, 1862-05-20

and everything Of that sort-in which they
were countenanced and tolerated by the at1-
thofities, civil and military-our people rose
up in rebellion, nnarmed as they were, and
BY accident. I knew 1t was from Chattanooga
to the Virginia Nne-a distance Of three hun
dred miles--one Saturday night in November,
at eleven o'clock, all the railFoad bridges took
fire at one time. It was purely accidental |
happened to be ont from home at the tiIne. !
had really gone out On horseback as they had
suppressed my paper-to collect the fees
which the clerks Of the different counties we're
owing me, which they were ready aud willing
to pay me, knowing that needed them to
live upon; and as these bridges took fire
while Was. out Of town, they swore TINT
was the bell@ether and ringleader OF all the
bedeyi1ment that was going on, and hcn2e
that must have had hand in it.
HIS PRISON.
They wanted pretext to seize upon me,
and upon the 9Th OF. December they marched
me off to jail--a miserable, uncomfortable,
damp and desperate jaiI-where found, when
was ushered into it, some one hundred and
fifty Union men, and, as God is my judge, I
jail, q chair, bench, stool or table, or any piece
of furniture, except @ dirty old wooden buck
ct, and pair Of tin clippers to drink with. I F..
found some Of the first and best men Of the
whole country there. knew them nil, and
they knew me, US had been among them for
thirty years
Els FELLOW PRISONERS.
They rallied round me, some smiling and
glad to see me, IS could give them the news
that had been kept from them. Others took
me by the hand, and were utterly speechless,
snd with bitter, burning tears running down
their cheeks. they said that they never thought
that they Tould come to that at last, looking
through the ba1s Of q CRATE. Speaking fIrst
to one and then another, babe
thin to be Of good cheer and
take good courage Addressing them, I
sald, It's it for stealing you are here? No Is
slaughter? No. You are here, boys, because
you adhere to the flag and the constitution Of
| our country. am here for no other otfense
but that; and as GOD is my Judge, boys, Hook
| upon this 9Th day Of December as the proud
est day Of my Life. and here ! intend 10 stay
my principles" Before WIS cor
fined in tile jail, their officers were &C.
cnstomed 70 visit the jail every day and offer
| them their liberty if th.y would take their
oath Of allegiance to tic Southern Confedera-
/! cy and volunteer to 60 into the service, and
| rhey would guarantee them safety and protec-
ton. They were accustomed to volunteer a
dozen ct time, SO great was their horror Of
imprisonment and the bad treatment they re-
csiEed in that miserable Jail. After I got into
| the jai1-and they had me in close confinement
for three dreadful winter months-a1i this vol-
untecriDg and taking the oath ceased, and the
leaders sTore did it.
D1sCoMFoRTs AND CRCELTr
Gentlemen and ladies', things went on They
t1ghte1ed up; they grew tighter and still more
| tight. Many OF our company became sick.
We had to lie upon that miserable, cold, na-
| ked floor, With not room enough tor US to lie
| down at the same time--and you may think
what it must have been in December aud Jan
uary, spelling each other, one lying down
awhile on the floor, and then another taking
his place so made warm, and that was the way
VIC managed until many became sick unto
death. A number Of the prisoners died of
pneumonia and typhoid fever, and other dis
eases contracted By exposure there. I shall
never forget, while my head is above ground,
the scenes passed through III that jail. re-
collect there were two venerable Baptist eler-
gymen there-Mr. Pope and Mr. Gate, Mr..
Cate was very low indeed, prostrstted from the
| fever, and unable to eat the miserable food
sent there BY the corrupt jalIor and deputy
| marshal
A HARD CASE.
Old man Cate had three sons in jail One Of
them, James Madison Cate, q most exemplary
ard worthy member Of the Baptist church,
| who WAS there for having committed no other
crime than that Of refusing to volunteer, lay
stretched at length upon the floor, with one
an old o7ercoat doubled up for d pillow, in
tile very agonies Of death, unable to turn over,
only from enc side to the other. Ills wife
: came to Eisit him, bringing her youngest
refused her admittance. Iputmy head ont Of
the jail window, and cnfrcated tae:n, for
Gods sake, to Let the poor woman COME ia,
as her husband was dying, They at last con-
sentcd that she might see him for the limited
time Of fifteen minutes. Is she cln,e in
and looked upon her husbands watl
and e1naciated face, and saw how rapidly he
| WIS sinking, she gave evident signs OF
faint1ng, aud would have fallen to the floor
| with tile babe in her arms, had I not rushed
up to her and cried. sfLet mt hare the baoe,'
ard then she saak down npnn the breast of her
dying husband, unable at first to speak sin
gle word I sat by aud held she babe until the
fifteen minutes had expired, when tn. officer
came in, and in an insulting aud peremp,ory
manner nutitiel her that the iutert lew was to
Close hope may never see such & scene
| again ; and yet such cases were common all
over East Tennessee. Snch actions rs these
show the spirit Of secession in the South It
is the spirit Of murder and assasination-lt is
the spirit OF hell. Aud Jet Eou have men at
tic North who smpatiize With 1hese inferAal
MuTdercrs.
| REBEL BAREARTTIES.
the officers and Erivates Of the Confederate
army passed through our town on their WAY tc
Dixie, eSulting over the victory theS had
achieved, and some Of them had what they
cslled Yankee heads, Or the entire heads o
Federal soldiers, some Of them with lo,,s
boards and goatecs, by which they would tuki
them up and say, See! here Is the heId OF
damned soldier captured at Bull Run Tna
; is the spirit Of secession at the South. 1t i:
the spirit Of murder OF the vile uututored saw
| iha G7.Srif hill
gizs fer them is no better than those who Der
petrate tue deed.
STILL MORE HORRIBLE.
In the town Of Greenyille, where Andrew
johnson resides, they took out Of t1e jail, ii
oae time, two innocent Union men, VINO hat
committed no ofeDse on the face Of the earth
but that Of being Uulon nlen-Nashy and FRI
Fry was poor Shoemaker, with 4 wife and b Il
| a dozen Of children. A fellow from way do vi
East in Maine, by the name Of DAniel Leadbeat
: | er, and tie b1oodieSt and nost ultra man, til,
I yilest wretch, the most uumitfgated scoundrc
| thut ever made 4 track in East Teunesste
| This is Col. Daniel Leadbcater, late of th.
Upited States army, hut now 3 rebel in III,
secession army. He took these two men, tict
them with his own hands upon one Imb, in
I mediate1y over the railroad track in the towl
Of Greenv1lle, and ordered them to hang f4u
: days and nights, and directed all the engineer
and conductors to go By that hanging Goa
ccrn slow, in 4 Kind Of snail gallop, up ant
down the road, to give the Passengers an op
: portuni'y to kick the rigid bodies and striE
them with q raltan. Aud they did it.
pledge you my honor that Oh the from
Platform they made business of kicking th
! dead bodies rs they passed By. aud the wome1
Il will not say ladies, for down South VI
make q distinction between ladies and NO
n.cn) the women, the wives and daughters Q
= nlcn in his b position, waved their white b md
t kerchieis In triumph through the windows @
the Car ut the sight Of the txo dead bodis
: hanging there. Leadbeater, for his murder
Gus courage, Tas promoted By JEFF Davis e
. the Office Of Briyadier General. He hld a
! encounter, as their Owl papers at Ri:lmos
: state. at BIitgeI ot, no. long ago, with a par
/ Of Gen. MitchcIIs army, where 1eadoeat.
+ got . glorious whipping His Own part
; turned round and caas1ised him for cowAr1ice
| He had courage to hang innocent, un4rn1e
I 1nvn, taken out Of Jail, but he had not cour1y
to face tic Yankees aud the Northern me-
{ that were under Mitchell and Buell., He tool
to lis heels, like coward and scayenger a
lie is.
( Our programme is this, that when ne &c
! back into Eaat Tennessee We will instruct n
our tllends every where TO secure and appr*
= heDd this ttloW, Ieadbclter; and our pul
=. rosc is to take him to that tree and make tn
widow Fry tie the rope 2round his inferna
a neck.
l UNION MEN HUNG.
l In the jail where Lay they we're aecustome
Il to drive up With L cart, with an ugly, rough
J, 1at~topped coffin upon it, surrounded bY ii
q | teen TO forty men, with bri=tling bflYouets q
d guard to march in through the gate into tn
d jul yard, with steady, military tread. "
!. trenbled IN our boots, for they never notiffe
), ine how Jonr humble servant felt; for If an
It nan In the Jail, under their Law, deserved tn