Daily Nashville patriot. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1860-1862, 1861-11-12
Fort Lafayette--sketch Of Prison
Life by Late Inmate of the Fort. :,
lFrom the n. Y. Heraid.l

4
| ing the privileges and treatment of the pris
/ oners confined In Fort Lafayette, are of sucf
/ an aggravated nature as to have conveyed
| the idea to outsiders and the friends of ths
| inmates that they were waxing fat on the
| hberality of the Government, and were, il
| fact, enjoying tho retreat of some elysium
| In justice, therefore, to those still incarcer-
| ated, you will confer favor by giving the
| following al insertion in you paper, which
latter is largely contributed for by the in
mates. t+- q -s-+.s4
The history ofyOur arrest and arrival is as
| follows: As soon as you arrive at Fort Ham
ilton you are delivered by the officer in
charge to Colonel Burke. with the accom-
panying details: He (the Colonel) then sends
you with his aid and guard of soldiers by
boat to Lieutenant Wood, commanding at
Fort Lafayette. On your arrival a receipt is
given for you. You are then requested to
give up all weapons and moneys in your
possession. As the weapons are generally
taken by the United States Marshals in the
first instance, compliance is, of course, out
of the question, unless in a paroxysm of un-
abridged patriotism you Should consider
spectacles included In the category. Your
trunk, valise or carpet bag is then examin
ed, and if all is correct q receipt is given
you for the amount obtained. The Sergeant
then takes you in charge and shows you to
your quarters. Yon are then surrounded
by anxious eyes, scanning your person, and
inquiries after your sshealth in general,
with sswhat brought you here" are pro-
pounded before your wretched feelings have
BECOME sufficiently collected to enable you
to reply. Again some will say, 'shere's an
other rebel:" another will dwell on the cul
sine and the larder, and if near dinner will
yell out, s'dinner is ready at the United
Nate Hnfo Gc Tha cfo
provided with bed, either moss or straw
mattress, one iron bedstead, two sheets, one
blanket and one pillow, with basin and
pitcher, which last is the capital of a joint
stock corporation of some five to eight. In
the morning you arise, and after going
{ through the necessary ablutions in salt wa
ter-or fresh if you can get it, breakfast is
announced. This consists of a pint of cof-
fee sweetened in bulk, at times transparent,
and incapable of producing any deleterious
effect on the nervous system; by quantatiye
analysis the components would range near
ly as follows: water Cd; sacharine matter 4,
chicory 1:75, coffee OBS. A piece of fat
pork, whose superficial contents ranged
from five to seven inches, and good, hon.
est slice of bread-by honest | mean thick
this, and nothing more, consti-
tutes our breakfast. Before Marshal
Murray sent down the large stoye," the
po rk was served up to us actually as it CAM
out of the barrel, raw, or nearly SO. A dee
cline ia bristles prevented us from meddling
with it, appetizing as it was. After break
fast (eight, occasionally before) we were al
lowed one hour for promenading on square
OF earth seFepty-five feet by eighty. There
EaHse the daiiy papers, the Perusal of which
aud cgfsasents en- the. last anticipated at
tack, occupied some two hours after that
.tefs when any y.e&lfa, games of chess, whist,
{ &c.. discussing past events, and in endeay-
oring to ascertain if the potatoe had become
extinct since the 10th July, served to while
away the time until the momentous hour of
dinner. ~ =-..t .sas u
This meal, which many pride themselves
on as the best, was certainly our best. Three
entrees en- n,dsse, rice or bean soup-aston-
isfingly thin-bread and pork, or beef
From actual experiments with unmitigated
labor for the space of three minutes, assist
ed by pair of 'sPike's" dollar spectacles,
I have succeeded, after a tedious opera
ton, in fishing up one bean from my
pint of soup, and SO overcome have
been at the discovery of that, with instine-
tive reverence for the propagation of that
bean, / have universally uncovered my
head during the process of mastication-
same being uncooked. For supper we
again had our pint of coffee, revised and
corrected by an excess Of water, with our
slice of dry bread, The crockery was not
purchased at Hsughwout's consisting, as it
did, of tin cups, tin plates, iron spoons, and
ancient knives and forks. The qnality of the
provisions was good enough; but cooks ta-
ken from the ranks are s'sent by the devil. !"
If Harshal Murry would send a good plain,
clean cook to Fort Lafayette, he certainly
could add no greater comfort or blessing to
those who are boarding at the United States
Hotel Of course all the inmates did not
avail themselves of the prodigal Hberality
that abounded in the eating department, but
preferred such bills of fare as they in some
measure had been accustomed to. Hence the
formation of sundry messes, at a cost of from
thirty cents to one dollar per diem for each
person, at his own expense. At one period
water was so scarce that we were put upon
allowsnce-allewed only for drinking pur-
poses, until at the eleventh hour we received
three thousand gallons Croton, with not half
the body of the old stock. We were never
permitted to go outside the fort, unless ac-
companied by soldier with a musket and
bayonet, and were confined to the easements.
There was no going con the roof walking,
to see the sun sink behind the Jersey hills
as some astonishing youth proclaimed to the
there we were kept; thirty-seven of us in
IuvuuUsu y-umvc, an
the day timo, was not so bad; but at night all
that saved us from asphyxis was Brother
D-'s exhortations. At 6 p. M, We were
locked up, with two sperm candles, until the
next morning; at a quarter past nine p. M,
the signal to extinguish lights was made; if
ours survived that period, which they never
did, we complied. Every letter that goes out
or enters the fort is read by the officer if
they contain any objectionable matter they.
are returned; in other respects communica-
tion and rapidity in the transmission of let
tiers with the outsiders is excellent. / have
been only ten days in receiving letter from
q city only nine miles from New York, and
where there are only two daily mails.
spent nearly six weeks in the fort-chiefiy,
suppose, for my health-and during that
period experienced no Inconvenience in
sleeping every night in the same pair of
sheets; and friend of mine, who has been
confined flor his healthy since July Goth.
clings with fraternal tenacity to his. No.
better society in the world can be found than
in that spot, as general thing, for it is an
association of gentlemen, mixed with many
christian virtues, the weather assisting
those that are in need and far from their
homes ALI denominations are represented.
and in Brother De, who was taken at
Point of Rocks, can bear witness TO the
Methodists that he is unceasing in his efforts