered, "I've +been lookin' at them shoulder-straps since we left Tom's Brook. I wanted +to buy 'em of you for a present to one of my girls. I'll be hanged if I +don't believe you're goin' to try to escape, and so you've cut off your +bright shoulder-straps. But, Colonel, it's impossible. I'll be hanged if +I hadn't rather lose any six of the others than to lose you." The fellow +stuck closer to me than a brother all the rest of that night; so close +that he lost sight of Colonel Brinton, who actually escaped about +midnight at a place called Edenburg! Almost immediately Sergeant Reed +came to me and asked, "Colonel, where's that other Colonel?" I answered: +"You ought to know; _I_ don't!"--"I'll be hanged," said he, "if I +haven't lost him, a-watchin' you!" + +At New Market they put us into a dilapidated church building. "The +wicked flea, when no man pursueth but the righteous, is bold as a lion," +was repeatedly misquoted from the _Book of Proverbs_, and not without +reason. We concluded if that interpretation was correct, we had reason +enough for obeying the injunction in _Ecclesiastes_, "Be not righteous +overmuch"; for the little jumpers were fearless and countless. They were +reinforced by a Confederate deacon, who recommended two things: +Confederate paper and "gospel piety"; the one would carry us safely +through this world; the other through the next. He would be only too +happy to furnish us the currency in exchange for our greenbacks. +"Confederate treasury bills and true religion" was the burden of his +song, till one of our literary officers, it was said, squelched him: +"Deacon, your recipe of happiness, rebel paper and godliness--Confederate +money and a Christian spirit!--reminds me of what Byron says in one of +his wicked poems: + + 'Beyond all doubt there's nought the spirit cheers + Like rum and true religion!'" + +He subsided. + +We left New Market at noon, Saturday, September 24th, and marched all +the afternoon and all night, past Harrisonburg, Mount Crawford, Mount +Sidney, and Willow Springs, reaching Staunton, Va., about nine in the +morning. On the march, forty-three miles in twenty-one hours, we were +hungry; for the morning ration at New Market was scanty, and they gave +us nothing more, except a small loaf of wheat bread. Some of the guard +were kind to us. One of them, private John Crew, Co. E, 11th Alabama +Regiment, unsolicited by us, and, so far as I am aware, without hope of +any reward, would endeavor to bring us apples or other food, whenever we +halted. I was careful to write his name in my diary. + +As we trudged along, a lively discussion of slavery ensued. Lieutenant +Howard of the provost guard was a learned champion of the "peculiar +institution," and I was a pronounced abolitionist. He was an ardent +"fire-eater," to use the term then in vogue, and I, who had lost my +position as principal of the Worcester High School by my defense of John +Brown, was equally intense. Both were pretty well "posted" on the +subject. He seemed to be familiar with the Bible and the proslavery +arguments, including drunken Noah's "Cursed Canaan!" Moses Stuart's +_Conscience and the Constitution_, Nehemiah Adams's _Southside View of +Slavery_, and Rev. Dr. ---- (the name is gone from me) of Baltimore's +Sermons. I was fresh from reading the arguments of George B. Cheever, +Horace Bushnell, Henry Ward Beecher, Garrison, Phillips, and the rest. +He proved that slavery among the Hebrews was a divine institution. I +answered they were commanded to "undo the heavy burdens, let the +oppressed go free, and break every yoke." He said Paul sent back the +fugitive slave Onesimus to his master Philemon; I rejoined, "Paul said, +'I send him back, not as a servant, but above a servant, a brother +beloved; receive him as myself.'" He quoted the Constitution of the +United States, the article commanding that fugitive slaves should be +delivered back to their masters; in reply I quoted from Deuteronomy the +"Higher Law," "Thou shalt _not_ deliver unto his master the servant +which is escaped from his master unto thee." He quoted from the great +speech of the magnificent Webster in the Senate, March 7, 1850, in which +he urged all good citizens to obey the Fugitive Slave Law "with +alacrity." Waxing hot, I quoted from Beecher: + + As to those provisions which concern aid to fugitive slaves, may God + do so to us, yea and more also, if we do not spurn them as we would + any other mandate of Satan! If in God's providence fugitives ask + bread or shelter, raiment or conveyance at my hands, my own children + shall lack bread ere they; my own flesh shall sting with cold ere + they shall lack raiment. And whatsoever defense I would put forth + for mine own children, that shall these poor, despised, persecuted + creatures have at my hands and on the road. The man that would do + otherwise, that would obey this law to the peril of his soul and the + loss of his manhood, were he brother, son, or father, shall never + pollute my hand with grasp of hideous friendship, nor cast his + swarthy shadow athwart my threshold! + +The lieutenant finally cited the examples of "those glorious southern +patriots who led the rebellion against England during the first American +Confederacy," Washington, Patrick Henry, Madison, Jefferson, "every one +a slaveholder," he proudly exclaimed. I happened to be cognizant of +their views, and responded with some vehemence: "But Washington's hands +were tied so that he could not free slaves till his death. He said it +was among his first wishes to see some plan adopted for putting an end +to slavery. Patrick Henry declared, 'I will not, I cannot justify it.' +Madison expressed strongly his unwillingness to admit in the national +Constitution 'the idea that can hold property in man.'" In a rather +loud voice I quoted Jefferson, who, in view of our inconsistency in +violating the "self-evident truth" that "all men are created equal," +solemnly affirmed, "_I tremble for my country, when I remember that God +is just, and that his justice cannot sleep forever_!" I had some +reputation as an elocutionist in those days, and Sergeant Reed, who was +listening with open mouth, broke in with, "I'll be hanged, Colonel, if +you warn't cut out for a preacher! By-- I should like to hear you +preach." The best reply I could make was: "You'll undoubtedly be hanged +sometime; and if I were a minister, nothing would give me more +satisfaction than to be present at your execution and preach your +funeral sermon." He replied: "Now, Colonel, you don't mean that. You +don't think I'll ever be hanged!"--"Indeed I do, if you don't stop your +profanity and general cussedness."--"I'll be hanged, if I will," was his +last word to me. + + + + +CHAPTER III + + At Staunton--Thence to Waynesboro, Meacham's, and Richmond. + + +At Staunton we got a little more light on the value of Confederate +paper. A chivalrous surgeon who accompanied the provost guard +(Fontleroy, I think, was his name[4]) politely invited Captain Dickerman +of the 26th Massachusetts and myself to take breakfast with him in a +restaurant. We needed no urging. The Provost Marshal gave consent. The +saloon was kept by a negro named Jackson. His entire stock of provisions +consisted of nine eggs, the toughest kind of neck beef, bread and salt, +coffee very weak, butter very strong. As we sat waiting, the doctor +remarked with a lordly air that under ordinary circumstances he would +not deign to eat with Yankees. I answered good-naturedly: "I'm as much +ashamed as you can be; and if _you'll_ never tell of it, _I_ won't!" The +food, notwithstanding its toughness, rapidly disappeared. Near the last +mouthful the doctor said: "You two will have to pay for this breakfast, +for I've no money." I had fifteen Confederate dollars remaining of +twenty which I had received for a five-dollar greenback at Tom's Brook, +and I answered: "Give yourself no anxiety; I'll foot the bill."--"Well, +Jackson," said I to the sable proprietor, "what's the damage?" He +replied, "I shan't charge you-ones full price. Let's see! Beef, seven; +eggs, two--nine; coffee, three--twelve; bread and butter, +three--fifteen; three of you--forty-five. I'll call it only thirty-six +dollars!" I paid my fifteen; Captain Dickerman pleaded poverty; and the +dignified doctor, who had so cordially invited us to partake of his +hospitality, promised the disappointed Jackson that he would pay the +balance at some future day ("the futurest kind of a day," was added in +an undertone). + +Rejoining the three or four hundred prisoners, we found, besides the +Confederate guards, a great crowd of spectators swarming around us. One +of them, a fine-looking young man, wearing the blue uniform of a United +States captain, made his way through the group, and handed me a +twenty-dollar Confederate bill! The following dialogue ensued: + +"Here, Colonel, take that." + +"I thank you much. Who are you, so kind to a stranger and an enemy?" + +"I'm one whom you Yanks would hang, if you could catch me." + +"Why so? Who are you?" + +"I'm one of Morgan's guerrillas; wouldn't you hang me?" + +"I think I should, if you had much of this stuff about you" (holding up +the twenty-dollar bill); "I've just paid fifteen Confederate dollars for +an imaginary breakfast." + +"Good for you, Colonel. Here, take another twenty. Now you've forty. +That'll pay for an imaginary dinner. Good-bye, Colonel! I have an +engagement--to meet some of your cavalry. Remember, Morgan's guerrillas +are not rascals, but gentlemen. Good-bye!" He vanished. + +About noon those of us who appeared unable to march farther were put on +top of freight cars, and carried about a dozen miles east to Waynesboro. +Here the railway crosses a stream, which encircles a little island just +north of the bridge. The majority had to walk. At dusk that Sunday +evening all had come. They put us on the island carefully guarded on all +sides. Never was I more thankful. I had had something good to eat at +Staunton; had got rested riding on the roof of the car; and I had my +overcoat. Davy Crockett preferred a heap of chestnut burs for a pillow; +but I followed the patriarch's example and chose a flat stone. People +never allowed me to sing; but I dropped asleep repeating the stanza in +Mrs. Adams's exquisite hymn. + + Though, like the wanderer, + The sun gone down, + Darkness be over me, + My rest a stone, + Yet in my dreams I'd be + Nearer, my God, to thee! + +Towards midnight the cold became so keen that I rose and went to the +side of a flickering fire. Here excessive misery was for a moment +hardening the hearts it should have softened. Several prisoners were +quarreling for a position nearest the embers, each angrily claiming that +he had brought the fagots that were burning! Two or three hours later +several of us attempted to slip past the sentries in the darkness, but +were stopped before we reached the water. + +At earliest streak of dawn we were marched away. About two miles brought +us to the Blue Ridge where the railroad tunnel pierces its foundations. +We toiled up and on in time to see the sun rise. An ocean of fog lay +around us. Never shall we forget how royally the King of Day scaled the +great wall that seemed to hem in on every side the wide valley, and how +the sea of mist and cloud visibly fled before the inrolling flood of +light, unveiling green and yellow fields, flocks and herds, dark +woodlands, dwellings yet asleep in peace and plenty, here and there the +silver thread of a winding stream with lakes that mirrored the sky, and +yonder the long stretches of those titanic fortifications encompassing +all. We were reminded of Shakespeare's sunrise: + + Full many a glorious morning have I seen + Flatter the mountain tops with sovereign eye, + Kissing with golden face the meadows green, + Gilding pale streams with heavenly alchemy. + +At that instant a train of cars from Charlottesville came sliding along, +and shot + + Into the tunnel, like a lightning wedge + By great Thor hammers driven through the rock! + +The scene startled us by its sublimity, and for a few minutes the hungry +forgot their craving, the footsore their pain, the hopeless their +despair. + +That day's march, though not so long was as severe as any; we were +exhausted. Private Dolan, Co. K, 159th N. Y., was barefoot. His feet +were blistered and bleeding. I begged the commander of the provost +guard, Captain Haslett, to allow him to get into an ambulance. My +request was not granted. But we soon afterwards passed a large mansion +in front of which were several girls and women apparently making fun of +the unwashed "Yank" and evidently enjoying the spectacle. We were halted +just as Dolan came limping along supported on one side by a stronger +comrade. They saw his miserable plight, his distress, his swollen feet, +and they heard of the stern command to shoot any prisoner who fell out +or lagged behind. Their faces changed. With tears one or two implored +the Captain to let him ride in the ambulance. He yielded to their +entreaties. Southern ladies almost always seemed handsome to us, but +these in my memory have the fairest faces. I thought of Lady Clare in +_Marmion_, and the words still recur: + + O Woman! in our hours of ease, + Uncertain, coy, and hard to please, + And variable as the shade + By the light quivering aspen made; + When pain and anguish wring the brow, + A ministering angel thou! + +Two miles before we reached our temporary destination, Meacham's +Station, my own strength utterly failed. I had borne up so long, partly +to set an example of cheerful endurance, and partly from something like +Mark Tapley's pride at coming out strong and jolly under the most +depressing circumstances. I lay beside the road, remarking to Captain +Haslett, who immediately came riding to the spot, "Captain, here's a +fine chance to try your marksmanship; I can't march any further; shan't +try to."--"Colonel," he replied with something of pity in his tone and +manner, "I'm sorry to see you so used up. I'm sorry to be obliged to +march you prisoners so hard. I have to keep out of the way of your +damned cavalry. You may get into the ambulance." So into the ambulance I +climbed with some difficulty, and immediately commenced my freemasonry +on the driver. He responded to the signs. He proved to be an +acquaintance of the Redwoods, a family in Mobile, one of whom had been a +classmate of mine at Yale. He gave me some nice milk and some fine wheat +bread. "As a Mason," said he, "I'll feed you; share the last crumb with +you; but as a Confederate soldier I'll fight you till the last drop of +blood and the last ditch."--"I hardly know which to admire most, your +spunk or your milk," I replied. Thereupon he gave me another drink, and +insisted on my imbibing a little of what he called "apple-jack." I was a +"teetotaler"; but thinking the occasion warranted, I "smiled" upon it, +"strictly as a medicine!" "Apple-jack" seemed to me the same thing as +"Jersey lightning." He became quite friendly, but was horribly profane. +"Look here," said he, "you seem to be a sort of Christian; cuss me if +you don't! What in h--l are you Yanks all comin' down here for?"--"You +have a gift at swearing," I said; "did you, among your other oaths, ever +swear to support the Constitution of the United States?"--"Well, +yes."--"That's what's the matter with us," I said, "we're keeping our +oaths and you are breaking yours."--"To h--l with the Constitution of +the United States! Our first duty is to our own State. We've a right to +be an independent nation, and we will. I'm a guerrilla. If our armies +are defeated, I'll fight you on my own hook. I'll fire on you from +behind every tree and every rock. I'll assassinate every invader. I want +you to remember that I'm a guerrilla."--"I like your _spirits_," I said. +"They are worthy of a better cause."--"Take another swallow of 'em," he +replied, handing me the canteen. I toasted him: "Here's hoping you +gorillas will outlive the Southern Confederacy!"--"A d--d equivocal +sentiment," observed my fire-eating, fire-drinking Masonic brother; "but +here we are at Meacham's Station. Good-bye, Yank!" + +After our nineteen miles' march it was a most welcome relief to be +placed on platform cars, though packed so closely that we could hardly +stir. We objected that the cars had no tops. "All the better opportunity +to study astronomy," they replied.--"The cars have no sides to keep off +the wind."--"The scenery is magnificent," they rejoined, "and they'll +answer for 'observation cars'; you have an unobstructed view."--"But the +nights are growing cold."--"You'll keep warm by contact with each +other." Mad at this mockery, hungry, half-frozen, squeezed like fish in +a basket, we took little note of scenery or stars; but it was a comfort +to believe that our discomfort was caused by the rapid advance of +Sheridan's cavalry. + +More dead than alive, though hardly dead enough to bury, having been +jolted along all the afternoon and all night, we reached Richmond about +sunrise, Tuesday, September 27th. Numbering now nearly four hundred we +were escorted through the streets to the notorious Libby prison and +halted in front. The Union officers inside thronged the windows to see +us come. On every face was a sad, despondent, pitying look, the most +discouraging sight I ever saw. No smiles there nor among us. Conspicuous +among them was the sorrowful countenance of Lieut.-Col. Charles H. +Hooper of the 24th Massachusetts Infantry, with his long handsome auburn +beard. Some one inside whispered loud enough for several of our "Four +Hundred" to hear, "Hide your greenbacks!" We passed the word down the +column, "Hide your greenbacks!" + +A few minutes revealed its significance. We were taken in a body in upon +the lower floor. There Major Nat. Turner, prison inspector, cousin of +the celebrated Dick Turner of unlovely reputation, made us a speech. + + You will empty your pockets of all valuables. Such as are not + contraband of war, you will be allowed to retain. You will deliver + up all your Federal money. An equivalent amount in Confederate money + will be given you in instalments from time to time, or the whole + will be returned to you when you are exchanged. You will turn + pockets inside out. If you attempt to conceal anything, it will be + confiscated. + +We were made to step forward singly, and were searched. Our coats and +vests were taken off, also our boots and shoes; and a Confederate +officer felt very carefully of all our clothing to make sure that +nothing was hidden. I "remembered to forget" that I had two ten-dollar +greenbacks compressed into a little wad in one corner of my watch fob; +and that corner escaped inspection. Dick Turpin never was the richer for +that money. They examined suspiciously a pocket edition of the New +Testament in the original Greek; but I assured them it was not some +diabolical Yankee cipher, and they allowed me to keep it. I made the +most of my freemasonry, and they permitted me to retain my overcoat. One +of our prisoners, it was whispered, had secretly stuffed $1300 in +greenbacks into his canteen, but all canteens were taken from us as +contraband of war, and nobody but "Uncle Sam" profited by the +concealment. + +Having "gone through" us, they incarcerated the officers in one room, +the enlisted men in another. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[4] Dr. Fontleroy was a brother of Mrs. Major Whittlesey, one of my +fellow professors, instructor in military tactics, at Cornell +University. Whittlesey was a graduate of West Point, and, while there, +had had cadet U. S. Grant under his command! + + + + +CHAPTER IV + + At Libby--Thence to Clover, Danville, Greensboro, and + Salisbury--Effort to Pledge us not to Attempt Escape. + + +The two rooms at Libby adjoined each other on the second floor, but a +solid brick wall was between them. When we entered, about a hundred and +fifty officers were already there. The first thing that attracted my +attention was an officer putting a loaf of bread through a small hole in +the partition where one or two bricks were removable. He was feeding a +hungry prisoner. A cap or hat nicely concealed the perforation. + +Libby has a hard name, but it was the most comfortable of the six +Confederate prisons of which I saw the interior. With all his alleged +brutal severity, of which I saw no manifestation, and his ravenous +appetite for greenbacks, for which we could not blame him, Dick Turner +seemed an excellent disciplinarian. Everything went like clockwork. We +knew what to expect or rather what not to expect, and _when_! My diary +for Wednesday, September 28, 1864, the day after our arrival, reads as +follows: + + The issue to us daily is + One gill of boiled beans, + One quarter gill of bean broth, + One half loaf of soft bread, + (Four ounces meat) and + A little salt. + +There was one inestimable boon, a copious supply of pure water. + +There were at this time no panes of glass, in fact no sashes, in the +windows, and the wind swept freely through. The nights were becoming +cold. Confederate sentries were on the lower floor and outside. They +kept up a custom rather unusual, I think, during the war, of calling out +in sing-song tones every hour the number of the post and the time, with +occasional variations; _e. g._: "Post number fourteen, two o'clock, and +all's well." Then the next sentinel would sing out, "Post number +fifteen, two o'clock, and all's well." Then the melodious voice of the +next, farther away and sadly unorthodox, "Post number sixteen, two +o'clock, and cold as h--l!" + +Except one or two rickety tables and two or three old chairs, there was +no furniture in the prison. Some of the officers had contrived to save +a little money when searched, and with money it was possible to procure +small articles slyly smuggled in contrary to orders; but most of us were +disposed to sing with old Isaac Watts, + + Dear Lord, and shall we ever live + At this poor dying rate? + +From the rear windows we were occasionally entertained with the sight of +exploding shells, which the indefatigable Grant was daily projecting +towards Richmond. Particularly was this the case on the thirtieth of the +month, when the boys in blue captured Fort Harrison, and the next day +when the Confederates made several gallant but unsuccessful attempts to +retake it. At such times we could see some of the steeples or high roofs +in Richmond thronged with non-combatants gazing anxiously towards +Petersburg. The belief that our prison was undermined, a vast quantity +of gunpowder stored in the cellar, and that Dick Turner had threatened +and was desperate enough to blow us all into eternity in case of a +sudden dash of our cavalry into Richmond, somewhat marred the +satisfaction with which we contemplated the evident progress of the +siege. We could sympathize with the Philadelphia Friend, who said to his +wife on the introduction of gun-cotton, "What comfort can thee take, +even when sitting in thy easy chair, when thee knows not but the very +cushion underneath thee is an enormous bomb-shell, ready upon the +slightest concussion to blow thee to everlasting glory?" + +At three o'clock, Sunday morning, October 2d, we were roused by the +entry of armed men with lanterns. They furnished each of us with a dirty +haversack containing what they called two days' rations of corn bread +and meat. Then they moved us single-file down stairs. As we passed, they +took from each his blanket, even those the officers had just bought and +paid for. If we expostulated, we were told we were going to a place +where we should not need blankets! For my freemasonry or some other +unexpressed reason, they allowed me to pass, wearing my overcoat. Then +they took us by bridge across the James River, packed us in box-cars on +the railway, forty to sixty in each car, and started the train southwest +towards Danville. + +The road-bed was bad and the fences on either side were gone. We made +but four or five miles an hour. One of our officers declared that they +kept a boy running ahead of the engine with hammer and nails to repair +the track! also that they put the cow-catcher on behind the last car to +prevent cattle from running over the train! At nine o'clock in the +evening we reached a place called Clover. We passed the night in Clover! +on the bank beside the railroad, where we studied astronomy! and +meditated! + +Next morning they repacked us, and we were transported seventy miles +farther to Danville. My memorandum book mentions a conversation I had on +the way with a very young and handsome rebel, one of the guard. He was +evidently ingenuous and sincere, pious and lovable. After a few pleasant +remarks he suddenly asked: + +"What are you Northerners fighting for?" + +"In defense of the Constitution and the Union. What are _you_ fighting +for?" + +"Every right that is sacred and dear to man." + +"What right that is sacred and dear to man had the United States ever +violated before you fired on Fort Sumter?" + +Of course he fell back on the Declaration of American Independence, that +"Governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed"; +also on the doctrine so emphatically expressed by Abraham Lincoln in his +speech in Congress in 1846; viz.: + + Any people anywhere, being inclined and having the power, have the + right to raise up and shake off the existing government, and form a + new one that suits them better. This is a most valuable, a most + sacred right, a right which we hope and believe is to liberate the + world. Nor is this right confined to cases in which the whole people + of an existing government may choose to exercise it. Any portion of + such people, that can, may revolutionize and make their own of as + much territory as they inhabit. + +We arrived at Danville at noon. A heavy rain began to fall. Having been +two days without opportunity to wash, we were drenched for an hour or +two by the sweet shower that seemed to pour from the open windows of +heaven. When our thoughtful guards concluded that we were sufficiently +cleansed and bleached, they sheltered us by putting us into coal cars, +where the black dust was an inch deep. That dust was fine! but the +thought seemed to strike them that our nicely laundered garments might +get soiled. So in half an hour they took us out and placed us in corn +cars. It rather went against the grain, but finally I sat down with the +other kernels on the floor. The weather being inclement, they felt it +their duty to keep us in doors, lest we should catch cold! + +In these elegant and commodious vehicles we were transported next day +till we reached Greensboro, North Carolina, about fifty miles southwest +from Danville. Disgorged like poor old Jonah after three days' living +burial, we were placed in the beautiful open square, and never before +did air, earth, trees, and skies seem lovelier. Here they gave each of +us three horny crackers, "rebel hardtack," out of which some of us +carved finger rings that might have passed for bone. + +In those days I was too much addicted to making public speeches, a habit +which I had contracted in Yale College. On the edge of the public green, +backed by a hundred prisoners, I was haranguing a crowd of curious +spectators, telling them how abominably we were treated, exhibiting to +them our single ration of flinty biscuit, and consigning them all to +everlasting perdition, when a well-dressed young man elbowed his way to +me at the fence. He had a large black shiny haversack swung under his +left arm. Patting it with his right hand, he asked: + +"Will you have a snack?" + +"A what?" I answered. + +"A snack, a snack," he said. + +"I don't know what a 'snack' is, unless it's a _snake_. Yes, I think I +could eat a copperhead--_cooked_. Snake for one, if you please; well +done." + +He thrust his hand into his haversack; took out and gave me the most +delicious sandwich I ever tasted. Seeing how I enjoyed it, he emptied +the satchel, giving all his food to my hungry fellow prisoners. He told +me he was just starting on a long journey, and had laid in a good stock +of provisions. I took pains to write in my journal his name and +residence--"George W. Swepson, Alamance, North Carolina. Lives near the +Court House." To which I added "_Vir et Amicus_."--"The blessing of him +that was ready to perish" was upon George W. Swepson. + +That night we slept again on the ground and without covering under the +open sky; and again several prisoners, Captain Howe and myself among +them, attempted in vain to slip past the sentinels. + +Next morning we reëntered the freight cars. A twelve hours' ride brought +us at nine o'clock, Wednesday evening, October 5th, to our destination, +Salisbury, North Carolina. As the "Four Hundred" passed into the dark +enclosure, we were greeted with the cry, "Fresh fish! Fresh fish!" which +in those days announced the arrival of a new lot of prisoners. We field +officers were quartered that night in a brick building near the +entrance, where we passed an hour of horrors. We were attacked by what +appeared to be an organized gang of desperadoes, made up of thieves, +robbers, Yankee deserters, rebel deserters, and villains generally, +maddened by hunger, or bent on plunder, who rejoiced in the euphonious +appellation of _Muggers_! We had been warned against them by kindly +disposed guards, and were not wholly unprepared. They attacked us with +clubs, fists, and knives, but were repeatedly driven off, pitched +headlong downstairs. "_Muggers!_" + +Salisbury prison, then commonly called "Salisbury penitentiary," was in +the general form of a right-angled triangle with base of thirty or forty +rods, perpendicular eighty or ninety. In a row parallel to the base and +four or five rods from it were four empty log houses with a space of +about four rods between each two. These, a story and a half high, had +formerly been negro quarters. On each side of the great triangle was a +stout tight board fence twelve or fifteen feet high. Some two or three +feet from the top of this, but out of our sight because on the other +side, there was evidently a board walk, on which sentinels, four or five +rods apart, perpetually paced their beats, each being able to see the +whole inside of the enclosure. At each angle of the base was a shotted +field-piece pointing through the narrow opening. We could see that +behind each cannon there was a number of muskets stacked and vigilant +soldiers watching every movement inside. Close to the fence outside +there were three camps of Confederates, variously estimated to contain +from seven hundred to two thousand in all. + +The number of Union officers in prison after our arrival was about three +hundred and twenty; the number of non-commissioned officers and privates +was suddenly increased from about two thousand to some eight thousand. +Among these were non-combatants, refugees, lighthouse keepers, and other +government employees. Albert D. Richardson, then well-known as a +correspondent of the New York _Tribune_, whose romantic marriage to Abby +Sage by Henry Ward Beecher and whose tragic death created a sensation in +the newspaper world, had been held as a prisoner there for several +months. He told us he had found Salisbury a comfortable place. It +immediately ceased to be such. + +There stood the empty log houses. We besought the rebel commandant, +Major Gee, to allow us officers to occupy those buildings. He said he +would permit it on condition that we should sign a stringent parole, +binding us on our honor not to attempt to escape! We objected to it as a +preposterous requirement that, remaining under strict guard and wholly +cut off from communication with the outside world, we should sign such +a pledge as the only condition on which we could receive decent shelter. +I asked Major Gee if the rigor of our confinement would be in any way +relaxed. He answered bluntly, "No."--"Well, where's the reciprocity?" I +demanded; "what are you giving up?"--"Well," he replied, "if you don't +choose to sign the parole, you can't have the buildings. Other Federal +officers have not objected to signing it." He showed us the signature of +Gen. Michael Corcoran, who had been colonel of the 69th New York, was +captured at the first battle of Bull Run, was promoted to be brigadier, +and who raised the so-called "Corcoran Legion." Our senior officer, +Brig.-Gen. Joseph Hayes of the Fifth Corps, now called a meeting of the +field officers, and submitted the question, "Shall we sign the parole, +and so obtain shelter? Or shall we hold ourselves free to escape if we +can, and so share the privations of our enlisted men, who have no bed +but the ground and no covering but the sky?" I spoke strongly against +making any promise. We voted almost unanimously against it. + +General Hayes and others then urged upon the commandant the absurdity +and meanness of requiring it. It was clear to us and must have been so +to him that it was for his interest to separate the three or four +hundred officers from the thousands of prisoners accustomed to obey our +orders. He finally consented that we should occupy the houses without +imposing any conditions. + +Parallel to the front of these buildings, about five rods from them and +extending across the enclosure, was a so-called "dead line," on which +nine sentinels paced their beats. Another "dead line" about four rods +from the high fence paralleled the whole length of each side of the +prison. It was death to come near these. + +About eighty officers were assigned to each of the four houses. In each +an officer was elected to serve as house-commissary. His duty was to +receive the rations from Lieutenant-Colonel Hooper, already mentioned, +acting as commissary-general, to whom the Confederate authorities +delivered them in bulk. The house-commissary distributed the food and +acted as agent representing the house in all communications with +Confederate headquarters. Col. Gilbert G. Prey of the 104th N. Y. Vols. +was elected commissary of house number one; Capt. D. Tarbell, of Groton, +N. Y., commissary of house number two; Lieutenant Reilly of +Philadelphia, of house number three; and I of house four. + +Each house contained but two rooms, a lower and an upper, both empty, +for the most part without glass windows or even sashes; the spaces +between the crooked logs not stopped up; a single fireplace in each +house, but not half enough wood to keep a blaze; without tables, +benches, or chairs; without cooking utensils; without table, knife, +fork, spoon, or plate; often without cup or dish; without blankets, or +any clothing but the scantiest summer outfit; without books or papers; +without water sufficient for washing, or soap, if we could possibly get +water; we were in a sorry plight as the nights grew colder. And if the +prospect was bad for us, how much worse for our soldiers across the +"dead line," who had no shelter, hardly a scrap of blanket! Every rain +made their beds a pool or mass of mire. It is not pleasant, but it is a +duty to record some of the shadows of our prison life, "lest we forget." + +On the open ground outside of what was called the "hospital," October +8th, a sergeant-major was found dead; October 9th, two private soldiers; +October 13th, five; October 14th, two; October 16th, eleven; October +17th, seven; October 18th, nine. We could tell how severe the weather +had been at night by the number found dead in the morning. + +Not far from the prison enclosure was an abundance of growing timber. +More than once I besought Major Gee to allow our men to go, under guard +on parole, to get wood for fires and for barracks. He refused. He said +he was intending to build barracks for the prisoners as soon as he could +procure lumber. I presume that he was sincere in this. I asked in vain +for blankets for the men; for tents, but none came till December, and +then but one "Sibley" tent and one "A" tent per hundred prisoners, not +enough for one-third of them. + +We procured water from a deep well on the grounds. The supply was so +scanty for the thousands of prisoners that it was always exhausted +before sunrise. Soon after we came the Confederates commenced digging +two new wells. At their rate of progress we reckoned it would take +several months to finish either. + +My memorandum book shows that the issue of food daily at Salisbury, +though sometimes partly withheld, was for each prisoner "one half loaf +of soft bread; two, three, four, or five ounces of meat; a gill of +boiled rice, and a little salt." I have no doubt that Major Gee meant to +deal fairly with us; but he was unprepared for the avalanche that had +descended upon him. We are too much in the habit of blaming individual +combatants for severities and cruelties that are inherent in the whole +business of war, either civil or international, and inseparable from it. +Said our Lieut.-Gen. S. M. B. Young at a banquet in Philadelphia, "War +is necessarily cruel; it is kill and burn, and burn and kill, and again +kill and burn." The truth was more bluntly expressed by the British +Rear-Admiral Lord Fisher, now the first sea lord of the British +Admiralty: + + Humanizing war? [said he]; you might as well talk of humanizing + hell! When a silly ass got up at the first Hague Peace Conference in + 1899, and talked about the "amenities of warfare" and putting your + prisoners' feet in warm water and giving them gruel, my reply, I + regret to say, was considered brutally unfit for publication. As if + war could be "civilized"! If I am in command when war breaks out, I + shall issue as my orders, "The essence of war is violence. + Moderation is imbecility. _Hit first, hit hard, hit everywhere._" + +In this light we may view more charitably the slaying, on the 16th of +October at Salisbury, of Second Lieutenant John Davis of the 155th N. Y. +It was a Sunday morning about half-past ten o'clock. One of our fellow +prisoners, Rev. Mr. Emerson, chaplain of a Vermont regiment, had +circulated notice that he would conduct religious services in the open +air between houses number three and four. The officers were beginning to +assemble when the sharp report of a musket near by was heard. Rushing to +the spot, we found the lieutenant lying on his back dying at the "dead +line." The sentinel on the fence, a mere boy, had fired upon him, and +was now reloading. One of our number, Captain William Cook, unable to +restrain his anger, hurled a large stone at him. But the hundreds of +Confederates in the camps just beyond the fence had sprung to arms at +the sound of the firing; the top of the fence was being lined with +soldiers; and the vigilant cannoneers at the angles were training their +artillery upon our dense mass of officers. We prisoners regarded the +shooting as a brutal murder. The religious exercises were turned into a +funeral service. Chaplain Emerson prayed, "O God! our only refuge in +this dark hour, avenge the atrocious murder of our beloved comrade; +protect that widow so cruelly robbed of one dearer to her than life; and +especially grant that this accursed Confederacy may speedily sink into +its native hell!" His text was from _Isaiah_ viii, 12: "Say ye not a +Confederacy!" Next day I asked the officer of the guard if any +punishment was to be inflicted upon the sentinel. He answered: "No; we +don't punish men for doing their duty." + +So vitally important is the point of view in deciding upon the right or +wrong of an act. + + + + +CHAPTER V + + At Salisbury--Great Plot to Escape--How Frustrated. + + +When we arrived at Salisbury early in October, we found there a brave +and sagacious officer, Lieut. Wm. C. Manning of the 2d Massachusetts +Cavalry. He told us he had been held as a hostage in solitary +confinement, and would have starved but for the rats he caught and ate. +He had been notified that his own life depended upon the fate of a +person held in federal hands as a spy. He determined to attempt an +escape. He was assigned to my house. Taking up a part of the floor, he +commenced digging a tunnel. He wrote a solemn pledge which all the +officers in the house signed, binding them not to divulge the scheme. +The tunnel would have had to be about eight rods long, and its outlet +would necessarily have been near a group of rebel tents. Of course it +would have been discovered on the morning after its completion, and not +all could hope to find egress that way. But he believed that his life +was still in special danger, and he at once began excavating. The house +had no cellar, but there was plenty of room under it for stowing away +the loose earth. The ground was not hard, yet it was quite firm, and on +the whole favorable for such operations. The work was progressing +finely, till the officers were suddenly removed from Salisbury in +consequence of the discovery of a great plot. + +I had become a good deal interested in Manning and his tunnel plan, and +on the morning of Wednesday, October 12th, I introduced him to General +Hayes, our senior officer. He told us he had for several days been +considering the possibility of organizing the three or four hundred +officers, and the five to ten thousand soldiers. He believed that by a +simultaneous assault at many points we could seize the artillery, break +the fence, capture the three rebel camps, then arm and ration this +extemporized army, and march away. He showed us a good map of North +Carolina. He invited all of the field officers to meet that evening in +the garret of house number two. All of them accordingly, about thirty in +number, were present. Posting sentinels to keep out intruders, and +stopping the open windows so that the faint light of a tallow candle +might not betray us or create suspicion, we sat down in the gloom. + +The general had modestly absented himself, in order that we might be +uninfluenced by him in reaching a decision; but our first step was to +send for him, and then insist on his taking the chair--_the_ chair, for +we had but one! As he had made a careful study of the subject, we +pressed him to give his views. He proceeded to state the grounds of his +belief that it was practicable to strike an effective blow for our +liberation. He told us that he had communicated with a Union man +outside, and had learned the number and location of the Confederate +troops we should be likely to encounter on our march to East Tennessee. +He explained at some length the details of his plan, the obstacles we +should encounter, and how to overcome them. I shall never forget the +conclusion of his speech. These were almost exactly his words: + + We must organize; organize victory. The sooner we act the better, + provided we have a well-arranged plan. We can capture this town, + ration our men, provide them with shoes, clothing, and muskets, and + have a formidable army right here at once. It need not take more + than half a day. Certainly we can march off within twenty-four hours + after the first blow is struck, if we begin right. The enemy have a + few guns on the hill, but they are not "in battery". We can take + these and take the artillery here right along with us. The + principal obstacle is here; make the beginning right; master these + prisons and these camps, and we are safe. Organize is the word; + _organize_. If any one shall betray us, or aid the rebels, or be + guilty of robbery or other outrage, I am in favor of a drumhead + court martial and a summary execution. Now, gentlemen, I am ready to + serve in any capacity, whether to lead or to follow. + +Colonel Ralston of the 24th N. Y. "dismounted cavalry," as they were +called, spoke next. He was an energetic and dashing officer who fell +near me in an attempt to break out of Danville prison on the tenth of +the following December. He entered into the particulars of a plan of +action, showing how easy it would be, with the probable loss of but few +lives, to capture the three camps with the Salisbury arsenal and the +artillery. As his particular share in the work, he said he would +undertake with a small company to disarm the twenty or thirty sentinels +inside the enclosure, and instantly thereupon to capture the +headquarters of Major Gee. + +Other officers gave valuable suggestions. Being called upon for my +opinion, I spoke of the duty we owed our enlisted men to extricate them +from their shocking condition, for they were beginning to die every +night on the bare ground, and would soon be perishing by scores. I urged +the effect the escape of some eight thousand prisoners would have upon +the nation, being equivalent to a great victory; and, better than +victory, it would add so many thousands of trained soldiers at once to +our armies in the field. I insisted that this success would be cheaply +bought, even if it cost, as it probably would, a hundred lives. + +Of all our thirty field officers, only one opposed the scheme +(Lieut.-Col. G----). He was acknowledged to be brave,[5] but seemingly +lacking in enterprise. He said in substance, "I have carefully examined +the situation, and have come to the conclusion that it is utterly +useless to attempt to escape by force. It can't be done at present. We +should be slaughtered by the hundred. If you all vote to try it, I will +join you; but in my opinion it is perfect madness." + +With but one dissenting voice it was resolved to go ahead. A committee +of five was immediately appointed to prepare and present a plan of +action. This committee were Colonel Ralston; Col. W. Ross Hartshorne, +190th Pa. (the famous "Bucktail Regiment," whose first colonel, O'Neil, +my Yale classmate, was killed at Antietam); Col. James Carle, 191st Pa.; +Major John Byrne, 155th N. Y.; and myself, Lieutenant-Colonel of the +13th Conn. We were supposed to be fighting men, and had all been wounded +in battle. + +A similar meeting of field officers was held the following evening. For +two days the committee was almost continually in consultation with +General Hayes. Great pains was taken to have the plans fully understood +by all the officers and to secure their hearty coöperation. By ingenious +methods frequent communication was had with the enlisted men across the +"dead line"; sometimes by hurling written communications ballasted with +stone; several times by Lieutenant Manning and others running swiftly +past the sentinels in the dark; best of all, because least liable to +discovery, by the use of the deaf-and-dumb alphabet. We were suffering +for want of water, and several officers got permission to go outside the +enclosure ostensibly to procure it, but really to reconnoitre. + +The committee reported the following plan, which was unanimously +adopted: + +The first object in the movement being to get into a hand-to-hand fight +as soon as possible; seven columns, each several hundred strong, were to +make simultaneous assaults upon six or seven different points. The fence +being the first impediment, every man's haversack and pockets were to +be filled with stones to keep down the sentinels who would fire on us +from the top. Some got levers to wrench off boards, others logs to serve +as rude battering rams, others sharpened stakes which Ralston called +"Irish pikes," others clubs, or any possible weapon. I had a rusty old +bayonet. + +Major David Sadler, 2d Pennsylvania Heavy Artillery, with his battalion +was to rush and seize the cannon and muskets at the angle on the right; +Major John Byrne and his column at the same instant were to pounce upon +the big gun and muskets at the angle on our left; simultaneously Colonel +Ralston and his men are to dash upon the nine sentinels on the "dead +line" in front of the officers' houses, in a moment disarming them and +the nine of the relief just arriving; then spring to the assistance of +Major August Haurand of the 4th N. Y. Cavalry and his battalion who are +capturing Major Gee's headquarters and guards and camp on our right. +Col. James Carle, 191st Pa., with his hundreds is breaking through the +fence and capturing the rebel camp in rear of the officers' quarters. +Colonel, afterwards General, W. Ross Hartshorne and his 330 men of the +190th Pa. are to break the fence just above the main rebel camp which is +on our left. My own column of about three hundred men of the Nineteenth +Corps are to break the fence just below the rebel camp; then Hartshorne +and I are to leap from opposite sides upon this, the main camp. These +seven battalions were to some extent organized with field, staff, and +company officers. Every officer and soldier was to be on the _qui vive_ +a little before five o'clock in the morning, watching intently for the +signal. This was to be the waving of a fire-brand by General Hayes in +front of house number two. + +Quite a number of officers had no faith in the plot, and they regarded +it with indifference. A few expressed hostility to it. One captain, who +had been a prisoner before and seemed glad to have been captured again, +a bloated, overgrown, swaggering, filthy bully, of course a coward, +formerly a keeper of a low groggery and said to have been commissioned for +political reasons, was repeatedly heard to say in sneering tones in the +hearing of rebel sentries, "_Some of our officers have got escape on the +brain_," with other words to the like effect. Colonel Hartshorne finally +stopped such traitorous language by saying with tremendous emphasis: +"Captain D----, I've heard a good deal of your attempts to discourage +officers from escaping, and your loud talk about officers having 'escape +on the brain.' Now, sir, I give you notice that if you're again guilty of +anything of the sort, I'LL--BREAK--YOUR--HEAD--WITH--A--CLUB!" + +The time agreed upon for the seven simultaneous attacks was about an +hour before sunrise the morning of October 15th. + +As we had feared, the rebel authorities, whether through suspected +treachery or otherwise, got wind of our purpose. Towards evening of +October 14th extraordinary vigilance on their part became apparent. +Troops were paraded, posts strengthened, guards doubled, privileges +restricted, and word was passed around in our hearing that a battalion +of Confederates had just arrived. Their watchfulness seemed unrelaxed +through the night. The shooting of Lieutenant Davis next morning was +doubtless in obedience to orders for a more rigorous enforcement of +rules. + +Our outbreak was countermanded and postponed, but preparations +continued. The delay enabled us to perfect our plans, and make our +organizations more complete. The early morning of October 20th, the 19th +being the anniversary of my birth, was now fixed upon for the +"insurrection." We essayed to disarm suspicion by an air of quiet +acquiescence in the lazy routine of prison life, or absorption in the +simplest and most innocent occupations whenever any Confederate might +be looking on. + +We recognized united and instantaneous action at the signal on the part +of three hundred officers and several thousand men as the most vitally +important element of success. It was necessary that this should be +thoroughly understood and emphasized, so that every soldier should be in +perfect readiness at the critical moment. + +Several of us had formed a class for oral instruction in French. Our +teacher was Captain Cook of the 9th U. S. colored troops, a graduate of +Yale. About ten o'clock in the morning of October 18th, as we were +seated on the ground near house number four, loudly imitating Professor +Cook's _parlez-vous_, Lieut. Wm. C. Gardner, adjutant of one of those +extemporized battalions of prisoners, brought me a letter he was +intending to throw across the "dead line" to Sergt. Wallace W. Smith, +requesting him to notify all enlisted men of the battalion when and +where to assemble silently next morning in the dark, how to arm +themselves, from whom to take orders, what signal to watch for, and +other important matters. I glanced through it, and immediately said: +"You'd better not entrust the communication to so hazardous a channel; +wait an hour till I've done with my French lesson, and I'll cause it to +be transmitted by the deaf-and-dumb alphabet." If I recollect rightly, +either Lieutenant Tobey or Lieutenant Morton, both of the 58th +Massachusetts, was in the class, and promised to convey the contents of +the letter safely across to the soldiers by adroit finger manipulation. +We were just finishing the French exercise, when Adjutant Gardner came +greatly excited, and this conversation followed: + + +"Good God, Colonel, the rebs have got that letter! I tied it to a stone +and flung it a long ways over the 'dead line' to Wallace Smith. He +appeared afraid to pick it up. A reb sentinel stepped away from his beat +and got it." + +"I requested you to wait till I'd done reciting French, and I told you +I'd then communicate it by the deaf-and-dumb alphabet." + +"Well, Colonel, I ought to have done so; but I was anxious to have the +work done promptly, and I thought it was perfectly safe. I've tossed +letters over to Smith several times. I'm worried to death about it. +What's best to do?" + +"Was your name signed to it?" + +"No; but my name was on the envelope--an old letter envelope that I had +when we came here." + +"Well, Gardner, this is a pretty piece of business! That letter of +course will go very soon to Major Gee's headquarters, and then--there'll +be the devil to pay!" + +"The sentinel handed the letter to the officer of the guard. What had I +better say, if they send for me?" + +"Say you intended the letter to fall into their hands; that you meant it +as a practical joke, wanted to get up another scare, and see the +Johnnies prick up their ears again." + +"But, Colonel, like a fust-class fool I put a ten-dollar Confederate +bill in the envelope. I wanted to give it to Sergeant Smith. That don't +look as if I meant it to fall into their hands--does it?" + +"Gardner, this thing has an ugly look. You've knocked our plans of +escape in the head--at least for the present. You've got yourself into a +fix. They'll haul you up to headquarters. They'll prove by the letter +that you've been deep in a plot that would have cost a good many lives. +They're feeling ugly. They may hang or shoot you before sundown, as a +warning to the rest of us to stop these plots to escape. They may send +for you at any minute." + +"What had I better say or do?" + +"You'd better make yourself scarce for a while, till you've got a +plausible story made up. Better disguise yourself and pass yourself off +as somebody else; so gain time." + +"I have it, Colonel; I'll pass myself off as Estabrooks." + + +Estabrooks was an officer of the 26th Mass., who had escaped at the +crossing of the river Yadkin two weeks previously when we came from +Richmond. Gardner was a handsome man and perhaps the best-dressed +officer in prison; but he now disguised himself.[6] The transformation +was complete. In half an hour a man came to me wearing a slouched hat +and a very ragged suit of Confederate gray. He had been a play-actor +before the war and knew how to conceal his identity. By his voice I +recognized him as Gardner! "Well, Gardner," said I, "this surpasses His +Satanic Majesty; or, as you would say, beats the devil!"--"Colonel," he +replied, "I'm not Gardner. Gardner escaped; escaped at the crossing of +the Yadkin River. I'm Estabrooks, H. L. Estabrooks, 2d Lieutenant, 26th +Mass. Call me Estabrooks if you please."--"All right, Estabrooks it is." + +Hardly had we had time to whisper around this change of name, when the +Confederate officer of the guard made his appearance with two or three +soldiers, inquiring for the commissary of house number four. I was +pointed out to him. In substance and almost in the exact words this +dialogue ensued: + + +"Colonel Sprague, are you commissary of this house?" + +"I have that honor." + +"I want to find Lieutenant Gardner." + +"Who?" + +"Lieutenant Gardner." + +"Who's Lieutenant Gardner?" + +"I am told he's an officer in house number four; and as you are +commissary, you can probably tell me where he is _at_." + +"Where he's what?" + +"Where he's _at_." + + +This was the first time I had ever heard the word _at_ so used at the +end of a sentence; but it expresses the meaning with admirable +precision. I had a slight qualm at lying; but I remembered that even +George Washington could tell a lie if necessary in war. Pacifying my +conscience with the fact that we were _outside_ the house at the time, I +said: + + +"There's no such officer in house four. But I remember an officer of +that name at Libby, handsomely dressed, a perfect dandy. I heard that he +escaped at the crossing of the Yadkin River two weeks ago. Has he been +recaptured, and is he going to be shot or hanged? Or have you a letter +for him? What's the good news about Gardner?" + +"I only know," he replied, "that he's wanted at Major Gee's office, and +he's an officer in house number four." + +"Estabrooks," said I to the man at my side, "do you know of a Lieutenant +Gardner?" + +"I did know slightly such a man at Libby. You have described him well; a +fop, a beau, a dandy; just about my size, but he didn't wear rags like I +do." + + +"Come with me," said I to the Confederate. "We'll go into the house and +inquire if any one knows of a Lieutenant Gardner." We went in. There +were perhaps thirty or forty inside who had got wind of what was going +on. As we entered, I asked in a loud voice, "Does any officer in this +house know anything of a Lieutenant Gardner?" Several smiled and +declared it a very singular name. One wanted to know how it was spelled! +A number were speaking at once. One said he escaped at the Yadkin; he +knew he got away, for he "watched him till he got a long distance out of +sight." Another knew a Henry J. Gardner, "a Know-Nothing" governor of +Massachusetts, who knew enough to keep out of the army. Another affirmed +that Gardner was dead; he had heard him say "I'm a dead man," and he +wouldn't tell a lie! My memory is somewhat indistinct of all that was +said; but Gardner is alleged to have whispered the officer thus: "I have +been a gardener myself; and if Major Gee will parole me and give me good +clothes and something to eat, I wouldn't mind becoming again a gardener +in his employ." I recollect distinctly that the officer grew impatient +and he finally asked me, "Do you say on your honor, Colonel, that you +don't know a Lieut. Wm. O. Gardner in this house?" I answered, "I do"; +but I left him to guess whether I meant "I do _know_" or "I do _say_!" I +quieted my conscientious scruples by remembering that the lieutenant's +true name was not Wm. O. but Wm. C.! The baffled officer left very +angry, and "_Where's Gardner at?_" passed into a conundrum. + +Late that afternoon, as I was engaged in the delightful employment of +washing my fall-and-winter shirt, having for the first time since our +arrival in Salisbury obtained sufficient water for that purpose, the +order came for all officers to fall in and take the cars for Danville, +Va. The juxtaposition of three or four hundred Yankee officers with +eight thousand of their enlisted comrades-in-arms was getting +dangerous. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[5] He had killed three men with his sword at the time of his capture. + +[6] "We run the boy into one of the houses, clipped his hair, shaved +him, and placed a new robe on him."--_Letter_ of Capt. Wesley C. Howe to +Colonel Sprague, Jan. 30, 1914. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + + From Salisbury to Danville--The Forlorn Situation--Effort to "Extract + Sunshine from Cucumbers"--The Vermin--The Prison Commandant a Yale + Man--Proposed Theatricals--Rules Adopted--Studies--Vote in Prison + for Lincoln and McClellan--Killing Time. + + +At six o'clock, Wednesday evening, October 19, 1864, we officers, about +350 in number, were packed in five freight cars, and the train was +started for Danville, Va. The tops of the cars were covered with armed +guards, two or three being also stationed within at the side door of +each car. In the darkness about half-past nine Lieut. Joseph B. Simpson +of the 11th Indiana slyly stole all the food from the haversacks of the +guards at the door of our car and passed it round to us, while we loudly +"cussed and discussed" slavery and secession! About midnight Captain +Lockwood, Lieutenant Driscoll, and eight or ten other officers leaped +from the cars. The guards opened fire upon them. Lockwood was shot dead. +Several were recaptured, and some probably reached the Union lines in +safety. We arrived at Danville at noon October 20th. + +The town at this time contained four, formerly six, military prisons, +each a tobacco house about eighty to a hundred feet long by forty to +fifty wide, three stories high, built of brick, low between joints. The +officers were put into the building known as prison number three. We +were informed by the guards that it had formerly contained about two +hundred negro prisoners; but that some had died, others had been +delivered to their masters or set at work on fortifications, and the +number remaining just before our arrival was only sixty-four. These were +removed to make room for us. + +Except about twenty large stout wooden boxes called spittoons, there was +no furniture whatever in prison number three. Conjecture was rife as to +the purpose of the Confederates in supplying us with spittoons and +nothing else. They were too short for coffins, too large for wash bowls, +too shallow for bathing tubs, too deep for tureens! To me much +meditating on final causes, a vague suspicion at length arose that there +was some mysterious relation between those twenty oblong boxes and a +score of hogsheads of plug tobacco, said to be stored in the basement. A +_tertium_ QUID, a solution of the tobacco, might afford a solution of +the spittoon mystery! + +A dozen water buckets were put into each of the two upper rooms to which +all the officers were restricted; also a small cylinder coal stove; +nothing else until December, when another small stove was placed there. +Winter came early and unusually cold. The river Dan froze thick. It was +some weeks before we prevailed upon the prison commandant to replace +with wood the broken-out glass in the upper rooms. The first floor was +uninhabitable. + +So with no bed nor blanket; no chairs, benches, nor tables; no +table-ware nor cooking utensils; not even shovel, poker, or coal-scoop; +most of us were in a sorry plight. The little stoves, heated white-hot, +would have been entirely inadequate to warm those rooms; but the coal +was miserably deficient in quality as well as quantity. The fire often +went out. To rekindle it, there was no other way than to upset the +whole, emptying ashes and cinders on the floor. At best, the heat was +obstructed by a compact ring of shivering officers, who had preëmpted +positions nearest the stoves. They had taken upon themselves to "run" +the thing; and they did it well. We called them "The Stove Brigade." In +spite of their efforts, they like the rest suffered from cold. + +Three or four of us, as a sanitary measure, made it a point to see, if +possible, the funny, or at least the bright side of everything, turn +melancholy to mirth, shadow to sunshine. When every officer complained +of cold, we claimed to anticipate the philosophers, Tyndall, Huxley, and +the other physicists, in declaring that "heat is a mode of _motion_," +and brisk bodily exercise will infallibly demonstrate the fact! When, as +was usually the case, all were hungry, we announced as a sure cure for +indigestion, "stop _eating_!" When our prisoner chaplain Emerson on a +Sunday afternoon prayed for the dear ones we expected to see no more, +and even the roughest and most profane were in tears, we said with old +Homer, "_Agathoi aridakrues andres_" ("Gallant men are easily moved to +tears"), or with Bayard Taylor, "The bravest are the tenderest, the +loving are the daring." + +Most humiliating of all was the inevitable plague of vermin. "Hard +indeed," one officer was accustomed to say, "must have been Pharaoh's +heart, and tougher yet his epidermis, if the lice of the third Egyptian +plague were like those of Danville, and yet he would not 'let Israel +go.'" Wearing the same clothing night and day, sitting on the bare +floors, sleeping there in contact with companions not over-nice, no +patient labor, no exterminating unguent, afforded much relief. We lost +all squeamishness, all delicacy on the subject, all inclination for +concealment. It was not a returned Danville prisoner who was reported to +have gone into a drug store in New York stealthily scratching and +saying, "I want some unguentum; don't want it for myself; only want it +for a friend." But it was reported and believed that in April one of +them entered an apothecary shop in Annapolis plying his finger-nails and +hurriedly asking, "Have you any bmsquintum?"--"From your manner," +answered the courteous druggist, "I think what you want is +unguentum."--"Yes, _run git 'em_; I guess that _is_ the true +name."--"Unguentum, sir"; said the shopkeeper. "How much unguentum do +you want?"--"Well, I reckon about two pound!"--"My dear sir, two pounds +would kill all the lice in Maryland."--"Well, I vow I believe I've got +'em!" + +Lieut.-Col. Robert C. Smith of Baltimore, who took command of the +Danville prisons soon after our arrival, appeared to be kind-hearted, +compassionate, but woefully destitute of what Mrs. Stowe calls +"faculty." He was of medium height, spare build, fair complexion, sandy +hair, blue eyes, of slightly stooping figure; on the whole rather +good-looking. He was slow of speech, with a nasal twang that reminded me +of Dr. Horace Bushnell. His face always wore a sad expression. He had +been a student at Yale in the forties a few years before me. Once a +prisoner himself in our hands and fairly treated, he sympathized with +us. He had been wounded, shot through the right shoulder. When I visited +on parole the other Danville prisons in February, a Yankee soldier was +pointed out to me as wearing Colonel Smith's blood-stained coat, and +another was said to be wearing his vest. I had repeated interviews with +him, in which he expressed regret at not being able to make us more +comfortable. He said more than once to me, "I have no heart for this +business. It requires a man without any heart to keep a military prison. +I have several times asked to be relieved and sent to the front." An +officer of forceful executive ability might have procured for us lumber +for benches, more coal or wood for the stoves, some straw or hay for +bedding, blankets or cast-off clothing for the half naked; possibly a +little food, certainly a supply of reading matter from the charitably +disposed. Single instances of his compassion I have mentioned. I shall +have occasion to speak of another. But the spectacle of the hopeless +mass of misery in the four Danville prisons seemed to render him +powerless, if not indifferent. As Mrs. Browning puts it: + + A red-haired child, + Sick in a fever, if you touch him once, + Though but so little as with a finger-tip, + Will set you weeping; but a million sick! + You could as soon weep for the rule of three, + Or compound fractions! + +Like too many officers both Union and Confederate, he was often in +liquor; liquor was always in him. This "knight of the rueful +countenance," of the sad heart, the mourning voice, the disabled right +arm, and the weakness for apple-jack!--his only hope was to have an +exchange of prisoners; but Lincoln and Stanton and Grant would not +consent to that. The last I heard of him was when a letter of his was +shown me by Lieutenant Washington, a Confederate, a distant relative of +the great George. In it Smith, who had been absent a week from Danville, +complained that he had had "no liquor for three days," and that he was +"painfully sober"! + +"Necessity," says the old apothegm, "is the mother of invention." It was +surprising, how much we accomplished in a few weeks towards making +ourselves comfortable. Bone or wood was carved into knives, forks, +spoons, buttons, finger-rings, masonic or army badges, tooth-picks, +bosom pins, and other ornaments; corn-cobs were made into smoking +pipes; scraps of tin or sheet-iron were fashioned into plates for eating +or dishes for cooking; shelves were made by tying long wood splinters +together; and many "spittoons," which were soon rendered superfluous, +because the two entire rooms were transformed into vast spittoons, were +inverted, and made useful as seats which we called sofas. + +Many ingeniously wrought specimens of Yankee ingenuity were sold +clandestinely to the rebel guards, who ventured to disobey strict +orders. No skinflint vender of wooden nutmegs, leather pumpkin-seeds, +horn gunflints, shoe-peg oats, huckleberry-leaf tea, bass-wood cheeses, +or white-oak hams, ever hankered more for a trade. Besides the products +of our prison industry, they craved watches, rings, gold chains, silver +spurs, gilt buttons, genuine breast-pins, epaulets; anything that was +not manufactured in the Confederacy. Most of all, they longed for +greenbacks in exchange for rebel currency. So in one way or another many +of us contrived to get a little money of some sort. With it we could buy +of the sutler, who visited us from time to time, rice, flour, beans, +bacon, onions, dried apple, red peppers, sorghum syrup, vinegar, etc. + +Perhaps the best result of our engaging in handicraft work was the +relief from unspeakable depression of spirits. Some of us saw the +importance of making diversion on a large scale. To this end we planned +to start a theatre. Major Wm. H. Fry, of the 16th Pa. Cavalry, who knew +all about vaudeville in Philadelphia, was a wise adviser. Young Gardner, +who had been an actor, heartily joined in the movement. I procured a +worn-out copy of Shakespeare. It seemed best to begin with the +presentation of the first act in _Hamlet_. Colonel Smith and other rebel +officers promised to aid us. We assigned the parts and commenced +studying and rehearsing. Gardner was to be Hamlet; Lieut.-Col. Theodore +Gregg, 45th Pa., was to be Claudius, the usurping king; the smooth-faced +Capt. William Cook was to be the queen-mother Gertrude; Capt. W. F. +Tiemann, 159th N. Y., was to personate Marcellus; Lieut. C. H. Morton of +Fairhaven, Mass., I think, was Horatio; and I, having lost about forty +pounds of flesh since my capture--it was thought most appropriate that I +should be the Ghost! Every morning for some weeks on the empty first +floor we read and rehearsed, and really made fine progress. But when we +got ready to produce in theatric style, with slight omissions, the first +act, the rebels seemed suspicious of some ulterior design. They refused +to furnish a sword for Hamlet, a halberd for Marcellus, muskets for +Bernardo and Francisco, a calico gown for the queen, or even a white +shirt for the Ghost. This was discouraging. When the lovely queen-mother +Gertrude appealed to her son-- + + Good Hamlet, cast thy nighted color off,-- + +he answered, "I swear I can't do it!" One November morning, as we were +rehearsing and shivering on the windy first floor, he ejaculated with +some emphasis, and with ungentle expletives not found in the original +text, + + The air bites shrewdly; it is very cold; + +"I move, Colonel, that we 'bust up' this theatre." So the "legitimate +drama" vanished from Danville. + +About this time my copy of the Greek New Testament was stolen from me, +an instance, perhaps, of piety run mad. + +A week or two before this, the lower room, in which I then lodged, +containing about a hundred and seventy officers, was getting into such a +condition that I felt it my duty to call a meeting to see what measures +could be adopted to promote comfort and decency. I was not the senior in +rank, but Colonel Carle did not feel himself authorized to issue +orders. Some sort of government must be instituted at once. Nearly all +recognized the necessity of prompt action and strict discipline. A +committee was appointed consisting of myself, Major John W. Byron, 88th +N. Y., and another officer whose name escapes me, to draw up rules and +regulations. We presented the following: + + RULES UNANIMOUSLY ADOPTED IN THE LOWER ROOM, + DANVILLE, VA., PRISON, OCT. 26, 1864: + + 1. The room shall be thoroughly policed (swept, etc.) four times + each day by the messes in succession; viz., at sunrise and + sunset, and immediately after breakfast and dinner. + + 2. There shall be no washing in this room. + + 3. No emptying slops into spittoons. + + 4. No washing in the soup buckets or water buckets. + + 5. No shaking of clothes or blankets in this room. + + 6. No cooking inside the stoves. + + 7. No loitering in the yard to the inconvenience of others. + + 8. No person shall be evidently filthy or infested with vermin. + + 9. No indecent, profane, or ungentlemanly language in this room. + + 10. No conduct unbecoming an officer and gentleman about these + premises. + + 11. No talking aloud at night after nine o'clock. + + 12. An officer of the day shall be appointed daily by the senior + officer, whose duty shall be to see that these rules are + strictly enforced, and to report to the senior officer any + violation thereof. + + 13. In case of any alleged violation of any of these rules, the + senior officer of the room shall appoint a Court[7] to consist + of thirteen disinterested officers, who shall fairly try and + determine the matter, and in case of conviction the offender's + rations shall be stopped, or the commander of the prison be + requested to confine the offender in a cell according to the + sentence of the Court; and it shall be the duty of every officer + to have such offender court-martialed after rejoining his + command. + + For the Committee. H. B. Sprague, Oct, 26, 1864. + +The prison commandant promised that he would execute any sentence short +of capital punishment. But one case was tried by such court. The offense +was a gross violation of rule 9. The culprit was let off with a sharp +reprimand by General Hayes; but my first act after the exchange of +prisoners was to prefer charges and specifications against him. The +beast was court-martialed at Annapolis in the latter part of July, '65. + +The observance of these rules wrought wonders in correcting evils which +had become almost unendurable, and in promoting cheerfulness, good +behavior, and mutual esteem. + +Many letters were written to us. Few of them reached their destination. +The first I received was from Miss Martha Russell, a lady of fine +literary ability, a friend of Edgar A. Poe, living at North Branford, +Conn. In raising my company (Co. H., 13th Conn.), I had enlisted her +brother Alfred. Under strict military discipline he had become a +valuable soldier, and I had appointed him my first sergeant. At the +battle of Irish Bend, La., in which I was myself wounded, he was shot +through the neck. The wound seemed mortal, but I secured special care +for him, and his life was spared as by miracle. His sister's letter +brought a ray of sunshine to several of us. It assured us that we were +tenderly cared for at home. She quoted to cheer us the fine lines of the +Cavalier poet Lovelace, + + Stone walls do not a prison make, + Nor iron bars a cage; + Minds innocent and quiet take + That for a hermitage. + +A well-grounded conviction prevailed among the prisoners that the +Confederate government was anxious to secure an exchange of prisoners, +but that the Federal government would not consent. The reason was +evident enough. The Confederate prisoners in the North, as a rule, were +fit for military duty; the Union prisoners in the South were physically +unfit. A general exchange would have placed at once, say, more than +forty thousand fresh soldiers in the rebel ranks, but very few in ours. +Conscription for military service had been tried in the North with +results so bitter that it seemed unwise to attempt it again. Better let +the unfortunates in southern prisons perish in silence--that appeared +the wisest policy. But to us prisoners it appeared a mistake and gross +neglect of duty. Between our keen sense of the wrong in allowing us to +starve, and our love for Lincoln and the Union, there was a struggle. +Our patriotism was put to the test on the day of the Presidential +election, Tuesday, November 8th. Discouraging as was the outlook for us +personally, we had confidence in the government and in the justice of +our cause. Pains was taken to obtain a full and fair vote in the +officers' prison. There were two hundred seventy-six for Lincoln; +ninety-one for McClellan. Under the circumstances the result was +satisfactory. + +Very earnest, if not acrimonious, were the discussions that immediately +preceded and followed. Some of us realized their importance, not so much +in arriving at a correct decision on the questions at issue, as in +preventing mental stagnation likely to result in imbecility if not +actual idiocy. By the stimulus of employment of some kind we must fight +against the apathy, the hopeless loss of will power, into which several +of our comrades seemed sinking. Mrs. Browning well says: + + Get leave to work + In this world,--'tis the best you get at all. + ... Get work; get work; + Be sure 'tis better than what you work to get! + +Some of us started historical debates, and new views were presented +which furnished both amusement and instruction. One colonel, more +redoubtable in battle than in dialectics, who had been shot through from +breast to back, gravely informed us that the geometer Euclid was an +early English writer! A kindly visitor, Dr. Holbrook, made me a present +of Hitchcock's _Elementary Geology_. It was not quite up to date, having +been published about twenty-five years before, but I found the study +interesting. Grieved at having lost from my books three years in +military service, I endeavored with three or four companions to make up +for the deficiency by taking lessons in French. Our teacher was Captain +Cook, already mentioned as teaching us French at Salisbury. As we had no +books, the instruction was oral. I was delighted to observe how much a +knowledge of Latin facilitated the acquisition of the modern tongue. A +few weeks later upon the arrival of Major George Haven Putnam, Adjutant +at that time of the 176th N. Y., several of us commenced under him the +study of German. Here too the teaching was oral; but I was able to buy +Oehlschläger's _German Reader_; took special pleasure in memorizing some +of the selections, particularly from the poets Gleim, Claudius, Goethe, +Schiller, and Uhland; and I was already familiar with some stanzas of +Arndt's noble _The German Fatherland_, sung so often to me by my +Lieutenant Meisner, slain by my side in battle. Some of those songs +still ring in my ears. General Hayes, Major Putnam, and two or three +others took lessons in Spanish from a native of Mexico, 2d Lieut. John +Gayetti (I think that was his name), of Battery B, 2d Pa. Artillery. + +Checkerboards and chessboards were prepared from the rudest materials, +and many were the games with which some of our comrades sought to +beguile the weary hours. Capt. Frank H. Mason of the 12th Cavalry had +the reputation of being our best chess player and young Adjutant Putnam +was his most persistent opponent. + +No one needs to be told that old soldiers are great story-tellers, +drawing upon their imagination for facts. This talent was assiduously +cultivated in our prison. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[7] See Appendix. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + + Exact Record of Rations in Danville--Opportunity to Cook--Daily + Routine of Proceedings from Early Dawn till Late at Night. + + +Our imprisonment at Danville lasted from October 20, '64, to February +17, '65, one hundred and twenty days. I kept a careful daily record of +the rations issued to us, as did also Lieut. Watson W. Bush, 2d N. Y. +"Mounted Rifles." After our removal from Danville to Richmond for +exchange, we compared our memoranda, and found they substantially +agreed. During the one hundred and twenty days the issues were as +follows: + + _Bread._ A loaf every morning. It was made of unsifted corn-meal, + ground "cobs and all." Pieces several inches in length of cobs + unground were sometimes contained in it. It always seemed wholesome, + though moist, almost watery. Its dimensions were a little less than + 7 inches long, 3 or 4 wide, and 3 thick. I managed to bring home a + loaf, and we were amazed at the shrinkage to a quarter of its + original size. It had become very hard. We broke it in two, and + found inside what appeared to be a dishcloth! + + _Meat._ Forty-three times. I estimated the weight at from 2 to 5 or + 6 ounces. In it sometimes were hides, brains, heads, tails, jaws + with teeth, lights, livers, kidneys, intestines, and nameless + portions of the animal economy. + + _Soup._ Sixty-two times; viz., bean soup forty-seven times; cabbage + nine times; gruel six. It was the thinnest decoction of small black + beans, the slightest infusion of cabbage, or the most attenuated + gruel of corn-cob meal, that a poetic imagination ever dignified + with the name of _soup_! + + _Potatoes._ Seven times. Seldom was one over an inch in diameter. + + _Salt fish._ Five times. They call it "hake." It was good. "Hunger + the best sauce." + + _Sorghum syrup._ Three times. It was known as "corn-stalk molasses." + It was not bad. + +Nothing else was given us for food by the Confederates at Danville. The +rations appeared to deteriorate and diminish as the winter advanced. My +diary shows that in the fifty-three days after Christmas we received +meat only three times. + +Manifestly such supplies are insufficient to sustain life very long. By +purchase from the rebel sutler who occasionally visited us, or by +surreptitious trading with the guards, we might make additions to our +scanty allowance. I recollect that two dollars of irredeemable treasury +notes would buy a gill of rice or beans or corn, a turnip, onion, +parsnip, or small pickled cucumber! + +The Confederate cooking needed to be supplemented. Here the cylinder +coal-stoves were made useful. The tops of them were often covered with +toasting corn bread. Tin pails and iron kettles of various capacities, +from a pint to several quarts, suspended from the top by wooden hooks a +foot or two in length, each vessel resting against the hot stove and +containing rice, beans, Indian corn, dried apple, crust coffee, or other +delicacy potable or edible slowly preparing, made the whole look like a +big black chandelier with pendants. We were rather proud of our prison +cuisine. Cooking was also performed on and in an old worn-out +cook-stove, which a few of our millionaires, forming a joint-stock +company for the purpose, had bought for two hundred Confederate dollars +late in the season, and which the kind prison commander had permitted +them to place near the southwest end of the upper room, running the pipe +out of a window. Culinary operations were extensively carried on also in +the open yard outside, about forty feet by twenty, at the northeast end +of the building. Here the officer would build a diminutive fire of chips +or splinters between bricks, and boil or toast or roast his allowance. +We were grouped in messes of five to ten or twelve each. Happy the club +of half a dozen that could get money enough and a big enough kettle to +have their meal prepared jointly. + +Such was the case with my own group after the lapse of about two months. +We had been pinched; but one morning Captain Cook came to me with +radiant face and said: "Colonel, I have good news for you. _I_'m going +to run this mess. My folks in New York have made arrangement with +friends in England to supply me with money, and I've just received +through the lines a hundred dollars. We'll live like fighting-cocks!" +Adjt. J. A. Clark, 17th Pa. Cav., was our delighted cook. Shivering for +an hour over the big kettle amid the ice and snow of the back yard, he +would send up word, "Colonel, set the table for dinner." To "set the +table" consisted in sweeping a space six or eight feet square, and +depositing there the plates, wood, tin, or earthen (mine was of wood; it +had cost me a week's labor in carving). The officers already mentioned, +Cook, Clark, Bush, Sprague, with Lieut. E. H. Wilder, 9th N. Y. Cav., +sit around in the elegant Turkish fashion, or more classical recline +like the ancients in their symposia, each resting on his left elbow, +with face as near as possible to the steaming kettle, that not a smell +may be lost! + +Wood was scarce. It was used with most rigid economy. Many joists +overhead had been sawed off by Lieut. Lewis R. Titus of the _Corps +D'Afrique_, using a notched table-knife for a saw. In this way the +Vermont Yankee obtained pieces for cooking, but he weakened the +structure till some officers really feared the roof might come tumbling +about our heads; and I remember that the prison commandant, visiting the +upper room and gazing heavenward, more than once ejaculated irreverently +the name of the opposite region! + +Through the kindness of a Confederate officer or bribing the guards a +log four or five feet in length is sometimes brought in. Two or three +instantly attack it with a blunt piece of iron hoop to start the +cleaving, and in less time than one could expect such a work to be done +with axes it is split fine with wooden wedges. + +Naturally one of the ever-recurring topics of discussion was the +glorious dishes we could prepare, if we but had the materials, or of +which we would partake if we ever got home again. In our memorandum +books we are careful to note down the street and number of the most +famous restaurant in each of the largest cities, like Delmonico's in New +York or Young's in Boston. + +With few exceptions one day is like another. At earliest dawn each of +the two floors is covered with about a hundred and seventy-five +prostrate forms of officers who have been trying to sleep. Soon some one +of them calls in a loud voice. "_Buckets for water!_" The call is +repeated. Five or six, who have predetermined to go early to the river +Dan that seemed nearly a quarter of a mile distant, start up and seize +large wooden pails. They pass to the lower floor. One of them says to +the sentinel on duty at the southwest corner door, "Sentry, call the +sergeant of the guard; we want to go for water." He complies. In five, +ten, or fifteen minutes, a non-commissioned officer, with some half a +dozen heavily armed soldiers, comes, the bolts slide, the doors swing, +our squad passes out. They are escorted down the hill to the river, and +back to prison. By this time it is broad daylight. Many are still lying +silent on the floor. Most have risen. Some are washing, or rather wiping +with wet handkerchief, face and hands; others are preparing to cook, +splitting small blocks of wood for a fire of splinters; a few are +nibbling corn bread; here and there one is reading the New Testament. +There is no change or adjustment of clothing, for the night dress is the +same as the day dress. We no longer wonder how the cured paralytic in +Scripture could obey the command, "Take up thy bed and walk"; for at +heaviest the bed is but a blanket! + +Now, for a half-hour, vengeance on vermin that have plagued us during +the night! We daily solve the riddle of the fishermen's answer to "What +luck?" the question which puzzled to death + + "The blind old bard of Scio's rocky isle," + + "_As many as we caught we left; as many as we could not catch we + carry with us_!" + +About eight o'clock the cry is heard from the southwest end of the room, +"Fall in for roll-call! fall in!" to which several would impudently add, +"Here he comes! here he is!" A tall, slim, stooping, beardless, +light-haired phenomenon, known as "the roll-call sergeant," enters with +two musketeers. We officers having formed in two ranks on the northwest +side of the room, he passes down the front from left to right slowly +counting. Setting down the number in a memorandum book, he commands in a +squeaky feminine voice, "Break ranks," which most of us have already +done. Much speculation arose as to the nature and status of this +singular being. His face was smooth and childlike, yet dry and wrinkled, +so that it was impossible to tell whether he was fifteen or fifty. A +committee was said to have waited upon him, and with much apparent +deference asked him as to his nativity, his age, and whether he was +human or divine, married or single, man or woman. They said he answered +sadly, "Alas! I'm no angel, but a married man, thirty-seven years old, +from South Carolina. I have three children who resemble me." + +Immediately after roll-call, corn bread is brought in for breakfast. It +is in large squares about two feet in length and breadth, the top of +each square being marked for cutting into twenty or twenty-five rations. +Colonel Hooper and Capt. D. Tarbell receive the whole from the rebel +commissary, and then distribute to each mess its portion. The mess +commissary endeavors to cut it into equal oblong loaves. To make sure of +a fair distribution, one officer turns his back, and one after another +lays his hand upon a loaf and asks, "Whose is this?" The officer who has +faced about names some one as the recipient. + +Clear the way now for sweepers. From one end of the room to the other +they ply their coarse wooden brooms. Some officers are remarkably neat, +and will scrape their floor space with pieces of glass from the broken +windows; a few are listless, sullen, utterly despondent, regardless of +surroundings, apparently sinking into imbecility; the majority are +taking pains to keep up an appearance of respectability. + +Many who have been kept awake through the night by cold or rheumatism +now huddle around the stoves and try to sleep. Most of the remainder, as +the weeks pass, glide into something like a routine of occupations. For +several weeks I spent an hour or two every day carving with a broken +knife-blade a spoon from a block of hard wood. Sporadic wood-splitting +is going on, and cooking appears to be one of the fine arts. An hour +daily of oral exercises in French, German, Spanish, Latin, or Italian, +under competent teachers, after the Sauveur or Berlitz method, amused +and to some extent instructed many. Our cavalry adjutant, Dutch Clark, +so called from his skill in the "Pennsylvania Dutch" dialect made +perhaps a hundred familiar with the morning salutation, "_Haben Sie gut +geschlafen?_" ("Have you slept well?") Lieut. Henry Vander Weyde, A. D. +C., 1st Div., 6th Corps, the artist chum of our principal German +instructor, amused many by his pencil portraits of "Slim Jim," the +nondescript "roll-call sergeant" of uncertain age and gender; also of +some of the sentries, and one or two of his fellow prisoners. A worn-out +pack of fifty-two cards, two or three chess and checker boards of our +manufacture, and twenty-four rudely carved checker-men and thirty-two +fantastic chess-men, furnished frequent amusement to those who +understood the games. + +On an average once in two days we received about one o'clock what was +called soup. We were told, and we believed it to be true, that all the +rich nitrogenous portion had been carefully skimmed off for use +elsewhere; not thrown away as the fresh maid threw the "scum" that +formed on top of the milk! + +The topic of most frequent discussion was the prospect of an exchange of +prisoners. Our would-be German conversationalists never forgot to ask, +"_Haben Sie etwas gehörten von Auswechseln der Gefangenen?_" ("Have you +heard anything of exchange of prisoners?") It was hard to believe that +our government would leave us to die of starvation. + +At the close of the soup hour and after another turn at sweeping, almost +every officer again sat down or sat up to rid himself of the _pediculidæ +vestimenti_. We called it "skirmishing"; it was rather a pitched battle. +The humblest soldier and the brevet major-general must daily strip and +fight. Ludicrous, were it not so abominable, was this mortifying +necessity. No account of prison life in Danville would be complete +without it. Pass by it hereafter in sorrow and silence, as one of those +duties which Cicero says are to be done but not talked about. + +The occupations of the morning are now largely resumed, but many prefer +to lie quiet on the floor for an hour. + +An interesting incident that might happen at any time is the arrival in +prison of a Confederate newspaper. A commotion near the stairway! Fifty +or a hundred cluster around an officer with a clear strong voice, and +listen as he reads aloud the news, the editorials, and the selections. +The rebels are represented as continually gaining victories, but +singularly enough the northern armies are always drawing nearer! + +Toward sunset many officers walk briskly half an hour to and fro the +length of the room for exercise. + +Another roll-call by the mysterious heterogeneous if not +hermaphroditical Carolina sergeant! + +Brooms again by the mess on duty. Again oral language-lessons by Cook +and Putnam. Then discussions or story-telling. + +It is growing dark. A candle is lighted making darkness visible. We have +many skilful singers, who every evening "discourse most excellent +music." They sing _Just before the battle, mother; Do they miss me at +home? We shall meet, but we shall miss him_ (a song composed on the +death of one of my Worcester pupils by Hon. Charles Washburn); _Nearer, +My God, to thee_, etc. From the sweet strains of affection or devotion, +which suffuse the eyes as we begin to lie down for the night, the music +passes to the _Star-spangled Banner_, _Rally round the flag_, _John +Brown's body lies a'mouldering in the grave_, and the like. Often the +"concert" concludes with a comic Dutch song by Captain Cafferty, Co. D, +1st N. Y. Cav. + +Sleep begins to seal many eyelids, when someone with a loud voice heard +through the whole room starts a series of sharp critical questions, +amusing or censorious, thus: + + +"Who don't skirmish?" This is answered loudly from another quarter. + +"Slim Jim." The catechism proceeds, sometimes with two or three distinct +responses. + +"Who cheats the graveyard?" + +"Colonel Sprague." + +"Who sketched Fort Darling?" + +"Captain Tripp." (He was caught sketching long before, and was refused +exchange.) + +"Who never washes?" + +"Lieutenant Screw-my-upper-jaw-off." (His was an unpronounceable foreign +name.) + +"Who knows everything?" + +"General Duffié." (Duffié was a brave officer, of whom more anon.) + +"Who don't know anything?" + +"The fools that talk when they should be asleep." (The querists subside +at last.) + + +For warmth we lie in contact with each other "spoon-fashion," in groups +of three or more. I had bought a heavy woolen shawl for twenty +Confederate dollars, and under it were Captain Cook, Adjutant Clark, and +Lieutenant Wilder; I myself wearing my overcoat, and snuggling up to my +friend Cook. All four lay as close as possible facing in the same +direction. The night wears slowly away. When the floor seemed +intolerably hard, one of us would say aloud, "Spoon!" and all four would +flop over, and rest on the other side. So we vibrated back and forth +from nine o'clock till dawn. We were not comfortable, but in far better +circumstances than most of the prisoners. Indeed Captain Cook repeatedly +declared he owed his life to our blanket. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + + Continual Hope of Exchange of Prisoners--"Flag-of-Truce + Fever!"--Attempted Escape by Tunneling--Repeated Escapes by Members + of Water Parties, and how we Made the Roll-Call Sergeant's Count + Come Out all Right every Time--Plot to Break Out by Violence, and + its Tragic End. + + +Our principal hope for relief from the increasing privations of prison +life and from probable exhaustion, sickness, and death, lay in a +possible exchange of prisoners. A belief was prevalent that the patients +in hospital would be the first so favored. Hence strenuous efforts were +sometimes made to convince the apothecary whom we called doctor, and who +often visited us, that a prisoner was ill enough to require removal. +Once in the institution, the patients got better food, something like a +bed, medical attendance daily, and a more comfortable room. Some of them +were shamming, lying in two senses and groaning when the physicians were +present, but able to sit up and play euchre the rest of the day and half +the night. This peculiar disease, this eagerness to get into hospital or +remain there till exchanged by flag of truce, was known as the +"flag-of-truce fever" or "flag-of-truce-on-the-brain!" + +I recall one striking instance. Lieutenant Gardner, already mentioned, +had received six or eight hundred dollars in Confederate currency as the +price of a gold watch. But like the prodigal in Scripture he was now in +a far country, and had wasted his substance in what he called +"righteous" living. And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty +famine in that corner of the lower room, and he began to be in want. And +he would fain have filled his belly with corn-cob-meal bread, or spoiled +black beans, or the little potatoes which the swine didn't eat. And no +man gave him enough. And he determined to go to hospital. He gave out +that he was desperately sick. I at this time had "quarters" on the floor +above. Word was brought to me that my friend was mortally ill, and would +thank me to come down and take his last message to his relatives. +Alarmed, I instantly went down. I found him with two or three splitting +a small log of wood! + + +"Gardner, I hear you are a little 'under the weather.'" + +"Dying, Colonel, dying!" + +"What appears to be your disease?" + +"Flag-o'-truce-on-the-brain!" + +"Ah, you've got the exchange fever?" + +"Yes; bad." + +"Pulse run high?" + +"Three hundred a minute." + +"Anything I can do for you?" + +"Yes, Colonel, beseech that fool doctor to send me to hospital. Tell him +I'm on my last legs. Tell him I only want to die there. Appeal to him in +behalf of my poor wife and babies." (Gardner, as I well knew, was a +bachelor, and had no children--to speak of.) + +"Well, Lieutenant, I'll do anything I properly can for you. Is there +anything else?" + +"Yes, Colonel; lend me your overcoat to wear to hospital; I'll send it +back at once." + +"But, Lieutenant, you can't get into the hospital. Your cheeks are too +rosy; you're the picture of health." + +"I'm glad you mentioned that, Colonel. I'll fix that. You'll see." + + +Next morning he watched at the window, and when he saw the doctor +coming, he swallowed a large pill of plug tobacco. The effect was more +serious than he expected. In a few minutes he became sick in earnest, +and was frightened. A deathlike pallor supervened. When the doctor +reached him, there was a genuine fit of vomiting. The story runs that +Captain Tiemann made a pathetic appeal in behalf of the imaginary twin +babies, that the doctor diagnosed it as a clear case of puerperal (which +he pronounced "puerp[=e]rial") fever complicated with symptoms of +cholera infantum, and ordered him to hospital at once! I loaned the +patient my overcoat, which he sent back directly. His recovery seemed +miraculous. In a week or two he returned from his delightful outing. +This was in the latter part of November. + +Previously, for some weeks, Captain Howe and three or four other strong +and determined officers managed to get into the cellar of a one-story +building contiguous to ours and thence to excavate a tunnel out beyond +the line on which the sentinels were perpetually pacing to and fro. I +was too feeble to join in the enterprise, but hoped to improve the +opportunity to escape when the work was done. Unfortunately the arching +top of the tunnel was too near the surface of the ground, and the thin +crust gave way under the weight of a sentry. He yelled "Murder!" Two or +three of our diggers came scurrying back. The guard next to him shouted, +"You Yanks! you G--d d--d Yanks!" and fired into the deep hole. No more +tunneling at Danville.[8] + +More successful and more amusing were several attempts by individual +officers one at a time. The water parties of four to eight went under a +strong guard two or three times a day down a long hill to the river Dan. +On the slope alongside the path were a number of large brick ovens,[9] +in which, we were told, the Confederates used to bake those big squares +of corn bread. The iron doors when we passed were usually open. On the +way back from the river, one officer on some pretense or other would lag +behind the rearmost soldier of the guard, who would turn to hurry him +up. The next officer, as soon as the soldier's back was turned, would +dodge into an open oven, and the careless guards now engaged in a loud +and passionate controversy about slavery or secession would not miss +him! Then, as night came on, the negroes in the vicinity, who, like all +the rest of the colored people, were friendly to us, would supply the +escaped officer with food and clothing, and pilot him on his way +rejoicing toward the Union lines. One by one, six officers escaped in +that way, and many of us began to look forward to the time when our turn +would come to try the baking virtues of those ovens! + +But it was important that the escaped officer should not be missed. How +should we deceive the nondescript that we called "the roll-call +sergeant"? Morning and evening he carefully counted every one. How make +the census tally with the former enumerations? Yankee ingenuity was here +put to a severe test; but Lieutenant Titus, before mentioned, solved the +problem. With his table-knife saw he cut a hole about two feet square in +the floor near the northeast corner of the upper room. A nicely fitting +trapdoor completed the arrangement. Through this hole, helped by a rude +rope ladder of strips of rags, and hoisted to the shoulders of a tall +man by strong arms from below, a nimble officer could quickly ascend. +Now those in the lower room were counted first. When they broke ranks, +and the human automaton faced to the west and moved slowly towards the +stairs with three or four "Yanks" clustering at his side in earnest +conversation, the requisite number of spry young prisoners would "shin +up" the ladder, emerge, "deploy," and be counted over again in the upper +room! The thing worked to a charm. Not one of the six was missed. + +Unfortunately, however, two or three of them were recaptured and again +incarcerated in Libby. The Richmond authorities thereupon telegraphed to +Colonel Smith, asking how those officers escaped from Danville. Smith, +surprised, ordered a recount. The trapdoor did its duty. "All present!" +Finally he answered, "No prisoner has escaped from Danville." The rebel +commissary of prisons at Richmond, Gen. J. H. Winder, then telegraphed +the names of the recaptured officers. Smith looks on his books: there +are those names, sure enough! The mystery must be solved. He now sends +his adjutant to count us about noon. We asked him what it meant. He told +us it was reported that several officers had escaped. We replied, +"That's too good to be true." He counted very slowly and with +extraordinary precision. He kept his eye on the staircase as he +approached it. Six officers flew up the ladder as we huddled around him. +It was almost impossible to suppress laughter at the close, when he +declared, "I'll take my oath no prisoner has escaped from this prison." +But there were those names of the missing, and there was our +ill-disguised mirth. Smith resorted to heroic measures. He came in with +two or three of his staff and a man who was said to be a professor of +mathematics. This was on the 8th of November, 1864. He made all officers +of the lower room move for a half-hour into the upper room, and there +fall in line with the rest. His adjutant called the roll in reality. +Each as his name was read aloud was made to step forward and cross to +the other side. Of course no one could answer for the absent six. I +doubt if he ever learned the secret of that trapdoor. The professor of +mathematics promised to bring me a Geometry. About two weeks later, +November 24th, he brought me a copy of Davies's _Legendre_. + +On the 9th of December, while our senior officer, General Hayes, was +sick in hospital, the next in rank, Gen. A. N. Duffié, of the First +Cavalry Division of Sheridan's army, fresh from the French service, with +which he had campaigned in Algeria, where he was wounded nine times, +suddenly conceived a plot to break out and escape. Two companies of +infantry had arrived in the forenoon and stacked their arms in plain +sight on the level ground about twenty rods distant. Duffié's plan was +to rush through the large open door when a water party returning with +filled buckets should be entering, seize those muskets, overpower the +guard, immediately liberate the thousand or fifteen hundred Union +prisoners in the three other Danville prisons, and push off to our lines +in East Tennessee. He had Sheridan's _élan_, not Grant's cool-headed +strategy. With proper preparation and organization, such as Hayes would +have insisted upon, it might have been a success. He called us, field +officers about twenty, together and laid the matter before us. No vote +was taken, but I think a majority were opposed to the whole scheme. He +was disposed to consider himself, though a prisoner, as still vested +with authority to command all of lower rank, and he expected them to +obey him without question. In this view many acquiesced, but others +dissented. By his request, though doubtful of his right to command and +in feeble health, I drew up a pledge for those to sign who were willing +to engage in the projected rising and would promise to obey. It was +found that at least one hundred and fifty could be counted on. Colonel +Ralston, previously mentioned, was the chief opponent of the outbreak, +but he recognized Duffié's authority and insisted upon our submission +to it. Similar appeared to be the attitude of the following colonels: + +Gilbert H. Prey, 104th N. Y. + +James Carle, 191st Pa. + +T. B. Kaufman, 209th Pa. + +W. Ross Hartshorne, 190th Pa. + +Of the lieutenant-colonels, most of the following doubted the success, +but would do their best to promote it, if commanded: + +Charles H. Tay, 10th N. J. + +Theodore Gregg, 45th Pa. + +G. A. Moffett, 94th N. Y. + +J. S. Warner, 121st Pa. + +George Hamett, 147th N. Y. + +Charles H. Hooper, 24th Mass. + +Homer B. Sprague, 13th Conn. + +So the following majors: A. W. Wakefield, 49th Pa.; G. S. Horton, 58th +Mass.; E. F. Cooke, 2d N. Y. Cav.; John G. Wright, 51st N. Y.; J. V. +Peale, 4th Pa. Cav.; John W. Byron, 88th N. Y.; David Sadler, 2d Pa. +Heavy Art.; John Byrne, 155th N. Y.; E. O. Shepard, 32d Mass.; J. A. +Sonders, 8th Ohio Cav.; Charles P. Mattocks, 17th Maine; E. S. Moore, +Paymaster; Wm. H. Fry, 16th Pa. Cav.; Milton Wendler, 191st Pa.; James +E. Deakins, 8th Tenn. Cav.; Geo. Haven Putnam, Adjt. and later +Bvt.-Major, 176th N. Y. + +All of the foregoing then present and not on the sick list should have +been most thoroughly instructed as to their duties, and should have been +enabled to communicate all needed information to the forty-six captains +and one hundred and thirty-three lieutenants, who, though many were +sadly reduced in vitality, were accounted fit for active service. I had +repeatedly noticed in battle the perplexity of company, regimental, or +even brigade commanders, from lack of information as to the necessary +movements in unforeseen emergencies. It is not enough to say, as one +corps commander (Hancock?) is said to have done during the Battle of the +Wilderness in May, 1864, to a newly arrived colonel with his regiment, +who inquired, "Where shall I go in?" "Oh, anywhere; there's lovely +fighting all along the line!" + +Here the step most vital to success, the _sine qua non_, was to keep +that outside door open for the outrush of two hundred men. To this end, +eight of our strongest and most determined, under a dashing leader like +Colonel Hartshorne or Lieutenant-Colonel Gregg, should have been sent +out as a water party. Instead, Captain Cook, who was brave enough, but +then physically weak, hardly able to carry a pail of water, was the +leader of an average small squad, "the spirit indeed willing, but the +flesh weak." + +Hardly less important was it to select a dozen or twenty of the most +fierce and energetic, to be at the head of the stairs in perfect +readiness to dash instantly through the opening door and assist the +water party in disarming their guards, and, without a moment's pause, +followed by the whole two hundred, pounce upon the guard house. Ralston +or Duffié himself should have headed this band. Simultaneously, without +a second's interval, three or four desperate, fiery, powerful officers, +detailed for the purpose, should have grappled with the sentinel on duty +in the middle of the lower room and disarmed and gagged him. + +Besides the field officers, we had with us many subordinates of great +intelligence like Capt. Henry S. Burrage of the 36th Mass., Lieut. W. C. +B. Goff of the 1st D. C. Cav., Lieut. W. C. Howe, 2d Mass. Cav., Adjt. +James A. Clark, 17th Pa. Cav., and the artist, Lieut. Henry Vander +Weyde; and nothing would have been easier than for Duffié to communicate +through them to every officer the most complete and precise information +and instructions. + +Scarcely any of these precautions were taken. The general was impatient. +The next day, December 10th, he issued his command in these words: "I +order the attempt to be made, and I call upon all of you, who have not +forgotten how to obey orders, to follow." The water party was +immediately sent out, and its return was watched for. He and Ralston, +without the help of a third, made the mistake of personally grappling +with the floor sentry, a brave, strong, red-headed fellow, and they +tackled him a moment too soon. He stoutly resisted. They wrested his +musket from him. He yelled. They tried to stop his mouth. Instantly the +door began to swing open a little. The water party, too few and too +weak, paralyzed, failed to act. The foremost of us sprang from the +stairs to the door. Before we could reach it, it was slammed to, bolted +and barred against us! With several others I rushed to the windows and +tried to tear off the heavy bars. In vain. The soldiers outside began +firing through the broken panes. Ralston was shot through the body. We +assisted him up the stairs while the bullets were flying. In less than +five minutes from the moment when he and Duffié seized the sentinel, it +was all over. In about a quarter of an hour, Colonel Smith came in with +his adjutant and two or three guards, and ordered Ralston removed to +hospital. As he was carried out, one of us expressed the hope that the +wound was not serious. He answered in the language of Mercutio, "No, +'tis not so deep as a well, nor so wide as a church door; but 'tis +enough, 'twill serve." He knew it was mortal, and expressed a +willingness to die for his country in the line of duty. He passed away +next morning. Colonel Smith expressed sorrow for him, and surprise at +the ingratitude of us who had been guilty of insurrection against his +gentle sway! + +A strict search for possible weapons followed during which we were told +we must give up our United States money. I saved a ten-dollar greenback +by concealing it in my mouth "as an ape doth nuts in the corner of his +jaw," all the while munching corn bread, gnawing two holes in the bill! + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[8] "You will doubtless recall the man-hole worked through the heavy +brick wall, made during the 'stilly nights,' opening into the attic of +an annex to the main building. We found our way down by means of a rope +ladder, and started our tunnel under the basement floor. But for the +exposure we would have emptied the prison. To find the way down we gave +them a lively hunt!--And those _epithets_!--I have a blouse with a rent +in the back made in going through that hole in the wall."--Howe's +_Letter_ of Jan. 30, 1914. + +For further particulars of this attempt to tunnel out, see Major +Putnam's _A Prisoner of War in Virginia_, pp. 55-60. + +[9] Putnam describes them as disused furnaces. They may have been both. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + + Kind Clergymen Visit us and Preach Excellent Discourses--Colonel + Smith's Personal Good Will to me--His Offer--John F. Ficklin's + Charity--My Good Fortune--Supplies of Clothing Distributed--Deaths + in Prison. + + +Union men never looked upon Confederates as mortal enemies. Whenever a +flag of truce was flying, both were disposed to shake hands and exchange +favors. I recollect that our Captain Burrage complained that he was +unfairly captured when he was engaged in a friendly deal with a +Confederate between the lines. At Port Hudson, when the white signal was +to go down, we gave the "Johnnies" fair warning, shouting, "RATS! TO +YOUR HOLES!" before we fired on them. But war cannot be conducted on +peace principles, and in a flash a man acts like a devil. In an open +window near the spot where I slept, an officer upset a cup of water, and +a few drops fell on the head of the guard outside. Instantly he fired. +The bullet missed, passed through the window below and the floor above, +and lodged in the hand or arm of another officer. I had an opportunity +to express to Colonel Smith my angry disgust at such savagery. He +agreed that the fellow ought to be punished--"at least for not being +able to shoot straighter!"[10] + +Kindly visits were sometimes paid us. Two young men from the Richmond +Young Men's Christian Association came. The wicked said, "One came 'to +pray with us all right,' the other 'to prey upon us all wrong'"; for the +latter tried to induce us to exchange greenbacks for rebel currency! + +Several times we were visited by kind clergymen who preached excellent +sermons. The first was Rev. ---- Dame of Danville. He was, I think, an +Episcopal minister. He was a high Mason, a gentleman of very striking +appearance, with a beautiful flowing beard, that would have done honor +to Moses or Aaron. As we sat on the hard floor, two hundred listening +reverently to his choice language, he seemed to foresee the doom which +many of us had begun to fear, and he very appropriately and with much +earnestness bade us consider our latter end. Mentioning his name with +gratitude some thirty years afterwards in a lecture at the Mountain Lake +Chautauqua, Md., one of my audience gave me a photograph of the +minister's handsome face, and told me he was greatly beloved. I doubt +not he deserved it. + +Rev. Charles K. Hall of Danville, a Methodist Episcopal clergyman, came +to us a little later. His first sermon was an eloquent discourse on +Charity. He practiced what he preached; for he never came empty-handed. +On his first visit he brought armfuls of tobacco, each plug wrapped in a +pious tract. He asked us to fall in line, for he had something for each. +When he came to me in the distribution, I declined it, saying "I never +use tobacco in any form." "Oh take it," said he; "you read the tract, +and give the tobacco to your neighbor." On subsequent Sundays he brought +eggs and other delicacies for the sick. We admired him as a preacher, +and regarded him with affection as a man. Secession and slavery aside, +for he believed in the rightfulness of both, as we learned on arguing +with him, it would be hard to find a more lovable character than Charles +K. Hall. And the South was full of such, who would have been glad, if +permitted and opportunity offered, to be good Samaritans, neighbors to +him who had fallen among foes; pure, gentle, kindly spirits, to whom it +will be said in the last great day, "I was an hungred and ye gave me +meat; I was sick, and ye visited me; I was in prison, and ye came unto +me." + +From the lack of sufficient and proper food, clothing, and exercise, the +health of all suffered. Much of the time it was impossible to keep warm. +The most prevalent diseases, I think, were rheumatism and scurvy. I +suffered from both. Anti-scorbutics were scarce. The pain from +rheumatism was slight during the day; but at evening it began in the +joints of the fingers and became more severe as night advanced, +ascending from the hands to the wrists, arms, and shoulders. It was +worst at midnight and through the small hours, then gradually diminished +till daylight. The prison physician did his best to help us with +liniment, but in those winter nights the treatment was ineffective. + +Upon the total failure of our attempt to break out on the 10th of +December, and having come reluctantly to the conclusion that Colonel +Smith had told us the truth when he said that Lincoln and Grant would +not consent to an exchange of prisoners, I foresaw that death was +inevitable after a few months, perhaps a few weeks, unless the situation +should materially change for the better. I determined, though without +much hope of success, to appeal to Colonel Smith for personal favor. On +the 15th of December I sent word to him that I wished an interview with +him. He immediately sent a soldier to bring me to his office. He +received me courteously; for he was a gentleman. I told him it was +necessary for me, if I was to live much longer, that I should at least +have better food and more of it. I asked him if it would not be possible +for an arrangement to be effected whereby some of my relatives in the +north should furnish a Confederate prisoner with food, clothing, and +comforts, and that prisoner's relatives in the south should reciprocate +by supplying me. He answered that it might be possible, but he did not +know of any such southern captive's friends likely to respond. After a +few minutes of silence he said: + +"Colonel Sprague, I'd like to do something for you, and I'll make you an +offer." + +"Well?" + +"Your government has adopted the devilish policy of no exchange of +prisoners." + +"I am afraid it's true." + +"I know it's true." + +"Well, what's your proposition?" + +"I am overworked here. I must do my duty to my government. Our cause is +just." + +"Well?" + +"I should like to have you assist me by doing writing regularly for me +at these headquarters. I would parole you. You shall have a room to +yourself, a good bed, plenty of food, and a good deal of liberty. You +must give me your word of honor not to attempt to escape." + +"Colonel Smith, I thank you. I appreciate the friendly spirit in which +you make the offer, and I am very grateful for it. But I can't +conscientiously accept it. I am in the Union Army, bound to do +everything in my power to destroy your government. I must do nothing to +help it. If Lincoln refuses to exchange us prisoners, it may be best for +the United States, though hard on us. What happens to us is a minor +matter. It's a soldier's business to die for his country rather than +help its enemies in the slightest degree. I can't entertain your +proposal." + +So the conference ended sadly. As I was leaving his office he introduced +me to a Confederate soldier who sat there and who had heard the whole +conversation. Next day this soldier entered the prison by permission of +Colonel Smith and brought me some nice wheat bread, some milk, pickles, +and other food, a pair of thick woolen stockings, and a hundred dollars +in Confederate money. He gave me his name, John F. Ficklin, of the +Virginia _Black Horse Cavalry_. He whispered to me that he was at heart +a Union man, but had been forced by circumstances to enter the +Confederate service; that by simulating illness he had got relieved from +duty at the front and assigned to service at Colonel Smith's +headquarters; that he was confident he could bring about such an +arrangement for reciprocal supplies as I had proposed, and had so +informed Smith, who approved of the plan; that until such a plan should +be put in operation he would furnish me from his own table. He said to +me very privately that he was greatly moved by what I had said the day +before. "But," he added, "I am not entirely unselfish in this. I foresee +that the Confederacy can't last very long; certainly not a year. I give +it till next September; and, frankly, when it goes to smash, I want to +stand well with you officers." At my suggestion he gave a few other +prisoners food and money. + +In a few days I was again called to headquarters to meet a Mr. Jordan, +who, through Ficklin's efforts, had been invited to meet me. His son, +Henry T. Jordan, Adjutant of the 55th North Carolina Regiment, was at +that time a prisoner at Johnson's Island, Ohio. Mr. Jordan agreed to +make out a list of articles which he wished my relatives to send to his +son. In a day or two he did so. I likewise made out a statement of my +immediate wants, as follows: + + Wood for cooking; + Cup, plate, knife, fork, spoon; + Turnips, salt, pepper, rice, vinegar; + Pickled cucumbers, dried apple, molasses; + Or any other substantial food. + +I asked Jordan to send me those things _at once_. He answered after some +delay that he would do so immediately on receiving an acknowledgment +from his son that my friends had furnished him what he wanted; and he +would await such a message! As my relatives were in Massachusetts and +Connecticut, it would take considerable time for them to negotiate with +the prison commandant and other parties in Ohio and have the +stipulations distinctly understood and carried into effect there. +Besides, there were likely to be provoking delays in communicating by +mail between the north and the south, and it might be a month or six +weeks before he got assurances from his son; by which time I should +probably be in a better world than Danville, and in no need of wood, +food, or table-ware. I wrote him to that effect, and requested him to +make haste, but received no reply. + +My friend Mr. Ficklin came to the rescue. As a pretext to deceive, if +need were, the prison authorities, and furnish to them and others a +sufficient reason for bringing me supplies, he pretended that he had a +friend, a Confederate prisoner of war at Camp Douglas near Chicago, and +that Colonel Sprague's friends had been exceedingly kind to him, +ministering most liberally to his wants! The name of this imaginary +friend was J. H. Holland, a private soldier of the 30th Virginia +Cavalry. Ficklin forged a letter purporting to come from Holland to him, +which he showed to Colonel Smith, in which he spoke with much gratitude +of my friends' bounty, and besought Ficklin to look tenderly after my +comfort in return! The ruse succeeded. Ficklin's generosity to me was +repeated from time to time, and perhaps saved my life. + +A year after the close of the war Ficklin wrote to me that he wished to +secure a position in the Treasury Department of the United States, and +he thought it would aid him if I would certify to what I knew of his +kindness to Union prisoners. I accordingly drew up a strong detailed +statement of his timely and invaluable charities to us in our distress. +I accompanied it with vouchers for my credibility signed by Hon. N. D. +Sperry, General Wm. H. Russell, and President Theodore D. Woolsey, all +of New Haven, and Governor Wm. A. Buckingham of Norwich, Conn. These +documents I forwarded to Ficklin. I do not know the result. + +From Sergeant Wilson F. Smith, chief clerk at Colonel Smith's +headquarters, a paroled prisoner, member of Co. F., 6th Pa. Cav., the +company of Captain Furness, son or brother of my Shakespearian friend, +Dr. Horace Howard Furness, and from Mr. Strickland, undertaker, who +furnished the coffins and buried the dead of the Danville prisons, both +of whom I talked with when I was on parole in February, '65, I obtained +statistics mutually corroborative of the number of deaths in the +Danville prisons. In November there were 130; in December, 140; from +January 1st to January 24th, 105. The negro soldiers suffered most. +There were sixty-four of them living in prison when we reached Danville, +October 20, '64. Fifty-seven of them were dead on the 12th of February, +'65, when I saw and talked with the seven survivors in Prison No. Six. +From one of the officers (I think it was Captain Stuart) paroled like +myself in February to distribute supplies of clothing sent by the United +States through the lines, and who performed that duty in Salisbury, and +from soldiers of my own regiment there imprisoned, I learned that in the +hundred days ending February 1st, out of eight or ten thousand +prisoners, more than thirty a day, more than three thousand in all, had +died! Of Colonel Hartshorne's splendid "Bucktail Regiment," the 190th +Pa., formerly commanded by my Yale classmate Colonel O'Neil who fell at +Antietam, there were 330 at Salisbury, October 19th, the day we left; +116 of them were dead before February 1st, one company losing 22 out of +33 men. + + * * * * * + +Why this fearful mortality? Men do not die by scores, hundreds, +thousands, without some extraordinary cause. It was partly for want of +clothing. They were thinly clad when captured. + +Pursuant to agreement entered into early in December, 1864, between the +Federal and Confederate authorities, supplies of clothing for Union +prisoners in Richmond, Danville, and Salisbury, were sent through the +lines. They did not reach Danville till February. Colonel Carle, 191st +Pa. and myself, with another officer (I think he was Colonel Gilbert G. +Prey, 104th N. Y.) were paroled to distribute coats (or blouses), +trousers, and shoes, among the enlisted men in their three prisons. Then +for the first time Union officers saw the interior of those jails. By +permission of Colonel Smith, Mr. Ficklin accompanied us on one of these +visits, and I saw him give fifty dollars in Confederate money to one of +our suffering soldiers. My part in the distribution was to sign as +witness opposite the name of each one receiving. Those rolls should be +in the archives at Washington. + +On the 12th of February we issued shoes and clothing in the jail known +as Prison No. Six. It contained that day 308 of our men. There were the +seven surviving colored soldiers, and the one wearing our prison +commander's coat. We requested them all to form line, and each as his +name was called to come forward and receive what he most needed. Some of +them were so feeble that they had to be assisted in coming down from the +upper floor, almost carried in the arms of stronger comrades. Many were +unable to remain standing long, and sank helpless on the floor. Nearly +all were half-clad, or wearing only the thinnest of garments. Some were +white with vermin. Several were so far gone that they had forgotten +their company or regiment. Every one seemed emaciated. Many kept asking +me why our government did not exchange prisoners; for they were told +every day the truth that the Confederate government desired it. There +was a stove, but no fuel. The big rooms were not heated. The cold was +severe. About a third of them had apparently given up all hope of +keeping their limbs and bodies warm; but they kept their heads, necks, +shoulders, and chests, carefully wrapped. The dismal coughing at times +drowned all other sounds, and made it difficult to proceed with our work +of distribution. There were two little fires of chips and splinters on +bricks, one of them near the middle, the other near the far end. In +contact with these were tin or earthen cups containing what passed for +food or drink. There was no outlet for smoke. It blackened the hands and +faces of those nearest, and irritated the lungs of all. + +This prison was the worst. It was colder than the others. But all were +uncomfortably cold. All were filled with smoke and lice. From each there +went every day to the hospital a wagon-load of half-starved and +broken-hearted soldiers who would never return. I visited the hospital +to deliver to two of the patients letters which Colonel Smith had handed +to me for them. They were both dead. I looked down the long list. The +word "Died," with the date, was opposite most of the names. As I left +the hospital I involuntarily glanced up at the lintel, half expecting to +see inscribed there as over the gate to Dante's Hell, + + ALL HOPE ABANDON, YE WHO ENTER HERE! + +At the rate our enlisted men were dying at Danville and Salisbury during +the winter of 1864-65, all would have passed away in a few months, +certainly in less than a year; AND THEY KNEW IT. + +Is it any wonder that some of them, believing our government had +abandoned them to starvation rather than again risk its popularity by +resorting to conscription for the enrollment of recruits and by possibly +stirring up draft riots such as had cost more than a thousand lives in +the city of New York in July, 1863, accepted at last the terms which the +Confederates constantly held out to them, took the oath of allegiance to +the Confederacy, and enlisted in the rebel army? I was credibly informed +that more than forty did it in Prison No. Four at Danville, and more +than eleven hundred at Salisbury. Confederate recruiting officers and +sergeants were busy in those prisons, offering them the choice between +death and life. No doubt multitudes so enlisted under the Confederate +flag with full determination to desert to our lines at the first +convenient opportunity. Such was the case with private J. J. Lloyd, Co. +A, of my battalion, who rejoined us in North Carolina. _The great +majority chose to die._ + +The last communication that I received from enlisted men of my +battalion, fellow prisoners with me at Salisbury, whom I had exhorted +not to accept the offers of the Confederates, but to be true to their +country and their flag, read thus: "Colonel, don't be discouraged. Our +boys all say they'll starve to death in prison sooner than take the oath +of allegiance to the Confederacy." And true to this resolve did indeed +starve or freeze to death Sergeant Welch, Sergeant Twichell, Privates +Vogel, Plaum, Barnes, Geise, Andrews, Bishop, Weldon, who had stood by +me in many a battle, and who died at last for the cause they loved. + +It is comparatively easy to face death in battle. No great courage or +merit in that. The soldier is swept along with the mass. Often he cannot +shirk if he would. The chances usually are that he will come out alive. +He may be inspired with heroism, + + And the stern joy which warriors feel + In foeman worthy of their steel. + +There is a consciousness of irresistible strength as he beholds the +gleaming lines, the dense columns, the smoking batteries, the dancing +flags, the cavalry with flying feet. + + 'Twere worth ten years of peaceful life, + One glance at their array. + +Or nobler, he feels that he represents a nation or a grand cause, and +that upon his arm depends victory. In his enthusiasm he even fancies +himself a vicegerent of the Almighty, commissioned to fight in His +cause, to work His will, to save His earth from becoming a hell. "From +the heights of yonder pyramids," said Napoleon to the French battling +against the Mamelukes, "forty centuries are looking down upon you." Our +soldier in battle imagined the world looking on, that for him there was +fame undying; should he fall wounded, his comrades would gently care for +him; if slain, his country's flag would be his shroud. + +By no such considerations were our imprisoned comrades cheered. Not in +the glorious rush and shock of battle; not in hope of victory or +fadeless laurels; no angel charities, or parting kiss, or sympathetic +voice bidding the soul look heavenward while the eye was growing dim; no +dear star-spangled banner for a winding sheet. But wrapped in rags; +unseen, unnoticed, dying by inches, in the cold, in the darkness, often +in rain or sleet, houseless, homeless, friendless, on the hard floor or +the bare ground, starving, freezing, broken-hearted. + + O the long and dreary winter! + O the cold and cruel winter! + +It swept them away at Salisbury by tens, twenties, even fifties in a +single night. + +These men preferred death to dishonor. When we are told that our people +are not patriotic, or sigh of America as Burke did of France a century +and a quarter ago, that the age of chivalry is gone, we may point to +this great martyrdom, the brightest painting on the darkest background +in all our history--thousands choosing to die for the country which +seemed to disown them! + +My diary records, and I believe it correct, that on the 17th of +February, there were ten deaths in the Danville prisons. A little before +midnight of that day the Danville prisoners were loaded into box cars, +and the train was started for Richmond. Three, it was reported, died in +the cars that night, and one next morning in the street on the way to +Libby. + +During the next three days I obtained the autographs of two hundred and +fifteen of my fellow officers there. The little book is precious. A few +still survive; but the great majority have joined the faithful whom they +commanded. + + On Fame's eternal camping ground + Their silent tents are spread, + And Glory guards with solemn round + The bivouac of the dead! + +On the twenty-second we were taken for exchange down the James. As we +passed through the lines into what we were accustomed fondly to call +"God's Country," salvos of artillery and signs of universal rejoicing +greeted us. Our reception made us imagine for an hour that our arrival +perceptibly heightened the general joy of the Washington anniversary. +But many of us could not help wishing we were asleep with the thousands +who were filling nameless graves at Danville and Salisbury. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[10] See Putnam's account of this incident in his _A Prisoner of War in +Virginia_, p. 67. + + + + +CHAPTER X + + Results and Reflections--The Right and the Wrong of it All. + + +A few days of waiting in the buildings of the Naval Academy at Annapolis +while exchange papers were preparing gave us opportunity for a +much-needed transformation. Our old clothing, encrusted with dirt and +infested with vermin, in many cases had to be destroyed. One of our +number especially unkempt, Captain T., who gave up for an hour or two +his beloved trousers, found to his surprise and horror when he called +for their return that they had been burned with four hundred dollars in +greenbacks sewed up in the lining! We smiled at his irrepressible grief; +it was poetic justice. He had carefully concealed the fact of his being +flush, pretending all along to be like the rest _in forma pauperis_, and +contriving, it was said, to transfer in crooked ways our pennies into +his pockets! + +Fumigated, parboiled, scrubbed, barbered, decently clothed, "the +deformed transformed" were once more presentable in civilized society. +Then followed a brief leave of absence if desired, to visit relatives. +To them it seemed a veritable resurrection after our months of living +burial; yet the joy of reunion was sometimes tinged with sorrow. I +learned that in the very week in which the tidings of my capture came +our home circle had been sadly broken by the death of a beloved sister, +and just then the telegraph told of the loss by fever in the army at +Newbern of our household darling, + + Younger by fifteen years than myself, + Brother at once and son. + +As previously stated we who held commissions fared better on the whole +than the non-commissioned officers and privates, though receiving from +the commissary rations exactly equal to theirs. Commonly older and +therefore of larger experience and superior intelligence, a good officer +is as a father looking out for the physical welfare of his men as well +as himself. Then there were some who, like Gardner, had been fortunate +in keeping clothing, money, or other valuable at the instant of capture +or in hiding it when searched by Dick Turpin at Libby. Several like +Captain Cook had obtained pecuniary assistance from influential friends +across the lines, or in a few instances had been favored by brother +freemasons or by charitably disposed visitors who gave us a little food, +a few old books, or even Confederate currency. Several sold to the +sentinels watches, rings, chains, breast-pins, society badges, silver +spurs, military boots, or curiously wrought specimens of Yankee +ingenuity carved with infinite pains. The "Johnnies" appeared to hanker +for any article not produced in the Confederacy. An officer of the guard +offered Putnam three hundred dollars for a nearly worn-out tooth-brush! + +The educational standard among our officers was quite respectable. I +think that West Point had a representative among us, as well as Bowdoin +and several other colleges. Certainly we had ex-students from at least +five universities, Brown, Yale, Harvard, the Sorbonne, and Göttingen. + +To afford diversion and as an antidote to depression, as well as for +intellectual improvement, some of us studied mathematics[11] or +_Shakespeare_. Three or four classes were formed in modern languages. +We had card-playing with packs soiled and worn; checkers and chess on +extemporized boards with rudely whittled "pieces"; occasional +discussions historical, literary, political, or religious; many of us +quite regular physical exercises in brisk walks on the empty lowest +floor; story-telling; at times, though not often, the reading aloud of a +Confederate newspaper, to a group of fifty or more listeners; at +evening, sweet singing, riddles, jests, or loud-voiced sarcastic +conundrums and satirical responses. Many found interest and pleasure in +carving with the utmost nicety wood or bone.[12] + +Something like military discipline prevailed among the two hundred in +the upper room where the superior rank of General Hayes was often +recognized. Among a hundred and fifty or more in the lower room, where +for a month or two I was the senior but was unwilling to assume +precedence, I secured with the aid of Major Byron, Captain Howe, and a +few others a sort of civil government with semi-military features. + +These measures and the favoring circumstances that have been mentioned +tended of course to the preservation of health among the officers. There +was severe suffering from hunger, cold, rheumatism, and scurvy, from all +of which I was for weeks a victim and at one time seemed doomed to +perish. I recall, however, the names of but two officers (there were +said to be four) who died at Danville. Some of us, though enfeebled, +were soon able to rejoin our commands; as Putnam his at Newbern in +April, Gardner and I ours at Morehead City the day after Lee's surrender +at Appomattox. + +Of the effect in after-life of these strange experiences it is safe to +say that to some extent they were a spur to intellectual effort. At +least they should have made all sadder and wiser; and they certainly +were in some cases an equipment for descriptive authorship. Major (Adner +A.) Small wrote a valuable account of prison life. Dr. Burrage's +narratives of his capture and its results are entertaining and +instructive. Major Putnam's _A Prisoner of War in Virginia_ (reprinted +in his _Memories of My Youth_) is an important contribution to our +military history.[13] Lieutenant Estabrooks's _Adrift in Dixie_ is +charmingly told.[14] "Dutch Clark" (Adjutant James A. Clark, 17th Pa. +Cav.), one of the four who nightly tried to sleep under my blanket, +started and edited with ability at Scranton _The Public Code_, for which +I was glad to furnish literary material. He afterwards became prominent +in theosophic circles. Others distinguished themselves. Captain (Frank +H.) Mason, in prison our best chess player, was long Consul-General at +Paris. Cook studied five or six years in Germany, France, and Italy, +then was for eight or ten years assistant professor in German at +Harvard, and afterwards for two years, until his untimely death, +professor in the same department at the Institute of Technology in +Boston. In addressing a Sunday-school in Brooklyn, 1871, I unexpectedly +lighted upon Captain Tiemann doing good work as a teacher. Captain +Gardner continued for many months a model military officer in +Georgia.[15] I remained in the service a full year, often on +courts-martial, military commissions, and "reconstruction" duty. + + * * * * * + +As already described, the condition of the enlisted men strongly +contrasted with ours. The Report of the Confederate Inspector of Prisons +now on file in the _War Records_ of our government, though the reports +of his subordinate officers are significantly missing, covers the few +months next preceding January, 1865. It sharply censures the immediate +prison authorities, stating, as the result of the privations, that the +deaths at Danville were at the rate of about five per day! I think they +were more numerous in January and February. None of my battalion were +there, but at Salisbury three-sevenths of them died in less than three +months! + +It is hard to refrain from the expression of passionate indignation at +the treatment accorded to our non-commissioned officers and privates in +those southern hells. For years we were accustomed to ask, "In what +military prison of the north, in what common jail of Europe, in what +dungeon of the civilized or savage world, have captives taken in +war--nay, condemned criminals--been systematically exposed to a +lingering death by cold and hunger? The foulest felon--his soul black +with sacrilege, his hands reeking with parricide--has enough of food, of +clothing, of shelter; a chair to sit in, a fire to warm him, a blanket +to hide his nakedness, a bed of straw to die on!" + +But listen a moment to the other side. Alexander H. Stephens, +Vice-President of the Confederacy, afterwards for eight years a +representative in our Congress, a man of unquestioned integrity, shows +in his _War between the States_ (pub. 1868-70) by quotation from the +Report of our then Secretary of War (July 19, 1866) that only 22,576 +Federal prisoners died in Confederate hands during the war, whilst +26,436 Confederate prisoners died in Federal hands. He shows also from +the United States Surgeon-General Joseph K. Barnes's Report that the +number of Federal prisoners in southern prisons was about 270,000, but +the number of Confederate prisoners in northern prisons was about +220,000; so that the percentage of deaths in southern prisons was under +nine, while the percentage of deaths in northern prisons was over +twelve![16] + +Had there been, from the first, prompt exchanges of prisoners between +the north and the south, few of these forty-nine thousand lives would +have been lost. _Who, then, blocked the exchange?_ + +Stephens declares (_War between the States_, vol. ii): + + "It is now well understood to have been a part of the settled policy + of the Washington authorities in conducting the war, not to exchange + prisoners. The grounds upon which this extraordinary course was + adopted were, that it was humanity to the northern men in the field + to let their captured comrades perish in prison rather than to let + an equal number of Confederate soldiers be released on exchange to + meet them in battle." + +To the same effect our Secretary Stanton in one of his letters in 1864 +pointed out "that it would not be good policy to send back to be placed +on the firing line 70,000 able-bodied Confederates, and to receive in +exchange men who, with but few exceptions, were not strong enough to +hold their muskets." + +The responsibility, then, for this refusal and the consequent enormous +sacrifice of life with all the accompanying miseries, must rest in part +upon the Government of the United States.[17] + +Blame not the tender-hearted Lincoln for this. + +Did he not judge wisely? Was it not best for the nation that we +prisoners should starve and freeze? + +The pivotal question for him and Grant and Stanton was, "Shall we +exchange and thereby enable the South to reinforce their armies with +fifty to a hundred thousand trained soldiers? + +"If yes, then we must draft many more than that; for they being on the +defensive we must outnumber them in battle. If no, then we must either +stop their cruelties by equally cruel retaliation, as Washington hung +André for the execution of Hale, or we must, more cruelly still, leave +myriads of our soldiers to sink into imbecility and death." + +The North had not the excuse of destitution which the South had, and it +could not bring itself to make reprisals in kind. To draft again, as +evinced in the terrible riots of July, 1863, would have been extremely +unpopular and perhaps overthrown the administration and defeated the +policy of the government. To exchange would pretty surely have prolonged +the war, and might have resulted in permanent disunion. + +As to the right or wrong of the refusal to exchange, it is hardly +relevant to insist that the triumph of the South would have perpetuated +slavery. Lincoln's Proclamation, January 1, 1863, did not touch slavery +in the Border States. And from the southern nation, denuded of slaves by +their escape to the North and confronted by the growing anti-slavery +sentiment of the civilized world, the "peculiar institution" would soon +have died out. + +Need we attempt, as is often done, to justify our government's attitude +in this matter by affirming that the nation was in a life-and-death +struggle for its very existence? Did that existence depend upon its +territorial limits? Would it have gone to pieces if the victorious North +had relinquished its hold on the defeated South? Had a boundary line +been drawn half-way across the continent, separating the twenty-three +loyal States from the eleven seceding, the twenty-two millions of the +North from the nine or ten millions of the South, would it not have +remained a mighty nation with no cause for further disunion, and able as +the war had shown to place in the field more than two million fighting +men? + +Is it not equally unnecessary to urge, as if it were a valid excuse for +our government's refusal to exchange, that between the two nations there +would have been frequent if not perpetual hostilities? Why so, any more +than between the United States and Canada, where for fifty (it is now a +hundred) years, along a boundary line of thirty-eight hundred miles, +there had been unbroken peace and no fort nor warship? + +Let us not raise the question whether Lincoln made a colossal blunder +when he renounced his favorite doctrine so emphatically set forth in his +Congressional speech (page 47). The die was cast when Sumter was fired +on. The question which confronted him in 1863-64--What to do with the +perishing Union prisoners?--was simply one of military necessity. + +According to the ethics of war was he not fully justified in sacrificing +us rather than imperiling the great cause which he had at heart? + +Are we, then, to blame President Davis, or the Confederate Commissioner +Robert Ould, or Gen. John H. Winder, Superintendent of Military Prisons, +for allowing the Federal prisoners to starve and freeze and die by +thousands? Must we not admit the truth of their contention that their +soldiers needed the food, clothing, and medical care for want of which +their prisoners were suffering? And if the shocking conditions at +Andersonville, Salisbury, Danville, and other prisons could easily have +been avoided, or even if they were made more distressing by the +deliberate inhumanity of those in immediate charge, ought not such facts +to have intensified a desire on the part of both governments to effect a +speedy exchange? + +The southern people were threatened with subjugation, their government +with annihilation. In such a critical situation, what measures are +allowable? + +We endeavor to look at the matter from both standpoints. + +This brings up the whole question of the rightfulness of war. If it must +be waged, is success the highest duty? If military necessity demands, +may any and every law of God and man be disregarded? + +While we write these concluding pages, the European conflict is raging, +and the voice of the most warlike nation on the globe is heard +continually affirming that war is useful and highly honorable, and that +any means, however frightful, if necessary to ensure or hasten victory +is praise-worthy! + +Then both presidents were right! + +But is not international war murder on a great scale? It is glorious to +die for one's country; but how about killing for our country? killing +innocent men, too? for the soldiers on either side honestly believe they +are doing their duty in shooting and stabbing as many as possible! "The +business of war," said John Wesley, "is the business of devils." So it +would seem; but at heart few are enemies, none devils. + +It has been a pleasure in this narrative to record instances of a very +different spirit. Surely, in proportion to population such were not +fewer in the South than in the North. Like Whittier's _Angels of Buena +Vista_ they rescue us from pessimism. They are prophetic of a better +day. + + Not wholly lost, O Father, is this evil world of ours! + Upward through the blood and ashes spring afresh the Eden flowers: + From its smoking hell of battle, Love and Pity send their prayer, + And still thy white-winged angels hover dimly in our air! + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[11] I still possess the copy of Davies's _Legendre_ which I bought on +the 8th of November for twenty Confederate dollars, and of which I +memorized three books in prison. As to the _Shakespeare_, see _ante_, p. +85. + +[12] I retain with pride the wooden spoon which did me good service when +I was _in limbo_. It cost me over two weeks' labor in shaping it with +half a knife-blade and pieces of broken glass. For the little block of +wood I paid the sentry one "rebel dollar!" + +[13] Many years after the war he rendered financial aid to fellow +prisoners, his chum, artist Vander Weyde, and General Hayes. Author of +several valuable works, he is now head of the publishing house of G. P. +Putnam's Sons. + +[14] It was a special pleasure after the lapse of fifty years to meet +Estabrooks at the Massachusetts Commandery of the Loyal Legion, where, +without knowing of his presence, I had just made honorable mention of +him in an address on prison life. + +[15] In my own case the prison experience was peculiar: it changed the +course of my whole subsequent life. I had studied law, been admitted to +the bar in two states, and "practiced" with fair success, "though," as a +friend was accustomed to remark, "not enough to do much harm!" Many +times one of the best men I ever knew, my father, had said to me at +parting, "Do all the good you can." Much meditating while in the army +and especially while in prison, I finally resolved to pursue an +educational career. Of course I felt sadly the loss of years of study +that might have better equipped me; but it seemed a duty. I had had some +experience which, I thought, proved me not wholly unqualified. While a +student in college and while reading law I had partly supported myself +by giving instruction to private pupils and in the schools of General +Russell and Mayor Skinner. Afterwards, before the war, I had taught +Greek in the Worcester (Mass.) Academy; and English literature, Greek, +and Latin for more than three years as principal of the Worcester public +high school. I knew the vocation would be congenial. So I became +principal of a state normal school, of two high schools, of a large +academy; house chairman of a (Conn.) legislative committee securing the +enactment of three school measures of importance; later, president of a +college, professor in a theological seminary and in Cornell University; +founder and for three years first president of the earliest and long the +largest of the world's general _summer_ schools (which now in the United +States number nearly 700); lecturer in many Chautauqua assemblies, +colleges, vacation schools, and university extension centres; President +of the State University of North Dakota; editor, with biographic +sketches and copious notes, of many masterpieces as text-books in higher +English literature; author of a history of my regiment; also of a +treatise on _Voice and Gesture_, of many monographs and magazine +articles mostly educational; associate founder and first president of +_The Watch and Ward Society_; one of the directors and executive +committee of the _American Peace Society_; director of the +_Massachusetts Peace Society_; president of _The American Institute of +Instruction_; translator, annotator, and essayist of _The Book of Job_; +etc. + +It may be proper to add that among those indebted in some degree to my +instruction or training were several who captured Yale's highest prize +for rhetorical excellence (the hundred dollar gold medal of which I was +the first recipient): one college president; six college professors; +three university presidents; two governors of states; two United States +Senators; and many others eminent as clergymen, authors, judges, +editors, and business men. + +[16] The higher death-rate (if that be conceded) of southern soldiers is +easily accounted for. The northern soldiers had been carefully selected +by competent surgeons. They were physically perfect, or nearly so. They +were in the bloom of early manhood or the strength of middle age--not an +old man among them, not a diseased man among them, not a broken-down +constitution among them. But multitudes of the southern, enrolled by +conscription, were physically unfit. Many were much too old or too +young. Said our General Grant, "To fill their ranks, they have robbed +the cradle and the grave!" + +[17] The exchange is said to have been stopped in 1862-63 by the refusal +of the Confederates to give up captured negro soldiers in return for +southern captives in the North, the United States properly insisting +upon perfect equality in the treatment of black and white. But early in +1864, if not previously, the Confederates yielded the point and were +anxious to surrender man for man. + + + + +APPENDIX + + +(From the original record. See p. 88.) + +Proceedings of a Court Martial convened at Danville Mil. Pris. by virtue +of the following Order: + + DANVILLE MIL. PRISON, Oct. 29, 1864. + +General Order + +No. 1. + +Pursuant to the Regulations adopted by the Union Officers of the 2d +Floor Military Prison, Danville, Va., Oct. 26, 1864, a Court Martial is +hereby appointed to convene at 10 o'clock A.M. on the 29th inst. or as +soon thereafter as may be practicable, for the Trial of Captain [I omit +from the record the name of the accused], 104th N. Y. Vols., and such +other officers as may be brought before it. + + Detail for the Court. + + Lt. Col. W. A. LEACH, [Here follow the names + 90th P. V. of Captains Bryant, + Lt. Col. THEO. GREGG, Black, Clapp, Burkart, + 45th P. V. Weiss (?), Reilly (?), + Major J. W. BYRON, Moody, and the name + 88th N. Y. V. of the Judge Advocate, + Capt. G. M. DICKERMAN, Lt. and Adjt. James A. + 26th Mass. V. Clark, 17th Pa. Cav.] + + By order of the Officers of the 2d Floor, + JAMES CARLE, + Col. 190th Pa. Vols., Senior Officer. + + +DANVILLE MIL. PRISON, VA., 10 o'clock A.M., 31st, Oct. 1864. + +The Court met pursuant to the foregoing order. Present all the members. +The Court then proceeded to the trial of Capt. [we again omit the name +of the accused], 104th N. Y. Vols. + +The Judge Advocate stated that he had acquainted the accused of the +order convening the Court, to which he replied in the words following, +to wit: "What is that to do with me? I recognize no authority in this +prison to convene a court martial," or words to that effect. + +The accused having refused to appear, the members of the Court were duly +sworn by the Judge Advocate, and the Judge Advocate was duly sworn by +the President of the Court. The accused, Capt. [again we omit the name], +104th N. Y. Vols., was arraigned on the following charges and +specifications: + +Charge--Conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman. + +Specification--In this: That Capt. [we again omit], 104th N. Y. Vols., +without provocation, did say in the hearing of several officers to +Lieut. Col. Homer B. Sprague, 13th C. V., speaking in coarse and +ungentlemanly manner the words following, to wit: [here we omit the +language uttered as being too vile and filthy to print]; that he did +several times repeat the same in a coarse and angry tone, and used other +vulgar and indecent expressions in an insulting tone and manner. This at +Danville Mil. Prison, Va., in the lower room thereof on the 29th day of +October, 1864. + +The accused refusing to appear, the Judge Advocate was directed by the +President to enter the plea of Not Guilty. + + To the Specification, Not Guilty. + To the Charge, Not Guilty. + +Lieut. G. C. Wilson, 2d P. Artillery, and Lieut. Wm. Shuler, 107th P. +Vols., witnesses for the prosecution, stated that they had cognizance of +the facts set forth in the Specification. + +The proceedings of the Court having been reviewed by the Judge Advocate, +he submitted the case without argument. The Court was then cleared for +deliberation, and having maturely considered the evidence adduced find +the accused + +On the Specification, Guilty; with the exception of the words "and used +other vulgar and indecent expressions." + +Of the Charge, Guilty. And do therefore sentence him to be reprimanded +by the Senior Officer. + +The Court is thus lenient owing to this being the first case of the kind +brought before it. + + WM. A. LEACH, Lt. Col. 90th Regt. Pa. Vols., Pres.; + JAS. A. CLARK, Adjt. 17th Pa. Cavalry, Judge Advocate. + +The Proceedings and Findings in the foregoing case are hereby +respectfully submitted to Brig.-Gen. Hayes for his consideration. + +JAMES CARLE, Col. 191st Pa. Vols., Senior Officer, 2d Floor. + + +CONFED. MIL. PRISON, DANVILLE, VA., Nov. 1, 1864. + +The Proceedings and Findings of the Court Martial of which Lt. Col. W. +A. Leach, 90th Pa. Vols., was President, having been submitted to +Brig.-Gen. Hayes, the Senior Officer present, are approved. The extreme +leniency of the Court must be apparent to all, and can only be excused +by the novelty of the case brought before it. Language fails to convey +censure adequate to the gross vulgarity and ungentlemanly conduct of the +accused. Captain [we omit the name] seems to forget or misconceive his +responsibility in his present circumstances. An officer being a prisoner +of war is not relieved from his responsibility to his government nor +from his liability to the regulations of the service as far as may be +applied to his dishonor by ungentlemanly and unofficer-like conduct; and +many other offenses committed by an officer when a prisoner of war are +as punishable as if that officer were serving with his command. And it +is well the officers in the prison have organized a Court for the +summary punishment of those of their number, who, forgetful of their +position and their honor, would bring shame upon themselves and their +associates. + +It is to be hoped that Capt. [name we omit]'s conduct in the future will +be such as will cause to be forgotten his mistakes of the past. + + JOSEPH HAYES, Brig. Gen. U. S. Vols. + + + + +INDEX + + +A + + Adams, Dr. Nehemiah, 29 + + Adams, Sarah F., quoted, 35 + + ambulance, 37, 38 + + annihilation threatened, 23 + + apothecary doctor, 108, 109 + + Appendix, court record, 153-156 + + apple-jack, 39 + + Army of West Va., 4, 5, 6 + + artillery, trained on us, 51, 58 + + _at_ in "Where is he at?" 73, 75 + + attempt to break out, 113, 118 + + autographs, officers', 136 + + +B + + Barnes, J. K., Surgeon-Gen., 146 + + battle, pomp of, 8, 134 + + battle-field, Winchester, 3 + + + beans, soup of, ration, 44, 94, 102 + + Beecher, Henry Ward, quoted, 30 + + Beecher, married by, 52 + + Berryville, 3 + + Berryville pike, 3, 4, 7 + + Birge, Gen. H. W., 7, 9 + + blanket for several, 105 + + blankets "confiscated," 46 + + blankets, not to be shaken, 87 + + Blinn, Col. C. D., ill, 7 + + Blue Ridge, 1, 35, 36 + + Braxton's Confed. artillery, 9 + + bread, corn-cob-meal, 44, 93, 100 + + breakfast at Staunton, 32, 33 + + breakfast at Tom's Brook, 21 + + Breckenridge, Confed. Gen., 5 + + Brinton, Col., escape of, 26, 27 + + brooms in prison, 100, 102 + + Brown, John, defended, 28 + + Brownell, H. H., quoted, 137 + + Browning, Mrs., quoted, 36, 83, 91 + + buckets for water, 98, 110, 116 + + Buckingham, Gov. of Conn., 7, 129 + + "Bucktail Regiment," 64, 130 + + burning $400, 138 + + Burrage, Major H. S., 117, 120, 142 + + Bush, Lieut. W. W., 93, 96 + + "Butler's dandy regiment," 7 (note) + + Byron, Lord, quoted, 28 + + Byron, Major John W., 87 + + Byrne, Major John, 64, 66, 141 + + +C + + cards, playing, 102, 106, 141 + + Carle, Col. James, 64, 66, 80 + + carving in prison, 49, 83, 101, 141 + + cavalry, 4, 5, 6, 13, 25, 34, 40, 45 + + chaplain, prisoner, 57, 58, 80 + + charge, Gordon's brilliant, 10, 12 + + Chautauqua, Mountain Lake, 121 + + checkers, 92, 102, 141 + + Cheever, Dr. Geo. B., 29 + + chess, 92, 102, 141 + + choosing death, 124, 125, 133, 134, 136, 143, 153 + + Clarke, Adjt. James A., 22, 96, 101, 117, 143, 153 + + clergymen's visits, 121, 122 + + Clover, in it at night, 47 + + coal, poor and scanty, 79 + + coal dust, very fine! 48 + + cold, severe and fatal, 79, 132, 142 + + communication, finger signs, 65, 70 + + communication, secret, 43, 70 + + Confederate currency, 27, 32, 33, 34, 94, 121, 140 + + Cook, Capt. William, 58, 85, 96, 103, 105, 143 + + cooking, how and where, 21, 95 + + Constitution, U. S., 29, 39, 47 + + Corcoran, Gen. Michael, 53 + + corn-cob-meal bread, 44, 93, 100, 107 + + corn-cob-meal soup, 94, 102 + + court martial in prison, 88; and Appendix, 153 + + Crew, John, a kind enemy, 28 + + Crook, Gen. George, 4 + + +D + + daily routine, Danville, 97-105, 140, 141 + + Dame, Rev., preaches to us, 121 + + Dan river, 79, 98 + + Danville, arrival at, 47, 48; + again, 77 + + Danville death record, 129, 132, 142, 144 + + Danville prisons, 98, 129 + + Davies's _Legendre_, 140 (note) + + Davis, Jefferson, 150 + + Davis, Lieut., death of, 57, 58, 68 + + dead lines, Salisbury, 54 + + deaf-and-dumb alphabet, 65, 70 + + deaths at Salisbury, 55, 130, 134, 136, 145 + + deaths of Confederates in northern prisons, 146 + + deaths at Danville, 129, 132, 136, 145 + + Declaration of Independence, 47 + + defile, Berryville, 3, 4, 7 + + devastation by Sheridan, 2, 3 + + diary kept, 22, 28, 44 + + Dickerman, Capt. G. M., 32 + + discussion with Lieut. Howard, 28, 29, 30 + + discussions in prison, 47, 90, 91, 102, 110, 141 + + distribution of rations, 54, 100 + + Dolan, pitied by Confederate ladies, 37 + + Duffié, Gen. O. N., 113-117 + + Dwight, Gen. William, 12, 13 + + +E + + Early, Gen. Jubal A., 5, 9, 14, 17 + + Edenburg village, 26 + + education in prison, 69, 70, 91, 92, 140 + + Eighth Corps, W. Va. Army, 4, 5, 6 + + Election votes in prison, 90 + + Emerson, Rev., prison chaplain, 58, 80 + + enlist or die, choice to, 133, 134 + + Epaminondas, strategy at Leuctra, 10 + + "escape on the brain," 67 + + escapes attempted, 26, 50, 110 + + Estabrooks, Lieut. H. L., 72, 74, 142, 143 (note) + + exchange of prisoners, 83, 89, 102, 131 + + exchange blocked, 89, 90, 106, 107, 124, 131, 147-151 + + +F + + Ficklin, J. F., his kindness, 125-129, 131 + + Fisher, First Sea Lord, quoted, 57 + + Fisher's Hill, battle, 25 + + Fisher's Hill reached, 20 + + "flag-of-truce fever," 106, 107, 108 + + fleas, wicked, 27 + + flour ration, how cooked, 21 + + Fontleroy, Dr., his hospitality, 32, 33 + + freemasonry, very useful, 38, 40, 42, 46 + + French, oral lessons in, 69, 70 + + Fry, Major W. H., 85 + + fugitive slave law, 29, 30 + + fun, critical and sarcastic, 104, 105 + + fun, sanitary, 79, 80 + + furnace way of escape, 110 + + Furness, Horace Howard, 129 + + +G + + Gardner, Adjt. W. C., 69, 70, 71, 74, 85, 107, 108, 109, 142, 143 + + Gee, Confed. Major, 52, 53, 56, 74 + + German, oral lessons in, 92 + + Ghost in _Hamlet_, 85, 86 + + "God's Country," 137 + + God's fugitive slave law, 29 + + "going through" prisoners, 22 + + Gordon, Confed. Gen. J. B., 5, 10, 17 + + Gordon's brilliant charge, 10, 13 + + gorge of Berryville pike, 3, 4, 10 + + gorilla or guerrilla, which? 39, 40 + + grain cars at Danville, 48 + + Grant's merciless orders, 2 + + Greek Testament, kept, 42; + stolen, 80 + + greenbacks burned, 138 + + greenbacks, relative value of, 23, 24, 41, 140 + + Greensboro, N. Carolina, 48 + + Gregg, Lieut.-Col. Theodore, 64, 85 + + Grover, Gen. Cuvier, 5, 6, 8, 12 + + guerrilla, "I'm a guerrilla," 59 + + guerrilla, Morgan's, a kind gentleman, 34 + + gun cotton, cushion suspected, 45, 46 + + +H + + hake, issued in rations, 94 + + Hall, Rev. Charles K., kind, 122 + + _Hamlet_, rehearsal, 85, 86 + + Handy, Lieut., aide to Molineux, 11 + + Hartshorne, Col. W. Ross, 64, 66, 67, 68, 115, 130 + + Haslett, Capt., Provost Marshal, 26, 37, 38 + + Haurand, Major August, 22, 66 + + Hayes, Gen. Joseph, 53, 61, 65, 67, 92, 141 + + Hayes, Gen., on court martial, Appendix, 156 + + health, surely failing, 123 + + Henry, Patrick, cited, 30 + + "Hide your greenbacks," 41 + + hole in the brick wall, 43 + + Holland, J. H., imaginary, 128 + + Homer, quoted, 80; + puzzled to death, 99 + + Hooper, Lieut.-Col. C. H., 41, 54, 100, 115 + + horse lost in battle, 10, 11, 19 + + hospital in Danville, 106, 132 + + hostage, Lt. Manning held as, 60 + + Howard, Confed. Lieut., 28, 29, 30 + + Howe, Capt. Wesley C., 22, 50, 72, 109, 110, 141 + + +I + + Imboden, J. D., Confed. Gen., 25 + + Indiana soldiers, acrobats, 24 + + innocent deliberately slain, 152 + + international war, 152 + + Irish Bend, La., battle, wounded in, 89 + + +J + + James river, 46, 137 + + Jefferson, Thomas, quoted, 31 + + Jersey lightning, apple-jack? 39 + + Johnson's Island prison, 126 + + Jonah, disgorged like, 49 + + Jordan, H. T., 126, 127 + + +K + + Keifer, Gen. J. W., 9 + + Kerrstown, 20 + + +L + + Ladies, Confed., kind and handsome, 37 + + Lee, Gen. Fitzhugh, 5; + wounded, 13 + + _Legendre_, Davies's, 113, 140 (note) + + letters from outside, 88, 89, 96, 132 + + Libby prison, 40-44, 112, 144 + + lice in prison, 102, 103, 132 + + lice of Egypt, not "in it," 80 + + Lincoln, Abraham, quoted, 47, 48 + + Lincoln on exchange of prisoners, 89, 90, 125 + + Lincoln on right of revolution, 47, 48 + + Lloyd, J. J., returns from desertion, 133 + + Lockwood, Capt., killed, 77 + + log houses for officers, 52, 53 + + Longfellow, quoted, 136 + + Lovelace, poet, quoted, 89 + + +M + + Manning, Lieut. W. C., tunnel, 60, 61, 65 + + Mark Tapley's "jolly" example, 38 + + _Marmion_, Scott's, quoted, 37 + + martyrs in reality, 133, 134, 136 + + Mason, Capt. Frank H., 92, 143 + + Masonic Hall, Winchester, 18 + + McIntosh's cavalry, 4 + + Meacham's Station, 38, 40 + + meat ration, 44, 93, 94 + + Mercutio's wound, 118, 119 + + Middletown in Shenandoah Valley, 20 + + Molineux, Col. E. L., 7, 9, 14 + + money concealed, 42, 119, 138 + + money, Confederate, 23, 32, 33, 34, 113, 140 + + Morgan's guerrillas, 34 + + Mortality in prison. _See_ under "deaths" + + "Muggers," 51 + + +N + + Napoleon, his strategy, 10; + quoted, 135 + + nationality, northern, 149, 150 + + nationality, southern, 39, 150, 151 + + necessity, military, defies every law, 151 + + negroes, loyal and kind, 111 + + negroes, prisoners of war, 78, 129 + + New Market, Va., 26, 27, 28 + + Newtown, V., 20 + + Nineteenth Corps, 4, 5, 6, 10, 66, 67 + + +O + + occupations, 83, 84, 85, 91, 92; 97-105 + + O'Neil, Col., Yale classmate, killed, 64, 130 + + Opequon battle, 3-15 + + Opequon Creek, 3, 7 + + order to retreat, 11 + + Ould, R., Confed. Agt. for exchange, 151 + + ovens for baking, 110 + + overcoat saved, 19, 20, 42, 46, 105, 108, 109 + + +P + + "painfully sober," 85 + + parole given, 53, 129 + + parole rejected, 53 + + _pediculidæ vestimenti, non capitis_, 99, 100 + + Petersburg shelled, 45 + + Pharaoh's epidermis and obstinacy, 80 + + Pickett's charge at Gettysburg, 10 + + plots to break out, 61-75; 113-119 + + policing prison, 87, 100 + + prayer of chaplain Emerson, 58, 80 + + prey and pray, 121 + + Prey, Col. Gilbert G., 54, 115, 130 + + prison number 3, officers', 78, + + + prison 6, the worst of all, 131, 132 + + prison rules adopted, 87, 88 + + profanity of soldiers, 14, 15, 39, 87 + + Putnam, Adjt. G. Haven, 91, 92, 101, 110, 121, 140, 142 + + +Q + + questions, amusing or ugly, 104, 105, 141 + + +R + + Ralston, Col., killed, 61, 64, 66, 114, 118 + + Ramseur, S. D., Confed. Gen., 13, 15 + + rations, 44, 49, 56, 93, 94, 100, 102, 107, 124, 139 + + recapture of escaped officers, 112 + + recount made futile by trick, 111, 112 + + Redwood of Mobile, Yale classmate, 38 + + Reed, "shot into inch pieces," 24, 25, 26, 31 + + retaliation threatened, 60; + done, 148 + + rheumatism, 123, 142 + + Richardson, Albert D., of _Tribune_, 52 + + Richmond, arrival at, 40, 136 + + Richmond, watching exploding shells, 45 + + Ricketts' Division, 5, 6, 7, 9, 12 + + riddle, fatal to the old poet, 99 + + riots in July, 1863, 133, 149 + + robbery of captives, 15, 22, 46 + + Rodes, Confed. General, 5; + killed, 10, 13 + + roll-call nullified, 111, 112 + + roll-call sergt., queer, 99-103, 111, 112 + + rope ladder, twisted rags, 111, 112 + + rules adopted in prison, 87, 88, 141, 153 + + Russell, Sergt. Alfred, 89 + + Russell, Gen. D. A., killed, 13 + + Russell, Martha, 89 + + Russell, Gen. W. H., 128 + + +S + + Sadler, Major David, 66 + + Salisbury prison, 50-55; 61, 130, 133, 134, 136 + + sandwiches, G. W. Swepson's, 49 + + sanitary measures, 79, 80, 103, 141, 142 + + Sargent, Lieut, of 14th N. H., 23 + + Scott, Sir Walter, quoted, 8, 37, 134, 135 + + scurvy prevalent, 123, 142 + + searching of prisoners, 41, 42, 119 + + seceded states, a real nation? 150, 151 + + sentries' sing-song call, 44 + + sermons in prison, 57, 58, 121, 122 + + "Set the table for dinner," 96 + + Shakespeare, quoted, 36, 118, 119 + + Shakespeare's _Hamlet_, 85, 140 + + shelter, lack of at Salisbury, 53, 55, 136 + + Shenandoah river and valley, 1, 2 + + Sheridan's devastation, 1, 2, 3 + + Sherman, Gen. W. T., quoted, 1 + + "shot twice into inch pieces," 24 + + Simpson, Lieut. J. B.; his sly trick, 77 + + singing at evening at Danville, 104, 141 + + Sixth Corps, 4, 5, 6, 10, 13 + + "skirmishing" a misnomer, 102, 103 + + slavery doomed in any event, 149 + + "Slim Jim," 101 + + Small, Major Adner A., 142 + + Smith, Robert C., Confed. commandant, 81, 82 + + Smith, Col. Robert C., Yale man, kind, 82, + + + Smith, Sergt. W. F., clerk, 129 + + "snack?" or snake? 49 + + sorghum syrup issued, 94 + + soup, so called (or broth), 44, 94, 102 + + spittoon mystery, solved? 78 + + spoon, carving of, 83, 141 (note) + + "spoon fashion," lying in, 105 + + "_Spoon_"! significance of, 105 + + Sprague, Bvt. Col. H. B., _passim_, and 143 (note) + + stampede, Yankee, 11, 12; + Confederate, 18, 23 + + Stanton, E. M., War Secretary, 147, 148 + + State, allegiance to, 39 + + Staunton, Va., march to, 2, 28 + + Staunton, arrival and breakfast at, 32, 33 + + Staunton, Morgan's guerrilla kind at, 33, 34 + + stealing rations from guards, haversacks, 77 + + Stephens, Hon. Alexander H., 146, 147 + + "Storming Column" at Port Hudson, 7 + + "Stove Brigade," at Danville, 79 + + stoves in prison at Danville, 79, 95 + + Strasburg, Va., 20 + + Strickland, undertaker, 129 + + Stuart, Dr. Moses, on slavery, 29 + + subjugation policy, Lincoln's, 151 + + sunrise on the Blue Ridge, 36 + + sutler, Confederate, 84 + + swearing, copious, of two kinds, 14, 15, 39 + + sweeping the floors, 87, 100 + + Swepson, George W., very kind, 49, 50 + + +T + + table-knife saw, Lieut. Titus's, 97, 111 + + Tarbell, Capt. Doctor, assistant commissary, 54, 100 + + Taylor, Bayard, quoted, 80 + + _tertium quid_, solution of mystery, 78 + + theatrical collapse at Danville, 85, 86 + + Thirteenth Conn. Regt., very patriotic, 7 + + Tiemann, Capt. W. F., 14, 15, 85, 109, 143 + + Titus, Lieut. L. B., invents useful saw, 97, 111 + + tobacco and the spittoon mystery, 78 + + tobacco given us by kind clergyman, 122 + + Tom's Brook, 20, 22, 23 + + tooth-brush, second-hand, $300 offered, 140 + + Torbert, Gen. Alfred T., 3, 4, 5, 6, 17 + + trading with Confed. sentinels, 54, 120 + + tunnel through the Blue Ridge, 35, 36 + + tunneling at Salisbury, 60, 61; + Danville, 109, 110 + + Turner, Nathaniel, inspector, Libby, 41 + + Turner, Richard, commandant at Libby, 41, 45 + + +U + + unguentum, two pounds called for, 81 + + university students in prison at Danville, 140 + + +V + + Vander Weyde, Lieut. Henry, artist, 101, 117 + + vermin at Danville, 80, 81, 87, 131, 132 + + view-point, all-important, 57 + + votes in prison for President, Nov. 8, 90 + + +W + + war, Admiral Fisher on its essence, 57 + + war, Lieut. Gen. S. B. M. Young, quoted on, 57 + + war, Gen. Wm. T. Sherman's "War is hell," 1 + + Washington, George, Commander-in-chief, 73, 148 + + Washington, Lieutenant, a Confederate, 83 + + Washington, President, a Mason at Winchester, 18 + + Washington wished slavery somehow ended, 30 + + water parties under guard, 98, 110 + + water scarce _en route_, 20; + at Salisbury, 56, 65, 75 + + Watts, Isaac, quoted, 45 + + Waynesboro, Va., 34, 35 + + Webster, Daniel, 29 + + Wesley, John, quoted, 152 + + West Virginia, Army of, 4, 5 + + "Where is he at?" 73 + + Whittier, John G., quoted, 152 + + Wilson, Cav. Gen. J. H., 4 + + Winchester, Va., battle of, 3-15 + + Winder, Confed. Gen. J. H., Supt. Prisons, 112 + + wood, split without edge-tools, 97, 107 + + Woolsey, T. D., President of Yale, 128 + + +Y + + Yadkin river crossing, 72, 75 + + Yale College men, 38, 49, 64, 69, 82 + + Yankee ingenuity and skill, 83, 84, 97 + + Y. M. C. A., of Richmond, 121 + + Young, Lieut.-Gen. S. B. M., on war, 57 + + + + +Transcriber's Endnotes: + + The following significant errors have been corrected: + + Portrait Caption, "Gardiner" to _Gardner_. + + Page 102 & 160, "peculidæ" to _pediculidæ_, could be amended to + _pediculus_ however the former seems more in keeping with the + original intent. + + Spelling errors occurring solely in the Index have been corrected + to match the main text. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Lights and Shadows in Confederate +Prisons, by Homer B. 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Sprague + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Lights and Shadows in Confederate Prisons + A Personal Experience, 1864-5 + +Author: Homer B. Sprague + +Release Date: January 21, 2008 [EBook #24385] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CONFEDERATE PRISONS *** + + + + +Produced by Stephen Blundell and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="PORTRAIT" id="PORTRAIT"></a><img src="images/001.jpg" width="410" height="500" alt="" title="" /> +Portraits of Fellow Officers in Prison<br /><br /> +Left to right—Top line: Capt. Cook, Capt. Burrage<br /> +Middle line: Adj't. Gardner, Col. Sprague, Capt. Howe<br /> +Lower line: Lieut. Estabrooks, Adj't. Putnam</div> + +<hr /> + +<div class="hd1"><i>"Forsan et haec olim meminisse juvabit"</i></div> + +<h1><span class="sp1"><big>Lights and Shadows in<br /> +Confederate Prisons</big></span></h1> + +<div class="hd2"><b>A Personal Experience<br /> +1864-5</b></div> + +<div class="hd3"><b>By</b></div> + +<h2>Homer B. Sprague, Ph.D.</h2> + +<div class="hd4">Bvt.-Colonel 13th Conn. Vols.</div> + +<div class="hd4" style="margin-bottom: .5em;">Sometime Professor in Cornell and President of the University<br /> +of North Dakota</div> + +<div class="pad2"><p class="hd4">Author of "History of the 13th Conn. Inf. Vols.," "Right<br /> +and Wrong in our War between the States," and<br /> +"The European War, Its Cause and Cure"</p></div> + +<div class="hd3"><i>With Portraits</i></div> + +<div class="pad1"><p class="center"><b>G. P. Putnam's Sons</b><br /> +New York and London<br /> +The Knickerbocker Press<br /> +1915</p></div> + +<hr /> + +<div class="pad2"><p class="hd1"><span class="smcap">Copyright, 1915</span><br /> +BY<br /> +HOMER B. SPRAGUE</p></div> + +<div class="hd1"><b>The Knickerbocker Press, New York</b></div> +<hr /> +<div class="hd5">To<br /> +the ALUMNI of<br /> +the UNIVERSITIES of<br /> +YALE, CORNELL, and NORTH DAKOTA<br /> +<br /> +in which respectively the author was<br /> +student, professor, president;<br /> +to<br /> +thousands of his pupils yet living;<br /> +to<br /> +his companions of the loyal legion,<br /> +comrades of the grand army of the republic,<br /> +all surviving officers and soldiers<br /> +union or confederate;<br /> +all who cherish the memory of the patriot dead<br /> +and all who HATE WAR,<br /> +this record is affectionately<br /> +dedicated</div> + +<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_v" id="Page_v">[v]</a></span></p> +<h2>PREFACE</h2> + +<p><span class="smcap">This</span> narrative of prison life differs from all +others that I have seen, in that it is careful to put +the best possible construction upon the treatment +of Union prisoners by the Confederates, and +to state and emphasize kindnesses and courtesies +received by us from them.</p> + +<p>For the accuracy of the facts stated I am +indebted to a diary kept from day to day during +the whole of my imprisonment, and to the best +obtainable records. The exact language of conversations +cannot of course always be remembered, +but I aim always to give correctly the substance.</p> + +<p>I am aware that the opinions I express in regard +to Sheridan's strategy at the Battle of Winchester +are not those generally entertained. But I give +reasons. His own account of the battle is sadly +imperfect. To capture but five guns and nine +battle flags at a cost of four thousand six hundred +and eighty killed and wounded, and leave almost +the entire rebel army in shape to fight two great +battles within a month, was not the programme +he had planned. Early said "Sheridan should +have been cashiered."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_vi" id="Page_vi">[vi]</a></span></p> + +<p>I shall be blamed more for venturing to question +Lincoln's policy of subjugation. He had proclaimed +with great power and in the most unmistakable +language in Congress that "any portion of +any people had a perfect right to throw off their +old government and establish a new one." But +now, instead of standing strictly on the defensive, +or attempting by diplomacy to settle the +conflict which had become virtually international, +he entered upon a war of conquest.</p> + +<p>I do not blame him for refusing to exchange +prisoners, nor President Davis for allowing them to +starve and freeze. Both were right, <i>if war is right</i>. +It was expedient that thirty, fifty, or a hundred +thousand of us should perish, or be rendered +physically incapable of bearing arms again. The +"deep damnation of the taking off" was due not +to individual depravity but to military necessity.</p> + +<div class="author">H. B. S.</div> +<p class="loc1">Brighton, Mass., U. S. A.,<br /> +<i>1915</i>.</p> + +<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_vii" id="Page_vii">[vii]</a></span></p> +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> + +<div class='center'> +<table class="tab1" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td class="td2" colspan="2"><small><b>PAGE</b></small></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td4">Preface</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_v">v</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td3" colspan="2">CHAPTER I</td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">The First, or Forenoon, Battle of Winchester, Indecisive—Sheridan's +and Early's Mistakes—The Capture</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td3" colspan="2">CHAPTER II</td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">At Winchester—On the Road thence to Tom's Brook, New Market, and +Staunton</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_17">17</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td class="td3" colspan="2">CHAPTER III</td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">At Staunton—Thence to Waynesboro, Meacham's, and Richmond</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_32">32</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td class="td3" colspan="2">CHAPTER IV</td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">At Libby—Thence to Clover, Danville, Greensboro, and +Salisbury—Effort to Pledge us not to Attempt Escape</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_43">43</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td class="td3" colspan="2">CHAPTER V</td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">At Salisbury—Great Plot to Escape—How Frustrated</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_60">60</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td class="td3" colspan="2">CHAPTER VI</td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">From Salisbury to Danville—The Forlorn Situation—Effort to +"Extract Sunshine from Cucumbers"—The Vermin—The Prison +Commandant a Yale Man—Proposed Theatricals—Rules +Adopted—Studies—Vote in Prison for Lincoln and +McClellan—Killing Time</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_77">77</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td3" colspan="2">CHAPTER VII</td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">Exact Record of Rations in Danville—Opportunity to Cook—Daily +Routine of Proceedings from Early Dawn till Late at Night</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_93">93</a><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_viii" id="Page_viii">[viii]</a></span></td></tr> + +<tr><td class="td3" colspan="2">CHAPTER VIII</td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">Continual Hope of Exchange of Prisoners—"Flag-of-Truce +Fever!"—Attempted Escape by Tunneling—Repeated Escapes by +Members of Water Parties, and how we Made the Roll-Call +Sergeant's Count Come Out all Right every Time—Plot to Break +Out by Violence, and its Tragic End</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_106">106</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td3" colspan="2">CHAPTER IX</td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">Kind Clergymen Visit us and Preach Excellent Discourses—Colonel +Smith's Personal Good Will to me—His Offer—John F. Ficklin's +Charity—My Good Fortune—Supplies of Clothing +Distributed—Deaths in Prison</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_120">120</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td3" colspan="2">CHAPTER X</td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">Results and Reflections—The Right and the Wrong of it All</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_138">138</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td4">Appendix</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_153">153</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td4">Index</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_157">157</a></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<hr /> +<h1><small>Lights and Shadows in Confederate Prisons</small></h1> + +<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[1]</a></span></p> +<h1 class="pad2">Lights and Shadows in +Confederate Prisons</h1> + +<h2>CHAPTER I</h2> + +<div class="block2"><p>The First, or Forenoon, Battle of Winchester, Indecisive—Sheridan's +and Early's Mistakes—The Capture.</p></div> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">War is Hell</span>," said our great strategist, +General W. T. Sherman. According to its latest +code, with few or no exceptions, the end justifies +the means, and, if necessary to success, it is right +to do wrong.</p> + +<p>Fifty years ago one of the fairest regions on +earth was that portion of Virginia extending southwesterly +about a hundred and twenty miles from +Harper's Ferry to the divide beyond Staunton, +where rise the headwaters of the James. Walled +in by the Blue Ridge on the southeast and parallel +ranges of the Alleghanies on the northwest, it +takes its name from the beautiful river which +winds along its length, and which the Indians<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[2]</a></span> +poetically christened Shenandoah (Daughter of +the Stars!). When some three hundred of us +prisoners of war walked wearily a hundred miles +from Winchester to Staunton in September, 1864, +it was still rich and lovely. A few weeks later, +the necessities of war made it a scene of utter +desolation.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p class="inde">Grant had rightly concluded [says Sheridan<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a>], +that it was time to bring the war home to a people +engaged in raising crops from a prolific soil to feed the +country's enemies, and devoting to the Confederacy +its best youth. I endorsed the program in all its +parts; for the stores of meat and grain that the valley +provided, and the men it furnished for Lee's +depleted regiments, were the strongest auxiliaries +he possessed.</p></div> + +<p class="noin">Accordingly Grant issued orders with increasing +emphasis, particularly in August and September, +to make the whole region "a barren waste," to</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>destroy or carry off the crops and animals; do all +possible damage to railroads; seize stock of every +description; take away all negro laborers so as to +prevent further planting; hold as prisoners of war, if +sympathizing with the rebellion, all male citizens +under fifty years of age capable of bearing arms, etc.</p></div> + +<p>In obedience to these commands, Sheridan +engaged with alacrity in the work of destruction. +In a few weeks he reported as follows:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[3]</a></span></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p class="inde">I have destroyed 2000 barns filled with wheat, hay, +and farming implements; over 70 mills filled with +flour and wheat; and driven in front of my army 4000 +head of stock.</p></div> + +<p>Said one of his officers who knew whereof he was +speaking, "A crow flying through the valley would +have to carry his own rations, for he could pick +up nothing!"</p> + +<p>At Winchester, the principal town in the +Shenandoah Valley, one hundred and fifty miles +N. N. W. of Richmond, with a population of about +four thousand, the 19th of that September was a +day of glory but also of sorrow. Four thousand +six hundred and eighty of the Union Army, killed +and wounded, told how dearly Sheridan's first +great victory was gained.</p> + +<p>The battle was fought over three, four, or five +square miles, east and north from Winchester, +for the most part near the Opequon Creek, from +which it is sometimes called the "Battle of the +Opequon." To reach the field, the bulk of +Sheridan's army, starting at three o'clock in the +morning from Berryville ten miles east, had to +pass through a gorge in which for a considerable +distance the turnpike extends towards Winchester. +Sheridan's plan at first was to bring his army, +except Merritt's and Averell's Divisions of Torbert's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[4]</a></span> +Cavalry, through the defile, post the Sixth +Corps on the left, the Nineteenth on the right, +throw Crook's Army of West Virginia across the +Staunton turnpike (leading southwest from Winchester), +and so cut off all retreat up the valley. +Meanwhile those two cavalry divisions were to +make a long detour on our right to the north from +Berryville, and close in upon the Confederate left. +Sheridan felt sure of victory, for we outnumbered +the enemy nearly two to one. Had our army got +into position early in the morning, we should have +captured or destroyed the whole of them.</p> + +<p>At early dawn McIntosh's Brigade of Wilson's +Division of Torbert's Cavalry dashed through the +ravine, closely followed by Chapman's Brigade +and five batteries of horse artillery. Sheridan and +his staff followed. They surprised and captured +a small earthwork, and, though fiercely assaulted, +held it till the van of the Sixth Corps relieved them.</p> + +<p>The narrow pass of the Berryville pike was so +obstructed by artillery, ambulances, ammunition +wagons, etc., that it was nearly eight o'clock before +the Sixth Corps, which should have been in position +with Wilson's Cavalry at sunrise, began to +arrive; and it was fully two hours later when the +Nineteenth Corps debouched and deployed. Here +was miscalculation or bad management or both.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span></p> + +<p>This long delay, which the quick-moving cavalry +leader Sheridan had not foreseen nor provided for, +gave time for Early to call in the strong divisions +of Generals Gordon, Breckenridge, and Rodes, +from the vicinity of Stephenson's Depot several +miles away. They left Patton's Brigade of Infantry, +and a part of Fitzhugh Lee's Cavalry to +oppose Torbert.</p> + +<p>Hearing nothing from Torbert, who had now +been gone seven or eight hours on his circuitous +route, Sheridan suddenly changed his whole plan +of action, a perilous maneuver in the face of an +active enemy while the battle is already raging +intermittently. Instead of flinging Crook's Army +of West Virginia, 17 regiments and 3 batteries, +across the Staunton pike, to front northeasterly +and cut off all possible retreat of the Confederates, +he determined to move it to our right and deploy +it in line with the Nineteenth. Doubtless this +was best under the circumstances, though it left +to the enemy the broad smooth highway as a line +of retreat up the valley.</p> + +<p>Grover's Division (2d of the Nineteenth Corps) +in four brigades formed line of battle in front and +to the right of the gorge. In touch on the left +was Ricketts' Division of the Sixth Corps, and +resting on Ricketts' left was Getty's Division of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a></span> +the same corps. Getty had 16 regiments in line; +Ricketts, 12 with 6 batteries; Grover, 20 with 3 +batteries.</p> + +<p>Had Sheridan been able to strike Early by half-past +eight with the Sixth and Nineteenth, he would +have crushed him in detail. Had Early massed +the divisions of Gordon, Breckenridge, and Rodes, +and hurled them at the mouth of the canyon at +ten o'clock while half of the Nineteenth was still +entangled in it, he would probably have split our +army into three parts, and destroyed those already +arrived.</p> + +<p>It was now eleven o'clock, and the Army of +West Virginia at last emerged from the defile. +To make room for its movement in our rear behind +Grover's Division, and to hold the enemy in play +until it should have taken its place on the right of +the Nineteenth, and perhaps to await there the +appearance of Torbert's Cavalry, it was desirable +that Grover should advance. Sheridan of course +meant the whole front of the Sixth and Nineteenth +to keep in a continuous line. At first it seemed to +me that the regiments of the Nineteenth overlapped; +but the lines of advance were slightly +divergent, and wide breaks began to appear +between battalions. Especially on the left of the +Nineteenth a large and widening gap appeared; for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span> +Ricketts had been instructed to guide on the +Berryville pike, and that bore away to the left +and south.</p> + +<p>My battalion, the veteran Thirteenth Conn. +Infantry, should have been led by my Colonel, +C. D. Blinn: but he was sick the night before, and +in the morning, at the crossing of the Opequon, he +fell out, and left the command to me. He had +no part in the battle. Our Thirteenth deserves a +passing notice. It was the favorite regiment of +General Birge, its first colonel.<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> When he was +made brigadier, the regiment entered the brigade +commanded by Colonel E. L. Molineux. Birge +was never so happy as when riding into action, +and Molineux, who had been severely wounded +in the same battle with me, was not over-cautious. +My regiment and both brigades, the first and +second of Grover's Division, had caught the spirit +of those two commanders. Quite generally they<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span> +mistook the forward movement for an immediate +charge.</p> + +<p>We had been under an intermittent fire for some +time, but now the advance intensified the conflict. +The chief anxiety of good soldiers at such a time, +as I often noticed, is to get at the enemy as soon +as possible, and cease to be mere targets. Their +enthusiasm now accelerated their pace to a double-quick, +and was carrying them too far to the front. +Birge and Molineux endeavored in vain to check +their rapidity. My battalion, I think, was nearest +the rebel line.</p> + +<p>Between eleven and twelve the divisions of +Getty, Ricketts, and Grover, forty-eight regiments +in all, to which were attached eight light batteries +with reserve artillery, began to move forward. +It was a grand spectacle. At first the movement +was steady, and we thought of Scott's lines,</p> + +<div class="poem" style="width: 17em;"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">The host moves like a deep-sea wave,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Where rise no rocks its pride to brave,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">High-swelling, dark, and slow.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p class="noin">But all is quickly changed.</p> + +<p>Looking back upon that scene after the lapse of +more than fifty years, its magnificence has not yet +faded. I see as in a dream our long bending wave +of blue rolling slowly at first but with increasing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span> +speed, foam-tipped with flags here and there +and steel-crested with Birge's bayonets yonder; +glimpses of cavalry in the distance moving as if on +wings with the lightness of innumerable twinkling +feet; numberless jets of smoke across the fields +marking the first line of Confederate infantry, +their musketry rattling precisely like exploding +bunches of firecrackers; batteries galloping to +position, the thunder of a dozen smiting the ear +more rapidly than one could count; the buzz, hiss, +whistle, shriek, crash, hurricane of projectiles; the +big shot from batteries in front and from Braxton's +artillery on our right ripping up the ground and +bounding away to the rear and the left; horses +and riders disappearing in the smoke of exploding +shells; the constant shouting of our officers indistinctly +heard, and now and then the peculiar +well-known "rebel yell"; and finally the command, +<span class="smcapl">HALT! LIE DOWN!</span> Molineux and Birge were +too far to the front, and the line must be rectified. +Ricketts, as we pressed forward, had thrown +Keifer's Brigade (2d of Third Division, Sixth +Corps), seven regiments, into the broadening interval +directly in front of the mouth of the gorge; +but it was not sufficient.</p> + +<p>It was now Early's opportunity; but he was +hours too late, just as Sheridan had been. He<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span> +had seen our Sixth Corps and Nineteenth emerge +and deploy, had beheld our rapid and somewhat +disorderly approach, had noted the widening +spaces between our battalions and divisions, had +observed the havoc wrought by his artillery and +musketry, ten thousand of our soldiers seeming to +sink under it; had had time to mass his forces; +and now it was "up to him" to hurl them against +our centre. It was the strategy inaugurated by +Epaminondas at Leuctra and perfected by Napoleon +in many a hard battle, breaking the enemy's +centre by an irresistible charge, dividing and +conquering. Rodes had been killed at a battery in +front of our brigade. His veterans and Gordon's, +six thousand strong<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> constituted the charging column. +Neither Sheridan nor any other Federal historian +appears to have done justice to this charge. +Pickett's at Gettysburg was not more brilliant.</p> + +<p>With yells distinctly heard above the roar they +advanced. The batteries on each side redoubled +their discharges. From our irregular line of +infantry extending more than a mile blazed incessant +sheets and spurts of flame, the smoke at times +hiding the combatants. Gordon was heading +toward the now nearly empty ravine. My horse<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span> +had just been shot under me. I lost two in that +fight. Dismounted I walked from the right of my +battalion to the left, cautioning my men against +wasting their ammunition, bidding them take +sure aim, pick out the rebel officers, and not fire +too high. They were shooting from a recumbent +position, or resting on one knee; lying flat on their +backs to reload. As I reached the left, I glanced to +the right and saw several of them starting to their +feet, and a little further on, two or three began +to run back. I rushed to the spot shouting, +"Back to your places!" I saw the cause: the +regiments on our right were retreating. I was +astounded, for we were expecting an order to +advance instantly. At that moment Lieutenant +Handy, an aide of our brigade commander, +rode up, pale, excited, his hands flung up as if in +despair. My men were springing to their feet.</p> + +<p>"What are those orders?" I demanded.</p> + +<p>"Retreat, retreat! get to the rear as fast as +possible," he replied.</p> + +<p>"Battalion, rise up; shoulder arms—" I commanded. +Before I could finish the order, one of +Sheridan's staff came on a swift gallop, his horse +white with foam.</p> + +<p>"For God's sake, what does this mean?" said +he; "this retreat must be stopped!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Battalion, lie down," I shouted; "our brigade +commander ordered retreat!"</p> + +<p>"It's all wrong. If this position's lost, all's lost. +Here you have some cover. Hold it to the last. +I'll bring supports immediately." Striking spurs +into his steed, he vanished in the direction of the +retreating regiments.</p> + +<p>Except the few who had heard my command +and remained in position, perhaps seventy-five +or a hundred, who kept blazing away at the Confederates, +rising a little to kneel and fire, Grover's +Division, and all we could see of that of Ricketts, +had gone to pieces, swept away like chaff before a +whirlwind. Not a Union flag now in sight, but +plenty of the "Stars and Bars!" Our sputtering +fire checked some directly in front; but most of +the on-rushing masses were deflected by the nature +of the ground.</p> + +<p>Out of our view and about half a mile in our +rear was Dwight's Division, the First of the +Nineteenth Corps. It had been left in reserve. +It was in line of battle and ready for the onset. +The confused fragments of Grover were rallied +behind it. Had the ground been favorable, and +had no unexpected opposition been encountered, +Gordon would have crushed Dwight.</p> + +<p>But in fewer minutes than we have occupied in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span> +describing this charge, a tremendous and prolonged +roar and rattle told us that the battle was on +behind us more than in front. Amid the din +arose a quick succession of deafening crashes, +and shot and shell came singing and howling over +us from the left. Russell's Division (First of the +Sixth Corps) comprising eleven infantry regiments +and one of heavy artillery, behind which the broken +battalions of Ricketts had been reassembling, +was now smiting the right flank of Gordon's six +thousand. Although the charge came too late +we cannot but admire the strategy that directed +it, and the bravery of the infantry of Gordon, +Rodes, and Ramseur, as well as that of the cavalry +of Lomax, Jackson, and Johnson, and of Fitzhugh +Lee who fell severely wounded. But they had not +foreseen the terrible cross-fire from Russell, who +died at the head of his division, a bullet piercing +his breast and a piece of shell tearing through his +heart. Nor had they calculated on confronting +the long line of Dwight, nine regiments with the +Fifth New York Battery, all of which stood like a +stone breakwater. Against it Gordon's masses, +broken by the irregularities of the ground, dashed +in vain. Under the ceaseless fire of iron and lead +the refluent waves came pouring back. Our army +was saved.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span></p> + +<p>But we few, who, in obedience to explicit orders +from headquarters, had held our position stiffly +farthest to the front when all the rest of Grover's +and Ricketts' thousands had retreated—we were +lost. A column behind a rebel flag was advancing +straight upon us unchecked by our vigorous fire. +Seeing that they meant business, I commanded, +"Fix Bayonets!" At that instant the gray surges +converged upon us right and left and especially +in our rear. We seemed in the middle of the +rebel army. In the crater of such a volcano, fine-spun +theories, poetic resolves to die rather than be +captured—these are point-lace in a furnace. A +Union officer, Capt. W. Frank Tiemann of the +159th N. Y., Molineux's Brigade, was showing +fight, and half a dozen Confederates with clubbed +muskets were rushing upon him. I leaped to the +spot, sword in hand, and shouted with all the semblance +I could assume of fierce authority,</p> + +<p>"Down with those muskets! Stop! I command +you." They lowered them.</p> + +<p>"Who the hell are you?" they asked.</p> + +<p>"I'll let you know." Turning instantly to four +or five Confederate officers, I demanded: "Do you +mean to massacre my men?"</p> + +<p>Two or three replied: "No. By G—! You've +shown yourselves brave, and you shall be respected.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span> +Yes, you fought d—d well, seein' you had +the d—dest brigade to fight against in the whole +Confederate Army."</p> + +<p>"What brigade are you?" I asked.</p> + +<p>"Ramseur's old brigade; and there's nothin' +this side o' hell can lick it."</p> + +<p>"You're brave enough," said another; "but +damn you, you've killed our best general."</p> + +<p>"Who's that?" I asked.</p> + +<p>"Rodes; killed right in front of you."</p> + +<p>"I thought Early was your best General."</p> + +<p>"Not by a d— sight. Old Jubal's drunk—drunk +as a fool."</p> + +<p>I was never more highly complimented than at +this moment; but the stunning consciousness of +being a prisoner, the bitterest experience of my +life, the unspeakable disappointment, the intense +mortification—these are even to this day poorly +mitigated, much less compensated, by the excessive +praises heaped upon me by those Confederate +officers for my supposed bravery. That they +were sincere I cannot doubt; for it was customary +on the battle-field for the rebels to strip prisoners +of all valuables, but no one of the fifty or one +hundred near me was robbed. Tiemann, whose +life I had perhaps saved, was even privileged to +keep his canteen of whiskey, of which he gave me<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span> +a drink by and by to keep me in good spirits! I +realized the truth of Burns's lines:</p> + +<div class="poem" style="width: 18em;"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Inspiring bold <i>John Barleycorn</i>!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">What dangers thou canst make us scorn!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Wi' tippenny, we fear nae evil;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Wi' usquebaugh, we'll face the devil!<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> <i>Personal Memoirs</i>, vol. i., p. 487.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> In New Orleans it was known as "Butler's Dandy Regiment"; +for it was then better dressed than any other. It wore dark blue, +which Birge had procured through his uncle, Buckingham, the +war governor of Connecticut. At the siege of Port Hudson it +had distinguished itself above all other regiments by furnishing +as volunteers nearly one-fourth of the celebrated "Storming +Column" of one thousand men called for by General N. P. +Banks the second day after the disastrous assault on that fortress +(June 14, 1863). Birge was selected by Banks to lead the forlorn +hope.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> Six thousand is Gordon's statement in his <i>Reminiscences</i>, +page 320.</p></div> +</div> + +<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER II</h2> + +<div class="block2"><p>At Winchester—On the Road thence to Tom's Brook, New +Market, and Staunton.</p></div> + +<p><span class="smcap">There</span> were two battles that Monday between +Sheridan and Early, the first indecisive, though +bloody, a drawn game; the second, after a comparative +lull of several hours, a fierce struggle in +which the whole front of the Sixth, Nineteenth, +and Crook's Corps simultaneously advanced, and +Torbert's Cavalry, arriving at last after their +unaccountable delay upon our extreme right, made +a magnificent charge crumpling up all the enemy's +left. The victory was real, but not so complete +as it should have been. Sheridan ought to have +captured or destroyed the whole of Early's army. +Instead, he had left them an open line of retreat. +He took only five pieces of artillery, nine +battle-flags, and some twelve or fifteen hundred +prisoners; and, to use his own words, "sent the +Confederates whirling up the valley."</p> + +<p>In the recoil of Gordon's brilliant charge of six +thousand about noon, we prisoners were swept<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span> +along into Winchester, and then locked in the old +Masonic Hall. The sociable guards took pains to +emphasize the statement that George Washington, +"glorious rebel" they called him, had presided +as Grand Master in that very room!</p> + +<p>After several hours we heard a great noise in the +streets. Looking out we saw men, women, children, +moving rapidly hither and thither, the current for +the most part setting toward the southwest. The +din increased; the panic became general; the Union +Army was advancing on Winchester!</p> + +<p>We were hustled into the street now filled with +retreating hundreds, and were marched rapidly +along the turnpike toward the setting sun. The +road crowded with artillery, army wagons, common +carriages, all pouring along in the stampede; +a formidable provost guard enclosing us prisoners +in a sort of hollow column; cavalry in front, flank, +and rear; the fields on either side swarming with +infantry, the whole of Early's army in retreat, we +apparently in the middle of it; Sheridan's guns +still booming in our rear—such was the scene as +we two or three hundred prisoners were driven +on. Our mingled emotions can be better imagined +than described. The bitter regret that we had +not been slain; the consciousness that we had +done our whole duty in facing unflinchingly the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span> +storm of shot and shell, never retreating an inch; +the evident respect and even courtesy with which +I was personally treated; the inspiring certainty +that our army was victorious, the unspeakable +mortification of being ourselves prisoners of +war!—we sorely needed all our philosophy and all +our religion to sustain us.</p> + +<p>Marching moodily along I was aroused from a +sort of reverie by an experience far too common +in those days. I had been sick the night before, +and had worn my overcoat into battle. My horse +was shot. The blood was spurting from him. As +he seemed likely to fall, I leaped down. We were +in the midst of a rapid advance and I had not time +to throw off my overcoat. I was now carrying +it swung over my arm. It was growing dark. A +mounted soldier, whom I took to be an officer, +rode up to my side and seized hold of the coat. +He said, "I want that overcoat." I replied, +"You can't have it." "I must have it." "You +shan't have it." He tugged and I tugged, and as +I was on foot and sober I nearly dragged him from +his horse before he let go. During the tussle I +repeatedly shouted, "Captain of the Guard—Help! +Help!" The provost captain instantly +came riding to the spot. "What's the matter?" +he asked. "That rascal has tried to rob me of my<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span> +overcoat," I answered, pointing to the villain +who was beginning to slink away. The captain +appeared to recognize him, said not a word to him, +but whispered to me a moment later, "You are +entitled to keep your overcoat."</p> + +<p>We had had little breakfast and no dinner nor +supper, but we suffered more from thirst than +hunger. Can we ever forget it? Will the long +flight never end? On through Kerrstown without +halting we march, with promise of rest and water +at Newtown; no rest nor water there. On from +Newtown with assurance of water at Middletown. +Five minutes at Middletown, and a little muddy +water that seems to aggravate our thirst. Farther +on we cross a bridge under which the water +is dashing as if in mockery, and the cry "Water! +water!" rises from a hundred lips, the guard joining, +for they are suffering like ourselves. Some +comfort in that! Past midnight we reach Strasburg +and are halted around an old wooden pump. +It is broken! No water there. Still on and on at +a snail-pace, up and over the almost interminable +stretch of Fisher's Hill. At three o'clock in the +morning we arrive at a place known by the classical +name of Tom's Brook about twenty-five miles +from Winchester. Never was nectar more delicious +than the water of this stream, nor downy pillow<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span> +more welcome than the sod on its banks. Without +blankets or covering we sank in each other's +arms for mutual warmth on the dew-drenched +grass; and blistered feet and aching limbs and +hunger and thirst and suffocating despair are all +forgotten!</p> + +<p>Morning came unnoticed, except by those whom +the keen cold permitted to sleep no longer. Towards +noon we rose, washed without soap or towel, +were made to form line, had our names taken, and +received as rations a pint of flour per man, with a +little salt, nothing else. How to cook or prepare +the flour? We learned of the rebel guards a process +not laid down in the cook-books. Mixing +with water they made a stiff paste or dough. +This they put around the end of a stick about the +size and half the length of a walking cane. The +end thus thickly coated they hold over a little fire +till the smoke and flame have sufficiently hardened +it. Then pull out your stick and you have +a thick chunk or cylinder of bread, not quite so +tough as a gun-barrel, but substantial!</p> + +<p>I contrived to keep a little memorandum book. +In it I noted down that there were three hundred +and eleven of us prisoners; two lieutenant-colonels, +two majors, four captains, nine lieutenants, and +two hundred and ninety-four enlisted men. These<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span> +were in the march from Winchester. A few may +have been added to our number at Tom's Brook.</p> + +<p>I have stated how it happened that none of those +near me were robbed when captured. Those at a +distance were not so fortunate; for, if circumstances +permitted, the Confederates, being themselves +sadly in want, often improved the opportunity to +grab every article of value. At Tom's Brook I +noted in my diary the following:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p class="inde">Major A. W. Wakefield, 49th Pa. Cav., was robbed +of hat, blanket, and $100 in money. Adjt. J. A. +Clark, 17th Pa. Cav., was robbed of cap, boots, mug, +pocket-book and money. Lieut. Harrison, 2d Regular +Cav., was robbed of gold watch and money. Capt. +John R. Rouzer, 6th Md. Inf., was robbed by an +officer of hat and $20 in money. Lieut. Wesley C. +Howe, 2d Mass. Cav., who recently died at Kansas +City, Mo., was robbed by Lieut. Housel of the 6th +Va. Cav., of silver watch, spurs, gloves, and $10 in +money. Major August Haurand, 4th N. Y. Cav., +was robbed of a watch and $60 in money.</p></div> + +<p>It was a common practice to snatch from a Union +prisoner his cap, and clap on in lieu of it a worn-out +slouched hat; pull off his boots, and substitute a +pair of clumsy old shoes. The plundering was so +thoroughly done that it was poetically termed +"going through" a captive!</p> + +<p>As I was the senior officer among the prisoners, +and we seemed likely to remain a long time there,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span> +I went to the Confederate commander and besought +him to allow our three hundred prisoners +to occupy a barn near by. He refused. I then +asked that we be allowed to build wigwams for +shelter, as there was abundant material at hand. +This too was not permitted. I also begged in +vain that a surgeon should be got to dress the +wounds of some of the prisoners.</p> + +<p>The second morning after our arrival, the sleeping +men were aroused by the loud voice of +Lieutenant Sargent of the 14th New Hampshire +Regiment exclaiming: "If you give me any more +of your lip, I'll annihilate you! I've but one +arm" (his right arm was disabled by a shot), +"but even with one arm I'll annihilate you on +the spot, if you give me any more of your lip!" +This was exceedingly gratifying, for it proved that +at least two of us were not yet "annihilated!"</p> + +<p>During our sojourn at Tom's Brook the Confederates +labored hard to induce us to exchange our +greenbacks for their paper currency. Our own +was sadly depreciated, one dollar of silver or gold +being equal to two of greenbacks; but one in +United States paper was equal in purchasing power +to eight of theirs. They argued that our money +would certainly be forcibly taken from us by +rapacious guards farther south, and kindly offered<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span> +us four for one. Sergeant Reed of the Provost +Guard was quite a character. Like Gratiano +in <i>The Merchant of Venice</i>, he talked loud and long, +speaking "an infinite deal of nothing." He had a +mania for watches. He told me he now had +twenty-seven which he had obtained from Yankee +prisoners, always paying them in good Confederate +money. He set his heart upon a little silver watch +of mine, which he said he wished to buy and +present to one of his lady admirers. I asked:</p> + +<p>"Why do they admire you?"</p> + +<p>"Because of my bravery," he replied; "none +but the brave deserve the fair."</p> + +<p>"If you are so brave, why are you back here? +Why are you not at the front?"</p> + +<p>"Colonel, I've been in the forefront of the +hottest battles. I've been fearfully wounded. +I'll be hanged if I haven't been one of the bravest +of the brave. Twice, Colonel, I was shot all into +inch pieces; and so now I'm put on light duty!"</p> + +<p>On Thursday, the third day after our arrival, +two "india-rubber men," circus performers, of the +22d Indiana Regiment, gave an exhibition of +"ground and lofty tumbling" for the entertainment +of their fellow prisoners. They had somehow +contrived to retain the gaudy costume of the +ring. They were really skillful. While we were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span> +watching with interest the acrobatic performance, +a squadron of the Confederate General Imboden's +Cavalry dashed past us. Sergeant Reed, who had +just made me an offer for my watch, sprang to +his feet, exclaiming: "I swear! there must be a +battle going on in front, for there goes Jimboden's +Cavalry to the rear! Sure sign! I'll be hanged +if we ain't gettin' licked again!" We had heard +the cannonading in the distance, but paid little +attention to it. The Richmond papers, announcing +that Fisher's Hill was impregnable to the +whole Yankee army, were said to have been received +about an hour before the heights were actually +carried by storm. Again Early's army was +not captured, but sent "whirling up the valley."</p> + +<p>We prisoners thoroughly enjoyed the changed +aspect of affairs. At first they marched us directly +back a short distance up the slope towards the +advancing Yankees; but they seemed suddenly to +discover their mistake; they halted, faced about, +and marched down. Hilarious and saucy, our +boys struck up the song and three hundred voices +swelled the chorus:</p> + +<div class="poem" style="width: 21em;"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Rally round the flag, boys, rally once again,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Shouting the battle-cry of Freedom—<br /></span> +<span class="i2">The Union forever! hurrah, boys, hurrah!<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Down with the traitor! up with the star! etc.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p class="noin"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span>till Captain Haslett of the provost guard came +riding into the midst with savage oaths shouting, +"<i>Silence!</i> <span class="smcapl">SILENCE!</span> SILENCE!"</p> + +<p>Twenty-seven miles, first through stifling dust +and then through pelting rain, past Hawkinstown, +Woodstock, Edenburg, Mount Jackson, brought +us to New Market. On the march Colonel Brinton +of a Pennsylvania regiment, a new arrival, planned +with me an escape. He had campaigned through +the valley, was familiar with the lay of the land, +and said he had friends among the inhabitants. +Our plan was to run past the guards in the darkness. +As a preliminary step I cut off my shoulder-straps +which were very bright. Within half an +hour Sergeant Reed came up to me and asked, +"Colonel, where's your shoulder-straps?" I replied, +"I don't wear shoulder-straps now I'm a +prisoner." "But, Colonel," he answered, "I've +been lookin' at them shoulder-straps since we left +Tom's Brook. I wanted to buy 'em of you for a +present to one of my girls. I'll be hanged if I +don't believe you're goin' to try to escape, and so +you've cut off your bright shoulder-straps. But, +Colonel, it's impossible. I'll be hanged if I hadn't +rather lose any six of the others than to lose you." +The fellow stuck closer to me than a brother all the +rest of that night; so close that he lost sight of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span> +Colonel Brinton, who actually escaped about midnight +at a place called Edenburg! Almost immediately +Sergeant Reed came to me and asked, +"Colonel, where's that other Colonel?" I answered: +"You ought to know; <i>I</i> don't!"—"I'll be hanged," +said he, "if I haven't lost him, a-watchin' you!"</p> + +<p>At New Market they put us into a dilapidated +church building. "The wicked flea, when no man +pursueth but the righteous, is bold as a lion," was +repeatedly misquoted from the <i>Book of Proverbs</i>, +and not without reason. We concluded if that +interpretation was correct, we had reason enough +for obeying the injunction in <i>Ecclesiastes</i>, "Be not +righteous overmuch"; for the little jumpers were +fearless and countless. They were reinforced by a +Confederate deacon, who recommended two things: +Confederate paper and "gospel piety"; the one +would carry us safely through this world; the other +through the next. He would be only too happy +to furnish us the currency in exchange for our +greenbacks. "Confederate treasury bills and true +religion" was the burden of his song, till one of +our literary officers, it was said, squelched him: +"Deacon, your recipe of happiness, rebel paper +and godliness—Confederate money and a Christian +spirit!—reminds me of what Byron says in +one of his wicked poems:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span></p> + +<div class="poem" style="width: 21em;"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">'Beyond all doubt there's nought the spirit cheers<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Like rum and true religion!'"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p class="noin">He subsided.</p> + +<p>We left New Market at noon, Saturday, September +24th, and marched all the afternoon and all +night, past Harrisonburg, Mount Crawford, Mount +Sidney, and Willow Springs, reaching Staunton, Va., +about nine in the morning. On the march, forty-three +miles in twenty-one hours, we were hungry; +for the morning ration at New Market was scanty, +and they gave us nothing more, except a small +loaf of wheat bread. Some of the guard were kind +to us. One of them, private John Crew, Co. E, +11th Alabama Regiment, unsolicited by us, and, +so far as I am aware, without hope of any reward, +would endeavor to bring us apples or other food, +whenever we halted. I was careful to write his +name in my diary.</p> + +<p>As we trudged along, a lively discussion of +slavery ensued. Lieutenant Howard of the provost +guard was a learned champion of the "peculiar +institution," and I was a pronounced abolitionist. +He was an ardent "fire-eater," to use the term +then in vogue, and I, who had lost my position +as principal of the Worcester High School by +my defense of John Brown, was equally intense. +Both were pretty well "posted" on the subject.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span> +He seemed to be familiar with the Bible and the +proslavery arguments, including drunken Noah's +"Cursed Canaan!" Moses Stuart's <i>Conscience and +the Constitution</i>, Nehemiah Adams's <i>Southside View +of Slavery</i>, and Rev. Dr. —— (the name is gone from +me) of Baltimore's Sermons. I was fresh from +reading the arguments of George B. Cheever, +Horace Bushnell, Henry Ward Beecher, Garrison, +Phillips, and the rest. He proved that slavery +among the Hebrews was a divine institution. I +answered they were commanded to "undo the +heavy burdens, let the oppressed go free, and break +every yoke." He said Paul sent back the fugitive +slave Onesimus to his master Philemon; I rejoined, +"Paul said, 'I send him back, not as a +servant, but above a servant, a brother beloved; +receive him as myself.'" He quoted the Constitution +of the United States, the article commanding +that fugitive slaves should be delivered back to +their masters; in reply I quoted from Deuteronomy +the "Higher Law," "Thou shalt <i>not</i> deliver unto +his master the servant which is escaped from +his master unto thee." He quoted from the +great speech of the magnificent Webster in the +Senate, March 7, 1850, in which he urged all +good citizens to obey the Fugitive Slave Law "with +alacrity." Waxing hot, I quoted from Beecher:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>As to those provisions which concern aid to fugitive +slaves, may God do so to us, yea and more also, if we +do not spurn them as we would any other mandate of +Satan! If in God's providence fugitives ask bread +or shelter, raiment or conveyance at my hands, my +own children shall lack bread ere they; my own flesh +shall sting with cold ere they shall lack raiment. And +whatsoever defense I would put forth for mine own +children, that shall these poor, despised, persecuted +creatures have at my hands and on the road. The +man that would do otherwise, that would obey this +law to the peril of his soul and the loss of his manhood, +were he brother, son, or father, shall never +pollute my hand with grasp of hideous friendship, +nor cast his swarthy shadow athwart my threshold!</p></div> + +<p>The lieutenant finally cited the examples of +"those glorious southern patriots who led the rebellion +against England during the first American +Confederacy," Washington, Patrick Henry, Madison, +Jefferson, "every one a slaveholder," he +proudly exclaimed. I happened to be cognizant of +their views, and responded with some vehemence: +"But Washington's hands were tied so that he +could not free slaves till his death. He said +it was among his first wishes to see some plan +adopted for putting an end to slavery. Patrick +Henry declared, 'I will not, I cannot justify it.' +Madison expressed strongly his unwillingness to +admit in the national Constitution 'the idea that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span> +can hold property in man.'" In a rather loud +voice I quoted Jefferson, who, in view of our +inconsistency in violating the "self-evident truth" +that "all men are created equal," solemnly affirmed, +"<i>I tremble for my country, when I remember +that God is just, and that his justice cannot sleep +forever</i>!" I had some reputation as an elocutionist +in those days, and Sergeant Reed, who was listening +with open mouth, broke in with, "I'll be +hanged, Colonel, if you warn't cut out for a preacher! +By— I should like to hear you preach." +The best reply I could make was: "You'll undoubtedly +be hanged sometime; and if I were a +minister, nothing would give me more satisfaction +than to be present at your execution and +preach your funeral sermon." He replied: "Now, +Colonel, you don't mean that. You don't think +I'll ever be hanged!"—"Indeed I do, if you don't +stop your profanity and general cussedness."—"I'll +be hanged, if I will," was his last word to me.</p> + +<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER III</h2> + +<div class="block2"><p>At Staunton—Thence to Waynesboro, Meacham's, and +Richmond.</p></div> + +<p><span class="smcap">At</span> Staunton we got a little more light on the +value of Confederate paper. A chivalrous surgeon +who accompanied the provost guard (Fontleroy, +I think, was his name<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a>) politely invited Captain +Dickerman of the 26th Massachusetts and myself +to take breakfast with him in a restaurant. We +needed no urging. The Provost Marshal gave +consent. The saloon was kept by a negro named +Jackson. His entire stock of provisions consisted +of nine eggs, the toughest kind of neck beef, bread +and salt, coffee very weak, butter very strong. As +we sat waiting, the doctor remarked with a lordly +air that under ordinary circumstances he would not +deign to eat with Yankees. I answered good-naturedly: +"I'm as much ashamed as you can be; +and if <i>you'll</i> never tell of it, <i>I</i> won't!" The food,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span> +notwithstanding its toughness, rapidly disappeared. +Near the last mouthful the doctor said: "You two +will have to pay for this breakfast, for I've no +money." I had fifteen Confederate dollars remaining +of twenty which I had received for a five-dollar +greenback at Tom's Brook, and I answered: +"Give yourself no anxiety; I'll foot the bill."—"Well, +Jackson," said I to the sable proprietor, +"what's the damage?" He replied, "I shan't +charge you-ones full price. Let's see! Beef, seven; +eggs, two—nine; coffee, three—twelve; bread and +butter, three—fifteen; three of you—forty-five. +I'll call it only thirty-six dollars!" I paid my +fifteen; Captain Dickerman pleaded poverty; and +the dignified doctor, who had so cordially invited +us to partake of his hospitality, promised the +disappointed Jackson that he would pay the balance +at some future day ("the futurest kind of a +day," was added in an undertone).</p> + +<p>Rejoining the three or four hundred prisoners, +we found, besides the Confederate guards, a great +crowd of spectators swarming around us. One +of them, a fine-looking young man, wearing the +blue uniform of a United States captain, made +his way through the group, and handed me a +twenty-dollar Confederate bill! The following +dialogue ensued:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Here, Colonel, take that."</p> + +<p>"I thank you much. Who are you, so kind to a +stranger and an enemy?"</p> + +<p>"I'm one whom you Yanks would hang, if you +could catch me."</p> + +<p>"Why so? Who are you?"</p> + +<p>"I'm one of Morgan's guerrillas; wouldn't you +hang me?"</p> + +<p>"I think I should, if you had much of this stuff +about you" (holding up the twenty-dollar bill); +"I've just paid fifteen Confederate dollars for an +imaginary breakfast."</p> + +<p>"Good for you, Colonel. Here, take another +twenty. Now you've forty. That'll pay for an +imaginary dinner. Good-bye, Colonel! I have +an engagement—to meet some of your cavalry. +Remember, Morgan's guerrillas are not rascals, +but gentlemen. Good-bye!" He vanished.</p> + +<p>About noon those of us who appeared unable to +march farther were put on top of freight cars, and +carried about a dozen miles east to Waynesboro. +Here the railway crosses a stream, which encircles +a little island just north of the bridge. The +majority had to walk. At dusk that Sunday +evening all had come. They put us on the island +carefully guarded on all sides. Never was I more +thankful. I had had something good to eat at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span> +Staunton; had got rested riding on the roof of the +car; and I had my overcoat. Davy Crockett +preferred a heap of chestnut burs for a pillow; +but I followed the patriarch's example and chose a +flat stone. People never allowed me to sing; but +I dropped asleep repeating the stanza in Mrs. +Adams's exquisite hymn.</p> + +<div class="poem" style="width: 13em;"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Though, like the wanderer,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">The sun gone down,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Darkness be over me,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">My rest a stone,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Yet in my dreams I'd be<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Nearer, my God, to thee!<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p class="noin">Towards midnight the cold became so keen that I +rose and went to the side of a flickering fire. Here +excessive misery was for a moment hardening the +hearts it should have softened. Several prisoners +were quarreling for a position nearest the embers, +each angrily claiming that he had brought the +fagots that were burning! Two or three hours +later several of us attempted to slip past the +sentries in the darkness, but were stopped before +we reached the water.</p> + +<p>At earliest streak of dawn we were marched +away. About two miles brought us to the Blue +Ridge where the railroad tunnel pierces its foundations.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span> +We toiled up and on in time to see the sun +rise. An ocean of fog lay around us. Never shall +we forget how royally the King of Day scaled the +great wall that seemed to hem in on every side the +wide valley, and how the sea of mist and cloud visibly +fled before the inrolling flood of light, unveiling +green and yellow fields, flocks and herds, dark woodlands, +dwellings yet asleep in peace and plenty, +here and there the silver thread of a winding +stream with lakes that mirrored the sky, and +yonder the long stretches of those titanic fortifications +encompassing all. We were reminded +of Shakespeare's sunrise:</p> + +<div class="poem" style="width: 19em;"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Full many a glorious morning have I seen<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Flatter the mountain tops with sovereign eye,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Kissing with golden face the meadows green,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Gilding pale streams with heavenly alchemy.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>At that instant a train of cars from Charlottesville +came sliding along, and shot</p> + +<div class="poem" style="width: 21em;"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Into the tunnel, like a lightning wedge<br /></span> +<span class="i0">By great Thor hammers driven through the rock!<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p class="noin">The scene startled us by its sublimity, and for a +few minutes the hungry forgot their craving, +the footsore their pain, the hopeless their despair.</p> + +<p>That day's march, though not so long was as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span> +severe as any; we were exhausted. Private Dolan, +Co. K, 159th N. Y., was barefoot. His feet were +blistered and bleeding. I begged the commander of +the provost guard, Captain Haslett, to allow him +to get into an ambulance. My request was not +granted. But we soon afterwards passed a large +mansion in front of which were several girls and +women apparently making fun of the unwashed +"Yank" and evidently enjoying the spectacle. +We were halted just as Dolan came limping along +supported on one side by a stronger comrade. +They saw his miserable plight, his distress, his +swollen feet, and they heard of the stern command +to shoot any prisoner who fell out or lagged +behind. Their faces changed. With tears one +or two implored the Captain to let him ride in +the ambulance. He yielded to their entreaties. +Southern ladies almost always seemed handsome to +us, but these in my memory have the fairest faces. +I thought of Lady Clare in <i>Marmion</i>, and the +words still recur:</p> + +<div class="poem" style="width: 17em;"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">O Woman! in our hours of ease,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Uncertain, coy, and hard to please,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And variable as the shade<br /></span> +<span class="i0">By the light quivering aspen made;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">When pain and anguish wring the brow,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">A ministering angel thou!<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span>Two miles before we reached our temporary +destination, Meacham's Station, my own strength +utterly failed. I had borne up so long, partly +to set an example of cheerful endurance, and +partly from something like Mark Tapley's pride +at coming out strong and jolly under the most +depressing circumstances. I lay beside the road, +remarking to Captain Haslett, who immediately +came riding to the spot, "Captain, here's a fine +chance to try your marksmanship; I can't march +any further; shan't try to."—"Colonel," he +replied with something of pity in his tone and +manner, "I'm sorry to see you so used up. I'm +sorry to be obliged to march you prisoners so hard. +I have to keep out of the way of your damned +cavalry. You may get into the ambulance." +So into the ambulance I climbed with some difficulty, +and immediately commenced my freemasonry +on the driver. He responded to the signs. +He proved to be an acquaintance of the Redwoods, +a family in Mobile, one of whom had been a classmate +of mine at Yale. He gave me some nice +milk and some fine wheat bread. "As a Mason," +said he, "I'll feed you; share the last crumb with +you; but as a Confederate soldier I'll fight you till +the last drop of blood and the last ditch."—"I +hardly know which to admire most, your spunk<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span> +or your milk," I replied. Thereupon he gave me +another drink, and insisted on my imbibing a little +of what he called "apple-jack." I was a "teetotaler"; +but thinking the occasion warranted, +I "smiled" upon it, "strictly as a medicine!" +"Apple-jack" seemed to me the same thing as +"Jersey lightning." He became quite friendly, +but was horribly profane. "Look here," said he, +"you seem to be a sort of Christian; cuss me if you +don't! What in h—l are you Yanks all comin' +down here for?"—"You have a gift at swearing," +I said; "did you, among your other oaths, ever +swear to support the Constitution of the United +States?"—"Well, yes."—"That's what's the +matter with us," I said, "we're keeping our oaths +and you are breaking yours."—"To h—l with the +Constitution of the United States! Our first duty +is to our own State. We've a right to be an +independent nation, and we will. I'm a guerrilla. +If our armies are defeated, I'll fight you on my own +hook. I'll fire on you from behind every tree +and every rock. I'll assassinate every invader. I +want you to remember that I'm a guerrilla."—"I +like your <i>spirits</i>," I said. "They are worthy of a +better cause."—"Take another swallow of 'em," +he replied, handing me the canteen. I toasted +him: "Here's hoping you gorillas will outlive the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span> +Southern Confederacy!"—"A d—d equivocal +sentiment," observed my fire-eating, fire-drinking +Masonic brother; "but here we are at Meacham's +Station. Good-bye, Yank!"</p> + +<p>After our nineteen miles' march it was a most +welcome relief to be placed on platform cars, +though packed so closely that we could hardly stir. +We objected that the cars had no tops. "All +the better opportunity to study astronomy," +they replied.—"The cars have no sides to keep +off the wind."—"The scenery is magnificent," they +rejoined, "and they'll answer for 'observation +cars'; you have an unobstructed view."—"But +the nights are growing cold."—"You'll keep warm +by contact with each other." Mad at this +mockery, hungry, half-frozen, squeezed like fish +in a basket, we took little note of scenery or stars; +but it was a comfort to believe that our discomfort +was caused by the rapid advance of Sheridan's +cavalry.</p> + +<p>More dead than alive, though hardly dead +enough to bury, having been jolted along all the +afternoon and all night, we reached Richmond +about sunrise, Tuesday, September 27th. Numbering +now nearly four hundred we were escorted +through the streets to the notorious Libby prison +and halted in front. The Union officers inside<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span> +thronged the windows to see us come. On every +face was a sad, despondent, pitying look, the most +discouraging sight I ever saw. No smiles there +nor among us. Conspicuous among them was the +sorrowful countenance of Lieut.-Col. Charles H. +Hooper of the 24th Massachusetts Infantry, with +his long handsome auburn beard. Some one inside +whispered loud enough for several of our "Four +Hundred" to hear, "Hide your greenbacks!" We +passed the word down the column, "Hide your +greenbacks!"</p> + +<p>A few minutes revealed its significance. We +were taken in a body in upon the lower floor. +There Major Nat. Turner, prison inspector, +cousin of the celebrated Dick Turner of unlovely +reputation, made us a speech.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p class="inde">You will empty your pockets of all valuables. Such +as are not contraband of war, you will be allowed to +retain. You will deliver up all your Federal money. +An equivalent amount in Confederate money will be +given you in instalments from time to time, or the +whole will be returned to you when you are exchanged. +You will turn pockets inside out. If you attempt +to conceal anything, it will be confiscated.</p></div> + +<p>We were made to step forward singly, and were +searched. Our coats and vests were taken off, +also our boots and shoes; and a Confederate officer<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span> +felt very carefully of all our clothing to make sure +that nothing was hidden. I "remembered to forget" +that I had two ten-dollar greenbacks compressed +into a little wad in one corner of my watch +fob; and that corner escaped inspection. Dick +Turpin never was the richer for that money. +They examined suspiciously a pocket edition of +the New Testament in the original Greek; but I +assured them it was not some diabolical Yankee +cipher, and they allowed me to keep it. I made +the most of my freemasonry, and they permitted +me to retain my overcoat. One of our prisoners, +it was whispered, had secretly stuffed $1300 in +greenbacks into his canteen, but all canteens were +taken from us as contraband of war, and nobody +but "Uncle Sam" profited by the concealment.</p> + +<p>Having "gone through" us, they incarcerated +the officers in one room, the enlisted men in +another.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> Dr. Fontleroy was a brother of Mrs. Major Whittlesey, one +of my fellow professors, instructor in military tactics, at Cornell +University. Whittlesey was a graduate of West Point, and, +while there, had had cadet U. S. Grant under his command!</p></div> +</div> + +<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER IV</h2> + +<div class="block2"><p>At Libby—Thence to Clover, Danville, Greensboro, and Salisbury—Effort +to Pledge us not to Attempt Escape.</p></div> + +<p><span class="smcap">The</span> two rooms at Libby adjoined each other +on the second floor, but a solid brick wall was +between them. When we entered, about a hundred +and fifty officers were already there. The +first thing that attracted my attention was an +officer putting a loaf of bread through a small +hole in the partition where one or two bricks +were removable. He was feeding a hungry +prisoner. A cap or hat nicely concealed the +perforation.</p> + +<p>Libby has a hard name, but it was the most +comfortable of the six Confederate prisons of +which I saw the interior. With all his alleged +brutal severity, of which I saw no manifestation, +and his ravenous appetite for greenbacks, for +which we could not blame him, Dick Turner +seemed an excellent disciplinarian. Everything +went like clockwork. We knew what to expect +or rather what not to expect, and <i>when</i>! My<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span> +diary for Wednesday, September 28, 1864, the +day after our arrival, reads as follows:</p> + +<div class="poem" style="width: 18em;"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">The issue to us daily is<br /></span> +<span class="i4">One gill of boiled beans,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">One quarter gill of bean broth,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">One half loaf of soft bread,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">(Four ounces meat) and<br /></span> +<span class="i4">A little salt.<br /></span></div></div> + +<p>There was one inestimable boon, a copious +supply of pure water.</p> + +<p>There were at this time no panes of glass, in +fact no sashes, in the windows, and the wind swept +freely through. The nights were becoming cold. +Confederate sentries were on the lower floor and +outside. They kept up a custom rather unusual, +I think, during the war, of calling out in sing-song +tones every hour the number of the post and the +time, with occasional variations; <i>e. g.</i>: "Post +number fourteen, two o'clock, and all's well." +Then the next sentinel would sing out, "Post number +fifteen, two o'clock, and all's well." Then the +melodious voice of the next, farther away and +sadly unorthodox, "Post number sixteen, two +o'clock, and cold as h—l!"</p> + +<p>Except one or two rickety tables and two or +three old chairs, there was no furniture in the +prison. Some of the officers had contrived to save<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span> +a little money when searched, and with money it +was possible to procure small articles slyly smuggled +in contrary to orders; but most of us were disposed +to sing with old Isaac Watts,</p> + +<div class="poem" style="width: 15em;"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Dear Lord, and shall we ever live<br /></span> +<span class="i0">At this poor dying rate?<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>From the rear windows we were occasionally +entertained with the sight of exploding shells, +which the indefatigable Grant was daily projecting +towards Richmond. Particularly was this the +case on the thirtieth of the month, when the boys +in blue captured Fort Harrison, and the next day +when the Confederates made several gallant but +unsuccessful attempts to retake it. At such times +we could see some of the steeples or high roofs in +Richmond thronged with non-combatants gazing +anxiously towards Petersburg. The belief that +our prison was undermined, a vast quantity of +gunpowder stored in the cellar, and that Dick +Turner had threatened and was desperate enough +to blow us all into eternity in case of a sudden dash +of our cavalry into Richmond, somewhat marred +the satisfaction with which we contemplated the +evident progress of the siege. We could sympathize +with the Philadelphia Friend, who said +to his wife on the introduction of gun-cotton,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span> +"What comfort can thee take, even when sitting +in thy easy chair, when thee knows not but the +very cushion underneath thee is an enormous +bomb-shell, ready upon the slightest concussion +to blow thee to everlasting glory?"</p> + +<p>At three o'clock, Sunday morning, October 2d, +we were roused by the entry of armed men with +lanterns. They furnished each of us with a dirty +haversack containing what they called two days' +rations of corn bread and meat. Then they moved +us single-file down stairs. As we passed, they +took from each his blanket, even those the officers +had just bought and paid for. If we expostulated, +we were told we were going to a place where we +should not need blankets! For my freemasonry +or some other unexpressed reason, they allowed +me to pass, wearing my overcoat. Then they took +us by bridge across the James River, packed us in +box-cars on the railway, forty to sixty in each car, +and started the train southwest towards Danville.</p> + +<p>The road-bed was bad and the fences on either +side were gone. We made but four or five miles +an hour. One of our officers declared that they +kept a boy running ahead of the engine with hammer +and nails to repair the track! also that they +put the cow-catcher on behind the last car to prevent +cattle from running over the train! At nine<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span> +o'clock in the evening we reached a place called +Clover. We passed the night in Clover! on the +bank beside the railroad, where we studied +astronomy! and meditated!</p> + +<p>Next morning they repacked us, and we were +transported seventy miles farther to Danville. +My memorandum book mentions a conversation I +had on the way with a very young and handsome +rebel, one of the guard. He was evidently ingenuous +and sincere, pious and lovable. After a +few pleasant remarks he suddenly asked:</p> + +<p>"What are you Northerners fighting for?"</p> + +<p>"In defense of the Constitution and the Union. +What are <i>you</i> fighting for?"</p> + +<p>"Every right that is sacred and dear to man."</p> + +<p>"What right that is sacred and dear to man had +the United States ever violated before you fired +on Fort Sumter?"</p> + +<p>Of course he fell back on the Declaration of +American Independence, that "Governments derive +their just powers from the consent of the +governed"; also on the doctrine so emphatically +expressed by Abraham Lincoln in his speech in +Congress in 1846; viz.:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p class="inde">Any people anywhere, being inclined and having +the power, have the right to raise up and shake off +the existing government, and form a new one that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span> +suits them better. This is a most valuable, a most +sacred right, a right which we hope and believe is to +liberate the world. Nor is this right confined to cases +in which the whole people of an existing government +may choose to exercise it. Any portion of such people, +that can, may revolutionize and make their own of as +much territory as they inhabit.</p></div> + +<p>We arrived at Danville at noon. A heavy rain +began to fall. Having been two days without +opportunity to wash, we were drenched for an hour +or two by the sweet shower that seemed to pour +from the open windows of heaven. When our +thoughtful guards concluded that we were sufficiently +cleansed and bleached, they sheltered us +by putting us into coal cars, where the black dust +was an inch deep. That dust was fine! but the +thought seemed to strike them that our nicely +laundered garments might get soiled. So in half +an hour they took us out and placed us in corn +cars. It rather went against the grain, but finally +I sat down with the other kernels on the floor. +The weather being inclement, they felt it their +duty to keep us in doors, lest we should catch +cold!</p> + +<p>In these elegant and commodious vehicles we +were transported next day till we reached Greensboro, +North Carolina, about fifty miles southwest<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span> +from Danville. Disgorged like poor old Jonah after +three days' living burial, we were placed in the +beautiful open square, and never before did air, +earth, trees, and skies seem lovelier. Here they +gave each of us three horny crackers, "rebel hardtack," +out of which some of us carved finger rings +that might have passed for bone.</p> + +<p>In those days I was too much addicted to making +public speeches, a habit which I had contracted +in Yale College. On the edge of the public green, +backed by a hundred prisoners, I was haranguing +a crowd of curious spectators, telling them how +abominably we were treated, exhibiting to them +our single ration of flinty biscuit, and consigning +them all to everlasting perdition, when a well-dressed +young man elbowed his way to me at the +fence. He had a large black shiny haversack +swung under his left arm. Patting it with his +right hand, he asked:</p> + +<p>"Will you have a snack?"</p> + +<p>"A what?" I answered.</p> + +<p>"A snack, a snack," he said.</p> + +<p>"I don't know what a 'snack' is, unless it's a +<i>snake</i>. Yes, I think I could eat a copperhead—<i>cooked</i>. +Snake for one, if you please; well done."</p> + +<p>He thrust his hand into his haversack; took out +and gave me the most delicious sandwich I ever<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span> +tasted. Seeing how I enjoyed it, he emptied +the satchel, giving all his food to my hungry fellow +prisoners. He told me he was just starting on a +long journey, and had laid in a good stock of +provisions. I took pains to write in my journal +his name and residence—"George W. Swepson, +Alamance, North Carolina. Lives near the Court +House." To which I added "<i>Vir et Amicus</i>."—"The +blessing of him that was ready to perish" +was upon George W. Swepson.</p> + +<p>That night we slept again on the ground and +without covering under the open sky; and again +several prisoners, Captain Howe and myself among +them, attempted in vain to slip past the sentinels.</p> + +<p>Next morning we reëntered the freight cars. +A twelve hours' ride brought us at nine o'clock, +Wednesday evening, October 5th, to our destination, +Salisbury, North Carolina. As the "Four +Hundred" passed into the dark enclosure, we were +greeted with the cry, "Fresh fish! Fresh fish!" +which in those days announced the arrival of a +new lot of prisoners. We field officers were +quartered that night in a brick building near the +entrance, where we passed an hour of horrors. +We were attacked by what appeared to be an +organized gang of desperadoes, made up of thieves, +robbers, Yankee deserters, rebel deserters, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span> +villains generally, maddened by hunger, or bent on +plunder, who rejoiced in the euphonious appellation +of <i>Muggers</i>! We had been warned against +them by kindly disposed guards, and were not +wholly unprepared. They attacked us with clubs, +fists, and knives, but were repeatedly driven off, +pitched headlong downstairs. "<i>Muggers!</i>"</p> + +<p>Salisbury prison, then commonly called "Salisbury +penitentiary," was in the general form of a +right-angled triangle with base of thirty or forty +rods, perpendicular eighty or ninety. In a row +parallel to the base and four or five rods from it +were four empty log houses with a space of about +four rods between each two. These, a story and +a half high, had formerly been negro quarters. +On each side of the great triangle was a stout +tight board fence twelve or fifteen feet high. +Some two or three feet from the top of this, but +out of our sight because on the other side, there +was evidently a board walk, on which sentinels, +four or five rods apart, perpetually paced their +beats, each being able to see the whole inside of +the enclosure. At each angle of the base was a +shotted field-piece pointing through the narrow +opening. We could see that behind each cannon +there was a number of muskets stacked and vigilant +soldiers watching every movement inside.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span> +Close to the fence outside there were three camps +of Confederates, variously estimated to contain +from seven hundred to two thousand in all.</p> + +<p>The number of Union officers in prison after our +arrival was about three hundred and twenty; the +number of non-commissioned officers and privates +was suddenly increased from about two +thousand to some eight thousand. Among these +were non-combatants, refugees, lighthouse keepers, +and other government employees. Albert D. +Richardson, then well-known as a correspondent +of the New York <i>Tribune</i>, whose romantic marriage +to Abby Sage by Henry Ward Beecher and +whose tragic death created a sensation in the +newspaper world, had been held as a prisoner +there for several months. He told us he had +found Salisbury a comfortable place. It immediately +ceased to be such.</p> + +<p>There stood the empty log houses. We besought +the rebel commandant, Major Gee, to allow +us officers to occupy those buildings. He said he +would permit it on condition that we should sign +a stringent parole, binding us on our honor not +to attempt to escape! We objected to it as a +preposterous requirement that, remaining under +strict guard and wholly cut off from communication +with the outside world, we should sign such<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span> +a pledge as the only condition on which we could +receive decent shelter. I asked Major Gee if the +rigor of our confinement would be in any way +relaxed. He answered bluntly, "No."—"Well, +where's the reciprocity?" I demanded; "what +are you giving up?"—"Well," he replied, "if +you don't choose to sign the parole, you can't +have the buildings. Other Federal officers have +not objected to signing it." He showed us the +signature of Gen. Michael Corcoran, who had +been colonel of the 69th New York, was captured +at the first battle of Bull Run, was +promoted to be brigadier, and who raised the +so-called "Corcoran Legion." Our senior officer, +Brig.-Gen. Joseph Hayes of the Fifth Corps, +now called a meeting of the field officers, and +submitted the question, "Shall we sign the parole, +and so obtain shelter? Or shall we hold ourselves +free to escape if we can, and so share the privations +of our enlisted men, who have no bed but the +ground and no covering but the sky?" I spoke +strongly against making any promise. We voted +almost unanimously against it.</p> + +<p>General Hayes and others then urged upon the +commandant the absurdity and meanness of +requiring it. It was clear to us and must have +been so to him that it was for his interest to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span> +separate the three or four hundred officers from +the thousands of prisoners accustomed to obey +our orders. He finally consented that we should +occupy the houses without imposing any conditions.</p> + +<p>Parallel to the front of these buildings, about +five rods from them and extending across the +enclosure, was a so-called "dead line," on which +nine sentinels paced their beats. Another "dead +line" about four rods from the high fence paralleled +the whole length of each side of the prison. +It was death to come near these.</p> + +<p>About eighty officers were assigned to each of the +four houses. In each an officer was elected to serve +as house-commissary. His duty was to receive the +rations from Lieutenant-Colonel Hooper, already +mentioned, acting as commissary-general, to whom +the Confederate authorities delivered them in +bulk. The house-commissary distributed the food +and acted as agent representing the house in all +communications with Confederate headquarters. +Col. Gilbert G. Prey of the 104th N. Y. Vols. +was elected commissary of house number one; +Capt. D. Tarbell, of Groton, N. Y., commissary +of house number two; Lieutenant Reilly of +Philadelphia, of house number three; and I of +house four.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span></p> + +<p>Each house contained but two rooms, a lower +and an upper, both empty, for the most part without +glass windows or even sashes; the spaces +between the crooked logs not stopped up; a single +fireplace in each house, but not half enough wood +to keep a blaze; without tables, benches, or chairs; +without cooking utensils; without table, knife, fork, +spoon, or plate; often without cup or dish; without +blankets, or any clothing but the scantiest summer +outfit; without books or papers; without +water sufficient for washing, or soap, if we could +possibly get water; we were in a sorry plight as +the nights grew colder. And if the prospect was +bad for us, how much worse for our soldiers across +the "dead line," who had no shelter, hardly a +scrap of blanket! Every rain made their beds +a pool or mass of mire. It is not pleasant, but it +is a duty to record some of the shadows of our +prison life, "lest we forget."</p> + +<p>On the open ground outside of what was called +the "hospital," October 8th, a sergeant-major +was found dead; October 9th, two private soldiers; +October 13th, five; October 14th, two; +October 16th, eleven; October 17th, seven; October +18th, nine. We could tell how severe the weather +had been at night by the number found dead in +the morning.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span></p> + +<p>Not far from the prison enclosure was an +abundance of growing timber. More than once +I besought Major Gee to allow our men to go, +under guard on parole, to get wood for fires and +for barracks. He refused. He said he was +intending to build barracks for the prisoners as +soon as he could procure lumber. I presume that +he was sincere in this. I asked in vain for blankets +for the men; for tents, but none came till December, +and then but one "Sibley" tent and one +"A" tent per hundred prisoners, not enough for +one-third of them.</p> + +<p>We procured water from a deep well on the +grounds. The supply was so scanty for the +thousands of prisoners that it was always exhausted +before sunrise. Soon after we came the Confederates +commenced digging two new wells. At their +rate of progress we reckoned it would take several +months to finish either.</p> + +<p>My memorandum book shows that the issue +of food daily at Salisbury, though sometimes +partly withheld, was for each prisoner "one half +loaf of soft bread; two, three, four, or five ounces +of meat; a gill of boiled rice, and a little salt." I +have no doubt that Major Gee meant to deal +fairly with us; but he was unprepared for the avalanche +that had descended upon him. We are too<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span> +much in the habit of blaming individual combatants +for severities and cruelties that are inherent +in the whole business of war, either civil or +international, and inseparable from it. Said our +Lieut.-Gen. S. M. B. Young at a banquet in +Philadelphia, "War is necessarily cruel; it is +kill and burn, and burn and kill, and again +kill and burn." The truth was more bluntly +expressed by the British Rear-Admiral Lord +Fisher, now the first sea lord of the British +Admiralty:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p class="inde">Humanizing war? [said he]; you might as well talk +of humanizing hell! When a silly ass got up at the +first Hague Peace Conference in 1899, and talked +about the "amenities of warfare" and putting your +prisoners' feet in warm water and giving them gruel, +my reply, I regret to say, was considered brutally +unfit for publication. As if war could be "civilized"! +If I am in command when war breaks out, I shall +issue as my orders, "The essence of war is violence. +Moderation is imbecility. <i>Hit first, hit hard, hit +everywhere.</i>"</p></div> + +<p>In this light we may view more charitably the +slaying, on the 16th of October at Salisbury, of +Second Lieutenant John Davis of the 155th N. Y. +It was a Sunday morning about half-past ten +o'clock. One of our fellow prisoners, Rev. Mr. +Emerson, chaplain of a Vermont regiment, had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span> +circulated notice that he would conduct religious +services in the open air between houses number +three and four. The officers were beginning to assemble +when the sharp report of a musket near by +was heard. Rushing to the spot, we found the lieutenant +lying on his back dying at the "dead line." +The sentinel on the fence, a mere boy, had fired +upon him, and was now reloading. One of our +number, Captain William Cook, unable to restrain +his anger, hurled a large stone at him. But the +hundreds of Confederates in the camps just beyond +the fence had sprung to arms at the sound of the +firing; the top of the fence was being lined with +soldiers; and the vigilant cannoneers at the angles +were training their artillery upon our dense mass +of officers. We prisoners regarded the shooting +as a brutal murder. The religious exercises were +turned into a funeral service. Chaplain Emerson +prayed, "O God! our only refuge in this dark hour, +avenge the atrocious murder of our beloved comrade; +protect that widow so cruelly robbed of one +dearer to her than life; and especially grant that +this accursed Confederacy may speedily sink into +its native hell!" His text was from <i>Isaiah</i> viii, 12: +"Say ye not a Confederacy!" Next day I asked +the officer of the guard if any punishment was +to be inflicted upon the sentinel. He answered:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span> +"No; we don't punish men for doing their +duty."</p> + +<p>So vitally important is the point of view in +deciding upon the right or wrong of an act.</p> + +<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER V</h2> + +<div class="block2"><p>At Salisbury—Great Plot to Escape—How Frustrated.</p></div> + +<p><span class="smcap">When</span> we arrived at Salisbury early in October, +we found there a brave and sagacious officer, +Lieut. Wm. C. Manning of the 2d Massachusetts +Cavalry. He told us he had been held as a +hostage in solitary confinement, and would have +starved but for the rats he caught and ate. He +had been notified that his own life depended upon +the fate of a person held in federal hands as a spy. +He determined to attempt an escape. He was +assigned to my house. Taking up a part of the +floor, he commenced digging a tunnel. He wrote +a solemn pledge which all the officers in the house +signed, binding them not to divulge the scheme. +The tunnel would have had to be about eight rods +long, and its outlet would necessarily have been +near a group of rebel tents. Of course it would +have been discovered on the morning after its +completion, and not all could hope to find egress +that way. But he believed that his life was still<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span> +in special danger, and he at once began excavating. +The house had no cellar, but there was plenty +of room under it for stowing away the loose +earth. The ground was not hard, yet it was quite +firm, and on the whole favorable for such operations. +The work was progressing finely, till +the officers were suddenly removed from Salisbury +in consequence of the discovery of a great plot.</p> + +<p>I had become a good deal interested in Manning +and his tunnel plan, and on the morning of Wednesday, +October 12th, I introduced him to General +Hayes, our senior officer. He told us he had for +several days been considering the possibility of +organizing the three or four hundred officers, and +the five to ten thousand soldiers. He believed +that by a simultaneous assault at many points we +could seize the artillery, break the fence, capture +the three rebel camps, then arm and ration this +extemporized army, and march away. He showed +us a good map of North Carolina. He invited all +of the field officers to meet that evening in the +garret of house number two. All of them accordingly, +about thirty in number, were present. +Posting sentinels to keep out intruders, and stopping +the open windows so that the faint light of +a tallow candle might not betray us or create suspicion, +we sat down in the gloom.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span></p> + +<p>The general had modestly absented himself, in +order that we might be uninfluenced by him in +reaching a decision; but our first step was to +send for him, and then insist on his taking the +chair—<i>the</i> chair, for we had but one! As he had +made a careful study of the subject, we pressed +him to give his views. He proceeded to state the +grounds of his belief that it was practicable to +strike an effective blow for our liberation. He told +us that he had communicated with a Union man +outside, and had learned the number and location +of the Confederate troops we should be likely to +encounter on our march to East Tennessee. He +explained at some length the details of his plan, +the obstacles we should encounter, and how to +overcome them. I shall never forget the conclusion +of his speech. These were almost exactly his +words:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p class="inde">We must organize; organize victory. The sooner +we act the better, provided we have a well-arranged +plan. We can capture this town, ration our men, +provide them with shoes, clothing, and muskets, and +have a formidable army right here at once. It need +not take more than half a day. Certainly we can march +off within twenty-four hours after the first blow is +struck, if we begin right. The enemy have a few guns +on the hill, but they are not "in battery". We can +take these and take the artillery here right along with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span> +us. The principal obstacle is here; make the beginning +right; master these prisons and these camps, and we +are safe. Organize is the word; <i>organize</i>. If any one +shall betray us, or aid the rebels, or be guilty of robbery +or other outrage, I am in favor of a drumhead +court martial and a summary execution. Now, gentlemen, +I am ready to serve in any capacity, whether +to lead or to follow.</p></div> + +<p>Colonel Ralston of the 24th N. Y. "dismounted +cavalry," as they were called, spoke next. He +was an energetic and dashing officer who fell near +me in an attempt to break out of Danville prison +on the tenth of the following December. He +entered into the particulars of a plan of action, +showing how easy it would be, with the probable +loss of but few lives, to capture the three camps +with the Salisbury arsenal and the artillery. As +his particular share in the work, he said he would +undertake with a small company to disarm the +twenty or thirty sentinels inside the enclosure, +and instantly thereupon to capture the headquarters +of Major Gee.</p> + +<p>Other officers gave valuable suggestions. Being +called upon for my opinion, I spoke of the duty we +owed our enlisted men to extricate them from their +shocking condition, for they were beginning to die +every night on the bare ground, and would soon be +perishing by scores. I urged the effect the escape<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span> +of some eight thousand prisoners would have upon +the nation, being equivalent to a great victory; +and, better than victory, it would add so many +thousands of trained soldiers at once to our armies +in the field. I insisted that this success would +be cheaply bought, even if it cost, as it probably +would, a hundred lives.</p> + +<p>Of all our thirty field officers, only one opposed +the scheme (Lieut.-Col. G——). He was acknowledged +to be brave,<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> but seemingly lacking in +enterprise. He said in substance, "I have carefully +examined the situation, and have come to the +conclusion that it is utterly useless to attempt to +escape by force. It can't be done at present. We +should be slaughtered by the hundred. If you all +vote to try it, I will join you; but in my opinion +it is perfect madness."</p> + +<p>With but one dissenting voice it was resolved to +go ahead. A committee of five was immediately +appointed to prepare and present a plan of action. +This committee were Colonel Ralston; Col. W. +Ross Hartshorne, 190th Pa. (the famous "Bucktail +Regiment," whose first colonel, O'Neil, my Yale +classmate, was killed at Antietam); Col. James +Carle, 191st Pa.; Major John Byrne, 155th N. Y.;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span> +and myself, Lieutenant-Colonel of the 13th Conn. +We were supposed to be fighting men, and had all +been wounded in battle.</p> + +<p>A similar meeting of field officers was held the +following evening. For two days the committee was +almost continually in consultation with General +Hayes. Great pains was taken to have the plans +fully understood by all the officers and to secure +their hearty coöperation. By ingenious methods +frequent communication was had with the enlisted +men across the "dead line"; sometimes by hurling +written communications ballasted with stone; +several times by Lieutenant Manning and others +running swiftly past the sentinels in the dark; best +of all, because least liable to discovery, by the +use of the deaf-and-dumb alphabet. We were +suffering for want of water, and several officers got +permission to go outside the enclosure ostensibly +to procure it, but really to reconnoitre.</p> + +<p>The committee reported the following plan, +which was unanimously adopted:</p> + +<p>The first object in the movement being to get +into a hand-to-hand fight as soon as possible; seven +columns, each several hundred strong, were to +make simultaneous assaults upon six or seven +different points. The fence being the first impediment, +every man's haversack and pockets were to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span> +be filled with stones to keep down the sentinels +who would fire on us from the top. Some got +levers to wrench off boards, others logs to serve +as rude battering rams, others sharpened stakes +which Ralston called "Irish pikes," others clubs, +or any possible weapon. I had a rusty old +bayonet.</p> + +<p>Major David Sadler, 2d Pennsylvania Heavy +Artillery, with his battalion was to rush and seize +the cannon and muskets at the angle on the right; +Major John Byrne and his column at the same +instant were to pounce upon the big gun and muskets +at the angle on our left; simultaneously Colonel +Ralston and his men are to dash upon the nine sentinels +on the "dead line" in front of the officers' +houses, in a moment disarming them and the nine of +the relief just arriving; then spring to the assistance +of Major August Haurand of the 4th N. Y. Cavalry +and his battalion who are capturing Major Gee's +headquarters and guards and camp on our right. +Col. James Carle, 191st Pa., with his hundreds is +breaking through the fence and capturing the rebel +camp in rear of the officers' quarters. Colonel, afterwards +General, W. Ross Hartshorne and his 330 men +of the 190th Pa. are to break the fence just above +the main rebel camp which is on our left. My own +column of about three hundred men of the Nineteenth<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span> +Corps are to break the fence just below the +rebel camp; then Hartshorne and I are to leap from +opposite sides upon this, the main camp. These +seven battalions were to some extent organized +with field, staff, and company officers. Every +officer and soldier was to be on the <i>qui vive</i> a +little before five o'clock in the morning, watching +intently for the signal. This was to be the waving +of a fire-brand by General Hayes in front of +house number two.</p> + +<p>Quite a number of officers had no faith in the +plot, and they regarded it with indifference. A +few expressed hostility to it. One captain, who +had been a prisoner before and seemed glad +to have been captured again, a bloated, overgrown, +swaggering, filthy bully, of course a coward, +formerly a keeper of a low groggery and said +to have been commissioned for political reasons, +was repeatedly heard to say in sneering tones in +the hearing of rebel sentries, "<i>Some of our officers +have got escape on the brain</i>," with other words +to the like effect. Colonel Hartshorne finally +stopped such traitorous language by saying with +tremendous emphasis: "Captain D——, I've heard +a good deal of your attempts to discourage officers +from escaping, and your loud talk about officers +having 'escape on the brain.' Now, sir, I give<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span> +you notice that if you're again guilty of anything +of the sort, <span class="smcapl">I'LL—BREAK—YOUR—HEAD—WITH—A—CLUB</span>!"</p> + +<p>The time agreed upon for the seven simultaneous +attacks was about an hour before sunrise the morning +of October 15th.</p> + +<p>As we had feared, the rebel authorities, whether +through suspected treachery or otherwise, got +wind of our purpose. Towards evening of October +14th extraordinary vigilance on their part +became apparent. Troops were paraded, posts +strengthened, guards doubled, privileges restricted, +and word was passed around in our hearing that +a battalion of Confederates had just arrived. +Their watchfulness seemed unrelaxed through the +night. The shooting of Lieutenant Davis next +morning was doubtless in obedience to orders for a +more rigorous enforcement of rules.</p> + +<p>Our outbreak was countermanded and postponed, +but preparations continued. The delay +enabled us to perfect our plans, and make our +organizations more complete. The early morning +of October 20th, the 19th being the anniversary +of my birth, was now fixed upon for the "insurrection." +We essayed to disarm suspicion by an +air of quiet acquiescence in the lazy routine of +prison life, or absorption in the simplest and most<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span> +innocent occupations whenever any Confederate +might be looking on.</p> + +<p>We recognized united and instantaneous action +at the signal on the part of three hundred officers +and several thousand men as the most vitally +important element of success. It was necessary +that this should be thoroughly understood and +emphasized, so that every soldier should be in +perfect readiness at the critical moment.</p> + +<p>Several of us had formed a class for oral instruction +in French. Our teacher was Captain Cook +of the 9th U. S. colored troops, a graduate of Yale. +About ten o'clock in the morning of October 18th, +as we were seated on the ground near house number +four, loudly imitating Professor Cook's <i>parlez-vous</i>, +Lieut. Wm. C. Gardner, adjutant of one +of those extemporized battalions of prisoners, +brought me a letter he was intending to throw +across the "dead line" to Sergt. Wallace W. Smith, +requesting him to notify all enlisted men of the +battalion when and where to assemble silently +next morning in the dark, how to arm themselves, +from whom to take orders, what signal to watch +for, and other important matters. I glanced +through it, and immediately said: "You'd better +not entrust the communication to so hazardous +a channel; wait an hour till I've done with my<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span> +French lesson, and I'll cause it to be transmitted +by the deaf-and-dumb alphabet." If I recollect +rightly, either Lieutenant Tobey or Lieutenant +Morton, both of the 58th Massachusetts, was in +the class, and promised to convey the contents of +the letter safely across to the soldiers by adroit +finger manipulation. We were just finishing the +French exercise, when Adjutant Gardner came +greatly excited, and this conversation followed:</p> + +<p class="pad1">"Good God, Colonel, the rebs have got that +letter! I tied it to a stone and flung it a long ways +over the 'dead line' to Wallace Smith. He appeared +afraid to pick it up. A reb sentinel stepped +away from his beat and got it."</p> + +<p>"I requested you to wait till I'd done reciting +French, and I told you I'd then communicate it +by the deaf-and-dumb alphabet."</p> + +<p>"Well, Colonel, I ought to have done so; but I +was anxious to have the work done promptly, and +I thought it was perfectly safe. I've tossed letters +over to Smith several times. I'm worried to death +about it. What's best to do?"</p> + +<p>"Was your name signed to it?"</p> + +<p>"No; but my name was on the envelope—an old +letter envelope that I had when we came here."</p> + +<p>"Well, Gardner, this is a pretty piece of business!<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span> +That letter of course will go very soon +to Major Gee's headquarters, and then—there'll +be the devil to pay!"</p> + +<p>"The sentinel handed the letter to the officer +of the guard. What had I better say, if they +send for me?"</p> + +<p>"Say you intended the letter to fall into their +hands; that you meant it as a practical joke, +wanted to get up another scare, and see the +Johnnies prick up their ears again."</p> + +<p>"But, Colonel, like a fust-class fool I put a ten-dollar +Confederate bill in the envelope. I wanted +to give it to Sergeant Smith. That don't look as +if I meant it to fall into their hands—does it?"</p> + +<p>"Gardner, this thing has an ugly look. You've +knocked our plans of escape in the head—at least +for the present. You've got yourself into a fix. +They'll haul you up to headquarters. They'll +prove by the letter that you've been deep in a +plot that would have cost a good many lives. +They're feeling ugly. They may hang or shoot +you before sundown, as a warning to the rest of +us to stop these plots to escape. They may send +for you at any minute."</p> + +<p>"What had I better say or do?"</p> + +<p>"You'd better make yourself scarce for a while, +till you've got a plausible story made up.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span> +Better disguise yourself and pass yourself off as +somebody else; so gain time."</p> + +<p class="pad2">"I have it, Colonel; I'll pass myself off as +Estabrooks."</p> + +<p>Estabrooks was an officer of the 26th Mass., who +had escaped at the crossing of the river Yadkin +two weeks previously when we came from Richmond. +Gardner was a handsome man and perhaps +the best-dressed officer in prison; but he now +disguised himself.<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> The transformation was complete. +In half an hour a man came to me wearing +a slouched hat and a very ragged suit of Confederate +gray. He had been a play-actor before the +war and knew how to conceal his identity. By +his voice I recognized him as Gardner! "Well, +Gardner," said I, "this surpasses His Satanic +Majesty; or, as you would say, beats the devil!"—"Colonel," +he replied, "I'm not Gardner. Gardner +escaped; escaped at the crossing of the Yadkin +River. I'm Estabrooks, H. L. Estabrooks, 2d +Lieutenant, 26th Mass. Call me Estabrooks +if you please."—"All right, Estabrooks it is."</p> + +<p>Hardly had we had time to whisper around this<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span> +change of name, when the Confederate officer of +the guard made his appearance with two or three +soldiers, inquiring for the commissary of house +number four. I was pointed out to him. In substance +and almost in the exact words this dialogue +ensued:</p> + +<p class="pad1">"Colonel Sprague, are you commissary of this +house?"</p> + +<p>"I have that honor."</p> + +<p>"I want to find Lieutenant Gardner."</p> + +<p>"Who?"</p> + +<p>"Lieutenant Gardner."</p> + +<p>"Who's Lieutenant Gardner?"</p> + +<p>"I am told he's an officer in house number four; +and as you are commissary, you can probably tell +me where he is <i>at</i>."</p> + +<p>"Where he's what?"</p> + +<p class="pad2">"Where he's <i>at</i>."</p> + +<p>This was the first time I had ever heard the word +<i>at</i> so used at the end of a sentence; but it expresses +the meaning with admirable precision. I had a +slight qualm at lying; but I remembered that even +George Washington could tell a lie if necessary in +war. Pacifying my conscience with the fact that +we were <i>outside</i> the house at the time, I said:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span></p> + +<p class="pad1">"There's no such officer in house four. But I +remember an officer of that name at Libby, handsomely +dressed, a perfect dandy. I heard that +he escaped at the crossing of the Yadkin River two +weeks ago. Has he been recaptured, and is he +going to be shot or hanged? Or have you a letter +for him? What's the good news about Gardner?"</p> + +<p>"I only know," he replied, "that he's wanted +at Major Gee's office, and he's an officer in house +number four."</p> + +<p>"Estabrooks," said I to the man at my side, +"do you know of a Lieutenant Gardner?"</p> + +<p class="pad2">"I did know slightly such a man at Libby. You +have described him well; a fop, a beau, a dandy; +just about my size, but he didn't wear rags like I +do."</p> + +<p>"Come with me," said I to the Confederate. +"We'll go into the house and inquire if any one +knows of a Lieutenant Gardner." We went in. +There were perhaps thirty or forty inside who had +got wind of what was going on. As we entered, +I asked in a loud voice, "Does any officer in this +house know anything of a Lieutenant Gardner?" +Several smiled and declared it a very singular +name. One wanted to know how it was spelled! +A number were speaking at once. One said he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span> +escaped at the Yadkin; he knew he got away, for +he "watched him till he got a long distance out +of sight." Another knew a Henry J. Gardner, "a +Know-Nothing" governor of Massachusetts, who +knew enough to keep out of the army. Another +affirmed that Gardner was dead; he had heard him +say "I'm a dead man," and he wouldn't tell a lie! +My memory is somewhat indistinct of all that +was said; but Gardner is alleged to have whispered +the officer thus: "I have been a gardener myself; +and if Major Gee will parole me and give me good +clothes and something to eat, I wouldn't mind +becoming again a gardener in his employ." I +recollect distinctly that the officer grew impatient +and he finally asked me, "Do you say on your +honor, Colonel, that you don't know a Lieut. +Wm. O. Gardner in this house?" I answered, "I +do"; but I left him to guess whether I meant "I +do <i>know</i>" or "I do <i>say</i>!" I quieted my conscientious +scruples by remembering that the lieutenant's +true name was not Wm. O. but Wm. C.! +The baffled officer left very angry, and "<i>Where's +Gardner at?</i>" passed into a conundrum.</p> + +<p>Late that afternoon, as I was engaged in the +delightful employment of washing my fall-and-winter +shirt, having for the first time since our +arrival in Salisbury obtained sufficient water for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span> +that purpose, the order came for all officers to fall +in and take the cars for Danville, Va. The juxtaposition +of three or four hundred Yankee officers +with eight thousand of their enlisted comrades-in-arms +was getting dangerous.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> He had killed three men with his sword at the time of his +capture.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> "We run the boy into one of the houses, clipped his hair, +shaved him, and placed a new robe on him."—<i>Letter</i> of Capt. +Wesley C. Howe to Colonel Sprague, Jan. 30, 1914.</p></div> +</div> + +<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER VI</h2> + +<div class="block2"><p>From Salisbury to Danville—The Forlorn Situation—Effort to +"Extract Sunshine from Cucumbers"—The Vermin—The +Prison Commandant a Yale Man—Proposed Theatricals—Rules +Adopted—Studies—Vote in Prison for Lincoln and +McClellan—Killing Time.</p></div> + +<p><span class="smcap">At</span> six o'clock, Wednesday evening, October +19, 1864, we officers, about 350 in number, were +packed in five freight cars, and the train was +started for Danville, Va. The tops of the cars +were covered with armed guards, two or three +being also stationed within at the side door of +each car. In the darkness about half-past nine +Lieut. Joseph B. Simpson of the 11th Indiana +slyly stole all the food from the haversacks of the +guards at the door of our car and passed it round +to us, while we loudly "cussed and discussed" +slavery and secession! About midnight Captain +Lockwood, Lieutenant Driscoll, and eight or ten +other officers leaped from the cars. The guards +opened fire upon them. Lockwood was shot dead. +Several were recaptured, and some probably +reached the Union lines in safety. We arrived +at Danville at noon October 20th.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span></p> + +<p>The town at this time contained four, formerly +six, military prisons, each a tobacco house about +eighty to a hundred feet long by forty to fifty +wide, three stories high, built of brick, low between +joints. The officers were put into the building +known as prison number three. We were informed +by the guards that it had formerly contained +about two hundred negro prisoners; but that some +had died, others had been delivered to their +masters or set at work on fortifications, and the +number remaining just before our arrival was only +sixty-four. These were removed to make room +for us.</p> + +<p>Except about twenty large stout wooden boxes +called spittoons, there was no furniture whatever +in prison number three. Conjecture was rife as +to the purpose of the Confederates in supplying us +with spittoons and nothing else. They were too +short for coffins, too large for wash bowls, too +shallow for bathing tubs, too deep for tureens! +To me much meditating on final causes, a vague +suspicion at length arose that there was some +mysterious relation between those twenty oblong +boxes and a score of hogsheads of plug tobacco, +said to be stored in the basement. A <i>tertium</i> <span class="smcapl">QUID</span>, +a solution of the tobacco, might afford a solution +of the spittoon mystery!<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span></p> + +<p>A dozen water buckets were put into each of the +two upper rooms to which all the officers were +restricted; also a small cylinder coal stove; nothing +else until December, when another small stove +was placed there. Winter came early and unusually +cold. The river Dan froze thick. It was +some weeks before we prevailed upon the prison +commandant to replace with wood the broken-out +glass in the upper rooms. The first floor was +uninhabitable.</p> + +<p>So with no bed nor blanket; no chairs, benches, +nor tables; no table-ware nor cooking utensils; +not even shovel, poker, or coal-scoop; most of us +were in a sorry plight. The little stoves, heated +white-hot, would have been entirely inadequate +to warm those rooms; but the coal was miserably +deficient in quality as well as quantity. The fire +often went out. To rekindle it, there was no +other way than to upset the whole, emptying ashes +and cinders on the floor. At best, the heat was +obstructed by a compact ring of shivering officers, +who had preëmpted positions nearest the stoves. +They had taken upon themselves to "run" the +thing; and they did it well. We called them "The +Stove Brigade." In spite of their efforts, they +like the rest suffered from cold.</p> + +<p>Three or four of us, as a sanitary measure, made<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span> +it a point to see, if possible, the funny, or at least +the bright side of everything, turn melancholy to +mirth, shadow to sunshine. When every officer +complained of cold, we claimed to anticipate the +philosophers, Tyndall, Huxley, and the other +physicists, in declaring that "heat is a mode of +<i>motion</i>," and brisk bodily exercise will infallibly +demonstrate the fact! When, as was usually the +case, all were hungry, we announced as a sure cure +for indigestion, "stop <i>eating</i>!" When our prisoner +chaplain Emerson on a Sunday afternoon prayed +for the dear ones we expected to see no more, and +even the roughest and most profane were in tears, +we said with old Homer, "<i>Agathoi aridakrues +andres</i>" ("Gallant men are easily moved to tears"), +or with Bayard Taylor, "The bravest are the +tenderest, the loving are the daring."</p> + +<p>Most humiliating of all was the inevitable plague +of vermin. "Hard indeed," one officer was accustomed +to say, "must have been Pharaoh's +heart, and tougher yet his epidermis, if the lice of +the third Egyptian plague were like those of Danville, +and yet he would not 'let Israel go.'" Wearing +the same clothing night and day, sitting on the +bare floors, sleeping there in contact with companions +not over-nice, no patient labor, no exterminating +unguent, afforded much relief. We lost<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span> +all squeamishness, all delicacy on the subject, all +inclination for concealment. It was not a returned +Danville prisoner who was reported to have gone +into a drug store in New York stealthily scratching +and saying, "I want some unguentum; don't +want it for myself; only want it for a friend." +But it was reported and believed that in April one +of them entered an apothecary shop in Annapolis +plying his finger-nails and hurriedly asking, +"Have you any bmsquintum?"—"From your +manner," answered the courteous druggist, "I +think what you want is unguentum."—"Yes, +<i>run git 'em</i>; I guess that <i>is</i> the true name."—"Unguentum, +sir"; said the shopkeeper. "How much +unguentum do you want?"—"Well, I reckon +about two pound!"—"My dear sir, two pounds +would kill all the lice in Maryland."—"Well, I +vow I believe I've got 'em!"</p> + +<p>Lieut.-Col. Robert C. Smith of Baltimore, who +took command of the Danville prisons soon after +our arrival, appeared to be kind-hearted, compassionate, +but woefully destitute of what Mrs. +Stowe calls "faculty." He was of medium height, +spare build, fair complexion, sandy hair, blue +eyes, of slightly stooping figure; on the whole rather +good-looking. He was slow of speech, with a +nasal twang that reminded me of Dr. Horace<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span> +Bushnell. His face always wore a sad expression. +He had been a student at Yale in the forties a few +years before me. Once a prisoner himself in our +hands and fairly treated, he sympathized with us. +He had been wounded, shot through the right +shoulder. When I visited on parole the other +Danville prisons in February, a Yankee soldier +was pointed out to me as wearing Colonel Smith's +blood-stained coat, and another was said to be +wearing his vest. I had repeated interviews with +him, in which he expressed regret at not being +able to make us more comfortable. He said more +than once to me, "I have no heart for this business. +It requires a man without any heart to keep a military +prison. I have several times asked to be relieved +and sent to the front." An officer of forceful +executive ability might have procured for us +lumber for benches, more coal or wood for the +stoves, some straw or hay for bedding, blankets or +cast-off clothing for the half naked; possibly a little +food, certainly a supply of reading matter from +the charitably disposed. Single instances of his +compassion I have mentioned. I shall have +occasion to speak of another. But the spectacle +of the hopeless mass of misery in the four Danville +prisons seemed to render him powerless, if not +indifferent. As Mrs. Browning puts it:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span></p> + +<div class="poem" style="width: 20em;"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i8">A red-haired child,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Sick in a fever, if you touch him once,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Though but so little as with a finger-tip,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Will set you weeping; but a million sick!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">You could as soon weep for the rule of three,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Or compound fractions!<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Like too many officers both Union and Confederate, +he was often in liquor; liquor was always in him. +This "knight of the rueful countenance," of the +sad heart, the mourning voice, the disabled right +arm, and the weakness for apple-jack!—his only +hope was to have an exchange of prisoners; but +Lincoln and Stanton and Grant would not consent +to that. The last I heard of him was when a letter +of his was shown me by Lieutenant Washington, a +Confederate, a distant relative of the great George. +In it Smith, who had been absent a week from +Danville, complained that he had had "no liquor +for three days," and that he was "painfully +sober"!</p> + +<p>"Necessity," says the old apothegm, "is the +mother of invention." It was surprising, how +much we accomplished in a few weeks towards +making ourselves comfortable. Bone or wood was +carved into knives, forks, spoons, buttons, finger-rings, +masonic or army badges, tooth-picks, bosom +pins, and other ornaments; corn-cobs were made<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span> +into smoking pipes; scraps of tin or sheet-iron +were fashioned into plates for eating or dishes for +cooking; shelves were made by tying long wood +splinters together; and many "spittoons," which +were soon rendered superfluous, because the two +entire rooms were transformed into vast spittoons, +were inverted, and made useful as seats which we +called sofas.</p> + +<p>Many ingeniously wrought specimens of Yankee +ingenuity were sold clandestinely to the rebel +guards, who ventured to disobey strict orders. No +skinflint vender of wooden nutmegs, leather +pumpkin-seeds, horn gunflints, shoe-peg oats, +huckleberry-leaf tea, bass-wood cheeses, or white-oak +hams, ever hankered more for a trade. Besides +the products of our prison industry, they craved +watches, rings, gold chains, silver spurs, gilt +buttons, genuine breast-pins, epaulets; anything +that was not manufactured in the Confederacy. +Most of all, they longed for greenbacks in exchange +for rebel currency. So in one way or another many +of us contrived to get a little money of some sort. +With it we could buy of the sutler, who visited us +from time to time, rice, flour, beans, bacon, onions, +dried apple, red peppers, sorghum syrup, vinegar, +etc.</p> + +<p>Perhaps the best result of our engaging in handicraft<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span> +work was the relief from unspeakable depression +of spirits. Some of us saw the importance of +making diversion on a large scale. To this end we +planned to start a theatre. Major Wm. H. Fry, +of the 16th Pa. Cavalry, who knew all about +vaudeville in Philadelphia, was a wise adviser. +Young Gardner, who had been an actor, heartily +joined in the movement. I procured a worn-out +copy of Shakespeare. It seemed best to begin with +the presentation of the first act in <i>Hamlet</i>. Colonel +Smith and other rebel officers promised to aid us. +We assigned the parts and commenced studying +and rehearsing. Gardner was to be Hamlet; +Lieut.-Col. Theodore Gregg, 45th Pa., was to be +Claudius, the usurping king; the smooth-faced +Capt. William Cook was to be the queen-mother +Gertrude; Capt. W. F. Tiemann, 159th N. Y., +was to personate Marcellus; Lieut. C. H. Morton +of Fairhaven, Mass., I think, was Horatio; and +I, having lost about forty pounds of flesh since my +capture—it was thought most appropriate that I +should be the Ghost! Every morning for some +weeks on the empty first floor we read and rehearsed, +and really made fine progress. But when +we got ready to produce in theatric style, with slight +omissions, the first act, the rebels seemed suspicious +of some ulterior design. They refused to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span> +furnish a sword for Hamlet, a halberd for Marcellus, +muskets for Bernardo and Francisco, a calico +gown for the queen, or even a white shirt for the +Ghost. This was discouraging. When the lovely +queen-mother Gertrude appealed to her son—</p> + +<div class="poem" style="width: 19em;"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Good Hamlet, cast thy nighted color off,—<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p class="noin">he answered, "I swear I can't do it!" One +November morning, as we were rehearsing and +shivering on the windy first floor, he ejaculated +with some emphasis, and with ungentle expletives +not found in the original text,</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">The air bites shrewdly; it is very cold;<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>"I move, Colonel, that we 'bust up' this +theatre." So the "legitimate drama" vanished +from Danville.</p> + +<p>About this time my copy of the Greek New +Testament was stolen from me, an instance, perhaps, +of piety run mad.</p> + +<p>A week or two before this, the lower room, in +which I then lodged, containing about a hundred +and seventy officers, was getting into such a +condition that I felt it my duty to call a meeting +to see what measures could be adopted to promote +comfort and decency. I was not the senior in +rank, but Colonel Carle did not feel himself authorized<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span> +to issue orders. Some sort of government +must be instituted at once. Nearly all recognized +the necessity of prompt action and strict discipline. +A committee was appointed consisting of myself, +Major John W. Byron, 88th N. Y., and another +officer whose name escapes me, to draw up rules +and regulations. We presented the following:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p class="center">RULES UNANIMOUSLY ADOPTED IN THE LOWER ROOM,<br /> +DANVILLE, VA., PRISON, OCT. 26, 1864:</p></div> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<ol><li>The room shall be thoroughly policed (swept, +etc.) four times each day by the messes in +succession; viz., at sunrise and sunset, and +immediately after breakfast and dinner.</li> + +<li>There shall be no washing in this room.</li> + +<li>No emptying slops into spittoons.</li> + +<li>No washing in the soup buckets or water buckets.</li> + +<li>No shaking of clothes or blankets in this room.</li> + +<li>No cooking inside the stoves.</li> + +<li>No loitering in the yard to the inconvenience of +others.</li> + +<li>No person shall be evidently filthy or infested +with vermin.</li> + +<li>No indecent, profane, or ungentlemanly language +in this room.</li> + +<li>No conduct unbecoming an officer and gentleman +about these premises.</li> + +<li>No talking aloud at night after nine o'clock.</li> + +<li>An officer of the day shall be appointed daily by +the senior officer, whose duty shall be to see +that these rules are strictly enforced, and to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span> +report to the senior officer any violation +thereof.</li> + +<li>In case of any alleged violation of any of these rules, +the senior officer of the room shall appoint a +Court<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> to consist of thirteen disinterested +officers, who shall fairly try and determine the +matter, and in case of conviction the offender's +rations shall be stopped, or the commander of +the prison be requested to confine the offender +in a cell according to the sentence of the Court; +and it shall be the duty of every officer to +have such offender court-martialed after rejoining +his command.<br /><br />For the Committee. H. B. Sprague, Oct, 26, 1864.</li></ol> +</div> + +<p>The prison commandant promised that he would +execute any sentence short of capital punishment. +But one case was tried by such court. The offense +was a gross violation of rule 9. The culprit was let +off with a sharp reprimand by General Hayes; but +my first act after the exchange of prisoners was +to prefer charges and specifications against him. +The beast was court-martialed at Annapolis in the +latter part of July, '65.</p> + +<p>The observance of these rules wrought wonders +in correcting evils which had become almost unendurable, +and in promoting cheerfulness, good +behavior, and mutual esteem.</p> + +<p>Many letters were written to us. Few of them<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span> +reached their destination. The first I received +was from Miss Martha Russell, a lady of fine literary +ability, a friend of Edgar A. Poe, living at +North Branford, Conn. In raising my company +(Co. H., 13th Conn.), I had enlisted her brother +Alfred. Under strict military discipline he had +become a valuable soldier, and I had appointed +him my first sergeant. At the battle of Irish +Bend, La., in which I was myself wounded, he +was shot through the neck. The wound seemed +mortal, but I secured special care for him, and his +life was spared as by miracle. His sister's letter +brought a ray of sunshine to several of us. It +assured us that we were tenderly cared for at +home. She quoted to cheer us the fine lines of +the Cavalier poet Lovelace,</p> + +<div class="poem" style="width: 15em;"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Stone walls do not a prison make,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Nor iron bars a cage;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Minds innocent and quiet take<br /></span> +<span class="i2">That for a hermitage.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>A well-grounded conviction prevailed among the +prisoners that the Confederate government was +anxious to secure an exchange of prisoners, but +that the Federal government would not consent. +The reason was evident enough. The Confederate +prisoners in the North, as a rule, were fit for military +duty; the Union prisoners in the South were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span> +physically unfit. A general exchange would have +placed at once, say, more than forty thousand +fresh soldiers in the rebel ranks, but very few in +ours. Conscription for military service had been +tried in the North with results so bitter that it +seemed unwise to attempt it again. Better let the +unfortunates in southern prisons perish in silence—that +appeared the wisest policy. But to us prisoners +it appeared a mistake and gross neglect of duty. +Between our keen sense of the wrong in allowing us +to starve, and our love for Lincoln and the Union, +there was a struggle. Our patriotism was put to +the test on the day of the Presidential election, +Tuesday, November 8th. Discouraging as was the +outlook for us personally, we had confidence in the +government and in the justice of our cause. Pains +was taken to obtain a full and fair vote in the +officers' prison. There were two hundred seventy-six +for Lincoln; ninety-one for McClellan. Under +the circumstances the result was satisfactory.</p> + +<p>Very earnest, if not acrimonious, were the discussions +that immediately preceded and followed. +Some of us realized their importance, not so much +in arriving at a correct decision on the questions +at issue, as in preventing mental stagnation likely +to result in imbecility if not actual idiocy. By +the stimulus of employment of some kind we must<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span> +fight against the apathy, the hopeless loss of will +power, into which several of our comrades seemed +sinking. Mrs. Browning well says:</p> + +<div class="poem" style="width: 19em;"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i6">Get leave to work<br /></span> +<span class="i0">In this world,—'tis the best you get at all.<br /></span> +<span class="i5">... Get work; get work;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Be sure 'tis better than what you work to get!<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Some of us started historical debates, and new +views were presented which furnished both amusement +and instruction. One colonel, more redoubtable +in battle than in dialectics, who had been +shot through from breast to back, gravely informed +us that the geometer Euclid was an early English +writer! A kindly visitor, Dr. Holbrook, made me +a present of Hitchcock's <i>Elementary Geology</i>. It +was not quite up to date, having been published +about twenty-five years before, but I found the +study interesting. Grieved at having lost from +my books three years in military service, I endeavored +with three or four companions to make up +for the deficiency by taking lessons in French. +Our teacher was Captain Cook, already mentioned +as teaching us French at Salisbury. As we had no +books, the instruction was oral. I was delighted to +observe how much a knowledge of Latin facilitated +the acquisition of the modern tongue. A few +weeks later upon the arrival of Major George<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span> +Haven Putnam, Adjutant at that time of the +176th N. Y., several of us commenced under +him the study of German. Here too the teaching +was oral; but I was able to buy Oehlschläger's +<i>German Reader</i>; took special pleasure in memorizing +some of the selections, particularly from the +poets Gleim, Claudius, Goethe, Schiller, and Uhland; +and I was already familiar with some stanzas +of Arndt's noble <i>The German Fatherland</i>, sung so +often to me by my Lieutenant Meisner, slain by my +side in battle. Some of those songs still ring in +my ears. General Hayes, Major Putnam, and two +or three others took lessons in Spanish from a +native of Mexico, 2d Lieut. John Gayetti (I think +that was his name), of Battery B, 2d Pa. Artillery.</p> + +<p>Checkerboards and chessboards were prepared +from the rudest materials, and many were the +games with which some of our comrades sought to +beguile the weary hours. Capt. Frank H. Mason +of the 12th Cavalry had the reputation of being +our best chess player and young Adjutant Putnam +was his most persistent opponent.</p> + +<p>No one needs to be told that old soldiers are +great story-tellers, drawing upon their imagination +for facts. This talent was assiduously +cultivated in our prison.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> See <a href="#APPENDIX">Appendix</a>.</p></div> +</div> + +<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER VII</h2> + +<div class="block2"><p>Exact Record of Rations in Danville—Opportunity to Cook—Daily +Routine of Proceedings from Early Dawn till Late +at Night.</p></div> + +<p><span class="smcap">Our</span> imprisonment at Danville lasted from +October 20, '64, to February 17, '65, one hundred +and twenty days. I kept a careful daily record of +the rations issued to us, as did also Lieut. Watson +W. Bush, 2d N. Y. "Mounted Rifles." After +our removal from Danville to Richmond for exchange, +we compared our memoranda, and found +they substantially agreed. During the one hundred +and twenty days the issues were as follows:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p class="inde"><i>Bread.</i> A loaf every morning. It was made of +unsifted corn-meal, ground "cobs and all." Pieces +several inches in length of cobs unground were sometimes +contained in it. It always seemed wholesome, +though moist, almost watery. Its dimensions +were a little less than 7 inches long, 3 or 4 wide, and +3 thick. I managed to bring home a loaf, and we were +amazed at the shrinkage to a quarter of its original +size. It had become very hard. We broke it in two, +and found inside what appeared to be a dishcloth!</p> + +<p class="inde"><i>Meat.</i> Forty-three times. I estimated the weight<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span> +at from 2 to 5 or 6 ounces. In it sometimes were +hides, brains, heads, tails, jaws with teeth, lights, +livers, kidneys, intestines, and nameless portions of the +animal economy.</p> + +<p class="inde"><i>Soup.</i> Sixty-two times; viz., bean soup forty-seven +times; cabbage nine times; gruel six. It was the thinnest +decoction of small black beans, the slightest +infusion of cabbage, or the most attenuated gruel of +corn-cob meal, that a poetic imagination ever dignified +with the name of <i>soup</i>!</p> + +<p class="inde"><i>Potatoes.</i> Seven times. Seldom was one over an +inch in diameter.</p> + +<p class="inde"><i>Salt fish.</i> Five times. They call it "hake." It +was good. "Hunger the best sauce."</p> + +<p class="inde"><i>Sorghum syrup.</i> Three times. It was known as +"corn-stalk molasses." It was not bad.</p></div> + +<p>Nothing else was given us for food by the Confederates +at Danville. The rations appeared to +deteriorate and diminish as the winter advanced. +My diary shows that in the fifty-three days after +Christmas we received meat only three times.</p> + +<p>Manifestly such supplies are insufficient to sustain +life very long. By purchase from the rebel sutler +who occasionally visited us, or by surreptitious +trading with the guards, we might make additions +to our scanty allowance. I recollect that two +dollars of irredeemable treasury notes would buy +a gill of rice or beans or corn, a turnip, onion, +parsnip, or small pickled cucumber!<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span></p> + +<p>The Confederate cooking needed to be supplemented. +Here the cylinder coal-stoves were +made useful. The tops of them were often covered +with toasting corn bread. Tin pails and iron +kettles of various capacities, from a pint to several +quarts, suspended from the top by wooden hooks +a foot or two in length, each vessel resting against +the hot stove and containing rice, beans, Indian +corn, dried apple, crust coffee, or other delicacy +potable or edible slowly preparing, made the whole +look like a big black chandelier with pendants. +We were rather proud of our prison cuisine. Cooking +was also performed on and in an old worn-out +cook-stove, which a few of our millionaires, forming +a joint-stock company for the purpose, had +bought for two hundred Confederate dollars late in +the season, and which the kind prison commander +had permitted them to place near the southwest +end of the upper room, running the pipe out of a +window. Culinary operations were extensively +carried on also in the open yard outside, about +forty feet by twenty, at the northeast end of the +building. Here the officer would build a diminutive +fire of chips or splinters between bricks, and +boil or toast or roast his allowance. We were +grouped in messes of five to ten or twelve each. +Happy the club of half a dozen that could get<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span> +money enough and a big enough kettle to have +their meal prepared jointly.</p> + +<p>Such was the case with my own group after the +lapse of about two months. We had been pinched; +but one morning Captain Cook came to me with +radiant face and said: "Colonel, I have good +news for you. <i>I</i>'m going to run this mess. My +folks in New York have made arrangement with +friends in England to supply me with money, and +I've just received through the lines a hundred +dollars. We'll live like fighting-cocks!" Adjt. +J. A. Clark, 17th Pa. Cav., was our delighted cook. +Shivering for an hour over the big kettle amid the +ice and snow of the back yard, he would send up +word, "Colonel, set the table for dinner." To +"set the table" consisted in sweeping a space six +or eight feet square, and depositing there the +plates, wood, tin, or earthen (mine was of wood; +it had cost me a week's labor in carving). The +officers already mentioned, Cook, Clark, Bush, +Sprague, with Lieut. E. H. Wilder, 9th N. Y. +Cav., sit around in the elegant Turkish fashion, or +more classical recline like the ancients in their +symposia, each resting on his left elbow, with face +as near as possible to the steaming kettle, that not +a smell may be lost!</p> + +<p>Wood was scarce. It was used with most rigid<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</a></span> +economy. Many joists overhead had been sawed +off by Lieut. Lewis R. Titus of the <i>Corps D'Afrique</i>, +using a notched table-knife for a saw. In this +way the Vermont Yankee obtained pieces for +cooking, but he weakened the structure till some +officers really feared the roof might come tumbling +about our heads; and I remember that the prison +commandant, visiting the upper room and gazing +heavenward, more than once ejaculated irreverently +the name of the opposite region!</p> + +<p>Through the kindness of a Confederate officer +or bribing the guards a log four or five feet in +length is sometimes brought in. Two or three +instantly attack it with a blunt piece of iron hoop +to start the cleaving, and in less time than one +could expect such a work to be done with axes it +is split fine with wooden wedges.</p> + +<p>Naturally one of the ever-recurring topics +of discussion was the glorious dishes we could +prepare, if we but had the materials, or of which +we would partake if we ever got home again. +In our memorandum books we are careful to +note down the street and number of the most +famous restaurant in each of the largest cities, +like Delmonico's in New York or Young's in +Boston.</p> + +<p>With few exceptions one day is like another.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span> +At earliest dawn each of the two floors is covered +with about a hundred and seventy-five prostrate +forms of officers who have been trying to sleep. +Soon some one of them calls in a loud voice. +"<i>Buckets for water!</i>" The call is repeated. Five +or six, who have predetermined to go early to +the river Dan that seemed nearly a quarter of a +mile distant, start up and seize large wooden +pails. They pass to the lower floor. One of +them says to the sentinel on duty at the southwest +corner door, "Sentry, call the sergeant of the +guard; we want to go for water." He complies. +In five, ten, or fifteen minutes, a non-commissioned +officer, with some half a dozen heavily armed +soldiers, comes, the bolts slide, the doors swing, +our squad passes out. They are escorted down +the hill to the river, and back to prison. By this +time it is broad daylight. Many are still lying +silent on the floor. Most have risen. Some are +washing, or rather wiping with wet handkerchief, +face and hands; others are preparing to cook, +splitting small blocks of wood for a fire of splinters; +a few are nibbling corn bread; here and there one +is reading the New Testament. There is no change +or adjustment of clothing, for the night dress is the +same as the day dress. We no longer wonder how +the cured paralytic in Scripture could obey the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span> +command, "Take up thy bed and walk"; for at +heaviest the bed is but a blanket!</p> + +<p>Now, for a half-hour, vengeance on vermin +that have plagued us during the night! We daily +solve the riddle of the fishermen's answer to +"What luck?" the question which puzzled to +death</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p class="center">"The blind old bard of Scio's rocky isle,"</p> + +<p class="center">"<i>As many as we caught we left; as many as we could +not catch we carry with us</i>!"</p></div> + +<p>About eight o'clock the cry is heard from the +southwest end of the room, "Fall in for roll-call! +fall in!" to which several would impudently add, +"Here he comes! here he is!" A tall, slim, stooping, +beardless, light-haired phenomenon, known as +"the roll-call sergeant," enters with two musketeers. +We officers having formed in two ranks +on the northwest side of the room, he passes +down the front from left to right slowly counting. +Setting down the number in a memorandum +book, he commands in a squeaky feminine voice, +"Break ranks," which most of us have already +done. Much speculation arose as to the nature +and status of this singular being. His face was +smooth and childlike, yet dry and wrinkled, so +that it was impossible to tell whether he was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span> +fifteen or fifty. A committee was said to have +waited upon him, and with much apparent deference +asked him as to his nativity, his age, and +whether he was human or divine, married or single, +man or woman. They said he answered sadly, +"Alas! I'm no angel, but a married man, thirty-seven +years old, from South Carolina. I have +three children who resemble me."</p> + +<p>Immediately after roll-call, corn bread is brought +in for breakfast. It is in large squares about two +feet in length and breadth, the top of each square +being marked for cutting into twenty or twenty-five +rations. Colonel Hooper and Capt. D. Tarbell +receive the whole from the rebel commissary, and +then distribute to each mess its portion. The +mess commissary endeavors to cut it into equal +oblong loaves. To make sure of a fair distribution, +one officer turns his back, and one after another +lays his hand upon a loaf and asks, "Whose is +this?" The officer who has faced about names +some one as the recipient.</p> + +<p>Clear the way now for sweepers. From one +end of the room to the other they ply their coarse +wooden brooms. Some officers are remarkably +neat, and will scrape their floor space with pieces +of glass from the broken windows; a few are listless, +sullen, utterly despondent, regardless of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span> +surroundings, apparently sinking into imbecility; +the majority are taking pains to keep up an +appearance of respectability.</p> + +<p>Many who have been kept awake through the +night by cold or rheumatism now huddle around +the stoves and try to sleep. Most of the remainder, +as the weeks pass, glide into something like +a routine of occupations. For several weeks I +spent an hour or two every day carving with a +broken knife-blade a spoon from a block of hard +wood. Sporadic wood-splitting is going on, and +cooking appears to be one of the fine arts. An +hour daily of oral exercises in French, German, +Spanish, Latin, or Italian, under competent +teachers, after the Sauveur or Berlitz method, +amused and to some extent instructed many. +Our cavalry adjutant, Dutch Clark, so called from +his skill in the "Pennsylvania Dutch" dialect +made perhaps a hundred familiar with the morning +salutation, "<i>Haben Sie gut geschlafen?</i>" ("Have +you slept well?") Lieut. Henry Vander Weyde, +A. D. C., 1st Div., 6th Corps, the artist chum of +our principal German instructor, amused many by +his pencil portraits of "Slim Jim," the nondescript +"roll-call sergeant" of uncertain age and gender; +also of some of the sentries, and one or two of his +fellow prisoners. A worn-out pack of fifty-two<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a></span> +cards, two or three chess and checker boards of +our manufacture, and twenty-four rudely carved +checker-men and thirty-two fantastic chess-men, +furnished frequent amusement to those who understood +the games.</p> + +<p>On an average once in two days we received +about one o'clock what was called soup. We +were told, and we believed it to be true, that all +the rich nitrogenous portion had been carefully +skimmed off for use elsewhere; not thrown away +as the fresh maid threw the "scum" that formed +on top of the milk!</p> + +<p>The topic of most frequent discussion was the +prospect of an exchange of prisoners. Our would-be +German conversationalists never forgot to +ask, "<i>Haben Sie etwas gehörten von Auswechseln der +Gefangenen?</i>" ("Have you heard anything of +exchange of prisoners?") It was hard to believe +that our government would leave us to die of +starvation.</p> + +<p>At the close of the soup hour and after another +turn at sweeping, almost every officer again sat +down or sat up to rid himself of the <i>pediculidæ vestimenti</i>. +We called it "skirmishing"; it was rather +a pitched battle. The humblest soldier and the +brevet major-general must daily strip and fight. +Ludicrous, were it not so abominable, was this<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a></span> +mortifying necessity. No account of prison life +in Danville would be complete without it. Pass +by it hereafter in sorrow and silence, as one of +those duties which Cicero says are to be done +but not talked about.</p> + +<p>The occupations of the morning are now largely +resumed, but many prefer to lie quiet on the floor +for an hour.</p> + +<p>An interesting incident that might happen at +any time is the arrival in prison of a Confederate +newspaper. A commotion near the stairway! +Fifty or a hundred cluster around an officer with a +clear strong voice, and listen as he reads aloud +the news, the editorials, and the selections. The +rebels are represented as continually gaining +victories, but singularly enough the northern +armies are always drawing nearer!</p> + +<p>Toward sunset many officers walk briskly half an +hour to and fro the length of the room for exercise.</p> + +<p>Another roll-call by the mysterious heterogeneous +if not hermaphroditical Carolina sergeant!</p> + +<p>Brooms again by the mess on duty. Again +oral language-lessons by Cook and Putnam. Then +discussions or story-telling.</p> + +<p>It is growing dark. A candle is lighted making +darkness visible. We have many skilful singers, +who every evening "discourse most excellent<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</a></span> +music." They sing <i>Just before the battle, mother; +Do they miss me at home? We shall meet, but +we shall miss him</i> (a song composed on the death +of one of my Worcester pupils by Hon. Charles +Washburn); <i>Nearer, My God, to thee</i>, etc. From +the sweet strains of affection or devotion, which +suffuse the eyes as we begin to lie down for the +night, the music passes to the <i>Star-spangled Banner</i>, +<i>Rally round the flag</i>, <i>John Brown's body lies +a'mouldering in the grave</i>, and the like. Often the +"concert" concludes with a comic Dutch song by +Captain Cafferty, Co. D, 1st N. Y. Cav.</p> + +<p>Sleep begins to seal many eyelids, when someone +with a loud voice heard through the whole +room starts a series of sharp critical questions, +amusing or censorious, thus:</p> + +<p class="pad1">"Who don't skirmish?" This is answered +loudly from another quarter.</p> + +<p>"Slim Jim." The catechism proceeds, sometimes +with two or three distinct responses.</p> + +<p>"Who cheats the graveyard?"</p> + +<p>"Colonel Sprague."</p> + +<p>"Who sketched Fort Darling?"</p> + +<p>"Captain Tripp." (He was caught sketching +long before, and was refused exchange.)</p> + +<p>"Who never washes?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[105]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Lieutenant Screw-my-upper-jaw-off." (His was +an unpronounceable foreign name.)</p> + +<p>"Who knows everything?"</p> + +<p>"General Duffié." (Duffié was a brave officer, +of whom more anon.)</p> + +<p>"Who don't know anything?"</p> + +<p class="pad2">"The fools that talk when they should be +asleep." (The querists subside at last.)</p> + +<p>For warmth we lie in contact with each other +"spoon-fashion," in groups of three or more. I +had bought a heavy woolen shawl for twenty +Confederate dollars, and under it were Captain +Cook, Adjutant Clark, and Lieutenant Wilder; I +myself wearing my overcoat, and snuggling up to +my friend Cook. All four lay as close as possible +facing in the same direction. The night wears +slowly away. When the floor seemed intolerably +hard, one of us would say aloud, "Spoon!" and +all four would flop over, and rest on the other side. +So we vibrated back and forth from nine o'clock +till dawn. We were not comfortable, but in far +better circumstances than most of the prisoners. +Indeed Captain Cook repeatedly declared he owed +his life to our blanket.</p> + +<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[106]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER VIII</h2> + +<div class="block2"><p>Continual Hope of Exchange of Prisoners—"Flag-of-Truce +Fever!"—Attempted Escape by Tunneling—Repeated +Escapes by Members of Water Parties, and how we Made +the Roll-Call Sergeant's Count Come Out all Right every +Time—Plot to Break Out by Violence, and its Tragic End.</p></div> + +<p><span class="smcap">Our</span> principal hope for relief from the increasing +privations of prison life and from probable +exhaustion, sickness, and death, lay in a +possible exchange of prisoners. A belief was +prevalent that the patients in hospital would be +the first so favored. Hence strenuous efforts were +sometimes made to convince the apothecary +whom we called doctor, and who often visited +us, that a prisoner was ill enough to require +removal. Once in the institution, the patients got +better food, something like a bed, medical attendance +daily, and a more comfortable room. Some +of them were shamming, lying in two senses and +groaning when the physicians were present, but +able to sit up and play euchre the rest of the day +and half the night. This peculiar disease, this +eagerness to get into hospital or remain there till<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</a></span> +exchanged by flag of truce, was known as the +"flag-of-truce fever" or "flag-of-truce-on-the-brain!"</p> + +<p>I recall one striking instance. Lieutenant Gardner, +already mentioned, had received six or eight +hundred dollars in Confederate currency as the +price of a gold watch. But like the prodigal in +Scripture he was now in a far country, and had +wasted his substance in what he called "righteous" +living. And when he had spent all, there arose +a mighty famine in that corner of the lower room, +and he began to be in want. And he would fain +have filled his belly with corn-cob-meal bread, or +spoiled black beans, or the little potatoes which +the swine didn't eat. And no man gave him +enough. And he determined to go to hospital. +He gave out that he was desperately sick. I at +this time had "quarters" on the floor above. +Word was brought to me that my friend was mortally +ill, and would thank me to come down and +take his last message to his relatives. Alarmed, I +instantly went down. I found him with two or +three splitting a small log of wood!</p> + +<p class="pad1">"Gardner, I hear you are a little 'under the +weather.'"</p> + +<p>"Dying, Colonel, dying!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</a></span></p> + +<p>"What appears to be your disease?"</p> + +<p>"Flag-o'-truce-on-the-brain!"</p> + +<p>"Ah, you've got the exchange fever?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; bad."</p> + +<p>"Pulse run high?"</p> + +<p>"Three hundred a minute."</p> + +<p>"Anything I can do for you?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, Colonel, beseech that fool doctor to send +me to hospital. Tell him I'm on my last legs. +Tell him I only want to die there. Appeal to him +in behalf of my poor wife and babies." (Gardner, +as I well knew, was a bachelor, and had no children—to +speak of.)</p> + +<p>"Well, Lieutenant, I'll do anything I properly +can for you. Is there anything else?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, Colonel; lend me your overcoat to wear +to hospital; I'll send it back at once."</p> + +<p>"But, Lieutenant, you can't get into the hospital. +Your cheeks are too rosy; you're the picture of +health."</p> + +<p class="pad2">"I'm glad you mentioned that, Colonel. I'll fix +that. You'll see."</p> + +<p>Next morning he watched at the window, and +when he saw the doctor coming, he swallowed a +large pill of plug tobacco. The effect was more +serious than he expected. In a few minutes he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[109]</a></span> +became sick in earnest, and was frightened. A +deathlike pallor supervened. When the doctor +reached him, there was a genuine fit of vomiting. +The story runs that Captain Tiemann made a +pathetic appeal in behalf of the imaginary twin +babies, that the doctor diagnosed it as a clear case +of puerperal (which he pronounced "puerpērial") +fever complicated with symptoms of cholera +infantum, and ordered him to hospital at once! +I loaned the patient my overcoat, which he sent +back directly. His recovery seemed miraculous. +In a week or two he returned from his delightful +outing. This was in the latter part of November.</p> + +<p>Previously, for some weeks, Captain Howe and +three or four other strong and determined officers +managed to get into the cellar of a one-story building +contiguous to ours and thence to excavate a +tunnel out beyond the line on which the sentinels +were perpetually pacing to and fro. I was too +feeble to join in the enterprise, but hoped to +improve the opportunity to escape when the work +was done. Unfortunately the arching top of the +tunnel was too near the surface of the ground, and +the thin crust gave way under the weight of a +sentry. He yelled "Murder!" Two or three of +our diggers came scurrying back. The guard +next to him shouted, "You Yanks! you G—d<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</a></span> +d—d Yanks!" and fired into the deep hole. No +more tunneling at Danville.<a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a></p> + +<p>More successful and more amusing were several +attempts by individual officers one at a time. The +water parties of four to eight went under a strong +guard two or three times a day down a long hill to +the river Dan. On the slope alongside the path +were a number of large brick ovens,<a name="FNanchor_9_9" id="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a> in which, +we were told, the Confederates used to bake those +big squares of corn bread. The iron doors when +we passed were usually open. On the way back +from the river, one officer on some pretense or +other would lag behind the rearmost soldier of the +guard, who would turn to hurry him up. The next +officer, as soon as the soldier's back was turned, +would dodge into an open oven, and the careless +guards now engaged in a loud and passionate +controversy about slavery or secession would not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</a></span> +miss him! Then, as night came on, the negroes +in the vicinity, who, like all the rest of the colored +people, were friendly to us, would supply the +escaped officer with food and clothing, and pilot +him on his way rejoicing toward the Union lines. +One by one, six officers escaped in that way, and +many of us began to look forward to the time when +our turn would come to try the baking virtues +of those ovens!</p> + +<p>But it was important that the escaped officer +should not be missed. How should we deceive the +nondescript that we called "the roll-call sergeant"? +Morning and evening he carefully counted every +one. How make the census tally with the former +enumerations? Yankee ingenuity was here put to +a severe test; but Lieutenant Titus, before mentioned, +solved the problem. With his table-knife +saw he cut a hole about two feet square in the floor +near the northeast corner of the upper room. A +nicely fitting trapdoor completed the arrangement. +Through this hole, helped by a rude rope +ladder of strips of rags, and hoisted to the shoulders +of a tall man by strong arms from below, a +nimble officer could quickly ascend. Now those +in the lower room were counted first. When +they broke ranks, and the human automaton +faced to the west and moved slowly towards the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</a></span> +stairs with three or four "Yanks" clustering at his +side in earnest conversation, the requisite number +of spry young prisoners would "shin up" the +ladder, emerge, "deploy," and be counted over +again in the upper room! The thing worked to a +charm. Not one of the six was missed.</p> + +<p>Unfortunately, however, two or three of them +were recaptured and again incarcerated in Libby. +The Richmond authorities thereupon telegraphed +to Colonel Smith, asking how those officers escaped +from Danville. Smith, surprised, ordered +a recount. The trapdoor did its duty. "All +present!" Finally he answered, "No prisoner has +escaped from Danville." The rebel commissary +of prisons at Richmond, Gen. J. H. Winder, then +telegraphed the names of the recaptured officers. +Smith looks on his books: there are those names, +sure enough! The mystery must be solved. He +now sends his adjutant to count us about noon. +We asked him what it meant. He told us it was +reported that several officers had escaped. We +replied, "That's too good to be true." He +counted very slowly and with extraordinary precision. +He kept his eye on the staircase as he +approached it. Six officers flew up the ladder as +we huddled around him. It was almost impossible +to suppress laughter at the close, when he declared,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</a></span> +"I'll take my oath no prisoner has escaped +from this prison." But there were those names of +the missing, and there was our ill-disguised mirth. +Smith resorted to heroic measures. He came in +with two or three of his staff and a man who was +said to be a professor of mathematics. This was +on the 8th of November, 1864. He made all +officers of the lower room move for a half-hour +into the upper room, and there fall in line with the +rest. His adjutant called the roll in reality. +Each as his name was read aloud was made to step +forward and cross to the other side. Of course no +one could answer for the absent six. I doubt if he +ever learned the secret of that trapdoor. The +professor of mathematics promised to bring me +a Geometry. About two weeks later, November +24th, he brought me a copy of Davies's +<i>Legendre</i>.</p> + +<p>On the 9th of December, while our senior officer, +General Hayes, was sick in hospital, the next in +rank, Gen. A. N. Duffié, of the First Cavalry +Division of Sheridan's army, fresh from the French +service, with which he had campaigned in Algeria, +where he was wounded nine times, suddenly conceived +a plot to break out and escape. Two companies +of infantry had arrived in the forenoon +and stacked their arms in plain sight on the level<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[114]</a></span> +ground about twenty rods distant. Duffié's plan +was to rush through the large open door when +a water party returning with filled buckets should +be entering, seize those muskets, overpower the +guard, immediately liberate the thousand or +fifteen hundred Union prisoners in the three other +Danville prisons, and push off to our lines in East +Tennessee. He had Sheridan's <i>élan</i>, not Grant's +cool-headed strategy. With proper preparation +and organization, such as Hayes would have +insisted upon, it might have been a success. He +called us, field officers about twenty, together and +laid the matter before us. No vote was taken, but +I think a majority were opposed to the whole +scheme. He was disposed to consider himself, +though a prisoner, as still vested with authority to +command all of lower rank, and he expected them +to obey him without question. In this view +many acquiesced, but others dissented. By his +request, though doubtful of his right to command +and in feeble health, I drew up a pledge for those +to sign who were willing to engage in the projected +rising and would promise to obey. It was found +that at least one hundred and fifty could be +counted on. Colonel Ralston, previously mentioned, +was the chief opponent of the outbreak, but +he recognized Duffié's authority and insisted upon<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</a></span> +our submission to it. Similar appeared to be the +attitude of the following colonels:</p> + +<p>Gilbert H. Prey, 104th N. Y.</p> +<p>James Carle, 191st Pa.</p> +<p>T. B. Kaufman, 209th Pa.</p> +<p>W. Ross Hartshorne, 190th Pa.</p> + +<p>Of the lieutenant-colonels, most of the following +doubted the success, but would do their best to +promote it, if commanded:</p> + +<p>Charles H. Tay, 10th N. J.</p> +<p>Theodore Gregg, 45th Pa.</p> +<p>G. A. Moffett, 94th N. Y.</p> +<p>J. S. Warner, 121st Pa.</p> +<p>George Hamett, 147th N. Y.</p> +<p>Charles H. Hooper, 24th Mass.</p> +<p>Homer B. Sprague, 13th Conn.</p> + +<p>So the following majors: A. W. Wakefield, 49th +Pa.; G. S. Horton, 58th Mass.; E. F. Cooke, 2d +N. Y. Cav.; John G. Wright, 51st N. Y.; J. V. +Peale, 4th Pa. Cav.; John W. Byron, 88th N. Y.; +David Sadler, 2d Pa. Heavy Art.; John Byrne, +155th N. Y.; E. O. Shepard, 32d Mass.; J. A. +Sonders, 8th Ohio Cav.; Charles P. Mattocks, +17th Maine; E. S. Moore, Paymaster; Wm. H. +Fry, 16th Pa. Cav.; Milton Wendler, 191st Pa.; +James E. Deakins, 8th Tenn. Cav.; Geo. Haven +Putnam, Adjt. and later Bvt.-Major, 176th N. Y.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</a></span></p> + +<p>All of the foregoing then present and not on the +sick list should have been most thoroughly instructed +as to their duties, and should have been enabled +to communicate all needed information to the +forty-six captains and one hundred and thirty-three +lieutenants, who, though many were sadly reduced +in vitality, were accounted fit for active service. I +had repeatedly noticed in battle the perplexity of +company, regimental, or even brigade commanders, +from lack of information as to the necessary movements +in unforeseen emergencies. It is not enough to +say, as one corps commander (Hancock?) is said to +have done during the Battle of the Wilderness in +May, 1864, to a newly arrived colonel with his regiment, +who inquired, "Where shall I go in?" "Oh, +anywhere; there's lovely fighting all along the line!"</p> + +<p>Here the step most vital to success, the <i>sine qua +non</i>, was to keep that outside door open for the +outrush of two hundred men. To this end, eight +of our strongest and most determined, under a +dashing leader like Colonel Hartshorne or Lieutenant-Colonel +Gregg, should have been sent out +as a water party. Instead, Captain Cook, who +was brave enough, but then physically weak, +hardly able to carry a pail of water, was the leader +of an average small squad, "the spirit indeed +willing, but the flesh weak."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[117]</a></span></p> + +<p>Hardly less important was it to select a dozen +or twenty of the most fierce and energetic, to be +at the head of the stairs in perfect readiness to +dash instantly through the opening door and +assist the water party in disarming their guards, +and, without a moment's pause, followed by the +whole two hundred, pounce upon the guard house. +Ralston or Duffié himself should have headed +this band. Simultaneously, without a second's +interval, three or four desperate, fiery, powerful +officers, detailed for the purpose, should have +grappled with the sentinel on duty in the middle +of the lower room and disarmed and gagged him.</p> + +<p>Besides the field officers, we had with us many +subordinates of great intelligence like Capt. +Henry S. Burrage of the 36th Mass., Lieut. W. C. +B. Goff of the 1st D. C. Cav., Lieut. W. C. +Howe, 2d Mass. Cav., Adjt. James A. Clark, 17th +Pa. Cav., and the artist, Lieut. Henry Vander +Weyde; and nothing would have been easier than +for Duffié to communicate through them to every +officer the most complete and precise information +and instructions.</p> + +<p>Scarcely any of these precautions were taken. +The general was impatient. The next day, December +10th, he issued his command in these words: "I +order the attempt to be made, and I call upon all<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[118]</a></span> +of you, who have not forgotten how to obey orders, +to follow." The water party was immediately +sent out, and its return was watched for. He and +Ralston, without the help of a third, made the +mistake of personally grappling with the floor +sentry, a brave, strong, red-headed fellow, and +they tackled him a moment too soon. He stoutly +resisted. They wrested his musket from him. +He yelled. They tried to stop his mouth. Instantly +the door began to swing open a little. +The water party, too few and too weak, paralyzed, +failed to act. The foremost of us sprang from the +stairs to the door. Before we could reach it, it was +slammed to, bolted and barred against us! With +several others I rushed to the windows and tried to +tear off the heavy bars. In vain. The soldiers +outside began firing through the broken panes. +Ralston was shot through the body. We assisted +him up the stairs while the bullets were flying. +In less than five minutes from the moment when +he and Duffié seized the sentinel, it was all over. +In about a quarter of an hour, Colonel Smith came +in with his adjutant and two or three guards, and +ordered Ralston removed to hospital. As he was +carried out, one of us expressed the hope that +the wound was not serious. He answered in the +language of Mercutio, "No, 'tis not so deep as a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[119]</a></span> +well, nor so wide as a church door; but 'tis enough, +'twill serve." He knew it was mortal, and +expressed a willingness to die for his country in the +line of duty. He passed away next morning. +Colonel Smith expressed sorrow for him, and surprise +at the ingratitude of us who had been guilty +of insurrection against his gentle sway!</p> + +<p>A strict search for possible weapons followed +during which we were told we must give up our +United States money. I saved a ten-dollar greenback +by concealing it in my mouth "as an ape +doth nuts in the corner of his jaw," all the while +munching corn bread, gnawing two holes in the bill!</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> "You will doubtless recall the man-hole worked through the +heavy brick wall, made during the 'stilly nights,' opening into the +attic of an annex to the main building. We found our way down +by means of a rope ladder, and started our tunnel under the +basement floor. But for the exposure we would have emptied +the prison. To find the way down we gave them a lively hunt!—And +those <i>epithets</i>!—I have a blouse with a rent in the back made +in going through that hole in the wall."—Howe's <i>Letter</i> of Jan. 30, +1914. +</p><p> +For further particulars of this attempt to tunnel out, see Major +Putnam's <i>A Prisoner of War in Virginia</i>, pp. 55-60.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_9_9" id="Footnote_9_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> Putnam describes them as disused furnaces. They may have +been both.</p></div> +</div> + +<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[120]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER IX</h2> + +<div class="block2"><p>Kind Clergymen Visit us and Preach Excellent Discourses—Colonel +Smith's Personal Good Will to me—His Offer—John +F. Ficklin's Charity—My Good Fortune—Supplies of +Clothing Distributed—Deaths in Prison.</p></div> + +<p><span class="smcap">Union</span> men never looked upon Confederates +as mortal enemies. Whenever a flag of truce +was flying, both were disposed to shake hands +and exchange favors. I recollect that our Captain +Burrage complained that he was unfairly +captured when he was engaged in a friendly deal +with a Confederate between the lines. At Port +Hudson, when the white signal was to go down, we +gave the "Johnnies" fair warning, shouting, +"<span class="smcapl">RATS! TO YOUR HOLES!</span>" before we fired on them. +But war cannot be conducted on peace principles, +and in a flash a man acts like a devil. In an open +window near the spot where I slept, an officer upset +a cup of water, and a few drops fell on the head +of the guard outside. Instantly he fired. The +bullet missed, passed through the window below +and the floor above, and lodged in the hand or arm +of another officer. I had an opportunity to express<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[121]</a></span> +to Colonel Smith my angry disgust at such savagery. +He agreed that the fellow ought to be +punished—"at least for not being able to shoot +straighter!"<a name="FNanchor_10_10" id="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a></p> + +<p>Kindly visits were sometimes paid us. Two +young men from the Richmond Young Men's +Christian Association came. The wicked said, +"One came 'to pray with us all right,' the other +'to prey upon us all wrong'"; for the latter tried +to induce us to exchange greenbacks for rebel +currency!</p> + +<p>Several times we were visited by kind clergymen +who preached excellent sermons. The first +was Rev. —— Dame of Danville. He was, I think, +an Episcopal minister. He was a high Mason, a +gentleman of very striking appearance, with a +beautiful flowing beard, that would have done +honor to Moses or Aaron. As we sat on the hard +floor, two hundred listening reverently to his choice +language, he seemed to foresee the doom which +many of us had begun to fear, and he very appropriately +and with much earnestness bade us consider +our latter end. Mentioning his name with gratitude +some thirty years afterwards in a lecture +at the Mountain Lake Chautauqua, Md., one of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[122]</a></span> +my audience gave me a photograph of the minister's +handsome face, and told me he was greatly +beloved. I doubt not he deserved it.</p> + +<p>Rev. Charles K. Hall of Danville, a Methodist +Episcopal clergyman, came to us a little later. +His first sermon was an eloquent discourse on +Charity. He practiced what he preached; for he +never came empty-handed. On his first visit he +brought armfuls of tobacco, each plug wrapped in +a pious tract. He asked us to fall in line, for he +had something for each. When he came to me in +the distribution, I declined it, saying "I never +use tobacco in any form." "Oh take it," said he; +"you read the tract, and give the tobacco to your +neighbor." On subsequent Sundays he brought +eggs and other delicacies for the sick. We admired +him as a preacher, and regarded him with affection +as a man. Secession and slavery aside, for he +believed in the rightfulness of both, as we learned +on arguing with him, it would be hard to find a +more lovable character than Charles K. Hall. +And the South was full of such, who would have +been glad, if permitted and opportunity offered, +to be good Samaritans, neighbors to him who had +fallen among foes; pure, gentle, kindly spirits, to +whom it will be said in the last great day, "I was +an hungred and ye gave me meat; I was sick, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[123]</a></span> +ye visited me; I was in prison, and ye came unto +me."</p> + +<p>From the lack of sufficient and proper food, +clothing, and exercise, the health of all suffered. +Much of the time it was impossible to keep warm. +The most prevalent diseases, I think, were +rheumatism and scurvy. I suffered from both. +Anti-scorbutics were scarce. The pain from rheumatism +was slight during the day; but at evening +it began in the joints of the fingers and became +more severe as night advanced, ascending from +the hands to the wrists, arms, and shoulders. It +was worst at midnight and through the small +hours, then gradually diminished till daylight. +The prison physician did his best to help us with +liniment, but in those winter nights the treatment +was ineffective.</p> + +<p>Upon the total failure of our attempt to break +out on the 10th of December, and having come +reluctantly to the conclusion that Colonel Smith +had told us the truth when he said that Lincoln +and Grant would not consent to an exchange of +prisoners, I foresaw that death was inevitable after +a few months, perhaps a few weeks, unless the +situation should materially change for the better. +I determined, though without much hope of success, +to appeal to Colonel Smith for personal<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[124]</a></span> +favor. On the 15th of December I sent word to +him that I wished an interview with him. He +immediately sent a soldier to bring me to his +office. He received me courteously; for he was a +gentleman. I told him it was necessary for me, +if I was to live much longer, that I should at least +have better food and more of it. I asked him if +it would not be possible for an arrangement to be +effected whereby some of my relatives in the north +should furnish a Confederate prisoner with food, +clothing, and comforts, and that prisoner's relatives +in the south should reciprocate by supplying +me. He answered that it might be possible, but +he did not know of any such southern captive's +friends likely to respond. After a few minutes of +silence he said:</p> + +<p>"Colonel Sprague, I'd like to do something for +you, and I'll make you an offer."</p> + +<p>"Well?"</p> + +<p>"Your government has adopted the devilish +policy of no exchange of prisoners."</p> + +<p>"I am afraid it's true."</p> + +<p>"I know it's true."</p> + +<p>"Well, what's your proposition?"</p> + +<p>"I am overworked here. I must do my duty to +my government. Our cause is just."</p> + +<p>"Well?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[125]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I should like to have you assist me by doing +writing regularly for me at these headquarters. I +would parole you. You shall have a room to yourself, +a good bed, plenty of food, and a good deal of +liberty. You must give me your word of honor +not to attempt to escape."</p> + +<p>"Colonel Smith, I thank you. I appreciate the +friendly spirit in which you make the offer, and I +am very grateful for it. But I can't conscientiously +accept it. I am in the Union Army, bound +to do everything in my power to destroy your +government. I must do nothing to help it. If +Lincoln refuses to exchange us prisoners, it may +be best for the United States, though hard on us. +What happens to us is a minor matter. It's a +soldier's business to die for his country rather than +help its enemies in the slightest degree. I can't +entertain your proposal."</p> + +<p>So the conference ended sadly. As I was leaving +his office he introduced me to a Confederate +soldier who sat there and who had heard the whole +conversation. Next day this soldier entered the +prison by permission of Colonel Smith and brought +me some nice wheat bread, some milk, pickles, and +other food, a pair of thick woolen stockings, and a +hundred dollars in Confederate money. He gave +me his name, John F. Ficklin, of the Virginia<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[126]</a></span> +<i>Black Horse Cavalry</i>. He whispered to me that +he was at heart a Union man, but had been forced +by circumstances to enter the Confederate service; +that by simulating illness he had got relieved from +duty at the front and assigned to service at Colonel +Smith's headquarters; that he was confident he +could bring about such an arrangement for reciprocal +supplies as I had proposed, and had so +informed Smith, who approved of the plan; that +until such a plan should be put in operation he +would furnish me from his own table. He said +to me very privately that he was greatly moved by +what I had said the day before. "But," he added, +"I am not entirely unselfish in this. I foresee +that the Confederacy can't last very long; certainly +not a year. I give it till next September; +and, frankly, when it goes to smash, I want to +stand well with you officers." At my suggestion +he gave a few other prisoners food and money.</p> + +<p>In a few days I was again called to headquarters +to meet a Mr. Jordan, who, through Ficklin's +efforts, had been invited to meet me. His son, +Henry T. Jordan, Adjutant of the 55th North +Carolina Regiment, was at that time a prisoner +at Johnson's Island, Ohio. Mr. Jordan agreed to +make out a list of articles which he wished my +relatives to send to his son. In a day or two he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[127]</a></span> +did so. I likewise made out a statement of my +immediate wants, as follows:</p> + +<div class="poem" style="width: 18em;"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Wood for cooking;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Cup, plate, knife, fork, spoon;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Turnips, salt, pepper, rice, vinegar;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Pickled cucumbers, dried apple, molasses;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Or any other substantial food.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>I asked Jordan to send me those things <i>at once</i>. +He answered after some delay that he would do so +immediately on receiving an acknowledgment +from his son that my friends had furnished him +what he wanted; and he would await such a message! +As my relatives were in Massachusetts and +Connecticut, it would take considerable time for +them to negotiate with the prison commandant +and other parties in Ohio and have the stipulations +distinctly understood and carried into +effect there. Besides, there were likely to be +provoking delays in communicating by mail between +the north and the south, and it might be a +month or six weeks before he got assurances from +his son; by which time I should probably be in a +better world than Danville, and in no need of +wood, food, or table-ware. I wrote him to that +effect, and requested him to make haste, but +received no reply.</p> + +<p>My friend Mr. Ficklin came to the rescue. As<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[128]</a></span> +a pretext to deceive, if need were, the prison +authorities, and furnish to them and others a +sufficient reason for bringing me supplies, he +pretended that he had a friend, a Confederate +prisoner of war at Camp Douglas near Chicago, +and that Colonel Sprague's friends had been +exceedingly kind to him, ministering most liberally +to his wants! The name of this imaginary +friend was J. H. Holland, a private soldier of the +30th Virginia Cavalry. Ficklin forged a letter +purporting to come from Holland to him, which +he showed to Colonel Smith, in which he spoke +with much gratitude of my friends' bounty, and +besought Ficklin to look tenderly after my comfort +in return! The ruse succeeded. Ficklin's generosity +to me was repeated from time to time, and +perhaps saved my life.</p> + +<p>A year after the close of the war Ficklin wrote +to me that he wished to secure a position in the +Treasury Department of the United States, and +he thought it would aid him if I would certify +to what I knew of his kindness to Union prisoners. +I accordingly drew up a strong detailed statement +of his timely and invaluable charities to us in our +distress. I accompanied it with vouchers for my +credibility signed by Hon. N. D. Sperry, General +Wm. H. Russell, and President Theodore D.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[129]</a></span> +Woolsey, all of New Haven, and Governor Wm. A. +Buckingham of Norwich, Conn. These documents +I forwarded to Ficklin. I do not know the result.</p> + +<p>From Sergeant Wilson F. Smith, chief clerk at +Colonel Smith's headquarters, a paroled prisoner, +member of Co. F., 6th Pa. Cav., the company +of Captain Furness, son or brother of my +Shakespearian friend, Dr. Horace Howard Furness, +and from Mr. Strickland, undertaker, who furnished +the coffins and buried the dead of the +Danville prisons, both of whom I talked with +when I was on parole in February, '65, I obtained +statistics mutually corroborative of the number +of deaths in the Danville prisons. In November +there were 130; in December, 140; from January +1st to January 24th, 105. The negro soldiers suffered +most. There were sixty-four of them living in +prison when we reached Danville, October 20, '64. +Fifty-seven of them were dead on the 12th of +February, '65, when I saw and talked with the seven +survivors in Prison No. Six. From one of the +officers (I think it was Captain Stuart) paroled +like myself in February to distribute supplies +of clothing sent by the United States through the +lines, and who performed that duty in Salisbury, +and from soldiers of my own regiment there +imprisoned, I learned that in the hundred days<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[130]</a></span> +ending February 1st, out of eight or ten thousand +prisoners, more than thirty a day, more than +three thousand in all, had died! Of Colonel +Hartshorne's splendid "Bucktail Regiment," the +190th Pa., formerly commanded by my Yale +classmate Colonel O'Neil who fell at Antietam, +there were 330 at Salisbury, October 19th, the +day we left; 116 of them were dead before February +1st, one company losing 22 out of 33 men.</p> + +<hr class="min" /> + +<p>Why this fearful mortality? Men do not die +by scores, hundreds, thousands, without some +extraordinary cause. It was partly for want of +clothing. They were thinly clad when captured.</p> + +<p>Pursuant to agreement entered into early in +December, 1864, between the Federal and Confederate +authorities, supplies of clothing for +Union prisoners in Richmond, Danville, and +Salisbury, were sent through the lines. They +did not reach Danville till February. Colonel +Carle, 191st Pa. and myself, with another +officer (I think he was Colonel Gilbert G. Prey, +104th N. Y.) were paroled to distribute coats +(or blouses), trousers, and shoes, among the +enlisted men in their three prisons. Then for the +first time Union officers saw the interior of those +jails. By permission of Colonel Smith, Mr.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[131]</a></span> +Ficklin accompanied us on one of these visits, and +I saw him give fifty dollars in Confederate money +to one of our suffering soldiers. My part in the +distribution was to sign as witness opposite the +name of each one receiving. Those rolls should be +in the archives at Washington.</p> + +<p>On the 12th of February we issued shoes and +clothing in the jail known as Prison No. Six. +It contained that day 308 of our men. There +were the seven surviving colored soldiers, and the +one wearing our prison commander's coat. We +requested them all to form line, and each as his +name was called to come forward and receive +what he most needed. Some of them were so +feeble that they had to be assisted in coming down +from the upper floor, almost carried in the arms +of stronger comrades. Many were unable to +remain standing long, and sank helpless on the +floor. Nearly all were half-clad, or wearing only +the thinnest of garments. Some were white +with vermin. Several were so far gone that they +had forgotten their company or regiment. Every +one seemed emaciated. Many kept asking me +why our government did not exchange prisoners; +for they were told every day the truth that the +Confederate government desired it. There was +a stove, but no fuel. The big rooms were not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[132]</a></span> +heated. The cold was severe. About a third of +them had apparently given up all hope of keeping +their limbs and bodies warm; but they kept their +heads, necks, shoulders, and chests, carefully +wrapped. The dismal coughing at times drowned +all other sounds, and made it difficult to proceed +with our work of distribution. There were two +little fires of chips and splinters on bricks, one of +them near the middle, the other near the far end. +In contact with these were tin or earthen cups containing +what passed for food or drink. There was +no outlet for smoke. It blackened the hands and +faces of those nearest, and irritated the lungs of all.</p> + +<p>This prison was the worst. It was colder than +the others. But all were uncomfortably cold. +All were filled with smoke and lice. From each +there went every day to the hospital a wagon-load +of half-starved and broken-hearted soldiers +who would never return. I visited the hospital +to deliver to two of the patients letters which +Colonel Smith had handed to me for them. They +were both dead. I looked down the long list. +The word "Died," with the date, was opposite +most of the names. As I left the hospital I +involuntarily glanced up at the lintel, half expecting +to see inscribed there as over the gate to +Dante's Hell,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[133]</a></span></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p class="center">ALL HOPE ABANDON, YE WHO ENTER HERE!</p></div> + +<p>At the rate our enlisted men were dying at Danville +and Salisbury during the winter of 1864-65, +all would have passed away in a few months, certainly +in less than a year; <span class="smcapl">AND THEY KNEW IT</span>.</p> + +<p>Is it any wonder that some of them, believing +our government had abandoned them to starvation +rather than again risk its popularity by +resorting to conscription for the enrollment of +recruits and by possibly stirring up draft riots +such as had cost more than a thousand lives in the +city of New York in July, 1863, accepted at last +the terms which the Confederates constantly held +out to them, took the oath of allegiance to the +Confederacy, and enlisted in the rebel army? I was +credibly informed that more than forty did it in +Prison No. Four at Danville, and more than eleven +hundred at Salisbury. Confederate recruiting officers +and sergeants were busy in those prisons, +offering them the choice between death and life. +No doubt multitudes so enlisted under the Confederate +flag with full determination to desert to +our lines at the first convenient opportunity. +Such was the case with private J. J. Lloyd, Co. +A, of my battalion, who rejoined us in North +Carolina. <i>The great majority chose to die.</i><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[134]</a></span></p> + +<p>The last communication that I received from +enlisted men of my battalion, fellow prisoners with +me at Salisbury, whom I had exhorted not to +accept the offers of the Confederates, but to be +true to their country and their flag, read thus: +"Colonel, don't be discouraged. Our boys all +say they'll starve to death in prison sooner than +take the oath of allegiance to the Confederacy." +And true to this resolve did indeed starve or freeze +to death Sergeant Welch, Sergeant Twichell, +Privates Vogel, Plaum, Barnes, Geise, Andrews, +Bishop, Weldon, who had stood by me in many a +battle, and who died at last for the cause they +loved.</p> + +<p>It is comparatively easy to face death in battle. +No great courage or merit in that. The soldier +is swept along with the mass. Often he cannot +shirk if he would. The chances usually are that +he will come out alive. He may be inspired with +heroism,</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">And the stern joy which warriors feel<br /></span> +<span class="i0">In foeman worthy of their steel.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p class="noin">There is a consciousness of irresistible strength +as he beholds the gleaming lines, the dense columns, +the smoking batteries, the dancing flags, the +cavalry with flying feet.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[135]</a></span></p> + +<div class="poem" style="width: 17em;"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">'Twere worth ten years of peaceful life,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">One glance at their array.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p class="noin">Or nobler, he feels that he represents a nation or +a grand cause, and that upon his arm depends +victory. In his enthusiasm he even fancies himself +a vicegerent of the Almighty, commissioned +to fight in His cause, to work His will, to save His +earth from becoming a hell. "From the heights +of yonder pyramids," said Napoleon to the French +battling against the Mamelukes, "forty centuries +are looking down upon you." Our soldier in +battle imagined the world looking on, that for +him there was fame undying; should he fall +wounded, his comrades would gently care for +him; if slain, his country's flag would be his +shroud.</p> + +<p>By no such considerations were our imprisoned +comrades cheered. Not in the glorious rush and +shock of battle; not in hope of victory or fadeless +laurels; no angel charities, or parting kiss, or +sympathetic voice bidding the soul look heavenward +while the eye was growing dim; no dear +star-spangled banner for a winding sheet. But +wrapped in rags; unseen, unnoticed, dying by +inches, in the cold, in the darkness, often in +rain or sleet, houseless, homeless, friendless, on the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[136]</a></span> +hard floor or the bare ground, starving, freezing, +broken-hearted.</p> + +<div class="poem" style="width: 14em;"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">O the long and dreary winter!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">O the cold and cruel winter!<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p class="noin">It swept them away at Salisbury by tens, twenties, +even fifties in a single night.</p> + +<p>These men preferred death to dishonor. When +we are told that our people are not patriotic, or +sigh of America as Burke did of France a century +and a quarter ago, that the age of chivalry is gone, +we may point to this great martyrdom, the brightest +painting on the darkest background in all our +history—thousands choosing to die for the +country which seemed to disown them!</p> + +<p>My diary records, and I believe it correct, that +on the 17th of February, there were ten deaths +in the Danville prisons. A little before midnight +of that day the Danville prisoners were loaded +into box cars, and the train was started for Richmond. +Three, it was reported, died in the cars +that night, and one next morning in the street on +the way to Libby.</p> + +<p>During the next three days I obtained the +autographs of two hundred and fifteen of my +fellow officers there. The little book is precious.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[137]</a></span> +A few still survive; but the great majority have +joined the faithful whom they commanded.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">On Fame's eternal camping ground<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Their silent tents are spread,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And Glory guards with solemn round<br /></span> +<span class="i2">The bivouac of the dead!<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>On the twenty-second we were taken for exchange +down the James. As we passed through +the lines into what we were accustomed fondly to +call "God's Country," salvos of artillery and signs +of universal rejoicing greeted us. Our reception +made us imagine for an hour that our arrival +perceptibly heightened the general joy of the +Washington anniversary. But many of us could +not help wishing we were asleep with the thousands +who were filling nameless graves at Danville +and Salisbury.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_10_10" id="Footnote_10_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> See Putnam's account of this incident in his <i>A Prisoner of +War in Virginia</i>, p. 67.</p></div> +</div> + +<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[138]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER X</h2> + +<div class="block2"><p>Results and Reflections—The Right and the Wrong of it All.</p></div> + +<p><span class="smcap">A few</span> days of waiting in the buildings of the +Naval Academy at Annapolis while exchange +papers were preparing gave us opportunity for a +much-needed transformation. Our old clothing, +encrusted with dirt and infested with vermin, +in many cases had to be destroyed. One of our +number especially unkempt, Captain T., who gave +up for an hour or two his beloved trousers, found +to his surprise and horror when he called for their +return that they had been burned with four hundred +dollars in greenbacks sewed up in the lining! +We smiled at his irrepressible grief; it was poetic +justice. He had carefully concealed the fact of +his being flush, pretending all along to be like +the rest <i>in forma pauperis</i>, and contriving, it was +said, to transfer in crooked ways our pennies into +his pockets!</p> + +<p>Fumigated, parboiled, scrubbed, barbered, decently +clothed, "the deformed transformed" were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[139]</a></span> +once more presentable in civilized society. Then +followed a brief leave of absence if desired, to visit +relatives. To them it seemed a veritable resurrection +after our months of living burial; yet the +joy of reunion was sometimes tinged with sorrow. +I learned that in the very week in which the tidings +of my capture came our home circle had been +sadly broken by the death of a beloved sister, and +just then the telegraph told of the loss by fever +in the army at Newbern of our household +darling,</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Younger by fifteen years than myself,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Brother at once and son.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>As previously stated we who held commissions +fared better on the whole than the non-commissioned +officers and privates, though receiving +from the commissary rations exactly equal to +theirs. Commonly older and therefore of larger +experience and superior intelligence, a good +officer is as a father looking out for the physical +welfare of his men as well as himself. Then there +were some who, like Gardner, had been fortunate +in keeping clothing, money, or other valuable at the +instant of capture or in hiding it when searched by +Dick Turpin at Libby. Several like Captain Cook<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[140]</a></span> +had obtained pecuniary assistance from influential +friends across the lines, or in a few instances had +been favored by brother freemasons or by charitably +disposed visitors who gave us a little food, a +few old books, or even Confederate currency. +Several sold to the sentinels watches, rings, chains, +breast-pins, society badges, silver spurs, military +boots, or curiously wrought specimens of Yankee +ingenuity carved with infinite pains. The "Johnnies" +appeared to hanker for any article not produced +in the Confederacy. An officer of the +guard offered Putnam three hundred dollars for +a nearly worn-out tooth-brush!</p> + +<p>The educational standard among our officers +was quite respectable. I think that West Point +had a representative among us, as well as Bowdoin +and several other colleges. Certainly we had +ex-students from at least five universities, Brown, +Yale, Harvard, the Sorbonne, and Göttingen.</p> + +<p>To afford diversion and as an antidote to depression, +as well as for intellectual improvement, some +of us studied mathematics<a name="FNanchor_11_11" id="FNanchor_11_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a> or <i>Shakespeare</i>. Three +or four classes were formed in modern languages.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[141]</a></span> +We had card-playing with packs soiled and worn; +checkers and chess on extemporized boards with +rudely whittled "pieces"; occasional discussions +historical, literary, political, or religious; many +of us quite regular physical exercises in brisk +walks on the empty lowest floor; story-telling; +at times, though not often, the reading aloud of +a Confederate newspaper, to a group of fifty or +more listeners; at evening, sweet singing, riddles, +jests, or loud-voiced sarcastic conundrums and +satirical responses. Many found interest and +pleasure in carving with the utmost nicety wood +or bone.<a name="FNanchor_12_12" id="FNanchor_12_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a></p> + +<p>Something like military discipline prevailed +among the two hundred in the upper room where +the superior rank of General Hayes was often +recognized. Among a hundred and fifty or more +in the lower room, where for a month or two I +was the senior but was unwilling to assume precedence, +I secured with the aid of Major Byron, +Captain Howe, and a few others a sort of civil +government with semi-military features.</p> + +<p>These measures and the favoring circumstances<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[142]</a></span> +that have been mentioned tended of course to +the preservation of health among the officers. +There was severe suffering from hunger, cold, +rheumatism, and scurvy, from all of which I was +for weeks a victim and at one time seemed doomed +to perish. I recall, however, the names of but two +officers (there were said to be four) who died at +Danville. Some of us, though enfeebled, were +soon able to rejoin our commands; as Putnam +his at Newbern in April, Gardner and I ours at +Morehead City the day after Lee's surrender at +Appomattox.</p> + +<p>Of the effect in after-life of these strange experiences +it is safe to say that to some extent they were +a spur to intellectual effort. At least they should +have made all sadder and wiser; and they certainly +were in some cases an equipment for descriptive +authorship. Major (Adner A.) Small wrote a valuable +account of prison life. Dr. Burrage's narratives +of his capture and its results are entertaining +and instructive. Major Putnam's <i>A Prisoner of +War in Virginia</i> (reprinted in his <i>Memories of My +Youth</i>) is an important contribution to our military +history.<a name="FNanchor_13_13" id="FNanchor_13_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a> Lieutenant Estabrooks's <i>Adrift in Dixie</i><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[143]</a></span> +is charmingly told.<a name="FNanchor_14_14" id="FNanchor_14_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a> "Dutch Clark" (Adjutant +James A. Clark, 17th Pa. Cav.), one of the four +who nightly tried to sleep under my blanket, started +and edited with ability at Scranton <i>The Public +Code</i>, for which I was glad to furnish literary +material. He afterwards became prominent in +theosophic circles. Others distinguished themselves. +Captain (Frank H.) Mason, in prison our +best chess player, was long Consul-General at +Paris. Cook studied five or six years in Germany, +France, and Italy, then was for eight or ten years +assistant professor in German at Harvard, and +afterwards for two years, until his untimely death, +professor in the same department at the Institute +of Technology in Boston. In addressing a +Sunday-school in Brooklyn, 1871, I unexpectedly +lighted upon Captain Tiemann doing good work +as a teacher. Captain Gardner continued for +many months a model military officer in Georgia.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[144]</a></span><a name="FNanchor_15_15" id="FNanchor_15_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a> +I remained in the service a full year, often on courts-martial, +military commissions, and "reconstruction" +duty.</p> + +<hr class="min" /> + +<p>As already described, the condition of the +enlisted men strongly contrasted with ours. The +Report of the Confederate Inspector of Prisons +now on file in the <i>War Records</i> of our government, +though the reports of his subordinate officers are +significantly missing, covers the few months next +preceding January, 1865. It sharply censures +the immediate prison authorities, stating, as +the result of the privations, that the deaths at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[145]</a></span> +Danville were at the rate of about five per day! +I think they were more numerous in January and +February. None of my battalion were there, but +at Salisbury three-sevenths of them died in less +than three months!</p> + +<p>It is hard to refrain from the expression of +passionate indignation at the treatment accorded +to our non-commissioned officers and privates +in those southern hells. For years we were +accustomed to ask, "In what military prison of +the north, in what common jail of Europe, in +what dungeon of the civilized or savage world, +have captives taken in war—nay, condemned +criminals—been systematically exposed to a lingering<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[146]</a></span> +death by cold and hunger? The foulest felon—his +soul black with sacrilege, his hands reeking +with parricide—has enough of food, of clothing, of +shelter; a chair to sit in, a fire to warm him, a +blanket to hide his nakedness, a bed of straw to +die on!"</p> + +<p>But listen a moment to the other side. Alexander +H. Stephens, Vice-President of the Confederacy, +afterwards for eight years a representative +in our Congress, a man of unquestioned integrity, +shows in his <i>War between the States</i> (pub. 1868-70) +by quotation from the Report of our then +Secretary of War (July 19, 1866) that only 22,576 +Federal prisoners died in Confederate hands +during the war, whilst 26,436 Confederate prisoners +died in Federal hands. He shows also from +the United States Surgeon-General Joseph K. +Barnes's Report that the number of Federal +prisoners in southern prisons was about 270,000, +but the number of Confederate prisoners in northern +prisons was about 220,000; so that the percentage +of deaths in southern prisons was under +nine, while the percentage of deaths in northern +prisons was over twelve!<a name="FNanchor_16_16" id="FNanchor_16_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a></p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[147]</a></span></p> +<p>Had there been, from the first, prompt exchanges +of prisoners between the north and the south, few +of these forty-nine thousand lives would have +been lost. <i>Who, then, blocked the exchange?</i></p> + +<p>Stephens declares (<i>War between the States</i>, vol. +ii):</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p class="inde">"It is now well understood to have been a part of the +settled policy of the Washington authorities in conducting +the war, not to exchange prisoners. The +grounds upon which this extraordinary course was +adopted were, that it was humanity to the northern +men in the field to let their captured comrades perish +in prison rather than to let an equal number of Confederate +soldiers be released on exchange to meet them +in battle."</p></div> + +<p>To the same effect our Secretary Stanton in one +of his letters in 1864 pointed out "that it would +not be good policy to send back to be placed on the +firing line 70,000 able-bodied Confederates, and +to receive in exchange men who, with but few +exceptions, were not strong enough to hold their +muskets."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[148]</a></span></p> + +<p>The responsibility, then, for this refusal and the +consequent enormous sacrifice of life with all the +accompanying miseries, must rest in part upon +the Government of the United States.<a name="FNanchor_17_17" id="FNanchor_17_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a></p> + +<p>Blame not the tender-hearted Lincoln for this.</p> + +<p>Did he not judge wisely? Was it not best for +the nation that we prisoners should starve and +freeze?</p> + +<p>The pivotal question for him and Grant and +Stanton was, "Shall we exchange and thereby +enable the South to reinforce their armies with +fifty to a hundred thousand trained soldiers?</p> + +<p>"If yes, then we must draft many more than +that; for they being on the defensive we must +outnumber them in battle. If no, then we must +either stop their cruelties by equally cruel retaliation, +as Washington hung André for the execution +of Hale, or we must, more cruelly still, leave +myriads of our soldiers to sink into imbecility and +death."</p> + +<p>The North had not the excuse of destitution<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[149]</a></span> +which the South had, and it could not bring itself +to make reprisals in kind. To draft again, as +evinced in the terrible riots of July, 1863, would +have been extremely unpopular and perhaps +overthrown the administration and defeated the +policy of the government. To exchange would +pretty surely have prolonged the war, and might +have resulted in permanent disunion.</p> + +<p>As to the right or wrong of the refusal to exchange, +it is hardly relevant to insist that the +triumph of the South would have perpetuated +slavery. Lincoln's Proclamation, January 1, 1863, +did not touch slavery in the Border States. And +from the southern nation, denuded of slaves by +their escape to the North and confronted by the +growing anti-slavery sentiment of the civilized +world, the "peculiar institution" would soon +have died out.</p> + +<p>Need we attempt, as is often done, to justify +our government's attitude in this matter by +affirming that the nation was in a life-and-death +struggle for its very existence? Did that existence +depend upon its territorial limits? Would it +have gone to pieces if the victorious North had +relinquished its hold on the defeated South? Had +a boundary line been drawn half-way across the +continent, separating the twenty-three loyal<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[150]</a></span> +States from the eleven seceding, the twenty-two +millions of the North from the nine or ten millions +of the South, would it not have remained a mighty +nation with no cause for further disunion, and able +as the war had shown to place in the field more +than two million fighting men?</p> + +<p>Is it not equally unnecessary to urge, as if it +were a valid excuse for our government's refusal +to exchange, that between the two nations there +would have been frequent if not perpetual hostilities? +Why so, any more than between the United +States and Canada, where for fifty (it is now a +hundred) years, along a boundary line of thirty-eight +hundred miles, there had been unbroken +peace and no fort nor warship?</p> + +<p>Let us not raise the question whether Lincoln +made a colossal blunder when he renounced his +favorite doctrine so emphatically set forth in his +Congressional speech (page 47). The die was cast +when Sumter was fired on. The question which +confronted him in 1863-64—What to do with the +perishing Union prisoners?—was simply one of +military necessity.</p> + +<p>According to the ethics of war was he not fully +justified in sacrificing us rather than imperiling +the great cause which he had at heart?</p> + +<p>Are we, then, to blame President Davis, or the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[151]</a></span> +Confederate Commissioner Robert Ould, or +Gen. John H. Winder, Superintendent of Military +Prisons, for allowing the Federal prisoners +to starve and freeze and die by thousands? Must +we not admit the truth of their contention that +their soldiers needed the food, clothing, and medical +care for want of which their prisoners were +suffering? And if the shocking conditions at Andersonville, +Salisbury, Danville, and other prisons +could easily have been avoided, or even if they +were made more distressing by the deliberate inhumanity +of those in immediate charge, ought +not such facts to have intensified a desire on +the part of both governments to effect a speedy +exchange?</p> + +<p>The southern people were threatened with subjugation, +their government with annihilation. +In such a critical situation, what measures are +allowable?</p> + +<p>We endeavor to look at the matter from both +standpoints.</p> + +<p>This brings up the whole question of the rightfulness +of war. If it must be waged, is success +the highest duty? If military necessity demands, +may any and every law of God and man be disregarded?</p> + +<p>While we write these concluding pages, the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[152]</a></span> +European conflict is raging, and the voice of the +most warlike nation on the globe is heard continually +affirming that war is useful and highly honorable, +and that any means, however frightful, if necessary +to ensure or hasten victory is praise-worthy!</p> + +<p>Then both presidents were right!</p> + +<p>But is not international war murder on a great +scale? It is glorious to die for one's country; but +how about killing for our country? killing innocent +men, too? for the soldiers on either side +honestly believe they are doing their duty in shooting +and stabbing as many as possible! "The +business of war," said John Wesley, "is the business +of devils." So it would seem; but at heart few +are enemies, none devils.</p> + +<p>It has been a pleasure in this narrative to record +instances of a very different spirit. Surely, in +proportion to population such were not fewer +in the South than in the North. Like Whittier's +<i>Angels of Buena Vista</i> they rescue us from pessimism. +They are prophetic of a better day.</p> + +<div class="poem" style="width: 28em;"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Not wholly lost, O Father, is this evil world of ours!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Upward through the blood and ashes spring afresh the Eden flowers:<br /></span> +<span class="i0">From its smoking hell of battle, Love and Pity send their prayer,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And still thy white-winged angels hover dimly in our air!<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_11_11" id="Footnote_11_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_11"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> I still possess the copy of Davies's <i>Legendre</i> which I bought on +the 8th of November for twenty Confederate dollars, and of +which I memorized three books in prison. As to the <i>Shakespeare</i>, +see <i>ante</i>, p. 85.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_12_12" id="Footnote_12_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_12"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> I retain with pride the wooden spoon which did me good service +when I was <i>in limbo</i>. It cost me over two weeks' labor in +shaping it with half a knife-blade and pieces of broken glass. +For the little block of wood I paid the sentry one "rebel dollar!"</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_13_13" id="Footnote_13_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_13"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> Many years after the war he rendered financial aid to fellow +prisoners, his chum, artist Vander Weyde, and General Hayes. +Author of several valuable works, he is now head of the publishing +house of G. P. Putnam's Sons.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_14_14" id="Footnote_14_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_14"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> It was a special pleasure after the lapse of fifty years to meet +Estabrooks at the Massachusetts Commandery of the Loyal +Legion, where, without knowing of his presence, I had just made +honorable mention of him in an address on prison life.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_15_15" id="Footnote_15_15"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_15"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> In my own case the prison experience was peculiar: it changed +the course of my whole subsequent life. I had studied law, been +admitted to the bar in two states, and "practiced" with fair success, +"though," as a friend was accustomed to remark, "not +enough to do much harm!" Many times one of the best men I +ever knew, my father, had said to me at parting, "Do all the good +you can." Much meditating while in the army and especially +while in prison, I finally resolved to pursue an educational career. +Of course I felt sadly the loss of years of study that might have +better equipped me; but it seemed a duty. I had had some +experience which, I thought, proved me not wholly unqualified. +While a student in college and while reading law I had +partly supported myself by giving instruction to private pupils +and in the schools of General Russell and Mayor Skinner. Afterwards, +before the war, I had taught Greek in the Worcester +(Mass.) Academy; and English literature, Greek, and Latin for +more than three years as principal of the Worcester public +high school. I knew the vocation would be congenial. So I +became principal of a state normal school, of two high schools, +of a large academy; house chairman of a (Conn.) legislative +committee securing the enactment of three school measures of +importance; later, president of a college, professor in a theological +seminary and in Cornell University; founder and for +three years first president of the earliest and long the largest +of the world's general <i>summer</i> schools (which now in the United +States number nearly 700); lecturer in many Chautauqua assemblies, +colleges, vacation schools, and university extension +centres; President of the State University of North Dakota; +editor, with biographic sketches and copious notes, of many +masterpieces as text-books in higher English literature; author +of a history of my regiment; also of a treatise on <i>Voice and +Gesture</i>, of many monographs and magazine articles mostly +educational; associate founder and first president of <i>The +Watch and Ward Society</i>; one of the directors and executive +committee of the <i>American Peace Society</i>; director of the <i>Massachusetts +Peace Society</i>; president of <i>The American Institute of +Instruction</i>; translator, annotator, and essayist of <i>The Book of +Job</i>; etc. +</p><p> +It may be proper to add that among those indebted in some +degree to my instruction or training were several who captured +Yale's highest prize for rhetorical excellence (the hundred dollar +gold medal of which I was the first recipient): one college president; +six college professors; three university presidents; two +governors of states; two United States Senators; and many others +eminent as clergymen, authors, judges, editors, and business +men.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_16_16" id="Footnote_16_16"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_16"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> The higher death-rate (if that be conceded) of southern +soldiers is easily accounted for. The northern soldiers had been +carefully selected by competent surgeons. They were physically +perfect, or nearly so. They were in the bloom of early manhood +or the strength of middle age—not an old man among them, not a +diseased man among them, not a broken-down constitution +among them. But multitudes of the southern, enrolled by conscription, +were physically unfit. Many were much too old or too +young. Said our General Grant, "To fill their ranks, they have +robbed the cradle and the grave!"</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_17_17" id="Footnote_17_17"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17_17"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> The exchange is said to have been stopped in 1862-63 by the +refusal of the Confederates to give up captured negro soldiers in +return for southern captives in the North, the United States +properly insisting upon perfect equality in the treatment of +black and white. But early in 1864, if not previously, the +Confederates yielded the point and were anxious to surrender +man for man.</p></div> +</div> + +<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[153]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="APPENDIX" id="APPENDIX"></a>APPENDIX</h2> + +<p class="center">(From the original record. See p. <a href="#Page_88">88</a>.)</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Proceedings</span> of a Court Martial convened at +Danville Mil. Pris. by virtue of the following Order:</p> + +<div class="pad1"><p class="rgt"><span class="smcap">Danville Mil. Prison</span>, Oct. 29, 1864.</p></div> +<p class="noin">General Order</p> + +<p>No. 1.</p> + +<p>Pursuant to the Regulations adopted by the Union +Officers of the 2d Floor Military Prison, Danville, Va., +Oct. 26, 1864, a Court Martial is hereby appointed to +convene at 10 o'clock <span class="smcapl">A.M.</span> on the 29th inst. or as soon +thereafter as may be practicable, for the Trial of +Captain [I omit from the record the name of the +accused], 104th N. Y. Vols., and such other officers +as may be brought before it.</p> + +<div class='center'><p class="center">Detail for the Court.</p> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td class="ap1">Lt. Col. <span class="smcap">W. A. Leach</span>,</td><td class="ap3" rowspan="8">[Here follow the names +of Captains Bryant, +Black, Clapp, Burkart, +Weiss (?), Reilly (?), +Moody, and the name +of the Judge Advocate, +Lt. and Adjt. James A. +Clark, 17th Pa. Cav.]</td></tr> +<tr><td class="ap2">90th P. V.</td></tr> +<tr><td class="ap1">Lt. Col. <span class="smcap">Theo. Gregg</span>,</td></tr> +<tr><td class="ap2">45th P. V.</td></tr> +<tr><td class="ap1">Major <span class="smcap">J. W. Byron</span>,</td></tr> +<tr><td class="ap2">88th N. Y. V.</td></tr> +<tr><td class="ap1">Capt. <span class="smcap">G. M. Dickerman</span>,</td></tr> +<tr><td class="ap2">26th Mass. V.</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p class="rgt"><span style="margin-right: 2em;">By order of the Officers of the 2d Floor,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-right: 4em;"><span class="smcap">James Carle</span>,</span><br /> +Col. 190th Pa. Vols., Senior Officer.<br /> +</p> + +<div class="pad1"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[154]</a></span><span class="smcap">Danville Mil. Prison, Va.</span>, 10 o'clock <span class="smcapl">A.M.</span>, 31st, +Oct. 1864.</div> + +<p>The Court met pursuant to the foregoing order. +Present all the members. The Court then proceeded +to the trial of Capt. [we again omit the name of the +accused], 104th N. Y. Vols.</p> + +<p>The Judge Advocate stated that he had acquainted +the accused of the order convening the Court, to +which he replied in the words following, to wit: "What +is that to do with me? I recognize no authority +in this prison to convene a court martial," or words +to that effect.</p> + +<p>The accused having refused to appear, the members +of the Court were duly sworn by the Judge Advocate, +and the Judge Advocate was duly sworn by the President +of the Court. The accused, Capt. [again we +omit the name], 104th N. Y. Vols., was arraigned on +the following charges and specifications:</p> + +<p>Charge—Conduct unbecoming an officer and a +gentleman.</p> + +<p>Specification—In this: That Capt. [we again +omit], 104th N. Y. Vols., without provocation, did say +in the hearing of several officers to Lieut. Col. Homer +B. Sprague, 13th C. V., speaking in coarse and ungentlemanly +manner the words following, to wit: [here +we omit the language uttered as being too vile and +filthy to print]; that he did several times repeat +the same in a coarse and angry tone, and used other +vulgar and indecent expressions in an insulting tone +and manner. This at Danville Mil. Prison, Va., +in the lower room thereof on the 29th day of October, +1864.</p> + +<p>The accused refusing to appear, the Judge Advocate<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[155]</a></span> +was directed by the President to enter the plea of +Not Guilty.</p> + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td class="ap4">To the Specification,</td><td class="ap2">Not Guilty.</td></tr> +<tr><td class="ap4">To the Charge,</td><td class="ap2">Not Guilty.</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>Lieut. G. C. Wilson, 2d P. Artillery, and Lieut. +Wm. Shuler, 107th P. Vols., witnesses for the prosecution, +stated that they had cognizance of the facts +set forth in the Specification.</p> + +<p>The proceedings of the Court having been reviewed +by the Judge Advocate, he submitted the case without +argument. The Court was then cleared for deliberation, +and having maturely considered the evidence +adduced find the accused</p> + +<p>On the Specification, Guilty; with the exception of +the words "and used other vulgar and indecent +expressions."</p> + +<p>Of the Charge, Guilty. And do therefore sentence +him to be reprimanded by the Senior Officer.</p> + +<p>The Court is thus lenient owing to this being the +first case of the kind brought before it.</p> + +<p class="pad1"><span class="smcap">Wm. A. Leach</span>, Lt. Col. 90th Regt. Pa. Vols., Pres.;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;"><span class="smcap">Jas. A. Clark</span>, Adjt. 17th Pa. Cavalry, Judge Advocate.</span></p> + +<p class="pad1">The Proceedings and Findings in the foregoing case +are hereby respectfully submitted to Brig.-Gen. Hayes +for his consideration.</p> + +<p class="pad2"><span class="smcap">James Carle</span>, Col. 191st Pa. Vols., Senior Officer, +2d Floor.</p> + +<div class="pad1"><span class="smcap">Confed. Mil. Prison, Danville, Va.</span>, Nov. 1, 1864.</div> + +<p>The Proceedings and Findings of the Court Martial +of which Lt. Col. W. A. Leach, 90th Pa. Vols., was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[156]</a></span> +President, having been submitted to Brig.-Gen. +Hayes, the Senior Officer present, are approved. The +extreme leniency of the Court must be apparent to all, +and can only be excused by the novelty of the case +brought before it. Language fails to convey censure +adequate to the gross vulgarity and ungentlemanly +conduct of the accused. Captain [we omit the name] +seems to forget or misconceive his responsibility in his +present circumstances. An officer being a prisoner +of war is not relieved from his responsibility to his +government nor from his liability to the regulations of +the service as far as may be applied to his dishonor by +ungentlemanly and unofficer-like conduct; and many +other offenses committed by an officer when a prisoner +of war are as punishable as if that officer were serving +with his command. And it is well the officers in the +prison have organized a Court for the summary punishment +of those of their number, who, forgetful of +their position and their honor, would bring shame +upon themselves and their associates.</p> + +<p>It is to be hoped that Capt. [name we omit]'s conduct +in the future will be such as will cause to be +forgotten his mistakes of the past.</p> + +<p class="rgt"><span class="smcap">Joseph Hayes</span>, Brig. Gen. U. S. Vols.</p> + +<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[157]</a></span></p> +<h2>INDEX</h2> + +<p class="inx">A</p> + +<ul><li>Adams, Dr. Nehemiah, <a href="#Page_29">29</a></li> + +<li>Adams, Sarah F., quoted, <a href="#Page_35">35</a></li> + +<li>ambulance, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a href="#Page_38">38</a></li> + +<li>annihilation threatened, <a href="#Page_23">23</a></li> + +<li>apothecary doctor, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a></li> + +<li>Appendix, court record, <a href="#Page_153">153-156</a></li> + +<li>apple-jack, <a href="#Page_39">39</a></li> + +<li>Army of West Va., <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_6">6</a></li> + +<li>artillery, trained on us, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_58">58</a></li> + +<li><i>at</i> in "Where is he at?" <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, <a href="#Page_75">75</a></li> + +<li>attempt to break out, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>, <a href="#Page_118">118</a></li> + +<li>autographs, officers', <a href="#Page_136">136</a></li> +</ul> + +<p class="inx">B</p> + +<ul><li>Barnes, J. K., Surgeon-Gen., <a href="#Page_146">146</a></li> + +<li>battle, pomp of, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134</a></li> + +<li>battle-field, Winchester, <a href="#Page_3">3</a> +</li> + +<li>beans, soup of, ration, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>, <a href="#Page_102">102</a></li> + +<li>Beecher, Henry Ward, quoted, <a href="#Page_30">30</a></li> + +<li>Beecher, married by, <a href="#Page_52">52</a></li> + +<li>Berryville, <a href="#Page_3">3</a></li> + +<li>Berryville pike, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_7">7</a></li> + +<li>Birge, Gen. H. W., <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_9">9</a></li> + +<li>blanket for several, <a href="#Page_105">105</a></li> + +<li>blankets "confiscated," <a href="#Page_46">46</a></li> + +<li>blankets, not to be shaken, <a href="#Page_87">87</a></li> + +<li>Blinn, Col. C. D., ill, <a href="#Page_7">7</a></li> + +<li>Blue Ridge, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_36">36</a></li> + +<li>Braxton's Confed. artillery, <a href="#Page_9">9</a></li> + +<li>bread, corn-cob-meal, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a></li> + +<li>breakfast at Staunton, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_33">33</a></li> + +<li>breakfast at Tom's Brook, <a href="#Page_21">21</a></li> + +<li>Breckenridge, Confed. Gen., <a href="#Page_5">5</a></li> + +<li>Brinton, Col., escape of, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_27">27</a></li> + +<li>brooms in prison, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_102">102</a></li> + +<li>Brown, John, defended, <a href="#Page_28">28</a></li> + +<li>Brownell, H. H., quoted, <a href="#Page_137">137</a></li> + +<li>Browning, Mrs., quoted, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>, <a href="#Page_91">91</a></li> + +<li>buckets for water, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>, <a href="#Page_116">116</a></li> + +<li>Buckingham, Gov. of Conn., <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_129">129</a></li> + +<li>"Bucktail Regiment," <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a></li> + +<li>burning $400, <a href="#Page_138">138</a></li> + +<li>Burrage, Major H. S., <a href="#Page_117">117</a>, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a></li> + +<li>Bush, Lieut. W. W., <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, <a href="#Page_96">96</a></li> + +<li>"Butler's dandy regiment," <a href="#Page_7">7</a> <a href="#Footnote_2_2">(note)</a></li> + +<li>Byron, Lord, quoted, <a href="#Page_28">28</a></li> + +<li>Byron, Major John W., <a href="#Page_87">87</a></li> + +<li>Byrne, Major John, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_141">141</a></li> +</ul> + +<p class="inx">C</p> + +<ul><li>cards, playing, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>, <a href="#Page_141">141</a></li> + +<li>Carle, Col. James, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_80">80</a></li> + +<li>carving in prison, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>, <a href="#Page_141">141</a></li> + +<li>cavalry, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_45">45</a></li> + +<li>chaplain, prisoner, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a href="#Page_80">80</a></li> + +<li>charge, Gordon's brilliant, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_12">12</a></li> + +<li>Chautauqua, Mountain Lake, <a href="#Page_121">121</a></li> + +<li>checkers, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_141">141</a></li> + +<li>Cheever, Dr. Geo. B., <a href="#Page_29">29</a></li> + +<li>chess, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_141">141</a></li> + +<li>choosing death, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a></li> + +<li><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[158]</a></span>Clarke, Adjt. James A., <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a></li> + +<li>clergymen's visits, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_122">122</a></li> + +<li>Clover, in it at night, <a href="#Page_47">47</a></li> + +<li>coal, poor and scanty, <a href="#Page_79">79</a></li> + +<li>coal dust, very fine! <a href="#Page_48">48</a></li> + +<li>cold, severe and fatal, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a></li> + +<li>communication, finger signs, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a></li> + +<li>communication, secret, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a></li> + +<li>Confederate currency, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_140">140</a></li> + +<li>Cook, Capt. William, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>, <a href="#Page_143">143</a></li> + +<li>cooking, how and where, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_95">95</a></li> + +<li>Constitution, U. S., <a href="#Page_29">29</a>, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>, <a href="#Page_47">47</a></li> + +<li>Corcoran, Gen. Michael, <a href="#Page_53">53</a></li> + +<li>corn-cob-meal bread, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a></li> + +<li>corn-cob-meal soup, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>, <a href="#Page_102">102</a></li> + +<li>court martial in prison, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>; and Appendix, <a href="#Page_153">153</a></li> + +<li>Crew, John, a kind enemy, <a href="#Page_28">28</a></li> + +<li>Crook, Gen. George, <a href="#Page_4">4</a></li> +</ul> + +<p class="inx">D</p> + +<ul><li>daily routine, Danville, <a href="#Page_97">97-105</a>, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>, <a href="#Page_141">141</a></li> + +<li>Dame, Rev., preaches to us, <a href="#Page_121">121</a></li> + +<li>Dan river, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_98">98</a></li> + +<li>Danville, arrival at, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>;<ul> +<li>again, <a href="#Page_77">77</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Danville death record, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a></li> + +<li>Danville prisons, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>, <a href="#Page_129">129</a></li> + +<li>Davies's <i>Legendre</i>, <a href="#Page_140">140</a> <a href="#Footnote_11_11">(note)</a></li> + +<li>Davis, Jefferson, <a href="#Page_150">150</a></li> + +<li>Davis, Lieut., death of, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a href="#Page_68">68</a></li> + +<li>dead lines, Salisbury, <a href="#Page_54">54</a></li> + +<li>deaf-and-dumb alphabet, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a></li> + +<li><a name="deaths" id="deaths"></a>deaths at Salisbury, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>, <a href="#Page_145">145</a></li> + +<li>deaths of Confederates in northern prisons, <a href="#Page_146">146</a></li> + +<li>deaths at Danville, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>, <a href="#Page_145">145</a></li> + +<li>Declaration of Independence, <a href="#Page_47">47</a></li> + +<li>defile, Berryville, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_7">7</a></li> + +<li>devastation by Sheridan, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>, <a href="#Page_3">3</a></li> + +<li>diary kept, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>, <a href="#Page_44">44</a></li> + +<li>Dickerman, Capt. G. M., <a href="#Page_32">32</a></li> + +<li>discussion with Lieut. Howard, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>, <a href="#Page_30">30</a></li> + +<li>discussions in prison, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>, <a href="#Page_141">141</a></li> + +<li>distribution of rations, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a></li> + +<li>Dolan, pitied by Confederate ladies, <a href="#Page_37">37</a></li> + +<li>Duffié, Gen. O. N., <a href="#Page_113">113-117</a></li> + +<li>Dwight, Gen. William, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>, <a href="#Page_13">13</a></li> +</ul> + +<p class="inx">E</p> + +<ul><li>Early, Gen. Jubal A., <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, <a href="#Page_17">17</a></li> + +<li>Edenburg village, <a href="#Page_26">26</a></li> + +<li>education in prison, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>, <a href="#Page_140">140</a></li> + +<li>Eighth Corps, W. Va. Army, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_6">6</a></li> + +<li>Election votes in prison, <a href="#Page_90">90</a></li> + +<li>Emerson, Rev., prison chaplain, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a href="#Page_80">80</a></li> + +<li>enlist or die, choice to, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134</a></li> + +<li>Epaminondas, strategy at Leuctra, <a href="#Page_10">10</a></li> + +<li>"escape on the brain," <a href="#Page_67">67</a></li> + +<li>escapes attempted, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a href="#Page_110">110</a></li> + +<li>Estabrooks, Lieut. H. L., <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>, <a href="#Page_143">143</a> <a href="#Footnote_14_14">(note)</a></li> + +<li>exchange of prisoners, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a></li> + +<li>exchange blocked, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_147">147-151</a></li> +</ul> + +<p class="inx">F</p> + +<ul><li>Ficklin, J. F., his kindness, <a href="#Page_125">125-129</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a></li> + +<li>Fisher, First Sea Lord, quoted, <a href="#Page_57">57</a></li> + +<li>Fisher's Hill, battle, <a href="#Page_25">25</a></li> + +<li>Fisher's Hill reached, <a href="#Page_20">20</a></li> + +<li>"flag-of-truce fever," <a href="#Page_106">106</a>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, <a href="#Page_108">108</a></li> + +<li><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[159]</a></span>fleas, wicked, <a href="#Page_27">27</a></li> + +<li>flour ration, how cooked, <a href="#Page_21">21</a></li> + +<li>Fontleroy, Dr., his hospitality, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_33">33</a></li> + +<li>freemasonry, very useful, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_46">46</a></li> + +<li>French, oral lessons in, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a></li> + +<li>Fry, Major W. H., <a href="#Page_85">85</a></li> + +<li>fugitive slave law, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>, <a href="#Page_30">30</a></li> + +<li>fun, critical and sarcastic, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>, <a href="#Page_105">105</a></li> + +<li>fun, sanitary, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_80">80</a></li> + +<li>furnace way of escape, <a href="#Page_110">110</a></li> + +<li>Furness, Horace Howard, <a href="#Page_129">129</a></li> +</ul> + +<p class="inx">G</p> + +<ul><li>Gardner, Adjt. W. C., <a href="#Page_69">69</a>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>, <a href="#Page_143">143</a></li> + +<li>Gee, Confed. Major, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_74">74</a></li> + +<li>German, oral lessons in, <a href="#Page_92">92</a></li> + +<li>Ghost in <i>Hamlet</i>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a></li> + +<li>"God's Country," <a href="#Page_137">137</a></li> + +<li>God's fugitive slave law, <a href="#Page_29">29</a></li> + +<li>"going through" prisoners, <a href="#Page_22">22</a></li> + +<li>Gordon, Confed. Gen. J. B., <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_17">17</a></li> + +<li>Gordon's brilliant charge, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_13">13</a></li> + +<li>gorge of Berryville pike, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_10">10</a></li> + +<li>gorilla or guerrilla, which? <a href="#Page_39">39</a>, <a href="#Page_40">40</a></li> + +<li>grain cars at Danville, <a href="#Page_48">48</a></li> + +<li>Grant's merciless orders, <a href="#Page_2">2</a></li> + +<li>Greek Testament, kept, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>;<ul> +<li>stolen, <a href="#Page_80">80</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>greenbacks burned, <a href="#Page_138">138</a></li> + +<li>greenbacks, relative value of, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_140">140</a></li> + +<li>Greensboro, N. Carolina, <a href="#Page_48">48</a></li> + +<li>Gregg, Lieut.-Col. Theodore, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a></li> + +<li>Grover, Gen. Cuvier, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_12">12</a></li> + +<li>guerrilla, "I'm a guerrilla," <a href="#Page_59">59</a></li> + +<li>guerrilla, Morgan's, a kind gentleman, <a href="#Page_34">34</a></li> + +<li>gun cotton, cushion suspected, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, <a href="#Page_46">46</a></li> +</ul> + +<p class="inx">H</p> + +<ul><li>hake, issued in rations, <a href="#Page_94">94</a></li> + +<li>Hall, Rev. Charles K., kind, <a href="#Page_122">122</a></li> + +<li><i>Hamlet</i>, rehearsal, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a></li> + +<li>Handy, Lieut., aide to Molineux, <a href="#Page_11">11</a></li> + +<li>Hartshorne, Col. W. Ross, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a></li> + +<li>Haslett, Capt., Provost Marshal, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a href="#Page_38">38</a></li> + +<li>Haurand, Major August, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a></li> + +<li>Hayes, Gen. Joseph, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>, <a href="#Page_141">141</a></li> + +<li>Hayes, Gen., on court martial, Appendix, <a href="#Page_156">156</a></li> + +<li>health, surely failing, <a href="#Page_123">123</a></li> + +<li>Henry, Patrick, cited, <a href="#Page_30">30</a></li> + +<li>"Hide your greenbacks," <a href="#Page_41">41</a></li> + +<li>hole in the brick wall, <a href="#Page_43">43</a></li> + +<li>Holland, J. H., imaginary, <a href="#Page_128">128</a></li> + +<li>Homer, quoted, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>;<ul> +<li>puzzled to death, <a href="#Page_99">99</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Hooper, Lieut.-Col. C. H., <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_115">115</a></li> + +<li>horse lost in battle, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_19">19</a></li> + +<li>hospital in Danville, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a></li> + +<li>hostage, Lt. Manning held as, <a href="#Page_60">60</a></li> + +<li>Howard, Confed. Lieut., <a href="#Page_28">28</a>, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>, <a href="#Page_30">30</a></li> + +<li>Howe, Capt. Wesley C., <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>, <a href="#Page_141">141</a></li> +</ul> + +<p class="inx">I</p> + +<ul><li>Imboden, J. D., Confed. Gen., <a href="#Page_25">25</a></li> + +<li>Indiana soldiers, acrobats, <a href="#Page_24">24</a></li> + +<li>innocent deliberately slain, <a href="#Page_152">152</a></li> + +<li>international war, <a href="#Page_152">152</a></li> + +<li>Irish Bend, La., battle, wounded in, <a href="#Page_89">89</a></li> +</ul> + +<p class="inx">J</p> + +<ul><li>James river, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>, <a href="#Page_137">137</a></li> + +<li>Jefferson, Thomas, quoted, <a href="#Page_31">31</a></li> + +<li>Jersey lightning, apple-jack? <a href="#Page_39">39</a></li> + +<li><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[160]</a></span>Johnson's Island prison, <a href="#Page_126">126</a></li> + +<li>Jonah, disgorged like, <a href="#Page_49">49</a></li> + +<li>Jordan, H. T., <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a></li> +</ul> + +<p class="inx">K</p> + +<ul><li>Keifer, Gen. J. W., <a href="#Page_9">9</a></li> + +<li>Kerrstown, <a href="#Page_20">20</a></li> +</ul> + +<p class="inx">L</p> + +<ul><li>Ladies, Confed., kind and handsome, <a href="#Page_37">37</a></li> + +<li>Lee, Gen. Fitzhugh, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>;<ul> +<li>wounded, <a href="#Page_13">13</a></li></ul></li> + +<li><i>Legendre</i>, Davies's, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>, <a href="#Page_140">140</a> <a href="#Footnote_11_11">(note)</a></li> + +<li>letters from outside, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a></li> + +<li>Libby prison, <a href="#Page_40">40-44</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a></li> + +<li>lice in prison, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a></li> + +<li>lice of Egypt, not "in it," <a href="#Page_80">80</a></li> + +<li>Lincoln, Abraham, quoted, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_48">48</a></li> + +<li>Lincoln on exchange of prisoners, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>, <a href="#Page_125">125</a></li> + +<li>Lincoln on right of revolution, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_48">48</a></li> + +<li>Lloyd, J. J., returns from desertion, <a href="#Page_133">133</a></li> + +<li>Lockwood, Capt., killed, <a href="#Page_77">77</a></li> + +<li>log houses for officers, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a href="#Page_53">53</a></li> + +<li>Longfellow, quoted, <a href="#Page_136">136</a></li> + +<li>Lovelace, poet, quoted, <a href="#Page_89">89</a></li> +</ul> + +<p class="inx">M</p> + +<ul><li>Manning, Lieut. W. C., tunnel, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a></li> + +<li>Mark Tapley's "jolly" example, <a href="#Page_38">38</a></li> + +<li><i>Marmion</i>, Scott's, quoted, <a href="#Page_37">37</a></li> + +<li>martyrs in reality, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>, <a href="#Page_136">136</a></li> + +<li>Mason, Capt. Frank H., <a href="#Page_92">92</a>, <a href="#Page_143">143</a></li> + +<li>Masonic Hall, Winchester, <a href="#Page_18">18</a></li> + +<li>McIntosh's cavalry, <a href="#Page_4">4</a></li> + +<li>Meacham's Station, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_40">40</a></li> + +<li>meat ration, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, <a href="#Page_94">94</a></li> + +<li>Mercutio's wound, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a></li> + +<li>Middletown in Shenandoah Valley, <a href="#Page_20">20</a></li> + +<li>Molineux, Col. E. L., <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>, <a href="#Page_14">14</a></li> + +<li>money concealed, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_138">138</a></li> + +<li>money, Confederate, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>, <a href="#Page_140">140</a></li> + +<li>Morgan's guerrillas, <a href="#Page_34">34</a></li> + +<li>Mortality in prison. <i>See</i> under "<a href="#deaths">deaths</a>"</li> + +<li>"Muggers," <a href="#Page_51">51</a></li> +</ul> + +<p class="inx">N</p> + +<ul><li>Napoleon, his strategy, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>;<ul> +<li>quoted, <a href="#Page_135">135</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>nationality, northern, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_150">150</a></li> + +<li>nationality, southern, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>, <a href="#Page_151">151</a></li> + +<li>necessity, military, defies every law, <a href="#Page_151">151</a></li> + +<li>negroes, loyal and kind, <a href="#Page_111">111</a></li> + +<li>negroes, prisoners of war, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>, <a href="#Page_129">129</a></li> + +<li>New Market, Va., <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_28">28</a></li> + +<li>Newtown, V., <a href="#Page_20">20</a></li> + +<li>Nineteenth Corps, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_67">67</a></li> +</ul> + +<p class="inx">O</p> + +<ul><li>occupations, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>; <a href="#Page_97">97-105</a></li> + +<li>O'Neil, Col., Yale classmate, killed, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a></li> + +<li>Opequon battle, <a href="#Page_3">3-15</a></li> + +<li>Opequon Creek, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_7">7</a></li> + +<li>order to retreat, <a href="#Page_11">11</a></li> + +<li>Ould, R., Confed. Agt. for exchange, <a href="#Page_151">151</a></li> + +<li>ovens for baking, <a href="#Page_110">110</a></li> + +<li>overcoat saved, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a></li> +</ul> + +<p class="inx">P</p> + +<ul><li>"painfully sober," <a href="#Page_85">85</a></li> + +<li>parole given, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_129">129</a></li> + +<li>parole rejected, <a href="#Page_53">53</a></li> + +<li><i>pediculidæ vestimenti, non capitis</i>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a></li> + +<li><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[161]</a></span>Petersburg shelled, <a href="#Page_45">45</a></li> + +<li>Pharaoh's epidermis and obstinacy, <a href="#Page_80">80</a></li> + +<li>Pickett's charge at Gettysburg, <a href="#Page_10">10</a></li> + +<li>plots to break out, <a href="#Page_61">61-75</a>; <a href="#Page_113">113-119</a></li> + +<li>policing prison, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a></li> + +<li>prayer of chaplain Emerson, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a href="#Page_80">80</a></li> + +<li>prey and pray, <a href="#Page_121">121</a></li> + +<li>Prey, Col. Gilbert G., <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a></li> + +<li>prison number 3, officers', <a href="#Page_78">78</a>, +</li> + +<li>prison 6, the worst of all, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a></li> + +<li>prison rules adopted, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>, <a href="#Page_88">88</a></li> + +<li>profanity of soldiers, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a></li> + +<li>Putnam, Adjt. G. Haven, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a></li> +</ul> + +<p class="inx">Q</p> + +<ul><li>questions, amusing or ugly, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>, <a href="#Page_141">141</a></li> +</ul> + +<p class="inx">R</p> + +<ul><li>Ralston, Col., killed, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>, <a href="#Page_118">118</a></li> + +<li>Ramseur, S. D., Confed. Gen., <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_15">15</a></li> + +<li>rations, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a></li> + +<li>recapture of escaped officers, <a href="#Page_112">112</a></li> + +<li>recount made futile by trick, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112</a></li> + +<li>Redwood of Mobile, Yale classmate, <a href="#Page_38">38</a></li> + +<li>Reed, "shot into inch pieces," <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_31">31</a></li> + +<li>retaliation threatened, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>;<ul> +<li>done, <a href="#Page_148">148</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>rheumatism, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a></li> + +<li>Richardson, Albert D., of <i>Tribune</i>, <a href="#Page_52">52</a></li> + +<li>Richmond, arrival at, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_136">136</a></li> + +<li>Richmond, watching exploding shells, <a href="#Page_45">45</a></li> + +<li>Ricketts' Division, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>, <a href="#Page_12">12</a></li> + +<li>riddle, fatal to the old poet, <a href="#Page_99">99</a></li> + +<li>riots in July, 1863, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a></li> + +<li>robbery of captives, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_46">46</a></li> + +<li>Rodes, Confed. General, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>;<ul> +<li>killed, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_13">13</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>roll-call nullified, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112</a></li> + +<li>roll-call sergt., queer, <a href="#Page_99">99-103</a>, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112</a></li> + +<li>rope ladder, twisted rags, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112</a></li> + +<li>rules adopted in prison, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a></li> + +<li>Russell, Sergt. Alfred, <a href="#Page_89">89</a></li> + +<li>Russell, Gen. D. A., killed, <a href="#Page_13">13</a></li> + +<li>Russell, Martha, <a href="#Page_89">89</a></li> + +<li>Russell, Gen. W. H., <a href="#Page_128">128</a></li> +</ul> + +<p class="inx">S</p> + +<ul><li>Sadler, Major David, <a href="#Page_66">66</a></li> + +<li>Salisbury prison, <a href="#Page_50">50-55</a>; <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>, <a href="#Page_136">136</a></li> + +<li>sandwiches, G. W. Swepson's, <a href="#Page_49">49</a></li> + +<li>sanitary measures, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a></li> + +<li>Sargent, Lieut, of 14th N. H., <a href="#Page_23">23</a></li> + +<li>Scott, Sir Walter, quoted, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>, <a href="#Page_135">135</a></li> + +<li>scurvy prevalent, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a></li> + +<li>searching of prisoners, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a></li> + +<li>seceded states, a real nation? <a href="#Page_150">150</a>, <a href="#Page_151">151</a></li> + +<li>sentries' sing-song call, <a href="#Page_44">44</a></li> + +<li>sermons in prison, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_122">122</a></li> + +<li>"Set the table for dinner," <a href="#Page_96">96</a></li> + +<li>Shakespeare, quoted, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a></li> + +<li>Shakespeare's <i>Hamlet</i>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_140">140</a></li> + +<li>shelter, lack of at Salisbury, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>, <a href="#Page_136">136</a></li> + +<li>Shenandoah river and valley, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>, <a href="#Page_2">2</a></li> + +<li>Sheridan's devastation, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>, <a href="#Page_3">3</a></li> + +<li><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[162]</a></span>Sherman, Gen. W. T., quoted, <a href="#Page_1">1</a></li> + +<li>"shot twice into inch pieces," <a href="#Page_24">24</a></li> + +<li>Simpson, Lieut. J. B.; his sly trick, <a href="#Page_77">77</a></li> + +<li>singing at evening at Danville, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>, <a href="#Page_141">141</a></li> + +<li>Sixth Corps, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_13">13</a></li> + +<li>"skirmishing" a misnomer, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a></li> + +<li>slavery doomed in any event, <a href="#Page_149">149</a></li> + +<li>"Slim Jim," <a href="#Page_101">101</a></li> + +<li>Small, Major Adner A., <a href="#Page_142">142</a></li> + +<li>Smith, Robert C., Confed. commandant, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>, <a href="#Page_82">82</a></li> + +<li>Smith, Col. Robert C., Yale man, kind, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, +</li> + +<li>Smith, Sergt. W. F., clerk, <a href="#Page_129">129</a></li> + +<li>"snack?" or snake? <a href="#Page_49">49</a></li> + +<li>sorghum syrup issued, <a href="#Page_94">94</a></li> + +<li>soup, so called (or broth), <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>, <a href="#Page_102">102</a></li> + +<li>spittoon mystery, solved? <a href="#Page_78">78</a></li> + +<li>spoon, carving of, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>, <a href="#Page_141">141</a> <a href="#FNanchor_12_12">(note)</a></li> + +<li>"spoon fashion," lying in, <a href="#Page_105">105</a></li> + +<li>"<i>Spoon</i>"! significance of, <a href="#Page_105">105</a></li> + +<li>Sprague, Bvt. Col. H. B., <i>passim</i>, and <a href="#Page_143">143</a> <a href="#Footnote_15_15">(note)</a></li> + +<li>stampede, Yankee, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>;<ul> +<li>Confederate, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_23">23</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Stanton, E. M., War Secretary, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a></li> + +<li>State, allegiance to, <a href="#Page_39">39</a></li> + +<li>Staunton, Va., march to, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>, <a href="#Page_28">28</a></li> + +<li>Staunton, arrival and breakfast at, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_33">33</a></li> + +<li>Staunton, Morgan's guerrilla kind at, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_34">34</a></li> + +<li>stealing rations from guards, haversacks, <a href="#Page_77">77</a></li> + +<li>Stephens, Hon. Alexander H., <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_147">147</a></li> + +<li>"Storming Column" at Port Hudson, <a href="#Page_7">7</a></li> + +<li>"Stove Brigade," at Danville, <a href="#Page_79">79</a></li> + +<li>stoves in prison at Danville, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_95">95</a></li> + +<li>Strasburg, Va., <a href="#Page_20">20</a></li> + +<li>Strickland, undertaker, <a href="#Page_129">129</a></li> + +<li>Stuart, Dr. Moses, on slavery, <a href="#Page_29">29</a></li> + +<li>subjugation policy, Lincoln's, <a href="#Page_151">151</a></li> + +<li>sunrise on the Blue Ridge, <a href="#Page_36">36</a></li> + +<li>sutler, Confederate, <a href="#Page_84">84</a></li> + +<li>swearing, copious, of two kinds, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_39">39</a></li> + +<li>sweeping the floors, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a></li> + +<li>Swepson, George W., very kind, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a></li> +</ul> + +<p class="inx">T</p> + +<ul><li>table-knife saw, Lieut. Titus's, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>, <a href="#Page_111">111</a></li> + +<li>Tarbell, Capt. Doctor, assistant commissary, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a></li> + +<li>Taylor, Bayard, quoted, <a href="#Page_80">80</a></li> + +<li><i>tertium quid</i>, solution of mystery, <a href="#Page_78">78</a></li> + +<li>theatrical collapse at Danville, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a></li> + +<li>Thirteenth Conn. Regt., very patriotic, <a href="#Page_7">7</a></li> + +<li>Tiemann, Capt. W. F., <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_143">143</a></li> + +<li>Titus, Lieut. L. B., invents useful saw, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>, <a href="#Page_111">111</a></li> + +<li>tobacco and the spittoon mystery, <a href="#Page_78">78</a></li> + +<li>tobacco given us by kind clergyman, <a href="#Page_122">122</a></li> + +<li>Tom's Brook, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_23">23</a></li> + +<li>tooth-brush, second-hand, $300 offered, <a href="#Page_140">140</a></li> + +<li>Torbert, Gen. Alfred T., <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_17">17</a></li> + +<li>trading with Confed. sentinels, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_120">120</a></li> + +<li>tunnel through the Blue Ridge, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_36">36</a></li> + +<li>tunneling at Salisbury, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>;<ul> +<li>Danville, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_110">110</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Turner, Nathaniel, inspector, Libby, <a href="#Page_41">41</a></li> + +<li>Turner, Richard, commandant at Libby, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_45">45</a></li> +</ul> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[163]</a></span></p> + +<p class="inx">U</p> + +<ul><li>unguentum, two pounds called for, <a href="#Page_81">81</a></li> + +<li>university students in prison at Danville, <a href="#Page_140">140</a></li> +</ul> + +<p class="inx">V</p> + +<ul><li>Vander Weyde, Lieut. Henry, artist, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>, <a href="#Page_117">117</a></li> + +<li>vermin at Danville, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a></li> + +<li>view-point, all-important, <a href="#Page_57">57</a></li> + +<li>votes in prison for President, Nov. 8, <a href="#Page_90">90</a></li> +</ul> + +<p class="inx">W</p> + +<ul><li>war, Admiral Fisher on its essence, <a href="#Page_57">57</a></li> + +<li>war, Lieut. Gen. S. B. M. Young, quoted on, <a href="#Page_57">57</a></li> + +<li>war, Gen. Wm. T. Sherman's "War is hell," <a href="#Page_1">1</a></li> + +<li>Washington, George, Commander-in-chief, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a></li> + +<li>Washington, Lieutenant, a Confederate, <a href="#Page_83">83</a></li> + +<li>Washington, President, a Mason at Winchester, <a href="#Page_18">18</a></li> + +<li>Washington wished slavery somehow ended, <a href="#Page_30">30</a></li> + +<li>water parties under guard, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>, <a href="#Page_110">110</a></li> + +<li>water scarce <i>en route</i>, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>;<ul> +<li>at Salisbury, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_75">75</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Watts, Isaac, quoted, <a href="#Page_45">45</a></li> + +<li>Waynesboro, Va., <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_35">35</a></li> + +<li>Webster, Daniel, <a href="#Page_29">29</a></li> + +<li>Wesley, John, quoted, <a href="#Page_152">152</a></li> + +<li>West Virginia, Army of, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_5">5</a></li> + +<li>"Where is he at?" <a href="#Page_73">73</a></li> + +<li>Whittier, John G., quoted, <a href="#Page_152">152</a></li> + +<li>Wilson, Cav. Gen. J. H., <a href="#Page_4">4</a></li> + +<li>Winchester, Va., battle of, <a href="#Page_3">3-15</a></li> + +<li>Winder, Confed. Gen. J. H., Supt. Prisons, <a href="#Page_112">112</a></li> + +<li>wood, split without edge-tools, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a></li> + +<li>Woolsey, T. D., President of Yale, <a href="#Page_128">128</a></li> +</ul> + +<p class="inx">Y</p> + +<ul><li>Yadkin river crossing, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a href="#Page_75">75</a></li> + +<li>Yale College men, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>, <a href="#Page_82">82</a></li> + +<li>Yankee ingenuity and skill, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>, <a href="#Page_97">97</a></li> + +<li>Y. M. C. A., of Richmond, <a href="#Page_121">121</a></li> + +<li>Young, Lieut.-Gen. S. B. M., on war, <a href="#Page_57">57</a></li> +</ul> + +<div class="trans1"><b>Transcriber's Note:</b> +Dialect and archaic spellings have been retained. Minor typographical errors have been corrected without note, whilst more +significant amendments have been corrected as follows: + +<div class="block1"><p><a href="#PORTRAIT">Portrait Caption</a>, "Gardiner" to <i>Gardner</i>.</p> + +<p>Page <a href="#Page_102">102</a> & <a href="#Page_160">160</a>, "peculidæ" to <i>pediculidæ</i>, could be amended to +<i>pediculus</i> however the former seems more in keeping with the +original intent.</p> + +<p>Spelling errors occurring solely in the Index have been corrected +to match the main text.</p></div></div> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Lights and Shadows in Confederate +Prisons, by Homer B. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Lights and Shadows in Confederate Prisons + A Personal Experience, 1864-5 + +Author: Homer B. Sprague + +Release Date: January 21, 2008 [EBook #24385] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CONFEDERATE PRISONS *** + + + + +Produced by Stephen Blundell and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + + + + + + [Illustration: Portraits of Fellow Officers in Prison + + Left to right--Top line: Capt. Cook, Capt. Burrage + Middle line: Adj't. Gardner, Col. Sprague, Capt. Howe + Lower line: Lieut. Estabrooks, Adj't. Putnam] + + + + + _"Forsan et haec olim meminisse juvabit"_ + + + Lights and Shadows in + Confederate Prisons + + A Personal Experience + 1864-5 + + + By + + Homer B. Sprague, Ph.D. + Bvt.-Colonel 13th Conn. Vols. + + Sometime Professor in Cornell and President of the University + of North Dakota + + Author of "History of the 13th Conn. Inf. Vols.," "Right + and Wrong in our War between the States," and + "The European War, Its Cause and Cure" + + + _With Portraits_ + + + G. P. Putnam's Sons + New York and London + The Knickerbocker Press + 1915 + + + + + COPYRIGHT, 1915 + BY + HOMER B. SPRAGUE + + The Knickerbocker Press, New York + + +Transcriber's Note: + + Minor typographical errors have been corrected without note, whilst + more significant amendments have been listed at the end of the text. + Dialect and archaic spellings have been retained. The letter 'e' + with a macron has been transcribed as [=e]. + + + + + TO + THE ALUMNI OF + THE UNIVERSITIES OF + YALE, CORNELL, AND NORTH DAKOTA + + IN WHICH RESPECTIVELY THE AUTHOR WAS + STUDENT, PROFESSOR, PRESIDENT; + TO + THOUSANDS OF HIS PUPILS YET LIVING; + TO + HIS COMPANIONS OF THE LOYAL LEGION, + COMRADES OF THE GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC, + ALL SURVIVING OFFICERS AND SOLDIERS + UNION OR CONFEDERATE; + ALL WHO CHERISH THE MEMORY OF THE PATRIOT DEAD + AND ALL WHO HATE WAR, + THIS RECORD IS AFFECTIONATELY + DEDICATED + + + + +PREFACE + + +This narrative of prison life differs from all others that I have seen, +in that it is careful to put the best possible construction upon the +treatment of Union prisoners by the Confederates, and to state and +emphasize kindnesses and courtesies received by us from them. + +For the accuracy of the facts stated I am indebted to a diary kept from +day to day during the whole of my imprisonment, and to the best +obtainable records. The exact language of conversations cannot of course +always be remembered, but I aim always to give correctly the substance. + +I am aware that the opinions I express in regard to Sheridan's strategy +at the Battle of Winchester are not those generally entertained. But I +give reasons. His own account of the battle is sadly imperfect. To +capture but five guns and nine battle flags at a cost of four thousand +six hundred and eighty killed and wounded, and leave almost the entire +rebel army in shape to fight two great battles within a month, was not +the programme he had planned. Early said "Sheridan should have been +cashiered." + +I shall be blamed more for venturing to question Lincoln's policy of +subjugation. He had proclaimed with great power and in the most +unmistakable language in Congress that "any portion of any people had a +perfect right to throw off their old government and establish a new +one." But now, instead of standing strictly on the defensive, or +attempting by diplomacy to settle the conflict which had become +virtually international, he entered upon a war of conquest. + +I do not blame him for refusing to exchange prisoners, nor President +Davis for allowing them to starve and freeze. Both were right, _if war +is right_. It was expedient that thirty, fifty, or a hundred thousand of +us should perish, or be rendered physically incapable of bearing arms +again. The "deep damnation of the taking off" was due not to individual +depravity but to military necessity. + + H. B. S. + BRIGHTON, MASS., U. S. A., + _1915_. + + + + +CONTENTS + + + PAGE + PREFACE v + + CHAPTER I + + The First, or Forenoon, Battle of Winchester, Indecisive--Sheridan's + and Early's Mistakes--The Capture 1 + + CHAPTER II + + At Winchester--On the Road thence to Tom's Brook, New Market, and + Staunton 17 + + CHAPTER III + + At Staunton--Thence to Waynesboro, Meacham's, and Richmond 32 + + CHAPTER IV + + At Libby--Thence to Clover, Danville, Greensboro, and + Salisbury--Effort to Pledge us not to Attempt Escape 43 + + CHAPTER V + + At Salisbury--Great Plot to Escape--How Frustrated 60 + + CHAPTER VI + + From Salisbury to Danville--The Forlorn Situation--Effort to + "Extract Sunshine from Cucumbers"--The Vermin--The Prison + Commandant a Yale Man--Proposed Theatricals--Rules + Adopted--Studies--Vote in Prison for Lincoln and + McClellan--Killing Time 77 + + CHAPTER VII + + Exact Record of Rations in Danville--Opportunity to Cook--Daily + Routine of Proceedings from Early Dawn till Late at Night 93 + + CHAPTER VIII + + Continual Hope of Exchange of Prisoners--"Flag-of-Truce + Fever!"--Attempted Escape by Tunneling--Repeated Escapes by + Members of Water Parties, and how we Made the Roll-Call + Sergeant's Count Come Out all Right every Time--Plot to Break + Out by Violence, and its Tragic End 106 + + CHAPTER IX + + Kind Clergymen Visit us and Preach Excellent Discourses--Colonel + Smith's Personal Good Will to me--His Offer--John F. Ficklin's + Charity--My Good Fortune--Supplies of Clothing + Distributed--Deaths in Prison 120 + + CHAPTER X + + Results and Reflections--The Right and the Wrong of it All 138 + + APPENDIX 153 + + INDEX 157 + + + + +Lights and Shadows in Confederate Prisons + + + + +Lights and Shadows in Confederate Prisons + + + + +CHAPTER I + + The First, or Forenoon, Battle of Winchester, Indecisive--Sheridan's + and Early's Mistakes--The Capture. + + +"War is Hell," said our great strategist, General W. T. Sherman. +According to its latest code, with few or no exceptions, the end +justifies the means, and, if necessary to success, it is right to do +wrong. + +Fifty years ago one of the fairest regions on earth was that portion of +Virginia extending southwesterly about a hundred and twenty miles from +Harper's Ferry to the divide beyond Staunton, where rise the headwaters +of the James. Walled in by the Blue Ridge on the southeast and parallel +ranges of the Alleghanies on the northwest, it takes its name from the +beautiful river which winds along its length, and which the Indians +poetically christened Shenandoah (Daughter of the Stars!). When some +three hundred of us prisoners of war walked wearily a hundred miles from +Winchester to Staunton in September, 1864, it was still rich and lovely. +A few weeks later, the necessities of war made it a scene of utter +desolation. + + Grant had rightly concluded [says Sheridan[1]], that it was time to + bring the war home to a people engaged in raising crops from a + prolific soil to feed the country's enemies, and devoting to the + Confederacy its best youth. I endorsed the program in all its parts; + for the stores of meat and grain that the valley provided, and the + men it furnished for Lee's depleted regiments, were the strongest + auxiliaries he possessed. + +Accordingly Grant issued orders with increasing emphasis, particularly +in August and September, to make the whole region "a barren waste," to + + destroy or carry off the crops and animals; do all possible damage + to railroads; seize stock of every description; take away all negro + laborers so as to prevent further planting; hold as prisoners of + war, if sympathizing with the rebellion, all male citizens under + fifty years of age capable of bearing arms, etc. + +In obedience to these commands, Sheridan engaged with alacrity in the +work of destruction. In a few weeks he reported as follows: + + I have destroyed 2000 barns filled with wheat, hay, and farming + implements; over 70 mills filled with flour and wheat; and driven in + front of my army 4000 head of stock. + +Said one of his officers who knew whereof he was speaking, "A crow +flying through the valley would have to carry his own rations, for he +could pick up nothing!" + +At Winchester, the principal town in the Shenandoah Valley, one hundred +and fifty miles N. N. W. of Richmond, with a population of about four +thousand, the 19th of that September was a day of glory but also of +sorrow. Four thousand six hundred and eighty of the Union Army, killed +and wounded, told how dearly Sheridan's first great victory was gained. + +The battle was fought over three, four, or five square miles, east and +north from Winchester, for the most part near the Opequon Creek, from +which it is sometimes called the "Battle of the Opequon." To reach the +field, the bulk of Sheridan's army, starting at three o'clock in the +morning from Berryville ten miles east, had to pass through a gorge in +which for a considerable distance the turnpike extends towards +Winchester. Sheridan's plan at first was to bring his army, except +Merritt's and Averell's Divisions of Torbert's Cavalry, through the +defile, post the Sixth Corps on the left, the Nineteenth on the right, +throw Crook's Army of West Virginia across the Staunton turnpike +(leading southwest from Winchester), and so cut off all retreat up the +valley. Meanwhile those two cavalry divisions were to make a long detour +on our right to the north from Berryville, and close in upon the +Confederate left. Sheridan felt sure of victory, for we outnumbered the +enemy nearly two to one. Had our army got into position early in the +morning, we should have captured or destroyed the whole of them. + +At early dawn McIntosh's Brigade of Wilson's Division of Torbert's +Cavalry dashed through the ravine, closely followed by Chapman's Brigade +and five batteries of horse artillery. Sheridan and his staff followed. +They surprised and captured a small earthwork, and, though fiercely +assaulted, held it till the van of the Sixth Corps relieved them. + +The narrow pass of the Berryville pike was so obstructed by artillery, +ambulances, ammunition wagons, etc., that it was nearly eight o'clock +before the Sixth Corps, which should have been in position with Wilson's +Cavalry at sunrise, began to arrive; and it was fully two hours later +when the Nineteenth Corps debouched and deployed. Here was +miscalculation or bad management or both. + +This long delay, which the quick-moving cavalry leader Sheridan had not +foreseen nor provided for, gave time for Early to call in the strong +divisions of Generals Gordon, Breckenridge, and Rodes, from the vicinity +of Stephenson's Depot several miles away. They left Patton's Brigade of +Infantry, and a part of Fitzhugh Lee's Cavalry to oppose Torbert. + +Hearing nothing from Torbert, who had now been gone seven or eight hours +on his circuitous route, Sheridan suddenly changed his whole plan of +action, a perilous maneuver in the face of an active enemy while the +battle is already raging intermittently. Instead of flinging Crook's +Army of West Virginia, 17 regiments and 3 batteries, across the Staunton +pike, to front northeasterly and cut off all possible retreat of the +Confederates, he determined to move it to our right and deploy it in +line with the Nineteenth. Doubtless this was best under the +circumstances, though it left to the enemy the broad smooth highway as a +line of retreat up the valley. + +Grover's Division (2d of the Nineteenth Corps) in four brigades formed +line of battle in front and to the right of the gorge. In touch on the +left was Ricketts' Division of the Sixth Corps, and resting on Ricketts' +left was Getty's Division of the same corps. Getty had 16 regiments in +line; Ricketts, 12 with 6 batteries; Grover, 20 with 3 batteries. + +Had Sheridan been able to strike Early by half-past eight with the Sixth +and Nineteenth, he would have crushed him in detail. Had Early massed +the divisions of Gordon, Breckenridge, and Rodes, and hurled them at the +mouth of the canyon at ten o'clock while half of the Nineteenth was +still entangled in it, he would probably have split our army into three +parts, and destroyed those already arrived. + +It was now eleven o'clock, and the Army of West Virginia at last emerged +from the defile. To make room for its movement in our rear behind +Grover's Division, and to hold the enemy in play until it should have +taken its place on the right of the Nineteenth, and perhaps to await +there the appearance of Torbert's Cavalry, it was desirable that Grover +should advance. Sheridan of course meant the whole front of the Sixth +and Nineteenth to keep in a continuous line. At first it seemed to me +that the regiments of the Nineteenth overlapped; but the lines of +advance were slightly divergent, and wide breaks began to appear between +battalions. Especially on the left of the Nineteenth a large and +widening gap appeared; for Ricketts had been instructed to guide on the +Berryville pike, and that bore away to the left and south. + +My battalion, the veteran Thirteenth Conn. Infantry, should have been +led by my Colonel, C. D. Blinn: but he was sick the night before, and in +the morning, at the crossing of the Opequon, he fell out, and left the +command to me. He had no part in the battle. Our Thirteenth deserves a +passing notice. It was the favorite regiment of General Birge, its first +colonel.[2] When he was made brigadier, the regiment entered the brigade +commanded by Colonel E. L. Molineux. Birge was never so happy as when +riding into action, and Molineux, who had been severely wounded in the +same battle with me, was not over-cautious. My regiment and both +brigades, the first and second of Grover's Division, had caught the +spirit of those two commanders. Quite generally they mistook the +forward movement for an immediate charge. + +We had been under an intermittent fire for some time, but now the +advance intensified the conflict. The chief anxiety of good soldiers at +such a time, as I often noticed, is to get at the enemy as soon as +possible, and cease to be mere targets. Their enthusiasm now accelerated +their pace to a double-quick, and was carrying them too far to the +front. Birge and Molineux endeavored in vain to check their rapidity. My +battalion, I think, was nearest the rebel line. + +Between eleven and twelve the divisions of Getty, Ricketts, and Grover, +forty-eight regiments in all, to which were attached eight light +batteries with reserve artillery, began to move forward. It was a grand +spectacle. At first the movement was steady, and we thought of Scott's +lines, + + The host moves like a deep-sea wave, + Where rise no rocks its pride to brave, + High-swelling, dark, and slow. + +But all is quickly changed. + +Looking back upon that scene after the lapse of more than fifty years, +its magnificence has not yet faded. I see as in a dream our long bending +wave of blue rolling slowly at first but with increasing speed, +foam-tipped with flags here and there and steel-crested with Birge's +bayonets yonder; glimpses of cavalry in the distance moving as if on +wings with the lightness of innumerable twinkling feet; numberless jets +of smoke across the fields marking the first line of Confederate +infantry, their musketry rattling precisely like exploding bunches of +firecrackers; batteries galloping to position, the thunder of a dozen +smiting the ear more rapidly than one could count; the buzz, hiss, +whistle, shriek, crash, hurricane of projectiles; the big shot from +batteries in front and from Braxton's artillery on our right ripping up +the ground and bounding away to the rear and the left; horses and riders +disappearing in the smoke of exploding shells; the constant shouting of +our officers indistinctly heard, and now and then the peculiar +well-known "rebel yell"; and finally the command, HALT! LIE DOWN! +Molineux and Birge were too far to the front, and the line must be +rectified. Ricketts, as we pressed forward, had thrown Keifer's Brigade +(2d of Third Division, Sixth Corps), seven regiments, into the +broadening interval directly in front of the mouth of the gorge; but it +was not sufficient. + +It was now Early's opportunity; but he was hours too late, just as +Sheridan had been. He had seen our Sixth Corps and Nineteenth emerge +and deploy, had beheld our rapid and somewhat disorderly approach, had +noted the widening spaces between our battalions and divisions, had +observed the havoc wrought by his artillery and musketry, ten thousand +of our soldiers seeming to sink under it; had had time to mass his +forces; and now it was "up to him" to hurl them against our centre. It +was the strategy inaugurated by Epaminondas at Leuctra and perfected by +Napoleon in many a hard battle, breaking the enemy's centre by an +irresistible charge, dividing and conquering. Rodes had been killed at a +battery in front of our brigade. His veterans and Gordon's, six thousand +strong[3] constituted the charging column. Neither Sheridan nor any +other Federal historian appears to have done justice to this charge. +Pickett's at Gettysburg was not more brilliant. + +With yells distinctly heard above the roar they advanced. The batteries +on each side redoubled their discharges. From our irregular line of +infantry extending more than a mile blazed incessant sheets and spurts +of flame, the smoke at times hiding the combatants. Gordon was heading +toward the now nearly empty ravine. My horse had just been shot under +me. I lost two in that fight. Dismounted I walked from the right of my +battalion to the left, cautioning my men against wasting their +ammunition, bidding them take sure aim, pick out the rebel officers, and +not fire too high. They were shooting from a recumbent position, or +resting on one knee; lying flat on their backs to reload. As I reached +the left, I glanced to the right and saw several of them starting to +their feet, and a little further on, two or three began to run back. I +rushed to the spot shouting, "Back to your places!" I saw the cause: the +regiments on our right were retreating. I was astounded, for we were +expecting an order to advance instantly. At that moment Lieutenant +Handy, an aide of our brigade commander, rode up, pale, excited, his +hands flung up as if in despair. My men were springing to their feet. + +"What are those orders?" I demanded. + +"Retreat, retreat! get to the rear as fast as possible," he replied. + +"Battalion, rise up; shoulder arms--" I commanded. Before I could finish +the order, one of Sheridan's staff came on a swift gallop, his horse +white with foam. + +"For God's sake, what does this mean?" said he; "this retreat must be +stopped!" + +"Battalion, lie down," I shouted; "our brigade commander ordered +retreat!" + +"It's all wrong. If this position's lost, all's lost. Here you have some +cover. Hold it to the last. I'll bring supports immediately." Striking +spurs into his steed, he vanished in the direction of the retreating +regiments. + +Except the few who had heard my command and remained in position, +perhaps seventy-five or a hundred, who kept blazing away at the +Confederates, rising a little to kneel and fire, Grover's Division, and +all we could see of that of Ricketts, had gone to pieces, swept away +like chaff before a whirlwind. Not a Union flag now in sight, but plenty +of the "Stars and Bars!" Our sputtering fire checked some directly in +front; but most of the on-rushing masses were deflected by the nature of +the ground. + +Out of our view and about half a mile in our rear was Dwight's Division, +the First of the Nineteenth Corps. It had been left in reserve. It was +in line of battle and ready for the onset. The confused fragments of +Grover were rallied behind it. Had the ground been favorable, and had no +unexpected opposition been encountered, Gordon would have crushed +Dwight. + +But in fewer minutes than we have occupied in describing this charge, a +tremendous and prolonged roar and rattle told us that the battle was on +behind us more than in front. Amid the din arose a quick succession of +deafening crashes, and shot and shell came singing and howling over us +from the left. Russell's Division (First of the Sixth Corps) comprising +eleven infantry regiments and one of heavy artillery, behind which the +broken battalions of Ricketts had been reassembling, was now smiting the +right flank of Gordon's six thousand. Although the charge came too late +we cannot but admire the strategy that directed it, and the bravery of +the infantry of Gordon, Rodes, and Ramseur, as well as that of the +cavalry of Lomax, Jackson, and Johnson, and of Fitzhugh Lee who fell +severely wounded. But they had not foreseen the terrible cross-fire from +Russell, who died at the head of his division, a bullet piercing his +breast and a piece of shell tearing through his heart. Nor had they +calculated on confronting the long line of Dwight, nine regiments with +the Fifth New York Battery, all of which stood like a stone breakwater. +Against it Gordon's masses, broken by the irregularities of the ground, +dashed in vain. Under the ceaseless fire of iron and lead the refluent +waves came pouring back. Our army was saved. + +But we few, who, in obedience to explicit orders from headquarters, had +held our position stiffly farthest to the front when all the rest of +Grover's and Ricketts' thousands had retreated--we were lost. A column +behind a rebel flag was advancing straight upon us unchecked by our +vigorous fire. Seeing that they meant business, I commanded, "Fix +Bayonets!" At that instant the gray surges converged upon us right and +left and especially in our rear. We seemed in the middle of the rebel +army. In the crater of such a volcano, fine-spun theories, poetic +resolves to die rather than be captured--these are point-lace in a +furnace. A Union officer, Capt. W. Frank Tiemann of the 159th N. Y., +Molineux's Brigade, was showing fight, and half a dozen Confederates +with clubbed muskets were rushing upon him. I leaped to the spot, sword +in hand, and shouted with all the semblance I could assume of fierce +authority, + +"Down with those muskets! Stop! I command you." They lowered them. + +"Who the hell are you?" they asked. + +"I'll let you know." Turning instantly to four or five Confederate +officers, I demanded: "Do you mean to massacre my men?" + +Two or three replied: "No. By G--! You've shown yourselves brave, and +you shall be respected. Yes, you fought d--d well, seein' you had the +d--dest brigade to fight against in the whole Confederate Army." + +"What brigade are you?" I asked. + +"Ramseur's old brigade; and there's nothin' this side o' hell can lick +it." + +"You're brave enough," said another; "but damn you, you've killed our +best general." + +"Who's that?" I asked. + +"Rodes; killed right in front of you." + +"I thought Early was your best General." + +"Not by a d-- sight. Old Jubal's drunk--drunk as a fool." + +I was never more highly complimented than at this moment; but the +stunning consciousness of being a prisoner, the bitterest experience of +my life, the unspeakable disappointment, the intense mortification--these +are even to this day poorly mitigated, much less compensated, by the +excessive praises heaped upon me by those Confederate officers for my +supposed bravery. That they were sincere I cannot doubt; for it was +customary on the battle-field for the rebels to strip prisoners of all +valuables, but no one of the fifty or one hundred near me was robbed. +Tiemann, whose life I had perhaps saved, was even privileged to keep his +canteen of whiskey, of which he gave me a drink by and by to keep me in +good spirits! I realized the truth of Burns's lines: + + Inspiring bold _John Barleycorn_! + What dangers thou canst make us scorn! + Wi' tippenny, we fear nae evil; + Wi' usquebaugh, we'll face the devil! + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] _Personal Memoirs_, vol. i., p. 487. + +[2] In New Orleans it was known as "Butler's Dandy Regiment"; for it was +then better dressed than any other. It wore dark blue, which Birge had +procured through his uncle, Buckingham, the war governor of Connecticut. +At the siege of Port Hudson it had distinguished itself above all other +regiments by furnishing as volunteers nearly one-fourth of the +celebrated "Storming Column" of one thousand men called for by General +N. P. Banks the second day after the disastrous assault on that fortress +(June 14, 1863). Birge was selected by Banks to lead the forlorn hope. + +[3] Six thousand is Gordon's statement in his _Reminiscences_, page 320. + + + + +CHAPTER II + + At Winchester--On the Road thence to Tom's Brook, New Market, and + Staunton. + + +There were two battles that Monday between Sheridan and Early, the first +indecisive, though bloody, a drawn game; the second, after a comparative +lull of several hours, a fierce struggle in which the whole front of the +Sixth, Nineteenth, and Crook's Corps simultaneously advanced, and +Torbert's Cavalry, arriving at last after their unaccountable delay upon +our extreme right, made a magnificent charge crumpling up all the +enemy's left. The victory was real, but not so complete as it should +have been. Sheridan ought to have captured or destroyed the whole of +Early's army. Instead, he had left them an open line of retreat. He took +only five pieces of artillery, nine battle-flags, and some twelve or +fifteen hundred prisoners; and, to use his own words, "sent the +Confederates whirling up the valley." + +In the recoil of Gordon's brilliant charge of six thousand about noon, +we prisoners were swept along into Winchester, and then locked in the +old Masonic Hall. The sociable guards took pains to emphasize the +statement that George Washington, "glorious rebel" they called him, had +presided as Grand Master in that very room! + +After several hours we heard a great noise in the streets. Looking out +we saw men, women, children, moving rapidly hither and thither, the +current for the most part setting toward the southwest. The din +increased; the panic became general; the Union Army was advancing on +Winchester! + +We were hustled into the street now filled with retreating hundreds, and +were marched rapidly along the turnpike toward the setting sun. The road +crowded with artillery, army wagons, common carriages, all pouring along +in the stampede; a formidable provost guard enclosing us prisoners in a +sort of hollow column; cavalry in front, flank, and rear; the fields on +either side swarming with infantry, the whole of Early's army in +retreat, we apparently in the middle of it; Sheridan's guns still +booming in our rear--such was the scene as we two or three hundred +prisoners were driven on. Our mingled emotions can be better imagined +than described. The bitter regret that we had not been slain; the +consciousness that we had done our whole duty in facing unflinchingly +the storm of shot and shell, never retreating an inch; the evident +respect and even courtesy with which I was personally treated; the +inspiring certainty that our army was victorious, the unspeakable +mortification of being ourselves prisoners of war!--we sorely needed all +our philosophy and all our religion to sustain us. + +Marching moodily along I was aroused from a sort of reverie by an +experience far too common in those days. I had been sick the night +before, and had worn my overcoat into battle. My horse was shot. The +blood was spurting from him. As he seemed likely to fall, I leaped down. +We were in the midst of a rapid advance and I had not time to throw off +my overcoat. I was now carrying it swung over my arm. It was growing +dark. A mounted soldier, whom I took to be an officer, rode up to my +side and seized hold of the coat. He said, "I want that overcoat." I +replied, "You can't have it." "I must have it." "You shan't have it." He +tugged and I tugged, and as I was on foot and sober I nearly dragged him +from his horse before he let go. During the tussle I repeatedly shouted, +"Captain of the Guard--Help! Help!" The provost captain instantly came +riding to the spot. "What's the matter?" he asked. "That rascal has +tried to rob me of my overcoat," I answered, pointing to the villain +who was beginning to slink away. The captain appeared to recognize him, +said not a word to him, but whispered to me a moment later, "You are +entitled to keep your overcoat." + +We had had little breakfast and no dinner nor supper, but we suffered +more from thirst than hunger. Can we ever forget it? Will the long +flight never end? On through Kerrstown without halting we march, with +promise of rest and water at Newtown; no rest nor water there. On from +Newtown with assurance of water at Middletown. Five minutes at +Middletown, and a little muddy water that seems to aggravate our thirst. +Farther on we cross a bridge under which the water is dashing as if in +mockery, and the cry "Water! water!" rises from a hundred lips, the +guard joining, for they are suffering like ourselves. Some comfort in +that! Past midnight we reach Strasburg and are halted around an old +wooden pump. It is broken! No water there. Still on and on at a +snail-pace, up and over the almost interminable stretch of Fisher's +Hill. At three o'clock in the morning we arrive at a place known by the +classical name of Tom's Brook about twenty-five miles from Winchester. +Never was nectar more delicious than the water of this stream, nor downy +pillow more welcome than the sod on its banks. Without blankets or +covering we sank in each other's arms for mutual warmth on the +dew-drenched grass; and blistered feet and aching limbs and hunger and +thirst and suffocating despair are all forgotten! + +Morning came unnoticed, except by those whom the keen cold permitted to +sleep no longer. Towards noon we rose, washed without soap or towel, +were made to form line, had our names taken, and received as rations a +pint of flour per man, with a little salt, nothing else. How to cook or +prepare the flour? We learned of the rebel guards a process not laid +down in the cook-books. Mixing with water they made a stiff paste or +dough. This they put around the end of a stick about the size and half +the length of a walking cane. The end thus thickly coated they hold over +a little fire till the smoke and flame have sufficiently hardened it. +Then pull out your stick and you have a thick chunk or cylinder of +bread, not quite so tough as a gun-barrel, but substantial! + +I contrived to keep a little memorandum book. In it I noted down that +there were three hundred and eleven of us prisoners; two +lieutenant-colonels, two majors, four captains, nine lieutenants, and +two hundred and ninety-four enlisted men. These were in the march from +Winchester. A few may have been added to our number at Tom's Brook. + +I have stated how it happened that none of those near me were robbed +when captured. Those at a distance were not so fortunate; for, if +circumstances permitted, the Confederates, being themselves sadly in +want, often improved the opportunity to grab every article of value. At +Tom's Brook I noted in my diary the following: + + Major A. W. Wakefield, 49th Pa. Cav., was robbed of hat, blanket, + and $100 in money. Adjt. J. A. Clark, 17th Pa. Cav., was robbed of + cap, boots, mug, pocket-book and money. Lieut. Harrison, 2d Regular + Cav., was robbed of gold watch and money. Capt. John R. Rouzer, 6th + Md. Inf., was robbed by an officer of hat and $20 in money. Lieut. + Wesley C. Howe, 2d Mass. Cav., who recently died at Kansas City, + Mo., was robbed by Lieut. Housel of the 6th Va. Cav., of silver + watch, spurs, gloves, and $10 in money. Major August Haurand, 4th N. + Y. Cav., was robbed of a watch and $60 in money. + +It was a common practice to snatch from a Union prisoner his cap, and +clap on in lieu of it a worn-out slouched hat; pull off his boots, and +substitute a pair of clumsy old shoes. The plundering was so thoroughly +done that it was poetically termed "going through" a captive! + +As I was the senior officer among the prisoners, and we seemed likely to +remain a long time there, I went to the Confederate commander and +besought him to allow our three hundred prisoners to occupy a barn near +by. He refused. I then asked that we be allowed to build wigwams for +shelter, as there was abundant material at hand. This too was not +permitted. I also begged in vain that a surgeon should be got to dress +the wounds of some of the prisoners. + +The second morning after our arrival, the sleeping men were aroused by +the loud voice of Lieutenant Sargent of the 14th New Hampshire Regiment +exclaiming: "If you give me any more of your lip, I'll annihilate you! +I've but one arm" (his right arm was disabled by a shot), "but even with +one arm I'll annihilate you on the spot, if you give me any more of your +lip!" This was exceedingly gratifying, for it proved that at least two +of us were not yet "annihilated!" + +During our sojourn at Tom's Brook the Confederates labored hard to +induce us to exchange our greenbacks for their paper currency. Our own +was sadly depreciated, one dollar of silver or gold being equal to two +of greenbacks; but one in United States paper was equal in purchasing +power to eight of theirs. They argued that our money would certainly be +forcibly taken from us by rapacious guards farther south, and kindly +offered us four for one. Sergeant Reed of the Provost Guard was quite a +character. Like Gratiano in _The Merchant of Venice_, he talked loud and +long, speaking "an infinite deal of nothing." He had a mania for +watches. He told me he now had twenty-seven which he had obtained from +Yankee prisoners, always paying them in good Confederate money. He set +his heart upon a little silver watch of mine, which he said he wished to +buy and present to one of his lady admirers. I asked: + +"Why do they admire you?" + +"Because of my bravery," he replied; "none but the brave deserve the +fair." + +"If you are so brave, why are you back here? Why are you not at the +front?" + +"Colonel, I've been in the forefront of the hottest battles. I've been +fearfully wounded. I'll be hanged if I haven't been one of the bravest +of the brave. Twice, Colonel, I was shot all into inch pieces; and so +now I'm put on light duty!" + +On Thursday, the third day after our arrival, two "india-rubber men," +circus performers, of the 22d Indiana Regiment, gave an exhibition of +"ground and lofty tumbling" for the entertainment of their fellow +prisoners. They had somehow contrived to retain the gaudy costume of the +ring. They were really skillful. While we were watching with interest +the acrobatic performance, a squadron of the Confederate General +Imboden's Cavalry dashed past us. Sergeant Reed, who had just made me an +offer for my watch, sprang to his feet, exclaiming: "I swear! there must +be a battle going on in front, for there goes Jimboden's Cavalry to the +rear! Sure sign! I'll be hanged if we ain't gettin' licked again!" We +had heard the cannonading in the distance, but paid little attention to +it. The Richmond papers, announcing that Fisher's Hill was impregnable +to the whole Yankee army, were said to have been received about an hour +before the heights were actually carried by storm. Again Early's army +was not captured, but sent "whirling up the valley." + +We prisoners thoroughly enjoyed the changed aspect of affairs. At first +they marched us directly back a short distance up the slope towards the +advancing Yankees; but they seemed suddenly to discover their mistake; +they halted, faced about, and marched down. Hilarious and saucy, our +boys struck up the song and three hundred voices swelled the chorus: + + Rally round the flag, boys, rally once again, + Shouting the battle-cry of Freedom-- + The Union forever! hurrah, boys, hurrah! + Down with the traitor! up with the star! etc. + +till Captain Haslett of the provost guard came riding into the midst +with savage oaths shouting, "_Silence!_ SILENCE! SILENCE!" + +Twenty-seven miles, first through stifling dust and then through pelting +rain, past Hawkinstown, Woodstock, Edenburg, Mount Jackson, brought us +to New Market. On the march Colonel Brinton of a Pennsylvania regiment, +a new arrival, planned with me an escape. He had campaigned through the +valley, was familiar with the lay of the land, and said he had friends +among the inhabitants. Our plan was to run past the guards in the +darkness. As a preliminary step I cut off my shoulder-straps which were +very bright. Within half an hour Sergeant Reed came up to me and asked, +"Colonel, where's your shoulder-straps?" I replied, "I don't wear +shoulder-straps now I'm a prisoner." "But, Colonel," he answered, "I've +been lookin' at them shoulder-straps since we left Tom's Brook. I wanted +to buy 'em of you for a present to one of my girls. I'll be hanged if I +don't believe you're goin' to try to escape, and so you've cut off your +bright shoulder-straps. But, Colonel, it's impossible. I'll be hanged if +I hadn't rather lose any six of the others than to lose you." The fellow +stuck closer to me than a brother all the rest of that night; so close +that he lost sight of Colonel Brinton, who actually escaped about +midnight at a place called Edenburg! Almost immediately Sergeant Reed +came to me and asked, "Colonel, where's that other Colonel?" I answered: +"You ought to know; _I_ don't!"--"I'll be hanged," said he, "if I +haven't lost him, a-watchin' you!" + +At New Market they put us into a dilapidated church building. "The +wicked flea, when no man pursueth but the righteous, is bold as a lion," +was repeatedly misquoted from the _Book of Proverbs_, and not without +reason. We concluded if that interpretation was correct, we had reason +enough for obeying the injunction in _Ecclesiastes_, "Be not righteous +overmuch"; for the little jumpers were fearless and countless. They were +reinforced by a Confederate deacon, who recommended two things: +Confederate paper and "gospel piety"; the one would carry us safely +through this world; the other through the next. He would be only too +happy to furnish us the currency in exchange for our greenbacks. +"Confederate treasury bills and true religion" was the burden of his +song, till one of our literary officers, it was said, squelched him: +"Deacon, your recipe of happiness, rebel paper and godliness--Confederate +money and a Christian spirit!--reminds me of what Byron says in one of +his wicked poems: + + 'Beyond all doubt there's nought the spirit cheers + Like rum and true religion!'" + +He subsided. + +We left New Market at noon, Saturday, September 24th, and marched all +the afternoon and all night, past Harrisonburg, Mount Crawford, Mount +Sidney, and Willow Springs, reaching Staunton, Va., about nine in the +morning. On the march, forty-three miles in twenty-one hours, we were +hungry; for the morning ration at New Market was scanty, and they gave +us nothing more, except a small loaf of wheat bread. Some of the guard +were kind to us. One of them, private John Crew, Co. E, 11th Alabama +Regiment, unsolicited by us, and, so far as I am aware, without hope of +any reward, would endeavor to bring us apples or other food, whenever we +halted. I was careful to write his name in my diary. + +As we trudged along, a lively discussion of slavery ensued. Lieutenant +Howard of the provost guard was a learned champion of the "peculiar +institution," and I was a pronounced abolitionist. He was an ardent +"fire-eater," to use the term then in vogue, and I, who had lost my +position as principal of the Worcester High School by my defense of John +Brown, was equally intense. Both were pretty well "posted" on the +subject. He seemed to be familiar with the Bible and the proslavery +arguments, including drunken Noah's "Cursed Canaan!" Moses Stuart's +_Conscience and the Constitution_, Nehemiah Adams's _Southside View of +Slavery_, and Rev. Dr. ---- (the name is gone from me) of Baltimore's +Sermons. I was fresh from reading the arguments of George B. Cheever, +Horace Bushnell, Henry Ward Beecher, Garrison, Phillips, and the rest. +He proved that slavery among the Hebrews was a divine institution. I +answered they were commanded to "undo the heavy burdens, let the +oppressed go free, and break every yoke." He said Paul sent back the +fugitive slave Onesimus to his master Philemon; I rejoined, "Paul said, +'I send him back, not as a servant, but above a servant, a brother +beloved; receive him as myself.'" He quoted the Constitution of the +United States, the article commanding that fugitive slaves should be +delivered back to their masters; in reply I quoted from Deuteronomy the +"Higher Law," "Thou shalt _not_ deliver unto his master the servant +which is escaped from his master unto thee." He quoted from the great +speech of the magnificent Webster in the Senate, March 7, 1850, in which +he urged all good citizens to obey the Fugitive Slave Law "with +alacrity." Waxing hot, I quoted from Beecher: + + As to those provisions which concern aid to fugitive slaves, may God + do so to us, yea and more also, if we do not spurn them as we would + any other mandate of Satan! If in God's providence fugitives ask + bread or shelter, raiment or conveyance at my hands, my own children + shall lack bread ere they; my own flesh shall sting with cold ere + they shall lack raiment. And whatsoever defense I would put forth + for mine own children, that shall these poor, despised, persecuted + creatures have at my hands and on the road. The man that would do + otherwise, that would obey this law to the peril of his soul and the + loss of his manhood, were he brother, son, or father, shall never + pollute my hand with grasp of hideous friendship, nor cast his + swarthy shadow athwart my threshold! + +The lieutenant finally cited the examples of "those glorious southern +patriots who led the rebellion against England during the first American +Confederacy," Washington, Patrick Henry, Madison, Jefferson, "every one +a slaveholder," he proudly exclaimed. I happened to be cognizant of +their views, and responded with some vehemence: "But Washington's hands +were tied so that he could not free slaves till his death. He said it +was among his first wishes to see some plan adopted for putting an end +to slavery. Patrick Henry declared, 'I will not, I cannot justify it.' +Madison expressed strongly his unwillingness to admit in the national +Constitution 'the idea that can hold property in man.'" In a rather +loud voice I quoted Jefferson, who, in view of our inconsistency in +violating the "self-evident truth" that "all men are created equal," +solemnly affirmed, "_I tremble for my country, when I remember that God +is just, and that his justice cannot sleep forever_!" I had some +reputation as an elocutionist in those days, and Sergeant Reed, who was +listening with open mouth, broke in with, "I'll be hanged, Colonel, if +you warn't cut out for a preacher! By-- I should like to hear you +preach." The best reply I could make was: "You'll undoubtedly be hanged +sometime; and if I were a minister, nothing would give me more +satisfaction than to be present at your execution and preach your +funeral sermon." He replied: "Now, Colonel, you don't mean that. You +don't think I'll ever be hanged!"--"Indeed I do, if you don't stop your +profanity and general cussedness."--"I'll be hanged, if I will," was his +last word to me. + + + + +CHAPTER III + + At Staunton--Thence to Waynesboro, Meacham's, and Richmond. + + +At Staunton we got a little more light on the value of Confederate +paper. A chivalrous surgeon who accompanied the provost guard +(Fontleroy, I think, was his name[4]) politely invited Captain Dickerman +of the 26th Massachusetts and myself to take breakfast with him in a +restaurant. We needed no urging. The Provost Marshal gave consent. The +saloon was kept by a negro named Jackson. His entire stock of provisions +consisted of nine eggs, the toughest kind of neck beef, bread and salt, +coffee very weak, butter very strong. As we sat waiting, the doctor +remarked with a lordly air that under ordinary circumstances he would +not deign to eat with Yankees. I answered good-naturedly: "I'm as much +ashamed as you can be; and if _you'll_ never tell of it, _I_ won't!" The +food, notwithstanding its toughness, rapidly disappeared. Near the last +mouthful the doctor said: "You two will have to pay for this breakfast, +for I've no money." I had fifteen Confederate dollars remaining of +twenty which I had received for a five-dollar greenback at Tom's Brook, +and I answered: "Give yourself no anxiety; I'll foot the bill."--"Well, +Jackson," said I to the sable proprietor, "what's the damage?" He +replied, "I shan't charge you-ones full price. Let's see! Beef, seven; +eggs, two--nine; coffee, three--twelve; bread and butter, +three--fifteen; three of you--forty-five. I'll call it only thirty-six +dollars!" I paid my fifteen; Captain Dickerman pleaded poverty; and the +dignified doctor, who had so cordially invited us to partake of his +hospitality, promised the disappointed Jackson that he would pay the +balance at some future day ("the futurest kind of a day," was added in +an undertone). + +Rejoining the three or four hundred prisoners, we found, besides the +Confederate guards, a great crowd of spectators swarming around us. One +of them, a fine-looking young man, wearing the blue uniform of a United +States captain, made his way through the group, and handed me a +twenty-dollar Confederate bill! The following dialogue ensued: + +"Here, Colonel, take that." + +"I thank you much. Who are you, so kind to a stranger and an enemy?" + +"I'm one whom you Yanks would hang, if you could catch me." + +"Why so? Who are you?" + +"I'm one of Morgan's guerrillas; wouldn't you hang me?" + +"I think I should, if you had much of this stuff about you" (holding up +the twenty-dollar bill); "I've just paid fifteen Confederate dollars for +an imaginary breakfast." + +"Good for you, Colonel. Here, take another twenty. Now you've forty. +That'll pay for an imaginary dinner. Good-bye, Colonel! I have an +engagement--to meet some of your cavalry. Remember, Morgan's guerrillas +are not rascals, but gentlemen. Good-bye!" He vanished. + +About noon those of us who appeared unable to march farther were put on +top of freight cars, and carried about a dozen miles east to Waynesboro. +Here the railway crosses a stream, which encircles a little island just +north of the bridge. The majority had to walk. At dusk that Sunday +evening all had come. They put us on the island carefully guarded on all +sides. Never was I more thankful. I had had something good to eat at +Staunton; had got rested riding on the roof of the car; and I had my +overcoat. Davy Crockett preferred a heap of chestnut burs for a pillow; +but I followed the patriarch's example and chose a flat stone. People +never allowed me to sing; but I dropped asleep repeating the stanza in +Mrs. Adams's exquisite hymn. + + Though, like the wanderer, + The sun gone down, + Darkness be over me, + My rest a stone, + Yet in my dreams I'd be + Nearer, my God, to thee! + +Towards midnight the cold became so keen that I rose and went to the +side of a flickering fire. Here excessive misery was for a moment +hardening the hearts it should have softened. Several prisoners were +quarreling for a position nearest the embers, each angrily claiming that +he had brought the fagots that were burning! Two or three hours later +several of us attempted to slip past the sentries in the darkness, but +were stopped before we reached the water. + +At earliest streak of dawn we were marched away. About two miles brought +us to the Blue Ridge where the railroad tunnel pierces its foundations. +We toiled up and on in time to see the sun rise. An ocean of fog lay +around us. Never shall we forget how royally the King of Day scaled the +great wall that seemed to hem in on every side the wide valley, and how +the sea of mist and cloud visibly fled before the inrolling flood of +light, unveiling green and yellow fields, flocks and herds, dark +woodlands, dwellings yet asleep in peace and plenty, here and there the +silver thread of a winding stream with lakes that mirrored the sky, and +yonder the long stretches of those titanic fortifications encompassing +all. We were reminded of Shakespeare's sunrise: + + Full many a glorious morning have I seen + Flatter the mountain tops with sovereign eye, + Kissing with golden face the meadows green, + Gilding pale streams with heavenly alchemy. + +At that instant a train of cars from Charlottesville came sliding along, +and shot + + Into the tunnel, like a lightning wedge + By great Thor hammers driven through the rock! + +The scene startled us by its sublimity, and for a few minutes the hungry +forgot their craving, the footsore their pain, the hopeless their +despair. + +That day's march, though not so long was as severe as any; we were +exhausted. Private Dolan, Co. K, 159th N. Y., was barefoot. His feet +were blistered and bleeding. I begged the commander of the provost +guard, Captain Haslett, to allow him to get into an ambulance. My +request was not granted. But we soon afterwards passed a large mansion +in front of which were several girls and women apparently making fun of +the unwashed "Yank" and evidently enjoying the spectacle. We were halted +just as Dolan came limping along supported on one side by a stronger +comrade. They saw his miserable plight, his distress, his swollen feet, +and they heard of the stern command to shoot any prisoner who fell out +or lagged behind. Their faces changed. With tears one or two implored +the Captain to let him ride in the ambulance. He yielded to their +entreaties. Southern ladies almost always seemed handsome to us, but +these in my memory have the fairest faces. I thought of Lady Clare in +_Marmion_, and the words still recur: + + O Woman! in our hours of ease, + Uncertain, coy, and hard to please, + And variable as the shade + By the light quivering aspen made; + When pain and anguish wring the brow, + A ministering angel thou! + +Two miles before we reached our temporary destination, Meacham's +Station, my own strength utterly failed. I had borne up so long, partly +to set an example of cheerful endurance, and partly from something like +Mark Tapley's pride at coming out strong and jolly under the most +depressing circumstances. I lay beside the road, remarking to Captain +Haslett, who immediately came riding to the spot, "Captain, here's a +fine chance to try your marksmanship; I can't march any further; shan't +try to."--"Colonel," he replied with something of pity in his tone and +manner, "I'm sorry to see you so used up. I'm sorry to be obliged to +march you prisoners so hard. I have to keep out of the way of your +damned cavalry. You may get into the ambulance." So into the ambulance I +climbed with some difficulty, and immediately commenced my freemasonry +on the driver. He responded to the signs. He proved to be an +acquaintance of the Redwoods, a family in Mobile, one of whom had been a +classmate of mine at Yale. He gave me some nice milk and some fine wheat +bread. "As a Mason," said he, "I'll feed you; share the last crumb with +you; but as a Confederate soldier I'll fight you till the last drop of +blood and the last ditch."--"I hardly know which to admire most, your +spunk or your milk," I replied. Thereupon he gave me another drink, and +insisted on my imbibing a little of what he called "apple-jack." I was a +"teetotaler"; but thinking the occasion warranted, I "smiled" upon it, +"strictly as a medicine!" "Apple-jack" seemed to me the same thing as +"Jersey lightning." He became quite friendly, but was horribly profane. +"Look here," said he, "you seem to be a sort of Christian; cuss me if +you don't! What in h--l are you Yanks all comin' down here for?"--"You +have a gift at swearing," I said; "did you, among your other oaths, ever +swear to support the Constitution of the United States?"--"Well, +yes."--"That's what's the matter with us," I said, "we're keeping our +oaths and you are breaking yours."--"To h--l with the Constitution of +the United States! Our first duty is to our own State. We've a right to +be an independent nation, and we will. I'm a guerrilla. If our armies +are defeated, I'll fight you on my own hook. I'll fire on you from +behind every tree and every rock. I'll assassinate every invader. I want +you to remember that I'm a guerrilla."--"I like your _spirits_," I said. +"They are worthy of a better cause."--"Take another swallow of 'em," he +replied, handing me the canteen. I toasted him: "Here's hoping you +gorillas will outlive the Southern Confederacy!"--"A d--d equivocal +sentiment," observed my fire-eating, fire-drinking Masonic brother; "but +here we are at Meacham's Station. Good-bye, Yank!" + +After our nineteen miles' march it was a most welcome relief to be +placed on platform cars, though packed so closely that we could hardly +stir. We objected that the cars had no tops. "All the better opportunity +to study astronomy," they replied.--"The cars have no sides to keep off +the wind."--"The scenery is magnificent," they rejoined, "and they'll +answer for 'observation cars'; you have an unobstructed view."--"But the +nights are growing cold."--"You'll keep warm by contact with each +other." Mad at this mockery, hungry, half-frozen, squeezed like fish in +a basket, we took little note of scenery or stars; but it was a comfort +to believe that our discomfort was caused by the rapid advance of +Sheridan's cavalry. + +More dead than alive, though hardly dead enough to bury, having been +jolted along all the afternoon and all night, we reached Richmond about +sunrise, Tuesday, September 27th. Numbering now nearly four hundred we +were escorted through the streets to the notorious Libby prison and +halted in front. The Union officers inside thronged the windows to see +us come. On every face was a sad, despondent, pitying look, the most +discouraging sight I ever saw. No smiles there nor among us. Conspicuous +among them was the sorrowful countenance of Lieut.-Col. Charles H. +Hooper of the 24th Massachusetts Infantry, with his long handsome auburn +beard. Some one inside whispered loud enough for several of our "Four +Hundred" to hear, "Hide your greenbacks!" We passed the word down the +column, "Hide your greenbacks!" + +A few minutes revealed its significance. We were taken in a body in upon +the lower floor. There Major Nat. Turner, prison inspector, cousin of +the celebrated Dick Turner of unlovely reputation, made us a speech. + + You will empty your pockets of all valuables. Such as are not + contraband of war, you will be allowed to retain. You will deliver + up all your Federal money. An equivalent amount in Confederate money + will be given you in instalments from time to time, or the whole + will be returned to you when you are exchanged. You will turn + pockets inside out. If you attempt to conceal anything, it will be + confiscated. + +We were made to step forward singly, and were searched. Our coats and +vests were taken off, also our boots and shoes; and a Confederate +officer felt very carefully of all our clothing to make sure that +nothing was hidden. I "remembered to forget" that I had two ten-dollar +greenbacks compressed into a little wad in one corner of my watch fob; +and that corner escaped inspection. Dick Turpin never was the richer for +that money. They examined suspiciously a pocket edition of the New +Testament in the original Greek; but I assured them it was not some +diabolical Yankee cipher, and they allowed me to keep it. I made the +most of my freemasonry, and they permitted me to retain my overcoat. One +of our prisoners, it was whispered, had secretly stuffed $1300 in +greenbacks into his canteen, but all canteens were taken from us as +contraband of war, and nobody but "Uncle Sam" profited by the +concealment. + +Having "gone through" us, they incarcerated the officers in one room, +the enlisted men in another. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[4] Dr. Fontleroy was a brother of Mrs. Major Whittlesey, one of my +fellow professors, instructor in military tactics, at Cornell +University. Whittlesey was a graduate of West Point, and, while there, +had had cadet U. S. Grant under his command! + + + + +CHAPTER IV + + At Libby--Thence to Clover, Danville, Greensboro, and + Salisbury--Effort to Pledge us not to Attempt Escape. + + +The two rooms at Libby adjoined each other on the second floor, but a +solid brick wall was between them. When we entered, about a hundred and +fifty officers were already there. The first thing that attracted my +attention was an officer putting a loaf of bread through a small hole in +the partition where one or two bricks were removable. He was feeding a +hungry prisoner. A cap or hat nicely concealed the perforation. + +Libby has a hard name, but it was the most comfortable of the six +Confederate prisons of which I saw the interior. With all his alleged +brutal severity, of which I saw no manifestation, and his ravenous +appetite for greenbacks, for which we could not blame him, Dick Turner +seemed an excellent disciplinarian. Everything went like clockwork. We +knew what to expect or rather what not to expect, and _when_! My diary +for Wednesday, September 28, 1864, the day after our arrival, reads as +follows: + + The issue to us daily is + One gill of boiled beans, + One quarter gill of bean broth, + One half loaf of soft bread, + (Four ounces meat) and + A little salt. + +There was one inestimable boon, a copious supply of pure water. + +There were at this time no panes of glass, in fact no sashes, in the +windows, and the wind swept freely through. The nights were becoming +cold. Confederate sentries were on the lower floor and outside. They +kept up a custom rather unusual, I think, during the war, of calling out +in sing-song tones every hour the number of the post and the time, with +occasional variations; _e. g._: "Post number fourteen, two o'clock, and +all's well." Then the next sentinel would sing out, "Post number +fifteen, two o'clock, and all's well." Then the melodious voice of the +next, farther away and sadly unorthodox, "Post number sixteen, two +o'clock, and cold as h--l!" + +Except one or two rickety tables and two or three old chairs, there was +no furniture in the prison. Some of the officers had contrived to save +a little money when searched, and with money it was possible to procure +small articles slyly smuggled in contrary to orders; but most of us were +disposed to sing with old Isaac Watts, + + Dear Lord, and shall we ever live + At this poor dying rate? + +From the rear windows we were occasionally entertained with the sight of +exploding shells, which the indefatigable Grant was daily projecting +towards Richmond. Particularly was this the case on the thirtieth of the +month, when the boys in blue captured Fort Harrison, and the next day +when the Confederates made several gallant but unsuccessful attempts to +retake it. At such times we could see some of the steeples or high roofs +in Richmond thronged with non-combatants gazing anxiously towards +Petersburg. The belief that our prison was undermined, a vast quantity +of gunpowder stored in the cellar, and that Dick Turner had threatened +and was desperate enough to blow us all into eternity in case of a +sudden dash of our cavalry into Richmond, somewhat marred the +satisfaction with which we contemplated the evident progress of the +siege. We could sympathize with the Philadelphia Friend, who said to his +wife on the introduction of gun-cotton, "What comfort can thee take, +even when sitting in thy easy chair, when thee knows not but the very +cushion underneath thee is an enormous bomb-shell, ready upon the +slightest concussion to blow thee to everlasting glory?" + +At three o'clock, Sunday morning, October 2d, we were roused by the +entry of armed men with lanterns. They furnished each of us with a dirty +haversack containing what they called two days' rations of corn bread +and meat. Then they moved us single-file down stairs. As we passed, they +took from each his blanket, even those the officers had just bought and +paid for. If we expostulated, we were told we were going to a place +where we should not need blankets! For my freemasonry or some other +unexpressed reason, they allowed me to pass, wearing my overcoat. Then +they took us by bridge across the James River, packed us in box-cars on +the railway, forty to sixty in each car, and started the train southwest +towards Danville. + +The road-bed was bad and the fences on either side were gone. We made +but four or five miles an hour. One of our officers declared that they +kept a boy running ahead of the engine with hammer and nails to repair +the track! also that they put the cow-catcher on behind the last car to +prevent cattle from running over the train! At nine o'clock in the +evening we reached a place called Clover. We passed the night in Clover! +on the bank beside the railroad, where we studied astronomy! and +meditated! + +Next morning they repacked us, and we were transported seventy miles +farther to Danville. My memorandum book mentions a conversation I had on +the way with a very young and handsome rebel, one of the guard. He was +evidently ingenuous and sincere, pious and lovable. After a few pleasant +remarks he suddenly asked: + +"What are you Northerners fighting for?" + +"In defense of the Constitution and the Union. What are _you_ fighting +for?" + +"Every right that is sacred and dear to man." + +"What right that is sacred and dear to man had the United States ever +violated before you fired on Fort Sumter?" + +Of course he fell back on the Declaration of American Independence, that +"Governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed"; +also on the doctrine so emphatically expressed by Abraham Lincoln in his +speech in Congress in 1846; viz.: + + Any people anywhere, being inclined and having the power, have the + right to raise up and shake off the existing government, and form a + new one that suits them better. This is a most valuable, a most + sacred right, a right which we hope and believe is to liberate the + world. Nor is this right confined to cases in which the whole people + of an existing government may choose to exercise it. Any portion of + such people, that can, may revolutionize and make their own of as + much territory as they inhabit. + +We arrived at Danville at noon. A heavy rain began to fall. Having been +two days without opportunity to wash, we were drenched for an hour or +two by the sweet shower that seemed to pour from the open windows of +heaven. When our thoughtful guards concluded that we were sufficiently +cleansed and bleached, they sheltered us by putting us into coal cars, +where the black dust was an inch deep. That dust was fine! but the +thought seemed to strike them that our nicely laundered garments might +get soiled. So in half an hour they took us out and placed us in corn +cars. It rather went against the grain, but finally I sat down with the +other kernels on the floor. The weather being inclement, they felt it +their duty to keep us in doors, lest we should catch cold! + +In these elegant and commodious vehicles we were transported next day +till we reached Greensboro, North Carolina, about fifty miles southwest +from Danville. Disgorged like poor old Jonah after three days' living +burial, we were placed in the beautiful open square, and never before +did air, earth, trees, and skies seem lovelier. Here they gave each of +us three horny crackers, "rebel hardtack," out of which some of us +carved finger rings that might have passed for bone. + +In those days I was too much addicted to making public speeches, a habit +which I had contracted in Yale College. On the edge of the public green, +backed by a hundred prisoners, I was haranguing a crowd of curious +spectators, telling them how abominably we were treated, exhibiting to +them our single ration of flinty biscuit, and consigning them all to +everlasting perdition, when a well-dressed young man elbowed his way to +me at the fence. He had a large black shiny haversack swung under his +left arm. Patting it with his right hand, he asked: + +"Will you have a snack?" + +"A what?" I answered. + +"A snack, a snack," he said. + +"I don't know what a 'snack' is, unless it's a _snake_. Yes, I think I +could eat a copperhead--_cooked_. Snake for one, if you please; well +done." + +He thrust his hand into his haversack; took out and gave me the most +delicious sandwich I ever tasted. Seeing how I enjoyed it, he emptied +the satchel, giving all his food to my hungry fellow prisoners. He told +me he was just starting on a long journey, and had laid in a good stock +of provisions. I took pains to write in my journal his name and +residence--"George W. Swepson, Alamance, North Carolina. Lives near the +Court House." To which I added "_Vir et Amicus_."--"The blessing of him +that was ready to perish" was upon George W. Swepson. + +That night we slept again on the ground and without covering under the +open sky; and again several prisoners, Captain Howe and myself among +them, attempted in vain to slip past the sentinels. + +Next morning we reentered the freight cars. A twelve hours' ride brought +us at nine o'clock, Wednesday evening, October 5th, to our destination, +Salisbury, North Carolina. As the "Four Hundred" passed into the dark +enclosure, we were greeted with the cry, "Fresh fish! Fresh fish!" which +in those days announced the arrival of a new lot of prisoners. We field +officers were quartered that night in a brick building near the +entrance, where we passed an hour of horrors. We were attacked by what +appeared to be an organized gang of desperadoes, made up of thieves, +robbers, Yankee deserters, rebel deserters, and villains generally, +maddened by hunger, or bent on plunder, who rejoiced in the euphonious +appellation of _Muggers_! We had been warned against them by kindly +disposed guards, and were not wholly unprepared. They attacked us with +clubs, fists, and knives, but were repeatedly driven off, pitched +headlong downstairs. "_Muggers!_" + +Salisbury prison, then commonly called "Salisbury penitentiary," was in +the general form of a right-angled triangle with base of thirty or forty +rods, perpendicular eighty or ninety. In a row parallel to the base and +four or five rods from it were four empty log houses with a space of +about four rods between each two. These, a story and a half high, had +formerly been negro quarters. On each side of the great triangle was a +stout tight board fence twelve or fifteen feet high. Some two or three +feet from the top of this, but out of our sight because on the other +side, there was evidently a board walk, on which sentinels, four or five +rods apart, perpetually paced their beats, each being able to see the +whole inside of the enclosure. At each angle of the base was a shotted +field-piece pointing through the narrow opening. We could see that +behind each cannon there was a number of muskets stacked and vigilant +soldiers watching every movement inside. Close to the fence outside +there were three camps of Confederates, variously estimated to contain +from seven hundred to two thousand in all. + +The number of Union officers in prison after our arrival was about three +hundred and twenty; the number of non-commissioned officers and privates +was suddenly increased from about two thousand to some eight thousand. +Among these were non-combatants, refugees, lighthouse keepers, and other +government employees. Albert D. Richardson, then well-known as a +correspondent of the New York _Tribune_, whose romantic marriage to Abby +Sage by Henry Ward Beecher and whose tragic death created a sensation in +the newspaper world, had been held as a prisoner there for several +months. He told us he had found Salisbury a comfortable place. It +immediately ceased to be such. + +There stood the empty log houses. We besought the rebel commandant, +Major Gee, to allow us officers to occupy those buildings. He said he +would permit it on condition that we should sign a stringent parole, +binding us on our honor not to attempt to escape! We objected to it as a +preposterous requirement that, remaining under strict guard and wholly +cut off from communication with the outside world, we should sign such +a pledge as the only condition on which we could receive decent shelter. +I asked Major Gee if the rigor of our confinement would be in any way +relaxed. He answered bluntly, "No."--"Well, where's the reciprocity?" I +demanded; "what are you giving up?"--"Well," he replied, "if you don't +choose to sign the parole, you can't have the buildings. Other Federal +officers have not objected to signing it." He showed us the signature of +Gen. Michael Corcoran, who had been colonel of the 69th New York, was +captured at the first battle of Bull Run, was promoted to be brigadier, +and who raised the so-called "Corcoran Legion." Our senior officer, +Brig.-Gen. Joseph Hayes of the Fifth Corps, now called a meeting of the +field officers, and submitted the question, "Shall we sign the parole, +and so obtain shelter? Or shall we hold ourselves free to escape if we +can, and so share the privations of our enlisted men, who have no bed +but the ground and no covering but the sky?" I spoke strongly against +making any promise. We voted almost unanimously against it. + +General Hayes and others then urged upon the commandant the absurdity +and meanness of requiring it. It was clear to us and must have been so +to him that it was for his interest to separate the three or four +hundred officers from the thousands of prisoners accustomed to obey our +orders. He finally consented that we should occupy the houses without +imposing any conditions. + +Parallel to the front of these buildings, about five rods from them and +extending across the enclosure, was a so-called "dead line," on which +nine sentinels paced their beats. Another "dead line" about four rods +from the high fence paralleled the whole length of each side of the +prison. It was death to come near these. + +About eighty officers were assigned to each of the four houses. In each +an officer was elected to serve as house-commissary. His duty was to +receive the rations from Lieutenant-Colonel Hooper, already mentioned, +acting as commissary-general, to whom the Confederate authorities +delivered them in bulk. The house-commissary distributed the food and +acted as agent representing the house in all communications with +Confederate headquarters. Col. Gilbert G. Prey of the 104th N. Y. Vols. +was elected commissary of house number one; Capt. D. Tarbell, of Groton, +N. Y., commissary of house number two; Lieutenant Reilly of +Philadelphia, of house number three; and I of house four. + +Each house contained but two rooms, a lower and an upper, both empty, +for the most part without glass windows or even sashes; the spaces +between the crooked logs not stopped up; a single fireplace in each +house, but not half enough wood to keep a blaze; without tables, +benches, or chairs; without cooking utensils; without table, knife, +fork, spoon, or plate; often without cup or dish; without blankets, or +any clothing but the scantiest summer outfit; without books or papers; +without water sufficient for washing, or soap, if we could possibly get +water; we were in a sorry plight as the nights grew colder. And if the +prospect was bad for us, how much worse for our soldiers across the +"dead line," who had no shelter, hardly a scrap of blanket! Every rain +made their beds a pool or mass of mire. It is not pleasant, but it is a +duty to record some of the shadows of our prison life, "lest we forget." + +On the open ground outside of what was called the "hospital," October +8th, a sergeant-major was found dead; October 9th, two private soldiers; +October 13th, five; October 14th, two; October 16th, eleven; October +17th, seven; October 18th, nine. We could tell how severe the weather +had been at night by the number found dead in the morning. + +Not far from the prison enclosure was an abundance of growing timber. +More than once I besought Major Gee to allow our men to go, under guard +on parole, to get wood for fires and for barracks. He refused. He said +he was intending to build barracks for the prisoners as soon as he could +procure lumber. I presume that he was sincere in this. I asked in vain +for blankets for the men; for tents, but none came till December, and +then but one "Sibley" tent and one "A" tent per hundred prisoners, not +enough for one-third of them. + +We procured water from a deep well on the grounds. The supply was so +scanty for the thousands of prisoners that it was always exhausted +before sunrise. Soon after we came the Confederates commenced digging +two new wells. At their rate of progress we reckoned it would take +several months to finish either. + +My memorandum book shows that the issue of food daily at Salisbury, +though sometimes partly withheld, was for each prisoner "one half loaf +of soft bread; two, three, four, or five ounces of meat; a gill of +boiled rice, and a little salt." I have no doubt that Major Gee meant to +deal fairly with us; but he was unprepared for the avalanche that had +descended upon him. We are too much in the habit of blaming individual +combatants for severities and cruelties that are inherent in the whole +business of war, either civil or international, and inseparable from it. +Said our Lieut.-Gen. S. M. B. Young at a banquet in Philadelphia, "War +is necessarily cruel; it is kill and burn, and burn and kill, and again +kill and burn." The truth was more bluntly expressed by the British +Rear-Admiral Lord Fisher, now the first sea lord of the British +Admiralty: + + Humanizing war? [said he]; you might as well talk of humanizing + hell! When a silly ass got up at the first Hague Peace Conference in + 1899, and talked about the "amenities of warfare" and putting your + prisoners' feet in warm water and giving them gruel, my reply, I + regret to say, was considered brutally unfit for publication. As if + war could be "civilized"! If I am in command when war breaks out, I + shall issue as my orders, "The essence of war is violence. + Moderation is imbecility. _Hit first, hit hard, hit everywhere._" + +In this light we may view more charitably the slaying, on the 16th of +October at Salisbury, of Second Lieutenant John Davis of the 155th N. Y. +It was a Sunday morning about half-past ten o'clock. One of our fellow +prisoners, Rev. Mr. Emerson, chaplain of a Vermont regiment, had +circulated notice that he would conduct religious services in the open +air between houses number three and four. The officers were beginning to +assemble when the sharp report of a musket near by was heard. Rushing to +the spot, we found the lieutenant lying on his back dying at the "dead +line." The sentinel on the fence, a mere boy, had fired upon him, and +was now reloading. One of our number, Captain William Cook, unable to +restrain his anger, hurled a large stone at him. But the hundreds of +Confederates in the camps just beyond the fence had sprung to arms at +the sound of the firing; the top of the fence was being lined with +soldiers; and the vigilant cannoneers at the angles were training their +artillery upon our dense mass of officers. We prisoners regarded the +shooting as a brutal murder. The religious exercises were turned into a +funeral service. Chaplain Emerson prayed, "O God! our only refuge in +this dark hour, avenge the atrocious murder of our beloved comrade; +protect that widow so cruelly robbed of one dearer to her than life; and +especially grant that this accursed Confederacy may speedily sink into +its native hell!" His text was from _Isaiah_ viii, 12: "Say ye not a +Confederacy!" Next day I asked the officer of the guard if any +punishment was to be inflicted upon the sentinel. He answered: "No; we +don't punish men for doing their duty." + +So vitally important is the point of view in deciding upon the right or +wrong of an act. + + + + +CHAPTER V + + At Salisbury--Great Plot to Escape--How Frustrated. + + +When we arrived at Salisbury early in October, we found there a brave +and sagacious officer, Lieut. Wm. C. Manning of the 2d Massachusetts +Cavalry. He told us he had been held as a hostage in solitary +confinement, and would have starved but for the rats he caught and ate. +He had been notified that his own life depended upon the fate of a +person held in federal hands as a spy. He determined to attempt an +escape. He was assigned to my house. Taking up a part of the floor, he +commenced digging a tunnel. He wrote a solemn pledge which all the +officers in the house signed, binding them not to divulge the scheme. +The tunnel would have had to be about eight rods long, and its outlet +would necessarily have been near a group of rebel tents. Of course it +would have been discovered on the morning after its completion, and not +all could hope to find egress that way. But he believed that his life +was still in special danger, and he at once began excavating. The house +had no cellar, but there was plenty of room under it for stowing away +the loose earth. The ground was not hard, yet it was quite firm, and on +the whole favorable for such operations. The work was progressing +finely, till the officers were suddenly removed from Salisbury in +consequence of the discovery of a great plot. + +I had become a good deal interested in Manning and his tunnel plan, and +on the morning of Wednesday, October 12th, I introduced him to General +Hayes, our senior officer. He told us he had for several days been +considering the possibility of organizing the three or four hundred +officers, and the five to ten thousand soldiers. He believed that by a +simultaneous assault at many points we could seize the artillery, break +the fence, capture the three rebel camps, then arm and ration this +extemporized army, and march away. He showed us a good map of North +Carolina. He invited all of the field officers to meet that evening in +the garret of house number two. All of them accordingly, about thirty in +number, were present. Posting sentinels to keep out intruders, and +stopping the open windows so that the faint light of a tallow candle +might not betray us or create suspicion, we sat down in the gloom. + +The general had modestly absented himself, in order that we might be +uninfluenced by him in reaching a decision; but our first step was to +send for him, and then insist on his taking the chair--_the_ chair, for +we had but one! As he had made a careful study of the subject, we +pressed him to give his views. He proceeded to state the grounds of his +belief that it was practicable to strike an effective blow for our +liberation. He told us that he had communicated with a Union man +outside, and had learned the number and location of the Confederate +troops we should be likely to encounter on our march to East Tennessee. +He explained at some length the details of his plan, the obstacles we +should encounter, and how to overcome them. I shall never forget the +conclusion of his speech. These were almost exactly his words: + + We must organize; organize victory. The sooner we act the better, + provided we have a well-arranged plan. We can capture this town, + ration our men, provide them with shoes, clothing, and muskets, and + have a formidable army right here at once. It need not take more + than half a day. Certainly we can march off within twenty-four hours + after the first blow is struck, if we begin right. The enemy have a + few guns on the hill, but they are not "in battery". We can take + these and take the artillery here right along with us. The + principal obstacle is here; make the beginning right; master these + prisons and these camps, and we are safe. Organize is the word; + _organize_. If any one shall betray us, or aid the rebels, or be + guilty of robbery or other outrage, I am in favor of a drumhead + court martial and a summary execution. Now, gentlemen, I am ready to + serve in any capacity, whether to lead or to follow. + +Colonel Ralston of the 24th N. Y. "dismounted cavalry," as they were +called, spoke next. He was an energetic and dashing officer who fell +near me in an attempt to break out of Danville prison on the tenth of +the following December. He entered into the particulars of a plan of +action, showing how easy it would be, with the probable loss of but few +lives, to capture the three camps with the Salisbury arsenal and the +artillery. As his particular share in the work, he said he would +undertake with a small company to disarm the twenty or thirty sentinels +inside the enclosure, and instantly thereupon to capture the +headquarters of Major Gee. + +Other officers gave valuable suggestions. Being called upon for my +opinion, I spoke of the duty we owed our enlisted men to extricate them +from their shocking condition, for they were beginning to die every +night on the bare ground, and would soon be perishing by scores. I urged +the effect the escape of some eight thousand prisoners would have upon +the nation, being equivalent to a great victory; and, better than +victory, it would add so many thousands of trained soldiers at once to +our armies in the field. I insisted that this success would be cheaply +bought, even if it cost, as it probably would, a hundred lives. + +Of all our thirty field officers, only one opposed the scheme +(Lieut.-Col. G----). He was acknowledged to be brave,[5] but seemingly +lacking in enterprise. He said in substance, "I have carefully examined +the situation, and have come to the conclusion that it is utterly +useless to attempt to escape by force. It can't be done at present. We +should be slaughtered by the hundred. If you all vote to try it, I will +join you; but in my opinion it is perfect madness." + +With but one dissenting voice it was resolved to go ahead. A committee +of five was immediately appointed to prepare and present a plan of +action. This committee were Colonel Ralston; Col. W. Ross Hartshorne, +190th Pa. (the famous "Bucktail Regiment," whose first colonel, O'Neil, +my Yale classmate, was killed at Antietam); Col. James Carle, 191st Pa.; +Major John Byrne, 155th N. Y.; and myself, Lieutenant-Colonel of the +13th Conn. We were supposed to be fighting men, and had all been wounded +in battle. + +A similar meeting of field officers was held the following evening. For +two days the committee was almost continually in consultation with +General Hayes. Great pains was taken to have the plans fully understood +by all the officers and to secure their hearty cooeperation. By ingenious +methods frequent communication was had with the enlisted men across the +"dead line"; sometimes by hurling written communications ballasted with +stone; several times by Lieutenant Manning and others running swiftly +past the sentinels in the dark; best of all, because least liable to +discovery, by the use of the deaf-and-dumb alphabet. We were suffering +for want of water, and several officers got permission to go outside the +enclosure ostensibly to procure it, but really to reconnoitre. + +The committee reported the following plan, which was unanimously +adopted: + +The first object in the movement being to get into a hand-to-hand fight +as soon as possible; seven columns, each several hundred strong, were to +make simultaneous assaults upon six or seven different points. The fence +being the first impediment, every man's haversack and pockets were to +be filled with stones to keep down the sentinels who would fire on us +from the top. Some got levers to wrench off boards, others logs to serve +as rude battering rams, others sharpened stakes which Ralston called +"Irish pikes," others clubs, or any possible weapon. I had a rusty old +bayonet. + +Major David Sadler, 2d Pennsylvania Heavy Artillery, with his battalion +was to rush and seize the cannon and muskets at the angle on the right; +Major John Byrne and his column at the same instant were to pounce upon +the big gun and muskets at the angle on our left; simultaneously Colonel +Ralston and his men are to dash upon the nine sentinels on the "dead +line" in front of the officers' houses, in a moment disarming them and +the nine of the relief just arriving; then spring to the assistance of +Major August Haurand of the 4th N. Y. Cavalry and his battalion who are +capturing Major Gee's headquarters and guards and camp on our right. +Col. James Carle, 191st Pa., with his hundreds is breaking through the +fence and capturing the rebel camp in rear of the officers' quarters. +Colonel, afterwards General, W. Ross Hartshorne and his 330 men of the +190th Pa. are to break the fence just above the main rebel camp which is +on our left. My own column of about three hundred men of the Nineteenth +Corps are to break the fence just below the rebel camp; then Hartshorne +and I are to leap from opposite sides upon this, the main camp. These +seven battalions were to some extent organized with field, staff, and +company officers. Every officer and soldier was to be on the _qui vive_ +a little before five o'clock in the morning, watching intently for the +signal. This was to be the waving of a fire-brand by General Hayes in +front of house number two. + +Quite a number of officers had no faith in the plot, and they regarded +it with indifference. A few expressed hostility to it. One captain, who +had been a prisoner before and seemed glad to have been captured again, +a bloated, overgrown, swaggering, filthy bully, of course a coward, +formerly a keeper of a low groggery and said to have been commissioned for +political reasons, was repeatedly heard to say in sneering tones in the +hearing of rebel sentries, "_Some of our officers have got escape on the +brain_," with other words to the like effect. Colonel Hartshorne finally +stopped such traitorous language by saying with tremendous emphasis: +"Captain D----, I've heard a good deal of your attempts to discourage +officers from escaping, and your loud talk about officers having 'escape +on the brain.' Now, sir, I give you notice that if you're again guilty of +anything of the sort, I'LL--BREAK--YOUR--HEAD--WITH--A--CLUB!" + +The time agreed upon for the seven simultaneous attacks was about an +hour before sunrise the morning of October 15th. + +As we had feared, the rebel authorities, whether through suspected +treachery or otherwise, got wind of our purpose. Towards evening of +October 14th extraordinary vigilance on their part became apparent. +Troops were paraded, posts strengthened, guards doubled, privileges +restricted, and word was passed around in our hearing that a battalion +of Confederates had just arrived. Their watchfulness seemed unrelaxed +through the night. The shooting of Lieutenant Davis next morning was +doubtless in obedience to orders for a more rigorous enforcement of +rules. + +Our outbreak was countermanded and postponed, but preparations +continued. The delay enabled us to perfect our plans, and make our +organizations more complete. The early morning of October 20th, the 19th +being the anniversary of my birth, was now fixed upon for the +"insurrection." We essayed to disarm suspicion by an air of quiet +acquiescence in the lazy routine of prison life, or absorption in the +simplest and most innocent occupations whenever any Confederate might +be looking on. + +We recognized united and instantaneous action at the signal on the part +of three hundred officers and several thousand men as the most vitally +important element of success. It was necessary that this should be +thoroughly understood and emphasized, so that every soldier should be in +perfect readiness at the critical moment. + +Several of us had formed a class for oral instruction in French. Our +teacher was Captain Cook of the 9th U. S. colored troops, a graduate of +Yale. About ten o'clock in the morning of October 18th, as we were +seated on the ground near house number four, loudly imitating Professor +Cook's _parlez-vous_, Lieut. Wm. C. Gardner, adjutant of one of those +extemporized battalions of prisoners, brought me a letter he was +intending to throw across the "dead line" to Sergt. Wallace W. Smith, +requesting him to notify all enlisted men of the battalion when and +where to assemble silently next morning in the dark, how to arm +themselves, from whom to take orders, what signal to watch for, and +other important matters. I glanced through it, and immediately said: +"You'd better not entrust the communication to so hazardous a channel; +wait an hour till I've done with my French lesson, and I'll cause it to +be transmitted by the deaf-and-dumb alphabet." If I recollect rightly, +either Lieutenant Tobey or Lieutenant Morton, both of the 58th +Massachusetts, was in the class, and promised to convey the contents of +the letter safely across to the soldiers by adroit finger manipulation. +We were just finishing the French exercise, when Adjutant Gardner came +greatly excited, and this conversation followed: + + +"Good God, Colonel, the rebs have got that letter! I tied it to a stone +and flung it a long ways over the 'dead line' to Wallace Smith. He +appeared afraid to pick it up. A reb sentinel stepped away from his beat +and got it." + +"I requested you to wait till I'd done reciting French, and I told you +I'd then communicate it by the deaf-and-dumb alphabet." + +"Well, Colonel, I ought to have done so; but I was anxious to have the +work done promptly, and I thought it was perfectly safe. I've tossed +letters over to Smith several times. I'm worried to death about it. +What's best to do?" + +"Was your name signed to it?" + +"No; but my name was on the envelope--an old letter envelope that I had +when we came here." + +"Well, Gardner, this is a pretty piece of business! That letter of +course will go very soon to Major Gee's headquarters, and then--there'll +be the devil to pay!" + +"The sentinel handed the letter to the officer of the guard. What had I +better say, if they send for me?" + +"Say you intended the letter to fall into their hands; that you meant it +as a practical joke, wanted to get up another scare, and see the +Johnnies prick up their ears again." + +"But, Colonel, like a fust-class fool I put a ten-dollar Confederate +bill in the envelope. I wanted to give it to Sergeant Smith. That don't +look as if I meant it to fall into their hands--does it?" + +"Gardner, this thing has an ugly look. You've knocked our plans of +escape in the head--at least for the present. You've got yourself into a +fix. They'll haul you up to headquarters. They'll prove by the letter +that you've been deep in a plot that would have cost a good many lives. +They're feeling ugly. They may hang or shoot you before sundown, as a +warning to the rest of us to stop these plots to escape. They may send +for you at any minute." + +"What had I better say or do?" + +"You'd better make yourself scarce for a while, till you've got a +plausible story made up. Better disguise yourself and pass yourself off +as somebody else; so gain time." + +"I have it, Colonel; I'll pass myself off as Estabrooks." + + +Estabrooks was an officer of the 26th Mass., who had escaped at the +crossing of the river Yadkin two weeks previously when we came from +Richmond. Gardner was a handsome man and perhaps the best-dressed +officer in prison; but he now disguised himself.[6] The transformation +was complete. In half an hour a man came to me wearing a slouched hat +and a very ragged suit of Confederate gray. He had been a play-actor +before the war and knew how to conceal his identity. By his voice I +recognized him as Gardner! "Well, Gardner," said I, "this surpasses His +Satanic Majesty; or, as you would say, beats the devil!"--"Colonel," he +replied, "I'm not Gardner. Gardner escaped; escaped at the crossing of +the Yadkin River. I'm Estabrooks, H. L. Estabrooks, 2d Lieutenant, 26th +Mass. Call me Estabrooks if you please."--"All right, Estabrooks it is." + +Hardly had we had time to whisper around this change of name, when the +Confederate officer of the guard made his appearance with two or three +soldiers, inquiring for the commissary of house number four. I was +pointed out to him. In substance and almost in the exact words this +dialogue ensued: + + +"Colonel Sprague, are you commissary of this house?" + +"I have that honor." + +"I want to find Lieutenant Gardner." + +"Who?" + +"Lieutenant Gardner." + +"Who's Lieutenant Gardner?" + +"I am told he's an officer in house number four; and as you are +commissary, you can probably tell me where he is _at_." + +"Where he's what?" + +"Where he's _at_." + + +This was the first time I had ever heard the word _at_ so used at the +end of a sentence; but it expresses the meaning with admirable +precision. I had a slight qualm at lying; but I remembered that even +George Washington could tell a lie if necessary in war. Pacifying my +conscience with the fact that we were _outside_ the house at the time, I +said: + + +"There's no such officer in house four. But I remember an officer of +that name at Libby, handsomely dressed, a perfect dandy. I heard that he +escaped at the crossing of the Yadkin River two weeks ago. Has he been +recaptured, and is he going to be shot or hanged? Or have you a letter +for him? What's the good news about Gardner?" + +"I only know," he replied, "that he's wanted at Major Gee's office, and +he's an officer in house number four." + +"Estabrooks," said I to the man at my side, "do you know of a Lieutenant +Gardner?" + +"I did know slightly such a man at Libby. You have described him well; a +fop, a beau, a dandy; just about my size, but he didn't wear rags like I +do." + + +"Come with me," said I to the Confederate. "We'll go into the house and +inquire if any one knows of a Lieutenant Gardner." We went in. There +were perhaps thirty or forty inside who had got wind of what was going +on. As we entered, I asked in a loud voice, "Does any officer in this +house know anything of a Lieutenant Gardner?" Several smiled and +declared it a very singular name. One wanted to know how it was spelled! +A number were speaking at once. One said he escaped at the Yadkin; he +knew he got away, for he "watched him till he got a long distance out of +sight." Another knew a Henry J. Gardner, "a Know-Nothing" governor of +Massachusetts, who knew enough to keep out of the army. Another affirmed +that Gardner was dead; he had heard him say "I'm a dead man," and he +wouldn't tell a lie! My memory is somewhat indistinct of all that was +said; but Gardner is alleged to have whispered the officer thus: "I have +been a gardener myself; and if Major Gee will parole me and give me good +clothes and something to eat, I wouldn't mind becoming again a gardener +in his employ." I recollect distinctly that the officer grew impatient +and he finally asked me, "Do you say on your honor, Colonel, that you +don't know a Lieut. Wm. O. Gardner in this house?" I answered, "I do"; +but I left him to guess whether I meant "I do _know_" or "I do _say_!" I +quieted my conscientious scruples by remembering that the lieutenant's +true name was not Wm. O. but Wm. C.! The baffled officer left very +angry, and "_Where's Gardner at?_" passed into a conundrum. + +Late that afternoon, as I was engaged in the delightful employment of +washing my fall-and-winter shirt, having for the first time since our +arrival in Salisbury obtained sufficient water for that purpose, the +order came for all officers to fall in and take the cars for Danville, +Va. The juxtaposition of three or four hundred Yankee officers with +eight thousand of their enlisted comrades-in-arms was getting +dangerous. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[5] He had killed three men with his sword at the time of his capture. + +[6] "We run the boy into one of the houses, clipped his hair, shaved +him, and placed a new robe on him."--_Letter_ of Capt. Wesley C. Howe to +Colonel Sprague, Jan. 30, 1914. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + + From Salisbury to Danville--The Forlorn Situation--Effort to "Extract + Sunshine from Cucumbers"--The Vermin--The Prison Commandant a Yale + Man--Proposed Theatricals--Rules Adopted--Studies--Vote in Prison + for Lincoln and McClellan--Killing Time. + + +At six o'clock, Wednesday evening, October 19, 1864, we officers, about +350 in number, were packed in five freight cars, and the train was +started for Danville, Va. The tops of the cars were covered with armed +guards, two or three being also stationed within at the side door of +each car. In the darkness about half-past nine Lieut. Joseph B. Simpson +of the 11th Indiana slyly stole all the food from the haversacks of the +guards at the door of our car and passed it round to us, while we loudly +"cussed and discussed" slavery and secession! About midnight Captain +Lockwood, Lieutenant Driscoll, and eight or ten other officers leaped +from the cars. The guards opened fire upon them. Lockwood was shot dead. +Several were recaptured, and some probably reached the Union lines in +safety. We arrived at Danville at noon October 20th. + +The town at this time contained four, formerly six, military prisons, +each a tobacco house about eighty to a hundred feet long by forty to +fifty wide, three stories high, built of brick, low between joints. The +officers were put into the building known as prison number three. We +were informed by the guards that it had formerly contained about two +hundred negro prisoners; but that some had died, others had been +delivered to their masters or set at work on fortifications, and the +number remaining just before our arrival was only sixty-four. These were +removed to make room for us. + +Except about twenty large stout wooden boxes called spittoons, there was +no furniture whatever in prison number three. Conjecture was rife as to +the purpose of the Confederates in supplying us with spittoons and +nothing else. They were too short for coffins, too large for wash bowls, +too shallow for bathing tubs, too deep for tureens! To me much +meditating on final causes, a vague suspicion at length arose that there +was some mysterious relation between those twenty oblong boxes and a +score of hogsheads of plug tobacco, said to be stored in the basement. A +_tertium_ QUID, a solution of the tobacco, might afford a solution of +the spittoon mystery! + +A dozen water buckets were put into each of the two upper rooms to which +all the officers were restricted; also a small cylinder coal stove; +nothing else until December, when another small stove was placed there. +Winter came early and unusually cold. The river Dan froze thick. It was +some weeks before we prevailed upon the prison commandant to replace +with wood the broken-out glass in the upper rooms. The first floor was +uninhabitable. + +So with no bed nor blanket; no chairs, benches, nor tables; no +table-ware nor cooking utensils; not even shovel, poker, or coal-scoop; +most of us were in a sorry plight. The little stoves, heated white-hot, +would have been entirely inadequate to warm those rooms; but the coal +was miserably deficient in quality as well as quantity. The fire often +went out. To rekindle it, there was no other way than to upset the +whole, emptying ashes and cinders on the floor. At best, the heat was +obstructed by a compact ring of shivering officers, who had preempted +positions nearest the stoves. They had taken upon themselves to "run" +the thing; and they did it well. We called them "The Stove Brigade." In +spite of their efforts, they like the rest suffered from cold. + +Three or four of us, as a sanitary measure, made it a point to see, if +possible, the funny, or at least the bright side of everything, turn +melancholy to mirth, shadow to sunshine. When every officer complained +of cold, we claimed to anticipate the philosophers, Tyndall, Huxley, and +the other physicists, in declaring that "heat is a mode of _motion_," +and brisk bodily exercise will infallibly demonstrate the fact! When, as +was usually the case, all were hungry, we announced as a sure cure for +indigestion, "stop _eating_!" When our prisoner chaplain Emerson on a +Sunday afternoon prayed for the dear ones we expected to see no more, +and even the roughest and most profane were in tears, we said with old +Homer, "_Agathoi aridakrues andres_" ("Gallant men are easily moved to +tears"), or with Bayard Taylor, "The bravest are the tenderest, the +loving are the daring." + +Most humiliating of all was the inevitable plague of vermin. "Hard +indeed," one officer was accustomed to say, "must have been Pharaoh's +heart, and tougher yet his epidermis, if the lice of the third Egyptian +plague were like those of Danville, and yet he would not 'let Israel +go.'" Wearing the same clothing night and day, sitting on the bare +floors, sleeping there in contact with companions not over-nice, no +patient labor, no exterminating unguent, afforded much relief. We lost +all squeamishness, all delicacy on the subject, all inclination for +concealment. It was not a returned Danville prisoner who was reported to +have gone into a drug store in New York stealthily scratching and +saying, "I want some unguentum; don't want it for myself; only want it +for a friend." But it was reported and believed that in April one of +them entered an apothecary shop in Annapolis plying his finger-nails and +hurriedly asking, "Have you any bmsquintum?"--"From your manner," +answered the courteous druggist, "I think what you want is +unguentum."--"Yes, _run git 'em_; I guess that _is_ the true +name."--"Unguentum, sir"; said the shopkeeper. "How much unguentum do +you want?"--"Well, I reckon about two pound!"--"My dear sir, two pounds +would kill all the lice in Maryland."--"Well, I vow I believe I've got +'em!" + +Lieut.-Col. Robert C. Smith of Baltimore, who took command of the +Danville prisons soon after our arrival, appeared to be kind-hearted, +compassionate, but woefully destitute of what Mrs. Stowe calls +"faculty." He was of medium height, spare build, fair complexion, sandy +hair, blue eyes, of slightly stooping figure; on the whole rather +good-looking. He was slow of speech, with a nasal twang that reminded me +of Dr. Horace Bushnell. His face always wore a sad expression. He had +been a student at Yale in the forties a few years before me. Once a +prisoner himself in our hands and fairly treated, he sympathized with +us. He had been wounded, shot through the right shoulder. When I visited +on parole the other Danville prisons in February, a Yankee soldier was +pointed out to me as wearing Colonel Smith's blood-stained coat, and +another was said to be wearing his vest. I had repeated interviews with +him, in which he expressed regret at not being able to make us more +comfortable. He said more than once to me, "I have no heart for this +business. It requires a man without any heart to keep a military prison. +I have several times asked to be relieved and sent to the front." An +officer of forceful executive ability might have procured for us lumber +for benches, more coal or wood for the stoves, some straw or hay for +bedding, blankets or cast-off clothing for the half naked; possibly a +little food, certainly a supply of reading matter from the charitably +disposed. Single instances of his compassion I have mentioned. I shall +have occasion to speak of another. But the spectacle of the hopeless +mass of misery in the four Danville prisons seemed to render him +powerless, if not indifferent. As Mrs. Browning puts it: + + A red-haired child, + Sick in a fever, if you touch him once, + Though but so little as with a finger-tip, + Will set you weeping; but a million sick! + You could as soon weep for the rule of three, + Or compound fractions! + +Like too many officers both Union and Confederate, he was often in +liquor; liquor was always in him. This "knight of the rueful +countenance," of the sad heart, the mourning voice, the disabled right +arm, and the weakness for apple-jack!--his only hope was to have an +exchange of prisoners; but Lincoln and Stanton and Grant would not +consent to that. The last I heard of him was when a letter of his was +shown me by Lieutenant Washington, a Confederate, a distant relative of +the great George. In it Smith, who had been absent a week from Danville, +complained that he had had "no liquor for three days," and that he was +"painfully sober"! + +"Necessity," says the old apothegm, "is the mother of invention." It was +surprising, how much we accomplished in a few weeks towards making +ourselves comfortable. Bone or wood was carved into knives, forks, +spoons, buttons, finger-rings, masonic or army badges, tooth-picks, +bosom pins, and other ornaments; corn-cobs were made into smoking +pipes; scraps of tin or sheet-iron were fashioned into plates for eating +or dishes for cooking; shelves were made by tying long wood splinters +together; and many "spittoons," which were soon rendered superfluous, +because the two entire rooms were transformed into vast spittoons, were +inverted, and made useful as seats which we called sofas. + +Many ingeniously wrought specimens of Yankee ingenuity were sold +clandestinely to the rebel guards, who ventured to disobey strict +orders. No skinflint vender of wooden nutmegs, leather pumpkin-seeds, +horn gunflints, shoe-peg oats, huckleberry-leaf tea, bass-wood cheeses, +or white-oak hams, ever hankered more for a trade. Besides the products +of our prison industry, they craved watches, rings, gold chains, silver +spurs, gilt buttons, genuine breast-pins, epaulets; anything that was +not manufactured in the Confederacy. Most of all, they longed for +greenbacks in exchange for rebel currency. So in one way or another many +of us contrived to get a little money of some sort. With it we could buy +of the sutler, who visited us from time to time, rice, flour, beans, +bacon, onions, dried apple, red peppers, sorghum syrup, vinegar, etc. + +Perhaps the best result of our engaging in handicraft work was the +relief from unspeakable depression of spirits. Some of us saw the +importance of making diversion on a large scale. To this end we planned +to start a theatre. Major Wm. H. Fry, of the 16th Pa. Cavalry, who knew +all about vaudeville in Philadelphia, was a wise adviser. Young Gardner, +who had been an actor, heartily joined in the movement. I procured a +worn-out copy of Shakespeare. It seemed best to begin with the +presentation of the first act in _Hamlet_. Colonel Smith and other rebel +officers promised to aid us. We assigned the parts and commenced +studying and rehearsing. Gardner was to be Hamlet; Lieut.-Col. Theodore +Gregg, 45th Pa., was to be Claudius, the usurping king; the smooth-faced +Capt. William Cook was to be the queen-mother Gertrude; Capt. W. F. +Tiemann, 159th N. Y., was to personate Marcellus; Lieut. C. H. Morton of +Fairhaven, Mass., I think, was Horatio; and I, having lost about forty +pounds of flesh since my capture--it was thought most appropriate that I +should be the Ghost! Every morning for some weeks on the empty first +floor we read and rehearsed, and really made fine progress. But when we +got ready to produce in theatric style, with slight omissions, the first +act, the rebels seemed suspicious of some ulterior design. They refused +to furnish a sword for Hamlet, a halberd for Marcellus, muskets for +Bernardo and Francisco, a calico gown for the queen, or even a white +shirt for the Ghost. This was discouraging. When the lovely queen-mother +Gertrude appealed to her son-- + + Good Hamlet, cast thy nighted color off,-- + +he answered, "I swear I can't do it!" One November morning, as we were +rehearsing and shivering on the windy first floor, he ejaculated with +some emphasis, and with ungentle expletives not found in the original +text, + + The air bites shrewdly; it is very cold; + +"I move, Colonel, that we 'bust up' this theatre." So the "legitimate +drama" vanished from Danville. + +About this time my copy of the Greek New Testament was stolen from me, +an instance, perhaps, of piety run mad. + +A week or two before this, the lower room, in which I then lodged, +containing about a hundred and seventy officers, was getting into such a +condition that I felt it my duty to call a meeting to see what measures +could be adopted to promote comfort and decency. I was not the senior in +rank, but Colonel Carle did not feel himself authorized to issue +orders. Some sort of government must be instituted at once. Nearly all +recognized the necessity of prompt action and strict discipline. A +committee was appointed consisting of myself, Major John W. Byron, 88th +N. Y., and another officer whose name escapes me, to draw up rules and +regulations. We presented the following: + + RULES UNANIMOUSLY ADOPTED IN THE LOWER ROOM, + DANVILLE, VA., PRISON, OCT. 26, 1864: + + 1. The room shall be thoroughly policed (swept, etc.) four times + each day by the messes in succession; viz., at sunrise and + sunset, and immediately after breakfast and dinner. + + 2. There shall be no washing in this room. + + 3. No emptying slops into spittoons. + + 4. No washing in the soup buckets or water buckets. + + 5. No shaking of clothes or blankets in this room. + + 6. No cooking inside the stoves. + + 7. No loitering in the yard to the inconvenience of others. + + 8. No person shall be evidently filthy or infested with vermin. + + 9. No indecent, profane, or ungentlemanly language in this room. + + 10. No conduct unbecoming an officer and gentleman about these + premises. + + 11. No talking aloud at night after nine o'clock. + + 12. An officer of the day shall be appointed daily by the senior + officer, whose duty shall be to see that these rules are + strictly enforced, and to report to the senior officer any + violation thereof. + + 13. In case of any alleged violation of any of these rules, the + senior officer of the room shall appoint a Court[7] to consist + of thirteen disinterested officers, who shall fairly try and + determine the matter, and in case of conviction the offender's + rations shall be stopped, or the commander of the prison be + requested to confine the offender in a cell according to the + sentence of the Court; and it shall be the duty of every officer + to have such offender court-martialed after rejoining his + command. + + For the Committee. H. B. Sprague, Oct, 26, 1864. + +The prison commandant promised that he would execute any sentence short +of capital punishment. But one case was tried by such court. The offense +was a gross violation of rule 9. The culprit was let off with a sharp +reprimand by General Hayes; but my first act after the exchange of +prisoners was to prefer charges and specifications against him. The +beast was court-martialed at Annapolis in the latter part of July, '65. + +The observance of these rules wrought wonders in correcting evils which +had become almost unendurable, and in promoting cheerfulness, good +behavior, and mutual esteem. + +Many letters were written to us. Few of them reached their destination. +The first I received was from Miss Martha Russell, a lady of fine +literary ability, a friend of Edgar A. Poe, living at North Branford, +Conn. In raising my company (Co. H., 13th Conn.), I had enlisted her +brother Alfred. Under strict military discipline he had become a +valuable soldier, and I had appointed him my first sergeant. At the +battle of Irish Bend, La., in which I was myself wounded, he was shot +through the neck. The wound seemed mortal, but I secured special care +for him, and his life was spared as by miracle. His sister's letter +brought a ray of sunshine to several of us. It assured us that we were +tenderly cared for at home. She quoted to cheer us the fine lines of the +Cavalier poet Lovelace, + + Stone walls do not a prison make, + Nor iron bars a cage; + Minds innocent and quiet take + That for a hermitage. + +A well-grounded conviction prevailed among the prisoners that the +Confederate government was anxious to secure an exchange of prisoners, +but that the Federal government would not consent. The reason was +evident enough. The Confederate prisoners in the North, as a rule, were +fit for military duty; the Union prisoners in the South were physically +unfit. A general exchange would have placed at once, say, more than +forty thousand fresh soldiers in the rebel ranks, but very few in ours. +Conscription for military service had been tried in the North with +results so bitter that it seemed unwise to attempt it again. Better let +the unfortunates in southern prisons perish in silence--that appeared +the wisest policy. But to us prisoners it appeared a mistake and gross +neglect of duty. Between our keen sense of the wrong in allowing us to +starve, and our love for Lincoln and the Union, there was a struggle. +Our patriotism was put to the test on the day of the Presidential +election, Tuesday, November 8th. Discouraging as was the outlook for us +personally, we had confidence in the government and in the justice of +our cause. Pains was taken to obtain a full and fair vote in the +officers' prison. There were two hundred seventy-six for Lincoln; +ninety-one for McClellan. Under the circumstances the result was +satisfactory. + +Very earnest, if not acrimonious, were the discussions that immediately +preceded and followed. Some of us realized their importance, not so much +in arriving at a correct decision on the questions at issue, as in +preventing mental stagnation likely to result in imbecility if not +actual idiocy. By the stimulus of employment of some kind we must fight +against the apathy, the hopeless loss of will power, into which several +of our comrades seemed sinking. Mrs. Browning well says: + + Get leave to work + In this world,--'tis the best you get at all. + ... Get work; get work; + Be sure 'tis better than what you work to get! + +Some of us started historical debates, and new views were presented +which furnished both amusement and instruction. One colonel, more +redoubtable in battle than in dialectics, who had been shot through from +breast to back, gravely informed us that the geometer Euclid was an +early English writer! A kindly visitor, Dr. Holbrook, made me a present +of Hitchcock's _Elementary Geology_. It was not quite up to date, having +been published about twenty-five years before, but I found the study +interesting. Grieved at having lost from my books three years in +military service, I endeavored with three or four companions to make up +for the deficiency by taking lessons in French. Our teacher was Captain +Cook, already mentioned as teaching us French at Salisbury. As we had no +books, the instruction was oral. I was delighted to observe how much a +knowledge of Latin facilitated the acquisition of the modern tongue. A +few weeks later upon the arrival of Major George Haven Putnam, Adjutant +at that time of the 176th N. Y., several of us commenced under him the +study of German. Here too the teaching was oral; but I was able to buy +Oehlschlaeger's _German Reader_; took special pleasure in memorizing some +of the selections, particularly from the poets Gleim, Claudius, Goethe, +Schiller, and Uhland; and I was already familiar with some stanzas of +Arndt's noble _The German Fatherland_, sung so often to me by my +Lieutenant Meisner, slain by my side in battle. Some of those songs +still ring in my ears. General Hayes, Major Putnam, and two or three +others took lessons in Spanish from a native of Mexico, 2d Lieut. John +Gayetti (I think that was his name), of Battery B, 2d Pa. Artillery. + +Checkerboards and chessboards were prepared from the rudest materials, +and many were the games with which some of our comrades sought to +beguile the weary hours. Capt. Frank H. Mason of the 12th Cavalry had +the reputation of being our best chess player and young Adjutant Putnam +was his most persistent opponent. + +No one needs to be told that old soldiers are great story-tellers, +drawing upon their imagination for facts. This talent was assiduously +cultivated in our prison. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[7] See Appendix. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + + Exact Record of Rations in Danville--Opportunity to Cook--Daily + Routine of Proceedings from Early Dawn till Late at Night. + + +Our imprisonment at Danville lasted from October 20, '64, to February +17, '65, one hundred and twenty days. I kept a careful daily record of +the rations issued to us, as did also Lieut. Watson W. Bush, 2d N. Y. +"Mounted Rifles." After our removal from Danville to Richmond for +exchange, we compared our memoranda, and found they substantially +agreed. During the one hundred and twenty days the issues were as +follows: + + _Bread._ A loaf every morning. It was made of unsifted corn-meal, + ground "cobs and all." Pieces several inches in length of cobs + unground were sometimes contained in it. It always seemed wholesome, + though moist, almost watery. Its dimensions were a little less than + 7 inches long, 3 or 4 wide, and 3 thick. I managed to bring home a + loaf, and we were amazed at the shrinkage to a quarter of its + original size. It had become very hard. We broke it in two, and + found inside what appeared to be a dishcloth! + + _Meat._ Forty-three times. I estimated the weight at from 2 to 5 or + 6 ounces. In it sometimes were hides, brains, heads, tails, jaws + with teeth, lights, livers, kidneys, intestines, and nameless + portions of the animal economy. + + _Soup._ Sixty-two times; viz., bean soup forty-seven times; cabbage + nine times; gruel six. It was the thinnest decoction of small black + beans, the slightest infusion of cabbage, or the most attenuated + gruel of corn-cob meal, that a poetic imagination ever dignified + with the name of _soup_! + + _Potatoes._ Seven times. Seldom was one over an inch in diameter. + + _Salt fish._ Five times. They call it "hake." It was good. "Hunger + the best sauce." + + _Sorghum syrup._ Three times. It was known as "corn-stalk molasses." + It was not bad. + +Nothing else was given us for food by the Confederates at Danville. The +rations appeared to deteriorate and diminish as the winter advanced. My +diary shows that in the fifty-three days after Christmas we received +meat only three times. + +Manifestly such supplies are insufficient to sustain life very long. By +purchase from the rebel sutler who occasionally visited us, or by +surreptitious trading with the guards, we might make additions to our +scanty allowance. I recollect that two dollars of irredeemable treasury +notes would buy a gill of rice or beans or corn, a turnip, onion, +parsnip, or small pickled cucumber! + +The Confederate cooking needed to be supplemented. Here the cylinder +coal-stoves were made useful. The tops of them were often covered with +toasting corn bread. Tin pails and iron kettles of various capacities, +from a pint to several quarts, suspended from the top by wooden hooks a +foot or two in length, each vessel resting against the hot stove and +containing rice, beans, Indian corn, dried apple, crust coffee, or other +delicacy potable or edible slowly preparing, made the whole look like a +big black chandelier with pendants. We were rather proud of our prison +cuisine. Cooking was also performed on and in an old worn-out +cook-stove, which a few of our millionaires, forming a joint-stock +company for the purpose, had bought for two hundred Confederate dollars +late in the season, and which the kind prison commander had permitted +them to place near the southwest end of the upper room, running the pipe +out of a window. Culinary operations were extensively carried on also in +the open yard outside, about forty feet by twenty, at the northeast end +of the building. Here the officer would build a diminutive fire of chips +or splinters between bricks, and boil or toast or roast his allowance. +We were grouped in messes of five to ten or twelve each. Happy the club +of half a dozen that could get money enough and a big enough kettle to +have their meal prepared jointly. + +Such was the case with my own group after the lapse of about two months. +We had been pinched; but one morning Captain Cook came to me with +radiant face and said: "Colonel, I have good news for you. _I_'m going +to run this mess. My folks in New York have made arrangement with +friends in England to supply me with money, and I've just received +through the lines a hundred dollars. We'll live like fighting-cocks!" +Adjt. J. A. Clark, 17th Pa. Cav., was our delighted cook. Shivering for +an hour over the big kettle amid the ice and snow of the back yard, he +would send up word, "Colonel, set the table for dinner." To "set the +table" consisted in sweeping a space six or eight feet square, and +depositing there the plates, wood, tin, or earthen (mine was of wood; it +had cost me a week's labor in carving). The officers already mentioned, +Cook, Clark, Bush, Sprague, with Lieut. E. H. Wilder, 9th N. Y. Cav., +sit around in the elegant Turkish fashion, or more classical recline +like the ancients in their symposia, each resting on his left elbow, +with face as near as possible to the steaming kettle, that not a smell +may be lost! + +Wood was scarce. It was used with most rigid economy. Many joists +overhead had been sawed off by Lieut. Lewis R. Titus of the _Corps +D'Afrique_, using a notched table-knife for a saw. In this way the +Vermont Yankee obtained pieces for cooking, but he weakened the +structure till some officers really feared the roof might come tumbling +about our heads; and I remember that the prison commandant, visiting the +upper room and gazing heavenward, more than once ejaculated irreverently +the name of the opposite region! + +Through the kindness of a Confederate officer or bribing the guards a +log four or five feet in length is sometimes brought in. Two or three +instantly attack it with a blunt piece of iron hoop to start the +cleaving, and in less time than one could expect such a work to be done +with axes it is split fine with wooden wedges. + +Naturally one of the ever-recurring topics of discussion was the +glorious dishes we could prepare, if we but had the materials, or of +which we would partake if we ever got home again. In our memorandum +books we are careful to note down the street and number of the most +famous restaurant in each of the largest cities, like Delmonico's in New +York or Young's in Boston. + +With few exceptions one day is like another. At earliest dawn each of +the two floors is covered with about a hundred and seventy-five +prostrate forms of officers who have been trying to sleep. Soon some one +of them calls in a loud voice. "_Buckets for water!_" The call is +repeated. Five or six, who have predetermined to go early to the river +Dan that seemed nearly a quarter of a mile distant, start up and seize +large wooden pails. They pass to the lower floor. One of them says to +the sentinel on duty at the southwest corner door, "Sentry, call the +sergeant of the guard; we want to go for water." He complies. In five, +ten, or fifteen minutes, a non-commissioned officer, with some half a +dozen heavily armed soldiers, comes, the bolts slide, the doors swing, +our squad passes out. They are escorted down the hill to the river, and +back to prison. By this time it is broad daylight. Many are still lying +silent on the floor. Most have risen. Some are washing, or rather wiping +with wet handkerchief, face and hands; others are preparing to cook, +splitting small blocks of wood for a fire of splinters; a few are +nibbling corn bread; here and there one is reading the New Testament. +There is no change or adjustment of clothing, for the night dress is the +same as the day dress. We no longer wonder how the cured paralytic in +Scripture could obey the command, "Take up thy bed and walk"; for at +heaviest the bed is but a blanket! + +Now, for a half-hour, vengeance on vermin that have plagued us during +the night! We daily solve the riddle of the fishermen's answer to "What +luck?" the question which puzzled to death + + "The blind old bard of Scio's rocky isle," + + "_As many as we caught we left; as many as we could not catch we + carry with us_!" + +About eight o'clock the cry is heard from the southwest end of the room, +"Fall in for roll-call! fall in!" to which several would impudently add, +"Here he comes! here he is!" A tall, slim, stooping, beardless, +light-haired phenomenon, known as "the roll-call sergeant," enters with +two musketeers. We officers having formed in two ranks on the northwest +side of the room, he passes down the front from left to right slowly +counting. Setting down the number in a memorandum book, he commands in a +squeaky feminine voice, "Break ranks," which most of us have already +done. Much speculation arose as to the nature and status of this +singular being. His face was smooth and childlike, yet dry and wrinkled, +so that it was impossible to tell whether he was fifteen or fifty. A +committee was said to have waited upon him, and with much apparent +deference asked him as to his nativity, his age, and whether he was +human or divine, married or single, man or woman. They said he answered +sadly, "Alas! I'm no angel, but a married man, thirty-seven years old, +from South Carolina. I have three children who resemble me." + +Immediately after roll-call, corn bread is brought in for breakfast. It +is in large squares about two feet in length and breadth, the top of +each square being marked for cutting into twenty or twenty-five rations. +Colonel Hooper and Capt. D. Tarbell receive the whole from the rebel +commissary, and then distribute to each mess its portion. The mess +commissary endeavors to cut it into equal oblong loaves. To make sure of +a fair distribution, one officer turns his back, and one after another +lays his hand upon a loaf and asks, "Whose is this?" The officer who has +faced about names some one as the recipient. + +Clear the way now for sweepers. From one end of the room to the other +they ply their coarse wooden brooms. Some officers are remarkably neat, +and will scrape their floor space with pieces of glass from the broken +windows; a few are listless, sullen, utterly despondent, regardless of +surroundings, apparently sinking into imbecility; the majority are +taking pains to keep up an appearance of respectability. + +Many who have been kept awake through the night by cold or rheumatism +now huddle around the stoves and try to sleep. Most of the remainder, as +the weeks pass, glide into something like a routine of occupations. For +several weeks I spent an hour or two every day carving with a broken +knife-blade a spoon from a block of hard wood. Sporadic wood-splitting +is going on, and cooking appears to be one of the fine arts. An hour +daily of oral exercises in French, German, Spanish, Latin, or Italian, +under competent teachers, after the Sauveur or Berlitz method, amused +and to some extent instructed many. Our cavalry adjutant, Dutch Clark, +so called from his skill in the "Pennsylvania Dutch" dialect made +perhaps a hundred familiar with the morning salutation, "_Haben Sie gut +geschlafen?_" ("Have you slept well?") Lieut. Henry Vander Weyde, A. D. +C., 1st Div., 6th Corps, the artist chum of our principal German +instructor, amused many by his pencil portraits of "Slim Jim," the +nondescript "roll-call sergeant" of uncertain age and gender; also of +some of the sentries, and one or two of his fellow prisoners. A worn-out +pack of fifty-two cards, two or three chess and checker boards of our +manufacture, and twenty-four rudely carved checker-men and thirty-two +fantastic chess-men, furnished frequent amusement to those who +understood the games. + +On an average once in two days we received about one o'clock what was +called soup. We were told, and we believed it to be true, that all the +rich nitrogenous portion had been carefully skimmed off for use +elsewhere; not thrown away as the fresh maid threw the "scum" that +formed on top of the milk! + +The topic of most frequent discussion was the prospect of an exchange of +prisoners. Our would-be German conversationalists never forgot to ask, +"_Haben Sie etwas gehoerten von Auswechseln der Gefangenen?_" ("Have you +heard anything of exchange of prisoners?") It was hard to believe that +our government would leave us to die of starvation. + +At the close of the soup hour and after another turn at sweeping, almost +every officer again sat down or sat up to rid himself of the _pediculidae +vestimenti_. We called it "skirmishing"; it was rather a pitched battle. +The humblest soldier and the brevet major-general must daily strip and +fight. Ludicrous, were it not so abominable, was this mortifying +necessity. No account of prison life in Danville would be complete +without it. Pass by it hereafter in sorrow and silence, as one of those +duties which Cicero says are to be done but not talked about. + +The occupations of the morning are now largely resumed, but many prefer +to lie quiet on the floor for an hour. + +An interesting incident that might happen at any time is the arrival in +prison of a Confederate newspaper. A commotion near the stairway! Fifty +or a hundred cluster around an officer with a clear strong voice, and +listen as he reads aloud the news, the editorials, and the selections. +The rebels are represented as continually gaining victories, but +singularly enough the northern armies are always drawing nearer! + +Toward sunset many officers walk briskly half an hour to and fro the +length of the room for exercise. + +Another roll-call by the mysterious heterogeneous if not +hermaphroditical Carolina sergeant! + +Brooms again by the mess on duty. Again oral language-lessons by Cook +and Putnam. Then discussions or story-telling. + +It is growing dark. A candle is lighted making darkness visible. We have +many skilful singers, who every evening "discourse most excellent +music." They sing _Just before the battle, mother; Do they miss me at +home? We shall meet, but we shall miss him_ (a song composed on the +death of one of my Worcester pupils by Hon. Charles Washburn); _Nearer, +My God, to thee_, etc. From the sweet strains of affection or devotion, +which suffuse the eyes as we begin to lie down for the night, the music +passes to the _Star-spangled Banner_, _Rally round the flag_, _John +Brown's body lies a'mouldering in the grave_, and the like. Often the +"concert" concludes with a comic Dutch song by Captain Cafferty, Co. D, +1st N. Y. Cav. + +Sleep begins to seal many eyelids, when someone with a loud voice heard +through the whole room starts a series of sharp critical questions, +amusing or censorious, thus: + + +"Who don't skirmish?" This is answered loudly from another quarter. + +"Slim Jim." The catechism proceeds, sometimes with two or three distinct +responses. + +"Who cheats the graveyard?" + +"Colonel Sprague." + +"Who sketched Fort Darling?" + +"Captain Tripp." (He was caught sketching long before, and was refused +exchange.) + +"Who never washes?" + +"Lieutenant Screw-my-upper-jaw-off." (His was an unpronounceable foreign +name.) + +"Who knows everything?" + +"General Duffie." (Duffie was a brave officer, of whom more anon.) + +"Who don't know anything?" + +"The fools that talk when they should be asleep." (The querists subside +at last.) + + +For warmth we lie in contact with each other "spoon-fashion," in groups +of three or more. I had bought a heavy woolen shawl for twenty +Confederate dollars, and under it were Captain Cook, Adjutant Clark, and +Lieutenant Wilder; I myself wearing my overcoat, and snuggling up to my +friend Cook. All four lay as close as possible facing in the same +direction. The night wears slowly away. When the floor seemed +intolerably hard, one of us would say aloud, "Spoon!" and all four would +flop over, and rest on the other side. So we vibrated back and forth +from nine o'clock till dawn. We were not comfortable, but in far better +circumstances than most of the prisoners. Indeed Captain Cook repeatedly +declared he owed his life to our blanket. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + + Continual Hope of Exchange of Prisoners--"Flag-of-Truce + Fever!"--Attempted Escape by Tunneling--Repeated Escapes by Members + of Water Parties, and how we Made the Roll-Call Sergeant's Count + Come Out all Right every Time--Plot to Break Out by Violence, and + its Tragic End. + + +Our principal hope for relief from the increasing privations of prison +life and from probable exhaustion, sickness, and death, lay in a +possible exchange of prisoners. A belief was prevalent that the patients +in hospital would be the first so favored. Hence strenuous efforts were +sometimes made to convince the apothecary whom we called doctor, and who +often visited us, that a prisoner was ill enough to require removal. +Once in the institution, the patients got better food, something like a +bed, medical attendance daily, and a more comfortable room. Some of them +were shamming, lying in two senses and groaning when the physicians were +present, but able to sit up and play euchre the rest of the day and half +the night. This peculiar disease, this eagerness to get into hospital or +remain there till exchanged by flag of truce, was known as the +"flag-of-truce fever" or "flag-of-truce-on-the-brain!" + +I recall one striking instance. Lieutenant Gardner, already mentioned, +had received six or eight hundred dollars in Confederate currency as the +price of a gold watch. But like the prodigal in Scripture he was now in +a far country, and had wasted his substance in what he called +"righteous" living. And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty +famine in that corner of the lower room, and he began to be in want. And +he would fain have filled his belly with corn-cob-meal bread, or spoiled +black beans, or the little potatoes which the swine didn't eat. And no +man gave him enough. And he determined to go to hospital. He gave out +that he was desperately sick. I at this time had "quarters" on the floor +above. Word was brought to me that my friend was mortally ill, and would +thank me to come down and take his last message to his relatives. +Alarmed, I instantly went down. I found him with two or three splitting +a small log of wood! + + +"Gardner, I hear you are a little 'under the weather.'" + +"Dying, Colonel, dying!" + +"What appears to be your disease?" + +"Flag-o'-truce-on-the-brain!" + +"Ah, you've got the exchange fever?" + +"Yes; bad." + +"Pulse run high?" + +"Three hundred a minute." + +"Anything I can do for you?" + +"Yes, Colonel, beseech that fool doctor to send me to hospital. Tell him +I'm on my last legs. Tell him I only want to die there. Appeal to him in +behalf of my poor wife and babies." (Gardner, as I well knew, was a +bachelor, and had no children--to speak of.) + +"Well, Lieutenant, I'll do anything I properly can for you. Is there +anything else?" + +"Yes, Colonel; lend me your overcoat to wear to hospital; I'll send it +back at once." + +"But, Lieutenant, you can't get into the hospital. Your cheeks are too +rosy; you're the picture of health." + +"I'm glad you mentioned that, Colonel. I'll fix that. You'll see." + + +Next morning he watched at the window, and when he saw the doctor +coming, he swallowed a large pill of plug tobacco. The effect was more +serious than he expected. In a few minutes he became sick in earnest, +and was frightened. A deathlike pallor supervened. When the doctor +reached him, there was a genuine fit of vomiting. The story runs that +Captain Tiemann made a pathetic appeal in behalf of the imaginary twin +babies, that the doctor diagnosed it as a clear case of puerperal (which +he pronounced "puerp[=e]rial") fever complicated with symptoms of +cholera infantum, and ordered him to hospital at once! I loaned the +patient my overcoat, which he sent back directly. His recovery seemed +miraculous. In a week or two he returned from his delightful outing. +This was in the latter part of November. + +Previously, for some weeks, Captain Howe and three or four other strong +and determined officers managed to get into the cellar of a one-story +building contiguous to ours and thence to excavate a tunnel out beyond +the line on which the sentinels were perpetually pacing to and fro. I +was too feeble to join in the enterprise, but hoped to improve the +opportunity to escape when the work was done. Unfortunately the arching +top of the tunnel was too near the surface of the ground, and the thin +crust gave way under the weight of a sentry. He yelled "Murder!" Two or +three of our diggers came scurrying back. The guard next to him shouted, +"You Yanks! you G--d d--d Yanks!" and fired into the deep hole. No more +tunneling at Danville.[8] + +More successful and more amusing were several attempts by individual +officers one at a time. The water parties of four to eight went under a +strong guard two or three times a day down a long hill to the river Dan. +On the slope alongside the path were a number of large brick ovens,[9] +in which, we were told, the Confederates used to bake those big squares +of corn bread. The iron doors when we passed were usually open. On the +way back from the river, one officer on some pretense or other would lag +behind the rearmost soldier of the guard, who would turn to hurry him +up. The next officer, as soon as the soldier's back was turned, would +dodge into an open oven, and the careless guards now engaged in a loud +and passionate controversy about slavery or secession would not miss +him! Then, as night came on, the negroes in the vicinity, who, like all +the rest of the colored people, were friendly to us, would supply the +escaped officer with food and clothing, and pilot him on his way +rejoicing toward the Union lines. One by one, six officers escaped in +that way, and many of us began to look forward to the time when our turn +would come to try the baking virtues of those ovens! + +But it was important that the escaped officer should not be missed. How +should we deceive the nondescript that we called "the roll-call +sergeant"? Morning and evening he carefully counted every one. How make +the census tally with the former enumerations? Yankee ingenuity was here +put to a severe test; but Lieutenant Titus, before mentioned, solved the +problem. With his table-knife saw he cut a hole about two feet square in +the floor near the northeast corner of the upper room. A nicely fitting +trapdoor completed the arrangement. Through this hole, helped by a rude +rope ladder of strips of rags, and hoisted to the shoulders of a tall +man by strong arms from below, a nimble officer could quickly ascend. +Now those in the lower room were counted first. When they broke ranks, +and the human automaton faced to the west and moved slowly towards the +stairs with three or four "Yanks" clustering at his side in earnest +conversation, the requisite number of spry young prisoners would "shin +up" the ladder, emerge, "deploy," and be counted over again in the upper +room! The thing worked to a charm. Not one of the six was missed. + +Unfortunately, however, two or three of them were recaptured and again +incarcerated in Libby. The Richmond authorities thereupon telegraphed to +Colonel Smith, asking how those officers escaped from Danville. Smith, +surprised, ordered a recount. The trapdoor did its duty. "All present!" +Finally he answered, "No prisoner has escaped from Danville." The rebel +commissary of prisons at Richmond, Gen. J. H. Winder, then telegraphed +the names of the recaptured officers. Smith looks on his books: there +are those names, sure enough! The mystery must be solved. He now sends +his adjutant to count us about noon. We asked him what it meant. He told +us it was reported that several officers had escaped. We replied, +"That's too good to be true." He counted very slowly and with +extraordinary precision. He kept his eye on the staircase as he +approached it. Six officers flew up the ladder as we huddled around him. +It was almost impossible to suppress laughter at the close, when he +declared, "I'll take my oath no prisoner has escaped from this prison." +But there were those names of the missing, and there was our +ill-disguised mirth. Smith resorted to heroic measures. He came in with +two or three of his staff and a man who was said to be a professor of +mathematics. This was on the 8th of November, 1864. He made all officers +of the lower room move for a half-hour into the upper room, and there +fall in line with the rest. His adjutant called the roll in reality. +Each as his name was read aloud was made to step forward and cross to +the other side. Of course no one could answer for the absent six. I +doubt if he ever learned the secret of that trapdoor. The professor of +mathematics promised to bring me a Geometry. About two weeks later, +November 24th, he brought me a copy of Davies's _Legendre_. + +On the 9th of December, while our senior officer, General Hayes, was +sick in hospital, the next in rank, Gen. A. N. Duffie, of the First +Cavalry Division of Sheridan's army, fresh from the French service, with +which he had campaigned in Algeria, where he was wounded nine times, +suddenly conceived a plot to break out and escape. Two companies of +infantry had arrived in the forenoon and stacked their arms in plain +sight on the level ground about twenty rods distant. Duffie's plan was +to rush through the large open door when a water party returning with +filled buckets should be entering, seize those muskets, overpower the +guard, immediately liberate the thousand or fifteen hundred Union +prisoners in the three other Danville prisons, and push off to our lines +in East Tennessee. He had Sheridan's _elan_, not Grant's cool-headed +strategy. With proper preparation and organization, such as Hayes would +have insisted upon, it might have been a success. He called us, field +officers about twenty, together and laid the matter before us. No vote +was taken, but I think a majority were opposed to the whole scheme. He +was disposed to consider himself, though a prisoner, as still vested +with authority to command all of lower rank, and he expected them to +obey him without question. In this view many acquiesced, but others +dissented. By his request, though doubtful of his right to command and +in feeble health, I drew up a pledge for those to sign who were willing +to engage in the projected rising and would promise to obey. It was +found that at least one hundred and fifty could be counted on. Colonel +Ralston, previously mentioned, was the chief opponent of the outbreak, +but he recognized Duffie's authority and insisted upon our submission +to it. Similar appeared to be the attitude of the following colonels: + +Gilbert H. Prey, 104th N. Y. + +James Carle, 191st Pa. + +T. B. Kaufman, 209th Pa. + +W. Ross Hartshorne, 190th Pa. + +Of the lieutenant-colonels, most of the following doubted the success, +but would do their best to promote it, if commanded: + +Charles H. Tay, 10th N. J. + +Theodore Gregg, 45th Pa. + +G. A. Moffett, 94th N. Y. + +J. S. Warner, 121st Pa. + +George Hamett, 147th N. Y. + +Charles H. Hooper, 24th Mass. + +Homer B. Sprague, 13th Conn. + +So the following majors: A. W. Wakefield, 49th Pa.; G. S. Horton, 58th +Mass.; E. F. Cooke, 2d N. Y. Cav.; John G. Wright, 51st N. Y.; J. V. +Peale, 4th Pa. Cav.; John W. Byron, 88th N. Y.; David Sadler, 2d Pa. +Heavy Art.; John Byrne, 155th N. Y.; E. O. Shepard, 32d Mass.; J. A. +Sonders, 8th Ohio Cav.; Charles P. Mattocks, 17th Maine; E. S. Moore, +Paymaster; Wm. H. Fry, 16th Pa. Cav.; Milton Wendler, 191st Pa.; James +E. Deakins, 8th Tenn. Cav.; Geo. Haven Putnam, Adjt. and later +Bvt.-Major, 176th N. Y. + +All of the foregoing then present and not on the sick list should have +been most thoroughly instructed as to their duties, and should have been +enabled to communicate all needed information to the forty-six captains +and one hundred and thirty-three lieutenants, who, though many were +sadly reduced in vitality, were accounted fit for active service. I had +repeatedly noticed in battle the perplexity of company, regimental, or +even brigade commanders, from lack of information as to the necessary +movements in unforeseen emergencies. It is not enough to say, as one +corps commander (Hancock?) is said to have done during the Battle of the +Wilderness in May, 1864, to a newly arrived colonel with his regiment, +who inquired, "Where shall I go in?" "Oh, anywhere; there's lovely +fighting all along the line!" + +Here the step most vital to success, the _sine qua non_, was to keep +that outside door open for the outrush of two hundred men. To this end, +eight of our strongest and most determined, under a dashing leader like +Colonel Hartshorne or Lieutenant-Colonel Gregg, should have been sent +out as a water party. Instead, Captain Cook, who was brave enough, but +then physically weak, hardly able to carry a pail of water, was the +leader of an average small squad, "the spirit indeed willing, but the +flesh weak." + +Hardly less important was it to select a dozen or twenty of the most +fierce and energetic, to be at the head of the stairs in perfect +readiness to dash instantly through the opening door and assist the +water party in disarming their guards, and, without a moment's pause, +followed by the whole two hundred, pounce upon the guard house. Ralston +or Duffie himself should have headed this band. Simultaneously, without +a second's interval, three or four desperate, fiery, powerful officers, +detailed for the purpose, should have grappled with the sentinel on duty +in the middle of the lower room and disarmed and gagged him. + +Besides the field officers, we had with us many subordinates of great +intelligence like Capt. Henry S. Burrage of the 36th Mass., Lieut. W. C. +B. Goff of the 1st D. C. Cav., Lieut. W. C. Howe, 2d Mass. Cav., Adjt. +James A. Clark, 17th Pa. Cav., and the artist, Lieut. Henry Vander +Weyde; and nothing would have been easier than for Duffie to communicate +through them to every officer the most complete and precise information +and instructions. + +Scarcely any of these precautions were taken. The general was impatient. +The next day, December 10th, he issued his command in these words: "I +order the attempt to be made, and I call upon all of you, who have not +forgotten how to obey orders, to follow." The water party was +immediately sent out, and its return was watched for. He and Ralston, +without the help of a third, made the mistake of personally grappling +with the floor sentry, a brave, strong, red-headed fellow, and they +tackled him a moment too soon. He stoutly resisted. They wrested his +musket from him. He yelled. They tried to stop his mouth. Instantly the +door began to swing open a little. The water party, too few and too +weak, paralyzed, failed to act. The foremost of us sprang from the +stairs to the door. Before we could reach it, it was slammed to, bolted +and barred against us! With several others I rushed to the windows and +tried to tear off the heavy bars. In vain. The soldiers outside began +firing through the broken panes. Ralston was shot through the body. We +assisted him up the stairs while the bullets were flying. In less than +five minutes from the moment when he and Duffie seized the sentinel, it +was all over. In about a quarter of an hour, Colonel Smith came in with +his adjutant and two or three guards, and ordered Ralston removed to +hospital. As he was carried out, one of us expressed the hope that the +wound was not serious. He answered in the language of Mercutio, "No, +'tis not so deep as a well, nor so wide as a church door; but 'tis +enough, 'twill serve." He knew it was mortal, and expressed a +willingness to die for his country in the line of duty. He passed away +next morning. Colonel Smith expressed sorrow for him, and surprise at +the ingratitude of us who had been guilty of insurrection against his +gentle sway! + +A strict search for possible weapons followed during which we were told +we must give up our United States money. I saved a ten-dollar greenback +by concealing it in my mouth "as an ape doth nuts in the corner of his +jaw," all the while munching corn bread, gnawing two holes in the bill! + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[8] "You will doubtless recall the man-hole worked through the heavy +brick wall, made during the 'stilly nights,' opening into the attic of +an annex to the main building. We found our way down by means of a rope +ladder, and started our tunnel under the basement floor. But for the +exposure we would have emptied the prison. To find the way down we gave +them a lively hunt!--And those _epithets_!--I have a blouse with a rent +in the back made in going through that hole in the wall."--Howe's +_Letter_ of Jan. 30, 1914. + +For further particulars of this attempt to tunnel out, see Major +Putnam's _A Prisoner of War in Virginia_, pp. 55-60. + +[9] Putnam describes them as disused furnaces. They may have been both. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + + Kind Clergymen Visit us and Preach Excellent Discourses--Colonel + Smith's Personal Good Will to me--His Offer--John F. Ficklin's + Charity--My Good Fortune--Supplies of Clothing Distributed--Deaths + in Prison. + + +Union men never looked upon Confederates as mortal enemies. Whenever a +flag of truce was flying, both were disposed to shake hands and exchange +favors. I recollect that our Captain Burrage complained that he was +unfairly captured when he was engaged in a friendly deal with a +Confederate between the lines. At Port Hudson, when the white signal was +to go down, we gave the "Johnnies" fair warning, shouting, "RATS! TO +YOUR HOLES!" before we fired on them. But war cannot be conducted on +peace principles, and in a flash a man acts like a devil. In an open +window near the spot where I slept, an officer upset a cup of water, and +a few drops fell on the head of the guard outside. Instantly he fired. +The bullet missed, passed through the window below and the floor above, +and lodged in the hand or arm of another officer. I had an opportunity +to express to Colonel Smith my angry disgust at such savagery. He +agreed that the fellow ought to be punished--"at least for not being +able to shoot straighter!"[10] + +Kindly visits were sometimes paid us. Two young men from the Richmond +Young Men's Christian Association came. The wicked said, "One came 'to +pray with us all right,' the other 'to prey upon us all wrong'"; for the +latter tried to induce us to exchange greenbacks for rebel currency! + +Several times we were visited by kind clergymen who preached excellent +sermons. The first was Rev. ---- Dame of Danville. He was, I think, an +Episcopal minister. He was a high Mason, a gentleman of very striking +appearance, with a beautiful flowing beard, that would have done honor +to Moses or Aaron. As we sat on the hard floor, two hundred listening +reverently to his choice language, he seemed to foresee the doom which +many of us had begun to fear, and he very appropriately and with much +earnestness bade us consider our latter end. Mentioning his name with +gratitude some thirty years afterwards in a lecture at the Mountain Lake +Chautauqua, Md., one of my audience gave me a photograph of the +minister's handsome face, and told me he was greatly beloved. I doubt +not he deserved it. + +Rev. Charles K. Hall of Danville, a Methodist Episcopal clergyman, came +to us a little later. His first sermon was an eloquent discourse on +Charity. He practiced what he preached; for he never came empty-handed. +On his first visit he brought armfuls of tobacco, each plug wrapped in a +pious tract. He asked us to fall in line, for he had something for each. +When he came to me in the distribution, I declined it, saying "I never +use tobacco in any form." "Oh take it," said he; "you read the tract, +and give the tobacco to your neighbor." On subsequent Sundays he brought +eggs and other delicacies for the sick. We admired him as a preacher, +and regarded him with affection as a man. Secession and slavery aside, +for he believed in the rightfulness of both, as we learned on arguing +with him, it would be hard to find a more lovable character than Charles +K. Hall. And the South was full of such, who would have been glad, if +permitted and opportunity offered, to be good Samaritans, neighbors to +him who had fallen among foes; pure, gentle, kindly spirits, to whom it +will be said in the last great day, "I was an hungred and ye gave me +meat; I was sick, and ye visited me; I was in prison, and ye came unto +me." + +From the lack of sufficient and proper food, clothing, and exercise, the +health of all suffered. Much of the time it was impossible to keep warm. +The most prevalent diseases, I think, were rheumatism and scurvy. I +suffered from both. Anti-scorbutics were scarce. The pain from +rheumatism was slight during the day; but at evening it began in the +joints of the fingers and became more severe as night advanced, +ascending from the hands to the wrists, arms, and shoulders. It was +worst at midnight and through the small hours, then gradually diminished +till daylight. The prison physician did his best to help us with +liniment, but in those winter nights the treatment was ineffective. + +Upon the total failure of our attempt to break out on the 10th of +December, and having come reluctantly to the conclusion that Colonel +Smith had told us the truth when he said that Lincoln and Grant would +not consent to an exchange of prisoners, I foresaw that death was +inevitable after a few months, perhaps a few weeks, unless the situation +should materially change for the better. I determined, though without +much hope of success, to appeal to Colonel Smith for personal favor. On +the 15th of December I sent word to him that I wished an interview with +him. He immediately sent a soldier to bring me to his office. He +received me courteously; for he was a gentleman. I told him it was +necessary for me, if I was to live much longer, that I should at least +have better food and more of it. I asked him if it would not be possible +for an arrangement to be effected whereby some of my relatives in the +north should furnish a Confederate prisoner with food, clothing, and +comforts, and that prisoner's relatives in the south should reciprocate +by supplying me. He answered that it might be possible, but he did not +know of any such southern captive's friends likely to respond. After a +few minutes of silence he said: + +"Colonel Sprague, I'd like to do something for you, and I'll make you an +offer." + +"Well?" + +"Your government has adopted the devilish policy of no exchange of +prisoners." + +"I am afraid it's true." + +"I know it's true." + +"Well, what's your proposition?" + +"I am overworked here. I must do my duty to my government. Our cause is +just." + +"Well?" + +"I should like to have you assist me by doing writing regularly for me +at these headquarters. I would parole you. You shall have a room to +yourself, a good bed, plenty of food, and a good deal of liberty. You +must give me your word of honor not to attempt to escape." + +"Colonel Smith, I thank you. I appreciate the friendly spirit in which +you make the offer, and I am very grateful for it. But I can't +conscientiously accept it. I am in the Union Army, bound to do +everything in my power to destroy your government. I must do nothing to +help it. If Lincoln refuses to exchange us prisoners, it may be best for +the United States, though hard on us. What happens to us is a minor +matter. It's a soldier's business to die for his country rather than +help its enemies in the slightest degree. I can't entertain your +proposal." + +So the conference ended sadly. As I was leaving his office he introduced +me to a Confederate soldier who sat there and who had heard the whole +conversation. Next day this soldier entered the prison by permission of +Colonel Smith and brought me some nice wheat bread, some milk, pickles, +and other food, a pair of thick woolen stockings, and a hundred dollars +in Confederate money. He gave me his name, John F. Ficklin, of the +Virginia _Black Horse Cavalry_. He whispered to me that he was at heart +a Union man, but had been forced by circumstances to enter the +Confederate service; that by simulating illness he had got relieved from +duty at the front and assigned to service at Colonel Smith's +headquarters; that he was confident he could bring about such an +arrangement for reciprocal supplies as I had proposed, and had so +informed Smith, who approved of the plan; that until such a plan should +be put in operation he would furnish me from his own table. He said to +me very privately that he was greatly moved by what I had said the day +before. "But," he added, "I am not entirely unselfish in this. I foresee +that the Confederacy can't last very long; certainly not a year. I give +it till next September; and, frankly, when it goes to smash, I want to +stand well with you officers." At my suggestion he gave a few other +prisoners food and money. + +In a few days I was again called to headquarters to meet a Mr. Jordan, +who, through Ficklin's efforts, had been invited to meet me. His son, +Henry T. Jordan, Adjutant of the 55th North Carolina Regiment, was at +that time a prisoner at Johnson's Island, Ohio. Mr. Jordan agreed to +make out a list of articles which he wished my relatives to send to his +son. In a day or two he did so. I likewise made out a statement of my +immediate wants, as follows: + + Wood for cooking; + Cup, plate, knife, fork, spoon; + Turnips, salt, pepper, rice, vinegar; + Pickled cucumbers, dried apple, molasses; + Or any other substantial food. + +I asked Jordan to send me those things _at once_. He answered after some +delay that he would do so immediately on receiving an acknowledgment +from his son that my friends had furnished him what he wanted; and he +would await such a message! As my relatives were in Massachusetts and +Connecticut, it would take considerable time for them to negotiate with +the prison commandant and other parties in Ohio and have the +stipulations distinctly understood and carried into effect there. +Besides, there were likely to be provoking delays in communicating by +mail between the north and the south, and it might be a month or six +weeks before he got assurances from his son; by which time I should +probably be in a better world than Danville, and in no need of wood, +food, or table-ware. I wrote him to that effect, and requested him to +make haste, but received no reply. + +My friend Mr. Ficklin came to the rescue. As a pretext to deceive, if +need were, the prison authorities, and furnish to them and others a +sufficient reason for bringing me supplies, he pretended that he had a +friend, a Confederate prisoner of war at Camp Douglas near Chicago, and +that Colonel Sprague's friends had been exceedingly kind to him, +ministering most liberally to his wants! The name of this imaginary +friend was J. H. Holland, a private soldier of the 30th Virginia +Cavalry. Ficklin forged a letter purporting to come from Holland to him, +which he showed to Colonel Smith, in which he spoke with much gratitude +of my friends' bounty, and besought Ficklin to look tenderly after my +comfort in return! The ruse succeeded. Ficklin's generosity to me was +repeated from time to time, and perhaps saved my life. + +A year after the close of the war Ficklin wrote to me that he wished to +secure a position in the Treasury Department of the United States, and +he thought it would aid him if I would certify to what I knew of his +kindness to Union prisoners. I accordingly drew up a strong detailed +statement of his timely and invaluable charities to us in our distress. +I accompanied it with vouchers for my credibility signed by Hon. N. D. +Sperry, General Wm. H. Russell, and President Theodore D. Woolsey, all +of New Haven, and Governor Wm. A. Buckingham of Norwich, Conn. These +documents I forwarded to Ficklin. I do not know the result. + +From Sergeant Wilson F. Smith, chief clerk at Colonel Smith's +headquarters, a paroled prisoner, member of Co. F., 6th Pa. Cav., the +company of Captain Furness, son or brother of my Shakespearian friend, +Dr. Horace Howard Furness, and from Mr. Strickland, undertaker, who +furnished the coffins and buried the dead of the Danville prisons, both +of whom I talked with when I was on parole in February, '65, I obtained +statistics mutually corroborative of the number of deaths in the +Danville prisons. In November there were 130; in December, 140; from +January 1st to January 24th, 105. The negro soldiers suffered most. +There were sixty-four of them living in prison when we reached Danville, +October 20, '64. Fifty-seven of them were dead on the 12th of February, +'65, when I saw and talked with the seven survivors in Prison No. Six. +From one of the officers (I think it was Captain Stuart) paroled like +myself in February to distribute supplies of clothing sent by the United +States through the lines, and who performed that duty in Salisbury, and +from soldiers of my own regiment there imprisoned, I learned that in the +hundred days ending February 1st, out of eight or ten thousand +prisoners, more than thirty a day, more than three thousand in all, had +died! Of Colonel Hartshorne's splendid "Bucktail Regiment," the 190th +Pa., formerly commanded by my Yale classmate Colonel O'Neil who fell at +Antietam, there were 330 at Salisbury, October 19th, the day we left; +116 of them were dead before February 1st, one company losing 22 out of +33 men. + + * * * * * + +Why this fearful mortality? Men do not die by scores, hundreds, +thousands, without some extraordinary cause. It was partly for want of +clothing. They were thinly clad when captured. + +Pursuant to agreement entered into early in December, 1864, between the +Federal and Confederate authorities, supplies of clothing for Union +prisoners in Richmond, Danville, and Salisbury, were sent through the +lines. They did not reach Danville till February. Colonel Carle, 191st +Pa. and myself, with another officer (I think he was Colonel Gilbert G. +Prey, 104th N. Y.) were paroled to distribute coats (or blouses), +trousers, and shoes, among the enlisted men in their three prisons. Then +for the first time Union officers saw the interior of those jails. By +permission of Colonel Smith, Mr. Ficklin accompanied us on one of these +visits, and I saw him give fifty dollars in Confederate money to one of +our suffering soldiers. My part in the distribution was to sign as +witness opposite the name of each one receiving. Those rolls should be +in the archives at Washington. + +On the 12th of February we issued shoes and clothing in the jail known +as Prison No. Six. It contained that day 308 of our men. There were the +seven surviving colored soldiers, and the one wearing our prison +commander's coat. We requested them all to form line, and each as his +name was called to come forward and receive what he most needed. Some of +them were so feeble that they had to be assisted in coming down from the +upper floor, almost carried in the arms of stronger comrades. Many were +unable to remain standing long, and sank helpless on the floor. Nearly +all were half-clad, or wearing only the thinnest of garments. Some were +white with vermin. Several were so far gone that they had forgotten +their company or regiment. Every one seemed emaciated. Many kept asking +me why our government did not exchange prisoners; for they were told +every day the truth that the Confederate government desired it. There +was a stove, but no fuel. The big rooms were not heated. The cold was +severe. About a third of them had apparently given up all hope of +keeping their limbs and bodies warm; but they kept their heads, necks, +shoulders, and chests, carefully wrapped. The dismal coughing at times +drowned all other sounds, and made it difficult to proceed with our work +of distribution. There were two little fires of chips and splinters on +bricks, one of them near the middle, the other near the far end. In +contact with these were tin or earthen cups containing what passed for +food or drink. There was no outlet for smoke. It blackened the hands and +faces of those nearest, and irritated the lungs of all. + +This prison was the worst. It was colder than the others. But all were +uncomfortably cold. All were filled with smoke and lice. From each there +went every day to the hospital a wagon-load of half-starved and +broken-hearted soldiers who would never return. I visited the hospital +to deliver to two of the patients letters which Colonel Smith had handed +to me for them. They were both dead. I looked down the long list. The +word "Died," with the date, was opposite most of the names. As I left +the hospital I involuntarily glanced up at the lintel, half expecting to +see inscribed there as over the gate to Dante's Hell, + + ALL HOPE ABANDON, YE WHO ENTER HERE! + +At the rate our enlisted men were dying at Danville and Salisbury during +the winter of 1864-65, all would have passed away in a few months, +certainly in less than a year; AND THEY KNEW IT. + +Is it any wonder that some of them, believing our government had +abandoned them to starvation rather than again risk its popularity by +resorting to conscription for the enrollment of recruits and by possibly +stirring up draft riots such as had cost more than a thousand lives in +the city of New York in July, 1863, accepted at last the terms which the +Confederates constantly held out to them, took the oath of allegiance to +the Confederacy, and enlisted in the rebel army? I was credibly informed +that more than forty did it in Prison No. Four at Danville, and more +than eleven hundred at Salisbury. Confederate recruiting officers and +sergeants were busy in those prisons, offering them the choice between +death and life. No doubt multitudes so enlisted under the Confederate +flag with full determination to desert to our lines at the first +convenient opportunity. Such was the case with private J. J. Lloyd, Co. +A, of my battalion, who rejoined us in North Carolina. _The great +majority chose to die._ + +The last communication that I received from enlisted men of my +battalion, fellow prisoners with me at Salisbury, whom I had exhorted +not to accept the offers of the Confederates, but to be true to their +country and their flag, read thus: "Colonel, don't be discouraged. Our +boys all say they'll starve to death in prison sooner than take the oath +of allegiance to the Confederacy." And true to this resolve did indeed +starve or freeze to death Sergeant Welch, Sergeant Twichell, Privates +Vogel, Plaum, Barnes, Geise, Andrews, Bishop, Weldon, who had stood by +me in many a battle, and who died at last for the cause they loved. + +It is comparatively easy to face death in battle. No great courage or +merit in that. The soldier is swept along with the mass. Often he cannot +shirk if he would. The chances usually are that he will come out alive. +He may be inspired with heroism, + + And the stern joy which warriors feel + In foeman worthy of their steel. + +There is a consciousness of irresistible strength as he beholds the +gleaming lines, the dense columns, the smoking batteries, the dancing +flags, the cavalry with flying feet. + + 'Twere worth ten years of peaceful life, + One glance at their array. + +Or nobler, he feels that he represents a nation or a grand cause, and +that upon his arm depends victory. In his enthusiasm he even fancies +himself a vicegerent of the Almighty, commissioned to fight in His +cause, to work His will, to save His earth from becoming a hell. "From +the heights of yonder pyramids," said Napoleon to the French battling +against the Mamelukes, "forty centuries are looking down upon you." Our +soldier in battle imagined the world looking on, that for him there was +fame undying; should he fall wounded, his comrades would gently care for +him; if slain, his country's flag would be his shroud. + +By no such considerations were our imprisoned comrades cheered. Not in +the glorious rush and shock of battle; not in hope of victory or +fadeless laurels; no angel charities, or parting kiss, or sympathetic +voice bidding the soul look heavenward while the eye was growing dim; no +dear star-spangled banner for a winding sheet. But wrapped in rags; +unseen, unnoticed, dying by inches, in the cold, in the darkness, often +in rain or sleet, houseless, homeless, friendless, on the hard floor or +the bare ground, starving, freezing, broken-hearted. + + O the long and dreary winter! + O the cold and cruel winter! + +It swept them away at Salisbury by tens, twenties, even fifties in a +single night. + +These men preferred death to dishonor. When we are told that our people +are not patriotic, or sigh of America as Burke did of France a century +and a quarter ago, that the age of chivalry is gone, we may point to +this great martyrdom, the brightest painting on the darkest background +in all our history--thousands choosing to die for the country which +seemed to disown them! + +My diary records, and I believe it correct, that on the 17th of +February, there were ten deaths in the Danville prisons. A little before +midnight of that day the Danville prisoners were loaded into box cars, +and the train was started for Richmond. Three, it was reported, died in +the cars that night, and one next morning in the street on the way to +Libby. + +During the next three days I obtained the autographs of two hundred and +fifteen of my fellow officers there. The little book is precious. A few +still survive; but the great majority have joined the faithful whom they +commanded. + + On Fame's eternal camping ground + Their silent tents are spread, + And Glory guards with solemn round + The bivouac of the dead! + +On the twenty-second we were taken for exchange down the James. As we +passed through the lines into what we were accustomed fondly to call +"God's Country," salvos of artillery and signs of universal rejoicing +greeted us. Our reception made us imagine for an hour that our arrival +perceptibly heightened the general joy of the Washington anniversary. +But many of us could not help wishing we were asleep with the thousands +who were filling nameless graves at Danville and Salisbury. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[10] See Putnam's account of this incident in his _A Prisoner of War in +Virginia_, p. 67. + + + + +CHAPTER X + + Results and Reflections--The Right and the Wrong of it All. + + +A few days of waiting in the buildings of the Naval Academy at Annapolis +while exchange papers were preparing gave us opportunity for a +much-needed transformation. Our old clothing, encrusted with dirt and +infested with vermin, in many cases had to be destroyed. One of our +number especially unkempt, Captain T., who gave up for an hour or two +his beloved trousers, found to his surprise and horror when he called +for their return that they had been burned with four hundred dollars in +greenbacks sewed up in the lining! We smiled at his irrepressible grief; +it was poetic justice. He had carefully concealed the fact of his being +flush, pretending all along to be like the rest _in forma pauperis_, and +contriving, it was said, to transfer in crooked ways our pennies into +his pockets! + +Fumigated, parboiled, scrubbed, barbered, decently clothed, "the +deformed transformed" were once more presentable in civilized society. +Then followed a brief leave of absence if desired, to visit relatives. +To them it seemed a veritable resurrection after our months of living +burial; yet the joy of reunion was sometimes tinged with sorrow. I +learned that in the very week in which the tidings of my capture came +our home circle had been sadly broken by the death of a beloved sister, +and just then the telegraph told of the loss by fever in the army at +Newbern of our household darling, + + Younger by fifteen years than myself, + Brother at once and son. + +As previously stated we who held commissions fared better on the whole +than the non-commissioned officers and privates, though receiving from +the commissary rations exactly equal to theirs. Commonly older and +therefore of larger experience and superior intelligence, a good officer +is as a father looking out for the physical welfare of his men as well +as himself. Then there were some who, like Gardner, had been fortunate +in keeping clothing, money, or other valuable at the instant of capture +or in hiding it when searched by Dick Turpin at Libby. Several like +Captain Cook had obtained pecuniary assistance from influential friends +across the lines, or in a few instances had been favored by brother +freemasons or by charitably disposed visitors who gave us a little food, +a few old books, or even Confederate currency. Several sold to the +sentinels watches, rings, chains, breast-pins, society badges, silver +spurs, military boots, or curiously wrought specimens of Yankee +ingenuity carved with infinite pains. The "Johnnies" appeared to hanker +for any article not produced in the Confederacy. An officer of the guard +offered Putnam three hundred dollars for a nearly worn-out tooth-brush! + +The educational standard among our officers was quite respectable. I +think that West Point had a representative among us, as well as Bowdoin +and several other colleges. Certainly we had ex-students from at least +five universities, Brown, Yale, Harvard, the Sorbonne, and Goettingen. + +To afford diversion and as an antidote to depression, as well as for +intellectual improvement, some of us studied mathematics[11] or +_Shakespeare_. Three or four classes were formed in modern languages. +We had card-playing with packs soiled and worn; checkers and chess on +extemporized boards with rudely whittled "pieces"; occasional +discussions historical, literary, political, or religious; many of us +quite regular physical exercises in brisk walks on the empty lowest +floor; story-telling; at times, though not often, the reading aloud of a +Confederate newspaper, to a group of fifty or more listeners; at +evening, sweet singing, riddles, jests, or loud-voiced sarcastic +conundrums and satirical responses. Many found interest and pleasure in +carving with the utmost nicety wood or bone.[12] + +Something like military discipline prevailed among the two hundred in +the upper room where the superior rank of General Hayes was often +recognized. Among a hundred and fifty or more in the lower room, where +for a month or two I was the senior but was unwilling to assume +precedence, I secured with the aid of Major Byron, Captain Howe, and a +few others a sort of civil government with semi-military features. + +These measures and the favoring circumstances that have been mentioned +tended of course to the preservation of health among the officers. There +was severe suffering from hunger, cold, rheumatism, and scurvy, from all +of which I was for weeks a victim and at one time seemed doomed to +perish. I recall, however, the names of but two officers (there were +said to be four) who died at Danville. Some of us, though enfeebled, +were soon able to rejoin our commands; as Putnam his at Newbern in +April, Gardner and I ours at Morehead City the day after Lee's surrender +at Appomattox. + +Of the effect in after-life of these strange experiences it is safe to +say that to some extent they were a spur to intellectual effort. At +least they should have made all sadder and wiser; and they certainly +were in some cases an equipment for descriptive authorship. Major (Adner +A.) Small wrote a valuable account of prison life. Dr. Burrage's +narratives of his capture and its results are entertaining and +instructive. Major Putnam's _A Prisoner of War in Virginia_ (reprinted +in his _Memories of My Youth_) is an important contribution to our +military history.[13] Lieutenant Estabrooks's _Adrift in Dixie_ is +charmingly told.[14] "Dutch Clark" (Adjutant James A. Clark, 17th Pa. +Cav.), one of the four who nightly tried to sleep under my blanket, +started and edited with ability at Scranton _The Public Code_, for which +I was glad to furnish literary material. He afterwards became prominent +in theosophic circles. Others distinguished themselves. Captain (Frank +H.) Mason, in prison our best chess player, was long Consul-General at +Paris. Cook studied five or six years in Germany, France, and Italy, +then was for eight or ten years assistant professor in German at +Harvard, and afterwards for two years, until his untimely death, +professor in the same department at the Institute of Technology in +Boston. In addressing a Sunday-school in Brooklyn, 1871, I unexpectedly +lighted upon Captain Tiemann doing good work as a teacher. Captain +Gardner continued for many months a model military officer in +Georgia.[15] I remained in the service a full year, often on +courts-martial, military commissions, and "reconstruction" duty. + + * * * * * + +As already described, the condition of the enlisted men strongly +contrasted with ours. The Report of the Confederate Inspector of Prisons +now on file in the _War Records_ of our government, though the reports +of his subordinate officers are significantly missing, covers the few +months next preceding January, 1865. It sharply censures the immediate +prison authorities, stating, as the result of the privations, that the +deaths at Danville were at the rate of about five per day! I think they +were more numerous in January and February. None of my battalion were +there, but at Salisbury three-sevenths of them died in less than three +months! + +It is hard to refrain from the expression of passionate indignation at +the treatment accorded to our non-commissioned officers and privates in +those southern hells. For years we were accustomed to ask, "In what +military prison of the north, in what common jail of Europe, in what +dungeon of the civilized or savage world, have captives taken in +war--nay, condemned criminals--been systematically exposed to a +lingering death by cold and hunger? The foulest felon--his soul black +with sacrilege, his hands reeking with parricide--has enough of food, of +clothing, of shelter; a chair to sit in, a fire to warm him, a blanket +to hide his nakedness, a bed of straw to die on!" + +But listen a moment to the other side. Alexander H. Stephens, +Vice-President of the Confederacy, afterwards for eight years a +representative in our Congress, a man of unquestioned integrity, shows +in his _War between the States_ (pub. 1868-70) by quotation from the +Report of our then Secretary of War (July 19, 1866) that only 22,576 +Federal prisoners died in Confederate hands during the war, whilst +26,436 Confederate prisoners died in Federal hands. He shows also from +the United States Surgeon-General Joseph K. Barnes's Report that the +number of Federal prisoners in southern prisons was about 270,000, but +the number of Confederate prisoners in northern prisons was about +220,000; so that the percentage of deaths in southern prisons was under +nine, while the percentage of deaths in northern prisons was over +twelve![16] + +Had there been, from the first, prompt exchanges of prisoners between +the north and the south, few of these forty-nine thousand lives would +have been lost. _Who, then, blocked the exchange?_ + +Stephens declares (_War between the States_, vol. ii): + + "It is now well understood to have been a part of the settled policy + of the Washington authorities in conducting the war, not to exchange + prisoners. The grounds upon which this extraordinary course was + adopted were, that it was humanity to the northern men in the field + to let their captured comrades perish in prison rather than to let + an equal number of Confederate soldiers be released on exchange to + meet them in battle." + +To the same effect our Secretary Stanton in one of his letters in 1864 +pointed out "that it would not be good policy to send back to be placed +on the firing line 70,000 able-bodied Confederates, and to receive in +exchange men who, with but few exceptions, were not strong enough to +hold their muskets." + +The responsibility, then, for this refusal and the consequent enormous +sacrifice of life with all the accompanying miseries, must rest in part +upon the Government of the United States.[17] + +Blame not the tender-hearted Lincoln for this. + +Did he not judge wisely? Was it not best for the nation that we +prisoners should starve and freeze? + +The pivotal question for him and Grant and Stanton was, "Shall we +exchange and thereby enable the South to reinforce their armies with +fifty to a hundred thousand trained soldiers? + +"If yes, then we must draft many more than that; for they being on the +defensive we must outnumber them in battle. If no, then we must either +stop their cruelties by equally cruel retaliation, as Washington hung +Andre for the execution of Hale, or we must, more cruelly still, leave +myriads of our soldiers to sink into imbecility and death." + +The North had not the excuse of destitution which the South had, and it +could not bring itself to make reprisals in kind. To draft again, as +evinced in the terrible riots of July, 1863, would have been extremely +unpopular and perhaps overthrown the administration and defeated the +policy of the government. To exchange would pretty surely have prolonged +the war, and might have resulted in permanent disunion. + +As to the right or wrong of the refusal to exchange, it is hardly +relevant to insist that the triumph of the South would have perpetuated +slavery. Lincoln's Proclamation, January 1, 1863, did not touch slavery +in the Border States. And from the southern nation, denuded of slaves by +their escape to the North and confronted by the growing anti-slavery +sentiment of the civilized world, the "peculiar institution" would soon +have died out. + +Need we attempt, as is often done, to justify our government's attitude +in this matter by affirming that the nation was in a life-and-death +struggle for its very existence? Did that existence depend upon its +territorial limits? Would it have gone to pieces if the victorious North +had relinquished its hold on the defeated South? Had a boundary line +been drawn half-way across the continent, separating the twenty-three +loyal States from the eleven seceding, the twenty-two millions of the +North from the nine or ten millions of the South, would it not have +remained a mighty nation with no cause for further disunion, and able as +the war had shown to place in the field more than two million fighting +men? + +Is it not equally unnecessary to urge, as if it were a valid excuse for +our government's refusal to exchange, that between the two nations there +would have been frequent if not perpetual hostilities? Why so, any more +than between the United States and Canada, where for fifty (it is now a +hundred) years, along a boundary line of thirty-eight hundred miles, +there had been unbroken peace and no fort nor warship? + +Let us not raise the question whether Lincoln made a colossal blunder +when he renounced his favorite doctrine so emphatically set forth in his +Congressional speech (page 47). The die was cast when Sumter was fired +on. The question which confronted him in 1863-64--What to do with the +perishing Union prisoners?--was simply one of military necessity. + +According to the ethics of war was he not fully justified in sacrificing +us rather than imperiling the great cause which he had at heart? + +Are we, then, to blame President Davis, or the Confederate Commissioner +Robert Ould, or Gen. John H. Winder, Superintendent of Military Prisons, +for allowing the Federal prisoners to starve and freeze and die by +thousands? Must we not admit the truth of their contention that their +soldiers needed the food, clothing, and medical care for want of which +their prisoners were suffering? And if the shocking conditions at +Andersonville, Salisbury, Danville, and other prisons could easily have +been avoided, or even if they were made more distressing by the +deliberate inhumanity of those in immediate charge, ought not such facts +to have intensified a desire on the part of both governments to effect a +speedy exchange? + +The southern people were threatened with subjugation, their government +with annihilation. In such a critical situation, what measures are +allowable? + +We endeavor to look at the matter from both standpoints. + +This brings up the whole question of the rightfulness of war. If it must +be waged, is success the highest duty? If military necessity demands, +may any and every law of God and man be disregarded? + +While we write these concluding pages, the European conflict is raging, +and the voice of the most warlike nation on the globe is heard +continually affirming that war is useful and highly honorable, and that +any means, however frightful, if necessary to ensure or hasten victory +is praise-worthy! + +Then both presidents were right! + +But is not international war murder on a great scale? It is glorious to +die for one's country; but how about killing for our country? killing +innocent men, too? for the soldiers on either side honestly believe they +are doing their duty in shooting and stabbing as many as possible! "The +business of war," said John Wesley, "is the business of devils." So it +would seem; but at heart few are enemies, none devils. + +It has been a pleasure in this narrative to record instances of a very +different spirit. Surely, in proportion to population such were not +fewer in the South than in the North. Like Whittier's _Angels of Buena +Vista_ they rescue us from pessimism. They are prophetic of a better +day. + + Not wholly lost, O Father, is this evil world of ours! + Upward through the blood and ashes spring afresh the Eden flowers: + From its smoking hell of battle, Love and Pity send their prayer, + And still thy white-winged angels hover dimly in our air! + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[11] I still possess the copy of Davies's _Legendre_ which I bought on +the 8th of November for twenty Confederate dollars, and of which I +memorized three books in prison. As to the _Shakespeare_, see _ante_, p. +85. + +[12] I retain with pride the wooden spoon which did me good service when +I was _in limbo_. It cost me over two weeks' labor in shaping it with +half a knife-blade and pieces of broken glass. For the little block of +wood I paid the sentry one "rebel dollar!" + +[13] Many years after the war he rendered financial aid to fellow +prisoners, his chum, artist Vander Weyde, and General Hayes. Author of +several valuable works, he is now head of the publishing house of G. P. +Putnam's Sons. + +[14] It was a special pleasure after the lapse of fifty years to meet +Estabrooks at the Massachusetts Commandery of the Loyal Legion, where, +without knowing of his presence, I had just made honorable mention of +him in an address on prison life. + +[15] In my own case the prison experience was peculiar: it changed the +course of my whole subsequent life. I had studied law, been admitted to +the bar in two states, and "practiced" with fair success, "though," as a +friend was accustomed to remark, "not enough to do much harm!" Many +times one of the best men I ever knew, my father, had said to me at +parting, "Do all the good you can." Much meditating while in the army +and especially while in prison, I finally resolved to pursue an +educational career. Of course I felt sadly the loss of years of study +that might have better equipped me; but it seemed a duty. I had had some +experience which, I thought, proved me not wholly unqualified. While a +student in college and while reading law I had partly supported myself +by giving instruction to private pupils and in the schools of General +Russell and Mayor Skinner. Afterwards, before the war, I had taught +Greek in the Worcester (Mass.) Academy; and English literature, Greek, +and Latin for more than three years as principal of the Worcester public +high school. I knew the vocation would be congenial. So I became +principal of a state normal school, of two high schools, of a large +academy; house chairman of a (Conn.) legislative committee securing the +enactment of three school measures of importance; later, president of a +college, professor in a theological seminary and in Cornell University; +founder and for three years first president of the earliest and long the +largest of the world's general _summer_ schools (which now in the United +States number nearly 700); lecturer in many Chautauqua assemblies, +colleges, vacation schools, and university extension centres; President +of the State University of North Dakota; editor, with biographic +sketches and copious notes, of many masterpieces as text-books in higher +English literature; author of a history of my regiment; also of a +treatise on _Voice and Gesture_, of many monographs and magazine +articles mostly educational; associate founder and first president of +_The Watch and Ward Society_; one of the directors and executive +committee of the _American Peace Society_; director of the +_Massachusetts Peace Society_; president of _The American Institute of +Instruction_; translator, annotator, and essayist of _The Book of Job_; +etc. + +It may be proper to add that among those indebted in some degree to my +instruction or training were several who captured Yale's highest prize +for rhetorical excellence (the hundred dollar gold medal of which I was +the first recipient): one college president; six college professors; +three university presidents; two governors of states; two United States +Senators; and many others eminent as clergymen, authors, judges, +editors, and business men. + +[16] The higher death-rate (if that be conceded) of southern soldiers is +easily accounted for. The northern soldiers had been carefully selected +by competent surgeons. They were physically perfect, or nearly so. They +were in the bloom of early manhood or the strength of middle age--not an +old man among them, not a diseased man among them, not a broken-down +constitution among them. But multitudes of the southern, enrolled by +conscription, were physically unfit. Many were much too old or too +young. Said our General Grant, "To fill their ranks, they have robbed +the cradle and the grave!" + +[17] The exchange is said to have been stopped in 1862-63 by the refusal +of the Confederates to give up captured negro soldiers in return for +southern captives in the North, the United States properly insisting +upon perfect equality in the treatment of black and white. But early in +1864, if not previously, the Confederates yielded the point and were +anxious to surrender man for man. + + + + +APPENDIX + + +(From the original record. See p. 88.) + +Proceedings of a Court Martial convened at Danville Mil. Pris. by virtue +of the following Order: + + DANVILLE MIL. PRISON, Oct. 29, 1864. + +General Order + +No. 1. + +Pursuant to the Regulations adopted by the Union Officers of the 2d +Floor Military Prison, Danville, Va., Oct. 26, 1864, a Court Martial is +hereby appointed to convene at 10 o'clock A.M. on the 29th inst. or as +soon thereafter as may be practicable, for the Trial of Captain [I omit +from the record the name of the accused], 104th N. Y. Vols., and such +other officers as may be brought before it. + + Detail for the Court. + + Lt. Col. W. A. LEACH, [Here follow the names + 90th P. V. of Captains Bryant, + Lt. Col. THEO. GREGG, Black, Clapp, Burkart, + 45th P. V. Weiss (?), Reilly (?), + Major J. W. BYRON, Moody, and the name + 88th N. Y. V. of the Judge Advocate, + Capt. G. M. DICKERMAN, Lt. and Adjt. James A. + 26th Mass. V. Clark, 17th Pa. Cav.] + + By order of the Officers of the 2d Floor, + JAMES CARLE, + Col. 190th Pa. Vols., Senior Officer. + + +DANVILLE MIL. PRISON, VA., 10 o'clock A.M., 31st, Oct. 1864. + +The Court met pursuant to the foregoing order. Present all the members. +The Court then proceeded to the trial of Capt. [we again omit the name +of the accused], 104th N. Y. Vols. + +The Judge Advocate stated that he had acquainted the accused of the +order convening the Court, to which he replied in the words following, +to wit: "What is that to do with me? I recognize no authority in this +prison to convene a court martial," or words to that effect. + +The accused having refused to appear, the members of the Court were duly +sworn by the Judge Advocate, and the Judge Advocate was duly sworn by +the President of the Court. The accused, Capt. [again we omit the name], +104th N. Y. Vols., was arraigned on the following charges and +specifications: + +Charge--Conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman. + +Specification--In this: That Capt. [we again omit], 104th N. Y. Vols., +without provocation, did say in the hearing of several officers to +Lieut. Col. Homer B. Sprague, 13th C. V., speaking in coarse and +ungentlemanly manner the words following, to wit: [here we omit the +language uttered as being too vile and filthy to print]; that he did +several times repeat the same in a coarse and angry tone, and used other +vulgar and indecent expressions in an insulting tone and manner. This at +Danville Mil. Prison, Va., in the lower room thereof on the 29th day of +October, 1864. + +The accused refusing to appear, the Judge Advocate was directed by the +President to enter the plea of Not Guilty. + + To the Specification, Not Guilty. + To the Charge, Not Guilty. + +Lieut. G. C. Wilson, 2d P. Artillery, and Lieut. Wm. Shuler, 107th P. +Vols., witnesses for the prosecution, stated that they had cognizance of +the facts set forth in the Specification. + +The proceedings of the Court having been reviewed by the Judge Advocate, +he submitted the case without argument. The Court was then cleared for +deliberation, and having maturely considered the evidence adduced find +the accused + +On the Specification, Guilty; with the exception of the words "and used +other vulgar and indecent expressions." + +Of the Charge, Guilty. And do therefore sentence him to be reprimanded +by the Senior Officer. + +The Court is thus lenient owing to this being the first case of the kind +brought before it. + + WM. A. LEACH, Lt. Col. 90th Regt. Pa. Vols., Pres.; + JAS. A. CLARK, Adjt. 17th Pa. Cavalry, Judge Advocate. + +The Proceedings and Findings in the foregoing case are hereby +respectfully submitted to Brig.-Gen. Hayes for his consideration. + +JAMES CARLE, Col. 191st Pa. Vols., Senior Officer, 2d Floor. + + +CONFED. MIL. PRISON, DANVILLE, VA., Nov. 1, 1864. + +The Proceedings and Findings of the Court Martial of which Lt. Col. W. +A. Leach, 90th Pa. Vols., was President, having been submitted to +Brig.-Gen. Hayes, the Senior Officer present, are approved. The extreme +leniency of the Court must be apparent to all, and can only be excused +by the novelty of the case brought before it. Language fails to convey +censure adequate to the gross vulgarity and ungentlemanly conduct of the +accused. Captain [we omit the name] seems to forget or misconceive his +responsibility in his present circumstances. An officer being a prisoner +of war is not relieved from his responsibility to his government nor +from his liability to the regulations of the service as far as may be +applied to his dishonor by ungentlemanly and unofficer-like conduct; and +many other offenses committed by an officer when a prisoner of war are +as punishable as if that officer were serving with his command. And it +is well the officers in the prison have organized a Court for the +summary punishment of those of their number, who, forgetful of their +position and their honor, would bring shame upon themselves and their +associates. + +It is to be hoped that Capt. [name we omit]'s conduct in the future will +be such as will cause to be forgotten his mistakes of the past. + + JOSEPH HAYES, Brig. Gen. U. S. Vols. + + + + +INDEX + + +A + + Adams, Dr. Nehemiah, 29 + + Adams, Sarah F., quoted, 35 + + ambulance, 37, 38 + + annihilation threatened, 23 + + apothecary doctor, 108, 109 + + Appendix, court record, 153-156 + + apple-jack, 39 + + Army of West Va., 4, 5, 6 + + artillery, trained on us, 51, 58 + + _at_ in "Where is he at?" 73, 75 + + attempt to break out, 113, 118 + + autographs, officers', 136 + + +B + + Barnes, J. K., Surgeon-Gen., 146 + + battle, pomp of, 8, 134 + + battle-field, Winchester, 3 + + + beans, soup of, ration, 44, 94, 102 + + Beecher, Henry Ward, quoted, 30 + + Beecher, married by, 52 + + Berryville, 3 + + Berryville pike, 3, 4, 7 + + Birge, Gen. H. W., 7, 9 + + blanket for several, 105 + + blankets "confiscated," 46 + + blankets, not to be shaken, 87 + + Blinn, Col. C. D., ill, 7 + + Blue Ridge, 1, 35, 36 + + Braxton's Confed. artillery, 9 + + bread, corn-cob-meal, 44, 93, 100 + + breakfast at Staunton, 32, 33 + + breakfast at Tom's Brook, 21 + + Breckenridge, Confed. Gen., 5 + + Brinton, Col., escape of, 26, 27 + + brooms in prison, 100, 102 + + Brown, John, defended, 28 + + Brownell, H. H., quoted, 137 + + Browning, Mrs., quoted, 36, 83, 91 + + buckets for water, 98, 110, 116 + + Buckingham, Gov. of Conn., 7, 129 + + "Bucktail Regiment," 64, 130 + + burning $400, 138 + + Burrage, Major H. S., 117, 120, 142 + + Bush, Lieut. W. W., 93, 96 + + "Butler's dandy regiment," 7 (note) + + Byron, Lord, quoted, 28 + + Byron, Major John W., 87 + + Byrne, Major John, 64, 66, 141 + + +C + + cards, playing, 102, 106, 141 + + Carle, Col. James, 64, 66, 80 + + carving in prison, 49, 83, 101, 141 + + cavalry, 4, 5, 6, 13, 25, 34, 40, 45 + + chaplain, prisoner, 57, 58, 80 + + charge, Gordon's brilliant, 10, 12 + + Chautauqua, Mountain Lake, 121 + + checkers, 92, 102, 141 + + Cheever, Dr. Geo. B., 29 + + chess, 92, 102, 141 + + choosing death, 124, 125, 133, 134, 136, 143, 153 + + Clarke, Adjt. James A., 22, 96, 101, 117, 143, 153 + + clergymen's visits, 121, 122 + + Clover, in it at night, 47 + + coal, poor and scanty, 79 + + coal dust, very fine! 48 + + cold, severe and fatal, 79, 132, 142 + + communication, finger signs, 65, 70 + + communication, secret, 43, 70 + + Confederate currency, 27, 32, 33, 34, 94, 121, 140 + + Cook, Capt. William, 58, 85, 96, 103, 105, 143 + + cooking, how and where, 21, 95 + + Constitution, U. S., 29, 39, 47 + + Corcoran, Gen. Michael, 53 + + corn-cob-meal bread, 44, 93, 100, 107 + + corn-cob-meal soup, 94, 102 + + court martial in prison, 88; and Appendix, 153 + + Crew, John, a kind enemy, 28 + + Crook, Gen. George, 4 + + +D + + daily routine, Danville, 97-105, 140, 141 + + Dame, Rev., preaches to us, 121 + + Dan river, 79, 98 + + Danville, arrival at, 47, 48; + again, 77 + + Danville death record, 129, 132, 142, 144 + + Danville prisons, 98, 129 + + Davies's _Legendre_, 140 (note) + + Davis, Jefferson, 150 + + Davis, Lieut., death of, 57, 58, 68 + + dead lines, Salisbury, 54 + + deaf-and-dumb alphabet, 65, 70 + + deaths at Salisbury, 55, 130, 134, 136, 145 + + deaths of Confederates in northern prisons, 146 + + deaths at Danville, 129, 132, 136, 145 + + Declaration of Independence, 47 + + defile, Berryville, 3, 4, 7 + + devastation by Sheridan, 2, 3 + + diary kept, 22, 28, 44 + + Dickerman, Capt. G. M., 32 + + discussion with Lieut. Howard, 28, 29, 30 + + discussions in prison, 47, 90, 91, 102, 110, 141 + + distribution of rations, 54, 100 + + Dolan, pitied by Confederate ladies, 37 + + Duffie, Gen. O. N., 113-117 + + Dwight, Gen. William, 12, 13 + + +E + + Early, Gen. Jubal A., 5, 9, 14, 17 + + Edenburg village, 26 + + education in prison, 69, 70, 91, 92, 140 + + Eighth Corps, W. Va. Army, 4, 5, 6 + + Election votes in prison, 90 + + Emerson, Rev., prison chaplain, 58, 80 + + enlist or die, choice to, 133, 134 + + Epaminondas, strategy at Leuctra, 10 + + "escape on the brain," 67 + + escapes attempted, 26, 50, 110 + + Estabrooks, Lieut. H. L., 72, 74, 142, 143 (note) + + exchange of prisoners, 83, 89, 102, 131 + + exchange blocked, 89, 90, 106, 107, 124, 131, 147-151 + + +F + + Ficklin, J. F., his kindness, 125-129, 131 + + Fisher, First Sea Lord, quoted, 57 + + Fisher's Hill, battle, 25 + + Fisher's Hill reached, 20 + + "flag-of-truce fever," 106, 107, 108 + + fleas, wicked, 27 + + flour ration, how cooked, 21 + + Fontleroy, Dr., his hospitality, 32, 33 + + freemasonry, very useful, 38, 40, 42, 46 + + French, oral lessons in, 69, 70 + + Fry, Major W. H., 85 + + fugitive slave law, 29, 30 + + fun, critical and sarcastic, 104, 105 + + fun, sanitary, 79, 80 + + furnace way of escape, 110 + + Furness, Horace Howard, 129 + + +G + + Gardner, Adjt. W. C., 69, 70, 71, 74, 85, 107, 108, 109, 142, 143 + + Gee, Confed. Major, 52, 53, 56, 74 + + German, oral lessons in, 92 + + Ghost in _Hamlet_, 85, 86 + + "God's Country," 137 + + God's fugitive slave law, 29 + + "going through" prisoners, 22 + + Gordon, Confed. Gen. J. B., 5, 10, 17 + + Gordon's brilliant charge, 10, 13 + + gorge of Berryville pike, 3, 4, 10 + + gorilla or guerrilla, which? 39, 40 + + grain cars at Danville, 48 + + Grant's merciless orders, 2 + + Greek Testament, kept, 42; + stolen, 80 + + greenbacks burned, 138 + + greenbacks, relative value of, 23, 24, 41, 140 + + Greensboro, N. Carolina, 48 + + Gregg, Lieut.-Col. Theodore, 64, 85 + + Grover, Gen. Cuvier, 5, 6, 8, 12 + + guerrilla, "I'm a guerrilla," 59 + + guerrilla, Morgan's, a kind gentleman, 34 + + gun cotton, cushion suspected, 45, 46 + + +H + + hake, issued in rations, 94 + + Hall, Rev. Charles K., kind, 122 + + _Hamlet_, rehearsal, 85, 86 + + Handy, Lieut., aide to Molineux, 11 + + Hartshorne, Col. W. Ross, 64, 66, 67, 68, 115, 130 + + Haslett, Capt., Provost Marshal, 26, 37, 38 + + Haurand, Major August, 22, 66 + + Hayes, Gen. Joseph, 53, 61, 65, 67, 92, 141 + + Hayes, Gen., on court martial, Appendix, 156 + + health, surely failing, 123 + + Henry, Patrick, cited, 30 + + "Hide your greenbacks," 41 + + hole in the brick wall, 43 + + Holland, J. H., imaginary, 128 + + Homer, quoted, 80; + puzzled to death, 99 + + Hooper, Lieut.-Col. C. H., 41, 54, 100, 115 + + horse lost in battle, 10, 11, 19 + + hospital in Danville, 106, 132 + + hostage, Lt. Manning held as, 60 + + Howard, Confed. Lieut., 28, 29, 30 + + Howe, Capt. Wesley C., 22, 50, 72, 109, 110, 141 + + +I + + Imboden, J. D., Confed. Gen., 25 + + Indiana soldiers, acrobats, 24 + + innocent deliberately slain, 152 + + international war, 152 + + Irish Bend, La., battle, wounded in, 89 + + +J + + James river, 46, 137 + + Jefferson, Thomas, quoted, 31 + + Jersey lightning, apple-jack? 39 + + Johnson's Island prison, 126 + + Jonah, disgorged like, 49 + + Jordan, H. T., 126, 127 + + +K + + Keifer, Gen. J. W., 9 + + Kerrstown, 20 + + +L + + Ladies, Confed., kind and handsome, 37 + + Lee, Gen. Fitzhugh, 5; + wounded, 13 + + _Legendre_, Davies's, 113, 140 (note) + + letters from outside, 88, 89, 96, 132 + + Libby prison, 40-44, 112, 144 + + lice in prison, 102, 103, 132 + + lice of Egypt, not "in it," 80 + + Lincoln, Abraham, quoted, 47, 48 + + Lincoln on exchange of prisoners, 89, 90, 125 + + Lincoln on right of revolution, 47, 48 + + Lloyd, J. J., returns from desertion, 133 + + Lockwood, Capt., killed, 77 + + log houses for officers, 52, 53 + + Longfellow, quoted, 136 + + Lovelace, poet, quoted, 89 + + +M + + Manning, Lieut. W. C., tunnel, 60, 61, 65 + + Mark Tapley's "jolly" example, 38 + + _Marmion_, Scott's, quoted, 37 + + martyrs in reality, 133, 134, 136 + + Mason, Capt. Frank H., 92, 143 + + Masonic Hall, Winchester, 18 + + McIntosh's cavalry, 4 + + Meacham's Station, 38, 40 + + meat ration, 44, 93, 94 + + Mercutio's wound, 118, 119 + + Middletown in Shenandoah Valley, 20 + + Molineux, Col. E. L., 7, 9, 14 + + money concealed, 42, 119, 138 + + money, Confederate, 23, 32, 33, 34, 113, 140 + + Morgan's guerrillas, 34 + + Mortality in prison. _See_ under "deaths" + + "Muggers," 51 + + +N + + Napoleon, his strategy, 10; + quoted, 135 + + nationality, northern, 149, 150 + + nationality, southern, 39, 150, 151 + + necessity, military, defies every law, 151 + + negroes, loyal and kind, 111 + + negroes, prisoners of war, 78, 129 + + New Market, Va., 26, 27, 28 + + Newtown, V., 20 + + Nineteenth Corps, 4, 5, 6, 10, 66, 67 + + +O + + occupations, 83, 84, 85, 91, 92; 97-105 + + O'Neil, Col., Yale classmate, killed, 64, 130 + + Opequon battle, 3-15 + + Opequon Creek, 3, 7 + + order to retreat, 11 + + Ould, R., Confed. Agt. for exchange, 151 + + ovens for baking, 110 + + overcoat saved, 19, 20, 42, 46, 105, 108, 109 + + +P + + "painfully sober," 85 + + parole given, 53, 129 + + parole rejected, 53 + + _pediculidae vestimenti, non capitis_, 99, 100 + + Petersburg shelled, 45 + + Pharaoh's epidermis and obstinacy, 80 + + Pickett's charge at Gettysburg, 10 + + plots to break out, 61-75; 113-119 + + policing prison, 87, 100 + + prayer of chaplain Emerson, 58, 80 + + prey and pray, 121 + + Prey, Col. Gilbert G., 54, 115, 130 + + prison number 3, officers', 78, + + + prison 6, the worst of all, 131, 132 + + prison rules adopted, 87, 88 + + profanity of soldiers, 14, 15, 39, 87 + + Putnam, Adjt. G. Haven, 91, 92, 101, 110, 121, 140, 142 + + +Q + + questions, amusing or ugly, 104, 105, 141 + + +R + + Ralston, Col., killed, 61, 64, 66, 114, 118 + + Ramseur, S. D., Confed. Gen., 13, 15 + + rations, 44, 49, 56, 93, 94, 100, 102, 107, 124, 139 + + recapture of escaped officers, 112 + + recount made futile by trick, 111, 112 + + Redwood of Mobile, Yale classmate, 38 + + Reed, "shot into inch pieces," 24, 25, 26, 31 + + retaliation threatened, 60; + done, 148 + + rheumatism, 123, 142 + + Richardson, Albert D., of _Tribune_, 52 + + Richmond, arrival at, 40, 136 + + Richmond, watching exploding shells, 45 + + Ricketts' Division, 5, 6, 7, 9, 12 + + riddle, fatal to the old poet, 99 + + riots in July, 1863, 133, 149 + + robbery of captives, 15, 22, 46 + + Rodes, Confed. General, 5; + killed, 10, 13 + + roll-call nullified, 111, 112 + + roll-call sergt., queer, 99-103, 111, 112 + + rope ladder, twisted rags, 111, 112 + + rules adopted in prison, 87, 88, 141, 153 + + Russell, Sergt. Alfred, 89 + + Russell, Gen. D. A., killed, 13 + + Russell, Martha, 89 + + Russell, Gen. W. H., 128 + + +S + + Sadler, Major David, 66 + + Salisbury prison, 50-55; 61, 130, 133, 134, 136 + + sandwiches, G. W. Swepson's, 49 + + sanitary measures, 79, 80, 103, 141, 142 + + Sargent, Lieut, of 14th N. H., 23 + + Scott, Sir Walter, quoted, 8, 37, 134, 135 + + scurvy prevalent, 123, 142 + + searching of prisoners, 41, 42, 119 + + seceded states, a real nation? 150, 151 + + sentries' sing-song call, 44 + + sermons in prison, 57, 58, 121, 122 + + "Set the table for dinner," 96 + + Shakespeare, quoted, 36, 118, 119 + + Shakespeare's _Hamlet_, 85, 140 + + shelter, lack of at Salisbury, 53, 55, 136 + + Shenandoah river and valley, 1, 2 + + Sheridan's devastation, 1, 2, 3 + + Sherman, Gen. W. T., quoted, 1 + + "shot twice into inch pieces," 24 + + Simpson, Lieut. J. B.; his sly trick, 77 + + singing at evening at Danville, 104, 141 + + Sixth Corps, 4, 5, 6, 10, 13 + + "skirmishing" a misnomer, 102, 103 + + slavery doomed in any event, 149 + + "Slim Jim," 101 + + Small, Major Adner A., 142 + + Smith, Robert C., Confed. commandant, 81, 82 + + Smith, Col. Robert C., Yale man, kind, 82, + + + Smith, Sergt. W. F., clerk, 129 + + "snack?" or snake? 49 + + sorghum syrup issued, 94 + + soup, so called (or broth), 44, 94, 102 + + spittoon mystery, solved? 78 + + spoon, carving of, 83, 141 (note) + + "spoon fashion," lying in, 105 + + "_Spoon_"! significance of, 105 + + Sprague, Bvt. Col. H. B., _passim_, and 143 (note) + + stampede, Yankee, 11, 12; + Confederate, 18, 23 + + Stanton, E. M., War Secretary, 147, 148 + + State, allegiance to, 39 + + Staunton, Va., march to, 2, 28 + + Staunton, arrival and breakfast at, 32, 33 + + Staunton, Morgan's guerrilla kind at, 33, 34 + + stealing rations from guards, haversacks, 77 + + Stephens, Hon. Alexander H., 146, 147 + + "Storming Column" at Port Hudson, 7 + + "Stove Brigade," at Danville, 79 + + stoves in prison at Danville, 79, 95 + + Strasburg, Va., 20 + + Strickland, undertaker, 129 + + Stuart, Dr. Moses, on slavery, 29 + + subjugation policy, Lincoln's, 151 + + sunrise on the Blue Ridge, 36 + + sutler, Confederate, 84 + + swearing, copious, of two kinds, 14, 15, 39 + + sweeping the floors, 87, 100 + + Swepson, George W., very kind, 49, 50 + + +T + + table-knife saw, Lieut. Titus's, 97, 111 + + Tarbell, Capt. Doctor, assistant commissary, 54, 100 + + Taylor, Bayard, quoted, 80 + + _tertium quid_, solution of mystery, 78 + + theatrical collapse at Danville, 85, 86 + + Thirteenth Conn. Regt., very patriotic, 7 + + Tiemann, Capt. W. F., 14, 15, 85, 109, 143 + + Titus, Lieut. L. B., invents useful saw, 97, 111 + + tobacco and the spittoon mystery, 78 + + tobacco given us by kind clergyman, 122 + + Tom's Brook, 20, 22, 23 + + tooth-brush, second-hand, $300 offered, 140 + + Torbert, Gen. Alfred T., 3, 4, 5, 6, 17 + + trading with Confed. sentinels, 54, 120 + + tunnel through the Blue Ridge, 35, 36 + + tunneling at Salisbury, 60, 61; + Danville, 109, 110 + + Turner, Nathaniel, inspector, Libby, 41 + + Turner, Richard, commandant at Libby, 41, 45 + + +U + + unguentum, two pounds called for, 81 + + university students in prison at Danville, 140 + + +V + + Vander Weyde, Lieut. Henry, artist, 101, 117 + + vermin at Danville, 80, 81, 87, 131, 132 + + view-point, all-important, 57 + + votes in prison for President, Nov. 8, 90 + + +W + + war, Admiral Fisher on its essence, 57 + + war, Lieut. Gen. S. B. M. Young, quoted on, 57 + + war, Gen. Wm. T. Sherman's "War is hell," 1 + + Washington, George, Commander-in-chief, 73, 148 + + Washington, Lieutenant, a Confederate, 83 + + Washington, President, a Mason at Winchester, 18 + + Washington wished slavery somehow ended, 30 + + water parties under guard, 98, 110 + + water scarce _en route_, 20; + at Salisbury, 56, 65, 75 + + Watts, Isaac, quoted, 45 + + Waynesboro, Va., 34, 35 + + Webster, Daniel, 29 + + Wesley, John, quoted, 152 + + West Virginia, Army of, 4, 5 + + "Where is he at?" 73 + + Whittier, John G., quoted, 152 + + Wilson, Cav. Gen. J. H., 4 + + Winchester, Va., battle of, 3-15 + + Winder, Confed. Gen. J. H., Supt. Prisons, 112 + + wood, split without edge-tools, 97, 107 + + Woolsey, T. D., President of Yale, 128 + + +Y + + Yadkin river crossing, 72, 75 + + Yale College men, 38, 49, 64, 69, 82 + + Yankee ingenuity and skill, 83, 84, 97 + + Y. M. C. A., of Richmond, 121 + + Young, Lieut.-Gen. S. B. M., on war, 57 + + + + +Transcriber's Endnotes: + + The following significant errors have been corrected: + + Portrait Caption, "Gardiner" to _Gardner_. + + Page 102 & 160, "peculidae" to _pediculidae_, could be amended to + _pediculus_ however the former seems more in keeping with the + original intent. + + Spelling errors occurring solely in the Index have been corrected + to match the main text. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Lights and Shadows in Confederate +Prisons, by Homer B. 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