The Rhode-Island Republican. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1809-1841, 1827-06-28

before court composed, in the teeth re
the law, al three members only, and two
| snpernumerares. The whole numher
brought to trial were found guilty OF the
| charges alleged against them. The SEN
tences passed upon them were cruel. ca-
pnclous, and disgusllng;-cruel in the
case OF the sir eondsm"ed 70 death; capri
cious, in the case oi the officers; and dis
gns,lng, n tl,e case OF nearly two hundred
Lde'Oled Iaon. The officers. by whose ad-
vice The men had acted, AID who were
coasicfedoi having ereiitd, and conaiued AZ,
the mn'i,Iy charged, were simply dismissed
! ltu1. = sVey,ce. Six unfortunate victims,
. y" -rco Wt4'ed, Ne.c eCa3e!npeA 20
suiier dsoih, and about two hundred others
sentenced to make good The time thoy had
lost, aud al the expiration of their service,
TO have their heads shared and to be drum
med out Of camp.
These fTightiul sentences were inopera-
tive without the SoHeiion Of General Jack.
son, who ordered the Court and that sane
ton was given OH The 22d January, 1878
We pray the reader 10 mark the date. The
sentences thus appror,d by General Jack
son, were but too Faithfully carried into ef-
feet.
Such are the facts, as published 10 tho
army at the time of their occurrence. II
we have not given tkem correctly. let the
committee, who IL seems, have the original
proceedings before them, publish them To
The world We will be content with no
garbled extracts no denial-Let them giyo
as de record.
This Is a true. unsophisticated state OF
the case. More than two hundred A eri-
can citizens, impressed with a beliet--lev-
On supposng II TO be wrong, which iDdS not
the case produced by the advice of their
officers, To whom they were accustomed 10
look up as IL father, for no other offence
'han that of msapprehendlng their rights,
ire given over too Court Mortal, compos-
ed oi three members, selected by the party
who charges them with the wrong--a court
who, for what reason, God only knows
content themselves with dlsmissing the off,
GERS, the cause of the misconduct, whIlc
they condemn the deudcd pr7pates, SIN OF
them TO death, and the remainder to Tho
most ignomnous punishment. And Gem
eral Jackson dpprores the sentences, aud
orders them 10 be carried into effect nc
such time, too the Odd of Junuary---
when every American bosom was teeming
with gratitude to Providence for tho signal
deliycrance OF our country from hostile in
vasion through the instrumentalfty OF this
same General Jackson. AT such time,
instead fproclaiming a general jubilee, 40
whose sound the PRISON doors should ay
open, and the csp,iycs 70 he set free. he
rooly and deliberately issues his mandate
or tho ignominius punishment ofbundred5
of his fellow citizens--without remorse or
ders six poor victims TO be brought TO death
Tor no other crime than an imputed misc
cepion oftheir rights as American citizens
We say imputed, for n recurrence TO the
laws will show that these men did mol mss
coaceiDe their rights.
The law of 1895 limits the tour Of milt-
ia duty 10 period of three months. The
law of the 10th Of April, 1912, by which the
term ofservice was extended 10 sir months,
expired by It's own provisions on the 10th
April, 1914. The men in question were
detailed for duty qfier The expiration Of his
iaio, namely IN May 1914 Every suisse
quent draft could be held 10 serve only
Tor three months, unless under the provisions
ola law passed on the 18th of April, 1914,
he Presideat Of he United States should er-
pressiy 0rutr continuance Of the term;
and such an order in the present case is
not even pretended. On the contrary, it
Is on record, that the President Of the u
nited States expressly directed Governor
Blount to consider his draft of militia as cal-
led out under The iop rI795, and gives ne
his reason for so doing, his reliance on tho
patriotism Of the citizens Of Tennessee 10
fill up the ranks rs occasion might require.
Thus it appears that sir unhappy men
were doomed to death, and nearly two hun
dred oilers condemned to suffer ignomu-
ious punishment, not only against the pluin-
est dictates Of mercy, but in direct viola
ton Of the law. II this be true how have
the committee exonerated their patron from
the charge of 4" having caused the cxecu-
lion Of six militia men, for crimes commit
ted after their term Of service had expir-
ed z" We leave II to the calm, unbiassed
Judgment Of the public TO decide.