The Xenia sentinel. [volume] (Xenia [Ohio]) 1863-186?, 1863-09-01

it. l bOugh, my grub along the road, pawn
one dollar a dozen for biscuits, and fifty cen
apiece for pies The second and third days OF
it rained ali the time. We slept out the fir
night it rained. The second night we stayed
the hospitals at New Market I here bOugf
two pounds of crackers for the small sum {
two dollars. 1t was there I saw Mont the la'
time, till I saw him at Libby. .
Our march to Staunton was slow but surl
arriving there about noon, Monday. You ma
imagine that was glad WheE we got there
| When / got my belly full for the first time 70
Just one week, but it cost me five dollars, i
4 greenbacks, and then get nothing but pies an
cakes twas awful dear eating. The guar
we had from Winchester up treated US YER
kindly. / did pity them. For twenty miles, toe
had they been marching without rest-hghtin!
US at Winchester and marching then to Stan
ton. Ny goodness, but they did locke hard
1t was almost an impossibility for them to walk
7 They got the same to eat that we did. At Stan
ton We were put under a new guard, and tool
the cars for Richmond, arriving there about tel
! O'Clock the next morning. We were theI
marched under a strong guard to the famous
/ Libby Prison It was much better than
expected to find it. Everything was very nice
and clean. Four hundred of us we're placed il
one room, one hundred and fifty feet long by
fifty feet wide. I was placed in command Oi
that roOm-had to Keep everything in good
| order; allow no thrusting Of heads out of the
windows; draw and issue the rations. The next
day, in the afternoon, we we're all taken out to
Belle Isle, up the river at the edge Of the city,
much better place than Libby"
Our treatment was awful. We were on a
small lot Of ground, only an acre, and strongly
guarded. We had old worn out tents to sleep
in. They took all our gum blankets from us
and left us to sleep on the bare sand, unless YOU
were fortunate enough to have a wool blanket,
which ! had not There we were, four thou
sand of US, in that condition Our ratiOns con
sisted of six ounces of bread, twice a day only
For our breakfast we got, in addition to .onr
little bread, two ounces of spoiled beef-some-
times it was mule meat For our other meal
IN addition to our bread, We got Kind of soup
that they called beef soup. We would not
have known 1t was that if they had not have
told Us. 1t was awful stuif-nOt fit to feed hogs,
and our meat was always full of maegots. The
bread was good. Itwas awful hard for me to
eat it, and declined except when I could get
nothing else. I bought pies and bread Of the
guards whenever / could. For the pies l paid
one dollar each, and bread fifty cents a loaf
Gust half the size of bakers five cent lOaves,)
and that III green6acks, too, avOWing that their
own money was no account, and also that they
wished to desert, which I am glad to know many
did, leaving their guns sticking in the ground,
taking some Of the prisoners with them. That
was no uncommon thing, it was a nightly occur
renee, and in selling bread it had to be done on
the sly. If any guard was caught selling or
trading with the prisoners he was taken to
/" Castle Thunder" There were five. or six
taken there in one day. But still, they
would run their chances, so eager were they to
get our money in order to desert. We were
treated kindly by the guard, but the officers
treated US shametuly. Many poor fellow was
knocked down for nothing, and, one poor fellow
was stabbed a few days before we left, and all
for nothing, The treatment we received was
certainly uncalled for and certainly inhuman.
How I wish some of our Butternut friends
would have to pass through the same ordeal, I
think 1t WOuld have q salutary effect upon them
l think if you had seen me then YOU would not
have recognized me, for Ilgas dirty and ragged.
l was, indeed, sight worth seeing. passed
four long mortal weeks in that lOathsome
prison, subject to their tyrannic rule. Never
will that part Of MY life be Obliterated from my
memory, and if ever I meet any of the cut
thTOats that "swayed the scepter,' their death
wHl be their portion. i have sworn eternal
against the whole Southern COnfeder- /
auy, and vengeance viii have
When am exchanged I am going for every
thing the Rebels have got-prOperty of every
imaginable description. They have got to make |
good to me all the clothing, etc, that lost, and
then they have to pay dearly for starving me |
i've weeks. No excuses nor WOmen's tears will |
prevent me from executing my designs. used /
to think that, before Twas taken prisoner, hated
the Rebels and their sympathiseFs, but my |
hatred for them then sinks into utter insignif /
canoe compared to what it is now. If man
wants to be cured of, and disgusted with Seees-
sion, let him spend few weeks in either Libby
or on Belle Island. / will wager q months
wages that he viii leave there dirty, ragged and
hungry, "muttering curses both loud and deep, -
and 60 home wiser, vet sadder man.
Our regiment was the first on the Island, and
as matter of course, we thought we would be
the first to leave, bpt imagine our surprise that
in the first lot q ,OOO,) leaving, not one of US
vent. The next week another lot went, and
about thirty of our men went, and so on that
W edneSday, the I'D. When ! was called out
and informed that the remainder of our men,
and all of Milroy's men would leave that even
ng, to say that l-Was glad would be but faint
expression OF my happiness, ] will allow you
% draw upon your imagination. At ten o'clock
hat night they got US ready and started for the
,ity. We were then put in an old tobacco ware
house, where the dirt and filth was three inches
leep all over the floor. In that kind of a place
We were crowded into without, a light, and told
% make ourselves comfortable until three
,'clOck in the morning. It took me but short
ime to find room sufheienttO deposit what there
vas of me. l slept like a log until we were
,alled up to leave. As we passed out the door
G the street, each man received a single bit of
bread, and had his tin cup in return taken to pay
or it, presume. We were then marched to
he Petersburg depot and soon bid farewell to
We arrived at Petersburg about
line o'clock We stopped there an hour, and
While there saw something that 1 had often
iedrd OF but never saw, viz, q brute in the
Orm of man, whipping a, negro. How /
wanted to get hold Of the CoWardly curse and
ynng his neck, Presently we started for
Jity Point and was one hour on the road The
Fuce boat, State OF New York, was waiting for
IS. What a shout rent the air when we came in
light of her. There she was, with the old
Stars and Stripes proudly floating over her, ready
o convey us to the land of plenty. So eager
we're the boys to get aboard that they did not
yait for the cars to stop, but jumped off the top
md out of the windows and rushed wildly aboard
o the danger of the more timd We were
soon all on board, and anchor weighed and
With cheerful heart and three grOans for the
Rebel flag that was floating on shore, we bid
arewell to Dixie, never again wishing to see it {
lnder similar circumstances.
Dinner was soon served up and it was
astonishing to see the boys ego for it." Each ,
nan got loaf of bread and all the meat and
Office he wanted. We had very pleasant time {
Own the river to Fortress Monroe go miles) (
Ne passed the blOckaiding squadron at New '
lort News, and there saw for the first time ]
hose terrible implements of warfare known as
he Monitors There were three of them, some s
i've or six wooden gunbOats and the flagship I
nan-OfWar Minnesota. She was the incest craft Y
saw during the trip We stopped there but :
hort time and steamed ON to Fortress Monroe, {
.rriving there at four o'clock will not at
empt description Of that place and its sur 6
oundings, for do not consider myself adequate
or the undertaking. The Rip Raps was the '
most remarkable thing I saw there. Nature in