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[Illustration: CAPT. S. A. SWIGGETT.]
The Bright Side of Prison Life.
Experiences, In Prison and Out, of an Involuntary
Sojourner in Rebeldom.
By CAPTAIN S. A. SWIGGETT.
PRICE $1.25.
Press of
FLEET, McGINLEY & CO.
Baltimore.
Copyright, 1897,
BY
S. A. SWIGGETT.
PREFACE.
The author's name and reputation may sell this book--miracles have
happened; but he does not intend to permit the possible deception of a
confiding public into the belief that they cannot exist without reading
it. The possible purchaser is hereby warned that it is different from
any other book he ever read. It is without plot, moral, historical
value, mystery, romance, horrors and murderous scenes. The best excuse
to be offered for its existence is the fact that the author's numerous
friends have repeatedly urged him to print what they call an interesting
and unusual series of incidents. The responsibility for any injury to
the public must rest upon the heads of these friends, the author not
holding himself accountable for anything except the truth of the
narration. My friends being pleased with this publication, it may be
safe for others to try it, but they must not blame me for any lack of
appreciation. Trusting that this warning will prevent the unsuspecting
from buying the book solely on account of the author's literary
reputation, the result is awaited with fear and trembling.
S. A. SWIGGETT.
_March_, 1895.
CONTENTS.
Page
CHAPTER I. Preliminaries 9
CHAPTER II. The Capture 18
CHAPTER III. On the March 27
CHAPTER IV. Bright Spots 39
CHAPTER V. The Stockade 44
CHAPTER VI. Incidents 53
CHAPTER VII. Events 61
CHAPTER VIII. An Escape 69
CHAPTER IX. On the Tramp 77
CHAPTER X. Recaptured 85
CHAPTER XI. The Back Track 93
CHAPTER XII. The Return to the Stockade 103
CHAPTER XIII. Incidents, and Another Escape 109
CHAPTER XIV. Tramps Once More 120
CHAPTER XV. Diplomacy 129
CHAPTER XVI. Making Progress 139
CHAPTER XVII. A Puzzle, and Incidents 148
CHAPTER XVIII. Experiences 158
CHAPTER XIX. Good Luck and Bad 169
CHAPTER XX. In the Toils 177
CHAPTER XXI. Another Return Trip 186
CHAPTER XXII. Foraging, and a New Prison 196
CHAPTER XXIII. To Camp Ford and Joy 207
CHAPTER XXIV. Liberty at Last 219
ILLUSTRATIONS.
Captain S. A. Swiggett, Frontispiece.
General F. M. Drake, 18
Lieutenant Walter S. Johnson, 39
Adjutant S. K. Mahon, 69
Captain J. B. Gedney, 79
Captain Thomas M. Fee, 89
Captain Charles Burnbaum, 94
Captain J. P. Rummel, 115
Captain B. F. Miller, 167
Sergeant E. B. Rocket, 189
The Bright Side of Prison Life.
CHAPTER I.
PRELIMINARIES.
My first appearance in the United States was made on the 19th of May,
A. D. 1834. I have no recollection of this important event, but am
reliably informed that the given date is correct, and that Dorchester
county, Maryland, was the locality. At that time I had no premonition of
my future life in a rebel prison, and if anyone had told me of the
fourteen months which were to be spent mostly in such a manner I should
have paid no attention whatever.
The year 1855 found me in Blakesburg, Iowa, after having lived in
Indiana during the three years following my removal from Maryland.
In 1856 occurred my marriage to Miss Eliza H. Van Cleve, and no man
could be more happily wedded. For thirty-eight years, until her recent
death, on April 13, 1894, our life was as much of a honeymoon as it is
possible for a well-mated couple to make it.
I had learned the trade of a tailor, but other employment offered more
inducements, and, on August 8, 1862, my occupation was that of
postmaster at Blakesburg, Iowa, keeping a small general store in
connection with the postoffice. On this date I enlisted with others, and
we were sworn in at our place.
Our company was organized at Ottumwa, where we went for the purpose, and
my election as first lieutenant gave me much pleasure. Here we spent
about two weeks at squad drill, having the usual experience of
beginners.
Many of the town girls had lovers, brothers and relatives in our
company, and we had many fair critics present at our drills on the south
bank of the Des Moines river. The excitement was great at the time, and
everybody seemed to be interested very much in our company. For a while
we received the criticisms of our fair guests with equanimity, but at
last we conceived the idea of turning the tables, and soon had an
opposition company so interested in their own drill that the girls gave
us some peace. Two of the boys afterwards married members of the
competing company.
We rendezvoused at Keokuk, where the 36th Iowa Infantry was finally
organized and mustered into the service of the United States on October
4, 1862, Col. Charles W. Kitredge commanding. Our boys were designated
Company B.
About November 1 the regiment went to Benton Barracks, near St. Louis,
and remained until December 20. After we were ordered to go south all
was bustle till we embarked on two steamboats and started on our voyage.
The boats were loaded to the guards with soldiers, hard tack and
coffins, the last being piled up in all available space. Said Pat Riley,
a member of our company: "Holy Jasus, byes, luk! Luk at that! Hev us ter
kerry thim ter hev 'em handy loike?"
The mute suggestion of the many coffins was not pleasant, but our boys
were hopeful, and many jokes were bandied about in consequence of their
presence.
That sail down the mighty river will never be forgotten. None knew where
we were going, and the conflict between hope and fear was in many a
breast--hope of success and glory, and distrust of the issue. On board
all was confusion; oaths, laughter, witty remarks, hoarse orders, din in
general. Looking inboard, one could forget all save the immediate
present, and hope was predominant. Looking up at the sky, with its
sweeping clouds, like vast billows of dark, stormy sea, rushing on and
tumbling over each other in mad haste, one felt the immensity of the
universe and the littleness of man, despite his thunders of war.
Listening to the asthmatic breathing of the "scape" pipes, and watching
the shores gliding by, one half fancied a flight in the grasp of some
huge monster that was bearing away its prey. Looking over the side and
hearing the sob and swash of the seething water under the guards, one
could imagine a restraining hand on the huge mass, the panting breath of
exertion, and a moan of regret because of ineffectual effort to keep
back the floating giant that was carrying so many human beings away to
death and disaster. Fear of the future now became the paramount feeling.
We were halted at Memphis by a signal from shore, and found that the
citizens and military authorities were in fear of an attack by Forrest.
That night we slept on our arms in Jackson Square.
The next day some mule sheds were emptied of their living contents, and
our boys were quartered in the vacated premises. We were then detailed
for guard duty at Fort Pickering, which service we performed for several
days, still having the privilege of enjoying our commodious quarters. It
was hardly fair to turn the mules out into the cold to give shelter to a
regiment of new recruits, but as the mules made no "kick" at this
change, why should we object?
The spare hours of my first night as officer of the guard were spent in
trying to get some sleep on the ground. It was raining hard, and it
seemed impossible to find any spots which were not hollows; at any rate,
I could not lie down without finding myself in a pool of water when I
awoke. My reflections and comments need not be recorded.
Christmas passed with scarcely a knowledge of the fact, and about the
first of the year we were sent to Helena, Ark., where General Prentiss
had about 20,000 men.
We were landed, had tents issued to us, and camped on the river bank for
several days. No stoves were to be had, and the damp, cold weather made
fires a luxury. How to have shelter and warmth at the same time was a
puzzle.
Spurred on by the emergency, my thoughts ran very fast, until they were
brought to a stop and concentrated upon one idea. All my hunting about
the neighborhood failed to result in finding any bricks. Some old pieces
lay about, and these were gathered up, together with some old camp
kettles. The latter were battered as nearly flat as possible, and then a
trench was dug from just inside the front of my tent to and under the
rear end. The sides of the trench were built up a few inches, the old
kettles placed across, and the whole heaped over with sand. We built a
sort of chimney upon the outside end of the long tunnel thus made, and a
fire was then started at the inner end of the opening. The draught drew
the smoke and heat through the extemporized radiator, and before long we
had the sand giving out a very satisfactory degree of warmth. Many
pleasant hours were spent in spinning yarns while warming out feet on
this product of necessity.
The 47th Indiana was soon ordered away on a campaign, and we were moved
into the permanent quarters which they had occupied at Fort Curtis. They
had left a portable bakery, all their cooking and heating stoves, as
well as many smaller conveniences, and of these we took possession, thus
finding compensation for some of our hardships.
It is an unwritten military law--at least it was so decided by our
general at the time--that property abandoned in quarters becomes the
property of the next occupants, by right of possession.
In about ten days after our removal to the cabin I was awakened one
morning by a captain in the regiment recently moved out. He announced
the fact that they had returned and were in camp on the hill, about half
a mile distant. The courteous manners of the man, my realization of what
it then meant to be in a dog-tent without fire, and my confidence in my
own ability to find a substitute, induced me to give him my stove,
formerly his. A little later he came back with some of his men, and was
about to take away all the other stoves and things left behind. The
company was turned out under arms to resist, but the warfare was
confined to words, and the dispute was settled by the decision
mentioned.
It is pertinent to state here that I was in command of my company at the
time, owing to the absence of our chief on other duty, and that his
promotion shortly after gave me my rank as captain.
When the dispute was settled it again became necessary to find some
means of warming my hut. With regrets for having been so good-natured, I
set about devising another substitute for a stove. More scraps of bricks
could not be found, and stones were as scarce. Finally, an old piece of
machinery was discovered, which gave some hopes of success. It was a
hollow tube, about two feet long and ten inches in diameter, with a
small hole quite close to one of the open ends, and this was planted
upright upon the earthen floor of my cabin. We procured an old soup
kettle, cut a hole in the bottom for a pipe and capped the cylinder with
it; but the question of a stove-pipe was a more serious matter. Not a
piece was to be found. The next morning my stove had a pipe, and a fire
was merrily burning within the old tube, sending out a heat which made
me glad that the stove had been given up. The only trouble with the new
arrangement was that one had to lift the pipe and top in order to build
or replenish a fire. Sometimes I have a vague impression of someone's
having climbed to the top of a distant cabin in the gloom of the night,
and when this thought comes to me I seem to see a man standing, in bare
feet and scanty clothing, upon the top of that cabin, with the moon
trying in vain to secure a good look at him through the thick clouds,
and tremble with the fear that he may awaken the sleepers within as he
cautiously uplifts their stove-pipe through its hole in the roof. The
vision comes like a recollection of a dream, and I often wonder whether
the man who secured my stove-pipe for me did not tell me where he got
it, and that in so vivid a manner as to leave me with a memory of it
like unto that of one who was present.
In February our regiment went with a boat expedition. The object of the
trip was unknown to us, but we were stopped by a fort at the head waters
of the Yazoo, and returned to camp at Helena after an absence of about
forty days. During this time my company was detailed for boat duty up
the river, and we had a sharp fight with some rebels on shore, till we
landed, drove them off and burned some cabins. No one was seriously
hurt. The casualties of the expedition were not large, and the most
serious resulted from the guerilla warfare of the rebels along the banks
of the rivers, which was finally stopped by landing and burning a few
buildings.
We were assigned to provost duty when we returned, and this continued
until the latter part of May, when our quarters were moved to the river
bank.
Now commenced a system of constant drill for all the troops, which
almost caused a mutiny. Daylight each morning found us in line of
battle, and the work was laborious. This was continued till the 4th of
July, when the battle of Helena occurred.
This battle is a matter of history, and with its details we have nothing
to do in this narrative. Suffice it to say that there is little question
in the minds of those who were there as to what saved the day for us. We
were, as was usual, in line of battle at daybreak when the attack was
made.
The command of our troops was transferred to General Steele soon after
the battle, and in September we were moved on the fall campaign to
Little Rock, which place was occupied without much trouble, and there we
remained for the winter.
Minor skirmishes and battles in which Company B was engaged have not
been noticed, as the object is to chronicle only the principal events
which led up to the prison life and efforts to escape.
In February we started on the slow march to join Banks at Shreveport,
and reached Camden about April 1.