passed through the tunnel, and one of the ill-fated 48 that were
retaken. I and two companions--Lieutenant Charles H. Morgan of the 21st
Wisconsin regiment, who has since served several terms in Congress from
Missouri, and Lieutenant William L. Watson of the same company and
regiment--when recaptured by the Confederate cavalry were in sight of
the Union picket posts. Strange as it may appear, no accurate and
complete account has ever been given to the public of this, the most
ingenious and daring escape made on either side during the civil war.
Twelve of the party of fifteen who dug the tunnel are still living,
including their leader.

Thomas E. Rose, colonel of the 77th Pennsylvania Volunteers, the
engineer and leader in the plot throughout,--now a captain in the 16th
United States Infantry,--was taken prisoner at the battle of
Chickamauga, September 20, 1863. On his way to Richmond he escaped from
his guards at Weldon, N.C., but, after a day's wandering about the pine
forests with a broken foot, was retaken by a detachment of Confederate
cavalry and sent to Libby Prison, Richmond, where he arrived October 1,
1863.

[Illustration: COLONEL THOMAS E. ROSE.]

Libby Prison fronts on Carey street, Richmond, and stands upon a hill
which descends abruptly to the canal, from which its southern wall is
divided only by a street, and having a vacant lot on the east. The
building was wholly detached, making it a comparatively easy matter to
guard the prison securely with a small force and keep every door and
window in full view from without. As an additional measure of safety,
prisoners were not allowed on the ground-floor, except that in the
daytime they were permitted to use the first floor of the middle