Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1879-05-22

should commence their egress-the en-
trance to the tunEel was crowded. It
was designated for Fifty to leave that
night, and fifty Others were selected to
mislead the Confederate clerk, who cali
ed the roll each morning. This would
have been easily done il the exact num-
Der who left had been known, for the
manner of calling the roll was tocrowd
all the prisoners into the east room and
pass them through door, and, as they
passed through, count them; and, as
there was another door in the same
room, it was very easy for an officer to
pass back through it and fall in and be
counted again. The officer who was
to count off the fifty who were to 60 the
first night and conduct the reception at
roll-call the next morning, finding he
could not stop the officers when the
fifty had goneout, and that SO many
would leave that it would be impossible
to conceal their fight at roll-call, made
his own escape.
The next morning when the roll was
called by the usual method of counting,
one hundred and nine officers were
found missing. This created inteEse
excitement among the officers in charge
of the prison. All the officers were
then called by name with the same re-
suit The prison was carefully ex-
amined, and the point of egress was not
found. Captain Turner, the command
dant of the prison, could think of nc
other means by which the prisoners
could have escaped but by bribing the
guards, and consequently he placed
them all under arrest and procured 8
new detail for guard duty.
SEEKING FOR THE RUNAwAYs.
A lank, lean Georgia Ser lgeant who
attended about the prison, said
'sThese Yankees are all witches and car
fly, and they will all fly out of the win
dows some night. JEFF Davis ought to
have them ghandcuffed SO that they
couldn't spread their wings, or else
have all the windows barred The
disappearance of these Federal officers
was so mysterious that the Confeder
ates were dumb founded As soon as
| their astonishment subsided scouts
were sent in every direction in search
of the fugitives. In the meanwhile $
large number of the citizens of Rich
mond reconnoitered the prison the
greater portion of the day; but some
time in the afternoon somebody hap
pened to enter the old stable and dis
covered the tunnel. This was a great
reliefto them. 1t relieved the guards
from the charge oftreason, and relieved
the minds of the superstitious, who cod
not shake the belief from their minds
that some supernatural agency had
been employed in the escape of the Yam
kee prisoners. The Confederate scouts
soon began to return with some of the
escaped Fedei al officers, and in the
course of few days they succeeded in
recapturing 50 of the 109 who escaped
81 having made their way into the Fed
erai lines. Colonel Rose, the protector
and engineer of the tunnel, was recap
tured, and punished for his ingenuity
by solitary confinement in a cell fol
several weeks. Colonel A. d. Streight
of the Fifty-frst Indiana, made his way
into the Federal lines. All those who
finally succeeded in making good theil
escape suffered greatly from hungc'
and cold before they could get relief
Colonel W. P. Kendrick, of the First
West Tennessee (Union) Cavalry, suf
fered so much that he died liz Cincin
natl on his way home. - tz-
The excavation of this tunnel, with
the appliances at hand, was truly an
herculean task. The earth taken from
it had to be taken in very small vessels
to considerable distance and emptied
into sewer, in order that discovery
might be prevented. Some of these
brave men have left the scenes of earth
those who survive are engaged in pur
suits of peace, and the exciting scenes
through which they passed dwell only
in memory. E