[152] turn at digging. The mortar of the cement was picked from the stones forming the side of the arch, then a hole eighteen inches wide and thirty inches high was continued through the earth underneath the prison until the outer wall was reached. The thickness of this wall made it impracticable to pierce it, and the tunnel was continued under the wall, then upward until it reached within a few inches of the surface of the prison yard. The prisoners next cut away the brick and mortar from beneath a point in the floors of six cells, until only a thin shell was left. A rope of bedding was prepared, and on the night of November 27, 1863, the attempt to escape was made. General Morgan's cell was on an upper tier, but that night he exchanged cells with his brother, who regularly occupied one of the six cells already mentioned. The seven men prepared dummies in their beds to deceive the night watch, broke through the weakened floor into the archway, followed the tunnel to the end, and emerged into the prison yard. By means of a rope they scaled the wall and sought safety in flight, leaving for the warden the following note:
Commenced work November 4th; number of hours worked per day, 3; completed work November 8th; tools, two small knives. Patience est amere, mais son fruit est doux. By order of my six confederates.Two of the prisoners were recaptured, but Morgan and the others made their escape. Because of its importance as the chief prison at which officers were confined in the Confederacy, Libby Prison, Richmond, was guarded with especial vigilance, but nevertheless many officers escaped from here. In February, 1864, by the efforts of Colonel Rose, a tunnel was dug from the storeroom in the basement of the building, under the wall and the adjoining street, beneath the feet of the guards.
