English Diary 1

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21.Rations about the same as yesterday. Prisoners in high glee and think that something is going to happen when there is such a change in the program.

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22d. Great excitement this morning about the exchange of prisoners. The prisoned officers across the street in Libby shout to us that all is right now, that the Cartell has been resumed and all hands are going to be exchanged.

hands-crew, a group of people who work closely together.

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23d. Rations about the same as yesterday and we feel better. The rebs say we will get fat now since we are getting the extra rations. I think there are some here who will never get fat. Poor fellows ! I have not received an answer to the letter I sent my mother in Bristol. Sent another today. Told her to send me a box for a Christmas present and put some shirts and notions in it. The rebel officers in charge of us say that any of the prisoners who wish to send word home for anything like clothing and edibles could receive them, as an agreement has been entered into by the commissioners on both sides.

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24th. Rations good today. Have as much as we want now. Some of the prisoners who are weak eat too much since the U. S. rations came in and it almost killed them. Several taken to the hospital this morning in a poor condition. They are never taken from here until they are about dead.

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25th. Very cold last night and a cold rain this morning. This is hard on us, as we have hardly any clothing. And oh! how filthy it is here! The prisoners busy themselves two or three times a day to try and rid themselves of the vermin which are crawling all around. There are about three hundred of us on this floor, and as many more on the second and third.

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26th. Rations very good for the last four or five days, but I am afraid it will not last long.

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27th. Rations for today three-quarters of a pound of biscuit and half a pound of beef. The doctor paid us a visit and said we were getting fat living so high. The guards will not allow us any privileges at all and say their government ought to shoot everyday Yankee that is captured.

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28th. Bitter cold last night; no blankets; some of the prisoners have hardly enough clothing to cover their nakedness; rebels took almost everything when we were captured,

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29th. Two doctors here this morning and they say that all hands must be vaccinated at once, that being their orders from the Confederate Government; no rations to be issued in this room till the work is performed, so the quicker it is done the better.

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30th. Sergeant Webb, of my company and myself were vaccinated yesterday and immediately washed it off and put the cloth on again to close the guard's eye. Usual quantity of rations; raining hard; prisoners making bone rings, trinkets, etc. They want to take something home to remember this infernal place. I, for myself, need no reminder.

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December 1, 1863. Rations not as large as yesterday but it does not do any good to growl. This building was formerly a tobacco warehouse, thirty feet wide and ninety feet deep, contains three floors. There are about seven hundred prisoners here, and a dirtier, smokier, drearier and more unhealthy place, I cannot imagine where so many are huddled together. The poor fellows have little or no clothing, and what we have is filthy and ragged.

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We are compelled to eat and sleep as best we can. We are treated more like hogs than men. Just think of it! about three hundred men in a space 30 x 90 feet, lying all over the floor. If you want to go from one place to another, you have to walk on top of those who are lying down, then you are called all the fancy names imaginable; very fancy indeed. It is a wonder some of them are not black in the face in the morning, after using such language. Pity the poor fellow who is caught walking, for he is sure to get a sore head, as they shove him from one to another until they almost knock the daylights out of him. One poor, unfortunate fellow got badly pounded last night. There is very little mercy shown, so the best thing to do is to lie still until daylight. If we have to endure this long. I venture to say one-half of us will die before a month with disease.

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2d. Rations a little better than yesterday. I hardly know what to put in my diary. It is always the same old thing. But I must do something to pass away the time, besides catching gray-backs. If they once get the best of you, it is a great deal of trouble to get rid of them. Some of the men here are neglecting to do it, and they are so despondent and do not seem to care what will become of themselves, and of course that makes it bad for those who are trying to keep themselves clear. Language will fail to convey any of the intense wretchedness one is compelled to endure in prison life in the South. A few who are themselves actors in the tragic scenes may rehearse the story of our individual experience and thus furnish a key, as it were, to unlock the gates through which others may enter and take a look. This is the only way in which the people at large can become acquainted with this thrilling portion of the war, and authentic and reliable statements are, therefore, of deep interest and importance.

grayback - another term or name for a Redneck or Southern Hick, especially one that is loyal to the Confederacy. This word is derived from the color of the jacket that Southern soldiers wore when fighting for the Confederacy during the Civil War.

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3d. Rations took a little change this morning— half a loaf of corn bread instead of biscuit, with about six ounces of beef and about a half a pint of soup. Some of the men have nothing to put their soup in, and there is a great borrowing of cups, as not one-half of the prisoners have anything to get their rations in, and in many instances use their hats and shoes for that purpose. The guards say we are lucky compared with the prisoners in the other buildings In Richmond. Rumor says that 1500 prisoners have arrived in Richmond inside of ten days.

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4th. Rations about the same as yesterday; no change worth mentioning.

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5th. Prisoners at the old trade of exchanging with the guards for tobacco. I am glad I do not use the weed. Rations four biscuits and about four ounces of pork and half a pint of bean soup for today. Froze hard last night and quite a snow this morning. The guards say it is an unusual thing for this section. We can see the rebel capitol from here and a flag on each end of it. From the view I can get from the windows here, Richmond appears to be quite a large place and contains some handsome buildings. Our windows are iron barred like a Northern prison, and the guards will shoot anyone who sticks his hands out or gets too close to the bars.

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6th. Rations same as yesterday. The guards say to us : "Uuns are eaten 'uuns' rations fast, and uuns will soon have to eat the corn dodger like we 'uns." That is the Southern dialect.

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7th. Doctors in this morning examining the sick. A great many of the prisoners have sore arms from the effect of the vaccination. The doctors say they cannot account for it without it is that our blood is in poor condition. For the life of me I cannot see how it could be otherwise in such an infernal place as this.

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8th. Things beginning to look blue for us since the cutting down of the U. S. rations. We now only receive about half the quantity we did formerly. Several of the boys taken out to the hospital today with their arms in a dreadful condition. I am glad that I washed my vaccination out, or I would be in the same fix as those poor fellows.

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9th. Rations two biscuits and about four ounces of pork per a man.