Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1854-01-14
WHOLE NO. 432,
ion was arraycd against ,hchn, and obt amy em,

ion was arrayed against them and our army ems
loycd TO deprive them Of life
The bombardment was continued some hourn
with hut little effect, 80 far the assailants could
discover They manifested no disposition y sur
render. The day was passing away. Lieut. Loow'
is called council Of officers and put 10 them tho
question, ulat FURTHER shaH Js donep An under
officer suggested tic proproiy of firing hot shot at
the magazine" The proposition was agreed to. "a
The furnaces were heated, balls were prepared,
and the cannonadc was resumed. The occupants
or the Fort felt relieved by the change. They could
hear the deco humming sound of the cannon balls.
70 which lhey had bccorn accustomed in the early
part Of the day. and some inate themselves merry
at the supposed folly Of their nssaiants. They
knew not that the shot was heated and were there
fore unconscious Ct the danger which threatened
them
The sun was rapidly descending in the west.--
The tall pines and spruce threw their shadows 9tef
the fertilization. Tie roar cf the cannon ;tr sigh.
ing Of tho shot, the groars of the wounded, the
dark shades OF approaching evening all conspred
to render the scene orc Of intense gloom. They
longcd for the approaching night TO close around
them in order that they might bury the dead, and
fec to the Wilderness for safety.
Suddenly startling phen 1menon presented itself
to their osionished view. The heavy embankmsut
and tmbers protecting the magazine appeared 10
rise from he earth, the next instant the dreadful
explosion overwhelmed them and the next found
t,rO hundred and screat parents and children In the
lmmeulOte presence OF u hOiN tOu, making tnelr
appeal for retributiye justice upon the government
who had murdered ucm. and the freemen Of the
north who susained such unutterable crmest
/ Many were crushed by the FILLING earth and tho
timlers many were entirely buried ia the ruins.
Some were horribly mangled by the fragments Of
timber ard the explosion of charged shells thh,
were in the magazine. Limbs were torn from the
bodies to which they had been attached. Mothers
and babes lay beside each other, wrapped in that
sleep which knows no waking.
The sun had set, and the twilight of evening
was closing around them, when some sixty sailors.
under the officer second in command, landed. and.
without opposition. entered the Fort. The yetrnn
sailors accustomed to blood and cainage were hor>
ror-strcken as they viewed the scene before them.
They were accompanied, however, by sCme twenty
sllyCholders, oil anxious for their pIcy. These
paid little attention to the dead und dying. but anx
iously seized upon the living, and fastening the fet
tcrs upon their limbs hurried them from the Fort,
and instantly commenced their return towards the
frontier Of Georgia. Some fifteen persons in tbs
Fort survived the terrible explosion, and they now
sleep in seryilc graves, or moan and weep in bon
dagc.
The officer in command OF the party. with his
men returned to the boats soon the slavehold-
ers were fairly in possession Of their victims. The
sailors appeared gloomy aud thoughtful as they re-
turned to their vessels. The anchors were weighed,
the sails unfurled, and both vessels hurried from
the scene Of butchery as rapidly as they were able.
After the officers retired to their cabins, the rough-
featured sailors gathered before the mast and loud
and bitter the curses they uttered against sls
very and against those officers Of government who
had then constrained them TO murder women and
helpless children, merely for the love of liberty
But the dead remained unbured and the next
day the. yultures were feeding upon the carcasses
Of young men and young women whose hearts
the previous morning had beaten high with expee-
taton. Their bones have been bleaching in the
sun for thrty-seven years and may yet be seen
scattered among the ruins Of that ancient fort6ca-
ton.
Twenty-Five years elapsed and a representative
in Congress- from one Of the free States reported
bill giving to the perpetrators of these murders
gratuity of FIVE thousand dollars from the public
treasury, as a token of the gratitude which the peo
pie of this nation felt for the soldierly and gallant
manner in which the crime committed toward
them. The bill passed both houses of Congress,
was approved by the President, and now stands up
on our statute book among the laws enacted at the
Sd Session Of the Goth Congress.
The facts are all found scattered among the yari-
ous public documents which rcpose in the alcoves
of our National Library. But no historian has
been willing to collect and publish them, in conse-
queuco Of the deep disgrace which they reject up
on the American arms and upon those who then
controlled the government
THAT number ocay reported by tie officer command.
vide Executive doc. Of the 18th Congress