THE BLACK FLAG.
FORT PILLOW--EXCHANGE OF PRISONERS, ETC.
It was not long after each army received its quota of Phalanx soldiers,
before the white troops began regarding them much as Napoleon's troops
did the Imperial Guard, their main support. When a regiment of the
Phalanx went into a fight, every white soldier knew what was meant, for
the black troops took no ordinary part in a battle. Where the conflict
was hottest; where danger was most imminent, there the Phalanx went; and
when victory poised, as it often did, between the contending sides, the
weight of the Phalanx was frequently thrown into the balancing scales;
if some strong work or dangerous battery had to be taken, whether with
the bayonet alone or hand grenade or sabre, the Phalanx was likely to be
in the charging column, or formed a part of the storming brigade.
The confederates were no cowards; braver men never bit cartridge or
fired a gun, and when they were to meet "their slaves," as they
believed, in revolt, why, of course, honor forbade them to ask or give
quarter. This fact was known to all, for, as yet, though hundreds had
been captured, none had been found on parole, or among the exchanged
prisoners. General Grant's attention was called to this immediately
after the fight at Milliken's Bend, where the officers of the Phalanx,
as well as soldiers, had been captured and hung. Grant wrote Gen.
Taylor, commanding the confederate forces in Louisiana, as follows:
"I feel no inclination to retaliate for offences of
irresponsible persons, but, if it is the policy of any
general intrusted with the command of troops, to show no
quarter, or to punish with death, prisoners taken in battle,
_I will accept the issue_. It may be you propose a different
line of policy to black troops, and officers commanding
them, to that practiced toward white troops. If so, I can
assure you that these colored troops are regularly mustered
into the service of the United States. The government, and
all officers under the government, are bound to give the
same protection to these troops that they do to any other
troops."
General Taylor replied that he would punish all such acts, "disgraceful
alike to humanity and the reputation of soldiers," but declared that
officers of the "Confederate Army" were required to turn over to the
civil authorities, to be dealt with according to the laws of the State
wherein such were captured, all negroes taken in arms.
As early as December, 1862, incensed by General Butler's administration
at New Orleans in the arming of negroes, Jefferson Davis, President of
the Confederate Government, issued the following proclamation:
"FIRST.--That all commissioned officers in the command of
said Benjamin F. Butler be declared not entitled to be
considered as soldiers engaged in honorable warfare, but as
robbers and criminals, deserving death; and that they, and
each of them, be, whenever captured, reserved for execution.
"SECOND.--That the private soldiers and non-commissioned
officers in the army of said Benj. F. Butler, be considered
as only instruments used for the commission of crimes,
perpetrated by his orders, and not as free agents; that
they, therefore, be treated when captured as prisoners of
war, with kindness and humanity, and be sent home on the
usual parole; that they will in no manner aid or serve the
United States in any capacity during the continuance of war,
unless duly exchanged.
"THIRD.--That all negro slaves captured in arms be at once
delivered over to the executive authorities, of the
respective States to which they belong, and to be dealt with
according to the laws of said States.
"FOURTH.--That the like orders be executed in all cases with
respect to all commissioned officers of the United States
when found serving in company with said slaves in
insurrection against the authorities of the different States
of this Confederacy.
"Signed and sealed at Richmond, Dec. 23, 1862.
"JEFFERSON DAVIS."
This Proclamation was the hoisting of the black flag against the
Phalanx, by which Mr. Davis expected to bring about a war of
extermination against the negro soldiers.[28]
In his third annual message to the Confederate Congress, Mr. Davis said:
"We may well leave it to the instincts of that common
humanity which a beneficient creator has implanted in the
breasts of our fellow men of all countries to pass judgment
on a measure by which several millions of human beings of an
inferior race--peaceful and contented laborers in their
sphere--are doomed to extermination, while at the same time
they are encouraged to a general assassination of their
masters by the insiduous recommendation to abstain from
violence unless in necessary defence. Our own detestation of
those who have attempted the most execrable measures
recorded in the history of guilty man is tempered by
profound contempt for the impotent rage which it discloses.
So far as regards the action of this government on such
criminals as may attempt its execution, I confine myself to
informing you that I shall--unless in your wisdom you deem
some other course expedient--deliver to the several State
authorities all commissioned officers of the United States
that may hereafter be captured by our forces in any of the
States embraced in the Proclamation, that they may be dealt
with in accordance with the laws of those States providing
for the punishment of criminals engaged in exciting servile
insurrection. The enlisted soldiers I shall continue to
treat as unwilling instruments in the commission of these
crimes, and shall direct their discharge and return to their
homes on the proper and usual parole."
The confederate Congress soon took up the subject, and after a
protracted consideration passed the following:
"_Resolved_, By the Congress of the Confederate States of
America, in response to the message of the President,
transmitted to Congress at the commencement of the present
session. That, in the opinion of Congress, the commissioned
officers of the enemy _ought_ not to be delivered to the
authorities of the respective States, as suggested in the
said message, but all captives taken by the confederate
forces, ought to be dealt with and disposed of by the
Confederate Government.
"SEC. 2.--That in the judgment of Congress, the
Proclamations of the President of the United States, dated
respectively September 22nd, 1862, and January 1st, 1863,
and other measures of the Government of the United States,
and of its authorities, commanders and forces, designed or
intended to emancipate slaves in the Confederate States, or
to abduct such slaves, or to incite them to insurrection, or
to employ negroes in war against the Confederate States, or
to overthrow the institution of African slavery and bring on
a servile war in these States, would, if successful, produce
atrocious consequences, and they are inconsistent with the
spirit of those usages which, in modern warfare, prevail
among the civilized nations; they may therefore be lawfully
suppressed by retaliation.
"SEC. 3.--That in every case wherein, during the war, any
violation of the laws and usages of war among civilized
nations shall be, or has been done and perpetrated by those
acting under the authority of the United States, on the
persons or property of citizens of the Confederate States,
or of those under the protection or in the land or naval
service of the Confederate States, or of any State of the
Confederacy, the President of the Confederate States is
hereby authorized to cause full and ample retaliation to be
made for every such violation, in such manner and to such
extent as he may think proper.
"SEC. 4.--That every white person, being a commissioned
officer, or acting as such, who during the present war shall
command negroes or mulattoes in arms against the Confederate
States, or who shall arm, train, organize or prepare negroes
or mulattoes for military service against the Confederate
States, or who shall voluntarily use negroes or mulattoes in
any military enterprise, attack or conflict, in such
service, shall be deemed as inciting servile insurrection,
and shall, if captured, be put to death, or to be otherwise
punished at the discretion of the court.
"SEC. 5.--Every person, being a commissioned officer, or
acting as such in the service of the enemy, who shall during
the present war, excite, attempt to excite, or cause to be
excited a servile insurrection, or who shall incite, or
cause to be incited a slave to rebel, shall, if captured, be
put to death, or otherwise punished at the discretion of the
court.
"SEC. 6.--Every person charged with an offence punishable
under the preceeding resolutions shall, during the present
war, be tried before the military court, attached to the
army or corps by the troops of which he shall have been
captured, or by such other military court as the President
may direct, and in such manner and under such regulations as
the President shall prescribe; and after conviction, the
President may commute the punishment in such manner and on
such terms as he may deem proper.
"SEC. 7.--All negroes and mulattoes who shall be engaged in
war, or be taken in arms against the Confederate States, or
shall give aid or comfort to the enemies of the Confederate
States, shall, where captured in the Confederate States, be
delivered to authorities of the State or States in which
they shall be captured, to be dealt with according to such
present or future laws of such State or States."
In March, 1863, this same Confederate Congress enacted the following
order to regulate the impressment of negroes for army purposes:
"SEC. 9.--Where slaves are impressed by the Confederate
Government, to labor on fortifications, or other public
works, the impressment shall be made by said Government
according to the rules and regulations provided in the laws
of the States wherein they are impressed; and, in the
absence of such law, in accordance with such rules and
regulations not inconsistent with the provisions of this
act, as the Secretary of War shall from time to time
prescribe; _Provided_, That no impressment of slaves shall
be made, when they can be hired or procured by the owner or
agent.
"SEC. 10.--That, previous to the 1st day of December next,
no slave laboring on a farm or plantation, exclusively
devoted to the production of grain and provisions, shall be
taken for the public use, without the consent of the owner,
except in case of urgent necessity."
Thus it is apparent that while the Confederate Government was holding
aloft the black flag, even against the Northern Phalanx regiments
composed of men who were never slaves, it was at the same time engaged
in enrolling and conscripting slaves to work on fortifications and in
trenches, in support of their rebellion against the United States, and
at a period when negro troops were not accepted in the army of the
United States.
Soon after the admission of negroes into the Union army, it was reported
to Secretary Stanton that three negro soldiers, captured with the
gunboat "Isaac Smith," on Stone river, were placed in close confinement,
whereupon he ordered three confederate prisoners belonging to South
Carolina to be placed in close confinement, and informed the Confederate
Government of the action. The Richmond _Examiner_ becoming cognizant of
this said:
"It is not merely the pretension of a regular Government
affecting to deal with 'rebels,' but it is a deadly stab
which they are aiming at our institutions themselves;
because they know that, if we were insane enough to yield
this point, to treat black men as the equals of white, and
insurgent slaves as equivalent to our brave white soldiers,
the very foundation of slavery would be fatally wounded."
Several black soldiers were captured in an engagement before Charleston,
and when it came to an exchange of prisoners, though an immediate
exchange of all captured in the engagement had been agreed upon, the
confederates would not exchange the negro troops. To this the
President's attention was called, whereupon he issued the following
order:
"EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, July 30th, 1863.
"It is the duty of every government to give protection to
its citizens, of whatever color, class, or condition, and
especially to those who are duly organized as soldiers in
the public service. The law of nations and the usages and
customs of war, as carried on by civilized powers, permit no
distinction as to color in the treatment of prisoners of
war, as public enemies. To sell or enslave any captured
person, on account of his color, and for no offense against
the laws of war, is a relapse into barbarism, and a crime
against the civilization of the age. The government of the
United States will give the same protection to all its
soldiers; and if the enemy shall enslave or sell any one
because of his color, the offense shall be punished by
retaliation upon the enemy's prisoners in our possession.
It is therefore ordered that for every soldier of the United
States killed in violation of the laws of war, a rebel
soldier shall be executed, and for every one enslaved by the
enemy or sold into slavery, a rebel soldier shall be placed
at hard labor on public works, and continued at such labor
until the other shall be released and receive the treatment
due to a prisoner of war.
"ABRAHAM LINCOLN,
"By order of the Secretary of War.
"E. D. TOWNSEND, Ass't. Adjt.-General."
However, this order did not prevent the carrying out of the intentions
of the confederate President and Congress.
The saddest and blackest chapter of the history of the war of the
Rebellion, is that which relates to the treatment of Union prisoners in
the rebel prison pens, at Macon, Ga., Belle Island, Castle Thunder,
Pemberton, Libbey, at and near Richmond and Danville, Va., Cahawba,
Ala., Salisbury, N. C., Tyler, Texas, Florida, Columbia, S. C., Millen
and Andersonville, Ga. It is not the purpose to attempt a general
description of these modern charnel houses, or to enter into a detailed
statement of the treatment of the Union soldiers who were unfortunate
enough to escape death upon the battle-field and then fall captive to
the confederates. When we consider the fact that the white men who were
engaged in the war upon both sides, belonged to one nation, and were
Americans, many of whom had been educated at the same schools, and
many--very many--of them members of the same religious denominations,
and church; not a few springing from the same stock and loins, the
atrocities committed by the confederates against the Union soldiers,
while in their custody as prisoners of war, makes their deeds more
shocking and inhuman than if the contestants had been of a different
nationality.
[Illustration: TERRIBLE FIGHT WITH BLOODHOUNDS.
The 1st South Carolina Regiment was attacked by the Confederates with
bloodhounds, at Pocaralago Bridge, Oct. 23rd, 1862. The hounds rushed
fiercely upon the troops, who quickly shot or bayoneted them and
exultingly held aloft the beasts that had been so long a terror to the
negro race.]
The English soldiers who lashed the Sepoys to the mouths of their
cannon, and then fired the pieces, thus cruelly murdering the captured
rebels, offered the plea, in mitigation of their crime, and as an excuse
for violating the rules of war, that their subjects were not of a
civilized nation, and did not themselves adhere to the laws governing
civilized nations at war with each other. But no such plea can be
entered in the case of the confederates, who starved, shot and murdered
80,000 of their brethren in prison pens, white prisoners of war. If such
treatment was meted to those of their own color and race, as is related
by an investigating committee of Senators, what must have been the
treatment of those of another race,--whom they had held in slavery, and
whom they regarded the same as sheep and horses, to be bought and sold
at will,--when captured in battle, fighting against them for the Union
and their own freedom?
The report of the Congressional Committee furnishes ample proof of the
barbarities:
38TH CONGRESS, } {REP. COM.
_1st Session._ } {_No. 68._
"IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES.
"_Report of the Joint Committee on the Conduct and
Expenditures of the War._
"On the 4th inst., your committee received a communication
of that date from the Secretary of War, enclosing the report
of Colonel Hoffman, commissary general of prisoners, dated
May 3, calling the attention of the committee to the
condition of returned Union prisoners, with the request that
the committee would immediately proceed to Annapolis and
examine with their own eyes the condition of those who have
been returned from rebel captivity. The committee resolved
that they would comply with the request of the Secretary of
War on the first opportunity. The 5th of May was devoted by
the committee to concluding their labors upon the
investigation of the Fort Pillow massacre. On the 6th of
May, however, the committee proceeded to Annapolis and
Baltimore, and examined the condition of our returned
soldiers, and took the testimony of several of them,
together with the testimony of surgeons and other persons in
attendance upon the hospitals. That testimony, with the
communication of the Secretary of War, and the report of
Colonel Hoffman, is herewith transmitted.
"The evidence proves, beyond all manner of doubt, a
determination on the part of the rebel authorities,
deliberately and persistently practiced for a long time
past, to subject those of our soldiers who have been so
unfortunate as to fall in their hands to a system of
treatment which has resulted in reducing many of those who
have survived and been permitted to return to us in a
condition, both physically and mentally, which no language
we can use can adequately describe. Though nearly all the
patients now in the Naval Academy hospital at Annapolis, and
in the West hospital, in Baltimore, have been under the
kindest and most intelligent treatment for about three weeks
past, and many of them for a greater length of time, still
they present literally the appearance of living skeletons,
many of them being nothing but skin and bone; some of them
are maimed for life, having been frozen while exposed to the
inclemency of the winter season on Belle Isle, being
compelled to lie on the bare ground, without tents or
blankets, some of them without overcoats or even coats, with
but little fire to mitigate the severity of the winds and
storms to which they were exposed.
"The testimony shows that the general practice of their
captors was to rob them, as soon as they were taken
prisoners, of all their money, valuables, blankets, and good
clothing, for which they received nothing in exchange
except, perhaps, some old worn-out rebel clothing hardly
better than none at all. Upon their arrival at Richmond they
have been confined, without blankets or other covering, in
buildings without fire, or upon Belle Isle with, in many
cases, no shelter, and in others with nothing but old
discarded army tents, so injured by rents and holes as to
present but little barrier to the wind and storms; on
several occasions, the witnesses say, they have arisen in
the morning from their resting-places upon the bare earth,
and found several of their comrades frozen to death during
the night, and that many others would have met the same fate
had they not walked rapidly back and forth, during the hours
which should have been devoted to sleep, for the purpose of
retaining sufficient warmth to preserve life.
"In respect to the food furnished to our men by the rebel
authorities, the testimony proves that the ration of each
man was totally insufficient in quantity to preserve the
health of a child, even had it been of proper quality, which
it was not. It consisted usually, at the most, of two small
pieces of corn-bread, made in many instances, as the
witnesses state, of corn and cobs ground together, and badly
prepared and cooked, of, at times, about two ounces of meat,
usually of poor quality, and unfit to be eaten, and
occasionally a few black worm-eaten beans, or something of
that kind. Many of your men were compelled to sell to their
guards, and others, for what price they could get, such
clothing and blankets as they were permitted to receive of
that forwarded for their use by our government, in order to
obtain additional food sufficient to sustain life; thus, by
endeavoring to avoid one privation reducing themselves to
the same destitute condition in respect to clothing and
covering that they were in before they received any from our
government. When they became sick and diseased in
consequence of this exposure and privation, and were
admitted into the hospitals, their treatment was little if
any, improved as to food, though they, doubtless, suffered
less from exposure to cold than before. Their food still
remained insufficient in quantity and altogether unfit in
quality. Their diseases and wounds did not receive the
treatment which the commonest dictates of humanity would
have prompted. One witness, whom your committee examined,
who had lost all the toes of one foot from being frozen
while on Belle Isle, states that for days at a time his
wounds were not dressed, and they had not been dressed for
four days when he was taken from the hospital and carried on
the flag-of-truce boat for Fortress Monroe.
"In reference to the condition to which our men were reduced
by cold and hunger, your committee would call attention to
the following extracts from the testimony. One witness
testifies:
"'I had no blankets until our Government sent us some.
"'Question.--How did you sleep before you received those
blankets?
"'Answer.--We used to get together just as close as we
could, and sleep spoon-fashion, so that when one turned over
we all had to turn over.'
"Another witness testifies:
"'Question.--Were you hungry all the time?
"'Answer.--Hungry! I could eat anything that came before us;
some of the boys would get boxes from the North with meat of
different kinds in them; and, after they had picked the meat
off, they would throw the bones away into the spit-boxes,
and we would pick the bones out of the spit-boxes and gnaw
them over again.'
"In addition to this insufficient supply of food, clothing
and shelter, our soldiers, while prisoners, have been
subjected to the most cruel treatment from those placed over
them. They have been abused and shamefully treated on almost
every opportunity. Many have been mercilessly shot and
killed when they failed to comply with all the demands of
their jailors, sometimes for violating rules of which they
had not been informed. Crowded in great numbers in
buildings, they have been fired at and killed by the
sentinels outside when they appeared at the windows for the
purpose of obtaining a little fresh air. One man, whose
comrade in the service, in battle and in captivity, had been
so fortunate as to be among those released from further
torments, was shot dead as he was waving with his hand a
last adieu to his friend; and other instances of equally
unprovoked murder are disclosed by the testimony.
"The condition of our returned soldiers as regards personal
cleanliness, has been filthy almost beyond description.
Their clothes have been so dirty and so covered with vermin,
that those who received them have been compelled to destroy
their clothing and re-clothe them with new and clean
raiment. Their bodies and heads have been so infested with
vermin that, in some instances, repeated washings have
failed to remove them; and those who have received them in
charge have been compelled to cut all the hair from their
heads, and make applications to destroy the vermin. Some
have been received with no clothing but shirts and drawers
and a piece of blanket or other outside covering, entirely
destitute of coats, hats, shoes or stockings; and the bodies
of those better supplied with clothing have been equally
dirty and filthy with the others, many who have been sick
and in the hospital having had no opportunity to wash their
bodies for weeks and months before they were released from
captivity.
"Your committee are unable to convey any adequate idea of
the sad and deplorable condition of the men they saw in the
hospitals they visited; and the testimony they have taken
cannot convey to the reader the impressions which your
committee there received. The persons we saw, as we were
assured by those in charge of them, have greatly improved
since they have been received in the hospitals. Yet they are
now dying daily, one of them being in the very throes of
death as your committee stood by his bed-side and witnessed
the sad spectacle there presented. All those whom your
committee examined stated that they have been thus reduced
and emaciated entirely in consequence of the merciless
treatment they received while prisoners from their enemies;
and the physicians in charge of them, the men best fitted by
their profession and experience to express an opinion upon
the subject, all say that they have no doubt that the
statements of their patients are entirely correct.
"It will be observed from the testimony, that all the
witnesses who testify upon that point state that the
treatment they received while confined at Columbia, South
Carolina, Dalton, Georgia, and other places, was far more
humane than that they received at Richmond, where the
authorities of the so-called confederacy were congregated,
and where the power existed, had the inclination not been
wanting, to reform those abuses and secure to the prisoners
they held some treatment that would bear a public comparison
to that accorded by our authorities to the prisoners in our
custody. Your committee, therefore, are constrained to say
that they can hardly avoid the conclusion, expressed by so
many of our released soldiers, that the inhuman practices
herein referred to are the result of a determination on the
part of the rebel authorities to reduce our soldiers in
their power, by privation of food and clothing, and by
exposure, to such a condition that those who may survive
shall never recover so as to be able to render any effective
service in the field. And your committee accordingly ask
that this report, with the accompanying testimony be printed
with the report and testimony [which was accordingly done]
in relation to the massacre of Fort Pillow, the one being,
in their opinion, no less than the other, the result of a
predetermined policy. As regards the assertions of some of
the rebel newspapers, that our prisoners have received at
their hands the same treatment that their own soldiers in
the field have received, they are evidently but the most
glaring and unblushing falsehoods. No one can for a moment
be deceived by such statements, who will reflect that our
soldiers, who, when taken prisoners, have been stout,
healthy men, in the prime and vigor of life, yet have died
by hundreds under the treatment they have received, although
required to perform no duties of the camp or the march;
while the rebel soldiers are able to make long and rapid
marches, and to offer a stubborn resistance in the field.
"Your committee, finding it impossible to describe in words
the deplorable condition of these returned prisoners, have
caused photographs to be taken of a number of them, and a
fair sample to be lithographed and appended to their report,
that their exact condition may be known by all who examine
it. Some of them have since died.
"There is one feature connected with this investigation, to
which your committee can refer with pride and satisfaction;
and that is the uncomplaining fortitude, the undiminished
patriotism exhibited by our brave men under all their
privations, even in the hour of death.
"Your committee will close their report by quoting the
tribute paid these men by the chaplin of the hospital at
Annapolis, who has ministered to so many of them in their
last moments; who has smoothed their passage to the grave by
his kindness and attention, and who has performed the last
sad offices over their lifeless remains. He says:
"'There is another thing I would wish to state. All the men,
without any exception among the thousands that have come to
this hospital, have never in a single instance expressed a
regret (notwithstanding the privations and sufferings they
have endured) that they entered their country's service.
They have been the most loyal, devoted and earnest men. Even
on the last days of their lives they have said that all they
hoped for was just to live and enter the ranks again and
meet their foes. It is a most glorious record in reference
to the devotion of our men to their country. I do not think
their patriotism has ever been equalled in the history of
the world.'
"All of which is respectfully submitted.
"B. F. WADE, _Chairman._"
Also the following:
"OFFICE OF COMMISSARY-GENERAL OF PRISONERS,
WASHINGTON, D. C., May 3, 1864.
"SIR:--I have the honor to report that, pursuant to your
instructions of the 2nd instant, I proceeded, yesterday
morning, to Annapolis, with a view to see that the paroled
prisoners about to arrive there from Richmond were properly
received and cared for.
"The flag-of-truce boat 'New York,' under the charge of
Major Mulford, with thirty-two officers, three hundred and
sixty-three enlisted men, and one citizen on board, reached
the wharf at the Naval School hospital about ten o'clock. On
going on board, I found the officers generally in good
health, and much cheered by their happy release from the
rebel prisons, and by the prospect of again being with their
friends.
"The enlisted men who had endured so many privations at
Belle Isle and other places were, with few exceptions, in a
very sad plight, mentally and physically, having for months
been exposed to all the changes of the weather, with no
other protection than a very insufficient supply of
worthless tents, and with an allowance of food scarcely
sufficient to prevent starvation, even if of wholesome
quality; but as it was made of coarsely-ground corn,
including the husks, and probably at times the cobs, if it
did not kill by starvation, it was sure to do it by the
disease it created. Some of these poor fellows were wasted
to mere skeletons, and had scarcely life enough remaining to
appreciate that they were now in the hands of their friends,
and among them all there were few who had not become too
much broken down and dispirited by their many privations to
be able to realize the happy prospect of relief from their
sufferings which was before them. With rare exception, every
face was sad with care and hunger; there was no brightening
of the countenance or lighting up of the eye, to indicate a
thought of anything beyond a painful sense of prostration of
mind and body. Many faces showed that there was scarcely a
ray of intelligence left.
"Every preparation had been made for their reception in
anticipation of the arrival of the steamer, and immediately
upon her being made fast to the wharf the paroled men were
landed and taken immediately to the hospital, where, after
receiving a warm bath, they were furnished with a suitable
supply of new clothing, and received all those other
attentions which their sad condition demanded. Of the whole
number, there are perhaps fifty to one hundred who, in a
week or ten days, will be in a convalescent state, but the
others will very slowly regain their lost health.
"That our soldiers, when in the hands of the rebels, are
starved to death, cannot be denied. Every return of the
flag-of-truce boat from City Point brings us too many living
and dying witnesses to admit of a doubt of this terrible
fact. I am informed that the authorities at Richmond admit
the fact, but excuse it on the plea that they give the
prisoners the same rations they give their own men. But can
this be so? Can an army keep the field, and be active and
efficient, on the same fare that kills prisoners of war at a
frightful percentage? I think not; no man can believe it;
and while a practice so shocking to humanity is persisted in
by the rebel authorities, I would very respectfully urge
that retaliatory measures be at once instituted by
subjecting the officers we now hold as prisoners of war to a
similar treatment.
"I took advantage of the opportunity which this visit to
Annapolis gave me to make a hasty inspection of Camp Parole,
and I am happy to report that I found it in every branch in
a most commendable condition. The men all seemed to be
cheerful and in fine health, and the police inside and out
was excellent. Colonel Root, the commanding officer,
deserves much credit for the very satisfactory condition to
which he has brought his command.
"I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient
servant,
"W. HOFFMAN,
"_Colonel 3rd Infantry, Commissary General of Prisoners._
"HON. E. M. STANTON, _Secretary of War, Washington, D. C._"
This report does not refer to the treatment of the soldiers of the
_Phalanx_ who were taken by the confederates in battle,[29] after the
surrender of Fort Pillow, Lawrence and Plymouth, and at several other
places. It is inserted to enable the reader to form an opinion as to
what the negro soldier's treatment must have been. The same committee
also published as a part of their report, the testimony of a
number,--mostly black, soldiers, who escaped death at Fort Pillow; a few
of their statements are given:
38TH CONGRESS,} {REP. COM.
1st Session. } {No. 63 & 68.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES.
_Report of the Joint Committee on the Conduct and
Expenditures of the War to whom was Referred the Resolution
of Congress Instructing them to Investigate the late
Massacre at Fort Pillow._
"_Deposition of John Nelson in relation to the capture of
Fort Pillow._
"John Nelson, being duly sworn, deposeth and saith:
"'At the time of the attack on and capture of Fort Pillow,
April 12, 1864, I kept a hotel within the lines at Fort
Pillow, and a short distance from the works. Soon after the
alarm was given that an attack on the fort was imminent, I
entered the works and tendered my services to Major Booth,
commanding. The attack began in the morning at about 5-1/2
o'clock, and about 1 o'clock P.M. a flag of truce
approached. During the parley which ensued, and while the
firing ceased on both sides, the rebels kept crowding up to
the works on the side near Cold Creek, and also approached
nearer on the south side, thereby gaining advantages pending
the conference under the flag of truce. As soon as the flag
of truce was withdrawn the attack began, and about five
minutes after it began the rebels entered the fort. Our
troops were soon overpowered, and broke and fled. A large
number of the soldiers, black and white, and also a few
citizens, myself among the number, rushed down the bluff
toward the river. I concealed myself as well as I could in a
position where I could distinctly see all that passed below
the bluff, for a considerable distance up and down the
river.
"'A large number, at least one hundred, were hemmed in near
the river bank by bodies of the rebels coming from both
north and south. Most all of those thus hemmed in were
without arms. I saw many soldiers, both white and black,
throw up their arms in token of surrender, and call out that
they had surrendered. The rebels would reply, 'G--d d--n
you, why didn't you surrender before?' and shot them down
like dogs.
"'The rebels commenced an indiscriminate slaughter. Many
colored soldiers sprang into the river and tried to escape
by swimming, but these were invariably shot dead.
"'A short distance from me, and within view, a number of our
wounded had been placed, and near where Major Booth's body
lay; and a small red flag indicated that at that place our
wounded were placed. The rebels however, as they passed
these wounded men, fired right into them and struck them
with the butts of their muskets. The cries for mercy and
groans which arose from the poor fellows were heart-rending.
"'Thinking that if I should be discovered, I would be
killed, I emerged from my hiding place, and, approaching the
nearest rebel, I told him I was a citizen. He said, 'You are
in bad company, G--d d--n you; out with your greenbacks, or
I'll shoot you.' I gave him all the money I had, and under
his convoy I went up into the fort again.
"'When I re-entered the fort there was still some shooting
going on. I heard a rebel officer tell a soldier not to kill
any more of those negroes. He said that they would all be
killed, any way, when they were tried.
"'After I entered the fort, and after the United States flag
had been taken down, the rebels held it up in their hands in
the presence of their officers, and thus gave the rebels
outside a chance to still continue their slaughter, and I
did not notice that any rebel officer forbade the holding of
it up. I also further state, to the best of my knowledge and
information, that there were not less than three hundred and
sixty negroes killed and two hundred whites. This I give to
the best of my knowledge and belief.
"JOHN NELSON.
"Subscribed and sworn to before me this 2nd day of May, A. D. 1864.
"J. D. LLOYD,
"_Capt. 11th Inf., Mo. Vols., and Ass't. Provost Mar.,
Dist. of Memphis._"
"Henry Christian, (colored), private, company B, 6th United
States heavy artillery, sworn and examined. By Mr. Gooch:
'Question. Where were you raised? 'Answer. In East
Tennessee.
'Question. Have you been a slave? 'Answer. Yes, sir.
'Question. Where did you enlist? 'Answer. At Corinth,
Mississippi.
'Question. Were you in the fight at Fort Pillow? 'Answer.
Yes, sir.
'Question. When were you wounded? 'Answer. A little before
we surrendered.
'Question. What happened to you afterwards? 'Answer.
Nothing; I got but one shot, and dug right out over the hill
to the river, and never was bothered any more.
'Did you see any men shot after the place was taken?
'Answer. Yes, sir.
'Question. Where? 'Answer. Down to the river.
'Question. How many? 'Answer. A good many; I don't know how
many.
'Question. By whom were they shot? 'Answer. By secesh
soldiers; secesh officers shot some up on the hill.
'Question. Did you see those on the hill shot by the
officers? 'Answer. I saw two of them shot.
'Question. What officers were they? 'Answer. I don't know
whether he was a lieutenant or captain.
'Question. Did the men who were shot after they had
surrendered have arms in their hands? 'Answer. No, sir; they
threw down their arms.
'Question. Did you see any shot the next morning? 'Answer. I
saw two shot; one was shot by an officer--he was standing,
holding the officer's horse, and when the officer came and
got his horse he shot him dead. The officer was setting fire
to the houses.
'Question. Do you say the man was holding the officer's
horse, and when the officer came and took his horse he shot
the man down? 'Answer. Yes, sir; I saw that with my own
eyes; and then I made away into the river, right off.
'Question. Did you see any buried? 'Answer. Yes, sir; a
great many, black and white.
'Question. Did you see any buried alive? 'Answer. I did not
see any buried alive.
"Jacob Thompson, (colored), sworn and examined. By Mr.
Gooch:
'Question. Were you a soldier at Fort Pillow? 'Answer. No,
sir, I was not a soldier; but I went up in the fort and
fought with the rest. I was shot in the hand and the head.
'Question. When were you shot? 'Answer. After I surrendered.
'Question. How many times were you shot? 'Answer. I was shot
but once; but I threw my hand up, and the shot went through
my hand and my head.
'Question. Who shot you? 'Answer. A private.
'Question. What did he say? 'Answer. He said, 'G--d d--n
you, I will shoot you, old friend.'
'Question. Did you see anybody else shot? 'Answer. Yes, sir;
they just called them out like dogs, and shot them down. I
reckon they shot about fifty, white and black, right there.
They nailed some black sergeants to the logs, and set the
logs on fire.
'Question. When did you see that? 'Answer. When I went there
in the morning I saw them; they were burning all together.
'Question. Did they kill them before they burned them?
'Answer. No, sir, they nailed them to the logs; drove the
nails right through their hands.
'Question. How many did you see in that condition? 'Answer.
Some four or five; I saw two white men burned.
'Question. Was there any one else there who saw that?
Answer. I reckon there was; I could not tell who.
'Question. When was it that you saw them? 'Answer. I saw
them in the morning after the fight; some of them were
burned almost in two. I could tell they were white men,
because they were whiter than the colored men.
'Question. Did you notice how they were nailed? 'Answer. I
saw one nailed to the side of a house; he looked like he was
nailed right through his wrist. I was trying then to get to
the boat when I saw it.
'Question. Did you see them kill any white men? 'Answer.
They killed some eight or nine there. I reckon they killed
more than twenty after it was all over; called them out from
under the hill, and shot them down. They would call out a
white man and shoot him down, and call out a colored man and
shoot him down; do it just as fast as they could make their
guns go off.
'Question. Did you see any rebel officers about there when
this was going on? 'Answer. Yes, sir; old Forrest was one.
'Question. Did you know Forrest? 'Answer. Yes, sir; he was a
little bit of a man. I had seen him before at Jackson.
'Question. Are you sure he was there when this was going on?
'Answer. Yes, sir.
'Question. Did you see any other officers that you knew?
'Answer. I did not know any other but him. There were some
two or three more officers came up there.
'Question. Did you see any buried there? 'Answer. Yes, sir;
they buried right smart of them. They buried a great many
secesh, and a great many of our folks. I think they buried
more secesh than our folks.
'Question. How did they bury them? 'Answer. They buried the
secesh over back of the fort, all except those on Fort hill;
them they buried up on top of the hill where the gunboats
shelled them.
'Question. Did they bury any alive? 'Answer. I heard the
gunboat men say they dug two out who were alive.
'Question. You did not see them? 'Answer. No, sir.
'What company did you fight with? 'Answer. I went right into
the fort and fought there.
'Question. Were you a slave or a free man? 'Answer. I was a
slave.
'Question. Where were you raised? 'Answer. In old Virginia.
'Question. Who was your master? 'Answer. Colonel Hardgrove.
'Question. Where did you live? 'Answer. I lived three miles
the other side of Brown's mills.
'Question. How long since you lived with him? 'Answer. I
went home once and staid with him a while, but he got to
cutting up and I came away again.
'Question. What did you do before you went into the fight?
'Answer. I was cooking for Co. K, of Illinois cavalry; I
cooked for that company nearly two years.
'Question. What white officers did you know in our army?
'Answer. I knew Captain Meltop and Colonel Ransom; and I
cooked at the hotel at Fort Pillow, and Mr. Nelson kept it.
I and Johnny were cooking together. After they shot me
through the hand and head, they beat up all this part of my
head (the side of his head) with the breach of their guns.
"Ransome Anderson, (colored), Co. B, 6th United States heavy
artillery, sworn and examined. By Mr. Gooch:
'Question. Where were you raised? 'Answer. In Mississippi.
'Question. Were you a slave? 'Answer. Yes, sir.
'Question. Where did you enlist? 'Answer. At Corinth.
'Question. Were you in the fight at Fort Pillow? 'Answer.
Yes, sir.
'Question. Describe what you saw done there. 'Answer. Most
all the men that were killed on our side were killed after
the fight was over. They called them out and shot them down.
Then they put some in the houses and shut them up, and then
burned the houses.
'Question. Did you see them burn? 'Answer. Yes, sir.
'Question. Were any of them alive? 'Answer. Yes, sir; they
were wounded, and could not walk. They put them in the
houses, and then burned the houses down.
'Question. Do you know they were in there? 'Answer. Yes,
sir; I went and looked in there.
'Question. Do you know they were in there when the house was
burned? 'Answer. Yes, sir; I heard them hallooing there when
the houses were burning.
'Question. Are you sure they were wounded men, and not dead,
when they were put in there? 'Answer. Yes, sir; they told
them they were going to have the doctor see them, and then
put them in there and shut them up, and burned them.
'Question. Who set the house on fire? 'Answer. I saw a rebel
soldier take some grass and lay it by the door, and set it
on fire. The door was pine plank, and it caught easy.
'Question. Was the door fastened up? 'Answer. Yes, sir; it
was barred with one of those wide bolts.
"James Walls, sworn and examined. By Mr. Gooch:
'Question. To what company did you belong? 'Answer. Company
E, 13th Tennessee cavalry.
'Question. Under what officers did you serve? 'Answer. I was
under Major Bradford and Captain Potter.
'Question. Were you in the fight at Fort Pillow? 'Answer.
Yes, sir.
'Question. State what you saw there of the fight, and what
was done after the place was captured. 'Answer. We fought
them for some six or eight hours in the fort, and when they
charged, our men scattered and ran under the hill; some
turned back and surrendered, and were shot. After the flag
of truce came in I went down to get some water. As I was
coming back I turned sick, and laid down behind a log. The
secesh charged, and after they came over I saw one go a good
ways ahead of the others. One of our men made to him and
threw down his arms. The bullets were flying so thick there
I thought I could not live there, so I threw down my arms
and surrendered. He did not shoot me then, but as I turned
around he or some other one shot me in the back.
'Question. Did they say anything while they were shooting?
'Answer. All I heard was, 'Shoot him, shoot him!' 'Yonder
goes one!' 'Kill him, kill him!' That is about all I heard.
'Question. How many do you suppose you saw shot after they
surrendered? 'Answer. I did not see but two or three shot
around me. One of the boys of our company, named Taylor, ran
up there, and I saw him shot and fall. Then another was shot
just before me, like--shot down after he threw down his
arms.
'Question. Those were white men? 'Answer. Yes, sir. I saw
them make lots of niggers stand up, and then they shot them
down like hogs. The next morning I was lying around there
waiting for the boat to come up. The secesh would be prying
around there, and would come to a nigger and say, 'You ain't
dead are you?' They would not say anything, and then the
secesh would get down off their horses, prick them in their
sides, and say, 'D--n you, you aint dead; get up.' Then they
would make them get up on their knees, when they would shoot
them down like hogs.
'Question. Do you know of their burning any buildings?
'Answer. I could hear them tell them to stick torches all
around, and they fired all the buildings.
'Question. Do you know whether any of our men were in the
buildings when they were burned? 'Answer. Some of our men
said some were burned; I did not see it, or know it to be so
myself.
'Question. How did they bury them--white and black together?
'Answer. I don't know about the burying; I did not see any
buried.
'Question. How many negroes do you suppose were killed after
the surrender? 'Answer. There were hardly any killed before
the surrender. I reckon as many as 200 were killed after the
surrender, out of about 300 that were there.
Question. Did you see any rebel officers about while this
shooting was going on? 'Answer. I do not know as I saw any
officers about when they were shooting the negroes. A
captain came to me a few minutes after I was shot; he was
close by me when I was shot.
'Question. Did he try to stop the shooting? 'Answer. I did
not hear a word of their trying to stop it. After they were
shot down, he told them not to shoot them any more. I begged
him not to let them shoot me again, and he said they would
not. One man, after he was shot down, was shot again. After
I was shot down, the man I surrendered to went around the
tree I was against and shot a man, and then came around to
me again and wanted my pocket-book. I handed it up to him,
and he saw my watch-chain and made a grasp at it, and got
the watch and about half the chain. He took an old Barlow
knife I had in my pocket. It was not worth five cents; was
of no account at all, only to cut tobacco with.'
"Nathan G. Fulks, sworn and examined. By Mr. Gooch:
'Question. To what company and regiment do you belong?
'Answer. To Company D, 13th Tennessee cavalry.
'Question. Where are you from? 'Answer. About twenty miles
from Columbus, Tennessee.
'Question. How long have you been in the service? 'Answer.
Five months, the 1st of May.
'Question. Were you at Fort Pillow at the time of the fight
there? Answer. Yes, sir.
'Question. Will you state what happened to you there?
'Answer. I was at the corner of the fort when they fetched
in a flag for a surrender. Some of them said the major stood
a while, and then said he would not surrender. They
continued to fight a while; and after a time the major
started and told us to take care of ourselves, and I and
twenty more men broke for the hollow. They ordered us to
halt, and some of them said, 'God d--n 'em, kill 'em!' I
said, 'I have surrendered.' I had thrown my gun away then. I
took off my cartridge-box and gave it to one of them, and
said, 'Don't shoot me;' but they did shoot me, and hit just
about where the shoe comes up on my leg. I begged them not
to shoot me, and he said,' God d--n you, you fight with the
niggers, and we will kill the last one of you!' Then they
shot me in the thick of the thigh, and I fell; and one set
out to shoot me again, when another one said, 'Don't shoot
the white fellows any more.
'Question. Did you see any person shot besides yourself?
'Answer. I didn't see them shot. I saw one of our fellows
dead by me.
'Question. Did you see any buildings burned? 'Answer. Yes,
sir. While I was in the major's headquarters they commenced
burning the buildings, and I begged one of them to take me
out and not let us burn there; and he said, 'I am hunting up
a piece of yellow flag for you.' I think we would have
whipped them if the flag of truce had not come in. We would
have whipped them if we had not let them get the dead-wood
on us. I was told that they made their movement while the
flag of truce was in. I did not see it myself, because I
had sat down, as I had been working so hard.
'Question. How do you know they made their movement while
the flag of truce was in? 'Answer. The men that were above
said so. The rebs are bound to take every advantage of us. I
saw two more white men close to where I was lying. That
makes three dead ones, and myself wounded."
Later on during the war the policy of massacring was somewhat abated,
that is it was not done on the battle-field. The humanity of the
confederates in Virginia permitted them to take their black prisoners to
the rear. About a hundred soldiers belonging to the 7th Phalanx
Regiment, with several of their white officers, were captured at Fort
Gilmer on the James River, Va., and taken to Richmond in September,
1864. The following account is given of their treatment in the record of
the Regiment:
"The following interesting sketches of prison-life, as
experienced by two officers of the regiment, captured at
Fort Gilmer, have been kindly furnished. _The details of the
sufferings of the enlisted men captured with them we shall
never know, for few of them ever returned to tell the sad
story._
"'An escort was soon formed to conduct the prisoners to
Richmond, some seven or eight miles distant, and the kinder
behavior of that part of the guard which had participated in
the action was suggestive of the freemasonry that exists
between brave fellows to whatever side belonging. On the
road the prisoners were subjected by every passer-by, to
petty insults, the point in every case, more or less
obscene, being the color of their skin. The solitary
exception, curiously enough, being a _nymph du pave_ in the
suburbs of the town.[30]
"'About dusk the prisoners reached the notorious Libby,
where the officers took leave of their enlisted
comrades--from most of them forever. The officers were then
searched and put collectively in a dark hole, whose purpose
undoubtedly was similar to that of the 'Ear of Dionysius.'
In the morning, after being again searched, they were placed
among the rest of the confined officers, among whom was
Capt. Cook, of the Ninth, taken a few weeks previously at
Strawberry Plains. Some time before, the confederates had
made a great haul on the Weldon Railroad, and the prison was
getting uncomfortably full of prisoners and--vermin. After a
few days sojourn in Libby, the authorities prescribed a
change of air, and the prisoners were packed into box and
stock cars and rolled to Salisbury, N. C. The comforts of
this two day's ride are remembered as strikingly similar to
those of Mr. Hog from the West to the Eastern market before
the invention of the S. F. P. C. T. A.
"'At Salisbury the prisoners were stored in the third story
of an abandoned tobacco factory, occupied on the lower
floors by political prisoners, deserters, thieves and spies,
who during the night made an attempt on the property of the
new-comers, but were repulsed after a pitched battle. In the
morning the Post-Commandant ordered the prisoners to some
unused negro quarters in another part of the grounds,
separated from the latter by a line of sentries. During the
week train-loads of prisoners--enlisted men--arrived and
were corralled in the open grounds. The subsequent
sufferings of these men are known to the country, a parallel
to those of Andersonville, as the eternal infamy of Wirtz is
shared by his _confrere_ at Salisbury--McGee.
"'The weakness, and still more, the appalling ferocity of
the guards, stimulated the desire to escape; but when this
had become a plan it was discovered, and the commissioned
prisoners were at once hurried off to Danville, Va., and
there assigned the two upper floors of an abandoned tobacco
warehouse, which formed one side of an open square. Here an
organization into messes was effected, from ten to eighteen
in each--to facilitate the issue of rations. The latter
consisted of corn-bread and boiled beef, but gradually the
issues of meat became like angels' visits, and then for
several months ceased altogether. It was the art of feeding
as practised by the Hibernian on his horse--only their
exchange deprived the prisoners of testing the one straw per
day.
"Among the democracy of hungry bellies there were a few
aristocrats, with a Division General of the Fifth Corps as
Grand Mogul, whose Masonic or family connections in the
South procured them special privileges. On the upper floor
these envied few erected a cooking stove, around which they
might be found at all hours of the day, preparing savory
dishes, while encircled by a triple and quadruple row of
jealous noses, eagerly inhailing the escaping vapors, so
conducive to day-dreams of future banquets. The social
equilibrium was, however, bi-diurnally restored by a common
pursuit--a general warfare under the black flag against a
common enemy, as insignificant individually as he was
collectively formidable--an insect, in short, whose
domesticity on the human body is, according to some
naturalists, one of the differences between our species and
the rest of creation. This operation, technically,
'skirmishing,' happened twice a day, according as the sun
illumined the east or west sides of the apartments, along
which the line was deployed in its beams.
"Eating, sleeping, smelling and skirmishing formed the
routine of prison-life, broken once in a while by a walk,
under escort, to the Dan river, some eighty yards distant,
for a water supply. Generally, some ten or twelve prisoners
with buckets were allowed to go at once, and this
circumstance, together with the fact that the guard for all
the prisons in town were mounted in the open square in
front, excited the first idea of escape. According to high
diplomatic authority, empty stomachs are conducive to
ingenuity, so the idea soon became a plan and a conspiracy.
While the new guard had stacked arms in the open square
preparatory to mounting, some ten or twelve officers, under
the lead of Col. Ralston, the powerful head of some New York
regiment, were to ask for exit under pretense of getting
water, and then to overpower the opposing sentries, while
the balance of the prisoners, previously drawn up in line at
the head of the short staircase leading direct to the exit
door, were to rush down into the square, seize the stacked
arms and march through the Confederacy to the Union
lines--perhaps!
"'Among the ten or twelve pseudo-water-carriers--the forlorn
hope--were Col. Ralston, Capt. Cook, of the Ninth, and one
or two of the Seventh--Capt. Weiss and Lieut. Spinney. On
the guard opening the door for egress, Col. Ralston and one
of the Seventh threw themselves on the first man, a powerful
six-footer, and floored him. At the same moment, however,
another guard with great presence of mind, slammed the door
and turned the key, and that before five officers could
descend the short staircase. The attempt was now a failure.
One of the guards on the outside of the building took
deliberate aim through the open window at Col. Ralston, who
was still engaged with the struggling fellow, and shot him
through the bowels. Col. Ralston died a lingering and
painful death after two or three days. Less true bravery
than his has been highly sung in verse.
"'This attempt could not but sharpen the discipline of the
prison, but soon the natural humanity of the commandant,
Col. Smith, now believed to be Chief Engineer of the
Baltimore Bridge Company, asserted itself, and things went
on as before. Two incidents may, however, be mentioned in
this connection, whose asperities time has removed, leaving
nothing but their salient grotesque features.
"'Immediately after the occurrence, an unlimited supply of
dry-salted codfish was introduced. This being the first
animal food for weeks, was greedily devoured in large
quantities, mostly raw--producing a raging thirst. The water
supply was now curtailed to a few bucketsful, but even these
few drops of the precious fluid were mostly wasted in the
_melee_ for their possession. The majority of the
contestants retired disappointed to muse on the comforts of
the Sahara Desert, and as the stories about tapping camels
recurred to them, suggestive glances were cast at the more
fortunate rivals. After a few days, conspicuous for the
sparing enjoyment of salt cod, the water supply was ordered
unlimited. An immediate 'corner' in the Newfoundland staple
took place, the stock being actively absorbed by _bona fide_
investors, who found that it bore watering with impunity.
* * * *
"'At the beginning of February, 1865, thirty boxes of
provisions, etc., from friends in the North arrived for the
prisoners. The list of owners was anxiously scanned and the
lucky possessor would not have exchanged for the capital
prize in the Havana lottery. The poor fellows of the
Seventh were among the fortunate, and from that day none
knew hunger more.
"'With the advent of the boxes came the dawn of a brighter
day. Cartels of exchange were talked about, and by the
middle of February the captives found themselves on the rail
for Richmond. The old Libby appeared much less gloomy than
on first acquaintance, the rays of hope throwing a halo
about everywhere. Many asked and obtained the liberty of the
town to lay in a supply of those fine brands of tobacco for
which Richmond is famous. In a few days the preliminaries to
exchange were completed, and on the 22d of
February--Washington's birthday--the captives also stepped
into a new life under the old flag."
"Captain Sherman, of Co. C., gives the following account:
"'Further resistence being useless, and having expressed our
willingness to surrender, we were invited into the fort. As
I stepped down from the parapet I was immediately accosted
by one of the so-called F. F. V.'s, whose smiling
countenance and extended hand led me to think I was
recognized as an acquaintance. My mind was soon disabused of
that idea, however, for the next instant he had pulled my
watch from its pocket, with the remark, 'what have you
there?' Quick as thought, and before he could realize the
fact, I had seized and recovered the watch, while he held
only a fragment of the chain, and placing it in an inside
pocket, buttoned my coat and replied, 'that is my watch and
you cannot have it.'
"'Just then I discovered Lieut. Ferguson was receiving a
good deal of attention--a crowd having gathered about
him--and the next moment saw his fine new hat had been
appropriated by one of the rebel soldiers, and he stood
hatless. Seeing one of the rebel officers with a Masonic
badge on his coat, Lieut. F. made himself known as a brother
Mason, and appealed to him for redress. The officer quickly
responded and caused the hat to be returned to its owner,
only to be again stolen, and the thief made to give it up as
before.
"'In a little while we (seven officers and eighty-five
enlisted men) were formed in four ranks, and surrounded by a
guard, continued the march 'on to Richmond,' but under very
different circumstances from what we had flattered ourselves
would be the case, when only two or three hours before our
brigade-commander had remarked, as he rode by the regiment,
that we would certainly be in Richmond that night. We met a
great many civilians, old and young, on their way to the
front, as a general alarm had been sounded in the city, and
all who could carry arms had been ordered to report for duty
in the intrenchments. After a few miles march we halted for
a rest, but were not allowed to sit down, as I presume the
guards thought we could as well stand as they. Here a squad
of the Richmond Grays, the _elite_ of the city, came up and
accosted us with all manner of vile epithets. One of the
most drunken and boisterous approached within five or six
feet of me, and with the muzzle of his rifle within two feet
of my face swore he would shoot me. Fearless of
consequences, and feeling that immediate death even could
not be worse than slow torture by starvation, to which I
knew that so many of our soldiers had been subjected, and
remembering that the Confederate Congress had declared
officers of colored troops outlaws, I replied, as my eyes
met his, 'shoot if you dare.' Instead of carrying out his
threat he withdrew his aim and staggered on. Here Lieut.
Ferguson lost his hat, which had been already twice stolen
and recovered. One of the rebs came up behind him and taking
the hat from his head replaced it with his own and ran off.
The lieutenant consoled himself with the reflection that at
last he had a hat no one would steal.
"'At about 7 P. M. we arrived at Libby Prison _and were
separated from the enlisted men, who, we afterward learned,
suffered untold hardships, to which many of them succumbed.
Some were claimed as slaves by men who had never known them;
others denied fuel and shelter through the winter, and
sometimes water with which to quench their thirst; the sick
and dying neglected or mal-treated and even murdered by
incompetent and fiendish surgeons; without rations for days
together; shot at without the slightest reason or only to
gratify the caprice of the guards,--all of which harrowing
details were fully corroborated by the few emaciated wrecks
that survived_.
"'We were marched inside the prison, searched, and what
money we had taken from us. I was allowed to retain
pocket-book, knife and watch. Our names were recorded and we
were told to follow the sergeant. Now, I thought, the
question will be decided whether we are to go up stairs
where we knew the officers were quartered, or be confined in
the cells below. As we neared the corner of the large room
and I saw the sergeant directing his steps to the stairs
leading down, I thought it had been better had we fallen on
the battle-field. He led the way down to a cell, and as we
passed in barred and locked the door and left us in
darkness. Here, without rations, the bare stone floor for a
bed, the dampness trickling down the walls on either side,
seven of us were confined in a close room about seven feet
by nine. It was a long night, but finally morning dawned and
as a ray of light shone through the little barred window
above our heads we thanked God we were not in total
darkness. About 9 A. M. rations, consisting of bread and
meat, were handed in, and being divided into seven parts,
were drawn for by lot. About noon we were taken from the
cell and put in with the other officers. Here we met Capt.
Cook, of the Ninth Regiment, who had been captured about a
month previous while reconnoitering the enemy's line.
"'We were now in a large room, perhaps forty by ninety feet,
with large windows, entirely destitute of glass. No blankets
nor anything to sit or lie upon except the floor, and at
night when we lay down the floor was literally covered.
"'About the middle of the second night we were all hurriedly
marched out and packed in filthy box-cars--like sardines,
for there was not room for all to sit down--for an unknown
destination. After a slow and tedious ride we arrived at
Salisbury, N. C. When we arrived there were but few
prisoners, and for two or three days we received fair
rations of bread, bean soup and a little meat. This did not
last long, for as the number of prisoners increased our
rations were diminished. There were four old log houses
within the stockade and into these the officers were moved
the next day, while a thousand or more prisoners, brought on
from Petersburg, were turned into the pen without shelter of
any kind. From these we were separated by a line of
sentinels, who had orders to shoot any who approached within
six paces of their beat on either side. This was called the
'dead-line,' which also extended around the enclosure about
six paces from the stockade.
"'The second Sunday after our arrival, just as we were
assembling to hear preaching, an officer who had
thoughtlessly stepped to a tree on the dead-line was shot
and killed by the sentry, who was on an elevated platform
outside the fence, and only about two rods distant. For this
fiendish act the murderer was granted a sixty days furlough.
"'Prisoners were being brought in almost daily, and at this
time there were probably six thousand within the enclosure.
A pretence of shelter was furnished by the issue of a few
Sibley tents, but not more than a third of the prisoners
were sheltered. Many of them built mud hovels or burrowed in
the ground; some crawled under the hospital building. Very
few had blankets and all were thinly clad, and the rations
were barely sufficient to sustain life. What wonder that men
lost their strength, spirits, and sometimes reason. The
story of exposure, sickness and death is the same and rivals
that of Andersonville.
"'The guard was strengthened, a portion of the fence taken
down and a piece of artillery stationed at the corners to
sweep down the crowd, should an outbreak occur. This we had
thought of for some time, and a plan of action was decided
upon. At a given signal all within the enclosure were to
make a break for that part of the fence nearest them, and
then scatter, each one for himself. Of course, some would
probably be killed, but it was hoped most would escape
before the guards could load and fire a second time. This
plot, which was to have been carried out at midnight, was
discovered the previous afternoon. The inside guard,
separating the enlisted-men from the officers, had become
more vigilant, and the only means of communication was to
attach a note to a stone and throw it across. This an
officer attempted. The note fell short; the sentry picked it
up, called the corporal of the guard, who took it to the
officer of the guard, and in less than five minutes the
whole arrangement was known. Two hours afterward we were
formed in line and learned that we were to change our
quarters. We had then been in Salisbury twenty days. Before
we left one of our mess found and brought away a bound copy
of _Harper's Magazine_. It proved a boon to us, as it served
for a pillow for one of us at night, and was being read by
some one from dawn until night, until we had all read it
through, when we traded it off for a volume of the _Portland
Transcript_.
"'We were packed in box cars and started North. The next
morning we arrived at Danville and were confined in a
tobacco warehouse, built of brick and about eighty feet
long, forty wide, and three stories high. When we first
entered the prison the ration was fair in quantity. We had
from twelve to sixteen ounces of corn-bread, and from two to
four ounces of beef or a cup of pea-soup, but never beef and
soup the same day. True, the soup would have an abundance of
worms floating about in it, but these we would skim off, and
trying to forget we had seen them, eat with a relish. Hunger
will drive one to eat almost anything, as we learned from
bitter experience. About the 1st of November the soup and
beef ration began to decrease, and from the middle of the
month to the 20th of February, when I was paroled, not a
ration of meat or soup was issued. Nothing but corn-bread,
made from unbolted meal, and water, and that growing less
and less. Sometimes I would divide my ration into three
parts and resolve to make it last all day, but invariably it
would be gone before noon. Generally I would eat the whole
ration at once, but that did not satisfy my hunger, and I
had to go without a crumb for the next twenty-four hours. To
illustrate how inadequate the ration was, I can say that I
have seen officers picking potato-peelings from the large
spittoons, where they were soaking in tobacco spittle, wash
them off and eat them.
"'We had an abundance of good, pure water, which was a great
blessing. Pails were furnished, and when five or six men
were ready, the sentry would call the corporal of the guard,
who would send a guard of from four to six with us to the
river, about two hundred yards distant. Twice a day an
officer would come in and call the roll; that is form us
into four ranks and count the files. If any had escaped, it
was essential that the number should be kept good for some
days, to enable them to get a good start, and for this
purpose various means were used. Some, times one of the rear
rank, after being counted, would glide along unseen to the
left of the line and be recounted. A hole was cut in the
upper floor, and while the officer was going upstairs, some
would climb through the hole and be counted with those on
the third floor. This created some confusion, as the number
would occasionally overrun.
"'As the season advanced we suffered more and more from the
cold, for being captured in September our clothing was not
sufficient for December and January. Very few had blankets,
and the rebel authorities never issued either blankets or
clothing of any kind. The windows of the lower rooms were
without glass, and only the lower half of each boarded up;
the wind would whistle through the large openings, and
drawing up through the open floor, upon which we had to lie
at night, would almost freeze us. I finally succeeded in
trading my watch with one of the guard for an old bed-quilt
and twenty dollars Confederate money. The money came in very
good time, for I then had the scurvy so badly that my
tongue, lips and gums were so swollen that by evening I
could scarcely speak. In the morning the swelling would not
be quite so bad, and by soaking the corn-bread in water,
could manage to swallow a little. The surgeon, who visited
the prison every day, cauterized my mouth, but it continued
to grow worse, until at last I could not eat the coarse
bread. Sometimes I would have a chance to sell it for from
one to two dollars, which, with the twenty, saved me from
starvation. I bought rice of the guard for two dollars the
half-pint, and good-sized potatoes for a dollar each. These
were cooked usually over a little fire in the yard with wood
or chips picked up while going for water. Sometimes, by
waiting patiently for an hour or more, I could get near
enough to the stove to put my cup on. The heating apparatus
was a poor apology for a cylinder coal-stove, and the coal
the poorest I ever saw, and gave so little heat that one
could stand all day by it and shiver.
[Illustration: ESCAPING PRISONERS FED BY NEGROES IN THEIR MASTER'S
BARN.]
"'The bed-quilt was quite narrow, but very much better than
none.
"'Capt. Weiss and I would spread our flannel coats on the
floor, use our shoes for pillows, spread the quilt over us,
and with barely space to turn over, would, if the night was
not too cold, go to sleep; usually to dream of home and
loved ones; of Christmas festivities and banquets; of trains
of army wagons so overloaded with pies and cakes that they
were rolling into the road; of a general exchange; a thirty
day's leave of absence, and a thousand things altogether
unlike that which we were experiencing; and would wake only
to find ourselves cold and hungry.