Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1895-11-28
A SOLDIERS
THANKSGIVING
BIT IIEurEyANr TRIGG.


of MS, all Of whom had been captured at
the same time, and we reached the pris-
on in May.
In all prison pens the inmates paired
of at least. and in many instances four,
five or six men formed a sort of close
corporation. All clothing, blankets.
money and other articles went into a
common fund, aud the menshared alike
in the comforts and discomforts. Ii so
happened that none of us was lespoiled
when captured, and on entering the
gates of Salisbury we had $50 III cash.
each good blanket and full uniform,
and we were TINS enabled to live in far
greater comfort thar the great majority.
We had choice Of ground on which to
pitch our tent, and having an eye to a
tunnel we got rs near the dead line and
the fence as possible. The distance to
the dead line was 6 feet and to the
fence about 20.
Up to this time score of prisoners
had escaped by means of tunnels. and
dozens of tunnels had been discovered
while being dug. The Confederates en-
tered the pen almost daily through the
months of June, July, August and Sep
ter1ber and made close search for dig
gers. Sach vigilance acted to discourage
the prisoners, and / believe our tunnel
was the only one begun in the month of
October. Our tent was a roomy one.
and We began operations, sinking a
shaft five feet deep and large enough To
allow man to work in This hole was
IN the middle of our tent, and when not
i'll use was covered with four sticks and
a blanket. All the dirt was carried
away in our pockets and flung into
abandoned wells or scattered over the
ground. A spoon, the two halves of d
canteen and the handles Of a skillet
were our tools fer digging. AS we had
noticed that every visit Of the searchels
was made in the afternoon on evening
we began and prosecuted our work III
the forenoon After couple of weeks
some digging was made after 10 O'Clock
at night, but we never felt safe while
thus engaged When the tunnel proper
was begun, two men We're working at
the same time below ground A third
stood watch at the door, and the fourth
and fifth carried away the dirt.
The tunnel was three feet below the
surface and but trifie larger than a
mans body. The digger had to pull
himself Ill by using his elbows, and he
drew after him a tin basin and a string.
The dirt was placed in the basin and
drawn. ont by the man in the shaft.
Crawling into a hollow log is fun COM
pared to wrigghng in and out Of such
tunnel The body shuts ont al the air,
the place is sitting hot, and after half
an hour S work the strongest man is used
up.
When cur tunnel had reached the
fence, we had to so down four feet to
work under the ends of the logs, and the
air became so foul that we made but
slow Roadway and some days did not
work at all. We had planned to run the
tunnel close to the dispensary, and after
passing tho fence the digging became
easier, but delay from one cause or am
other prevented the completion Of our
enterprise until the Goth Of November.
At noon of that date we had dug our
full distance ard had only to break
through foot of crust to be in the open
air outside the fence. We must wait for
night, Of course The weather was fine.
with promise of starlight night, but
during the afternoon we made all our
arrangements to go. Twice during the
afternoon alarms We're given that search
ing parties We're coming in, but they
proved To be false. Night finally came
with our plan undetected, and about s
O'Clock the first Of the five entered the
tunnel, crept to the far end and broke
through the crust We had dug within
~ inches Of the wall Of the Clispensary.
The building was used as sleeping quar-
tiers for two or three men connected with
The hospital department, and as we pass
ed ont Of the tunnel in turn each of Us
heard them talking aud moving about.
Each maj, crept away To the left, climb
ed over Il fence and followed it for 30
rods, and then made for a certain tree
which could be seen from the stockade
anal which had been agreed upon as the
rendezvous. We encountered no guards
and raised no alarm, and within half an
hour from the time he first man enter
ed the tunnel the five of MS were gath
cred under the tree.
We travelled all night. with only
hrlel stops Tor rest, ana When daylight
came we judged that we had made
good % miles. We had followed the
highway ON aud off, but without en-
countering any one. and as the day
broke we sought the cover of a thicket
and lay down 10 rest and sleep. 1t was
afternoon before any one awoke. and
then the first move was TO look for
water. We soon found that, and then
the question of food came up Keeping
all together. we moved to the west,
knowing that we should come to plan
tation sooner or later, The best we
could do in the way of weapons was for
each man TO arm himself with a club
The highway was ON our left as we
went forward, and we had proceeded
for about mile when we broke out of
the cover Of a Ticket and found our
selves upon the road, which took