Gallipolis journal. [volume] (Gallipolis, Ohio) 1837-1919, 1865-04-06
Volume, {, Xxx.
-v-9 LINES FOR THE ,.
PAR0LED PRISON g B B =.
LATELY FROM FLORENCE 8 c.

COUrades WhO'ye returneu rum ioi ieue'
from the dead-line and stockade.
Who have suffered great priTations-they ca
| never be repaid --...-...
Are Won at this hour exultant, that from Flor
ence YOU are free7
Comrades who've return'i from Florence
! truly you've right to be!
You have left he corn-cob rationsi bad
adieu to putrid meat
And you'll soon by friends he welcom'd AM
have something good to eat;
Comrades let your hearts be cheerful-as the
always have been true,
For at home your mothers, sisters, wives anC
children wait for you!
Comrades. you have thought about them
often at the mornings dawf
You have wish'd some cherish'd dear one 70,
could fcndly gaze upon;
And at noon you thunght about them, wher
you did your rations view. IL
And then at the dinner table, often they ver,
missing youl
When around the fires they gathered, wher
the day Of toll had pass'd
Then they would of you be thinking-hopt
they'd cherish till the last,
But they knew not Of your trials. and who
knows what you could tellf
Who, but those who have been with you, il
that dismal Florence hellf
And at eve when they were sather'd, and th'
day of toll had pass'd,
You were shivering and halfnaked, and youi
lives were sadly task'd,
Soon the moon was brightly besming, as it OF
its way did roam.
1t would light the soldier prison, and would
light his far-off home!
Wife and mother ask'd beneath it, where
my husband and my boy!
Months have pass'd since ! beheld them, anC
shall time my hopes destroy7
Son and husband ask'd beneath it, where
the mother and the wife?
Do they know how now / suffrr--how I'm lotl
TO part with life7
There are three days you'll remember till tn
storms Of life have pass'd!
For in those three days of terror, can you tel
who broke his fast7
For there were no rations brought US, eYen o
the eorn-eob bead,
All we tell the truth of Florence-yet tn,
tenth cannot be said!
Florence, is thy name pOeticf there's anothe
Florence too,
Meath Italia's exile, SO sunny, one that poet
love te view,
All how strong indeed the cont.as tones
lively spot Of earth,
Ones in South Carolina, where vile Treason
had its BIRTH
Florence in South Cardinal how poetic is tn ,
namel
But there are vile iends within thee. who ar
insensible to shame!
Who'll forget that Georgian Sergeant--wh
forgetteth Sergeant Bushl
How the sick men, yes, and dying, he int
the ranks would push!
I Or that tyrant braggart Barrett, who woul'
swear and curse aloud,
And who would point his revolver TO a veal
and helpless crowd,
Ev'ry man stands here among you, can o
Bush or barrett tell,
Ev'ry man who did come lately from tina
lOathsome Florence hell,
Who is here can be forgetting Fow.ridge tn
conceited spy.
Watching to see who had .'greenbacks" wha
could with his M annsss viz?
Soon We to the Colonel's quarters by tia
wretehed tool be sent,
And while W had clothes or money he woul,
never rest content!
"Suttler's cheeks It's true they gave Us. bu
Of little worth were they,
Oh, how mean the rebel robbers taking a
We had swsyI
They've the trade without lhe courage OF tn
robbers OF the road.
I They re pack of heartless cravens, YOU coul
ne'er to honor goad!
Often, often, very often, we've sat by t.
/ smoky fires.
Speaking of the hopes we CHERISHED and on
/ hopes and cur desires,
And We pictured right before US friends W
often lov'd TO view.
And their names we'd fondly whisper, an
we'd tell about them tool
And we'd SIT and cook our rations, (true "
cook'd in novel ways,l
And we'd hear some youthful comrade spea
some gentle sweet hearts praise,
Or we'd hear as young comrade tell abou
loving bride,
He had wed since wars beginning and f
whom he could have died!
Some ofus have little notions" oft we'd 8
day after day,
Cutting bones all shapes and sizes, Just
while the hours awayl
Things of grotesque shape possessing, son
to CHERISHED friends we'll bring,
And they'll keep them as mementoes, "
they'll cherish ev'rythingi
And they I'll tell you that we made to make Il
time the shorter seem.
Tell you that while we were making still '
of our homes did dream.
, They will deem them neatly finished, kee
J them in the future, for
Could they speak they'd often tell you Of son
sufferers of war.
All, how oft when storms would gather v
would think Of homes afar,
Homes where there were warmth and sbelte
notwithstanding frowns Of war,
But we had in frowning Florence to brave a
the trying storms,
While we wished we had more blankets ju
to wrap around our forpsl
Yonder sky our umbrella, and the only OF
we hadi
Think Of that and never wonder that Il
| pris'ners heart was sad, ,-s 80,
Think Of that and never wonder that sorpan
= had TO die, III ~ - ~ y
That so many forms are silent meath 6out
/ Carolins'ssskY!
: Comrades some Of you IN prison Of tie b
State thought, or Maine,
Tor you wished in s'littls Rhody" you COD
sia only be again, 3 q nstF visl .iiaig
-ns .Ln-s-bfJ II orr,1ou