Libby Prison Breakout: The Daring Escape from the Notorious Civil War Prison - Paperback

by Joseph Wheelan (Author)

During the winter of 1863-1864, 1,200 Union officers lived in squalor and semi-starvation in Richmond's Libby Prison, known as "The Bastille of the South." On February 9, 109 of those officers wriggled through a fifty-five-foot tunnel to freedom. After an all-out Rebel manhunt, survivors reached Washington, and their testimony spurred far-reaching investigations into the treatment of Union prisoners.

Libby Prison Breakout tells the largely unknown story of the most important escape of the Civil War from a Confederate prison, one that ultimately increased the North's and South's willingness to use prisoners in waging "total war."

Author Biography

Joseph Wheelan is the author of several previous books, including the highly-acclaimed Terrible Swift Sword and Midnight in the Pacific. Before turning to writing books full time, Wheelan was a reporter and editor for the Associated Press for twenty-four years. He lives in Cary, North Carolina.