John W. January joined the 14th Illinois Cavalry in June of 1864. He was taken prisoner the next month and spent time at the prisons in both Andersonville, GA and Florence, SC. The back of the illustrated card above (complete with misspellings and missing words) reads :

“John W. January was a Prisoner of War at Andersonville GA And Florence S.C. for about 16 months by ( ) of scurvy superinduced by starvation he lost - his feet -which he himself heroically amputated with a pocket knife. No surgeon in prison being willing to preform the opperation. He arrived at David’s Island N.Y. was a mere skeleton weighing but 45 pounds, and after seven months treatment in Hospital was restored to bodily health, all things considered, Mesr. January’s case is perhaps the most notable example of nerve and body suffering in the anals of the Man he is yet October 26, 1900 living, the Father of a large family.”

John W. January passed away on November 29, 1906 at the age of 60.