November 1862
The first sonnet of the sequence begins with the speaker describing himself. He is a former slave who has joined the Union Army. He states that he was born into slavery in Louisiana thirty-three years prior. He compares the marks of a whip to the ink with which he writes this poem in a diary. He comments on the shift in his circumstances and notes the power he now has to record the rest of his story. He expresses a desire to recover and save every detail of what has happened to him.
December 1862
The speaker informs the reader that he does not actually fight in the infantry. As part of the supply unit, he digs trenches and carries heavy loads. These tasks are referred to in demeaning terminology by the speaker's superiors. The fact that he only receives half the rations of the white soldiers demonstrates the lack of respect he and the other Black soldiers experience in the regiment. The speaker takes basic things from abandoned Southern homes, including the journal he writes in. He notes that his handwriting overlaps with that of the original owner on every page.
January 1863
A ship called the Northern Star brings the speaker to Fort Massachusetts, located somewhere along the Gulf Coast. The heat is oppressive, the sand is deep and the waves are large enough to toss around Navy ships. He reflects on the irony of the fact that this base is named after a state to which he could not work up the courage to escape.
January 1863
In a second entry from the same month, the speaker writes of an unfortunate occurrence: supplies that had not been properly secured were washed out to sea in a storm. The speaker experiences some fellowship when he joins in the singing led by an older man as they work. This man then reveals scars on his back that were left by the lashes of his former master’s whip. He claims that the short-term loss has taught them both a lesson of great value: what they don't want to lose, they must tie down.
February 1863
The narrator takes note of the irony of the situation at the prison; Black men are now charged with keeping guard over white men. The irony is further highlighted by the fact that these Confederate soldiers have lost their freedom as a result of fighting for the right to enslave people. Finally, the speaker also says that because many of these soldiers are illiterate, they have to depend on him, a freed slave, to write their letters back home. In spite of their suspicion that he is not writing exactly what they dictate, they have no other choice but to affix their signature in the form of an X.
March 1863
The speaker recounts examples of what is contained in the letters he writes for the prisoners. The subject matter of these letters range from check-ins about families and farms to heartfelt memories and the harsh sights of war. Some soldiers also include photographs, out of concern that they may not ever return home. He notes the difficulty they have in trying to convey their feelings.
April 1863
The soldier describes the death and burial of his fellow Union soldiers from Pascagoula. He comments that they eat the dead soldiers' ration of hard tack while depicting the grisly damage and decay that their bodies show. He also notes that some of these soldiers were killed by friendly fire. The soldier's colonel coldly dismisses these many deaths as "unfortunate."
June 1863
The speaker offers grim observations when news arrives of a battle at Port Hudson. The battle claimed the lives of many Black soldiers, but a Union general leaves the bodies to rot, claiming no responsibility for those men. Immediately following this, other recently freed slaves arrive to enlist. The speaker notices their gaunt appearance and knows they will be disappointed in the same way he has been.
August 1864
The former slave reveals the name of his former master, Dumas. He claims that they had a surprisingly cordial relationship, as Dumas taught him how to read and write. But he notes that he was still not treated as a man, due to the fact that Dumas owned him. During this time he tended the gardens on Dumas's land, where he learned to study nature closely enough to replicate the birds and plants he studied in his sketchbook. He then notes that where before he was studying life, he now spends his time surrounded by death, digging graves and writing letters to families of deceased soldiers. He comments that these letters are not supposed to give more than the time and place of the death; but he knows that the families should be given more information.
1865
After the war has ended, the speaker accounts for a number of horrifying events. He describes the massacre of Black soldiers at Fort Pillow, a battle in which the Confederates fired upon men who were surrendering, as well as the dead who were left at Gettysburg to be eaten by hogs. He also says that their regiment has been renamed the Corps d’Afrique, which he believes was done to make them feel further removed from being natural-born U.S. citizens. He feels that the stories of these Black soldiers will go untold and will be lost to time, as the battlefields grow over their bones.
