A Soldier's Story of His Regiment (61st Georgia): And Incidentally of the Lawton-Gordon-Evans Brigade Army of Northern Virginia

Chapter 18

CHAPTER XVIII. w. H. BLAND'S PRISON LIFlt. BAXLEY, GA., December 20th, 1897. Mr. G. W. Nichols, Jesup, Ga.: My DEAR SIR AND OLD COMRADE-Yours to hand, asking me for my prison life, which I will try to give you. I know I callnot recollect everything that happened in the prison that might interest you or the readers of your historjj but I will do the- best I can, and will tell the truth. As you know, I am a poor scholar, and will have to give it to you in my own language. I was captured at Dr. Morton's house, near Morton's ford, on the Rapidan river, on the night of the 4th of January, 1864, after we had shot away nearly all of our ammunition. My capture happened in this way: I was at Dr. Morton 's dwelling house, while you and others of our company were fighting from behind other houses. As you well know, our skirmish line had given the Yankees a whipping, killing, wounding and capturing 400 or 50Q, and there were not over forty of us fighting them, and after our ammunition had exhausted, the Yankees surrounded Dr. 110rton's housejust at dark. I had gone in the hou·se and did not know that any part of our line had given way until Dr. Morton's house was entirely surrounded by the enemy. I did not see any of our boys leaving, so I was alone, and was surrounded by about fifty Union soldiers, and I just had to surrender. They took me to the rear in a hurry, for they were scared and in bad confusion. When I and my guard got to the river I found that it 230 was bridged with round poles, and lacked a few feet of beinl' finished on the south side of the river, and we had to make a pretty good jump to get on the bridge. I made it very well, as I was an expert jumper, so did my guard, he being sober; but some of those little cutshort Dutchmen could not make it very well, with the amount of whisky they had taken on. They could not reach the bridge, but did reach the water under the bridge, and some were too drunk to swim and sume could not swim, and they drowned, for it was very dark and rainy, and their friends could not render them any assistance. After we had crossed the river and had gone about three hundred yards from the river, we found some camp-fires. I was taken to them and kept there till the Yankees got across. After all were over, they formed in line and marched off. We went about four miles and camped. They had a hard time in getting fire started with oak brush and chips in the rain. My guard and I sat down by an oak stump on our knap-sacks He spread his oilcloth over us to keep off the falling rain. He was soon nodding and I thought he was asleep. I lifted the cloth off of me and raised up to run; but he woke up; so I turned over my knap-sack and sat down again quickly, to keep hirQ from suspecting my anticipated escape. He spread the cloth over me again and I remained very quiet. He was soon nodding again and I made a second attempt, but he woke again. By this time they had fires started and he said: "Well, Johnny, we will go to the light," and I saw no chance of making my escape. Next day we marched about nine miles and reached their old camp. I was put in a guard house with about a 401- of Uteir own prisoners. I being the only uJoh~. 231 tty Rebel" (as they called me) there, I was treated kindly. Next morning I was sent for to go to General Hayes' headquarters. While going through the camps the Yankees would say, "Hello, Johnny, when did you come over?" I would reply, "I was captured and brought over," for I did not want them to think that I was a deserter . The general's headquarters were some four or five hundred yards away. When I got there the guard said: "General, here is our Johnny Reb." The general wheeled around and said: "Hello, Johnny, how do you feel today?" I...