The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1894-04-29

| but among the many vivid events OF my
life shall always look back upon the
night of February 8, 1864. as being the
SirangeSt.
Soon after dark Colonel Rose. Major
Hamilton and Captain J0hns0n-the latter
had been in the tunnel for three or four
days and was reported mssing-succeeded
In getting through with Others who were
directly in the secret. Those who bad
heard Of tunnel, but knew nothing OF 1t
except as rumor, bee me at once he
most eager O get through to GODS land
As is known. access to the hospital
cellar was bad by taking up the bricks In
the back Of the fireplace In the Carey
street end Of the dinng-Tonm or kitchen.
Among the ratiouS served US by the Con-
Iederates there were few iallow candies
Tor each Of the immense rooms. Ihese.
as soon as 1t became dark, were lIt, ana
fastened to posts in the different rooms,
serving merely 10 reveal the darkness.
Every night at O'Clock, beginning with
post l. the guards would shout:
Nine O'Clock! Post Mo-! Lights ont
up there, you - Yanks!" and at once
the tallow dips would be extinguished. As
soon as the lights were out this night the
men, IN great diSorderly gangs, swarmed
about The fireplace. forgetting all their
previous self denial and manllDess in their
wild efforts to get through to Gods land.
ABOUT IL O'Clock some one started the cry:
"Ihe guards! the guards!'
Whereupon the prisoners. shouting and
struggling like demons about the fireplace,
made break for the stairs leading TO the
upper rooEs, and were soon lying, pant
Ing, on the floors in their own sleeping
places. Those who had the presence Of
MIND not to be Influenced by the ala N had
now clear field TO themselves and sue
ceeded in getting through.
Captain Moran says that 100 men es-
r,.,H
htty were recaptured. Had not the tuD-
mel been discovered on the afternoon of
the 10th the prison might have been
emptled the following night. A curious
incident. which | have never heard re-
counted, followed the enemy's discovery
Of the escape. The following morning. as
was usual, fhe prisoners were assembled
into the Upper Potomac room. to be
counted into the Upper Chickamauga.
Little Ross" we'll known to all the prs-
Oners, and who was subsequently, burned
TO death in the SpottswOOd II ptel in Rich
mond, kept tally as the men passed
through He counted them by fves, and
when he discovered that ITO men were
gone, he hurried and reported the fact to
Turner, who received the statement with
opeh-eyed incredulity. Why" he is re-
ported to have said to Ross, ''the mum Der
o! men missing is divisibe by five. You
have simply made mistake in your tally"
If the prisoners had known the number
of men who had gone through the tunnel
they could have made up the deficiency
and so avoided suspicion by having the
men pass through the west room, climb up
the posts to the roof, crawl along the roof
to the Upper Potomac room, drop down
and be counted agaiu; but unfortunately
they did not.
Turner appeared in person to supervise a
new count, and by this time, the prisoners,
la0-
termined to make up the deficiency, and
they overdid it. 1t should be said that
In their rags and with their pale faces hey
looked much alike, and any two might
have passed for twins. The younger and
more active men crowded to the counting
place first. passed through, reached the
Potomac room and were counted again,
and this was kept UP until there were 213
Yankees too many. Turner was at his
wits end. He swore that it was among
the possibilities for 10 men to get out
without his knowing it, but, by the eternal
jumping jingo, 213 Yankees could not
get in without his being aware of the
fact, particularly as he was accustomed
to search each man on bis arrival at the
prison. Fearing trick the men were all
driven down into the dinlDg-room and then
counted up the stairs, one at time, when
Ross first tally was found to be correct.
In or er to create the impression that the
guards had connived at tbs escape of the
prisoners board had been knocked out Of
the side of one Of the sinks in the direc-
tion of the canal, and a rote which
Colonel Rose had used in his first tunnel
was dropped over to indicate that the men
had gone out in that way. AS they could
not have done this without the consent of
the guards, every man of the battalion
then on duty about Libby was put under
arrest.
About the middle of the afternoon the
exit from the tunnel to the east. on the op-
posite side of the board fence that made
such good shield in escaping, was discOy-
cred. A black boy was sent through and
reappeared in the cellar under the hospital.
The secret was out. The tunnel had been
discovered. but not before it had proved a
gateway to liberty and Gods land" for
sixty men.
From that day 1t became historical. and
the great Libby tunnel is destined to rank
in history as one of the most gallant war
achievements OF modern times.
ALFRED r. CALHOUN.