It appears that General Pope in arranging for the night guard had provided
for a strong body of men being placed upon each of the bridges over the
Blue Earth, this being considered the vulnerable point in the line, but a
telegram coming to him stating that the railroad bridge would be specially
guarded by the railroad officials, he removed his guard from that
structure, and, as it proved, opened a direct way for the brigands’
escape. The railroad authorities had placed two men and a boy on the
bridge to guard it, and about two o’clock they saw three men approaching
in single file. The guard stood on one side and the men advanced and
walked deliberately on to the trestle work and passed over, the heroic
guard being too much frightened to even breathe. As soon as the fugitives
had got fairly past, the boy rushed down to the covered bridge and alarmed
the guard there, who at once sent a mounted messenger into the city to
tell the miserable tale. Nothing during the whole hunt had such a
humiliating effect upon the people as this fiasco, but they were doomed
ere long to receive as great a disappointment.
The night was one of almost Egyptian darkness, and men could do little
good tramping through muddy lanes and through dripping woods without a
trail to guide them. The resolve, therefore, was to await the break of
day, when at the earliest hour of dawn a close hunt and hot pursuit would
commence. Accordingly with the gloaming, Hoy, of Minneapolis, with a
number of Mankato men and others, started out and they were soon shown