USA > Ohio > Franklin County > Columbus > The story of Camp Chase; a history of the prison and its cemetery, together with other cemeteries where Confederate prisoners are buried, etc > Part 22
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From Shiloh to Vicksburg, thence with Breckinridge to Baton- Rouge, it was in May, 1863, that I found myself a lieutenant in the . Ninth Louisiana Battalion, doing duty in the trenches at Port Hudson, Miss.
For nearly two months we successfully resisted all efforts of the. Federal troops to effect an entrance. But the end was, near.
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Short rations and constant and fatiguing duty in the trenches were doing their work, and the fall of Vicksburg simply hastened the inevitable. We were constantly on duty, and our food was neither savory nor plentiful. And right here I wish to be placed on record by stating that the patient mule as an eatable is a pro- nounced failure and no addition to an army bill of fare.
I think that it was on the morning of July 7 that an unusual commotion in the enemy's camp excited our curiosity and sharp- ened our vigilance. Shouting, yelling, band-playing, and the wildest hurrahs showed that good news had come to. them, which, if true, meant the reverse to us. It was good news-too good to keep-and we soon learned that Vicksburg had fallen. There was not a man in the camp that did not realize the meaning of this, and we were anxious to know what surrender meant for us.
When the white flags went up on the works, the space between the lines was soon filled by the men from both armies, and "Yanks" and "Rebs" fraternized in so friendly and amicable a spirit that it required some little effort to realize that these men had only the day previous been shooting at one another on pur- pose.
They now became our hosts, and invitations to supper were freely extended by the "boys in blue" and as freely accepted by the "boys in rags." I do not think that a single invitation was declined. I did full justice to the first square meal that had fallen to my lot in many days. They were invited into our lines, with many courteous inquiries as to why they had not come over sooner, with the equally courteous reply that they had started to do so on several occasions.
In a day or two the Union forces took formal possession of the place; and as, drawn up in line, we faced each other, the difference in the personal appearance of the men was strongly marked and most decidedly in favor of the "Yanks." As our men were not dressed with any degree of uniformity, they pre- sented none of the pomp of war in their appearance, no two being dressed exactly alike, and strongly suggesting the nursery-rhyme beggars that caused the dogs to bark, "for some were in rags and some in tags;" but the velvet gowns were conspicuous by their absence. In common with many others who followed the for- tunes of the Confederacy, it has been my fate at times to find my wardrobe in a most unsatisfactory condition : so much so that on several occasions, prompted by my innate modesty, I have backed up against some friendly fence or wall whenever a lady came in sight.
The terms of surrender paroled the noncommissioned officers and the privates. The officers were allowed to retain their side arms, and were to be held as prisoners of war. This was a
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gloomy outlook, but we were much relieved by the assurance that an early exchange was only a degree or so removed from a cer- tainty-not too early, you know, but early. We philosophically accepted the situation, which, as there was no other course left open, was much the best thing to do under the circumstances. Besides, we felt that we had well earned a short vacation and were entitled to some rest and recreation after our arduous labors.
During the latter part of the siege I was in the habit of visiting the hospital, where some members of my company lay wounded or sick, and carried with me some of the corn beer brewed in the camp and much relished by the convalescents. On a cot near one of these lay a young Union soldier badly wounded in the hip. He was a mere boy and much too young to follow the fortunes of an army. I became interested in the little fellow. He soon drew his rations of beer with the rest, and we became fast friends. Standing on the transport which was to convey us to New Orleans, a Federal officer mentioned that a Union soldier wished to see me in the cabin. Going to him, I found my little hospital friend; and, at his request, I assisted in removing him from a stretcher to a berth. Asking me to sit with him awhile, he told me that in all probability we would be sent North, and should I at any time find myself free, either by: escape or by pa- role, by all means to make my way to his home and be assured of any help he or his could give me. He gave me his address, and at the time I thought but little of the matter. But many times before I reached Dixie this slighted invitation weighed as heavily as a crime, for the opportunity came later on and I let it pass.
On our arrival in New Orleans we were assigned quarters in different parts of the city, the larger portion, myself among the number, being quartered in the customhouse building, where our treatment, rations, and bestowal were all that could be desired. We shook off the mud of the trenches with the clothes that held it, and, thanks to our friends in the city, were well clad. and dainty food was the order of the day. If such was to be the existence of a prisoner of war, it seemed strange that whole armies did not allow themselves to be captured. Visitors were admitted to the reception room, and, giving the name of the offi- cer they wished to see, he was immediately sent for. No restric- tions nor limit seemed to be placed on the number or value of the presents given us, and even the confinement was broken by frequent leaves of absence from the building. Visits were paid in the city, though we never remained out all night unless "chape- roned" by some Federal officer ; and it was pleasant association with some of these that opened our eyes to the fact that, when not engaged in trying to kill you, a "Yank" was a first-rate fellow. You see, we knew so little of each other before the war. So
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pleasant were our surroundings, and so changed our mode of life, as compared with the discomforts of camp and trench, that we rather hoped that the exchange might be delayed yet a little longer and leave us in our fools' paradise. I do not think our wishes carried any weight in the matter ; but we had our will- the exchange was delayed.
We had been occupants of the customhouse about two months when we were informed that we were to be sent North for ex- change. By this time most of us were in full citizens' regalia, and uniforms were the exception. Side arms were disposed of-few carrying them North-being distributed as souvenirs or left for safe-keeping, and in some instances given as presents to Federal officers. Preparations were made for departure, adieus ex- changed, and in some cases simply au revoir, as we expected to. return by way of New Orleans; and one day about the middle of September some three hundred well-dressed Confederates took passage on the steamship Evening Star, bound for New York City, as different outwardly from the "Rebs" who left Port Hud- son as the butterfly from the grub. Many, many times in the near future how we missed the grub days and wished them back again !
Nothing of importance occurred on the voyage save a seven days' fight with seasickness.
We found waiting on our arrival two lines of guards extend- ing from the gangway, and after an hour or two I started ashore, certainly not expecting that I would not be allowed to pass beyond the limits, with no other desire than to be on shore once more. I most certainly did not dream of escape. As I passed quietly along, dressed in civilian garb, I was roughtly ordered by a voice shod in a rich Milesian brogue to "Get out of that." the owner of the voice stepping aside at the same time to allow me to pass. I could scarcely think the man in earnest, and looked at him to see if he meant it, and was fully convinced of his sincerity by the manner in which he emphasized his re- quest with his bayonet. Passing to the rear. I got out of that : and walking into the streets of New York, I found myself a free man. But now that I was free, of what use was my freedom? I was entirely without friends, not even an acquaintance, in a strange city. I was too well dressed to play the role of beggar without exciting suspicion, all the more that my absence would be noted.
My funds were painfuly limited. so much so that my last dollar deserted me at Sandusky. I had not the least idea of what the future had in store for me, and could judge nothing save by the past, which carried with it only pleasant recollec- tions. The invitation of my little hospital friend was duly con-
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sidered and dismissed. We were brought here to be exchanged. In a few weeks I would be once more in Dixie. Why escape at all?
I hurried back, and had to explain that I belonged on board of the steamer before I was allowed to pass. On rejoining my companions I mentioned the incident, and two of them tried the experiment. One reached home in safety, as I afterwards learned. The fate of the other I do not know. During the long, weary months of confinement that followed, I had ample leisure to curse my mistake, and, though hungry, cold, and sick, I cannot remember the time when I had not vitality enough left to im- prove the opportunity. Even at this late date, when thinking it over, I feel that I am fairly entitled to share the reputation of "Thompson's colt." After a few days on Governor's Island. we were informed as to our final destination ; this, we were given · to understand, was merely preliminary to an exchange. We were to be sent to Johnson's Island, Lake Erie.
Our route lay over the Erie Railroad, and we made the trip on parole. The guards placed at each door of our coach were not for our comfort only, as we were objects of marked curiosity during the trip. and would have been overrun with visitors had not admittance been refused. At the different stations we min- gled freely with the people on the platform ; and found them, with few exceptions, courteous but inquisitive. We were, no doubt. a disappointing lot. There was nothing in our apparel to mark the Rebel soldier, and as we mingled with the crowd surprise was freely expressed that we were not as their fancy painted us, though just what shape that fancy took I never learned.
The ladies, as was the case both North and South. were in- tensely patriotic, and read us severe and no doubt salutary lec- tures on the evil of our ways, which were submissively and cour- teously received and duly pondered.
There was one question that you could safely wager would be asked by five out of ten, and that was: "Do you honestly think you are right?" This conundrum was offered to me so often that where time allowed, being in President Lincoln's country. I answered in President Lincoln's style by stating that it "reminded me," and told them of the couple who took their bridal trip on an .ocean steamer, with the usual result. As the husband would return from sundry trips to the rail of the vessel his young wife would inquire : "Reginald, darling, are you sick?" To which he at last replied: "Good heavens! Rebecca, do you think I am doing this for fun?"
Sandusky reached. just across the bay we caught the first glimpse of our future quarters, the military prison on Johnson's Island. Up to this time we had been kindly treated in many re-
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spects-far better than we had hoped for or expected. Our in- tercourse with the Union soldiers so far had been confined to men who had served in the field, and was uniformly of a pleasant nature. I am sure that the men both North and South will bear me out in the assertion that as soon as your enemy captured you he became your friend, as far as consistent with his duty.
We were soon to learn the distinction between front and rear. In order to know how to treat prisoners, you should have a hand in capturing them.
Leaving the ferry, which brought us across the bay, we walked into the office, where we were registered and searched. all money being surrendered and receipted for. Its equivalent in the pris- on was represented by sutler's checks, a form of currency an- swering all purposes until, owing to the restrictions imposed upon us, it ceased to be of service.
All formalities completed, the big gates swung open to admit us, and, greeted on all sides with cries of "Fresh fish! Fresh fish !" we entered and joined our comrades-"not lost, but gone before." And so sometime in October, 1863, the writer took what at that time he supposed to be but temporary quarters in a Northern prison. His stay was prolonged far beyond what he expected, and it is the story of a sixteen months' forced visit that he tells as best he can without embellishment, assuring the reader that, while some few may have fared better, his experience is that of the majority and does not represent the worst.
Curiosity has never prompted me to revisit the Island, and I have been told that there now remains nothing by which it could be recognized by its former occupants. [NOTE .- Lieuten- ant Cunningham here gave a description of the prison on John- son's Island, which is left out, as it has been described previously in this volume .- EDITOR. ]
It was the severity of the winters that told so heavily on us. Many were from the extreme South, and some had never seen a fall of snow. Coming from New Orleans, and wearing such clothes as were adapted to its climate in the month of September. the first day of January, 1864, was a revelation.
On that day the thermometer marked twenty-five degrees below zero, and the writer was not more warmly clad than when now on a summer's night in that same city he writes these lines. So in- tense was the cold that the sentries were taken from the walls. and the ice king kept watch and ward for Uncle Sam. The big gate could have been left open and few of the prisoners would have taken the chance of escape, in view of almost certain death. The entire winters were bitter cold. and from our exposed position I am satisfied that the cold was much more intense than on the mainland.
Occasional gales would now and then sweep across the Island,
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testing the strength of our buildings, and it was during one of these that two officers took refuge in a dry well as affording the greatest protection against the storm. One of these, on being asked by the other to offer up a prayer for their preservation, replied that he was acquainted only with the Lord's Prayer, and there was nothing in that to cover the emergency.
The bay around Johnson's Island was guarded by the United States steamer Michigan, which, when the season permitted, lay within a few hundred yards of the shore. Other steamers, loaded with excursionists. would occasionally run close in, prompted by curiosity, and taunt us by their shouts and jeers. Their favorite pastime was, or seemed to be, the singing of patriotic songs, which was admissible, and I could find no reasonable cause of complaint as to the sopranos and contraltos; but when basso- profundos and baritones musically expressed their intention to "rally 'round the flag," I thought of thousands of Northern men already engaged in that occupation far to the front, who, if not so vocalistic. were at least equally patriotic.
I was assigned to Block II, Room 3, and was advised at once to study "Pierson's Ten Commandments." The first eight of this decalogue, with the exception of No. 6, referred to matters of police and fatigue duty only, but the rest were of a different character and were well worth committing to memory in order to avoid serious accidents. [The prison rules mentioned by Lieuten- ant Cunningham as "Pierson's Ten Commandments" are given elsewhere .- EDITOR. ]
Thirty feet from the fence was the "dead line" referred to in Order No. 9. On the north side the sinks were situated. in the rear of the buildings, about ten feet from the fence, and conse- quently they lay twenty feet within the dead line. It was on this side of the inclosure that Capt. J. D. Meadows, of the First Ala- bama Regiment, was shot by the guard on Post 13 and severely wounded.
I have read articles in which the terrible dead line was held up and denounced as brutal and inhuman, but I doubt if there exist- ed an inclosed military prison North or South that did not possess this distinctive feature. Its use was to prevent prisoners crowd- ing against the fence, and I do not remember that we regarded it in any other light than a very necessary precaution. We knew that the sentinel was required to shoot without warning the pris- oner who crossed that line, and we felt that most of them were willing to do so; hence, if we violated Order No. 9, we were liable to be killed under Order No. 10. The matter rested entirely with ourselves.
We had to bear evils of a far more serious nature, over which we had no control. and such trifles as dead lines worried us but little. The time I was at Johnson's Island there were about
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twenty-five hundred in confinement, and the quarters were well crowded. The sleeping arrangements consisted of bunks in tiers of three, each furnished with the usual army bedtick stuffed with straw, and far superior to the earth and ditch which had been our beds for months previous to our capture. The crowded con- dition of the prison necessitated that two men should occupy each bunk, which had the redeeming feature in winter that the occu- pants were sheltered by two blankets instead of one.
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It was an evil genius that selected my bunk, for it lay just under the roof, and sometimes the snow, finding its way in, would cover me like a wet blanket. I have a vivid recollection of the result in the form of an attack of lumbago that sent my forehead to my knees and put it beyond my power to assume the position of a soldier for many days. With the thermometer well down in the tube, scantiest of bedclothing, and no fire, you can well imag- ine what portion of "tired nature's sweet restorer" fell to our lot. Under the circumstances. it is not strange that pulmonary and rheumatic complaints should have prevailed to a great extent. I know of one man who is now, after the lapse of twenty-five years, chained to his chair, hopelessly crippled-a souvenir of his imprisonment.
Rations and wood were brought in daily, and to each mess were delivered an ax and a bucksaw. These were collected and taken out each night : and should any mess fail to return them, no wood was brought in until the missing tools were given up. This happened once during my stay: but private enterprise, looking to the escape of a few. had to give way to the public weal, and the ax and saw showed up. Details from the mess were made each day for police and fatigue duty : and the most fatiguing duty, as I remember it. was sawing wood-not that there was so much to saw, but the most of us were not used to it. Shortly after reveille a noncommissioned officer and guard entered the room and we were mustered for roll call. Sometimes the guard would bring us the newspaper, giving double-leaded information, oft- times revised and corrected in subsequent issues.
After roll call we were free to kill the monotony of confinement as best we could. all parts of the inclosure being for our use ex- cept the north side and beyond the dead line. "Retreat" sent us to our quarters, and, knowing the penalty, we were strict observ- ers of this rule. It was for an alleged violation of this rule that Lieutenant Gibson, of the Eleventh Arkansas, lost his life. He was visiting some friends in a neighboring block and. hearing "retreat" sounded. started to his room and was about to enter. when the sentinel ordered him back to his quarters. He endeav- ored to explain that he was then going into his room, but the ex- planation was evidently unsatisfactory. The sentinel fired and killed him.
قيم بص لة بمن عالش يم
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The only antidote to the terrible ennui of prison life was occu- pation, and very few were without employment of some kind. In fact, during the latter part of our stay it was an infallible sign of surrender when the men became listless and no longer cared for the things which had heretofore been either their work or their recreation. Workbenches sprang up in every available spot ; rings were made of gutta-percha buttons ; rulers and oyster shells were transformed into charms, rings, and breastpins, equal in artistic design and execution to the best specimens of profes- sional handiwork. In one instance, with nothing better than the wood pile on which to draw for material, one of the men fashioned a violin : while a four-bladed penknife, complete in all its parts, attested the skill of one of my messmates. Articles manufactured by the prisoners were in demand and found a ready sale, the me- dium of traffic being the prison officials, who sold them on the out . side, returning the proceeds to the manufacturer, who was en- abled to better his condition until such time as money lost its purchasing power. I do not remember that a visitor was ever allowed inside the prison walls; but I do recall that a wife once obtained permission to visit the Island, and, standing on the out- side of the "pen," was allowed to look at her husband as he stood on the landing of the stairs of Block 2. I do not think that the termination of the war would have been delayed five seconds had they taken him under guard to the wife or allowed her to enter the prison.
Books and newspapers were admitted, after due examination. and with many of us formed our sole refuge. Classes were opened and studies resumed or new ones begun. A first-class minstrel band, known as the "Rebellonians," gave entertainments from time to time and played to crowded houses. All the popular
- airs of the day were conscripted and the words rewritten to ex- press our peculiar views of the situation. The dramatic element had its innings, and I think that Peeler's "Battle of Gettysburg" had the unprecedented run of three weeks, at one performance per week. We never succeeded in putting on a first-class ballad. These performances took place in the afternoon; for, as before stated, the guards had very pronounced views as to our being absent from quarters after retreat.
All letters to and from the prisoners were opened and exam- ined by our jailers, and if found in order were stamped with "Examined" and the initials of the man who had read the letter and passed it. Our correspondence was limited only as to the number per diem, space, expression of political sentiment, and ability to pay postage. With these exceptions, there were no re- strictions. We were allowed to write on one side of a half sheet of paper, and our correspondents were subjected to the same rules.
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I have received notifications that letters addressed to me were held because they violated this rule, and have been instructed to inform the writers accordingly. To be placed on the black list meant stoppage of our mail; and, in order to realize the severity of the punishment, you must put yourself in the position of a pris- oner with letters as your only communication with the outside world. It must have been from this cause that I acquired a terse, jerky style that has clung to me ever since. Sentimentally, "cleanliness is indeed next to godliness;" practically, it is con- ducive to health and comfort, and we tried to enforce its unwrit- ten laws. When a "fresh fish" was assigned to our room, he was initiated by being required to take a bath and to boil his clothes, long experience in army matters having proved that this was the only way of getting rid of that energetic little pest known as the Pediculus vestimenti. It was one of the species crawling on a lady's bonnet string that suggested an ode to the poet Burns.
As our clothing gradually grew worse soap and water seemed to lose their powers, and we resorted to dyeing such garments as needed renovation, using for that purpose a liquid dye. You sim- ply emptied the vial into a pot of boiling water, immersed the garment to be operated on, and voila! One of my mess was a Lieutenant Blank, who knew some things very well; and he, wishing to improve the appearance of an old flannel shirt, sought out the hospital steward, who sold the liquid, and put the question : "What is it you fellows dye with here?"
The steward, supposing that he had some inquisitive statistician on his hands, answered that they died of different things, but thought that pneumonia had the call just then. "Well." said Blank. "give me a two-bit bottle." Of course the story leaked out. and the lieutenant ran the gantlet. Some mornings afterwards Blank mounted a chair and made a speech. In crude but unmistakable words, and with a depth of meaning in their utterance, he an- nounced that the next man who said "pneumonia" in his hearing would have him to whip. Most of us, knowing the difficulty of the undertaking, were so much on our guard that we did not dare to cough or to give in any way the least suggestion of pulmonary complaint, lest we should have cause to regret our indiscretion.
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