English Diary 2
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26th. Raining hard again today. Mud and filth are our bed fellows. Six hundred more prisoners this afternoon. I am somewhat crippled, myself, but manage to try and wash and keep clean, that is the principal thing. One hundred have died within the last 24 hours.
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28th Eleven hundred prisoners arrived last night, chiefly from the army before Richmond. A great many deaths yesterday but could not learn the number. The rebels are now trying to conceal the number of deaths, but before they were glad enough to tell us how many died. Evidently they are getting alarmed.
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29th, Bread today. They say they must get meal to one half and bread to the other half on alternate days. Raiders are getting worse every day. Some prisoners escaped from the guards yesterday while out after fire-wood; Captain Wirz started the blood hounds after them.
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30th. An order from Capt. Wirz has been read, that each Sergeant who passes men outside the gate must sign a paper for the safe return of the men thus detached, and any violation of that order on the part of the squad will he punished by stopping their rations until the escaped have been brought back.
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5th. Raining hard all day; some cases of small-pox here. There will be no help for us if that disease once gets started. It made me sick when I heard that news, but I will trust in God for He has protected me through twenty fights and skirmishes and through all the hardships and sufferings of prison life for eight months, when many of my comrades who were captured with me are gone. I believe half of the 127 of my company who were captured with me are dead.
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6th. Three hundred more prisoners came in this morning from Sherman's army. They are of the opinion that Atlanta will soon be in the possession of our troops. Raining today; the two men who escaped the other day were brought in and put in irons; one of them had the flesh torn from his legs.
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8th. Got a diary from one of the new prisoners; glad of it, for mine was almost full. He said I was doing something he could not do. Well, I commenced it and it comes natural to me now, besides, it occupies my mind and gives me some exercise twice a day going from one end of the prison to the other hunting up news. I will soon have to lookout for a new pencil. This is the fourth piece and it is very short. I could not find my cap this morning, but watched my chance among the dead and got another. It is about four sizes too large for me, but as I will not go to see my sweet-heart for some time, it will have to do.
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9th. Raining today; it has rained every day this month, adding much to the suffering of us poor creatures. Several detachments got no bread for two days; they don't know the reason, but I suppose they have the shorts as usual. One man was drowned in the swamp this afternoon. New potatoes sell at one dollar per dozen. I couldn't buy any even if they were a cent a bushel.
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14th. About a thousand prisoners came in today from the Mississippi, stripped of blankets, coats, shoes, money, watches, rings, and in fact, everything was taken from them; they said after their capture they were treated in a most barbarous manner.
But evil for good they returned,
Insulted and abused us;
Our prayers, our tears, they mocked and spurned,
And worse than brutes they used us.
It was reported that General Sherman sent a large force of cavalry to release us. When Wirz heard of them coming, he issued an order to the commander of the artillery to be ready, and when the Yankee cavalry got within seven miles of the pen, to open fire on the prisoners with grape and canister and to continue firing as long as a prisoner lived: but our cavilry was defeated and a part of them captured and taken into the pen with us.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grapeshot
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canister_shot
1 - 2025-02-26
2 - 2025-02-25
3 - 2025-02-24
In 2024, the number of babies born in South Korea increased for the first time in nine years. The change is welcome news for a country that is dealing with serious population problems.