Escape by the seat of his pants

This morning, I had an interview with Bob Williams, a local developer building condos at the corner of Main Street and General Washburn's Escape Alley in downtown Memphis.

Now, I've passed by General Washburn's Escape Alley several times -- especially when I lived downtown on the bluffs -- but I'd never had the time (or a reason) to look up its history. This morning, I had no choice: I had to get exact street information to my map designer ASAP. So I started poking around.

From what I can piece together from this site and this site, General Washburn was a Civil War leader who brought Union troops to Memphis in 1864. Nathan Bedford Forrest retaliated, leading over 2,000 Confederate troops here. Washburn and a few other men fled under the cover of darkness -- with Washburn in his nightshirt. Forrest then captured Washburn's pants, which he kept until the two reached a truce much later.

Poor guy. I mean, I've lived through my share of embarrassing moments ... but I've never had a street named after the location where my sworn enemy stole my pants. :-P