Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1909-11-04
How We Spent Our lime in Pris


How We Spent Our Time in Prison.
Some time ago l asked Comrade E.
R. Reed to write for me story OF
every day life in a rebel prison. l
have now received from him what
seems to me very interesting reading,
and | am putting it here where others
besides myself may enjoy it. This is
his story:
l was a private in Company \ OF
the I'd Wisconsin infantry, was
wounded and made prisoner at the
first battle Of Bull Run, was in a gen
eral hospital two months, and then
sent to the famous libby prison. In
Libby | fell under direct control of a
man we called the Dutch sergeant, =
afterward known to history as Cap
tain Wirz, commandant of the prison
at AndersonvilIe I'd be glad to tell
all l know about this man Wirz as
gentleman and villain, but my linn
tied space will not permit.
Not long after being domiciled in
Libby l found man one day rubbing
something on the upholstered brick
wall. He rubbed hard and vigorous
ly, as if he were trying to do some
thing. With characteristic impudence
and inQuisitiYeness l watched him a
few minutes, and then asked what he
was trying to do He showed me a
in oiI 10
was trying to make a finger ring. 1t
was a crude looking affair, but he
thought it would be a sort of relic to
lake home. Soon / discovered others
engaged in the same laudable enter
prise-making souvenirs to take home.
Practice makes perfect" and Sue
cess is secure, unless energy fails.
The fellows kept at this ring-making
until they were able to produce some
quite artistic specimens.
Having an abundance Of self-cOnceit
of my own, I thought that if l would
try I could do a little better than any
of the others, so l got bone and be-
gan to white. In course of time-1t
took time-I fashioned a bone into a
five-sixteenths of an inch cube, with
a bali in the center, and a ring so at
tached as to hang it to a watch cham.
My bit of jewelry won the bet, and
then [ rested, not intending to do any
more whiting.
About this time the bone work be-
gan to attract the attention of the
confederate officers who now and then
visited the prisons, and from them
we got consent to purchase small files
to use. They could not see that such
files could help US in any way to es-
cape. Thereafter the enterprise be-
came more enterpriSing.
On the 25 of November, 1861, Ser
geant Wirz, with 500 of us prisoners,
started south for Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
Before leaving Richmond he had tel
egraphed to Petersburg, where we
were to change cars, to have ready
for us one cooked ration for each OF
the 500 men. 1t was done as he mad
directed, and issued to us as we
marched from one train to the other
AS it was past midnight, we could not
see in the darkness what we were
getting. We soon found that we had
cold boiled pork and hunk Of bread
The bread was all right,-but the
pork! None of us could eat 1t
Nearly all of the men threw theirs
away, but I kept mine-I might be
glad to eat it yet In the morning
held a postmortem over it, and found
that the pork had been alive with fat
iuicv maggots. The boiling had cooked
them. Some of the men showed thel
meat to Wirz the next day. ina
good mans soul became yeXed exceed
irgly, and he swore worse than tine
army i'll Flanders" He said, ! or
dered meat. and by CD I meant meat
not maggots!" I verify believe that i
| he could then have got hold of tina
Petersburg commissary he would have
had him chopped into small piece:
and fed to his yankees. He always
spoke of his as my yankees" HI
assured us that we should have NJ
| more such food.
At every station where we stopped
a crowd would gather. They crowded
close up to the cars and demanded:
What did you-uns come down her
to fight we-uns for?"
A great variety of answers Wer