Connecticut western news., 1907-12-26
LIBBY PRISON HERO,
How the Late General Rose Duo
a Famous Tunnel.
DESPERATE CHANCES TAKEN.

cd Men Working In Foul Air Among
Rats-Escape of Union Soldiers From
the Old Richmond chandIery In 1854
Brevet Brigadier General Thomas
Elwood Rose, U. s. A., retired, who
died in Washington recently, led the
party Of Union soldiers who dug their
way out Of Libby prison during the
civil war, says the New York Post.
1t was in the battle of Chickamauga
that General Rose was captured. He
escaped at Weldon, N. c., was retaken
the next day and sent to Libby prison
on Oct. 4, 1863.
Libby prison itself was an old ships
chandlery warehouse, embracing nine
large rooms, into which were crowded
1900 prisoners. Quarters were so
cramped that the inmates had to sleep
spoon fashion" head to head and
feet to feet in squads.
Outside the prison to the south was
a canal. In wet weather the cellar Of
the prison would become flooded with
water, and platoons-or perhaps we
should say schools-of hoary rats
emerged from its ancient walls on the
surface Of the tide The easternmost
cellar was the darkest and consequent
ly the worst in this respect and was
known as Rats hell.
From the first day of his incarcera-
tion Roses mind turned to thoughts of
escape, and all through the course of
the partly successful plot he was the
engineer and captain. He found
loyal lieutenant in Major A. G. Hamil-
ton of the Twelfth Kentucky cavalry,
and together the two men decided that
the most feasible plan was to dig
tunnel from Rats hell eastward, dis
lance Of about seventy feet, to an
empty shed abutting on building
owned by the James River Towing
company.
The exterior of the prise" was care
fully guarded night and day by senti-
nels, but indoors the vigilance was
somewhat relaxed at night. At one
time more than 400 prisoners were in
the secret Of the work, all under oath,
but the Confederates did not discover
what was on foot. This was partly
due to the fact that the end Of Rats
hell, where the men worked, was ex-
ceedingly dark and filed with such
foul air that the workers themselves
had to create artificial circulation In
order to live in it.
Work was begun with a broken
shovel and two case knives. With inf
mite pains the men cut through stone
fpo ~, ~ y,lo r,,1xy
to find themselves frustrated now by
water from the canal, now by some
impossible obstacle. They tried to
avail themselves of old sewers, but one
was too small and one debouched in
too public spot. Finally they adopted
the plan of digging eastward to the
shelter Of the other building.
Rose picked out thirteen faithful fol-
lowers in addition to himself and
Hamilton. Most of the others had
been discouraged by the slime, the foul
air and the i'll success Of previous at
tempts. Rose and his little band went
on indefatigably, scarcely eating,
scarcely sleeping, engrossed in the one
feverish thought of liberty. At best
1t would be a slender chance. But
hope springing persistently drove them
on.
By great good fortune Rose had
come into possession Of a rope nearly
hundred feet long, an inch thick and
new. By an agreement between the
commissioners of exchange several
bales Of clothing had been sent by the
Federal government to the suffering
soldiers at Belle Isle. A committee Of
Union officers from Libby prison had
been assigned to supervise the distri-
button, and one of them by bit of
clever legerdemain managed to secrete
the rope which bound one of the
bales. Rose and Hamilton fashioned it
into ladder
They concluded that the safest means
of getting into Rats hell without de-
lection would be to dig a secret passage
from the kitchen, which was on the
floor above, but not directly over Rats
hell. Carefully digging out the NOR
tar with a jackknife, they removed
the bricks one by one from the back
OF the large open fireplace. When
morning came they replaced the bricks
and filed the crevices with the SCOT,
which they had taken the precaution
to collect beforehand on a blanket
After several nights work they had an
8 shaped passage down which they
could descend to Rats hell by means
Of their rope ladder.
The wall of that east cellar had to
be broken In three places before a
place was found where the earth
would support tunnel. Rose dug as
siduously, while Hamilton famed air
into. him and dragged the excavated
material out as fast as 1t was ready.
Without the artificial ventilation the
tallow dip by which Rose worked
would go out and Rose would suffo-
cate. A wooden box, which had been
used as q spittoon, served very well to
draw the earth out Of the passageway,
part of the precious rope having been
attached to it to enable the outside
worker to pull 1t out and in turn the
digger to pull 1t In. AS fast as the