The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1891-12-05


pound; corn meal 81 per pound; wool
blankets $25 each. Playing cards, being
necessity and finding many buyers, were
sold at the Iemuneratiye price of Sl1 per
pack.
On the nth of May. all the Federal
oi1cers at Lynchburg, ITO in all, myself
among the number, were loaded into pas
senger cars and cattle cars, and slowly
put, to our sorrow, surely, transported to
Danvllle. Va., where we remained two
qays IN an old tobacco warehouse. From
Danville we were transported through
North and South Carolina to Macon, Ca,
which was to be our prison home for many
weary weeks. The cars were old and
rickety. and the road beds were
sadly out of repair. AS result, we had
an accident in South Carolina which came
near being fatal to some of the passengers.
Dut, beyond severe jolting by running the
e car wheels upon sleepers instead of over
the rails, and big scare as we'll among
the guards as prisoners, all of whom
Jumped out together, no damage was done,
and after dumping two of our cars, the
train numbered along to its destination.
Four or FIVE hundred enlisted men, who
had been transported upon eur train, were
switched off and sent, many of them, to a
lingering death at Andersonville.
When we reached Macon, we found
a thousand Federal officers who had
already been confined at that point several
months before our arrival. From the out
side OF the prison we could sec nothing but
the high stockade with sentinels marching
back and forth near the top. From the in
side we could hear nothing. The large
wooden gates swung ajar upon their
Speaking hinges In an otherwise deathless
stiffness. One hundred and ten of us. side
by side, by twos, wondering If all inside
move forward, and as the head of the little
column enters, instead of receiving broth
erly greetings and handshakiDgs, we hear
nothing but savage yells and hootings.
amid which we could distinguish such
words as Fresh fish," ''fresh fish "
Don't take that mans haversack." Don't
steal his pocket handkerchief" Inclined
at first to be indignant at such treatment,
we soon learned that this was sort of
Initiation given to every new conner, and
we all fell readily into the same practice.
once inside, we were not long In finding
old friends who had been captured before
US, and. who now instructed us in the
duties OF our new life. The haggard ar-
pearance OF many of these men, who had
already experienced but few months of
prison life, was anything but encouraging
to us whom they classed as fresh FISH,"
presumably because we had been but re-
Gently caught" Here We settled down
soiidy TO prison diet and prison discipline.
At that time there were nearly twelve aun-
dred of us living upon less than four acres
OF land. Afterwards the number was in
creased to two thousand. Around the sides
OF our yard" were sheds with posts and
roofs but no sides. Under those roofs
were two tiers of hunks where we slept, or
tried TO sleep, at night In the middle of
the enclosure was small wooden building
used as sort of cCmmlssary Headquarters
and for hunks Twenty two of the prison.
els were Maine men, although some of
them bad entered the service from other
STATES w
prison, while that at Andersonville was
used Tor enlisted men, 1t not being deemed
prudent to have officers and men too near
together for fear Of plots to escape Both
these prisons were in one and the same
military department., and both were ia
charge of General Wynder, the notorious
Capt. WurtZ. who was afterwards tried
and executed by our authorities, being in
immediate charge of the prison at Ander-
sonvllle. Our rations we're issued to us
raw. We were divided by the prison
officials into messes of one hundred met or
thefeabouts, each mess having one of our
own efncers as commissary, whose duty it
was 10 receive and issue ratl0ns TO The in
dlYldual members of his mess. These
messes were by ourselves subdivided into
squads of from three to six men each.
THESE small squads had their own rules
ana regulations. In my own squad, one Of
our number was obliged to act as cook for
nxed number of days, and woe to the un-
happy cook who spoiled CT wasted any of
our rations. Even your humble servant
was upon one occasion obliged to sustain,
at 10 small personal risk, the proposition
tnat he was skillful aud economical COOK.
The point was never finally settled except
IN the writer's own mind, as the bystaDd-
ers interfered and stopped the discussion
when naQ already resulted in broken
skillet and black eye. An idea If the
utter decentralization existing among men
IA n nr mt
supposed TO bear to the outside world,
may be gathered from the fact that it was
not an uncommon thing 20 see men, who
were generally friends, coming TO blows
over some foolish dispute. and soon after
shaking hands with each other and ar
Fortunately their nbysieial- condition vveo
generally such that they could not do each
Other much bodily harm. Our daily ration
consisted OF IA pints corn meal, / gill mo-
iasses, gil back beans, ounces bacon,
| teasp00nful of salt, 1-6 gill Of rice and an
u1measurable quantity of soap. Water ad
lt6stuni. or course, ON a diet ike this, and
by reason OF having no vegetable food ex-
cept an occasional onion which the lucky
ones could buy at one dollar each In Con-
iederate money, many of the prisoners
become subject to scurvy. The presence
OF this disease was at first disclosed by a
sluggish circulation of the blood, and many
a prisoner knew, as he would push his
thumb OF finger into some soft part of his
flesh and maze an indentation into which
the blood would but slowly return as the
flesh returned to its normal position, that
he too was mark for the dread disease.
Later as his teeth loosened, his hair fell
out and his weary limbs almost ceased to
support him, is 1t not wonderful that not
a single Federal officer succumbed to the
fiattering inducements offered by the Con-
federates to prove false to the stars and
stripes as the price of liberty and perhaps
life itself? Coffee was made by burning
corn meal in skillet and adding hot
water to suit the taste, A little sorghum
molasses was added. A SORT of sauce or
the meal in similar manner and adding
a little fat from fried bacon, In this man
ner OF cooking, by closely following my
recipe and adding rare degree of skill,
became quite an expert
,a Our knowledge of the outside world was
hear that Grant was throwing
shells into Richmond, that Sherman
had taken Atlanta, and that all the pris-
oners were to be at once exchanged. The
next day we would be told that Grant was
retIeating upon Washington, that Sherman
had been outflanked by Hood and had
abandoned his march to the sea-" and
that no more prisoners would he exchanged
until the end of the war.
The 10th of June was an eyentfnl day.
We had among US five brigadier generals,
several colonies, 1t. Colonies and Majors,
Unexpectedly an order was received call
ing out the general officers, Colonies, 1t.
Colonies and nine of the Majors for ex-
change. The Majors were taken alpha
betically and the writer came within one of
being taken. Such is fate. These officers
were taken away, as they supposed to be
exchanged, but we learned afterwards, to
be taken TO Charleston and placed under
the fire of our own guns, which were then
COnfederates to protect the city. Later on,
as we shall see, more of our number were
selected for the same purpose.
The amusing incidents of this prison life
at Macon would fill volume, while its
privatioDs and sufferings would Oil many.
IL was dlfflcult to procure any books to
read. and the only way in which we would
amuse ourselves at all with the solaces
and delights of literature was by club
bling together and taking an hour or two
each at some book which the fortunate
pOssessor would pass around, and MANY a
time have l, in the bright Southern star
light, read and re-read and committed to
memory passages from some favorite au-
thcr, many of which have never forgotten,
as the associations have firmly fixed them
In my mind. In the absence of other
amusements the prisoners would gather
around some fayorite story teller, whose
descriptions OF battles fought and yicto-
ries won" were embellished by the nara
tor by rough stick with which he would
his comrades had fought and died, 9th
ers would indulge in patriotic harangues
to enthusiastic listeners, and, often. when
the fieIy orator would he at tho haiobf az n