Prison Life During the Rebellion. Being a Brief Narrative of the Miseries and Sufferings of Six Hundred Confederate Prisoners Sent from Fort Delaware to Morris’ Island to be Punished.

An exceptional copy

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CWB I:190: “An early example of Southern-style prison propaganda; basically a diatribe against Union officers and Negro guards.” Six hundred Confederate soldiers with their rank, residence, and place of capture are listed. The purported ill-treatment these men receive under the guard of black Union soldiers on Morris Island comprises most of the text. The work is largely fictional, the language within is so racially-charged and antagonistic and bombastic, suggests this is so. Incessant barbs against the black soldiers are numerous; a never-ending litany of abuses received by their keepers forcefully froths throughout the pages. These three examples are typical: “The privates were n****** of the deepest dye, and betrayed all the ignorance, villainy and cruelty peculiar to barbarians. Their conduct toward the prisoners was characterized by great cruelty and inhumanity ... They promenaded ... casting a vicious and revengeful eye at their defenseless charge…” (p29) In another instance, a white man with a black woman is described as a man “who loved to regale his olfactory organs on the smell of Africa or her sable daughters.” Then, a white woman is “led by the arm of a large, ugly, thick-lipped greasy buck negro ... Sometimes they would kiss their negro spouse in our presence…” (p41) Scarce in such exceptional condition.

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