The southern aegis, and Harford County intelligencer., 1863-01-23
BEL AIR, MD. FRIDAY MORNING.

shown such willingness to falsify any re.
mark of mine, contrary to my usual prac-
tice have reduced to writing all | intend
to say on this occasion. Lend ME, there.
fore, your patient attention:
On the 18th of August last, after ten
o'clock at night, my house was forcibly
eutered by three Government ruffians, who
with violence seized my person, aud hold.
ing revolver at my head, demanded my
surrender. During the time they were
making such repeated and violent efforts
to burst open my door, they gave me no
intimation that they were Government Of
fcers, Or that they had any Government au,
thority, for my arrest. They came like
assassns and robbers-they behaved like
assassins and robbers, and had 1 not
been informed by the boastiugs OF
certain Republicans that affidavits design
ed to cause my arrest had been forwarded
to the War Department, [ should un-
doubtedly have taken these Government
ruffians for midnight robbers.
When, after my capture, I demanded to
know by what authority they had thus
rudely broken into my room, and by what
authority they thus seized my person, they
very grumblngly informed me that they
wer" acting under authority Of the War
Department. [ then demanded to be
shown their warrant. They informed me
that had no right to make any such de-
mand-that the order which they held
was for their protection, and not for my
qualification. They however permitted
me to see it.
The document was signed by the AS
sistant Secretary of War-was dated at
Washington city, August 2, 1862. 1t
was directed to W. Ii. Scott, and commits
stoned him to take with him one assistant,
and proceed to Lancaster, Ohio, and arrest
Edison B. Olds, and to convey him to New
York and deliver him to the commanding
officer of Fort Lafayette and that if he
was resisted in the execution of the order,
he was directed to call upon Governor
Tod, of Ohio, for such assistance as might
be necessary.
The order contained no intimation Of
the "nature and cause" of the accusation
against me; indeed it charged me with
the commission of no offense whatever !;
and when [ demanded of my captors to
know what We're the charges against NE,
they replied that they "dld not know"
[ have no doubt but what the ruffians
had called upon Governor Tod for assist
ance before proceeding to execute their
orders, as they had with them big, dou-
ble-6sted bully from Columbus, who in
formed me that his name was Bliss, and
that he had once belonged to the Demo-
cratic party, and that he had met me in
Democratic con 7entions in Columbus.
These Government rufians were direct
ed to "peaceably" arrest me. Yet with
violence they burst open the door of my
room, and, with a revolver at my head ar
rested me. They came at the hour usu.
ally selected by robbers and assassins to
br,a into mems houses and commit deeds
of violence; and had | been armed |
should have shot them down as robbers
and assassns. | have reflected much on
the manner of my arrest, and | have come
calmly and deliberately to the conclusion
that I.should have been justified, both by
the laws of God and man, had [ killed
these ruffians while breaking into my
room, as I most assuredly would have
done had I been armed, and as most cer-
tainly would do, had the act to be done
over again. 1t would have taught Mr.
Lincoln and his minions that when they
set aside the laws and the Constitution,
the rifle, the revolver and the bowie-kn;fe
at once become the supreme law of the
land.
Thus, my friends, was I dragged from a
sick bed, for I was that time, and for
many long and weary days and nights af-
terward, seriously afflicted with an attack
of the bloody fux. In this condition |
was hurried into carriage, and during
the remainder Of the night driven to Co.
lumbus, and just at daylight placed upon
the cars and taken in my sick condition,
without moments delay, to Fort Lafay-
ettc.
The order for my arrest charged me with
the commission of no crime known to any
law Of my country. Nay, more: it charg
ed me with no crime whatever. You may
we'll imagine, then, my surprise aud
Indignation when, on arriving at Fort
Lafayette, I was ordered to strip myself,
that I might be searched. To make, if
possible, such an Insult greater to a free
born American citizen, l was taken into
side room, where around me lay, in
heaps, manacles, chains and hand cuffs,
With such surroundings [ was stripped
i l.