The daily Green Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1861-1865, 1863-08-03
Retaliation.

In dealing with savages it becomes in some de-
gree necessary to resort to unusual measures
of severity, as no argument short of such
measures will reach and convince them. If they
cannot be pursuaded to recognize the rules of or
binary civilized warfare by any other logic than
that of retaliation, it becomes not only right.
but duty, to retaliats. They must be made to
feel in their own bodies something of the unaw.
full punishment which they infict on others, in Or
der that humanity, on the whole, may be the
gamer by the severe lesson thus taught them.
President Lincoln has Justly recognized this prin
ciple in bis recent order informing the rebels that
if they murder or enslave Federal troops, rebel
prisoners in our hands will be shot, or put at
hard labor on the public works, man for man.
We have been unable to understand, and do
not row. why this order was not sooner published
Some OF our Generals in their departments have
acted upon the principle contained in it, but only,
ve believe so far as white soldiers were concern.
ed. The colored troops, of whom We have many
thousand in the service, have hitherto apparently,
been treated as outside the protection of the Gov
eminent. This order, however, reaches the case
of coored soldiers, and puts them in this respect
lust where they should be, on an equality with the
other troops in the service. Jeff Davis himself,
must recognize the strict justice of this order,
and will be compelled to respect it.
And the order has not come too soon. The
rebels have from the outset Of the war, continual
" threatened to spare no colored soldier, or Off
Ger Of colored troops, fighting for the Government
of the United States. They have captured many
negroes who have been in our service, some as
.oldiers. and some as teamsters and in other Ca
pacities, and have never yet We think, exchanged
,uch prisoners for rebels in our hands. We know
they have in some cases murdered these negroes
in cold blood and have, no doubt, in other cases
either sold them into slavery or set them at hard
labor on the public works. They have held and
refused to exchange our officers who have been
captured while commanding colored troops, and
for long time Col. Sueight has been kept in
confinement and refused an exchange, because
the rebels have pretended to believe that his raid
was intended to stir up negro instruction. AZ
ter the capture Of Port Hudson, no negroes were
found in the place, either among the prisoners or
in the hospitals, although in the gallant, though
unsuccessful assault made by the colored Louis
lana regiment upon the deiences of that strong
hold, many negroes must have been taken prison.
ers unless they we're murdered outright. And
after the recent assault upon For! Wagner, where
the 54th Massachusetts, regiment (colored) dis
played such bravery, when the exchange of
wounded prisoners was made no wounded men,
bers Of the saith were found. The rebel colonel
said that there were none. In short, the rebels |
have everywhere refused to treat negroes in our
service, when captured by them, as prisoners Of
war, but have uniformly either murdered them
on tn, spot, or reserved them to be sold into
slavery. 1t WAS time our Government took some
sc,ion on the subject, and the Presidents order
will be received by oil except the par.sans
......F