Union Soldier Escapes Confederate Prison

Fielding ROBERSON (1838-1924)
and Mary Ann DENBO (1857-1916)

Fielding ROBERSON
Birth: 21 May 1838, Crawford Co., IN, son of James ROBERSON and Fannie Eliza FROMAN

Married: 28 Sep 1873, English, Crawford, Indiana, Mary Ann DENBO daughter of Woodfield Grant DENBO and Lucinda MATHERS. Fielding and Mary Ann were the parents nine son and three daughter: Alva Thomas ROBERSON b.1878-d.1965, James Washington ROBERSON b.1875-d.1964, Lillie Jane ROBERSON LONGEST b.1878-1906, Fannie Lucinda ROBERSON b.1880-d.1905, Mann Woodfield ROBERSON b.1882-d.1969, Grover Cleveland ROBERSON b.1884-d.1965, Charles Edward ROBERSON b.1886-d.1981, William Fielding ROBERSON b.1888-d.1978, Bertha Mable ROBERSON LASWELL b.1890-d.1966, Reuben Russell ROBERSON b. 1893-d.1959, (Reuben married 1913 Edna Lula SEATON 1894-1961), George Hazelwood ROBERSON b.1895-d.1918, Irvin Ember ROBERSON b.1897-d.1992.

Death: 5 Sep 1924, Crawford Co., IN
Burial: Hamilton Roberson Cemetery, English, IN

Note: Civil War - Fielding ROBERSON
[Fielding Roberson Private Co E 50 REGT, Enlisted 1861]
Pvt. Co. E, 28th Regt. (1st Cav.) Ind Vol
age 24
Eyes blue, hair light, 5'7", complexion light
Mustered in April 4 1862 in Indianapolis, IN

Fielding was in the Indiana Cavalry during the civil war. He had three horses shot from under him during the battles. He must have been in the thick of it. He was captured, I believe, at Vicksburg, He smuggled a spoon from one of the meals and he and two other prisoners dug under the prison wall. The floor was dirt.

During the days they filled the hole back up and one of them would sit on it so they never got caught. It took several days to dig out. The dark night they finally made it they crawled out in pitch darkness. They had no directions and did not know which direction to go. The other two men crawled back in the prison and filled the hole. Grandpa decided he would go for it.

He traveled by 'night and slept in barns and straw stacks by day. One morning he awoke in the same barn he'd slept in three nights before. He was tired and hungry and decided to give himself up. He went to the house and told them who he was. It so happened that they were Northern Sympathizers. They fed him a big meal and told him how to get back to his outfit, which he managed to do. (Roberson Family Stories August 2006-Remembered and written by: Jack Roger Roberson, b. 1931)

Other family memories of Fielding:
Grandma Wanda Remembers when she was 3 years old, her mother, Edna, was canning pears in the yard. Uncle Grover came in a wagon and took her to visit her Grandpa Fielding . She was his favorite grandchild. She remembers his very wet kiss.

Fielding came home one day and found their log cabin home on fire. He went into the house put on his coonskin cap and walked out of the house. That was the only thing that survived the fire. Grandma Wanda remembers playing with that hat as a child until there was nothing left of it.

Fielding ROBERSON (1838-1924) and Mary Ann DENBO (1857-1916) marker, Hamilton Cemetery, CRAWFORD, Indiana