Frederick Demond

[L Verge]

Have I posted this before? Source: ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article

Surratt thus becomes forewarned of his impending
arrest and begins to make plans to leave. Sainte Marie becomes
aware that Surratt saw the letter, and contacts General King, who
presumably induces the Papal authorities to issue an order for
Surratt's arrest.2" 9 The order is quickly carried out."
Surratt is locked into a cell of a former monastery. The building is
situated so that its rear was flush with the edge of a cliff that rises
about one hundred feet above the plain below. A four-foot wall exists
at the edge of the cliff not covered by the building. At about 4:00
a.m., he is awakened by six Zouaves to be escorted to a military prison
in Rome. He asks for and is granted permission to go to the privy.
He heads in that direction and suddenly leaps over the wall, landing
on a ledge of the cliff about twenty-three feet below.2 ' Dodging
bullets, he successfully makes his way to the bottom.
He then runs into a detachment of Zouaves, eludes them, and runs
for his life toward Italian territory. He runs into an encampment of
Garibaldi's red-shirted irregulars where he is surrounded. He
summons up his best Italian and explains that he is an American
deserting from the Zouaves." 2 Garibaldi's irregulars treat him with
great kindness and help him toward his destination-Naples. He may
have been treated at a hospital for injuries suffered in his leap.213
He arrives in Naples seven days after his escape, still attired in his
uniform. Although he has a small amount of money, he asks the
police to allow him to lodge at the prison, telling them that he is
penniless. He goes to the British consulate, claims to be Canadian,
and tells them of his lack of funds. Some English gentlemen provide
him with some funds to enable him to travel.214 The American Consul
in Naples inquires of the police about the possible whereabouts of
Surratt. He is informed that Surratt had left on board the British ship
209. Sainte Marie's Petition to the Court of Claims, title VII, in Court of Claims
Case File, infra note 240. 1 have seen no record that King asked for Surratt's arrest.
If he did, he was exceeding his authority and would not have made the request in
writing and would have not made a memorandum for the official files. I have not
explored the Vatican archives.
210. Letter from Lt. Col. Allet to the Roman Minister of War, in Pursuit, supra
note 2, at 15.
211. Telegram from Lt. Col. Allet to the Minister of War (Nov. 8, 1866), in Pursuit,
supra note 2, at 15. The telegram said, in part, that "[a]t the moment he left the
prison, surrounded by six men as guards, Watson plunged into the ravine, more than a
hundred feet deep." That the ledge was some twenty-three feet below is stated in a
letter from Lt. Col Allet to the Minister of War, dated November 9, 1866, and
reprinted in Pursuit, supra note 2, at 21.
212. Hanson Hiss Article, supra note 34, at 448.
213. See infra text accompanying note 220