English Diary 1

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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.

[admin]

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.

[admin]

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.

[admin]

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.

[admin]

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

[admin]

10th. Half a loaf of corn dodger, two biscuits and four ounces of beef; better than yesterday. We are glad of that, as yesterday's rations did not last long. I am under the weather today and cannot do or say much. One thing I must do as long as I can sit up, and that is what we call "louse." We are not particular who sees us, for all must perform the same work two or three times a day.

[admin]

11th. Some of the prisoners have died from the effects of the vaccination, which gave them such sore arms. It is distressing to hear the moans of the poor fellows. They say that the vaccine was poisoned purposely to kill us. One of the guards boasted of it and said it was true. One of the prisoners was taken out to the hospital and had his arm amputated below the shoulder. The young doctors say they must have something to practice on and that a Yankee will answer the purpose as well as anything else. Rations the same as yesterday.

[admin]

12th. Two months a prisoner today. What a change in my condition. I believe I am 25 pounds lighter. When I came in here I was clean and in good health. Now I am in poor health and I am sorry to say dirty and my rags are full of vermin.

[admin]

13th. Rations for today three biscuits and about four ounces of beef; better than we have received for some time.

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14th. Quite sick this morning and cannot get up off the floor. A severe headache, neck and head swollen, cannot go after my rations I feel so bad, but I hope I will be better tomorrow.

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15th. Not any better today. I have not tasted anything since this time yesterday.

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16th. A little better this morning. Almost frozen lying on the ground without anything under or over me. I ate a little soup today. I don't care for the rations.

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17th. Feel much better today. I think it must be a heavy cold that I have, as I feel my bones all sore. About three hundred prisoners passed by here this morning on their way to Barrett's prison, about two blocks down from us. They were well fixed; the most of them have their overcoats and look well. Poor fellows! they won't look so well two months from now.

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18th. One-half of the prisoners will die from sore arms. They say that it is the same in the rest of the Richmond prisons. Some of the best men in the world are almost falling to pieces through the treachery and malice of the doctor against the Northern soldier. Brady of my company died today from the effects of the vaccine, his arm almost falling off. Poor fellow, how he suffered. This is getting to be a horribly sickening place, with suffering of all kinds, disease and starvation.

[admin]

19th. Prison rations about the same. Not enough change the last three or four days to mention. The rebel guards say that there are five or six amputations every day now in the hospital, and it gives the young doctors a chance to practice in that line. While we were talking, one of the guards came up and said he was on guard at the hospital day before yesterday and was a witness to twelve amputations in four hours, three dying. The guards say they will all die as there is no care taken of them after the amputation.

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20th. The rebel quartermaster came into the building this morning and read off a long list of names, saying there were boxes for them from the North and to come and get them. While he was reading off the list, you could have heard a pin drop. Among the list was my name. Oh! how glad I was when I heard that name! About twenty of us went over to the quartermaster's storehouse and sure enough the boxes were there. We had to open them in the presence of the officer and two of the guards. He took everything out that he thought unlawful to pass into our hands. He took a book from my box called "The Collegians of Ireland," but I said nothing, for if I did, he would not let me have it at all. So I carried the box over to the prison on my shoulder. A happier set of fellows never walked into Pemberton than we, with the boxes. The other poor fellows gathered around us to see the good things from home. My box contained one large sweet cake, tea, coffee and sugar, salt, pepper, writing paper and envelopes, two pairs of drawers and shirts, which I needed badly, stockings and several other things very useful in a place like this. It came in time for a Christmas present and more appreciated than any I ever received.