Genealogy of the Fitch family in North America - citizen hylbom blog

'50 ' FITCH FAMILY
Mr. Fitch enlisted Dec. 28, 1863, in Company D.
125th. O. V. I.', was promoted to 1st Serg'tSept. l r
1865, and was mustered out with the company
Sept. 25, 1865. In May, 1^64, he joined his regiment
at Dallas, Ga. He remained with the regiment
until late in August, when in the great flanking
movement of Sherman's Army to the rear of
Atlanta ; being unable to march with the regiment
on account of sickness, he was taken prisoner and
confined at Andersonville Prison. From an account
of his experiences as a prisoner, written by
himself, we append a few extracts—as faintly indicating
the sufferings he endured in the service of
his country. Speaking of the prison fare, at Andersonville,
he says : "Our rations, which were
cooked, consisted of a piece of coarse corn bread,
made from cob meal, about one and one-half inches
square—one pint of boiled beans (bugs, dirt and
gravel stones included), a mouthful of boiled beef,
and sometimes a few grains of salt." About Sept.
10, 1864, 5000 of the prisoners of Andersonville
were transferred to Savannah, where they remained
until Oct. 12, when they were transferred to the prison
at Millen, Ga. From here he managed to escape,
but was recaptured and taken back to prison. Speaking
of the punishment inflicted on him, he says i
" The stocks is an instrument of torture which isused
by Southern planters to punish refractory
slaves. The person to be confined is forced to lie
down on his back, with the limbs crossed at theknees
; his feet are then confined about two and a
half feet from the ground by means of two thick
boards with holes through them large enough to
accommodate the ankles, which shut together con-