Union soldier James Madison Page was taken captive during the U.S. Civil War, and spent a lengthy period incarcerated in Confederate jails, including the infamous Andersonville prison.
Page begins by summarizing his early life and education, remembering that the war's outbreak took him by surprise - working as a land surveyor, matters of politics and warfare were far from his mind. Captured during the war, he describes always responding to his captors with a dignified courtesy, and receiving positive treatment in return. Yet the hardships of Andersonville prison are numerous; although Page and his fellow POWs construct a good cabin, the poor diet and extreme heat of the area soon takes a toll: thousands of prisoners would perish of disease during the Civil War.
The second part of this book is an account of the trial and conviction of Major Henry Wirz, who was one of the officers in charge of Andersonville. Page is adamant that Wirz was innocent of the charges of murder and brutality against prisoners of war, noting that on the days many of the crimes were said to have occurred, Wirz was away on leave. In Page's view, Wirz was a decent man who did his best to manage Andersonville in the face of desperate food and medical supply shortages.