Diary From A
Yankee Prison
War wounds anti prison life never
«lulled this soldi«»r's sense of humor.
tty IH RWAKI) T. STORKS
An individual could he outstanding
in North Carolina if he were either a
Confederate veteran, or the operator of
a cotton mill, or the owner of a cham¬
pion race horse, and Lynn Banks Holt
was all three. Born June 28. 1842. in
Alamance County, he was the son of
the pioneer industrialist, Edwin M.
Holt. Reared on his father’s farm, he
was an assistant in the operation of the
family cotton mill when the Confed¬
erate Army was organized. At the age
of twenty, he enlisted July 3. 1861 in
Company F. of the 6th North Carolina
Regiment, with the rank of Second
Lieutenant. On Februarv 8. 1862. he
was captured during the Fighting on
Roanoke Island, hut exchanged a few
months later.
The following year, he was wounded
while on duty at Morris Island, in
South Carolina’s Charleston harhor.
Promoted to the rank of First Lieuten¬
ant. he was serving with his company
on September I. 1864. when he was
captured at Fort Harrison. Virginia,
after suffering a severe wound in his left
thigh. He was hospitalized at Fon Mon¬
roe until able to be transferred to Point
Lookout. Maryland. After a brief stay
there, he was taken to Old Capital
Prison, in Washington City and. on
February 3. 1865. removed to Fort Del¬
aware. in the state of Delaware. He was
released from that prison on June 17.
1865. and freed after taking the Oath
of Allegiance.
The Pocket Diary
Lieutenant Holt had a pocket diary
for the year 1864. in which he made a
variety of entries. Most are legible. Al¬
most one-third of the little book is filled
with autographs of fellow-soldiers,
many of whom were also fellow-prison¬
ers. A portion contains cryptic recor¬
dings of military events, as. on May 24.
ie
"Everything quiet in front" and. the
following day. "all quiet occasionally
a few shots were thrown at us doing no
damage." Others were more ex¬
planatory'. such as the note on May 8.
when leaving North Carolina, "Left
Kinston 9 am arrived at Weldon II am
& spent the night on the cars." On May
10, "Marched to another point on the
road where we met the cars, got on
board & moved off for Petersburg." he
recorded. Another entry read. "If I
should be slain on the battle field, or
die in a hospital, for the sake of human¬
ity inform Mrs. Emily Holt of Graham
Alamance Co N.C. of the fact. Sept.
16th. 1864.” Mrs. Emily F. Holt was the
soldier’s mother, and this entry was
made soon after he was wounded in
battle.
The remainder of the diary contains
several lists of clothing issued to his
men, accounts of money received, notes
of letters w'ritten. and his writings while
a captive. The latter were humorous for
a man recovering from a painful wound
while confined in a military prison.
Whether or not any entries were of
original composition is unknown, but
they were carefully recorded, and
included:
Remedy For Corns
Rub them over with toasted
cheese, and let your feet hang out
of bed for a night or two, that the
mice may nibble them off. If the
mice do their duty the remedy
will be sufficient.
Others expressed a more philosophical
attitude, of which the following is an
example:
I always did intend
Single my life to spend;
It much delighteth me
To live from women free.
V
Lt. Lynn Bank» Holt, ot Alamance County, In
Confederate uniform, (photo courtesy
Alamance County Historical Museum, to
which original was given by Hot!’» grand¬
daughter. Mrs. David E. Stalter III)
Its sure a happy life
To live without a wife,
A female to my mind
I never expect to find.
A bachelor to live
My mind I freely give.
These sentiments of the Confederate
prisoner were understandable, but did
not prove prophetic, as after his release
in 1865. he married Mary Catherine
Mebane and became the father of seven
daughters.
Fort Delaware Song
In addition to the witticisms he re¬
corded, the diarist also included the
"Ft. Delaware Song," which was com¬
posed in dialect by some unknown poet:
Come listen to my ditty I will
while away a minit
And if I didint think so 1
nebber w-ould begin it
Tis about a life in prison so
forward bend your heads
And I’ll tell you in a minit
how they treat a poor Confcd
In de Prison of the Delaw-arc
Dey put you in de barracks
in division
An den dey put a captin who
boses de position
He keeps de many letters
keeps order in de room
THE STATE, JAMMU* IMS
