The Opelousas courier., 1883-09-08
EDERAL PRISON.
rha Enclosure at Elmfras N. ", Where
10000 COnfederates Were Conhhea--
Life AmonR the Captives.

The Incrosure at Elmira, N. Y, Where
$4,000 COnfederates Were conhhe"--
Life Among the Captives.
An Elmira IN. " letter to the
Philadelphia Press says:
Here it was that in 1864 was eStab-
| lished one of the most famous Confed-
crate prisons. On the banks OF the
| river in the northern suburb OF the
city, nearly two miles from the then
business center, lay Barracks NO. ..
The Enclosure contained about thirty
acres, gently sloplng toward the south,
and was surrounded by a high, tight
fence. At the norther end were sew
eral large buildings used as officers,
barracks. These, with n exception,
have all been removed, and the whole
space built up with cottages. Some
$4,000 captive Confederate soldiers
were confined here from the latter part
| of 1864 to the close of the war.
The rules and regulations governing
the prison were of the most rigid char
acter. AS fast as they arrived at the
barracks a careful comparison OF their
numbers with the rolls which accom-
panied them was made, and the men
divided into companies for the better
| preservation of order. A prison
fund" was created, to be used In the
purchase of additional table delicacies,
defraying the expensesof washing and
mending, etc. This fund was priacl-
pally made up from the difference
between the prison ratlons and
those allowed the United States
soldiers. The rations allowed
each prisoner were as follows: Pork
or bac,n, fourteen ounces fresh beef,
fourteen ounces; -four or soft bread,
| sixteen ounces; hard bread, sixteen
ounces; cornmeal, fifteen ounces; and
to every 100 rations, beAns or peas,
twelve and a, half pounts; rice or
hominy, eight pounds; soap, four
pounds; vinegar, three quarts; salt,
three and three-quarters pounds; po-
tatoes, fifteen pounds. Tea, coffee
and sugar were only issued to the sick
and wounded, and then upon a sur
geon's certificate; also, those employed
upon public works near the camp.
Each man could draw a small amount
from the prison fund weekly for the
purchase of tobacco, etc. .
In their prison life the Confederates
were generally cheerful and good-na-
tured, spending their time in wood
and bone carving, reading, writing,
and the thousand and M ways those
in confinement while away the weary
hours. They were permitted to write
letters to friends, subject always to the
inspection Of an officer. Many of these
letters were of course withheld, and
some which were not were copied for
their very q%uaintness. A portion of
one from a captive written to a woman
friend in Dixie read as follows:
"The quarters in camp are passable,
but the quarters in my pockets are
not. Last night I had a mud-puddle
for a pillow, and covered myself with
a sheet of water. [ long for more
whisky barrels and less gun barrels,
more biscuits and less bullets. How l
wish you were here. The further /
get away from you the better / like
you."
Many were the devices put into exc
cution in their attempts at escape,
some of them showing a daring and
shrewdness worthy of success. Most
of these were futile, owing to the close
ness with which the camp was guarded.
Two daring North Carolinians, BROTH
ers, worked a month on a tunnel, car
rying the dirt away in their pockets
and boots. 1t was finished one night
about 9 o'clock, and the astonished
tunnel workers found that an angle
had been made in their hole and they
had come out inside of the fence.
They were discovered and closely
watched for a time, but in about two
months did make their escape and
were never overtaken, One reckless
young fellow, an eighteen-year-old
Virginian, with the aid of a compan-
ion, removed the body Of a smallpox
corpse from its coffin and placed him
self in it. 1t was taken to the ceme-
terry at night and unloaded. When he
heard the dead-wagon leayethe grounds
he left his CHASTITY bed, and, in rising
up, nearly frightened the two negro
grave-diggers out of their senses. He
made good his escape, and the pre-
c.ncts of Barracks No. 8 saw him no
more.