Banner,"
"The Red, White and Blue," "The Sword of Bunker Hill," and "Rally 'Round
the Flag;" but the one that touched a tender chord in every prisoner's
heart, and that even the rebs used to call for, was this which I quote
entire:

In the prison pen I sit, thinking mother most of you,
And the bright and happy home so far away,
While the tears they fill my eyes, spite of all that I can do,
Though I try to cheer my comrades and be gay.

CHORUS.--Tramp, tramp, tramp, the boys are marching,
Cheer up, comrades, they will come,
And beneath the starry flag, we shall breathe the air again,
Of the freeland, in our own beloved home.

In the battle front we stood, when their fiercest charge was made,
And they swept us off, a hundred men or more,
But before we reached their lines, they were driven back dismayed,
And we heard the shout of victory o'er and o'er.

CHORUS.--Tramp, tramp, etc.

So within the prison pen, we are waiting for the day,
That shall come and open wide the iron door,
And the hollow eye grows bright, and the poor heart almost gay,
As we think of seeing friends and home once more.

Then there was another, the chorus of which I can only remember, that the
boys used to sing. The chorus was this:

Hurrah, boys, hurrah! Shout glory and sing;
For the rebels look sad and forsaken.
Our glorious old eagle is still on the wing,
And Vicksburg is taken, boys, taken.

Among the beautiful singers who were in the habit of entertaining us, I
distinctly remember Capt. Palmer, who had a good voice, and to whose
singing I was delighted to listen. I do not know to what regiment he
belonged, but I do know that he afforded me a great amount of pleasure by
his sweet songs.

Not being much of a singer myself, I nevertheless enjoy listening to
others, and as I once heard a noted preacher say, it depends as much on a
good listener as a good talker to have an enjoyable meeting, I thought
that I contributed as much as any one towards the entertainments.

Whenever there was any singing going on, there was always a good audience
of appreciative listeners, and among eighteen hundred officers, I need not
say there was plenty of talent to select from, and these evening
entertainments were a source of great enjoyment to all, even though the
same songs were sung over and over again by the same persons.

CHAPTER IX.

FRESH FISH-