He was a private in Company I, 11th Regiment, Michigan Infantry. He was captured by the Confederate States Army on September 19, 1863, in the battle of Chickamauga, Georgia and was imprisoned at Danville, VA. While imprisoned in Prison No 3 at Danville, William wrote the following poem on January 31, 1864:
The Prisoners Refrain
I wish that Stanton Edwin M and General Halleck too,
Were in this place that they might see how prisoners live and do,
That they might feel the woes of want and live on prison fare,
That they might eat of prison bread and breathe the prison air,
That they upon the floor might lie in winter time so cold,
Without a blanket bed or fire their garments thin and old,
No concourse with the world outside no word from friends or home,
By pale disease and scanty food reduced to skin and bone,
No hopeful ray of liberty no dream of freedoms light,
To penetrate the prison gloom or cheer the dismal night,
Have we no friends in Northern homes who pity our sad lot,
Or are all kindly feelings gone and mercy's claims forgot?
Must we within these prison walls remain from day to day,
Until we by relentless death are called from earth away?
Where are our many brethren then are they all dead and gone,
Are we of all a numerous race left on this earth alone?
He was moved to Andersonville where he starved to death 5 months later on June 17, 1864 age 21 years and 6 months.
The Prisoners Refrain
I wish that Stanton Edwin M and General Halleck too,
Were in this place that they might see how prisoners live and do,
That they might feel the woes of want and live on prison fare,
That they might eat of prison bread and breathe the prison air,
That they upon the floor might lie in winter time so cold,
Without a blanket bed or fire their garments thin and old,
No concourse with the world outside no word from friends or home,
By pale disease and scanty food reduced to skin and bone,
No hopeful ray of liberty no dream of freedoms light,
To penetrate the prison gloom or cheer the dismal night,
Have we no friends in Northern homes who pity our sad lot,
Or are all kindly feelings gone and mercy's claims forgot?
Must we within these prison walls remain from day to day,
Until we by relentless death are called from earth away?
Where are our many brethren then are they all dead and gone,
Are we of all a numerous race left on this earth alone?
He was moved to Andersonville where he starved to death 5 months later on June 17, 1864 age 21 years and 6 months.
He was a private in Company I, 11th Regiment, Michigan Infantry. He was captured by the Confederate States Army on September 19, 1863, in the battle of Chickamauga, Georgia and was imprisoned at Danville, VA. While imprisoned in Prison No 3 at Danville, William wrote the following poem on January 31, 1864:
The Prisoners Refrain
I wish that Stanton Edwin M and General Halleck too,
Were in this place that they might see how prisoners live and do,
That they might feel the woes of want and live on prison fare,
That they might eat of prison bread and breathe the prison air,
That they upon the floor might lie in winter time so cold,
Without a blanket bed or fire their garments thin and old,
No concourse with the world outside no word from friends or home,
By pale disease and scanty food reduced to skin and bone,
No hopeful ray of liberty no dream of freedoms light,
To penetrate the prison gloom or cheer the dismal night,
Have we no friends in Northern homes who pity our sad lot,
Or are all kindly feelings gone and mercy's claims forgot?
Must we within these prison walls remain from day to day,
Until we by relentless death are called from earth away?
Where are our many brethren then are they all dead and gone,
Are we of all a numerous race left on this earth alone?
He was moved to Andersonville where he starved to death 5 months later on June 17, 1864 age 21 years and 6 months.
The Prisoners Refrain
I wish that Stanton Edwin M and General Halleck too,
Were in this place that they might see how prisoners live and do,
That they might feel the woes of want and live on prison fare,
That they might eat of prison bread and breathe the prison air,
That they upon the floor might lie in winter time so cold,
Without a blanket bed or fire their garments thin and old,
No concourse with the world outside no word from friends or home,
By pale disease and scanty food reduced to skin and bone,
No hopeful ray of liberty no dream of freedoms light,
To penetrate the prison gloom or cheer the dismal night,
Have we no friends in Northern homes who pity our sad lot,
Or are all kindly feelings gone and mercy's claims forgot?
Must we within these prison walls remain from day to day,
Until we by relentless death are called from earth away?
Where are our many brethren then are they all dead and gone,
Are we of all a numerous race left on this earth alone?
He was moved to Andersonville where he starved to death 5 months later on June 17, 1864 age 21 years and 6 months.
Inscription
Co. "I", 11th Mich. Inf.
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