In and Out of Rebel Prisons: A First Hand Account of Life in Confederate Prisons

by Lieut. Alonzo Cooper

This is the first hand account of Lieutenant Alonzo Cooper, 12th N. Y. Cavalry. During the Civil War he spent time in and attempted escape from several Confederate prisons, including Andersonville. This account is both compelling and historically significant.---Excerpt---I found on my return, that Capt. Hodges had taken some men and attempted to get down the creek, but the boat was capsized and the Captain being unable to swim, was drowned. When I reported to General Wessels, he ordered me to take my men into battery Worth, which I did, spending the balance of the day and night in piling up bags of sand to strengthen our little redoubt; firing an occasional shot with our two hundred pound Parrot at the ram, which we struck many times during the day, but we could see by the aid of our field glasses, the immense projectiles glance off her heavily armored sides, like peas thrown against the round surface of a stove pipe. The projectiles were of such immense size that we could easily watch their course from the time they were twenty rods from the gun, without the aid of our glasses, and could trace their course the whole distance.

184 pages, Paperback

Published April 27, 2010