Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1886-12-04

thelr country, can count anything in the
making OF heroes, they surely should be
honored as such. Though they were nevel
executed, they lived for weeks in the hourl,
expectation of the summons to go out t.
their death. Brayely did they endure it
On leaving the prison they were taken be.
fore General Winder, the commandment oil
the city, who ordered them confined in
irons. This they suffered for several weeks
until the Richmond authorities were in.
formed by our War Department that two
Confederate officers of high rank, includ-
ing one of the Lee family, who were Their
prisoners, were held as hostages for these
men, and would certainly share their fate:
Then the irons were removed, and the day
OF the execution was indefinitely deferred,
They were at last returned to the Libby
and 1t was joyful greeting that their old
comrades gave them.
! Another remarkable incident which hap.
pened before any attempt at escape was
made was the release of Lieutenant Colonel
lr'in, OF the Tenth n. y. Cavalry. 1t wss
us Unexpected to him as ia arg bs lis, and
a., happened III singular wy. John Nor
gan s Adiutant General had been some time
before this captured i'll kentucky, and
taken to Washington. His name do not re-
member: hnt he was a lieutenant Colonel.
an6 was Fortunate enough to discover
old friends among high military authorize,
at Washington. On his word of honor
that he would nrcc,re the exchange of an
Union oihcer of Ike rank for him self, or,
failing in that, would himself return To
captivity, he was released f,am the Old
Capitol Prison, and sent by flag of-truce to
Richinond. The result was the release
ard exchange of Lieutenant Colonel Irvine.
L shall not attempt to paint the scene when
one of the prison officers entered one morn
ing in January. and, calling for Colonel
Irvine, Communicated the good news,
and babe him get ready to leave OF once.
I We crowded around him; re wrung his
hands, some with tears in their eyes, con-
graduating him on his good fortune, er1
! bidding him not to forget us.
you may be sure l will not" the good
hearted and brave man replied. III not
/ let them alone in Washington till they do
something for YOU.
None OF the inmates Of the Libby al that
time have, ever doubted that the Colonel did
all that man could do for us. Upon hin
urgent request Secretary Stanton made him
a special agent Of exchanges. and he trav-
cled several times from Washington to City
Point to effect our liberation. 1t was no
fault Of his that his negotiations failed.
| One day letter was handed into our room
from Colonel Irvine, written at CITY Point.
He told US bow he had labored for US, and
that he saw no present hope. "3ut keep
mp your courage" he concluded, "and await
the logic of accomplished events"
From that moment the thoughts of all OF
US were turned more ardently toward our
plan Of escape. /. WAS a good plan, and
met with surprising degree of success,
considering the difficulties under which il
l f.,,K.,r t,.y Dbl II
that the plan of my comrades could not lie
mine. Long before snw the outside of
the prison, the famous underground tun-
mel" was commenced; in fact, / worked at
it frequently myself by night, being willing
to give my comrades the benefit of my labor
| while l was with them, though the work
was not likely to be of any use
to me. At the time Of my capture [
had received n wound from carbinea
bhii in the leg which was SO slight as to
give me no trouble till come weeks after 1
reached the Libby. Something aggrava ed
| it-bad air or water, Or the debility of the
| system Under COntineme".- and il bat ama
\ sore and iniamed. This lasted for some
| time, and then the leg grew better; but my
| nlght-iabors with the others on the tunnel
| developed its weakness. and perfectly re-
allied that l was not vigorous enough to
| take my chances with them in the wild anl
| desperate flight, and that l should surely
lag behind and he recaptnred by the cavalry
patrols. An effort on my own hook. "
therefore, before the general break. was
what decided upon.
But what hope could possibly have of
getting outside the prison; East all these
guards? And what hope Of evading re-
| capture, if did?
| suppose that, considering the condition
of my leg, any of my comrades would have
| pronounced my chance of escape the very
poorest of the lot. 1t so appeared to me;
and, looking back now upon the wonderful
| combination of circumstances that helped
me through, it seems as if 1t was an attempt
| that could not succeed once il ten thousand
! times.
was standing by the grated window, one
| day, looking out into the yard, wa ting till
one of the sentne,s below should see me
| and order me away, when lady passed on
| the other sid, of the street, followed by a
! negro. She saw me at the window, and
With quick mo ion of her hand put aside
| her shawl, giving me a glimpse of small
Union flag i'll the bosom of Ter dress, in
| stantly covering it again. 1t was pleas
| ant and unusual incident; but I did not
dream of hearing more Of it. Less than q
| week after, a negro was allowed to come in
among us to sell fruit; and l recognized in
him the same who was following the lady.
| We had many opportunities to exchange
| money with the guards, and had long be-
| fore broken one of my gold-pieces.
| offered the negro pnrveyor Confederate
bill; he looked me iii the face, and with q
significant grin handed me a large sweet
potato. The guards were always Watching
us at such times; but this transaction,
which was certainly n mystery to me. did
not e.cite their suspicious. Mhea both
guard and negro were gone, examined the
| potato. Contained i'll q cavity in the CEN
!e" Of it was small piete of writing paper,
folded into the smallest possible compass.
1t was closely writtel,, and without sigma
| ture; stating that the writer was IN Union
woman who had tried to attract the atten-
lion of prisoners at tn. windows when the
sentineis We're not observing her. Minute
| directions we're given for finding her house:
and the writer stated that, although she
! could not help any of us out of the prison,
| if the officer to whom this note might be de
livcred could succeed in getting ont and
coming to her, she would promise him the
safest conceaiments
| Upon reading this unexpected message
Of hope, plan took instant and definite
shape in my brain. 1t was simply to col
lect together articles enough to make the
uniform OF u Confederate soldier, put them
on, and, with such other disguise as could
assume, to walk boldly out of the prison!
Tt was not SO difficult 10 obtain this kind
Of clothing as might be supposed. As our
uniforms IN which we were captured wore
| 4 IL