Page:The Immortal Six Hundred.djvu/46

   number of Confederate prisoners confined in Northern prisons was 220,000 (from this report we see that while the South held 50,000 more prisoners of war than the North, the deaths in the South were four thousand less. The rate of deaths in Southern prisons was eight in each 100 men. The rate in the Northern prisons of Confederates was twelve in each 100). I think it is useless to go further into discussion of this matter, but leave our case to the bar of impartial history.

I hesitated before going into this history of the Immortal Six Hundred, but frequent requests of comrades of the six hundred, who were true unto the end of the ordeal, induced me to undertake the task and do the best I could in compliance with their request. I can only tell the story from a personal experience.

There were many incidents that took place that did not come under my observation, and not being able at this late date to obtain them, much must go untold. I shall tell the story without malice