Pomeroy weekly telegraph. [volume] (Pomeroy, Meigs County, Ohio) 1860-1866, 1862-09-26
Progressing.

The Following extract Of a letter from
the corresp ondent of the Cincinnati
I Commercial, is an instance among thou =
sands, which shows the progress the
public mind is making in a right direc-
| tion: sa s
| At Camp Parapet saw what i had
often heard of, but never expected to
see-an entire regiment of slaves, regu-
| larly organized, and drilling to the best
of their bihty; the drill. as it is in Scott
and Hardee, with slight infusion of
the English style. I content myself
with the simple announcement of this
fact. / have no Comments to- make
Since the beginning of this war my opin-
ions have undergone SO many and such
radical changes that have no longer
any confidence in human Judgment. |
am satisfied that no man can have indis-.
/ putable evidence that he is right in any
/ of his opinions, and, therefore, 1 will,
as far as possible, dispense with holding
any settled opinions in the future. /
came into this war a pro, slavery man,
with the strongest possible convictions
in favor of war for the Union, so con
! Quoted as not to interrupt the status of
slavery in slave Sta a.es. Now, if am
any hing, | am an Abolitiouist-not an
/ Abolitionist er Sc, butsa believer in ab-
olition as military necessity y-an Abo-
! litionistto punish rebellion aud treason.
and to close up this internal war. l
made complaint some time ago tina. we
| had too much science enlisted on the
side Of the Union. In addition to that,
| now hazard the opinion that We are
too civilized. We need little barbar-
ism in the conduct of this war.
| While abstaining from any argument
either for or against the arming of slaves,
| must enter a protest, in the name Of
| humanity, against the manner in which
they have been treated heretofore by
the Federal Government. The agents
Of the Government have not scrupled to
use the darkey chattels of rebels in any
and every manner in which their ser
| vices could be made available, without,
in any instance, rendering them com pen
sation. The negroes, placing the most
implicit and child like e confidence in the
Yankees, cheerfully and cordially serve
them in any way they can, AS means
i. of acquiring information, as guides and
MS laborers, they have been found emf
nentiy useful, comforting great benefits
on the cause Of the Union, and at the
same time drawing upon their own de-
voted heads the bottled up wrath Of
| rebeldom to be forced out as soon as the
| protecting presence of the Federal guard
! is withdrawn
I Lo! the poor nigger! His chance is,
indeed, slim, if he falls into the clutches
of the Philistines after having been ia
miliar with the Yankees. He is mer-
ciessly fogged, shot, hung, or burned
alive according to the enor1nity Of his
offense. And yet, knowing these facts,
the agents of the Federal Government
do not hesitate to avail themselves Of
his readiness to serve us as long as they
can use him, and then refuse him the
poor favor Of transportation to some
other neIghborh sod. | have seen ne
groes employed in stripping conis
Gated plantation of everything, even to
the bacon, cornmeal and poultry, on
which they are expected to live, and
then kicked of the steamboat when
ready to start. This is net just nor
generous. The Government should
either not accept any services at their
nands or strive at least to leave them
in as good a situation as it fads them. |
I cannot very well get away from the
subject Of Phelps nigger regiments
The matter has kicked up terrible
stink among the Western men in this
Department. though the "nutrhegs'
seem generally pleased with the ar
angement. There is great deal of
speculation as to whether or not they
will fight. [ have not the slightest
doubt that, if properly disciplined, they
,ciU fght-perhaps good deal better
than some of the New England troops
did in the Baton Rouge affair. If they
don't they had better. 1t wouldn't be
healthy for any of them to be taken
prisoners. But fight or no fight, mig
ger who has served any lentgh Of time
as soldier will prove an invaluable ac
QUESTION to the morals of sugar plan
tation. just fancy the rush on the
part of the planters to secure them after
the war is over, providing that planters
and plantations and slavery should sur
vive the war-which they won't, by
id sight.