Daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1865, 1864-11-03
SOUTHERN NEWS.

rs. SOUTHERN NEWS.
zas Treatment of Captured Nseg5ros-cOr-
rsspondsnce Betsoeen Gems. Grant and
Les-JtG. Davis appoints a Day Of
Thanksgiving. '' -.
The Richmond Enquirer Of Oct. % has
the, following correspondence between
Gems. Lee and Grant relative to the treat
ment of negro soldiers, and the retaliatOry
measures adopted by Gen. Butler;
aEN..LEE TO aEN. GRANT.
HEADQ'Rs Army NoRTHERS VA, Oct. 10.
Lieut.. Gen u S. Grant, Cons'ding U. S. a:
GENEHA1; Iu7 7accordaneawith instruc-
tions from the Honorable Secretary of the
Confederate States, have the honor to
call your attention to. the subject of two
Communications recently addressed by
Msj.. Gen. B. F. Butler, an officer under
yoar command to Hon: Robert Ould,
Commissioners for the exchange OF prison
ers. For heYbetter understanding the
matter, / fnclose copies of the communi-
cations. You will perceive by one of them
that the writer has placed a number of off.
GERS and men belonging to the Confederate
United Estates forces, at labor in the canal
at Dutch Gap, in retaliation, as is alleged,
for like number of Federal colored SOL
diers, prisoners of war in our hands, who
are, said TO have been put to work on our
Notifications. - 80
The evidence of this fact is founded in
the afidavits of two deserters from our
service. The other letter refers to a copy
of notice issued by g. Confederate officer
Commanding camp near Richmond, cal.
ling upon. the owners to come forward and
establish their claims to certain negroes in
thelcustody of that officer. The writer of
the letter proceeds to state that some of
the negroes mentioned in the notice are
believed to be soldiers of the United
States army, captured in arms, and that
upon that belief he has ordered to such
manual labor as he deems most fitting to
meet the exigency, an equal number of
prisoners of war held by the United States,
and announces that he will Continue to or
der to labor captives in war to an equal,
number fthat of the United States SOL
diers, who he has reason ito believe are
held to service or labor by the Confederate
forces, until he shall be notified that the
alleged practice on the part of the O0nted-
crate authorities has ceased. Before sta
ting the facts with relation to the particular
negroes alluded to, beg to explain the
policy pursued by the Confederate Govern
ment towards this class of persons when
captured, by our forces. All negroes in
the military OF naval service of the United
States, when taken By. us are notidentitied
as the property ofcitizens or residents of
lazy of the Confederate States, are regard.
ed as prisoners of war being held to be
proper subj ects of exchange, as recently
j had the honor To inform Won.
| No-labor is exacted from such persons
Ebt the Confederate authorities. Negroes
| who owe service or labor to citizens OF
residents of the Confederate States, and
who through ,compulsion, persuasion, or'ot
Itheir own accord leave their owner and
Hare placed in the military service OF the
United States, occupy different position.
The rights to the service or labor of negro
slaves in the Confederate States is the same
lnOW as whenithe States were members of
the Federal Union. The constitutional re-
| latious and obligations of the Confederate
States to the owners of this species of
property are the sRmeas those SO heqnent-
Iy and SO long recognised as those Tapper-
tanning, to the Government of the United
States, with. reference to the same class of
persons by virtue of its organic law. From
| the earliest period of the Independence of
the American States it has been held that
| onesofsthe duties Incumbent upon the sew
eral common governments under which
| thAv have been from time TO time assoeia-
ted was the return to their lawful owners
of'sIAves recaptured from the public enemy.
1t has been uniformly held that the cap.
tute or abduction of q slave does not i'm
pair the right of the owner to such slave,
but that the right attaches to him tmme-
diately upon recapture. Such was the
! 49, A Hsp
| their struggle for Independence, The gov
ernment under which they were then as
soeiatei, festoE ed to the owners slaves
abducted blythe British forces, and subse.
quently recaptured by the American armies.
ID the war of 1872, with Great Britain,
the course pursued by the United
States Government was the same, and it
lrecoknized the tight of the owner to slaves
Irecaptured from the enemy. Both the Con-
IainentHf and United States Governments, in
fact, denied that the abduction. of slaves
was q beligerent right, and the latter
power insisted upon, and ultimately secured
| by treaty, pecuniary indemnity from the
| British Government for slaves taken by its
forces during the war Of 1879. And 1t is
supposed that, il slave belonging to a
citizen ofa State in which slavery is recog-
lhized, aud which is regarded as one of the
United States, were to escape Into the Con-
federate States, or be capturci or abducted
| by their owners, the legal rish. OF the own
er to reclaim him would be ~ oiear now as
/ in, 1872, ;sthe Constitution CT the United
States being unchanged 10 this particular,
and that instrument having been iuterpre-
ted in the udieial detisions leg islative and
diplouatic acts and eorrespo OF the
United States aa imposing upon that gov
eminent the duty of protecting IN all cases
Gaming within telescope Of ttse authority,
the ownersuf slaves as well as of any otnei
lkihd of propsrty ie6gniked as such By the
lseEeraT States. The Confederate govern.
meut, bound by the same conStituttona
Obligations, considsRs Rs that Of the United
il Aid that the rantnra nP ah1uHtiOE