The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-12-14

fast getting ssck. Our destination stiil ! unknown. Take meals at the casin table | and have the liberty Of the boat but | not allowed to 90 on shore.
 Tuesday, July Mst-Left Vfcksburg at 2 D. m, going up the river: heat not so great. Passed a camp of negro troops on the left bank.
 Wednesday July 2sd-came to Helena. Ark The farms on the bank of the river is a desolate waste, not one unde: | cultivation, the houses either burned or vacated, not a living thing to be seen ex' cept here and there negro. Such ara | the effects of cruel war. Came to Mera | phis about o'clock. We found many | rebel sympathizers amongst the ladies, | God bless them. The men were afraid | to speak or act. Friday. July 24th-Many ladies came ! aboard to see us and urged us to tyH | them our wants and accept whatever we | needed. They invited us to their houses. | The ladies are proud to walk the streets | of Memphis with a Confederate soldier. We were put on board the Rose Hamble- | ton under a strong guard and started for Cairo at o'clock p. m.
 l Saturday, July 25th-Nothlng of import ance. Boat crowded. At night the Con- federate officers had a dance with the l Yankee girls aboard. Good feeling seems ] to prevail.
 1 Sunday, July 26th-Still on way up the l river Touched at Columbus. Landed at l Cairo at p. m. General Bufort came | aboard and told us our destination was | Johnson Island on Lake Erie, near San | dusky.
 Monday. July 27th-Train started north | at 3:30. We were kept aboard the cars from g o'clock Sunday evening till 10 o'clock Monday without water, no ar l do to | ter aboard, though General Bufort as- | sured us there would be. Arrived at - | behind time, the Indianapolis train hay | ing left.
 Tuesday, July 2sth-Left Mattoon at F | o'clock and arrived at Indianapolis about daylight, the cars being full. We were compelled to remain here all day. The natives stared at us like we were wild | beasts. Since we left Cairo Lieutenant | Webber had us in charge and treated us as gentlemen. He permitted us to go to the hotel to get breakfast. When Gen eral Wilson, the commander of the post. heard of it, he sent for Lieutenant Web Der and severely reprimanded him, put him under arrest and sent us to a guard house. where we were strictly guarded
 Wednesday. July 29th-We were kept in
 the guard house without our aggage or
 blankets. We had some beef and bread
 
 ing at o'clock we left on the train for Sandusky, Ohio. At all the stations along
 the road the natives were collected in great crowds to see the rebels. They
 seemed disappointed when told the cele- brated horse thief. John Morgan, was not
 along. The females especially were eager l, to see us and took every means to show us they were rejoiced at our misfortunes
 and hated rebels.
 SI Fala Ta,t , sons Island on the steam ferry boat. , Here our arms and money was taken from us and our baggage inspected. Then we were marched inside the prison and put , into a block with the other prisoners from Port Hudson. We had no breakfast or dinner today. and as supper was over when we arrived we went supperless to , bed. I slept well, though hungry, my , first night in prison.
 Thursday, July 30.-Took a hearty
 breakfast of bakers bread, bacon. gravy
 and coffee. About 1000 officers and 400 . or 500 privates. The prison yard is about
 300 yards square and enclosed by q stout , plank fence fifteen feet high, with a walk for the sentinel, one of whom is placed every twenty steps around the
 wall, and walk the post night and day.
 Stakes are placed inside all around the
 walls at intervals of twenty steps. and |. |
 prisoners are not allowed to go. if they do are liable to be shot without previous warning. On the west side of the prison
 yard at a distance of forty steps from the wall runs two rows of buildings with i d street forty yards wide between. which are used as barracks, one as a hospital.
 There are six houses in each row and one
 at the north end of the street. making , thirteen in all. The houses are called |
 and are twenty feet wide. two stories high Each block is arranged to hold | about $50 prisoners. who are divided into two messes and their meals are cooked
 in small shed at either end of the J building, each prisoner pays b cents per . week to the cooks for their services
 Some of the privates act as laundresses.
 washing for cents a garment Our bill
 of fare consists of bakers bread cooked outside. beef or bacon, coffee (chicory),
 and sugar (coarse, very). with such other
 articles as we buy from the suffers, such
 as cabbage, Irish potatoes, onions. beets
 lettuce, snap beans butter. eggs mo-
 lasses, pickle. mustard. sauces dried
 fruit, cheese. crackers, etc. if one has
 plenty of money he can life well here | The sutler will credit us to the amount of
 greenbacks or specie we have left with
 Major Pierson, the comma ndant of the
 prison. We all eat our meals at long pine
 tables set out in the lower rooms. Our
 table furniture consists of a tin plate
 knife and fork. and tn cup for each man.
 buckets for water and wash basins we
 buy ourselves. The prison is situated on
 the south side and near the eastern shore
 of the island, in the yard near the east
 ern wall is a pump supplied with water
 from the lake. Here we go for water
 for cooking, washing and drinking rur- poses. There is always an immense crpggd
 around the pump and 1t generally requres
 q man to stand and wait about one hour
 before his turn comes to pump. In the
 southeast corner are two small huts, in