Col. Hundley commanded the Alabama 31st Infantry Regiment. He was captured at Kennesaw Mountain in July of 1864 and taken to Johnson's Island, Illinois. This is one of the few surviving prison narratives based on a surviving journal written while in prison. From the Introduction: As will be found by a perusal of this book I now offer the public, I made my escape from Johnson's Island on the 2d day of January, 1865, and attempted to reach Canada afoot, walking at night and sleeping in hay-lofts during the day. After nearly a week of untold hardships and sufferings, I was recaptured and taken back to my old quarters. On reaching the head-quarters of the commandant of Johnson's Island, I was stripped to the skin, and there being found concealed on my person a journal of prison life, it was taken from me. On making application subsequently to Colonel Hill for my MS., I was informed that it had been sent to the Commissary-General of Prisoners at Washington. I heard nothing more of my MS. for nine years. In January, 1874, I received notice from the Postmaster at Huntsville, Ala., that a certain Alexander R. Jones, of New-York, desired my address. In a few weeks my journal was returned to me through the United States mail. It had not been mutilated in the least, but, on the contrary, was well preserved; and I desire here to return my thanks to the unknown friend who did me this act of kindness. It will be seen that my journal is a thorough rebel production, and I have thought it best to publish it just as it was written. Since 1857, I had been in the habit of keeping a diary, which I continued during the whole war. The first part of my prison journal was only an enlargement of my diary, giving an account of my experiences from Kennesaw Mountain to Johnson's Island. The second part consisted of literal extracts from my diary while in prison. I have now added a third part, giving an account of my escape and recapture, which I believe will also be of interest to the reader.
About the Author: Daniel Robinson Hundley was born in Madison County on December 11, 1832, to John Henderson and Melinda Robinson Hundley; he was one of six children. He attended schools in Alabama and Tennessee before enrolling at Bacon College in Harrodsburg, Kentucky. Hundley decided on a career in law and took courses at the University of Virginia before attending Harvard, where he graduated with a degree in law in 1853. On September 3, 1853, he married Mary Ann Hundley, a cousin, from Charlotte County, Virginia; they would eventually have seven children together. The couple moved to Alabama and made their home near Mooresville in Limestone County. Although Hundley was opposed to secession, he gave up extensive property holdings in Chicago to move his family back to Alabama as the country edged toward war. When Alabama seceded, he recruited Company D of the 2nd Confederate Infantry and was elected its captain. In April 1862, he was appointed colonel of the 31st Alabama Infantry Regiment. Hundley was wounded in action at Port Gibson, Mississippi, in May 1863, and while leading his regiment in the Atlanta campaign was captured at Big Shanty, Georgia, on June 15, 1864. He was sent to the federal prison for Confederate officers on Johnson's Island in Lake Erie, near Sandusky, Ohio. Hundley kept a diary throughout his imprisonment and took it with him when he escaped on January 2, 1865. He was captured several days later, and his diary was taken from him. He was returned to Johnson's Island and remained there until he was released from the prison on July 25, 1865.