Page:The Immortal Six Hundred.djvu/164

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THE IMMORTAL SIX HUNDRED


dered to pack up and be ready to move at daylight from the prison pen. Colonel Hallowell, who gave the order, said, "In view of the fact that you are to move early in the morning, you can all leave your tents earlier than usual to prepare for the march." Thinking, of course, he would give orders to the sentinels to allow us to leave our tents (and he said he would give the order) some of our fellows, prisoners, got up very early and built a small fire in the rear of their tents to boil some sweet potatoes. The negro sentinel ordered them to put out that fire, and followed his order with a shot from his musket, seriously but not dangerously wounding Captain Blair, of North Carolina, and Lieutenant Harris, of Virginia. The matter was reported to Colonel Hallowell, but no punishment or reprimand was inflicted upon the negro sentinel who had so flagrantly violated Colonel Hallowell's order; and I right here want to say that it was the general belief of our men that Hallowell never


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