Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1864-01-05
ys,ultIIumf 4.
TUESpl. MORNING, JAN. ), lSGl.
GENERAL M0RGAN'S ESCAPE FROM
PRISON.

! SPECIAL. CORRESPONDENTS or rur ENQUIRER.
DANvnLE, VA. Jan. =, lSI4.
AZ have MOI Eeea any detailed account OF
Gen. JOHN III. M0rgan's remarkable escape
from the Ohio State Prison. I haze dete mined
I, send ycu the ,ollowir,. u, received from.
him. How o!ten To-. ii occur hat truth l.:
stranger than iittip,i." &pd !, hear The tser:I.
in his modest way, rrI,car All the incidents
Ic0nnec:cl Viii: his escape, caiil h. sale
arrival within orr Fincs sounds !aorc ike i
tale Of the Arabian Nights. ;h:n L irae record
Of facts, which. we kn"H, have hut ,a"ently
tlken place
In the first place the prison is die e the
strongest, either i'll this country or Europe, a.
I can testify from 4 personal inspection, and
lew men would have the courage u attempt.
to get out from such Il place, even If there
We're no other obstacle than tho walls TO over
come: int when it is, remembered that there
were three linr5 Il SaEtincls IL pass, lil.itrh
bull ,,Hs+ We can INT nSsi.iir. tie dc;rr,i!na-
Ilon which could resolve, and the fertility ct
resource which could successfully accomplish,
such Il vast undertaking.
On the Goth day Of July Gen. Morgan, with
others Of his officers, WAS taken to the poni-
Tertiary. lie was first carried into the
SECURING Dom" and ordered TO diyest him
self Of his clothing. each article being care
fully searched rs nc laid ii aside. lie was
next ordered into large hogshcad of water
and severely @c,uIh.d ! I convict. During
Ill this time he VAS Subjected TO the vulgar
;:.nzc of l:.r,:e numk"r of pcorle. who ware
attracted by curiosity 70 see he great chief"
This being over hc WIS taken into the "Sha-
wing room" and required 10 take seat, and
then commenced the ''Larbcrizing process"
, "lle this VIE soiuS On, Col Cuke and DR..
Steel came in and exclaimed in great sur
prise, My IiCayrn. General. what are you
having yourself so diSignrei !6r2" lie very
mildly and PLEASANTLY replied. "Wait L few
moments, genticmen, and you will sec" and
sure enough ,hcy d;tl. From here he was
politely conducted IL ais room, which consisted
Of narrow CELL lrurand half feet wide and
eight fee. long. The grated door WAS closed :,
and he ROW recognized his awful condition ::
:. prisoner in lr hands Of barbarians--he
vino had ever been irnient; bordering OH
ed their officers allowing them To retain their
horses and silt-arns, and even furnished
ther priyates with money t" deiraY
their way home, scrubbed, shaved and
locked in lelon,s cell. Like :. true
philosopher, equal Il any emergency, lie
;:.et his fate chcerinlly, urging lis comrades
al tho time Ia prudence and fortindc
rama-king quietly, " La! their tma wnr|d
como: ,housl. late it would surely come" hnd,
thank God, he is Out now, and i wW cGlne.
BY his pruAencc and amiable department. he
80 ,Ynu thc good feeling If some "f tho mih-
..!tern attendants .l,ac they disposed Ia
treat him kindly ard DO ,m:.il tayort for bin:
After few days OF solitary confinement! he
and his cIii GERS we're allowed to walk in tic
passage way, tn which their cells oI,aei.
TIE cells consisted Of! iwO i"ny TOMS Of
holes IN tie wall, one over the other. they
opened in;9 = passageway, twelve feet wide
and t:inciy feet long. Every morning, at Il
o'clock, they were turned into the passage way
and allowed tn communicates witt: ea2I, ether,
and al ! p'loci: were again locked up. I'M
-lrdialrly Oh tic ,ii,Siaa of .Lc wing Of lhe
!uiliug. in which they were confined, was :.
| ..,I
the f;,Gxlr c,:.rliut ut aud 90. the outside Of
:la dcrartnlcnt WAS another wall thirty
.,ct high. with Il large overriding upon which
the sen;incls walked their beat Ga the
| GROUND, between the inner and the outer wall,
4 CHAM Of sentincls wns distributed, ano.
t.icr on the outer wall during the day, but OF
sight were transferable The ground on the
outside Last, and most difficult TO Cldde, was
the sentinel who entered the prison at 81 times
daring the day, and y: stated intervals
Of tvs" hours during the night, tn see that
! nycrYthin;: was going on we'll. When the
! Jatr termination IN escane 1T I'll !iaE.r'is was
! axe! upni!. the first thing Was ia get hold OF
some implements to work with. So tilc Cen
cr:,l rot SICK and was obliged to have his
! meal, .br0ught to him in his room, and at con-
venont opportunities his plate went back,
minus i case.kriir. When sufficient num-
Der had thus been procured, his brave IN
raica vent to work. Separate holes Had to
! h. i.Gii,ic, rs they were cprtiucd III scnarae
..gls. Their hcI:;::uis ,scrr small iron stools,
fastened to ;hc Wal: with hinges. They could
hc hooked ~ or allowed to stand Oh tic flor;
;,r,, 10 rrerent ;'ny s':sp!cio, i"r several d.yH
! Il In, -
:: habit 10 let them down aud sit NJ tile!r doors
; and read. CaId:ia Hines superintendent the
,yuri, while General Morgan kept watch 20
di:rrt the attention o. the sentinel, whose
/ da:y IL WAS to come around during the dag
and observe If anything was going On. One
:iay this fellow came in while EIokcrsmith
Sas down under the Il 'Or boring away, and,
missing bin. said "Wnere i. llrkcr:!ai:h ~
The General replied, "IIeis in ny &c: 81 sick"
an, Immediately pulled Il document oIls Of his
Aackct and said u him: ''lleIc is Il memo
rial lave dr,wn up to forward to tho Gov
crnmcnt at WashingtOn--wiI&5 Ito you
think If it?" The fellow. who, per-
, fnrs. could not read, being highly 1at-
tered ut the Generals c0ndescension, took
it, uli very cravcly lorkcd ut it for
several nuaicDt: l.rIrro H. y1uch:aieI any
reply '.hcn handing il back, lie expressed
himself highly pleased with it. In The laean-.
time, Hokcrsmiih had lean signaied, G.ud
came un protesting to feel Every unwell."
This scntincl. was the most difficult and daE-
corJus obstacle III their progress, bccaurr
there wis no telling ut what timn lie would
enter during the day, and ut night he camr
regularly every two hours to each cell, and
Inserted IL light though the bars Of their
,l,o. 10 see that they were quietly sleeping;
and, frequently after he bed completed lis
rounds Eewoull slip back in The dark witt ::
pair ~ India rubber sl.as OF. Ia Iistan a: their
CELLS ii anything Was going 90. The General
says tia: he would almost invariably know o!
his presence ny certain magnetic shu!der
which it would produce; but t"r Gar that this
acute scaSibiity might Sometimes fail him. he