y of
his to be always on the wrong side of the fence.

Master's Mate William Kitching, being desirous of having conversation
with one of the boat's crew, had removed a couple of bricks from the
partitions which separated the officers from the sailors. He told some
of the men to pass the word for all of his men to come to the aperture.
Much to his surprise he was informed that all the men belonging to his
boat had died at Andersonville. Not one of the thirteen sailors were
living. The other officers went to the hole and called for their men
also. Only a very few answered to their names. Out of the sixteen
sailors captured with me only three answered. About seventy-five per
cent of the sailors had died in the different prisons. What puzzled us
all was the fact of there being so many prisoners that none of us could
identify. The men must have had consultation among themselves, as during
the afternoon the situation of affairs was fully explained to us.
Information had been received at the different prisons that the sailors
were to be exchanged. They originated a plan to help all the soldiers
possible. Sailors gave their most intimate friends the names of their
deceased shipmates, the names of the ships, where and when captured, the
names of the officers, and, in fact, all information that would be
useful. The scheme had been successful, so far. They were told to
continue the deception, and the officers would assist them in doing so.
We had been in Libby three weeks and nothing definite was known, and we
might go back South for all we knew.

About nine in the evening the stairs leading to the second floor were
lowered.[F] One officer was called by name and taken into the office,
and when he returned another was called, and so on, until all of us had
been interviewed by the notorious Major Turner. The name of our ship,
where and when captured, how many men we had, and a lot of other
questions were asked. That racket continued until about three o'clock in
the morning. Each of us had asked him about our prospects of being
exchanged. "That is an affair about which I know nothing," was his
answer. Of course, none of us thought about sleeping that night. Walking
the floor and discussing the situation suited us better under the
circumstances. About four o'clock there was more excitement. A day's
ration of food was issued to each one. It consisted of two small pieces
of corn-bread, and of mighty poor quality. At five o'clock that e