The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1859-12-19

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mncn a distress ~ ths sad fAts which swaits his
This was the condition of the town. 4he
prisoners and the military up 70 i osclcci last
evening. All apprehensions OF an intended
thing was thought OF but the approach ine
execution, whilst the oyerfiowfnR throne
of strangers were hunting quarters for ths
night. a
Another account says:
The only friend who visited any Of the pris-
oners yesterday was a Mr.. Joshua Ooppic, a
Coppic. The interview is said so have been a
very brief one, the old gentleman upbraiding
his nephew very soundIy for acting in the
manner which he did.
The correspondent Of the associated press
gives the following account of
THE ATTEMPTED RsCAPE.
At quarter-past O'Clock last evening the
whole town was thrown into commOtion by
| the report of q rife under the Jail wall, fol-
lowed by several other shots from the vicinity
Of the guard house, in close proximity to the
Jail. The military were called to arms, and
| the excitement was intense beyond anything
that has yet occurred during our ever-memo-
rable era Of military occupation. In few
minutes the streets and avenues OF the town
were in possession of armed men, and it was
with some difficulty that the cause of all this
| turmoil could be ascertained. Rumors of ev-
cry description We're afioat, and it was at one
| time thought that the prisoners had over
powered their guards and made their escape,
| and then that an attack had been made on the
| Jail by parties attempting the rescue OF the
/ prisoners.
The sentinel, stationed near the Jail wall, re-
/ ported that at guar past O'Clock he OBJ
| served a man on the Jail WALL whom he chal-
| ienged, and, receiving no answer, fired at him
\ Another head was also seen above the wall
| but he retreated as soon as the first one had
been fired at. The man on top of the wall
| seemed at first determined to persist, and was
about making an attempt to Jump down, when
| the sentinel declared his intention Of impaline
him on his bayonet. He then retreated intc
the jail-yard with COppic, and both gave them.
selves up without further resistance. Cook
afterwards remarked that if he could have
got over and throttled the guard hecouId have
made his escape. The Shenandoah mountains
| are within ten minutes run of the Jail wall
| and had he have reached them, with his thor
ough knowledge of the mountains, his arrest
would have been difficult, especially as but
few of the military could have followed him
during the night.
i They had succeeded, after two weeks, labor
whenever alone, and at night, when the bed
clothing .muffied the sound of the saw which
they had made out of an old Barlow knife, in
| cutting through their iron shackles, so they
could pry them off at any moment they should
have their other work completed. They had also
made sort of chisel out of an old bed screw
| with which they succeeded, as opportunity
| would offer, in removing the plaster from the
| wall and then brick after brick, until a space
sufficient for them to pass through was opened
all to the removal of the outer bricks. Ths
art rf xuhip fhovr to6 70
| in the rear of the bed on which they slept and
| the bed being pushed against the wall com
| pletely hid their work from view. The bricks
| they took out were concealed in the drum o
a stove, and the dirt and plaster removed in
the course of their work was placed between
the bed-clothing. They acknowledge that they
had been at work a whole week in making tht
| aperture in the wall.
Their cell being on the second floor the aper.
ture was not more than three feet above tbs
| pavement of the yard, and when freed of theil
/ shackles their access to the yard was quite
| easy. Here, however, was smooth brick wall
about fifteen feet high, to scale. This difIiculty
| was, however, soon overcome, with the aid o.
| the timbers of the scaffold on which Brown
was hung, and which were intended for theil
| execution on the succeeding day. They placed
| these against the wall, and soon succeeded in
reaching the top, from which they could have
easily dropped to the other side. had not the
vigilance of the sentinel on duty SO quickly
checked their movements.
They were arrested in the Jail yard by Gen
/ Taliaferro and the officer of the day, who
| rushed to the Jail the moment the alarm was
given.
| General Taliaferro Immediately telegraphed
| to Governor Wise, informing him of the frus.
trated attempt of the prisoners. His answer
| directed that the military should immediately
| take possession of the interior of the jail anG
| guard the prisoners until they were executed
Sheriff Campbell and Captain Avis are, o
course, much chagrined at the narrow escap.
of the prisoners, especially as they had resistet
| all interference of the military with the inte
| rior discipline of the Jail. The prisoners wer,
| undoubtedly without any accomplices in theil
| under taking. Their friends who were still
1 here, were also fearful that they might be sus
pected of knowledge of their attempt.
The general impression is, that if they haG
| waited until midnight or later that they nigh
have reached the mountains. But it is pre-
sumed that they were fearful of being watche.
| during the night, or desired to have as mucl
of darkness as was possible, to gain good dis
lance before daylight would allow genera
pursuit
Much indignation was expressed by some o
the headstrong with regard to the officials o
the Jail, put a large majority of Que citizen
express confidence in them, and spurn the ide
| that they were bribed by the friends Of Cook
Cook, after his capture, said to q gentleman
that they had done the best they could--tha
life was as sweet to them as to any one else
and that they had planned it for ten days.
They had set Tuesday night for the attempt
but had deferred it on account of not wishin
to compromise Governor Willard, who was il
town on that night.
One of our correspondents writes that tn
sentinel who shot at Cook was 7Homas Gnayd
of the Clark Guards, {not an inappropriat
name.) Cook went up first, intending to hel
Coppic to ascend; but just as Cook reache,
the top of the wall. and looked over to see
the coast was clear, he was fired upon. Ru
| NOR saws the shot passed through. Cooks hat