The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1885-03-26
(From the Southern Historical Society Papers."l
A FLORIDA BOYS EXPERlENCE
IN PRISON AND ESCAPING.
BY HENRY q. DAMON.

tured June 18th, al Cynthiana, in the last battle
fought by Morgan on Kentucky sofia battl,
that crowned with disaster a raid which, up tt
that time, had succeeded beyond every anticipa
ton We were so completely outnumbered
that it was hardly q battle. The enemy ap
preached us in front, and flanked US right anC
lett. In few minutes the fight became rout
and our men were flying in every direction
About two hundred and fifty were captured, &
few of whom were taken to Camp Chase, some
to Camp Morton, and the remainder to Rock
Island
Rock Island prison, located on an island In the
Mississippi, between the towns Of Davenport
Iowa, and Rock Island, Illinois, was perhaps the
strongest prison in the West. 1t was large
| rectangular pen, covering about twenty-five
acres, and containing one hundred and twenty
barracks, each having births for one hundred
and twenty men. A fence twelve feet high sur
rounded the prison yard. Inside and fifteen feet
from the fence was ditch from three to ten feet
deep, dug down to solid rock, to prevent prison
ers from tunnelling. The ditch was the dead
line. We were commanded not to get in it, or
cross 1t, on penalty of being shot Guards paced
the fence al short intervals, and overlooked the
prison yard For further security, the yard was
illuminated every night by large kerosene lamps
win renectors, which were placed against the
| fence
| These precautions made escape so hazardous
| that an attempt was seldom made, and very few
OF those who tried succeeded. The favorite
method for a time was tunnelling, but after the
| ditch was dug, efforts in that direction ceased.
| Bribery opened the gates to a few who were 80
| fortunate as to have money, and the shrcwdneSs
to use il rightly Plans of escape were continually
| formed, but none would bear the test of an at
tempt and so day after day passed by, the stern
conviction forced itself upon each one Of the new
comers that they would have to stay there until
| the war endcd-the old prisoners had already
resigned themselves to that prospect
la, & ~ 4.
| could not stand winter there. / was emily q
| boy. months sickness had reduced me almost
| to skeleton. My weight was probably not more
| than ninety pounds. There was no prospect of
| gaining strength, for the scanly ratons bare.
ly sustained life; did not for moment satisfy the
| cravings OF hunger. A pOne of bread 80 small
| that 1t could be squeezed into pint cup, and a
| piece OF beef three inches long and one inch
thick, constituted the daily ration occasionally
but not Otener than three times a week a pint of
| soup was added We were always as hungry as
ravenous wolves. There was such a craving
for food that we would eat the young hickory
nuts growing in the yard-hull, shell, and all
After my recovery from sickness, l was hungry
every moment was in prison, and thousands OF
men were there who had been in that condition
over twelve months. 1t is terrible to have a
continual unappeased craving for food No one
knows what suffering it is, save those who have
experienced it.
My constant thought was how to escape Tun-
neling was out of the question, and no other
plan seemed feasible One evening few of Us
were walking in the prison yard and stopped
near the ditch opposite the large gate consttut-
ing the main entrance. For some reason, which
we never pondered the sentinels on that side OF
tue fence were not so numerous as elsew here.
There were only six on the whole side-three on
each side of the gate, and the two nearest the
gate had beats fully one hundred feet long. Oh
serving that while walking their beats they at
frlQ hoH tIo;r kn.,ly a.,
with quite long distance between them, one of
our crowd, Buck Alexander, one Of MOrgan's
most gallant soldiers. exclaimed There's
good chance to get to the fence. and believe l
will try it," My heart sank when he uttered
he last words Tor ..a nothing seemed ds spse Tie and
tdFe.. 'The next day noh:ng was said about Il.
The day after l asked Buck il he still in the
notion OF going to the fence. He answered,
No" | resolved then to try it. That evening,
september 18th, at dusk, and before the bugler
had sounded the signal for the prisoners to retire
to their quarters, few friends, with myself, lei
surely sauntered about the yard, and finally
stopped near the ditch, opposite the gate. AS
soon as the sentlnes opposite had their backs
turned-one going up, the other down the fence
i jumped into the ditch did not then attempt
to 60 iurther, but, closely huggng the opposite
bank, dug holes for my hands and feet, so when
the time came there would be no delay in get
ting out. Presently "Annie Laurie " was whis-
L
knew that the sentinels were relatively in the
same positions. Without hesitating a moment,
clambered out of the ditch and ran to the fence.
A friendly wheelbarrow was near. which | had
calculated on making use Of To my consterna-
ton, it was SO low l could barely lie flat under
it. 1t was impossible to stay under 1t and work
However, placed it against the fence and then
commenced with Caseknife to dig When the
sentinel above approached q could plainly hear
every step,) | crawled under the wheelbarrow
1t did not afford me much protection, only COW
ering my body. He or any sentinel up or down
the fence could easily have seen me, for was
| not more than fifteen feet from lamp that shed
| the brightness of day all around.
| At g. o'clock the buge warned prisoners to
| their barracks, and my work had just fairly be-
! gun. The friend who made the signal was to
| follow me, but after the bugle sounded l knew
| there was no chance for him. The prisoners re-
tired to their quarters and soon no sound was to
be heard except the tread of the sentines above.
1t did not take me long TO dig the hole; very
| small one was sufficient In few minutes it
| was completed, and | squeezed through. The
danger outside was as great as that had already
| encountered. True, was beneath the platform
on which the sentinels walked, but the guard.
house was just in front; large lamp was burn
| ing near it; the fence was whitewashed, and
| soldier was walking by, not more than ten feet
| away. laid still until he passed, and then as
fast as possible, crawled down the fence, There
was no sense in trying to creep where there was
80 much light. Soon came to large bush, be-
hind which hid At 9 o'clock tattoo was beat.
The soldiers retired to their quarters; the last
stragler soon passed by, and silence regned
supreme.
| The next difficulty was TO get away from the
fence. l crawled further, until came ID point
| beneath two sentinels, who were conversiDg. |
knew they would not stay together long. Pres
| emily they separated. When II short distance
| apart, l stepped out The noise of the stones
crunching under my feet was heard by one, who
stopped, looked at me, and took his gun from
his shoulder. My heart beat reveille 1t
seemed as if my hopes were to be frustrated in
the very moment of success. However,
kept evenly on, occasionally glapcing over my
LETT shoulder at the sentinel He seemed 10
change his mind, replaced his gun, and resumed
his walk A hall-hour's walk brought me to the
river, on the eastern shore of the island. Pull
ling off my clothes and tying them in a bundle,
| started in, expecting to have to swim; but
fortunately the river was not deep, and l waded
across Having gained the other shore, 1 started
up the railroad for Chicago. BY morning the
| first station, the distance of twelve miles, was
reached. / concealed myself during the day in
some high bushes on the prairie and at night
walked into the station. freight train was
about to start. AS it moved off climbed up be
| tween two box-cars, and the next morning was
| g Chicago.
Before leaving the prison comrade told me
to go to Mrs. Morris for help if l succeeded in
reaching Chicago. The address he gave me was
incorrect, but by the merest accident found her.
| shall never forget her kind, sympathizing face
as l told my tale. A nobler woman never
lived, and hundreds of Dixie boys whom she
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