The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1885-02-26

posed prison rules. William Campbell. whose
| immense personal strength better enabled him
to enforce his decisions, usually ofhciated as
judge, until at last he got the name Of Judge"
firmly fixed upon him. We had ample time
for this sport, and the opposing counsel
| would make very long and learned speeches.
! So interesting were these arguments, aud so
| eloquent were our appeals, that no one of the
| auditors was ever known to leave the court
room while they were in progress The wit
nesses were very slippery, and it was often
| difficult TO reconcile their testimony. Some
| friends of the prisoners nearly always attempt
ed to resist the laws and prevent the nfliction
| of penalties. but in such cases the personal
,ccight of the judge decided the affair. This
resistance would give rise to new arrests and
| trials and thus the work became interminable.
Another and more refined source of enjoy
| ment was found in music. There were several
good singers in the party, and by practicing
together they soon acquired great proficiency.
Most of the songs under the leadership of
| Marion Ross, were of a tender and sentimental
cast, such as "Nettic Moore" Carrier Dove"
Twenty Years Ago" Do they Miss Me at
| Homer" etc. The most frequent time for
singing was when twilight began to fall. Then
all other occupations would be laid aside, and
| in the gathering darkness the voice of song
would roll out as full and sweet rs not strained
through prison-bars. The guards were very
fond of our singing, and frequently groups OF
! citizens also would gather around the high
jail-fence TO listen. Words of sympathy and
kindness for the "cagcd Yankees became
more common and there was good many
tangible manifestations of the SAME feelings
! The guards who came in contact with us.-a
considerable number one squad replaced
neutrality-suspicious. with many of their officers
| and many residents of Chattanooga, began to
| ask why we were not treated as other prisoners.
and the shameful chains taken off. do not
! know whether this produced any essential
,i,a, IN forf :l-olx,
reason we were not brought to trial in a town
where we would have been sure of so much
! sympathy, but were arraigncd in distant place,
and before officers who were strangers to us.
! Yet no friendlness or the part Of ouf guards,
| or mitigation in the horrors of our treatment,
| put the thought of escape out of our minds, al
| though ii did divide our c0unsels and delay an
attempt. With many others, / was convinced
| that we ought to make a bold push for liberty.
! The very strictness of the guard was chal-
| lenge to do our best to overcome it. If there
were a few CLEANS Of humanity in the present
| treatment, this was merely because our captors
! had discovered us to be human beings and not
monsters; besides there was enough still in the
vile nature of our food and rigor of our
| finement to justify the most desperate effort
| for freedom. If we tried and failed, we might
| lose our lives in the attempt but this was q
| risk soldiers have to take in every enterprise
! if recaptured, we would be no worse of than we
could be no more deadly than the old one of
| seizing the train. But those who did not wish
| to make the attempt, among whom George ID.
Wilson was foremost maintained that our ene
mics were growing daily kinder, and that we
would soon DO formally placed on the footing
of prisoners of war; the commander of the
guard, Capt. Laws, had become even intimate
with Wilson, and had assured him that our good
conduct was producing profound impression
in our favor; to forfeit this now By fooihardy
attempt to escape might turn the scale against
US. Ross agreed with Wilson. He was q Free
mason, and some members of the fraternity
visited him, and gave him assurance Of friend
ship, together with some small sums of money
which he generously used to procure us all
little greatly y-needed addition to our food. We
no longer made our purchases through SWims
but through Capt. Laws, who did not lose the
money iutyusted to him.
Finally the majority decided in favor OF an
attempt to escape Two plans were proposed,
the first by the writer. When men who arc
not expecting danger are suddenly surprised
there is a moment when they are incapable of
action, and may be at the mercy of a bold adj
versary. The same plan, in general outline
was carried out long afterwards with the most
brilliant success. It was simply TO have our
irons off when the guards came TO feed us in the
evening, and then, as the door opened, TO make
8 simultaneous rush upon the leveied bayoncts
outside, wre5t the muskets from their holders
and pour down the stairs on the guards below.
| If we succeeded in reaching the ground before
| the guards fully realized what was going ON, "a
few moments would suffice to disarm Them
and then we could leave the p9ison-y yard in
| solid body aud run with all our speed to the
| ferryboat which lay on our side of the river
not far distant. Once over the river, armed
with muskets and bayonets, we would have
been comparatively safe.
But Andrews did not like this plan for the
same reason that made him so unwilling to use
our arms in desperate fighting during the race
on the train. He proposed another plan,
which, as he still had great influence with us,
was adopted His proposition was that some
| one-John Wolom, l think, was selected for
the perilous attempt-shoud conceal himself
under the bed in the jailer's room as we passed
| through it on Our return from the breathing
| spell in the yard, and remain there until all
was quiet at night, then come out and noise
| lessly unlock the door; after this we could
/ rush down, seize the guard, and proceed rs in
| our first plan. The time for this bold attempt
was fixed for moonless night not far distant.
| There were two soldiers of the original 2l
! detailed for our enterprise who failed to reach
! the designated rendezvous at Marietta. One
was from the 21st the other from the Cd Ohio.
| They had been suspected aud compelled to join
| a rebel battery, representing themselves IS
brothers from Kentucky. In the skirmsh at
| Bridgeport the member OF the 2Ist found an
| opportunity TO run aCFOSS Ulc rdllf0aG Drlu9e
and join Mitchell. This caused suspicion to
rest on his supposed brother, who was arrested,
| brought to Chattanooga, and thrown into the
| dungeon while we were there. There was
some suspicion that he might have belonged to
! our party, but we refused to recognize him,
| and after confinement for some time he was
| sent back to the battery again, and from it,
! after many remarkable adventures, succeeded
! in making good his escape 10 the Union lines.
There was at this time a great talk OF cur
exchange, and our dropping hopes revived. A
| son of Gen. Mitchell was captured but the Gen
eral held u large number Of rebel prisoners,
! and released one of tbem-a Lieutcnant-on
/ parole to propose an exchange This man vis-
| tied US and raised the most saUgnine hopes ia
| our bosoms. The Confederate officers encour-
aged those hopes, but said we must first go
] through a merely formal trial to prove that we
were really soldiers, after which we would be
! included in the exchange which would un-
| dOubtediy be made. We wanted them to refer
| the question of our sodiership to Gen. Nit
chel, but we have every reason to believe that
| they not only never asked him anything about
US, but used all the means in their power to
| prevent him from obtaining any knowledge of
our situation. The exchange was effected, but
/ we were not included, and the Lieutenant was
not permitted to return TO the loyal camp.
These deiusive hopes had served to delay
| little longer our projected escape, but at last
| we resolved to end the suspense. The very
Il had gpr