The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1902-04-24

would secure four Yankee canteens and
cork and seal them tightly. Two fastened
under each arm would float a man. AT
night, when the tide was rising, the eS-
Gaping prisoner would drop into the water
and float up the river with the tide, work
ing toward the Delaware shore. Many
succeeded and their absence was not dis
covered, for rebels selected for the pur-
pose, called the rolls each day, and, Of
course, would not report one absent who
had escaped. To shield the Sergeant
someone would answer for those absent.
ESCAPING PRISONERS.
The cooks were prisoners, and it was
necessary TO be strict with them, as the
care and order in the barracks existed in
the kitchen. The Stops from the kitchen,
spoiled beef which was cast into the river
and all offal which was cast over the
leyee at low tide, lay on the rocks eX-
posed TO the sun; but the prisoners whose
duty it was to attend TO these things had
not sense enough 10 do the work properly,
or did not care-l believe it was both.
Gen. Schoepf. the commandant Of the post,
in his rounds, discovered this, and he was
very much put out, as the remedy was
very simple-dump these things during
the high tide only and they would float
away. This he ordered done But in
spite of all that could be done, there was
filth, and sickness and death abounded,
and to such an extent that hospital was
built.
The material for this building, or the
most of it, was landed at the wharf on
the southwest of the island, and the hospi-
tai was built on the northeast part of the
island. The lumber was carried by the
prisoners from the wharf to the building
site. Late in the afternoon some who had
planned to escape would lay plank down.
At night, after the prisoner had tied his
clothes TO one end, he would push the
plank into the stream. In most cases the
tide was too strong for them TO propel
themselves and the plank across the cur
rent and reach the shore. The conse-
quence was they would be carried up the
river, to be picked up by some boat and
taken back to the fort. The first cap
ture put the guards Oh the lookout and the
regulations adopted for the control Of the
prisoners at night were strict. Sometimes
through the ignorance Of guard in obey
ing his orders, or through malice, some
prisoners were shot; Notwithstanding ev-
cry precaution, escapes or attempts to es-
cape were nightly occurrences. Those who
who succeeded in reaching the Delaware
shore generally made good their return
South. Those who were caught were CON
fined in the fort and, understood, were
fed Oh bread and water for awhile.
The Delaware militia were the most hui
name guards we had. The 9th Mass, the
one of Baltimore fame, were bad. They
would shoot TO get an excuse to shoot
again. The regulars in the fort had
nothing to do with US.
When cold weather was coming on all
Of the prisoners were marched out Of the
barracks. and their clothing was inspect
ed. Each man was provided with Il good
fs.l.. L.
coat and pants, hat, overcoat and blanket
Stoves holding one bushel of coal each
were placed in the barracks about 90 feet
apart Coal was piled up. so that the
stoves could be kept hot all day and all
night. With the fires, blankets and over
coats the men were comfortable. The
rainwater from the roofs was no longer
used; tusboatS with water tanks in their
hulls ran regularly between the fort and
Brandywine Creek and brought water
from there every day and pumped it into
! the. tanks. Thus we got good water; the
death rate was greatly decreased. We
estimated that about 1000 men died dur.
ing the months Of.July. August and Sep
TENDER. The smallpox broke out, but did
not become epidemic.
RETALIAToRY MEASURES.
Things seemed TO be all right for the
Winter-sood clothing, good fires, good
water, ana GOOD nOspItal-When sud
denly the Yankees raised the cry, AN
| Jacksonville" OF course, we did not know
| what it meant, but we soon found out
The men were allowed a choice between
a blanket and an oyercoat; they were not
allowed TO keep both. All of the stoves
were taken out of the barracks, except one
for each 500 men, and one bushel Of Goa
allowed TO each stove for "a hours The
result was, as soon as the coal arrived il
was put all at once into the stove. and
the strong would crowd around it and re
main there until the fire was all gone
The weak and the sickly never felt fire