On the 19th the Right Rev. Bishop Magill (Roman Catholic) preached to the officers in Libby. On the 20th quite a large number of boxes, for officers, from their friends in the North, arrived and were distributed. A few greenbacks were ingeniously concealed in some of the boxes and, fortunately, escaped the search of the examing officers. Notices were posted, informing us that there would be, hereafter, roll-call twice a day—at 7:30 A. M. and 5:00 P. M.—and that five minutes would be allowed each time to “fall in;” officers not in line then “would be punished accordingly.” Also, that if “spitting on the floor” and “throwing apple cores in the spit-boxes” were not stopped, the purchase of tobacco and apples would be prohibited. We received letters from the regiment on the 21st, being the first since we were captured.
The Rebels had some sugar in hogsheads, stored in the ware-house, nearly opposite the Libby, where some of our enlisted men were confined. The men were in the second story, the sugar in the first. On the 24th it was discovered that the sugar had been too tempting for the boys, and that they had appropriated some seven or eight hogsheads to their own use, amounting to some twenty thousand dollars of their money. As a matter of course, the remainder was immediately moved out of the reach of the half-starved Yankees.
On the 25th a letter was found, purporting to be from a Michigan surgeon to Capt. Turner, asking for a blanket, in which he stated that, under other circumstances, he would rather be a friend to the South than an enemy. A drum-head court-martial was immediately convened, the culprit brought forward, and confronted with the letter. It appeared, on examination, that he was guilty of writing the letter, but that he was a loyal man and, suffering very much for the want of a blanket, had taken this method to procure one. He was permitted to go unmolested, as he had not succeeded in his attempt to deceive our humane captors.
Maj. Huston, who had been in the hospital for some time, and was a tailor by trade, was employed by the Rebel surgeon to repair his uniform for him, which he did, but, when completed, instead of giving it to the surgeon, donned the uniform himself and, about dusk, he quietly walked out, passing himself off as the surgeon. He succeeded in passing the guards without any difficulty.
This escape so alarmed the Rebels that they took possession of the lower east room, again locating the officers’ hospital in that room, nailed up the door between that and the upper rooms, giving us the possession of the lower, middle room, after taking the precaution to nail up the windows and double the guard on the outside of the building. For nearly forty-eight hours after the sick and wounded officers were brought to the building, the Rebels neither furnished them with rations nor blankets, but after dark, communication was opened with them, and they were furnished with blankets by us and a portion of our eatables.
About midnight of the 25th a gun was fired by one of the guards, at which signal—premeditated no doubt, as no one was attempting to escape—there immediately assembled in front of the prison two companies of infantry and a small crowd of men with a howitzer. This was done very promptly, no doubt with the intention of intimidating us Yankees inside.
On the 26th we were put on bread and water. The reason assigned for this was the breaking open of the door into the hospital, but, most probably, the reason was the want of meat to furnish us with.
During the last of this month the weather was very severe, our officers suffering much from the cold. We were allowed little or no fire, and the windows having no glass in them, the zephyrs had free access. Many of us had no underclothing, a number with only one blanket, and some without any. One morning the man “George,” without any provocation, drew a revolver on one of the officers, when Lieut. Reed, 3rd Ohio, a wounded officer, told him he must not attempt that here. For this offence (?) Reed was taken down to the cell and kept there three days, the first night without any blanket whatever.
On the 29th of October some forty boxes and bales, from the Sanitary and Christian Commissions, were received at Libby; also, about one hundred and fifty private boxes, for officers. The boxes from the Sanitary Commission were consigned to Gen. Dow, consisting of shirts, drawers, socks, handkerchiefs, and blankets. Those from the Christian Commission were consigned to Lieut. Randolph, 5th U. S. Artillery, the contents consisting of underclothing, reading matter, hams and liquors, the latter, no doubt, for hospital purposes. The articles were, probably, as well distributed as could be expected under the circumstances, excepting the hams and liquors, which were monopolized by a very few.
On the 30th of October we learned that nine men, belonging to our regiment, were still on Belle Isle, some of them wounded and all suffering very much.