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Letter: November 5, 1862 Transcribed from an unpublished typescript held at the U.S. Army Military History Institute in the Civil War Miscellaneous Collection, Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Benton Barracks. St. Louis Dear Father, I sit down to write something in the shape of a letter. I am again in Benton Barracks, we reached here on day before yesterday. I saw Mr. Leonard yesterday. He started for Corinth yesterday afternoon directly after putting a letter in the office in which he wrote a little to you concerning myself. As there is no prospect of getting a furlough to go home I will tell you something about the fight — and our imprisonment. On Sunday morning while we were preparing for Sunday morning inspection, we heard the booming cannon in the distance and knew ‘‘something was up.’’ The long roll was soon beat and we were in line, leaving all our baggage in our tents, an hour or two’s marching brought us to the scene of action, we were placed in the center and commanded to hold that position at all hazards, and we did hold it, repelling the rebels several times until near 5 o’clock, when we were ordered to fall back which we did in good order, and took a new position. Our brigade consisted of the 2nd. 7th. 12th. & 14th. Iowa regiments & at the time we fell back there was only the 12th. & 14th. Together, after fighting in our new position a short time & driving the enemy back we found we were entirely hemmed in. Our colonel then gave us orders to retreat — but — it was too late the rebels were on every side of us pouring the deadly missels into us from every direction, I made my way to some tents, following Lieutenant Elwell, here was the greatest confusion, dead & wounded soldiers lay on every side others continually falling, some officers were trying to rally their commands, some of the wounded were crying ‘‘hoist the white flag, hoist the white flag[.]’’ In the meantime I had found on[e] of our sergeants with the blood oozing from his temple, and with the help of some others carried him into a tent and left him to die. The white flag was finally raised and { 52 } we were prisoners, we were forced to ‘‘lay down’’ the arms we had ‘‘taken up in the defense of our country.’’ And suffer ourselves to be marched to a southern prison. As we started away I saw officers high in rank shedding tears, I shed no tears but that nights walk was a lonely and sad one to me, I was thinking of home wondering if I would ever get back thinking it was disgraceful to be a prisoner of war and wondering how we would be treated. About 9 o’clock we halted in an old corn field for the night — during the night an awful storm came up and we had to stand & take it without overcoats or blankets, in the morning they gave each of us two moldy crackers and a small piece of meat and told us we must give up all small arms but — I destroyed my revolver by burying the cylinder and burning the stock. We marched all day through the mud and reached Corinth about dark in the rain. We were crowded into dirty boxcars so thick we could not lie down. The next day we reached Memphis and on Saturday night reached Mobile going round by the way of Jackson Miss. On Sunday we started up the Alabama River to Montgomery where we went into prison. 700 of us were crowded into a space 300 feet long by 200 wide, this space was surrounded by a brick wall 20 feet high, about 30 feet of each side was covered with tin or slate roofs here we staid until the 24th. of May when the privates were paroled and we started for our lines. When we reached Chattanooga Lieutenant Elwell and Quartermaster Dorr who had disguised themselves and slipped in with us, left us, and as I have since learned got through safe running up the Tennessee River in an open boat. Although General Mitchell [sic] had received two squads of paroled men just before us he did not receive us when we reached the lines, what the reason was I do not know, but we had to go back with the promise that we should be taken to the lines by another route. We stopped at Chattanooga...

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