and down one side of our scanty quarters. There was a daily roll call, when chaffing the Officer of the Day gave slight amusement. At one time three or four of our companions escaped from prison, passing the guard by a show of authority. The wearing of Federal uniforms secured on the field of battle was so common in the streets, that the guards could hardly tell friends from foe.

At that time the whole Rebel Army was encamped near Richmond, and in consequence it availed nothing to be outside the walls of the prison. The escaped prisoners were in a day or two brought back and put in irons. While they were gone we had with some success answered for their names at Roll Call from a distant part of the room. We devised a way of unlocking the irons, and by putting a detail of our men to give warning of the approach of officials, were able to give some relief to the sufferers.

The Commander of the Prison was the notorious Wirtz, afterwards hung for cruelty to prisoners by the United States Government. One of his juniors was a Lieutenant Todd, said to be a brother of Mrs. Abraham Lincoln. He was always abusing Lincoln, and was especially strict and disagreeable, even more so than his superior, Wirtz.

We formed a society, and held meetings, at which speeches were made and stories told, more or less accurate. When any new officers, taken on the various battlefields, came, we initiated them, and, in the openness of their confidence, got from them the story of their early lives and loves, which afforded us amusement, until they discovered a way to be brief in their statements.

The privates, who were mostly intelligent volunteers, had similar difficulty in passing time. They had, however, one successful thing which interested them for a time. The money then in circulation in Richmond consisted entirely of paper money, in the form of Corporation notes, and those of business firms, plank roads, or private bankers, etc.

Our men discovered in their quarters a half barrel of such material, needing only to be signed and issued. This was readily accomplished, and as they took care to have the issue in fractional amounts, it was never questioned, and served its purpose of increasing the Currency of the Realm. Through the kindness of one of the guards, this served to supply them with tea and tobacco purchased for them in the city.

One day General Winder, a former member of the U.S.A., now commanding the District of Richmond, came with the staff in full uniform to make an official visit to the prison. He read an order of the Confederate War Department, directing him to select Officers bearing the highest rank, to be held as hostage for the lives of as many Privateer men who were held in Federal Prisons under the charge of piracy on the High Seas. The order required the hostages to be confined in the cells reserved for prisoners accused of infamous crimes. The hostages selected, seven in number, were under this order, taken to Henrico County Jail, a stone building in Richmond, with high windows looking out upon a stone wall not ten feet off, of equal height with the jail.

Colonel Lee and Major Revere were among the chosen seven who were taken to the jail, where their hardships were more than ours were, who remained in Libby Prison. Colonel Lee writes to the Adjutant, dated Cell No.—, County Jail. "Dear C.,—We are all well. This is indeed a prison. We have two meals a day. I will not dwell upon our situation. Seven persons in one cell, 11 x 17 feet, in which all the duties of life are met. Iron grated door and two high grated windows. Does the sun shine? Is it pleasant to look on the sky? A County Jail is not a fit place for men charged with constructive crimes. No despondent thoughts cross our manhood. Come what may, that shall stand a rich legacy to the dear ones who cluster about our home altars."

Moved by this recital, seven officers of those remaining in Libby Prison petitioned General Winder for leave to take the place of the hostages, but it was refused. In February the hostages