The Nashville daily union. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1862-1866, 1862-08-17


Mr.. jefferson Davis has adopted the
well-known rule Of the most violent of
the French rcvolutionists: Eaulace. Tan
ddee t0,J0Us l'auiace II audacitv upon
audaciiy. We referred on Saturday 10
his cool elfnntry in donounciug assas-
sination against General Pope Cor merely
obeying the orders Of his government
But he now adds the most heinous per-
tidy 10 his other atrocities. Havingre-
ceivod his own officers. Generals Buck4cr,
Tilghman, Makall, Pettigrew. and Gaunt.
as well as Commodore Barron aud host
OF captains, under an agreement for an
equitable exchange Of prisoners, hc now
refuses TO return our officers A more
disgraceful and fendish breach of faith
was never committed hs a crew Of savage
islanders. or a tribe q Choctaws or
Blackieet
1t is well known that our government
has al along been averse TO formal
exchange Of prisoners, because the nego-
tiations thereto might imply recognition
OF the rebel authorities as a Legitimate
power 1t was willing tomake informal
surrenders Of tfo insurgents in it's pos
session for an equal number Of loyal
capuves, and many exchanges have been
made on that basis, But the rebels have
steadily refused to give up eur officers,
and for more than a year have retained
such noble and gallant spirits as Colonel
CorcOran and Colonel Wilcox in the vilest
of prisons. at length to recover these
valuable men and to show the clemency
and business Of its disposition, it con-
sented to a regular exchange, which was
negotiated by Generals Dix and Lee for
the respective sides. Three thousand
rebels, including all their conspicuous
officers, were accordingly sent up from
Fortress Monroe the other day, TO secure
the release Of an equal number Of our
officers and men. Adiutaut General
Thomas, who was entrusted with the ex-
change, with a confidence in the sincerity
Of the rebels which requires explanation,
despatched his company at once towards
Richmond, where the rebel officers now
are, but he received in return loyal pri-
Yates only and no officers. The rebel
authorities, with a GOODNESS that has no
parallel in the annals of crime, informed
him that for the present they had con-
cluded to dctain the officers. No reasons
have been given for this breach of faith,
beyond the imperious will of the heart
less and unprincipled insurrectionary
government,
This conduct, however, is of apiece
with the entire management of those
reckless and desperate traitors They
have not scrupled about hanging inofen-
siye Union men on the nearest treei they
have driven out of their homes innocent
women and children, because their hus-
bands and fathers were loyal they have
| burned their slaves alive for merely sus-
| pected offences; they have bayoneted our
wounded and dying on the battlefield !;
| they have shot our poor fellows, almost
scalded TO death by an accidental explo-
sion Of steam, and while they were strug-
Cling with the waters; and they have
! Systematically striyen TO turn the whole
process of the war into a series of-mur-
derous guerrilla attacks, like those Of
Quantrell in Missouri and Of Morgan in
Kentucky; and why, then, should we
expect that they would manifest so sim
pie virtue as fidelity 10 their engage
ments Gen. Thomas must have been
as credulous as any old woman 20 take
their promise of honest dealing. He
should have seen and counted officer for
| officer and man for man before he gave up
his prisoners He has before been ac-
cused, by rumor at least, Of over partial
| ity and faith towards the ne bells, ADD this
solemn cheat we trust will open his eyes.
The fates Of Colonies Corcoran and
Wilcox, to say nothing of others less dis
tinguished, have been indeed painful and
distressing. More than once, after hav-
ing suffered for months the deprivatiOns,
the tedium, the horrors and the insults of
Imprisonment, separated from all friends
and in the midst of insOlent and ieering
enemies, they have been on the eve Of re-
turning TO their homes and friends, aud
have been disappointed. Their houses
have been got ready, their wives and
little ones have cried for Joy, their neigh
bors have brought forth the big guns to
sound a welcome reception, and yet they
have not come. The internal malice of
the rebels has broken the cup of gladness
just as it has been presented to their lips.
In this city every loyal heart has been
expecting with impotence the arrival Of
our noble Irish chief, and this day we
hoped to see his manly face once more
but alas, Corcoran is still in Richmond.
Do the rebels suppose that we of tho
North, and particularly that the multi .
tudes of loyal Irishmen, who cherish
Corcoran as the apple Of their eye, will
forget these WantOn, these atrociOus, these
indescribable insults aud tyrannies ? -
NeiO York Post.