Weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1858-1865, 1862-01-15


DAYS after the return OF 1t. Williams to thu city,
and on the latter date. he@startsd him washing
ton county, through the hands of the said Col Me-
MILAN, and on the way, he was confined BY saidS
Mcmillan in Beaufort county Jail, from the 7th tos
the 10th of December. He was thenf:carried, By
order of Gov Clark through the said Mcmillan,
and imprisoned in the common Jail of Nv ashington
county, where he remained until his counsel ssic-
ceeded in efecting his discharge upon petition for
habeas corpus heard before Judge Heath on the
Goth of December. k*sS /
Judge Heath, after hearing all the testimony,
which was produced against him, felt bound to de-.
clare and did declare to the large concourse Of in
dignant people that had assembled to witness the
examination, that there Is not only no satisfdc-.
tory evidence eft treason but I sciW sag there Is
no evidence at aN" The same evidence that was
before Judge Heath aoas before Goo.s Otark in tie
form Of qtidarits, and he is not so ignorant as
not to have known, after he had examined these at
fdavts, and particularly after consulting the great
light of the legal profession of alien and sedion"
memory, that there were no legal grounds for the
arrest imprisonment and detention of Henry AM
brose. submit that it was his duty, as Governor
Of North Carolina, to have discharged Ambrose at
once, and not only to have discharged him, but to
have reported to the War Office Of the Confederate
States, the illegal, unjusti6able and despoic as
sumption Of power Of the military commander Of
the post at Washington, and to have insisted upon
his removal beyond the bounds of a State, whose
laws he had ruthessly violated and trampled under
foot This, it occurs to me, should have been the
action of an upright Execntive-of one protesting
the now established doctrine of State sovereignty.
And MAINTAIN that Gov. Clark by OBTAINING Am
brose as prisoner, from the 29th of November to
the Goth of December-by his refusal and neglect to
Immediately discharge him, upon the knowledge
which ne possessed that he had been arrested with
out any process of law, and upon his reading the
OIL Iavitc l.
nlzed adopted and approved of the despotic assump-
ton of power by Col. Mcmillan; and that he, Gov.
Clark, is responsible to an outraged public for the
exercise of tyrannical power expressly denied to
him and all others by the Constitution of the State.
If he can with impunty usurp the power to I'M
prison Henry Ambrose, at his will and pleasure, he
can and human nature teaches US he will usurp the
power to treat others in the same manner-it may
be the reader of this communication. If he can at
his own will, or at the bare suggestion ofoth-
ers, imprison Henry Ambrose, the reader or the
writer of this article or any one els, for three
weeks in dcrogation of the express constitutional
and statutory law of the land he can keep US IN q
felon'S cell at least during his term of office.
If this act goes unrebuked; if it is not visited
with the righteous indignation Of the people, tho
next usurpation may assume more gigantic proper
tions and the next still greater and so on, until in
measure they famarze the minds OF the people
with their despotc claim of power, and come to
claim its exercise by prccedents now being cstab
lished and then may bid an eternal alden to the
last semblage of constitutional liberty. The way
to crush despotism is to nip il in the bud.
ROANOKE.
FORT HATTERAs.-A writer in the Richmond En-
anincr, defending the naval officers in the COnfed-
crate service from an imputaon Of inetfciency, in
that "all the batteries commanded by naval officers
were taken when attacked by the enemy" cites two
cases the Potomac where such was not the result
and then adds follows in regard Forts Hatteras
and Hilton Head, which think i: right to copy,
in spite OF the Charleston Curriers' depreciation of
comparisons between the dcfences of those two
posts, because we think it throws light upon the
Hatteras affair. 1t will be remembered that the
yankee reports stated that they landed 3l5 men at
Fort Clark on the evening OF the first day of the
bombardnent. This writer dscredits the statement
and probably with reason for it is lcey credible
that they would have landed so small force Just ut
night and then withdrawn all their Ships out of
supporting distance 1t may be well here to remark
what was not sufficiently borne in mind by those
who made comments depreciatlyeo or otherwise upon
the conduct OF the defence, that all Information
with regard to the second day S bombardment, as
also to the number of men landed at Fort Clark on
the night Of the first was derived from yankee
sources. According to the same authority, most
glorious victories were greatest dissraces and
whipped with difficulty one third our number
Fayetteville Observer.
The EramiAcr writer says
"Com. Barron was in Newbern, N. c., organizing
his little force when he received intelligence of the
threatened attack upon Hatteras, and immediately
FASTENED thither. lie arrived ut ten in the evening
Of the first day fight when Fort Clark had been
abandoned The garrison consisted of volunteer
militia, sufficiently brave but wholly ignorant of
the management Of artillery. There not one
gun Of heavy artillery, and lonch columbiad lay
upon the beach unpr0vided with carriage wherein
to move it. Nevertheless, in spirit which does
him honor he accepted the proffered command and
| spent the night IN preparation
| lone of the first subjects discussed night
attack upon Fort Clark but owing to positive asser-
ton that it liz possession of 25U0 mel the idea
was abandoned The statement of the enemy as to
the number of men landed, know, from their
meneacity other matters is not to be relied upon
| under the terrible cannonade OF the following
day shot could only reach the nearer and smaller
vessels which were SO severely handled that they
withdrew beyond range. AT the time Of surrender
the battery was unteEable, there being imminent
danger of the explosion of the magazine, and no
shelter for the protecting force except in its mue
date vicinity. Lieut.. Peacock, taken in the prize
steamer Fanny, told the writer that he went into
the battery with Gen. Butler, and never before had
proper conception OF the devastating effects of shot
and SHE'LL and that short of insant: the place could
not longer have been held The batteries at Hilton
Head and Bay Point were commanded by Gen.
Drayton, and never had been in charge Of nor were
their garrison instructed by, naval officers. If they
had, so many guns would not have been disabled
from precipitancy if driven from them they would
have been carefully spiked or, with their magazines,
blown up and it is not improbable, considering the
admirable construction of the batteries"
OUR RELEASED PRIsoNERs.-The New York Her.
all gives the following list Of prisoners (comuis.
stoned oficers) ordered to be paroled by General
! Orders:
j. A. j. Bradford, Colonel, Confederate States
Army.
W. S. G. Andrews, Major N. c. State Troops.
VIM. F. Martin, Colonel, 7th Reg, N. G. Voun'