The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1902-06-04
FEDERAL PRISON FARE.
by ID. ]. Walden, OF the Tenth GeOr
gin Regiment

During the month of September,
1864, | was confined in the pcnitcn-
tiary at Nashville, Tenn as prisoner
of war. referred to this imprison-
ment incidentally in former article,
but made no attempt to describe our
miserable fare and the incidents that
grew out of it. had been severely
wounded, at the battle Of the Wilder
ness, Va, had come home and was
spending the time of my GONZALES
ccnce very pleasantly with my father.
family in Clayton County, Ca, when
Sherman S army passed, en- route from
Atlanta to Jonesboro and persuaded
me, by means Of such tangible argu-
mcnts as guns, pistols, bayonets, etc.,
to forsakc the comforts and happiness
of home for the miscrics and wretch
cdncss Of the prison. They captured
several hundred other Confederate
soldiers in and around Joncsboro, car
ricd US to Nashville and kept us pcnt
up inside the walls of the pcnitcntiary
grounds. We suffered severely from
hunger, thirst, exposure, filth and the
annoyance Of vcrmin. They pretend
cd to serve one meal each day and it
consisted of slice of bread, about
four inches square by three fourths of
an inch thick and slice Of boiled ba-
con about one-fourth as large.
~ meal time we were marched very
slowly, in double file, through an
opening in the ranks Of little squad
of Yankees, who doled out to us as We
passed, our meagre allowance for the
day. There was very little of any
thing, connected with those proceed
ings. that seemed to deserve word of
praise, but those little lunches were
certainly very palatable, the excel
lence of flavor being due, very large
ly, no doubt, to the kecnness of ap-
petite consequent upon our extreme
Punishment And when we received
our little portion we almost entirely
lost our sclf-control and dcyourcd it
ravcnously like so many wild beasts.
Shortly after our arrival | undertook
to devise some kind of scheme for
increasing my allowance, and for that
purpose took position in the line
near the head of the column and was
among the first to be served; then I
went around by circuitous route,
took another position in the line,
marched through again and received
another portion. repeated that pro-
cess for two or three days in success
sion. aud OH one occasion drew three
times, but when several other men
caught on TO the trick, it was so cx-
travagantly overworked that the Yam
KEGS detected it and summarily frus-
trated it. About that time Mr.. JEFF
Miller, friend Of mine, became so
sick he was unable to eat any CT his
rati| -. and as 1 happened to have
one of the few blankets that the place
contained, he proposed to trade me
his rations for the use Of my blanket,
and so l got two mems rations for
several days and slept on the bare
ground, as many others were doing.
We were frequently visited by minis
tering angels, in the form of women
and girls, with baskets of the most
delicious nourishments, and as they
were not permitted to enter the en-
closure, they would stand on the out
side and throw the precious missiles,
piece by piece, over the prison walls
and the copious showers of dainty
viands, falling among us, provoked
the widest and most exciting scram-
bles, some of the strongest and most
active ones getting much more than
their share while others got scarcely
anything.