Quite often. The most notable escape from Richmond’s infamous Civil War prison occurred in February 1864, when 109 inmates tunneled their way to freedom. After three failed attempts, a small group of Union officers, working in three five-man shifts, labored for several weeks to dig the fifty- to sixty-foot-long passageway out from the prison’s cellar. They used chisels and a wooden spittoon, all the while fighting, in the words of the one of the prisoners, the “sickening air, the deathly chill, [and] the horrible, interminable darkness.” After reaching a tobacco shed out of the sight lines of Confederate sentries on February 8, the large group of inmates escaped the prison on February 9. In the end, approximately fifty-nine reached Union lines, relying on help from Unionist Elizabeth Van Lew and her spies. Two men drowned in the James River and forty-eight were recaptured. The organizer of the escape, Colonel Thomas E. Rose of the 77th Pennsylvania Volunteers, was captured and later exchanged. A prison employee, suspected of aiding the escape, received 500 lashes. The tunnel, meanwhile, was dubbed the “Great Yankee Wonder” by the Richmond press and placed on exhibition.
Further Reading:
Casstevens, Frances H. “Out of the Mouth of Hell”: Civil War Prisons and Escapes (2005)
This Vignette Provided By
Brendan Wolfe, associate editor of Encyclopedia Virginia.
On January 13 2009 Sheryl said: @ 12:01 pm
Is it possible to survive 500 lashes? Sheryl(Quote)
On January 13 2009 Jessica James said: @ 12:12 pm
Thanks for reminding me about this part of Confederate history. I did quite a bit of research on it when I was writing my book Shades of Gray. It was such a great disappointment to discover that the leader was re-captured after so much hard work, but at least he was exchanged later. Jessica James(Quote)
On January 13 2009 John R. said: @ 3:39 pm
I always love seeing these in my mailbox. Fun, informative, interesting coverage of several eras. (I too wondered about surviving 500 lashes – or if that many were actually given out – maybe some were suspended as in present jail sentences? Would be nice to know that. John R.(Quote)
On January 14 2009 Jeanne said: @ 2:07 pm
Having watched the movie “The Great Escape” recently and had the drama of tunnel digging so vividly portrayed, I’m curious to know if the Richmond press carried any illustrations of the tunnel, and if there’s anything left to see of the “Great Yankee Wonder”? Jeanne(Quote)
On January 15 2009 Brendan Wolfe said: @ 10:01 am
You’re right — 500 lashes would be tough to live through. My source for that particular fact is Elizabeth Varon’s excellent biography of Richmond’s Unionist spy Elizabeth Van Lew. Varon writes:
“Sadly, but not surprisingly, Turner [Libby Prison's commandant] was especially barbarous in his treatment of prison worker Robert Ford, whom he suspected of complicity in the escape. He whipped Ford ‘nearly to death,’ meting out ’500 lashes.’ This torture, Abby Green would later testify, the heroic Ford ‘bore without ever betraying certain other persons who had aided in concealing said prisoners after their escape.’”
It’s significant that Varon put quotation marks around 500 lashes. Abby Green was another Unionist spy, and she likely did not witness said lashing and was invested in believing what was perhaps true — that Turner was barbarous.
It does seem, though, that Varon believes Green’s account, and that so many lashes did indeed nearly kill Ford.
As for illustrations of the tunnel, I turn to Mike Gorman’s Civil War Richmond website, and he delivers.
You’ll find two illustrations, from the Century Magazine in 1888, at the following links:
http://www.mdgorman.com/Prisons/Libby/escape_diagram.htm
http://www.mdgorman.com/Prisons/Libby/overhead_diagram_of_escape_tunne.htm Brendan Wolfe(Quote)
On January 16 2009 The Great Yankee Wonder | Encyclopedia Virginia: The Blog said: @ 4:24 pm
On August 14 2009 Larry Curtin said: @ 5:13 pm
[quote comment=\][...] week’s Virginia Vignette is about an escape from Libby Prison in Richmond during the Civil War. Around 109 Union officers tunneled out, with fifty-nine of them [...][/quote]
My uncle was Major J.P. Collins Who made it home. Larry Curtin(Quote)