December 22, 1863
The Ball And Chain. - The deserters now in the Athaneum sentenced to hard labor during their term of enlistment, were formed into a wheel-barrow line yesterday, and employed in conveying provisions from the Government store rooms to the prison. To the right leg of each prisoner was attached a heavy ball and chain. It is a most humiliating thing to wear this ornament, and the scene affords a forcible warning to deserters.
Timeline of West Virginia: Civil War and Statehood: December 1863