Memphis, Tenn. Aug. 14, '63

 

Dear Friend Charley:

                        Your last letter came to hand in due season, and this morning I will write a few lines in answer.

 

            A few weeks since I made a trip to Alton, Illinois, being one of a guard who had in charge some 700 or 800 secesh prisoners. They were mostly men taken at Vicksburg and who were tired of fighting, and wished to take the oath of allegiance and go home. We mingled amongst them very freely and I learned considerable from some of them. Perhaps you have never seen a lot of secesh soldiers. If you have not you can hardly appreciate the dirty, filthy, motely look that they present. They are dressed in every manner of clothes, / mostly looking as though they had seen neither water nor soap for months. They have some excuse, however, for their dirty appearance. Their Government furnishes them no soap, and $11 a month will not buy many extras in rebeldom. (One of them told me that he had paid $5 for a bar of soap in Vicksburg. Let me tell you a few of their prices. Boots, $50 to $75 a pair; flour $150 per barrel; biscuits, $5 per dozen; pies $5 a piece Their Government charges them for a miserable, dirty looking pair of pants, $12; for a coat $12; for coarse shoes $9 per pair. Who wouldn't live in rebeldom?

 

            Our boat was very much crowded. They were crowded thick everywhere; on the bow, in the engine room, on the boiler deck and hurricane roof. We reserved the / cabin to ourselves, and thus managed to keep somewhere near clean. But the dirt and filth amongst the prisoners was horrible. In fact it was outrageous to crowd so many men on one boat, for nearly two weeks as they were crowded. Many of them bacame sick, and during the last eighteen hours that we had them on the boat, 4 of them died. Some of the poor fellows I pitied from the bottom of my heart. They lay in the dirt and filth, some of them helpless, with almost no one to care for them. Their fellow prisoners, as a general thing took no more notice of them than of brutes. About 200 of our prisoners were Louisianians, mostly Creoles, speaking the French language. Many of them were fine specimens of French character, possessing all the gayety and vivacity / peculiar to that nation. I was considerably amused by one of them to whom I gave a sheet or two of paper, telling him at the same time that we called it "Commercial Note". He was perfectly delighted to see such nice paper. He had been accustomed lately only to secesh writing paper, and exclaimed, "Commercial Note! why that is nice enough for Love Note paper", and he expressed the intention of using it to write to his "duck" with. Enclosed I send you a small specimen of secesh writing paper. They are only charged $1 for 24 sheets of that beautiful paper. It costs 10 cents postage to send a letter.

 

            As the prison at Alton was full, we returned to St. Louis and discharged our prisoners there. We remained in the city four days, so that I had plenty of time to take a look at the place.

 

            I am glad to hear that you made such good progress in your studies last winter. I hope that they will have a four months term next winter, so that you may have a longer time for study. Everything is quiet here,—except the mosquitoes. They enliven us the livelong night with pretty songs. We however are very unappreciative of their kind deeds and would gladly dispense with their music. The weather is pretty warm also. In fact, at the North we should call it hot. Here we think it decidedly too warm for comfort.

 

            We soldiers are terribly down on the Copperheads. Vallandigham will get very few votes here. /

 

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We thoroughly detest all such sneaks, who are too cowardly to take up arms openly against us, and yet try to strike us in secret. We respect an open secesh much the most.

 

            I will write to Eliza soon. Remember me to all the family and any other friends, but not to any "strangers".

 

            To all good sound Union ladies give my respect, but not to any secesh ones for we can find plenty of honest, good looking ones here without going North for home traitors.

                                   

Your true friend, G.R.Gear.

 

 

Specimen of Secesh Writing paper procured from Vicksburg prisoners, by your friend,

G. R. Gear

           

Price only $1 per quire.

SOURCES