The Nashville daily union. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1862-1866, 1864-03-23
Rebel Barbaritles In Sorth Carolina.

dts was not disavowed by the more
regularly constituted rebel authorities,
the latter had no direct hand in them.
This fact may carry with it very little
consolation; but it is certainly not TO
be so much dreaded, as systematic
murder on the part Of any officers reg
ularly commissioned, and commanding
armies recognized as made up of
soldiers.
In North Carolina, the barbarities of
this section have been repeated, on a
larger scale, and in a more systematic
manner The rebel CONSUMPTION law
declares all men between certain ages,
to be in the military service, and pun
ishes all as deserters who fail to report
themselves; and they therefore put to
death all who have enlisted in the
Union service, as soon as taken.
We have heard a number Of state
ments relative to the hanging Of some
fifty soldiers Of the ID North Carolina
regiment; some coming from rebel,
and some from Union sources; but
hitherto we have had nothing official
The New York Times Of the 18th, how
ever, contains a letter from one Of the
officers of the regiment, giving the de
t&Is. from which we take the following
extracts
When it became evident that the position
could not be held against the overwhelming
force Of rebels, which wss rapidly approach
ing, the men Of this company, having the
certainty of an ignominous death before
them If they should be captured, proposed
10 the officers IN command to pilot the force
at the outpost in safety to Newbern, by
paths through the woods known only to
themselves. But unfortunately, they were
temporarily in charge of officers, not be-
longing to their own regiment, who were
either ignorant Of the blood-thirsty charac-
ter Of the enemy, or too timid to fight to
the death, if flight were deemed impracti-
cable. Had these men been commanded
by officers Of their own regiment, they ali
would have escaped, or, as preferable to
their inevitable doom if taken prisoners,
would have found more hOnOrab bic death
on the field. As it was, they were sternly
forbidden to leave the ranks, and, without
a shot being fired, or the stipulation secu-
red that they should be treated as prisoners
Of war, they were surrendered nineteen
out OF seventy only escaping. Of the
lfty-one prisoners, twenty-iOur were imme-
diately hung by order Of the rebel General
Pickett On the scahold, at Kinston, these
twenty -four heroes met their fate with true
r q HI
forces, and surrounded by the people of
their own State, they avowed their entire
devotion to the Union. After receiving the
consultations of religion, one Of their num-
Der stepped forward, and, in a firm and
clear voice, declared that he and his com
panions died, as they had lived, " Union
men," One Of the victims was a little
drummer-boy, named Joey Neal, only four
teen years Of age, a fair complexioned, blue
eyed child, an orphan, enlisted in Beaufort
by the writer Of these lines, out Of pure COM
passion for his destitute state; another, a
robust man, Amos Amye't, was tortured for
fifteen minutes before the ill-adjusted rope
could strangle him to death.
The rank and file Of the Second Regi-
ment North Caroliua Union Volunteers, is
composed Of native North Carolinians,
every one Of whom is threatened with the
fate of these twenty-four, if captured, and
that that is no improbable contingency,
may be gathered from the fact, that al
though the regiment has only been a few
months in existence, and up to this time
has not been fully organized, detachments
from it have on several occasions, rendered
services Of sufficient importance to be re-
coguized in General Orders. The men of
the regiment fight with a halter around
their necks, not merely because many Of
Io Ill
ton, and Union men who have taken the
first opportunity to leave the rebel army,
but because every citizen Of North Caro-
lima taken ia arms against the COnfederacy,
is declared by a statute of that State to be
a traitor, and death is the decreed penalty
of his offence. Hiding for months in swamps
and thickets, and enduring perils and hard
ships that are almost Incredible, these men,
tor such Of them as are not murdered by
the guerillas,) gaunt with hunger and clad
in rags, at last reach our lines Here they
can find abundant and profitable employ
meBt as mechanics and labOrers hut they
are burning for the emancipation of their
State and the rescue of their families from
the horrors Of THE rebel despOtism; and
they enlist without the lure of large bOun-
ties, in the service Of the United States,
which, on it's part, guarantees them, or
should do so, the same protection afforded
to soldiers of the loyal States. Many of
them have now been four months in the ser
vice, ana have never received one cent Of
pay or bounty. This was the case with the
twenty -four hung at Kinston not man
of them had ever received a dollar from
the United States.
But the saddest fact Of all is that a much
larger proportion of them than is usual in
Northern regiments have large and hope
less families dependent upon them, and
these, when the father is killed in action or
murdered after being captured, are left to
suffer.
When the North Carolina refugee and
his family arrive within the Union lines,
without crust of bread or a change of gar
ments, the father enlists and receives the
Government ration for himself and family.
Belonging TO one company Of eighty men,
there are thirty families; of these, two are
still outside of our lines, with small pros
poets of ever reioining their kindred, and
twenty families, comprising eighty-seven
persons, forty-seven OF them under the age
of fourteen, are with the company in Beau
fort.
They are generally, almost universally,
illiterate to degree incOnceivable to a North
ern mind--On an average, not more than
one out ofcight can read or write. They
have suffered more than the negro from
the hllgEJlug influence Of slavery, and they
kHo5g L hence they are willing to take up
arms, and if any one doubts their thorough
loyalty, let him be referred 10 the hero
ism with which the twenty-iour stood un-
daunted beneth the Kinston gallows.
Two specimens, out Of many, may serve
to show something of the hardships to
which their patriotism exposes these people.
y man who, in times of peace, was a pros
porous mechanic, "a machinist, having been
pressed into the rebel service, managed to
make his escape from Wilmington, and at
Newben enlisted in the Second Regiment.
After few weeks, he contrived TO convey
the information to his wife, who resided
some twenty-six miles beyond the lines, and
she, leaving everything but a little extra
clothing and some provisions, took her
child, only eight months old, in her arms,
and, fleeing for her life, pursued her way
through forests and swamps for forty-eight
hours 1t was in the month Of December
last, and during the most severe storm Of
winter, that this poor woman waded through
partly frozen creeks, eating little, gather
ing all her available clothing about her IN
FAINT, and at night, afraid to kndle a fire,
lest its light might betray her, sinking