Johnson's Island by Roger Pickenpaugh

Author:Roger Pickenpaugh [Pickenpaugh, Roger]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, United States, Civil War Period (1850-1877), State & Local, Midwest (IA; IL; IN; KS; MI; MN; MO; ND; NE; OH; SD; WI), Social Science, Penology
ISBN: 9781606352847
Google: cZGmjgEACAAJ
Publisher: Kent State University Press
Published: 2016-01-15T00:40:58+00:00

8

“Almost a Fixed Impossibility”

Escapes and Attempts

In July 1862 all Union prison camps began forwarding monthly returns to Colonel Hoffman. According to the reports sent from Johnson’s Island, only twelve Confederate prisoners escaped from the Lake Erie depot between then and the end of the war. Even if these figures can be questioned, it is beyond doubt that the prison was among the most secure of Union facilities, the Alcatraz of the North. Those fortunate enough to make it beyond the walls of the camp faced a daunting swim in the summertime or bitter cold and winds in the winter. Anyone overcoming all these obstacles would then be confronted with a lengthy trek through hostile territory.1

Camp officials used numerous tools to prevent potential escapes, starting with what former prisoner B. L. Farinholt referred to as “many large reflecting lamps posted around within the prison.” Virgil Murphey wrote, “Escape, liberation from these blank walls is almost a fixed impossibility.” He explained, “The palisades are tall and perpendicular and [there is] no cover nor protection to advance upon them. Huge lanterns suspended from them throws a flood of light over the entire enclosure and thus you are robbed of the friendly cover of night.”2

The greatest threat to the escapees’ plans often came from their fellow prisoners. At Johnson’s Island, as well as other camps, captives who were either planning to take the oath of allegiance or simply eager for extra rations would often betray their fellow captives. Dubbed “razorbacks” by the other prisoners, one of them received the blame when the guards foiled an escape attempt on the night of June 2, 1864. A group of prisoners had spent several weeks digging a tunnel from the “dead house,” the building where coffins were kept and bodies were taken to be prepard for burial. The work was complete, and the freedom-bound Rebels were only waiting for dark when the guards arrived. “They came straight to the spot without waiting to look around at all,” Edmund Patterson wrote. “Some spy had told them all about it.” In January 1865, the Union guards stopped another group of would-be escapees who were attempting to tunnel out of camp. The federal officer told the leader of the party that his efforts were futile because the Yanks knew about the project within a half hour after it was begun. He proved his point by giving the exact time that the prisoners had started digging. “They are kept perfectly posted on all these points,” William Peel observed, “and it seems impossible for us to catch their spies.”3

Frequent surprise inspections, likely prompted by information supplied by the razorbacks, may have also helped thwart a number of escapes. Improvised ladders were a common target of these searches, but the guards often extended them to include personal items. “I could not help thinking that in a carpet sack or letter box was a rather strange place to look for a ladder,” one prisoner noted after a Sunday morning inspection. The guards also searched for surplus clothing, which the prisoners were not allowed to have.

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