USA > Ohio > In the 50th Ohio serving Uncle Sam : memoirs of one who wore the blue > Part 16
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"I shall not attempt at this time to describe to you all the various scenes that I have passed through, but will do that some time in future, when I have better accommodations for writing than I have at present.
"All I wish to do at this is to let you know I have got back to God's country alive and well, and I hope I may never be caught in another such a scrape.
"I will simply say this : I was captured by the enemy at Frank- lin, Tennessee, on the 30th of last November and marched from there to Cherokee Station, Alabama, where we boarded the cars and were shipped to Meridian, Mississippi, where we remained in a stockade about one month.
"We were then shipped by rail to Selma, Alabama, and then took it afoot, ten miles further, to Cahaba, and placed in Castle Morgan, where we were kept till the 13th of March, when we left there on parole for our lines, where we arrived yesterday, and were received into camp under the starry folds of our glorious old flag.
"I suppose a happier set of men was never seen than we were when we' stepped inside our lines. My heart swelled with thank- fulness to the Heavenly Father for this great deliverance from our enemies.
"I suppose you have been in great trouble about me since I was captured, but now you may let your mind rest easy, for I am all right, and I hope and pray you are all alive and well at home, for I have not heard a word from any of you since.my capture.
"I wrote you two letters while in prison, but do not know
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whether you received them or not. Write me as soon as you receive this, and tell me all the news.
"I would love to know where the 50th is, and how many were killed and wounded at Franklin.
"The Christian Sanitary Commission are here, doing all in their power to make us comfortable and happy. May God bless them in their noble work.
"I have many things to tell you, but will have to pass them by for this time.
"Direct Company "C," 3rd Battalion, Parole Camp, rear Vicks- burg, Missippi.
"I cannot tell you anything of future movements. Andrew Pouder is with me, well and hardy. My love and best wishes to one and all.
"From your loving son and brother,
"ERASTUS WINTERS."
I had not been in camp here but a few days until I received two letters from some of my sisters at home, but they had been written for some time, as they were held at Vicksburg to await our arrival ; but nevertheless I was certainly glad to get them and hear from home once more, if they were a little old.
Comrade Pouder and I got a pass one day and went up to visit Vicksburg. We neither of us had any money, but I had the good fortune while there to find a fifty-cent shin plaster lying in the gutter. It had been so long since I had any money I came near not recognizing it as money. We made use of it, but I have for- gotten what we purchased with it.
We spent a good portion of the day looking around over the Bluff City, but I have no remembrance now of anything we saw, so I judge we saw nothing that made any very lasting impressions on my mind.
On March 29th I sent the following letter home to my parents : "Camp Fisk, four miles south of Vicksburg, "March 29th, 1865.
"My Dear Parents, Brothers and Sisters :
"Once more am I permitted the pleasure of seating myself to write you all a short letter to inform you all of my present good health and prosperity.
"I have just received two letters, one from sister Phebe and one from sister Lucretia. They have been written for some time, but yet they were new to me, and I was glad to hear you were all living and in health when they were written.
"But oh! how sorry I was to hear of the death of Lieutenant Pine. I don't know what will become of Company 'K' now. I have not heard anything from the regiment yet, but I expect a
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great many of my comrades met their death at Franklin and Nashville.
"I am thankful that a kind and watchful Heavenly Father has spared my life thus far, though surrounded by many dangers and exposed to many hardships.
"First, I was threatened with death from powder and ball; second, was nearly frozen to death; third, was nearly marched to death ; fourth, was nearly starved to death; and fifthly, was kept in prison nearly a week with the water standing knee deep over the entire inside of the prison; yet out of all these dangers, trials and tribulations the good Lord delivered me. All honor, thanks- giving and praise be to His name.
"I will give just a short sketch of my experience since the 30th of last November :
"I was captured by the enemy that day at Franklin with sixty- two others of my regiment, and taken back to Columbia and kept in an old fort there until the 14th of December, and although the weather was very cold, we got barely enough wood to cook our little cornmeal they gave us.
"All I had to protect me from the cold was a small part of a blanket that I gathered up somewhere on the route. But many of the poor boys were not that well off.
"If a prisoner had a good blanket or overcoat, the rebs would take it, and leave him with nothing to screen him from the cold winds and storms that we were compelled to lay out in.
. "Leaving Columbia the 14th of December. we marched to Cherokee, Alabama. This was the worst march I ever experienced. The mud and slush were shoe mouth deep, beside the rain and snow that we had to battle with. We were eight days on this trip. We drew a little cornmeal and a little poor beef each day, until we reached Cherokee, where we were given a few hardtacks, put aboard platform cars and shipped to Corinth, Mississippi.
The weather meantime was very cold, and we suffered a great deal from the exposure in riding in the night on open cars.
"We arrived here on the morning of the 23rd ; remained here till next day, boarded the cars again, and were sent to Meridian, Mississippi, arriving there on Christmas night, having passed our Christmas on the cars, and our dinner was raw corn, of which there was plenty at all the stations on the road.
"Here we were placed in a stockade and kept until the 8th of January, 1865. We did not fare so badly here. A quart of meal, a few nigger peas, a little beef, pork or spareribs for a day's ration to each man. And having got hold of some Confederate money, I bought some sweet potatoes. They were plentiful here. We had some very good eating.
"But on the 9th of January we were once more placed aboard the cars and shipped to Cahaba, Alabama, arriving there on the 12th. Here our misery began in dead earnest. There were some- thing over three thousand prisoners confined here. These were divided into companies of one hundred men each, and these again
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divided into messes of ten men each, and each mess drew a large bake oven.
"Once every ten days one man would be passed out after wood, and what he could carry in at one trip would have to run us for cooking purposes for ten days. The wood was mostly green, and there was so much smoke in our crowded cook-yard that some of the men were almost blinded with it.
"We did not get half enough to eat, and what we did get we had to eat half cooked for the want of wood.
"The prison was overcrowded with men. We could not sit or stand anywhere without someone crowding against us, except when lying down at night, trying to sleep; and then we could not rest, for the place was simply alive with body lice-graybacks, we called them.
"One morning before daylight, just before we were exchanged, a few ring-leaders among the prisoners made an attempt to liberate us all. They disarmed all the inner guard except one ; he made his escape to the outside, and gave the alarm, and the plan proved a failure.
"It was three days before they found out the leaders of the insurrection, and we never got a bite to eat during that time.
"About six hundred of the men had bunks to sleep on, but the balance of us had to sleep on the ground. All through February it rained almost daily, and about two weeks before we came out the water from the Alabama River came in and covered the entire inside of the prison from two to three feet.
"Fortunately for us, a boat load was taken out for exchange at this time, and that gave the remainder of us a chance to occupy the bunks, and keep out of the water.
"Finally, on the 13th of March, we were all taken out, and funished transportation as far as Jackson, Mississippi.
"Then after a two days' march, we were received into our lines at the Big Black River on the 20th or 21st of March.
"This is only an outline sketch. I will fill it up with particu- lars when I reach home.
"We are now pleasantly situated at four mile bridge back of Vicksburg. We have good quarters to stay in; get plenty to eat ; have drawn new clothing, and we begin to feel like men once more.
"I wrote you a few lines the next day after my arrival here, and I suppose you have received it by this time.
"I am at present in good health, and of course, in good spirits again.
"Write to me soon, and tell me all the news, both good and bad. "Direct to camp Fisk, near Vicksburg, Mississippi, Company "C". Third Batallion, ex-prisoners of war.
"Give my love and best wishes to all inquiring friends, and don't forget to choose a large portion for yourselves.
"I am as ever, your loving son and brother, who wishes the choicest blessings of Heaven to rest upon you all.
"ERASTUS WINTERS."
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CHAPTER XXIV.
Arrival of Prisoners from Andersonville-We Receive the News of the Assassination and Death of President Lincoln-We Start North-Destruction of the Steamer Sultana.
One day while here there arrived a lot of men from Anderson- ville prison. Poor boys! what a sad plight they were in ; many of them so weak and emaciated we had to lead them from the cars to camp.
How could men lose all feelings of humanity, so as to treat their fellow beings as our prisoners were treated in the Southern prisons, during the War of the Rebellion?
Surely if there is a place of future punishment, and the Bible teaches me there is, and I believe it with all my heart, then those who were the cause of so much suffering and death in those aw- ful days, will some day receive their just reward in full measure, shaken down and running over.
I have no hard feelings against the Confederate soldier, who met us face to face on the field of battle, and fought us bravely for what he thought was right. I can meet the old gray-headed veteran now who wore the grey, and grasp him by the hand with- out a thought of bitterness or malice or hatred in my heart, but never while I live can I forget the treatment we received from their leaders in those cruel, deadly dens in the South.
We were here in camp yet when the word reached us that our beloved President Abraham Lincoln's life had been snuffed out by the cruel hand of an assassin. This cast a gloom over our cheer- ful camp, and mutterings for a speedy revenge for the cruel act were heard on all sides.
Oh! why did they not let that broken-hearted man live to fin- ish the work he had been successfully engaged in since 1861 ?
Sad to think that just as the dark clouds of war began to roll by, the grand and noble Lincoln, with malice towards none, but with charity for all, should die by the hand of a murderous assas- sin. It is hard to realize why he should have been cut down, just as peace was almost within his sight.
The Confederate Commissioner of Exchange, Colonel Hender- son (or rather General as he tells me ; he had now been promoted to Brigadier General), was in Vicksburg when the news came that
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the President had been murdered. Excitement ran high, and it was feared that the colored soldiers would kill General Henderson, on sight, knowing him to be a Confederate. Our officers saw to having him put aboard a light engine and run out to the Big Black River, and set across into the Confederate lines.
General Henderson says that was about the wildest ride he ever made, and he was jolted so he could scarcely keep his seat ; the road was rough, the engineer badly scared, and he threw the throttle wide open and let her pound.
I heard the engine pass our camp that night, but did not know until afterward what her errand was.
The Confederate Texas Cavalry were on duty at the Big Black River, and Henderson says when he told them of the mur- der of Lincoln, that as tough and hard as those Texans have the reputation of being, that a number of them shed tears, and well they might, for they had lost a true friend.
In a few days matters quieted down, and General Henderson came back to Vicksburg to attend to his duties.
We remained here in this camp about one month; that is, I speak of those that I came from Cahaba with. There were others that were before us, and there were others that came afterward.
Everything went along smoothly except our water supply made several of the men sick.
The soil there was a black loam and there was no limestone in it, hence the water was not very good for health.
I think, perhaps, it was either the 23rd or 24th of April that we finally broke camp, and went to Vicksburg.
I cannot now remember whether we marched or went by rail; however, that doesn't matter. I know we got there by some means, and from the best information I can gather, some twenty-three hundred of us were put aboard the steamer Sultana; there were some cabin passengers, and among them I am told were nine ladies. There was also a company of soldiers put aboard.
The Sultana was a side-wheeled boat, and a pretty large sized steamer, but the reader can see at once she was overloaded, but graft, dear reader, was practiced in those days just the same as now.
And while there were other boats lying at Vicksburg that would have been glad to have had a part of us for a cargo, as Uncle Sam was paying so much a head to have us shipped north at that time, yet by some hocus pocus between the officers of the Sultana and the transportation officers, in which money played the chief part,
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we were all crowded aboard the one boat, something like a flock of sheep or a drove of hogs.
But we prisoners, at least those of us from Cahaba, were used to being crowded, and therefore we did not pay much at- tention to being crowded on board the boat, and then our minds were filled up with thoughts of home, and the loved ones awaiting us there.
Here were men that had been in prison from four months to two years ; had suffered from cold, hunger, disease and exposure of all kinds, and their poor, weak bodies had been preyed upon by vermin. But now for the time being, all these things were for- gotten. We were on our way home, and this took full possession of our minds, crowding out all thoughts of danger, disaster or suffering.
We were a merry-hearted, jolly set of men and boys as the Sultana was turned loose from the wharf at Vicksburg, swung out into midstream, and turned her prow toward the North with her living freight of human beings.
Everything as far as we could see was running smoothly, as the overloaded Sultana plowed her way slowly onward through the muddy waters of the Mississippi.
At Helena, Arkansas, a photograther by some good fortune took a picture of the boat, showing her overloaded condition while she was lying at the wharf, and a number of those photo- graphs are yet in existence throughout the country.
But very few of us thought or dreamed of danger, but whiled away the time gazing at the shifting scenes along the shore, play- ing little tricks on each other, singing little songs, telling little jokes ; laughing and talking about the happy times we expected to have when we reached our homes in receiving the warm and welcome caresses of fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, wives, sweethearts and friends.
Reader, put yourself in our place, and then you may begin to realize what a happy lot we were. Such was the condition of the men and boys on board the Steamer Sultana, when she steamed up to the wharf at Memphis, Tennessee, in the evening of April 26th, 1865.
We lay here for some time while the boat hands were unload- ing a lot of sugar that had been stored in the hold. Some of the ex-prisoners helped unload the sugar; I believe they were paid by the hour for their work.
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By some means one of the hogsheads of sugar was bursted, and a number of the men and boys had quite a picnic eating sugar, and carrying off more for future use.
Comrade Pouder was one among the number ; besides bringing up all we wanted to eat at that time, he filled our ever-ready three- quart bucket, with the expectation of having it for future use, but alas! it was not so ordered. And as this is perhaps the last time I will have occasion to mention our good friend, we may as well take our leave of it here, for it went down in the wreck a few hours after being filled with sweetness. And its remains for aught I know are resting today on the slimy bottom of the Mississippi.
Farewell, old friend, your mission is ended; we shall always remember with pleasure the true and faithful service you rendered us in cruel Cahaba, and although you finally went down to a watery grave, and we missed you sorely, yet as we call to mind how you appeared to us as we fondly gazed on you for the last time, our thoughts of thee are very sweet.
I now approach a period in these reminiscences that I fain would forget and pass by, but I believe I said back near the begin- ning that I intended to tell all the snaps and snarls I got into, good or bad, so if I would jump over what now happened I would not be treating my readers fair, neither would I be fulfilling my agreement.
So that no matter how hard and disagreeable the task may be, I feel under obligations to make the attempt, though I know that after I have done the best I can to describe the awful scene, that the half will not be told.
We did not leave the wharf at Memphis until after midnight, so it was the morning of April 27th when we left there and steamed across the river to a coal barge or barges, and stopped to take on coal.
All of us had sought some place of repose, while we were stop- ping at Memphis, and every available foot of space was occupied by the men from the boiler deck to the hurricane roof, and after we had lain down, it was simply impossible for a person to walk over the boat anywhere without stepping on some one.
Comrade Pouder of Company "K," Comrade John Fox, Cor- poral, Company "A," and Comrade M. L. Rice, Private, Company "A" and myself, all of the 50th Ohio, bunked together, and chose a spot just forward of the smokestacks on the cabin deck.
From.the best information I have been able to get, it was about
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two o'clock in the morning, when the Sultana swung loose from the coal barges to resume her journey up the river. At that drowsy time in the early morning, it can be taken for granted that the majority of us were sleeping peacefully, dreaming of the old home, and the joys awaiting us there.
It was nearing the hour of three, and the Sultana had reached a point some eight or ten miles above Memphis at the head of the Island called, "The Old Hen and Chickens."
No danger was anticipated, and without any warning being given, all at once a terrific crash occurred; one of the boilers had given way with a noise those who chanced to be awake said, resem- bled the discharge of a battery of artillery.
The noise of the explosion added to the slight scalds and burns I received awoke me, and I uttered the exclamation, "Oh !" as I found myself slipping down an incline, and landed on my feet on the coal pile in front of the furnaces.
I knew something terrible had happened, but did not for a few moments realize just what it was. The steam was so stifling, I could scarcely breathe where I was, so I carefully treaded my way out onto the bow of the boat, and soon learned what had hap- pened. I saw nothing of the three comrades I had been sleeping with. All was confusion. Pandemonium reigned supreme.
Wounded men, and men who were pinioned down with iron and timbers were screaming and begging for help, men were crying, men were praying, and men were cursing and swearing ; men were walking about wringing their hands and crying out, "What shall I do?" Others stood as if dazed. Some of the men had been killed while they slept, and never knew what happened. Others awoke to find themselves adrift in the chilly waters of the Mississippi.
The boat took fire immediately, and as it lit up the scene I could see that the surrounding water was rapidly being filled up with a struggling mass of men, that were now jumping overboard to escape the fast increasing flames.
1
It was just at this time, my attention was attracted to some men who were trying to launch a large stage plank, and also to the voice of some one, who was saying, "You men that can't swim better follow this plank." That appealed to me, for I knew no more about swimming than a year-old child, so I took hold, and helped shove the plank overboard, and jumped after it.
The plank shot down under the water, but soon came to the
-
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surface, and righted itself with just as many men on it and around it, as was possible to get near it.
I was one among the number that thought the only place of safety for me was on top of that plank. We only drifted a short distance till the plank was turned completely over. I was not looking for anything of that kind to happen, and taken off my guard, I lost my hold on the plank, and sunk beneath the waters.
And now once more in my life, I had reached a point where my boasted courage and nerve forsook me. I knew I could not swim, and thinking I would never reach that plank again, all thoughts of being saved left me, and for a few brief moments, while I was under the water, I lost hope and the thought flashed through my mind that this was the end, and that the time had come when I must yield up my life.
But what is this that my head has come in contact with? I reach out my hand, and grasp it. Thank God, it's that blessed old stage plank. My courage revives, hope once more fills my breast ; I place my trust in my Heavenly Father, and by his mercy, and through his power, I will yet reach a place of safety. I strug- gle on, I lose hope no more; I become more rational, and act with more deliberation. I beg my comrades to be more quiet, and though the plank was turned over a number of times, I always managed to retain my hold on it. But every time it would turn over a number would be washed off who would never reach it again.
Another comrade, whom I think from what I have learned since must have been Comrade Henry Gambill of Company "B," 14th Kentucky Infantry was on the plank, and acted very cool. He and I helped another comrade on the plank two or three times, but I think the poor fellow was finally washed off and lost.
We drifted on out of the mass of men around the wreck un- til we reached dead water, and by this time, there was only about six of us left on the plank, and perhaps not more than four or five.
The river was very high, and all the lowlands were under water at the time. I got hold of a piece of weatherboard that was float- ing, and standing upon the plank, began to paddle toward a mass of driftwood that was stationary that I could see a short distance in front of us, for now the first streaks of daylight began to show in the east, and we could begin to see our surroundings.
The stern end of our plank, I may call it, caught on a young cotton wood bush, and we could have remained there and been rescued, but I was not satisfied to stay there.
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I saw a pole or dead sapling floating in the water that I man- aged to get hold of. It was about fifteen feet in length and had a crooked root on it. Taking this in my hands, I walked forward to the bow of the plank as close as I dared and reached for that drift pile, and by good fortune my pole would reach it, and making my pole fast by hooking it over some of the trash, I pulled the plank loose from the bush and brought it up to the drift pile, onto which I stepped, and felt I was saved.
By this time it was fairly daylight and some comrades that had escaped to an old stable that was surrounded by water saw us, and they called to us and said we could wade the water anywhere there, and getting down and trying it, I found it about waist deep, and selfishly leaving my comrades on the plank, I waded to the old building, and climbing up I sat down beside the comrades already there.
And the four or five comrades I left with the plank worked it to the side of the building, and got up with us. There was no roof on the building, and we roosted up there like birds waiting to be rescued.
While making our perilous trip on the plank in the early hours of the morning, I had heard a comrade on the plank praying, if it could be called a prayer. He addressed the Heavenly Father, and rehearsed to Him all the trials, privations and hardships that ยท we had endured, and how we had finally started for our homes with our hearts filled with joyful anticipations of the pleasures we expected to enjoy with our friends and loved ones when we would reach there, and now for this last disaster to overtake us.
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