The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1867-05-24
Revolt of Three II undred ConEiets h
the Tennessee NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
Scenes "A House Burned by the iCsrfi

II n 9u5 Nav. ih 3isxo
There were some. stirring scenes at the
Pcnitcntiary onSahday, nearly resulting
in the overthrow Of the guards III that liz
stitnticn. and the escape sf- hundreds -ofits
striped and close clipped inmates..
Same eae.eEeu OF tho white convicts. With
Martin Coffee, al ex solh II OF tho. Fifth
Kentnssy Cavalry, whose sentence for
house burning and fobbips will expire
fifteen yeaas from the last cessiofl Of the
CriaIinal Court, t,ehad eoneocted p]an for
grand strike itr freedom, and had deter,
mined on carrying it out eyep at the hsz,;
ard Of their lives.
Waiting and watching, din opportani,v
| ct last occurred to, him. At o clock T..
81, on, Sunday, the long deal tabla
in the dining room, which IS in the ives,
wing of the building, was spread with the
homely prison fare. and three hundred con-
yicts, half of them negroes. fled IN and
seated themselves in their accustomed
places. A single guard-ltendetson.--
stood in the room, armed only With tta
baton usually carried by those ofhis calling
and the door leading outward to the wall.
which has been partially terH down fer ma
terial to build new. oItei stood aIar, wei,
coming The co5!, delicious breeze thas
sweptinto the heated apartment. @
| Neither Whisper nor sign of any kind bes-
trayed the intent ofthe leaders as the sileHtx
! " partook of the evening meal but when
| every plate had been cmptied and knives
| and forks had Hiingled to their resting
places, Coffee suddenly rose from his sea,
| his eyes flashed with excitement, and
waved his soldier cap high above his head,
shouting IN startling tones'..- Now is your
time BOYS! Strike! striket tor your Ills
erty !" As,the word struck upon their cars
the situation at once flashed upon thems
and with one accord up rose every man OF
the motley three hundred, while an ex
Texas Ranger named Henery Holt. With
ten others, scceonding the daring Cotfee,..
strove intitc them to action. ...r-. .f ;.
SO sudden, however, had been TIE cali
upon them, that though the5 fully co,n1
prehendcd that but two walls, each oae te'i
| feet in height stool between them and
| freedom, they hesitated, ~
| Henderson, the guard who was neaE.
Coffee, ordered hiu, to be seated, hut In
stead of cora plying the convict seized u
knife from the table and made lunse 10.
! him, which Henderson awarded with his.
club. Using it dexterou.ly hy kept off the
mutinous convict, and was making good
fight when 10 O'oft theP Penitentiary guards who.
had been lounging about the yard, rr,ssa.ze'.
in body intothe room each with icve!ed,
revolver, covering one OF the rebellious
crowd, and the storm died away as suddeut
ly as it had broken. .1a.
The leaders were at one seized, bound,
and whipped, while their constituents alA
save one, sullenIy marched to their cells
When the roll had been called, the ab,
sence of this one was discovered. He was
a negro named English, and had been sen
tenoed for larceny. While the excitement
was at its height, he had quietly slipped
out of the dining room, and going to. a
wood pile near the outward wall, sccretcd,
himself beneath it, first placing an imprG<
vised ladder, in the shape of slender log !.
! against the WALL ready for use when ne
a should make up his mind to start. This
log, however, sealed his fate The guards
in their search at once observed it, and go
ing to the wood pile. one Of them, Frsss4
Crew, noticed among the wood what he
thought to be some old clothes. he oaeAs
lessly drew his revolver and fred u shot,
but only an echo answered the sharp re
port. A second time he fred and sup
1 pressed shrek of pain issued from beneath
it, English was then ordered tc come out,
but he neither answered nor moved. 4
tnlfQ DulleC was sent aItcF Dlt1,' WINCH nao
the effect to bring him to, aud he crawled
from his place groansng with pain. Upon
examination, it was found that bah had
pierced each of his arms, but the wounds
were not dangerous, and he is now doing
well.
All were set to work again yesterday, n
usual, the mischief makers, however, be:
ing closely watched, and no fmthertroublt
is anticipated. .-...,.,
/ Coffee, the leader in the uprising, il a
handsome, intelligent young man, tweuty.
) two years of age, and has not the appear
| ance of being an adept in criIse. 81
i Holt is large, rough looking customer
and is in twenty-one years, having beer
convicted of stealing horse in Pulaski
, where his wife now resides. ELe desertee
regiment Of Texan Rangers to which h,
belonged during the war, and wen. to JET
fersonville, from whence he fed after rob
bing the till of saloon in which he was bay
, keeper. One of his wives, it is said, il
, now living in Jeffersovlle. s.l