children gathered at the Maxwell Tavern. Their terror upon
hearing that Morgan was "just down at Hanna's" cannot be
described. Word had been sent to Steubenville, and Colonel James
Collier marched out with a force of about eight hundred militia,
sending a squad under command of Captain Prentiss to reconnoiter.
They galloped through the village, and as Morgan's advance came
in sight began firing. The fire was returned, and a private named
Parks, from Steubenville, was wounded. Morgan's men charged the
scouting party, sending them through the village back to the main
body in a very demoralized condition. The frightened women, and
still worse frightened children, no sooner saw the "dust-brown
ranks" of the head of Morgan's column than they beat a hasty
retreat down the alley to the house of Dr. Markle, the village
physician. This change of base was made under fire, as Morgan's
men were shooting at the retreating militia, and also at a house
owned by William Fisher, in which they had heard there were a
number of militiamen. At the doctor's house all crowded into one
room, and were led in prayer by the minister's wife. The retreat
of the scouting party did not have a very cheering effect upon
the advancing militia. As they passed a field of broom-corn
several men suddenly disappeared, their swift course through the
cane being easily followed by the swaying of the tassels. The
militia were met by rumors that the village was in ashes. Morgan
did not set fire to the village, but his men found time to
explore the village store, and to search the Fisher house, in the
second story of which they found a flag. Morgan's men were hardly
out of sight on the Richmond road when Colonel Collier and the
militia appeared. They formed line of battle on a hill east of
the village just in time to see Shackelford's advance coming
along the road over which they were expecting Morgan. The colonel
at once opened fire with his six-pounder loaded with scrap-iron.
The first shot did little damage. One piece of scrap-iron found
its way to the right, and struck with a resounding thwack against
the end of the Maxwell Tavern. The second shot did not hit
anything. One of Shackelford's officers rode across the field and
inquired, "What are you fools shooting at?" The colonel then
learned, to his astonishment, that Morgan was at least two miles
out on the Richmond road. Many who had been conspicuously absent
then showed themselves, and the daring deeds and hairbreadth
escapes which came to light are not to be lightly referred to. At
least a dozen dead rebels, it was said, would be discovered in
the fields when the farmers came to cut their oats, but for some
reason the bodies were never found.]
At Salineville he found Morgan, pursued by Major Way, pushing for
Smith's Ford on the Ohio. Breaking into trot and gallop, he outmarched
and intercepted the fugitives at the cross-roads near Beaver Creek, and
had gained the enemy's front and flank when a flag of truce was raised,
and Morgan coolly demanded his surrender. Rue's threat to open fire
brought Morgan to terms, when another issue was raised. It was now
claimed that Morgan had already surrendered, namely, to a militia
officer, and had been by him paroled. This "officer" turned out to be
"Captain" James Burbick, of the home guard.[10] Rue held Morgan, with
364 officers and men and 400 horses, till General Shackelford came up,
who held them as prisoners of war.
[Footnote 10: General W.T.H. Brooks says in his report:
Morgan had passed a company of citizens from New Lisbon, and
agreed not to fire upon them if they would not fire upon him. He
had taken two or three of their men prisoners, and was using them
as guides. Among them was a Mr. Burbick, of New Lisbon, who had
gone out at the head of a small squad of mounted men. When Morgan
saw that his advance was about to be cut off by Major Rue, he
said to this Captain Burbick: "I would prefer to surrender to the
militia rather than to United States troops. I will surrender to
you if you will agree to respect private property and parole the
officers and men as soon as we get to Cincinnati." Burbick
replied that he knew nothing about this business. Morgan said,
"Give me an answer, yes or no." Burbick, evidently in confusion,
said, "Yes."
James Burbick sent a statement to Governor Tod, in which he said that he
was not a prisoner with Morgan, but that he was guiding him voluntarily
away from the vicinity of New Lisbon, after Morgan had agreed not to
pass through that town. Burbick reported that he accepted Morgan's
surrender, and started for the rear with a handkerchief tied to a stick
to intercept the advancing troops, while Lieutenant C.D. Maus, a
prisoner with Morgan, was sent with another flag of truce across the
fields.]
And thus ended the greatest of Morgan's raids. By it Bragg lost a fine
large division of cavalry, that, if added to Buckner's force,--already
equal to Burnside's in East Tennessee,--might have defeated Burnside;
or, if thrown across Rosecrans's flanks or long lines of supply and
communication, or used in reconnaissance on the Tennessee River, might
have baffled Rosecrans's plans altogether. As it was, Rosecrans was able
to deceive Bragg by counterfeit movements that could easily have been
detected by Morgan.
III. THE ESCAPE[11]
BY THOMAS H. HINES
On the 31st of July and the 1st of August, 1863, General John H. Morgan,
General Basil W. Duke, and sixty-eight other officers of Morgan's
command, were, by order of General Burnside, confined in the Ohio State
Penitentiary at Columbus. Before entering the main prison we were
searched and relieved of our pocket-knives, money, and of all other
articles of value, subjected to a bath, the shaving of our faces, and
the cutting of our hair. We were placed each in a separate cell in the
first and second tiers on the south side in the east wing of the prison.
General Morgan and General Duke were on the second range, General Morgan
being confined in the last cell at the east end, those who escaped with
General Morgan having their cells in the first range.
[Footnote 11: Condensed from "The Bivouac" of June, 1885.]
From five o'clock in the evening until seven o'clock in the morning we
were locked into our cells, with no possible means of communication with
one another; but in the day, between these hours, we were permitted to
mingle together in the narrow hall, twelve feet wide and one hundred and
sixty long, which was cut off from the other portion of the building,
occupied by the convicts, by a plank partition, in one end of which was
a wooden door. At each end of the hall, and within the partitions, was
an armed military sentinel, while the civil guards of the prison passed
at irregular intervals among us, and very frequently the warden or his
deputy came through in order to see that we were secure and not
violating the prison rules. We were not permitted to talk with or in any
way to communicate with the convicts, nor were we permitted to see any
of our relatives or friends that might come from a distance to see us,
except upon the written order of General Burnside, and then only in the
presence of a guard. Our correspondence underwent the censorship of the
warden, we receiving and he sending only such as met his approbation; we
were not permitted to have newspapers, or to receive information of what
was going on in the outside busy world.
Many plans for escape, ingenious and desperate, were suggested,
discussed, and rejected because deemed impracticable. Among them was
bribery of the guards. This was thought not feasible because of the
double set of guards, military and civil, who were jealous and watchful
of each other, so that it was never attempted, although we could have
commanded, through our friends in Kentucky and elsewhere, an almost
unlimited amount of money.
On a morning in the last days of October I was rudely treated, without
cause, by the deputy warden. There was no means of redress, and it was
not wise to seek relief by retort, since I knew, from the experience of
my comrades, that it would result in my confinement in a dark dungeon,
with bread and water for diet. I retired to my cell, and closed the door
with the determination that I would neither eat nor sleep until I had
devised some means of escape. I ate nothing and drank nothing during the
day, and by nine o'clock I had matured the plan that we carried into
execution. It may be that I owed something to the fact that I had just
completed the reading of Victor Hugo's "Les Miserables," containing such
vivid delineations of the wonderful escapes of Jean Valjean, and of the
subterranean passages of the city of Paris. This may have led me to the
line of thought that terminated in the plan of escape adopted. It was
this: I had observed that the floor of my cell was upon a level with the
ground upon the outside of the building, which was low and flat, and
also that the floor of the cell was perfectly dry and free from mold. It
occurred to me that, as the rear of the cell was to a great extent
excluded from the light and air, this dryness and freedom from mold
could not exist unless there was underneath something in the nature of
an air-chamber to prevent the dampness from rising up the walls and
through the floor. If this chamber should be found to exist, and could
be reached, a tunnel might be run through the foundations into the yard,
from which we might escape by scaling the outer wall, the air-chamber
furnishing a receptacle for the earth and stone to be taken out in
running the tunnel. The next morning, when our cells were unlocked, and
we were permitted to assemble in the hall, I went to General Morgan's
cell, he having been for several days quite unwell, and laid before him
the plan as I have sketched it. Its feasibility appeared to him
unquestioned, and to it he gave a hearty and unqualified approval. If,
then, our supposition was correct as to the existence of the air-chamber
beneath the lower range of cells, a limited number of those occupying
that range could escape, and only a limited number, because the greater
the number the longer the time required to complete the work, and the
greater the danger of discovery while prosecuting it, in making our way
over the outer wall, and in escaping afterward.
[Illustration: CORRIDOR AND CELLS IN THE EAST WING. A, CAPTAIN HINES'S
CELL.]
With these considerations in view, General Morgan and myself agreed upon
the following officers, whose cells were nearest the point at which the
tunnel was to begin, to join us in the enterprise: Captain J.C. Bennett,
Captain L.D. Hockersmith, Captain C.S. Magee, Captain Ralph Sheldon, and
Captain Samuel B. Taylor. The plan was then laid before these gentlemen,
and received their approval. It was agreed that work should begin in my
cell, and continue from there until completed. In order, however, to do
this without detection, it was necessary that some means should be found
to prevent the daily inspection of that cell, it being the custom of the
deputy warden, with the guards, to visit and have each cell swept every
morning. This end was accomplished by my obtaining permission from the
warden to furnish a broom and sweep my own cell. For a few mornings
thereafter the deputy warden would pass, glance into my cell, compliment
me on its neatness, and go on to the inspection of the other cells.
After a few days my cell was allowed to go without any inspection
whatever, and then we were ready to begin work, having obtained, through
some of our associates who had been sent to the hospital, some
table-knives made of flat steel files. In my cell, as in the others,
there was a narrow iron cot, which could be folded and propped up to the
cell wall. I thought the work could be completed within a month.
On the 4th of November work was begun in the back part of my cell, under
the rear end of my cot. We cut through six inches of cement, and took
out six layers of brick put in and cemented with the ends up. Here we
came to the air-chamber, as I had calculated, and found it six feet wide
by four feet high, and running the entire length of the range of cells.
The cement and brick taken out in effecting an entrance to the chamber
were placed in my bed-tick, upon which I slept during the progress of
this portion of the work, after which the material was removed to the
chamber. We found the chamber heavily grated at the end, against which a
large quantity of coal had been heaped, cutting off any chance of exit
in that way. We then began a tunnel, running it at right angles from the
side of the chamber, and almost directly beneath my cell. We cut through
the foundation wall, five feet thick, of the cell block; through twelve
feet of grouting, to the outer wall of the east wing of the prison;
through this wall, six feet in thickness; and four feet up near the
surface of the yard, in an unfrequented place between this wing and the
female department of the prison.
[Illustration: EXTERIOR OF THE PRISON. B--EXIT FROM TUNNEL.]
During the progress of the work, in which we were greatly assisted by
several of our comrades who were not to go out, notably among them
Captain Thomas W. Bullitt of Louisville, Kentucky, I sat at the entrance
to my cell studiously engaged on Gibbon's Rome and in trying to master
French. By this device I was enabled to be constantly on guard without
being suspected, as I had pursued the same course during the whole
period of my imprisonment. Those who did the work were relieved every
hour. This was accomplished, and the danger of the guards overhearing
the work as they passed obviated, by adopting a system of signals, which
consisted in giving taps on the floor over the chamber. One knock was to
suspend work, two to proceed, and three to come out. On one occasion, by
oversight, we came near being discovered. The prisoners were taken out
to their meals by ranges, and on this day those confined in the first
range were called for dinner while Captain Hockersmith was in the
tunnel. The deputy warden, on calling the roll, missed Hockersmith, and
came back to inquire for him. General Morgan engaged the attention of
the warden by asking his opinion as to the propriety of a remonstrance
that the general had prepared to be sent to General Burnside. Flattered
by the deference shown to his opinion by General Morgan, the warden
unwittingly gave Captain Hockersmith time to get out and fall into line
for dinner. While the tunnel was being run, Colonel R.C. Morgan, a
brother of General Morgan, made a rope, in links, of bed-ticking,
thirty-five feet in length, and from the iron poker of the hall stove we
made a hook, in the nature of a grappling-iron, to attach to the end of
the rope.
The work was now complete with the exception of making an entrance from
each of the cells of those who were to go out. This could be done with
safety only by working from the chamber upward, as the cells were daily
inspected. The difficulty presented in doing this was the fact that we
did not know at what point to begin in order to open the holes in the
cells at the proper place. To accomplish this a measurement was
necessary, but we had nothing to measure with. Fortunately the deputy
warden again ignorantly aided us. I got into a discussion with him as to
the length of the hall, and to convince me of my error he sent for his
measuring-line, and after the hall had been measured, and his statement
verified, General Morgan occupied his attention, while I took the line,
measured the distance from center to center of the cells,--all being of
uniform size,--and marked it upon the stick used in my cell for propping
up my cot. With this stick, measuring from the middle of the hole in my
cell, the proper distance was marked off in the chamber for the holes in
the other cells. The chamber was quite dark, and light being necessary
for the work, we had obtained candles and matches through our sick
comrades in the hospital. The hole in my cell during the progress of the
work was kept covered with a large hand-satchel containing my change of
clothing. We cut from underneath upward until there was only a thin
crust of the cement left in each of the cells. Money was necessary to
pay expenses of transportation and for other contingencies as they might
arise. General Morgan had some money that the search had not discovered,
but it was not enough. Shortly after we began work I wrote to my sister
in Kentucky a letter, which through a trusted convict I sent out and
mailed, requesting her to go to my library and get certain books, and in
the back of a designated one, which she was to open with a thin knife,
place a certain amount of Federal money, repaste the back, write my name
across the inside of the back where the money was concealed, and send
the box by express. In due course of time the books with the money came
to hand. It only remained now to get information as to the time of the
running of the trains and to await a cloudy night, as it was then full
moon. Our trusty convict was again found useful. He was quite an old
man, called Heavy, had been in the penitentiary for many years, and as
he had been so faithful, and his time having almost expired, he was
permitted to go on errands for the officials to the city. I gave him ten
dollars to bring us a daily paper and six ounces of French brandy.
Neither he nor any one within the prison or on the outside had any
intimation of our contemplated escape.
It was our first thought to make our way to the Confederacy by way of
Canada; but, on inspecting the time-table in the paper, it was seen that
a knowledge of the escape would necessarily come to the prison officials
before we could reach the Canadian border. There was nothing left, then,
but to take the train south, which we found, if on time, would reach
Cincinnati, Ohio, before the cells were opened in the morning, at which
time we expected our absence to be discovered. One thing more remained
to be done, and that was to ascertain the easiest and safest place at
which to scale the outside wall of the prison. The windows opening
outward were so high that we could not see the wall. In the hall was a
ladder resting against the wall, fifty feet long, that had been used for
sweeping down the wall. A view from the top of the ladder would give us
a correct idea of the outside, but the difficulty was to get that view
without exciting suspicion.
Fortunately the warden came in while we were discussing the great
strength and activity of Captain Samuel B. Taylor, who was very small of
stature, when it was suggested that Taylor could go hand over hand on
the under side of the ladder to the top, and, with a moment's rest,
return in the same way. To the warden this seemed impossible, and, to
convince him, Taylor was permitted to make the trial, which he did
successfully. At the top of the ladder he rested for a minute and took a
mental photograph of the wall. When the warden had left, Taylor
communicated the fact that directly south of and at almost right angles
from the east end of the block in which we were confined there was a
double gate to the outer wall, the inside one being of wooden uprights
four inches apart, and the outside one as solid as the wall; the wooden
gate being supported by the wing wall of the female department, which
joined to the main outer wall.
[Illustration: WITHIN THE WOODEN GATE.]
On the evening of the 27th of November the cloudy weather so anxiously
waited for came; and prior to being locked in our cells it was agreed to
make the attempt at escape that night. Cell No. 21, next to my cell, No.
20, on the first range, was occupied by Colonel R.C. Morgan, a brother
of General Morgan. That cell had been prepared for General Morgan by
opening a hole to the chamber, and when the hour for locking up came,
General Morgan stepped into Cell 21, and Colonel Morgan into General
Morgan's cell in the second range. The guard did not discover the
exchange, as General Morgan and Colonel Morgan were of about the same
physical proportions, and each stood with his back to the cell door when
it was being locked.
At intervals of two hours every night, beginning at eight, the guards
came around to each cell and passed a light through the grating to see
that all was well with the prisoners. The approach of the guard was
often so stealthily made that a knowledge of his presence was first had
by seeing him at the door of the cell. To avoid a surprise of this kind
we sprinkled fine coal along in front of the cells, walking upon which
would give us warning. By a singular coincidence that might have been a
fatality, on the day we had determined upon for the escape General
Morgan received a letter from Lexington, Kentucky, begging and warning
him not to attempt to escape, and by the same mail I received a letter
from a member of my family saying that it was rumored and generally
believed at home that I had escaped. Fortunately these letters did not
put the officials on their guard. We ascertained from the paper we had
procured that a train left for Cincinnati at 1.15 A.M., and as the
regular time for the guard to make his round of the cells was twelve
o'clock, we arranged to descend to the chamber immediately thereafter.
Captain Taylor was to descend first, and, passing under each cell,
notify the others. General Morgan had been permitted to keep his watch,
and this he gave to Taylor that he might not mistake the time to go.
At the appointed hour Taylor gave the signal, each of us arranged his
cot with the seat in his cell so as to represent a sleeping prisoner,
and, easily breaking the thin layer of cement, descended to the chamber,
passed through the tunnel, breaking through the thin stratum of earth
at the end. We came out near the wall of the female prison,--it was
raining slightly,--crawled by the side of the wall to the wooden gate,
cast our grappling-iron attached to the rope over the gate, made it
fast, ascended the rope to the top of the gate, drew up the rope, and
made our way by the wing wall to the outside wall, where we entered a
sentry-box and divested ourselves of our soiled outer garments. In the
daytime sentinels were placed on this wall, but at night they were on
the inside of the walls and at the main entrance to the prison. On the
top of the wall we found a cord running along the outer edge and
connecting with a bell in the office of the prison. This cord General
Morgan cut with one of the knives we had used in tunneling. Before
leaving my cell I wrote and left, addressed to N. Merion, the warden,
the following:
CASTLE MERION, CELL NO. 20, November 27, 1863.--Commencement,
November 4, 1863; conclusion, November 24, 1863; number of hours
for labor per day, five; tools, two small knives. _La patience
est amere, mais son fruit est doux._ By order of my six honorable
Confederates. THOMAS H. HINES, _Captain, C.S.A._
Having removed all trace of soil from our clothes and persons, we
attached the iron hook to the railing on the outer edge of the wall, and
descended to the ground within sixty yards of where the prison guards
were sitting round a fire and conversing. Here we separated, General
Morgan and myself going to the depot, about a quarter, of a mile from
the prison, where I purchased two tickets for Cincinnati, and entered
the car that just then came in. General Morgan took a seat beside a
Federal major in uniform, and I sat immediately in their rear. The
general entered into conversation with the major, who was made the more
talkative by a copious drink of my French brandy. As the train passed
near the prison-wall where we had descended, the major remarked, "There
is where the rebel General Morgan and his officers are put for
safe-keeping." The general replied, "I hope they will keep him as safe
as he is now." Our train passed through Dayton, Ohio, and there, for
some unknown reason, we were delayed an hour. This rendered it extra
hazardous to go to the depot in the city of Cincinnati, since by that
time the prison officials would, in all probability, know of our escape,
and telegraph to intercept us. In fact, they did telegraph in every
direction, and offered a reward for our recapture. Instead, then, of
going to the depot in Cincinnati, we got off, while the train was moving
slowly, in the outskirts of the city, near Ludlow Ferry, on the Ohio
River. Going directly to the ferry we were crossed over in a skiff and
landed immediately in front of the residence of Mrs. Ludlow. We rang the
door-bell, a servant came, and General Morgan wrote upon a
visiting-card, "General Morgan and Captain Hines, escaped." We were
warmly received, took a cup of coffee with the family, were furnished a
guide, and walked some three miles in the country, where we were
furnished horses. Thence we went through Florence to Union, in Boone
County, Kentucky, where we took supper with Daniel Piatt. On making
ourselves known to Mr. Piatt, who had two sons in our command, we were
treated with the most cordial hospitality and kindness by the entire
family. We there met Dr. John J. Dulaney of Florence, Kentucky, who was
of great benefit in giving us information as to the best route. That
night we went to Mr. Corbin's, near Union,--who also had gallant sons in
our command,--where we remained concealed until the next night, and
where friends supplied us with fresh horses and a pair of pistols each.
[Illustration: OVER THE PRISON WALL.]
On the evening of the 29th of November we left Union with a voluntary
guide, passed through the eastern edge of Gallatin County, and after
traveling all night spent the day of the 30th at the house of a friend
on the Owen County line. Passing through New Liberty, in Owen County,
and crossing the Kentucky River at the ferry on the road to New Castle,
in Henry County, we stopped at the house of Mr. Pollard at 2 A.M.,
December 1. Our guide did not know the people nor the roads farther than
the ferry, at which point he turned back. Not knowing the politics of
Mr. Pollard, it was necessary to proceed with caution. On reaching his
house we aroused him and made known our desire to spend the remainder of
the night with him. He admitted us and took us into the family room,
where there was a lamp dimly burning on a center-table. On the light
being turned up I discovered a Cincinnati "Enquirer" with large
displayed head-lines, announcing the escape of General Morgan, Captain
Hines, and five other officers from the Ohio penitentiary. The fact that
this newspaper was taken by Mr. Pollard was to me sufficient evidence
that he was a Southern sympathizer. Glancing at the paper, I looked up
and remarked, "I see that General Morgan, Hines, and other officers have
escaped from the penitentiary." He responded, "Yes; and you are Captain
Hines, are you not?" I replied, "Yes; and what is your name?" "Pollard,"
he answered. "Allow me, then, to introduce General Morgan," I found that
I had not made a mistake.