Excerpt from A Soldier's Story: Prison Life and Other Incidents in the War of 1861-'65 I have been requested to write some incidents, experiences and observations of prison life during the war of 1861-'65. After thirty-eight or thirty-nine years it is somewhat difficult to recall anything like all that transpired in those dark days. Some people say it is time to stop talking about that war. Now, that would be a hard thing for those who lived in those days to do: stop talking about the war. The men, women and children at home had almost as hard a time as those at the front - not quite so dangerous, yet it required courage and true patriotism to stand in their places. Furthermore, it seems necessary, in order to keep history straight, that those who lived and participated in that part of our history should occasionally be heard from, otherwise those who write so much, who live north of the Mason and Dixon's line, would make our rising generation believe what is false. So I say to all such: "Nothing in the past is dead to the man who would learn how the present came to be what it is." Much has been written and said by our Northern friends as to the suffering of the Union soldiers in Southern prisons - Andersonville, Salisbury and other places - during that war. They draw an awful picture of their poor soldiers suffering and dying in Southern prisons. In some respects this was true. To be in prison of itself was bad enough, but to be there without proper food or medicine was very bad indeed. The South did not have the means, neither the medicine, but the prisoners in our care were put on the same footing as our own poor soldiers. The question is: Who was to blame for this state of things? The Confederate authorities made proposition after proposition for exchange of prisoners, but the Government at Washington positively declined. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Miles O. Sherrill first published his "A Soldier's Story" in 1904 at the age of 63. He was a young Confederate soldier, and his war journal tells a timeless tale of fresh-faced enthusiasm and patriotism tempered over time by hard work, anguish, and the grueling horrors of warfare. Sherrill was shot and captured at the Spotsylvania Court House, had his leg amputated, and transferred to the Elmira Prison Camp. Special thanks those in both the North and South, for their dedication to preserving the historical integrity of the Elmira Prison Camp.

"[Hardtack was] positively unsuitable fodder for anything that claims to be human...and I think it no exaggeration to say that any intelligent pig possessing the least spark of pride would have considered it a pure insult to have them put into his swill." (Wilbur Fisk, Civil War soldier). We know the uniforms they wore, the weapons they carried, and the battles they fought, but what did they eat and, of even greater curiosity, was it any good? Now, for the very first time, the food that fueled the armies of the North and the South and the soldiers' opinions of it--ranging from the sublime to just slime--is front and center in a biting, fascinating look at the Civil War as written by one of its most respected historians. There's even a comprehensive "cookbook" of actual recipes included for those intrepid enough to try a taste of the Civil War.

The American Civil War was a vicious conflict that developed in intense hatred between opposing sides. Despite some historians’ assertions that this was history’s last great “gentlemen’s war,” the conflict was anything but civil. There is ample evidence to suggest that both sides quite commonly retaliated against one another throughout the war, often in chillingly inhumane ways. Violent retaliation was most apparent within Federal and Confederate penitentiaries. Prisoners of war were frequently subjected to both physical and mental abuse. This sort of mistreatment was employed to obtain information, recruit prisoners for military service, or to force prisoners to sign oaths of allegiance. In addition to the torture and neglect that were carried out on a regular basis, even more unbelievable—and less known—was the actual killing of these unarmed men in retribution for their army’s actions on the battlefield. Sometimes it happened as the prisoners threw down their weapons and raised their hands to surrender. More often, however, the killing took place at the prisons, where guards carried out cold-blooded executions, their victims chosen by lottery. These unconscionable acts were frequently sanctioned by the highest levels of authority in Washington and Richmond, and at times the conflict devolved into a “war of retaliation.” Threats of revenge were often countered by the opposing army, each side trying to outdo the other. These acts of vengeance were seldom directed at the guilty; most often, soldiers targeted innocent prisoners who had the misfortune to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Author Lonnie Speer explores this little-known practice of reciprocal wartime violence, focusing on the most notorious and well-documented cases of the war. The author illustrated his claims with the first-hand accounts of numerous prisoners, painting a chilling picture of Civil War military and political policy.

Continuing from Volume I, Volume II intersperses numerous soldiers’ letters with those from home. The issue of slavery from both the owners and individuals is brought forth. Did colored men really serve as Confederate soldiers? Did free black men? Union soldiers described southern women as defi ant, beautiful, crude, and pitiful. Read of women aboard blockade-runners, the fall of Wilmington, Sherman’s march, Stoneman’s western raiders, and the end of the war. Did any civilians die due to these raids? Did they idly sit by as their lives and homes were destroyed? The war did come to their doorstep during the second half of the confl ict. Both Volume I and II tell something from each of the state’s 87 counties. Perhaps you may fi nd information about your ancestor among these pages. Information from period newspapers, as well as mostly unpublished letters, tell their stories.

Reprinted by New York History Review. Excerpted from "Journals of the Military Expedition of Major General John Sullivan against the Six Nations of Indians in 1779" by Frederick Cook. Contributed by Thomas R. Bard.