AN 
 
 ACCOUNT 
 
 OF THE ASSASSINATION OF 
 
 LOYAL CITIZENS 
 
 OF 
 
 NORTH CAROLINA 
 
 FOR 
 
 HAVING SERVED IN THE UNION ARMY 
 
 WHICH TOOK PLACE AT KINGSTON 
 
 IN THE MONTHS 
 
 OF FEBRUARY AND MARCH 1864 
 
 BY 
 
 RUSH C. HAV/KINS 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 MDCCCLXXXXVII 
 
'J? '> ^) i\ 
 
 ^'"^ 
 
 V>? 
 
EXPLANATORY. 
 
 THE following account of an atrocious crime was written 
 thirty-one years ago, at a time when all the incidental facts 
 attending and preceding it were fresh in my mind. It would 
 be diificult to state the exact why it was written. But prob- 
 ably because there had to be a vent for an outward pressure 
 of suppressed indignation which could not be controlled. An 
 wanton and cruel assassination of twenty-two perfectly inno- 
 cent men had been perpetrated, practically, by the order of 
 an inhuman monster who had been placed beyond the reach of 
 the power to punish, by the operation of an entirely unneces- 
 sary compact, flowing from the final defeat of the rebel army. 
 From no standpoint either of politics, policy or human- 
 ity, could the terms, in their entirety, granted at the time of 
 the surrender be defended. 
 
 Holding myself, though unwittingly, responsible for 
 placing these murdered victims in a position which caused 
 them to be assassinated; indignant that their murderer, by an 
 untoward blunder, had been placed beyond the reach of the 
 infliction of a just punishment, my grief and chagrin knew no 
 bounds. These feelings had burned within me until the 
 oppression of silence was too much to bear, and under the 
 full glow of feverish heat, this narrative was written; and 
 now, thirty years and more since it was penned, I am not dis- 
 posed to change a single word or phrase save in the interest of 
 better expression. 
 
 I believe to-day as I did thirty-two years ago, that 
 
General Grant's terms at Appomatox, were unnecessarily 
 lenient and under the circumstances, uncalled for ; not in re- 
 gard to the rank and file, but for including the leaders who 
 were largely responsible for a perfectly causeless, useless and 
 merciless (at least on one side) war. 
 
 In 1870 Henry B. Dawson, a well known writer and 
 publisher of out-of-the-way incidents relating to American 
 history, had planned to publish a series of such incidents 
 growing out of the rebellion. The copy now used was made 
 for him, has remained unseen for upwards of a quarter of a 
 century and is now permitted to come to the surface — because 
 a friend of sound judgment who heard a part of it read, re- 
 gards it as a contribution to history of sufficient importance 
 to be preserved. 
 
 R. C. H. 
 
 New York, December i, 1897. 
 
Letter to Mr. Dawson. 
 
 Henry B. Dawson, Esq., 
 
 My Dear Sir : 
 
 The accompanying paper relating to the execution 
 of loyal North Carolina soldiers by the order of the rebel 
 General Pickett, was written early in the year 1867, during 
 the infamous administration of Andrew Johnson. Those who 
 read it will naturally come to the conclusion that my feelings 
 were strongly enlisted, and that some of my expressions are 
 more remarkable for strength than either good taste or 
 elegance. 
 
 I have never been a convert to the policy of our Govern- 
 ment, relating to the rebels after they were compelled to 
 surrender. The consequence of their acts cost the National 
 Government nearly seven billions of money, the States nearly 
 as much more and entailed a loss to of about three hundred 
 and fifty thousand of valuable lives ; besides grief, poverty 
 and individual suffering which it is impossible to estimate; 
 and yet, up to this time the men who brought about this 
 great loss of life and untold misery to thousands of house- 
 holds, have escaped all punishment, and a majority of them, 
 no doubt, feel that they are at liberty as soon as they regain 
 sufficient strength, to undertake another rebellion. 
 
 I have yet to learn of any good results to the Nation, in 
 consequence of this indiscriminate, senseless and unprecedent- 
 
 K 
 
ed pardoning of rebels. On the contrary it has led them to be- 
 lieve that our respect for their individual superiority and 
 bravery, has caused us to sheath the sword of justice which 
 should have fallen upon many of their necks ; nor have I been 
 able to ascertain that there is any more liberty of speech, or 
 protection for person or property in the rebel States to-day 
 than there was in 1861. In many districts, I believe th^t the 
 hatred against the Northern people is greater than ever, and 
 the open expression of it more violent. If the truth of this 
 statement in relation to present conditions in the South is 
 admitted, then we may inquire what good has been accom- 
 plished by the exercise of this uncalled-for and unusual 
 clemency? 
 
 Yours faithfully, 
 
 Rush C. Hawkins. 
 N. Y., November i, 1870. 
 
IN the month of February, 1862, I was placed by Gen'l 
 Burnside in command at Roanoke Island, North Carolina. 
 This gave me control of the towns on the Albemarle, Croatan 
 and Carratuck Sounds, and also those on the Roanoke, Chow- 
 an, Columbia, Hertford and Pasquotank Rivers. Lieut. -Com- 
 mander Charles W. Flusser, U. S. Navy, originally from Mary- 
 land, was left in command of the naval division in those waters. 
 Soon after assuming control of my district, 1 ascertained that 
 there were among the non-slaveholding population, many 
 who professed sentiments of loyalty to the Union, and that 
 they had expressed a determination never to serve in the ranks 
 of the rebel army. In fact, so strong were their expressions 
 of loyalty that Lieut. -Commander Flusser became deeply 
 impressed with their truthfulness and sincerity, and con- 
 stantly urged upon me the importance of enlisting these 
 unionists in the cause of their country; and the more exten- 
 sive his intercourse with them, the more he became convinced 
 that nearly all of the non-slaveholding inhabitants of certain 
 parts of my district were still devoted to the old Govern- 
 ment. He found that many of them had successfully resisted 
 rebel conscription, and had never given their allegiance to the 
 rebel cause. Very few of them were interested in slavery, 
 and consequently had no reason for aiding the rebellion. 
 They worked in their fields in parties, with arms near at 
 
8 
 
 hand, during the day, and at night resorted to the swamps for 
 shelter against conscripting parties of rebel soldiers; and by 
 thus constantly being on the alert succeeded in rendering un- 
 availing all efforts of the rebels to force them into the ranks of 
 their army. 
 
 In several interviews which I had with Lieut. -Com- 
 mander Flusser, he urged me to occupy the town of Plymouth, 
 and to organize the Union men of that vicinity into a regi- 
 ment of soldiers. In a letter to me of May 28, 1862, he said: 
 "There is nothing new of interest except a very strong 
 expression of Union sentiment. We will miss the golden 
 opportunity if we do not promptly send small detachments of 
 men to the towns on the Sound and arm the loyal people. 
 They are eager to be enlisted, and we seem to be indifferent 
 — apathetic." 
 
 "It must be by the act of the people of a State that 
 that State shall be brought back to its allegiance. Then it 
 seems to me to be the part of wisdom to foster and encour- 
 age the feeling, and expression of the feeling of loyalty 
 whenever found, and to the utmost of our power." 
 
 " If I had 350 or 400 muskets, with ammunition, I 
 could soon find Union-loving men to take them and use them 
 well in our cause." 
 
 In a letter dated June 2, 1862, to General Burnside, I 
 wrote : 
 
 " Lieut. -Commander Flusser is exceedingly anxious to 
 put arms in the hands of the Union citizens of Washington 
 
County. He says he can raise 350 men in a very short time. 
 I shall go to Plymouth on Wednesday and see for myself, and 
 if I think there are competent leaders who can be trusted, 1 
 will supply them with arms and ammunition, unless you 
 should otherwise order." 
 
 Previous to this communication I had had several con- 
 versations with General Burnside in relation to this matter; 
 and the final result was that he placed the details of forming 
 a North Carolina Union regiment in my hands, and gave me 
 full power to do whatever I might deem best for the interests 
 of the service. 
 
 Word was sent to Commander Flusser to notify the 
 Union citizens to be present at Plymouth a certain day, when 
 Commodore Rowan and myself would meet them for the 
 purpose of ascertaining the extent of existing Union sentiment, 
 and to see to what use, if any, this sentiment might be put 
 for the public service. And accordingly, upon the day fixed, 
 we met some two hundred and fifty Union men, and a free 
 interchange of views in relation to the affairs of the country 
 took place ; patriotic addresses were made by Commodore 
 Rowan and myself, eliciting the most hearty approval from 
 nearly all present. 
 
 Many questions were asked and answered; but there 
 was evidently one matter of great concern with them. The 
 anxiety of these loyal North Carolinians seemed to hinge upon 
 one point, and that was, ' ' What will become of us in case we 
 are captured by the rebels ? " We assured them that the Govern- 
 
ment of the United States would protect them and their families to 
 the last extreme ; and that the Southern men who placed themselves 
 under the protection of the flag ivould, by fighting in the ranks of 
 our army and upholding the authority of the couuiry, be looked upon 
 as special wards of the Government j and that any outrage perpe- 
 trated upofi them, or upon their families would be severely ptmished. 
 This, to them the all-important point, being settled to their 
 satisfaction, they expressed their willingness to become sol- 
 diers in the ranks of the Union army. An enlistment roll was 
 accordingly made out, and about one hundred men signed their 
 names at once for service in the army of their country. 
 Others returned to their homes to confer with their families 
 and embrace them, perhaps for the last time, and with re- 
 newed confidence they returned to join their companions in 
 arms. 
 
 To me this was one of the most solemn and interesting 
 occasions I had thus far witnessed in the public service. The 
 confiding simplicity and earnestness of these humble, unedu- 
 cated people, made a deep impression upon me. Patriotism 
 in the North, at that time, was one thing, while loyalty to the 
 flag in the South was quite another. In the Free States, every- 
 where unless perhaps in New York City, it was an easy matter 
 to be loyal and to talk and act in accordance with ideas 
 of patriotic devotion to duty ; but in the South, even to 
 breathe one word in favor of the old Government, or to do 
 a single act which might awaken a suspicion that one was 
 not committed body and soul for the success of the rebel 
 cause, might bring the infliction of every kind of fiendish 
 
insult and outrage, from which neither age nor sex was ever 
 spared. Yet these "poor whites," as they were called by the 
 planters, living in the swamps of North Carolina, oppressed, 
 unprotected, braved all; exhibiting the highest order of cour- 
 age, patriotism and devotion to the cause of their country ; 
 remaining true in the midst of the false, and faithful when all 
 around were faithless. 
 
 Out of the North Carolinians who had thus offered for 
 service, the "First North Carolina Volunteers" was 
 assembled at Plymouth and placed under the command of 
 Captain W. H. Hammill, of my regiment, for instruction 
 and discipline. I continued in control of enlistments and 
 formation until July lo, 1862, when General Burnside, with 
 the Coast Division, of which my command was a part, 
 was ordered to join the Army of the Potomac, and I heard 
 nothing more of our North Carolinian soldiers until the spring 
 of 1864. But during this time it is certain that from the 
 beginning, which we have thus described, two regiments of 
 loyal North Carolinians, trusting to our word and promise as 
 officers of the United States service, had come into existence. 
 
 With these preliminary remarks the reader will clearly 
 comprehend the narration of facts which aWto follow. 
 
 On the I St of February, 1864, a large rebel force under 
 the command of Major General G. E. Pickett, a native of 
 Virginia and a graduate of West Point, made an advance 
 upon Newbern, N. C, and after destroying the gunboat 
 Underwriter, burning a bridge or two and capturing a con- 
 
siderable number of prisoners, they withdrew to the town of 
 Kingston, some twenty miles off, where a halt was made and 
 General Pickett's headquarters established. It was soon ascer- 
 tained by the rebel commander that among the prisoners 
 captured, there were several natives of North Carolina, who 
 had enlisted in our service. This, in his opinion, was the 
 most unpardonable of crimes, and deserving of speedy and 
 cruel punishment. Accordingly, a court martial was con- 
 vened, which was composed of Virginians, and these un- 
 fortunnte North Carolinians, guilty of no other offense than 
 loyalty to their Government, were placed upon trial — a per- 
 fect mockery of all justice — on the charge of deserting from 
 the rebel cause and entering the service of the United 
 States. It is needless to say that a large number of them 
 were condemned and sentenced to be hung, as will appear 
 from the action of the Union General Ruger, commanding the 
 district of Eastern North Carolina, who, learning of these out- 
 rages, ordered a board of officers " to inquire into and report 
 the facts concerning the murder of United States soldiers at 
 Kingston, N. C, by the rebels during the winter and spring 
 of 1864." This Board, during their several sittings, examined 
 some twenty-eight witnesses, and finally rendered a report 
 which tells a plain story. In brief, that twenty-two of these 
 loyal North Carolinians were convicted of and executed for 
 constructive desertion. A few extracts from it will show how 
 trials involving the death sentence were wa;/ao-^^ under rebel 
 rule. 
 
13 
 
 Extracts from the Report of the Board. 
 
 General: 
 
 ******* 
 There was a large number of Union soldiers hung at 
 Kingston, N. C, by the rebels during the months of February 
 and March, 1864. There is a discrepancy as to the number of 
 men executed, but the testimony is substantially as follows, 
 viz. : 
 
 "The rebels executed twenty-three or twenty-four 
 men, said to have been United States soldiers, at Kingston, 
 N. C. Two men were hung first, thirteen next and five 
 lastly." [Testimony of Josiah Wood.] Other evidence 
 shows that twenty-two United States soldiers have been 
 hung; two at first were executed together, afterwards 
 thirteen and lastly seven [testimony of W. F. Huggins]. All 
 the testimony agrees that there were three separate execu- 
 tions; also that the number hung at the first two executions 
 were two and thirteen, and, in the opinion of the Board, 
 seven is the number of those who were the victims of the 
 last execution, which gives a total of twenty-two. 
 
 The first of these executions took place between the 
 ist and 15th of February, 1864; the second, the 15th of Feb- 
 ruary, 1864; and the last one in the month of March, 1864. 
 ******* 
 The following list of names includes all the enlisted 
 men of the Second North Carolina Volunteers believed to 
 have been hung by the rebels, viz. : W. D. Haddock, William 
 
14 
 
 Jones, William H. Dougherty, John I. Brock, John Freeman, 
 Mitchell Busick, Wm. L. Bryan, Wm. Irvine, Wm. I. Hill, 
 Lewis Taylor, Calvin I. Haigman, Jesse L. Lummerlin, Joseph 
 Brock, Andrew I. Britton, Stephen Jones, Elijah Kellum, John 
 Stanley, Lewis Freeman, Amos Aymlett, David Jones, Charles 
 Cotterell and Joseph Hackett. 
 
 * * * ?v * * * 
 
 After the capture of these men at Beechgrove, N. C, 
 they were confined in the Court House at Kingston until they 
 were removed to the dungeon of the old jail, where they 
 remained until they were executed under the most cruel and 
 debasing treatment, and were rescued from starvation only by 
 their friends supplying them with food. Nor did the out- 
 rages perpetrated upon the victims of this wholesale slaughter 
 cease with cruel treatment or death itself Their dead bodies 
 were stripped of their clothing almost or quite to a state of 
 nudity, to be contemptuously left for their relatives to gather 
 up and inter, delivered to experimenting surgery like common 
 felons, or scooped into a common grave at the foot of the 
 gallows, while their families were insulted, robbed of their 
 property and left to depend upon the charity of friends (while 
 those who defended them were themselves in danger), or to 
 suffer for mere subsistence. 
 
 The testimony of J. H. Nethercutt proves conclusively 
 that these men belonged to the local North Carolina service, 
 and that they never had been Confederate soldiers; therefore, 
 in the opinion of the Board, a Confederate States court mar- 
 tial had no jurisdiction over them; and, further, the court 
 
15 
 
 martial virtually acknowledged its incapacity in the case of 
 Clinton Cox, who was arraigned upon the same charge, but 
 who, it appears, was saved from the fate of the others by the 
 testimony of Capt. G. W. Cox (of a local N. C. company), 
 which was to the effect that Clinton Cox had belonged to his 
 company, but that he had not deserted, because he did not 
 consider leaving a local company to be desertion from the 
 Confederate service. Witnesses and counsel were denied to 
 the other men, and they were hung; while their cases were 
 parallel or as aggravated. It is the opinion of the Board that 
 further investigation would prove that Elijah Kellum never 
 had been in the local or Confederate service, but that he was 
 fraudulently reported as conscripted by a Captain Wilson of 
 Jones Co., N. C, enrolling officer in the rebel service. 
 * * * * * * * 
 
 The rebel General Pickett was in command of the De- 
 partment of Eastern North Carolina, and approved the sen- 
 tence of death passed by the court martial and ordered the 
 execution of these United States soldiers; Gen. Hoke in 
 command at Kingston, N. C, was charged with the execu- 
 tion, aided by Pickett's Provost Guard and several volunteer 
 hangmen, one of whom was known as Blunt King of Gold- 
 borough, N. C. The person who hung the thirteen is known 
 as a tall dark-complexioned man with a cross or squint eye — 
 a resident of Raleigh; his name the Board has been unable 
 to learn. The proof of the unparalled barbarities of the 
 last two men above mentioned is very positive and abundant. 
 
 The object of this sacrifice of human life, perpetrated 
 
i6 
 
 by rebel officers, was, in the opinion of the Board, to terrify 
 the loyal people of North Carolina; to make them subservient 
 to the scheme of rebellion, and to bring contempt upon the 
 Government its victims represented. The way the bodies of 
 these murdered men were treated; the contempt shown to the 
 persons and property of the widows; also the contemptuous 
 language with reference to the uniform of the United States 
 used by Gen. R. F. Hoke in appealing to the pride and sensi- 
 bilities of Bryan McCullum, is sufficient evidence that they 
 were determined to take the lives of these men for the pur- 
 pose of intimidation, which is further evident from the fact 
 that they were refused either counsel or the taking of testi- 
 mony favorable to them. It appears that those who volun- 
 teered to put these men to death were actuated by a spirit of 
 fiendish thirst for blood. Those directly implicated in the 
 execution were, viz. : 
 
 "The court martial, of which the Board are unable to 
 learn the names of the members; the rebel General Pickett, 
 who ordered the execution; the rebel General R. F. Hoke, 
 who performed the execution; Colonel Boker, who robbed 
 and persecuted their widows; Blunt King and another volun- 
 teer hangman unknown. * * * 
 
 "It is the opinion of the Board that these men have 
 violated the rules of war and every principle of humanity, 
 and are guilty of crime too heinous to be excused by the 
 Government of the United States; and therefore there should 
 be a Military Commission immediately appointed for the trial 
 of these men and to inflict upon the perpetrators of such 
 
17 
 
 crimes their just punishment. 
 
 m ^tf 'fit 4f 
 
 (Signed) W. H. Doherty, Capt. and A. CL M., 
 
 President of the Board. 
 Burton S. Mills, Capt. 14th U. S. C. A. (Heavy). 
 Jonathan Hopkins, 2d Lieut. U. S. C. A. (Heavy), 
 Recorder to Brevet Major-Gen. Ruger, 
 
 Raleigh, N. C. 
 
 Brief extracts from the testimony of some of the wit- 
 nesses will throw additional light upon some of the facts and 
 conclusions set forth in the report. The widow of Jesse 
 Summerlin, one of the victims, testifies: — 
 
 "That she was only allowed to see her husband in his 
 dungeon the day before his murder and a short time before 
 he went to the scaffold. When the dead body of her hus- 
 band was handed over to her by the Sheriff, it had been 
 stripped of all but pantaloons. She carried it home, got a 
 coffin, and buried it. Some time after, Colonel Baker, of the 
 rebel army, visited her house, took away her horse, all her 
 provisions, and left her with five children in destitute circum- 
 stances." 
 
 The widow of William Jones "saw her husband in 
 jail the evening before he was hung; could not take his body 
 home for want of a conveyance. At first the Union men 
 were afraid to help her, and the rebels cursed her; said 'it 
 was too good for him.' She sent her boy of 15 and her 
 nephew of 17 years to bring home the body. They searched 
 
1 8 
 
 for a long time, and at last found it in an old loft in charge of 
 a sergeant and guard, who at first refused to give it up, but 
 at last the surgeon gave it to them. It was stripped of all 
 covering except socks; this was a week after the execution. 
 The son took the body home and buried it. She was obliged 
 to walk five miles; has five children and no home." 
 
 The widow of John Brock "saw her husband one 
 week before he was executed; he was confined in the dun- 
 geon of the jail; he told me he only got one cracker a day, 
 and all the other prisoners said they only got one cracker a 
 day each. She fed her husband and the others, or they would 
 have starved. Her husband's body, when delivered to her, 
 had been stripped of the most of its clothes." 
 
 J. H. Nethercutt testified: "these men were members of 
 my local battalion and were consolidated into the 66th N. C. 
 rebel troops. These men who were in this command never 
 consented to the change, were greatly dissatisfied with it, 
 never appeared at the muster of said regiment, never an- 
 swered to their names, nor were in any way active members. 
 The men complained that they were unfairly dealt with. 
 Witness believes that these men were not in sy?npathy with the 
 rebellion, and wanted to get away from the rebel ranks, using 
 the change of service as a pretext; witness asked Hoke to 
 reprieve these men; Hoke said he had orders to hang them 
 and he would do so." 
 
 Mr. Wm. F. Huggins "knew Elijah Kellum, a man of 
 deformed body and broken constitution. I knew he never 
 was received in any rebel regiment, a?id believe he never was a 
 
19 
 
 soldier ; no mustering officer would receive him." 
 
 James B. Wells "was present at the court martial that 
 condemned William Haddock. His sister, Mrs. McCullum, 
 requested him to accompany her there, as she was trying 
 to get a summons for a witness to free her brother." All was 
 refused by the court, and neither counsel nor witnesses for the 
 prisoners were admitted.''' 
 
 Mr. G. W. Cox "went to the court to bear testi- 
 mony in favor of Clinton Cox, v/ho was among the prisoners, 
 and had been a member of the bridge guard, and who 
 was judged not guilty of desertion, but was detained a prisoner 
 by the rebels, a?td died in prison j thinks the court was composed of 
 Virginians from Pickett's division. 
 
 Mr. Bryan McCullom " went to see Gen. Hoke be- 
 foee the execution, and asked for an order for the body of 
 his brother-in-law, in order to bury it. Hoke inquired if he 
 wanted to bury him in a Yankee uniform. He replied that he 
 did. Hoke then expressed surprise that so respectable a man 
 would bury his brother-in-law in a Yankee uniform." 
 
 Several witnesses testify that many of these men went 
 inside the Union lines for the double purpose of escaping 
 conscription, and of fighting against the detested and cruel 
 rebel rule. Civilians testify that they were placed in jail and 
 treated in the most cruel manner, because they were suspected 
 of entertaining Union sentiments. 
 
 The testimony throughout proves most conclusively 
 that the most of these men who were executed had never 
 
been in the rebel service; that some of them were in State 
 organizations for the purpose of doing local guard duty, and 
 that they enlisted in these local companies with the distinct 
 understanding that they were not to go out of the State. Major J. H. 
 Nethercutt, who commanded the battalion in which some of 
 these men were enrolled, says that they were consolidated into 
 the 66th N. C. rebel troops by order of the rebel Secretary of 
 War, without their cofisent. And it was understood that those 
 who should not acquiesce in the consolidation were to be 
 conscripted as soon as they were mustered out of the State 
 service. So there was no way left to escape serving in the 
 rebel army, unless they could make their way inside of the 
 Union lines. Others had never been in either State or rebel 
 military service; consequently had never committed any of- 
 fence against the laws of State or rebel government. But 
 Pickett acted upon the theory that all men ought to be hung 
 or put out of the way who were not in the ranks of the rebel 
 army." 
 
 Judge Advocate General Holt, to whom the proceedings 
 of the Board were submitted, after a careful review, in a com- 
 munication of Dec. 12, 1865, to the Secretary of War, says: 
 •'The record furnishes no evidence that the unhappy victims 
 of this outrage were not deserters, so far as an abandonment 
 of a constrained and hated service would warrant their being 
 stigmatized as such; but, on the contrary, the little evidence 
 on that point furnished by the record tends to show that they 
 were," 
 
 These men, in thus refusing, as every good citizen 
 
21 
 
 should, to aid a traitorous cause, could not have had any of 
 that ^w///" which constitutes desertion. The word desertion, in a 
 military sense, implies guilt and crime, but assuredly the aban- 
 donment of a rebel cause is neither guilt nor crime; but, on 
 the contrary, it is a merit and virtue, and ought to be so held 
 and maintained by a just government. Desertion implies that 
 the authority from which the desertion takes place has a right 
 to the deserters service, which was not the case in the present 
 instance. There are thousands of men now living who went 
 to Canada from the United States during the rebellion to avoid 
 serving in the army, and the government has never, in any 
 instance, claimed that these skulkers could be punished as 
 deserters. But if caught in the United States after they had 
 been drafted, they could have been made to serve their full 
 term of service. There can be no desertion unless the deserter 
 has been regularly mustered into some branch of the service 
 before the act of desertion takes place. 
 
 Upon the recommendation of Genl. Holt the Board 
 was required to make a "further and more minute investiga- 
 tion," which they did, and succeeded in bringing to light 
 many more very important facts. Among the witnesses ex- 
 amined was ex-Governor Z. B. Vance, of N. C, who testified 
 that— 
 
 "These troops were raised for local defence. I am 
 inclined to think the Confederate Government did not keep 
 faith with these local troops, who were found to be of little 
 benefit to the service. 
 
"I know Col. Farrabee, who raised a command for 
 local service on the Chowan River, was forced into the 
 regular service by the Confederate Government." 
 
 "1 did, at various times, make appeals to the Con- 
 federate authorities in behalf of the men of this State. These 
 men were enlisted entirely for local defense, and every effort was 
 made to transfer these organizations into the regular service 
 of the Confederacy when they were found to be worthless^ 
 
 "I myself favored transfer to the regular service where 
 it could be done without violation of good faith; but in these 
 instances of Nethercutt's battalion it was a violation of their 
 enlistment agree me nt.'' 
 
 Drury Lacy, adjutant to one of the brigades in Hoke's 
 division, testifies that ' ' they deserted before the consolidation ; 
 when they were executed \\\t consolidation had taken place," 
 
 Judge Battel, of the N. C. Supreme Court, testifies that 
 "several men from Lenoir and other localities came before 
 me, claiming that they had volunteered for 'local service,' 
 and had been taken off into the regular Confederate service by 
 General Hill. It was not pretended that they had been con- 
 scripted under a conscription law. These petitioners in every 
 instance, some twenty or thirty, I discharged on habeas corpus^ 
 on the ground that they 7iiere subject to duty only for local defence ; 
 for bridge guards and other local organizations in which they 
 had volunteered under the Confederate Act of Congress, This 
 was in the summer andfiill of 1863. I thought it a great out- 
 rage for General Hill to take them off." 
 
23 
 
 John B. Nethery, Assistant Adjutant-General in the office 
 of the Adjutant-General of the State at Raleigh, testifies that 
 he was at Kingston a few days after the execution in April, 
 and recollects that the people expressed great regret at the 
 execution, feeling that it was for a small offence. When they 
 were found to be of little use, an order was issued for their 
 transfer to the 66th Regiment. The order was considered a 
 violation of the terms of their enlistment, and opposed by the 
 men. The men were given their choice of going into the 
 66th Regiment or being mustered out and conscripted, which 
 amounted to the same thing— whipping the devil around the 
 stump. It was understood by the Confederate authorities as 
 their organized enlistment ; it was considered merely a change 
 of position on paper, as they would have been sent to the 
 regiment all the same under the Confederate conscription. 
 I think there was some objection by the State authorities. 
 The dissatisfaction of the State authorities was evinced by 
 protest. The legality of the order transferring them was 
 declared (by Judge Battel) null and void. Some were discharged 
 under writs of habeas corpus ; some were dragooned into the 
 service, and others succeeded in effecting their escape to the 
 woods. My impression is that they were not allowed to 
 return to their homes. The pressure was for men, and they 
 were compelled to go into the 66th or be discharged and con- 
 scripted on the spot into the regiment. The whole thing was 
 on paper, and ultimately meant service in the 66th anyivay. 
 
 Lieutenant-Colonel S. McD. Tate, of the 6th N. C. 
 rebel regiment, testifies to "seventy odd executions at Kings- 
 
24 
 
 ton," and says: "Well, it was a sort of general hanging 
 down there. There were so many executions that I was 
 considerably worried at having to take my men over so often, 
 as there was such deep sand. At one time I think there were 
 a dozen hung. My impression is that these men were executed 
 in the presence of Hoke's Brigade, as an examj>/e to such as 
 might be weak-kneed amon;^ the North Carolina soldiers." 
 
 QjLiestion: How many of these executions did you 
 attend } 
 
 Answer: "Three or more. They began and increased 
 until they got to be frightful. I think there were twenty odd 
 hung the first time, but I am not positive to more than twelve, 
 as I wish to be particular. In our service we shot men for 
 desertion; but for desertion to the enemy, which was a 
 higher offence, we hung them, and 1 think that is why these 
 men were hung." 
 
 John Hughes, Qjuartermaster of General Hoke's Brigade, 
 says: "1 think the court was composed of Virginians; no 
 North Carolinians or Georgians." 
 
 The rebel commander, no doubt, knew how well these 
 "Virginia gentlemen" would do their whole duty, and the 
 court was selected with special reference to devotion on the 
 part of its members to the interests of the rebel cause. 
 
 But not the least interesting of the developments 
 brought to light are those illustrating the inhumanity and 
 savage brutality of General Pickett, who seems to have been 
 a most willing tool in the hands of the rebel leaders. 
 
25 
 
 Blunt King, a private in the loth N. C. rebel troops, 
 testifies that he "heard a lieutenant say that they belonged 
 to his company." General Pickett then walked up to the 
 prisoners and said: "What are you doing here?" They 
 answered something which 1 did not hear. General Pickett 
 then said: "God damn you. 1 reckon you'll hardly go back 
 there again. You damned rascals, I'll have you shot, and all 
 the other damned rascals who desert." When I was sitting 
 on a log at the door, after the prisoners had been taken away, 
 General Pickett said: "We'll have a court martial on these 
 fellows pretty soon, and after some are shot, the rest will 
 stop deserting." I heard General Pickett say when within 
 four miles of Newbern, when we went down on the march, 
 "that every God-damned man who did not do his duty, or 
 deserted, ought to be shot or hung." 
 
 General John J. Peck, then in command of the district 
 of North Carolina, as soon as he ascertained that some of our 
 loyal N. C. troops had been captured and fallen into the hands 
 of the rebel commander, forwarded to General Pickett a copy 
 of the President's order of July 20, 1865, in which it is " or- 
 dered that for every soldier of the United States killed in 
 violation of the laws of war, a rebel soldier shall be executed, " 
 and at the same time protested against our captured soldiers 
 of the North Carolina regiments being treated otherwise than 
 as prisoners of war, and furnished a list of loyal North Caro- 
 linians then supposed to be in his hands, captured during the 
 attack upon Newbern, 
 
26 
 
 In another communication to the same officer, General 
 Peck stated that he refrained from executing a rebel soldier 
 until he should learn definitely what action had been taken by 
 General Pickett. In answer to these several communications 
 the rebel General wrote four letters, all of them showing be- 
 yond a doubt that he was not animated by a sad sense of duty 
 alone, but that he was criminally forward in taking human 
 life, and was thus aiming at the reputation of a worthy officer 
 in a rebel cause. 
 
 The people of the slave States have always claimed that 
 their special sort of civilization is far superior to that of the 
 free States; and the natives of Virginia, with its great abun- 
 dance of "First Families," assert that they, of all the South, 
 are the keystone of the noble Southern arch, which all who 
 know must admit is unique among the structures known to 
 the history of the social compact. It must be borne in mind 
 that these letters were written by an officer of high rank in 
 the rebel army, a brave soldier who was a scion of the better 
 Virginia stock, and a typical Southern gentleman. The read- 
 ing of them ought to convince the most tender-hearted, 
 among the loyal people of the North, that at least one among 
 our "erring brothers" who wanted to "depart in peace" 
 ought not to be deprived of that punishment which his crimes 
 so richly deserve ; not if every general in our army should 
 recommend it. 
 
 We give extracts from several of Pickett's letters, show- 
 ing the malignity of his disposition in the execution of these 
 men. 
 
27 
 
 " HEADauARTERS, Department of N. C, 
 
 Petersburg, Va., February 17, 1864. 
 
 General: 
 
 ******* 
 
 To your threat expressed in the following extract from 
 your communication, viz.: "Believing that this atrocity has 
 been perpetrated without your knowledge, and that you will 
 take prompt steps to disavow the violation of the usages of 
 war, and to bring the offenders to justice, I shall refrain from 
 executing a rebel soldier until I learn your action in the 
 premises." 
 
 " I have merely to say that I have in my hands, subject 
 to my orders, captured in recent operations in this depart- 
 ment, some four hundred and fifty officers and men of the 
 United States Army, and for every man you hang / will hang 
 ten of the United States Army." 
 
 G. E. Pickett, 
 Maj.-Gen, Commanding. 
 To Maj.-Gen. John J. Peck, 
 
 U. S. Army, commanding at Newbern. 
 
 Headquarters, Department of N. C., 
 
 Petersburg, Va., Feb'y 17, 1864. 
 General: 
 
 Your communication of the 13th inst. is in hand. I 
 have the honor to state that you have made a slight mistake 
 in regard to numbers; three hundred and twenty-five having 
 "fallen into (our) your hands in (our) late hasty retreat from 
 Newbern," instead of the list of fifty-three which you have 
 
28 
 
 so kindly furnished me, and which will enable me to bring to 
 justice many who have up to this time escaped their just deserts. 
 
 I herewith return you the names of those who have 
 been tried and convicted by court martial for desertion from 
 the Confederate service, and taken with arms in their hands, 
 " duly enlisted in the Second N. C. Infantry, United States 
 Army." They have been duly executed according to the law 
 and custom of war. 
 
 Your letter willy of course, prevent any mercy being shown 
 any of the remaining number, should proper and just proof be 
 brought of their having deserted the Confederate colors. 
 
 Many of these plead in extenuation that they have been 
 forced into the ranks of the Federal Government (not true). 
 Extending you my thanks for your opportune list, 
 \ remain, very respectfully, 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 G. E. Pickett, 
 Maj.-Gen. Commanding. 
 Maj.-Gen. J. J. Peck, 
 
 Commanding U. S. Forces at Newbern, N. C. 
 
 In a letter addressed to Adjt.-Gen, Cooper, of the rebel 
 army, dated Feb'y 26, 1864, this humane Major-General says: 
 
 "I hope the whole of the prisoners captured in this 
 department will be held at my disposal." 
 
 This request, if complied with, would have enabled 
 him to make good his threat of hanging "ten for one." 
 
 Let the reader mark with what fiendish gusto this 
 
29 
 
 willing butcher in the inhuman cause of slavery, this pre- 
 tended vindicator of the lav/s of warfare, contemplates a real 
 feast of cold-blooded murder! How sincerely he thanks 
 General Peck for his "opportune list"! How superfluous 
 the remark, "Your letter will, of course, prevent any mercy 
 being shown any of the remaining number," as though any 
 one acquainted with the rebel way of doing business could 
 for one moment suppose that mercy would be shown to any 
 one, once fairly in their clutches, who had been guilty of the 
 crime of loyalty to the Union cause. If any there be who 
 doubt the truth of this assertion, let them visit the thirty-five 
 thousand graves around the prison pens of the Union soldiers, 
 situated in the rebel States! 
 
 in March, 1864, the Board of Officers made a further 
 report, setting forth clearly and conclusively many important 
 facts tending to fix the guilt of these unwarrantable executions 
 upon General Pickett. They find the facts in relation to the 
 local service of these alleged deserters to be as follows : 
 
 "Aside from these two classes of troops, the so-called 
 Confederate Congress passed an act of August 21, 1861, "To 
 provide for local defence and special service," whereby certain 
 volunteer forces were organized for specific purposes, with 
 certain privileges. Their muster rolls specified that they 
 were raised under this act, setting forth distinctly the services 
 to be performed. They were not considered as being in 
 actual service for the purpose of receiving pay and subsistence, 
 except when called out by the rebel President. They were 
 
30 
 
 not to be called out until a necessity arose for their services. 
 and they were not to be required to go beyond the limits of 
 the State to which they belonged. They were expected to 
 serve when called out only so long as the emergency existed, 
 and then to return to their ordinary pursuits again." 
 
 The inference is correct that the men who composed 
 ti\ese local companies or battalions of guards were only in the 
 service of the rebel States when assembled together and 
 ordered to duty by the rebel President; and so soon as the 
 special service had been performed, they could retire to their 
 homes, and, if they saw fit, go inside the Union lines or any- 
 where else. So lo7ig as they were not in actual service they could 
 not be considered deserters. But General Pickett had no scruples 
 in that direction. 
 
 The two last paragraphs of this report set forth the 
 most important of all the conclusions of the Board. 
 
 "The evidence tends towards showing that the court 
 martial before which they were brought was a general court 
 martial ordered by General Pickett, composed principally of 
 Virginians, although there seems to have been more than one 
 court in session at the same time." 
 
 While other prominent rebels seemed to have been 
 concerned in these shameful transactions as accessories, the 
 evidence clearly shows that General Pickett was the prom- 
 inent authority under whose direction everything connected 
 with the murder of our soldiers took place ; and the Board are 
 therefore unable, from the evidence they have been able to 
 
31 
 
 collect, to fix the guilt upon any subordinate in such a 
 manner as to contain grounds sufficient for preferring personal 
 charges. 
 
 All of which is respectfully submitted. 
 
 Judge- Advocate Holt seems to have changed his mind 
 since his first communication to the Secretary of War, for in 
 another letter to the same officer, after reading the further ' 
 evidence, speaking of General Pickett, he says: 
 
 "Not only does the imperious and vaunting temper in 
 which these letters are written indicate his readiness to com- 
 mit this or any kindred atrocity, but his boastful admissions 
 that he was in command at the time, and that twenty-two 
 men had been executed, and his threat that he would retaliate 
 in proportion of ten to one by executions among the 450 
 officers and men whom, he says, * I have in my hands, and 
 subject to my order,' all tend to show that he was in respon- 
 sible command, and furnish evidence upon which it is believed 
 charges can be sustained against him." 
 
 " It is therefore recommended * * * * that charges 
 be preferred against the said G. E. Pickett, and such other 
 persons as may be shown to have been in complicity with 
 him in these murders, and their trial ordered. As a prelim- 
 inary step, it is suggested that Pickett be at once arrested and 
 held to await it, upon the evidence furnished in his corres- 
 pondence adverted to, which is deemed abundantly sufficient 
 to warrant such arrest." 
 
32 
 
 J. Holt, 
 Judge-Advocate-Genl. 
 To the Secretary of War. 
 
 Captain W. H. Doherty, one of the members of the 
 first Board of Investigation, in a letter to Judge-Advocate- 
 General Holt, says: 
 
 "I assure you that it would strengthen the hands of 
 the Government immensly, could this bad and cruel man be 
 brought to condign punishment, and our poor, murdered 
 soldiers be avenged." * * * "I thus venture to trouble 
 you, because I know you share my feelings of indignation at 
 this horrid crime, and I know that a lasting disgrace will 
 attach to the United States Government if it is permitted to 
 pass unpunished. The poor whites of the South will lose 
 confidence in the federal power if thus forsaken and their 
 murdered friends unavenged." 
 
 And again this officer, in a communication to the Sec- 
 retary of War, urges that — _ 
 
 "The authors of this inhuman murder shall be brought 
 to trial. * * * Thus only can the honor of the Govern- 
 ment be vindicated, and the cruel enemies of the Union 
 punished, and the friends of the federal authority sustained 
 and encouraged in these Southern States." 
 
 Here we have the opinion of an intelligent and earnest 
 officer who served through the rebellion, and has resided in 
 the vicinity where these outrages occurred. 
 
 Soon after these communications were received General 
 
33 
 
 Holt again urged upon the Secretary of War the importance 
 and necessity of having General Pickett arrested and brought 
 to trial. 
 
 In a communication under date of Dec. lo, 1864, to 
 the President, the Secretary of War gives his reasons why he 
 has not followed the course suggested by General Holt, which 
 are set forth in the closing paragraph of his communication, 
 and are as follows, viz.: "Taking into consideration the 
 action of the Supreme Court of the United States in the case 
 of Milligan and others, who had been tried and convicted by 
 a military commission, and the doubts cast upon the jurisdic- 
 tion of such tribunals, the Secretary of War has not felt 
 authorized to pursue the course recommended by the Judge- 
 Advocate-General until the opinion of the Supreme Court 
 should be formally promulgated The magnitude of the 
 offence alleged against Pickett is such that there should be no 
 reason to contest the jurisdiction of the tribunal to whom his 
 trial may be committed." 
 
 A more perfect and complete case of atrocious guilt 
 was never proved in any court of law than is here made out 
 against this great criminal. Testimony is multiplied to such 
 an extent that the most common understanding cannot fail to 
 identify the monster who ordered this Dahomean feast of 
 murder, fit only to disgrace the pages of barbarian history, 
 it would seem bad enough that this man should escape jus- 
 tice; but now comes his application for pardon, with the 
 much-abused oath of allegiance, all in due form, presented in 
 
34 
 
 the coolest possible manner, with the humiliating indorse- 
 ment of the highest officer in our army, urging that the 
 pardon asked for shall be granted. 
 
 For the more perfect elucidation of this case, and in 
 order that the reader may see how the highest functionaries 
 of his country are stooping from their lofty position of vindi- 
 cating authority to the degrading condition of compounding 
 with treason and taking from the basest of crimes its legiti- 
 mate sting — eradicating from the public mind all idea of the 
 possibility of crime against a free government, we give this 
 Pickett's application for pardon; the endorsement upon it by 
 our Secretary of War; Pickett's pathetic appeal to General 
 Grant, and finally General Grant's favorable endorsement 
 upon the appeal. 
 
 Pickett's Application for Pardon. 
 
 Richmond, Va., June i. i86t. 
 Sir: 
 
 I have the honor to state that your amnesty proclama- 
 tion of the 29th day of May, 1865, has just been read. I find 
 myself among the classes of persons excepted from the benefits 
 of the proclamation under exceptions third, fifth and eighth. 
 Having held the rank of major-general in the Confederate 
 States Army, resigning my position as captain United States 
 Army, and being a graduate of West Point, I write, making 
 a special application. 
 
 At the commencement of our domestic troubles 1 was 
 
stationed on the disputed island, San Juan, occupying it con- 
 jointly with the British forces, and did not leave till my 
 resignation had been sent in, and I properly relieved by the 
 commanding officer of the Department of the Pacific, and 
 leave granted me to proceed to my home, and then only 
 through the conscientious duty (as I conceived) to my mother 
 State — Virginia. Had she not have seceded, /should not have 
 been in the Confederate army, as no one was more attached 
 to the old service, nor ever stood by, and fought for it with 
 more fidelity, nor could any one have been sadder and more 
 loth to leave it than I, who from my youth had been so 
 devoted to it; and 1 now am, and have been since the sur- 
 render of General Lee (to whose army I belonged), willing 
 and ready to renew my allegiance as a loyal citizen to the 
 United States Government, and have advised and counselled 
 all men belonging to my division to return to their homes and 
 the peaceful pursuits of life; to take the oath of allegiance, and 
 observe with scrupulous truth its stipulations, and to faith- 
 fully obey the laws of their country. My wish as expressed 
 is a sincere one, and this communication addressed with the 
 hope that the liberality spoken of in the amnesty proclamation 
 may be extended to cover my case. 
 
 I have the honor to be, sir, very respectfully, 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 G. E. Pickett, 
 
 Major-General C. S, Army. 
 
36 
 
 Office of Provost Marshall, 
 
 Richmond, Va., June i6, 1865. 
 1, G. E. Pickett, of Nansemond Co., Virginia, do 
 solemnly swear or affirm in presence of Almighty God, that I 
 will henceforth faithfully support and defend the Constitution 
 of the United States, and the union of the States thereunder; 
 and that 1 will, in like manner, abide by and faithfully support 
 all laws and proclamations which have been made during the 
 existing rebellion with reference to the emancipation of slaves, 
 so help me God. 
 
 G. E. Pickett, 
 Major-General C. S. Army. 
 
 Endorsement of Stanton. 
 
 G. E. Pickett, Va. — Rebellion. 
 
 Ex-U. S. a. — Filed June 19, 1865. 
 
 The Secretary of War reports that Genl. Pickett stands 
 
 charged with the unlawful hanging of twenty-two citizens of 
 
 North Carolina, and the case is now under investigation in 
 
 North Carolina. 
 
 Edwin M. Stanton. 
 
 Pickett's Appeal to Grant. 
 
 Washington, D, C, March 12, 1866. 
 General: 
 
 1 have the honor to state that shortly after the sur- 
 render of the Confederate forces under command of Gen. R. E. 
 Lee to Gen. U. S. Grant, Commander-in-Chief United States 
 Army, in the past year, being at the time paroled by the last- 
 
37 
 
 named officer, I made a communication to his Excellency the 
 President of the United States, asking for his elemency. 
 
 The papers in the case were presented by ex-Senator 
 O. H. Browning, of Illinois, for the consideration of the 
 Executive. 
 
 They consisted of the application above referred to, the 
 required oath, a recommendation from Gov. Pierpoint, of 
 Virginia, and certain statements from officers of the Confede- 
 rate service — members of a general court-marshal — in reference 
 to the execution of a number of deserters from said service 
 while I was in command of the Department of North Carolina, 
 in 1863. 
 
 My object now, General, in presenting this paper, is 
 to ask your favorable consideration of my case, and that you 
 will, if you believe in my sincerity, for which I have pledged 
 you my honor as an officer and a gentleman, put such an 
 indorsement upon it as will obtain from his Excellency the 
 President a guarantee that I may be permitted to live un- 
 molested in my native State, where I am now trying to make 
 a subsistance for my family (much impoverished by the war), 
 by tilling the land. 
 
 It has come to my knowledge that certain evil-disposed 
 persons are attempting to re-open the troubles of the past, 
 and embroil me for the action taken by me while the com- 
 manding officer of the Confederate forces in North Carolina. 
 
 I acted simply as the general commanding the De- 
 partment. 
 
38 
 
 Certain men, deserters from a North Carolina regiment, 
 were taken with arms in their hands fighting against the 
 colors under which they had enlisted. 
 
 Charges were preferred against them, a regularly or- 
 ganized court-marshal was assembled, composed of officers 
 from North Carolina, Georgia and Virginia, before whom the 
 men were tried. The evidence in the cases being perfectly 
 unmistakeable, the men being identified by members of their 
 old regimental comrades, they were found guilty and con- 
 demned to be hung. 
 
 The sentences were approved by me, and they were 
 duly executed according to the custom of war in like cases. 
 My action was sanctioned by the then Confederate Govern- 
 ment. If the time has not arrived for the executive clemency 
 to be extended to my case (and which point I am not now 
 pressing), I merely wish some assurance that I will not be 
 disturbed in my endeavors to keep my family from starvation, 
 and that my parole, which was given in good faith, may 
 protect me from the assaults of those persons desirous of still 
 keeping up the war which has ended, in my humble opinion, 
 forever. 
 
 Appealing to you as a soldier, and feeling confident 
 
 you will appreciate my position, I sign myself, which much 
 
 esteem, 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 George E. Pickett. 
 Lieut. -Gen. U. S. Grant, 
 
 Commanding Armies United States, Washington, D. C. 
 
39 
 
 Indorsement by General Grant, 
 
 "Respectfully forwarded to his Excellency the Presi- 
 dent of the United States, with the recommendation that 
 clemency be extended in this case, or assurances given that 
 no trial will take place for the offences charged against G. E. 
 Pickett. 
 
 During the rebellion, belligerent rights were acknowl- 
 edged to the enemies of our country, and it is clear to me 
 that the parole given by the armies laying down their arms 
 protects them against punishment for acts lawful for any 
 other belligerent. In this case I know that it is claimed that 
 the men tried and convicted for the crime of desertion were 
 Union men from North CaroHna, who had found refuge within 
 our lines and in our service. The punishment was a harsh 
 one, but it was in time of war, and when the enemy, no 
 doubt, felt it necessary to retain by some power the services 
 of every man within their reach. Gen, Pickett I know personally 
 to be an honorable man, but in this case his judgment prompted him 
 to do what cannot well be susiaitied, though I do not see how good, 
 either to the friends of the deceased, or by fixing an example for the 
 future, can be secured by his trial now. It would only open up 
 the question whether or not the Government did not disregard 
 its contract entered into to secure the surrender of an armed 
 
 enemy." 
 
 U. S. Grant, 
 
 Lieut. -General. 
 March i6, 1866. 
 
40 
 
 Let the reader who has once gloried in the best and 
 proudest title of General Grant — in his title of "Uncondi- 
 tional Surrender Grant" — observe with what solicitude he 
 now urges that assurances should be given this rebel Pickett 
 that he shall not be disturbed. Let the reader note this, and 
 then think of that rebel "dead line," established by such as 
 Pickett, to which, if the prisoner approached too near with 
 rotting feet and idiotic brain, to reach, perhaps, the garbage 
 beyond for which he was famishing, he was shot dead, and 
 often considered it a mercy even so to die. The inhuman and 
 atrocious severities practiced upon Union soldiers, when made 
 prisoners, placed the rebel leaders beyond the pale of Christian 
 warfare, and yet this honorable traitor claims the exercise of 
 the laws of war in his own case, while he refused it to others. 
 General Grant claims to have made a "contract" with these 
 traitors, rebels and assailants of free government, to procure 
 the protection of the guilty parties; that is, the rebel leaders, 
 in order to secure their surrender to our arms; and, as a con- 
 dition, he consents to give up, abandon, sacrifice twenty-two 
 of those humbler servitors of our cause, by whose generous 
 efforts he has been raised to the position which he now holds, 
 and the country has thus far been sustained against its foes! 
 What government can ever thus abandon its defenders to its 
 foes and have the respect of its subjects or of mankind? 
 What would be more humiliating to a people than to think 
 that it owes its peace to the craven sacrifice of its defenders — 
 yes, and not only of its defenders, but of the principles of 
 justice, and even of mercy itself.? 
 
41 
 
 And what, let it be asked, have we gained by this 
 disgraceful abandonment of our friends ? Who, in truth, can 
 give a satisfactory answer to this pertinent living question? 
 
 There are, probably, but a small proportion of the 
 intelligent people of the world who believe that truth is 
 stranger than fiction; and yet fiction, to a considerable 
 degree, is only the startling incidents of all ages brought 
 together, and woven into romances and tales written ta 
 amuse. 
 
 Those who live a hundred years hence will, if the 
 history of our country for the last six years is truly written, 
 believe that this was the great age of fiction, and that our 
 rebellious citizens, and many of their acts, were not realities. 
 A few years ago they would have been thought impossible 
 beings, but it was left for the great war of the nineteenth 
 century to tear the mask from slavery, and expose the monster 
 in all its horrible aspects. The scarred, bleeding and naked 
 forms of its victims have been laid before us, and the sword 
 of vengeance fallen not only on those who have sinned most, 
 but also on those who have permitted a long series of un- 
 speakable atrocities to tarnish the history of our so-called 
 civilization. 
 
 History is full of wonderful truths, many of them far 
 too sublime for the common understandiug to comprehend, 
 and others far too inhuman for the cultivated and good to 
 believe. To the latter class belongs the history of the cruel 
 and bloodthirsty slaveholders' rebellion, and the future his- 
 
42 
 
 torian, if he tells one-half of the whole truth, will be doubted 
 by many, and condemned by others, as the relator of imaginary 
 horrors. 
 
 How many are there among us now who can believe 
 that a human being with a fair share of natural gifts, highly 
 educated at an institution under the care of a paternal and 
 enlightened Government, could, in these times, take pleasure 
 in ordering twenty-two human beings to an ignominious 
 death! We search in vain, through the whole length of the 
 sickening narration, for the evidence of one touch of humanity 
 on the part of those who were chiefly instrumental in bring- 
 ing about this unspeakable horror. But, on the contrary, the 
 chief criminal acted like an insatiable fiend, and those who 
 were under his orders seemed most eager to do their master's 
 bidding. 
 
 And now comes the injured innocent, unconscious of 
 having done any wrong, and asks for pardon; and when he 
 is informed that some meddlesome persons question the pro- 
 priety of granting him Executive absolution, and restoring 
 him again to full communion in the union which he tried so 
 long to destroy, he complains to the general of all our armies 
 that: "// has come to my knoivledge that certain EVIL-DIS- 
 POSED persons are attempting to re-open the troubles of the past^ 
 and embroil me for action taken by me while commanding officer of 
 the Confederate forces in North Carolina. " Was there ever 
 anything more delightfully cool ? And with what innocent 
 amiability he arrays his suffering family to public view, in an 
 
43 
 
 afTecting tableau attitude, asking for that mercy which he and 
 the usurped authority which he served so recklessly and 
 inhumanly withheld from thousands of famishing and rotting 
 Union soldiers! And were the families of those North Caro- 
 line soldiers of no account ? 
 
 Not less remarkable than the letter itself is the indorse- 
 ment of Generel Grant upon the back of it. Let us imagine 
 Benedict Arnold at the end of the revolution asking pardon 
 and writing a similar personal letter to General Washington. 
 How would this language appear, coming from him in an- 
 swer to the application : 
 
 "General Arnold 1 know personally to be an 
 honorable man, but in this case his judgment prompted 
 him to do what cannot well be sustained, though 1 do 
 not see how good, by fixing an example for the future, 
 can be secured by his trial now." 
 
 A Strange model for an "honorable man " I And yet, 
 Benedict Arnold was not educated at the expense of the 
 Government; he had never caused the murder, in cold blood, 
 of twenty-two innocent men ; nor committed one-twentieth 
 of the crimes traced to the hands of this man Pickett. Arnold 
 was a traitor only. When he lived, treason was treated as an 
 infamous crime, and would have been punished as such had he 
 been caught. Now it seems to be looked upon by a con- 
 siderable number of our higher officials as rather an honorable 
 distinction. 
 
 The last two or three lines of the indorsement of Gen- 
 
44 
 
 eral Grant deserve more than a passing notice. Writing, 
 evidently, after careful deliberation, he says: "It would only 
 open up the question whether or not the Government did not 
 disregard its contract entered into to secure the surrender of 
 an armed enemy." What contract did the Government enter 
 into when it enlisted those loyal North Carolinians in its 
 service ? 
 
 It may well be asked: What was the necessity for 
 entering into a "contract" to induce a surrender, practically 
 in sight and ready to be made.? It is time that a patient and 
 far too lenient nation should understand some of this unmanly 
 juggling by which their rights are forfeited. There ought not 
 to be but one voice throughout the loyal States in relation to 
 the surrender, at Appomatox, of the right to meet out justice 
 to rebel leaders. 
 
 All agree in one fact; and that is, that there was not 
 the least necessity for a capitulation, or a "contract." If 
 General Grant had demanded an unconditional surrender, he 
 would have done what the army desired, and were ready to 
 enforce, and what the loyal people had a right to expect he 
 would do. Many of his friends claim for him that President 
 Lincoln gave him instructions as to what terms were to be 
 granted to defeated rebels. Others say it was Seward. If 
 this be so, it is time that the fact should be known ; for the 
 nation is still passing through hours of trial and peril, its 
 life rests upon sincerity and truth, and no respect of persons 
 should weigh against its safety. Let it be known who it is 
 
 i..of(l 
 
45 
 
 that has prevented justice being done to criminals who have 
 committed crimes and inflicted tortures which would disgrace 
 the annals of the darkest deeds of the middle ages. An out- 
 raged and patriotic people look to the men whom they have 
 placed in positions of power, not to aid and abet in com- 
 pounding with criminals, however honorable or high-minded, 
 but to see that all the nation's sacrifices have not been made 
 in vain, and that those who were the instigators and the 
 great moving spirits in the causeless rebellion shall be punished 
 as their crimes deserve. They ask "that treason^shall be 
 made so odious, and traitors so severely punished," that those 
 who have embarked in it once and failed will never again 
 dare to undertake such a perilous enterprise as the destruction 
 of a nation. 
 
 If we go back a few years more than a century, we 
 find English authorities executing three or four hundred of 
 the followers of the Pretender, and among them a score of the 
 principal nobles of Scotland. Then, if we keep on in our 
 investigations of British history, we shall overtake the so- 
 called Indian mutinies, where an obliterated people tried to 
 regain a whole nationality stolen, and, failing, were blown up 
 in their houses and blasted from the mouths of cannon, in 
 order that English ideas of justice might be satisfied. A few 
 short months ago, British officers gave the world another 
 example of justice, and streams of blood poured down the 
 sides of the mountains in the island of Jamaica. And now 
 there are a reasonable number of Fenians under sentence of 
 
46 
 
 life-long transportation. It is quite evident that treason — 
 unsuccessful rebellion, or revolt of any kind — is treated by 
 the English as a crime. And wherein does Republican 
 government differ in this respect from any other form of gov- 
 ernment; except only in this, that treason against 2i free 
 government is more criminal than against any other ? 
 
 Hungary, Poland and other submerged nations have 
 often paid the penalties of rebellion. No fact is better settled 
 than that traitors and rebels have always been punished. But 
 we, in the assumed perfection of our asserted superior civiliza- 
 tion, have invented some sort of a maudlin idea about 
 wholesale, indiscriminate magnanimity, and high Christian 
 forgiveness. Wholly mistaking the spirit of Christian charity, 
 we throw down every bar to the progress of licentiousness, 
 and deceive ourselves with the fancy that we are practicing 
 the Christian virtues. In a wild chase after impracticable 
 chimeras, in a course directly opposed to reason and to the 
 experience of mankind, which have recognized the necessity 
 of punishing crime in all ages, we are giving way to unworthy 
 expedients, stratagems and empty demonstrations of all 
 kinds, and wholly forgetting that it is Justice that exalteth 
 a nation. 
 
Notice — In its appropriate connection ought to have been mentioned, the 
 fact, that Mr. Dawson died without having published any of his rebellion 
 material. 
 
 In the second line of the third paragraph page eleven, read is for are. 
 
^^ 
 
ASSASSINATION OF 
 LOYAL NORTH CAROLINIANS 
 R SERVING IN THE 
 1 UNION ARMY. 
 
 E 
 
 i3^ 
 
LBM»'t)5 
 
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