2020-09 Putnal
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 9/26/2020
War-date Confederate Document Signed "J.W. Pegram AA General" (very light) 1pp. quarto, Head Quarters Department of Henrico, Richmond, Virginia, February 16, 1864, being Special Orders No. 37 and appoints Lt. Col. C. St. G. Neland and Major Alex Hart 5th La. Vols "to examine into the cause of the escape of the Federal Prisoners from the Libby Prison on the night of Tuesday the 9th inst. The Board will report without delay the facts and their opinions thereon..." Fine condition. In February 1864, a group of 109 inmates attempted to escape Libby through a tunnel they had dug over several months; scraping and digging out the mortar between bricks often until four in the morning. Under the direction of Colonel Thomas Ellwood Rose and Major A.G. Hamilton, imprisoned officers earnestly but covertly carved out the tunnel behind a stove in the kitchen, measuring 50 to 60 feet and at one point with a width as narrow as 16 inches, using chisels and a wooden spittoon, all while fending off squealing rats, the "sickening air, the deathly chill, and the horrible, interminable darkness." With many past attempts to escape ending poorly, the "Great Escape Plan" also risked detection by prison officials.
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