Martinsburg gazette and public advertiser. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1826-1833, 1827-05-31
,ela 9AA8TP3s
MARrINsBURG, MAY 81, 1877.

-, Jackson Committee. +" aud to the document.
.,sexed TO it. We refer particularly to the
.,.cutiUn of the SIX militia men.
II appears that on the goth June, 1914. a re
,nsnt Of Tennessee militia was mustered into
e. service OF the U. States under the command
e Col Philip Pipkin, and ordered to garrison
N. Forts in the Creek nation. After a service
A Il about two months, there were indications oil
a. opinion prevailing amongst the men, tina,
n their term Of duty was limited TO three months
ssd Of determination to return to their homes
II an the 20lh of September. On that day, abou,
$40 Of them departed from Fort jackson, some
,ycesses having been committed on the day be.
fore, of character by no means aggravated,
and not at all unfrequent in militia service -
Harris was of The num3er of those who depar.
ted The precise extent of his offences can on
IL be collected from the record vi his trial. The
t,c.s charged against him were these
l. Bet.seen the 1911 and 20ti Sept. 1914, he
wen, about through the camp TO get assignor. to
20 home on the 10th September.
2. He stated that he would soon have larger
company than Captain Fitzpatrick.
He received the proportionable part of the
beef and -four that was forcibly taken and cock.
sJA
T. On the morning of the Goth Sept. 1914, at
he end of Revellee beat, he marched of.
Yelling and firing his gun.
5. After arriving al Fort-Strother he stated
that he would retake those that had been Ia ken
/ BY Capt. Blac kmore-snd lastly,
+. He did not report those who were of the
mdtnous party
The court finds him guilty as charged with
the exception of yeag and firing his gun and
EAylng that he would retake those who bad bee
Fsken by Capt. Blackmore; and sentence hin,
Ito receive death by Shooting" aud he .eas shot
to death.
Abstracting from these charges the single fac,
that Harris. in the language of the court.
marched of. there is nothing in them entitled
10 any sort of consideration. II so gets as.
sgnors" meant 20 procure men to enter int a yrst
Ten engagement il is wholly unsustained by the
evidence. Harris was engaged on the 18Th mot
5efpeen the 18th and 2othl in taking down, him
self, the names (not obtaining the signatures)
Of those who were determined to go using
no pefsusaons and setting down the nsines OF
those only who directed him to do SO. rhe Sd
fact charged IT AN offence at all, is trivial one
under The circumstances snd merged in the
yreses one OF going away. The 2nd fact
IS insignificant. and the last is sbsurd--a5surd
in impntlng it to Harris as a crime that he did
not report mutiny Of which he is charged with
being himself guilty. There remains then the
single tact that he openly and publicly left the ser
rice OF the expiration gfhaee months-upon which
tbs sentence OF death against Harris must rest
The questions that arise here are
DID Harris really believe that his tour of duty
was limited to three monlhs9
Was it, in point OF fact, tour for three or
for six mouthsl
And, be this as it NAV, was there any thing
10 the nature Of the crime, or in the existing
state ct thingst to justify the infiction of pun,
ishment so severe and unusuall
As to the first of these questions, the test
mony is before us, and the reader is left TO draw
his own conclusion
With respect to the second-we can readily
perceive the source of a doubt at least. Bv an
act OF Congress, passed on the 18th Feb. 1895.
and IN force from that time to the present, emo
ofheer, non-commissioned officer, or private. of
the militia, shall be compelled to serve more
man three months after his arrival at the place
OF rendezvous, IN any one year" On The 18th
April 1914. another act of Congress was pass.
ed, by the 9th sec. of which ii was prov,ded
that the militia, when called into the seryire
OF the U. States BY virtue OF the before r.c,,pd
act 1.-THE act OF 1895 may, if, in The Opinion OF
nc Presideat Of The u. States, he public t,.tsres.
require IL. be compelled to serve for term mo,
exceeding six months after their arrival at the
pace OF rendezvous, in any one year,
Whether Harris tour of duty wac three or
tx months. depends therefore upon the ones.
ton, whether the President Of the IT, SAFES had
or had not directed that e. should be for s; n,ou,bs2
ms question We have not the means Of an.
swering One thing only is manifest that the
agents in this work of death have taken no NAT.
'" answer 1t TO the prisoner, to their own con.
sciences or to the world.
was there any thing in the nature of Harris,
crime or IN the existing state Of things TO ius.
NY Tue inhiction OF puaishnen so severe and
unusuall ~'N
Upon this point Mr.. Over,on and his com.
m'uee seem conscious of the necessity of saw.
'ns something. Hear them:
Inc 'huinous party headed by the six nm.
.or,una'e men that were afterwards shot. left
Toi r,pRih without competent garrison in
"e n'u" OF the Creek nation which 1oas then
et'e 20 'ne commission Of acts of hostility BIZ
D."@" eSen1s. So reduced was the numoer Of
noop' w 'uis desertioo, that the remainder was
cnU.sy conhned to the garrison, which cir.
lives" ~ ''e' VI many Valuable
ms state ment is contradicted BY facts with.
IN the reach of us all. By s,cces.;on rs h.,
&c s' c a. uey are called, commencing with those
~ iaHusAaehee and I'allsaega on The Sd and 9Th
november. 1873, and ending with IL at Of Toho.
H iha vn ,he Z|th March, 1914, the power of
'lese inaisns was annihiIa,ed. They sued for
p pc ana submitted themselves TO the mercy
~ 49, He y. states. Ger Jackson was appointed
70 dispense that mercy; and at Fort. Jackson. on
one yin August, 1914. six weeks before the
os concluded, not treaty, but "Artic!cs
o. agreement and Capitalization" Thi, ins,r,,.
meh' commences thus: "whereas an mmpro.
s 'Hs ~ inh1msn. and .anguinary war waged by
ba. "osule Creeks against the United STATES hath