Bradford reporter. [volume] (Towanda, Pa.) 1844-1884, 1861-11-14

Of our sutferlngs being in the removal Of our
heavy chains at night. whi>h we had effected
in various ways, hut principally ny hribing TIE
smith to put in leaden rvetS hackened with
charcoal, so that we couId remove them at
pleasure. Our food during this time was scant
aud poor; and this together with hard work
loss of rest, exposure anxiety Of mind aud
improper treatment, carried some to the hos
pital, some TO the grave. aud reduced the rest
Of Us, il not 10 skeletons, at least to several
pounds below our ordinary weight.
AT length the news reached US of the cap,
ture of some Two or three hundred more of our
countrymen at Mler, aud not long after this
iftren Of them. among whom were General
Green, Colonel Fisher, aud some other officers
were brought into the castle and confined in
cell adjoining ours. The farce Of three days
freedom was allowed them for looking about
the castle, and then they were chained togeth
. iu pairs like ourselves and put to the same
menial and degrading employment.
Time pa srd on aud hroHght Us to much mis-
cry aud so little hope, that at last few OF US
took the bold resolve of making our escape x
it were possible to be accomplished. Some Of
our party being carpenters, and occasionally
employed i'll one OF the shops, few chiSels
were thus secured, aud with these it was our
first idea to enlarge the loopho Of our cell,
aud lower ourselves into the mOat by means
cf rope with which We expected to provide
ourselves by getting a small piece at time,
aud splicing the parts together. BIT on max
ing trial at the lOOp-h0Ie. we found II SO well
guarded ny iron faStenIngS let into the hard
stones that with our inferior tools We could
do nothing with il, and so We ahan oned it
altogether, aud commenced perforatug the SO.
lid wall little to the left.
There was wooden shutter to the loop
hole aud when this open as it generally
was for the admission of light and air, it com
p!etely concealed our secret work but as an
additional precauIIou against discovery, we
buag our blankets up along the wal, a a.
ways kept one of our number listening near
the door who never tall"d TO give warning, lay
"a careless tlp or Otuer signal, Of the sudden
aud unexpected visit Of SOM Inspecting offi :er
The dirt aud rubbish that we took from tn
aparture, we managed to dispose OF 10y first
concealing it under some loose stones in our
cell. aud subsequently carrying it out iu our
blankets
At first our work of cutting horizontally
through the wall was comparatively easy but
the further We progressed the more ficult IL
brcame. Only one person at time could he
employed at 1t, And this mostly in the night.
When We had penetrated the wall few feet,
the person laburing ia the hole had 10 crawl
in fiat rest on his elbows, and then work with
the chlSel as best he could, generally by drill
ing little holes and pryng of pieces of the
rock and cement. | was a very fatiguing
process, and often the rubbish of whole days.
labor could he carried off in two or three or
dinary sized pockets. SuIl it was something,
and hope checred us with the belief that al
least we were 50 much arer liberty, aud so
We tOiled on with an uuwdverlng purpose.
One thing for "a while, pul complete stop
to our Operations Intelligence was brought
us that on the 18Th Of June, Santa Ana'o
birth day, We were all to be set free, Ut when
that day had come and gone leaving us still
prisoners, We deeply regretted We had lost any
time ia relying upon the false promises OF
t7eachcrOu> government aud forthwith renew
eI our hhorS with II bitter zeal
BY the first of July our excavation was com
petpd, and only thn shell remained on the
outside, which We could r0move in few miH-
utes Meantime We had secured oar rope, fix
ed our knapsackS lor journGy, and by great
econ, my III our rarionS, saved up food euou4h
TO last IL compile of weeks Sixteen Of us, among
whom was General Green, had resolved to re.
gain our liucrIy on The uight OF the Fourth OF
July the Others, after due consideration, pre-
terring 20 remain, rather than run the risk OF
re-capture and death, which they believed wo'd
be our ultimate fate /; but the afternoon OF the
second being stormy one AMI promising
dark night favorable to oar purpose, We re-
solved TO make the attempt at once.
As those who wished to escape were conHn-
ed m three different cells, our first anxiety was
to get ali these together in the one apartment.
TINS We successfully managed. by inducing the
same number Of those who were to remain to
change places with those who were to leave
aud the officer of the gUatd finding the numbers
of each party correct locked the doors on US
without discovering or sn>prcting our ruse.
So far well but we stlll bad "A delicate.
difficult aud dangerous undertaking TO manage.
We cUn!d not escape from our apartment tho
the uparlure without more or less noise and
AS a sentinel was stationed at the door, who
would be likely TO hear any unusnaI sound, and
who could even look in through the CRATE by
standing on tip toe, our first proceeding was
To properly manage hun We had some spur
its. which we had smuggled, aud we invited
nim to drink with Us, passing his liquor to hIn
IN an eggshcIl through the grAte-an act OF
kindness on our part wlach he more highly ap-
prrriated that night probably than he did the
day following Next We got some OF our par
" To gambling rear the door, aud Others to
dancing. all of which created sufficient no.
10 cover our own, and allow uS to proceed with
the work on which our liberty depended.
We soon succeeded in knocking on the out
er shell of our breach; aud then n onr d'smay'
| might almost say horror, discovered that the
further end of the aperture was too small 70