CHAPTER XVII
TO FORT DELAWARE—SHORT RATIONS—SONG—PRISON RULES
These officers remained here for about two weeks, when we were taken by boat down the Potomac and Chesapeake Bay, passing out into the ocean between Cape Charles and Cape Henry; thence up the coast into Delaware Bay to Fort Delaware, where we were placed in prison barracks with several thousand other Confederate officers. While at the Old Capitol Prison we were well treated, and the rations were all we could wish. At Fort Delaware it was very different. The rations were badly cooked and scarcely sufficient in quantity to sustain life, besides being very inferior in quality. There were only two meals a day; breakfast at eight A. M., and dinner at four P. M.
We got to Fort Delaware in the afternoon. I was not feeling very well and did not go to dinner. We had some rations brought from Washington. Captain Horton went, and the first thing he said when he came back was, "Take care of that meat, it is as scarce as hen's teeth here." In truth it was very, very scarce.
My brother, J. L. Morgan, who was living in Brooklyn, N. Y., very kindly furnished me with clothes, and supplied me with money with which to supplement the poor and scanty prison fare, saving me from much suffering, and I have but little doubt, saved my life; for many who had to depend alone on what they got in prison died from lack of sufficient and proper food and clothing. My brother also furnished money to Robt. Morgan and W. L. Brown, who was his brother-in-law, and to other Confederate prisoners.
For breakfast, we had a slice of light-bread, about four ounces, and about one and one-half or two ounces of bacon; for dinner the same bread and about two or three ounces of loud-smelling pickled beef—"red horse," as it was called—and a tin cup of miserable stuff, called soup, so mean that I could not swallow it. This was all, day in and day out, week after week, and month after month. Men who lived on these rations were always hungry. Even those who had money did not fare much better, as the prices at the sutlers' were so exorbitant that a dollar did not go far. I shared the money sent me with my bunk-mate, Capt. Thos. B. Horton.
Prison life was hard and very monotonous, though many things were resorted to to while away the tedious hours.
All kinds of games were played, "keno" being the most popular, and much gambling went on. Concerts were given, debating societies formed, and many other things resorted to to kill time. My brother sent me a set of chess-men. There were other sets in the prison, and this game was played a good deal. There were some fine players among the officers; Capt. J. W. Fanning, of Alabama, and Capt. H. C. Hoover, of Staunton, Va., being the champion players.
I here give a song composed and sung by Confederate prisoners at Fort Delaware, at a concert given by the prisoners, for the benefit of the destitute among the 600 Confederate officers, who were put under fire on Morris Island, and afterwards sent to Fort Pulaski and Hilton Head, and confined there during the winter of 1864-65, and who were sent back to Fort Delaware in March, 1865, in a pitiable plight:
"IN THE PRISON OF FORT DELAWARE
(TO THE TUNE OF "LOUISIANA LOWLANDS")
"Come listen to my ditty, it will while away a minute, And if I didn't think so, I never would begin it; 'Tis 'bout a life in prison, so forward bend your head, And I'll tell you in a moment how dey treat the poor Confed.
CHORUS:
"In the prison of Fort Delaware, Delaware, Delaware, In the prison of Fort Delaware, Del.
"Dey put you in de barrack, de barrack in divisions, Den dey 'lect a captain who bosses the provisions; He keeps the money letters, keeps order in the room, And hollers like the debbil if you upset the spittoon.
CHORUS:
"Wheneber dey take de oath, dey put dem near de ribber, Dey work dem like de debbil, worse dan in de Libby; Dey shake 'em in de blanket, thow stuff into der eyes, And parole dem on de island, and call 'em "galvanized."
CHORUS:
"Some officers do washing, many makes de fires, So hot upon a sunny day, dat every one expires; Some working gutta-percha, some walking in de yard, Many make dey living by de turning ob de card.
CHORUS:
"Dar's tailors and shoemakers, some French and Latin teaching, Some scratching ob de tiger, while some odders am a-preaching; Some cooking up de rations, some swapping off dey clothes, While a crowd of Hilton Headers are a-giving nigger shows.
CHORUS:
"Dar's anoder lot ob fellers and cunning dogs dey are, Dey get an empty barrel and den set up a bar, Git some vinegar and 'lasses—fer whiskey am too dear— And mix it wid potato skins and den dey call it beer.
CHORUS:
"No matter what you're doin', one thing am very sartin, Dat ebery one is ready from dis prison to be startin'; De very sad reflection makes eberybody grieve, For not a single debbil knows when he's gwine to leave.
CHORUS:
"Now white folks here's a moral: There's nothin' true below, This world am but a 'tater patch, de debbil has the hoe; Ebery one sees trouble here, go you near and far, But the most unlucky debbil am the prisoner of war."
These lines give in a crude way, a pretty correct account of the doings in the prison barracks.
I preserved a copy of Prison rules, which follows:
* * * * *
PRISON RULES
"HEADQUARTERS, FORT DELAWARE, DEL., _July 8, 1864_.
I. Roll call at reveille and retreat.
II. Police call at 7 A. M. and 4 P. M.
III. Breakfast at 8 A. M. Dinner at 4 P. M.
IV. Sergeants in charge of prisoners will exact from them strict compliance with the above calls, which will be regularly enforced, and must promptly report to the officer in charge the number present and absent, sick, etc., and any who are guilty of insubordination or any violation of the Rules of Prison. They must also notify their men that if they do not promptly obey any order given them by a sentinel, officer or man in charge of them, they will be shot.
V. Sergeants in charge will be held responsible for the due execution of these Rules, and for the regular accounting for the full number of their men.
By command of—
BRIG.-GENL. A. SCHOEPF. GEO. W. AHL, Capt. & A. A. A. G."