The Alleghanian. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1859-1865, 1862-05-15

covered the remains OF Capt. Tower, min
gied with those of the men We took
them, placed them in coffin, ard bro't
them hople.'
In reply TO question Of 4 member Of
the Committee. as to whether he was sat-
isfod that they were buried Intentionally
With their faces dJwGward, Gov. Spragae's
answer was, ''tudoubtediy Beyond all
controversy" and that sit was done as
q mark Ok indigHits." In answer 10 au-
other question. as to what their object
ecald have been, especially in regard 10
the body ef Gel Siecum, ha replied,
sheer brutality, and nothing else They
d d 1t On account Of his courage aud chiy-
a'Fy. in forcing his regiment, fearlessly
aid bra'e!g, upon them, Re destroyed
about one-half Of that Georgia Regiment,
which was made up Of their best oitizens."
hen tho inquiry was put whether he
thought these barbarltics were committed
by that regiment, he responded, "5y that
same regiment, as | was told +" While
their own dead we're buried with marble
head and foot stones, and names upon
them, ours were buried, as have stated,
IN trenches. This eminent witness con-
eiudes his testimony as follows 81 have
published an order 20 my second regi-
meDt, to which these officers were attach
ed, that ! shall not be satisfied with what
they shall do unless they give an account
OF one rebe! killed for each Of their own
number"
The members of your committee might
content themselves by leaving this testi-
mony to the Senate and the people with
out word of comment; but when the
enemies oe a just and generous Govern
ment are attempting TO excite the sympa-
thy of disloyal men in our own country,
and to solicit the aid of foreign Govern
tnents by the grossest misrepresentation
OF the objects of the war and of the con-
duct of the officers and soldiers of the
Republic, this, the most startling evl-
denee Of their insincerity and inhumani-
ty, deserves some notice ar our hands.
History will be examined in vain for a
parallel to this rebellion against q good
Government Long prepared for by am
bilious men, who were made doubly con-
iident Of success by the aid and counsel
Of former Administrations, and by the
belief that their plans were unobserved
by a magnanimous people, they precipita-
q
eral Administration had just been chan
ged under circumstances OF astounding
perfidv Without single reasonable
ground of complaint, and IN the face OF
repeated manifestations of moderation and
peace on the part Of the President and
his friends, they took up arms and decla-
red that they would never surrender IN
iil their rebellion had been recognized,
or the institutions established by our fore
fathers had been destroyed. The people
of the loyal States, at last convinced that
they could preserve their liberties only by
an appeal to the God of battles, rushed to
the standard of the Republic in response
to the call of the Chief Magistrate.
Every step Of this monstrous treason
has been marked By violence and crime.
no tIausgression has been too great and
no wrong too startling for its leaders
They disregarded the sanctity Of the oaths
they had taken to support the Constitu-
ton they repudiated all their obliga-
fions TO the people Of the free States =
they deceived aud betrayed their own
fellow citizens, and crowded their armies
with forced levies they drove from their
midst all who would not yield to their
i1espotisun, or filed their prisons with men
wio would not enlist under their flag
They have now crowned the rebellion by
the preparation of deeds scarcely known
even to savage warfare.
The Investigations of your committee
have established this fact beyond contro-
versv. The witnesses called before us
were men of undoubted veracity and
character Some OF them occupy high
positions in the army, and others high po-
eitions in civil life. Differing in political
sentiments, their evidence presents re-
markable concurrence of opinion and of
Judgment.
Our fellow w-countrymen, heretofore sui
fcientiy impressed by the generosity and
forbearanee Of the Government Of the
Cuted States, and tlie barbarous charac-
ter of the crusade against it, will be
shock c2 by the statements of these unim-
peached and unimpeachable witnesses,
and foreign nations must, With one ac-
cord, however they have hesitated here
tofore, consign to lasting odium the au-
ihors Of crimes which. in all their details,
exceed the worst excuses Of the Sepoys
OF India.
Iuhumanity 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 insults
to the wounded, and their mutilation and
desecration of the gallant dead. Our