That the following narrative of Southern prison life should be written so many years after the occurrence of the events described is explained by the fact that the author has been urged by many friends to put on record his descriptions that have interested many people in the East, in the Interior and in the West. To Members of the Grand Army of the Republic, of the Woman's Relief Corps, allied organizations, and readers generally, I am glad to commend this book as giving a more particular account of the opening of Providence Spring than has before appeared. Appreciation of the strenuous days of the great Civil War will be revived, and the memories of Veterans, not a few will be refreshed by this interesting story.