Francis A. Boyle Diary
Extracts by Neil Allen Bristow
from a typescript at the Library of Congress
Not long after his arrival on Pea Patch Island from Point Lookout in 1864, Francis A. Boyle wrote:
- We have now been at Fort Delaware long enough to compare it with Point Lookout.
I will therefore sum up the comparative advantages and disadvantages.
Advantages.
| Point Lookout
Cooler water, if bad. A more reasonable sutler. The advantage of less men together. More punctuality in sending letters.
More room. A very accommodating Ass't Provost. Good sea bathing. Chance of getting Southern news in Baltimore Gazettte. |
Fort Delaware
Fair water and the chance of improving it by ice. An ice cream stand. Barracks instead of tents. More puctuality in delivery of letters, money, and express packages. A decent commander. Less dust. |
Disadvantages.
| A rascally Provost Marshall.
Great delay in the delivery of money. Negroes to guard us. A great deal of dust. Tents, which though more convenient are not adapted to windy situations. For a long time no newspapers. A very strict patrol. Very poor soup. The cooking inferior to Ft. Delaware. |
2 meals a day.
Later news. Delay in sending letters. No opportunity to hire extra cooking done. A very rascally sutler who charges triple prices. No opportunity to get "Copperhead" Journals. No good place to bathe. Less room. Smaller rations. &c, &c, &c. |
- I think that what may be called striking a balance and on the whole a pretty even one. I wouldn't stand the terrible trip between the two points to go to either.1
Boyle, an Episcopalian who was active in the Fort Delaware prisoners' Christian Association, also mentions the Rev. Mr. Isaac Handy and remarks upon the clergyman's release.2
Like many prisoners, Boyle gathered autographs from his fellow POWs. These appear on the leaves at the back of his diary, apparently gathered at war's end:3
R. H. Spencer, Capt., Co. C, 26th Va. Inf., Little Plymouth, King & Queen County, Va.
John Paul, Lt., Co. "I" 1st Va. Cav., Bridgewater, Rockingham Co., Va.
Gabriel Shank, Ensign, 10th Va. Infantry, Harrisonburg, Rockingham Co., Va.
John F. Fuller, Adj't., 31st Tenn. Regt., McLemonsville, Tenn.
T. L. Callaher, Middleburg, Loudon Co., Va.
James E. Wolff, Capt., Co. B, 2d Class Va. Militia, Petersburg, Va.
Thos. W. Bullitt, Lt., 2d. Ky. Cav., P.A.C.S., Morgan's Command, Louisville, Ky.
Thos. B. Anderson, Jr., 1st Lt. Co. B, 42 Batt'n (now 24th Rgt) Virginia Cavalry,
Captured near Chaffin's Bluff, May 16, 1864., Richmond, Va.S. E. Welford, Lieut., C.S. Navy, Fredericksburg, Va.
Isaac Hardeman, Lt. Col., 12th Ga. Inf. Rgt. Clinton, Ga.
C. E. Manigault, Adjt., 4th S. C. Cavalry, Charleston, So. Ca.
John Law, Adjt., 38th Ga. Rgt. Memphis, Tenn.
Granville C. Conner, Adjt., 61st Ga. Rgt., Macon, Ga.
Llewellyn Southgate, 1st Lt., P.A.C.S., Norfolk City, Va.
John Maynadier, Private, Co. K, 1st Rgt. Va. Cav., Bel-Air, Hartford Co. Md.
W. M. Dwight, Capt., & Adjt., P.A.C.S., Winnsboro, S. C.
Source notes:
1 Francis A. Boyle, A Civil War Prison Diary, 7. Typescript. Walter Ralph Steiner Collection, Library of Congress Manuscript Division. Miscellaneous Manuscripts.
2 Boyle, 13, 15. See notes to Coombs Diary, 1864.
3 Boyle, 38-39.
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Transcription copyright © 2000, Neil Allen Bristow. All rights reserved.
This page updated 14 February 2009.