^.^^^^^^^^mfm''^^-.^^:..  -.,. :.1^i: Ssi i" i.'.: ::iv.iAiS1i;;i:ii 
 
 1865. 
' 
 
 THE STORY 
ANDERSQNYBLLE 
FLORENCE 
,, 
By JAMES NMLLER, 
NY A, J2th WKT VA..INF. 
Past CotnmaruUr Gs. Siwrman Post, Sac City ; Member Cracker Post, Ds 
WKI,CH, THE PRtXTKR, 
T>es Mftiiies, Iowa. 1900, 
 
 of 'C 
UL 
 
JUL 
 
t 
: 
 
66189 
($00, by James N All Rights Reserved. 
 
 Andersonville and Florence* 
CHAPTER L 
THE Twelfth West Virginia Infantry was formed during the : summer of 1862, and was mustered at Wheeling Island, .on the 16th of. August It was composed almost entirely of Virginians, a. few PeanSylvanians and .Dhioatis being m two or three companies. It was characteristic of most; of the people of the western portion of Virginia: that they were as intensely loyal to the nation as those of the eastern portion were loyal:to the state. Between the two sections there had long been an antagonism, both industrial and political. In the western part there were few slaves, both because the. industriesthere made it unprofitable, to-keep them, and because the proximity to the free states rendered escape comparatively easy. Beyond the Ohio river,, and Masons and Dixoivs line, there lay freedom for the fugitive, who was hurried forward on the "underground railroad" to Canada. The people of western Virginia were mountaineers, earning a scanty existence from the l.anl soil, their houses poor, living on corn bread and hominy and-salt pork, with an .occasional feast of venison ancl-bar meat. The vast resources" of coal, and iron, and oil, which in the last two decades have brought wonderful wealth to the state, were then either unknown or undeveloped. 
The people of eastern Virginia the ruling forces especially were the descendants of the aristocracy, the 1?. F. Vs. who scorned to labor themselves and despised those who did, and who therefore depended largely on slave labor io maintain them in splendid idleness, and devote their time particularJy to polities. Their state had been the --home of Presidents," its nearness to the national capital giving it additional interest in politics ; it possessed able statesmen and soldiers, and-from-the very inception of the rebellion the people espoused the cause, of the south. The affair at Harpers Ferry, within the borders of the state had alarmed, the:people, and. it is not to be wondered at that they honestly believed a separation from the northern states was absolutely necessary to the preservation of that great industrial institution, oil which their prosperity had largely depended. A- generation after- the war we-tttay write cabaly of these things, and even- those who participated in the stirring-scenes have forgotten the fierce strife and the tumultuous- . pas sions which arrayed the people of the north and the south against each other. 
 
 8 
 
AHDERSONVIUOS AND FLORENCE. 
 
As- family quarrels are always niost bitter, so."the.feeling between the- loyal 
 
and the disloyal people of Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee and Mi:*a$u.ii was 
 
far more intense than that between the people of the other northern and 
 
southern states. IB the fratricidal conflict.there were found fathers and sons,. 
 
Iwotbers, relatives and neighbors arrayed in arms against each ether,. and: 
 
there were many occasions when these :inei on the field of battle, or in prison, 
 
or on the picket line. 
 
. CI1ABACTER OF THE REG1M1MT, 
 
; 
 
.Hence it was that the Twelfth West Virginia was composed very large 
 
ly of men who were intense in their hatred, of those who had seceded from 
 
the union. They were mountaineers, used to tramping over the hills in; 
 
search of game, "skillful with the rifle, swift on the march, Inured from the 
 
beginning to hardships and privations. ISray soldier thinks his own regi- : 
 
inent tike. best. But it can trulybe said of the Twelfth, that wM~e it was not 
 
engaged in as many battles as sonic ottonr regiments, .and; its losses were not 
 
as heavy, it fulfilled faithfully every duty placed upon it, and did not faltr 
 
in the hour of battle, And this is all that can be demanded ofany regiment,, 
 
lor the extewt and character of its sftvic-es are dependent on the commanding 
 
officers. 
 
LIMITED IN EDUCATION, 
 
Living in a stale whve there were uo Irca schools, and few private 
 
ope?, a number of the regiment could not read or write. This did not detract 
 
from their valor and efficiency as soldiers. It was the lot of the writer to be 
 
the penman for several members of his company, and to writetheir letters to 
 
loved ojies at Jioine. and read the answers. Sometimes this duty Included 
 
writing letters to sweethearts, and in this art he became quite proficient* and 
 
after the war found it.useful on his own account. There were certain poetical 
 
couplets with whieh these letters were generally ended, as- 
 
My pen is poor, iy ink is pale, 
 
and 
 
My love for you will never fail; 
 
The rose is red, the violets blue, 
 
Sugar is sweet, and so are you. 
 
In return for this writing my comrade* often took my place.on picket and 
 
other duty, and in .many ways eased the hard life of the soldier. Being the 
 
youngest boy in the company, and frail in body and health, these strong mm 
 
were always kind to me, and their services saved jny life on more than one 
 
ot;easio. 
 
IMBD TO 1LIASE. 
 
A. few men in the regiment were tinctured with the virus of slavery^ so that it wiw with difficulty they held to thetr loyalty when the emaneipa* 
 
 ANPBRSONVIIJUK AND FLORENCE 
 
9 
 
ti  proclamationwas issued. One member of our company swore a round 
 
oath that he would not fight fe foes the damned nigger," and sure enough 
 
after the first battle in which e were engaged he deserted, a-ad. it was not 
 
until near the close of the war that lie was found in" the fastnesses of hi* 
 
mountain home and returned to the regiment.  - 
 
 
 
CM? FOB THE FBQJ*T. 
 
It was in the latter part-of August that the organization of the regi- 
 
merit was completed, and it was at once ordered into active;service. An in 
 
vasion of West Virginia-was tlireatcasd, ai:d-:we were : sent to help repel it. 
 
As the regiment marched off the island, through the streets of Wheeling, It 
 
received a royal welcome from the 6op!e of tile ustv, and as I looked at the 
 
long line of blue, it seemed to ie that when we once got into battle the war 
 
would be of short duration. Our first trip was over the Baltimore & Ohio, 
 
the historic railroad of the war, which we were destined toguard-and repair 
 
and ride over many times during our three years of service. Going east to 
 
, Grafton, we changedto the Parkersbarg branch, and rode to Clarksburg. 
 
where-we alighted.aud pitched our first camp. This town was on the border 
 
line of the war, and a number of its inhabitants were in the southern array. 
 
One company of our regiment was recruited in tha town and surrounding 
 
country. 
 
On this trip our first arms and ammunition were issued to us. -The 
 
rifles were of the Austrian pattern, very roughly made, ao that our hands 
 
were often sore from their handling. They shot fiercely but the recoil was 
 
heavy, and the boys were gad when we exchanged them for the far better 
 
finite-Id, 
 
" 
 
 
 
 
 
_ 
 
A-MAM OP PEACE. 
 
On arriving at Clarksburg one member of our company, was massing. He was an old man, John Scantling by name, somewhat eccentric. Mo-one knew what had become of him, and it was feared he had fallen from the ears arid been killed. But in two or three days he came into camp all right. To -&11 inquiries where he had been, and what had befallen him, he would only answer, "1 am a man of peace," and we concluded that the sight of arms had frightened him. He was soon afterward, discharged, as being unfit for ser vice, 
Since the war Clarksburg has been improved very inueh, t-M is now a bustlingtown. The LieMtenaHt-CoJonel of our regiment, R. S..N6rfchcote, has hiade it his home, a-nd a number of the boys have lived in and near the town. 
 
 CHAPTER Jl 
AFTER a few days tf>eirf..at ]&iir,$burg, five companies of the regi,ment, including Comiiany At to: which 1 belonged,, were sent-under command of our. Lieut-Col, to BaekhtanojJu some twenty-five miles away. Here we saw the first effects of real war in the shape of some arms, ^aml also grain., which had been piled tip in the street and burned by a company of southern pavalry which had dashed through:the.town a few days previous, and captred soiiw union soldiers .-who. were stationed there. Besting a day or two, we resumed our march to. Beverly3 going on the way over Rich mountain, .ith scene of one of the first- conflicts of the war, where Gew. MoCMlan and Gen. Rosecrans bore a ,part. The breastworks yet remained, as well as tjupgraves of.some southern soldiers. Our stay at Beverly was briety and we returned to the remainder of the regiment at Clarksburg, On the way we passed through the town of PMHppi, where nearly the first battle of the war was fought, and Gen. B. F. Kelly was wounded. 
OOB MEST BATTLE, 
;. The reader will not be wearied with details of the.-.csreetof the regi ment. In June, 1863 S it engaged in its first battle, at Winchester. The union forces stationed there, tinder command of Gen, B. H, Mili'Qy, met a diras.trovis defeat by u superior force of Gen. Lees anny., on theirmarch to Geityishitrg. Out loss in killed, wounded and eapttired was heavy, and the retieat into Peiiiisylvaniji wfts a long and severe one. We did not recover in time, to be of much service in the campaign which ended so victoriOHsly for the union array, 
. . THE GREAT CAMPAIGN. 
In the spring of 1864, at MartiBsbnrg, in the Sbenandoah valley, an army had been gathered under command of Maj, Gen. Fvanz SigeX It. was intended that this force would ^mareh.,simultaneously with Smuts .array 5n theiradvance to Richmond, andby..threatening the rear of Les army: eom.pel him to -detach a portion to resist: HS and thus draw off-front the;defensiVe ftrrees of the confederate eapifcal. On the 29th of April this army set otiton its.inarch up the valley. With Or regiment was the 1st W. Ya., the 34th -eMasa^ the 18th Conn., the 54th Pa:.? :the 28th, 116th; and 123d Ohio, with eavalry and artilkry in proportion. On the march we passeJ our Old : battle ground at Winchester, and on the .8th of May camped at Cedar .Creek, the 
afterward of Sheridans famous battle, in which our regiment took part. 
 
 ANDERSONVIJULK AND FLORENCE 
 
II  
 
Here we. lay a few ..days waiting for the completion of a bridge .across, the 
 
stream, which was swollen by rains. After it was finished we resumed oUi" 
 
march,- and-, on-/the.-evening of the 14th of May tamped near Woodatoek. 
 
Here W heard the booming of cannon in the south, and reports soon came in 
 
of fighting...Beat* the town of New Market. The next, morning, Sunday, we 
 
were on. the move "bright and early, and the sound of battle grew constantly 
 
plainer and nearer, 
 
HIS WISH GRANTED. 
 
There, was a member of tiur company named Clm?iMan who had eoiiie 
 
to us as a recruit during the jnevious winter, lie was joly and good ma 
 
tured, always ready lor singing and dancing. He and I were in file to 
 
gether, he in the rear -rank and 1 in the front. As we-.were, going into.;the 
 
battle he-said to IBC, "Miller, I hope I- will, be killed today," -I replied, 
 
"Chrisffian, you .ought not to talk that .way." "Wc% I dont care what 
 
becomes of. me," he said. In the confusion that ensued, we changed plates, 
 
She:; talcing the-front rank and I the rear. We lay down in line of bat le. 
 
:awaiting a; charge which .the enemy was making upon us. Christnan lay-in 
 
front of me, a-M as hewas .large of body I crouched-behind him for shelter. 
 
Soon I heard a dull sound of something striking, and Clmsman stretched 
 
himself out at-full length, dead, from-a bullet through the heart Our con 
 
versation, and the-fact that it was only by accident that we had changed 
 
places, thus taking Ms life and saving mine, niade an impression on me that 
 
has never-worn off, "HALT THESIS, YOU YANK!" 
 
A battery near PS was firing on the -advancing foe, and hearing an 
 
officer give the comina-nd, "Fire by section," I looked up and saw Gen. Sigel 
 
sitting; on Ms hora% smoking a cigar, and seeming as calm as on. parade 
 
pornl, while I was so excited as to scarcely know what was going on. This 
 
WH the last time I saw-the General, though we have corresponded since the 
 
\var. Our company was ordered to the right of the litre to prevent a flank 
 
invef<3St, and the main body of our army being soon driven back by the 
 
siiperior fo-rfie -brought against it} in the rout which ensued four members of 
 
our company, including myself, were -taken prisoners. Fortunately we fell 
 
ititc the hands of brave captors, who treated us .kindly. As we walked back. 
 
over the battle field, the bodies of blue and gray were : mingled, showing that 
 
both armies had suffered severely. My. guard permitted me to pick up a 
 
blanket, and also a "well filled haversack^ and both these became of good ser 
 
vice to.me in my longJinprisGnroent. And so for .the second time our regi 
 
ment- had suffered defeat. 
 
, . DISCUSSING SLAVERY. 
 
It being ; late in the day, the prisoners takea, about one hundred and 
 
fifty in number, were marched a short distance beyond the town of Hew 
 
 12 
 
. ANBERSOKVILUS AND ,F1XKRENCE 
 
Market, and camped for the night in a field. Next morning a count of the 
 
prisoners was m&de, and the officers were very bitter against the men of our 
 
regiment, who as Yirginiaftg they said were/fighting against their state,* 
 
On informing them that I was a Pennsylvanias, their wrath against me wa$ 
 
mollified, and one of tlieiw engaged me in conversation oa the war, slavery, 
 
etc, Now, I-Iia4 ; always believed in slavery, supposing it to be right, but. 
 
from sheer contrariness took the other side from the officer, and. argued 
 
against slavery with  readiness that- surprised, myself, while.a number of 
 
comrades gathered around to. listen, to the discussion. Finding that the 
 
southerner was getting warm. In the argument, Imprudently brought it to a 
 
close, 
 
. GOING DOWN .TO DIXIE. 
 
. 
 
At nooa we were started on the march, and at night reached Harrisonburg, and were quartered in the court house. Here we drew our first confed erate rations, and tliey were about tha last good ones we received. Next jnorning we resumed the niarchj under guard. It was a long trainp, hot and dusty, and we began to realize "that being a prisoner:was no light matter. At cne time during the day a southern offleer drovepast us in a buggy. The guards saluted Mm, and told us he was John CY Breekenrfdge, formerly Vice President.of the United States, and now a Major General in the confederate army, and commander of the forces which had defeated and captured us. A brief sight of himshowed a well formed and fine looking man. 
By night we reached Stanntan, tired and hungry. Here we jonsd other prisoners, of the 1st New Yoik cavalry, who had been captured in hkirmishes. This place Is on the Ya, Ct*n, S; H., and next morning we were plated on the ears and taken to Charlpttasvil!, the seat of the Virginia uni\frfcity, where Gen. EoM. E. tee taught after the war. We lay a short time in the beautiful grounds of the institution, and saw some of the young cadets of the military school, who had taken part in the battle of New Market. As our forces were retreating down the valey, these cadets had returned to tV*ir studies.- Our stay at Charlottesville was not long, and we resumed our ride to Lynehbuvg, where "we got off the cars,, and in a pouring rain marched to.a caip in a deep valley, in which were already confined a large IMU; l:er of prisoners froni the army of the Potonme. Here we were kept two days, and again boarding the cars we rode to Danville, where we stopped. The country through which we rode was very poor, and at the few little sta tic ns we saw only women and children, the men being in the army. 
 
TASTE OF PRISON-LIKE. 
 
At Danville we -were quartered jn a four-story brick building, and as my assignment with 81 others was to the top story, an. attic, it was 
 
 -. 
 
ANDERSONVILLK.. AND FLORENCE 
 
, 
 
13 
 
very hot.and stilling. The guards kept .us away from thewimdows^ ami the only rations we drew were corn bread ami black bean soup, very thin, "-fortunately we; were kepthere only a day, and-again on board the ears -we started for Georgia, Our first- stopping pace .was. Greensboro, N..C,, but here we only e|agel cars, and stopped next at Charlttc} in the : same state, where we ewnpd fo" the night, in an old. coinfield, in a pouring rain that continued all night. The next day, while making a stop at WiaHsboro, the engine,of--our-train, which had gone a. short distance In front of as to take water, on its return crashed into us, smashing two :cars and injuring some of our mea. Many of us jumped from the ears, but the guards compelled us to get back again, Hie southern railroads were all in horrid condition, and the rans 1would be very fast down hill and wry slow wp hill. 
Friday morning, May 27, we preached Augusta, ,6-a., and1 it deemed that I was nearer starved here than at any other time dtinng my term of irapris- onnifint. Having been accuslomed to the liberal rations of our own army, my stoniftsh: had .not sufficiently contracted to the diffei^nt allownoes of the confederacy. *We drew a reasonable ration of corn bread and raw salt pork, and were allowed some liberty to wander around the outskirts of the town-,* It was often ray regret that I did not attempt to escape here, though doubtless it would have ended only in recapture. 
Saturday afternoon we resumed our journey, passing through Macon, where there was a prison for the officers of owr army, and a!; noon onSun day, May : 29, just two week*from the day of our capture, we reached a little station in the pine woods, and were ordered off the cars. After a march of nearly half a mile we came upon some tents, and then looking over and be yond them we saw a great moving mass of humanity, and instinctively knew that We were about to enter 
ANDEBSONVILLR 
 
 CHAPTER HI, 
 
BEING drawn up in Ihuj, a litte, dried up, weazened faced man, with 
 
c hair and beard, wearing an officersuniform, a sword..at..hs side sml 
 
a.revolver in his belt, JBIHW his appearance.,-and in a piping-voice commanded, 
 
"Brisoners, Attention.!" Tills was .the famous and infamous Captain Wire, eoinmjuider of the prison, who alter the war was tried, convicted and hanged 
 
for cruelty to those under., his charge (a "Sin.aU man execuifed where larger 
 
onsa should have been). For myself, neither from -Wii-z nor from any other 
 
uffieer or guard (lid I ever receive any .personal abuse or punishment, perhaps 
 
because I studiously* avoided giving" them cause .for offense, realizing ; that 
 
they had: their duties as soldiers, and thai.their p!aee was a hard and ml- 
 
pleasant oiw, with many annoyance?. It is always best for a prisoner.to 
 
obey orders, and to avoid giving his guards annoyance and trouble. 
 
DISCOUNTING. 0UK. INTELL1GEMCE. 
 
, 
 
Having secured OUT attention, WJiz again announced) *If there is any 
 
sergeant he-re who can read and write, let him step out." The idea-;- of there 
 
b^ing a sergeant who cond not both-read and write was so strange to us 
 
tbat vte were nonplussed, but we leftined .that this was not anoiamon in 
 
the southern a-rmy, and Wins supposed tbe sanife condition existed among our 
 
soldiers. One of riiy omra.dps whisprred to me to step out, and although 
 
only a private I did so, but was a moment late, and  real sergeant was 
 
placed in:charge of the squad of prisoners-, and this charge he retained in 
 
the prison, receiving an ..extra radon for hisServices. Was aot this ill .lock 
 
for me? 
 
SHOWING HIS TEMPER, 
 
.- 
 
Sonif delay was occasioned in going into the prison, and a- few of the 
 
boys straggled down to tue brook which ran near us to get a drink. Whereii}H>}: Wirz gave ua au exhibition of his uncontrollable temper*-weaving hs 
 
would put \is into the-stocks if we dhfn?t stay in ranks. I afterward saw a 
 
[fiisoiier who had atteiMpted to escape, coufim-d in the stocks, sitting, in thft 
 
hot aim, his back uncovered and blistering with the heat, and his tongue 
 
lolling <mt with thirst, 
 
Mimlly the order to .march was given, and we entered the prison at 
 
tfie i;prUi gate, the guards sianding with cockctl muskets ready to rap*] any 
 
attempted outbreak by the prisoners. 
 
"FRESH FISH}". 
 
Thiswas the:cyv that gieeied us-fvorn our fellow prisoners, which-we- 
 
afterward used in welcoming new sufferers who came in. Despite all the 
 
 ANDERSONVItLE AND .FLORENCE 
 
1.5 
 
KK<-ry and torture and death, tljere was always plenty of humor which. he.peu us to endure the life there. One dflj a storm tlia-t bew upon ths prison carried up into the tit" some hats and other fct.tkfes of clothing,, and depositec; them outtide . th stocMacle, wide tlie boys made the prison ring with shouts and laughter. 
A MA.RKQW ESCAPE. : 
 
Being very thirsty, my first act was to, go down to the brook- to get a 
 
tit ink. Inside the stockade, about twelve feet therefrom, raw a line of potts 
 
tli ree feet high, on top of which was naJled a two by four, and this was the 
 
celebrated dead line, beyond which it was death to pa*s. Ignorant of its pur 
 
pose; and of the penalty for crossing it. and seeing that the water running in 
 
the; brook was clearer- inside this line, I was about to step over the railing, 
 
%i hen a comrade caught me and pulled me hack, and pointing to the sentry 
 
in his box :at the top of the stockade, tod me- of my. danger. There the guard 
 
was standing with nrasket cocked and leveled, ready to fire had I gone over. 
 
Severs! men were shot here during the sumimv, ardlt was; faVieved among 
 
the prisoners that a guard who shot a "yank" was given a furlough therefor, 
 
But about this I have no knowledge, and beieve thcare >s no evidence to sub 
 
stantiate the charge, 
 
 
 
OUB ^.TKNT. 
 
After findhig the boys of my company iVeeman Yomikin, Wm. Stinc nncJ Glark Gamble we proceeded, to locate our JioiHej iMjar/the southeast cor ner of the prison, and to pitsjh our tent, made from the blankets of which we each fortunately possessed one. Two Wankets made the tent, of the A, or dog, pattern; one was spread on the ground and the fourth was used as a covering-, We drew out rations, and worn and weary lay down to sleep on the sands of Andersonville; Awaking early next morning we saw a few Feet from our tent the body of a prisoner who had died during th nght, entirely stripped of clothing, taken off no doubt by other prisoners. He was a young lad, and it was a pleasant (.-?) thtught that ea-me to me- that perhaps I, too, should lie down there and die like a dog, and loved ones at home woifd never know my fate. But this wa for a meim-nt only, and after that I never lost heart, and of course grew indifferent to suffering* ahd death, 
 
Andersonville, at the time of our entrance*, contained about sixteen acres, inclosed by a stockade of pine logs of one to /two leefc in diameter, twenty-live feet long, set on end In a trench dug five feet deep, as close to gether as possible, forming .thus a wall twenty feet high that could neither be seen through nor surmounted without the aid of a ladder or a rope. Through the center of this iucloscre ran a small stream, about as large as 
 
 I:6 
 
ANDERSQlWIWUe AND FLORBNCB 
 
what would be called a "run" in Pennsylvania, or a,-brook in other places. It .was rather swift flowing, the water tinged with, black, aad hating--a decaying vegetable taste. There was often a scum of grease on the wafer, whieh came from the cook house located oyer the stream a short distance outside the stockade. About half the length .of the stream was used for washing clothes and-bathing, and the other half, next the--outlet, served as a sink. On each side of the stream was a morass or swamp, .varying in width from fifty to a hundred feet, through which one eould not "walk, and which was of course uninhabitable, taking oft therefore, that much from the available space of the,.prison. At times this swamp would be so alive with wriggling maggots that it seemed to rise and Ml in undulatingbillows. From the edges.of the swamp the ground rose, especially on the north side, which was quite steep. Aside from the swamp the loeatioti was a very good one. 
 
FL&NTY.OF BANJO. 
 
,-- The soil, if it could be e&lTed such, .was sandy, and this was of-great 
 
benefit to those confined, in point of health. Every rain, arid it is aland of 
 
copious rainfall,, washed off the sand, and carried with it the accumulated 
 
filth, down to the brook, and thence away from the prison. 
 
When the site for the prison wasselected, it was a forest of Georgia 
 
pitch pine trees. These were cut down and used to form the stockade, leav 
 
ing only the stumps and limbs, which were soon used by the prisoners- for 
 
fuel.- If a few trees had been left for shade, it would have, been of great 
 
benfit, but-those, who planned the prison did not think of this, or perhaps ; 
 
did not care. Beneath the blazing Bn of Jane, July and August the sand 
 
was so hot that one eould.not walk OB it in. his bare feet, and anumber of- 
 
Hie prisoners were without shoes, their captors havingappropriated them" 
 
for their own use. 
 
: 
 
. 
 
 
 
SB0OOTG-BOXES. 
 
At proper distances around the prison, at the top of the stockade, were 
 
covered platforms, for the use of the; sentries or guards. Them stood always 
 
with muskets ready, and generally they evinced an unnecessary readiness to 
 
shoot at.any provocation, though some of them were not of that character. 
 
Very "oftenthey were ready to trade with the prisoners, giving food and 
 
tobacco.in exchange for trinkets. The articles were eitherthrown back and 
 
forth or pulled with a string. One day I saw a prisoner who had become 
 
insane::, rush inside the dead line, and baring Ms breast call on the guard to shoot Urn. Ordinarily this would not have needed a second invitation, but 
 
this guard happened to be humane, and called to the comrades of the man 
 
1j take: him back to his tent. Another day a prisoner who was sleeping in 
 
his tent alongside the dead line, and whose foot in his sleep protruded within 
 
 AND 
 
the limit, was fired at and wounded. So in the southern army, as in our 
 
own, there were^ various grades of soldiers. Generally speaking, the guards 
 
who had seen real service, were kind IP ihnr treatment of prisoners, \vhife 
 
the men who had never smelt powder on the tattle fted were anxious for 
 
the opportunity to "kill their man."- 
 
At Right the guards would call the hours, beginning "with the one. &t 
 
the south gate, who would announce, "Post mmibah one, two oclock, and 
 
alts well," and this would be repeated by each one in turn, changing only 
 
toe number of his post. If a guard wanted anything he would call out, 
 
"Copa! of the guad, post numbah foah.y It was very.often hard to distin 
 
guish between the ..language of the negro slaves and that of some of the 
 
southern soldiers. 
 
THE "DEAD LBFB, 
 
Concerning the deadline, much has been wntttri about it as a measure 
 
of cruelty. But in fact it would not have been possible to have maintained 
 
the prison without it. If the prisoners had been permitted to put their tents 
 
rip to the stockade, it would have been undermined the first night. The only. 
 
other cruelty or barbarity connected with the line lay m the over readiness 
 
of some of the guards to shoot those who unknowingly walked over its 
 
boundaries. Webelieve every northern prison of open character maintained 
 
such a line. 
 
THE WATER SUPPLY. 
 
This caine partly from the brook, and partly from wells dug throughr 
 
out the prison. The soil being sandy, it was comparatively easy to dig 
 
wells, even with only a tin plate or half a canteen, and in ten to twenty feet 
 
there would be found a moderate sapply of water, of fair character. This 
 
would be raised to the top in a tin cup tied, to a string, more pruni.ti.ve even, 
 
than the wells dug by the patriarchs in ancient Palestine. Some time dating 
 
August this water supply was augmented by a spring which broke out near 
 
the north gate* between the stockade and the dead line. The commanding 
 
officer kindly allowed a spout to.be put In to run the water to the prison, 
 
and thereafter it furnished a large part of the prisoners with pure water. It 
 
is no wonder we called it "providence spring/* though it was only the un 
 
covering 01 a former spring which had been covered over by the washing of 
 
sand and soil. Such ebbs and flows are not uncommon fa hilly countries. 
 
 . CHAPTER.IW 
THE rations lurnislied to the prisoners in .Andersonville were partly raw, and -partly cookect. Those who tlrew cooked rations received corn bread, corn iinislt, cooked tie^f or pork, Cooked bgans or cowpeas, and cooked riee (not all of these at pne issue, but from time to iirae). The quantify varied, hut the quality was alivay,* tl}c : same, rather poor. The bread and mush were made of unsifted corn recall.ground cob and all we always bejevsd, and if. wa* very often cnity ha! f cooked. Then the mnsfa was dmnpsd in to pine boxes, .giving it & taste of resin.and turpentine, -which asae tvut Starvinjf men could have eateti. The beans, or peas, wfera a southern product, us<I for stock, Init they were nutritious and healthful, despite the hugs which made their habitation,in them. 
Those who drew misookr-d rations i-eceiral the same artiaes as above, in their raw state; and the same in quantity. It was always ray for tune to receive .my rations-raw, and it was : roach better, for 1 could vary the ." f.yie of cooking. Tli eortr-e.ffc parts of the meal cotiM be taken out and these in the cooked, rations were a proiftc cause of diarrhoea, -Soni^time^ I made com ("ikes, und at other "tiutes corn dumplings. My cooking utensils were a quart cup and half a cant( en. The bugs in the peas bothered .me by trying to crawl out of the cup wh?n the boring process commenced, but by careful watching, and pushing them into the doiip, it made the food more nutritious and palatable. 
The fuel used- was pitch pine^ the smoke from which entered into the pores of the akin and blackenetl us UHtil we lost the semblance of white people. I Ifieii think this smoke has never gotten out of the faces o^ the prisonere, and that they can be readily recognized. Sometimes I drew more rations than I coifd cat, the .stomach revolting. In this ease the surplus corn meal \voul(3 be made mto a bear or vinegar, used for the scurvy, or it would be traded, with other..prisonexs for vegetable*. 
IHUWING RATIONS. Tin.4, w-as the iniportjint event of each and every day, and likewise a never-ending topic of speew!at:oB and conversation. When tlus gates were opened, and the wagoas \vere driven in with the food, a crowd gathered around, and any entmbs. that dropped on the ground were eagerly sikcxl by the hungry wretches. Tlic sergeantB in charge of the cletafthtwejits rec-oivod the portions allotted to them,- and taking them to the assigned places, distribttted them tu each iiulividual laefliljcr, and the sub-divisions were pretty small on some ol the.articles. -Perfect fairness was enforced, or a light en- 
 
 ANDERSONV1LLE AND FLORENCE 
 
19 
 
sued. It was not required for the members of a detachment to have their 
 
tents together, but generally this was done for convenience. As soon as tho 
 
prisoners received their rations, they hurried to their teats, to eat the cooked 
 
food;, or tO: eo.ok that-.which was raw. Very often the-whole ration. WAS eaten 
 
at one meal, so intense was the hunger, but thiswas a bad tiling to do. 
 
SOME IXCUSi. 
 
- 
 
In exfeBaatien of the rations furnished,it can be said that the confed 
 
eracy was in hard straits to secure sufficient.food to feed its own soldiers, 
 
Indeed, at this writing 1 tun inclined to think the officers in-command were 
 
more incompetent than they were deliberately cruel. Much of the suffering, 
 
<ind the heavy death rate, were unavoidable: from the large number confined 
 
in so small a space, in a debilitating dhr.ate, with unsanitary conditions*-and 
 
the lack of sufficient shelter. A part was also due to the homesickness of the 
 
prisoners, especially-of those who had left families at home. When one*, the 
 
disease of longing for home seized a prisoner, he beg&ri to d-scl.ne, and it 
 
was seldom lie recovered, A case In point was one, of the members of my 
 
.company, Cl.aA Gamble, As soon as lie entered the prison he grew home- 
 
side, and began to go down. Seeing lis was in-:.this condition, the rest of its 
 
begaa to-abuse and torment him, and by getting his spunk up, and. leadng: 
 
him to forget his troubles, he eonmeneed to Improve,, and lived to get out 
 
all Tight. Of the four of our company who Terete : cap tared at New Market, 
 
all lived to return home} and I believe that very few of our regiment died in 
 
prison, 
 
ABOUT THE VEBMIM. 
 
Here is a -subject concerning which it is distasteful to write, yet the 
 
description of prison life would be incomplete without it, for it formal a 
 
considerable part of out daily life to exterminate the peats. We had en 
 
countered these in some degree in our own army, but they were as nothing 
 
compared to those wMeh infested the sands cfAnderscnville and Florence., 
 
If the plague of lice sent upon Egypt was like that which infested us, I can 
 
not conceive, why Pharaoh did not get rid of the children of Israel at once. 
 
Travelers lit- Egypt say that remnants of the plague are numerous there to 
 
this day. When we entered the prison our curiosity prompted us to count 
 
the millibar we killed on our clothing each day, but after running up to near 
 
ly two hundred It grew too tedious. Two or three times a day we were com 
 
pelled to go through .the searehing process, and \Voe betide the poor fellow 
 
who wtis too weak, -or too indolent, to rid .himself of the parasites. He-soon 
 
succumbed to the diseases which their attacks produced. The fear of my 
 
veracity being questioned leads me to forbear giving accurate statistics., but 
 
in Andersohvillc, as in other places, eternalcleanliness was the price of life.. 
 
. .BATHING AND WASHING CLOTHES. 
 
It may ! well be supposed that-these duties were attended with some 
 
 AND 
difficulty. Bathing, Indeed,could be carried on with, reasonable regularity at the brook, but .when, one list! no change of clothing, and the process of wash ing was known to wear out,.garments rapidly, it may well be surmised that as little was done : in this direction as possible. I am therefore not ashamed; to.say that during my last three mouths of imprisonment.! did not wash the one suit of imdereothirtg which 1 possessed. Winter..was approaching; re lease seemed imcertan; there was no opportunity to rep%e cTo-ihing worn out; and so I decided to ba on the safe side, and gave as long as possible-the scanty covering which nvglit be necessary to protect me from the cold and wet. Many others were compelled to do the same. 
TRYING TO ESCAPE. " 
It is one ol the rules of war, at least among- civilized nations (who . ought never to go to war with each other), that prisoners have a right to 
escape, and should not be punished for attempting it. They may make use. ol any means to escape, even.to taking the lives of the guards. The captors, on th;e other hand, are at liberty to use every means to prevent escape, and may shoot down those who attempt it. But after the attempted escape had been foiled, or the escaped prisoner had been retaken, there should be no piushment : i:itrt!M* than additional necessary precautions and safeguards against future attempts. It is therefore a just.cause of complaint against the keepers of Andersonville prison that they inflicted undue and barbarous; punishment on those who attempted to escape. The most common method of escape was by means of tunnels, dug from a point near the dead line, at a depth sufficient to pats under the stockade, and after a- short distance be yond to dig up to -the surface and thus escape. The work was done at night, with the same rude tools used in digging wells, and the dirt taken out would be thrown into an abandoned wU, or carried to the brook to be swept away with the current. One prisoner would crawl into the tunnel and dig, patting the dirt into a sack, wltbh hi*, companion .would .pull out .with a string, empty the sack, and the digger would pall it tn again. It was very hard work, and great care hadto be nsed.to keep it front being known, and also to pre sent accidents in the tunnel which might result fatally. 
If the tunnel was carried to completion, a dark night would "be selected and as many as were In the secret would creep into the narrow opening, and crawl and squeeze through- the passage until the end was reached, when they would work their way up to the opening. If- they succeeded in eluding the ever wfttehful guards, t.h?y wM t9.! silently out into the forest, gener ally one by one, to meet again -on a signal of whistling, or perhaps to try their fortune alone. 
Various -other mean*.were adopted, but were seldom if ever 
 
 " .; ; 
 
ANDERSONYIUUB. AMD FLORENCE 
 
.21 
 
I-do-.not"believe that one prisoner ever got entirely away from AndersoavlHe, 
 
between April I and October 1. 1804 
 
: 
 
/ 
 
P.R1YSNTING ESCAMtL 
 
TheMethods used by the prison keepers to prevent .escape, orto-recap 
 
ture those who escaped, were various. Workmen would make the rounds of 
 
the. prison, next the dead line, with -sharp, pointed pole?, to discover any 
 
tunnels by pounding OH th ground or..tunning-the sharp point down. Some 
 
times the location of a tuimel would be revealed by an unfaithful prisoner, 
 
who would receive some reward from tlie keepers. -Bat if he became known 
 
td Ms fellow prisoners he would fee punished by having half his head shared, 
 
the word "traitor" written upon his-loghead or breast, in which condition lw 
 
would, be marched through the -prison, execratedby -every one who saw-him, 
 
and sometimes set upon and beaten. 
 
THE BLOODHOUNDS, 
 
.. 
 
But the most effectual means used were the bloodhounds, of which 
 
several were kept ready for use, Every morning they made the circuit of the 
 
.prison, at a short distance outside the stockade. If a tunnel had been used 
 
tinting the night it would be discovered by the hole through which the escap 
 
ing prisoners had crawled, and the hound soon found the trail. And then 
 
woe betide the poor prisoner, for it-was only & question of a short time until 
 
he would hear the ominous bay upon his traek, and his life eould only be 
 
saved by taking to a tree. As to the justifkation of this method of cap- 
 
taring escaping prisoners I pass no judgment. As (Sen. Sherman said, "war 
 
is hell," if not in one way then in another. -"These hounds are now used in 
 
many counties Jtor tracking criminals. 
 
U.XJUBT PUNISHMENT. 
 
T|i punishment inflicted on these men, who had a perfect right to 
 
escape, was to give them lashes on the bare ba-eks or confine them in the 
 
stocks, or Mad a heavy iron ball about their leg, or deprive them of food 
 
for, a time. For this there can be no justification whatever, and it is the 
 
greatest stain upon Wire and his fellow officers that it was done. It is with 
 
RQ: small gratification that we are led to believe that hereafter in. civilized 
 
war the treatment of prisoners will be far more humane than it Jia^ bees 
 
in : the past The horrors of AMtesonrlle were probably no greater than 
 
those of the British prison ships in the revolutionary war. During: the late 
 
ish war prisoners were treatedvery humanely byboth 
 
 f 
 
CHAPTER * 
 
TJH35 most important and ex-citing jjicWenl i 1J the history of Ander- 
 
sonvllle was" the capture, trial, conviction and execution of 
 
THE HAIDERS. 
 
These were a band of thieves, robbers and murderer^ mostly from New York city, who had probably enlisted ,\s bounty jumpers, or sub-Jtitutea, had been captured, and MOW in prison banded themasiyes tegether to continue: their .old occupation. It was never possible to te!! how many of them there were, and doubtless their forces were exaggerated. They made up by organi sation and discipline what they lacked in numbers. Their mode of opsratioh was to note .the new prisoners who cams in, -and who appeared to have money, or who wore good clothes, or had plenty of blankets or olhar com forts. tioeatjttg .the place v.here one or more of/these prisoners would pat tip their tent, the mkters would go there at night,, and if possible steal anything on which they could lay their hands. If the bwn&ra discovered them, and resistance was made, a fight followed, in which tJi& raiders by standing eo:mpactly together generally won out, unless the erics df the victims draw too large a crowd, in which case the raiders would scatter to their tents. Whistle: palls regulated their movements. Some of them were well known, tat so great was tins terror inspired by them that no one dare molest them. During the month of June they became especially bold and active, and scarcely a : wight pa,SH d that their Whistle calls were not heard, followed -by.crisa from. their victims, with a rush of hurrying feet throughout the earap. Prisoners mysteriously disappeared, and no one could trace them. Our tent was never molested, doubtless because it presented an aspect of poverty which dd not in any way belie the actual condition of it* otcupAnts, for thire was not one. of us possessed a penny. 
 
ARKE8T1NG THK KAIRERS, 
 
At last the robberies grew so numerous and unbeantb-e that some of the prisoner* who !md."heeri victims banded themselves together to extermi nate the faitlcra. An appeal for hep was inade to Capt WirSs, and to .life eredit lie-It said he responded to the call. Guards were furnished who ar* rested fclw raiders, as they wflrc pointed out, and took them outside the prison. This occurred on the 20th of June, and one or two succeeding days,1The raiders fought desperately, and in my diary it is recorded that two oi them were killed. This is not menlionecTby Sergeant McElroy in his took, and it may have been only a nor. I had no part in the affair, but aiy 
 
 AND. FLORENCE 
 
. 23 
 
feelings were strong against the raiders, Th<r regulators, as those who fought; tin raiders were called, were deserving of great credit for their brave work, done at peril of their lives, for had they not taken matters in hand the con dition of the prison would soon have bteorafi unbearable. It is a hard thing to say that the : worst treatment the prisoners received eaaie from some of their own .number; but it should be borne in mind that these brutes were not real soldiers, who had enlisted to fight the battles of their country, but were thieves and murderers who had joined the array to ply their trade* and perhaps to escape the penitentiary for crimes committed. 
TBIED AMD COHV1CTE1X- 
Over a-hundred of the raiders were arrested and taken outside, where they were kept under guard by the regulators.. A jury was empaneled, made up of new,prisoners who were uaprejudiced, A fair and impartial trial was held, the accused being allowed counsel. The evidence 1 showed innum erable-robberies, and several -murders, the bodies of the victims having been buried under the tentsof the raiders, thus accounting lor the mysterious dis appearances. After a full hearing the jury found six of the accused guilty of murder, and sentenced them to be hanged. Several others were found guilty ofrobbery and theft, and were sentenced, some of them to wear a ball" and chain, and other,? to run the gauntlet. These latter were turned into the prison one at a time, and compelled to run through a line of men who set upon them and beat them, three b$mg killed in the process. As usual where n community takti the la* into its own hands (though this was ab solutely necessary here) excesses were committed. 
TUB E3C1CIJT.IOF. 
Monday, July 11, was fixed as the day for the execution of the six murderers, though this was kept:secret except to $, few. On the^morning- of that day timbers were brought in, and the erection of the gallows was begun near the south gate. The raiders who were left in the prison, mustered their forces for a last rally, and trouble was looked for. At this time there were over twenty thousand men in the prison, and all who were able to do so gath ered about the gallows, or on the opposite hillside, to witness .ttui sight. A little after noon the south gate was opened, and Ca.pt. Wire entlred on his old white horse, with guards conducting the six condemned men. ^W-irz made a short speech in his usual broken tongue (lie was of Swiss birth), and turn ing the men over to the regulators he rede outside, taking the guards with him. 
A WEIRD SGBNEL 
And now occurred a scene, which-in its settings and dramatic effects has seldom been equaled, and certainly never -surpassed. Around the scaf- 
 
 24 
 
 
 
ANDEKSONVILLE AND f 
 
folding in every direction fen thousand men were gathered as tightly as they eduld he wedged. OB the opposite hill side another ten thousand were stand ing, tier above. tier, like those in the .old Roitsan Colisauia, straiiiiug their eyes to see the strangs proceedings* Outside the stockade the guards were gathered in the forte which oominande4..the prison, ready for any emergeaey which might occur, the infantry i tanks, the aiiillerynien at their guns, which were loaded and ready to hi?; lireil at a signal. Many spectators were :also standing on the waits of the forts, watching the unwonted scene. Alongside the scaffold- weie ranged tha .six doottted men* their faess pallid. but lips firmly set, and eyes sending forth defiance. Around them wfere the regulators, wifchclubs in hand, keeping back the ever surging crowd from the cleared space, and .closely watching for any attempt at resfcue.l>y the partRers of ..the-murderers. A priest in his robes stood with prayer book in hand, and on beinggiven leave to speak he began an appeal for mercy.- Bnt a. mighty Uiont of .protest went up from, all the vast multitude, until his words were drowsed, Again it was like the scene in the. Coliseum* when the fallen glad iator saw no hands uplifted in-.till the.great throngs bidding his conqueror to spare, 
SELLING BIS LIFE DEARLY, The priest, seeing his appeal was "useless, read the last rites, and the condemned were ordered to ascend the ss&ffold. With an, oath one of theni" broke from his captors, and fighting his way through, the crowds ran towards the brook. Outside the keepers, sfcsing the commotion, tho.ught.au outbreak was at hand, and officers called to theirmen to fee yeady, while the spectators {many of them women) screamed with terror and scattered in every direc tion. It was reported that Wfe commanded the officers to fire, but they, seeing there was no niovcmertt of thd prisoners toward the stockade, re frained from repeating the order to the: artillerymen. The crowd around, the scaffold, wry few of them knowing what had happened, were panic stricken, and in the mad rush some were pushed.-into walls, and suffered broken limbs. If the regulators had not been jnn of cool heads and det,:n!ed nerve, every doomed raider would have broken loose, and all the efforts would have coitie to. naught, Bwt they stood by the captive* with uplifted clubs, while the two who were in pursuit of th fleeing criminal overtook him in,-the-.&vmntp and dragged him back to the scaffold. They passed- close to aie, ted I can never forget the look of hopeiess- terror in his face, ntingled with a tiger-like fevocity, as with foamitig mouth he cursed his captors, 
THE FINAL SCENE. Once again the order was given to ascend the scaffold, and with treralimhs th<j helpJe$ Uir<!cr^r obeyed. Walking up the steps, and out 
 
 ANDSRSONyiLLE AND FLORRNCK 
 
..;. . 5 
 
on the narrow plank, they stood, ranged in line, with the ropes dangling* 
 
their heads. Leave was given-them "-to speak, and they employed thei 
 
moiiaents in sailing to friends among the crowd, giving them directions^ and 
 
sending messages to their homes. Again the priest .commended their souls 
 
,to heaven, the heads were covered with sacks, the ropes adjusted, the signal 
 
. io ; drop.given, tad thpsix sotils -swung- off into eternity, 
 
j: 
 
NO M1RCY SBOWH. 
 
.. ., 
 
. .- 
 
But ROjnot all Mdsby the leader of the gang, whose station was at 
 
one end of the plaak, bvofe Ids rope, and fell to the ground in/an unconscious 
 
condition. The regulators lifted him to his feet, and dragged him up the 
 
steps again. He revived, and begged-piteou&ly for his life. Bat he.-Who- had 
 
never given mercy was flenied it now when he most needed it, -and lor the 
 
- second time -he was -swung off,: this time effectively. An awful hush fellon 
 
the Vast intiliitucle as the bodies swayed to and fro. -The work was doet 
 
justice had- performed-its- vengeance, and law and order had triumphed. 
 
After a sufficient time the bod:es were taken down, and turaed over 
 
to their friends., who gathered around and tended them carefully, muttering 
 
corses nd threats agaShast the regulators. Both outside- : and -inside the 
 
prison the spectators returned to their various places, 80 fearful had been 
 
the punishment that it was never necessary to repeat it, and thereafter -both 
 
life and property were reasonably safe within the prison, except from sneak 
 
thieves. 
 
- 
 
. 
 
The six-men who were hung-were as follows: 
 
William GoHins, called Mosby, 881 h I>a. Inf. 
 
A. Muir, U. S. NaVy. 
 
Terenec Ballivatt, 71th N. : Y. Inf. 
 
CharJes Cnrtis, 60s R. I, Art. 
 
John Sarsfiia, 144th M. Y,- Inl Patrick Bdaney, 83dfa. Inf. 
 
Yes, "war is hell/ butan equal hell can be found any night in. the 
 
slums of- out great city. 
 
ft' 
 
 CHAPTER-VI 
THE most common diseases : to which the. prisoners- were subject were ry,; diarrhea and. dysentery, The first was the result of an inactive life, the salt raeat used, and the Jack, of vegetables. Its symptoms were swelling and .discoloration of the limbs, ulceration of .the gums, and followed by las situde and depression. I have seen prisoners take out their teeth and replace them, so badly was the mouth affected. The disease was believed to be communicable through the common ttM of drinking cups, but this was prob ably an error, The -only certain, cure was to procure a supply of vegetables, especially Irish potatoes eaten. taw, -and. a change from one prison to another was beneficial. It was not in itself a fatal disease, but it induced through weakness other diseases, the combination, of which ended in death. Very few prisoners were free from it and the effects of it have continued to this day upon some who survived the war, 
The kindred diseases of diarrhea and, dysentery were the most fatal in their results. They principally arose from the coarse food, especially the un sifted corn meal, and the half-cookedcondition in which most of it was eaten, while bad water contributed its share. Those who drew cooked rations were more subject to them than those who did their own cooking. Each disease was ra-pid in its effects, ajncL unless it was speedily cheeked there -was -but one end, <uid that was death, Very little medicine was issued by the author ities, partly because. they had little to give. On several occasions I went out at sick call to the physicians- in charge, both for niysef and for -others, and received only some sumach berries for scurvy, and white oak bark for diar rhoea. Por the latter disease I added diareoai made from the. -pine fuel, and cured myself of a severe attack. The scurvy clung to me until 1. was sent to noreuee* and its effects still remain with me, 
CASES OF GANGRENE. At one time a aumber of prisoners were afflicted with gangrene, result ing .in. part from vaccination, which had bean performed by the southern surgeons, their arm* being in terrible condition, It was charged that the vaccine matter was intentionally poisoned, hut it is practically certain that the resulting gangrene was eaased by the physical condition of the patients. Any wound ttr ut mode out. the body was hard to heal, and there were numerous cases where fingers and toes were cat off to stop the spread of gangrene. 
This was undoubtedly a prolific .Source of sickness and death. The prisoner affected would sit down and grieve, instead of exercising j, he would 
 
 AMDE&SONV1LLE AND. FLORENCE 
 
. 27 
 
refuse, to eatj if genuine-sickness, came upon him he gave HP hope, a.nd after 
 
that it was not long until his comrades wgs called on to carry him outside, 
 
either to thehospitnl or to the dead house, and the former was generally only 
 
i half-way house.:to the latter. 
 
, 
 
.  CAHBYINQ OUT OTlDlAD. 
 
When a prisoner died, bis friend?, If-he-had. :any, took iniftseilMe 
 
possession of the body, to prevent, other c*,aiante: doing so. At the prope? 
 
time two" or-nums would carry the remains outside and lay theia in the 
 
dead tease, On their wa-y back the carriers were .permitted to father: up 
 
loose wood for fuel, and this was the incentive -which made every one so 
 
eager to perform the gruesome service. Once the members of ray tent fought 
 
with those of the adjoining tent over the body of a soldier -who had crawled 
 
into the little street in front of ? and died flaring the night. Our force 
 
won, asad I \vm on* of the two detailed to carry out the "body, and returned 
 
with an armful of ..-wood. 
 
 
 
THE CEMETERY. : 
 
From the dead house the bodies were hauled in wagons to the ceme tery, being thrown in to the wagon promiscuously, I saw a load of these bodies once, with an entirely naked corpse stretched out on the top, ami the sight nearly made me sick. At the cemetery the bodies were placed side by side in a trench, covered with cart!), and at the head of &eli batty & littfe board -was put .up, on which was painted. the name and Kgimeai where known, but && three thousand of them there was the one word, "unknown." 
Since, the war this cemetery has been cared for by the government, and is. said to M well kept Miss Clam Barton devoted ma eh time to identify ing the graves, and marking them wherever possible, 
 
. .MOETAUTY AND D1A5M KATE. 
 
* "7 
 
The official records of AadersonvHe show that 45jQ13 prisoners were/ 
 
admitted, ami that.the avsvage term of imprisonment, from first to list, w4 
 
aooyt four months. Of this number, 12,920 died in the prison and in th lios- !i, 
 
pital, or over 28 per cent. Very few regiments during their three years ser-. 
 
vice lost that per cent, of their members killed in battle or dyjag ol disease, 
 
To this number should-be added probably 20 per cent, who died after removal 
 
to other prisons, or soon fter being reieasod, from disease or injuries con 
 
tracted in the prison, making a total .mortality of nearly fifty per eat., or 
 
one-half, Nothingelse- so fully shows the terrible suffering endwred here, an<l 
 
its significance cttii hardly be realized. Suppose thai one per. cent, ot the 
 
people of a town or city should din on a given day, \?lmt an awful visitation 
 
of providence"-that.would be considered, and the weeping and laHJawlafcioa 
 
would be lilce that which followed the edict of Herod nineteen hundred years 
 
 AHD 
 
ago. But on the 10th of August, 1B&4, there were three hundred dead union soldiers carried oitfc of .AndeKsonvilJe, or about one and one-fouiih per cent. of the number then in the prison. Yet so hardened had we becoiue, and .so : hopeless were jwauy, that it occasioned no particular comment. 
 
MIGHT HAVE BEEN LESS, 
 
The demtit rate in Ahdersonville could have been largely reduced by 
 
leaving some trees for shade when the ground was cleared^ by permitting the prisoners to eet houses for shelter out >of the wood which stood in abtmdanee all around,the camp by sifting the meal used for bread and mush; by 
 
I il 
 
cooking the food more thoroaghly, and by giving the prisoners more exercise. 
 
But all this was above and beyond the mental capacity of Win*.no matter 
 
what his dispositkm might have been, 
 
WEEPING LETTERS HOME, 
 
One. privilege granted to the prisoners was to write letters home, and ateo to.-receive, them from friends at home, though 1 never saw yof them that thus came. Early -in -Juste I wrote to a sister at home this letter: 
 
In Prison at Andefsons Station, Ga, Dear Sister; I"was taken prisoner on 15th May and brought here. Am well., in good.spirits. Dont tell Mother where I ant, if you think lest not to. -Writeiuid direct to Commander Co. A, 12th Va, tell him Gamble. Tonnkin and W. : Stiae are here aad wll. I hope soon to be exchanged. We are treated pretty well. Get enough to eat. Write to me. Direct to J- N. Miller, Co. A, 12th \ra, prisoner at Andersonville, Ga., via llag of truce boat, Good bye. Dont be alamwd about ate. From, your Brother. 
 
This letter* in an .unsealed envelope, was placed in the box at the south-gate,-where such letters were ordered to be deposited. On the 17th of Jan., 185, seven months after writing, it was received and postmarked at Old Point Comfort, Va., .and -it-reached its destinatioh in Pa, about the first of February, a month after 1 had arrived at. home. During all the seven months- of my imprisonment niy fat* was unknown, for I w&a reported "missing** on the field of battle, and the anxiety of my aged mother, and of brothers and sisters, cannot be conceived by those who have not passed through similar experiences. What was the cause" of the long delay in for warding the letter I of course never learned. 
 
HOPES OF RELEASE. 
 
Every succeeding day brought an innumerable bateh of minors and stories about exchange and release. These were the-universal topic-of con versation. T$o oae coald;*vr tell the origin of the stories, but as they passed from lip to lip they grew in detail and certainty. The constant failure of our hopes never brought dlscottragemMit, for a new crop sprung up in paee of 
 
 ANDE1.SQHVIUJE AMD FLORENCE 
 
those -which failed. Like Jonahs gourd, they grew to fall vigor in the night, 
 
and perished in the heat of the day, 'Tnei'keepers of the prison seemed to 
 
encourage the'rumors, probably to keep as quiet and prevent an outbreak. 
 
'Then-there were ever recurring hopes of release by our invading 
 
armies. Stone-main's raid, when he reached. Augusta, gave us high hopes, and 
 
the alarm felt by Wins was Manifested -when lie caused a shell to be fired 
 
over the camp by way of warning* and notices were posted forbidding us to. 
 
assemble in crowds for any purpose, Alas, we were so thick in the prison 
 
that it.might be said we were a perpetual : crowd. 
 
DEFENDING' ON SHEKMAN; 
 
But it was when Uncle Billy Sheridan started on Ms march id the sea 
 
that our-hearts heat fast. The captor of Atlanta was announced to as by 
 
one'of the. sentinels,, who called out one might, 
 
Tea 0'eloek* and all's well,. 
 
But Atlantas gone to hell, 
 
.'  
 
A. .wild'cheer went up from those who heard Mm, and soon the -whole camp 
 
knew it Every fresh lot of prisoners'brought in were quickly interrogated, 
 
and in this way we kept track of the movements of oar -armies, It was seen,- 
 
-that the confederacy was doomed* and that omr release was only a matter of' 
 
tiiae--hut, could we ho!d out! That was the serio.ua qwestion. Yet had it 
 
not been for this constant hope within us, renewed from, day to day, very few 
 
would ever have survived the horrors of our prison life. 
 
MADE Ml KIND, 
 
My .confinement in prison had one effect upon me; it has made me 
 
sympathetic in feeling for those confined in states* prisons. Not that I con 
 
done -their. erunes, or wouWrelease them until they have been punished, but 
 
I often think of'their lonely hours, their separation from iiome and loved 
 
ones, the cold reception which awaits them ivhen they go out into the world 
 
again, and I think of Him who came' to open the doors of the prison and give 
 
release to the captives, 
 
NO GLOSY 1OE US. 
 
One cause of perpetual regret to us was that while Shemian was 
 
marching through Georgia, and Sheridan was whirling: tip the valleyy'sad. 
 
Grant was pounding his way to Biehmond, we could: bear no part in.these 
 
gl.orioH*.-campaigns, but must make up our daily little life of monotonous 
 
routine, in wlvieh the moat exciting incident was the hunting for vermin. Is 
 
It any'wonder that the minds of some of the prisoners gave way, and they 
 
become raving-maniacs? 
 
 CHAPTER Vtt 
 
Each heart recalled a different name, But all sang Annie -La-une; 
 
might t-Mnk that a prison would be barren of.music.' It was 
 
not so-in Andersonvil!e. There were lew instruments, as I teinember, 'But singers 'were there in plenty, and every.evening-the strains of the Star Span gled Banner, America, and other patriotic songs were heard throughout the. camp. Mingled with these would be the hymns.aiMl sacred songs sung at the prayer meetings. And now and then a. cultured voice would sing a soag of love, or of hotae. T often recall a Might inJttly, a/clear, manly-voice near me sang the Sword of Bunker Hill. When he ended' the guard near him caTed outj like Oliver Twist, for "more" I seldom heard any of the southern sol diers singing, and believe they were not as given to music as our boys. Their, favorite and almost only tune for the little drum corps was the Bonnie.Blue Flag, and they played it over and over again, until everybody grew heartily sick of it. Whenever any of the negro slaves were working near the prison we would hear their weird, sad and monotonous: songa. 
 
RELIGIOUS MElTIMdS, A Catholic priest was the only minister who was ever known to;eoine into the prison. He did not hold any .public services, feat would talk pri vately with-the-soldiers, and give sacrament to the dying. One day some ladies made us a visit, but the scenes witnessed were so sad they did not stay long, Almost every evening there would be several meetings for. prayer icld, and one.-may feel-assured the petitions to the-throne of grace were very fervent. I possessed a copy of the New Testament and read it through several times, to my profit. The last moments of many of the dying were 
 
cheered by words of hope and comfort from those who had made their peace 
 
with God, while others, sad to say, died cursing- the government, and even 
 
reviling their Creator. .- 
 
PROFANITY. . 
 
It was:a terrible place for swearing. This is -common in war. Away 
 
from home, and the restraints which society imposes, the prisoners grew 
 
peevish and cross, and . vented their feelings in senseless oaths that were 
 
shocking. They cursed each other on little provocation.; cursed the govern 
 
ment for not procuring-taeir- release ; cursed the corifederaey for not bettering 
 
their condition, and 'cursed God in sheer wan'tonness. , : 
 
". 
 
DISCUSSIONS. 
 
There were mm of all shades of opinion--political, social aad religious 
 
in the prison,; ad naturally these men very often -eame together in discus* 
 
 ANPERSOMVILLE .AND 
g, which sometimes grew heated and personal, ending occasionally in Mows, Strolling one day near the north gate, I saw an elderly man who \vasj defending the course of our government fn respect to exchange of pris* oners (requiring negro- soldiers to be exchanged the same as white. soldiers), and 'urging our duty to stand -by Abmlmm Bfneolji . Looking closely at him I saw it was-  townsman of mine, Jos. Cook Col. Cook, be was'called--of the 18th Pa, Cav., woe of the bast of men. Bight glad we were: to see each other, and through Jiim I found other acquaintances who helped me much, .Among them was Sergeant, afterward Captain, John Rogers, also of the 13th Pst, Cav., a brave soldier, who had escaped from prison in Lynch burg by breaking past the guards, was ..recaptured in. sight of our lines, and sent to Andersonville. He afterward escaped from Florence,, and reached home after numerous adventures, 
Once I had an unpleasant discussion with- a couple of Bug. ishmeii, who were berating our country, and claiming that the British were much, superior to the "Woody" Yankees, 1 casually mentioned Bunker Hill, and for this was set upon and had to seimy back to flay tent. 
FIGHTING, In spite of the weakened condition of the men,-and the miserable eirjHiMstances whieh ought to kava mads them patient and fo-rbeariag with each other, quarrels and lights were all too frequent. Ordinarily the flstie encounter WAS of short duration* but a prize fight {generally between New York City bruisers) BOW and then created a passing spectacle. In one of theae> death resulted to one of the eombatanta. 
GM> IELLQWS. Heai* the southwest comer of the prison was a good sized house made of logs, whose occupants -seemed to be better dressed and fed than the balance of the.-prisoners. Inquiring- the cause of this, I was told that they- were Odd Fellows, anil that through their connection with the order they were enabled to secure supplies from the outside. It occurred to me that it would be a good thing to. join, them- at ones, but the -ballot could not be "spread" at that time, aiitl it was not until after, the war that 1 learned by actual ex perience the benefits of the order. of the three links. 
Perhaps the reader will think that this 8iibjtsct should be. treated like the fa-moits 'chapter on snakes in Ireland. But ia fact there was a continuous run' -of games Among the prisoners, there being plenty of professional gamblevs. The inain street leading from the north gate was lined with, men manipn!atin cards and dice, while gathered aroujid would be others watch ing the game. Hew prisoners staked their Money, and generally it quickly changed hands. Old prisoners, whose funds had long been exhausted, wagered 
 
 1 
 
32 
 
ANDBRSONVIUfB AND 
 
rations oi food, or tobacco, or cooking utensils anything and everything 1 to' gratify the insatiable passion far gamMing. It was a source of great evil, but there was no way of stopping it. Miroughout all the prison there was a great deal of harmless card, playing, the packs from long usage being so well marked that each particular, earfwas.known/nearly as well by its back as by the face. Home made checkers, chess and dominoes were also used to while away the tedious hours, 
TBAB1NQ, 
 
Yankees are never happy except when trading, and tM$ propensity was carried to its fullest extent in Andersonville. Walking back and forth through the prison, men would cry their wares, "fre&b com cakes," "tobacco for meal," "molasses," "buttons/* and oa through the gamut oi every possible article. It seemed that one could not offer any article but that he W0eld find some ons^ready to **swap?J wiihhifflu "Very often the guards were ready-to exchange with us, giving'us tobacco, and "vegetables, in. return for trinkets, which had great attraction* for them, 1 remember the-surprise of a guard who one day eanie into possession of  little pocket mirror, in which he surveyed- his lank face anfl uncombed hair with childish satisfaction. 
 
MOBE'BOOM. 
On the first of July an addition to the north end of the prison was opened, and all the detachments above forty-eight la number were moved into it. This comprised about eleven acres, making the total area twentyseven acres. It was my fortune to :be assigned to this new part, and I se cured a place next the dead line, on the north, side, midway east and west. The ground was higher, was fresh, and there were numerous stumps' of trees, limbs and chips left, which we quickly stored up for fuel. This also gave us much more room, although it was not long'until the influx of new ....men made the prison almost as crowded as before. The great battles of the summer campaign of 1864 were being fought, andwhile our armies were steadily forcing their way to Riehmond and Savannah, yet their losses in cap tured were necessarily heavy, and Andersonville being the main prison re ceived most of them. When the prison was fullest the available space for each man was not over thirty square feet five by six feet, 
 
BAKBEE SHOPS, 
Several toasorial artists set up shops in the prison, where shaving and hair catting were done. If the customer had no moneys-he gave a ration, or made  trade of some kind, and these barbers were enabled'to live well by their labor, perhaps all trades and professions were-represented among the prisoners, but there was no opportunity for them to ply their calling. Wins 
 
1% 
__1 
 
 ANDERSONV1XLE AND FLORENCE 
 
33 
 
t6:0nltet some machinists to go out and work in shops, making arms anununition, but they refused to go. 
 
TH1 PLYMOUTH PILGMM.S, _ 
 
.. v 
 
Among the- noticeable prisoners weic those who had been captured at , .N, C,, in AprO. Their ehiaf diitineiien was they were- so .iiraeh 
ftner,dressed than the..others* and in belter fie,*h. They had : seen, but little service, -having always, been in barracks and when captured. th*y were per mitted to retain everything they had about them. But they did not endure prison life, well, and the mortality among them was great, while they were an easy mark for the older prisoners, 
 
'BLACKS .AMD REDS. 
 
There were several negro prisoners, who had been captured, in-Florida. Naturally they, did not receive any considesation at the Hands of Wirz and the other officers, who -were enraged at the idea of former slaves fighting to destroy slavery. One poor fellow was said to have-sixteen wounds on his body/aEd could only crawl on his hips, being denied, even the privilege of go ing to the hospital, 
There were also a few Indians, who had been uses! as scoats in the armies beyond the Mississippi. They were well formed, vigorous looking men, but how long or well tlney endured prison life I never knew. 
 
SoWier* rest! thy warfare Steep the sleep that knows not breaking; 
Dream of battled fields no more, Days of danger, nights of waking. 
In oar isles enchanted hall, Hands "unseen thy eoneh are strewing, 
JMry sfcrmiiis of music fall, Every sense in slumber dewing. 
Soldier, test! thy warfare oer, Dream of fighting Iklds no more; Sleep the sleep thai; knows not breaking, Morn of toil, nor night of waking. 
 
 CHAPTER VH 
TUESDAY evening, Sept, tf.eigMeen .detachment* of prisoners, reeeivftd ordevs.io be ready to- move at any.jtiosaent. Immediately all WH exeit,aient throughout the. eaj|>, every possible! surmise being- made as to the meaning .Q| '-the order. All hoped it meant exchange, but some, the older prisoners, especially, feared it would end In only "removal to another prison. But -even this; would Ire belter than to rdttiain. A feverish night was spent, rind in -the. morning six of the detachments, and a. number of inmates of the hospital, were -taken to the railroad, placed on the ears, and the train started toward Macon. For the next five days this .movement continued, until all the oM prisoners, who had come from.-tibb'yy Belle Isle and other prisons, had gone away, and the new prisoners were commenced on, 
-As the lower numbered detachments, beginning-with number one, were being taken, and my number was 87, ;I began to fear tiiat before" this number would be reached -there would be a stop pat to the taking away, and 1 would be- left. So on -the evening of the llth, CoL Cooke, Capt. Rogers- ami I went over near the south gate, and lay down to deep with a detachment which had received orders to -go out the nex:t : morning. Soon after daylight we were called up, and began to move toward the gate. Several other fellows were attempting to flank out the- same as we were doing, and a ght ensued bet- ween' them, and the police who were endeavor ng to prevent it, some -.of them getting their heads: clubbed. In the melee the Captain and I get Close to the gate, when we were stopped, and my heart went down to my old shoes. But it was only for a moment, and again we were ordered to march, and we passed owl forever from the walla of Andersonviile. Bogers kept close by me, but Cooke was nowhere to fca seen, and we feared. he had been eaptmcd by the police, but when we reached Augusta we found lie was on the tram with. us. On the way to the station we passed the tent of Capt. Wirz, who was sitting there, looking, very feebe from an attack of sickness. He reminded me of the giants in the ! Pilgrim's Progress, sitting in their cave And biting their nails at the pilgrims passing by. 
As we crossed the brook on oar way, I stooped down to get a cup. of water, and wa seized with, a, peealiat ^ramp sind pain in my left leg,, which doubled up so I could hardly walk, -and this did not leave me for nearly a month. It arose from the scurry. 
'GOING 'HQME! .At the train we were given .what :was announced to be two days* raSj and boarding the freight ears we : started toward "Gods country," as 
 
 .. 
 
ANDERSONVIIXE AND -FLQK.BHCB 
 
.. 35 
 
.we.fondly supposed. Next morning w reached Augusta, the bresA streets of which, with rows of trees through the center, looked very inviting. The second morning, before .'daylight, mu train stopped m what memed t;o : be a 
 
city. Presently we-heard a low boom, and thtn a shell, shrieked through the air and burst 'Wear us, syid we knew we were in Charleston, How good it was to bear our own guns once move, and how near \ve seemed to freedom. Surely we would,now be sent into our lines. But then the thought-flashed on s, had we been brought here to be placed under the fire of ow own be sieging army f We :1M heard that this was being done, and we were ready 
 
> .believe almost any-story. However, our fears 'were--soon relieved, and likewise our hopes of .exchange blasted, for after an hours stop the train pulled out, and we found ourselves going northward. - <' ' 
By this time the.rations we had received at Amlemmville were ex hausted, and we began to be very hungry, with "no prospect in sight for any addition to our haversack. At noon we reached 
 
FLORENCE, 8. (X and lay that sight in the ears, the station being some distance fronr the town, 
 
Next morning;we.were'taken off the cars, and at noon were inarched a mile .or morft'-to a eainp. On the way we passed through a thick woods and as the guards were not very plenty a number of our boys darted off: through the brush. Whether any of them got through to our lines is doubtful, as the 
 
.country around was closely watched by patrols, and  recapture was almost certain.. I would have made the attempt, but my leg was so sore that It was With difficulty I could walk, I-urged Rogers to go,'but he refused to leave me. At night, when it seemed as if our powers of endurance had readied its last point, we drew a .pint of meal, and managed, to.eook and eat it. 
 
 
 
, 
 
BLASTED HOPES. 
 
Learning the location:of iTlcrenco we soon realized that we bad Ije.n 
 
brought there,not for. exchange, but to be placed in' another prison, and we learned that this was being, prepared for us near by. The spirits,of everyone 
 
ssmk and we became desperate, A bold leader only wa$ needed io head an outbreak, which, would undoubtedly have succeeded,.as the guards were few, and there was no stockade-to restrain us. But wht there was no organiit.atton, there were (uvmcrous esea-pes, both by day and by .night, and the num 
 
ber of tbese must liave.been several hundred. Nearly all. of them, however, were soon captured <>nd ret'uroed to the canip, 
Next dixy Iht^siek of the camp were permitted to go outside of the Hnes,. and'wander-'at-will. I -was among them, and in-my wajadertegs went 
 
into a farm house--a typical southern one where, the women treated me kindly and gave me soniething from their seatit.hoard fo eat. At night J 
 
 36 
 
AMBERSQNVIU.E AND FLORENCE 
 
slept under a tree, feeling very faint and $ick from the sewfj, and my leg gore and lame, .It began, to look as if my days were numbered. But tha fresh air, with some vegetables which I procured and ate raw, revived me some what. The following day we were all sent back into the camp, and then. I learned that B.ogei*4-.had .ran past the guards the previous night, and so far b&d not been brought back. My -prayers went tip forMs success, 
 
.JSKiaSTIHG INfHE 8GUTJ0S1H ARMY, . While we lay in this eaitp^a^aitAg tfre loi{>!etion : ol the prison, of fers were made,to the prisoners to enlist in the southern army. They were told that they would be used to guard forts, and thus relieve their ow sol diers who could be sent to the front, where it was-evident they were badly needed, A large number of prisoners accepted the offer, and after taking the oath of allegiance to the-confederacy, were sent away. 1 always looked upon this leniently, for it was commonly talked that they would seize-the first op portunity to desert to our lines, and this proved to be the case. Yet I could riot make up my. mind to desert my government, even though it seemed to have deserted us and left us to our fate. But one day, when we had drawn no rations, and it seemed as if we would surely be starved, 1 went up to the headquarters, intending to enist, with the idea that the first Bight I was placed on picket, the officer of the guard would .find a deserted post when he made Ms rounds. When I reached Use place, and saw the hated stars and bars flying from the staff, and a vision of our own beautiful and loved flag flashed upon me. I turned arid hurried 3ek to my tent, and fa answer to the questions of my comrades replied that I would lie there and rot before I would swear allegiance to the southern confederacy. If there was nothing else to my career as asoldier to be. proud of, this one action was sufficient, for at this time I was only eighteen years old, naturally feeble, at the point of starvation, with indescribable misery all around, -ew prison being pre pared to receive me, tud no apparent prosopeet of release. 
 
THE NEW PRISON. 
 
""""" 
 
At last, on the 2.d day of October, our camp was broken tip, and we 
 
were marched into the new stockade which was to he known as Florence 
 
prison. It was an- enclosure of some fifteen acres, very similar to Andereon- 
 
vtlle, with a stream through the center, thewall of logs, the dead line (here 
 
only a furrow in the ground), the stumps of trees, etc. It wa$ enough, to 
 
take all the heart :out of us, hut we set bravely to..ivork, and with the other 
 
boys with whom I had joined forces, began to build us -a. house. 
 
TUB .HEW MANSION. " Selecting E: spot near the Brook,, whefe the ground sloped, we dug out a space sufficientfor five of us to lie down in. Setting up*tent poles we 
 
 ANDE.RSONVILLE : AHE>. FLORENCE 
 
37 
 
stretched our blankets over them, chinking in at the bottom with dirt, making it as; tight as possible, ."'Spreading, one .-blanket on the ground, we bad. one left for covering the five, and it will-be seen we had to sleep spoon fashion in order to a.ke the blanket cover all. My place-was at one end of the row, and I wotild grip the blanket in-.niy hand and try to hold on to it in-my sleep. In tills little, hut I spent over two raonfcte, waiting, waiting, for the release which it aeezned would, never coiae. 
LIEUTENANT BARBETT. Here we made the .acquaintance of anew fcyp* of prison commander. Wire was ..old, sickly, peevish, small brained, incompetent, -but at times kindly. Barrett, in charge of Florence prison, was a young man, well '(milt, erect, active, fairly intelligent, with red hair, a typical southern blood, He realised to the fullest extent the great-Importance $1 hi$ office. He was al ways fully armed, his pants stack into his foootej ajaunty uniform, and an oir- of bravado that only partly concealed a really cowardly heart. Woe be tide the luckless wretch who got into his pathway. A curse and a kicfe were the lightest he could expect to receive..: One day he had ordered alt the prisoners to CMC-side of the camp for the purpose of counting them. Barrett was standing on the other side of the brook*1 and ordered a company of prigoner* to move on. They did not. hear, or did.not obey, and. he drew Ms revolver and.fiml at them. The shot fell short, and the boys yelled in de rision. Seizing a gun from a guard, he again fired, but without effect, and another yell greeted him. In Ms rage he gave the- gun-back to- the guard, and 'Started' toward his quarters*.swearing,, *wM evidently intending to return with a foree awd take summary vengeance,, but for some reason he d'd not come back. Witss was mad most of the time,- but Barertt was alwavs mad., 
 
How sleep the brave, who sink to rest By all their countrys wishes blestedi When Spring, with dewy fingers cold, Belarus to desk their hallowed mould. Site there shall dress a sweeter sod Than Fancys feet have 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
IT : MAY well be supposed that Barrett was brutal in Us punishment 
 
of prisoners who batl either purposely or \mwittingly given him..oifense. 'One 
 
day Nov. '12--piercing1- eri0g \Vere heard from the ''direction' o! the gale. 
 
Hurrying there 1 s&w a, prisoner hanging by the thumbs, bis feet clew of the 
 
ground,, while lie screamed with pain. The sight was so sickening that I 
 
had to go back to my tent. His only offense was-attempting to escape, a 
 
privilege which every prisoner should have 'by the ra!es of war. It seemed 
 
to be impossible to -please Barrett, or to escape hi* punishment if you came 
 
in his way, 
 
TUNNELS AND STAEVATIQN. 
 
Again, OB Monday, Sov. 21, no rations were issued to the prison. It 
 
was a cold, rainy diy, arid the men suffered much. Next day, Tuesday, no 
 
rations were given out,: and we were informed that Barrett had declared that 
 
a tunnel had been dug, and that he would issue no rations' until it was dis 
 
covered. This day wasalso : cold and wet, and some of the prisoners, having 
 
no tents, hadto sit on the 'ground, or walk about as long as their feeble 
 
strength permitted. Wednesday morning came, and the dead carried out, 
 
were the largest numlier on any day of the history of the prison. What was 
 
to be done! We could, not endure much longer. In the afternoon the usual 
 
rations were issued, either because Barrett relented, or beause the location of 
 
the tunnel was revealed. Some said that a short tunnel was dug, purposely, 
 
ad shown to Barrett, This act was the most barbarous in all my prison 
 
experience, and far -exceeded anything Win: ever did. Fortunate-'y this in- 
 
hwm an wretch died near, the close'of the war. Had he lived he would un 
 
doubtedly have shared, the-fate of Wirz, unless some of his victims had taken 
 
just punishment into their own JiandSj as many declared they would if given 
 
opportunity. 
 
A PRESIDENT. 
 
Tuesday, Nov. .8,1864, was the day for the election of President in the loyal states. Interest in this -contest ran high in the prison, us'well*as. throughout other parts of .the country,-even though we could have no; part in it, Barrett (or perhaps Some superior offlcar) conceived theidea of obtain ing an expression of the : feeling of the prisoners, and to this:end made ar rangements to. hold a ittock election. Bag* of beans were provided, both black and white. A black :bean,, .the, symbol of war, was to be used to vote for Lincoln, while a white bean, betokening peace, indicated a vote for MeClellan. The prisoners who chose to do so marched up to the gate, selected a bean of the color of their choiee, and deposited it in a bag. It ;was .evidently 
 
 ANDERSOHVIIXB AND-FLORENCE' 
 
39 
 
expected by Barrett that a large proportion of the beans used would be 
 
white on; and, this..result weird be used to influence opinion in the north, 
 
But notwithstanding there were many democrats among the prisoners,, they stood by Lincoln and thegQveratnenfy and not more ythan: one in ten of the 
 
beans votftd wem white. Finding this to be-so, Barrettdiscontinuedthe 
 
ballet, and the re-salt was never aunonueed, I niyseU. cast a black bean, 
 
though I was,not 21 years oM, and had always considered that 1 was a Dem 
 
ocrat, And this was the nwest I..came  to .voting for tin- greatest American, 
 
Abraham Lincoln. 
 
"GALVANIZED YANKS." 
 
, 
 
,. 
 
About this time the prisoners who had cnlfeted in the-southern array. 
 
began to be.returned to the prison. They prov?ed to be of no use whatever 
 
as guards, and were constantly deserting, A partial 'uniform, of gray color, 
 
had been given them, and this caused them tf> be nicknamed Galvanized 
 
Yanks. They had improved in flesh and lieaJth, but were coldly received by 
 
the prisoners'who had remained true to their government and their oath. 
 
.As soon as possible they got rid of their gray clothing, and concealed as far as they could the evidence of their unfaithfulness. During one of President 
 
Clevelands terms he vetoed a bill granting a pension on the ground that the 
 
soldier was one of those who had thus.taken the oath of allegiance to the 
 
southern confederacy. While his decision was technically right, yet there 
 
were extenuating circumstances, 
 
NO TURKEY, THANK" YOU. 
 
Thanksgiving Bay, Nov. 24, was known in the pi-on,.but there were 
 
no-family reunions, no;, football, no turkey,, no cranberries, no pumpkin pie. 
 
In their stead we hafl a pint and a half-of corn meal, with no meat, or tean} 
 
or rice, or molasses, or sweet potatoes, as we sometimes drew on other day# : Barrett was debermmed wo woud remember the day,.in- some way. But 
 
we thought of the io%fed ones at home, and knew that they remembered MS 
 
<?; they sat down to the well filled tables, 
 
. 
 
And this reminds me that often at ni*ht, when we had lain dov to 
 
sleep hungry and weak, I would dream of sitting down to a table loaded, 
 
with good things, which in soaifi way disappeared hefore they could be 
 
tasted. Especially did tho form of a Bfiighhor, M,\Eth Craft, who was % 
 
very good cook, and at whose table I had often eaten when a. boy, appear to 
 
"roe in my dream's. 
 
ISSUING CLOTHING, 
 
, 
 
Reports o| Our .condition had reiVdhed .the north,, ...and the Sanitai-y 
 
Commission, which had done so much good work for ;or soldiers, obtained 
 
permission from, the confederate authorities to ssend elofching through the 
 
lines t'oHts- Thi$ ronrticd us during November,;and while it was gratefully 
 
 40 . 
 
ANDERSONVILLE AND FLORENCE 
 
received there was not enough to supply very many of the needy ones. My one suit of clothing was in fair condition, but I was of course anxious to se c-are a new supply, not knowing how. much, longer my. Imprisonment would continue. So taking my shirt, I tore several rents in It, and giving it to a comrade whose detachment was called before mine, told him to wear it when: he went before the distributing officer. He did so, and came back with a new shirt. When my detachment was called I put on my torn shirt, and appeared before the officer who was giving out the clothing. When he saw me, he asked "me if that \vs my shirt. I -promptly replied that it was. "Is it the only one you hare?" *Yes, sir," "Well, I am sorry for you, my boy. but I have given out one n&w shirt on that today, and cannot give another." 
Can. you imagine how I felt? I went bak to my tent chagrined and crestfallen, to bear the badinage of my comrades, and procuring a needle and. thread sewed up my torn shirt as bfest I could. 
INCREASING MY KATIONS, 
During part ol my stay in Florence I had the good luck to be asso ciated -with a memhtr of my regiment, John Crow, of Company C. Being a stout fellow, he got on the working squad which was used to clean up about the prison,. For this work he received, an extra ration, amd this he divided with me. I doing the eookmg for as both. In this way I fared nmeh better. and no words of mine can express. my gratitude to him. Since the war we have never met, and I do not know if he is Hying or dead. 
LIFE IN FLORENCE. : Our condition in Florence was not very different from that in AndersoBville, except that.tho number of prisoners was less. The highest number at one time was ahowt ten thousand, and this gave u much more room. The rations mued were smaller than at Andetsonville, a result due partly to Barretts vicious disposition, and partly to the straitened resources of the Crtnfpdemey, which was now drawing to its dose. The guards at the prison were living, on short rations, The weather grew quite, cold, aad ice was formed a quarter of an Inch thick. This added to the discomfort of the prisoners, but <fid not probably 
the mortality. It was not as fatal as the burning heat at Ander- 
 
The hospital was in one corner, and was but little better in its attend 
 
ants and supplies than, fte rest of the prison, I\tlly a third of all who were 
 
confined ia Horenee died there, a mult partly due to the fact that thfc 
 
prisoaera were mosfly those who had been long1 in prison, and were therefore, 
 
weaker, . 
 
. 
 
There were the same vermin, gambling, cursing, fighting,, stealing, an. 
 
disregard for suffering and death, as at AndereonviOe, Life was held 
 
 ANDRSONVn,LE : .AND JPI.OR-ENCE 
 
. 
 
41 
 
dear, and every owe sought first Bis own we* fare. Yet there were nob want ing eases of kindness and sef-deiual. 
Police regulations were kept up .here,; and detected violators were .pnfctel, mostly by .'sound ^spanking" on that portion of the body besfc; fitted IJT nature; administered with a shingle. -Some times an unusual.' offender was tfed tip to a stake and whippet! on the bare hack, and I have always thought that this -punishment oght : to be. Inflicted on every man who beats his wife. Altogether, it was harder at Florence $ian at Andersoriville. 
 
Here I first saw thi-j confederate officer, who had general command of all FQttthera '.prisons. He has been severely denounced as cruel and unfeeling In his office, and this -fcha-rge. -was made >by southern, as well as northern papers.' I never came into personal contact with him, and therefore express T.C opinion. He, like Bftvvett, dfed near the elose of the war, In the death straggles of the confederacy the" filings were very bitter, and it is but fair to helieve that most of the officers in commas!! of the prisons did not trouble themselves .nrnch. about, tho comfort of the prisoners, nor care particularly for. an increase in the tlea.th rate. 
HOPES'. 01? KEL1AS1, The few new prisoners brought in kept us informed of the progress of the war, and" our hearts wwe cheered .by the constant victories our armies were winning, makinjj sure our early release. Especially did we pin our faith and hope to Uncle Billy, who was known to be cavorting around 'through Georgia and South Carolina pretty touch as he peased. We felt certain ho would come to deliver us, and .much of our time was spent in dis cussing; how we -would assist his forces when he cams. Included in these plans was the death of Barrcit by- the most slow and miserable- processes-.  our imagination could devise. W4)y otir aruiies never reached Anderaonvilte or Florence is to thi* day an unsolvecl problem.. 
 
 CHAPTERJL 
"ALL things come: to Mm who waits/ and at last the day of our deliverance.daw.ne3. On Sunday, STov. 27, orders 'came to Barrstt to parole one thousand of the'.sick. This meant one in ten of the prison population. Iram<ISate]y there was an alarming increase of -sickness among the prisoners, as every one was anxious to go, whether it. meant home or another bull pen anywhere to get out of here, la Moreiie* the division of the prisoners was -by thoti&ixtda,- dub-divided Into hundreds. .The first thousand was there fore called up,, and the examining surgeon selected one hundred of the weak est ones, arid they were sent outside. The .same process was repeated next day with :tie second thousand. Gn: the third day none were taken out, but instead a "fresh bateh of prisoners were, brought in, who reported that: they had been" taken from Andersonviile to Savannah (now in possession, of our troops) , had been paroled, but for some- reason were not sent within our lines, but were brought here instead. 
SINKING HQM3B, This was a, dampens* to our prospects, and we knew not what to ext>ect. ' The next two days no more of the siek were taken out, and OB the third day, December 2, the sick of the .second thousand who had been taken away were brought back, report tag that they were not able to reach Sa vannah. arid that they were to bs exchanged. Nothing more was done until the 5th, when the sick of the second thousand were again taken out, and our spirits wer cheered. On the 7th, the third, fourth, fifth, sixih and seventh thousands were examined, the sctections inade^ and they went outside. My thousand, number eight, received' orders to' .be. ready next morning. It n^ay well be imagined that the intervening night was one of feverish anxiety for me. 
TELLIHG THE TEtlTH. 
Next morning after a liearty (t) breakfast, our detachment was called up to the gate, and formed in rank inside the dead line. The examining sur geon passed along the line, questioning .the .boys, and making his selections for parole. I noticed that he took the second' man from me, and also the one next to me, both being fellow townsmen, though not of my regiment." My chances looked decidedly sJim, and perhaps this thought increased my liaggard and woe-begane appearance. When the surgeon asked me /what was the matter with me, I assured him that I was afflicted with the scurvy." the diarrhoea, the dysentery, and several other diseases the names of which I do not now recall. Now, I had been afflicted with all of these in turn, but 
 
 ANDERSQlSryiUrE AND FtOSBNCE 
 
43 
 
had partly recovered, and was at this time in. ia>r:"'condition. But who'., can 
 
. blaxEte met and '.who. would have doe different! The surgeon hesitated,and 
 
seepied about to pass on, when, by sudden insphtitJan I asked Mm to feel my 
 
arm. Naturally very slender,'and still more so then, when te took hold of 
 
.lay. pony. am. lie said, "you m&ygo" It took,jst hall an instant lor me to 
 
get outside' the gate, and I have wondered that he did mot call me back, as 
 
being toe active to be very side. 
eoi. CGOIOTS QUICK WIT.. 
 
When Cookers detachment' was examined,, he was not selected for 
 
parole. As the next detachment was being examined., he was standing near, 
 
looking very disconsolate. Sow, the examining surgeon had been passing 
 
out the sergeant in charge of each thousand, whether sick or not. It hap 
 
pened that the sergeant of the thousand which was being examined''had. gone 
 
hack to his''tent, io my good bye, or to get something. When the'surgeon 
 
had finished, the examination, he called emt, "where is the .sergeant of this 
 
squad?" Ho answer. Again he ea'led in louder tones, **where IB - is 
 
the sergeant of this squad I" "Here I am*' came a^ voice ;froia the erowct, 
 
and Col. Goo-ke pnilied his way up to the officer, seemngly in -great -haste, 
 
and puffing "as if he had been on the run. "Well, get out of here mighty 
 
quick/* roared the officer, jutd the Co'1, needed no sesond command, but 
 
weiii out at the gate as fast as Bis legs would carry' liini, was paroled and 
 
taken home, which lie reaehed very wak and sick, but recovered/ amd lived 
 
several years. It was the sharpest trick "I ever saw played, and 1 always felt 
 
that he was justified, even if I did sometimes think of tha poor sergeant who 
 
came back to find his place taken, and he doomed to remain. 
 
OKFIOB CHAStESTOH. , 
 
.\ 
 
Once outside we were Hiarehed into a fleldj where the oath ol parole 
 
was administered to us, and our descriptive lists taken. This took consider* 
 
' 
 
 
 
- 
 
. 
 
,-.-,: 
 
able time, and it was not until the next evening that W were put on hoard 
 
the cars, aad started for the famous city where the first gun of the war was 
 
fired. It was the Oth of December, the air was coMt and we shivered, !mt 
 
what of that? We were going home. A few of our: number died on the ears. 
 
At daylight the next morning we reached Charleston, and again we 
 
heard' the booming of the "svpamp angel/ 1 and the whistling'of the shell. 
 
The siege was still going on. Alighting from the cars, we were marched to 
 
the shore of'the bay, where we were put on board a boat thai carried at 
 
the bow a whits lag. It looked more like release. Out : we steamed, ptot 
 
Fort Smnter, -until our boat met aucl signaled another boat bearing also a 
 
white flag, and better stillj the glorious 
 
STABS A"HD STBIEE8. 
 
The boats pulled palongside each other, a pank was run across the 
 
 44 
 
ANDERSQNVIIXE AND FLORENCE 
 
,'. :; 
 
intervening space, and with feeble but joyous steps we walked from bondage to fttedoni, from death to life. No .one can tell how we felt, as we cheered, and laughed, and wept, and danced, and hugged each other. The southern boat .o6n left us, and then -rum' steamed outside the harbor, and were tramferried to-the steamfMp.Iliiitei; States. A bath followed, and provided with a P,W -suit of clothes we threw cur old rags into the *ea, when strange to m\y they at once made a bee line '-for the shore, and the boys declared it was tlw graybaefcs going back :to Florence. A cup of coffee, some hard tack, and a: piece of well cooked pork were given us. 
 
LIFE; m THE OCEAN WAVE. 
The exchange was made on Saturday, December 10. We lay here over Sunday, -receiving other prisoners. Os Monday we weighed anehor, raised steam, and began our voyage north. Passing Wilmington we saw the blockading fleet commanded by Commodore Porter. Wednesday morning we readied Fortress Monroe, and here we saw another portion of'Porter's,fleet. At two oclock on Thursday we reached Annapolis* and were put on short1, feeling pretty well, for I had not gotten sea sick, And here, Just as we felt ourselves to be oafc more safe and at home, some of our comrades died, the saddest sight in all my seven, months, of prison life, 
After a few days in the parole ..camp, we drew pay, asd were given a furlough to go home. Christmas was spent in .Baltimore, and in spite of the tragedy ia that city afc the opening of the war, I was everywhere treated and feasted until almost glad to get away. Reaching home, I remained until the end of my furlough, returned to Annapolis, was transferred to Camp Chase, at Columbus, Ohio, where I was kept until master out in June, never haying been exchanged, but only:paroled, so that I could not return to my regiment, which had the:-honor to be at the famous apple tree at Appomattox. During my imprisonment; it bore a prominent part in the campaigns of the valley and the Potoinae, being engaged in twelve general battles in all its term -of service. 
 
 r 
 
MENTION has been.ntttde of -the diary kept during my. imprisonment, 
 
It was given to me soon after capture, by Yoiinkin, In it are recorded 
 
briefly the prominent events of each day, ad from it my memory has 
 
been refreshed in preparing the foregoing, narrative. A. few extracts from it 
 
may 'serve to deepen on the mind of the reader the impression made at the 
 
time, aad present more vividly the character of the life and sufferings 
 
endured. 
 
May 31 (two days after entering Ante$ow?ille): Last-day of spring.- 
 
A few more prisoners came in. All seem to think the war will soon be 
 
over, and we will be released. I hope it may soon be. Urew better rations 
 
today. 
 
June 1: Mrst day of summer. God grantthat ere-it ends we may all 
 
be within our own lines. The Col. (probably Wirz is meant) says we will 
 
soon be exchanged or paroled. 1,500 more prisoners came in. 
 
June 4; A great lot of. ladies-came to the stockade to see the prison 
 
ers. Some seem to be union at heart* 
 
(For El consecutive days I records that it mined some times only a 
 
little, but mostly -hard.) 
 
June 17: Fourteen, prisoners ran, away from wood squad in evening, 
 
taking nine gun.? along. 
 
June 21; Two men, were shot by guard for foimg over, the dead line. 
 
June 22: Made a good meal of beans, meat and corn dumplings. It 
 
is said an .exchange or parole will take place July 7. 
 
June 24i All prisoners who had money taken from them can get it to 
 
morrow morning. It does not oiTeet me. 
 
June 30: Our rations were stopped until the raiders were taken out. 
 
Men organized and took them out by force. Found great deal of stolen 
 
property. 
 
 
 
. 
 
Jwly 3: Ho rations issued on account of some prisoners being missed. 
 
Bridge built across the branch, 
 
July 4: The anniversary of our National Independence, No celebra 
 
tion by the rebels. Would that I were home, A very poor place for us to 
 
celebrate it. All the detachments were changed lii.. auitiber. Very loud 
 
thunder, 
 
July 1 , This is the day parole was to take place, bat nary parole, 
 
July 11 (Records the hanging -of the Raiders). 
 
July 13j -A prisoner was shot by a- guard while getting water at the 
 
 46 
 
ANDSRSONVIU,E AND FLORENCE 
 
brook. Belonged to the 20th Pa, Cav. Was not over the dead line. Twas nothing but a cold blooded murder. 
July 14: The sergeants of detachments were taken out and. informed if the men did not keep away from the gate they wowM he ftred, on. Two blank cannon shot were fired in evening, and a lot of musketry. Dont know 'What It was lor. 
July 16; Petitions arc being gotten tip to the loyal Governors to have vis released. 
July 20; The rehels commenced throwing'up fortification* outside, I . suppose to resist &n anticipated' attack. 
July 27: 'W&nt'ottt to Doctors today on account of having"scurvy in my month. 
July 29: Four white flags were put up in camp as a, mark not to collect in crowds between tteni and Uis gate while prisoners were beng brought in. 
July 31:: Reported that our cavalry are in the direeilon of Macon, making a raid. Retl$ worked all last'Bight and today fortifying. 
Augl 2: A lot of prisoners came in. Say Gen. Stoneir.an and a large lot oi-Jm men were captured neat Maeou, 
Aug. o; All the skk out of eleven detachments were taken out. Begins to look like paroling. 
Aug. 0; Quite a lot of slaves ars h;.ra working o i\>r;ifieation.s. fceent ,to I* happy, sing as they work. 
A|** 9; Eaiiied Vnry hard. A lot- of tl$ stoekade fell down at the Bebs fell out into line double quick. No-ne of the prisoner? got away. 
Avtg, 10: The n,n aits dying off at- a fcarful rate. About time within twenty-lour henrs, 
Aug. 11; It is- sad to sec the sufferings the men endure in this prison.' SoBftfi one will have an unpardonable sin to answer for in keeping them in here. 
Aug. 20: Pelt pretty bad today.-. Month very S&K with scurvy, "Aug. 25: Am'4-good deal better tod* y. This is my birthday (18). A poor place la celebrate it. 
Aag, 26": A man was fried today for murder. Was taken outside. (Have no further record 01 this.) 
Aug. 31 j The lust day of grimmer a SHminer spent in prison. What tail our government mean by allowing its soltliers to be confined in this man ner I 'There is surely some way of releasing us. 
Sept.5: A lot of prisoners eante in from Sherinans army. Say SherliJif whipped Hood badly, and drove him from Atlanta. Think he \vill down here, "   
 
 : AND FLORENCE 
 
47 
 
Sept, 28: (at Florence): A: petition to the'rebel government was got np in camp,, asking "there to parole us. Don't think it wi'l do much good. 
Sept."20: Drew very sinall rations, barely enough to support" life. Last .night was eoltl. SOBK* of .the nteii-lm^e no clothes, and no shelter, 
Bept.;28; Drew nothing bat half a pint of very coarse meal, and a few spoonfuls of'beans. At this rate men will die of starvation. Threats ate being nutfie of & "break." 
Sept 0: Aii -opportunity was offered for those willing-to take thfr oath of allegiance to the C. 8, A.- Dont feel like it myself. 
Get, 1: Drew one and a half of haul tack,, four spoonfuls of meal, ancf a little molasses, for a days ration. Begins to look like starvation. 
Get. 14: A larger number took the oath of allegiance than at any other time before. What the end of tMs;wO Iw.God on!y knows. May He ,aint to have us reeased. 
Oct. 16: Prayer meefings were Iwld in prison in the evening. Oct.- 20: Some-of the men were allowed to go outside to get brush to fix up their tents with. Oct. 25: The rebels moved their: artillery away from around the camp, for some purpose. It Is said our forces arc making a raid from Georgetown 
<*>S , fut, 
Oct. 31: Another month gene, and still in prison. I think ow gov ernment i$ rather too stubborn about an exchange. 
Nov. fh 270 prisoners took the imth of tillegiaiiee, and went to join the rebel army, 
NOT. 8; .Election day at hoioe. A. vote was taken in pri sen, resulting in a large majority for "Old Abe." May like success at:end him elsewhere, 
Nv, 17." A great lot of prisoners who had iakcn ths oath of alltiance were sent inside. Had b* at Oharkiston doint duty. 
Nov. 30; The last of 'Autumn. Is it possible that \ve arc never to get out of prison t I fear tat ft?w will live to see home if not ie";ea;ed soon. 
The record front this time has been get forth in t-liw body of the book.