The Escape of Enoch Vance
Some Incidents in the Life of a Governor
from The Daily Gazette, May 17, 1873
A correspondent of the Helena Shield relates with more or less accuracy some incidents in the career of Gov. Baxter, which at this day appear quite romantic. Of course the account is colored by a personal or political bias to some extent, which each reader in our state will be able to correct from his own observation and recollection of the events as they occurred. The change from a pallet in the common jail of Little Rock to the executive chair of the state, in so short a time, is a lesson that can be profitably studied by those who are prone to despondency, or take a gloomy and hopeless view of present political surroundings. To all who are thus disposed, we say be of good cheer.
Premising that the correspondent relates the arrest of Mr. Baxter under orders from Gen. Hindman, to “take him dead or alive,” the correspondent proceeds.
He was taken to Little Rock, incarcerated in a filthy prison, where he remained five months [he was actually in prison from May 1 to August 25 per Forward from Rebellion by John I. Smith] without a change of linen, and was, on the 25th of August, to be led out to execution, as he believed, when, on the morning of that day, Mrs. Vance, the wife of the heroic Capt. Enoch Vance, also in prison for his political views, obtained the keys and turned them out. He (B.) visited in company with your correspondent, a newspaperman, in prison showed him the cell where he spent the long and gloomy days of his imprisonment, where he kept a chisel and other tools that he vainly thought he could work his way out with through a heavy brick wall. On the evening before his liberation by the Christian wife of his friend in trepidation and sorrow, he received a notification to be ready at 8 o’clock next morning for “marching orders,” he not knowing whether the “march” was to be to the scaffold or to the ground where his manner of men were killed by the minie ball, as he had studied carefully the bill of indictment preferred against him for “treason to the confederate states,” which, he says, was carefully drawn up. At the time (about 7 o’clock in the morning) Mrs. Vance turned the key of the door of the dungeon that contained her husband and the now governor of Arkansas, he was standing before a bit of broken glass hung upon the wall, looking upon himself, as he thought, for the last time. When the door was thrown open he and Vance were simply motioned to pass out—not a word was spoken! Deliverance seemed to be at hand. They passed out, walked quietly but of course nervously up a public street, separated after going two or three squares—Baxter going southwest and Vance going south. Baxter passed through or near a camp of confederate soldiers, but being dressed so much like them or a poor, honest countryman, he was not molested, and made for a dense forest, about a mile distant, where he concealed himself and remained during the day. He says that several times during the day detachments of confederate cavalry passed near him—within thirty or forty feet—in hot pursuit of the “traitor.” But Baxter “laid low” (as any prudent man would under the circumstances) until the shades of evening came on and the tramp of cavalry horses was not heard, when he emerged from his hiding place, cautiously winded his way around the mountain near by, hungry and bewildered, and, about daylight, found himself in a small cornfield, near the bank of the Arkansas river, and about a mile and a half above town. Here he remained for sixteen days, subsisting on green corn, which he had to eat raw, and without salt, for he dared not make a fire, for the smoke might divulge his temporary place of concealment.
The long, weary and, to him, gloomy days of the latter part of August and early September of 1863, passed slowly away. On the evening of the 9th of September he heard, while sitting by a tree, trying to dry his clothing and warm his emaciated body, rapid and incessant firing below the city, which gave him hopes that succor might be at hand, for he had received information before he escaped from prison that the heroic Steele, who left Helena on the 16th of August, was marching upon Little Rock. With that solicitude that would be natural to any of us under the circumstances, he prayed and hoped for deliverance. When the night closed in—not knowing how the battle went—he went to his bed between the corn rows, thinking of his beloved wife and the little ones at home, which he had almost given up all hope of ever seeing again. Early on the morning of the 10th, he emerged from his primitive couch, dispirited, and during the day he watched, from a safe hiding-place in the field, the passers-by—there being a road between the field and the river. About 2 o’clock he saw a colored man walking up the road whom he determined to hail, as his situation had become desperate. After a few words the colored man got over the fence, went with Baxter to a secluded place in the corn, and, there, with that characteristic kindness of heart of the negro race, he shared with him, or rather laid before the poor, starved, persecuted man, a haversack of good, substantial food, consisting of corn, bread and mess pork. Baxter says he would be ashamed to tell how much he did eat, but after his first meal for sixteen days was finished his benefactor left him, promising to return and tell him if deliverance was at hand. But from some cause he failed to come back. Baxter spent another night in the corn rows, uncertain as to the result of the conflict. On the 11th he noticed some troops encamped across the river, who seemed to be enjoying themselves, and he thought their uniform was blue. This gave him encouragement. He ventured to the water’s edge and asked if they were union troops. On being answered in the affirmative, he fell upon his knees and thanked God for his deliverance.
Learning that on the day before, the memorable 10th of September, 1863, Steele, with his victorious army had taken possession of Little Rock, he determined to try and make his way down to the city; and after three or four hours hard struggling, with one foot bare, and his apparel dilapidated and dirty by six months wear, reached the corner of Main and Markham streets, where he fell from sheer exhaustion; was carried to Steele’s headquarters, afterwards restored to his family, and is now the ruler of five hundred thousand people, with a record that is unblemished, and a heart that is without guile.
Elisha Baxter was born in Rutherford County, Tennessee, on September 1, 1827. He received a limited education, and procured an appointment to West Point, but declined, upon his father's insistence. In 1852, he moved to Arkansas, where he opened a mercantile business, which later went bankrupt. Baxter studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1856. He was elected to the Arkansas Senate, serving from 1854 to 1856, and 1858 to 1860.
At the outbreak of the American Civil War, Baxter, refusing to fight, fled to Missouri, was captured by Confederate General John Marmaduke in southeast Missouri and returned to Little Rock by Colonel R. C. Newton. Newton and Baxter then became friends. Newton, whose family had been Whigs, paroled Baxter on his promise to go to Little Rock and report to the Confederate General Theophilus Holmes, who had succeeded Hindman. Newton never expected his friend to fulfill his promise, but Baxter faithfully reported to Little Rock, where his new captors marched him down the streets as a prisoner. Baxter was imprisoned but never tried. In later years, he said he never felt that the Confederates wanted to bring him to trial. However, he did feel he would be shot had he not escaped. He escaped and reached Union lines, deciding to fight for the Union and General Steele authorized him to return to Batesville, Arkansas, to recruit and command the 4th Arkansas Mounted Infantry. Baxter complied but his forces were disbanded in the summer of 1864.
Being bitter toward some of the Confederates due to his imprisonment, Baxter filed suit against those who had imprisoned him, but their defense that they were acting on behalf of the Confederate government was upheld. Baxter expressed in a letter to Governor Isaac Murphy April 12, 1867, his strong views against the rebels and recommended making his fellow prisoner, Enoch Vance, governor under the military district bills; however, Vance was never governor of Arkansas.
In 1864, he was appointed chief justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court, and in 1868, served on the bench of the Third Circuit Court until 1872. Baxter ran and won the popular vote in the 1872 gubernatorial election against Joseph Brooks. Brooks contested the election, but the legislature favored Baxter. On January 6, 1873, Baxter was sworn into office as Arkansas's 10th governor. During his term, he proposed reform and an amendment to reenfranchise whites. He opposed railroad bonds and refused to issue any more. This caused tremendous difficulty for Baxter and resulted in Brooks' party's desertion and the Supreme Court's ruling that he had won the election. Brooks seized the governor's office and an appeal was sent to President U. S. Grant to settle the dispute. President Grant assigned the dispute to the Arkansas Legislature, which sided for Baxter and called for a special convention. A new constitution was formed, which resulted in the vacating of all state offices and the shortening of Baxter's term from four years to two. Baxter left office on November 12, 1874, declining the 1874 Democratic nomination.
He ran unsuccessfully for the Arkansas Legislature in 1878, and returned to his farm near Batesville. Baxter practiced law until his death on May 31, 1899. He is buried at the Oak Lawn Cemetery, Batesville, Arkansas.
Why would this writer be interested in this newspaper clipping and biography of Governor Baxter? The Enoch and Mrs. Vance were my great-great-grandparents.
From Enoch’s request for a disability pension from the Union Army:
War Department, Adjutant General’s Office, Washington, June 14, 1884
Respectfully returned to the Commissioner of Pensions.
Enoch H. Vance, a Sergeant of Company “G,” 8th Regiment Missouri Cavalry Volunteers, was enrolled on the 7th day of August 1862, at Springfield, Mo, for 3 years, and is reported on Rolls of Company from enrollment to December 31, 1862. Absent Jan and Feb 1863, absent, taken prisoner in Jan 1863 near Ozark, Ark on the Arkansas River and is now confined in Little Rock, Ark. And so home to August 31, 1863. Sept. and Oct 1863 absent detached on recruiting service by order of Maj. Genl. Steele since October 1863. Nov and Dec 1863. Discharged by order of Gen Steele Dec 12, 1863 for promotion Mo Roll of Co dated July 20, 1865 same report.
This verifies Enoch Vance’s imprisonment. This family legend has been passed down through the generations—sometimes with slight variances.
One of Enoch’s great-grandsons, Thaddeus Blair Vance wrote January 1989:
My great grandfather, Enoch Harvey Vance, Sr., was born probably at Huntsville, Madison County, Alabama, and he married Lucinda Massey of Pontotoc County, Mississippi….Enoch ran away from the Sheridan [Sheridan was not established until after the Civil War] community and to join the Missouri Cavalry. He fought with the 8th Missouri Calvary and against the Confederate States of America. Enoch was captured and thrown in jail in Little Rock, charged with treason against the Confederate States of America. Enoch was tried and convicted in the court of Old Dan Ringo, and under the seal of Ringo’s court. My father, Thaddeus Benham Vance had the original sentence with old Ringo’s seal [the family can no longer find this]….
Old Grandma Massey, Lucinda’s mother and Enoch’s mother-in-law obtained a servant’s job in the home of the Sheriff, learned the habit of the sheriff to return home from the jail for breakfast, hang his hat in an entrance hall with the keys of the jail on the nail beneath his hat. She stole the keys to the jail and let out both Enoch and a Mr. Baxter, who later became the Governor of Arkansas. [Enoch and Lucinda divorced sometime between 1854 and 1855 as he married my great-great-grandmother Susan(ah) Lawhorn on May 15, 1855; therefore, the reference to Lucinda and her mother must be incorrect.]
SOURCES:
The Daily Gazette, May 17, 1873
Arkansas Encyclopedia, Arkansas History & Resources from the Natural State website: http://www.anythingarkansas.com/arkapedia/pedia/bbb.html
Forward from Rebellion, Reconstruction and Revolution in Arkansas 1868-1874, John I. Smith, Rose Publishing Co., Little Rock, Arkansas
Thaddeus Blair Vance Papers
Jefferson County, Arkansas, County Clerk, Marriage Records
(The above was written by me and printed in the August 2006 The Melting Pot periodical.