Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 12.djvu/53

 Capture of the Confederate Steamer Florida. 43

oners. These rooms were casemates, and were fifty feet long and about eighteen feet wide. At sunset we were locked up in these casemates, and released after sunrise, and allowed to promenade the extent of five such rooms. At 8 A. M. we were marched around to the cookhouse, and were all given one loaf of bread each, weighing fourteen ounces. After twelve we were marched around again, and were given our dinner, which consisted of about eight ounces of cooked meat, with half a pint of thin soup, three days, and two pota- toes, some beans or hominy the other days. This was all we received each day. Many of the prisoners by economizing found this enough to appease their hunger, but a great many others were hungry all the time. If we had been allowed to buy sugar and coffee, and bread and cheese, a great many would have been able to do so, and divide with some of their friends who had no means, but we were allowed to buy nothing to eat without a certificate from the Post Surgeon that we were sick. There is an arrangement between our government and that of the United States, that prisoners-of-war may be allowed to receive boxes of provisions and clothing from their friends at home, but the United States Government now interprets this to mean that all boxes must come by a flag of truce. As half of the Confed- erate prisoners have their homes within what is now the United States military lines, this agreement works almost entirely for the Federals and against us. Half of the Florida's officers were in this situation, and they were compelled to decline the offers of their friends. On the 24th December all the Florida's officers except Dr. Charlton and fourteen other prisoners were locked up in a casemate, and kept in close confinement both day and night. We were not allowed to go out under any circumstances, except that for the first four days we were marched under a heavy guard to the cookhouse twice a day. After that our dinner was brought to us, and two of us were marched around to get the bread for all of those confined. This was for dis- cussing a plan to capture the fort, which one of the prison spies, w'ho pretends to be a Lieutenant-Colonel in our army, and a Lieutenant in the English army, revealed to the authorities. We were kept in close confinement until the 19th of January, when Lieutenant Woodman, of the United States army, sent for me, aixi told me that he had an order from the Secretary of the Navy to release the officers and crew of the Florida from Fort Warren, and that as such was the case he would release all of us from close confinement. He showed me the order from the Secretary of the Navy, which was that we would be released on condition that we signed a parole to leave the United