. History of the Twenty-fourth Michigan of the Iron brigade, known as the Detroit and Wayne county regiment .. . ut on Belle Isle. While here, in November, eight or ten of our soldiers died whilesleeping on the outside of the embankment thrown up to separate us from the had frozen to death. Their bodies were left there for five days until the hogs onthe island ate them up, the rebels refusing to have them removed. At first we had a very small piece of meat and a cup of pea soup, once a peas where infested with black bugs in the shells and often they had eaten theentire pea
. History of the Twenty-fourth Michigan of the Iron brigade, known as the Detroit and Wayne county regiment .. . ut on Belle Isle. While here, in November, eight or ten of our soldiers died whilesleeping on the outside of the embankment thrown up to separate us from the had frozen to death. Their bodies were left there for five days until the hogs onthe island ate them up, the rebels refusing to have them removed. At first we had a very small piece of meat and a cup of pea soup, once a peas where infested with black bugs in the shells and often they had eaten theentire pea out. Of such peas was our soup made, bugs and all. Often we had toscrape the bugs off the top of our soup before we ate it. The Union SanitaryCommission sent supplies for us but the rebels confiscated them and they did not reach us. The guards would show us the supplies, saying they were from the Yankees, and eat them before our eyes. Occasionally they threw pieces of food downinto the open sinks to see our starved men in their rage for food, reach down into thefecal mass of filth and fish them out to eat!. LIBBY PRISON, RICHMOND, VA. Often the stomachs of our men could not digest the poor, uncooked foodfurnished us, and they would vomit it up. I have seen a comrade gather up thewhole beans vomited up, wash, re-cook and eat them ! During my stay on Belle Isle,the rebel surgeons vaccinated the prisoners with poisonous vaccine that killed themen off faster than if they had the small pox. The vaccinated limbs would rot andthe whole body became infected with the poisonous virus. On February 22, 1864, I left that God forsaken island and was taken back toRichmond, and then further South. None knew where we were destined until, at theend of six days and nights on the cars, we arrived at Andersonville prison. One dayon the route we had peanuts only to eat. We were turned into this pen withoutshelter, like a lot of animals. Here, for rations, we received corn meal, a pint fortwenty-fou
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