Arkansas true Democrat., 1862-09-10
JAcKsoNpoRr, July 3lst, 1862.

nied Batesville and Jacksonport and domneered
 over this fair portion of the State left here on the - inst. The world should know, our citizens
 especially should know, how the Yankees conduc. 1 ted the war in this part of the State.
 Their army reached here about the lst of May last, was, IS are all apprsed commanded by Il Gen. Curtis, and numbered, according to various estimates, from ten to fifteen thousand. The re- ! sistance made by our partisan bands against such
 formidable force, though harrassrg to our foe, was 1 insufficient to check them in their depredatons,
 muei1 less to turn the tide of invasion. Their sen
 tinels shot post, their strasgers never re- 1 turned to camps to tell the tale of disaster, and 1 often their small bands that were sent into the
 country to depredate on the property ot our citl-
 zens, returned in flight with diminished numbers. Such was the annoyance they encountered that 1 fnally they made no attempt to forage without a | force of one or two thousand men. As It IS not l the object of this communication to emblaZon the deeds of our daring men in some of these ehcoup- | ters, will pass them in silence.
 When tbe Yankees first reached here. they ad- 1 dressed our people in honied words. They said
 they come here, not to make enemies, but to make
 friends; not to annoy and offend, as the protectors ! not the destroyers of property. They heard that l many of our citizens entertained apprehenslons that their negroes would be stolen, they then took
 the pains to assure them, that that species of pro- l perty would be protected. They gave assurances | that whatever they took for the use of the army
 should be paid for. It was by such professions as l these, that our citizens deceived and luied l into security. Their professions in short time,
 however, were falsfed by their treachery, deceit, mendacity, rapine and robh&rE~- They extorted l oaths under the penalty of death, imprisonment ] and destruction of property. They de troyed the
 growing crop of Judge Kirkpatrick, took away his
 teams and negroes, because he refused to take the
 oath of allegiance to the United States government. 1 They imprisoned MT. Pool, a merchant of this
 place, for several weeks in our county ja because l he like hero, refused to confess submission to l Yankee de5potisnl. They depredated on the pro- perty of citizens and denied their right to claim l compensation ;and it made no difference with them,
 when it suited their purpose, whether the claimant ] was an avOwed union man or secessonlSt, or one who had taken the oath, all fared alike They
 marched in large force to farms in their vicinity
 took the las. grain of corn wheat or oats and the | last pound of bacon that could be found on the premises. It was in vain to tell them, that they l would starve women and children. They heard I such appeals with delight. It seemed Q frolic to 1 their souls, when they heard their robbery would
 starve us They said it was in that way that they
 expected to crush out the rebellion. But it was on | their march from this place to Helena, that they
 carried on their wholesale robbery and laid waste
 the country. They declared their intention, it is
 said that place, but not until the of their
 departure, that they would lay waste all the plan
 tations in their path and beggar the rebel propre l tors. And they raade good their threat. They l robbed the plantations on their route of every
 pound of bacon, of all corn, fodder, wheat and
 oats, not leaving one days subsistence for the in
 habitants the premises pastured their horses on | the growing crops butcbered all the hogs and cat | tie that they could lay hands On, took away the | horses, wagons buggies and carriages, broke open houses and rifed trunks of their contents, stole bed clothing and ladies jcwelry, gave free passes l to negroes and persuaded them (and in some in- ! stances forced them) to leave their masters, by | oserng them their freedom and high wages. But their meanness and vlany did not stop here, they l even robbed the poor negroes who refused to go
 with them ripped open beds and scattered the feath
 CTS, tore Up women and children's clothing, that they had no use for, and wantony destroyed house | furniture that they could not carry with them.- Wherever they saw earth freshly turned up they dug for hidden treasure, the sanctity of the
 grave was no bar to their rapacity. In several in stances they exhuned the dead in search of trea- sure. They burned many giR houses and some
 dwelling houss in their path way, I have drawn
 fancy picture of the devastation of the country The marred and backened ruins of houses on their
 pathway, and fields laid waste car yctbe seen, and attest the truthfulness of my representations think 1t no exaggeratsn to extend the losses of Jackson county, in consequence of the encmy's dcprodatona, at ons million aal hSf dollars. The Yankees carried with them from .hs county, about
 five hundred negroes, but these leses are but dust in the balance when weighed against freedom and
 national independence. The Yankees may rob us
 of our property, but we will never acknowledge Yankee rule or Yankee master,
 It was evident that it was not the love for the negroes that prompted them to emancipatisn.- They carried away the negro for the purpose of weakening our resources and cfppling our means for carrying the war, as well as they wanted them to perform the menal oiiicesin camps. They would not take such negroes with them calculated to cucumber them, but would give free passes to all, and persuade them to leave their masters- They refused to let old and decrepid negroes ae- company them, as well as negro women with child ren of tender years, unless they abandoned their children, and they scrupled not to persuade moth CTS to attempt such an unnatural divorce.
 Gen. Curtis had his headquarters at the farm of Dr. Pickett l5 miles south of this place. for seve- ra days, and while there called before him every negro on the place and delivered free passes to them. 1 send you herewith copy of free pass
 said to be subscribed in the hand writing of Gen. Curtis. This free pass is printed form, with but few blank places to fill up, which evidently shows that emancipation by this Yankee General was
 premeditatcd affair. Out of forty adults on Dr. Pcketts farm only eight accepted Yankee freedom. The Yankee officers, as well as their uen, were animated by most vindctve spirit against the people of the Souh. Col. Brackett one of Cur tis' iayhawkers, remarked to Judge Robinson of this county, that they intended to rob and beggar
 every rich man into submission, and thus dry up
 our lnetllS TOT tlc anu SlarVc us
 into submission; and that if this failed to crush out
 rebellion, that the North would wage war of ex-
 termination against the South. This ,jayhawker also boasted that Curtis army would be at Little Rock in less time than three weeks, and that Ar kansas would have provisional governor. and promised that this same army would be in Texas by next fall
 1 While the Yankees were here they broke into l several store houses and helped themselves and fired the town repeatedly, and on the eve of their leaving burned down a livery stable, one gunsmth 1 and one blacksmith shop and stole and carried
 away the best negroes and horses in the town. But | they made no friends here, but on the contrary, | put many in the field against them, who but for 1 their visit here, would have been inactive.
 ONE OF THE PEOPLE COPY OF NEGRO FREE PASS.
 HEADQUARTERS ARMY or 1iss. -tsoUrH. w EsT, Camp at Pickch's Farm, Ark, July 3, '62. | Special Orders No. 220.
 l l. Robert D. Hatchett and family, coorcd peo pie, formerly slaves, having by direction of their
 owners been engaged in the rebel service, are
 hereby confscated as being contraband of war, and not being needed in the public service, are permit