The Portland daily press., 1862-12-09
Gen. MeNesI ana hi. Great Offence.


cause Of his ~marder," they term il, of ten
innocent { , citizens of Missouri Their state
ment Of the story Is, that Union man was
supposed TO have been abducted and maltreat-
ed by the rebel troops, aud, as an act of retail
alton, Mcneil arrested ten peaceable citizens,
guilty of no offence except that of secession
sympathy, marched them out into the open
field, and then and there, requiring them to
kneel by the side of their rough board cofiins,
shot them down like dogs by file of Union
soldiers. This is not all; they are copying
from rebel correspondents of rebel sympathi-
zing papers, various paragraphs of which the
following, from ST. Louis correspondent of
the Columbus Crisis, is fair specimen:
The man for whom Gen. Mcneil shot ten
some time ago, and which was noticed in the
Crisis, has returned home alive and well, and
his wife, before the execution of those men,
went TO him (Gen. Mcneil and pleaded with
him to wait and see If he had been killed be-
fore he executed those men, and the brute
spurned her. can write no more.
So it would seem that the ten innocent men
were not only barbarously and wantonly muir
dered-rebel authority being admtted-but
the man to avenge whose abduction their lives
were ostensibly sacrificed, was not abducted
at all, but has returned home alive and well to
his wife, having probably been on a bit of
spree. The New York World-the World since
Its fall; since it exchanged :" the livery of
heaven" to become liveried servant of Fer
nando Wood-in copying the above st. Louis
paragraph, says, :" As yet the Government has
made no sign as TO what it will do in the case
of Gen. McNeil,' and then adds:
The return of the missing man alive and
well really adds to nor takes from the atrocity
OF the murder of the ten men, but it brings the
matter home to the dullest and most prejudic-
ed comprehension.
Such are the modes of attack upon federal
authority, and such the artiul and infamous
means used TO breed discomfort in the minds
of the people, and to make them believe that
the government is becoming despotic, and
that personal freedom is no longer protected
by the Constitution of the land. What are
the facts? They are, briefly stated, as follows:
Western Missouri was overrun by bushwhack-
ers or guerilas-literally border ruffians-
who, from behind trees and fences, and under
cover of night, were accustomed to murder
and rob Union citizens, TO burn their dwellings,
TO drive helpless women and children from the
smouldering ruins Of what had been their
homes, and 10 practice enormities at the recii-
al of which demons would blush. These fel-
lows were perfect outlaws, respecting the laws
neither Of man nor God, and entitled to no
ienity, no consideration, no mercy. IL was
with reference TO such marauders, that lead
Ing democrat OF Lincoln county, remarked to
Us more than eight months since, that they
should be declared outlaws by the government
and that the Union men of the State of Mis-
souri should be ''let loose upon them," to use
his own words, and allowed to slaughter them
and rid the State of their vile presence" The
gentleman referred too has a son In that re-
gion Of the country, whom he had but recent
ly visited, and he spoke as he felt after person.
ally becoming acquainted with the outrages
Prrp-'rHt-d upon Union loving citizens, and
the Character of the disreputable and God-for-
saken authors OF those outrages.
1t was against such vile hordes as these,
that an order was issued, notifying them that
when taken they would be summarly dealt with,
and that neither mercy nor quarter would be
shown them. Disregarding all the forms of
civilized warfare, not organized under military
law, not belonging to any regular rebel reg-
ments, they were not entitled to the usages of
prisoners of war when taken, and they would
therefore be treated simply as robbers and
outlawed murderers. When Gen. Halleck
proclaimed such as the rule by which they
would be disposed Of, the rebel government
Immediately threatened 10 avenge the deaths
OF such by taking the lives ef Union pris-
oners in their hands. thus virtually sanctioning
the outrages to which peaceable citizens Of
Missouri were and long had been exposed.
Fearing the consequences Of its severe enforce
ment would be visited in blood upon unofIen-
ding Union prisoners, the rule was modified In
practice, and when guerilas or bushwhaek-
ers were taken In their lawless acts they were
paroled. As time advanced lot Of these cut
throats were arrested in the midst Of their
work, who proved to be men who had been
paroled, and were violating their sacred pledge
of honor. Meantime Gen. Mcneil, as measure
Of protection TO Union men, published an or
der that for every act OF violence visited upon
peaceable, unofending, ,non-combaiants OF the
Union citizens, he would visit equal violence
upon ten Of the rebels.
1t was not long before a Union man was
missed, and the facts and best evidence went
70 show that he had been foully dealt with If
not murdered by the rebels. Gen. Mcneil
gave notice that on a given day, if the missing
man was not returned unharmed, he would
visit the penalty of his abduction and murder
upon the rebels in the manner indicated by
his general order. Accordingly he selected,
not ten innocent persons; not ten peaeeable
citizens; not ten unoflending individuals guilty
OF no offence save iqp-sympathy, but ten
Of the obdurate, hardened, blood-stained viii
lains referred to, who had violated their parole,
and to whom no clemency was due, and upon
such miscreants he visited the horrors of a mil
itary execution. They were liable to execu-
tion under Gen. Halleck's order, as guerillas,
and they were doubly guilty for violating their
parole ,-and not so much their execution as
the particular time ofits infiiction was deter
mined by the supposed violence to the Union
citizen. But the New York World, and pa
pers which accord with it, do not believe re-
bellion works a forfeiture of any rights under
the Constitution, and therefore no matter what
the character Of the wretches, how great and
how numerous their crimes, or how great or
how severe the indipntips inA;ctad hy tba,,