Escape!

Despite the prison's island location, a few Civil War prisoners tried to escape, but all were ultimately unsuccessful. Among them was Pvt. Charles Sawyer, a Union deserter who supposedly widened a narrow musketry loophole by piling hot coals on the granite edges until they cracked. Sawyer squeezed himself out through the opening in October 1863, avoided sentries, and swam into the channel, where he was caught when a passing schooner picked him up. Afterwards, the opening was blocked with cement and an iron bar, both still visible today.

Boston, Massachusetts · United States