Raiders Escape

ESCAPE

For the remaining fourteen, now confined in the old Fulton County Jail, the summer was rather quiet and restful. The local Confederate authorities were not so contented, however, and were seeking information as to the disposition of their prisoners. By October the the evidence was increasing to the Raiders, that something was in the wind that boded no good for them. They saw an escape as thier best course of action. Accordingly, plans were made, and on October 16, when the evening meal was being served to them, they went into action. Eight of them were successful. Generally, six of them went northward overland, traveling by night and hiding by day, until they were safe behind Union lines. Two of them, Alf Wilson and Mark Wood, made their way southward via the Chattahoochee River and to the Gulf and were picked up by the US Gunboat Somerset of the East Gulf Blockading Squadron then in operation in the Gulf of Mexico.

Those who succeeded in escaping were:

Private John Alf Wilson, Company C, 21st Ohio Volunteer Infantry

Private Mark Wood, Company C, 21st Ohio Volunteer Infantry

Private John Reed Porter, Company F, 21st Ohio Volunteer Infantry

Private Wilson W. Brown, Company F, 21st Ohio Volunteer Infantry

Private William J. Knight, Company E, 21st Ohio Volunteer Infantry

Corporal Daniel A. Dorsey, Company H, 33rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry

Corporal Martin J. Hawkins, Company A, 33rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry

Private John Wollam, Company C, 33rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry

The remaining six spent the winter of 1862-63 in the Fulton County Jail. By March, 1863 arrangements had been concluded for their exchange as prisoners of war via City Point, Virginia, and on March 17, 1863, they were once again free men. This group included:

Corporal William Pittenger, Company G, 2nd Ohio Volunteer Infantry

Private Jacob Parrott, Company K, 33rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry

Corporal William H. Reddick, Company B, 33rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry

Private Robert Buffum, Company H, 21st Ohio Volunteer Infantry

Private William Bensinger, Company G, 21st Ohio Volunteer Infantry

Sergeant Elihu Mason, Company K, 21st Ohio Volunteer Infantry

Following their exchange and prior to visiting their homes, these six men were brought to Washington, DC. There they were interviewed by Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton who presented each the newly authorized Medal of Honor and a gift of $100 cash. Jacob Parrott was the recipient of the first of these medals. Later, the men were presented to President Lincoln and subsequently were minutely interrogated by Judge Advocate General Joseph Holt as to their experiences behind the Confederate lines and while in prison. From this testimony Holt made his official report to the Secretary of War dated March 27, 1863. This resulted in publication of the Holt Report, a most complete document in itself concerning the Andrews Raid and the first publication of an official nature. A portion of this report found its way into the Official Records of the War of the Rebellion. After completion of furloughs at home, these men rejoined their units in the vicinity of Murfreesburo, Tennessee.

On August 14, 1863, William Pittenger was discharged from the Army on account of physical disability. By October, 1863 he had ready his first book-length account of the Andrews Raid – Daring and Suffering, a History of the Great Railroad Adventure. Just prior to its publication, seven more of the survivors of the raid had been awarded the Medal of Honor in September, 1863: Brown, Dorsey, Hawkins, Knight, Porter, Wilson, Wood, and to the families of Robertson and Ross, posthumous awards were made.