The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1862-04-24

wants have been transported II Govern.
ment expense, fed, clothed, and doetored
by the Government; and while the rebel
officers are allowed the freedom Of the
city upon parole, the servants are strictly
guarded and confined in camp by our
own soldiers fhe free State of
Ohio is virtually converted by The order
or by the assent Of military lcom-
mander, and against the wishes Of the
people, into slave State and that order
ls enforced by men in our employment
and under our pay. And this state of
things does not exist in Columbus alone.
Much indignation was felt and expressed
in the State of Illinois, where the same
practice was allowed to prevail among the
prisoners captured at Fort Donelson The
greater part, if not all. of these prisoners,
who had slaves attending them =. the
csmp near Chicago, were transferred soon
after arrival there, the Government paying
the cost of transporting both whites and
blacks. Whether this transfer was
prompted BY knowledge Of the popular
indignation that had been excited, and
fear lest the tenure by which the prisoners
held them as slaves was hourly becoming
more and more insecure, | vii! not under
take to say.
How long, think you, will this method
of dealing with the rebels be endured by
the freemen of this country ? Are our
brothers and sons to be confined within
the walls Of the tobacco warehouses and
jails Of Richmond and Charleston, obliged
to perform the most meniaI Offices, sub
sisted upon the most stinted diet, their
lives endangered If they attempt to obtain
a breath Of fresh air, or aheam Of Gods
sunlight at n window. 1kile the rebels
captured by those very mcf are permitted
10 60 at large upon parole, to be pamper-
ed with luxuries, to be attended by slaves
and the slaves guarded from escape BY our
own soldieryY Well might the General
| Assembly Of the State Of Ohio ask, in the
language Of committee of their Senate /:
"Why were these slaves taken at all
They were not, and had not been in arms
against the Government--their presence
at Fort Donelson was not even voluntary.
Why are they retained in prison? They
have done no wrong--they deserve no
punishment. It's to furnish rebel officers
with scrvantsg And was it for this they
were transported at the expense Of the
Government and are now subsisted at her
cost Is our constitutional provision thus
to be made a nullity, and slavery prac-
tically established in Ohio? And this
under the protection and at the expense
of the Federal Government
Mr. McDougal. Will the Senator allow
me to ask question of the Senator from
Ohio?
Mr.. Grimes. Yes, sir.
Mr.. McDougall Was ii stated that the
slaves Of Tennessee were kept as prisoners
of war in Ohio? / did no: understand
you SO to state it.
MIR. Sherman. Slaves were captured at
Fl. Donelson, brought to Ohio, and put id
the same prison with their masters, and
kept there.
Mr.. McDougall. And held as prison
ers? 81
Mr.. Sherman. Held there and render
cd menial service to those officers.
| Mr.. McDougall. | understood you to
state that they waited on their masters
but did not understand you to state that
they were held by the Government of the
United States e
Mr.. Sherman. They were held BY the
Government of the United States, aud
draw rations now, and are supported by
the Government of the United States9 I
will state for the beno6t of my friend that
| have here letter from the chairman of
the committee Of the Senate WHO made
that report. t
Mr. Grimes. rli,,v Senator viii permit
me to go on, and it can be read after
wards.
Mr.. Sherman. Certainly.
u Mr.. Grimes. In the month Of Febru-
ary last, an officer of the Sd Regiment of
Iowa infantry. stationed at small town
in Missouri, succeeded in capturing sew
eral bridge-hurners, and some recruiting
officers belonging to Prices army. The
information that led to their capture was
furnished by two or three remarkably
shrewd and intelligent slaves, claimed BY
Lieutenant Colonel in the rebel army.
Shortly afterwards the master dispatched
an agent, with instructions to eeixe the
slaves and convey them within the rebel
lines, whcreupon the Iowa officer himself
seized thom and reported the circumstan-
COS to headquarters. The slaves soon nm
derstanding the full import Of Gem. Hal
lcck's celebrated order No. 3, two Of them
attempted an escape. This was regard
cd as an objectionable sin. The lows Of
6cer was Immediately placed under arrest,
and detachment of the Missouri State
militia--men in the pay Of this Govern
ment and under the command ef Gener-
al HAlleck--were sent in pursnisof the
fugitiyes. The hunt was successful. The
slaves we're caught and returned 70 thcr
trair master, but not antil one Of them