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.