The Nashville daily union. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1862-1866, 1864-04-30
Escape Of q Union Prisoner from
Americas, Ga,

AMCElCuSS Uds
The Key West correspondent Of the
y. Y Herald, in a letter dated the 18th
inst, gives the following interesting &C
count Of the escape of D. r. Streeter,
of the Tooth Ohio regiment, from the
rebel prison near Americas, Ga He
was captured in September last, in East
Tennessee, and sent to Belle Island,
Richmond, whence he was transferred
to Georgia in February:
On reaching the camp, near Ameri-
Gus, it was found chat about ten acres of
land had been enclosed for the safe
keeping of the prisoners The enclo-
sure was constructed by digging pretty
deep ditch, in which roughly squared
timbers We're placed perpendicularly, in
two thicknesses, forming a stOckade
about fifteen feet in height and one
foot in thickness, which the rebels fond
~ hoped was imperviOus to the prison
ers. But the Ohio boy was not to be
"cribbed, cabined and confined by
such a mere triHe His ingenuity mas
tered the supposed formidable obstacle.
Inside the enclosure and close TO the
fence some large trees were growing, on
which Sreeter cast the eye Of an engi-
neer, and resolved accordingly. One
night, assisted by a companion, he con
trived to fell one Of these trees in such
a way that it formed a hypOthenuse,
with the stOckade for a perpendicular
and the ground foR the base. On this
tree the two soldiers clambered till
they reached the summit Of the stock
ade, when some strips OF a SIbley tent,
attached to the upper part Of the
tree, and hanging outside the enclo-
enclosure, enabled them to land in
safety on the outside of the camp. \
few yards beyond they gained the
friendly shelter of the woods Travel
ling all night they struck the South
Western Railroad, when they called
a halt during the day, having proceed
ed ten miles on the previous night, ar
irving at Americas From that place
they again struck off into the woods,
where they lay down during that night
Next morning early they again started,
but had not proceeded far when they
came unexpectedly upon a railroad sta
ton, where some dogs barked at them.
A man came out aud inquired who they
were, but receiving no reply, he set the
dogs on them, upon which they made
of as fast as they could Streeter
thinks the other man must have been
caught as he has not seen him since
lie was astacked by dog himself but
he managed to coax him of before any
human brute came up, and thus be sue
ceeded in escaping that peril
During the first nights travel over
the railroad track, no guards were visi-
be at any point; but on the second
night he found guards posted on the
bridges. He travelled on till he struck
the Flint River at Albany Here he
found bridge about one hundred feet
long, but he saw no guard on Or near il.
However, he took the precautiOn to pull
his boots Oft, as it was necessary for him
TO cross that bridge IL was well that
he did, for a great peril was impending
over him. He had not advanced very
far on the bridge when he beard the
stertOriOUs breathingOf a man, evident
ly in an advanced state of intOxicatiOn,
or, as the BOwery boys would say,
pretty extensively drunk" Here was
a pretty evil To turn back would be
as perilous as to proceed, he was so near
to the sleeping innocent While de
batting what 70 do, our bold soldier boy
had his resolution fixed by hearing the
sleeper snore as loudly as a chorus Of
Cincinnati hogs. Accordingly he adj
vanced, passing the sentinel-fOr senti-
mel he was-sO closely that he could
have touched him The rebel was com
fortably cOiled away with his musket
lovingly clasped in his arms, and sleep
ing as sOundiy as q policeman on his
beat Streeter exhibited a great deal
of sound common sense IN leaving the
sleeper to conclude his nap in peace.
Some Of his friends have blamed him
for not making the rebel 3 sleep eternal I
but he Justly says, What good pur-
pose would such an unnecessary and .
cruel act subserve2 1t might lead 70
my detection, and, If caught l could F.
have expected no mercy at the hands .
Of the rebels
Below Albany, about FIVE miles, the .
fugitive built q raft from some fence F.
rails on which he iioated about FIVE .
miles further down the river, where the .
raft ran on some rocks in the midst Of
rapids and went to pieces, plunging him .
into the water Luckily for him, he .
could swim, and he contrived 10 reach .
the shore, but benUmbed with cold /
the night being frosty--and almost too .
weak to travel lie had to be on the .
move, however, to prevent himself from .
On the following day he fortunately .
found a boat on the rivers bank, in
which be tiOated further down the river
that night But misfortune still fol
Owed him. A rope had been stretched P