The National tribune., 1885-05-21
"ENGINE THIEVES" F"
The Great Story of Capturing a
Locomotive"
BY REV. wM. PITTESGER.
lCoPYIIGHTED, 1881.
CHATTER XX--coRcIuded.

| Just as the leader was ready 10 give the sig
nal, a friend pressed to his side and Informed
him that we were betrayed, and that the enemy
were on the watch for us. From window in
| the far corner of the room force of at least SO
| men could be seen drawn up before the prison.
door. The story continued that orders had
been given to shoot down every one who at
| tempted to escape, while another detachment
was to close in behind and make an indiscriml-
nate massacre Had we carried out our plan,
the guard would have yielded before our rush
until we had been fully drawn into the trap,
| when they hoped to make such a slaughter as
would be perpetual warning to prison break
ers.
When first heard Of this account thought
| it the invention of some weak ncrved indIvid
ual who wished to avoid the danger of our
! scheme. But it was perfectly true. The next
day the newspapers of Richmond contained a
| full erpose of the whole affair, and Capt. Alex
ander, the tyTant who commanded the prison,
| threatened to have every one In 1T tied up ana
whipped But he finally changed his mind. A
| nominal prisoner, who was really spy In the
service of the authorities had contrived to get
| into the plot, and had reported it to his employ
ers. This was the last attempt at prison-hreak-
| ing in which was concerned.
In Richmond there was pretense OF allow
| ing prisoners to correspond with their friends
| in the North,- of course subject to the inspec
! ton of the prison officials. From Libby Prison
some letters did 60 safely. We also tried writ
! ing, making our expressions very guarded, but,
so far as / have ever heard, none of our corre-
spondence was forwarded beyond the lines. l
was providentially afforded a better oppOrtu-
nifty. Some of the prisoners captured ut the
battle of MurlreesborO were brought to Rich
mond for exchange, and were kept overnight
| in room in the basement of Castle Thunder.
When in thu court as usual in the morning,
asked good -natured Irishman of their num-
har if ha x.nuiI oft and mail If for
me after getting to loyal territory. He cheer
fully consented, and l penciled a note to my
father on the t1y-leaf Of book and, watching
an opportunity when unobserved, gave 1T to
him. He concealed it until out of rebel power,
| and duly committed it to the mail. The sensa-
tion may be imagined which it produced among
my own friends and those of other members OF
the party, as nothing had been heard from us
since the October escape, and we had long been
given over as dead. Though the note was very
hastily written. l copy it here without change,
as showing the feeling experienced at that time.
Something of the hOpefulness and lightness of
the tone resulted from the wish to cheer those
addressed.
RICHMOND. VA. Jan. G, 1858.
DEAR FATHER: take this opportunity of writ
ing by paroled prisoner to let you know that
am well and doing as we'll as could be expected.
have some rather hard times, but the worst IS
past. Our lives now safe. but we will be kept
during the war, unless something lucky turns up
for u.s. There are six OF our original railroad party
here yet. Seven were executed in June, and eight
escaped in October.
I stand the imprisonment pretty well. The worst
of il to hear of our men Iths refers to the Union
armyl getting whipped SO often. hear all the
news here: read three or four papers day. even
know that Bingham was beat in the last election
for which am very sorry.
The price of everything here is awful. II costs 30
cents 60 send letter This will account for my not
writing TO all my friends Give my sincere love to
them, and tell them to write to me.
You may write by leaving the letter unsealed,
putting in nothing that will offend the Secesh, and
directing to Castle Thunder, Va. want TO know
the private news-how many of my friends have
fallen. Also tell me who has been drafted in our
neglborhood, who married, and who like to be.
Also If you have gold dollar at hand, slip it into
the leter-not more. as it might tempt the Secesi
to hook it. / have tried to send word through TO
you several times, but there is now better chance
of communicating since we came from Atlanta to
Richmond
No doubt you would ALI like to see me again, but
let us have patience. Many better man than
am has suffered more and many parents are mourn
ing for their children without the hope of seeing
them again. So keep your courage up, and do not
be uneasy about me. Write as you can, and
Ever yours WM. PITTENGEI.
To THOMAS PTTTEsGER,
New Somerset, Jefferson Co., Ohio.
The belief expressed in the above letter of
imprisonment during the war was thought by
the writer to be most probable. No word was
spoken either of exchange or of court martial.
The prices referred to were iii Confederate
money, which was now greatly deprecated.
The little we had brought from Atlanta rapidly
melted away, procuring us very little addition
to our meager fare. We still hoped for great
Union victories and q speedy termination of
the war; But at the opening of the year 1863
the prospect was dark indeed.
About the 1st of February the range of side
rooms in which were confined was wanted
for hospital purposes The prison hospital had
been located in the garret above but disease
a.,
dations were no longer sufficient. These chill
and comfortless rooms had but little adaptation
TO their new purpose, and hastencd the release
OF many poor unfortunate by the mercy of
death. Disease was now making fearful havoc.
The hardships of prison life and the starvation
diet prepared the way for every contagion.
Smallpox broke out and prevailed TO such an
extent that the whole town was alarmed.
The prisoners were vaccnated by tho. whole
sale, but this necessary precauton caused great
additional suffering. Men died in every room,
and the visiting physician came each morning
to remove to the hospitals those who showed
marks of the dreaded pestilence. 1t would
scarcely be believed that some prisoners act.
ually counterfeited smallpox in order to be sent
to the smallpox hospital, where they would
have better opportunity for escape But es-
Gaping had become regular mania and all
possible means were employed to effect it,
No one of our party of six took the pcsti-
lence, though two suffered very severely from
the vaccine virus But the prevalence of dis
ease did us a good service in securing our re-
moval from the narrow stall TO the comparative
freedom of nie room outside.
This was great change, and did seem like
freedom by contrast. From this time the iso-
lation Of our prison life was at an end. / have
spoken of the room." but the term is scarcely
accurate. The partitions had been taken out
or never inserted in this upper floor, and the
prisoners could 60 from one end Of the building
to the other, but with guards stationed at every
door and watching every window outside. In
a far corner there was a storc--the first we had
felt since leaving Libby two months before
1t did not suffice 10 warm half the people
around it, and these were very quarresome
hut it was a great luxury to be occasionally
warm
The amusemeuts of the hundreds who had
been gathered into this receptacle of humanity
were very striking if not elegant. When q
dense crowd had gathered around the stove,
some person usually one of a large
group of very mischevous Irshmen-woud
! cry, "Char-rge me boys." and solid column
| of perhaps 30 men would rush against the group
around the stove. knocking men in all direc-
| tions, endangering limbs, and raising perfect
storm of profanity. Fights were very frequent,
and it only needed the addition OF intoxicating
! liquor to make the place perfect pandemoni-
! um AS il was, the interference Of the guard
WAS often required TO preserve order. Our
| party, however, always stood together, and
! were thus able to protect themselves.
| The evenings were compensation for the
| turmoil and quarrelng Of the day. After all
| who possessed blankets had rolled themselves
| m and laid down to rest on the. floor some of