Fri., 16—30 men from our Corps sent in here to-day; three are from our regiment and bring interesting news from the boys.
The entry for the 16th was the last made by the young man, whose Somerville home was as pleasant and comfortable as any which that most attractive place afforded; whose father was fretting at the absence of his son, yet the latter, putting duty to his country before all others, was faithful to the end and died on the 6th of January following, his body sleeping with nearly 13,000 others in a nameless grave.
CORPORAL JOHN E. HORTON'S DIARY.
Corporal John E. Horton was a very regular observer and chronicler of passing events, seldom if ever missing a day. The following extracts are given, not all that he wrote but rather where his records add to those already given from Corporal Glines' entries. A faithful husband and father, nearly every day has some reference to the wife and the baby boy in the far away home and on the 21st of August he laments his inability to get a letter through the lines to Laura, his wife:
Tues., August 23—(The prisoners are in Libby.) Slept first rate. Wash up and eat breakfast. They put part of us into another building opposite; take our names, number of regiment and where we were born, then search us, take our haversacks, etc. Give us rations about 1 p. m., take us to Belle Isle; there are a little over 3,000 of us here. We are divided into squads of 30; Ladd is our Sergeant.
Thurs., 25—Brown is at work, outside, helping the cook; get our rations from across the river; attend prayer meeting.
Mon., 29—About 2100 came from Libby, of the Second Corps; they were taken the 25th at Ream's Station; am sorry to see them.
Tues., 30—Provisions are very high; small loaves of bread are $5.00 in Confederate money and $1.00 in greenbacks; coffee, $15.00; sugar, $12.00; onions, $1.00; apples, $2.00 and $3.00. For $1.00 we get one-fourth of a loaf of bread, a small piece of bacon and a little bean soup, just enough to keep us alive.