. On wheels and how I came there; a real story for real boys and girls, giving the personal experiences and observations of a fifteen-year-old Yankee boy as soldier and prisoner in the American civil war . ederategovernment in some capacity. The Confederates were quite eager for our men to 278 ON WHEKLS. take this oath, particularly artisans such as blacksiiiitlis,wagonmakers, tailors, shoemakers, etc. These wouldhave been valuable acquisitions to the Confederacy,and in many instances would have taken the place ofSouthern men, who would have been armed and sentto the front—men wdio would have
. On wheels and how I came there; a real story for real boys and girls, giving the personal experiences and observations of a fifteen-year-old Yankee boy as soldier and prisoner in the American civil war . ederategovernment in some capacity. The Confederates were quite eager for our men to 278 ON WHEKLS. take this oath, particularly artisans such as blacksiiiitlis,wagonmakers, tailors, shoemakers, etc. These wouldhave been valuable acquisitions to the Confederacy,and in many instances would have taken the place ofSouthern men, who would have been armed and sentto the front—men wdio would have made better sol-diers than the galvanized Yanks. As this oath offered liberty and life to the prisoner,with exemption from risk of battle, the young readerwill understand that the refusal to take it involved arejection of its proffered liberty and life on the onehand, and, on the other, acceptance of starvation, suf-fering, and not improbable death. During the time I was a prisoner I saw Imndredsand thousands reject that oath and thus accept theinevitable and yield to severest sufferings and a mostdreadful death, actuated by the most exalted patriot-ism and most unswerving devotion to the CHAPTER of Prison Life. FTER makingtlie most of our Cliristmas rationswe resumed onr work on our spooning hole ^with renewed energy, and we finished it bystarlight about 8 oclock in the evening. After a trip to the spring—for it was alwayscustomary to fill up on water before retiring for thenight—we all lay down in the bottom of our newlyprepared quarters, spooned together as closely aspossible, covered with our old blankets, and foundourselves much more comfortable than we were thenight previous, when lying in the mud and sleet withno protection from the cold wind. This hole in theground was our home as long as we stayed at Ander-sonville. If old Wirz had come around about that timewith a spade when we seven boys were lying sosnugly in the bottom of our excavati
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, bookidonwheelshowi, bookyear1892
