The Windham County reformer. (Battleboro, Vt.) 1876-1897, 1895-08-09

made a run fol it. The night was YER
stormy one. with snow and sleet. Non
of us had any shoes, and was bare
headed. having lost my hat III gettini
away from the car. We were thinl.
clad and were weak from long subsist
euce upon prison fare We had gone ;
considerable distance through the storm
when our strength gave out and w
agreed that we could not travel ii mill
farther We knew that pursuers wer'
not far behind u.s. but felt obliged Il
succumb TO our fate. At this moment
we came upon negro cabin, and When
the inmates responded to our knocks we
told them who we were and what straits
we were in. and they took us right in.
They gave us warm food and drink and
good beds. When the pursuers came up,
our colored friends blandly Informed
them the escaping prisoners had been
seen running down the road as fast as
they could go about half an hour before.
BY the help of these kind negroes we
finally managed to reach the Union
lines.
| In Confederate Prisons.
|
Congressman Cobb of Alabama, the
propounder of the famous question,
"Mr, Speaker. where was Iat?' has re-
lated his experience after his capture in
the battle of Gettysburg, and it is an
exceedingly interesting story He was
the first lieutenant of a company ut.
tached to the Texas division under Long
street "The second day of the fight,
July >. 1863" said Mr. Cobb, II was
corncrcd by the enemy in the course of
the engagement. On one Sidc of me was
a steep, almost perpendicular slope. On
the other was wood Of heavy timber
and thick underbrush. failed to hear
the order for retreat, and before | knew
it was surrounded and captured, was
first taken to Fort Henry, Baltimore
harbor, then to Fort Delaware for three
weeks, and after that TO Johnson's il
land. where l staid from the LIST of Au-
gust until the February following AT
that time there was call for 600 of us
officers to be carried to Point Lookout
at the mouth of the Potomac We were
joyful over the transfer, us we thought
it was made for the purpose of exchange,
and as a matter of fact 200 were ex-
changed.
I'VE We're eventually crowded out by
the wounded men brought in from some
battle and We're then carried back to Fort
Delaware Soon after our transfer an
other call for 600 men was issued to 90
to Charleston harbor to be made the |
subjects of retaliation. The Fcderals |
charged that Federal prisoners in the |
hands of Confederates had been kept |
within range of Federal batteries and |
thus exposed to the shots from their own /
men. Whether this was true on not | do |
lot know, but they took me and about
500 other prisoners, among them Speak
n Crisp, and placed us in a position be-
ween Federal and Confederate batteries,
where we We're exposed to the shots of
10Th sides, The shots would fly over us
| don't remember that
my of US was injured, but it was Ger
ainly not pleasant to be constantly ex-
,ecting a stray shot to drop among us.
After this ordeal our party was separat-
d, some of the 600 being sent to Fort
Pulaski and the remainder to Hilton
lead. l was among the latter and was
ONE time afterward transferred back to
Tort Delaware, where remained until
he cessation of hostilities. {
II never saw any particular case of
luelty in the prisons in which | was
Onfned. The guards shot several pris- /,
ners at Johnson's island, but | guess
ley brought it on themselves. There +,
ere severe punishments for insubordi-
ation--as. for instance, when privates ,
ere tied up by their thumbs and officers t
ere tossed III blankets. l helped to L
nry many poor fellow Sometimes
5 many as four or five We're buried at n
nee Their death was not the result of
nd treatment, but of wounds they had l
'ceived i'll the field or of confinement
: homesickness. The winter / spent mt
ohnson's island was very severe. the 7
thermometer registering sometimes 10
} 90 degrees below zero. On New
ears day of this year five men attempt
to escape through my room. They
ok two of the benches which were in Il
ch of the rooms and made ladder hy d
iiling pieces of wood between them, d
: the assistance of which they made
eir escape through the window Ordi-
,rily there Were sentries stationed n
,out every 800 yards, but this night
as so bitterly cold that they could not p
main on post. The five succeeded in
aving the prison, but one succumbed Il
the cold before he had gone mile a
id was brought back the next morning
it'll his ears, toes and fingers frozen.
1ree others We're found at different \ Il
stances near the fort, unable to pro-
ed farther on account of the cold, and lo
ere recaptured. The fifth escaped to "
,nada "
Several other efforts to escape We're
ade by the prisoners, with better sue sv
SIS than the one | have Just related ~
lie time party occupying the hut
Arrest the fence took the floor up. dug
der it and tunneled under the fence :,
frying the dirt off in haversacks This 81
is long and tedious job. but it was or
ally finished. On the outside of the
ice at the exit Of the tunnel there was
hin crust of earth. Inside the fence
, tunnel had a downward inclination "
d outside the fence an upward. When =,
erything was in readiness a dark night
Is selected for the escape A large
mber succeeded in making a safe as
nsit. but one large. fat fellow got de
lck where the tunnel turned TO go up st
nd and could neither retrear nor go
ward. His comrades tried to push ev
pull him through the tight place, hut co
thout avail, and he had TO stay there on