Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1862-07-24

j The country around Nashville Is as fin
a country as the sun Of Heaven ever slion
upon. 1t is no pent up Utica, | can assur
you. 1t is u country of broad and fruitful
fields, well cultivated by wealthy and in
telligtnt population. Take the three Con
gressional Districts lying immediatel,
around Nashville. Go among the peopl
there and you will find that ut nearly ever,
house you come to the lady is q widow, anC
she seeks protection for herself and he
property, by repeated declarations that sh,
is lone widow, left with a large number O
negroes to look after. But when you com,
to investigate the matter little more close
ly, you will find almost without exception
that these negroes belong to men who are
lin the field. with the gun upcnstheir slioul
ders and the knapssck upon their backs
men who, ,forgetful Of their most sacred dut,
to their country, have taken up arms against
the best Government the sun ever shone
upon. u...... .Is..la| -I7I-
Well, why can these men go to war while
you caunot Simply because they have
the negroes at home to work for them. and
you have nothing to depend upon but yonr
own honest Industry. Besides. when, as is
most generally the case, the wife herself Is
the better man Of the two, the property is
as well taken care OF in the absence of the
husband as when he is at home-and thus
these men can go into the army and stav
there until the last star falls from Heaven,
and their wives aud children be none the
worse OF by it. Within the territory have
mentioned there are one hundred thousand
slaves, toling day after day cheerfully & un.
conplainingly, for the support of their mas.
ters, who are in the rebel army. Now. sup
pose you give notice to all mankind, and
the human family in particular, that every
man who shall fail to return to his allegiance
within given time, bring forth fruits
meet for repentance, and give suitable guar
antees for his good behavior in the future.
his negroes shall be confscated, don't yon
suppose there would be terrible skedad-
ding among these men about that time p
They would come focking home by hun-
dreds and thousands. They would soon
learn by mysterious intimation Of Divine
Providence that they had got their rights
already, and that the best thing they could
do was to so home to enjoy them. han.
pened to meet one day in the road near
Nashville, young man whose appearance
was wretched and sprrowful enough. Isaw
by his clothing that he had been in the
army, and | said to him, MY friend, where
are you going toY' Said he, 81 am going
back to old Kentuck" Where have Won
been, and what have you becu doing? His
reply was, Il was soldier in the Secesh
army" well, said |, ''How long did it
take you to get your rights after you got
there Z 20, said he, IL bad them be-
fore | started, but | did't know it,"
", yes 1t would be but very little
wihla attar such a. proclamation as thac.
should be made public, until all these men
would go home. And wish to God that
they would go home for one reason, partic-
ularly if no other The ladies who are at
home are just as jealous and as bitter now
as their husbands were when they left for
the war. They imagine their husbands are
just what they were when they left home;
they do not know what'a terrible falling off
there has been in their devotion 20 the
cause, aud when their husbands do come
home they will hardly know them.--
Laughter | have had hundreds of them
come to me after having been in the rebel
army, and heg to take the oath of allegi
ance, saying that they had been deceived,
and oh" they would say, "what terri.
BILE wild goose chase it is that we have been
led since We were induced to join in this re-
bellion"
Well say you, would you take these ne
groes into the army? Would not that be
like winning the elephant? In regard to
what | would do personally, would Just say
that ! chanced to capture eleven good look,
ing negroes in the little fight az Lebanon /;
and have just been standing still to see the
salvation of the Lord in the premises. /
do not much want to see them in the army.
| want to bit the enemy as hard lick as
possible, and do not know how better to
do it than the way have already indicated
to You. r'' b~ '
am no alarmist i am by no means
L assure you. recollect
standing beside the grave of my grand faith,
er and reading upon his tombstone. this brief
and sensible inscription Peter Dumont
"a Soldier Of the Revolution" There it
was placed before was born, and there,
for fifty years. the moss has gathered around
It. He fought then for the same cause that
am now oohtending for believe that
war to sustain this Government is war that
has Divine Providence on its side. 1t is a
struggle waged not for conquest, but for the
Government itself, bequeathed tous by our
patriotic sires, andit is one that God him
self looks upon with appreciation