Now, it was imperative for him to make his escape that night, for, as stated, he was to be placed in irons the next day and kept in the courthouse under special guard. With Clark and myself, and other trusted friends in the prison, we planned that the only means of his escape would be to cut a hole through the plastering overhead large enough to admit a man into the attic; then take a sufficient number of brick out of the gable end which connected with the roof of a single-story house adjoining, all of which was done by the willing hands of our comrades; but a mistake was made in the location of the hole through the brick wall. This hole opened on top of a roof, on the side facing the street in full view of the headquarters on the other side. Major Ousley imparted the countersign to Clark and myself with an injunction and earnest request not to attempt to get out until after giving him four hours the start, as his case was the most desperate one and we had not been tried by the court martial. This promise we fully kept.
When Major Ousley passed through the hole in the brick wall on to the roof of the other house, it was drizzling rain and the night was very dark, so the hole could not be discovered on the other side of the street. He laid flat on the roof for a few minutes, then quietly crawled over the comb of the house, on the other side, out of sight of the street, then to the far end of the roof away from the prison and dropped down into the yard of a private residence when a large dog got after him, giving one bark and no more. Ousley told me afterwards that he hit this dog with his fist and said, “I reckon I killed him!” Some of the guards in our prison yard rushed to the fence and asked a lady who came to the door, what was the matter; she said, “Nothing that I know of, everything is all right over here,” which seemed to quiet their suspicion, so they went back to their tents. Major Ousley soon was heard to come down the walk in front of our prison. He was halted by the guard, asking, “Who comes there?” “A friend with the countersign.” “Advance, friend, and give the countersign.” He gave the countersign and passed on down the street and found the lieutenant’s room. The lieutenant told him it would not be safe for him to attempt to go out that night, but to go down into the river bottoms, stay there all next day, then return to his office, when he would have a horse and side arms for him and give him the new countersign for that night. Ousley went down to the river bottoms and spent the day until very near night. Then, being very hungry, he decided to go to a friend’s house, who lived away out in the suburbs and get something to eat. Just before reaching his friend’s house, he struck the big road and immediately heard the running of a horse behind him, which proved to be a man on horseback loping towards town. Though he did not suspect any such thing, the man evidently went to town and raised the alarm. On entering the house his friend’s wife met him. She was well acquainted with Ousley, but her husband was not at home, and she, of course, was surprised and alarmed, as she knew that he was a prisoner. When he made known his wants, she rushed in and prepared a lunch, while he stood at the front door, watching. As soon as the lunch was ready, she invited him into the diningroom and took his place watching. Before he finished his lunch she rushed into the diningroom, saying, “My God, Major Ousley, you are lost, you are lost.” He told her to keep perfectly quiet. “The safest place is among the enemy,” he said, and grabbed a couple of biscuits, stuck them into his coat pocket, and started out of the front door when a couple of guards behind a rosebush, jumped up, threw their guns down on him and told him to halt. He cursed them and told them to get behind that bush. Major Ousley would see them, making them believe that he was one of their own officers.
I forgot to mention that he had the surgeon’s shoulder straps sewed on to his coat at the shoulders, the same as was the custom in the Federal Army. As already stated, when captured, he had on a splendid double-breasted frock coat and black pants, all of which in the dark could easily be mistaken for a Federal uniform, hence on the spur of the moment, he made the two guards believe that he was one of their own officers. He walked to the gate and passing outside, walked very fast up the fence, and when about a hundred yards these men began to call, “Halt,” when he broke into a run and left them firing after him, not receiving a scratch. While, of course, they ran after him I imagine they didn’t try very hard to catch him, fearing perhaps that he had accomplices, prepared to defend him.
Major Ousley next circled around the town and again made his way to the lieutenant’s room, who had a horse ready for him, gave him a couple of six-shooters and the countersign for that night. He boldly rode down the main street leading to Barren River bridge, where he gave the countersign to the guards, then up the pike towards Louisville.
After an all-night’s ride he pulled up at a friend’s house, where he decided to stay until Morgan’s command came in there and go with them back to our main army, telling his friend his purpose. His friend said, “Major, you can’t stay here; there is a brigade of Yankees camped at a spring about a mile from here and Colonel Gross, the commander, comes over occasionally and has a game of poker with me.” Ousley told him that would not make any difference, he was going to stay anyway and take a hand with him at poker. He then proceeded to disguise; cut off a heavy mustache, and also cut his hair short, which made him look like a different man; and he actually stayed at this friend’s house for nearly three weeks, joining his friend and Colonel Gross in several games of poker. He finally heard of Morgan’s command in the blue grass region, mounted his horse to try to find them and telling his friend good-bye and to give him a half hour’s start, and then to tell Colonel Gross who he was and tell him the next time they met pistols would be trumps. His friend said that he wouldn’t do such a thing for anything in the world; he said, “Colonel Gross never will find out through me or mine who you were.”
Major Ousley succeeded in finding Morgan’s command and went out of the State with them, reporting to the War Department at Richmond, and was given a job in the department and an order forbidding him to re-enter the army. I met him again at Richmond, where he detailed all of the features and incidents of his escape from the time he dropped into the adjoining yard and knocked over the dog.
CHAPTER IX
In Prison at Louisville, Where I Was Honored With Handcuffs.
Referring to Bowling Green prison, where Major Ousley had left us: Four hours after Ousley’s escape, our friends in the prison boosted Clark and me up into the attic, when we found out to our dismay that the weather had cleared and the moon had risen sufficiently high to light up the front of our building, disclosing the hole in the gable. The general’s headquarters being diagonally across the street with a guard’s beat immediately in front, I whispered to Clark, “We had better wait until the corporal comes with his relief guard in front of the headquarters and watch their actions.” Waiting about thirty minutes, a corporal with a relief appeared on the beat and the three stood for some time talking and looking up at our prison wall, which satisfied us that they had made the discovery of the hole and were only waiting for some of us to crawl out on the roof, when they would have shot us. We, therefore, decided it would be folly to attempt our escape that night, which proved a wise decision.
The next morning at roll call the discovery was made that Major Ousley was missing, which caused the greatest excitement; and immediately scouting parties of eight or ten men dashed up to the headquarters across the street for orders, and started out in a lope. All that day these parties called for orders and came back and reported at headquarters. Major Motley came up and saw the manner of Ousley’s escape, and asked the prisoners who made those holes and assisted Ousley. None of us vouchsafed any information. He then sent for the most desperate prisoners, some that were not Confederates, as heretofore stated, and told them that their cases were bad, but if they would tell who assisted Ousley in making his escape, and tried to make their escape with him, he would do all he could to let them off as easy as possible. This we learned through two most excellent citizens, who were in the prison with us, and who were also taken out and offered their liberty if they would disclose Ousley’s accomplices. One of these was a Colonel Lewis, living near Franklin; the other a Doctor Vertriece, a neighbor of Colonel Lewis. These men were imprisoned because of our raid on the railroad, which the reader will remember occurred between Franklin and Woodburn. It was the custom of the Federal commander, whenever Morgan, or any other troops, made a raid on the railroad, to arrest the most prominent citizens in the neighborhood.
After several days of questioning these prisoners, Major Motley came up; my friend Clark was asleep on a mattress the lieutenant of the guard had favored me with, on account of my being wounded. He was lying with his face to the wall. I was sitting on the window sill, looking out into the street when Major Motley walked up to where Clark was asleep and gave him a kick in the back, thereby waking him. Clark raised up and asked, “What do you want, Ras’?” when Motley produced a pair of handcuffs he had held behind him and put them on him. Turning around to me, he said, “I will have a pair here for you in a few minutes,” but as it turned out fortunately there was not another pair of handcuffs in Bowling Green, and he had to send to Louisville after them. After he left the prison Doctor Vertriece suggested to me that I write a letter to Colonel Hawkins, who was then in command of the post, telling him that I was a wounded Confederate soldier, and that Major Motley had threatened to put handcuffs on me. I stated in this letter that our command had captured thousands of their men and had always treated them humanely and kindly, notably the Ninth Michigan and Third Minnesota, who, after we had paroled them and when parting with us, said, “If any of you Texas Rangers are captured, call for the Ninth Michigan and Third Minnesota, and we will see that you are well treated.” In winding up my letter to Colonel Hawkins, I called on him as a gentleman and a soldier not to permit such an outrage perpetrated as that of placing irons on a wounded prisoner. This letter Doctor Vertriece succeeded in smuggling around Major Motley, bribing a guard to take it directly to Colonel Hawkins without Motley’s knowledge, and we soon had an answer returned in the same manner from Colonel Hawkins, expressing his regret at our condition, praising Major Motley as a very kind-hearted and good man, and stating that he was satisfied he would do all in his power to alleviate our condition and suffering, and trusting that we would be able to bear up with our condition.