The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1884-01-11
CASTLE THUNDER.

CASTLE THUNDER,
AL0ok at thu Recort oil the Famous Prison
How Its Unfortunate Occupants En-
tiured Capsiyi,y-Thcfr Efforts Tor Enjoy
lnent ami Attempts to Escape.
From the Detroit Free Press.
Cnstle Thunder, at Richmond, was es-
tabiishel by the confederate government as
q place Sof detention for confederate de.
~seIters. suspected persons and the captured
attaches OF the Union army. When Q fed
eral team ,te1,suttler or attache was captured
the castle was his home until such time a.
he could be exchanged or until the confea.
crates got tired Of keeping him. FIRST and
last fys or six war correspondents Of north.
ern journals were sbliged4to take quartetg
10 the castle and some ofthem weras whple
year or more in securing their release. The
power of the press, even though a hostile,
press, was respected to certain &sent, and
thercaptive knights Of the quill were al
lowed some privileges not granted 10 9TH
ers. Sam Ward, at present in, The state
treasurer's office in Richmond. was adju-+
tant Of the post Of Castle Thunder, and, he
has all the records and documents pertain
ing to that prison. He remembers the
name of every newspaper man who pasted
bis door and tells many anecdotes concern.
ingrthsm. Heavers that.B ulkley, cores
pondent of the New York Rerrld was the
niost, philosophical he. ever, had,I
and the only mnp who, could sit, down and
convince hin shat secession was damnatiop,
and rebellion ttep Lines, worse. One corr,
respondent amused himself dufing his in.
carnation by writing u tive.a not comedy, but
when his:release cahae' his Joyasas 40 great
that hssquite fortotlhis ma1nseSipt. .aAn--
other wrote q book a thirdfgotr hold Of y
German hook ahdslearned tot.rendl it., and
All wrote poetry. aeciisrsas
Some OF the,,gerst despcradpes in the
South. We're Gagged IN Castle Thunder, and
the !discIf1iee Ind to be strict and the vigil
ynnce ct FpaI, During tue last zts Q years
of the war thb y%!fInlty Of RickIonds wis
infested With bahFs ~of robbers and ttitl'
# iror ind haa to- be hunted down byfsdes
IL iils armedsto the tee tn iWAen Gaptured
they we're .tmken TO the castle .apd,tasse
held uIt a battle was imminent apd thea
Andeyen companies of them HeEIa
marched t,tthe fyentt and R.aat where UniiqNR2
bullets would ,fpd them, But, for this
Would EhaSse been cobtinIu ny esyerfeyts&Idsl l.
Over 800 Of These addssspreetraaoess' waysaf.sS sent to
Lies army at Cold Hafbot aahd ,the,v vent
into that fight liss Wild cats: 1Isfdss bt a
We tx neafly,2gO Of them were back. ii Fitch
tnond,, having deserte1h s soon as'the battle
ended. Several INSTANCES Were: known
whereothesel men joined Union reeimerte
lived well fort A. time; and thentsgct back
into the Southern .liness withsmotet or sless
|Eplunder. t,txF sasf,.
Little trouble was had with the Union
prisoners. al. Of them realized that an .es-
cape from the castle meant certain recapr
tufe within a few i1oorD And therefore
they killed time as best they could. Not SO
With Me~confedeTates howsEsFr-Almest
livery kour Starked aplspf for escape, and
dozens Of ITEM were shot while cSifryipg
out these plans, Theygdug into and
the walls and, through partitions, and one
night seven Of them droppedtwentysEx feet
into a co urtsyatd, unlocked two doors with
spike and q piece Of wire, and k,lled'two
gu ride before securing their freedoa.. The
commisssry at Castle Thunder drew all the
provisions for that place, Libby Prison,
Belle Isle, and the same wagons which doc
Ifvered ut one place delivered atssi]: fsPor
the two years Of which federal prisoners
have complained SO much, theacommissary
astonish some good IN ! patriots
to be further informed that this Warner
was a born Northerner, who lived in New
ENGLAND until five years previous to the war.
Such are the facts. and they are not all
facts. 1t was found that he was receiving
presents from some Of the contractors in
Richmond who were furnishing the three
prisons, and an Investigation showed that
he was defrnuding prisoners of their rations.
When he found things getting hot for hun,
he charged the c~ommandant at Castle
Thunder with cruelty to prisoners. This
charge was investigated by the confederate
conarsss, and the tiasing was that # any
cruelty hadsbeen praotised Warner himself
was the guilty party. - hos $50.
Among the federal,ts amsters in the castle
in 1854 was one Henry Dyer Of Ohio. In
stead OF fretting himself, over hisimprison-
ment. he went to work to develop his gepias.
One OF his seyera1inyentions was railroad
switch. Ward furnishing him all the ma
tsrial to make the model, When Dyer left
he was in such a hurry that his, invention
Was forgotten, but one days twelve years
afterwards, he caliedstor It After a Week
hunt it was found in q junk-shop'o On Main
street, and the inventor departtdt htshigh
p,ee his success. 1srs:,s sfse~ 2. taa',s tEsS
One occupant of'tile castle in theawinfof
Of 1876 was a Federal named James Hhil.
cock, claiming to be - scout sattaohedsta
Grants army. He was captured under cir
cunstances which feemed to prove him q
spy, anarShiie wniting fofhis case to bein.
! vestigated he WIS sent to Castle Thunder.
Hancock was a jolly. rollTokine fellow, hav:-
ing wonderful facial expression and -great
powers OF mimicry. One eteniag,a while
!. singing a song, for the amusei i ent OF his
fellow prisoners he suddenly Slapped,
sthrewsupakIs hands,, staReered, and then
fell like a bag OF sand to the floor. There
was great ccorfnsion at once, and I'D gome
Of the men inspected the body and pro.
hodneelit Without life the guards were no
titled of what had occurred Yhel post
! surgeon gns ca.ted into. shy whether it was
q faint III d case Of sudden death. He had
jnst come in from a long ride, and his ex-
Elimination was a hasty he.
a1"Dead as a door-nail!" he said rs he rose
up, and in the course Of twenty minutes The
body was deposited III a wagon and started
for the hospital, to be there laid in n cheap
e ss aastlsssAS ssFa asss4s 81 sE sS$ 5 a'esi 1;
TSArAssIsNssapps ga; Board so ais ayseAdssas,
and thinking he night have lolted the Ipdy
ont on the ~ aroyg b5nksad~tsaAe in
lost co pc nasyw heresssfs aii1 Isa &
HaI6ERcks sssn assh Sst ssespagg q
his plan TO escape. While be bad great
nerve hand IN iron Wil,' he could not have
passed the surgeon under favorable circuin-
stancds. On the way to the hospital he
pedestrans on the wnik. When the driver
"a netajE Of men was at oncax@62t1t out
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