Lewistown gazette. [volume] (Lewistown, Pa.) 1843-1944, 1864-02-24
THE LIBBY JAIL DELIVERY.
Incidents of Their Escape.

| lnree OF our feueral 0thcerS who re-
| Gently escaped from Libby Prison, being a
| portion of the party Of twenty eight who
had arrived at Fortress Monroe, give the
following particulars
They were fifty one days engaged in
making their excavations, that through
which they finally passed, being sixty feet
long. They had previously made two
other excavations leading to the city sewers,
| which were too small to admit of their pas
sage through them, and this mode of escape
had to be abandoned. The mode of exca-
waiting was with case knives and an old
chisel. An old spittoon, with two ropes
attached to it, was used to draw the dirt
out into the cellar One rope was kept in
the hands of the operator in the tunnel to
draw it back empty, and one in the hands
OF the party attending at the orifce to
draw it out full
The working parties succeeded in get
ting into the cellar under the hospital,
from which they operated, first through
the wall, and then into the sand The
earth they concealed under pile of straw,
where a number of old beds had been
emptied, treading it down hard to make it
occupy as little space as possible.
They commenced to make their escape
at o'clock in the evening, and those who
have got through to Fortress Monroe did
net leave until 3 o'clock in the morning.
1t took each man about FIVE minutes to get
through the tunnel, and it was dangerous
for more than one to get into it at time,
there being difficulty in breathing.
They first struck the outer surface in the
middle of an unpaved street, but stopped
up the hole by filing the leg of an old
pair OF pantaloons with earth and wedging
1T up in the hole They then dug on fur,
ther, and came out under tobacco shed,
from which they made their escape.
Each man as he emerged the open air,
sauntered slowly off, taking whatever di-
rection he fancied They nearly all had
on our blue army coats, which facilitated
their escape, nearly all the military in and
about Richmond wearing the same coats,
having been supplied from the clothing
sent through by the Government for our
prisoners. They allege that they were
bought from our prisoners, but some doubt
is entertained upon this subject.
They were pursued on the Peninsula,
and some of them tracked out and cap
tured by the aid of blood hounds Five
days were occupied in tracking their way
to our lines, and some were compelled
from exhaustation to give themselves up.
A number of officers who desired to
escape were compelled to abandon the ef-
fort on account of their corpulency, the
tunnel being too small to admit of their
passage through it. Some of them under
took depicting process to reduce their
dimensions, but failed to come down to the
required thinness
The work was secretly commenced at
first by party of eight, their fellow pris-
oners knowing nothing of it. They finally
notified few of their friends, and the
working parties were increased They
were fearful to trust the matter to the
general knowledge of the prisoners, though
when the work was done, and the outlet
open, all who were willing to make the
attempt were notified Of the fact 1t was
regarded as most hazardous venture for
freedom, with a possibility of being shot,
certainty OF great hardship and ex
posure, and if captured the ball and chain
and low diet
After getting outside of the lines around
Richmond, they were greatly facilitated by
the sympathizing negros. In no place did
they apply to them for direction as to their
route, without receiving correct informa-
tion gladly given. They were told how to
avoid the Rebel scouts and pickets, and
where they would be most likely to strike
the Federal lines
They were finally met by tho 1lth
Pennsylvania Cavalry, twelve miles be
yond Williamsburg, who was scouting
through the country on the lookout for
them. They describe their reception by
these gallant fellows as most cordial and
enthusiastic Officers and men We'd with
each other in pressing their hospitality,