Daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1865, 1864-07-22
RETALIATION.
ITrOm the Richmond Erauinsr, Jolly 1s.

From the Richmond Examiner, July 10.
Federal invaders being in Lexington,
Va, burned Ex>GoY. Letcher's house.
Confederate troops being in Maryland,
have burned the house Of Gov. Bradford,
of that State, by way of retaliation.
This is right Mr. Letcher having his
property exposed to hostile incursiOn, by
reason Of his Government having taken
away all the young men of that place by
conscriptiOn and put them in our army,
had a right to expect, and to demand,
and it was the very least he was entitled
TO expect or demand, that when our army
snould be in that enemy's country they
should have orders to retaliate upon some
inhabitant thereof what their troops in
flicted on him and his. It is the conn
mOnest and barest kind of protection and
satisfaction which his Government owed
to Mr.. Letcher; and it was the only way,
during war time, of afording him that
protection, by deterring the.lawless brig
ands from committing the like outrages
again under the pretence of waging war
This is the morale of retaliation; it con-
sists in doing 10 an enemy that which
would be an outrage and a crime if it
were begun by you, but which becomes
a most imperative duty to your own peO-
pie when it originates with that enemy.
If they begin to slaughter prisoners, you
not only may, but ought to, slaughter
prisoners. If they burn mills and pri-
vate houses in your country, you must
burn mills and private houses in theirs:
and it is duty by no means to be eva
ded. The defenceless people, who you
have left defenceless, absolutely require
it at your hands Ifyou are an individu-
al you may forgive; if Government, you
neither may nor shall; simply because
forgiveness to an enemy is an invitation
to that enemy to rob and slay your own
people, and you have no right to extend
such an invitation. You are not elected
to that Office in order that yau may invite
an enemy to lay our fields and our houses
in ruins and ashes. Therefore, it'Was
right to burn BradfOrd's house, to Offset
LetcheF's.
But it will occur to many readers to
ask, is nobody entitled 60 retaliation
nobody entitled to protection except a
Governor or Ex-Governor Some pri-
vate soldier may cay, also had q house;
it was in the Valley of Virginia, too, or
in Fauquier, or in Culpepper, or away
in Tennessee or Georgia, and four years
ago left Il and Joined this army 20 fight,
uOL Ouly III ueAeuCe OF ny Own CuuuIY OF
State, but Of the whole Confederacy. /
have been ordered where the Government
pleased; and now my house is charred
ruins, my wife and little children are
homeless and dependent upon the charity
Of their neighbors, and / am a beggard
man-toh0se house, then,is to be burned
for my house? Whose family is to suf-
fer for what my family suffered? Or is
il true, as our enemies say, that this
Southern country IS an aristOcratic coun-
try? And if SO, is John Letcher, Ex>
Governor, one Of the aristOcrats? What,
then, am /, and what am fighting for?
Dangerous questions perilous line
of refectiOnl Perhaps our Government
has bethought It in time that it has a
certain duty to perform to these men, as
we'll as 70 the Elk Governor. We know
not what are the precise instructions on
this point given to our Commander in the
enemY's country; but have heard of no
mans house being burned except Cos.
BrIdfOrd's, and it appears this produced
transportation" Can it indeed be that
our Government has q third time, and
after the scenes ofthis year, sent an army
across the Potomac in white kid gloves.