Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1862-05-15

my second regiment, tc which these off,
GERS were attached. that / shall not be sat-
isfed with wha, they shall do unless they
give an account Of one rebel killed for each
one of their own number"
The members of your committee might
content themselves by leaving this testi-
mony to the Senate and the people aith-
out q word Of comment: bu. when the en-
emies of q just and generous Government
are attempting to excite the sympathy Of
disloyal men in our own country. and to
solicit the aid of foreign governments by
the grossest misrepresentation OF the OBJ
jects of the war. and Of the conduct of the
officers and soldiers OF the republic. this
the most startling evidence of their insin
cerity and inhumanity. deserves some no.
tice at our hands, History will be exam
ined in vain for parallel to this rebellion
against q good government. Long pre-
pared for by ambitious men. who were
made doubly, confident Of success by the
aid and counsel Of former administrations,
and by the belief that their plans were un
observed by magnanimous people. they
precipitated the war at moment when
the general administration had just been
changed. } under circumstances of astound
ing pcrfdy. Without a single reasona-
BILE ground Of complaint. and in the face Of
repeated manifestations of moderation and
peace on the part of the President and his
friends, they took up arms and declared
that they would never surrender until their
rebellion had been recognized, or the in
stitutions established by our fathers had
been destroyed. The people of the loyal
states. at last convinced that they could
preserve their liberties only by an appeal
to the God of battles. rushed to the stand
ard of the republic. in response to the call
of the Chief Magistrate.
Every step of this monstrous treason has
been marked by violence and crime. No
transgression has been too great. no wrong
too startling for its leaders. They disre-
garded the sanctity of the oaths they had
taken to support the Constitution; they re-
pudiated all their obligations to the people
of the free States; they deceived and be-
trayed their own fellow citizens. and
crowded their armies with forced levies;
they drove from their midst all who would
not yield to their despotism. or filled their
! prisons with men who would not enlist un-
der their flag. They have now crowned
the rebellion by the perpetration of deeds
scarcely known even to savage warfare
established this fact beyond controversy.
The witnesses called before MS were men OF
undoubted verscity and character. Some
of them occupy high positions in the ar
my. and other. high positions in civil life.
Differing in political sentiments. their evil
dence presents q remarkable concurrence
Of opinion and OF judgment. Our fellow
countrymen, heretofore sufficiently i'm
pressed by the generosity and forbearance
j Of the government Of the United States.
and by .hc barbarous character of the cru
sade against il, will be shocked by the
statements Of these unimpeaehed and um-
improbable witnesses; and foreign ma.
tions must. with one accord. however they
have hesitated heretofore. consign to last.
ing odium the authors Of crimes which, in
all their details, exceed the worst cxcesses
Of the Sepoys Of India.
Inl,umanitv to the living has been the
leading trait of the rebel leaders; but it was
reserved for your committee to disclose a,
q concerted system their insults to the
wounded, and their mutilation and desc
Grafton of the gallant dead. Our soldiers
taken prisoners in honorable battle have
been subjected to the most shameful treat
ment. All the considerations that inspire
chivalric emotion and generous considers.
tion for brave men have been disregarded
It is almost beyond belief that the mer
!, Sighting in such cause as ours and sus.
tained by Government which in the
milst Of violence and treachery has given
repeated evidences Of its indulgence. shed
have been subjected to treatment never be-
fore resorted to by one foreign nation ia
conflict with another.
All the courtesics of professional ani
J civil life seem to have been discarded
General Beaaregsrd himself. who on We
!, ~ recent occasion boasted that he had beer
controlled by humane feelings after the
battle OF Bull Run. coolly proposed to hold
General ricketts, as hostage for one of the
murderous privateers. and the rebel snr-
geons disdained intercourse and communi-
: cation with onr own surgeons taken in
J honorable battle.
4 The outrages upon the dead will revive
the recollections of the cruelties to which
savage tribes subject their prisoners. They
were buried in many cases naked with their
faces downward; they were left to decay in
the open air; their bones were carried of
as trophies. sometimes, as the testimony
proves. to be usel as personal adornments.
and one witness deliberately AYERS that the
head of one of our most gallant officers
was cut off by secessionist to be turned
into drinking cup on the occasion OF his
marriage. Monstrous rs this revelation
may appear 10 be. your committee have
been informed that during the last two
weeks the skull of Union soldier has
been exhibited IN the Office of the Sergeant
alarms of the House Of Representatives.
which had been converted to such . pur-
pose. and which had been found on the per-
:, son Of one of the rebel prisoners taken in