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The Bright Side of Prison Life: Experiences, In Prison and Out, of an Involuntary Sojourner in Rebeldom, by Captain S. A. Swiggett was published in 1897 by Press of Fleet, Mcginley & Co. in Baltimore. This volume is full of colorful anecdotes about the author and his fellow wartime prisoners during the Civil War. From bad whiskey to escape tunnels to ‘hoss swapping’, Captain Swiggett shares the good and bad in a way makes you want to keep going.

This volume is part of our Civil War Collection. It can be found in Part V: Iowa’s Perspective. This collection consists of memoirs, pamphlets, and regimental histories from the Civil War holdings at the University of Iowa. Iowa provided more troops per capita than any other Union state, and these writings reflect the experiences of Iowa soldiers as they fought in nearly all the campaigns and major battles throughout the war years.

Captain Swiggett’s sense of humor comes through in the Preface of this book:

Preface

The author’s name and reputation may sell this book — miracles have happened; but he does not intend to permit the possible deception of a confiding public into the belief that they cannot exist without reading it. The possible purchaser is hereby warned that it is different from any other book he ever read.

It is without plot, moral, historical value, mystery, romance, horrors and murderous scenes. The best excuse to be offered for its existence is the fact that the author’s numerous friends have repeatedly urged him to print what they call an interesting and unusual series of incidents.

The responsibility for any injury to the public must rest upon the heads of these friends, the author not holding himself accountable for anything except the truth of the narration. My friends being pleased with this publication, it may be safe for others to try it, but they must not blame me for any lack of appreciation.

Trusting that this warning will prevent the unsuspecting from buying the book solely on account of the author’s literary reputation, the result is awaited with fear and trembling.

S. A. Swiggett
March, 1895

Table of Contents

It may be of interest to the reader to learn that all the men who were my companions in escape are still living, except Capt. J. B. Gedney and Adjt. Stephen K. Mahon.

Illustrations

CAPT. CHARLES BURNBAUM

There were cases of personal ill-treatment which came under my notice, but they were the great exceptions, and, as a rule, the rebels of my acquaintance did for their prisoners all that was possible with the means in their power, and treated them as well as prisoners could expect to be treated.

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A traveler once arrived at a village inn after a hard day’s travel, but the landlord said they were entirely full, and that it was utterly impossible to accommodate him; that his wife had of sleep on the sofa and himself on the floor, but he would see what his wife could do for him.

The good woman,on being applied to, said there was a room he might occupy, provided he would agree to the condition, viz; To enter the room in the dark and leave it early in the morning, to prevent scandal, as the room was double bedded and occupied by a lady.

This he agreed to.

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Part II of our Civil War collection, The Soldiers’ Perspective, provides an in-depth look at the day-to-day actions of the troops who fought in the war years of 1861-1865. This glimps comes primarily in the form of regimental histories.

These texts were generally written by an individual veteran, but sometimes they were compiled by a committee, these books were all published after the war to document what actually happened during the war years.

Taking a look inside A History of Massachusetts in the Civil War, by William Schouler, in this collection provides the kind of detailed first hand history of the Civil War that is the hallmark of this collection of books. This exhaustive history was composed by William Schouler, Late Adjutant-General of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Preface

The original plan of this work would have included a brief narrative of each Massachusetts regiment which had served in the war, and a sketch of the meetings held in the several cities and towns in the Commonwealth to encourage recruiting, and to raise money and provide for the families of the soldiers. I soon found it was impossible to carry out this plan so as to do any thing like justice to the subjects. The mass of papers, letters, and reports bearing upon them placed in my hands, convinced me that one volume should be devoted exclusively to the three years’ regiments, and one to the cities and towns.

There are several thousand letters in the files of the Governor, Adjutant-General, and Surgeon-General, written from the front by officers and enlisted men, which contain information both interesting and valuable; and many more are doubtless in the possession of the families of those who served in the war. From these and other sources, material can be furnished to make an interesting volume; and it is due to the veteran regiments that it should be written.

I have received new and valuable material from nearly every city and town in the Commonwealth, showing what was done by them in carrying on the war; and from this could be compiled a work which would reflect the highest honor upon the municipalities of this Commonwealth.

Should the present volume be received with favorable regard by the people of Massachusetts, it is my purpose to write a volume of the same size and style, devoted exclusively to the three years’ regiments and batteries, to be followed by another, devoted to the cities and towns.

William Schouler.
Lynn, Massachusetts • March 17. 1868.

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Mrs. Sarah A. Pryor wrote this, and other memoirs, from her home in New York City after the end of the Civil War. Mrs. Pryor’s husband fought for the Confederacy but after the war he brought his wife north to New York and into “the arms of the enemy” as Mrs. Pryor was fond of putting it, before adding “and the enemy was always good to us”. Sarah Pryor was also a founder and first Regent of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution and for nineteen years she functioned as the Honorary Vice President General of the D.A.R.

Reminiscences of Peace and War appears in the Accessible Archives Civil War Collection supporting full text search along with high resolution illustrations and full page images.

Mrs. Pryor’s obituary can be read in the New York Times archives from February 16, 1912.

Dedication

I dedicate this book to the memory of my son, William Rice Pryor, M.D., who gave to suffering humanity all that god had given him.

Preface

It will be obvious to the reader that this book affects neither the “dignity of history” nor the authority of political instruction. The causes which precipitated the conflict between the sections and the momentous events which attended the struggle have been recounted by writers competent to the task. But descriptions of battles and civil convulsions do not exhibit the full condition of the South in the crisis.

To complete the picture, social characteristics and incidents of private life are indispensable lineaments. It occurs to the author that a plain and unambitious narrative of her recollections of Washington society during the calm which preceded the storm, and of Virginia under the afflictions and sorrows of the fratricidal strife, will not be without interest in the retrospect of that memorable era.

The present volume recalls that era in the aspect in which it appeared to a woman rather than as it appeared to a statesman or a philosopher.

–Mrs. Roger A. Pryor

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You don’t hear a lot about the contributions of women during the Civil War but I came across an interesting story last week while I was researching the Battle of Shiloh. Belle and William Reynolds had been married exactly one year when word of Fort Sumter reached them in their hometown of Peoria, Illinois. William immediately enlisted and was commissioned as a lieutenant in the 17th Illinois Volunteer Infantry. Rather than be separated from her new husband, Belle (along with several other women) followed his unit keeping a journal about her experiences.

Throughout the summer and then through the fall and winter of 1861, William’s regiment was involved in various campaigns in southern Missouri. By April, 1862 they had moved into Tennessee and were camped by the Tennessee River at Pittsburg Landing just across the river from the town of Savannah. At dawn on Sunday, April 6, 1862 Belle was cooking her husband’s breakfast on the campfire when the Confederates launched their surprise attack on the Union forces. Now this is the part I love…in the midst of bullets flying and shells shrieking, Belle calmly finishes frying her cakes and as her husband mounts his horse to leave for battle, wraps them up and puts them in his haversack before running for her life! Talk about being cool under fire!

For the remainder of that day Belle and the other women assist as the wounded soldiers begin to pour in. Many were taken behind the lines to the Union steamboats on the river. The next day as they visited one of the boats, a surgeon objected to having women on board. Not intimidated in the least, Belle proceeds to search the boat for any members of her husband’s regiment. In her diary she notes that “though there were three or four hundred wounded men on the boat, there were but two or three surgeons, and they unwilling to have us relieve what suffering we could.” The surgeons also refused to give the women any supplies so undaunted, Belle gathers some from other boats and returns to clean wounds and serve food. Go Belle!

A week later Belle is ordered home to Illinois for some much needed rest. The other travelers on her boat were very interested in hearing her eyewitness account of the recent battle. One of the passengers happend to be Illinois govenor Richard Yates who, being moved by Belle’s story proposed to give her a commission in the army and upon learning her husband’s rank of lieutenant, made her a Major stating that he believed in “giving the women the best of it.”

Ladies, now THAT’S a role model!

Source: WOMEN OF THE WAR; THEIR HEROISM AND SELF-SACRIFICE. S. S. SCRANTON & CO, 1866.

Nancy Shively

Nancy Shively is a passionate family historian, the mother of 4 grown children, and the grandmother of 3 grandsons to whom she hopes to hand down her family stories.

You can find Nancy on Twitter at @nancyshively as well as on Pinterest, Facebook, Google+, and her own Gathering Stories blog.