Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1862-05-03

1
amputated. Daniel Bixby, jr., of Washing
ton, says that he heard Mrs, Pierce Butle
say that she had seen the rebels boiling por
tons of the bodies of the dead, to obtsil
their bones as relics, and had sesn drumstick
made Of "Ysnkees' shin.bones," as they call
ed them; and that she saw a skull that on
Of the Rev Orleans artillery had, which h
said be was going to send home TO hav
mounted, and that he intended to drink
brandy punch out Of it the day he was mar
ried. Benjamin Franklin Lewis, living il
the neighbOrhOOd, ssw many bodies striPpe'
naked before they were buried. NegrOe
said thst finger rings were made of the bone
and that the rebels sold them in their camps
These, and many other similar fscts, lea'
ths Committee, through Hon. B. F. Wade
Chairman, to the following conclusions
The members Of your Committee nigh
content themselves by leaving this testimony
to the Senate and the people, without Wort
Of comment, but when the enemies of q jas
and generous Government are attempting Il
excite the sympathy of disloysl men in oul
own country, to solicit the aid of ioreigr
Governments by the grossest misrepresenta
tons Of the objects Of the war and Of the con
duct Of the officers and soldiers of the RepRb
lie, this, the most startling evidence of thei
insineeFity and inhumanity, deserves som'
notice at eur hands.
History will be examined in vain for 9 par
allel 10 this rebellion against good Govern
ment long prepared for by ambitious men
who were made doubly sure of success by tht
aid and counsel of former Administrations
and by the belief that their plans were IN
observed by q magnanimous people. They
precipitated the war ct moment when the
General Government had just been changed
under circumstances Of astounding perfdy
Withsut a single reasonable ground of com,
plant, and in the face of repeated manifesto
tions Of moderation and peace on the part o.
the President and his friends. They took uI
arms and declared that they would never
surrender until their rebellion had been rec.
-.izad or the ina2itrltinna established nv ouI
fathers had been destroyed. The people S1 .
the loyal States, ct last convinced that they
could preserve their liberties only by an ap.
peal to the God of Battles, rushed to the
standard of the Republic, in response to the
call Of the 5hief Magistrate.
Every step Of this monstrous treason has
been marked by violence and crime. No
transgrsssion has been too great, no wrong
too startling for It's leaders. They disregard
ed the sanetity Of the oaths they had taken
to support the Constitution They repudiat-
ed eli their obligations to the people of the
Free States They deceived and betrayed
their own felloW-citiZsns, and crowded their
armies with forced levies They drove from
their midst all who would not yield to their
despOtism, or filed their prissns with men
who would not enlist under thsiS flag.
They have owned the rebellion By the
perpetration of deeds scarcely known even
to savage warfare The investigations of
your COMMITTEES have established this fact
beyond controversy. The witnesses called
before rs we're men of undoubted veracity
and character. Some of them occupy high
positions in the army, and others high posi-
tions in civil life, differing in political senti-
ments. Their evidence presents remarka
ble concurrence of opinion and Of judgment.
Our fellow -cOuntrymeD, heretofore sufficient
ly impressed BY the generosity and forbear-
snce of the Government Of the United States,
and by the barbaroHs character of the cru
saGa against it, will be shocked by the state
ments of these unimpeached and unimpeach-
able Witnesses; and foreign nations must,
with one accord, however they have hesita-
ted heretofore, consign to lssting odium the
authors of crimes which, in all their details,
excsed the worst excesses of the Sepoys of
India.
Inhumanity to the living has been the
leading trait Of the rebel leaders, but it
was reserved for your Committee to dis
close, as a concerted system, their in
sults to the wounded, and their mutila-
ton and desecrstion Of the gallant dead.
Oar soldiers taken prisoners, in honor
able battle, have been subjected to the most
shameful treatment. All the considerations
that inspire chivslric emotions and gener-
Gus consideration for brave men have been
disregaFded. II Is almost beyond belief that
men fighting in such cause as ours, and
sustained BY Government which, in the
midst Of violence and tFeachery, have given
repeated evidences of its indulgence should
have been subjected to treatment never be-
fore resorted to by one foreign nation in a
conflict with another All the oourtesies of
professional and civil life seem to have bseu
discarded. Gen. Beauregard himself, who
on 6 very. recent oceasion, boasted that he
had been controlled by humane feelings, af.
ter the battle Of Bull Run, coolly proposed
to hold Gen. Ricketts, as hostage for one of
the murderous priTateeEs, and the rebel
surgeons disdsined intercourse and eommu-
nication With our own surgeons taken in
honorable battle. The outrages upon the
dead will revive the recollsctions of the
crueldes 10 which savage tribes subject their
prisoners. They were buried, in many
cases, naked with their faces downward
they were left to decay in the open air, their
bones being carried of as trophies-sOme-
times ss the testimony proves, to bo used as
personal adOFnments; and one witness de-
lfberately ayers that tie head Of ose of our
most gallant ohicer8 was cut off by seces-
siouist, to be turned into drinking cup on
the occasion Of his marriage. Monstrous as
.his revelation may appear to be, your Com
mittee have been informed that, during tho
last two weeks, the skull Of Union soldier
bas been exhibited in the Office Of the Ser
yeant. at Arms Of the House Of Reprssen-
tatiyes, which had been converted to such
purpose, and which had been found on the
person Of one Of the rebel prisoners taken
IN Fecont conflict
The testimony Of Gov. sprague, Of Rhode
Island, y most interesting. It conarms the |
worst reports against the rebel soldiers, and |
oonesusiYely proves that the body Of one Of /
he braYeSt oLacera il the volunteer service /
Ess burned. He does not hesitate 70 add
has this hyena desecration Of the henored
'OEPso was because the rebels bslisvsd It to