, 1862-08-12

ken are The commanders OF troops vino be- 4
lieve in the peaceable citizens Of the neigh
tic affairs, and at the same time plotting trea
son; giving every information to the rebels.
md pfiotiug hem to surprise,: not only our
hut our camps. With the help OF
citizens, the rebels pick up our men and OIL
GERS on the roads, surprise our companies
Camps and take out of their tents; not only
p1iyate soldiers, but our eolouels AID :en-
My policy WAS, If I occupied town, 10 Gus
pect and to watch every man, nnhl Ifonnd
out all about hin; to hinder not only dialozal:;
but even loyal men, from pasEing freely
through The pickets, aud u thfeatenEh With an /
approach Of rebel troops, to stop al commit
niratton between the town aud country. The L
citizens do not like this pcliey, Of COURSE, aad
Know that Nj. Donoe1ps properly suffered
Oh account Of the eamp located on his gsanads.
But who is Mr Donnell? He Is man who
aided and abettcd rebellion, by paying for the !
uniforms Of rebel soldiers, who sen5 seventy |
bales OF cotton to Decatur to build rebel for |
tifications there; aud the same 24eh Illinois |
regiment, that occupied his gfo2nds, took |
these fcrtifcatidns, and if the rebels at D-ea-
tur had not been scared and run aWay, many
Of the soldiers OF that regiment would STRAW. |
the ground il front Of those Notifications. !
Ar. Dchneu is q man who glories in stating
y
take the Uath Of allegiance to the United |
StsteB government, and that his sympatales |
are with the southern oonfederacF; and this |
man came to me and insisted on gettiag tfom |
TIE q Safeguard for bis plantatlonsi 0l course |
he wss refused ::but-I would fasutlh him with
pleasure o guard to take him to- jill ss . trail
Ior It is tine that come fields were DESTROYED,
as Mr.. Dayids' and Mr. Brooks and some
c!bere, and. Epme teEces were destroyed; but
all that H:s inevitable and the consequence Of
military Necessity.
Any one who kncws the Why to defend
town Rould not have been surprised TO see
every b1i.k tuilding turned into a40rti plcfced /
ill through pqiiss1 -loopholes and embFasnrcs;
the trees in troEtsy ards cut down, and every
street. barr;eaded,, if'the circumstances were
such that the PLACE could only be held By those
rlears. What was dons by me tn q military
puInt of ,view st Athens, WAS dona In accord
apce with military exigenciea under the thea
passing circumstances.
j. 4 charge was brought against me ta1t three
soldiers IT my command. went Benin 1nitas
into the country, and committed ripe up u
a.yetlo T girl CT Mrs Hines'-
The Gaze was reported to me at the time it
happeneH; the off4nder Wus fDuHI,: the case
Investigated, the man identified b. }She girl,
and he, with 6 written ssat3ment OF f3cts, sent
by ne'to ths provost marshal at Huntsville,
nhere were tie headquarters OF our division.
He was Kept under arrest there :E9me time,
and sfItrTaFd released. i
+ There Were some instances Of inso5or3lna-
ton, aud some other grave off.nsss, :a1d the
| Lime und Gr arrest in their regimeats.j Charges
we're preferred a9alast them; bus thk division
was ED scattered, and had SO much Of strictly
military duty to attend to, that the; offenders
| We're not brought before the general court
| martial, and remaining in the regiments, set
| very bad example before the ethers.
| These facts show that there il another lack
| in the organization Of our army. We have 10
army provost guard, corresponding to the
corps OF gems d'arxnes in the European armies.
| We have 10 special police organization, whose
| particular business would consist in finding
| out or receiving from the different companies
and regiments all offenders; in Investigating
| all the circumstances under which their Of
fenscs we're committed, right off, When the
| deeds are yet fresh; in keeping prisoners M
der strict guard, separately from their com
mands; in prosccut ng them thoroughly, ald
IN bringing them to punishment cff.ctually.
Besides that, there are offtnses Of such a
nature, that the mere committing them in
front Of the enemy must be punished imme.
diately; such as 1nutiny, striking q superior
officer, desertfon to the lines Of the ecem T,
espionage, ond some Others. Ia oshe: arnli;s
there exists, in time Of war, ccurt-marti4!,
which ia appointed, when ofenscs like tae
above niertiobed are committed il front'of tae
enemy That court tries the n1ru, p1onounc e
4 sentence, and executes thai sentence in
twepty-lour hours. Oar drsia1-head cour!
mastir corresponds In come respects to the
European court martial; but is not on the
statutes, and, In fact, does not legally exist.
All these defects in bringing; 0ffeu1ers
quickly 10 1fia1 and punishment, work injurr
ously on the discipline Of the troops, aud Gre
ates iaaitlfrenee and disgust in good soldiers
who STE the bad ones escape punish:neus, aue
1T tue same time cast bad reputation upon
The whole command which theY belong to-
| a very serious cause predisposing our sol
diers to commit depredations consists in the
absence Of pscuniary remuneration for prop
erty belonging to the enemy, and|tasen by on
troops: In every navy, ana IN every arm5
throughout the whole world, but Eae q Unitei
States army, prize money Tor booty tak7.
from the enemy by the troops is paid tt
those troop by the Government. In thu
United States army all property eaptu.et
government, and the soldiers who took tia
| property are not pecuniarf1y remunerated.
Thls custom has been thoroughly discussed
10 other coan:ri:si and taxing iato consider
atton the propens1t1es OF nuu1aa natnte fo
! gain, Tor various motives and Under any Cir
cuntst:nices; taking also into consideration
the Insignificant salary OF soldiers, and thei
great risk Of being crippled or killed, 1eavin:
their families or Falaion5 sometimes in yer
destitute condition-ths question Vas so!ye'
in favor Of the soldier. -:
On The organization OF the United State
army, almost everything was taken from th
Eng lish army; but the rule adooted there f.
prize-m money was omitted. We kuoT tia
during the war with Mexico, many OF our sol
eiers did not behave themselves yery yirtu
ou51y, and the question about booty va
, | raised. will sta1e to ths conrt The, opinio
on that subject Of Col. q. L. Scott. I1specto.
General, Q: s. A., taken from his Military Di;
, tionary.- Be- says:
"rhe 55th article for the government Of tt,
armies OF tae United States, provides that t s.
| nTf}1F taken in the r. N.
works, forts Or magazines, whether Of arai
, ! lery, anlMuuision, clothing, foraye or pr0vis
, ions, stall be secured for the service of til
United States, for the neglect OF which th
, commanding officer is to be resp ,asible
!. TIis article Of war is borrowed fso4Na corre
Punding British article, which directs sh.t tl
f sa1rn stores shall be SECURED for the kfa1
, service. But by proclamation; in Great BI
tain, the money value of all cAptus:s is invar
: ably divided anang ID. capsoIs.. No practie
, necessary to prescribe naraudiug mad pillag
1 it is impossible to cxtirpate the desire Of sai
1 from the human heart; and it Is therefore u
e cessury that the lay shauld frankly prov;t
for an equitable distribution Of capsu7
( among tue army. TIC absence OF Ia Of
q greatest evils. Soldiers 1ishsud eaennselv
z IN search Of pillase, add their c0p1ditv leu
i to the greatest horrors. These great evils Il
d | avoided os 4 legal 3ivi5:on of booty, when {
l. | soldiers, ANIMATED by the nope OF Sh3tlHT y
~ fruits of victory, are careful not to abandon
q the greedy, the cowasdls and the wick
q amongst themselves, advantages PROPERLY
Il lorgiEg to the gallant vietors.''
l. Suc6 is the oplrion Of Col Scott oa thu su
. jee;- He states That sfel;iagtou elafuej 4.
|. received from his government more than
:c million s-crling, for t1e captures made oy t
'e British army ia Spain and F1Auce-, He pr
=. in al5o different prize warrlnts issued ay t
le kings and queens Of England, Including tt
if ter The Russian war Of 1854.
IA DO rot knoT exactly what was doae
ii oIhef troops in capturing the eaemy's 'stprop:
II ty; bus cah state to some extent 7nas "
l. t done by my brigade, aud The troops attach
"a te il temporarily. =
y When 1 approached Bowling Greea ,Iero
,e ed the river In dark, stormy ana YEFy c.
y. night, in q miserable ferry boat, <a{ith
= whole brigade and small squad "oF The !
II Ohio cavalry, md befare dayorsak o5cupi
- the TO 4n-evscuated by the enemy two no,
r3 before. our arrival. We f0nnd there Of p7
y visions, belonging to the confederate. ara
st enough to feed our whole division Ten da
It and, Ia fact our division WAS fed tan d
!. upon those supplies may mention also t
q. cannon, great many muskats, tsntss abe
" and othe- property foand in town.
1t Again, when G n. Mitchell moved oa.Huu
"a vile, was ordered by him to take the :
~ Ohio cavalry, my brigade, and Captain. .Simt
y, sons battery, aud to seize Huntsville. I
IL ssize huntsville, aHd with it maE So;
RI whole line Of railroad between Bridgeport a
or Tuscumbia was seized, aud tbs backbone
n the railroad communication OF the enemy
fectually broken. We found in Huatsgi
,el sixteen locomotives, all IL working order,