Augusta County: Diary of Nancy Emerson (1862-1864)
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March 11, 1863
Mh. 11,
A young man from the neighborhood, not half
a mile distant indeed, was taken by the Yankees a few
months since, & has not returned. They look for him
daily as prisoners have been exchanged, but he comes not.
Hope it will not be with him as with Willie Hite, another
young man [ from] living a few miles from us, who had
been taken, & reached home only to die from the hard
ships he had experienced.
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James Holladay, Sister C's nephew, was a similar
instance. He was in Williamsburg sick when that place
was taken, attempted to escape, but fell from exhaustion
& was taken by them. He was taken to Washington first,
says he had no special reason to complain of his treat
ment there. Many things were sent in by the secession
ladies. He was soon removed however to Ft. Delaware,
where he was treated in the most inhuman manner,
had nothing but a [ narrow] board, [ or rather two, one overlapping the other,] a sort of shelf to lie on, a little
piece of fat meat & bread twice a day, & was cursed
& kicked about by the officers, some of them Dutch,
with their thick boots, especially those who were sick & could not
work. He was there four or five months, his mother
the meantime not knowing whether he was dead or alive.
An exchange of prisoners was finally effected, & he was
brought home to die, lived two or three weeks after his
return. He was a most amiable, unselfish youth,
wholly devoted to his mother.
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