Books: With Lee in Virginia; A Story Of The American Civil War

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"My DEAR WINGFIELD.-We are all delighted this afternoon to
hear that instead, as we had believed, of your being knocked on the
head you are a prisoner among the Yanks. Several of us noticed
you fall just as we halted at the river, and we all thought that from
the way in which you fell you had been shot through the head or
heart. However, there was no time to inquire in that terrific storm
of shot and shell. In the morning when the burying parties went
down we could find no signs of you, although we knew almost to a
foot where you had fallen.

"We could only conclude at last that you had been carried off in
the night by the Yanks, and as they would hardly take the trouble
of carrying off a dead body, it occurred to us that you might after
all be alive. So the colonel went to Lee, who at once sent a
trumpeter with a flag down to the river to inquire, and we were all
mightily pleased, as you may imagine, when he came back with
the news that you were not only a prisoner, but unwounded, having
been only stunned in some way. From the way you fell we
suppose a round shot must have grazed your head; at least that is
the only way we can account for it.

"Your horse came back unhurt to the troop, and will be well cared
for until you rejoin us, which we hope will not be long. Your boy
kept the camp awake last night with his howlings, and is at present
almost out of his mind with delight. He tells me he has made up
his mind to slip across the lines and make his way as a runaway to
Alexandria, where you will, of course, be taken in the first place.
He says he's got some money of yours; but I have insisted on his
taking another fifty dollars, which you can repay me when we next
meet. As he will not have to ask for work, he may escape the
usual lot of runaways, who are generally pounced upon and set to
work on the fortifications of Alexandria and Washington.

"He intends to find out what prison you are taken to, and to follow
you, with some vague idea of being able to aid you to escape. As
he cannot write, he has asked me to write this letter to you, telling
you what his idea is. He will give it to you when he finds an
opportunity, and he wishes you to give him an answer, making any
suggestion that may occur to you as to the best way of his setting
about it. He says that he shall make acquaintances among the
negroes North, and will find some one who will read your note to
him and write you an answer. I have told him that if he is caught
at the game he is likely to be inside a prison a bit longer than you
are, even if worse doesn't befall him. However, he makes light of
this, and is bent upon carrying out his plans, and I can only hope
he will succeed.

"I have just heard that we shall fall back across the Rappahannock
to-morrow, and I imagine there will not be much hard fighting
again until spring, long before which I hope you will be in your
place among us again. We lost twenty-three men and two officers
(Ketler and Sumner) yesterday. Good-by, old fellow! I need not
say keep up your spirits, for that you are pretty sure to do.

"Yours truly,

"JAMES SINCLAIR."

After the first start at seeing Dan, Vincent was scarcely surprised,
for he had often thought over what the boy would do, and had
fancied that while, if he supposed him dead, he would go straight
back to the Orangery, it was quite possible that, should he hear that
he was a prisoner, Dan might take it into his head to endeavor to
join him. As to his making his escape, that did not appear to be a
very difficult undertaking now that he had a friend outside. The
watch kept up was not a very vigilant one, for such numbers of
prisoners were taken on both sides that they were not regarded as
of very great importance, and, indeed, the difficulty lay rather in
making across the country to the Southern border than in escaping
from prison; for with a friend outside, with a disguise in readiness,
that matter was comparatively easy. All that was required for the
adventure was a long rope, a sharp file, and a dark night.

The chief difficulty that occurred to Vincent arose from the fact
that there were some twenty other prisoners in the same ward. He
could hardly file through the bars of the window unnoticed by
them, and they would naturally wish to share in his flight; but
where one person might succeed in evading the vigilance of the
guard, it was unlikely in the extreme that twenty would do so, and
the alarm once given all would be recaptured. He was spared the
trouble of making up his mind as to his plans, for by the time he
had finished his letter the hour that the hucksters were allowed to
sell their goods was passed, and the gates were shut and all was
quiet.

After some thought he came to the conclusion that the only plan
would be to conceal himself somewhere in the prison just before
the hour at which they were locked up in their wards. The alarm
would be given, for the list of names was called over before
lock-up, and a search would of course be made. Still, if lie could
find a good place for concealment, it might succeed, since the
search after dark would not be so close and minute as that which
would he made next morning. The only disadvantage would be
that the sentries would be especially on the alert, as, unless the
fugitive had succeeded in some way in passing out of the gates in
disguise, he must still be within the walls, and might attempt to
scale them through the night. This certainty largely increased the
danger, and Vincent went to bed that night without finally
determining what had better be done.

The next morning while walking in the grounds he quite
determined as to the place he would choose for his concealment if
he adopted the plan he had thought of the evening before. The
lower rooms upon one side of the building were inhabited by the
governor and officers of the prison, and if he were to spring
through an open window unnoticed just as it became dusk, and
hide himself in a cupboard or under a bed there he would be safe
for a time, as, however close the search might be in other parts of
the building, it would be scarcely suspected, at any rate on the first
alarm, that he had concealed himself in the officers' quarters.
There would, of course, be the chance of his being detected as he
got out of the window again at night, but this would not be a great
risk. It was the vigilance of the sentries that he most feared, and
the possibility that, as soon us the fact of his being missing was
known, a cordon of guards might be stationed outside the wall in
addition to those in the yard. The danger appeared to him to be so
great that he was half inclined to abandon the enterprise. It would
certainly be weary work to be shut up there for perhaps a year
while his friends were fighting the battles of his country; but it
would be better after ell to put up with that than to run any
extreme risk of being shot.

When he had arrived at this conclusion be went upstairs to his
room to write a line to Dan. The day was a fine one, and he found
that the whole of the occupants of the room had gone below. This
was an unexpected bit of good fortune, and he at once went to the
window and examined the bars. They were thick and of new iron,
but had been hastily put up. The building had originally been a
large warehouse, and when it had been converted into a prison for
the Confederate prisoners the bars had been added to the windows.
Instead, therefore, of being built into solid stone and fastened in by
lead, they were merely screwed on to the wooden framework of
the windows, and by a strong turn-screw a bar could be removed in
five minutes. This altogether altered the position. He had only to
wait until the rest of the occupants of the room were asleep and
then to remove the bar and let himself down.

He at once wrote:

"I want twenty yards of strong string, and the same length of rope
that will bear my weight; also a strong turn-screw. When I have
got this I will let you know night and hour. Shall want disguise
ready to put on."

He folded the note up into a small compass, and at the hour at
which Dan would be about to enter he sauntered down to the gate.
In a short time the venders entered, and were soon busy selling
their wares. Dan had, as before, a basket of melons. Vincent
made his way up to him.

"I want another melon," he said, "as good as that you me last
night."

"Dey all de same, sah. First-rate melyons dose; just melt away in
your mouf like honey."

He held up one of the melons, and Vincent placed in his hands the
coppers in payment. Between two of them he bad placed the little
note. Dan's bands closed quickly on the coins, and dropping them
into his pocket he addressed the next customer, while Vincent
sauntered away again. This time the melon was a whole one, and
Vincent divided it with a couple of other prisoners for the fruit was
too large for one person to consume, being quite as large as a
man's head.

The next day another melon was bought, but this time Vincent did
not open it in public. Examining it closely, he perceived that it
had been cut through the middle, and no doubt contained a portion
of the rope. He hesitated as to his next step. If he took the melon
up to his room he would be sure to find some men there, and
would be naturally called upon to divide the fruit; and yet there
was nowhere else he could hide it. For a long time he sat with his
back to the wall and the melon beside him, abusing himself for his
folly in not having told Dan to send the rope in small lengths that
he could hide about him. The place where he had sat down was
one of the quietest in the yard, but men were constantly strolling
up and down. He determined at last that the only possible plan
was in the first place to throw his coat over his melon, to tuck it up
underneath it, then to get hold of one end of the ball of rope that it
doubtless contained and to endeavor to wind it round his body
without being observed. It was a risky business, and he would
gladly have tossed the melon over the wall had he dared to do so;
for if he were detected, not only would he be punished with much
more severe imprisonment, but Dan might be arrested and
punished most severely.

Unfortunately the weather was by no means hot, and it would look
strange to take off his coat, besides, if he did so, how could he coil
the rope round him without being observed? So that idea was
abandoned. He got up and walked to an angle in the wall, and
there sat down again, concealng the melon as well as he could
between him and the wall when any one happened to come near
him. He pulled the halves apart and found, as he had suspected, it
was but a shell, the whole of the fruit having been scooped out.
But he gave an exclamation of pleasure on seeing that instead, as
be feared, of a large ball of rope being inside, the interior was
filled with neatly-made hanks, each containing several yards of
thin but strong rope, together with a bank of strong string.

Unbuttoning his coat, he thrust them in; then he took the melon
rind and broke it into very small pieces and threw them about. He
then went up to his room and thrust the hanks, unobserved, one by
one among the straw which, covered by an army blanket,
constituted his bed. To-morrow, no doubt, Dan would supply him
somehow with a turn-screw. On going down to the gate next day
he found that the negro bad changed his commodity, and that this
time his basket contained very large and fine cucumbers. These
were selling briskly, and Vincent saw that Dan was looking round
anxiously, and that an expression of relief came over his face as he
perceived him. He had, indeed, but eight or ten cucumbers left.

"Cucumbers to-day, sah? Berry fine cucumbers-first-rate
cucumbers dese."

"They look rather over-ripe," Vincent said.

"Not a bit, sah; dey just ripe. Dis berry fine one-ten cents dis."

"You are putting up your prices, darkey, and are making a fortune
out of us," Vincent said as he took the cucumber, which was a very
large and straight one. He had no difficulty with this, as with the
melon; a sharp twist broke it in two as be reached the corner he
had used the day previously. It had been out in half, one end hal
been scooped out for the reception of the handle of the turn-screw,
and the metal been driven in to the head in the other half. Hiding it
under his jacket, he felt that he was now prepared for escape.

He now asked himself whether be should go alone or take one or
more of his comrades into his confidence, and finally determined
to give a young Virginian officer named Geary, with whom he had
been specially friendly during his imprisonment, and Jackson, a
chance of escape. He did not like the latter, but be thought that
after the reconciliation that had taken place between them it was
only right to take him rather than a stranger. Drawing them aside,
then, he told them that he had arranged a mode of escape; it was
impossible that all could avail themselves of it, but that they were
welcome to accompany him. They thanked him heartily for the
offer, and, when he explained the manner in which be intended to
make off, agreed to try their fortune with him.

"I propose," he said, "as soon as we are fairly beyond the prison,
we separate, and each try to gain the frontier as best he can. The
fact that three prisoners have escaped will soon be known all over
the country, and there would be no chance whatever for us if we
kept together. I will tell my boy to have three disguises ready; and
when we once put aside our uniforms I see no reason why,
traveling separately, suspicion should fall upon us; we ought to
have no difficulty until at any rate we arrive near the border, and
there must be plenty of points where we can cross without going
anywhere near the Federal camps." The others at once agreed that
the chances of making their way separately were much greater
than if together. This being arranged, Vincent passed a note next
day to Dan, telling him to have three disguises in readiness, and to
be at the foot of the western wall, halfway along, at twelve o'clock
on the first wet night. A string would be thrown over, with a knife
fastened to it. He was to pull on the string till the rope came into
his band, and to hold that tight until they were over. Vincent chose
this spot because it was equally removed from the sentry-boxes at
the corners of the yard, and because there was a stone seat in the
yard to which one end of the rope could be attached.

That night was fine, but the next was thick and misty. At nine
o'clock all were in bed, and he lay listening to the clocks in the
distance. Ten struck, and eleven, and when he thought it was
approaching twelve he got up and crept to the window. He was
joined immediately by the others; the turn-screw was set to work;
and, as he expected, Vincent found no trouble whatever with the
screws, which were not yet rusted in the wood, and turned
immediately when the powerful screw-driver was applied to them.
When all were out the bar was carefully lifted from its place and
laid upon the floor.

The rope was then put round one of the other bars and drawn
through it until the two ends came together. These were then
dropped to the ground below. Geary went first, Jackson followed,
and Vincent was soon standing beside them. Taking one end of
the rope, he pulled it until the other passed round the bar and fell
at their feet. All three were barefooted, and they stole noiselessly
across the yard to the seat, which was nearly opposite their
window. Vincent had already fastened his clasp-knife to the end
of the string, and he now threw it over the wall, which was about
twenty feet high.

He had tied a knot at forty feet from the end, and, standing close to
the wall, he drew in the string until the knot was in his hand.
Another two yards, and he knew that the knife was hanging a yard
from the ground against the wall. He now drew it up and down,
hoping that the slight noise the knife made against the wall might
aid Dan in finding it. In two or three minutes he felt a jerk, and
knew that Dan had got it. He fastened the end of the string to the
rope and waited. The rope was gradually drawn up; when it
neared the end he fastened it to the stone seat.

"Now," he said, "up you go, Geary."

The order in which they were to ascend had been settled by lot, as
Geary insisted that Vincent, who had contrived the whole affair,
should be the first to escape; but Vincent declined to accept the
advantage, and the three had accordingly tossed up for precedence.

Geary was quickly over, and lowered himself on the opposite side.
The others followed safely, but not without a good deal of scraping
against the wall, for the smallness of the rope added to the
difficulty of climbing it. However, the noise was so slight that they
had little fear of attracting attention, especially as the sentries
would be standing in their boxes, for the rain was now coming
down pretty briskly. As soon as they were down Vincent seized
Dan by the hand.

"My brave lad," he said, "I owe you my freedom, and I sha'n't
forget it. Now, where are the clothes?"

"Here day are, sah. One is a rough suit, like a workingman's;
another is a black-and-white sort of suit-a check-suit; de oder one
is for you-a clargy's suit, sir. You make very nice young minister,
for sure."

"All right, Dan!" Vincent said laughing; "give me the minister's
suit."

"Then I will be the countryman," Geary said.

There was a litte suppressed laughter as they changed their clothes
in the dark; and then, leaving their uniforms by the wall, they
shook hands and started at once in different directions, lest they
might come across some one who would, when the escape was
known, remember four men having passed him in the dark.

"Now, Dan, what is the next move?" Vincent asked as they walked
off. "Have you fixed upon any plan?"

"No special plan, sah, but I have brought a bag; you see I have him
in my hand."

"I suppose that's what you carried the clothes in?"

"No, sir; I carried dam in a bundle. Dis bag has got linen, and
boots, and oder tings for you, sah. What I tink am de best way is
dis. Dar am a train pass tron here at two o'clock and stop at dis
station. Some people always get out. Dar is an hotel just opposite
the station, and some of de passengers most always go there. I
thought the best way for you would be to go outside the station.
Just when the train come in we walk across de road wid the others
and go to hotel. You say you want bedroom for yo'self, and that
your sarvant can sleep in do ball. Den in de morning you get up
and breakfast, and go off by do fust train."

"But then they may send down to look at the passengers starting,
and I should be taken at once."

"De train go out at seven o'clock, sah. I don't expect day find dat
you have got away before dat."

"No, Dan. We all turn out at seven, and I shall be missed then; but
it will be some little time before the alarm is given, and they find
out how we got away, and send out search-parties. If the train is
anything like punctual we shall be off long before they get to the
station."

"Besides, sab, dar are not many people knows your face, and it not
likely de bery man dat know you come to the station. Lots of oder
places to search, and day most sure to tink you go right away-not
tink you venture to stop in town till the morning."

"That is so, Dan; and I think your plan is a capital one."

Dan's suggestion was carried out, and at seven o'clock next
morning they ware standing on the platform among a number of
other parsons waiting for the train. Just as the locomotive's whistle
was heard the sound of a cannon boomed out from the direction of
the prison.

"That means some of the prisoners have escaped," one of the
porters on the platform said. "There have been five or six of them
got away in the last two months, but most of them have been
caught again before they have gone far. You see, to have a chance
at all, they have got to get rid of their uniforms, and as we are all
Unionists about here that ain't an easy job for 'am to manage."

Every one on the platform joined in the conversation, asking which
way the fugitive would be likely to go, whether there ware any
cavalry to send after him, what would be done to him if he were
captured, and other questions of the same kind, Vincent joining in
the talk. It was a relief to him when the train drew up, and he and
Dan took their place in it, traveling, however, in different cars.
Once fairly away, Vincent had no fear whatever of being detected,
and could travel where he liked, for outside the prison there were
not ten people who knew his face throughout the Northern States.
It would be difficult for him to mako his way down into Virginia
from the North as the whole line of frontier there was occupied by
troops, and patrols were on the watch night and day to prevent
persons from going through the lines. He therefore determined to
go west to St. Louis, and from there work his way down through
Missouri. After two days' railway traveling they reached St. Louis,
a city having a large trade with the South, and containing many
sympathizers with the Confederate cause. Vincent, having now no
fear of detection, went at once to an hotel, and taking up the
newspaper, one of the first paragraphs that mat his eye was
headed:

"Escape of three Confederate officers from Elmira. Great
excitement was caused on Wednesday at Elmira by the discovery
that three Confederate officers had, during the night, effected their
escape from prison. One of the bars of the window of the ward on
the first floor in which they were, with fifteen other Confederate
officers, confined, had been removed; the screws having been
taken out by a large screw-driver which they left behind them.
They had lowered themselves to the yard, and climbed over the
wall by means of a rope which was found in position in the
morning. The rest of the prisoners professed an entire ignorance
of the affair, and declare that until they found the beds unoccupied
in the morning they knew nothing of the occurrence.

"This is as it may be, but it is certain they must have been aided by
traitors outside the prison, for the rope hung loose on the outside
of the wall, and must have been held by some one there as they
climbed it. The inside end was fastened to a stone seat, and they
were thus enabled to slide down it on the other side. Their
uniforms were found lying at the foot of the wall, and their
accomplice had doubtless disguises ready for them. The
authorities of the prison are unable to account for the manner in
which the turn-screw and rope were passed in to them, or how they
communicated with their friends outside."

Then followed the personal description of each of the fugitives,
and a request that all loyal citizens would be on the look-out for
them, and would at once arrest any suspicious character unable to
give a satisfactory account of himself. As Vincent sat smoking in
the hall of the hotel he heard several present discussing the escape
of the prisoners.

"It does not matter about them one way or the other," one of the
speakers said. "They seem to be mere lads, and whether they
escape or not will not make any difference to any one. The serious
thing is that there must be some traitors among the prison officials,
and that next time.perhaps two or three generals may escape, and
that would be a really serious misfortune."

"We need not reckon that out at present," another smoker said.
"We haven't got three of the rebel generals yet, and as far as things
seem to be going on, we may have to wait some time before we
have. They are pretty well able to take care of themselves, I
reckon."

"They are good men, some of them, I don't deny," the first speaker
said; "but they might as well give up the game. In the spring we
shall have an army big enough to eat them up."

"So I have heard two or three times before. Scott was going to eat
them up, McClellan was going to eat them up, then Pope was
going to make an end of 'em altogether. Now McClellan is having
a try again, but somehow or other the eating up hasn't come off yet.
It looks to me rather the other way."

There was an angry growl from two or three of those sitting round,
while others uttered a cordial "That's so."

"It seems to me, by the way you put it, that you don't wish to see
this business come to an end."

"That's where you are wrong now. I do wish to see it come to an
end. I don't want to see tens of thousands of men losing their lives
because one portion of these States wants to ride roughshod over
the other. The sooner the North looks this affair squarely in the
face and sees that it has taken up a bigger job than it can carry
through, and agrees to let those who wish to leave it go if they like,
the better for all parties. That's what I think about it."

"I don't call that Union talk," the other said angrily.

"Union or not Union, I mean to talk it, and I want to know who is
going to prevent me?"

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