The Warner weekly sun. (Warner, Brown Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1885, 1884-01-04
CASTLE THUNDER.

Castle Thunder, at Richmond, was es.
hblished by the confederate government ne
Mace Of detention for confederate de-
~Serters, suspected persons and the captured
attaches of the Union army. When q fed
ersl teaIuster. suttler or attache was captured
the castle was his home until such time ns
he could be exchanged or until the confed-
crates got tired Of keeping him. First and
last five or six war correspondents of north.
.,ru journals were obliged 10 take quarters
IN the castle, and some of them were Il whole
year or more in securing their release. The
power Of the press, even though a hostile
nyess, was respected to a certain extent. and
the captive knights Of the quil were al
loved some privileges not granted to 9th
ers. Sam Ward, at present in the state
tyeasuret's office in Richmond, was adm.
,ant Of the post ct Castle Thunder, and he
has all the records and documents pertain.
ing to that prison. He remembers the
name Of every newspaper man who passed
his door, and tells many anecdotes concern
mo them. He AYERS that Rnlklay. CORES
poadent Of the New York Herald was the
most philosophical prisoner he ever had.
and the only man who could sit down and
convince him that secession was damnation,
and rebellion ten times worse. One cor
respondent amused himself during his in.
cagnation by writing a five act comedy, but
when his release came his joy was SO great
that he quite forgot his manuscript. An
other wrote o book, a third got hold of a
German book and learned to read it, and
all wrote poetry.
SOHe OF the worst deSpcrLdCes in the
South were cAged IN Castle Thunder, and
the discipline had to he strict and toe vigil
rH.-y VN,-.-. Al, Ia A.. .,a.-.
pf the war the vicinity of Richmond was
mlesl. ID with bands Of robbers and cut
tbyD,ts, who rendered themselves 4 perfect
telrurand had to be hunted down by de-
tails armed 70 the teeth. When captured
they were tlken to the castle and tlere
held until q battle WAS imminent, and then
squads and even companies Of them were
marched II the front and put where Union
bullets would find them. Bat for this
happy way Of clearing out the prison 1t
would have been continually 0yercrowdaa.
Over 700 OF these desperldoes were sent to
Lees army at Cold Harbor, and they wen
into that fight like wild cats, Inside OF q
week nearly 200 of them were back in Rich
mhGd, having deserted as soon as the battle
ended. Several instances were known
whore these men joined Union regiments,
lived we'll for Il time, and then got back
into tue Southern lines with more or less
plrnder.
Little trouble was had with The Union
prisoners, all Of them realized that an es.
cape from the castle meant certain recap.
ture within n few doors, and therefore
they killed time as best they could. Not SO
with the c~onfederates however. Almost
every hour started a plan for escape, and
dozens of them were shot while carrying
ont these plans. They dug into and under
the walls and through partitions, and n
night seven of them droppedtwenty-s six feet
into a co urt-yard, unlocked two doors with
sspike and q piece Of wire, and killed two
"a ride before securing shelr freedo2l, The
cOmmissary at Castle Thunder drew all the
provisions for that place, Libby Prison.
Belle Isle, and the same wagons which de-
liyered at one place delivered at ALL. For
the two years of which federal prisoners
have complained so much, the eonlmlssary
wns q man named Warner. 1t may
hSionlSh some gOod patriots
TO be further informed that this Warner
was a born Eortherner, who lived in New
England until five years previous to the war.
Such are the facts, md they are not all
facts. It was found that he was receiving
presents from some Of the contractors ID
AAASAsAsNhd hhO WCI0 AuAhiohAhS ~ shASs
prisons, and an investigation showed that
be was ~defrauding prisoners of their rations.
When he found things getting hot for him,
no charged the commandant at Castle
Thunder with cruelty to prisoners. This
charge was investigated by the confederate
congress-, and the finding was that If any
cruelty had been practised Warner himself
was the guilty party
Among the federal tcamsters in the castle
In 1864 was ene Henry Dyer Of Ohio. In
stead of fretting himself over his imprison-
rnent ne went TO work to develop his genius.
One Of his several inventions was q railroad
switch, Ward furnishing him all the ma
tarial to make the model. When Dyer left
he was in such a hurry that his invention
was forgotten, but one day. twelve years
afterwards, he called for it. After a weeks
hunt il was found in a junk-shop on Main
street. and the inventor departed IN high
giee 0Ter his success.
One occupant of the castle liz the winter
Of 1884, wa q Federal narRed James Han
cock, claiming to be q scout attached to
Grants army. He was captured under cir
cumstanees which seemed to prove him @
spy, and while waiting for his case to be m
yesiigated he was sent to Castle Thunder.
Hancock was Q Jelly roliiiiekkinG fellow hay
ing wonderful facid expression and great
powers Of mimicry. One evening, while
singing o song for the amused ent OF his
fellow prisoners he suddenly stopped,
threw up his hands, staggered, and then
ieil like q bag OF sand to the floor. There
Was great confusion at once, and as some
Of the men inspected the body and pro-
nounced il without life the guards were no.
tiled OF what had occurred. The post
xnsFunan NO. nolla1 -, - cou rphafhnr N was
q faint or 0 case OF sudden death. He had
Just come in from a long ride, and his ex-
animation was . hasty one.
Dead as q door-naili he said as he rose
up, and in the course OF twenty minutes the
body was deposited in a wagon and started
for the hospital, to be there laid in a cheap
cnffin md fnrxuarlad To fha hnryin1. nlaCe.