How the Rebs Took the Fort
For
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hilarious nighl. Con fedora I
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from North Carolina hold thoir raptors
as prisoners.
The following story was condensed
from one carried in the Thursday. De¬
cember II. 1879. issue of The Tarboro
Southerner, and was written by a soldier
of the Confederacy, whose pen name
was "Sigma. ” It recounts one of the
few humorous incidents of the life of
soldiers of the Confederacy who were
imprisoned in Yankee prison camps.
"The student of history is today
ignorant of the fact llul Fort Warren
in Boston Harbor was at one time
captured by the Confederate prisoners
confined there and held by them for
twenty-four bouts, after which time it
was quietly and peaceably surrendered
to its gallant commandant.
"The prisoners captured at Haltera*
in August 186! were an elephant, so
to speak, that the Yankee government
had drawn in the great lottery of war.
and it came about in this wise: The
command at Hattcras surrendered to
the naval forces under Commodore
Stringham, and it was specially stipu¬
lated and agreed to by the parties con¬
cerned that the Confederates should
receive the honorable treatment due.
and usually accorded to. prisoners of
war. . . .
"At the expiration of this time,
some seven or eight hundred of us
were placed on board the steamer
•State of Maine,' long since con¬
demned as unscaworthy, and sent off.
in the face of a coming storm, to Fort
Warren, the scene of our future ex¬
ploits. in charge of a ridiculously small
guard, where we remained until pa-
rolled and sent home. Here we had the
good fortune to have a set of humane,
gentlemanly officers and soldiers, the
24th Massachusetts Volunteers, to
guard us. and as companions in cap¬
tivity, nearly the whole of the Mary¬
land House of Delegates, and all of
the U. S. Naval Officers, who resigned
their commissions on arriving home
from foreign stations. As jolly a crowd
as was ever flung together by the
fortunes of war.
“As Christmas drew near the ladies
of Baltimore (may God never cease
to shower His blessings upon them! )
took it into their pretty little heads
to ask and obtain permission to send
CompU>4 *y lu.Ulf l»u|blii4i*
us a Christmas box. and on the 24th
of December it duly arrived along
side the wharf in the shape of a neat
little sloop, literally loaded down to the
water's edge with all manner of good
things calculated to cheer the drooping
spirits of the poor captive*.
"Barrels upon barrels of baked wild
ducks and geese and turkeys, and
fowls of all descriptions, dozens and
dozens of Eastern Shore hams, old and
new, and sweet and juicy, and ready
for knife and tooth, kegs of solid
oysters from the Chesapeake, boxes of
cakes, jars and pots of preserve* and
sweet meats, mountains of jelly that
shook their side* as if chuckling in
anticipation of the good time in store
for u*; loaves of bread by the cart
load, huge basket* of white, crisp cel¬
ery. corned beef, skewered and boiled,
baked meats, fruits, nuts, cigar*, to¬
bacco. pipes, bags of coffee and boxes
of lea. and last, though not least, slim
long-necked bottles of wine and great,
plethoric looking bottles of cordial,
jugs, big and little, with little red cap*
on their heads, like Dutch sailors, and
huge demijohns clad in wicker coats
and hooded like a set of jolly good
monk*, delighted our vision Ye Gods,
what a bill of fare! And. more than
enough for all. . . .
"In the morning long tables were
prepared in the case-mates and the
good things lavishly spread from end
to end, and at noon, all— both Con¬
federates and Yankees, were invited to
draw near and partake of the good
cheer. Toasts were drunk to Jeff Davis
and Abe Lincoln, and responded to by
both sides. Sectional feeling was for¬
gotten. The war was a thing of the past
and good humor prevailed on all sides
After dinner friendly games such as
leap-frog, football, leaping and foot
racing were indulged in freely, the blue
and gray promiscuously commingled
"Most of the officers resorted to the
terre pleine of the fort with such im¬
provised implements a* they could pro¬
cure for the purpose, and indulged in
the boyish sport of coasting down the
inclined side of the rampart into the
outer fosse. Our gallant old. bald-
headed Major was there, the youngest
of the young, the gayest of the gay.
happy as a lord and jolly as a friar.
Mounted on an empty flour barrel with
his short legs stuck forward and on
cither side to brace him in hi* uncer¬
tain seat, he started down the rather
steep incline with a cheer for Jeff
Davis and the Southern Confederacy,
and waving his fat. red hand for the
rest of us to follow him. Fair as was
the start, and propituou* a* everything
seemed, he had reckoned without hi*
host. Before he had completed half
the descent hi* barrel, meeting with
some obstruction, sheered off to the
left and started down the hill sidewise
He clasped both arms frantically
around it in the useless effort to save
himself from a tumble, and down they
went together with a bump and a
thump, the Major being on top really
hut half the time, but in such rapid
succession that he appeared to be there
all the time.
"The other* had not waited for a
second invitation to follow him. but
one after the other had launched them¬
selves in his slipping wake as quickly
as possible, some in barrels like him¬
self. some in empty boxes, and a few
even ventured to try the effect of friction
on the seats of their pantalo>4i*
"The Major was the first to reach
THE STATE. SOTiMiia
Ю.
I*SS
