Sword and Pen: Ventures and Adventures of Willard GlazierOwens, John Algernon
History
Sword and Pen: Ventures and Adventures of Willard Glazier
Owens, John Algernon
Glazier, Willard W., 1841-1905; United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Personal narratives
"We were now marched from one room to another, and counted one by one,
but still there were one hundred and fifteen short of the complement.
We, of course, pretended to be as much surprised as the authorities.
They next sent for Major Turner, and he counted us two or three times,
but with an equally unsatisfactory result. He demanded of us where they
had gone, and how they got out; but not a man knew.
"The escape was at once made public, and the papers were filled with the
news, and the most strenuous measures at once adopted to ensure the
recapture of the runaways. The authorities were terribly exasperated,
and as a first step, arrested the guards and threw them into Castle
Thunder, concluding as a matter of course, that they had been bribed.
This set the guards thinking, and one of them remembered he had seen an
unusual number of men in the lot near the Yankee boxes. Latouche, the
prison adjutant, hearing of this, just before nightfall discovered the
locality of the opening. Next, they questioned the prisoners as to
_where_ in the building it began, but could obtain no satisfaction, and
not until after a long search, did they discover the opening in the
chimney."
So the "patient toil and vigil long" of poor Glazier went for nothing.
The Confederate authorities seem to have treated the matter very
good-humoredly, frankly expressed their surprise at the ingenuity and
patience of the subterranean engineers, and manfully set about the task
of recapturing the fugitives. Forty-eight were brought in during the
next two days, but at the same time it leaked out among the prisoners
that the Unionists under General Kilpatrick were within the outer line
of fortifications, engaging the rebels, as it was conjectured, with the
view of rescuing the prisoners. The consequence was, there was much
excitement among the latter, for the boom of cannon sounded distinctly
in their ears, and that sound was accepted as the music that heralded
their approaching freedom.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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