Flinn, John William, fl. 1863-1893 A Southern Soldier's Experiences in a Northern Prison
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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC04573.13 Author/Creator: Flinn, John William, fl. 1863-1893 Place Written: s.l. Type: Typed document Date: November 1893 Pagination: 17 p. ; 32.8 x 20.2 cm. Order a Copy
Originally written for the students of a "lady cousin" who was concerned her pupils were being misinformed about the "kind treatment of Southern Soldiers in Northern prisons." Flinn later presented the address at "S. C. College Nov. 1893." He begins by providing a brief history of his military service and then launches into an in-depth description of his sufferings as a prisoner at Point Lookout, Maryland from July 1864 to March 1865. The manuscript contains a two-page description of the camp's physical layout. Flinn emphasizes the inadequate clothing, foul water, bitter cold, and ravenous hunger which claimed many lives at the camp. He also discusses various ways by which prisoners could obtain "sutler's checks" to purchase, at exorbitant prices, food, clothing, or writing supplies from a local sutler. He concludes with the brutal "murders" of two inmates by black guards. (Flinn does not mention prisoners being issued clothing permits to receive clothing from home as in letter .07.)
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