Libby Prison Breakout 
Information about the Libby Prison Breakout in Richmond, VA during the Civil War.

The great escape from Libby Prison occurred on the February 9, 1864. 109 prisoners escaped through a tunnel dug from the building under a vacant lot to the east.

For information on Libby Prison in general, please visit the Libby Prison page.

Written Accounts

1900-10-08, Richmond Times; J. Philip Reynolds of Boston qualifies as executor of Elizabeth Van Lew’s estate – he will sell her personal property. Details of the manuscript, which he will publish
1900-10-14, St. Paul (Minn.) Globe; mention of the manuscripts of Elizabeth Van Lew containing letters from Gens. Grant and Butler. House to be sold, though it is “much the worse for age and sadly out of repair”
1900-10-28, Richmond Times; article about the secret chamber in the Van Lew home, where escaped Union officers were hidden. Many curious to see it. Says the chamber is “under the eaves of the broad portico, which extends all the way along the southern por
1900-11-09, Red Cloud (Neb.) Chief; embellished account of the life and career of Elizabeth Van Lew – describes her as “the Belle of Richmond” prior to the war and that a disappointed love affair was the reason she never married
1901-05-07, Washington Times; description of some of the letters from Gen. Grant found in Miss Van Lew’s house – mentions the secret room
1901-06-21, Richmond Times; Harris Hobart, one of the Libby Prison tunnel escapees, is 89, and has run for the Governorship of Wisconsin twice
1902-02-08, Muskegon (Mich.) Chronicle; recollection of William Reynolds, Libby Prison tunnel escapee – extremely detailed
1902-06-29, Washington Times; long article about the Van Lew house in Richmond and Elizabeth Van Lew’s wartime career as a spy – many biographical details
1902-08-05, Richmond Times; former Libby Prison appeals his alimony suit on the point that he escaped through the Libby Prison tunnel
1902-08-14, Richmond Dispatch; man released from jail (for not paying his wife $4,000 in alimony) on the basis of his being a Libby Prison tunnel escapee

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