Reminiscences of a Prisoner of War and His Escape

In Short

This narrative follows a Union captain, captured during the Civil War, as he navigates a series of notorious prisoner-of-war camps, including those in Macon and Charleston. The book details his strategic efforts to escape, his perilous journey through the mountains, and his eventual reunion with his wife in New York. Published fifty years after the conflict, the account serves as a somber, firsthand testament to the resilience of soldiers and the stark realities of imprisonment, preserved through the author’s vivid, unvarnished memory of his ordeal.

The Story

The narrative begins in the confusion of battle and capture, where the author and his comrades are swept into the machinery of the Confederate prison system. A pivotal moment occurs early on when a high-ranking officer refuses to accept the group of captured officers at Andersonville, effectively sparing them from the horrors of that particular camp. Instead, the author is sent to Macon, Georgia, where the reality of confinement settles in: the presence of a "dead line," the constant threat of execution, and the gnawing ache of hunger.

As the months pass, the focus shifts to the singular goal of escape. Tunnelling is attempted but thwarted by an informant, leading the author and his fellow officers to realize that physical barriers are secondary to the challenge of surviving the South's organized surveillance, which includes tracking dogs and local posses. The author joins a secret society within the prison designed for mutual aid and, during a rail transfer, participates in a failed attempt to seize the train.

Following a move to Charleston and, eventually, Columbia, the author and four other officers identify a window of opportunity under the cover of a waning moon. Slipping past the guards, the men begin a grueling trek across the Blue Ridge Mountains. Their survival depends on a precarious blend of luck and the assistance of local Union sympathizers, including a courageous woman who provides food and a sheriff who hides them in the woods. The group faces constant threats from guerrillas and Confederate patrols, forcing them to rely on their wits and the charity of strangers.

As they approach the Union lines in East Tennessee, the physical toll becomes severe. The men are sustained by small amounts of "apple jack" and the shared commitment to finish the journey together. Upon reaching a flour mill that marks the boundary of safety, they encounter Union pickets. From there, the author makes his way home to Elmira, New York. The final scenes capture the quiet intensity of his homecoming—arriving in the night, his wife recognizing his footsteps, and the long, slow process of recovering from the profound exhaustion and trauma of his captivity. His service concludes shortly after, leaving him with the memory of his fallen comrades and the hard-won peace of his return to civilian life.

How It Unfolds

The rejection of prisoners The author recounts a surreal encounter at Andersonville where a Confederate commander refuses to accept the officers into the camp, inadvertently saving their lives. This event establishes the dire conditions of the war and the arbitrary nature of survival.

Confinement and surveillance Life in the Macon and Columbia stockades is defined by the "dead line," where any misstep brings lethal consequences. The author observes the strict organization of the Confederate prison system, which relies on dogs and local militias to capture those who attempt to flee.

The plan for flight With internal conspiracies failing, the author and his companions seize a dark night to cross the guard line. They move as a group, relying on the cover of the woods and the eventual guidance of local Unionists.

The mountain transit The journey turns into a test of endurance as the men traverse the Blue Ridge Mountains, hiding in the woods and evading guerrilla patrols. They survive on meager rations, bolstered by the occasional kindness of civilians who risk their own safety to assist them.

The reach for home The final leg of the journey leads to a flour mill in East Tennessee, where the men are finally greeted by Union soldiers. The author describes the swift transition from the brutality of the trail to the relative comforts of military transport and his final, emotional arrival at his home in Elmira.

The People

Daniel Avery Langworthy serves as both the observer and the active protagonist. Motivated by a need for freedom and a desire to return to his wife, "Belle," he exhibits a steady, observational nature, noting the details of his captors and fellow prisoners with a soldier’s clinical eye. He is not a man of grand gestures, but of quiet, calculated perseverance.

Lieutenant Hastings emerges as a critical figure during the escape. A bright young attorney and later a state official, his possession of a Confederate uniform and his ability to engage with locals prove essential to the group’s survival. His presence transforms the escapees from a group of desperate men into a more capable, coordinated unit.

The unnamed Sheriff stands out as a courageous agent of the Union cause. Living in a border region where neighbor turns against neighbor, he risks everything to shield the escapees, showing them the deep, personal cost of a civil war fought within a community.

Finally, Belle, the author’s wife, represents the life waiting on the other side. Though she appears only briefly, her recognition of the author's footsteps at the end of his journey highlights the domestic sanctuary that kept him moving forward. The interaction between these figures is defined by the urgency of the war; friendships are forged in prison and tested on the road, with each person playing a role in the singular, collective effort to reach the safety of the North.

In Its Own Voice

"Of my company forty-eight good, healthy, robust young men went into Andersonville that day and the remains of thirty of them are there now; while of the officers of our regiment who were captured, all lived to return North."

This reflection underscores the stark disparity in survival rates between the enlisted men and the officers the author was separated from.

"I thought it significant that he was there," the author notes upon seeing an officer from the President’s staff inspecting the prison grounds.

This observation highlights the author's growing awareness of the deliberate, top-down nature of the Confederate prisoner policies.

"We said: 'Yes, but we think we will try it. We will go abreast so if he shoots he must fire through one before he hits the next.'"

This chilling tactical decision illustrates the extreme risk the men were willing to take to escape the stockade at Columbia.

What It's Really About

At its core, the book explores the tension between institutional cruelty and individual humanity. The author argues that the treatment of prisoners was not merely a byproduct of war, but an intentional strategy of the Confederate leadership to ensure that captured soldiers would be unfit for further combat. Beneath this, the narrative questions how morality survives in a landscape of total war, highlighting the "terrible state of affairs" where neighbors kill neighbors and children are raised to keep secrets. It is a study in how a sense of duty—both to one's country and to one's comrades—sustains a person when the apparatus of civilization, in the form of prison walls and military hierarchy, has been stripped away.

Why Read It Today

Readers who appreciate the granular, day-to-day accounts of Civil War history will find this work uniquely rewarding. The author writes with a clarity that resists the temptation to embellish, providing a window into the mind of a man who viewed his survival as a mixture of tactical planning and divine fortune. The pacing—slow and methodical in the prison sections, frantic and suspenseful during the flight—mirrors the reality of his experience.

Modern readers should be prepared for the author’s period-specific language, including his references to the "colored" people he encountered. While he acknowledges the crucial aid provided by both enslaved and free Black individuals, his framing reflects the social attitudes of a mid-19th-century soldier. Furthermore, the absence of a professional editor’s polish means the prose sometimes wanders, reflecting the nature of a memory-based account written decades after the events. However, these very traits make the book feel authentic and immediate. It is a powerful, unvarnished look at what it meant to be a prisoner of war, capturing not just the physical toll of starvation and scurvy, but the psychological weight of knowing that, once outside the walls, every stranger is a potential enemy. It is a story about the fragility of life and the immense, quiet strength required to return home.