Thomas E. Rose

Thomas Ellwood Rose (1830-1907) was an American Brevet Brigadier General during the American Civil War. He commanded the 77th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment who participated through the Chickamauga campaign and the Atlanta campaign. After being captured at the Battle of Chickamauga, he was detained at Libby Prison but Rose managed to be the ultimate mastermind behind the Libby Prison escape using simple and meager tools to dig a tunnel through the prison.

Early years Rose was born at Bucks County, Pennsylvania on March 12, 1830, and spent his early years educating himself across several schools and academies with the help of his father. As a child, Rose took interest in military history and geography as he could recount many famous battles, the geography descriptions of the battlefields as well as the uniforms the soldiers wore. Rose was then offered a commission to command Company I as its captain and he agreed, becoming so on October 28, 1861. Rose first saw active combat at the Battle of Stones River where the previous commander, Peter B. Housum, was killed and Rose lead the 77th Pennsylvania throughout the rest of the battle. When Union command began to collapse during the battle, Rose and the 77th Pennsylvania held their positions and managed to hold the Confederates off.

Libby Prison

Rose was determined to not spend his final days of the war there and began devising ways to escape due to the extremely poor living conditions there such as no beds, sparse rations and the temperature constantly being cold there. Rose was brevetted Major and Lieutenant Colonel on March 2, 1867, and was promoted to Major on April 2, 1892, before retiring on April 23, 1894.