The Burlington weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington [Iowa]) 1860-1876, 1861-12-21

Of the he. New " (. York Tribune on the 2ssh Noven
The contr.b.nd question Is not less iiln,.erestiu
in rs features than important in its relation /
the expedition and the whole war. Facts are 1
numerous that tie difficulty is to select from, th
maeG Of materials those which are most irnpol
tant. can only repeat to-day few Of th
statements, which come TO me from the best ar
thority, Observing. in the first place, that ther
camp at present. Mr.. B, K. Lee, Jr, who cam
out as Supercargo Of the Ocean Queen iha
charge as Superintendent of about one hundre,
and twenty. About one hundred are AZ 7Bs
Point, where the 10Th New York is stationed
and the rest are in the employ of officers. o.
cannot be definitely accounted for. Those VII,
come inside the lines are not allowed to leave
for any purpose, without pass, and there isl,
watchfA Jealousy toward them, the ground D
/ which il is difficult to understand. Their feel
ing Of hostility to their late masters and graft
tude to US is unmistakable and universal; anG
| their readiness to work is shown in every way
The policy Of Gen. Sherman. or whoever is re
spoRsible for his remarkable proclamation,
cannot pretend to fathom, nor am / able to sec
why their services should not relieve the over
worked soldiers from some Of the heaviest tasks
imposed upon them, The coming Of the HYan.
keesn has been watched for with anxious seiiei
tude at this as at all other points, and the troops
are hailed as deliverers wherever they 60. Few
negroes are go dull as to be imposed upon BY the
6ctions Of tteir masters that they are to be sold
TO Cuba, or would be worked day and night
harder than ever, or other such Inventions
The instances in which any attachment to their
masters is shown are extremely few. Where dis.
like toleave the plantations exists il arises from
the local attachment, often strong in the negro,
his love for his cabin, and desire to remain on
the spot which has been his home, il he can re.
main free; and in addition to this, more fire.
quent and strong in his devotion to his family.
Domestic ties are necessary TO his happiness,
and he breaks them unwillingly. The slaves
come slowly into campfor several reasons. The
invitation held out is of the coldest-the &C.
cOmmOdatiOns, when in, are wretchedy Insult.
cient-they cannot bring their families in any
npmber--they cannot return for them if they
are left behind-their condition ON the deserted
plantations is one Of case and comfort, AMI
every obstacle to access to the camp is thrown
in their way. That they. have been shot in mum.
bers by overseers and masters is beyond all
question. The fact ia attested to by every sort
of evidence from great numbers of persons who
have no chance of concerted agreement in their
accounts, and it tallies with the announced de-
termination Of the slave owners, that they would
be freed. / do not know whether any effort
is made to discredit the accounts already sent
North, on the ground of incredible barbarity, or
otherwise, but no one here affects to doubt the
facts. EIi 4f.sg INN ,ss gs =
al have cOnvcrsed with many OF the negroes in
camp and out Of it. Their accounts are sub
stantislly alike, differing in detail. Officers Of
rank, with the full means Of information, and
after careful inquiry, assure me that the &C
counts frat given, which have come back here,
fall far short of the truth. 1t is not the excep.
tional cruelty Of some more than usually brutal
masters to which. this is to be charged. The
horrible fact stands out with appalling clearness
and certainty that the murder of the slaves who
cannot be compelled to follow their masters is
Gdeliberate policy and relentless purpose. On
the roads which lead to the islands, for thirty to
fifty miles in all directions, guards stationed
to intercept tho negroes and prevent their es
cape. If caught they are sent inland, and there
fogged, tortured, and imprisoned in irons. il
they cannot be caught, they are shot without
hesitation or mercy. At Beaufort regular
watch is maintained. When the gunboats 60 up
the river, as they do every two or three days,
the whites keep out Of the way. IL the coast
is clear they return in the day tiae as we'll az
night The negroes remaining in the place are
captured, if possible, and taken to the mainland.
If pursuit is unavaling, they, like the others at
tempting escape, are shot. saw at Beaufort
yesterday, a negro who told me he had, the day
before, been ordered to follow bis overseer and
when he refused, four barrels of q revolving
rife were fired at him, not ehot took effect,
and be- escaped. I questioned and cross-exam-
ined this man with the greatest care, and l have
no doubt whatever Of the truth of his state.
ment. 1t is single instance, and give it, be-
cause in this case at least was able to satisfy
myself of its correctness, and may add, it was
confirmed by two others of his comrades Hia
name is William, his masters name, as near as
could make it out, Chism, and the overseer's,
Guest. So ~ !a sg.s- 81 j,s 1T .
.ds There is a more horrible story yet. A slave
named Priscilla, formerly owned by Mr. Ora
ham, OF Grahanville, now servant of Capt.
Charles E. Fuller, one OF the Brigade Quarter.
masters, relates that before she LETT the plants-
tion, the slaves were ordered into barn to
shell corn; that when all were in, the doors were
locked, the barn was fired, and men,, women and
children were burned cal.ye Capt. Fuller as
sures me that he has no doubt of the fact
When, after such a horrOc as that, 1 add that
two slaves captured at Beaufort few days ago
are known to have been taken to the mainland
and hanged, seem to record only q common
place barbarity, the truth of which needs no af
frmation. 1t is not merely men who are trying
to escape that are murdered. The families Of
those who have escaped are treated with the ut.
most cruelty, and some of them have actually
been massacred. The knowledge of the fact
has created so much excitement among the ne
groes in camp, that it was found necessary TO
double the guards, to prevent their leaving, in
order to bring away or endeavor to hide their
wives and children--a precautiOn the humanity
Of which requires NO comment The negroes
did undoubtedly believe that their families were
in danger. The transmission of news is an act
they understand to perfection, nor could there
be any difficulty in receiving it in this case.
suppose the possibility Of their conveying intel
ligence Of our forces to the masters who were
shooting their wives was considered strong
enough to create q military necessity for their
detention. @ si5 AZ gal - lea ak
One other fact Of a different nature, aud
turn from this frightful picture Of the amenities
Of the social institution, whose rights and i'm
rnunities are 90 carefully acknowledged and.
protected, / am indebted fer the account to Gen.
Viele. There is q slave girl in camp who left
her master under the following circumstances.-
She had been compelled to share her masters
bed, and the fearful reluctance with which the
story was gradually drawn from her showed how
bitterly she felt the disgrace to which she had
ueen compelled to submit. Her masters wife
discovered the fact, removed her from the house,
and inflicted upon the innocent victim of her
husbands brutality the severest punishment
repeated 6oggings. She escaped at the first op-
portunity, and came to the camp. Is this TRACE
dy horrible enaughs The girl rds Ms pcrso,sal
attsadant of her masters daughter, ls years DID, !
The intelligence and capacity Of many of the
negroes are far beyond what could be expected.
Ihaye one or twoinstances fromthe same source
An old .negso-driver came into camp whose
memory went back 70 nulli6cation times, and
whose recollection was unusually clear and ex-
Yes, massa," he said, 81 remember Gen.
eral Jackson, and how things went on then.-4-
The people about here were Just as strong then
against the Union as they are now, but when the
frigate came the people all went over again on
their side; and think, massa, if Nassa Lincoln
had sent all these ships here last spring, they'd
.ha' made all the people change just 20 again.
K cannot pretend to givei his words or dialect,
but the substance is correct. The old mans
statesmanlike estimate of Sonth Carolina etabil-
ity Of character would have been .moat SERVICE
able at Washington 8sa
There is no wisi on the part of the negro, to
60 North. They dread the cold, dislike to leave
their homes-the attachment, as have already
explsined, being local, not personal-1and looi.
inteiligently forward to emancipation on the soil.
- - GAn III -aHl N e.