For these meals, prisoners were charged one dollar per day, credited against what the prisoners had turned over to Lieutenant Wood when they arrived at the fort. They were denied the use of their own funds to make food purchases from a sutler outside the fort or to receive food sent by friends, thereby eliminating all competition with the ordnance sergeant's service. The coffee was a muddy liquid in which the taste of coffee was barely perceptible, the predominating flavor being a combination of burnt beans and foul water. The fort's water was indeed foul. There were also several periods during which prisoners had to go without water altogether. . . . .
Contemporary sources present a picture different from official records.