The Battle of Fort Fisher, N.C.

Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Escape From Salisbury Prison Camp in December 1864

From the March 21, 2015, Statesville (NC) Record & landmark "Column: Escape route from Salisbury Confederate Prison led through Iredell" by O.C. Stonestreet.

When I first started reading this article, I thought perhaps this man accompanied Barney Losey who escaped from this prison camp at some point before he boarded the ill-fated General Lyon for his trip home.  However, as it turns out, they didn't.

Albert D. Richardson (1833-1869) was a native of Massachusetts and a correspondent of tye New York Daily Tribune, captured by Confederate forces at Vicksburg, Mississippi, on May 3, 1863.  he was held at several Confederate prisons, including Libby Prison in Richmond.  Finally, he ended up at the 16-acre Confederate Military Prison at Salisbury, N.C., on February 4, 1864.  Altogether, he spend twenty months in Confederate prisons.

On December 18, 1864, he and four others escaped and traveled 400 miles very carefully to Union lines in eastern Tennessee.  Part of their escape route took them through Wilkes County, N.C..

--Old Secesh

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