Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1863-08-04
THE CONDUCT OF THE ENEMY.

THE CONDUCT OF THE ENEMY.
Whilst our Government has been try
ing to induce the enemy to agree to
some mutual arrangement that would
mitigate the horrors OF war, they seem
determined to make the war ASSUME a
hue Of darker atrocity. Since tho 4th
of July, they have sent no exchanoed
prisoners to the South, thou oh weshaye
been sending prisoners " orth in strict
observance e OF the cartel Of exchange
Seeing that the enemr were acting in
bad faith, and that tsney refused to Send
our prisoners home, our commissions r
OF exchange has at length refused to send
prisoners North. So there is now to-
tai suspension Of exchange. The enc
my croWe4 our prisoners into Fort Del
aware yshere they die very fast, and
those that do not die contract diseases
which render them invalids for life
/ Upon these facts, the Richmond Enqui~
rer pertinently remarks as follows:
We may as well consider and under
stand the meaning OF this new policy
Of discontinuing the exchange, and kill
ing Oft Confederate prisoners by disease.
1t means that as the Yankees have more
men in their country than We have, and
also possess the facility of procuring as
many mercenaries as they need from
foreign countries, they intend to wear
down our military material; and, in the
long run, they hope to get through with
Us by this simple aaethed. They judi
ciously reflect that We hold fewer pris-
oners than they do; and that even if we
had as many, they can better spare their
men than we ours +: nay, that If we kept
Tor killed five to their one, the balance
would still be against u.s. They do not
care for their. soldiers, who are chiefly
hired foreign mercenaries; and they can
always ill their ranks again from the
1swarming hives of Europe. At this
game the stakes are not equal.
The simple narrative we have given
will sufficiently explain the insolent re-
lceptlon which was given to Mr.. Ste
lphens' humane mission, having in view
some arrangement which should lniti-
gate the horrors Of war, and prevent the
necessity Of bloody retaliation then de-
|sire and intend to aggravate the horrors
OF war, and to provoke bloody retalia-
ton.
The same explanation will serve for
the proceedings of the enemy in regard
to the two officers of our army, who
were recruiting in Kentucky, and hap
pened to fall into the hands of the Yam
KEGS; they were executed as spies, or
robbers. Our Government applied to
the enemy's Government, asking to be
informed of the charge aga 0st these of
ficers; no reply was given. Thereupon
the Confederate Governmet.t caused two
Federal officers of equal rank to be cho-
sen by lot, in order to be executed by1
way of retaliation On this becoming
known at Washington, orders were Civ
Ell to thrust into dungeon two qooamaoz-
ed officers, General w. Ell. i. Lee, and
Capt. Winder, the sons of our great Gen
eral, Robert E. Lee, and General Win
| der. Chief Provost Marshal at Richmond,
IN order that if we dared retaliate for
the death Of the two recruiting officers
in Kentucky, those two men should be
put to death. This is not military retail
sataon; in the first place, the grades are
not equal in the next place, the VIC
TINS are not chosen BY lot. 1t is not
retaliation, but cowardly blow aimed
at the dearest affections of special indi.
viduals it is not retaliation, but de-
iberate challenge to the general hoist
ing Of the Black Flag along the whole
line.
There is no use in Disgusting to our
selves the purport Of the policy we have
here described. 1t is war to the knife.
Our Government has done all that was
possible to do in order to avoid the ter.
rible issue. When we had large ex-
cess OF prisoners, We sent them away be-
fore they were exchanged. When our
army has been in the enemy's country
it was strictly ordered to respect private
property and to spare non-combatants,
though the property of our people had
been Systematically destroyed, and our
helpless women and little ones had been
driven out homeless and naked upon
the world. All this forbearance and
| chlvalrous courtesy on our part-all this
christianity and civilization" as Gen
Lee says-has been thrown away upon
such an enemy. We have been casting
our pearls before swine, indeed.
What, then, is to be done The peo-
pie will look to our Government for an
answer.
ILLNESS OF GEN. FLoYD-The Rich
mond Examiner of Thursday last statas
that General John B. Floyd, who, since
his retirement from the army, has been
an invalid from disease contracted in
the camp, now lies dangerously i'll at the
residence OF his son-in-laW, near Abing-
don, Virginia, and but slight hopes are
entertained of his recovery. The Con
iederacy, and especially the peoplesofl
Virginia, will receive this announcement
with sorrow.