CHAPTER XXIII.
A NEW LOT OF PRISONERS--THE BATTLE OF OOLUSTEE--MEN SACRIFICED TO A GENERAL'S INCOMPETENCY--A HOODLUM REINFORCEMENT--A QUEER CROWD -- MISTREATMENT OF AN OFFICER OF A COLORED REGIMENT--KILLING THE SERGEANT OF A NEGRO SQUAD.
So far only old prisoners--those taken at Gettysburg, Chicamauga and Mine Run--had been brought in.

The armies had been very quiet during the Winter, preparing for the death grapple in the Spring.

There had been nothing done, save a few cavalry raids, such as our own, and Averill's attempt to gain and break up the Rebel salt works at Wytheville, and Saltville.

Consequently none but a few cavalry prisoners were added to the number already in the hands of the Rebels.
The first lot of new ones came in about the middle of March.

There were about seven hundred of them, who had been captured at the battle of Oolustee, Fla., on the 20th of February.