CONFEDERATE PRISONERS

Sent from Fort Delaware to Morris'
Island to be Punished.

WRITTEN BY

Fritz Fuzzelbug,

ONE OF THEIR NUMBER.

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PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR.

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SINGER'S GLEN, VA.:
JOSEPH FUNK'S SONS, PRINTERS.
1869.

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Copy-Right secured according to Law, in the usual form.

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PREFACE.

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PRISON-LIFE DURING THE REBELLION.

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SECTION I.

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Causes that led to the selection of the Six Hundred.

          IN the month of July, 1864, Major Gen. Sam. Jones, the Confederate commander at Charleston, by authority from superiors, selected forty Federal prisoners-;Generals, Colonels, and Lieut.-Colonels-;and confined them in the city of Charleston.

          They were confined in the upper part of the town, away from the exploding shells, which were daily hurled into Charleston, from Federal batteries erected on Morris' Island.

          The erroneous rumor was soon rife in the North , that they were daily exposed to the fire of their own guns, and under fire , as it was termed. It is needless to say such was not the case.

          They were put aboard a steamer at Fort Delaware, and soon found themselves in the Southern waters. They were very inhumanly treated and indignantly abused. Upon their arrival at Morris' Island, the place of their intended suffering, two small frame huts were erected near battery Wagner for their reception.

          The Federals, supposing that the Confederate shells thrown at Wagner, would explode among them. But previous to their landing, Gen. Jones proposed an exchange. The Federals, thinking that the rebel officers would be a burden at home, and their own a great desideratum, acceded to the proposal. They were accordingly exchanged.

SECTION II.

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Selection of the Six Hundred.

          Gen. Jones, having succeeded well this time, resolved to try the experiment again. For this purpose he selected six hundred Federal prisoners-;Colonels, Lieut.-Colonels, Majors, Captains, and Lieutenants, and confined them in Charleston, beyond the range of Federal shells.

          The Federals soon blazed abroad the terrible news, that Federal prisoners were under fire in Charleston. The U. S. Government determined on retaliation.

          Gen. Schoeph was ordered to dispatch six hundred prisoners to the South for purposes of retaliation. He, in obedience to command, on the 25th of August, 1864, selected from the Confederate prisoners confined at Fort Delaware, six hundred prisoners-;Colonels, Lieut.-Colonels, Majors, Captains, and Lieutenants. The following is a list of the selection:

          The selection comprised 600, of whom 6 were Colonels, 6 were Lieutenant Colonels, 16 Majors, 176 Captains, 176 First Lieutenants, 220 Second Lieutenants. All the Southern States were represented. Maryland had 6; Virginia 186; North Carolina 111; South Carolina 24; Georgia 60; Florida 10; Alabama 26; Mississippi 21; Louisiana 30; Texas 5; Arkansas 28; Missouri 8; Kentucky 35; Tennessee 50.

          Great care was taken by the Federal officers to select disabled officers. About 100 of the number were officers rendered useless to the service by dangerous or repeated wounds, and the loss of arms or legs.

          The Federal authorities supposed that they would be exchanged, and be a burden to the army at home, while they would receive in lieu of them 100 able bodied men ready for active service in the field.

          It may be noticed from the list, that great partiality was shown in the selection of officers, by selecting great numbers from Johnson's Division, Morgan's Cavalry, and the Port Hudson capture.

SECTION III.

The voyage to Hilton Head-;Incidents on the voyage.

          In the latter part of August 1864, we were paraded in Fort Delaware, and after having packed our baggage-;consisting of old clothes, and worn out blankets-;and bidding farewell to our friends, we were marched in order to the wharf.

          We took passage in a steam-ship called the "Crescent;" into her small hold or middle deck we were quickly crowded-;huddled and jammed together like swine on a hog car. We were too many for the capacity of the boat, yet she was made contain us without inflating her the least.

          Imagine our condition; huddled together as close as we could stand; some having room to lie down, while three-fourths had scarcely space upon which to stand. The heat being up to 95º without steam, and of course increasing greatly when the boiler was heated for sailing, great numbers became sea-sick; and then the "stench," "the filth," dirt, &c., in this crowd, was almost intolerable.

          It is not possible to give on paper a correct account of the sufferings of the voyage. They would have to be realized to be fairly comprehended, and those only who felt them, can have an idea of their horrible magnitude.

          The water given us to drink was of an inferior quality, had a disagreeable smell, and a very sickly taste, weakened the stomach, and in many cases produced sickness of fatal consequence. It was given to us in small quantities, and very frequently we suffered for it.

          Our provisions were of the roughest quality and very scarce; so scarce, that many suffered the biting pangs of hunger. They were given once a day in small quantities.

          Our guard consisted of one hundred Ohio militia, commanded by two Lieutenants. They were just as mean and ruthless as Yankees generally were, exhibiting all that villainy and cowardice so peculiar to Yankee soldiers, and especially militia, who had never been in the front of battle.

          They offered many indignant insults to our honor and cause. Most of them were Ohio fops, having scarcely sense enough to carry them to the table.

          The weather was very warm, clear and bright, and no storm or squall disturbed our course. We rounded Cape Hatteras without any difficulty, and if we had been in a comfortable situation, might have enjoyed the voyage to the height of our pleasure.

          About three-fourths of us became very sick shortly after leaving Fort Delaware. We contracted sea-sickness by not being familiar with the sea and sea voyages. And as closely confined as we were, the spectacle was horrid-;the entire floor covered with sick men-;horribly sick, vomited to a fearful extent by the disease, and groaning in a terrific manner-;presented a sight too sickening to behold, and too repulsive to endure, and too wretched to describe. Even those of us who were not infected by the sickening malady, were made faint by the loathesome spectacle we were obliged to witness.

          We were escorted to the southern waters by a Federal man-of-war, which usually kept close to us, firing a gun over our bow and causing us to heave to, when we got too far in advance.

          When we arrived within the lines of the blockading sqadron off Charleston, we were deserted by our escort, and left to finish the voyage alone.

          The same night in which the escort left us, at or near four o'clock in the morning, when we were near Port Royal light-house, our pilot, having gotten out of his latitude, (whether by mistake or purposely, I am not prepared to say,) grounded on a sand-bar, three hundred yards from the beach, about seventy five yards from the boat. A man could have waded with ease to the beach,-;landed on the beach he could have reached Confederate troops by traversing the small island, and crossing a small, narrow, but deep stream, the journey being about three miles, quite practicable, except the river, which could have been crossed by ferrying.

          Most of the prisoners were awake at the time of the accident, and those not awake were aroused by the shock. In a few moments, great confusion prevailed.

          The crew and sailors being good fellows, were not much alarmed. The Captain appearing anxious that we should escape, used no means to disengage his boat, but sat silently in the cabin.

          The prisoners became bold, and quitting their dismal den, rummaged the boat on every side from deck to hold, and from stern to forecastle. The Yankees soon became alarmed at the boldness of their charge, and suffered the prisoners to heap upon them threats, abuses, and curses.

          Col. Manning of Arkansas soon drew up terms of capitulation by which the Yankees were to be paroled and taken to the Confederacy. The boat was to be destroyed, the crew released, the prisoners to be boated to where they could wade, and then make their way to the beach, the boats to be conveyed to shore and transported across the island to ferry the stream beyond.

          When all things were ready for the surrender, and we were rejoicing in the prospect of soon reaching the land of promise, two gunboats suddenly hove in sight. Imagine our mortification, chagrin, surprise and dismay at this unexpected occurrence. Our exulting cries lowered to wrathful curses. Our paper was cast in the sea. We were urged by our guard to quit the deck and take refuge in the hold. Our bright hopes were blasted, and we were forsaken by hope-;seized and chained by despair.

          The Captain now for the first time made efforts to disengage his vessel, and after many fruitless endeavors, succeeded; and we were soon plowing the mighty deep, thinking only of how it might have been, and how near we were the shore of deliverance from Yankee bondage.

          The gunboats approached near enough to ascertain who we were, to enquire into the cause of our detention, our business, and other matters, and proffering aid, if desirable.

          We could have escaped, even after the gunboats hove in sight. They were many miles distant, and by no means fast sailers; and added to this, they had to make a circuitous route of many miles, before approaching us.

          During these detentions, we could have easily escaped, but all became completely paralyzed on the approach of the gunboats, and tamely submitted to the domination of their brutal masters, who wore the aspect of cannibals.

          Nothing else of interest occurred during the voyage, and in a few hours we arrived off Morris' Island. We could distinctly see the batteries, Wagner and Gregg, pouring their incessant showers of shells into Sumpter and Moultrie, and the guns of Moultrie slowly replying.

          We could also see the batteries of Cumming's Point throwing their shot into the city of Charleston. That was one of the most inhuman of all Yankee villainies; yet it was practiced without intermission day and night until the city was evacuated. The act was barbarous in the extreme, bombarding a town without first ordering the removal of the noncombatants. But this was only one of the many exhibitions of Yankee barbarity and inhumanity.

          We remained at Morris' Island for one day, during which negotiations were entered into by both parties relative to an exchange of prisoners. But no definite conclusion being arrived at, we sailed to Hilton Head, and there commenced a scene of suffering, far surpassing anything hitherto known to us. Indeed, we quieted our anxious minds with the regaling thought that we had reached the climax of our inhuman sufferings, and that the day of relief from heart-rending pain and disease, was about to dawn upon us.

          But we were doomed to witness and to realize that of which we had had no previous comprehension. Life was to be a burden almost too intolerable to be borne. Death was to be desired and even hunted for, but the grim monster was not to be found. Hunger, with all its biting pangs and debasing evils, was to seize upon us.

          The stomach, that organ of full life and joyous health, was to suffer for a tenant, and the craving appetite was to go unsatiated in the midst of plenty, and its owner to repine in the days of meat and bread, only that the ambition of a barbarous, cowardly, malicious and inhuman foe, might be gratified.

          The tongue was to be parched by heat, while nature, so plenteous in water, and so abundant in liquids, was not able to quench, or for a moment slake the burning thirst. She was denied this privilege only that an insolent and haughty foe might wreak their cowardly vengeance on the defenseless, who had, like brave men, and men of honor and integrity, gone forth to the field of strife, and staked their all in the face of muskets, cannons and bayonets.

          The mind was left to think of home, and friends, of fireside, and childhood's bright days, and wonder that humanity had gone forever; and that mercy had hid her face in disgust. It was left to dream of water to quench the thirst, of food to satisfy the stomach, of clothes to clothe the body, of fire to warm the shivering limbs and naked body.

SECTION IV.

Sufferings in the boat .

          After it was ascertained beyond doubt that no exchange could be effected without concessions on the part of the Federals, they resolved to exhaust the fire of their wrath upon the defenseless prisoners in their hands, in number the six hundred. Their long pent up wrath, united with their cowardly perfidy, was now put to work.

          Every inhuman device was eagerly sought and diligently meditated upon, until finally the plan was matured.

          We were soon under sail and anchored in Hilton Head harbor.

          We were then driven in the middle deck or hold, the hatchways were closed, the port holes fastened so as to admit neither light nor air-;thus we were entirely excluded from light or fresh air.

          I have already stated that we were so densely crowded, that there was not space enough to lie down. An idea may be had of our condition in such a mass, and denied light or fresh air.

          At this season of the year the climate in the South is excessively hot, so hot, that it can scarcely be borne by Northern or Western persons under ordinary circumstances; much less in our condition-;the thermometer being about 96 to 99 degrees.

          Added to this immense heat and absence of fresh air, was the heat from the boiler, which was kept heated continually, not for purposes of sailing-;for we were at anchor-;but to torment and punish us with the powerful heat.

          The combination of heat from the atmosphere, and that from the boiler, with the absence of fresh air, made the scene one of horror, dreadful agony, and wretched misery. The mouth and lips became fervid and parched with the intolerable heat. The brain became almost senseless with heat and languidness.

          The hands and feet almost ceased to move in obedience to the will; the cheeks became pale, and bore the appearance of the paleness of death; and the whole visage betrayed emotions of the deepest, though hidden, suffering.

          The eyes wore a deathly aspect, a lead paleness, that spoke too plainly the sufferings of the brain. The whole frame quivered with languor and restlessness, beneath the suffocating of the heat.

          The pulse almost ceased to beat its accustomed tone of healthy life, and the heart scarcely heaved forth its usual bub dub , the index of a healthy body, and a soul free from the gnawings of conscience.

          But there is no pen or tongue can describe the horrid sufferings, the dreadful misery, and the excruciating torments of that wrathful scene. My heart recoils with a kind of dreaded despair, whenever I recall to memory the scenes of that horrible prison, the Crescent.

          Misery was depicted in every countenance, and every visage wore the deepest aspect of woe. Every breath that was heaved forth, betrayed the emotions of a repining spirit, hourly losing its vitality, by the horrible suffering, and rushing it rapidly into eternity. Almost every breath was heaved forth with a groan of horror.

          Every groan was one of misery and wretchedness, and told in words too plain for refutation, how the miserable wretch was wasting away his life, and how fearfully the heat was telling upon his vitals.

          Every tear was one forced to the eye by the excruciating pain occasioned by the heat, and almost every word was one of despair and misery.

          There were no words of pleasure-;none of home-;none of consolation; but on every side was heard the word, "O, how hot! O, for fresh air!" "I am suffocating for want of fresh air!"

          The words of woe, misery and despair; the sighs of wretchedness; the groans of anguish; the tears of affliction, and the continual wail of sorrow and torment, made the scene too horrid for contemplation, and too sickening to behold.

          Those hours or days of anguish are too detestable to be forced upon the memory; and I shudder, when called upon, to narrate the facts. They often haunt me in my dreams, and make vivid to my mind the shrieks of pain, the groans of misery, the cries of despair, and the wailings of agony of the six hundred.

          The food given to us during these sufferings was of the roughest quality, and in quantity was not sufficient to allay the gnawing pangs of hunger.

          It consisted of pickled pork-;having bean damaged by shipping and various other causes, until it was unfit for use in the army-;and army crackers, which looked as though they had been manufactured for use in the War of 1776.

          They were entirely unfit for eating, and would not have been eaten by the dogs of a farmer. They were completely filled with worms, bugs, and other living creepers; and yet so great was our hunger, that we ate them with greediness, and thought they were quite palatable.

          The conduct of the Federals on this occasion was very severe, cruel, and inhuman. Their words were spoken with fierceness and wrath, and their whole deportment betrayed their determination to afflict and punish us.

          We were carefully guarded, though confined to the boat and even to the hold, and the boat anchored several yards from the shore, yet it was thought quite unsafe to leave us without a guard. We were guarded in the boat by the strictest sentinels, and not suffered to overleap our privileges, which were confinement to the hold of the boat, without light or fresh air.

          During the night we were guarded with greater exactness, and a small boat made a circuit around us continuously the whole night; And so fearful were they that we would escape, that they suffered but one to leave the hold at a time for natural purposes.

          It must be kept in mind that the heat during all this time was almost intolerable, and rendered more oppressive to us by our close confinement and exclusion from light and a free atmosphere, together with the great heat issuing from the boiler, which was kept heated for the sole purpose of punishing the rebs .

          We suffered very much from the scarcity of water. At first water was given once a day in a barrel. This was exhausted long before the usual return of water the next day, thus giving us several hours each day to suffer for water.

          After a few days water was given in smaller quantities and not at regular intervals, thus causing greater suffering. The water had a most unpleasant look, an exceedingly offensive smell, and a disagreeable, disgusting taste, and usually sickened those who used it.

          This water was shipped, it was said, from wells on the Island. I am not prepared to say from whence it came, but knew that it was not fresh, but filthy, sickly water, injurious to health and oppressive to the taste, and offensive to the olfactory organs.

          In a short time they ceased to bring water from the Island, and then ensued a scene of suffering for water, which surpassed all hitherto known. At one time we had no water for forty hours. O, the intense suffering of those forty hours is beyond description! No pen could convey to the mind an idea of the cruel agony of suffering without water, shut out from light and fresh air in the heat of summer, and confined with a heated steam boiler.

          Description might be beggared in vain to convey to the senses a faint idea of this horrible scene. The mind, pregnant with ideas of every character could form no conception of the bitter pains of those hours.

          The scene would not have been so terrific had we not been refused light and fresh air, and had not been burnt and parched by the excessive heat of the boiler. Men sank, shrank, begged, wept, mourned, lamented, swore, raved, fainted, and sickened under the dreadful blow.

          Men of strong and vigorous frames sank down in sickness and misery under the tortures inflicted upon them. Immense drops of perspiration flowed from every pore, and anguish was heard from every tongue, and misery depicted in every countenance.

          Men of powerful nerve fainted away like children, under the dire effects of the heat. Death was eagerly sought and wished for by all, being preferable to life combined with this scene of suffering.

          Men of the strongest minds and of the greatest firmness wept like babes for the precious earthly gift, water . Many bowed on their knees before their cruel tormentors, and begged like children for a single draught of water.

          During this time no words were heard but those of sorrow and misery; no subject was discussed but the one which engrossed every mind, " water ." Water, water, was the continual cry heard on every side and from every mouth.

          The mind could not for a moment regale itself upon anything else. The only thought was water, water, water. All the thought of home, friends, loved ones, country, cause, liberty, self, God, or eternity, were driven from the mind, and their place supplanted by the thought of water.

          Even in sleep the mind could not rest for dreaming of water and ruminating upon the fine springs, wells, creeks and rivulets with which it had in former days been familiar. No calm repose or undisturbed sleep was left for the mind, but the thought of water, water.

p;              The converse of battle, of home, of friends, of love, of joy, of pleasure, of country, of ease and tranquility, of God and eternity, and of all those things which engage tongue and give exercise to the vocal organs, was unheard, and its place supplied with water, water, water.

          Many persons in sound health became pale and sickly, and their parched lips, sallow complexions, and wrinkled faces, betrayed, in unmistakable lines the approach of the destroyer.

          After this horrible agony of forty hours, we were gratified with the return of water. The condensing vessels were put to work, and we were supplied with boiling water,-;the external heat not being sufficient, we were given boiling water to augment its strength. During the remainder of our stay in the boat we had no other for use but boiling water as it ran from the condenser.

          Men were so eager for water, and it was given in such small quantities, that there was no time given it to cool. It was taken boiling hot, and being poured from one vessel to another, grew cold enough in some minutes that it could be drank without burning the month when it was drank.

          We remained in this condition in the boat for eighteen days, enduring all the suffering and misery above enumerated. Indeed, no suffering could have been more cruel, and nothing could have befallen us than which would have so reduced us.

          No agony or pain could have been greater than the agony created by thirst and the dreadful misery of being without light or fresh air.

          Many of us became so reduced during these sufferings, that we were unable to leave the boat. About fifty had to be carried away, being unable to walk. Many suffered severely from disease even before we left the boat.

          General foster commanded in the South at the time above alluded to. He possessed as much villainy, cowardice, inhumanity, and Yankee perfidy as almost any other Yankee.

          Several things were kept in view while torturing the prisoners. One was to compel the Southern commander to yield to Yankee proposals for an exchange, but he appeared to be inexorable and firm as adamant.

          Another was to wreak their long pent up vengeance upon the heads of defenseless prisoners,-;a sure mark of villainy and cowardice, and a plain exhibition of inhumanity, and an unmistakable evidence of the perfidy for which Yankees have been so universally known and branded.

          Another was to destroy as many Confeds as possible, without the loss of a single Yank ; and various other ideas were kept in view by the cowardly and inhuman Foster .

SECTION V.

TREATMEN, ETC., AT MORRIS' ISLAND-;SITUATION, INCIDENTS, ETC.

          After the suffering in the boat, one more ineffectual application was made for an exchange, but Gen. Jones, the Confederate commander, remained firm to his first decision, which was that no exchange could be effected unless a proportionate share of privates be exchanged with the officers.

          For this purpose a pen was constructed on Morris' Island close to battery Wagner, and in the direct range of our guns at Fort Moultrie, and whenever a shell fell short of Wagner, it would undoubtedly fall among us.

          The land there is entirely level, and destitute of grass, rocks or trees, being only an immense plain of white sand, which, being heated by the rays of a Southern sun, makes sufficient heat to cook an egg.

          The prison pen enclosed near three acres. It was made in a rectangle almost square. A trench of several feet in depth was dug on every side, pine poles several feet in length were then procured and placed perpendicular side by side so close as not to admit the entrance of the smallest animal. This was continued until the entire square was enclosed. The excavated sand was then crowded down by the side of the posts until all was solid and firm.

          A small entrance was left at one end so as to admit the prisoners, their attendants, guards, provisions, &c. This was well secured by a large and strong gate, which was kept locked most of the time.

          On the outside of the pine poles, about twelve feet from the ground, a parapet was made of plank sufficiently wide and strong enough to permit several sentinels on each side, who promenaded it day and night, and watched with ever wakeful and vigorous eye, Jonny Reb .

          On the inside of the enclosure, about thirty feet from the pine poles, stakes were driven in the sand parallel with the wall. All around, from the gate back again a rope was stretched from one to the other, so as to reach all around the sides and the ends.

          Inside of the rope was the place allotted to us. We were not permitted to touch the rope upon pain of being instantly shot. Any one endeavoring to cross the rope was shot without hesitancy. The space between the rope and the wall was used for various Yankee purposes. The most general was that of entertaining those who admire and gaze upon suffering humanity, and to heap taunts and reproaches.

          The space allotted to us was laid off into wide streets, on each side of which was a row of tents. The tents numbered one hundred and fifty. Allowing four to each tent, they just contained the six hundred. The tents were small army tents, capable of holding two men, but there had to be room found in each for four.

          The Pen was situated two hundred and fifty yards from Battery Wagner. Every shell thrown from it caused a gar in our Pen. We were four hundred yards from Battery Gregg, which kept up a regular fire on Fort Moultrie and Fort Sumpter.

          We were five hundred yards from Cumming's Point, which kept up day and night, a continuous fire on the town of Charleston. We were seven hundred yards from Fort Sumpter, and frequently had a view of the structureless and shapeless mass of rubbish composing it.

          Our situation was twelve hundred yards from Fort Moultrie on Sullivan's Island, which kept up a slow fire upon all the Yankee batteries. It was supposed that the shells from this point would fall among us.

          An ironclad was kept on picket near Sullivan's Island and Sumpter, which occasionally fired on Sumpter and Moultrie.

          We were carefully guarded in this enclosure by two regiments of negroes who wore all the blackness, and exhibited all the cruelty so peculiar to descendants of Africa. These regiments were commanded by white officers, who exercised over them the strictest discipline, and most rigorous dominion.

          The white officers were men of very narrow intellect and but limited education-;a slight acquaintance with tactics and military discipline, and utterly devoid of principle, truth and honor, or any of those manly traits which distinguish the white man from the negro. They were almost to a unit New England offscourings .

          The chief commander was one Hallowell of Philadelphia. He was the most inhuman brute that I ever beheld in the shape of a man. He possessed neither principle, sense, honor, humanity nor shame: was in every particular a perfect sample of Yankee dishonesty, inhumanity, barbarity and cruelty. His eye betrayed such cowardly cruelty, that he could never look a prisoner in the face, and all his words were those of a tyrant.

          It was a noted fact concerning all the white officers, that at home, they possessed neither principle, nor honor, nor any of the marks of a gentleman or a Christian.

          The privates were niggers of the deepest dye, and betrayed all the ignorance, villainy and cruelty peculiar to barbarians. Their conduct toward the prisoners was characterized by great cruelty and inhumanity. They heaped any amount of unprovoked abuse upon us. And it appeared to be their chief glory to abuse and maltreat the prisoners.

          They promenaded their walk from one end to the other, casting a vicious and revengeful eye at their defenseless charge, and continually offering some unprovoked offense; and no prisoner dare reply upon pain of instant death.

          The abusive phrase, "Look out dare, white man! I's gwine to shoot! my bullet's burnin to go into you!"-;was heard almost continually. It soon became quite odious to the ears of a prisoner, and their continual nigger brogue, and filthy nigger songs, and nigger abuse, became unpalatable.

          At four o'clock in the morning, at twelve in the day, at sunset, and at nine in the night, two nigger shavers entered the Pen, and commenced a monotonous thumping upon two drums. They usually beat about one hour, giving dreadful offense to the ears of soldiers who had been formerly accustomed to the music of the drum and fife, for this was not music, only a noise.

          The prisoners were divided into eight squads or companies and a nigger appointed to attend to each. He was styled the sargent. His business was, first, to form line dress to the right, and then turn eyes to the front; call the roll, and report to the white officer. Secondly: to see who was sick, and give him some abuse for being sick.

          Thirdly, to issue the regular rations each day, of nothing ; to attend to the water casks-;to see that every one eat his scanty reshun -;fourthly, to oversee the squad detailed to rake up the sand and smooth it over every morning-;fifthly, to enquire who would take the oath, and go North, and abuse those who refused, which was every last man.

          Sixthly, to abuse every man in his squad, by calling him a liar, a thief, a coward, a traitor, a rebel, and various other outrageous epithets. No one dare resist this impudence, on pain of being cuffed and taken out to be dealt with in another way.

          Seventhly, to steal all they could from their helpless charge, and steal their scanty reshuns , after they had been administered to the prisoners.

          Eighthly, to search every man's person and baggage, in order to ascertain whether any one had any contraband articles about himself or his baggage.

          At the usual drum beats before alluded to, eight niggers came as orderly as a Brigadier General, and commanded, "fall in company," B, or A, or whatever it was. When all the company immediately took their places in rank, the refusal to do so would have procured for the offender, a nigger kick and cuff.

          The company, after having gotten their places, were commanded to dress to the right by the side of a big, greasy, thick-lipped negro. After this was done, they were commanded to look steadily to the front, and take the position of a soldier.

          Any insubordination on the part of a prisoner, or refusal to comply with nigger rules, was punished by nigger rule and authority, which was usually a good kicking and severe tousing.

          After the line had taken its position, the roll was called by the nigger Sergeant, and then counted carefully over for fear that some one had escaped. The negro then took his place at the right, and all had to remain perfectly silent, awaiting the approach of the white officer, who presently made his appearance, wearing the visage of a villain or murderer.

          At his approach, every one had to take the regular posish of a soldier, to receive de wite gemmen wich goverd de culud gemmen . He finally drew near and took a conspicuous place on the right, after which the colored gemmen on our right bowed gracefully in military style, and made his report.

          If any thing chanced to be wrong, the nigger was fiercely answered by his white master, and this censure always foretold us of a fierce nigger reproof; for this always followed.

          During the day we were frequently visited by the culud gemmen , who came only to call us liars, thieves, rogues, and other cowardly epithets, which could be used in their fiercest sense by brutal and ignorant negroes.

          They frequently took care to examine our baggage, tents, clothes, blankets and persons, in order, they said, to ascertain whether we had any contraband articles, or whether there was any traitor who, by clandestine means, procured us such articles. But their real motive was to abuse the prisoners, to pilfer from them small articles, and their money, small papers, pictures, rings, &c.

          This was also a means by which they humbled the pride of the prisoners, and poured out their nigger , or barbarous fury upon the "Southern nigger killers," as they termed them.

          They searched at stated intervals under all the tents, to ascertain whether the prisoners were attempting to tunnel out by underground means, a device resorted to at Johnson's Island, Elmira, Fort Delaware, and other places, to effect an escape.

          We were not permitted to collect in crowds of more than three, any where within the Pen, unless a Federal officer was in the crowd. The reason assigned for this inhuman and outrageous violation of the rules of society, Christianity, and military discipline, was, that when uncollected and scattered, we could not devise and mature plans to effect our escape.

          So fearful were the cowardly villains that we would try to escape, that the guns of Wagner adjacent to the Pen were kept continually charged with deadly missiles, so that upon the shortest notice, they might be hurled in our midst. Battery Gregg was treated in a similar manner.

          In addition to this, two batteries of field artillery were always at hand, and ready for action, and two regiments of negroes, numbering about eight hundred each, and also a battery of small guns in number sixty, was placed at the gate, on the outside wall, charged, and always ready for active service. These were the great precautions used to secure 550 wretched, starving prisoners.

          When we collected in crowds of more than three, the nearest sentinel would cry out, " sperse dat crowd ," with all the malice and authority characteristic of the newly emancipated freedmen let loose from bondage and restraint, and now free to eject his nigger ignorance in every direction, and upon any one.

          Immediately on receiving this order, the crowd would disperse without saying a word, whatever was the subject of discourse. A refusal to obey de culud gemmen's order, was followed by the discharge of a musket and the groans of a wounded prisoner-;perhaps one who was lying wrapped in slumber in his tent-;the ball missing the offender and finding an allodgment elsewhere.

          Firing upon the prisoners was of frequent occurrence. The violation of rules which were petty and unnecessary, was the reason assigned for the firing. The rules were made simple, that some one would disobey, and thereby be killed-;for barbarous as they were, they did not like to shoot without some pretext, however small.

          The rules were of such a character, that some one would be certain to disobey; and when a day passed without some insubordination, a new rule was immediately formed, so as to have a pretext for Sambo to shoot some starving prisoner.

          And frequently rules were made and not given to the prisoners, and the first intimation to the offender of his offense, or of the existence of such a rule, was a salute from a Yankee ball.

          We were not permitted to collect together in our tents. If a sentinel noticed any more than the inmates of a tent collecting together in the same, he would immediately fire into the tent. We were not suffered to talk loud, or halloo, or shout. If any one presumed upon this authority, he was immediately silenced by the culud gemmen .

          Regarding this rule, there was perfect silence in the Pen-;no talking, except in a low tone; no laughing, unless suppressed; no shouting to another at a distance; no enquiries about idle affairs; no noisy army talk, and especially quarreling.

          Singing was not tolerated by Sambo , it being a violation ob de wite gemmen's rule . He punished it by shooting, or shooting at the offender. Thus singing, praying, preaching, and anything like worship was entirely denied these abominable cusses of Adam's race, confined in the pine pole pen , who had committed such a great national sin.

          Fire was not permitted to come within the Pen-;indeed it was not desirable except of a rainy or foggy morning when the sea-breeze was very chilling. When the sun shone, the heat was very burdensome, and almost intolerable. The sand frequently got so hot that it was impossible to walk upon it in bare feet.

          In the morning, the atmosphere was pleasant, but directly after the rising of the sun, it became very hot and continued so till near midnight. On rainy and foggy mornings, the atmosphere was very chilly and exceedingly disagreeable, and as thinly and poorly clad as the prisoners were, they suffered from the chilly and damp atmosphere, but were in the proper dress for the heat.

          The Yankees at no time gave to the prisoners any articles of clothing, bedding, or anything to shelter the person from observation, the chilling blast, or the burning rays of the sun.

          At 9 o'clock every prisoner was required to go to bed. After that time no one was allowed to talk only in a whisper. If any one abused this privilege, as it was called, by talking aloud, he was instantly fired upon.

          No one could leave his tent only for necessary purposes, and then was frequently fired upon. No one was allowed, during the night, to go out of his own street.

          Many of the prisoners contracted severe and fatal diseases from their continued confinement, harsh treatment, and aggravated starving. The various changes of the atmosphere were also conducive to disease; and the insalubrity of the climate had an injurious effect upon those used to a more northern and regular climate and the comforts of home.

          In cases of disease we received some medical attention. It was called such, but was in reality worse than none, and had an injurious effect upon the prisoners, and sometimes resulted in fearful consequences.

          The medical attendant, styled a surgeon, was one of those vain, villainous, and inhuman northerners whose conduct is offensive to all honest men, and whose very countenance betrays the wicked and deceitful heart within the breast.

          The professed Medicus -;but in reality only a common citizen-;would come to the pen every morning to examine the sick, as he said, but for no other purpose in reality, than to heap abuses upon them, and argue with them upon the impropriety and meanness of their course in defying the government of the United States.

          After having abused the prisoners enough, he would frequently leave some pills, as he called them, which, upon close inspection, proved to be small lumps of dough. These were to be taken in small doses by the sick. These pills would have been very desirable, if they had been given several pounds at a time.

          These crackers were the small army crackers, being about three inches square, and one quarter inch thick. They were baked very hard, as all crackers are, and they had the appearance of having been manufactured for the campaign of 1776. They looked so antique.

          They evidently were quite a number of years old from their old and musty appearance. They were covered with a fine quantity of very nice mould, which added greatly to their fine acid taste, and made them quite palatable to those who preferred sour and mouldy crackers.

          In short, numbers of them were entirely rotten, and unfit for any use whatever, but the prisoners ate them greedily, and begged for more .

          They appeared to be somewhat moth eaten, for they were full of large and small indentations, and bore strong evidence of having been accessible to some rodentia or gnawing animals, and certainly were visited much and frequently by them.

          Some of the rodentia had taken up their continual abode in the crackers. They were found in large numbers, and quite corpulent. They were about one quarter inch long and less, and not very thick. They had a white appearance, and I believe were called maggots .

          Vast quantities of them and their eggs were contained in a single cracker. An attempt to dislodge them resulted in the complete annihilation of the cracker as a whole, and its entire loss to the owner, which, considering the circumstances, was a matter of no small consequence, but on the contrary, one of very great importance, and no one attempted to rid the cracker of the vermin, knowing the final result, but greedily devoured both.

          Taking into consideration the fact that the crackers contained quantities of vermin, rust, mould, &c., and were very sour, and some entirely rotten, made it a scene of starving, even if they had been given in sufficient quantities to allay the pangs of hunger, and to satiate the longing appetite.

          It has been stated that the crackers were given in the morning by the two niggers. They conveyed the box to the door of each tent, and cried aloud, get your hard tack . They then, with black, filthy hands, threw them into the tent as if throwing them to dogs. Three of these small crackers were given for one day.

          This was not sufficient for more than half a meal, and the suffering on the account of the scarcity of food is indescribable. At twelve o'clock the same greasy niggers bore through each street and to each tent door a box of horse or mule meat, rotten, and, of course filthy, full of bugs and worms, and a variety of other filth. They gave the usual shout, come and get your meat , and then with black, greasy, filthy hands, they issued the meat reshuns to the starving and wretched six hundred. They stated that five ounces of meat were allowed for each prisoner, but he really only got about two ounces, and very frequently not that.

          At four o'clock the same niggers came round with a camp kettle full of liquid called soup, though in reality only warm water in which beans or rice had been cooked. They proposed to give us bean or rice soup every day, and they certainly cooked the beans or rice, but when they were cooked, the niggers eat the beans and rice, and brought to us the water.

          Thus our food consisted of three small crackers three inches square, one quarter inch thick, two ounces of meat, (mule or horse,) and half a pint of warm water imitation of soup. Thus we starved day after day and night after night. The rations were nearly enough for one meal. I usually ate it all at once, that was in the evening, and involuntarily fasted till the next.

          Considering the smallness of our daily ration, it is not at all wonderful that we suffered the bitterest and most pinching hunger. The only wonder is, that we did not all starve to death in this horrible place.

          But the hungry scenes of those wrathful days are indescribable, and any attempt to picture them in all their horrible magnitude and terrific grandeur, so as to do equal justice to the sufferers and their inhuman oppressors would be totally impossible with tongue or pen.

          Yet we may draw inferences from them, and by narrating some of them, we may form some faint idea, and have some very remote conception of their dreadfulness. Try to imagine yourself, gentle reader, deprived of all the comforts of home and friends, confined in some filthy pen, on some sandy and desolate Island, apart from white society, and knowing yourself to be at the mercy of some cannibals, then you may have a narrow idea of the wretched situation of the six hundred.

          Again, imagine yourself abused and taunted by the ruthless foe, fired upon, and not being permitted to return a single retort for all their offences, and yourself poorly fed with but one scant meal a day, and that consisting of mouldy, rotten, wormy bread, and rotten mule meat, and warm water, then you can have some idea of the miseries of the starving six hundred.

          Starvation and the bitter pangs of hunger were depicted in every countenance, were seen in every face, exhibited in every look, and heard on every side. Oh, there is no misery so dreadful, no sorrow so deep, no wretchedness so complete, no agony so much to be dreaded, as that of starving in the midst of plenty, only that the wrath of man may be satiated and his hated vengeance glutted. My body recoils and shudders when these agonizing scenes are forced upon my mind.

          The prisoners grew familiar with hunger, cold, heat and misery. They submitted to their fate with that cheerfulness which is characteristic of the man whose conscience assures him that his course is right and just. They bore their suffering with great fortitude and manly energy.

          The water given us to drink was of an inferior quality, procured from wells dug in the sand upon the beach. It was given in sufficient quantities, the only thing of which we can boast that we had enough. It was hauled inside on wagons, and left for use in tubs and barrels.

          The inhabitants of Charleston sent to us by flag of truce a large quantity of provisions snugly boxed and nicely prepared for use. But Sambo must first have his share of them, and the remainder could not be given to us until one of the white gemmen was at leisure so he could inspect the distribution. By this time the sweet potatoes, of which there was a large quantity, were all mouldy and unfit for use. The cooked meat and bread was also spoiled. Thus we were deprived of the use of the provisions sent by the generous-hearted inhabitants of Charleston, to their suffering brethren on the dreary and sandy island called Morris'.

          Vast numbers of shells were thrown every day from the Federal batteries to various points, and from different batteries. Gregg kept up an incessant fire day and night upon Sumpter and Moultrie. This fire drew a return from Moultrie, which was executed at long intervals, and only when something was to be accomplished by the action.

          Wagner frequently threw shells at Moultrie in order to draw her fire, so that, falling short, it might fall amongst us. This was frequently the case, fragments of shells falling among the prisoners, and, indeed, on every side of the pen, yet no man was seriously injured by any explosion. But numbers of the niggers, and several of the white gemmen , were seriously wounded, and some were launched into the spirit world.

          One shell thrown from Moultrie exploded immediately over us, but most of the fragments missed the pen, and killed a number of negroes composing the guard. Another one fell in Wagner and did not explode for some time afterward, but at the explosion killed a number of the garrison.

          The guard were frequently driven from their posts by the Rebel shells, and numbers of them were frequently killed and wounded. Teamsters, and others, traveling about the Island, were frequently killed and wounded, and no day passed without the death of some Federal soldiers.

          The gunners at Moultrie were so expert that they could kill Yankees on every side of us, and we be almost secure from danger. Yet it is to be wondered at that none were killed, considering the great amount of shelling done.

          The Federals had a gun mounted at Wagner which invariably bursted the shell immediately after leaving the gun. They sometimes used this gun to fire directly over our pen, pretending to be firing upon Sumpter, supposing that the fragments would kill some of the prisoners, but in this they failed, but frequently killed some of their sable sons of Mars , by experimenting upon Rebels.

          It was a grand yet fearful sight to behold the shelling at night. The guns were three-hundred-pounder rifled pieces, and at every discharge produced a concussion which shook the sandy Island like the convulsive throes of an earthquake, and shook the entire frame from head to foot. Next was seen the fiery and death-bearing element springing from the guns with the velocity of a shadow, and by its projectile force soaring aloft into the smooth space above, a long fiery tail resembling that of a comet trailing behind.

          It continued its course till being overpowered by the attracting power of the earth, and having lost its projectile energy, it began to descend rapidly. The nearer it approached its destiny the greater its velocity. When nearing the destined place, suddenly with the concussion of a thunderbolt it burst, and the fragments were heard singing the death knell on every side. Soon the groans of some poor wretch was heard who had been wounded, or the death shriek of some miserable creature who had found his eternal all.

          Thus day after day and night after night we feasted our longing eyes with the grandeur of these death-bearing scenes, and filled our minds with the horrors attending the same. Our ears were constantly greeted with the roar of artillery, the concussion of shells, the groans of wounded, or the shrieks of the dying.

          Oh, the misery of having the ear constantly filled with such doleful sounds, the misery, the horrible misery, the wretched agony of anticipating death at every moment! The battle-field was pleasure compared with this, for its scenes only lasted a few hours and only occurred a few times in a year; but here death from shells was a continual dread. The mind was continually filled with the horrible prospect of instant death, not only now and then, but every moment. Both day and night, there was no one moment that the mind was free from the dreadful thought.

          Thus exposed to the continual shelling of the Confederate guns, and also the Federal guns of Wagner, we lingered on from day to day. Also at the hands of our cruel guards we suffered every indignity and cruel punishment which could be inflicted upon us.