niggers in an' 'lowed dem to look at Mars Sam. I
seen him an' he sure looked like he peaceful in he coffin with his
soldier clothes on. I heered atterwards dat Mars Sam bucked an' rared
just 'fore he died an' tried to get outen de bed, an' dat he cussed to
de last.

"It was this way, Boss, how come me to be in de War. You see, they
'quired all of de slaveowners to send so many niggers to de army to
work diggin' de trenches an' throwin' up de breastworks an' repairin'
de railroads what de Yankees done 'stroyed. Every mars was 'quired to
send one nigger for every ten dat he had. Iffen you had er hundred
niggers, you had to send ten of dem to de army. I was one of dem dat
my mars 'quired to send. Dat was de worst times dat dis here nigger
ever seen an' de way dem white men drive us niggers, it was something
awful. De strap, it was goin' from 'fore day till 'way after night. De
niggers, heaps of 'em just fall in dey tracks give out an' them white
men layin' de strap on dey backs without ceastin'. Dat was zackly way
it was wid dem niggers like me what was in de army work. I had to
stand it, Boss, till de War was over.

"Dat sure was a bad war dat went on in Georgia. Dat it was. Did you
ever hear 'bout de Andersonville prison in Georgia? I tell you, Boss,
dat was 'bout de worstest place dat ever I seen. Dat was where dey
keep all de Yankees dat dey capture an' dey had so many there they
couldn't nigh take care of them. Dey had them fenced up with a tall
wire fence an' never had enough house room for all dem Yankees. They
would just throw de grub to 'em. De mostest dat dey had for 'em to eat
was peas an' the filth, it was terrible. De sickness, it broke out
'mongst 'em all de while, an' dey just die like rats what been
pizened. De first thing dat de Yankees do when dey take de state 'way
from de Confedrits was to free all dem what in de prison at
Andersonville.

"Slavery time was tough, Boss. You Just don't know how tough it was. I
can't 'splain to you just how bad all de niggers want to get dey
freedom. With de 'free niggers' it was just de same as it was wid dem
dat was in bondage. You know there was some few 'free niggers' in dat
time even 'fore de slaves taken outen bondage. It was really worse on
dem dan it was with dem what wasn't free. De slaveowners, dey just
despised dem 'free niggers' an' make it just as hard on dem as dey
can. Dey couldn't get no work from nobody. Wouldn't airy man hire 'em
or give 'em any work