The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1904-08-10
ANDERsoNvvILLE PRISON.
An Interesting Talk Before West sit



Workingmen's Club.
Frank 7. MeKenna, who served in
Sheridan's cavalry corps during the
civil war, made an address Sunday
evening before the West Side Working
mems club in Hartford. The subject OF
his address was his experience in An
Jacksonville prison.
Mr.. McKenna said the ridi to Ander-
sonyille from Danville in cattle cars
was not pleasant. When he arrived at
the prison he was reminded Of the in
seaption in Dante's Inferno" He
who enters here leaves hope behind"
Inside the stockade were thirty thou
sand prisoners. Continuing his inter-
esting address Mr., McKenna said:
Time dragged YEARLY in the stockade;
we played cards, told stories and read
Burns works clear through. The book
found its way into the prison; how it
came no one knew. The boys could re-
peat by heart his 'Cotters Saturday
Night and Tam oShanter," and re-
peat by heart all his songs. 1t was re-
ported at this time that the boys in
tended to make break for freedom.
1t was kept very quiet; we were led
into the plot and pledged ourselves to
stand by the others The scheme was
to storm the front gate, overpower the
guards, take possession of the guard
house. spike the guns in the old fort
land make prisoners of the conscripts or
shoot them down. But there was a
traitor in the plot; it came to old
Weith's ears, and that night he threw
solid shot over the stockade as a warn
ing to the Yankees to keep still.
Every night said Mr.. McKenna,
I'VE worked like beavers. Days we
slept. After two weeks, by the distance
we got and the depth down, we knew
that we were outside the line of the
stockade, and the next move. was to dig
up to the surface He said the plan
was to get away in the night and es-
cape the bloodhounds. He was the
head man in the work of tunneling
His comrades told him to go ahead first
Up / went, through the surface of the
earth. And such yell as / heard.
Twas almost unearthly, 1t seems that
our tunnel was in the immediate Vicin-
ity of the conscripts' guard fire. Seeing
my head coming through the earth, as
they sat around the fire, and thinking
that it must be Old Nick himself, they
left me in sole possession. I knew, of
course, that all was lost, and notified
my comrades. We FASTENED back into
the stockade, changed our location,
filled up part of the tunnel on the sur
face, and waited for something to turn
up. / assure you we laughed that night
until our poor sides ached, as I told
them of the flight of the conscript
guards and we entered into compact
to stand by one another when the time
came. Next morning the guards had
the tunnel filled up and believe it was
the last Of the tunneling in the stock
ade. Time dragged along slowly.
There were rurnors of an exchange ev-
cry day. At last the big gate OF the
prison opened and the Joy Of the poor
fellows was apparent. Men sick, al
most dying, got energy. Cripples from
that terrible scurvy discarded their
sticks. They almost forgot their all
ments III the desire to reach the cars
and be first I'd see freedom. Even in
their joy, they discarded the necessary
articles that they were to need later on
Day after day It became known that 1t
was no exchange. A scheme to blind
the prisoners concocted by old Wilder
and the infamous Weith, simply from
one hell to another-from Andersonville
to Florence in South Carolina. God
help some Of the poor fellows when they
found out the scheme. Some must have
died broken-hearted.
Mr.. McKenna said that he and 1--WE
comrades escaped from the train while
on the way to Florence. They were
suceored by negroes, He has never
been able since the war, to locate his
comrades of that escape.