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[88] been praised by some of his charges, and the adjutant, Lieutenant Cheatham, was also liked by the prisoners. The medical staff seems to have been unusually efficient, though as the prisoners sent to this place had been long in captivity, the mortality rate was heavy. An abandoned cotton-factory at Salisbury, North Carolina, was purchased for prison purposes by the Confederate Government, November 2, 1861. From the beginning it was designed to contain Confederates under sentence of court martial, disloyal citizens, and deserters suspected of being spies, as well as prisoners of war. The first prisoners of war reached the town on December 12, 1861, and were the object of much curiosity to the people from the town and country around, many of whom had never seen ‘ a real live Yankee ’ before. Other prisoners of war soon arrived, and during the month of March, 1862, they numbered nearly fifteen hundred. At this time, conditions were exceedingly favorable. Food was abundant, quarters were ample, weather was pleasant, and the prisoners frequently engaged in athletic sports. According to the report of the surgeon, only one died during the month of March, and the report for the quarter ending in April is also marvelous. The favorable conditions lasted through 1863. During the early months of 1864, the capacity of the prison began to be reached, but additions to the number were constantly made. During the month of October, about ten thousand arrived. Some of these were desperate men who had long been in prison. Cases of robbery, and even murder, among the prisoners were not uncommon, according to Junius Henri Browne and other prisoners there. For a considerable time the shelter remained inadequate, though an insufficient supply of old tents was finally provided. Those prisoners who could not be furnished with shelter burrowed in the earth or else built little mud huts, partly above and partly below the surface of the ground. The quartermaster
Review of Reviews. New York. 1912.
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