The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1892-10-21
FREEDOMS TUNNEL.
THE STORY OF A PRISONERS Es-
CAPE FROM ANDERSONVILLE.

who was keeping taIly mafheu me- NJ
1888. At that time we had fair ratlons,
plenty of fuel, and the water in the brook
was good There was no more suffering
than might have been found in any other
pen. and the death rate was very low.
l was no sooner inside than the idea |
of a tunnel came to my mind. AT that |
time the dead line" was close in to the |
stockade itself, and the Confederate SEN
tineIs on the elevated platforms on the |
outside of the pen were satisfied with
calling out to a man who approached too |
near. Tents were allowed within three |
feet of the furrow which represented the |
dead line. n tunnel from twenty to TWEEN
ty-five feet long would clear everything. |
Four of us set up tent, and that very
day we began our tunnel. The eXcava-
ton was made at the back end of the
tent and blanket kept at hand to cover
up all evidences. We worked only at
night, because the dirt had to be carried
down to the creek to be disposed OF, and
the only tools we had were an old case
knife, tin plate and a piece of board
sharpened for u spade. The soil was easy,
however, and in the course of two weeks
we finished our work AS near as we
could Judge we were ten feet beyond the
stockade, but we must wait for dark
night to go out.
Our first idea was to keep the matter
secret, but it occurred to US that if fifty
prisoners passed out instead of four there
would be a much better show for some OF
us to get clear away. Therefore one after
noon, when the weather promised a dark
night, we moved about among the men
and let one after another into the secret
until it was known to fifty-two persons. l
believe this was the first tunnel dug under
the stockade, and the Confederates were
blissfully ignorant of any such Yankee
Urickery. Al. we had to do was to dig up
ward from the end and break through a
foot crust, and an hour after dark all was
ready AS fast as we got clear of the
stockade we were to scatter, and the night
being dark al d rainy there as hope that
no alarm would be raised. 1t was arranged
that two of OR four should go out first,
the other two of US would wait until
| part of the crowd had followed, and after
| we had passed out the way should be free
! to all who cared to try it.
Everything started off well. The crust
| was broken and as man after man crept
! out of the hole he crawled away on hands
and knees into the darkness and raised no
! alarm. When the twenty-third man had
| passed in my Chum and | followed. If the
| man had been as cool as those who pre-
ceded him SEQ prisoners would probably
! have passed out before morning. As he
| was wrigglnG out of the hole one of the
| sentinels on the platform, being taken
suddenly i'll, called for the corporal of the
| guard. The chap ahead of us thought he
had been discovered, and fearful of receiv-
ing a bullet he cried cut and gave himself
away. As soon as we heard his shouts we
! knew that all was up, and every man began
| backing out. The last one was only clear
OF the tunnel when the Confederate camp
was aroused. In five minutes we had the
tent down and in fifteen we had it set up
200 feet away. \ company was sent in to
| search for the mouth of the tunnel, but
they failed to find the diggcrs. More than
| 100 men were taken out and questioned,
but not one of the crowd would admit
that he had even heard of the hole in the
| ground. The absence of the twenty-five
| prisoners was discovered after little,
however, and as soon as daylight came
searching parties were sent out. Only
one man of the crowd made good his
escape and he was hiding in the swamps
by day and travelling cautiously by night
for three months before he saw a Federal
uniform. Inside of forty-eight hours all
the others were recaptured. | think sew
eral of them were placed in the stocks for
half n day, and three four others were
obliged to march mp and down with logs
of wood, but the punishment was less Sc
we're than expected.
None of the men had been tracked by
dogs. As the night was dark and the
neigh bOrhOOd strange to them, some were
only a couple of miles from the stockade
when the sun came up. No one had taken
any food, and those who made bold to ask
for anything at farmhouse were at once
suspected. Three Of the party, after get
ting ten miles away, concluded that they
had made mistake, and they were re
turning to the stockade when pounced
upon. The result of the tunnel affair was
only what might have been anticipated
had we stopped to reason. The dead line
was moved out to Il distance of ten feet, and
sentineIs were placed on the ground outside
at a distance of ten feet from the stOckade
| Aside from these precautions squad OF
men entered the inclosure every day tC
search for "evidenccs," and reward was
promised any prisoner who would betray g
, plot or plan of escape For two weeks aft
er our failure we were so closely watched
2 that not a move could be made. TheI
other prisoners began to arrive so fast thai
the vigilance of our guards was necessarily
D relaxed | think it was four weeks before
t our second tunnel was begun. Our TEN
= was as near the dead line as any was per
nitted and we took in Il third man. Be
fore we dug a spoonful of earth it was sol
EMMY agreed among us that no one elst
was to share the secret. We had the same
tools as before, and it was even more con
| venient for us TO dispose of the dirt.
In this new enterprise we had to be dou
= blv cautious. The Confederates were max
:, | ing Il search now and then, and plenty o
= prisoners were wandering about to SCI
Y what might be discovered. There wer
/, some who would have sold us out, whit
others would have demanded the privilege
of escaping with us. We first dug hOl
three feet deep, and then drifted toward
a the stOckade at an angle of about 4
e degs The logs were sunk about five feet
c and this would just about strike thel
a lower ends The hole was always covered
n | with a blanket during the day, and OF
- three different occasions when Searcl
was made 'siCk'' man was lying on tn
! blanket. At night one man dug, sccon'
pulled the dirt out of the hole in an oil,
e hayersack, and the third carried it out ant
scattered it around. 1t is easy enough t.
write of tunnel digging, but any one VIII
has ever tried it will agree that no work l
f more unpleasant and exhaustive. Afte
& we had driftcd half way to the stockad
= we could not work over seven or eigh
= minutes without backing out to get
i breath of fresh air The hole was a clos
( fit to save ezra work, and the digger ha'
!; to lie fat on bis stomach as he worked.
Just before reaching the stockade W
b came a,aoss perfect tangle of large root
The only way was to go through then
and we made saw of our caseknife an
worked six nights before we cleared I'll
distractions. When we got to the los
the air in the tunnel became so foul Thu
we had to incur big risk. We drove
sharpened stick up alongside two of ii
LOGS to make air holes. On the very nel
day a party of Confederates came in al
prodded the earth in fifty different plac
/. with iron rods and also carefully inspect'
- the stocllade, but made no discovery Oh
of the men pushed a rod down not mo
than six inches to the left of our tunn6
and had he turned upon us our pale al
frightened faces must have betrayed u
RS Our plan was TO go at least twenty te
ka beyond the beat of the outside sentinel
n This would give us thirty feet beyond Il
stockade One of the trio managed to Z
outside every three or four days with
party after fuel, and as he passed t
corner of the prison pen he would ma
- his steps two feet apart as near as he cou
's ! Judge. We had a string inside, and in til
D. way we could get the distance within
no foot or two 1t was slow and tedio
,,-,.1r a,-o,, ,1r,JaY tho most faVOrl bile G