, 1861-12-16
HALLECK,s ORDER NO. 3.
Spirited Debate In the 17ouBe--Co1.
B1affsH Explanation.

HALLECKs8 ORDER NO. 8. |
Spirited Debate In the, House--Co1. |
B1atf's Explanation.
WAsHaGros, Dec II, 1861. i
The opening OF the debate in the House on |
General Hnl1eck's order to exclude fugitive
slaves from the lines Of our army In Missouri
was given in our edition of Friday; The con-
cl9eloq of the debate vas q follows:-.
the county y tla IaoT that "a Geh oai aaeea
gave an order to discharge soma. fugitive
Elavcs from prison. and allowed them to 20
about their business, On my application; and |
= know, too, that whatever may have been
done under pretence or color OF that order it
was not the intention of the General that this
charge against him should have been made,
aud he never gave an order with s1ch IN inten-
ton I will state what passed between the
General and myself on that point.
Mr. Lovejoy, Of 1llinoia-1 say that slAvcs
have been delivered up by the officers Of the
army uGdcr that order, and if the General is
50 unfortunate as to be unable to write the
English language correctly 1t is not his fault,
but the thing, at all events, is done.
Mr. Ashley, OF Qhio-That is 4 common mis-
iortunc with the officers Of tho army.
Mr.: Blnif-I told General Halleck that be-
lieved the order would be misunderstood
that it would be construed as it has been. He
then and there told NE that he had no idea Of
or the policy Of the Administration with re-
gard to this subject. His simple object was
to exclude from his lines, which extend overa
wide district Of country, persons who might
carry information to the enemy. At Csiro it
vas the habit Of slaves and others to come
from Kentucky and the lower part Of
Missouri, and to enter the camps to sell yege-
tables, and then go back, when, if they fell
INTO the hands Of the enemy, they would give
information Of the condition and strength and
movements Of the army, and he desired to,
Put stop to this, and thence the cause Of the
publication Of the order. He said, moreover,
that be would not only exclude fugitive slaves
from his camp; but everybody, white and black.
He made no distinction; but, rs he said, the
preeaution necessary to the safety and discip-
line Of his camps-
Mr.. Fouke, {opp.) Of ullnois-:H,ging scrv-
cd with the army, and being stationed at
state that the soldiers and officers there look
60 upon the order as most wise and salutary.
This is untrue The allusion made by the
member from Pennsylvania us to the
loyalty and fidelity Of the slaves Is wholly
untrue. This is another fa1sehood.7 Imy-
self vas misled by false representations by a
slaye On the 7th Of November last. and nv
regiment we're led into an ambuscale BIZ one
OF these runaway ElaTes- Every word said
about these blacks is untrue Rs to their fidelity
they exist, and the whole army there will
stand by General Hal1eck to the last upon that
| order. I sent one Of those spies myself to
General McClerna1d, who I know had reveal
cd the position Of the camp when re we're
surrounded 9 f4y by forty or ilty thousand Of the
fhsx the enemyS 1hHsS Ba nefs the hfty thousand Of
3Ir. o7ejoy-Bu1t I know this, that the con-
current testimony Of Generals Lane, Prcntiss,
and Pope and other generals, is in contraven-
ton Of the statement that these blacks should
be excluded from the lines Of the army; th:,t
fnr crannYpT YniIffarC r
would Ike to ask my colleague what he did
with the negro who betrayed hi1n2
Observation-Disclosures the oath to him.
lLaughtcr.1
by General McClernand. I don't know what
further was done with him, and had no time
to look after him. nmy colleague paid less
attention to the care Of these negroes and de-
voted it moro to the present condition Of the
country, be would do great deal better, and
might help to bring the war to d speedier con-
c!usion. This silly reply betrays the bitter
pro-s1avcry feelings Of the man,
Mr: Blair-l have already stated What Gen
eral Hallcck told ME was the object Of the Of
der. He further told 1ue that he intended to
use the slaTes If by could do go with advantage
to the country; that he intended, wherever he
found them, to seize tho slaves of the enemy,
but he did not intend that this class of persons
Or others unauthorized should come into his
camps. II is not to be considered that the word
the protection Of our arms. It is very certain
that Gen. Hallcck meant to say the lines OF
his camp, and to confne the order to
his camp alone. Tt is for the House to say
whether that is proper or improper order to
exclude fugitive slases Or any other unauthor-
izcd persons from the camp am authorized
by GeneralHalieek to say tint this was what lie
meant by the order. Gen. Hllleck never OF
dcrcd any slaves to be driven out Of the
lines who had fled to them from their masters.
TIN tt1tt contrary fIa frrf1prI.1 firo t1riff
slaves who lad come in with General Frc-
mont, and who were then confined in the Jail
1T st. Louis, to be released, and allowed
them to go any.hcrc they thought proper.
Hc did not consider the city Of st. Louis itself
such camp as to warrant the exclusion of fu-
| gitiye slaves from it. His order had reference
| only to those camps OIL the outposts. Where
| the army stood in front Of the enemy it was
necessary to forbid the cgress aud ingress
| to these camps. I think, therefore, it would
| be hlgh-handcd measure tn the part of this
| House, with the explanation now before it, to
! direct the resclading Of General Halleck's
/ order.
Mr: Julian, Rep) Of 1ndiana-1 desire to
| lates to the policy adopted By General Hill1cck
| in his division Of the army. I think that the
| policy Of the Administration itself is in f,yor
Of delivering up to their masters such s1ayes
as a5 eo1ns ms INTO the Samps state this from the
| found le1 way into the camp Of Colonel Brown,
Of the Twentieth Indiana regiment. Sic
accompanied the regiment 10 Fortress
Monroe. which, her master learning, de-
manded her restoration. This Colonel Brown
refused to comply with. Application was
| made by the master to Secretary Cameron,
| who ordered Gen. Wool to have her delivered
up, which was done. The general policy Of
| the Administration sanctions the conduct Of
| Gen. Hallcck, and renders necessary some ac-
tion on the part of Congress, looking to
change Of that policy
Mr. Blair-I infer quito the contrary from
| the sentiments Of the annual message. What
ever Mr. Cameron Or any other officer may
have done, I take what the President says to
be at least an indication Of the policy, aud he
is at the head Of the Administration.
Mr. Va1landingham moved to lay the pend
ing resolution on the table.
The motion was agreed to, BY yeas "a, nays
1t was clearly Col. B1air's liberal and in
genious construction Of the order and relation
OF Hal1cck's remarks to him, that caused the
resolution to be tabIed.1