The Bedford gazette. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1805-current, 1863-01-02

received;
And ,OhereoS, In addition to the tacit adms-
sion resulting from the above refusal to answer,
4, l have received evidence fully establishing the
! truth Of the fact that the said VIM. b. Mum
| ford, citizen of the Confederacy, was actually
and publicly executed in cold blood, by hang
| ing, after the occupation of the city of New
| Orleans by the forces under Benz. I. Butler,
when said Mumford was an unresisting and nom
combatant captive, and for no offence even al
| legged to have been committed by him subse-
quent to the date of the capture Of the said city;
| An9 schercqs, The silence of the Government
of the u. States, and its maintaining Of said
Butler in high office Under its authority for ma
| ny months after his commission Of an act that
can be viewed in no other light than as a de-
liberate murder, as we'll as of numerous other
outrages and atrocities hereafter to be mention
ed, afford evidence too conclusive that the said
Government sanctions the conduct OF the sad
Butler, and is determined that he shall remain
unpunished for these crimes:
Now, therefore, l, Jefferson Davis, President
of The Confederate States of America, and III
their name, do pronounce and declare the SAID
Benjamin j. Butler to be Il falon, deserving OF
capital punishment. | do order that be shall
no longer be considered or treated simply ms IA
public enemy OF the Confederate States Of A
merica, but as an outlaw and common enemy
OF mankind, and that, in the event Of his cap
ture, the officer in command OF the capturing
fierce do cause him 20 be immediately executed
by hanging.
ind I do further order, That no commission
ed officer of the u. States, taken captive, shall
be released on parole. before exchange, until The
said Butler shall have met with due punish
ment for his crimes.
ind ,ohereas, The hostities waeed against
this Confederacy, by the forces of The United
States, under the command OF said Benlann
L. Butler, have borne no resemblance to suoh
warfare as is alone permissible by the rules OF
international law, or the usage Of civilization,
but have been characterized by repeated afro
cities and outrages, among The large number OF
which, the following may be cited as examples:
Peaceful and aged citizens ungesisting cap
tives and non-c0mbatantS. have heen confined
at hard labor, with hard chains attached TO their
limbs and are still SO held in dungeons and for
trcsscs:
Others have been submitted to q like degra-
ding punishment for selling medicine to the sick
soldiers Of the Coneicracy:
The soldiers of the United States have been
invited and encouraged in general orders to in
suit and outrage the wives, the mothers, and
the sisters Of our citizens:
Helpless women have been torn from iheir
homes, and subjected to solitary confinement,
some in for;resses and prisons, and one oapecial-
| ly or an island of barren sand under 4 tropical
sun, have been fed with loathsome rations that
! had been condemned % unfit for soldiers, and
have been exposed 10 the vilest insults:
| Prisoners Of war, who surrendered to the ma
val forces Of tie United States on agreement
that they should be released on parole, have
been seized and kept in close confinement:
| Repeated pretexts have been sought or invent
ed fer plunderng the inhabitants of the cap
| turcd city, by fines levied and collected under
! threats Of imprisoning recusants at hard labor
with ball and chain. The entire population of
rev UrIcaps nave Sc~n fo.Teu 10 'heo' no'"vest
starvation by the confscatcn OF all their prop
erty, and taking an oath against conscience TO
bear allegiance TO the invader ct their coiiAtry:
Egrcss from the city has been refused TO those
whose forttude withstood the test, ard even to
lone and aged women, and to helpless children;
and after being elected from their homes, and
robbed of their property, they have been left to
starve 10 the streets or subsiat on charity:
The slaves have been driven from The planta-
tions in the neighborhood of New Orleans until
their owners would consent to share their crops
with the Commanding General, his brother,
Andrew J. Butler, and other officers, and when
such consent had been extorted the slaves have
been restored so the plantations, and there COM
PEELED 10 work under the bayoncts of the guard
of United States soldiers. Where that rart-
nersp was refused armed expeditions have
been sent 10 the plantations to roo them of e9-
erything that was susceptible Of removal:
Aad even slaves, too aged or i,airn for work
have, in spite OF thor entreates, been forced
from the homes provided BY thoir owners, ana
driven 10 wander helpless on the hghwry:
BY recent general order, number 81. the
entire property in chat part Of Louisiana west
OF the Mississippi river has been sequosiT,.tcd
for confiscatOn, and officers have been assigned
to duty with orders TO gather up and collect the
personal property, and turn over to the proper
officers upon their receipts, such of said proper
iy as may be required for the use Of the United
Stetes army; to collect together all The other
personal property and bring the same TO New
Orleans, and cause it 20 be sold at public auc-
ton to highest bidders--an order which, if ex-
ecuted, condemns to punishment, by starvation
at least a quarter Of million Of human beings
of all ages, sexes and conditions ard Of which
the execution, although forbidden to military
officers by the orders of President Lincoln, Is
in accordance with the coniiscation law of our
enemies, which he has effected to be enforced
through the agency of. civil officials.
and, finally, The African slaves have not only
been melted to insurrection by every license and
encouragement, but numbers of them have ac-
tually been armed for serve war---a war in
its nature far exceeding the horrors and most
merciless atrocities OF savagcs:
Aad pIe,raS, The officers under command of
the said Butler have been, in many instances,
active and Jealous agents in the commission Of