Page:The Immortal Six Hundred.djvu/167

   of war in General Foster's hands, under fire on Morris Island, were fed four rotten hardtack crackers, with half a pint of soup each day. Was, we ask, this cruelty wanton? If these Yanks had treated us half as well as our government treated Federal prisoners of war we would have made no protest. On the word of a deserter (Charles Harris) from Charleston, who said there were 600 or 700 Federal prisoners of war under fire in Charleston, was this cruel, cowardly retaliation inflicted upon us Confederate soldiers. Further on in the same letter General Foster calls Saxton's attention to the possible attempt that might be made by our forces to release us. He says, "In case of an attack, shoot down any Rebel prisoners found out of the stockade." What humanity General Foster displays in this order; what a contrast between the treatment of the Union prisoners of war in our hands and the Confederate prisoners of war in the Federal prisons of the North.