16 year old prisoner of war

I just learned some more facts about my great grandfather, Joel Bateman. These are small pieces from "Down Where the Sugar Cane Grows" a series of articles printed in the Attakapas Gazette in 1981.

This is from a letter from W.P. Kemper to his wife dated 4/22/1864, New Orleans

...... Joe Bateman is a prisoner. Joe stands it better than I do. If you give Joe enough to eat, he doesn't care for anything or anybody. ....

Some additional information added by the author of this article:

Joe Bateman was a first cousin of my father’s. He stood it better than Pa did because he was 16 and Pa was 37. Pa rode horseback always and did not like to walk; he was shaky on his feet like a sailor.
Joe told me that what provoked Pa was that, as prisoners of war they were marched through the mud and Joe was marching behind Pa and making fun of the way he walked.

A Great Defense

I have been spending some time the last few days pulling out previous research and publications that I had set aside because I had more important things to be done. What a crock!

This makes me laugh! John Mills Bateman was my paternal g-g-grandfather. I love, love, love to find tidbits of life from long ago.

This is from "Down Where the Sugar Cane Grows" The Reminiscences of James P. Kemper

John Bateman and Ben Hudson, his good friends, entered into a contract to swap plan­tations. Later, Hudson concluded he had gotten the worst of the deal and refused to go through with the sale. Bateman sued him for fulfillment of contract. As his defense, Hudson took the stand and swore he was drunk when he signed the contract. On rebuttal, Bateman swore that he, too, was drunk, hence could not have taken advantage of him. The court ruled the document was binding.