The Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1855-1875, 1864-02-24

The Washington special correspondent
of the Cincinnati Gazette, gives the fol-
lowing particulars of the escape of Union
prisoners from this loathsome prison:
Seven or eight at first undertook to dig
toward a sewer emptying into basin
They arranged rope so As TO climb up
and dVyn the chimney from any of the
the cellar, from which they began their
tunnel When the working party had
got considerable distance under ground,
it was found difficult to haul dirt back by
hand \ spittoon which had been fur
niShed officers in one of the rooms was
made to serve the purpose of a cart
\ string was attached to il and 1t was run
in the tunnel, and drawn out and the dirt
deposited under straw: but after hard
work, and digging with finger nails,
knives and chisels a number OF feet. the
working party found themselves stopped
by piles driven in the ground ut least
foot in diameter. After chipping for
long time, the piles were sever'd and the
tunnel commenced again and reached the
sewer. Here an unexpected obstacle
met them. The stencil from the sewer
and the flow of filthy water were so great
that one of the party tainted and was
dragged out. and the project in that di
rection had to be abandoned The fail
ure was communicated to few others,
and then a party of seventeen concluded
to tunnel under Carly street. On the
opposite side of the street from the priS-
on was n sort of carriage or clubhouse,
and the project was to dig under the
street and emerge under or near the
I. l.. MI
it. and the guard was outside this fence.
The prisoners then commenced to dig
at the other side of the chimney, and
after a few handfuls of dirt had been re
moved found themselves stopped by a
stone wall which proved, afterward, to be
three feet thick. With penknives they
commenced operations upon the stone
and mortar and after ninteen nights hard
work they again struck the earth beyond
the wall and pushed their work forward
On the 9Th or 9th of February the work
ing party supposed they had gone suf
tcient distance and commenced to dig
upward When near the surface they
heard the rebel guards talking above
them, and discovered they were some two
or three feetyet outside the fence. The
tunnel then continued some six or seven
feet more. and the working party sup
posed they were about ready to emerge
to daylight, others in the prison were
informed. One hundred and nine prison
ers decided to make the attempt TO get
away. Others refused, fearing the con
sequences if they were captured: and
others yet, among whom was Gen. Neal
Dow, declined to make the attempt be-
cause, rs they said. they did not desire to
have their Government back bown from
its enunciated policy of exchange.
About halfpast s o'clock on the even
ing of the 9th the prisoners started out.
Colonel Rose of New York leading the
van. Before starting they had divided
themselves into squads of ?, 3 and 1.
and each squad was to take n different
route, and after they were out were to
push for the Union lines as fast as pos
sible. 1t was the understanding that
the working party was to have an hour 5
start Of the other prisoners, and conse-
quently the rope ladder in the cellar was
drawn out.
Before the expiration of the hour, how
ever other prisoners became inpatient,
and were let down through the chimney
successfully into the cellar. Col. w. II.
Kendrick, ID Tennessee; Capt. ID. j.
Jones, lst Kentucky Cavalry, and Lieut.
II. Y. Bradford, I'd West Tennessee.
were elected to go out last, and from the
window Col. X. Could see the fugitives
walk ont of the gate at the other end of
the enclosure of the carriage house. and
fearlessly move off. The aperture was
was so narrow but one man could get
81 through at a time, and each squad car
ried with them provisions in haversack.
At midnight false alarm was created.
and the prisoners made considerable
noise in getting to their quarters. Provi-
dentially, however, the guard suspected
nothing wrong. and in a few moments
exodus again commenced, Col. Kendrick
and his companions looked with some
trepidation on the movements, of the
fugitives, as some of them, exercising
but little discretion. moved boldly out on
the Enclosure into the glare of gas light
Many of them were however in citizen s
dress, and, as all the rebel guards wore
L. S. uniform, but little suspicion could
be excited even if the fugitives had been
accosted by the guard. Between one and
two O'Clock the lamps were exiting Iished
in the streets, and then the next was
more safely accomplished. There were
many officers who desired to leave who
were so weak and feeble that they were
dragged through the tunnel by main
force, and carried to places until such
time as they would be able to move on
their journey.
Once out. all moved off in different
directions, each squad looking out for
itself. and choosing what it thought the
safest and speediest way to some point
in the National lines. Officers have
signed the following tribute to Butler and
others. The names attached, are all of
western men now here:
The undersigned, officers of the United
States army, and recently prisoners of
war, desire to express their deep graft
tude to Maj General Butler, Brig -Gener-
al Visitor, Col. West, one regiment
Pennsylvania artillery, and the gallant
officers and men of the Pennsylvania cav
airy, and one regiment mounted rifles,
for their effective ssistance in compile
ting our escape from the rebel libby