A Soldier's Experience in Southern Prisons: A Graphic Description of the Author's Experiences in Various Southern PrisonsPrutsman, Christian Miller
Philosophy
A Soldier's Experience in Southern Prisons: A Graphic Description of the Author's Experiences in Various Southern Prisons
Prutsman, Christian Miller
United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Prisoners and prisons
After an hour or so I began to warm up, but the storm seemed to be
increasing as well as the darkness, and finally I lost the road,
though still in the woods. I turned and tried to find the road and in
the search I soon heard water roaring and tumbling. A few feet ahead
I could see a white sheet of water and decided that it was the road.
I felt my way carefully along to the edge of the white sheet; there
seemed to be a black space between me and the streak of white, which I
took to be a ditch that I could jump, when I should find myself in the
road again. I made the jump, but alas, the white sheet proved to be a
mill pond, which had no bottom at the place where I struck the water,
yet I had enough presence of mind to swim for a ledge near the bank.
When I reached the ledge, the rocks proved so steep I could not climb
them, and I was forced to make my way by clinging to the rocks as best
I could along the edge of the water, until I came to a place where
some of the stone and earth had been taken away to build a dam. There
I crawled out, went up the bank and into the woods again. Then I saw
a light streak which I went to and, remembering my former experience,
merely followed along its edge until I came to what appeared to be a
bridge; this I crossed, and I soon found myself outside of the woods
and again in a road. On examination I found the road was fenced and on
each side were cultivated fields. The storm was clearing, and I could
begin to see. Presently I came to a cornfield; I entered, plucked a
few ears of corn and, by cracking a kernel at a time with my teeth,
managed to eat some of it; this in a measure appeased my intense
hunger. During the remainder of the night I passed a number of houses
but for obvious reasons did not seek admission. When daylight came I
saw an old log house near the center of a field, which on going to I
found to be well filled with unthreshed cow pease. I climbed up to the
gable, entered the hovel, dug a hole in the peas, crawled in, covered
myself up and there remained through the day, cracking corn and cow
peas with my teeth. About an hour after dark I resumed my way. The
stars were shining brightly, the road was good and I was leaving "Camp
Sorghum" far in the rear, all of which circumstances made me very
hopeful indeed. I continued my march through the night, and as soon as
daylight approached found a covey in a hedge near a small creek, where
I remained through the day with plenty of water to drink. The sun came
out quite warm and dried my clothing, and I washed my face and hands in
the clear water of the brook, and passed the day without any untoward
incident. As soon as it was dark enough I again ventured out and
continued my long anticipated journey, passing through what I called a
very good farming country.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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