694 NortH Carorina Troops, 1861-’65.

indeed the exchange of prisoners had long since been discon
tinued in consequence of the policy adopted by the Federal
Government. Being on parole, we could not rejoin our re-
spective commands. Some went to their homes; others felt
that it would be unsafe to attempt to get there as the country

was occupied by Union troops, and they did not wish to be |

within their lines. A considerable number came to Greens-
boro by rail—the writer and his brother James G. Kenan,
Captain of Company A, Forty-third Regiment, among them
—and after learning of the surrender at Appomattox, decid-
ed to go to the Trans-Mississippi Department if necessary to
keep in touch with our forces and to be in 2 position to report
for duty, should the policy in reference to exchange be modi-
fied. To avoid the possibility of being intercepted by a raiding
party of Union cavalry who, we were told, were operating
somewhere west of Greensboro, and tearing up the railroad
track, we walked through the country from the latter place to
a station west of Salisbury where we got aboard a freight
train and went to Charlotte. While there, information was
received that General Johnston’s army had surrendered and
hostilities had ceased. We remained in Charlotte a while as
the guests of Mr. Kerr, proprietor of a hotel, and of Mr.
Thos. W. Dewey, and others, whose kindness in supplying
the wants of moneyless Confederate soldiers will always be
gratefully remembered. After the railroad track was re-
paired and trains were running through, we left Charlotte
and reached our home in Kenansville, Duplin County, on 17
May, 1865.

A more detailed account of the incidents of prison life and
the homeward journey cannot now be given. But the above
epitome, though perhaps not quite accurate in some particu-
lars, may serve to refresh the memory of fellow prisoners
and stimulate their interest in collecting additional material
for future publication. So varied were our experiences that

it is impossible for any one to prepare a comprehensive state
ment.

The frontispiece to this volume was taken from a drawing
made for me at Johnson’s Island by one of my “mess-mates,”

 

JOHNSON’s ISLAND. 695

W. B. Hardy, Lieutenant in a Virginia Artillery Com-
pany.
Tuos. S. Kenan.

Rauzteu, N. C.,
30 March, 1901.

The following poems were copied at Johnson’s Island by
Colonel Thos. S. Kenan from the originals:

By Major George McKnight of Louisiana, (‘‘Asa Hartz”) Adjutant-General
of Loring’s Division, while a prisoner on Johnson's Island.

“A captive on a lake-girt isle
Looks o’er the waters sadly,

His thoughts on one whose blessed smile
Would welcome him so gladly,

But that beneath a northern sky,
A sky to him so dreary.

He’s doomed to pine and vainly sigh,
Away out on Lake Erie.

“The winds that waft to others bliss
But mock him with their tone.

The lips are pale they stoop to kiss,
With yearning, for his home,

The waves that dash upon the beach,
Keep ceaseless guard and weary,

They chant of joys beyond the reach
Of him who looks on Erie.

“They bear to him his mother’s tone,
His sister’s mournful song,
Until he longs to be alone,
Far from that captive throng.
And when he lays him down to sleep,
With aching heart and weary,
The winds and waves his vigils keep,
Dear dreamer on Lake Erie.

“But all who love him pray to God
To bless his precious life,
* With patience to endure the rod,
With faith to close the strife,
And look beyond the dreary now
To brighter days and better,
When native winds shall fan his brow,

And only fond arms fetter.”