The mountain Democrat. [volume] (Placerville, El Dorado County, Calif.) 1863-1943, 1864-12-31
THE MOUNTAIN DEMOCRAT,
. [Prom the n. Y. FreemAn's JOarnal.l
The ImpOlicy OF Retaliation.

From the very inception of this most
horrible war We have raised our voice to
urge on both sides, and irrespective of the
fundamental questions Of the war, that it
should be conducted within the limits that
modern civilization has set to mitigate the
bsrbarities of hostile array.
The populations of the States have been
90 unused to war at their own doors, that
.kAv bed tCA-leASO ito yNelhOds, and its ne.
cessiGes. 1ns~war u ntcvssldI, was in.
. ternecine. France and Austria could 90
10 war without there being infused into
the hearts of either army hatred of the
other people. The contest was one of the
political powers, in regard to questions
foreign to the masses of either people. So,
Ia Louis NapOleOn's Italian campaign, the
spectacle was repeatedly given Of officers
and mea, ct the close Of battle, or on the
morrow, embracing those they had Just
been fighting, complimenting them on
their bravery, and sOftening the humlia-
ton of defeat by laviShing on their prison.
ers the best Of hospitality that their camps
Afforded. The French had practiced the
same chivalry towards their astonishcd
Russian captives during the Crmean war.
This is a part Of the prescripts that the
Catholic religion has cnjoined on Christ
len soldiers. They are justified in fight.
ing for . proper cause, but they are not
permitted to mix with this motive person.
81 hatred Of their antagonists.
In this horrible war Of American States,
hatreds Of persons and populations toward
each other, have mingled with the public
cause. The attacking party has largely
been Differed by men taught, by the Pa.
titan pulpit, by the Puritan newspapers,
by Puritan lecturers, and in schools in,
tected by Puritan books and teachers, TO
hate the people Of the South. The attack,
ed, had all the feelings incident to a PEG.
pie whose homes were invaded, and their
property and lives imperilled
:, II is to the honor of Gen. Geo. B. Me.
Clellan that he ever insisted, and practi.
cally where he had command, on combining
the war TO being against armed fore IS -
not Q war on populations, nor against non.
eOrnbatantS. or private property. How
ever, in some ca3Gs, Gen. Mcclellan disre.
Earded constitutional rights by arbitrary
9rrests, and BY dSown.ng the habcas Ger.
BUS writ; and little az We wish to rell;lie
these transgrcssions Of liberties thEt we're
hot alienated by the fact Of war. it is due
10 him TO say that he, ever. was prompt to
forbid, and to punish. outrages on private
property, and OH defenscleSs populations,
in what his position compelled him to
treat as hostile territory. lie s,rove
amongst hostile populations, to conduct
ME var on the principles Of modern civil.
!zation, and according to the old ARTICLES
or War" Of the Unitel States Congress
Since he was Superseded, the code OF
Sarbarism has been installed. Sherman,
1 bold and able General, avowed it operily,
and has defended il with a show Of lOgi"cl
argument.
War is barbarouS. i, lis major propose.
tion. He thence argues that, AS thu OBI ct
Of war L; to be effective. the more blrb;.r.
Uus it is, i; will prove the more effective.
So he make. once blooming regions a deS-
citation, anC calls that peace. Docs he lind
Il peace, now, On the long line that sep
arAtes his advance At Atlanta from his
base Of suppi:rs at Nashville, OF Louis
Vile?
That region Of country-N nth Gcr:,
gis, Norti, Alabama, Eastern Tennessee,
and kentucky, was, four years ago, the
most intensely attached to the old Union.
of any part Of she's States. New England,
in her Eanaticisin, was ready to "lct the
Union slide" That interior range in the
Southern States which We have named.
had population almost fanatical III their
love for the Union. twas almost tenet
Of their religions. Their slaves were 50
with their masters that no one coul'l Sc.
duce them from them. Secession met
there small welcome. They looked on it
rs the ruin Of a common country Tor, in
these regions, States Rights Democracy
was not in the majority-"Old line Wing
gerry" was the ruling persuasion. Stern
and staunch frecmen rough, and free and
brave, cultivated there, their plantations.
They, very extensively, held aloof from
the secession movement. Bot, Sturgs,
A. J. Smith, made their dcSo,ating raid,
and Sherman's grand army came after,
sweeping whole regions with the bosom OF
destruction. Many are the men, who, as
modest planters, or AFers, gloomily re-
fused to JOIN the Cont tate forces. They
remained at home, tending their farms.
Bot, Sturgis, A. J. Smith. ard Sherman
came bv. Their homes were burned. -
Their roof trees lie charred timberS on the
earth. To those homes they brought the
'<ives Of their early love, One, thus dis
possessed, saw his wife, with a Suckling at
che breast. or. perhaps, babe unborn,
tPerish in the swamp, o in the wilderness
wS;ther she had fed 70 escape IA liccntiou,
>soldiery. All that he gArncred for HI
family has been robbed. His live stock
his provisions, his household wares, car
'ried of or wantonly destroyed And hi,
wife died in his sight Of exposure anG
want, in the open air. Another return,
bOme-abscnt, pcVhaps, to escape reqnis
tons for the Confederate army-to tinu
that . wife, sister, a daughter, or moth
e., has been violated by black savages i
Federal uniform, or by vile beasts in thu
guise Of white men-undcr the same GOV
.ering.
q The nature OF these men undergoes &
change. From the most peaceable Of ag
Ficulturists, they become the most Zero
cious Of animated beings. They live only
for revenge Whether enrolled in Con
federate forces, or roaming wild as indi
viduals, the weapons they best understand
are in their hands. and pity, mercy, anc
reason. have persisted from their hearts
and from their brain.
This is not theory. We have the facts
"A year or more ago, IAN old friend from
Tennessee called on US. He had been {
General in the Confederate service. III
vas very fully, possibly very curiousy
Furnished with pass from the proper Fed
eral officers. He told US of Tennessee
acquaintance of his, utterly opposed t.