hile
we were at Savannah--Captain Sampson, 2d Mass. H. A., and he was soon
recaptured and brought back.

He escaped by crawling out through a hole under the high board fence and
tried to reach the fort on the coast about six miles away, but the swamps
were simply impassible, and after wandering about through water and mud
nearly knee deep for two or three days, was obliged to abandon the attempt
to reach the coast, and was arrested by a patrol, who accidentally run
upon him while he was trying to extricate himself from the impassible
swamp.

He said that at one time he was in sight of the fort, but the water
deepened so fast as he approached the shore, that he was obliged to
retrace his steps.

It was a source of some little comfort to us to be once more within
hearing of the morning and evening guns of a Union fort, but surrounded as
we were by the guard of a hostile enemy, how long a distance that six
miles seemed.

While at Savannah we were also furnished kettles, in which to heat water
for washing our clothes; and as we had no extra changes of clothing, some
ludicrous scenes were witnessed while the washing and drying was going on.

Lieut. Abbot, while boiling his clothing, tied a blanket around his waist
until they were dry enough to wear again, making him look like an old
woman, and while thus employed was sketched by an artist named Dahl, and
presented with his own picture.

On the 13th of September we were placed on board the cars and arrived at
Charleston the same evening, where we were placed in the jail yard, to be
knocked out by General Gilmore's batteries on Morris Island. This was
without exception the most filthy, lousy, dirty place I ever saw. There
were only fifty A tents for six hundred prisoners, and scarcely any wood
with which to cook our rations. At Charleston occurred the first death by
starvation that I had witnessed, the deceased being a member of my
company.

Soon after we entered the jail yard Capt. Hock and myself were greeted by
two skeletons, whom we never would have recognized had they not made
themselves known to us. They were reduced to mere skin and bone, and
neither could walk, being on the very verge of death from starvation. As
soon as possible I made them some gruel and tried to nurse them back to
life. We fed them sparingly through the evening and then left them a pot
of food to eat during the night, being particular to caution them not to
eat too much, Sergeant Sweet, who