summaryrefslogtreecommitdiff
path: root/34895-h/34895-h.htm
diff options
context:
space:
mode:
Diffstat (limited to '34895-h/34895-h.htm')
-rw-r--r--34895-h/34895-h.htm1351
1 files changed, 1351 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/34895-h/34895-h.htm b/34895-h/34895-h.htm
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d6999cb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34895-h/34895-h.htm
@@ -0,0 +1,1351 @@
+<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN"
+ "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">
+
+<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">
+ <head>
+ <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" />
+ <title>
+ The Project Gutenberg eBook of History of the Second Massachusetts Regiment of Infantry, by Samuel M. Quincy.
+ </title>
+ <style type="text/css">
+ p {margin-top: .75em; text-align: justify; margin-bottom: .75em;}
+
+ h1 {text-align: center; clear: both; font-weight: normal;}
+
+ h2 {text-align: center; clear: both; padding-top: 2em;}
+
+ body {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;}
+
+ .hidden {display: none;}
+
+ .pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */
+ /* visibility: hidden; */
+ position: absolute; left: 92%; font-style: normal; font-size: smaller; text-align: right;}
+
+ .bbox {border: 2px black solid; padding: 1em; margin-top: 3em; margin-bottom: 3em;}
+
+ .center {text-align: center;}
+ .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;}
+
+ .lrgfont {font-size: 150%;}
+ .smlfont {font-size: 90%;}
+ .vsmlfont {font-size: 75%;}
+ .tinyfont {font-size: 50%;}
+
+ .padtop {padding-top: 3em;}
+ .padbase {padding-bottom: 3em;}
+
+ </style>
+ </head>
+<body>
+
+
+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of History of the Second Massachusetts
+Regiment of Infantry: A prisoner's diary, by Samuel M. Quincy
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: History of the Second Massachusetts Regiment of Infantry: A prisoner's diary
+ A paper read at the officers' reunion in Boston, May 11, 1877
+
+Author: Samuel M. Quincy
+
+Release Date: January 9, 2011 [EBook #34895]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 2ND MASS. REG. PRISONER'S DIARY ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Sam W. and the Online Distributed Proofreading
+Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from
+images generously made available by The Internet
+Archive/American Libraries.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+<h1 class="padtop padbase">HISTORY<br />
+<br />
+<span class="tinyfont">OF THE</span><br />
+<br />
+SECOND MASSACHUSETTS REGIMENT OF INFANTRY.</h1>
+
+
+<p class="center lrgfont">A PRISONER&rsquo;S DIARY.</p>
+
+<p class="center padtop">A PAPER READ AT THE OFFICERS&rsquo; REUNION IN BOSTON,<br />
+MAY 11, 1877,</p>
+
+<p class="center vsmlfont padtop padbase">BY</p>
+
+<p class="center lrgfont">SAMUEL M. QUINCY,</p>
+
+<p class="center vsmlfont padbase">CAPTAIN SECOND MASSACHUSETTS REGIMENT OF INFANTRY.<br />
+BREVET BRIGADIER GENERAL VOLUNTEERS.</p>
+
+
+<p class="center padtop padbase smcap">BOSTON:<br />
+<span class="smlfont">George H. Ellis, Printer, 141 Franklin Street.</span><br />
+1882.</p>
+
+
+<p class="center padtop padbase vsmlfont">PRIVATELY PRINTED FOR THE ASSOCIATION.</p>
+
+
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>3]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>A PRISONER&rsquo;S DIARY.</h2>
+
+
+<p>The committee&rsquo;s announcement, that on this evening
+there would be read by me a paper relating to the history of
+the regiment, I fear may have awakened false expectations.
+But it was suggested that a little personal history of my own
+experiences, from the moment when that terrific flank fire
+caused the regiment to leave me for dead on the field of
+Cedar Mountain to the moment when, three months later,
+I again came under the stars and stripes at Aiken&rsquo;s Landing,
+would interest former comrades for a short time to-night.
+It is safe to say, perhaps, that our regiment passed through
+every possible experience of the war. In all the various
+scenes of suffering and endurance, both physical and mental,
+which the war could offer, the Second Massachusetts
+was represented; and in that view, perhaps, the personal
+adventures of those who, while separated from the corps,
+always considered its membership the highest of honors,
+may be considered as forming part of the general history of
+the regiment itself.</p>
+
+<p>I was fortunate enough to find in my blouse pocket, after
+acute physical suffering had in a measure given place to the
+prisoner&rsquo;s worst enemy, the leaden vacuity of ennui, a little
+duodecimo almanac and diary for 1862, with half a lead
+pencil. With these, by dint of fine writing, I succeeded in
+keeping a sort of journal of daily events, with my reflections
+thereupon, during the whole period of my captivity, the last
+entry being comprised in the words, &ldquo;<i>A free man at
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>4]</a></span>
+Willard&rsquo;s</i>.&rdquo; From this journal, I shall make copious extracts,
+believing that words then written will reproduce the situation
+better than any subsequent description from memory.</p>
+
+<p>At about 2 P.M. on the 8th of August, the long roll was
+beaten in the camp of the Second Massachusetts, at Little
+Washington. As has often happened, we fell in only to fall
+out again with the news that it only meant get ready to
+march; and in fact it was nearly five before we were off.
+The heat during the first hour or two of the march was
+severe, but the latter part was by moonlight and very pleasant.
+Still, I find it recorded that some unfortunate and
+unseasoned recruits, who had just joined us from home with
+knapsacks heavy with five times what they really needed,
+were utterly played out before the sun was down. And
+here I take up the narration as I find it in the little book
+referred to, with an occasional interpolation and explanation
+which will be marked as such in brackets.</p>
+
+<p><i>August 14, 1862.</i>&mdash;One week to-day since the fight. Let
+us attempt a <i>r&eacute;sum&eacute;</i>. On arriving at Culpeper, Friday night,
+after a moonlight march which about played out the unfortunate
+recruits with their heavy knapsacks, we lay down in a
+field, Stephen and I cracking my provision box, which had
+come on with the blankets. [This was Lieutenant Stephen
+Perkins of Company A with whom I had become intimate,
+and who shared with me a great and innocent passion for
+tea. Whichever of us was known to possess a supply of the
+article was sure of a visit from the other at his camp fire
+after a march. Before separating that night, I remember he
+said to me, &ldquo;Sam, we shall see more fighting soon: I feel
+it; there is a battle in the air.&rdquo; There was, indeed, and it
+ended the battle of life for him.] We then slept on the
+moor, to the sound of freshly arriving troops and wagons.
+In the morning, we find an army around us. After a breakfast
+at the sound of the triangle [for by this unmilitary instrument
+did Johnson, our caterer, call the officers&rsquo; mess to meals],
+under the sun, we fall in and take arms, but have hardly
+done so when we stack them again and proceed to stake out
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>5]</a></span>
+ground for a camp. But this is just done and tents beginning
+to rise when Sherman, of Pope&rsquo;s staff, rushes by to
+head-quarters at a rate which &ldquo;spared not for spoiling of his
+steed,&rdquo; and which caused us to hold our hands in expectation
+for a moment; and, sure enough, in two minutes we were
+again in line, and this time off under a blazing sun, though
+for once without our knapsacks. Through Culpeper and
+about six or seven miles further in a fiery furnace hotter
+even than that of Shadrach &amp; Co. Near the front, heard a
+little firing. Sergeant Parsons fell with sun-stroke. Left
+two recruits with him and pushed on for the right, where
+at last, panting and half dead, we got into a wood where we
+stacked arms and fell down behind them. The half hour of
+breeze and shade which ensued made men of us once more,
+so that when my company was ordered to skirmish we were
+actually able to do it. The firing of artillery commenced at
+about 3 P.M., as I should judge, pretty heavy and well-sustained.
+Ned Abbott&rsquo;s company and mine were ordered to
+report forward, and deployed our skirmishers on the garden
+fence, with reserves behind; and there, for a couple of hours,
+we watched the swayings of the artillery fight, timing the
+explosion of the heavy shells, and watching the varying
+intervals between the shots of the rebel batteries. At last,
+as the sun seemed not more than an hour high, and just as
+Ned Abbott, lying by my side in the rear of our skirmishers,
+had expressed his disbelief in the fight&rsquo;s coming off that
+afternoon, an orderly, followed by Pitman of Banks&rsquo; staff,
+came up to where Gordon was sitting on his horse near us,
+watching the field through his glass; and it seemed, for the
+first time, that something was going wrong. I was near
+enough to hear that he wanted a regiment of Gordon&rsquo;s brigade
+to report, as I understood it, to Banks at the centre.
+&ldquo;You must take him your regiment, then,&rdquo; said Gordon to
+Colonel Andrews. Abbott and I jumped to our feet, and were
+ordered to rally our men on the battalion; and hardly, panting
+and breathless, had we resumed our places in line when
+the regiment advanced by the right of companies to the
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>6]</a></span>
+front, until we had cleared the garden, and then by company
+into line.</p>
+
+<p>Then commenced the furious and incessant roll and crash
+of musketry, leaving, as Copeland expressed it, no interval
+in which a single other shot could have been inserted. We
+plunged over the ditch and crashed through a wood, out of
+which came Crane of the Third Wisconsin, covered with
+blood, and reeling in his saddle, until after about a quarter
+of a mile we came to a fence with a wheat-field beyond. In
+this, a brigade of rebels were in line, but what they were
+firing at we couldn&rsquo;t see. We opened fire and then were
+ordered to cease&mdash;why, I don&rsquo;t know, as I could see no
+one between us and them. But, as their line advanced, we
+soon re-opened fire, as the converging storm of balls hailed
+upon us.</p>
+
+<p>How long this lasted, I could not tell. Their red flags
+advanced, but large gaps were opening in their lines.
+Finally, the bullets seemed to come from all sides at once.
+Pattison, my lieutenant, shouted in my ear that Cary was
+down, and he had been ordered to take his company; and
+he left. Then the red flags seemed close upon the fence,
+and it seemed to me that the right had fallen back; and I
+started across the little gap in the fence to see. Yes, the
+right had gone; but in that instant I caught it, first in the
+right leg, then through the left foot, and in that same instant
+the enemy were upon us, or rather upon me, for what
+was left of my company had gone with the rest. Though
+staggering, I had not yet fallen, when one rushed up, aimed
+at my head with &ldquo;Surrender, G&mdash;d d&mdash;n your soul!&rdquo; which
+I did. But if I had known then, what now I know, I
+would have lain there for dead till they were gone, and then
+dragged myself slowly toward our side. [This refers to the
+fact that one of the first pleasing pieces of information
+communicated to me by my captors, who were surprised
+that I did not already know it, was that, by special orders
+of Jeff. Davis, none of Pope&rsquo;s officers were to be treated
+as prisoners of war or paroled, but kept as hostages to be
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>7]</a></span>
+hanged from time to time in retaliation for any such execution
+of guerrillas as was threatened in Pope&rsquo;s celebrated
+orders, of which we then had not yet heard.]</p>
+
+<p>But as it was [the journal resumes], I gave up my sword
+and pistol, sat down, borrowed my captor&rsquo;s knife, ripped my
+trousers open and shoe off, and examined damages. An
+awful hole in foot and little one in leg, at the bottom of
+which the bullet was plainly visible. Seeing this, the Confederate
+gentleman to whom I then belonged was seized
+with a desire to perform a surgical operation with the knife
+referred to, but yielded to my remonstrance and request
+that he would be satisfied with having put it in, and allow
+some gentleman of the medical staff to undertake the bullet&rsquo;s
+extraction. Two of them then offered to take me across
+the wheat-field to where their own wounded were, asking
+me at the same time what money I had for them. They
+did not offer any violence or undertake to search me. Had
+they done so, they would have made prize of my money-belt,
+containing over $90 in greenbacks and a gold watch. I
+gave them some ten or twelve gold dollars which I had
+in my pocket, reserving one by great good luck, as will
+presently appear. Then they carried me across the field,
+with each arm affectionately round a rebel neck. As I
+passed the fence where the right had been, there lay poor
+Ned,&mdash;who half an hour before had joked about being two
+hours in action without losing a man,&mdash;with white, waxen
+face against the dead leaves. It was just light enough for
+me to recognize him. Who else of the officers had fallen,
+I did not know, save that Cary was down, as Pattison had
+told me, before our lines gave way. With occasional halts,
+they carried me across the field, and put me down among a
+groaning mass of wounded of both sides. The men next me
+gave me water and a knapsack for my head, a man came along
+with a canteen of whiskey and I got a drink. The moon rose
+full over the trees, and the cannonade recommenced. I got
+a piece of the wounded rebel&rsquo;s blanket next me over my
+shoulder, lay as near him as I could; for, though the day had
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>8]</a></span>
+been blazing, the night mist and loss of blood made me
+shiver; and I slept. Once I was waked by some one attempting
+to pull off my seal ring; but he desisted when I
+pulled my hand away, remarked, &ldquo;A handsome ring,&rdquo; and
+went on. Very likely he thought me dead, as my companion
+under the blanket was by that time.</p>
+
+<p>Before daylight, the pain of my shattered bones brought
+me again to consciousness. Somehow, I hated to see the
+sky begin to brighten, knowing how soon the sun would blaze
+furiously down upon us. And yet I didn&rsquo;t seem to realize
+the horrors of the position, but looked upon myself as acting
+a part for which I had expected to be cast, and with the
+stage business of which I was perfectly familiar; and all
+the wounded took it more or less as a business matter. As
+the sun rose, I gradually dragged myself under trees with the
+rest of the groaning set, leaving those who had died to sleep
+it out. A rebel soldier passed with two canteens on.
+&ldquo;What will you sell me one of those canteens for?&rdquo; said
+I. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll give you a dollar.&rdquo; He laughed and was passing
+on. &ldquo;A gold dollar,&rdquo; said I. He stopped: &ldquo;What, Yank!
+Have you got a gold dollar?&rdquo; &ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; said I, &ldquo;you go to
+the branch, fill the canteen with fresh water, and here&rsquo;s
+the dollar.&rdquo; If he had been a wretch, he might have taken
+it away and left me to die, for there was no one else near
+except wounded; but, after considering a few minutes, he
+went off to the stream, filled the canteen, brought it to me,
+took the dollar, and left. And that canteen, I think, saved
+my life; for soon the sun rose so that no more shade could
+be had. I tore up my handkerchief, bound my wounds, and
+kept them moist, kept the canteen under me and took little
+sips when my thirst became unbearable, and so got through
+the day, making the water last until evening. By and by,
+they began to pick up the wounded by threes and pairs, in
+ambulances. When, however,&mdash;I should think about 3 P.M.,&mdash;there
+were about five or six of us left, and I the only Yankee,
+a sudden rush of men through the woods and stampede
+of wagons down the road, with an accompaniment of &ldquo;Yankees
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>9]</a></span>
+are coming!&rdquo; swept every sound man away from us.
+Every man that had legs used them at double quick. Then
+the prayers of the wounded to the wagoners, as they flogged
+their teams past: &ldquo;Oh, take me away from here, help me
+into a wagon; for God&rsquo;s sake, don&rsquo;t leave me to the Yankees!&rdquo;
+One poor fellow, all of whose clothes had been taken
+off by the surgeon engaged on his wounds, raised himself,
+stark naked and covered with blood, against a tree, and implored
+every teamster in turn to stop and take him in.
+The effect was grisly. It struck me that, if they were
+really coming, some of the rebs then rushing by might take
+occasion to settle one Yankee &ldquo;<i>en passant</i>&rdquo;: so I got my
+blouse off, covered myself with dead rebel sergeant&rsquo;s coat,
+and lay low. A section of artillery extricated itself from
+the wagons, and wheeled into battery; and, finding myself
+just in point-blank range, I succeeded by painful endeavor
+in getting behind a big stump.</p>
+
+<p>But, alas! the excitement subsided, the wagons were
+stopped and ordered back, officers cursed the originators of
+the panic, and it was all over. But a real charge or a few
+shots just then would have started &ldquo;secesh&rdquo; with a rush,
+and saved the captain of Company E, Second Massachusetts
+Volunteers. After awhile, an ambulance came and picked
+up the last two of us and carried us to where the hospital
+flies were pitched. My driver, after making sure that nobody
+heard him, informed me that he had always been for the
+Union, and voted against &ldquo;secesh&rdquo;; &ldquo;and when they started
+this war,&rdquo; said he, &ldquo;I swore they&rsquo;d have to fight it out without
+me; but I was wrong there, for they&rsquo;ve got me.&rdquo; He
+drove me up to a fly under which were some dozen or twenty
+wounded on hospital cots. At first, they said there was no
+room; but then somebody discovered that his neighbor was
+dead, and suggested that the Yankee might take his place.
+So they moved the dead man out under the eaves inside the
+guys, and gave me the cot. The surgeon examined and
+bound up my foot, relieving me with the assurance that it
+would probably stay on, though I should be always lame.
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>10]</a></span>
+The bullet came out of my leg very easily, for, oddly
+enough, it hadn&rsquo;t pierced my drawers, but had carried them
+deep into the leg in a sort of bag. A thunder-storm now
+burst upon us, and with the first gust down came our house,
+over living and dead. After a long staggering and flapping,
+they got her set again. The rain thundered on the canvas
+and cascaded in sheets over the dead man under the eaves,
+but he was beyond even water cure. The scene was dismal:
+in the intervals of rain, they took to burying legs and arms
+upon the hill, and it would not have made a bad slide for a
+stereoscope, on the whole. But, as night fell, I took my
+supper with some relish,&mdash;a piece of hard-tack and ham,
+given me by a rebel private on the field,&mdash;and with the help
+of the dead rebel&rsquo;s blanket of last night, which I had sense
+enough to bag when they picked me up, I slept once more.</p>
+
+<p>In the morning, they sent me in an ambulance or &ldquo;avalanche,&rdquo;
+as they call it, to head-quarters. Thought at first
+I was going before Felix or Stonewall himself; turned out
+to be General Hill. He came and looked into the ambulance.
+&ldquo;What regiment?&rdquo; &ldquo;Second Massachusetts.&rdquo;
+&ldquo;Let&rsquo;s see, Gordon&rsquo;s old regiment?&rdquo; &ldquo;Yes.&rdquo; &ldquo;Best regiment
+in Banks&rsquo; army; cut all to pieces, though: I&rsquo;ve been
+over the ground,&rdquo; and exit. He ordered me sent to Orange
+Court House; countermanded, and they dumped me out by
+a blacksmith&rsquo;s shop. A surgeon came along and ordered
+me sent to Rapidan Station, on the box seat of an &ldquo;avalanche&rdquo;;
+and an awful &ldquo;avalanche&rdquo; it was,&mdash;four men with
+legs and arms off inside. It was eight miles over rocks and
+through rivers, and generally such a drive of damnation as
+never entered into the heart of man to conceive. Luckily,
+I kept my strength; but why the inside passengers didn&rsquo;t
+die before we got half way is the marvel. &ldquo;The lamentable
+chorus, the cry of agony, the endless groan,&rdquo; as we
+bounced and jolted over corduroy road and river bed, was
+an ill thing to hear. We arrived at the railroad about
+dusk, just as I was calculating about how much longer I
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>11]</a></span>
+could stand it without fainting, and they put us out on the
+grass among those already arrived. The train came along
+after dark, and, finding that I must shift for myself or be
+left in the field, I made my painful way on hands and knees,
+among horses&rsquo; feet and under the awful &ldquo;avalanche,&rdquo; to the
+platform, where, after a while, they picked me up and put
+me aboard; turned seat back, put my foot up, and slept.</p>
+
+<p>An interval of broken oblivion in the dark car, with
+occasional wakings to a semi-consciousness of rumbling
+wheels, brakes, and once familiar railroad sounds, mingled
+strangely with groans, cries, stench, squalor, and misery.
+But, as the night was only a succession of frightful dreams,
+I didn&rsquo;t undertake to decide which was reality, but took the
+benefit of the doubt, which was a species of relief. But with
+the gray dawn illusions vanished, and the miserable reality
+stood out, bald and unmistakable. Where we were going, I
+didn&rsquo;t know; but after a while the impression seemed to
+prevail that it wasn&rsquo;t Richmond, but Staunton; and at
+about twelve we arrived here. The train at once became a
+menagerie, wherein the Yankee wild beasts were stirred up
+and stared at by the town. One citizen, I remember, was
+turned out of the car by a rebel sergeant for insulting the
+prisoners. They took us out at last, one or two rebs who
+had died in the night being first served. Finally, about
+evening, they took the two Yankee captains, in almost an
+upside-down position, with heads in straw and feet in air,
+through the town to the hospital, women coming to the windows
+with various expressions of countenance, pity being
+the scarcest. I&rsquo;ve often seen them look out to see soldiers
+pass, but never expected to figure in this sort of a pageant
+for their edification.</p>
+
+<p>[The reflections and moralizings on my situation, which
+follow, it was my first impulse to omit from this paper
+entirely; but on the whole I decide to let them stand as
+I find them, requesting only that comrades will consider
+them as given in a sort of family confidence.]</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>12]</a></span>
+Of my life, if life it may be called [continues the diary], in
+this place, I desire to make no record, the <i>olim haec meminisse</i>
+principle having no application here. Let the waters
+of oblivion cover it forever, if I am ever again a free man.
+To lie a crippled and helpless butt for the exulting Philistine
+and his women ten thousand times worse than himself,
+while such tremendous history is being made of which we
+can only guess at the reality, is a living death. And with
+such a companion! What is happening behind the impenetrable
+curtain between us and the North? Until the
+news that God has abdicated and Satan reigns is confirmed
+beyond a peradventure, so long will I believe that the right
+will triumph in the end. But where the end may be, this
+year or twenty hence, <i>quien sabe</i>?</p>
+
+<p>Of my own chances for life and liberty, I cannot even
+guess. The blackness of darkness surrounds me on every
+hand, with no perceptible ray or glimmer from any quarter, as
+yet. But, doubtless, many a man who thinks he sees his
+path of life stretching away in far perspective is really as
+blind as I, and can discern no further beyond his nose.
+When the tide of war shall turn, as turn it will, what will
+be done with us? where shall I be,&mdash;here or in the Libby?
+Well, each place has its merits: here, enough to eat and
+no bracelets; there, the company of gentlemen. Oh Harry
+Russell! if you and I were together to cheer each other
+with regimental chat, or gallant Major Jim, <i>sans peur et
+sans reproche</i>, in your company I could suffer and be
+strong unto the end. But I fear that, through desperate
+wounds, his mortal body has had no longer strength to
+retain the soul of one of the bravest Christian gentlemen
+that ever drew sword for the right since the world began.</p>
+
+<p>And Stephen, my friend, man of culture, reading, and intellect,
+whose only complaint of camp life was the loss of
+time and opportunity for the growth of mind,&mdash;that such
+lights should be forever extinguished by the bullets of men
+so few degrees above the brute level, saddens the soul. And
+shall all this have been in vain? Answer, freemen and
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>13]</a></span>
+gentlemen of the North, with unborn generations waiting: to
+bless or curse your memory,&mdash;answer now!</p>
+
+<p>[The above allusion to &ldquo;no bracelets&rdquo; refers to the assertion
+of a Richmond paper, immediately communicated to us
+by way of cheering our spirits, that Pope&rsquo;s officers, on arriving
+at the Libby, had all been handcuffed. But, although
+this proved to be erroneous, yet my own boast of no bracelets
+in the hospital was somewhat premature, as the following incident
+will show. One evening after supper, just as a half-drunk
+rebel officer had become so abusive to us that I almost
+expected the cowardice of a blow, entered the sergeant of
+the guard, who put a stop to that fun, but, to our great disgust,
+after the officer had gone, produced a pair of handcuffs,
+which he informed us he was ordered to apply to &ldquo;that Yankee,&rdquo;
+indicating Captain Bush of the Twenty-eighth New
+York, who, being wounded in the arm, was walking up and
+down the room, which no one else was able to do. (This officer,
+by the way, had voluntarily accompanied his regiment
+into action, armed with a cane, being under arrest and deprived
+of his sword.) His wound was severe, and the surgeon
+had expressed doubts of saving the arm. We all remonstrated
+against the barbarity of handcuffing the only
+man whom it would really hurt. No use: he had got his orders,
+and on went the irons. Bush didn&rsquo;t say a word, but,
+after the sergeant had gone, with a sharp stick which his
+neighbor whittled out for him, and a piece of string poked
+into the lock of the handcuff, succeeding in pulling back the
+catch, and slipped one wrist out. The other, he didn&rsquo;t mind.
+Before the ward surgeon came round the next morning, he
+slipped it in again. The surgeon was indignant,&mdash;not at
+the barbarity, but at the interference with his case,&mdash;and
+off he rushed to the surgeon in command, to have the handcuffs
+removed. But all he obtained was an order that Bush
+be sent to Richmond, handcuffs and all. We heard, however,
+that the ward surgeon had them removed as soon as Bush
+was clear of the hospital yard.</p>
+
+<p>The story we heard, probably true, was that Hay, the
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>14]</a></span>
+medical director in command, reading the account of the
+Richmond handcuffing, one night when he was tight, was
+fired with the idea of emulating such a noble example, and
+ordered the bracelets to be applied at once to any Yankee
+who was well enough to be walking about. Even our visitors
+were rather ashamed of this performance, and invented
+an absurd story that Bush had tried to escape,&mdash;a man with
+a shattered arm trying to escape from the only chance of
+saving it!]</p>
+
+<p>[Journal resumed.] It seems that an opportunity may turn
+up for sending this little book off to the North by a man
+who will shortly get his parole, and I think will undertake
+to smuggle it through. These jottings have been almost
+my only resource to pass away the leaden hours. With no
+companion to whom I can open my soul, I must soliloquize,
+if only to convince myself that I have not yet sunk to the
+level of my surroundings.</p>
+
+<p><i>Saturday, September 20.</i>&mdash;Six weeks to-day since the fight
+in which we became dead to the world. &ldquo;Hope springs
+eternal,&rdquo; etc. If it didn&rsquo;t, how many would turn their
+faces to the wall! One man got his everlasting furlough
+the other day, just at supper time; but they pulled the
+sheet over his face and went on with the bread and molasses;
+and, when that was over, down he went to the
+dead-house.</p>
+
+<p>This, in my opinion, is for the country the very moment
+of convulsion and travail, out of which some new state of
+things,&mdash;the commencement of some new era,&mdash;for better
+or for worse, will surely come. &ldquo;When the pain is sorest,
+the child is born; and the night is darkest before the
+dawn of the day of the Lord at hand.&rdquo; But at this critical
+moment to be walled up alive, where only faint echoes and
+uncertain sounds from the great fields reach us,&mdash;the fields
+where our fellow-soldiers are playing out the great game
+of the age is,&mdash;a chance of war, and nothing to complain
+of while we still live. A great battle has been in Maryland,
+and, although they make it out that we were worsted,
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>15]</a></span>
+yet from signs and tokens we draw our own inferences.
+First and greatest, the women haven&rsquo;t been up to crow
+victory over the Yankee prisoners, <i>ergo</i> the first despatch
+did not announce a success; the doctors have said nothing,
+and last night Dr. Hay, with a dozen others and all the
+dressers that could be spared, left for Maryland. Charley,
+the nigger, yesterday reported that the folks in town felt
+very bad about it. Reports fly about of fifty thousand killed
+and wounded on both sides; and, as they can&rsquo;t know ours,
+theirs must have been tremendous to have started such
+reports. (Here come the women to the menagerie.) At
+all events, it&rsquo;s such a victory as they can&rsquo;t stand a repetition
+of; and now, if the North will pour in reinforcements, there
+may be a glimmer of daylight for the cause, if not for me.</p>
+
+<p>A man has come into this room, wounded at Port Republic,
+First Sergeant Seventh Ohio, the most awful specimen of
+emaciation that I ever saw or would have believed consistent
+with the vital spark. The articulation of each joint, covered
+only by the tense polished skin, is as distinct as in a skeleton.</p>
+
+<p>Another horror: a rebel deserter, who was put in with the
+Yankees in order to be under guard, has just been sheared,
+on account of one of the plagues of Egypt; and his head was
+a sight to dream of, not to tell. He had been living in the
+woods since he deserted, was immediately taken down with
+typhoid fever, and I thought wanted to die.</p>
+
+<p>The room now consists as follows, beginning with my next
+neighbor: Corporal James Shipp, known as Jimmy, the pet
+of the room, doctors and nurses inclusive: a nice, simple-hearted
+boy of seventeen, brave and good; shot in shoulder,
+scapula taken out; recovering. Private Smith, Forty-sixth
+Pennsylvania: good fellow, apparently; has taken laudanum
+enough to float a ship, and seems to be getting fat on it.</p>
+
+<p>The skeleton sergeant comes next. He keeps a journal,
+and his wound drives me from the room, whenever opened.</p>
+
+<p>The deserter and company. He wouldn&rsquo;t have needed
+John Ph&oelig;nix&rsquo;s tape-worm, in order to use the editorial &ldquo;we.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>A bragging squirt of a Georgian, who got scratched in the
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>16]</a></span>
+finger in Maryland, and marched all the way here to save his
+precious hide and boast of the Yankees he had killed.</p>
+
+<p>George Peet, Fifth Ohio: a good young fellow; lost his
+foot the other day, after six weeks trying to save it.</p>
+
+<p>Henry Shaw, One Hundred and Second New York: a
+little, white-headed Harlemite, a little conceited; talks a
+little better English than the rest of them; shot in back;
+recovering.</p>
+
+<p>Arthur Jordan, Tenth Maine: obliging, pleasant, nice fellow;
+had the measles, and was sent to the &ldquo;measly ward,&rdquo;
+from which he has just made his escape on his own hook,
+returning here at the risk of being put in the guard-house.</p>
+
+<p>Sergeant Henry Holloway, Fifth Connecticut: the only
+one with whom I can fraternize at all; a railroad man, engine
+driver, etc., infected with the insubordinate ideas natural to
+his regiment; otherwise, a good fellow.</p>
+
+<p>Captain &mdash;&mdash;, &mdash;&mdash; &mdash;&mdash;, selfishness incarnate. It takes
+all sorts of men to make up a world, but let us hope that
+it takes few such as he.</p>
+
+<p><i>Thursday, September 25.</i>&mdash;Great news in yesterday&rsquo;s paper.
+It seems Pope&rsquo;s officers have been paroled. That is a glimmer
+of daylight, and looks as if the winter might not be
+passed in shop ward No. 7, or the Libby. General Prince is
+courteously alluded to as &ldquo;the ringleader of the gang.&rdquo; For
+pure malignity of venom, these Richmond editors would beat
+even the witches&rsquo; toad that was stewed after his month&rsquo;s nap
+under the stone.</p>
+
+<p><i>Sunday, 28th.</i>&mdash;Away with visions of home and ease!
+Wilder Dwight has been killed, and I am Major, I suppose....
+Now to play the man and be prepared to go to the majority
+in either sense, when God&rsquo;s will is.</p>
+
+<p>Just had a visit from Joshua Munroe,&mdash;and a cheering visit,
+indeed,&mdash;a descendant of Israel Munroe of Lexington fight,
+and here an Israelite among the Philistines. Rebel soldier,
+just leaving for his regiment, shakes hands all round with
+our men, who enjoin him to take care of himself. And how
+soon these men may be putting daylight through each other!
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>17]</a></span>
+Note: I have experienced from rebel privates almost uniform
+kindness, good-fellowship, <i>camaraderie</i>; they treat one
+as fellow-soldier. And as for our men, they fraternize as
+though the strawberry mark of brotherhood was on every
+arm. All the insult, all the bitterness and ill-treatment, have
+come from officers and citizens of high position in society,
+and from the women, whose envenomed tongues are let loose
+upon the wounded prisoner without mercy. This space
+[referring to the space in the diary under the printed date of
+Saturday, May 24] is the date of our midnight fight on the
+dark road; and this [Sunday 25] of our fight and flight to
+the Potomac, when hell broke loose in Winchester town;
+and this Sunday is just such another, cool and bright; and
+this morning [Monday, May 26] A, B, E, and K, were left
+on picket at the fence and in woods, with a section of
+Cothran, under Lieutenant Peabody. That was the work
+that tried our souls. Ned and Dick, brave fellows, both
+gone before. &ldquo;We a little longer wait, but how little who
+can know!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Two men have died on this floor within the last twelve
+hours,&mdash;the old man Carter with the consumption, and the
+lieutenant with the typhoid, the former last night and the
+latter just now. This afternoon [Wednesday, May 28], we
+crossed the river; and how good camp was!</p>
+
+<p><i>Monday, October 6.</i>&mdash;Got letters from home last night,
+through Jim Savage, who still lives,&mdash;God be praised!&mdash;though
+with one leg off, and a shattered shoulder. Add to
+that that we are promised the parole of the yard; add to
+that orders expected for Richmond in a few days. I&rsquo;ll bet
+my knapsack will be packed when the assembly beats.
+However, we&rsquo;ll not count this chicken before he chips the
+shell, as old &mdash;&mdash; has tried to addle the egg all he could.</p>
+
+<p><i>Tuesday, October 7.</i>&mdash;One chicken incubated and made
+his appearance. Hay, yesterday afternoon, in the intervals of
+carving below (the hospital operating room was immediately
+beneath us), sends up word that, if we will write out our
+parole of the yard, he will sign it. And old &mdash;&mdash; not being
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>18]</a></span>
+on hand to botch the thing, I cooked up a document, got it
+signed and sent down, to which the illustrious chief then
+affixed his sign-manual, and we are henceforward free of
+yard and grounds. Bully for that! [I remember now, I
+was the first to test the document&rsquo;s efficacy, for we could
+hardly believe that it would really pass us out. The guard
+stopped me, of course, called the corporal, and finally
+decided that it was a genuine thing; and I hobbled painfully
+down four steep flights and out,&mdash;looked up and saw the
+rest all crowding to the window and waving hands and hats
+to see me actually emerge, like a rat, from the trap which
+had held us through long weary months.] I find that the
+art of crutch progression is quite a science, and has its outside
+edges and its backward rolls, etc., which are not to
+be learned without much practice and balancing. Up and
+down stairs with ease, confidence, and grace, is somewhat
+of an attainment.</p>
+
+<p><i>Thursday, 9th.</i>&mdash;Struggled out to pond and washed; first
+decent wash for three months. Had to steal a piece of
+black soap, and push out a board over the mud,&mdash;hard work
+for a cripple. Stopped in at carpenter&rsquo;s shop and saw Dr.
+Hay slice an arm off, <i>secundum artem</i>.</p>
+
+<p><i>October 13.</i>&mdash;Suffering with the first cold snap. The
+sergeant&rsquo;s wound keeps every window open, and we might
+as well or better be <i>sub Jove frigido</i>. Rumors of small-pox
+pervade the air.</p>
+
+<p><i>Tuesday, 14th.</i>&mdash;An alarm of small-pox yesterday afternoon
+in our ward turned out false, I believe, but has scared
+everybody most out of their wits. It seems, however, there
+were cases elsewhere; for, endeavoring to visit the pond
+again, I was stopped by a guard, and told that some tents
+just pitched by the shore contained the small-pox patients,
+whom no one was allowed to approach within one hundred
+yards. After they had recovered or died, the tents were set
+on fire as they stood.</p>
+
+<p><i>Wednesday, 15th.</i>&mdash;To-day, I followed Dr. Hay&rsquo;s trail all
+day, bent on a personal interview, until I earthed him at
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>19]</a></span>
+last in his office; and the result is that we are off for Richmond
+to-morrow. [I had seen the Richmond paper with the
+official list of Yankees paroled from the Libby, among whom
+were several whom I knew to be Pope&rsquo;s officers; and I determined
+not to rot another day, as food for Confederate
+vermin, without claiming my rights as prisoner of war. So
+when, after repeated rebuffs, my obstinacy prevailed and
+Hay gave orders to let me in, he wasn&rsquo;t in a good humor.
+But I told him, I forget in what terms, that I had discovered
+that I was no longer a hostage liable to be hanged in
+retaliation for the execution of guerrillas, but a prisoner of
+war, with all that that implied, and that, in behalf of all who
+were able to travel, I demanded to be sent to the Libby.
+He said we were better off where we were. I agreed, but
+told him I would suffer anything to know that my name was
+on the list to be paroled when my turn came, and that it
+was my right to have it there. Finally he said, &ldquo;Will you
+be ready to start before light to-morrow?&rdquo; &ldquo;Let me go
+back for my blanket,&rdquo; said I, &ldquo;and I&rsquo;ll start now.&rdquo; &ldquo;Well,&rdquo;
+said he, &ldquo;go back, and tell all who the ward surgeon says are
+able, to be ready by half-past four.&rdquo; I saluted, faced about,
+and was in the doorway when he stopped me and, seeming
+to recover his temper, asked me and any of my friends who
+could to come over to his office after supper and take a farewell
+drink.] In the evening [the journal resumes], we attended
+in Dr. Hay&rsquo;s office, to take a social drink. Hay
+talked fire and fury, &ldquo;secesh&rdquo; running up as the whiskey ran
+down. A lawyer and colonel joined in, and the telegram of
+the Governor of North Carolina to the Governor of South
+Carolina was so often quoted that I was fain to back down
+from what was fast becoming a three-minute crowd. We
+had an amputation to diversify the spree,&mdash;soldier brought
+in, who I suspect had applied for a discharge by shooting off
+two fingers of his right hand. They were badly mangled, so
+Hay put him down on the floor and took them off again,
+short metre, not without cutting his own in the operation,
+he was so tight. I came away then, fearing that my crutches
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>20]</a></span>
+might not be as whiskey-proof as erst was wooden leg of
+Sawin, and the descent of the front steps requiring that eye,
+hand, and foot (literally, foot) should keep true time. There
+wasn&rsquo;t much sleep in No. 7 that night, and early next
+morning we were off, leaving George and the skeleton
+sergeant, who is fast going down to the dead, though he
+doesn&rsquo;t know it. We had an awful trip, being detained six
+hours by a smash-up of the night before, killing seven and
+wounding seventy-five,&mdash;a mere skirmish. Shortly before
+we arrived, at about 1 A.M., an officer came through the car,
+caught sight of my shoulder-straps, stopped: &ldquo;You are a
+captain?&rdquo; &ldquo;Yes.&rdquo; &ldquo;Have you got any federal greenbacks?&rdquo;
+&ldquo;Yes, a few.&rdquo; &ldquo;Well, I want some to pay a debt
+I owe at the North, and I&rsquo;ll give you Confederate money for
+them. You&rsquo;ll want some, for you&rsquo;ll probably lie for months
+in the Libby, and you&rsquo;ll die if you don&rsquo;t send out and buy
+good food.&rdquo; Said I, &ldquo;Thank you, I guess I&rsquo;ll hold on to my
+greenbacks till I get there.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The fact that nearly all the hospital officials had made the
+same request on various pretexts was significant enough to
+me. At 2 A.M., we arrived, where I now write, in the
+Libby prison, being received with the once familiar cry of
+&ldquo;Corporal of the Guard, Post No. 1.&rdquo; The corporal came
+and let us in. The officer, cross and sleepy (the infernal
+traitor, Peacock, by the way), sent us to the hospital department,
+up three flights,&mdash;immense room in large tobacco
+warehouse, lighted with a single dip, which only made darkness
+visible. A ragged young nurse, with his hair on end,
+welcomed us to the scene of despair. We were put on cots
+of sacking, with nothing under or over us, and shivered ourselves
+into oblivion. The next morning, the familiar notes
+of reveille on the fife, accompanied by the bass and snare-drum
+of the side-show, which Andrews used to detest so,
+brought us again to consciousness. I was about to put my
+head out of the window, but was forcibly informed that I&rsquo;d
+better not, unless I wanted it shot off. This day, a party
+went off which we had hoped to join, but were disappointed;
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>21]</a></span>
+and a squad of sixty odd came in from Macon, Georgia. I
+thought that I had seen filth, squalor, and wretchedness
+before, but I never even conceived the meaning of the
+words; and what these men had been through would have
+been incredible, except to those who saw them. They said
+the Libby was heaven, in comparison to what they had
+come from. Saw a dress-parade of the regiment on duty
+here, which would have shamed the cadets for measliness
+of turnout.</p>
+
+<p><i>Saturday.</i>&mdash;In hell, <i>alias</i> the Libby prison.</p>
+
+<p><i>Sunday.</i>&mdash;This morning before breakfast, little spitfire
+clerk came up to take our paroles. I could have embraced
+the little devil, but I didn&rsquo;t, only waited till my name was
+called, when I toed the mark <i>instanter</i>, and quite won his
+heart with the promptitude with which I recited my descriptive
+list, insomuch that he asked me to take a letter
+to his sweetheart. After this, the wretched crew were
+packed into coaches and wagons, under command of the
+black-hearted traitor Captain Peacock, and we left Libby,
+the sergeant and I being in with two half-dead wretches of
+the Macon crowd, swarming with vermin.</p>
+
+<p>But after a miserable jolt of fifteen miles, our nigger driver
+pointed out the boat lying in a distant bend. &ldquo;And dar de
+flag,&rdquo; said he with a grin, &ldquo;ober de starn,&rdquo; indicating a small
+red streak, which was &ldquo;the star-spangled banner, Oh, long
+may it wa-a-ve,&rdquo; etc. I confess to embracing the staff when
+I got aboard, and realized that Jeff. Davis himself couldn&rsquo;t
+take me away without a fight. But before they let us go
+aboard there was a long and to us incomprehensible delay
+of nearly two hours, during which we lay on the grass just
+above the landing and watched the boat, the flag, and the
+blue uniforms, with longing eyes. [We learned afterward
+that Captain Peacock, while strutting up and down the wharf
+in full Confederate uniform, had been recognized by one of
+the deck hands who had belonged to his former New York
+regiment. The said deck hand pointed him out to a friend,
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>22]</a></span>
+with the remark, &ldquo;Look at his forehead, and you&rsquo;ll see traitor
+written there.&rdquo; This being overheard by Mr. Peacock, he
+demanded an apology for the insult, swearing that, if refused,
+he would march us all back to the Libby. How they pacified
+him I don&rsquo;t know, but at the end of two hours he had cooled
+off enough to let us go aboard. I was the first who received
+permission to go, whereat I bounced on to my one foot and
+two crutches, picked up my blanket, and charged down the
+hill. The rebel sentry, who hadn&rsquo;t yet got his orders to
+pass us, charged bayonets on me for an instant, but, on a
+sign from Peacock, shouldered arms again; and the next
+moment I was embracing the flag-staff, as afore mentioned.
+The Sanitary Commission received us with open arms and
+some delicious milk-punch, and in a few minutes we were
+under full steam out of rebeldom, Sergeant Holloway and
+I leaning on the guards, watching the foam fly past, and
+singing, <i>sotto voce</i>,&mdash;&ldquo;We&rsquo;re going home, we&rsquo;re going
+home, we&rsquo;re going home to die no more!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>We were two days on board the flag-of-truce boat. The
+next cot to mine was occupied by a man of a Massachusetts
+regiment, taken at the first Bull Run. He was almost a
+skeleton, and the worst case of chills and fever I ever saw.
+The second day being a shake day, he couldn&rsquo;t eat his rations,
+and offered them to me. He said he thought he was
+dying. &ldquo;But,&rdquo; said he, &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t complain now I&rsquo;ve got out
+of hell, and I shall live long enough to get back into God&rsquo;s
+country and die there, which is all I&rsquo;ve been praying for for
+months.&rdquo;]</p>
+
+<p><i>Monday.</i>&mdash;Aboard the &ldquo;Commodore,&rdquo; off Fortress Monroe,
+waiting for orders, which have just come, for Washington.
+And here we are at Washington, waiting orders again.
+When I find myself once more a free man in Willard&rsquo;s
+Hotel, I shall turn down the leaf of my experiences as
+prisoner of war to the rebels.</p>
+
+<p>Now for philosophy. Captain gone ashore, and fearful
+rumors pervade the boat about Annapolis, New York, etc.
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>23]</a></span>
+Well, it can be but a day or two, and we are out of rebeldom.
+I&rsquo;ve kept well so&mdash; [&ldquo;Far&rdquo; would have been the
+next word, but marching orders intervened, and the next
+entry, in big letters at the bottom of the page, reads] <span class="smcap">A
+free man at Willard&rsquo;s</span>!</p>
+
+<p>And the first act of the free man aforesaid was to purchase
+some underclothes at the furnishing store, which
+luckily had not closed for the night, and to proceed therewith
+to the bath-room, where hot water and soap speedily
+restored that self-respect which is so difficult to retain after
+one is conscious of not being the only inhabitant of one&rsquo;s
+garments. The next day, I drew my pay and replaced
+my ragged blouse, bullet-pierced trowsers, and torn Confederate
+cap (given me on the field to replace my broad-brimmed
+felt, which a Georgia gentleman fancied), by the
+jauntiest uniform clothes I could find, after which I sallied
+out on the avenue; and the first man I met was the captain
+of the &ldquo;Commodore,&rdquo; who at first insisted that I was mistaken,
+as he had never seen me before in his life; and
+only my crutches and wounded foot at last convinced him
+that I was the same man who had talked to him about
+Harry Russell, the day before. The next day, it was just
+the other way. Smart young officer rushes up: &ldquo;Hallo,
+Captain Quincy! thought it must be you. How are you?&rdquo;
+&ldquo;Well,&rdquo; said I, &ldquo;I&rsquo;m glad you thought it was I; but
+whether it&rsquo;s you or not I&rsquo;m sure I don&rsquo;t know, for I
+should say I had never set eyes on you before.&rdquo; &ldquo;What,
+you don&rsquo;t know the man you identified yesterday?&rdquo; And
+it turned out to be a lieutenant of a Western regiment,
+and fellow-prisoner, all of whose clothing in the Libby consisted
+of shirt, trowsers, and army blanket pinned over his
+shoulders. Arriving in Washington, without a cent, I had
+identified him at the pay department, while still in his
+blanket, from which chrysalis the all-potent greenback had
+evoked as shiny a blue-and-brass butterfly as any on the
+avenue.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>24]</a></span>
+This concludes my prison history. I was never again
+taken, though coming pretty near it once or twice in Louisiana,
+where, as an officer of colored troops, my experiences
+might have been much more severe than those above recounted.
+If the story has interested former comrades or
+assisted in drawing closer the link which binds together the
+survivors of the old regiment, I can only rejoice that the
+committee asked me to relate it to you.</p>
+
+<div class="bbox">
+<p><b>Transcriber's Note</b></p>
+
+<p>As much of this work is a direct extract from a diary, spelling,
+grammar and omission of words are preserved as printed.</p>
+</div>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of History of the Second Massachusetts
+Regiment of Infantry: A prisoner's diary, by Samuel M. Quincy
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 2ND MASS. REG. PRISONER'S DIARY ***
+
+***** This file should be named 34895-h.htm or 34895-h.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+ https://www.gutenberg.org/3/4/8/9/34895/
+
+Produced by Sam W. and the Online Distributed Proofreading
+Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from
+images generously made available by The Internet
+Archive/American Libraries.)
+
+
+Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
+will be renamed.
+
+Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
+one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
+(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
+permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules,
+set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
+copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
+protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project
+Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
+charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you
+do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
+rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
+such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
+research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
+practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is
+subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
+redistribution.
+
+
+
+*** START: FULL LICENSE ***
+
+THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
+PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
+
+To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
+distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
+(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at
+https://gutenberg.org/license).
+
+
+Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works
+
+1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
+and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
+(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all
+the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
+all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.
+If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the
+terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
+entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
+
+1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be
+used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
+agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few
+things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See
+paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement
+and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works. See paragraph 1.E below.
+
+1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation"
+or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the
+collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an
+individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are
+located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from
+copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative
+works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg
+are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project
+Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by
+freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of
+this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with
+the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by
+keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.
+
+1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
+what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in
+a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check
+the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
+before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
+creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
+Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning
+the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
+States.
+
+1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
+
+1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
+access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
+whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
+phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
+copied or distributed:
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived
+from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is
+posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied
+and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees
+or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work
+with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the
+work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1
+through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the
+Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or
+1.E.9.
+
+1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
+with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
+must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional
+terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked
+to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the
+permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.
+
+1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
+work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
+
+1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
+electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
+prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
+active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm License.
+
+1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
+compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
+word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or
+distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than
+"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version
+posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),
+you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a
+copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
+request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other
+form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
+
+1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
+performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
+unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
+access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided
+that
+
+- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
+ the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
+ you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is
+ owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he
+ has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
+ Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments
+ must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
+ prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
+ returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
+ sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
+ address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to
+ the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."
+
+- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
+ you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
+ does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+ License. You must require such a user to return or
+ destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
+ and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
+ Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any
+ money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
+ electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days
+ of receipt of the work.
+
+- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
+ distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
+forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
+both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael
+Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the
+Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
+
+1.F.
+
+1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
+effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
+public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm
+collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain
+"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or
+corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
+property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a
+computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by
+your equipment.
+
+1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
+of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
+fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
+LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
+PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
+TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
+LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
+INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
+DAMAGE.
+
+1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
+defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
+receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
+written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you
+received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with
+your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with
+the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a
+refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity
+providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to
+receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy
+is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further
+opportunities to fix the problem.
+
+1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
+in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER
+WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
+WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
+
+1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
+warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
+If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
+law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
+interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by
+the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any
+provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.
+
+1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
+trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
+providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
+with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
+promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
+harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees,
+that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
+or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm
+work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any
+Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.
+
+
+Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
+electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers
+including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists
+because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from
+people in all walks of life.
+
+Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
+assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
+goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
+remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
+and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations.
+To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
+and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4
+and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org.
+
+
+Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
+Foundation
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
+501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
+state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
+Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
+number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at
+https://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
+permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
+
+The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S.
+Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered
+throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at
+809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email
+business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact
+information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official
+page at https://pglaf.org
+
+For additional contact information:
+ Dr. Gregory B. Newby
+ Chief Executive and Director
+ gbnewby@pglaf.org
+
+
+Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
+spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
+increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
+freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
+array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations
+($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
+status with the IRS.
+
+The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
+charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
+States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
+considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
+with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations
+where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To
+SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any
+particular state visit https://pglaf.org
+
+While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
+have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
+against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
+approach us with offers to donate.
+
+International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
+any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
+outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
+
+Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
+methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other
+ways including including checks, online payments and credit card
+donations. To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate
+
+
+Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.
+
+Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm
+concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
+with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project
+Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.
+
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
+editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S.
+unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily
+keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.
+
+
+Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:
+
+ https://www.gutenberg.org
+
+This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
+including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
+subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
+
+
+</pre>
+
+</body>
+</html>