The Sentry
Struggled Hard To Prevent The Drowsiness That Was Stealing Over
Him; He Spoke Thick, And Muttered That He Had Never Before Drank
Anything So Good Or So Strong.
He walked about in the rain to keep
himself awake, and staggered a little.
* * * It resulted in the
escape of Dodge, Thayer, Theller and Partridge, who, after several
hair-breadth escapes and hazardous incidents, found themselves
outside of their old quarters." "The escaping party," adds Roger,
"moved cautiously forward, at respectable distances from each
other, along the canteen, and then got out into the middle of the
great square to elude the sentry at the magazine. While there a
sergeant came rushing from the guard-room towards the officers'
quarters, the red, or as they appeared dark, stripes being visible
on a white undress jacket. It seemed to be an alarm. There were
only three sentinels between the escaping party and the flagstaff,
where the descent was intended. Abreast was one whose duty was to
guard the back part of the magazine and a pile of firewood which
was there corded up, and also to prevent soldiers from going to
the canteen. Another stood opposite the door of the officers'
mess-room. There was room enough in the darkness to pass these
sentinels, and Theller and his companions no longer crawled, but
walked upright, one by one, quietly, but passing along as quickly
as possible. Parker, however, after the sergeant passed, became
much excited and terrified, and lost his way. He made some noise,
and a sentry challenged, but without answering, the rest hurried
towards the half-moon battery where the flagstaff is. Passing
round the old telegraph post on one side, near the stabling
attached to the officers' quarters, a sentinel there with side-
arms only, or, as he is technically termed 'a flying Dick,'
challenged, and Theller asserts he promptly answered, 'Officer of
the guard,' when the countersign being demanded, he muttered,
'teen,' having learned during the confinement that the countersign
of the Guards ordinarily ended so - seventeen, eighteen, nineteen,
or such like - and the sentry, fancying from the cap with a gold
lace band on it, which, having undone his cloak, Theller placed
upon his head, that he was one of the officers, suffered him to
pass. Parker had got among the firewood, and was making a noise.
Dodge was running about on the top of the wall, making signals for
Grace and other friends who were to be outside, but could see no
one there. The haulyards of the flagstaff were then partially cut
down with a penknife. An alarm was now given by an officer of the
garrison who accidentally came upon Culver, one of the escaping
party, and in a moment the drums beat and the guard turned out.
The officers rushed out of the mess-room. An artilleryman detected
Parker, and the cry arose that the American prisoners were loose
and escaping. Some immediately ran towards the prison, whilst
others dragged Parker to the guard-room, and yet others began to
search about for the 'General,' Colonel Dodge, Culver and Hall,
whom Parker intimated, in reply to a question put to him by an
officer, had not come out. There was no alternative but to jump
from the wall to the flat part of the precipice below, on which
the wall is built, what Theller first did. For an instant he hung
by his hands, then dropped, and alighted on his feet on the solid
rock, falling back on his head. He was stunned, and lay a minute
or two unconscious. When he came to himself, he heard Dodge
inquiring if he was hurt, and replied in the negative, telling him
to throw down the bundle of cloaks and leap upon them. Theller had
broken the outer bone of his leg and dislocated his right ankle
joint, but had been so stunned that he scarcely felt any pain.
Culver descended next, and was stunned, the blood gushing from his
nose and mouth; he had, it is said, also fractured his leg. Culver
was more fortunate, as he alighted on a pile of cloaks, and was
little, if at all, hurt. Dodge then, throwing down the piece of
rope which he had cut from the haulyards to be used in the next
descent, also slipped down the wall upon the pile of cloaks, and
was unhurt. The second descent was made with the aid of the rope,
the end of which was held by two of the party, while Theller with
his wounded leg slipped down over a piece of cedar post which had
been accidentally placed against the wall of the ditch. Culver
followed, then Hall held the rope alone for Dodge, and afterwards
descended himself as all had done on the first leap, caught as he
came to the ground, however, by the rest of the party. Dodge, in
saving Hall from falling after or as he leaped, sprained his
wrist. The whole party, however, managed to crawl up the outer
wall of the ditch, which was faced with dry stone, by inserting
their hands in the interstices and using their feet as well as
they could. They rested on the summit of the glacis for a moment,
and saw the search that was being made for them inside by lights
that were flashing about into every nook and cranny."
It would take us too far to describe the subsequent incidents of this
clever plan of escape. The patriots of St. Roch, Dr. Rousseau, Grace,
Hunter and others, provided means of escape for the "sympathisers"
which baffled all the ingenuity of the Commandant of the Quebec
garrison, an old Waterloo hero, Sir James Macdonald, who certainly
spared neither time, men nor trouble to recover the Citadel prisoners,
but in vain.
We must find room here for another singular incident in connection
with the Citadel and the Insurrection of 1837-8: -
"THE MEN OF '37."
THE SECRET SOCIETY OF THE "CHASSEURS" - RECOLLECTIONS OF A
VETERAN - PROPOSED CAPTURE OF QUEBEC.
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