Nothing, only that I
fear that our cause is lost, as we are losing heavily, and have no more men at
home to come to the army. Our resources in everything are at an end, while the
enemy are seemingly stronger than ever. All the prisoners in Northern prisons,
it seems, will have to stay until the end of the war, as Grant would rather
feed than fight us.
SOURCE: Louis
Leon, Diary of a Tar Heel Confederate Soldier, p. 69
The smallpox is
frightful. There is not a day that at least twenty men are taken out dead. Cold
is no name for the weather now. They have given most of us Yankee overcoats,
but have cut the skirts off. The reason of this is that the skirts are long and
if they left them on we might pass out as Yankee soldiers.
SOURCE: Louis
Leon, Diary of a Tar Heel Confederate Soldier, p. 69
Nothing new. It is
the same gloomy and discouraging news from the South, and gloomy and discouraging
in prison.
SOURCE: Louis
Leon, Diary of a Tar Heel Confederate Soldier, p. 69
I suppose the end is
near, for there is no more hope for the South to gain her independence. On the
10th of this month we were told by an officer that all those who wished to get
out of prison by taking the oath of allegiance to the United States could do so
in a very few days. There was quite a consultation among the prisoners. On the
morning of the 12th we heard that Lee had surrendered on the 9th, and about
400, myself with them, took the cursed oath and were given transportation to
wherever we wanted to go. I took mine to New York City to my parents, whom I
have not seen since 1858. Our cause is lost; our comrades who have given their
lives for the independence of the South have died in vain; that is, the cause
for which they gave their lives is lost, but they positively did not give their
lives in vain. They gave it for a most righteous cause, even if the Cause was
lost. Those that remain to see the end for which they fought—what have we left?
Our sufferings and privations would be nothing had the end been otherwise, for
we have suffered hunger, been without sufficient clothing, barefooted, lousy,
and have suffered more than any one can believe, except soldiers of the
Southern Confederacy. And the end of all is a desolated home to go to. When I
commenced this diary of my life as a Confederate soldier I was full of hope for
the speedy termination of the war, and our independence. I was not quite
nineteen years old. I am now twenty-three. The four years that I have given to
my country I do not regret, nor am I sorry for one day that I have given—my
only regret is that we have lost that for which we fought. Nor do I for one
moment think that we lost it by any other way than by being outnumbered at
least five if not ten to one. The world was open to the enemy, but shut out to us.
I shall now close
this diary in sorrow, but to the last I will say that, although but a private,
I still say our Cause was just, nor do I regret one thing that I have done to
cripple the North.
SOURCE: Louis
Leon, Diary of a Tar Heel Confederate Soldier, p. 69-71
Five hundred more prisoners came in today.
SOURCE: Louis Leon, Diary of a Tar Heel Confederate Soldier, p. 65-6
To-day, as the negro guard was relieved, two of them commenced playing with their guns and bayonets, sticking at one another. Fortunately one of their guns, by accident, went off and made a hole in the other one's body, which killed him instantly. The other one kicked at him several times, telling him to get up as the rebels were laughing at him, but in a very short time he found out that he had killed his comrade and that we were laughing sure enough.
SOURCE: Louis Leon, Diary of a Tar Heel Confederate Soldier, p. 66
Received money to-day from home, but they gave me sutler's checks for it, as we were not allowed any money, for fear we would bribe the sentinels and make our escape.
SOURCE: Louis Leon, Diary of a Tar Heel Confederate Soldier, p. 66
Four hundred prisoners left here for some other prison, as there were too many here.
SOURCE: Louis Leon, Diary of a Tar Heel Confederate Soldier, p. 66
Engle, Riter and myself received boxes from New York to-day, but as Riter has gone to the other prison with the 400 we have made away with his box.
SOURCE: Louis Leon, Diary of a Tar Heel Confederate Soldier, p. 66
Three hundred more were sent from here to the new prison, which is in Elmira, N. Y., myself with them.
SOURCE: Louis Leon, Diary of a Tar Heel Confederate Soldier, p. 66-7
Left Point Lookout at 8 o'clock this evening in the frigate Victor for New York. There are 700 prisoners on board.
SOURCE: Louis Leon, Diary of a Tar Heel Confederate Soldier, p. 67
To-day on the ocean a great many of our boys were seasick, but not I. I was promised a guard to take me to see my parents in New York for thirty minutes.
SOURCE: Louis Leon, Diary of a Tar Heel Confederate Soldier, p. 67
We see the Jersey shore this morning. Our vessel was racing with another. We had too much steam up; the consequence was a fire on board, but we soon had it out. We landed at Jersey City at 12 M., and were immediately put in cars, and the officer that promised to send me to my parents refused to do so. We left here at 1, got to Elmira at 8 in the evening.
SOURCE: Louis Leon, Diary of a Tar Heel Confederate Soldier, p. 67
We were treated very good on the road, and especially at Goshen, N. Y. The ladies gave us eatables and the men gave us tobacco.
SOURCE: Louis Leon, Diary of a Tar Heel Confederate Soldier, p. 67
There are at present some 3,000 prisoners here. I like this place better than Point Lookout. We are fenced in by a high fence, in, I judge, a 200 acre lot. There is an observatory outside, and some Yankee is making money, as he charges ten cents for every one that wishes to see the rebels.
SOURCE: Louis Leon, Diary of a Tar Heel Confederate Soldier, p. 67
Nothing worth recording this month, except that the fare is the same as at Point Lookout.
SOURCE: Louis Leon, Diary of a Tar Heel Confederate Soldier, p. 67
It is very cold, worse than I have seen it in the South in the dead of winter.
SOURCE: Louis Leon, Diary of a Tar Heel Confederate Soldier, p. 67
We have got the smallpox in prison, and from six to twelve are taken out dead daily. We can buy from prisoners rats, 25 cents each, killed and dressed. Quite a number of our boys have gone into the rat business. On the 11th of this month there were 800 sick prisoners sent South on parole.
SOURCE: Louis Leon, Diary of a Tar Heel Confederate Soldier, p. 68
Nothing, only bitter cold. We dance every night at some of our [quarters]. Some of the men put a white handkerchief around one of their arms, and these act as the ladies. We have a jolly good time.
SOURCE: Louis Leon, Diary of a Tar Heel Confederate Soldier, p. 68
