The Nashville daily union. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1862-1866, 1864-05-19
Infamous Outrage by a Soldier upon
LITTLE Girl.
Special Correspondence Of the Chicago Times.
SPRISeFIELD, IL, May II


produced such excitement was the per-
petration of one of the most infamous
outrages that ever happened in any
civilized community, and such one az
it has never before fallen to my lot
to record and 1 hope never may again.
Crime prevails in all communities,
especially in large cities, and IS ac-
knowledged to be more frequent now
than every before known; but had 1t
been told you that, in the quiet city OF
Springfield, a crime like the one am
about to mention would have dared to
have been committed in the broad light
Of day, your senses would hardly have
believed it. We have fallen upon evil
times. All the crimes Of the calendar
are becoming familiar to us. Our per
sons, our families, our property, all we
hold dear on earth, are likely to be vio-
lated and destroyed, if stop IS not
soon put to the career Of vice, which
now revels throughout the land.
The tragedy recently enacted here
should be a warning to all eYildoers
that there is a point wich they cannot
pass without meeting with summary
punishment and vengeance.
On Tuesday last about noon a soldier,
who states his name to be John d. Phil
lips, belonging to the 1th Illinois In
fantry; and here on furlough, hired a
buggy at livery stable, and in passing
along the southwest corner of the pub
lie square, near Bunn's bank, stopped,
got out, and seized little girl, not yet
nine years of age, placed her in the
buggy, and drove rapidly off to the
woods, outside Of the city The child
is the daughter Of one Of our most
prominent and esteemed clergymen.
She has been sorely afflicted since her
birth with a disease resembling what is
called st. Vitus' dance" She is very
frail and delicate, and has been watched
with an anxious eye by her parents,
scarcely ever being permitted to leave
their sight on account Of her affection.
A very little thing has been sufficient
to cause her great fright, at which time
she would be speeches. and tremble
exceedingly. Upon Tuesday her pa
rents considered her so much better
that they permitted her to go to her bro
Tiers, in another part of the city, but
cautioned her TO return very soon. She
did not return for several hours, when
she was found upon the street and
taken home. When she had recovered
sufficiently, she told her parents what
the soldier had done; that he had taken
her out into the woods, and, on the
way, had showed her a knife and told
her he would kill her if she made any
noise; that upon arriving in the woods
he had taken her out of the buggy and
treated her most vilely.
1t would not be proper, nor is it ne
cessary, for me to go into further par
ticulars. Suffice it to say, the soldier
attempted to commit one of the most
heinous crimes upon that little, sickly
child, and was only prevented from &C
complishing his purpose on account of
the youth of the child After remain
ing in the woods quite a length of time
he brought the child back to the city
and put her out in the street He then
returned the buggy to the livery stable
and boosted to the proprietor that he
had played hell with one preachers
daughter The soldier then sauntered
off through the city, The proprietor of
the stable paid but little attention to
what was said by the soldier, little be-
lieving that be was in earnest He,
however, soon met with the father Of
the child, who was much excited, and
learned from him the condition of his
daughter. The two then sought the
soldier, who was found and recognized
by the proprietor of the stable He
was Immediately arrested and taken
before police magistrate: Here the
father could restrain himself no Ion
ger, but seized a brick and dealt the
soldier a blow upon the face, and would
in all probability have killed him had
he been permitted. The hearing of the
case was postponed until the following
day. The story of the wrong spread
like wildfre throughout the city, and
created great excitement A number
advocated the immediate punishment
Of the villain, and no one appeared to
dispute the right of it. Towards even
ing (Tuesday) the excitement incTeas-
ed, and about eight o'clock a great
crowd appeared in front of the Jail
where the soldier was confined, and de-
manded that he be given up to them.
The sheriff, as was his duty, refused to
comply. Axes were then procured, and
the door of the Jail broken open, and
a number of the crowd searched every
cell in the jail, but failed to find the
man. The calaboose was next searched
and again there was a failure to find
the one they sought 1t was evident
that the sheriff had sent the prisoner
out of the way.
Yesterday morning, at the time APP
pointed for the hearing of the prelim-
mary examination, a crowd commenced
to collect at the Court House, where the
trial was to be held The prisoner was
brought to the courtroom, which was
soon completely filed with an excited
throng of citizens. Before trial had
commenced, a brother of the little girl
went into the room and commenced
firing a revolver at the criminal He
fired three times, but one of the shots
taking effect, and that in the shoulder.
The criminal ran behind the Judges
stand; the brother was prevented from
again firing, and the soldier taken into
the jury room, at the other end of the
courtroom The Sheriff Immediately
sent note to Gen. White for posse of
troops to enable him to protect the pris-
oner; but, long before they had time
TO arrive, the crowd burst the door of
the jury room, and the brother again
fred several shots at the prisoner, one
of which took effect in the groin. Gen.
White then made his appearance and
stated to the crowd that the man was
dying, and implored them to do no fur
ther act During this time cries were
heard Of Hang him" but'the speech
of Gen. White, especially when he
stated that the man could not survive
his wounds, had the effect of dispensing
the crowd
For some time after, it was believed
that the prisoner would survive, but he
died last night about dark, having adj
mitted all that was charged against him
before he died
Thus ended tragedy which has never
had its counterpart in this city.
Er-rpDrrr.g - 9 ,..,-r,r.,, - d.