Idaho semi-weekly world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1875-1908, 1891-08-14
HOW FIFTY ESCAPED.
conFEDERATEs WORKED a CLEVER
SCHEME At CAMP BUTLER.

Disguised - Citizens In BmaggisJ Clothes
snd Armed With Forged Passports
Few At . Time Passed The vigiIast
Guards on Visiting bays.
A man in prison il like man without
bands, whose brain is constantlycontriy-
ing to overcome physical deficiency. The
ingenuity Of brain nnrelieved by dis
traction of employment is capable Of
schemes which rival fiction. Many
thrilling tales are told by prisoners Of
war about their privations and advent
ures while under the espionage of an
alert and relentless enemy. An expert
cnce worthy Of record was told an Amer
lean reporter. the other night, by man
who now stands high in public life in
Tennessee.
He was once confederate soldier. He
had the misfortune to be numbered with
the captured at Fort Donelson, aud with
hundreds of his comrades Was hurried
across the Ohio and incarcerated in Camp
Butler, spot which viii long be remeIn-
bered by those who were so unlucky rs
to be imprisoned within its battlements
After pining for several weary months
for an exchange that was never effected
these southern patriots set about to ac-
compljsh their own deliverance. vari-
GUS p.dns were concocted, but were all
successfully thwarted by the vigilance
Of their custodians. Finally the inspira-
ton Of this story hit upon scheme
which for audacity and cleverness ia I'M
precedented. and won for its originator
q title and distinction among his com
panions which time has not yet obhter-
ated
Among the prisoners at Camp Butler
were a number of boys who served the
Confederacy in the capacity of powder
monkeys" a function well known to
heavy artillerists
1T WAS A CLEVER PLAN.
The duties of these youngsters were
to convey powder charges from the
magazines to gunners in trenches or to
assist in like manner on the floating bat
teries which annoyed the federal gun
boats in the Mississippi river
Two of these little fellows, who had
fallen into the hands of tine enemy, were
treated with the dignity due prisoners of
war, and consequently found themselves
mamma and subject to all the heartiess
discipline Of military prison. The manly
/ fortitude of these two Juvenile warriors
attracted the martial soul of Colonel
( Morrison, who commanded the post
To make their imprisonment less ardu-
GUS he made them his Office orderlies,
and sent them on the hundreds of err
: rands which "a commanding officer finds
a daily necessity in the discharge of his
duty
The little fellows were true patriots,
and no persvasion or punishment could
dissuade them from the cause of their
fathers. 1t was through them that the
hero of this story accomplished his de-
| signs, The boys had access at all times
( to the colonels Office, likewise the adju-
tant's desk One night they were hidden
to steal from the adjutant's desk lot of
blank passports.
But what good were passports to a
soldier whose very uniform forbade exit
from the inner stockade of the prison.
might be asked Fortunately, however
In the prison there was sutler who pos
sessed all the venality characteristic of
his cloth.
Among the prisoners in Camp Butler
| there were several confederate soldiers
who were the sons of wealthy parents and
occasionally received money from home.
From this element general fund was
collected and appropriated to the use of
the plotters for deliverance. With the
sutler. whose loyalty to the American
dollar exceeded his fidelity to the Ameri-
can Union, it was an easy matter to
smuggle in a suit of citizens clothes now
and then.
FEW GO AT A TIME
On visiting days hundreds of people
from the country around would throng
to the post to look at the fiery rebels.
They were shown, under the escort of a
guard, through every part of the prison,
and on several occasions these parties, in
some unaccountable way, would number
one or two more on coming out than
they did on coming in. Each individual
however, displayed his passport to the
guard at the gate, and retired unques-
toned from the portals of the fort into
the loyal prairies of Illinois.
Had the guards counted their guests
| upon their arrival anu departure SOl1t
startling surprises would have resulted
On one occasion two confederate officers
escaped by the guard with forged passes
and had taken seats in carriage which
was waiting TO serve visitors at the gate
of the fort when Colonel Morrison him
self came out and, addressing them
asked if they had seen all they wanted
to see
Yes, SIR" replied one of the fugitive'
suavely. They are hard looking set
amt they, colonel" AT the same time
he was so alarmed that his tongue al
most refused to articulate.
By this process half hundred Con
federates were released from custody ant
returned to their commands in the field
The reader must not imagine that thes,
men were not missed by their guardians
for after every muster the guards wer'
doubled and many commissioned ant
non-commissionedo officers relieved, it be
ing suspected that they were responsible
for the mysterious disappearance of thu
prisoners
So cleverly did the plan operate unde
cautious restrictions that the leak through
which the human contents of that motto
rious pen escaped was not discovered
until the man who created it had beel
, duly exchanged and was fighting unde