Private Wm. W. WILCOX, of Cleveland, Ohio, sworn and examined: —
I enlisted August, 1862, in the 124th Ohio Volunteers.
Taken prisoner at the battle of Chickamauga, Ga. September, 1863; taken to Tunnel Hill, Ga., was in good health at the time of capture; thence to Richmond, Va.; placed on Belle Isle.
They took everything except the natural clothing, even to knife, on body; no blankets given us; I hid my money and they did not get that.
No shelter provided; slept on bare ground; no covering in the least; was put on the Isle the last day of September, or first of October; staid there eleven days; men came when I did; had no shelter; were turned into an enclosure in which there was no shelter; I suppose there were two thousand without shelter.
Removed to the city of Richmond; we were all removed there; placed in Smith's tobacco factory; no covering nor bed until the blankets were sent to us by the United States; received the blankets about the 1st of December.
Removed to Danville, and placed in tobacco warehouse; windows broken out; miserable cold place; we took the blankets with us from Richmond: so cold, we suffered; no means to keep warm, except by walking around; the cold prevented sleeping to a great extent; a man could not sleep alone comfortable with one blanket.
There was a great deal of stealing of blankets by the guards; the men traded their blankets for rice; the guards would bring rice to the window, from fifteen to twenty pounds, and offer to exchange for our blankets; they would come to the windows and say, “stick your blanket out so I can get hold of the end of it;" then two or more of the guards would jerk the blanket away and not give the rice; this was not a general thing, though it was often done; the motive of the men for doing this, was, they were so near starved out that they were ready to take anything; the guard would pass in bags of sand in place of rice and take blankets.
When we first came there, our bread was made from middlings, shorts and bran, such as we feed our cattle; it was a combination of most everything, corn-hulls, bran, and refuse flour; got about half pound: the bulk was only one-quarter larger than the loaf shown, but was lighter than this; I should say from two to three ounces lighter.
Our beef, when we first went there, would range from four to six ounces a day.
Our soup was made from sweet potatoes; about half pint in quantity, and the liquor the beef was boiled in; some days we would not get any soup; the soup was hardly palatable.
There was a difference in our rations; we drew this black bread for about a week, then drew corn bread; the corn bread was about the size for a ration as the loaf shown here; I should judge our rations were heavier than that loaf, about two to three ounces, (loaf weighs now twelve ounces and a fraction).
In every ration there was cobs, whole corn, as hard as on the cobs, sometimes husks as long as my finger; the loaf was sweet when we first got it; not sufficient to satisfy hunger.
The way it affected me was to make me so weak I would become blind; if I'd get up to move as far as across this room, I would become blind and everything would get dark, and I would fall from weakness; my strength. kept declining all the time before I got the diarrhœa; did not have much diarrhœa until the first of March.
I was removed to the hospital about the middle of December, from Danville; I had no disease I know of but weakness, swelling of the legs, with purple and, inflamed and yellow spots ; the skin cracked and water ran out of my legs; rations better at the hospital, when I first went there, than they were in prison; we were allowed no privilege at all in prison.
After we tunnelled out, we were only allowed to go to the privy six at a time; the floor was in one mess—filthy; an ordinary one-horse wagon load of human excrement on the floor every morning.
Not allowed to look out the window; was shot at twice for looking out; a man was shot alongside of me, while standing at the window; he was standing two feet from the window, with his hand on the casement; the sentry could not see him from the sentry's beat; I presume the sentry saw his shadow; he stepped out of his position to shoot at him, perhaps twenty to twenty-five feet; the sentry shot him in the head and kilted him instantly; I suppose I have seen five hundred. men shot at; our orders were not to put our heads out the windows; this man had not put his head out at that time; he had rolled up his blanket and was standing over the place where he slept on the floor; his name was Alexander Opes, of the 101st Indiana.
With one exception, we were treated very well by the physicians; never heard any fault found of’ any physician but Dr. Moses, of Charlestown; don’t know his first name; when once we had mouldy bread given to us in the hospital, Dr. Fontleroy made a fuss about it and had it changed.
WM. W. WILCOX.
Sworn to and subscribed before me,
June 1st, 1864.
D. P. BROWN, JR.,
United States Commissioner.
Certification for statements taken May 31 and June 1, 1864 (There was only one certification in the document; however it is being included here on the web-page for each applicable statement - MpG ):
I certify that the foregoing testimony was taken and reduced to writing in the presence of the respective witnesses, and by them sworn to in my presence, at the times, places, and in the manner set forth.
D. P. BROWN, JR., United States Commissioner.
Evidence of Officers and Soldiers of the United States Army Returned after Confinement in Rebel Prisons.
Testimony taken at Annapolis, Maryland, at United Slates Army General Hospital, June 1, 1864.