Escapes from Captivity

[Tom Elmore]

Part I – Five Federals and Five Confederates

USA

On July 8, when Union prisoners captured at Gettysburg were taken across the Potomac on a ferry boat, Adjutant Alanson Crosby of the 154th New York abandoned all hopes of escape. On the early morning of July 10, Crosby awoke to find a pond nearby. Two lines of guards had been placed down to the water, so as to form an avenue through which the prisoners could go down to wash. A steep bank about ten feet high and covered with short thick bushes and vines lie at the edge of the pond and provided some screening. While Crosby engaged a guard in conversation, Lieutenant John Mitchell (Company D, 154th New York) stealthily crawled into the bushes, out of sight. When the guard momentarily turned his attention to rolling up his own blanket, Crosby crept into the bushes with Mitchell. A few moments later the guard walked past their hiding place, looking for them, but must have concluded that they had rejoined the other prisoners while he was preparing for the march. Eventually leaving their hiding spot, the pair managed to elude the enemy, but on one occasion two Confederates jumped over a fence within 50 feet of them. However, by sitting perfectly still beneath a tree, they went unnoticed. At night they used the North Star as a guide, traveling toward the northwest. Famished, they stopped at a house with a lady and her teenage daughter who, fortunately for them, held Union sympathies. Entering the mountains and becoming overconfident, they narrowly escaped detection by two passing Confederate soldiers along a mountain path, and when near the small village of Hedgesville (West Virginia), they just managed to avoid another Rebel picket. They were elated upon finally reaching the Potomac, but in crossing nearly drowned in the turbulent waters roiled by recent heavy rains. They divested themselves of every last stitch of clothing to make it across. On the opposite bank, in their naked state they were confronted by irate locals who mistook them for Confederates, but the locals calmed down when convinced they were indeed Federals and provided them with such motley clothes that no one would have thought them to be soldiers. It was not long before they were back with their regiment. (Adj. Alanson Crosby, Register Supplement, Elmira, New York, February 28, 1864, 154th New York, Newspaper Clippings, https://dmna.ny.gov/historic/reghist/civil/infantry/154thInf/154thInfCWN.htm)

On July 2, at a time when Rebel riflemen concealed behind large boulders were annoying artillerymen of the 4th New York Battery at Devil's Den, Michael Broderick, who was detailed from the 11th Massachusetts to drive a battery wagon, left his team, which was out of danger, and came forward to the crest where things were rather lively. Picking up a musket dropped by the infantry, he was soon engaged with an opponent who fired from behind a boulder in front. Broderick was afterwards taken prisoner, but he escaped that night and reported back for duty on the morning of July 3, bearing a Rebel musket and cartridge belt. Broderick explained that, watching his chance, he noticed the guards were few and far between, and when opportunity offered he quickly found a belt and musket and commenced to march up and down like the Confederate guards (his slouch hat and old blouse, along with his general appearance, aroused no suspicion, as many Rebels were dressed similarly). At an opportune moment he bolted for friendly lines. (Capt. James E. Smith, 4th New York Battery, New York at Gettysburg, III:1293)

Private Roland E. Bowen of the 15th Massachusetts was captured on July 2 by Wright's Georgians. He joined the large group of Federal prisoners who were marched south early on July 4 by the remnants of Pickett's division. Bowen wrote, "Moved again at 5 p.m. and reached the top (the pass at Monterrey Springs) at 11 p.m., it was rainy and muddy. Just before dark a little artillery duel took place five or six miles in the rear. Many of the boys ran away in the night. If we stopped three or four minutes, some of the guard would lean against a tree and go to sleep. Two of my company ran away and rejoined the regiment – Beaudry and Farnum. (The Civil War Letters of Private Roland E. Bowen, 15 MASS) /// Private Amable Beaudry continues the story: During the night of the 5th, while marching under guard, Comrade John Farnum and myself left the line and took refuge in a wooded ridge. The next morning we ran into two Confederate boys who "had enough of fighting" and gave us their guns, and we, with our two prisoners, rejoined our company.

CSA

Sergeant Charles Jones Beck, Company C, 2nd South Carolina, was wounded July 2 and taken to the field hospital at Black Horse Tavern. Left behind and captured on or about July 5, Beck was afterwards sent to Camp Letterman General Hospital. Private Thomas C. Paysinger, Company E, 3rd South Carolina, was likewise wounded on July 2, and subsequently wound up at Camp Letterman. The two escaped on or around September 1, 1863. Beck wrote, "We approached a sentinel near the camp graveyard and asked permission to visit the grave of an alleged brother of Paysinger whom we told the sentinel had just died." The sentinel gave permission and as soon as his back was turned, "we jumped the fence into the woods and made the escape." They stopped at a house on the Monocacy River about a mile from the Potomac, where they encountered sympathetic women who aided them. Making it back to Richmond, Beck and Paysinger separated. Beck returned to his home in Columbia, South Carolina, but returned to his regiment within a few weeks. Paysinger was back with his regiment before October 31. (Charles J. Beck, Confederate Veteran, vol. 9 (1901), p. 503; Compiled Service Records)

Berkeley Minor of the First Rockbridge Artillery was retreating with the wounded on the night of July 4/5 when their wagon train was attacked at Monterrey Springs by Union cavalry. "Our [ambulance] driver was made to halt very quickly by a squad of Yankee cavalry which suddenly overtook us … It began to pour down, and it was very dark. I soon noticed there was only one Yankee near us, and he was much more intent on sheltering himself from the rain than in guarding his prisoners, indeed, most of them were more or less badly wounded and could not get away. I had gotten out of the ambulance and was standing near another Confederate, a stranger to me. I whispered to him that we might easily slip through the fence unobserved. He assented and, watching our opportunity when the Yankee's back was turned, we slipped into a field … We gave up looking for a house in the dark, and coming to some bark piled up piled for the tanyard, we made a shelter of it and gladly laid down to sleep … We saw a column of Yankee cavalry winding along a road. We kept quiet to let them pass, but while we were watching them, a little noise attracted our attention, and we saw a Yankee cavalryman not more than ten or fifteen yards off. However, he was looking in another direction, probably being a vidette thrown out from the column we were watching. … (Near sunset) we were guided to the house of a friend, a substantial farmer. … The people seemed to guess at once who we were, and evidently taking our side of the quarrel between the North and the South. … David Beck, as I afterwards learned, came in about that time and took us to his home, about a half mile off, where we had a good supper and then went to rest in a barn. … This man, David Beck, seemed to have a bitter grudge against the Yankees, and was very kind to us. … We did not waken (until) early the next morning, and after eating the breakfast kindly sent to us by our host, we were considering what to do next, when we were delighted to see some Confederate cavalry come filing along, and heard that the enemy had been driven away … We then bade good-by to our kind friends and set out with these Confederates for Hagerstown. (Berkeley Minor, Confederate Veteran, vol. 33, p. 140)

Lieutenant Thomas L. Norwood, Company A, 37th North Carolina, who was wounded and captured during the July 3 charge, escaped from Gettysburg College. See the full story in: General Lee Invites a Junior Officer to Breakfast, https://civilwartalk.com/threads/ge...ior-officer-to-breakfast.130902/#post-1465902

 

[lelliott19]

http://archives.sbu.edu/civil_war/154th_g-o.html#M

 

[JOHN42768]

Interesting stories

 

[tomlamarcooughlin]

Escape from Fort McHenry reported in the Baltimore Sun.

 

[Tom Elmore]

Part II – Four Confederates and One Federal

CSA

Lieutenant Samuel Boyer Davis, aide to Maj. Gen. Trimble, was wounded on July 3 and taken captive. Sent to the U.S. General Hospital in Chester, Pennsylvania, he escaped and made it back to Confederate lines by October 1863. He was attached to Gen. J. H. Winder's staff for a year, then served as an aide to Gen. Kemper for three months. Being assigned to the Confederate Signal Corps at the end of 1864, he was captured less than a month later while behind enemy lines at Newark, Ohio, using the alias Willoughby Cummings. Sentenced to be shot as a spy, the war ended in the meantime and he was eventually released on December 20, 1865. He died on September 24, 1914 and was interred at Ivy Hill Cemetery in Alexandria, Virginia. (October 21, 1863 letter of John H. Winder, Fold3, Confederate Letters; Confederate Casualties at Gettysburg by John W. Busey and Travis W. Busey, 1:27; Staunton Spectator, August 18, 1863, p. 2)

Assistant Surgeon Simon Baruch of the 3rd South Carolina Battalion wrote of three Confederate chaplains who escaped from Fort McHenry near Baltimore (see https://civilwartalk.com/threads/je...life-as-a-confederate-surgeon-and-pow.135384/), while Surgeon Whitehead of the 44th Virginia stated that two chaplains joined him in an escape made from Fort McHenry in early October 1863. However, three individuals whom I have thus far identified as having escaped from Fort McHenry after being captured at Gettysburg were all surgeons:

Surgeon William Riddick Whitehead of the 44th Virginia was left behind at Gettysburg to tend to the wounded of Maj. Gen. Edward Johnson's division and was eventually confined at Fort McHenry near Baltimore. He afterwards bribed a Union guard to effect an escape, made his way into Canada, then returned to the Confederacy aboard a vessel that ran the naval blockade at Wilmington, North Carolina. See his story in, https://civilwartalk.com/threads/remarkable-life-and-career-of-dr-william-riddick-whitehead.158450/

Assistant Surgeon J. Howard Purefoy, 23rd North Carolina. Purefoy was undoubtedly left behind with the wounded of Rodes' division; he was captured on July 5. Arriving at Fort McHenry on August 11, he was listed as having escaped from there on October 10, 1863. The following month, on November 27, Purefoy received a new assignment with another command in the western theater. (Purefoy, Compiled Service Records).

Assistant Surgeon Thomas Young Aby, 1st Company, Washington Artillery Battalion (from Louisiana), was left behind with the wounded and captured on July 5. He arrived at Fort McHenry on August 10, and reportedly escaped on October 10, 1863. (Aby, Compiled Service Records; https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/102402031/thomas-young-aby)

USA

On July 4, Captain John W. Sigler of Company I, 150th Pennsylvania, returned to the regiment after three days behind enemy lines. Having sustained only a slight wound on July 1, he tied a bloody handkerchief around his injured limb and, by a convincing act, feigned great exhaustion and thus managed to avoid being taken south as a prisoner. On May 10, 1864, at Spotsylvania Court House, he was not so fortunate, losing an arm. However, he returned two months later and on June 15, 1865 he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel. (Thomas Chamberlin, History of the One Hundred and Fiftieth Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers, https://archive.org/details/historyofonehund00chamb/page/134

Major Thomas Chamberlin of the 150th Pennsylvania, who had been seriously wounded on July 1, made his own attempt to escape on July 3, which had to have been under cover of darkness. Chamberlin and a few others are believed to have departed from the McPherson barn. They traveled northward, but were intercepted and brought back by a Confederate cavalry patrol. (Thomas Chamberlin, History of the One Hundred and Fiftieth Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers)

 

[DBF]

How sad it would have been for Crosby and Mitchell to have escaped Confederate soldiers several times, jump into the Potomac, battling fatigue and swelling water, only to step out in "safe" territory and have no proof that they were Union soldiers, only to meet failure. They must have done some fast talking to calm those locals down.

 

[Tom Elmore]

Part III – One Confederate and Four Federals

CSA

Private David J. Hill of Company B, 2nd Mississippi found himself surrounded by the enemy in the railroad cut on the morning of July 1. Thirty years later he wrote to Rufus Dawes of the 6th Wisconsin to describe what happened next: "I saw a bloody, muddy blanket lying on the ground, also two wounded men near me. I tumbled down by them and covered myself with the blanket. I then went to practicing all the manners and moaning that I thought would become a badly wounded and suffering man. Some of your boys eyed me pretty closely, but no one spoke to me or interrupted me in any way. … I got out as soon as I thought it safe to do so." (Hill rejoined his command, but he was wounded two days later during the charge against Cemetery Ridge and on that occasion did not avoid being captured.) (D. J. Hill to Gen. Rufus R. Dawes, September 12, 1893, Dawes Papers, State Historical Society of Wisconsin at Madison, http://carroll1.cc.edu/~civilwar/hill.html; Compiled Service Records of David J. Hill)

USA

Private Benjamin F. Worth of Company E, 16th Maine was captured late in the afternoon on July 1. The next day the Confederates put him to work carrying muskets from the field. On July 3, "Benny" worked his way into a field hospital, obtained some bloody bandages and bound up an imaginary wound that supposedly disabled one of his legs. He was therefore left behind, and made his way back to the regiment on July 5. (The Road to Richmond, The Civil War Memoirs of Major Abner R. Small of the Sixteenth Maine Volunteers.)

On the afternoon of July 2, Corporal Thomas H. Mann of Company I, 18th Massachusetts was pinned to the ground by a fallen comrade whose blood saturated him. By the time he extricated himself, the enemy battle line had come up and passed him by. A little later several men of the Confederate ambulance corps came along, and one inquired how badly Mann was hurt. He replied in a faint voice, "Don't know, but I think I am used up." "Well, you all do the best yo' knows and we'uns'l tote yo' back directly." Mann crawled between a large boulder and a stone wall, but had not long to wait before the Pennsylvania Reserves charged close to his position. He emerged from his hiding place and rejoined his company at dusk, where he was received as one raised from the dead. Lieutenant William M. Hemenway was about to report him as "left on the field, mortally wounded." (Fighting with the Eighteenth Massachusetts, The Civil War Memoir of Thomas H. Mann, ed. by John J. Hennessy, Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2000]

On July 1, a handful of Federal officers and enlisted men managed to successfully hide in the town. An unidentified artilleryman from "L" Company [Battery L, 1st New York] got an old man to dress him up in his son's clothes, the son being absent from the home. (A Diary of Battle, the Personal Journals of Colonel Charles S. Wainwright, 1861-1865, ed, by Allan Nevins, New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, 1962, pp. 250-251)

Colonel Henry A. Morrow of the 24th Michigan was wounded on July 1 and captured. A Confederate surgeon examined Morrow and determined that he was too badly wounded to be taken south. Col. William H. French of the 17th Virginia Cavalry concurred, and allowed Morrow some freedom of movement around town. Morrow lodged at David Wills' home on the square. He had recovered sufficiently by July 3 to assist Federal wounded who had been lying in Herbst woods since July 1. But in order to prevent his status from being revoked, Mrs. Wills gave him a green scarf to wear on his right shoulder in the manner of a surgeon. He was able to rejoin his regiment on July 4. (Bachelder Papers, 1:333-334)

 

[Tom Elmore]

Part IV – Six Federals

On the morning of July 1, 1st Lieutenant Dennis B. Dailey of Company B, 2nd Wisconsin, encountered Brigadier General James J. Archer and demanded his sword. During the retreat of the First Corps that afternoon, Dailey ducked into the house of John and Martha Scott on Chambersburg Street. Martha's sister, Mary McAllister, was staying at the home. She had just returned from a field hospital established at Christ Lutheran Church, when Dailey approached her with a request to hide the sword. She obliged by putting it in a wood box in the kitchen, under a newspaper and some wood. The sword remained safe during the Confederate occupation, but Dailey was captured. Captain George H. Otis of Company I, 2nd Wisconsin described his fate in a letter to Wisconsin's Governor: "Lieutenant D. B. Daily [sic], who was reported as missing, succeeded in escaping from the rebels, and rejoined his regiment at South Mountain, July 6th." Dailey probably escaped during the night of July 5-6. He soon returned for the sword, but Mary had already given it to Colonel Henry A. Morrow of the 24th Michigan, another visitor to the home, who had come back to reclaim his diary. Dailey was crestfallen, but Morrow returned the sword to him. (Letter from Captain Otis to the Governor of Wisconsin, Edwin B. Guiner Scrapbooks, Correspondence of the Wisconsin Volunteers, 1861-1865, vol. 8, content.wisconsinhistory.org, Wisconsin Historical Society; Days of Uncertainty and Dread, by Gerald R. Bennett; W. B. Harries, Confederate Veteran magazine, vol. 19, 1911, p. 420)

During the rain and darkness of the night of July 5-6, Captain Rouse S. Eggleston of Company D, 97th New York, and an unidentified soldier from New Jersey, eluded their captors while on the way back to Virginia. Along the way they gathered up a Confederate straggler, as well as a horse and saddle, and made it to Emmitsburg, Maryland. Eggleston developed a bad cold but rejoined his regiment at noon on July 11, in front of Boonsboro. (7 July letter from R. S. Eggleston, and 12 July letter from Surgeon Nelson Isham of the 97th New York, Civil War Newspaper Clippings, New York State Military Museum, http://www.dmna.state.ny.us/historic/reghist/civil/infantry/97thInf/97thInfCWN.htm)

Late in the afternoon of July 1, many officers and enlisted men from the 94th New York were captured, including 1st Lieutenant Royal N. Joy of Company E. He afterwards wrote to his wife: … In going through a narrow gap in the mountains between Fountaindale and Hagerstown, about 9 o'clock p.m., the road being filled with artillery and wagons, and it being pretty dark at the time, I managed to get outside of the line of guards, and skedaddled up the side of the mountain through the woods. A good many others took advantage of the same opportunity. … I got off about a fourth of a mile from the road and laid down in the bushes to rest and if possible to sleep. I could hear the teamsters yelling and swearing, the wagons and artillery rattling, and altogether my slumbers were rather disturbed; so I concluded to change my base of operations and take up a new position. I did so, and slept tolerably well under the circumstances, though it rained considerable during the night. I was awakened in the morning [July 6] by the baying of hounds, and thinking perhaps they were blood-hounds scouring the woods, and being unarmed, I thought I would get out of their reach, and accordingly climbed a thick leaved chestnut. About 6 o'clock a.m., two rebel cavalry came along near me. They arrested a citizen with a dozen rods [98 feet] of me, took him and his horse; but, thanks to the rain and leaves, they did not discover me. About 10 a.m., I got rather dozy, and when I woke up and began to look around, just below me sat another blue coat [from the Third Corps?; see the next story]. We soon came to an agreement and I came down. We sat there talking and soon saw two or three cavalry patrols coming toward us. We concluded it was not a safe locality, and broke camp in different directions. After going down that mountain and over another we came together again. … We passed several places where the rebels had bivouacked the night before. We saw several squads of rebs, but as they were armed and we were not, we pursued this 'let alone' policy … About 3 o'clock p.m. we concluded to go to some house and inquire the way, and if possible get something to eat. We called at the door of a house where we were met by a young lady who was so smiling and sociable that we felt we were among friends. We soon had a luncheon, and as we were rather tired and foot sore, we agreed to stop all night. Just before dark a captain who had escaped came along and stayed with us. This morning (the 7th) we took up our line of march for Fairfield. On the way we found two rebs who had been arrested by two brothers who had availed themselves of the chance to go home. One of the brothers took his prisoners and started with us for Fairfield. Before we had got half way there, we heard of six more rebs who were at a house getting breakfast, and wished to give themselves up. We went to the house and caught them all at the table. We asked them if they gave themselves up. They replied, "Yes." They were a good deal surprised when they found out there were but three of us there, and unarmed at that; but they came along without any trouble, and we were soon hail fellows well met. We soon overtook the guard with the other two and continued the march. We found that our forces had all left Fairfield, and we changed our course for Emmitsburg, where we arrived about noon. The guard left us when we changed direction … and we three marched into Emmitsburg without arms and with eight prisoners. We delivered them over to the provost guard of the Fifth Corps, which was passing through the place. (Letter of Royal N. Joy, Civil War Newspaper Clippings, New York State Military Museum, https://dmna.ny.gov/historic/reghist/civil/infantry/94thInf/94thInfCWN1.pdf)

By rather amazing coincidence, Captain Rouse S. Eggleston (see above) saw Royal N. Joy and one of his traveling companions in Emmitsburg: On July 7, while Eggleston was still in Emmitsburg, a lieutenant from the 94th New York and a soldier from the Third Corps arrived in town, having likewise escaped while on the road to Hagerstown. They brought eight Confederates with them, most likely deserters. (7 July letter from R. S. Eggleston, Civil War Newspaper Clippings, New York State Military Museum, http://www.dmna.state.ny.us/historic/reghist/civil/infantry/97thInf/97thInfCWN.htm)

 

[JerseyBart]

Interesting, brave, clever and harrowing stories of saving themselves from an unknown future in captivity!!! Thank you for sharing!!!

 

[Gettysburg Guide #154]

Part III – One Confederate and Four Federals

CSA

Private David J. Hill of Company B, 2nd Mississippi found himself surrounded by the enemy in the railroad cut on the morning of July 1. Thirty years later he wrote to Rufus Dawes of the 6th Wisconsin to describe what happened next: "I saw a bloody, muddy blanket lying on the ground, also two wounded men near me. I tumbled down by them and covered myself with the blanket. I then went to practicing all the manners and moaning that I thought would become a badly wounded and suffering man. Some of your boys eyed me pretty closely, but no one spoke to me or interrupted me in any way. … I got out as soon as I thought it safe to do so." (Hill rejoined his command, but he was wounded two days later during the charge against Cemetery Ridge and on that occasion did not avoid being captured.) (D. J. Hill to Gen. Rufus R. Dawes, September 12, 1893, Dawes Papers, State Historical Society of Wisconsin at Madison, http://carroll1.cc.edu/~civilwar/hill.html; Compiled Service Records of David J. Hill)

USA

Private Benjamin F. Worth of Company E, 16th Maine was captured late in the afternoon on July 1. The next day the Confederates put him to work carrying muskets from the field. On July 3, "Benny" worked his way into a field hospital, obtained some bloody bandages and bound up an imaginary wound that supposedly disabled one of his legs. He was therefore left behind, and made his way back to the regiment on July 5. (The Road to Richmond, The Civil War Memoirs of Major Abner R. Small of the Sixteenth Maine Volunteers.)

On the afternoon of July 2, Corporal Thomas H. Mann of Company I, 18th Massachusetts was pinned to the ground by a fallen comrade whose blood saturated him. By the time he extricated himself, the enemy battle line had come up and passed him by. A little later several men of the Confederate ambulance corps came along, and one inquired how badly Mann was hurt. He replied in a faint voice, "Don't know, but I think I am used up." "Well, you all do the best yo' knows and we'uns'l tote yo' back directly." Mann crawled between a large boulder and a stone wall, but had not long to wait before the Pennsylvania Reserves charged close to his position. He emerged from his hiding place and rejoined his company at dusk, where he was received as one raised from the dead. Lieutenant William M. Hemenway was about to report him as "left on the field, mortally wounded." (Fighting with the Eighteenth Massachusetts, The Civil War Memoir of Thomas H. Mann, ed. by John J. Hennessy, Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2000]

On July 1, a handful of Federal officers and enlisted men managed to successfully hide in the town. An unidentified artilleryman from "L" Company [Battery L, 1st New York] got an old man to dress him up in his son's clothes, the son being absent from the home. (A Diary of Battle, the Personal Journals of Colonel Charles S. Wainwright, 1861-1865, ed, by Allan Nevins, New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, 1962, pp. 250-251)

Colonel Henry A. Morrow of the 24th Michigan was wounded on July 1 and captured. A Confederate surgeon examined Morrow and determined that he was too badly wounded to be taken south. Col. William H. French of the 17th Virginia Cavalry concurred, and allowed Morrow some freedom of movement around town. Morrow lodged at David Wills' home on the square. He had recovered sufficiently by July 3 to assist Federal wounded who had been lying in Herbst woods since July 1. But in order to prevent his status from being revoked, Mrs. Wills gave him a green scarf to wear on his right shoulder in the manner of a surgeon. He was able to rejoin his regiment on July 4. (Bachelder Papers, 1:333-334)

Thanks for all these great stories. I have often used the Story of David Hill's ruse to avoid capture during my tours.
Assuming the world gets back to something approaching normal, I will be doing a Tuesday evening walk in August. One stop will be at the home of Mary McAllister (who lived with her sister and brother-in-law, Martha and John Scott, across from the Christ Lutheran Church on Chambersburg St. Col. Morrow had initially taken refuge in that home along with several other Union soldiers. One of the others was an officer whom Morrow identified as Lt. Dailey of the 2d Wisconsin (but I did not find a Lt. Dailey on the roster of that regiment). Dailey wanted to hide in the chimney of the house to evade capture, but Morrow refused to allow it, so as not to put the family, who had opened their doors to the wounded, to be put in danger. Morrow did ask Mary to hide his diary for him, which she hid under her dress. Mary also was the keeper of General Archer's sword. The family offered Morrow a coat to disguise himself, but he refused. He ordered that the door be opened and that the men surrender rather than risk harm to the family or damage to their home.

 

[Gettysburg Guide #154]

Here is another tale of "escape". Captain John Irvin of Company B, 149th Pennsylvania (one of the new Bucktail Regiments) was engaged in the fighting at the McPherson Farm on July 1. He received what he described as a slight wound to his head, and went to what he called the "hospital" to have it dressed. Whether he was in the barn or the farmhouse is unclear. Before Irvin was able to return to his command, Confederates overran the farm buildings and he was among those captured. When offered parole, Irvin signed a fictitious name "Frank Isreal". His parole was therefore considered illegal and he was not bound by it. He promptly returned to the regiment and wrote one of its Gettysburg battle reports on July 17, 1863. Information for this account comes from "The 149th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry Unit in the Civil War" by Richard Matthews, and the Official Records of the War of the Rebellion, Bol XXVII. pt, 1, page 344, et seq.

 

[Wallyfish]

@Tom Elmore , I just thought of something on the statement below from your last post.

On July 7, while Eggleston was still in Emmitsburg, a lieutenant from the 94th New York and a soldier from the Third Corps arrived in town, having likewise escaped while on the road to Hagerstown. They brought eight Confederates with them, most likely deserters.

Is there any evidence that prisoners negotiated an "escape from captivity" with their captors who had a desire to desert? Could that be the case in how the above 2 Union men brought in 8 Confederate deserters?

 

[Tom Elmore]

@Tom Elmore , I just thought of something on the statement below from your last post.

On July 7, while Eggleston was still in Emmitsburg, a lieutenant from the 94th New York and a soldier from the Third Corps arrived in town, having likewise escaped while on the road to Hagerstown. They brought eight Confederates with them, most likely deserters.

Is there any evidence that prisoners negotiated an "escape from captivity" with their captors who had a desire to desert? Could that be the case in how the above 2 Union men brought in 8 Confederate deserters?

I imagine it would be tough to pull off such a feat between prisoner and captor. It would also be problematic for the captor if afterwards caught by his own side while trying to desert with an enemy prisoner. He would not be able to explain himself and he would be subject to being shot for desertion in addition to allowing a prisoner to escape. Those Confederates who were rounded up by chance were fortunate to be able to surrender themselves to the other side.

 

[Wallyfish]

@Tom Elmore , your response makes perfect sense. Let me qualify my question on strictly the confederate retreat from Gettysburg. The confederates had an urgency to cross the Potomac. Marching Union prisoners had to be an impediment to the retreat. Because of the Cinfederate retreat urgency in northern land, I am unclear on how much resources the Confederates could use to round up Confederate deserters during the retreat. I would think it would be the perfect time for union prisoners to attempt to convince their Confederate captors to desert on northern soil so they both could gain their freedom.

Am I all wet in making this hypothesis or is their any evidence that it occurred?

 

[Tom Elmore]

Part V – One Confederate, Four Federals

Private George W. Presgraves, Company I, 8th Virginia, allowed himself to be taken prisoner on July 3, in order to care for his wounded brother, Lieutenant John R. Presgraves. John died and was buried by George, who told nurse Clarissa F. Jones that he was going to escape, which he did a few days later. George's service record indicates that he made it back to his home in Loudon, Virginia, but he failed to return to his unit and was declared a deserter. He was subsequently recaptured by the Federals and released from prison at the end of the war. (The James River Brothers, On the Bloodstained Field, ed. by Gregory A. Coco; Compiled service records of George W. Presgraves)

Private James H. Lansbury, Company B, 3rd Indiana Cavalry. Having been detailed to take a wounded officer to the hospital set up in the Lutheran Theological Seminary, Lansbury said he was detained while conversing with women in town who were anxious about the battle, which led to his capture. He was escorted 60 miles while barefoot before succeeding in a making his escape, and made his way back to Gettysburg, where he remained until August looking after the wounded. (Accomack News, July 12, 1913 – Lansbury was interviewed at the 50th anniversary)

Colonel Charles Wheelock, 97th Pennsylvania. "Colonel Wheelock escaped and has safely returned after being two days in the mountains with no food before he dared venture to a house, as the Rebels were on both sides of the mountain. He escaped while passing through a forest in the dark night by lying down just at the side of the road and the guards didn't miss him." (July 11, 1863 letter of Chaplain John V. Ferguson, 97th New York)

"Scotty," Company A, 90th Pennsylvania. "Scotty, an old Regular of our company, was trying to dodge the sniping [July 1], and was so hard pressed that he took refuge in a church which was used as a hospital. He secreted himself in the belfry, where he could see what was going on in the street without being detected. He tied a piece of white muslin on his arm to pass for a nurse in case they discovered him, but he was not disturbed and remained there until the return of our forces" [July 4]. (Rufus P. Northrup, Company A, 90th Pa., National Tribune, December 30, 1909, p. 7)

Captain Charles R. Evans, Company E, 142nd Pennsylvania. "Captain Evans was taken prisoner, but escaped and is with his company." (Private Noah Hoffman, Company E, 142nd Pennsylvania, Union County Star and Lewisburg Chronicle, July 24, 1863, p. 1). Evans enlisted on August 30, 1862 as 1st lieutenant and was promoted to captain on March 21, 1863. He was mustered out of the service on May 29, 1865. (Union Casualties at Gettysburg, by Travis W. Busey and John W. Busey, 2:956)