Pvt. Luther Wesley Hopkins

Pvt. Luther Wesley Hopkins. Co. A, 6th Va. Cavalry. , …Upon the whole, prison life was very monotonous. It was such and unhealthy camp that the prisoners considered that they had a better chance for their lives fighting in the army., The food, while good was very scant. Breakfast consisted of coffee and a loaf of bread. The latter under ordinary circumstances, with vegetables and other food would probably suffice for two meals. The bread if we ate it all at breakfast, we went without bread at dinner. Dinner consisted of a tin cup of soup (generally bean or other vegetable) a small piece of meat on a tin plate, on which a little vinegar was poured to prevent scurvy. My recollection is we had no other meal, but my mind is not perfectly clear on this point. I do know however that we were always hungry. We were told that the short rations were given to us in retaliation for scanty food supplies to their soldiers in southern prisons., …The water was brackish and unpleasant to the taste. It was supplied by wells scattered about the camp., …Punishment for trying to escape was cruel. Those who were caught at it were strung up to a pole by the thumbs, with the tips of their toes just touching the ground. Sometimes the men would faint and have to be cut down…, From his book "From Bull Run to Appomattox".