Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1864-08-09
Correspondence of The Ohio Statesman.l
A

Correspondence of The Ohio Statesman.l
WHEELING, w. ", August 4, 1864.
EDITORS ONO STATESMAN:
We of West Virginia, and especially Of
Wheeling, have become Injured to every
species of petty despotism. espionage, out
rage, abuse and oppression; but it was left
to Major General David Hunter to intlict
the full measure of tyrannical oppression
upon us. He has exceeded all precedent in
the arbitrary injustice, wickedness, cruelty
and criminality of his acts, and he has fair
ly earned the inexorable hatred and undy-
ing contempt which is universally felt for
him. In this all parties and factions agree.
All have suffered from his cruelty, rapacity
and brutality, and there is no dissenting
voice in the execration which will follow
him from this Department to his unhonored
grave. When l recall the main character
istics Of the man and his career, it seems in
credible that Hunter is an American, and /
sometimes fancy it is only dream growing
out of the perusal of the history of some
Roman despot or French sans culotte, or
Italian cut-throat. But unfortunately the
truth is too palpable and manifest; there is
no fancy nor dream about it.
have had the very best opportunities of
learning all the facts in relation to affairs in
this Department. which if published to the
world would bring blush to the cheek of
every honest American. and in ordinary
times would create an universal cry for the
summary execution of the chief actor and
his pimps in these outrages. For the pres
ent, however, l will CONTEXT myself by re-
1nk., Nlnf Ga ~,
under my own observation, and In which
know you to be interested. l allude to the
tyrannical suppression of The Wheeling
Register, and the arrest and imprisonment
of its editors, Messrs. Lewis Baker and o.
S. Long. These gentlemen have been for
more than q month buried alive in the
"Atheneum," the filthiest dungeon in Vir-
ginia; no one has been able to communicate
with them; no one, not even their wives,
have been allowed to see them; and we
have only the authority of another person
recently released for asserting that they are
alive. The facts in the plain, unvarnished
statement am about to give, were gather
ed from the released man and my own
knowledge of the transaction.
On the afternoon of the 9th July, The Ddily
| Register newspaper Office of this city was
entered by two military officers, Captain
Ewald Over, commandant of the post, and
Lieut.. Henry Knapp, Provost Marshal, ac-
companicd by a squad of soldiers bearing
muskets with fixed bayonets. Accosting
one of the editors of the paper, Capt. Over
said he had an order for his arrest and the
suppression of the paper. The other editor
entering soon after, the same statement was
made to him. Lieut.. Knapp then read the
order which seemed to be a telegram adj
dressed to Capt. Over, and signed by Brig.
| oil hyy nrJa IF ot
Hunter, commanding the Department of
West Virginia. The order was in these
words:
"You will Immediately arrest Messrs.
Baker and Long, Editors and Proprietors of
The Wheeling Daily Register, and confine
them in the military prison until further
orders. You are also ordered to suppress
the further publication of The Daily Regis
ter, place guard over the office and keep
the same safely until further orders.
'By command of
"MAJ.-GEN. HUNTER"
The two editors were then escorted to the
"Atheneum" prison by Lieut.. Knapp and
the guard. and there confined. Unconscious
of having committed any crime known
either to civil or military law, the amaze
ment of these gentlemen may be imagined
at this summary proceeding. The officers
cause of their arrest or the result sought to
be obtained by their Imprisonment, and to
this day they have received no official noti-
tication of the charges, if any there be,
against them. learn that they have writ
ten once to Gen. Hunter and once to Gen.
Crook, (under the supposition that he had
superseded Hunter), to learn what charges
he had against them. Up to this time no
reply has been vouchsafed to them. The
only intlmation they or any have had
of the cause of the arrest, is CLEANED from
The Wheeling Intelligencer, the Republican
paper of this city, which, in recounting the
circumstances OF the case attributed the
arrest to the sarcasm with which The Req
lister had commented upon the steal
ing of the statue of Washington from the
town of Lexington, Va, by General Hun
ter during his recent raid. Another
circumstance which tended to throw a
ray of light upon the animus of the arrest,
was the suppression of The Parkersburg
Gazette and the imprisonment of its editor,
Mr.. Wharton. The Gazette is Republican
paper of the darkest hue; but on the re-
turn of Hunters troops to Parkersburg,
published an editorial commenting upon
the condition of the troops, and upon the
statements of officers of the army, charging
Hunter with incompetency and cruelty.
Wharton was arrested and treated with
brutal severity, and threatened with death.
The Register had Also very sparingly, how
ever referred to the condition of the troops
upon their return, and to the u ltuuDted fact
that many of the Union soldi RS fell by the
wayside during the retreat and died from
sheer starvation. These comments and the
arrest and the suppression of The Gazette,
were the circumstances which indicated that
the arrest was caused by the twenty lines
of comment upon Hunter. 1t was matter
personal to him alone, and not involving any
disloyalty to the Government, or the fur
nishing of any contraband information to
the enemy. e. 5'
For this offense, which is neither an Of
fense against civil or military law or COM
mon decency, these two men are confined
in the same room with the confederate pris-
oners of war, and during most of the time
they have been there, t,co hundred men have
crowded the small room which Is lily ven
tilated, and produced imminent danger of
pestilence and suffocation. They are denied
all access to friends and all communication
by writing to relatives, business agents or
attorneys, except what may be written on
a single page OF letter paper, subject to the
inspection of an officer and its stoppage by
him If 1t in any respect fails to comply
with the rules Of the dungeon or his politf-
cal prejudices. The same censorshipis ex-
ercised over all communications addressed 7
to them, and the reception of an empty en-
velope, addressed perhaps In familiar
handwriting, is the only intiination that q
friend has written or the contents of his
letter. The prison fare is what is known as
quarter ration, consisting OF about two
ounces Of sour bread and half an ounce of