Chapter I: Preface

The story contained in this book is a true one. It was taken from letters, memoranda and memory. The author has in his possession twenty-nine letters written by him while in the army, from 1861 to 1865, and sent to his relatives, who returned them to him at the close of the war.

The memoranda were written soon after his return from the army. The accounts taken from memory are reasonably correct, as the scenes through which he passed, though here poorly portrayed, are of a character not easily forgotten. They are indelibly stamped upon the memory, and it seems, as time rolls on, that it renders the recollection of them even more vivid and distinct. After revising this story a number of times it is presented to the reader in its present form.

CONTENTS.

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CHAPTER I.
Beginning of the Great Rebellion, April 12, 1861, 15

CHAPTER II.
Beginning of Three-year Service—Camp Butler and Bird’s
Point—Night Trip to Belmont—A Reconnaissance into Western
Kentucky, 23

CHAPTER III.
New Madrid, Point Pleasant, and Island No. 10, 39

CHAPTER IV.
Up the Rivers to Hamburg Landing, and Thence by Land to Corinth
and Cortland, Ala., 47

CHAPTER V.
From Northern Alabama to Nashville, Tenn., and Its Occupation
by Us—Fight at Lavergne and Many Skirmishes, 55

CHAPTER VI.
The Advance on Murfreesboro—Battle of Stone River—Occupation
of Murfreesboro by the Federals—Cripple Creek and Tullahoma
Campaign—Advance on Chattanooga and Chickamauga—Stuck in the
Mud—Orders to Prevent Foraging, 65

CHAPTER VII.
Battle of Chickamauga—Two Days of Fearful Fighting—The Federals
Holding Chattanooga, 93

CHAPTER VIII.
My Capture by the Confederates—Good-bye to My Faithful
Horse—Introduction to Confederate Diet—Packed in Box Cars
During a Journey of About Nine Hundred Miles—Fearful
Suffering, 119

CHAPTER IX.
Entrance into Belle Island Prison Pen—Discouraging
Outlook—Libby Prison, and the Smith Prison, 137

CHAPTER X.
Our Return to Danville—Many Sick with Smallpox—Smallpox
Hospital, and Convalescent Camp, 155

CHAPTER XI.
Escape from Prison—Much Suffering—A Number of Narrow Escapes
from Recapture and Finally Taken In, 163

CHAPTER XII.
Our Recapture and Return to Prison—Four Days in County Jail
Behind the Bars—Journey to Richmond, and Pemberton Building, 189

CHAPTER XIII.
My Second Entrance into Belle Island Prison Pen—Intense
Suffering from Cold and Hunger—Many Die, 199

CHAPTER XIV.
Under the Protection of “Old Glory” Once More—Caught in a
Terrific Gale and Nearly Shipwrecked—Land at Annapolis,
Md.—Stripped, Scoured, and Dressed in New Uniforms, 221

CHAPTER XV.
My Return to My Company and Regiment, May 25, 1864, 233

CHAPTER XVI.
Reminiscences of George W. Westgate, 245

CHAPTER XVII.
Letter from Calvin W. Hudson—His Escape, Recapture, and Escape
the Second Time, 249

CHAPTER XVIII.
The Consequences of War, 255

CHAPTER XIX.
A Chapter to the Boys and Girls, 263

CHAPTER XX.
Birth of “Old Glory,” 271

CHAPTER XXI.
The Consequences of Secession, 273

CHAPTER XXII.
A Talk with the Comrades, 281