Many of the Confederate soldiers who had the misfortune to fall into the hands of the Union Army as prisoners, wrote of their experience in Yankee prison camps. One such soldier was Colonel George H. Moffett, who wrote his account with the title, "War Prison Experiences," which follows in Col. Moffett's own words:

"I think some record should be made on the experiences of Confederate soldiers in Federal prisons. This is especially true in view of the many exaggerated stories set afloat by Northern writers of the hardships endured at Andersonville.

"My experience as a prisoner of war in Federal prison pens covered a period of eighteen months- from December 2l, l863 to June 20, l865. For the first two months I was confined at Camp Chase [Ohio], and the remainder of the time in Fort Delaware.

"I entered Camp Chase in the early morning of the first day of January, l864, a day still remembered in that locality as the cold New Year. When we stepped from the cars and were lined up on the station platform at Columbus at about 3 o'clock in the morning, the thermometer was twenty-four degrees below zero and a stiff gale blowing. There were eighty prisoners in the bunch, and most of them scantily attired. The four-hour mile tramp across the bleak Scioto bottoms to Camp Chase in the face of that cutting cold wind was an event in our prison experience never to be forgotten. Sometimes I wonder if the young men of this day and generation could endure such an ordeal.

"Prison discipline was very strict and rigidly enforced. The slightest infringement of prison rules often brought lamentable consequences. I recall a pathetic illustration of this fact. A fresh prisoner, who was ignorant of the rule relating to the extinguishment of fires and lights, was turned into the prison one cold morning, and having a match in his pocket, struck it with the intention of kindling a fire in the stove. The sentinel on the parapet, who saw the light through the window, fired immediately and killed the poor fellow. I witnessed a similar occurrence the next summer when a young man merely threw a cup of water from the window, when a guard on the outside fired upon him, the ball passing through his neck, killing him instantly.

"Swings were suspended, such as you see in the ordinary gymnasium. To these swings was a cord and pulley attachment. The process was to loop the cord over the two thumbs, and then with the use of the pulley to draw up the victim until his toes barely touched the earth. In this agonizing strain he would be suspended for hours. This was a daily occurrence, and I have seen six or eight prisoners suspended at a time. Their fellow prisoners were unable to relieve their torture or even to speak a word of sympathy, for a guard stood by to shoot any one who interfered in their behalf. I was told by those who had undergone the punishment that the agony was inexpressible. There were numerous instances of dislocated shoulders and joints, thumbs would be cut to the bone by the tight cords, and in some cases would have to be amputated."

Col. Moffett will continue his first-person account of life as a Confederate soldier in a Union prison camp in part 5 of this series. wardwriters@bellsouth.net

Bill Ward lives in Salisbury and is a historian, writer, and member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. Contact him at wardwriters@bellsouth.net