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[The following interesting narrative is from the pen of a gallant soldier who lost an arm while serving in the trenches at
Vicksburg, and whose empty sleeve tells as eloquently of his devotion to the
Confederate cause as his voice now pleads the cause of the ‘
Prince of Peace’]:
Amongst the prisoners captured at
Island No.10, and sent to
Camp Douglas, Illinois, in April, 1862, was
Corporal J. G. Blanchard, of the celebrated Pointe Coupee Battery, of
Louisiana.
Though then barely seventeen years of age, he had already been over a year in active service; and the restless activity, untiring energy, and unbounded enthusiasm characterizing his course from the time of his entry into service, bespoke unmistakably of how lively he would make matters if circumscribed for an indefinite term within the boundaries of a prison camp.
When the news of the capture of his native city reached
Chicago, restraint broke loose, and his one expressed determination was to escape from prison and rejoin the
Southern army.
For several days his efforts were bent towards effecting a quiet escape.
Realizing, however, the impossibility of so doing, he determined on an attempt at any hazard, and on a dark and stormy night, early in May, he scaled the lofty fence inclosing the camp, within a few feet of the sentinel, the report of whose gun drew upon him the concentrated fire of half a dozen more, so incessant were the lightning flashes at the time.
Having reached the outside walk, without a moment's hesitation he walked to the very gate of the prison camp, where all was excitement, and entered a street car which was just starting for the city.
Whilst the
Federal soldiers were roaming for miles and miles around
Camp Douglas in seach of young
Blanchard, he was enjoying the comforts of a Chicago hotel, busying himself in the meanwhile in ascertaining the best method of leaving the city and returning South.
The second day after his escape he met a former acquaintance who professed the deepest solicitude for his escape, and offered to further the same by every means in his power.
The next day he became suddenly convinced of his supposed
