Daring and Suffering: A History of the Great Railroad AdventurePittenger, William
History
Daring and Suffering: A History of the Great Railroad Adventure
Pittenger, William
Chattanooga Railroad Expedition, 1862; United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Campaigns
All night long the guards talked over their adventures. Generally they
praised their own bravery to the skies, but occasionally one who had
arrived since the affray, would suggest that it was not very much to
their credit to let unarmed men snatch their guns from them; but
these hinted slanders were always received with the contempt they
deserved, and the work of self-glorifying went on! One wondered at the
speed of the Yankees, who had been kept in prison so long; another
accounted for it by saying that they had received so much practice in
that line, in all the battles they had fought, that it was no wonder
if they were fleet of foot. This sally was received with prodigious
applause.
I heard some confused sounds of distress from the room of the
Tennesseeans, and on inquiring what was the matter, learned that
Barlow had broken his ankle. He had gone down into the yard with our
party, but in jumping from the wall, had received this very serious
injury. Here he was found by a guard, who at first threatened to shoot
him; but on being persuaded not to do that, ordered him to get up and
lead the way into the jail. Barlow tried to do so, but fell down
again. Then this inhuman guard punched him with the bayonet, and made
him crawl, in all the agony that pain could produce, back to his cell,
and as he went, kept hurrying him along by the sharp admonition of the
bayonet! When here, his companions asked for surgical aid for him, but
the Confederate authorities refused it, saying that he had caused the
injury himself, and that they rather preferred that it should kill
him! Their wishes were gratified. For months he lingered on in the
greatest pain, until, finally, the leg mortified, and terminated his
life. He was quite a young man--only eighteen--and had just been
married when he was arrested. Thus died, in darkness and dungeon, one
other East Tennessee martyr!
CHAPTER XIV.
Despair and Hope--Bitten Finger--Removed to Barracks--Greater Comfort--Jack
Wells--Cruel Punishment of Tennesseeans--Story of a Spy--Help Him to
Escape--Virtue of a Coat--A Practical Joke--Unionism--Sweet
Potatoes--Enlisting in Rebel Army--Description of a Day--Happy News--Start
for Richmond--Not Tied--Night Journey--Varied Incidents--Lynchburg--Rebel
Audacity Punished--Suffering from the Cold--Arrival in Richmond.
All night long I lay in the hammock that one of the regulars had swung
by the window, and listened to the boasting below.
"Sadly I thought of the morrow."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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