The Florida agriculturist. [volume] (DeLand, Fla.) 1878-1911, 1895-12-04
A SOLDIERS
THANKSGIVING.
BY LIEUTENANT TRrGG.
copyright, 1895, by American Press Associa-
tion.1

prison pen at OallSOury, IN. VI. on the
Cd day Of August, 1868. There were FIVE
of us, 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
off at least, and in many instances four,
five or six men formed sort of close
corporation. All clothing, blankets,
money and other articles went into
common fund, and the men shared alike
in the comforts and discomforts. It so
happened that none Of us was despoiled
when captured and on entering the
gates of Salisbury we had 500 in cash,
zach a good blanket and a full uniform,
and we were thus enabled to live in far
greater comfort than the great ma ority.
We had choice Of ground on which to
pitch our tent, and having an eye to
;unnel we got as near the dead line and
the fence as possible. The distance to
she dead line was feet and to the
fence about 90
Up to this time a 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
TENDER and made q close search for dig
gers. Such vigilance acted to discourage
the prisoners, and [ believe our tunnel
was the only one begun in the month of
October. Our tent was roomy one,
and we began operations, sinking q
shaft five feet deep and large enough to
allow a man to work in. This hole was
in the middle Of our tent, and when not
in 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 a
canteen and the handles of a skillet
were our tools for digging. AS we had
noticed that every visit Of the searchers
was made in the afternoon or evening
we began and prosecuted our work in
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 were 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 a trifle larger than a
mans body. The digger had to pull
himself in by using his elbows, and he
drew after him tin basin and a string.
The dirt was placed in the basin and
drawn out by the man in the shaft.
Crawling into hollow log is fun COM
pared to wriggling in and out of such
tunnel. The body shuts out all the air,
the place is sitting hot, and after half
an hours work the strongest man is used
up.
When our tunnel had reached the
fence, we had to go 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 the fence the digging became
easier. but delay from one cause or an
other prevented the completion Of our
enterprise until the Goth Of November.
At noon of that date we had dug our
full distance and 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
II.