Preface: From late 1864 to early 1865, Fort Pulaski was used as a Confederate prison for officers.  It had been a Confederate fort which was easily taken over by Federal troops just prior to becoming a prison.  It is located in Savannah, Georgia.

My group, Mess No. 1, registerd for this event a while ago as Yankee prison guards.  We were to take on the persona of the 157th New York, so we studied up on them and read over the book "The Immortal Captives", and got all pepped up for the event.  We weren't disappointed.

We originally had eleven of us going, but as life has it, we dwindled to six of us.  Myself, Joe Liechty, Alpheus Lewis, Eric Tipton, Steve Spohn, and Terry Winders became the Immortal Six (inside Mess joke   ).  We left Thursday for the long trip down and suffered through horrible weather the whole way.  It rained cats, dogs, and frogs, and we even skirted a tornado or two I think.  What should have been a 10-11 hour trip turned into 13 hours. Joe and his wife Mindy were already there on vacation the week prior.

We arrived at our good buddy Steve Ewing's place at 5:30 am and crashed.  We awoke five hours later and met up with Joe and Mindy for a day of Savannah.  It was absolutely beautiful and the weather was awesome the rest of our time there.

After doing Savannah, we went to the event.  Got there in the dark as usual and changed in the dark as usual.  Seems to be our MO, along with the rain that is.  The organizers had a mandatory 9pm Federal meeting which we made.  The rules were laid out and the agenda gone over.  We headed down the walkway, over the drawbridge and moat, and inside the fort.  With a full moon shining, the view was incredible.  You could see most everything.

Orderly Sergeant Tripp Corbin formed the company.  Joe, Terry, and I ended up in first platoon, first section, the first comrades of four with Ewing.  Yes, we are tall.  We were hoping for such, and it worked out great. By this time, we were getting very fatigued with not much sleep from the trip, but I just knew we would draw the first guard duty and we did.

The prisoners weren't there yet.  But first section was put on duty at 11pm.  There were three points.  Point one was in the yard near the deadline where the guard walked a steady beat.  Points two and three were inside the casemates with a guard at each end of the cells.  The prisoners were to be kept inside the original cells which were a section of the casemates with bars on either end. Terry ended up on point one, Joe and I on the other two.  We were inside there for a long while before the prisoners were marched into the fort.  We talked back and forth in the casemates, in the pitch black, at about fifty yards apart.  I got to say we were both a little spooked in there in the dark.  We finally went inside the cells and met at the center where the outward door to the yard was open.  With a full moon, we sure got a great view of the prisoners coming in.  We ran to our posts when they got close.  They came in on my side, and I tell you the impressions of those boys was unreal. The looked so real and desolate, it was intimidating.  Once Captain Craddock had them locked away, my guard mission started.  I got to see them figure out how they were going to sleep, relieve themselves, entertain themselves, etc.  You see, there was nothing inside there but slatted double bunks, and they were to sleep three to a bed.  They had no straw in the beginning, or food.  Their Captain Blue asked me for a list of things they needed, and I said I would convey the message to my corporal.

After an hour or so, they all laid down to sleep, and it was near my time to come off duty.  We were replaced at 3am and I finally got to get some sleep.  We had nice accomodations with a fire place and straw.  We also got three hot meals a day in the kitchen where the ladies worked.  Anyhow, the bugle woke us early for roll, and somehow I ended up on Sgt. Joe Blunt's flag raising detail.  I got three hours sleep.

After breakefast, my section went on four hours of fatigue duty.  My comrades of four ended up polishing a cannon outside the fort.  It was busy work, but relaxing.  We went back on guard at 11am. I ended up on the opposite side of the prisoners for my second tour.  Once in a while one would say something to me, but for the most part it was quiet.  It was becoming rather tedious to hold a rifle off the ground for two hours.  The reserve replaced us at 1pm.  We were now reserve until 3pm, but it didn't last too long.  Captain Craddock decided to inspect the prisoner's cell for contraband.  Something he ended up doing regularly.  The Federal company sans the guards were summoned to formation and then put along the deadline at port arms.  The prisoners were marched out in front of their casemates.  We stayed like this until the search was finished.  On the first search, the officers found an incredible amount of food such as boiled eggs, ham, bread, etc.  The prisoners were only getting a small ration of pone cornbread and pickeld onions.  Who was giving them this other food?  Captain Craddock was none too happy.  Afterwards, he let the prisoners back inside and things went back to normal for a while.  We went off duty at 3pm and took some artillery instruction from Mr. Warnick for a while.  It wasn't long until we had to do another inspection.  We got used to these unannounced inspections.

Once dinner came and went, my section was off duty for twelve hours.  Oh, I couldn't wait to go to bed.  I had been in bed maybe an hour sound asleep when the bugle rang out.  We formed for a roll call and a whiskey ration compliments of the Captain.  I kindly gave my whiskey to someone who wanted it and went back to bed.  The bugle rang out again an hour or so later, this was really ticking me off now.  It was another inspection in the dark.  This took a half hour.  I finally got to go to sleep next to our warm fireplace.  I could have slept in a tree, it wouldn't matter.

The next morning things continued pretty much like the day before.  More guard, more fatigue.  A pretty good feel of a soldiers life in garrison.  We did another inspection of course, found more food.  Turns out kids from the visitors were getting food from the ladies in the kitchen and were asked to sneak it to the prisoners.  And no doubt some of the guards were helping too, but if you got caught, you got extra duty.  You had to be carefull.  Near the end of the event, one Confederate officer died in the cell.  We Yanks went and put him in a pine box, nailed it down, and had his comrades take him to burial outside the fort.  It was a surreal ending for what was a very real feeling weekend.

I want to thank John Cleveland and Rick Joslyn for putting together a weekend I will never forget.  The reenactors were first rate, and the ladies kept our bellies full.  There is so much more I could write about, but this was pretty much it in a nutshell from my participation.

Thanks for that Ken.  This is one of those things that make the hobby worthwhile for me.  I would love to do one of those events.

Thanks for that Ken.  This is one of those things that make the hobby worthwhile for me.  I would love to do one of those events.

Joe Eversole
Torrington, CT
28th Mass. Vol. Inf. Co.K
www.28thmassk.com

Hello

I have to agree, this was one was of the best events I have ever been too. I saw it from the inside of the bars looking out and can say it was one of the most mentally trying things I have done in this hobby. I am alreay wanting to sign up for the next one.