The Marlboro democrat. [volume] (Bennettsville, S.C.) 1882-1908, 1905-05-19
A Confederate Soldiers Escape
from Prison and Death,
WHEN THE CIVIL WAR
Was CHING On. as Told by His Daugh.
ter In the Confederate Veteran Mag
azine. He Was Under Sen.
tence of Death, but Gave
CLo-..o. H. Cl:a
Sherman the Slip.

The following interesting sketch
from the diary Of the late Capt. M.
A. Miller Of how he made his escape
from Irving Block" prison at Mem
phis Is furnished by his daughter,
Mrs. VIM. r. Vawter OF Richmond,
Va. Il have one man uu der senter ce
Of death for smuggling arms across
the lines, and l hope Mr. Lincoln will
approve it," The above is quotation
from letter of Gen. w. T. Sherman
to his brother John after the capture
of Memphis, Tenn. And herewith is
sketch Of how that 'one man."
Capt. Matthews Amos Miller. made
his escape from prison. Capt. Miller,
was assistant city engineer Of Mem
phis at the commencement Of the war:
A number of the engineers and ar.
chitects formed a cor pany Of sappers
and miners Of which we were the OIL
GERS and somc Of our best mechanics
the priva,es. This company threw
up the first works Of fortiticatl ms OF
the Mississippi river, beginning four
Pillow Island No. 10, New Madrid
and Columbus. At the latter place
we had our first infantry fight.
Memphis was captured by Gen. Shcr-
man in June, 1862. AZ that time |
was home on sick leave, having just
passed through serious spell OF ty-
phoid fever. 1t was true, rs stated
in Gen. Sherman's letter to his broth
er John, that the mere mary spirit OF
his people enabled Us II buy anythiu,;
we wanted for gold or cotton.
When Sherman Ii st took possession
OF Memphis he issued an orGer dc.
claring gold, medicine and salt, con
traband, and as such prohibited their
sale to our people. But his order
were practically reversed, and we go
anything we wanted So greedy wei e
they for money that they actually
sold us arms. The people with whom
we dealt were mostly camp followers
and merchants. Finding th4t arms
could be easily PR cured in this way
and knowing our people needed them
badly, determined u get quantity
Of them. | represented no one but
myself, and al! that l purchaS d were
paid for by me cut Of my o@n fun2s
was the means Of oquipping lhc best
part Of two companies OF cavalry lie.
fore my operations were disc vared by
the enemy. 1t w2S rather difficult t.
get the arms TO the southern Soldeyy
after | bought them, for in addition
to the gunboatS, tie river was cluSely
patrolled by picket boats. My plan
was to put my goods mostly sahers
and pistols. On board skitf aud carry
them over to the Arkansas side, wnert
the cavalry would get them
For month L vas steadily supply.
ing our soldiers with arms and met
with no serious dinicully. But one
afternoon, in the latter part OF July
my good luck descl ted me l was
carrying over two boxes OF officers
swords, and was ia the middle # the
river, when picket b0at, that l Gid
not see when l started out, ran upor
me. at once knew that danger was
ahead, and, jumping on the punwales
OF my boat, l cried to sink it: but il
was too heavy and would not dip. )
The officer in charge OF the picket
boat arrested me, aud the skiIman
also, and took us with the two boxes
to gunboat nearby. Here the box 6
were opened, and as soon as tie nature
of their contents WAS disclosed l was
at once carried to the military prison
In the Irving BloCk,' in the centre
Of the city.
In two or three days there was 3
court martial. The evidence was, ui
course, conclusive, and | could make
no defence. What the verdict was |
did not learn, as it was no6 pronounc.
ed; and 1T was not until some five
weeks afterward that became aware
OF 1t. was tirsu made aware OF the
seriousness Of M position in eensa-
tional way. Late one afternoon in
July, 1862, q friend, Miss Gi sen,
who had been calling on me, after
glancng around cautiously turned and
whispered to me: "Captain, you are
under sentence OF deaIh, and are 10 be
shot at an early day. Take my ad-
vice; get away from here berore they
put shackles on your ankles and
wrists, for then you can do nothing %
My idea Is that the Clicsr IL cha re
had no authority to carry such Il YER,
dict into execution without Tie 40.
proval OF the president, lcnGiar
which | was kept in iguorpnGe.
Later, the sane day on wniah | wGs
told | was t. Gle I 5hiuk It roust have
been about August l3) Gen Sherman
came into ny cell, accJ pplnied by
two memters Of bis stan, wnc. aml
did not know. | knew tie general
as soon as saw him. lie sa5 there
some 10 or l5 minutes talking TO me
He was very polite, tut still his man.
ner was positive. In the tirst uart Of
his conversation he said that ! was
probably aware that the sentence Of
court martial was death. | told him
/ had no way Of knowing, as that was
the first official notiGca, ion OF it that
l had received. as we talked on Gen.
Sherman told ne that in he discharge
OF his Official duty 1t would be neces
sary for him to lave the sentence Of
the court executed, woich ne propos
ed to do on the Friday following.
This was Monday.
Although | knew the sentence had
been passed, 1t did not impress Itself
On my mind as methlng that vas
actually going TO happen. Looking
Gen. Sherman straight in the face
laughed, not boistcrously, but in a
manner that suggested iuccedullty.
The general did not resent my beha
vi til -, "a