The Nashville daily union. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1862-1866, 1862-10-15

II NAMNA ~ AaAAVAaR AAAN AAaAt-NN - N-
country friends, who have heretofore
traded in this place Of the malicious and
unfounded reports which mischievous
rebels have circulated against the Fed
eral authorities and army at this point
we beg leave to make them a few sincere
and candid declarations, in which we
will be cordially sustained both by our
civil and military officers. Many of you
are complaining of the foraging parties
which are sent out daily to obtain sub
Bistence on your farms, and say that they
are stripping the country Of its produce.
Your cattle, proyender, and articles of
food, both for horses and men, are daily
seized by these expeditions and brought
to Nashville. All this is true; there is
no doubt of it at all; we see the evil
dence Of it every day in the long trains
of wagons which pass through our
streets loaded down with the spoils of
the surrounding country Now let us ask
Who is responsible for this condition Of q6airs2
and also the much more important ques-
ton, Hon is IL 10 be remedied
The rebel leaders say that it is only
The execution of the purpose of the Fed
eral Government to impoverish and lay
waste the State. We pronounce the
charge a most glazing and shameless
Calurnny. We aver that the necessity of
Foraging has been forced upon our army
at Nashville, not by the Federal Govern
ment, nor even by the retel Amy, but by
a miserable, marauding, thieving gang of
pcoundrels, under MORGAN, FoRREsT, BEN
NETT, and other guerrilla chiefs, who
have employed their time in firing on
pickets and ambulances, cutting tele-
graph wires, and destroying railroad
bridges and tunnels. This was mere
wanton destruction of public property,
in which every citizen of Sumner,
Davidson and Williamson county had a
common interest, and did not affect the
settlement of the war question one iot or
little. 1t impeded Gen. BUELL's march
about as much as the biting Of a mus
quito or noisy horse-Ay would inter-
rupt the travelling of horse. 1t was
considerable annoyance, but not him
drance by any means. This you have
seen for yourselves. The supplies of the
army were thus wholly cut off, and no.
thing for either teams or soldiers came
from the north of the Ohio River. We
were blockaded, Our Generals wished
to bring their own food, but MORGAN,
BENNETT and FoRREsT said they should
not; and TO prevent them fromi deing 50,
they tore up the railroad track, destroyed
tunnels, and burned up cars, all of which
cost you hundreds of thousands of dol
lars. They dashed your backs unmer-
cifully in order to frighteu us; the
Federal army remained unscathed and
undaunted, but you groaned under the
cruel blows Of these cowardly guerrillas;
who destroy their friends to terrify their
foes But these mounted madmen did
not even stop here; they positively for
bade any one from bringing provisions.
proyender, wood, or any other article to
this place for the use not only of the
soldiers but even of the citizens of Nash
vile The scoundrels were actually
willing to starye women and children to
death, or let them perish with cold in
order to destroy our troops Smelling
houses in which there are women and |
children has always been regarded as
inhuman, but surely trying TO starve out
a whole city is worse. The result Of all |
This folly, in which the guerrillas were
encouraged aud sustained by wealthy /
citizens Of this place, was what all men
Of sense ioresaw would follow. Forag-
ing trains were sent out under the pro-
lection Of troops to supply the wants Of
the army. No one supposed for a mo-
ment that the army intended 10 either |
starve, or surrender; as TO retreating,
that wasn't in our programme nor shall
be. Nashville is ours while one brick
rests on another. Your rebel cavalry,
then, are the cause.Of all this foraging
they only are responsible for 1t. Now,
although our army can supply itself
abundantly, yet our officers would much
prefer that the farmers aud marketers
would renew their trade and bring in
the produce Of the country to sell as
usual They will find ample protection
here, large demand, and liberal prices