, 1862-04-19
The Riot at the rheater

VI sumo VI eHO SOAUtOA9 oinNO 'AHo O'Oue
Every peaceable citizen hoped and expected
that the disgraceful proceedings of that eve
ning would close the drama; and til to be
deeply regretted that they did not, mas
much as subsequent transactions have ex
hibited a most deporable disregard of law
and order, if rot fixed and settled enmity
between residents of the city and the sol
diers quartered at the garrison.
On the part of the citizens who were en-
gagged in the afray notwithstanding the
feet that officers of the law had been suf-
fered to be stricken down and their author
ity contemned and boldly set at defiance,
we are satisfied they cherished no disposi-
ton to aggravatc the difficulty either by
word or deed Remaining within the linn
its of the city, they have peaceably' and
quietly pursued their accustomed business.
Not SO with the soldiers. Cherishing un-
iustliably an excited and hostile disposi-
tion, they initiated the unwarraptable con-
duct of their fellows on the night in ques7
ton, by parading our streets with an armed
force, thus exhibiting a total and wanton
disregard for law and civil authorities, The
mildest Terms that can be applied to this
procedure must characterize it as high
handed outrage upon the rights of the peo-
pie of this city, and gross insult to the
dignity and authority of their laws. 1t is
true. the soldiery represented themselves
through their officers, as having the author
/ ity Of Col. Lee, and by virtue Of his author
ity demanded the yielding up Of q. private
citizen. This, it will be seen, is denied By
the Colonel and though circumstances and
report, both by citizens and soldiers, may
contradict him, we have no right in this
matter to question his veracity. 1t is true
that the men came here fully armed and
c eluipped, prepared for any emergency tha
their presence or conduct might have pro-
voked, and these arms must have been IS
S led to them by somebody. More than
one of the soldiers have stated that they
were issued by the Quartermaster' ser
geant and have stated at the same time that
they supposed their belligerent visit to oul
to wn as entirely in regular form and or
der Still they may have been laboring
under a wrong impression, it having beer
made to appear to many Of them that this
was the case by the more designing one:
among them, in order to get them enlisted
in the crusade Taking it for granted, then
that the men conceived and executed this
ihigh-handed infraction of our rights, what
magnificent specimen of command the ad-
mission exhibits, and how 'sample the
"power" of the commanding officer to pun
sh offenders Under these circumstances,
it becomes us to inquire what security we
may have in the future against like law
less and unprovoked invasion.
! There is one clause in the letter of Col.
Lee to the Mayor which deserves special
attention, ;nasmuch as the allegations there
in contained are entirely false, and calcula-
ted to produce wrong impression upon the
public mind. 1t is the one With pro-
nounces the accidental killing of soldier
at the theater 9 wanton and most likely
premeditated murder'' of one of the most
peaceable soldiers in his command; and
this himsy pretense is offered in palliation
of the subsequent lawless conduct of his
soldiers. All who'w present.on the eve
ming of the atfray know that this is an en-
tire mis- representation Of its character; and
that the idea of premeditated murder re-
sulting from the occasion in questionable
ginning and ending in moments to
simple and ridiculous to deserve comment,
much less to be believed. The simp'e truth
is that on the night in question one of the
soldiers became a source of annoyance to
the audience, and de6ed the officer author
ity upon being told to cease his di-turbance
The officer attempted to remove him from
the house, which was violently resisted by
several of the soldiers; whereupon he called
for assistance. After this general fight
ensued, in which both so diers and citizens
participated. 1t was one of those unfortu
nate occurrences which sometimes arise upon
the spur of the moment, and one which GER
rainly cannot be healed by ggravation from
either side We do not believe that sin
gle citizen engaged in the affray who was
not called upon BY an officer, we infer
that the object of the soldiers was to, pre-
vent the ejectment of their comrade, and
the eagerness manifested on their part
showed determination to this end, On
the part of the citizens, we cannot butsup-
pose that they acted in good faith in their
efforts to suppress the riot and aid the 0 fl
GERS in the discharge of their duty;
The Colonel talks AipPantly about GER
tain notorious criminal. and processes
~.
great surprise that "the citizens of this city
did not take interest enough in the matter
to have him, arrested, Why pitch upon
this particular man and attempt to arrest