One of the most unique characters in the way of a Confederate veteran to be met with around reunion headquarters is Lamar Fontaine, of Lyon, Miss. Lamar Fontaine Camp, No. 1331, of Lyon, Miss., was named in honor of him. On the lapel of Fontaine's coat is pinned a long white badge on which is found the following inscription:

"One of the survivors of the 600 prisoners on Morris Island. Forty- (Illegible) days under fire and forty-one days on meal and pickle-from September, 1864 to March, 1865."

The remarkable thing about Fontaine's imprisonment on Morris Island was that he was the only one of the 600 prisoners who escaped before the surrender of the South. He makes the boast that when he escaped he swam seventeen miles in forty-nine hours.

The Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY) 14 Jun 1905 (Page 18)
(Louisville was hosting the 1905 Confederate Reunion)