158. CIVIL WAR DIARIES OF P.O.W. PVT. JAMES K. HUNTER A fine grouping of two war-date diaries completely filled-in by Pvt. James K. Hunter of Co. D., 87th Illinois Mounted Infantry, covering his service from Aug. 15, 1862 when he was mustered-in, until Jan. 1, 1865 when he still remained a prisoner in Confederate custody. Daily entries are in pencil and ink, most entirely and easily legible. In very small part: "...A soldier belonging to Co. B shot a woman. He was arrested...300 rebel prisoners captured at Perryville passed down the river today...bid my wife and child a sorrowful farewell...150 out of the regiment go over into Kentucky on a scout...two companies threatened to stack arms and go home...cause of dissatisfaction the freeing of the Negro on Lincoln's proclamation...arrived at Memphis...last night the guerilla scouts attacked our pickets...we captured 50 horses and mules and some $10,000 of Tennessee bank bills, 4 prisoners and brought in a number of contrabands...attack was made on our pickets...they took two of our men prisoners when being hotly engaged...citizen was shot dead, he had contraband goods trying to get through to the enemy...some soldiers going up the river, being paroled..." Hunter spends a few months in the hospital recovering from dysentery, mentioning visits to the landing at Memphis, troop transports, wounded coming in to the hospital, also noting: "..A patient in this ward had an arm amputated...several died again in camp...four soldiers died on board last night...", etc. He recovers by mid-October, and returns to service: "...Our fare is very poor...hardly fit for white men...somebody is lining their pockets...find myself in the famous city of Vicksburg, the town is mostly deserted...passed Port Hudson and Baton Rouge...arrived at New Iberia...got some corn bread off a negress...16 men died from this company, something near 200 in the Regt in the past year...a rebel captain came to our lines last evening attended by an escort with a flag of truce...start from camp with about 250 head of cattle and some rebel prisoners...refugees came ...the rebels threaten their lives unless they join the rebel army. The rebels have killed some...two negro regiments passed camp...our advance guard captured some 20 rebels... a force of rebels commanded by Taylor passed the road some 24 hours before...we are camped near Natchitoches...the rebs charged our batteries but was repulsed with some loss...our regiment dismounted and fought from behind trees...our forces are pursuing the enemy and fighting as they go...left Pleasant Hill about noon and continue to retreat...Gen. Smith's forces have checked the enemy...we go 2 miles further and burn the town of Campte[?]...our army has thrown up strong breastworks & felled the timber for two hundred yards around...enemy has planted batteries to prevent our crossing [?] creek...The rebel Gen. Price being driven from his entrenchments...killed a great many rebs & lost but few...the enemy tried to flank our brigade...our gunboats are crossing over the falls...we are under fire of artillery this morning. The infantry has come up and are advancing on the rebel batteries...saw a federal soldier who had been shot that morning by a party of rebs...a squad of rebs came in [to camp] fired a volley & again retired...captured 2 rebels and 12 horses today. A reb Major was killed, fell from his horse...". On the night of Sep. 14, 1864 Hunter and a group of his fellow cavalrymen are captured: "...Our scouts came in last night, saw some rebs, exchanged shots with them, our drum major was shot in the face...Rebs made a charge on us and captured all our party...one or two of our men killed and three wounded...". Hunter is then transported via steamer and kept on light rations ("two small crackers and a very small portion of bacon") until he is placed in a prison camp near Shreveport. He describes his confinement: "...A very sorry place indeed. No shelter or anything to keep us from the weather...We are guarded very closely...number of federal prisoners 130...we were moved into the new bull pen this evening...we are ordered to move today for Tyler Texas...we are pushed ahead with cruelty...rebels guards kick a soldier that was too weak to keep up...[at Tyler] found some three thousand of our soldiers here...got a pass and went into the woods to cut some timbers to build us quarters...one or more prisoners die every day...we are carrying timber today...rebs will not furnish a team...an election was held among the prisoners for President of the U.S....Lincoln getting 8,017 majority...the rebs discovered some of the prisoners engaged in digging a tunnel...[they] were punished by being put to labor...a prisoner was shot by one of the guards and died soon after...". Some entries are light, yet all are legible. Unlike many of his comrades, Hunter was lucky to survive his imprisonment, being mustered out at Helena, Ar. on June 16, 1865. Camp Ford Prison, located 4 miles northwest of Tyler, Texas was constructed of logs by black slaves. It consisted of basically nothing more than a stockade fence that stood 16 feet high, without any type of barracks or shelter for the men who were imprisoned there. Left to their own devices, the men built make-shift log houses, soddies and even holes in the ground with tarps over them to keep out the rain. Compared to other Civil War prisoners, these soldiers fared better than most. Plenty of fresh water was provided by the stream that ran right through the camp and rations consisted of corn meal, beans, bacon and occasionally fresh beef. Records indicate that over 4,700 soldiers were imprisoned at Camp Ford and approximately 280 of them died in captivity. A rare pair of diaries from a cavalry P.O.W.    $2,000 - 3,000