This four page letter in ink, written from Newbern, North Carolina on January 23rd, 1864 was written by Horace B. Jewell of Company K of the 52nd Ohio Infantry.  Read the letter and enjoy the finest firsthand description of a P.O.W. escaping from a Civil War prison! The letter was written to his Commanding Officer Lieut. Frank B. James of Company K.  James kept Jewells letter… probably because it was such a fantastic account.  When Jewell was killed shortly after rejoining his regiment at the battle of Peach Tree Creek July 19th, 1864, James wrote a short note and kept it with Jewell’s letter.  A wonderful “set” for display and deserving to be in the finest museum or finest collection!

#PO38 - Price $1,500

                    Transcription:

                                                                                                                                                        Newbern, N.C. Jan 23rd, 1864
                                        Sir, 
                                                    I was captured on the morning of the 4th of Nov. last, while watching the Rebs who 
                                        were at work on that bridge which they tried to burn at two o’clock in the morning as I 
                                        reported to Lieut. Somers.  

I was taken by a squad of five men who were out between the lines hunting for hogs.  
They had on our blue over coats, which deceived me until they got so near that I had no
show for a foot race & I had to surrender.  I was taken to Longstreet’s guardhouse, where
I remained a few days, then to Bragg’s guardhouse, then to Chickamauga Station,
thence to Atlanta, Ga. from there to Richmond & confined in Libby No. 2 then to
Pemberton Castle & from there to Danville, 140 miles S.W. from Richmond.  I was kept
a few days at each of the above named places until I arrived at Danville, where they
told us we could make ourselves comfortable for the remainder of the time the war
lasted.  I concluded I would not stay so long as that and began to look around me for
means of escape.  We were confined in a tobacco factory, the windows of which had been
secured by nailing pine slats across them on the outside of the glass.  The line of sentinels
surrounding the prison was about 20 feet outside of the walls & the sentinels stood about
the same distance apart.  They did not walk their beat, but to show that they were awake,
were required to call out the hour, the No. of their post, & all’s well, every fifteen minutes.  
I cut three of the slats on a window right between two sentinels, so that just a thin splinter
held them, & so that I could knock them off with my fist and when it got dark I,
accompanied by a lad of about sixteen years belonging to the 41st Ohio (the only man I
could find in the prison, by the way, who dared follow me) knocked the bars off, jumped
out of the window, took a run between the sentinels, halt halt halt, bang bang & I felt a
spat on my shoulder & a smarting, burning sensation followed it.  I know I was hit but it
only gave me the more energy to make the best of my time while I could run for I supposed
the wound would get so stiff & sore in a short time that I could not run & I knew I had the
picket lines to cross & I did not know where they were, so that it might be several hours
before I got out of the town.  Well, I did some tall walking through that town: the way I
left Sheridan’s bodyguard after choking the Gen. was nothing to it.  Well it took me nearly
all night to find the picket lines & get through them, but I did it.  They heard the shots fired
& were on the lookout but we crept through & walked two miles from town before daylight.  
We crawled into a fodder barn on the back end of a plantation & stayed until night, hid
under the fodder & then we pulled out.  We had a pretty rough time of it, but we got
through & it is all over now.  We left Danville on the night of the 27th of Dec and arrived
at our lines at Washington, North Carolina on the 21st of Jan. making 25 days we were on
the route.  We traveled entirely by night, laying in the woods during the day.  We could
travel until the chickens began to crow, & then go for them & sweet potatoes which we
found in the gardens & then hunt a good place to encamp, where the smoke could not be
seen & make a bed out of pine boughs & go to sleep.  We always managed to find a black
man at work in the woods during the day of whom we could find out about the roads,
where the guards were stationed on the road we wanted to travel, & the best way to shun
them.  In fact the country is so full of guards, scouts, & patrols that we could not have got
through without the information obtained from the blacks.  

My reason for coming this way was, there were forty of our men escaped from the
cars on the road from Richmond to Danville & who were all retaken after traveling 60
miles & who reported it impossible to get through in that direction.  I traveled 280 miles,
calculating the distance from town to town without counting the distance traveled to get
around towns which were picketed & bridges, ferries & public places which were guarded,
not for fear of the Yankees but to catch their own men who are deserting & going home
by hundreds.  The confederacy is played out.  They cannot hold out another year, possibly
and I think six months will whip them.  I shall come round to the regt. as soon as possible.  
I came 120 miles on a boat last night & shall take the boat for fortress Monroe tomorrow
afternoon.  Give my respects to the boys & tell them I will be with them soon.  
                                                                            
                                                                                                        Respectfully yours, 
                                                                                                                                H. B. Jewell

(The following is written on a separate piece of paper that the recipient Lt. Frank B. James
kept with the letter.  He apparently added this small note when Jewell was killed.)

                                        This man reported to Regt. believe in July '64.  His wound not yet healed, nor was it, when 
                                        he was killed at Peach Tree Creek July 19, 1864.  He had a brother in 18th Mich. Infantry 
                                        (Brother 1st Lieut. Chas. A. Jewell 18 Mich). 
                                                                                                                                          F. B. James