I have still not been able to identify John MOORE who does not appear in the 1st Tennessee rosters. There are 117 records listed in the NPS Index for the CMSR of men surnamed MOORE from Tennessee with the first initial “J” and another 59 whose first name was “John”. All of the “John” or “J” MOOREs named in the Society database are accounted for elsewhere and would not have been involved in any escape attempt from Fort Delaware in August 1863.
James CASHION, John V. McKINNEY, Thomas A. STEWART, and George W. STONEBREAKER all have Federal POW records that place them at Fort Delaware. Tobe EDMONDSON, on the other hand, does not.
Young Colville “Tobe” EDMONDSON was named among the wounded at Gettysburg on either the 2nd or 3rd of July 1863 in an Archer’s Brigade headquarters list of killed, wounded and missing. The Company G muster roll covering July & August 1863 and done on the last day of August shows him to be present for duty with no other commentary about what happened to him during the two month period. There are no POW records at all in his file. Without his post war account claiming otherwise, it would appear that he was evacuated to Virginia with the Confederate army. The September & October 1863 muster roll showed him absent without leave since 18 OCT 1863. The muster roll for November & December 1863 listed him as a “deserter” having been furloughed to Ringgold, Georgia on 18 OCT 1863. There are no subsequent records in his file.
Thomas A. STEWART, a member of Company K, Turney’s 1st Tennessee Infantry is the only man with any documentation of his capture and escape from Fort Delaware in his CMSR. STEWART was detailed as an ambulance driver in the months leading up to Gettysburg. The single POW record in his CMSR shows that he was captured at Gettysburg on 3 JUL 1863, received at Fort Delaware on 12 JUL 1863 and mysteriously exchanged on some unspecified date in July 1863. The War Department archivist noted that this last piece of information was penciled in, not written in ink, on the register from which the information was taken. The Company K muster roll covering July & August 1863 shows Thomas to have been present at the end of August. Remarks copied from this roll state that “Having escaped from the prison at Fort Delaware and made his way through the enemies lines to camp, he is now present on parole.” The roll for January & February 1864 show him back at work as an ambulance driver. He went home on a “furlough of indulgence” on 10 FEB 1864 and did not return.
James C. CASHION, 4th Sergeant, Company G had been wounded at Antietam and suffered an arm amputation in the field. Company G muster rolls in the spring of 1863 show that he was at home on a “wounded furlough” and was discharged from service on 8 APR 1863 with a final statement given. There is no pay record in his file showing a final payment. However, Federal POW records show that a Private J. C. CASHION, Company G, 1st Tennessee Infantry was captured at Gettysburg on 3 JUL 1863, held at Fort Delaware, and paroled for exchange on 14 SEP 1864. A delivery of 1,080 sick and disabled POWs paroled at Fort Delaware was made to Confederate authorities at Aiken’s Landing on the James River on 21/22 SEP 1864. The Receiving & Wayside Hospital in Richmond reported that Private J. CASHION, Company G, 1st Tennessee Infantry was admitted 21 SEP 1864, examined, and forwarded the next day to Chimborazo Hospital No. 4. It was noted that he was suffering from an “amputated right arm.” He was released on 3 OCT 1864. A subsequent record shows Private James CASHION, Company G, 1st Tennessee Infantry was retired on 3 DEC 1864 from the PACS Invalid Corps.
John V. McKINNEY, a Private in Company G, 1st Tennessee Infantry was listed as missing on the Archer’s Brigade headquarters list for the Gettysburg campaign. A Federal POW record shows him as a POW at Fort Delaware having been captured on 3 JUL 1863 at Gettysburg. He was paroled for exchange on 27 FEB 1865 and delivered to Confederate authorities at Boulware’s & Cox’s Wharf on the James River on 2 MAR 1865. There are no hospital records in Richmond or further company muster roll entries to confirm his return in March 1865. The last company muster roll for Company G is dated November & December 1864 and John was listed as absent and a prisoner of war. His status had been changed from missing to captured at the end of August 1864 showing that the company officers had only then learned that he was a POW.
George W. STONEBREAKER, a Private in Company G, 1st Tennessee Infantry was noted to be sick in quarters at the end of September & October 1862. The January & February 1863 muster roll shows him absent at home on wounded furlough, but there is no documentation of his having been wounded at Antietam in September 1862 of any other time. On 23 APR 1863, he was discharged “on account of disability” with a final statement issued. This disability was not described as being due to disease or due to a wound. A pay record gives his date of discharge as 25 APR 1863 and shows that he was not given his final payment until 13 JUN 1863. This suggests that he was still around when the march to Gettysburg began. Federal POW records show that George was captured at Gettysburg on 3 JUL 1863 and received at Fort Delaware on 12 JUL 1863. He was paroled for exchange on 18 SEP 1864 and delivered at Varina Landing (Aiken’s Landing) on 21/22 SEP 1864. Examined at the Receiving & Wayside Hospital in Richmond on 21 SEP 1864, he was sent to Chimborazo No. 4 the following day. He was discharged from the hospital on 3 OCT 1864. There are no company muster rolls after April 1863 showing that he was still enrolled or accounted for in Company G.
There were escapes from Fort Delaware on the night of 12/13 AUG 1863. Union guard, Private A. J. Hamilton, wrote in his diary for 13 AUG 1863: “On coming off duty at 12 p.m., I met the provost with two rebels who had left the island and were picked up in the river by Captain Thoroughgood of the Schooner W. H. Sherman in a drowning condition. After pulling them out, two more passed the captain and in less than 10 minutes he captured two more of the miserable wretches.” Hamilton was not noted for his compassion!
The Reverend Isaac W. K. Handy, a Presbyterian minister from Portsmouth, Virginia was a civilian detainee being held at Fort Delaware. A recent arrival housed inside Fort Delaware, he noted in his diary for 13 AUG 1863: “It is said, that nine (9) Confederate prisoners made their escape from the barracks last night. The opportunity for escape seems to be very favorable, just now – the nights being dark, and the new Delaware guards being specially verdant”. The 6th Delaware Infantry had been in service guarding railroads and bridges since the end of 1862 and arrived at Fort Delaware on 6 AUG 1863. They departed on 22 AUG 1863 and were mustered out on 5 SEP 1863. Needless to say, their attention to duty was probably not at the highest level on 12/13 AUG 1863!
Finally, an oft cited report was printed in the Richmond Dispatch newspaper dated 28 AUG 1863 describing the arrival the previous day of five (5) Confederate prisoners who had escaped Fort Delaware on 12 AUG 1863. Their names were A. L. BROOKS and C. J. FULLER, Company G, 9th Georgia Infantry, J. D. MARIAN, also of the 9th Georgia Infantry, William E. GLASSEY of the 18th Mississippi Infantry, and John DORSEY of Stuart’s Horse Artillery. Their story is similar to Edmondson’s account except that three of them landed near Delaware City. A sixth unnamed POW described as a Philadelphian in Confederate service was with this group and reported as having drowned by the story tellers. Once on shore in Delaware, the successful escapees received assistance from local farmers. The Richmond Dispatch party reported riding a passenger train in Delaware in full view of Federal officers.
Federal POW records confirm that CASHION, McKINNEY, STEWART and STONEBREAKER were being held at Fort Delaware in August 1863. CASHION had suffered a right arm amputation at Antietam which hardly seems conducive to an escape attempt by swimming. The other three could easily have been among the four men mentioned by A. J. Hamilton has having been picked up in the river by the schooner captain and returned to prison. Perhaps the fourth was the “drowned Philadelphian” reported in the Richmond Dispatch story.
Add McKINNEY, STEWART and STONEBREAKER to BROOKS, DORSEY, FULLER, GLASSEY, and MARIAN named in the Richmond newspaper article plus the “drowned Philadelphia” and the total comes to nine. This matches Reverend Handy’s second hand report of nine who attempted to escape.
Reverend Handy’s barracks rumor of nine escapees on the night of 12 AUG 1863 may have been short of the actual total, but we will never know for sure. Tobe’s story is a compelling account even if it can not now be substantiated in the records.
Hugh Simmons
Fort Delaware Society
Website: www.fortdelaware.org
E-mail: society@fortdelaware.org