The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1892-10-21

sonville. During our wait Of ten days the
Confederates came in twice to probe and
search for tunnels, but fortunately missed
us both times As many as eight or ten
Others We're discovered, however. and
number of men were taken out and pun
ished The sentinels were cautioned 10
extra vigilance, and it was rumored that
any one found emerging from tunnel
was to be shot down and the shooter re-
warded.
And vet our greatest danger was from
our fellow prisoners. n man named Shar-
on, who belonged to a New England regi
ment, in some way got suspicion that we
had a tunnel, and one day entered our tent
and declared that if he was not allowed to
escape with us he would stop our going
We attempted to bluff him off, when he
made straight course for the gate, pre-
sumably to fulfill his threat He was not
permitted TO go far before being over
hauled and charged with attempted rob
berry. 1t would have gone hard with him
had we pressed the charge, which no out
slider knew to be false, but we dropped it
with the understanding that he should keep
his mouth shut regarding US. From that
hour he was kept under surveillance by two
men hired by us, and was not permitted to
go near the gate. Perhaps he would not
have carried out his threat, but prison
peu brings the baSeneSs in human nature
to the surface very fully. 1t was three
DAYS after the trouble with Sharon before
the weather became favorable, and we had
not taken anybody into our confidence.
Nevertheless we argued, as we had done
before, that if dozen or more got out the
chances of escape would be increased. We
tl,of . h.. MI hf
to be dark and drizZly, and then we passed
around among such acquaintance as we
felt could be trusted and invited them to
call at our tent at o'clock. Each thought
he was the only one invited, and each be-
lieved he was to be let into plot to over
power the guards and free ali prisoners.
At exactly o'clock my chum crept into
the tunnel, and 1 followed. 1t was not
more than ten minutes later when we
emerged from the hole outside of the
stockade and crept away. We had dug,
as we were afterward informed, distance
of forty feet in all, which was three feet
more than our estimate. We emerged n
distance of twenty feet from the sentry,
and the night was so dark that we only got
a shadowy glimpse of him.
Each of us had food enough to last for
three or four days, and it had been agreed
that we should separate as soon as we got
outside. Both were to make for Tonnes
see, but by different routes. He was to
strike out for the Flint river and follow
that stream up to it's source, within thirty
miles of Atlanta. He was then to bend to
! the right, make a half circle and strike the
| Chattahoochee and follow that until he
reached the mountains in the northern
! part of the state. | was to head to the
| northwest and strike the lower ChattahOO-
! 81, I'm a \ hama
! line to West Point. From thence l would
! bend more to the west, crossing the ITALIA
| poosa and reaching the CooSa and follow
! ing it up to the mountains. Each of Us
! had about $50 miles to travel, and both
were pretty familiar with the geography
of the state He had sixty dollars in Con
federate money, and had just one dollar
| more Our dress was part Confederate
| uniform and part citizen, but ragged anC
dirty Our shoes were fairly good, as we
had not had them on our feet for three
months. When we were thirty rods away
from the sentinels we stopped to shake
hands and say goodby. From what we haC
heard we believed we should be tracked by
dogs. We had planned as well as we coulC
what to do under every circumstance, anC
both of us firmly believed we should gel
clear With steady rain falling upon
our heads and the darkness so black thai
we could scarcely see each others faces
we shook hands, whispered, God speed!
and each went his way.
What happened inside the stOckade wa
told me a year later The men we had no
tilted were on hand at the hour named
and of course they caught on at once
Within an hour over fifty men knew of Thu
tunnel, but of the number only six decided
to 20 out. None of them was prepared
with food or had his clothing in order
and it would have been wiser to remain
The escape of the six greatly favored US
however, as they scattered in dlfereu
directions, and none of them was recap
tured for two days, while one went as IA
south as Albany. At O'Clock in thu
morning the man Sharon heard of the tun
mel and sneaked away and gave lntorma
ton at the gates. 1t was at first believed
that over POO prisoners had escaped, ant
the widest excitement prevailed msld
and out. 1t was not until O'Clock III til
morning that the true number was discov
| cred and then the Confederate force a
hand was too small for vigorous pursul
of all. Ny chum afterward told me tina
his trail was followed for some miles by
bloodhound, and that twice he caugh
sight of pursuers on horseback, but ha'
no reason to believe my own trail was eve
picked up. BY the time the six who cam
out after us had been recaptured we wer
, well out of the neighbOrhood. The tel(
graph was no doubt used to notify varlou
points to look out for us, but that did nc
result in our recapture. My fellow prisone
was twenty-seven days in reaching tn
Federal lines, while l was thirty-one. Z
the adventures en- route must tell you q
another time. OF more than 200 men VIII
at one time or another escaped from tina
orison pen not more than ten ever got clea
off. We were two of the ten. Luck assls
t ed us here and there, but success wa
7 really due to the fact that we knew tn
= geography and the topography OF the coul
t try, had our route carefully planned, an
= neither of us travelled one single mile e.
: cent under cover of darkness.