USA > Delaware > Prison life during the rebellion. Being a brief narrative of the miseries and sufferings of six hundred Confederate prisoners sent from Fort Delaware to Morris' Island to be punished > Part 5
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Many ineffectual etforts were made by different ones, at various pla- ces, and on several occasions, to escape the dominion of Yankees ; but all these attempts failed, and only procured for the offender some spe- cies of humiliating and dire punishment.
About the time of the fall of' McAllister, the troops were all with- drawn from Hilton Head except two companies of Infantry and thirty ' Cavalry. The Infantry were all present at every roll call. The Cav- alry guarded the bridge leading from Hilton Head to the main land. On the opposite side of the bridge were the confederate pickets.
Many fleet steamers, men of war, ironclads, &c., were at anchor in the harbor. The mariners and seanen, except -mail guards, were on shore at the mariners' inn. We intended to avail ourselves of this op- portunity to escape, by seizing and overpowering the Infantry at roll call, and proceeding to the Fort to destroy the guns and munitions of war these, and by taking advantage of the seamen and mariners, (we being armed and they not,) to proceed to the fleet, and fire the whole amount of shipping in the harbor, and secure the sailors, soldiers, &c., as prisoners, burn the town and capture the Cavalry by stratagem, and cross in safety to the Confederate lines.
All this might, and, no doubt, would have been accomplished, had not some of the prisoners informed the Yankees of our design. Col. Manning and myself had been entrusted with the planning and execu- ting of the work, and all had gone well up to the very afternoon on which we were to execute our well matured plans, when all were thwarted by the traitorism of some one unworthy to live, and not fit to die.
Frequent rows occurred between the sagey negroes and domineering officers who attempted to force any terms upon us, and to destroy for
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SECTION VII.
ourselves our own self-respect. They heaped curses, indignities, and insults-upon us profusely, without any regard to feeling, character, or position.
Our eyes frequently beheld the terrible and sickening sight of white men with black wives, and black men with white ones ; black mothers with white children, white mothers with black ones. Seventy polished school-marms came down from New England to teach the contrabands, and in seven or eight months from their ingress they were compelled to return home, (most of them), and procure cradles and nurses to foster their niggie babies.
It is a physiological fact that negroes mature earlier than whites, and that men become virile or mature earlier in warm countries than in cold ones. This may in some measure account for the misfortune of these ladies ; supposing the same laws to govern virility in the sunny climes of the South, as in the bleak and dreary wilds of New England, and thus too far trusted the youth of the negroes.
Before closing this section I would again advert to the suffering oc- casioned by the deficiency of food, though there is no mortal tongue that can do justice to the subject, or no writer who can faithfully and vividly portray the wretchedness of the scene, yet there may be some inference drawn from a slight attempt at description, enough to give a faint glimmer of the inexpressible and horrid suffering of the miserable rebs.
On first taking up our residence at the convict houses rats abound- ed in great quantities, but they soon disappeared, being caught and rapaciously devoured by the starving prisoners. It was thought a streak of the finest fortune to be so lucky as to procure a small rat. Though horrible to the thoughts of men in good society, and decided- ly offensive to the taste, they made a savory meal, and as much de- sired as a dainty meal at home.
Rats were not desired because they were so palatable, but merely to quench the pangs of hunger. Cats played around the prison on our first going there, but they were soon slain, and eaten with the same avidity as if they were fine beef. They were not eaten because they were good, but only to satiate the craving appetite.
Dogs were greedily devoured by the starving mass. The Yankees, in passing through the prison yard from the kitchen to the hospital, sometimes dropped a piece of bread or a crust, which was immedi- ately dirtied, soiled, and unfit for dogs, but it was seized and eaten by the starving prisoner.
The Federals kept a tub at the kitchen, in which they poured their dirty water, cooking scraps, greasy, filthy dishwater, and other filth of the kitchen. Prisoners frequented it often, drank the filthy water, and hooked out the small fragments they found in it, and ate them with great pleasure. Bones and other fragments thrown from the kitchen to the dogs were eaten by the prisoners.
Oh! the borrid misery of suffering day after day from the pangs of hunger and misery! thinking, wishing, talking, hoping, wonder- ing, and dreaming about something to eat ! No heart can conceive the misery of such a scene, only those which have experienced it.
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PRISON LIFE.
My whole frame recoils, and a thrill of misery runs through me when my mind forces upon me the recollection of those horrid mise- ries. I dread to think of, or for a moment contemplate the dire mis- ery and dreadful agony of the scene. I shudder to dream of those fierce moments, when, from morning till night and from night till morning I only thought of something to stop the craving appetite. and free me from the dominion of starvation, and the dreadful anguish of continued hunger.
What has been said of us at Hilton Head may be said of those who- were left at Fort Pulaski. They remained in the Fort, and fed upon the same rations of cornmeal, the same quantity and quality, suffered the same cold air, and all the pain, sorrow, anguish and torment we did, which has no parallel in the history of the rebellion or of any war on the American Continent.
SECTION VIII.
DEPARTURE FROM HILTON HEAD-VOYAGE TO FORT DELAWARE.
After we had endured the horrible miseries and fierce agonies of the dreadful, horrid, and inhuman scene at Hilton Head for sixty days, it was suddenly announced that we were to be exchanged ; and har- ing learned this to be a fact, we caused the old prison, the domicil of our dreadful agony, to ring with shouts of joy.
We were paraded and marched to headquarters, where we were asked where we wanted to go, to Richmond or to New York. To go to Richmond was to be exchanged ; to go to New York required a renunciation of our principles, and a subscribing to the amnesty or allegiance oath of the United States, and, strange to say, three trai- tors were found among us who preferred the fame of a Benedict Ar- nold to that of a Brutus of Rome.
After knowing our wishes they marched to the wharf, and crowded us into the hold of the Illinois, a steamship of vast dimensions, and capable of receiving many persons. The prisoners confined at Pulaski,. after having gone through the same ordeal, joined us in the same boat.
We were to have been exchanged at Charleston, but the fall of that place prevented the consummation ; so we sailed at once for For- tress Monroe. Some preparations had been inade for the weakest and sickliest of the prisoners, and this number was more than half.
Several died on the voyage, and much sickness prevailed on account of the roughness of the sea. The weather was very disagreeable, and we suffered greatly from the fierce winds, cold weather, and the rock- ing of the boat. The sea was very rough, winds very high, and thus made the voyage unpleasant.
After three days we arrived at Fortress Monroe, and anchored in Hampton Roads between Fortress Monroe and the Rip-Raps. Here we remained for two days in great suspense, hoping we would be exchanged, and regaling our minds with the healthy hope that we would soon get home, or at least upon our own native shore.
At the expiration of two days we set sail for the mouth of the
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SECTION IX.
James, but grounded opposite Old Point Comfort. We remained here till morning, and having become unbarred by the rising tide, continued onr course, but steered up the Elizabeth river to Norfolk.
We remained at Norfolk one day and night to take in coal and water, during which time Capt. Harris attempted to effect his escape but fail- ed. The boat being re-fraited with coal and water, sailed down the river, entered the Roads and anchored. She remained here over night.
We now regaled our credulous minds with the happy thought that next morning we would goto dixie, but imagine our pain and dejection, mortification and misery, to see the boat turn her head and steam off to- wards the ocean, and as we passed the picket boat the cry was, who are you, what is your freight, where are you bound ? The answer was, The Illinois, loaded with prisoners, bound to Fort Delaware.
Oh! the misery, the horror, wretchedness, despair, agony and woe depicted in every countenance on the reception of this startling and ap- palling information ! Doomed again to the torments of prison, the mis- eries of oppression, and the horrid agony of suffering. We had fed our hopes upon the cheering and regaling thought that we would soon be free from all the horrors, miseries and wretchedness of prison life.
But alas, we were doomed, for many long months, to enjoy the abuse and meanness of Yankees, and all the horrid torments of prison. The stroke was too great for some of the weakest of the prisoners, who immediately expired upon the reception of the news.
After some days sailing. we arrived safely at Fort Delaware, and were again housed in our old rooms, in the same prison, from which we had gone some months ago. But oh, how changed were our faces, our countenances, and our whole frame. We exhibited the appearance of having been treated with extreme cruelty and excessive horror. Our comrades scarcely knew us, so changed were our features, and so hag- gard were our countenances. Our number, too, was changed from what it had been, for we now only numbered one-third we had at first. Many of us had diseases from which we never recovered. Some died' in a short time, some lived longer, and some linger invalids still.
SECTION IX.
GENERAL REMARKS.
When we consider the sufferings and misery of the six hundred, we are led to wonder how any of them survived the horrors of the scene, the sufferings, abuse, and torment of the voyage down South ; the suffering for eighteen days in the boat, for want of water and fresh air.
The suffering, torments, and abuse of forty-five days at Morris' Island for want of every thing that was good, right, just, honorable or comfortable. The horrors of Fort Pulaski, and the wretched and inexpressible agony of Hilton Head for more than sixty days, suffer- ing all the horrors of hunger, pain, cold, and torment.
There is no human heart can conceive the miseries of the last scene, and no one who did not experience them would believe them if they were portrayed in a phin manner, which is impossible to do. No
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PRISON LIFE.
pen or tongue can give more than a glimpse of the fearful and horrid magitude, and the extent of suffering experienced by the six hun- dred at Hilton Head, or the remnant of them.
The prisoners frequently tried to escape while we lay in the boat the IS days. Col. Wolfalk of Kentucky and Capt. Ellison of Ala., escaped. Several other attempts were made, but unsuccessful. At Morris' Island some ineffectual attempts were again made. While go- ing to Pulaski and at Pulaski attempts were again made, but to no pur- pose.
Col. manning and others attempted to escape at Hilton Head, but failed. They were hunted by negroes and blood hounds. The whole number would have escaped from there on one occasion if it had not been for traitors, which has been related.
Large numbers of the prisoners suffered greatly at every point, from disease contracted from our extreme sufferings. They were such as diarrhoea, rheumatism, pneumonia, fever, &c. These diseases hur- ried many poor fellows off to a premature grave.
I attempted to keep a correct list of those who died ; but from va- rious circumstances, could not ; and as I cannot give all the names, I will withhold those known to have died.
Five of the minber took the oath of allegiance to Uncle Sam, and were thus freed from the aching pains and fierce agonies of prison, but they had suffered almost all before they swallowed the pup, as it was called. I am in possession of the names, but forbear their publication.
Some of the prisoners being cripples, and sick men, were sent from Hilton Head after the sufferings in the Boat, to Beaufort, where they remained during our stay in the South. Their suffering were very great, but inferior to ours, and they were not under fire at Morris' Island. They no doubt suffered all the meanness Yankees could heap upon them
They, or a part of them were finally exchanged. Some of the gen- eral class of prisoners were exchanged, but the number is unknown to the writer, but did not exceed 25. a small per cent. of the whole.
The following is a correct list of those not under fire at Morris' Ist- and, though at Beaufort they suffered all the miseries possible, as well as we who were at Morris' Island. Some few of them were exchanged, some died, and others were returned to Fort Delaware :
F .. R.cp. A. A. Swindler, E. Carter, F. D. Camden. R. S. Elam, J. D. Fitzger - ald. G. Hopkins, W. T. Johnson, C. D. Chaddock. C. K. Darricott, N. A. Haskins. G. P. Cha'kley. L. C. Leftwich, G. B. Long- Virginians. R. W. Atkinson, A. S. Crutcher. A. A. Cathy, J. C. Gothanı, J. H. Gibbert, E. W. Dorsey. R. A. Glenn -- North Carolinans. A. W. Bart. J. M. Baughman -- South Carolinans. J. S. Greet -- Georgian. J. Collins -- Florida. J. D. Meadows, W. N. Cidyard. W. H. Baddell -- Alabama. L. Fontaine. A. H. Farrar -- Mississippi. W. E. O'Riley. J. Martin, S. H. Mav-Louisiana. W. A. Ferring. H. L. W. Johnson, J. W. Greer, W. B Burnett. M. S. Bradford -- Arkansas. J. M. Cask -- Tennessee.
That portion of the prisoners who remained at Fort Pulaski suf- fered equally as much for food, from cold, sickness, pain, and other causes, as those did who were at Hilton Head. In every respect their sufferings were about equal.
Arriving at Fort Delaware ended all the miseries of the Southern prison related in this book, which can be attested to by the united evidence of the survivors of these miserable outrages.
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EVERYBODY, READ THIS!
And send to J. J. DUNKLE, Franklin, Pendleton County, W. Va., (General Agent for the United States,) and procure a copy of FRITZ FUZZLEBUG's History of Prison Life during the-Rebel- lion. It gives a brief statement of the Sufferings and Trials of Prison lite, and should be read by every one, North and South. D Agents wanted everywhere. Send for terms.
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Send 50 cents to the above address, and get Olhousen's Great Secrets, namely, HOW TO FISH, HUNT. MAKE SOAP, CIDER, WINE, BRANDY, CHEMICALS, PAINTS, COR- DIALS, PERFUMERIES, MEDICINES, COFFEES, &c. Agents wanted everywhere.
THE HARMONIA SACRA. A COMPILATION OF
CHURCH MUSIC. BY JOSEPH FUNK'S SONS.
The THIRTEENTH EDITION of this work was issued in March last. It is harmonized for FOUR VOICES, and is oth- erwise improved, and interspersed with new pieces.
Much care has been taken in the arrangement of this_work, and in the adaptation of the words to the music, and the work contains such a GREAT VARIETY OF METRES, that a tune may be . selected for almost every hymn in the Hymn Books of the differ- ent Christian denomination. Prier, 812 00 per doz. net cash, or $14.50 per doz. or $1.40 per single copy per mail, at publishers' expense for postage. Address-
JOSEPH FUNK'S SONS, Singers' Glen, Rockingham Co. Va.
Singer's Glen., June, 1569.
JOSEPH FUNK'S SONS, Singer's Glen, V'c., BOOK PRINTERSI BINDERS, INCLUDING MUSIC PRINTING. Execute all work entrusted to them with neatness and dispatch.
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