Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1864-05-07
~ Renort nn 90 PInow.

ass ri tsar'N ns-42I-
The Report on Fort Pillow.
ratqsz Our readers have already scanned with
close Iuter,st the report Of Messrs. Wade
ZaiEaI'a and Goosh, published yesterday morning.
lnsas The minute details rseited are painful and
=, i. sickeniug in their strOoity. The barbara
1als ties committed, it is proved, were not per-
pstfaied in the heat Of battle alone; many
Il of them were accomplished BY the ehival-
ie horie after the surrender, when the
~ blood Wss cool and when nothing but q
heIlish nslignity could have inspired them.
-ss Nov there are but few things that prac
20 ticslly hsar upon the question Of retslis-
taa ton. The laws Of nations must Of course
be recognized in dealing with our bitter
foe. fattel, who is usually cited Rs su-
thOrity in questions Of this kind, distinct
Fe1 lyrecognizes the right and necessity Of re-
prissi and retalistion. In proof OF such
right ne instances the following case:
'sTbe Prince Of Conde, commander Of
Louis XIIFS forces sgainst the reformed
a party, having hanged sixty-four efioers
whom he had made prisoners during the
civil war, the Professionals resolved upon
retaliation; and the Duke de Rahon, who
had commanded them, caused sn equal
sdr r1c number Of Catholic officers to be hanged"
@ ~ IS The Duke Of Alva made it practice
10 condemn TO death every prisoner he
took from the Confederstes in the Neither
lands. They on their part retslisted, and
ct length compelled him TO respect the
law Of nations and the rules Of war in
~ his Oondnet toward them.-G GTOtiui Ann.
LIB Ri"
The rebel chief, on e2Sd Of December,
1890 =, 5o6o - Ian nf
civilized warfare, made known his pur-
poses concerning negroes in the service Of
the United States, in the following terms: ::
"Thst all negro slaves captured in arms
be ct once delivered over to the Executive
authorities Of the Respective States to
which they belong, to be dealt with &C.
cording TO the laws Of said States.
"Thst the like orders be executed in all
cases with respect to sll commissioned Of
fcers of the United Stotes when found
serving in company with said slaves in in
Burrection against the authorities Of the
different States Of this Ccnfederacy."
s- = But even this mercy was seldom dealt
out to the black soldiers captured. In al
most every case they were murdered. In
June Of '6S twenty negro tesmsters Of
General Rosecrsns were murdered In
the assault on Port Hudson, in May, the
negroes were butchered. In June, st Mil
,llEenis Bena, sAsaAAe- barbarities were en-
acted In July, when the gsllsnt sssAult
npon Fort Wagner Wss made, the men be-
longing to the 54th Massachusetts,, cap
5a tured by the rebels, were butohered or sold
into slavery.
In all these cases the negro soldiers dis
played fortitude and courage that have
done more to elevate their race to the pO
sitiOn Of men, than anything that has Oe
CURED thus fsr in their history.
It was on the SOth Of July, 1853, after
all these manifold atrocities that the Presi-
dent issued an order from which the fol-
lowing is an extrsot:
r fa ait is the duty Of every Government to
-aize. protection 20 its eitiHsasy ef=VFl.-JoFSs-
class, color, or condition, and especially to
those who are duly organized as soldiers
in the public service"
at is therefore ordered that for every
-sl soldier Of the United States killed in vio
lation Of The laws Of war, rebel soldier
shall be executed"
H Now what the nation wants is direct
enforcement Of the order. There is no
necessity for namby -psmby dealing with
rebels. For sVgy black soldier killed in
no vioIatioa of the Iaws of tsGr rebel soldier
-a9 shall Dc executed.
This is stated in good plain English.
There is no avoiding the issue made
Justice asks for no sentimental whining
ss or whimpering about the cruelty of re-
talistion. War is not K, / glOVed smuse-
ment. Il is bloody, fierce, terrible and
always to be avoided 30, possible as the
most torturing and g.l.vOus ezpedient Of
q nation. But war o. he peace plan is a
grand mistake. It bas it's unrelenting
laws, and if this natl IN would vindicate
its nationality, the uniform Of any Of its
soldiers, however hnmbIe, must be IS sa'
cred, even more sacred than its flag. In
view, therefore Of the report Of the COM
Mite, We trust that justice viii be done
7 The Rebel VIos-PresIdent In bad RePure.
Many Of our readers have treasured up
the speech made By Mr., Stevens, at Mont
gomery, Alabama, before the breaking out
Of the rebellion, in which he wildly pOr-
trsyed the swfuI consequences that would
result from secession. Although shortly
sfter he was bribed into silence by the
Vice-Presidency of Jsff's kingdom, he bss
never been as thorough going rebel as
some.
He recently made another speech, in
which the despotism Of the COnfederscy is
held up to public scorn. For this confes-
sion the Richmond Examiner rebukes him