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"In Memory of My Dear Brother,
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Image is from a printed copy of the poem
Poem courtesy of Eugene
Olswold
1st Sergeant Harvey Britton of Company B, 15th Wisconsin, was captured by Confederate troops at the May 27, 1864, battle of Pickett's Mill in the State of Georgia. He was then transported to the infamous Andersonville prison camp in Georgia. There he kept a daily journal detailing the cruel and inhuman treatment of Union prisoners. On October 4, 1864, 1st Sergeant Britton was admitted to the prison hospital at nearby Camp Sumpter, where he died a week later. A prison comrade saved Britton's journal, noted the details of his death and burial, and later sent the journal to his parents. After reading it, his sister Mary wrote the following poem.
| "He fought for his
country's honor, For the Flag he loved the best; At last he was taken prisoner, He suffered and is at rest. I read in my brother's day book When captured with other men, Then taken to the Southern prison; By sufferings he there was slain. |
| A comrade saved his day book When brother passed away; He sent it to my parents So they could read and see. This happened shortly after The cruel war was o'er; I have found his last words written, And have found a great deal more. |
| Oh, how my brother suffered-- It is written from day to day. Of that cruel, Sothern prison The day book has much to say. His time of death I find there, As writt'n by his comrade's hand. The number of his grave recorded. I thank that good, kind man. |
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Oh, that war and the
cruel prison-- |
This page Copyright by Scott Cantwell Meeker of Deep
Vee Productions.
All Rights Reserved. Created December 22, 2000. Last updated
January 18, 2001.