5/24/63 Summary

New Convalesint [sic] Camp Near Fort Barnard

Talks about homesickness. What he has recently been through seems like a dream. He can’t believe he was a prisoner of war in Richmond. Now waiting to be exchanged to “take the Bloody field” again. Thinks fighting this summer will be harder than ever. Describes Libby Prison. They were in a garret with a tin roof and during the heat of the day they thought they would perish. Three-hundred and fifty men were in a room at would accommodate 20 or 30. The room had lice, vermin, a strong-smelling privy with no door, tobacco quids and juice on the floor. The water was “to [sic] filthy for swine to drink”. No place to wash. Scarcely enough food to keep from starving. Rations were a quarter loaf of bread “the size of our 5 cents loafs at home” and a piece of meat the size of an oyster. If they got within two feet of the window a sentry fired on them from below. Now living in a comfortable barracks in a “Delightful Place in a neat Cedar Grove”. Everything is clean and quiet. Church three times a day. There are 200 government buildings. “Sutters” [?], picture galleries, barber shops, and a railroad running through. Feels confined and says he will never again complain when Clara asks him to go walking. Talks about long marches. Describes the march to Libby Prison: “23 miles from noon till night was not bad under a burning sun.” The Rebel Cavalry marched them to Libby Prison. They were mounted and had orders to shoot down any man who straggled or fell behind. Asks Clara to take care of herself and the children and write soon.