From the Richmond Dispatch, 7/6/1864
Attempted Escape of Yankee Prisoners. - Between twelve and one o'clock
yesterday morning two Yankee deserters, confined in Palmer's building, opposite
to Castle Thunder, made a bold attempt to effect their escape. Being confined on
the second floor, they forced open the door facing Cary street, and after first
throwing a brick at the sentinel below, a Mr. Turpin, which struck him on the
shoulder, they jumped out and started to run up the street. The next sentinel to
Mr. Turpin, hearing the alarm, fired, but failed to hit either of the fleeing
Yankees, whereupon he clubbed his musket, and as they passed him struck one of
them a severe blow on the back of the neck, which partially stunned him, but did
not stop him from keeping on. By this time the guards on both sides of the
street were fully aroused to the condition of things, and each of them in sight
discharged their pieces in the direction the runaways had taken. Owing to the
darkness of the night, however, neither of them were brought down, and but for
the extraordinary fleetness and courage of Lieut. George Watt, of the State
militia, they would probably have finally escaped. This gentleman, alone and
unarmed, pursued them to the neighborhood of the old gas works, where they were
overtaken and brought back to prison.
For this conduct Capt. Richardson, the efficient commandant at Castle
Thunder, has assigned them quarters in the corner cells of that institution,
where they will be kept upon bread and water till such a time as a Court Martial
can decide upon the matter. It was undoubtably the intention of these prisoners
to kill or stun the sentinel at whom the brick was thrown, as they would thereby
be enabled to gain the street, and perhaps pass the other guards on duty without
exciting any suspicion. The efficiency of the militia, now doing all the guard
duty in this city, is highly commended by the commandants of the various
Confederate prisons, and in this case they did all that could be expected of
them under the circumstances.
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