Crouched deep underground within the bowels of the massive building, inhaling putrid air without complaint, and in the meager light of a single candle, the Union prisoners worked with a purpose.

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Among them was LIEUTENANT JACOB MERRITT, just twenty-three-years-old.

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Jacob lay on his belly in the cramped tunnel, chipping at the earthen wall, the opening just twenty inches wide. The tunnel began in the new kitchen.

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The prisoners moved the stove and dislodging select bricks allowing access inside the chimney providing access below to the old, sealed off kitchen in the basement. But this was also known as “Rat Hell.”

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Inch by painful inch, the tunnel grew longer. From the digging, Jacob’s hands blistered, his fingernails split.

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Digging without his clothes (to keep any sign of dirt from them) the aggressive rats plagued him, biting his bare skin, running over his legs, back, even his hair.

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But his passion to escape drove him forward…

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I’m Rick Robison and this is the HEROES FOR FREEDOM Podcast.

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OTHER EPISODES YOU MAY LIKE:

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22 - ALLURING AMERICAN ACTRESS... AND UNION SPY?! | Pauline Cushman | Civil War

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CIVIL WAR / VIRGINIA / UNION / CONFEDERATE STATES / RICHMOND / LIBBY PRISON / FREEDOM / ESCAPE / TUNNELING / RAT HELL / ELIZABETH VAN LEW / JACOB MERRITT / AMERICAN EXCEPTIONALISM