Gallipolis journal. [volume] (Gallipolis, Ohio) 1837-1919, 1864-03-17
LETTER FROM "OCCASIONAL''
WAHINGfoS. March 8. 1864

WARRINGTON, March 3, 1864
4, There is no reading more interest
ing than the rebel newspapers The,
are not only the abstract and ver!
brief chronicles of the times flor thei
dimensions have been wofully dimin
ished by short rations of the war
but they are the reflections of tina
Northern sentiment, which, affecting
to be opposed to the rebellion, is al
most confessedly in sympathy with it
I have been looking over and think.
| ing upon heavy file of these journ-
alistic mirrors of the rebel situation.
and 1 find, in every number, that the
public men hated by the Copper
heads in the loyal States are hated
with equal intensity by the armed
traitors. OF all these men, none is
hated SO bitterly as Gen. Benjamin
F. Butler, now in command at For
tress Monroe. If the indignation of
the rebels could be distilled into
some volatile substance, Gen Butler
could not breathe the air without in
slant death; and nearly the same in
tense hostility rankles in the hearts
and breaks from the lips of the do
mestic enemies of the Republic a.
gainst this remarkable man. I have
now before me several Richmond pa
pers of freeent date, which reek and
run over with the most blasphemons
and vulgar illusions to his person
and his character. They always call
him "Beast Butler" and this term is,
if possible, made strong by more Of
fensive illusions. The most impos-
ible stories are invented to bring him
into further odium among Southern
people. He is charged with cruelty
70 prisoners, insults to ladies, and
persecution of the surrounding peo-
pie. If I had the time and space to
expose these calumnies, you would
be astonished at the recklessness that
invents, and the desperation that cir
culates them. Mark well the men
who repeat these ISLANDERS in the loy-
al States. Is there one whose loyal
ty can be taken without heavy dis
count? Do you, who read these
lines, know thorough Copperhead,
or halting Conservative, or a Peace
declaimer, that does not make of Ben.
Butler text for abuse aud an excuse
for hesitation? All of this class are
as oblivious and deaf to rebel atroci-
ties as if they had been committed
by the inhabitants of another planet.
Now. what has Gen. Butler done to
merit this ungrateful and shameless
treatment at the hands of men who
enjoy the protection of the Federal
Government? He may have been en-
ergetic and stern; but has any FEEDER
al officar succeeded who has not bee n
energetic and stern2 Every great
failure in this war has resulted from
rose water and kid gloved treatment
of traitors who speak with poisonous
tongues and strike with the iron
hand
Butler saved Maryland to the
Union, he rescued New Orleans from
and bloodshed- he gave to
our civic code in war some Of its
most wholesome and effective inter
pretations. He has spoken words of
gold at time when we heard moth
ing but words of despondency.-
Prompt, bold, and wonderfully fer
tile of expedients, he has baffed q
desperate aristocracy I'y what would
have been called diplomacy ifit had
not been known and felt as courage.
His able. restless. over active, and
wonderful intellect is now at For
tress Monroe Like an eagle from
its eyrie he watches the movements
of the enemy and checkmates them
with sudden and with diplomatic
adroitness. The much discussed
question of exchange IS, after all that
has been said, to be SoLUed By h,s vlJfed
and intrepid statesman. He has met
the subject with equal skill, learning,
and courage, and the very rebels,
who know it to be to their interest
to misrepresent him, dare not deny,
because they cannot controvert, his
positions. But this is only one of
the mfny lessons taught by the rebel
newspapers and their echoes in the
loyal States, OCCASIONAL.