The National tribune., 1901-06-13

.
guard and bring in a supply in buckets o
canteens for the use of the prisoners; bu
one day one of the prisoners made his es
cape, and after that we renot allowed
to go out for water; must get 1t from the
wells inside or go without and as oul
few wells were empty much of the time
we could not get what water we needed
to drink.
Soon after we were imprisoned in Sal
isbury we were divided up into squads
100 men to the squad. with a Sergeant
in charge, who represented us, and from
that time forward drew our rations for
us. Two or three times per week we
were placed in line and counted. and our
Sergeant drew rations for the number of
men he could muster in his squad. Every
man in the pen who could move about
had to get in line and be counted; some
men would manage to be counted in more
than one squad, if the Sergeant in charge
of some other squad than his own was
his friend; and at times it kept the Tebs
! hustling to know just how many men
| they had to feed. OF course. they knew
| how many men were carried out dead,
/ but the men who counted in more than one
squad for rations upset their calculations;
but | don't imagine that we got any more
rations on account of this doubling. Their
! principal object for counting was, think,
! to ascertain If any men were escaping.
This pen was just on the outskirts of
the town; we could hear the town clock
strike every hour, day or night, and hear
the church bells ring; but they did not
seem to have any religion left over for the
Yankee prisoners, except on one occasion,
III October, / think, when the representa-
tives of the Catholic Church came in and
Informed onr Catholic comrades that they
were sent in to pick them out and take
IN hrv fh,af, oil hnr.e
they would be under shelter, have plenty
of water, and get better attention than
they were receiving in the pen. Some 200
or 300 were taken out, and | met one
of them once at the Reunion OF my regi-
ment in Oneida County, n. Y. He seemed
to have stood the Imprisonment very well;
was stout-looking man when | met him,
anyway.
At first we used the old cotton factory
as place to sleep at night, on account of
its being cover to keep us out of the
weather. Hardly any of US had any
blankets. We used brick or block of
wood for a pillow, and as the first floor
of this building had been taken out, we
used the dirt floor for bed. Cool nights
we would snuggle up to each other, spoon
fashion" There would probably be 100
or more men in line, the dirt floor under
us and nothing over US. When the town
clock struck for midnight every man
turned over. The nights were long and
cold. When asleep, and we slept all we
could, which was not very much, we |
would invariably dream of feasting with |
our comrades or friends at home. only to |
waken up cold and more hungry than |
ever. | often wished that l was half as
well fed and as comfortably housed as
my fathers dog was at home.
On one occasion / saw some person in
one Of the hospital buildings open the
door and throw the entrails of some animal
out on the ground in the mud. a lot of
prisoners made a rush for the spot, and
fought over the spoils like lot of hogs
would, or like dogs fight over bone. They
were so hungry they would eat anything.
On our arrival at Salisbury the Union |
officers then imprisoned there were taken
to one side of the pen and kept by them
selves. The enlisted men were not al
lowed to converse with them, although
hey were only separated by a ditch and
inc of rebel guards.
One day Union officer got too near
he dead, line, and was shot dead. This
'reated quite an uproar, and the rebels
earring the Union officers would lead in
IN attempt to break out, removed them
o some other prison.
Usually our guards were either old men
IT young boys. Either would shoot with
1ut cause, but the boys were all very
anxious to shoot Yankee, ard | believe
|
more than one. Hardly a day passed
without prisoner being shot.
HARD WORK TO KEEP WARM.
At night we were not allowed to move
Ihout the pen. If we did we were liable
o be shot. Men were frequently shot at
light in the center of the pen, or many
DDS from the dead line
In November, after we were driven out
# the factory building, we were given
few condemned rebel tents land tent
hat the rebs would condemn was of no
se as shelter.
My squad of 100, originally, was given
ne tent that 10 men would fill. We all
made our headquarters around that tent /,
ay and night. Some of the men found
hat there was no chance to get in the
ent, and dug holes in the ground and .
ried to live in them. They would put
ticks across the top from one side OF the |
Iole to the other, and then cover it over
With dirt, but were generally driven out in
Amy weather.
The most of our squad soon landed in /.
he hospital, and then the dead house, un- !
IL finally l got chance to get in the !.
cnt, and on account of my interest in the
alf blanket, my partner and myself had
nslde berths; that is, my partner and my =
elf slept close together in the middle of |,
he tent, with the balance of our squad
utside of us, usually "spoon fashion,
We ESi:asad with our knives to whittle L
Fl some shavings to sleep on-still not '
uough to keep us from the cold ground. |
often felt so cold that it seemed as il I
he marrow in my bones ratified every time !
moved. Our pen was like barnyard .
lied with cattle-always mud in wet )
-eather. Part Of the Winter, of course, I
was frozen up and covered with snow
nd ice
In October and November rebel officers S
anne in and solicited the men to enlist in
he rebel army. Some enlisted, but told
s before they went out they would desert
he rebels the very first chance they got, :
thich l think they did, but nearly all 3,
wore that they would die in the pen be- i
ore they would desert our flag. )
NEWS OF VICTORY. v
We heard from the outside world |
trough our comrades as new ones were I
rought in. We were cheered I'D when I
'e heard of the reelection of President I
lincoln and Of Union victories As the a
Winter passed away, and Sherman's !
rmy was marching through Georgia, and y y
$ Terry had captured Fort Fisher, n. G..
lst east Of us, after desperate fighting Y
nd as the rebels did not want us to be u
eleased by the Union army, they CON
luded to get us off their hands before !,
ur army got there; so, on Feb. %, 1865, Il
re were notified to get out of the pen
All that were able to walk were marched
asst across the country to the Union lines I
nd released, and all not able to walk !
aboard how | 1