Hell on Belle Isle: The Diary of Sgt. Jacob Osborn Coburn, 6th Michigan Cavalry edited by Don Allison 167 pp., sc, index, illustrated.

Hell on Belle Isle: Diary of a Civil War POW

Edited by Don Allison

I didn't want to narrate this book.

I had to

It was pure chance that I learned of Jacob Osborn Coburn's diary. A notice about the journal was tucked in the corner of a photocopy given me by my good friend Richard Cooley. Richard and I are co-authoring a history of the 38th Ohio Volunteer Infantry regiment, and the photocopy from a 1935 Bryan, Ohio, Democrat contained a small article about the 38th. But as I went to file the article I noticed the small announcement telling of a Civil War POW's journal reprinted in the nearby Edgerton Earth newspaper. The diary had been supplied to the Earth by the late Verta Emanuel.

My interest piqued, I searched out copies of the old newspaper. With the help of former Earth publisher Robert Swope I obtained the reprinted segment of the diary, which appeared in 19 installments. Unfortunately it wasn't the entire journal, just the portion dealing with Osborn Coburnís experience as a prisoner of war. But had this section not been transcribed the entire diary would have been lost to posterity, as the original apparently was destroyed in a house fire in the 1970's.

My heart ached for Osborn as his words bridged the expanse of time. I laughed as he laughed, observed as he observed, hoped as he hoped. Tears welled in my eyes as he reflected on home and loved ones, and the evergrowing chance that he may never see them again. Even after I put the journal down Osborn's words stayed with me.

Osborn's story needed to be told. I prepared excerpts from the diary as a feature series in The Bryan Times of November 1989. The series seemed to strike a chord with the public, and I received considerable feedback. But these selected segments merely touched the surface of what Osborn experienced. I had known from the first the full story deserved to be told, and to a wider audience than a newspaper could offer.

Thus the idea for this book.

For years it remained just that, an idea. I had so many questions about Osborn. Research proved him to be singularly elusive, frequently moving, leaving little record behind. Bit by bit, frustrating as the search might be, the puzzle of his life began coming together. Even so, the many dead ends and seemingly endless hours of research made the project an easy one to shelve.

More than anything I wondered what Osborn looked like. I had discovered no photographs, and his few surviving distant relatives knew of none that existed.

In the fall of 1993 my wife Diana and I celebrated our wedding anniversary with several days of touring craft and antique shops in southern Michigan. We were on our way home, westbound on U.S. 12 approaching our turn south toward Ohio on U.S. 127, when we saw a small antique store ahead. We agreed we were too tired to stop, but for some reason I felt compelled to pull into the parking lot anyway. Diane agreed to a quick look inside. We had found nothing of interest and were on our way to the door when a photograph caught Diane's eye. To pass the time as she examined the image I returned to a display case near the cash register. To my surprise I spotted a Civil War CDV - carte de visite, or small calling card photograph - I had overlooked earlier, and I asked the storekeeper for a closer look.

I felt strangely drawn to the image, a waist-up view of a soldier in a cavalry shell jacket. I turned the photo over, and drew in a sharp breath of shock.

Inscribed on the reverse side was the name Osborn Coburn. When I looked back at the image and saw the brass number 6, crossed cavalry sabers and the letters I on the soldierís cap - Osborn served in Company I of the 6th Michigan Cavalry - I realized the impossible had happend. It was really him.

I looked into Osbornís eyes, and I knew it was time to finish the book.