Prison Life Among the Rebels Recollections of a Union Chaplain

Henry S. White, a chaplain attached to the Fifth Rhode Island heavy Artillery, was captured in May 1864 and remained a prisoner of war until the following September.  After his release he wrote a series of letters to Zion’s Herald, a New England Methodist newspaper, in which he described in vivid detail his capture and transportation to Andersonville and then to the officers’ prison in Macon.

The letters reveal White’s eye for detail and his keen interest in the state of affairs in the south.  He drew pointed comparisons between the officers and men of the two armies, and recounted the terrible lot of the prisoner of war.

“As a chaplain White was spared the worst horrors of Confederate prison life, but his experiences in Rebel custody…were harrowing enough.  Teen-aged sentries gleefully shot prisoners on the slightest provocation, or none at all, as the quickest way to earn a promotion.  Half-naked men driven insane by hunger, lack of shelter, and atrocious sanitary conditions pleaded with guards to put them out of their misery.  White spent only a day at Andersonville, yet his description of that earthly hell is thorough, concise, and very chilling.”―American Heritage

Few chaplains were incarcerated during the Civil War and even fewer recorded their experiences. White, attached to the Fifth Rhode Island Heavy Artillery, was captured in May 1864 and remained a prisoner of war for five months. After his release he wrote a series of letters to Zion's Herald , a New England Methodist newspaper, in which he described in detail his capture and transportation to the infamous Andersonville and then to the officer's prison in Macon. The 18 letters published here discuss, besides prison conditions, the author's views on slavery, the war, the Confederacy, and theology. Significant portions of White's account have appeared previously in the Georgia Historical Quarterly and Civil War History , undermining the volume's value for specialists. The introduction, epilog, and index are very brief, weakening the importance of the letters. Only for libraries with extensive and specialized Civil War collections.
- Jason H. Silverman, Winthrop Coll., Rock Hill, S.C.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.