Mississippi River -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Juvenile fiction
Frank, as may be supposed, was not at all pleased with the prospect
before him. He had often heard escaped prisoners relate sad stories of
the treatment they had received while in the hands of the rebels; and,
as he knew that they cherished an especial hatred toward gun-boatmen,
he could not hope to fare very well.
The place where he was confined was in the lower part of the fort,
directly in range of the shells from the iron-clads, and Frank
expected to be struck by them every moment, for the pieces flew about
him in all directions. Oh, how he prayed that the fort might be taken!
He could see that one of their heaviest guns was dismounted, and a
large detail of men was constantly occupied in carrying off the dead
and wounded.
The firing continued until four o'clock in the afternoon, and then
the gun-boats suddenly withdrew. The rebels cheered loudly as they
disappeared around a bend in the river, and Frank gave up all hope:
nothing now remained for him but a long captivity.
That evening, as soon as it was dark, he, with the other prisoners,
was marched on board the General Quitman, a large steamer, lying just
below the fort, and carried to Haines' Bluff, and from thence they
went by rail to Vicksburg. Here Frank was separated from his men, and
confined, for two days, with several army officers, in a small room in
the jail. Early on the third morning he was again taken out, and sent
across the river, into Louisiana, with about three hundred others.
Their destination, he soon learned, was Tyler, a small town in
Texas, where most of the Union prisoners captured in Mississippi were
confined.
They were guarded by a battalion of cavalry, under command of the
notorious Colonel Harrison, who called themselves the "Louisiana
Wild-cats." Frank had never before seen this noted regiment, and he
found that they were very appropriately named; for a more ferocious
looking set of men he had never met. They all wore long hair and
whiskers; and their faces looked as though they had never been
acquainted with soap and water. They were armed with rifles,
Bowie-knives, and revolvers, and seemed to take pleasure in boasting
of the number of women and children and unarmed men they had slain.
They had not made more than a day's march, when Frank found that his
troubles were just commencing. He was not accustomed to marching, and
his feet soon became so swollen that he could scarcely stand on them.
The heat was almost intolerable; the roads were very dusty, and the
places where they were allowed to obtain water were many miles apart.
Besides, as if to add to their sufferings, the rebels were continually
stealing from the prisoners, and, finally, some of them were left with
scarcely any clothing; and if the poor fellows ventured to remonstrate
against such treatment, they were shot or bayoneted on the spot.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account