. Abraham Lincoln and the battles of the Civil War . of heavy rains came, or when springfloods so rapidly swefled the river that the lat-ter invaded the cellars of Libby. At suchtimes it was common to see enormous swarmsof rats come out from the lower doors andwindows of the prison and make head for dryland in swimming platoons amid the cheersof the prisoners in the upper windows. Onone or two occasions Rose observed workmendescending from the middle of the south sidestreet into a sewer running through its center,and concluded that this sewer must have vari-ous openings to the canal both to th
. Abraham Lincoln and the battles of the Civil War . of heavy rains came, or when springfloods so rapidly swefled the river that the lat-ter invaded the cellars of Libby. At suchtimes it was common to see enormous swarmsof rats come out from the lower doors andwindows of the prison and make head for dryland in swimming platoons amid the cheersof the prisoners in the upper windows. Onone or two occasions Rose observed workmendescending from the middle of the south sidestreet into a sewer running through its center,and concluded that this sewer must have vari-ous openings to the canal both to the east andwest of the prison. The north portion of this cellar containeda large quantity of loose packing straw, cov-ering the floor to an average depth of twofeet; and this straw afforded shelter, especiallyat night, for a large colony of rats, which gavethe place the name of Rat Hell. In one afternoons inspection of this darkend Rose suddenly encountererl a fellow-prisoner, Major A. G. Hamilton, of the 12thKentucky Cavalry. A confiding friendship. llAJOR A. G. HAMILTON. followed, and the two men entered at onceupon the plan of gaining their Uberty. Theyagreed that the most feasible scheme wasa tunnel, to begin in the rear of the littlekitchen apartment at the south-east corner ofRat Hell. Without more ado they secureda broken shovel and two case-knives and be-gan operations. Within a few days the Confederates decidedupon certain changes in the prison for thegreater security of their captives. A weekafterward the cook-room was abandoned, thestair-way nailed up, the prisoners sent tothe upper floors, and all communication withthe east cellar was cut oft. This was a soremisfortune, for this apartment was the onlypossible base of successful tunnel Rose now began to study other prac-ticable means of escape, and spent night afternight examining the posts and watching themovements of the sentinels on the four sidesof Libby. One very dark night, during ahowling sto
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookidabrah, booksubjectgenerals
