Union County courier. [volume] (Elk Point, Union County, D.T. [S.D.]) 187?-1913, 1896-04-16

heard 81 him. On : number 81 occas-
ions, along about midnight, Soma fol.
low would make : rum right through
the line, expecting that before the
guard could recover his gun a.d shoot
with any certainty. he would Be too far
away 70 be hit. They generally sue.
ceeded, but the next day the blood,
hounds would be on their track, and
they would be brought back the worse
for wear. II was necessary for N 70
have wood to cook our mush. The
rebels would not bring 10 any, but they
would parole from twenty to thirty Of
the prisoners every day 10 60 into the
timber close BY, cut the wood, carry Il
In, and lay It right over and inside the
dead line. The prisoners inside would
take It from there. This parole al-
lowed 10 to 60 within described limits.
Beyond this, a. the parole read, twas
the liability Of being shot," There was
all manner and means Of escape devils
ed, 90 on the afternoon Of Nov. ~, 1884,
Mai. VS.. Marshall, Capt. John E.
Page, and myself, thought We would
try our plan. In our shirt sleeves,
with an AK and maui. and q couple Of
wooden wedges, We walked up to guard
No. l, where all tho passing out and in
was done, he being new guard Just
placed there q few minutes before, and
asked permission to pass out again.
This he refused to give. We told him
we had q right to 60 out; that We be-
l0nged to the paroled party. The guard
could not see II that way, 90 We asked
him II he would not call the ollcer Of
the day, whose tent WAS some few rods
away. This he did. The old rebel
with butternut suit and broad.rimmed
hat came up, and demanded to know
the trouble. We told him about the
same story we told the guard: "That
we were on parole that day to cut wood;
that we had got hungry, and came in
to get something 70 eat" As We ex-
pected, he asked US our names. We
had the name business all fixed In adj
vance. Marshall gave his name Is
Major Briggs, 10th Illinois Cavalry;
Pages assumed name We have forgot
ten; while gave my name - Lieut..
Applebee. These men, whose names
ours, and we knew them we'll. They
were then legally parolled, and ct this
time were out cutting wood: We put
On SUCH y UOiu 1TOut OuO UO40 0UCA ~
apparently straight story that the old
'.secesh" actually believed IL. We
thought we could work the old fellow,
for he did not look a. though he knew
1t all. He pulled his parole book out
Of his pocket, which contained the
names Of the paroled for that day, and
sure enough there were the names Of
Major Briggs, Applebee, and the other
fellow. This, to hts mind, confirmed
our story, 90 he said: Guard, let 'em
out" We felt very nervous AZ We
walked out. We knew the officer VA
lied up all right, but the guard, who
seemed to be the sharpest Of the two
looked suspicious and seemed to doub,
our story. We cast occasional glancel
backward to see ii anybody was aftel
ne, thinking the guard might tell o.
his suspicious. Il was understood with
our messmates inside, who were all the
time watching us, that II our plan sue
ceeded We would each bring In an arm
full OF wood and lay 1t inside the lin,
and have some excuse to call for Oul
blankets, which were prepared for the
occasion. We had our coats and piec>
Of hard-coOked mush enclosed insid,
our blankets. Page brought In BIZ
armful of w0od, and called TO his mat,
to bring him his blanket, ~ he wsnte,
it to I'll full Of nice big chips. Mar
shall and myself wanted ours to brinl
some dry leaves to sleep on. Thes'
subterfuges also worked we'll. Nov
everything was ready for long tramp
We then went out about q mile, threv
up big brush pile, crawled into this
ana lay there until quite dark. Will
lying here, = rebel with dog and gu
passed close by. What the result woul,
have been had that dog given one Iii
tie sniff or bark 10 hard to tell. Pag
said that was . Union dog. Maj0
Briggs, Applebee, and the other fello,
went Ia and lifted their paroles. an
the rebels never knew the difference
After it was good and dark We cam
out OF the brush pile and made our irs
step for . $50 miles journey for liberty