The Catalpa Escape
The Catalpa Escape is one of the most remarkable jail escapes of all time. It occurred in 1876 and even if it is greatly treasured by those who remember it, it seems most people have forgotten this great event. In this period in history, a set of soldiers were put to jail on the allegations that they had portrayed disloyalty to the British circlet (Wikipedia, n.d.). As a result, they were sent to an Australian jail whose conditions of living were abusive of human rights.
A group of Fenians from New Bedford came to their rescue with the help of Irish Americans. These Americans were behind the monetary arrangements that led to the success of this escape. The soldiers who had been jailed for having joined hands with their Irish counterparts in redeeming themselves from colonial power lived a life that is not respectful of freedom fighters; they were damned to be constructing roads for the British domain in an environment that was not conducive at all.
O’Reilly who had escaped in 1869 by use of a ship with assistance of Henry Hathaway ended settling in Boston where he worked as an editor. John Devoy who was another Fenian prisoner held up in the same dungeon had luckily been released in 1871 with an order not to inhabit Ireland and ended up being a newspaper official and had joined a rights active group that supported equipped revolution. After issuance of several grants that the Irish prisoners be released to no avail, Devoy got a letter from a prisoner called James Wilson who pleaded that Devoy and other interested parties help the Irish prisoners run off the hell of a place that they seemed to be destined spend for the best of their lives. Devoy did not assume that letter; he consulted O’Reilly and Thomas Fennel who together with an Irish clan premeditated the escape. Devoy was advised that a vessel be bought so that it could be used to help the prisoners escape.
James from the clan that was consulted bought a vessel called Catalpa and George Anthony the captain arranged the crew that was supposed to sail in the vessel for the rescue (Devoy, n.d.). At the same time, another set of two guys: Tom Desmond and John Breslin were placed in Western Australia to help in the mission that was ahead. The governor was duped and took Breslin to the Fremantle top-security prison as Tom organized an Irish group of five men whose responsibility was to disable communication on the day of flight.
The escape was full of challenges; some men fell sick and had to be left behind as the organized group sailed towards the area of designation. The Catalpa also faced the challenge of bad weather and at one time being caught by imperial navy vessels. These ordeals resulted into a rescheduling of the escape to 17th of April. It was originally arranged to occur on 4th the same month. However, only six prisoners were able to get into the deal as the seventh one had been set up by a spy and hence had been left back in the secure unit.
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