The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1885-03-26

tleman and Hines Uhe latter a membe. of Nor
gan's staf) they were quietly organizing tn
disafected element into q force with which they
expected to pounce upon Chicago or Indiansp
Olis or perhaps both, release the C0nfedcrat,
prisoners. and then, Joined by . volunteer (orct
from Kentucky, make such q demonstration al
would cause Thomas to retreat from Nashville
Whether or not their plans were well aid, it ia
impossible to say. Treachery in the Camp and
the arrest of Castleman prevented Ii ,r trial
His arrest was pure accident On the 29ti u
September, having to attend an organization al
Evansville Indiana, he left Marshall, accompan
led by Lieutenant Munford, an officer cf Ten
nessee regiment, and myself At Sullivan, lit
tie town on the Wabash, we saw a great many
excited people. They eyed US suspicioasly, and
band of scoundres had for some months been
stealing horses aud committing other depreda-
tions in that vicinity. The officers OF the law
were supposed to be in league with them. The
citizens finally organized vigilance committee
and arrested every suspicious character We
happened along, and they arrested US An ex.
animation of Casteman's valise, which contained
| some OF his correspondence soon convinced
them that we more dangerous characters than
horse thieves. Soldiers were telegraphed tor
| guard at Indianapolis. Before we left Sullivan
and once afterwards, Castleman could easily
have escaped, but not being able to get Munford
| and myself off with him, chose to stay and share
| our confinement. 10 the course of the Eext three
weeks the authorities discovered who Castleman
was, and ferreted out some of his projects He
and Muntord were accordingly kept in close
confinement and l being merely an escaped
| prisoner and not of any importance, was placed
with the common herd in Camp Morton.
| The general plan of Camp Morton was the
same as that of Rock Island 1t was not near so
neat however, nor were the accommodations as
| good The barracks were very large. each be.
| ntoin fiua hmm droA, nv,,l
were without floors. My recollection is that
they had no doors, but am not certain on that
| point. They were undoubtedly however, well
ventilated, the cracks in the walls being plenti-
tul and conveniently arranged to let in the win.
ter blasts There were twelve barracks; the
| prison being made to contain six thousand men.
The Iatlons were as scanty as at Rock Island,
and the prisoners were as emacated, gaunt, and
| hungry as those that had left
| AS soon as l had become accustome.' TO nv
| new quarters and had answ cred the many Ques
tions that my old comrades Qor many OF Morgan 5
men were there) propounded, took tour Of
observation for the purpose Of discovering what
vulnerable points, if any, there were. The prison
| did not seem to be 80 well guarded as Rock
| Island and | soon came to a spot where it
| seemed to me could dig under. l Icomnuncat-
ed my hopes to one OF my messmates, Dave
-, forgot his last name, but he was q gal
liant boy and the first dark night we made the
attempt 1t was unsuccessful. We were caught
our hands tied behind US, the rope attached to q
lamp post, so the sentinel on the fence in the
rear could have US in full view, and we we're or
dered 10 mark time. 1t was o'clock when our
monotonous tramp began. We heard tie senti-
nels Call every hour that night, and when the
sun rose, we were still at our unceasing task
AT nine IN the morning, the adjutant Of The pris-
on, guard, Davidson, man whose memory will
be held infamous by every prisoner whose mis-
fortune it was to be confined in Camp Morton.
ont IN hiu1calf hv foup II
making sport of our misery. This odious dcs-
picable wretch was of the sort that power de-
velopes into NerOs and Caligulas. He loved
cruelty for its own sake. The moaning of a
tortured victim was music to his ear. For the
slightest offence he had prisoners tied I'D by
the thumbs Zone poor fellow was tied eleven
hours, AMI not cut down until he fainted) Twas
told that the preceding winter, when haif-iro
zen prisoners sometimes huddled together for
increased warmth, he would rush upor the
GitR Clubs pfetendng sasd to believe iSst iSey were
plotting to escape. Many bruised and broken
limbs testified to these outrages
AT II o'clock, after fifteen hours of punish
ment, he united us. We were ready to drop
from exhaustion could hardly bring my arms
back to their natural position, they were so
numb and swollen. Marking time was terri
BILE punishment. but it was nothing compared to
the excrucatng agony caused by having our
hands tied so long behind US. My comrsds was
n
guard-house outside, and the corporal in charge
instructed to keep me in solitary confinement
and feed me on bread and water. Being hu-
name man, he disobeyed instructions, and my
fare was better than at any time durug my stay
in prison.
came and marched me back TO the prison yar,l,
remarkng as he parted from me at the gate, II
don't think you will try to escape again, if You
do, look out!" The next Monday evening
(November 14th) as l was sitting in my bunk,
getting ready for bed, one OF the men came in
and said: Damon, just saw a crowd with
ladders going across the yard towards No. 4. 1
reckon they are going to make charge" In
stantly jumped to the ground, and calling
out, Come on. boys" started to the door 1
stopped when | got there, and turned around
Not man had stirred. "Are you not co.n-
mgr said I. Some one answered: mo use
It's been tried before You will all get killed"
There was no time to waste in trying to per-
suade them. turned and ran toward No. T.
No was a large barrack on the north side
OF the prison, about ten feet from the ditch.
The crowd. as If to nerve themselves for the
desperate effort, had made q temporary halt be-
hind it. There seemed to be about sixty men.
A few in front, with ladders in their hands were
crying out, Come on, boysl" but holding back,
whilst those behind, in most determined tones,
yelled, Go ahead, boysl" 1t was naturel for
the front rank to hesitate. They were 10 catch
the fire. and it seemed certain death to the fore
most. All this took in before l got there. |
said to myself, "They only want some oae 10
lead them, and will do it." That honor, how
ever, was not reserved for me. l was within ten
steps of the front, when the whole crowd, as If
actuated by one impulse, rushed forward. Into
the ditch we went, regardless of the volley fired
at US, and up on the other side. There, planting
our ladders against the fence, we almost few
over. After firing one vOlley, which seemed to
miss US all, as no one fell, the guard scattered
When the foremost man reached the ton only
one sentinel was left, and he appeared to be too
frightened to run. The whole prisonful could
have gone out at that gap.
Outside we all scattered A corn.feld vas 10
be tfaversed, and beyond that was timber On
reaching it l turned oblquely to tbs lett,
ran In that direction a few minutes then made
another left turn, and soon came to q roai some
distance west from the prison. Following this,
few minutes walk carried me into Indisnapo-
lis, and then l felt safe. was now south of the
prison. The pursuit would naturally be On the
north side. had no fear of being arrested.
| wore nice citizens suit generously given me
| by a comrade in Marshall. Moreover. was
small for my age, and could easily have passed
| for boy of fifteen. No one would have suspec
| ted me OF being an escaped prisoner
All that night and the next day walked on
| the railroad leading to Terre Haute. Nv desii
nation was Marshall, Ill.,, ninety mileS west
from Indianapolis, where l arrived TLersday
night. The Confederate boys were all gone. 4
traitor had betrayed their councils. SOn,e had
been arrested; the rest were scattered. A kind
family OF southern sympathizers kept ms with
them two weeks, and then gave me money to car
| rv me 10 ROOne cOurtv Nv Thora :