A Soldier's Experience in Southern Prisons / A Graphic Description of the Author's Experiences in Various Southern Prisons

A first-person memoir of capture and prolonged confinement in Southern Civil War prisons, detailing daily life under overcrowding, meager rations, disease, and brutal discipline. The narrator describes transfers among facilities, the organization of prison rolls, attempts to tunnel or otherwise escape, short-lived paroles, and the use of clandestine routes guided by local sympathizers. Episodes recount recapture, harsh punishments, improvisations for shelter and food, and occasional acts of kindness from civilians and fellow captives. The narrative closes with liberation, recovery under Union officers, and formal return to military command or discharge, emphasizing endurance, resourcefulness, and the human cost of imprisonment.