Delaware journal., 1827-11-09
POL { n ! 9 A IL
From the National Journal.
THE SIX MILITIA MEN.

The law and the facts which relate to the execu-
on of the six militiamen by order OF Gen, Jackson,
after their term Of service had expired, appear to
be imperfectly understood by some, and those who
are employed to whitewash Gen. jackson have
taken advantage Of this effectiveness Of knowledge
to involve the public mind in deeper mist Of err
on this subject. 1t is time that those outrages
on TRUTH and those abuses of public confidence, on
the part of those who rely Justification and mys
terry for the attainment of their ends, should be met
and corrected and that the people should be put
in possession of simple and accurate statement Of
the whole Affair."
For the purpose of producing clear conception
of the subject, we first of all quote the charge ITSELF
as it is given in the report of the Nashville Commit
tee, dated April 25, 1927. He is charged with
having caused the execution of six mtiamen, Tor
crimes committed after their term of service had
expired.''
The conviction of the men for g ssmutiny'' and
'' connivng at mutiny,'' by court martial compos-
ed of three regular members and two .upernumera-
ries, and their execution established by extracts
certified by Andrew J. Donnelson, /" copied from
the original proceedings of the Court which he
had received from Col. Robert Butler. late Adju-
tant General OF the Southern Division" and by the
order issued by command of Gen. Jackson on the
22d of January 1915, for the execution, four days
after its promu CATION at Mobile. Of those proceed
ings there trace the records of the War De-
partment, (the only document filed there being the
general order above referred to,) although the fol-
lowing clause in the Articles of War expressly pro-
vdes that proceedings of courts martial shall be trans
mtted to the Department for preservation
art 80. Every judge Advocate or person Off
ciatng as such at any general court martial shall
transmit, with as much expedition the opportunl-
ty Of time and distance of place admit, the orr
sinal proceedings and sentence of such court mar
tial, to the Secretary of War, which said original
proceedings and sentence shall be carefully kept
and preserved in the office Of said Secretary to the
end that the persons entitled thereto may me ena-
bled, upon application 10 the said office, to obtain
copies thereof"
| Instead Of being thus transmitted, we find the
proceedings in the hands Of Une Of the family Of
General Jackson, circumstance which at once
proves the violation of the Article of War, and war;
rants the inference that such violation was risked to
reserve the character OF General Jackson from the
effect of any future investigation.
The cruelty Of the act could only be met by pal
atlves, aud those have been pentitully, but very
unsuccesstully, administered by the editors of the
General but the Megaluy of it mas been encoun-
tered by direct denial. The editor of the rele-
graph at once hazarded the declaration that the
i Tennessee militia were mustered into service for
six months.'' In reply to this the Democratic
Press refers the editor Of the Telegraph to the War
Department for evidence that Gov. Blount made
application to Mr.. Madison that the term of the mi
litia service 'sshould not exceed three months.',
; sc. and that Mr.. Madison s'drected that they
: should serve only that time" The Democratic
: Press has committed an error in making this cor-
respondence between Gov. Blount and MIR. Maa-
son refer to the militia whose term of service expir
ed on the 10Th OF September. 1914. 1t had refer
ence to given period In order to test the legai-
, ty OF the act, we proceed to statement of the
vera laws relating to the militia when called into
service.
: The law which provides for calling forth the
b,ab I,n.,
date Feb %, 1895, and the 4th section of this law
5 declares
3 That no officer, on.commissoned officer, or
, private, of the militia, shall be compelled to serve
more than three months after his arrival at the place
OF rendezvous, in any one year, nor more than in
due rotation with every other able bodied man of the
same rank in the battalion to which he belongs.'
: A law, temporary in its operation, and enacted
for special purpose, was passed on the 10th Of
April, 1912, authorizing ''a detachment from the
militia of the United States.'' This law authoriz-
ed requistion upon the governors of the several
States, for their respective proportions of hun
dred thousand militia. officers included. The third
D section of this act, which has been quoted by the
editor of the Telegraph as the guide of the conduct
of Gen. Jackson in Jan. 1915, runs thus
"And be it further enacted, that the said detach-
ment shall not be compelled to serve longer time
than six months after they arrive at the place Of
rendezvous"
The ninth section of the same act runs thus
Sec. 9. And be it further enacted, that this act
shall continue and be in force for the term of too
gears from The passing thereof and no onger''
The act consequently expired according to its
own limitation the 10th of April, 1914. 1t was
never re-enacted, nor was provision similar to
that contained in the third section, and relied on by
the Telegraph to establish the legality of Gen.
Jackson's conduct, included in any subsequent law
From the 10th to the 18th Of April, ,sl4. there
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