Daily Nashville patriot. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1860-1862, 1861-12-20
THE BARBARISM OF SLAVERY.
killing the Slaves I'm South Carroll.
na.-.Gen. Snerman's Neglect to
Employ or Provide for the Fugi.
tiVeS

tives.
Hilton Head Correspondence of the y. Y. Tribune
The policy of Gen. Sherman, or whoever
is responsible for his remarkable proclama-
ton, cannot pretend to fathom, nor can I
see why the labor of the blacks should not
relieve the overworked soldiers from some
of the heaviest tasks imposed upon them.
The coming of s'the Yankees" has been
watched for with anxious solicitude at this
as at all other points, and the troops are
hailed as deliyerers wherever they go
Few negroes are so dull as to be imposed
upon by the fctions Of their 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.
But the slaves come slowly into camp for
several reasons. The invitation held out is
OF the coldest-the accommodations, when
in, is wretchedly insufficient-they can
not bring their families in any number
they cannot return them if they are left be-
hind-their condition on the deserted plant
atoms is one of ease and comfort, and every
obstacle to access to camp is thrown in their
way. That they have been shot in num-
bers by oyerseers and masters is beyond all
question. The fact is attested by every
sort of evidence. The horrible fact stands
out with appalling eiearness and certainty
that the murder of the slaves who cannot
be compelled to follow their masters is
desperate policy and relentless purpose
On the roads which lead to the islands, for
80 to so miles in all directions, guards are
stationed to intercept the negroes and pre-
vent their escape. If caught, they are sent
inland, and there logged, tortured, and i'm
prisoned in irons. If they cannot be
caught, they are shot without hesitation or
mercy. At Beaufort regular watch is
maintained. When the gun boats go up the
river, as they do every two or three days,
the whites keep out of the way. If the
coast is clear they return in the day time
as well as night. The negroes remaining
in the place are captured, if possible, and
taken TO the mainland. If pursuit is una
vailing, they, like the others attempting to
escape, are shot.
There is more horrible story yet. a
slave named Priscilla, formerly owned by
Mr.. Graham of Grahamville, now q servant
of Capt. Charles e. Fuller, one of the Brig
ade Quartermasters, relates that before she
left the plantation, 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 alive. Captain Fuller assures
me that he has no doubt of the fact. When,
after such horror as that, add that two
slaves captured at Beaufort a few days ago
are known to have been taken to the main
land and hanged, seem to record only
commonplace barbarity, the truth of which
needs no affirmation. It is not merely men
who are trying to escape that are murdered.
The families of those who have escaped are
treated with the utmost cruelty, and some Of
them have actually been massacred. The
knowledge of the fact has created so much
excitement among the negroes in camp that
it was found necessary to double the guard,
| to prevent their leaving, in order to bring
| away or endeavor to hide their wives and
children.
One other fact of different nature, and
I turn from this frightful picture of the
amenities of the social institution, whose
rights and immunities are so carefully &C.
| knowledged and protected. l am indebted
| for the account to Gen. yiele. There is a
slave girl in camp who left her master un-
der 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