The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1868-04-08
Prison Life at Johnson's Island. Prison
Poetry, &c.

! door seven feet by two, and, one huadredA
officers fled into the spen" ona
] ohnsons Island. just as the sun was going
down one Sabbath evening, August End 1865
Fresh fish" was the cry that greeted us en-
the inside, and we were instantly surrounded
by eager enquirers to know where we wer,
from, what Was the news, &c Many of us
found comrades who took US into their mess
es,' others found hunks where best they could. |
Some of us who were worse wounded were
conducted to a building which by way Of dis
tinction from the rest was called ashospital,",
but which was provided with neithermedleine |
doctors nor diet. ,,,..4r. "a. 0aiqs4o SIS Il
There are perhaps few of our readers, who,
if they can transmit to their children the
honor Of having served their country in her
time Of peril, that had not at some time idu-
ring the contest, the misfortune to become
prisoners of war While the cartels of exi
change were in operation this did not amount
to more than short absence from your com
s..+ .ss
mand. but, when Stanton, the heartless wretch
persisted in his advice to Lincoln that it was
cheaper to feed the Cohfederates thar to fight
them ali cartels were broken, they stopped
fighting US, and almost stopped feeding US;
for our rations were cut down to hardly what
would sustain life, the. suffers were taken out
Of the prison yard, and the strictest, surveil
lance exercised over then. own men who came
into the, 'pen,,' lest they should be ibribsd to-
slnuggle in something to US. ssd dsiH .1lia hs
iJohnsou's Island is iaboutohe mile long and
half a mile vide is situated in the mouth Of
Sapdusky Bay as enters asys Lake Eries and
three miles cut from the city Of ioanduskyg
Onathe Eastern eudi the Island was u lot
Of about ten acres enclosed by a wall fifteen
feet high, which we styledthe '.pen." Inside
were thirteen buildings arranged in two rows
about eighty yards apart,sthese were the pris-
ouer's quarters, and on the wall a line Of our
guardians kept eternal peace, and every
half hour during the night they cried the
time, with "all's we'll ~
This prison WAS. set apart for the confne-
nlent of officers, and usually it's population
| numbered about three thousand Once In
side all that was left us was to kill time, and
to do this all Kind ol employment was resort
ed to, such as the making Of triukets from
glt1a percha aud she'll, with which the yam
KEGS could be bribed to supply US, reading,
card playing, debating, playing at various
games that gave US exercise &C. slps winter
we had SHOW battles with "a thousand g htiag,
on each side all day long Gen. IrHibie co
his. crutches, JEFF Thompson and old gray
headed veterans joined il. the contest with the,
same spirit as, if they were school boys. And
at night we all in turn watched beside our
sick comrades How hard it was to see a
strong man yield up his spirit in SO desolate
a spot, SO far from his home and loved ones,
with no ssit hand to slnoothe his dying pill
low, no one to shed a tear Of regret over the
soul that was gene to God who gave it, e
We were allowed to bury our own dead
and We marked each grave with acneat head
and foot board which were appropriately en-
graved with the name, rank, command, age,
and dateof death, and some of these were
most beautifully and tastefully executed ~
The principal events OF the day were;.i the
calling OF the rolls in the morning, t he 'issu.
ing Of cur scanty rations and the bringing 10 IL
of our mail, and what JOY it carried TO our
hearts when the cry of, Dixie mali was
raised we'll do l remember how T. forgot al.
my hunger all my nakeduess, aud all the
troubles which surrounded me, when l held
in my hand letter from loved one away off
in my native land And at night We gathers
ed in our. quarters and discussed the rews Of
1.-THE day from, the armies as the yankee paper
gave it to US, the prospects Of exchange. and
We talked over our old battles, and marches,
and tsiumphs easi M
| Will nottell you now of our sutferings,
from hunger, from cold and from the wan
ton cruelty Of our guardians, that is all
past and the memory OF our pleasant inter-
course with the fellow prisoners and fellow
sufferers, who are seated over the country
rises upperlhost as The mind carries Us back to
prison life. Friends there whose association
prevented prison from being He'll must al
ways hold warm place in the heart
No one can imagine, except by experience.
the joy with which on the 18th Of March
1865, again heard the seatinel cry Little
Gate, and two hundred Of us marched forth
and once again breathed the free open air,
and how proud and almost bursting with glad
ness was the heart when eight days afterwards
we once more stood on Dixie soil, and once
more under our noble old leader Gen. Lee
confronted defantly the yankees who had for
so many long, weary mouths kept cruel and
tyrannous watch over US.
Here are some verses written by a fellow
prisoner: Lieut. Howard G. Wright, of the
Both Va. Regt, from New Orleans, be was a
1,,s Mt soldier and foil IN tha loot a. L.;...