Georgia militia, many of whom would not even have made a show of resistance, and some of them did that night lie down and sleep, leaving their muskets at the disposal of any one; and I am informed that, in several instances, their cartridges were emptied from their boxes in anticipation of the work. The train, in event of success, was to have been stopped near Pocotaligo Bridge, from which General Foster's lines might easily have been reached, being then only ten or twelve miles distant. But the signal never was given. Why it was not I have never heard explained; but it is said that some word or act put the officer in charge on his guard, and that he run the train at the top of its speed, without a stoppage, directly to the city. The thoughts which are always uppermost in a prisoner's mind are of exchange and escape; and could the many projects which are discussed or put in train be successful, the Confederacy would have few besides the sick prisoners to guard. At Lynchburg two, to my knowledge, procured rebel uniforms, walked out past the guard, and safely reached our own lines. While en route to Macon several escaped by cutting holes through the bottom of the car and jumping out. At Macon one blacked his face and passed out as a negro workman; another bribed the colored driver of the sutler's wagon, and was taken out in a box; while a third clung under the body of the same wagon, and succeeded in getting away. It was quite safe to bribe any of the guards and procure a gray uniform, and quite as easy to get outside the prison grounds, but the trouble only then commenced, the distance to be traveled before reaching a place of safety being very great. Men were compelled to seek somewhere for food; and unless they could meet some of the slaves-who were almost invariably friendly, and ready to lend all the assistance in their power-were liable to be betrayed; besides which, the news of all escapes were spread throughout all the region round, and men turned out with blood-hounds to hunt the game, delighting in the sport; so that of all who started but a very few succeeded in accomplishing their object. Tunneling was tried to a great extent. In all I presume eight or ten were commenced, and three were projected at one time-all to come out at different points. The work, of course, was only carried on at night, and as the tools used around camp in the day were carefully removed at dark, the only implements were knives, spoons, tin cups, and the hands. Only one could work at a time; and it may be imagined that, in a hole two feet square or thereabouts and six feet underground, it was any thing but light work. The mouth of the tunnel was in some one of the sheds, and easily covered during the day, while the dirt taken out was scattered about in the various dirt-heaps, or where the wells were then being dug, or thrown into the brook. Two of these tunnels were brought to completion, so that they might have been used any night; but it was deemed safe to wait until the third and largest was finished, and we confidently expected that in a few mornings some seven hundred of us would be running at large, when some one, to obtain favor with the commandant of the prison, revealed the plot, and we were all suddenly called off to one end of the camp, a guard thrown across, and search was made which unmasked our work, and dashed our hopes of weeks to the earth. The traitor did his work well; we hope his reward was all he asked. Of exchange I may as well say something here. It was a perpetual theme of conversation, and rumor with her thousand tongues was ever busy among us. Even the wildest and most improbable of stories were not unworthy of discussion, and even the breathing of the word, if it was but to ask some one to exchange a pair of trowsers for a pair of shoes, would bring the cry-which would be taken up far and near"Louder on exchange!" In Charleston the excitement was greatly increased by the exchange of fifty general and field officers in August-that of the surgeons and naval officers in September, as well as the arrangement between General Sherman and Hood. Once at Macon, and again at Charleston, attempts were made by certain men to get up petitions, asking Mr. Davis to allow a committee to be paroled and sent North, to represent to our Government the "fearful condition of our enlisted men" confined in Southern prisons. I am proud to record that both were failures; that the majority refused to petition on the ground that their faith in our Government was sufficient for them to believe it was doing all for the best; and although that at Macon was forwarded on a minority-a very small minority-of names, it was never heard from. At Charleston the second attempt originated with an officer whose term of service had expired; but at a meeting called he and his friends had some home truths thrust upon them, and were informed, if they were previously ignorant, of certain duties which, as officers of the army, they owed to their country-the result of which was that no more petitions were heard of. Here the majority testified in something more weighty than words to their loyalty, to their willingness to remain, to end their lives in captivity, if those who were at the head of affairs thought it best for the cause that there should be no general exchange, or if one could not be arranged without conceding a point, to the enemy. On “special exchanges" the feeling was almost universal in their condemnation. Not that any of us were not glad to get away under that rule, but we could not but pity those who have been there eighteen months, and had seen tens, twenties, and thirties leave them--men who had not been there perhaps thirty days. The same principle is involved in the exchange of fifty as of fifty thousand; and why then should not those who have been so long sufferers be taken in preference to those just arrived? We reached Charleston on the morning of vile. article, and little chance for purchasing outside was afforded. Books we had not, nor could any be had, amusement of all kinds seemed denied, and I was always glad when night came that I might seek oblivion in sleep, although to seek was not always to find, for myriads of mosquitoes and oppressive heat generally kept me tossing until, worn out, I slept from exhaustion. Well remembered are the nights passed upon that floor, with the beautiful harvest moon pouring her light through the gratings, shining ever quietly, no matter whether I smoked and thought, tossed and fretted, or slept and dreamed. Near by the work-house is the jail, into the yard of which we could look, from the left wing, and the sight of the three hundred and odd prisoners there assured us that our lot was not the hardest, and afforded a trifle of consolation. They were associated with characters of all descriptions, thieves, assassins, prostitutes-both black and white; many living in tents in the yard, many without any shelter, and those with whom we communicated complained of short rations, which we were not subjected to, for ours were what might be called sufficient, and of fair quality, including frequent issues of meat. August 13, and were kept waiting a long time | in the street, when I procured some fresh figs, bread, and milk, and, seated on the curb-stone, made an excellent breakfast. We were marched to the work-house, "counted in," and as the heavy grated doors closed behind us, I realized for the first time what it was to be in durance The work-house (from the outside) is a fine-looking building, built on three sides of a square, with two towers which give it quite an imposing appearance. It is built entirely of brick. My curiosity never prompted me to wander through its labyrinth of corridors, staircases, and halls, for knowing it was all cells above and dungeons below ground, a little of that style was sufficient. Turn with me from the main entrance, ascend a dark, narrow, spiral staircase-admitting the passage of but one at a time-to the second-floor, and into the cell with heavily grated windows, which is the space allotted to four Yankee officers, constituting "one mess." There is neither chair nor table, the floor is both our seat by day and our bed by night. Here we passed seventeen days, and wretched days they were. Our only cooking utensils were a small tin pail, which one of our number fortunately brought with him, and an Three hundred of our officers were in the Maold hoe which we picked up, and fried both rine Hospital, on the same square, which rumor cakes and meat upon. The water was scarce proclaimed to be a very nice place, and as many and bad, with poor facilities for washing and more were at the Roper Hospital, where I was bathing, while the yard was so filthy that we anxious to go that I might meet and be with my cared not to avail ourselves of the permission to friends. Not receiving any reply to numerous enter it. applications for my removal, I had about given The sutler charged exorbitant prices for every up the hope of change, when the welcome order PRISON-LIFE. came, and the evening of September 4 found me within its walls. The Roper Hospital is a brick structure, finished in mastic, on the corner of Queen and Marych streets, is three stories in height, with a tower at each end, and one on either side of the centre door. A garden extends the entire front of the building, is inclosed by an iron fence, and gave evidence of former care and cultivation; but weeds and plebeian shrubs were fast crowding upon the rare trees and plants it contains. In the rear is the Insane Asylum, where some officers were quartered, and of which we had full range; and on the right is the Medical College. We were permitted to burn the gas until nine o'clock P.M., which luxury we fully enjoyed and appreciated, serving as it did to make the evening pass quickly and pleasantly. I should not omit to speak of the long piazza at the front, on which I have spent so many hours with my pipe for my companion. ROPER HOSPITAL, CHARLESTON. The burned district was the foreground of the | eral Foster than he opened all his guns. picture which there became so familiar to me; and on the moonlight nights the weird shadows which fell around the smoked ruins were, in the dead quiet of midnight, enough to carry me in dreams to the cities whose foundations were beyond the reach of history, and in whose streets the foot of the traveler alone resounds. Dimly rising on the left hand were the ruins of the Cathedral. "A crumbling tower now remains With scars of fire and water stains, To show where stood the house of God." The prisoners crowded to the windows, and as shell after shell came crashing down in close proximity, frightening the darkey firemen so that it was almost impossible to get any work out of them, we raised cheer upon cheer, which were not abated when one shell burst directly over us, and a piece came whizzing into the room, wounding slightly one of our number. "Our market" at the Roper was quite an institution, and a very important one, as it improved our diet and preserved our health thereby. Prisoners, as a general thing, "go to bed and Beyond, the Ashley flowed calmly to the sea, rise with the lark," and from early dawn flocked shiring as a silver sheet; and gazing now here to the front gate to buy the morning papers-the and now there, into the shadow or far away to Courier or Mercury-price twenty-five cents. the light, I sat and thought, with nothing but After the news-boys came the milk-women, who the footfall of the sentinel or his cry "All's for one dollar and a half per quart would sell well!" to break the stillness. But no, there was any quantity, watered to the taste (of the seller), sometimes an interruption, and a not unpleasant with which the bread at one dollar a loaf could one, coming as a flash far off in the horizon, be washed down. Later in the morning the and soon as a heavy, dull rumble to the ear. women and children begin to collect on the It was a gun; perhaps the Swamp Angel, per- opposite curb-stone with eggs, butter, potatoes, haps from Wagner. Away up among the stars fruits, yams, ground-nuts, dumplings, and pasthe practiced eye may discover the iron messen- try, and there until night a brisk traffic would ger which it sends, and follow it as you would a be kept up through the medium of the men of meteor, in its ascent, its graceful curve, and its the guard who were off duty. If we had not downward flight, until, coming so near that it funds to buy we could trade off our rations, and makes one hold his breath, you hear the whiz, at least get a change of diet. Who will not the crash, and the explosion. Yet I bade these long remember "old Aunty" sitting behind her fearful visitors welcome, for they are just from waiter of shrimps, or basket of potatoes, her our guns," from under the old flag, and even pleasant "good-mor'n, massa," and her genial the smell of the powder has a refreshing tend- smile inviting your custom; or neat, tidy Sarah ency. One day a fire broke out close by the at her table covered with pies, cakes, etc.; the hospital, which was no sooner perceived by Gen-black-eyed little Mary and her companion Vir 66 ginia ready to run to the store, or take the clothes of those who reveled in more than one suit out to the washer-woman; and "see me quick and le'me go," as the old thin-faced black wench, who was always cross and in a hurry was called, because of her frequent exclamation? or nuts. We were "on 'Change" there-not dabbling in stocks, and little interested in the price of gold, but getting the gossip from the women and the guards, enjoying our pipes, or eating pies, fruit, At Charleston our money was not taken from us-those who had a balance in "the bank" at Macon when they left have it there yet-their banker not having remitted as he promised to do. Greenbacks we exchanged for five and six to one, gold at nineteen and twenty. Some prisoners, to increase their income, took up the trades: and there was a tinman, who stripped all the gutters off the building to make tin pails; a tailor, who sowed tares and reaped wheat in the form of bread; a shoemaker, who cared for our soles-for a consideration; and a barber, who beautified our other extremityall of whom were very useful and valuable members of the community. We received our mails more regularly, another inexpressible comfort. When I went there no letters had reached me from home since my capture, and others had been many months in anxious expectation and suspense, knowing there must be letters lying somewhere in the Confederacy for them. Ah, those letters! Can any one ever tell what they are to a prisoner, those short pages of love, of consolation, of condolence? One little page! but to him it contains more than is written thereon with the pen. It brings the touch of the father, the voice of the mother, the breath of the beloved, perhaps the prattle of children, or it may bring volumes of sadness. In answer, the little you are permitted to write seems of no use; and when you remember that there can be no privacy about it, no respected seal, one great charm is removed, and confining yourself to plain matter of fact you feel it scarcely worth while to send it when finished. The cry, "Fall in for the mail!" was the first intimation we ever had of their arrival, and then came a rush. Books, games, mending, cooking, and eating were left unfinished and uncared for; drowsy sleepers are aroused by their companions; and all clustered around the door where stood the man with the precious documents in his hands. As soon as quiet ensued he commenced to call the names, to which every fortunate man there present cried Here! and in response to others some one would answer" in work-house," "the hospital," or "the jail," and not unfrequently came the reply-half-stifled-"dead." The letters all distributed, the happy men turn away to find some quiet place in which to read theirs, and to talk over the news with some friend, and the disappointed ones to book, work, or sleep, to chew the bitter cud and nurse a hope for better luck next time. About the first of October the yellow-fever made itself known in our midst. That we should be instantly moved not humanity alone but the sanitary condition of the city demanded, and |