The memoir recounts a cavalry officer's capture and confinement in Confederate prison stockades, the daily deprivations of starvation, disease, and vermin, and the systematic reorganization of prisoners for transport. It follows transfer south in overcrowded freight cars, efforts to plan and execute an escape with comrades, a midnight leap from a moving train, a hazardous trek through swamps and forest while tracked by bloodhounds, and eventual recapture. Appendices provide an account of how capture occurred and lists of fellow prisoners, with emphasis on endurance and practical details of camp life.