The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1862-10-14

flse f9vcI n thc arny aoail h de.
afoycd.v THIS may be very true
Bai i uos tuch eandnc1 a. hat q
Gen. Ncissu. which provoked tho
murder. s. censarnhle Hsafly A. The
murder nselff Can We have good
order ard sutorainstien IN she army
with such men As Nelson 10 eom-
mand n order ard discipline Be
tire great. the essential thing "a an ar
my, a. not such men a. Nelson de-
serve tbeir fate
Not magy months age man was
hung near Washington, IN Virginia
for striking "A officer. Gen. Me
Clellan in approving tbs sentence q
ihe court martial that tried the man,
spoke Of the abusive conduct on tbs
part Of the officer, as unlawful and "a
violation o. she rules q The service
bot said, ina. ihis was no excuse lsf
the act Of the soldier, who must, on
no occasion, return blow for blow.
Now this may be good law in theo-
~, Int not always satisfactory To the
injured party. There are some cases
Vi personal injury, for which a resort
10 the tribunal affords small ground
for compensation. There are cases
of personal injury in which not only
men, but women have found only in
suit added to injury. by an appeal TO
the civil courts. And 50 frequent is
the failure Of tho courts TO ayenge the
Innocent, that, in some cases, they
have taken the law into their own
hands, and become their own ayenger.
And what is more, they have been
justified in il by the community, be-
cause, as they said, the courts wonld
not protect them.
And let US inquire what punish.
ment would Nelson have received
from the military authority, il be had
not been shot by Davis' Would be
have been cashiered and dismissed
from the seryice7 We have not
heard of a single case, where such
conduct, on the part Of officers, has
been punished in any such degree, as
il deserved. Neither do we believe
it would have been in this case. For
this was not the first offence Of the
kind. Complaints have been pub
lished in the papers before, Of his
brutal conduct TO his men--com-
plants Of having struck them with
his sword, inficting dangerous, if not
fatal wounds, and exnsperaiing them
to such a degree, that it was said one
Of the injured men caused the wound
he received in a recent battle.
Now where an officer is permitted
to hold rank and commission, and
thus treat men, who are, many Of
them, altogether his superiors in all
ttlh.at pertains to character, conduct,
and position in society, simply be-
cause they have condescended to
leave their home, and take up arms
at the call of their country, and these
brutal officers have them temporarily
in their power--those who retaliate
may deserve punishment perhaps, but
those whose base conduct provokes
the retaliation, deserve mn equal con-
demnation.
If then, Davis must die, for the
sake of order and discipline in the
army, it will be consolation in one
view, that he has left one the less Of
the class Of brutal and profane Off
GERS to provoke disorder by their
own vile and infamous example.
Indianians in Washington agree
that if Gen. Davis is dismissed from
the army he will be sent to Congress
from Indiana, as the people Of that
State are almost unanimous in re-
garding the conduct of Gen. Nelson
to the Indiana troops as ferociously
brutal. Indeed they declare that the
ball which Gen. Nelson received in
bis thigh at the battle of Richmond
came from the musket OF an Indiana
volunteer The general feeling Of
hostility on the part Of the Indiana
troops doubtless stimulated Gen. Da-
Wis when he sought to revenge the
insulting treatment Of Gen. Nelson.