The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1883-07-19
DARK DAYS IN DIXIE.
"reminiscences of Southern Prison Pens
Related by Former Inmates.
To the Editor NATIONAL TRIBUNE:

To the Editor NATIONAL TRIBUNE:
In recent number of THE TRIBUNE an ex-
Union soldier states that when he is asked
whether he was at Andersonville, and he re-
plies in the negative, his questioner generally
looks at him with an expression that seems to
say: ooh, you know nothing OF prison life in
the Soulful" / can understand this comrades
feelings for | know by actual experience that
there were worse prisons in the South than the
one called Andersonville. This assertion may
sound strange to some, but challenge any ex-
prisoner that was in Florence to deny to the
world that individuals suffered more in the
same length of time at Andersonville than at
Florence. And | have no doubt that there
were other places even worse than Florence;
at least, | can credit almost any tale of barbar-
ity and crime in any Southern military prison.
With your permission, Mr.. Editor, will give
an account of our removal from the prison at
Charleston, S. O., to Florence, same State. l
had been in what was termed the hospital" at
Charleston, which l will describe in plain Eng
fish. We Il mean the sick or those unable to
help themselves) were placed on the race
course, on the bare ground, with heaven as our
roof and mother earth as our bed. 1t was some
Improvement on Andersonville, as there was
some grass On the ground, and no miserable
stencil to bear. We were allowed to lie in rain
and sun from September 18th to October 9th,
1854, and, strange to say, some of lis improved
so much that when we were ordered to pack up
ON the evening of October 9th, we were able to
walk, with the assistance of stick or staff, to
the train, distance of perhaps half mile.
Here we lay all night in drenching rain,
without even the privilege of getting under the
friendly shelter of some fiat cars that stood on
the railroad siding close to u.s. In the morn
ing, as soon as it was daylight, we were given
some raw fat pork, very salty, too, to eat. have
often wondered whether-as salt was so scarce
in the Confederacy-this pork was not sailed
extra on purpose to make us thirsty when on
the cars in order to add to our suiferings. The
more / think of it the more | am convinced
there was devilish design in issuing that salt,
fat, raw pork. Soon after we were crowded
on the cars and it was my fortune to be one
of sixty in bOX-car, where we were packed
80 close we could hardly sit curled up on our
heels.
FIRST NIGHT AT FLORENCE.
One of our boys, Comrade Cook, from the One
Hundred and First Pennsylvania, had tin
tea kettle, and he managed by some means to
get it filled with water at water-station in the
afternoon, but / only got small mouthful, as
we wanted to save it till we got off the cars to
cook something in, as we had been put on in
the morning without any breakfast. We arrived
at Florence Station after dark, and were at once
bihtu 10 jill Oiu COTHucluy NEAR tHo SlUCh-
ade, and surrounded by heavy guard of armed
sentries, placed about eight feet apart. The
night was terribly cod-at least it felt so to us,
as our clothing and ragged blankets were soak
ing wet-and the wind swept across that bare
cornfeld like a western blizzard" The guards
soon had good fires built of dry pine rails but
that did us no good, as we were not allowed to
come near them, nor were we allowed to get
any rails or wood to make fires with. How
ever, Cook and determined to have something
warm to eat, and we set to work to gather some
of the corn-stubble for fuel. Three of the rest
joined rs, and by some means got a fire started
One of the boys laid his staff across his knee
and hung Cooks tin kettle on the end of it
There was, perhaps, three pintS of water left
in it, and into this we put couple of hand
fuls of rice and some small pieces of red pepper
and succeeded in getting it heated enough with
the burning corn-stubble to soften the rice a
little 1t was then divided carefully among
us, each one getting about a saucerful of it
We then made our bed on the wet ground by
laying our ragged coats under us and putting
our equally ragged, verminous blankets over
US, taking our old boots for pillows. | was on
the outside and on the WindwaTd side and
think | never shivered SO much in my life.
actually trembled until / gave out at it, and
| was so sore | could scarcely turn over. But
there were Others in a worse fix than /. One,
in particular, / shall remember as long as /
live. Hew about five feet eight inches high,
sandy complexion, and well made He only
possessed pair of thin cotton drawers-no
shirt, coat, pants, hat, Shoes or even stockings
He, too, was suffering with the cold, and I saw
the guards drive him away from the fire. He
selected path at our feet, and as | lay there
shivering / could hear him patter, patter back
and forth, running to try TO keep warm. Itmust
| have been near morning when / dozed off into
a dreamy Inconsistencies, and then / was
| suddenly made aware that a raider, as | sup
posed, was about to steal our covering Iquietly
twisted my hands into the blankets and then
partly raised up to give the alarm, but discov-
cred that the :" raider was my trotting friend
at our feet. He had kept on his feet as long as
he could, but had given out with cold and
fatigue and was trying to get the corner of our
wet blanket over him. / drew up my feet
some, and Cook, who lay next to me. did the
same, and we let him lie there. / did not
awake again until the sun was up. The other
boys were awake, but had concluded to lie still
until moved as it was much warmer lying still
together than standing alone. The ground was
covered with white frost, and some of the
prisoners were moving about. Soon after,
when we got up to leave we discovered that
the man at our feet was dead. He lay with
his knees up to his chin, and, although four OF
us tried our best, we could not straighten him
particle. On looking around we found eight
more dead out of the $50 who had walked
into that field the night before. No one knew
the dead man at our feet, and his grave to-day
(if he fills one) is one of the thousands of un-
known. We were formed in ranks to march
to the new "bull-pen when a rebel captain
came up and requested US to listen to a propo-
sition which he was authorized to make to u.s.
TRUE TO THE LAST.
1t was this: We all knew what prison life
meant There would be no moro exchanges
till spring; our Government had refused to ex-
change for us, and we could not hope to live
much longer; and he now offered each a good
suit of warm clothes, blanket and plenty of
rations, if we would Just raise our right hand
and take the oath of allegiance TO the Southern
Confederacy. We would not have TO do any
duty except light guard duty-no Aghting or
| marehing-and should have good quarters and
plenty to eat. The captain paused. | know
he expected to get the most of us right there
and then, but / here record it with pride that
not one hand was lifted to take that oath.
With death staring us in the face, and nine
dead comrades as the result Of one nights ex-
posture, the outlook was gloomy enough, but
| still loyalty to country and the old flag over
| weighed all other considerations. When these
boys enlisted they enlisted in earnest | do
not know how many of them are alive to-day.
/ saw Cook nearly a year ago. He was then
sheriff of Beaver county, Pa, but his health
was gone. | have seen others since, but
there is not one but is a mere wreck of his
| former self, and not one is in receipt of q
| pension from the Government he stood by,
| so far as / know | tell you, Mr.. Editor it