Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1864-03-31
Horrible Cruelty Of the Rebels
Hanging OfTwenty-four 10y
nj North CaIOIinians.


BEAUFORT, N. c.. March Q.
The unknown martyrs OF this war are
many The madness Of rebel leaders and
the feIocity Of the numerous guerrilla bands
who hover about the advancing armies OF
freedom, are not more noteworthy than the
sublime bnt silent devotion with which hun
dreds of Southern men are continually yield.
ing their lives, after passing through the
ordeal Of every foIm of torture the most
devilish ingenuity can invent, as evidence to
the existence, in the Southern States, Of q
widespread loyalty to the, Constitution and
the Union, which neither scourgings, starva-
ton. bloodhounds, nor the gallsws can ever
eradicate.
An illu+tration Of this was recently fur
nished in North Carolina, upon a scAe
which in times less tragic than our own
would have caused every heart on the con-
tinent to thrill with painful sympathy. but
which amidst the glare OF great events, may
be unnoted. or at best, only recorded in a
brief paragraph. :.
When the attack was made on Newbern
on the ID of February last, Company r Of
the Second Regiment North Carolina Union
Volunteers was stationed at Beech Grove,
the extreme outposts from Newbern. When
it became evident that the position could
not be held against the overwhelming force
of rebels, which was rapidly approaching,
the men of this company, having the GER
tainty OF an igneminious death before them
if they should be captured, proposed to the
officer in command to pilot the force at the
outposts in safety to Newhern, by paths
through the woods known only to them
selves But unfortunately, they were tenn
porarily 10 charge of officers not belonging
to their own regiment, who were either ig-
norant Of the blood thirsty character of the
enemy, or too timid to 6ght to the death. if
flight were deemed impracticable. Had
these men been commanded by officers OF
their own regiment, they would have esca-
ped, or, as preferable to their inevitable
doom if taken prisoners, would have found
more honorable death on the field. A. it
was, they were sternly forbidden to leave
the ranks. and, without a shot being fired,
or the stipulation secured that they should
be treated as prisoners of war, they surren-
Iered nineteen out Of seventy only escaping.
OF the fifty-one prisoners, twenty-four
were Immediately hung by order of the rebel
! Gen. Pickett. On the scaffold at Kinston,
these twenty-four heroes met their fate with
true courage. ln the presence OF the rebe|
forces, and surrounded by the people Of
| their own State, they avowed their entire
devotion to the Union. After receiving
| the consolation of religion, one Of their
number stepped forward, and, in a firm and
clear voice, declared that he and his com
panions died, as they h,d lived, Union
men. One of the victims was a little
drummer boy, named Josy 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
compassion for his destitute state another
a robust man, Amas Amyett, was tortured
! for fifteen minutes before the ill-adjusteC
rope could straugle him to death.