The Nashville daily union. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1862-1866, 1865-05-16
An IInterEIeK with Hardee.

Herald --E-.a
An Interview with HaFdee
This morning General Hardee's par.
ty left Raleigh at half-past seven. By
invitation they breakfasted with Gen.
Fitzpatrick, after which they continued
on to Greensboro. 1 accompanied the
party from Duraam's General Hardee
received me in very cordial, geners
Gus, unreserVed manner. Him and l
talked freely on all subjects ofinterest
at the present time. In speaking of
the war he made this remarkable ssser-
ton: "Sir accept this war as the prov
idence Of God He intended that the
slave should be free, and nov he is free.
Slavery was never paying institution.
l have often told my friends so. For
instance, my wife owned about one
hundred negroes; forty of the hundred
were useless for work, yet she had to
feed these forty, in order to get the
work of the other sixty. The negro
will be worse off for this war VIII any
Of our Abolitionists of the North feed
and clothe half dozen little children,
in order to get the work Of man
and woman2 Sir, our people can pay
the working negroes fair compensa-
ton for their services, and let them
take care of their own families, and
then have as much left at the end of
the wear as we had under the old sys-
tenn"
General, do you think we win soon
have real peace 2 ~ -.
81 do. 1 think the people of the
South are anxious for it They wanted
it two years ago then saw that our
/ cause could not succeed"
VIII we not have guerrilla warfare?
$50 help me God, sir, if we do am
willing and ready to fight to put an end
to it.
as the same sentiment entertained
by the other general officers who have
been in the Confederate service p
"Itis. I have not the slightest doubt
but they will use every means they can
command to bring quietness and secu~
rity again in the land. They viii in no
wise support those who do not obey the
laws"
How will it be in South Carolina p
"South Carolina is the worst whip
ped State in the Union.
But will not her leading spirits con-
troll the masses 2
"They, too, are crushed. She has no
leading spirits now. Let me impr IS
il upon you that the people of the South
want to live in peace with the people
of the North, and you will find that
they will do it They will do it
cheerfuily, provided your Government
does not resort to harsh measures. If
it does resort to such measures, / can
not answer for the consequences. |
We staked our all on the success of
our arms and they failed US, and now
we are willing to return and to live I'M
der the laws of the United States as we
find them, although they may not be
as we would desire to have them"
"Your officers have no money. What
are they going to do
They must 60 to work. The pros
pect before them is most gloomy in
deed It will be very hard on old men
like me. cannot now commence a
profession"
do you think jeff Davis was pleased
at the assassination of President Lin
coin p
Il do not think he was. The people
of the South do not like Andy John
son. How can they, compared to Mr.
Lincoln Lincoln had been in Office
four years, and knew who he could
trust He had also learned to govern.
He had made name. He could have
done many things for the South that
johnson cannot do not believe that
Lincoln was a party man-that is, that
be was particularly so. johnson is q
psrtyman. He is new, and the fear is
he will be radical 1 hope he will not,
for the good Of the country and the
welfare OF the people?'
at ia said that jeff Davis went off
with several millions in specie. Is it
SOP
al cannot particularly say whether
/ it is or not l know that General
Johnston asked Mr.. Davis to order
some Of the troops to be paid of in
gold, and he replied that be had no
control over the money. He said that
the most Of it had been taken from the
Virginia banks, and that these were
again able to receive it; he would see
that ii was properly returned.
"Do you think that if Mr. Davis takes
the money out of the Confederacy he
will return it to the banks2'
a. think he will
Is there much cotton in the South
General p
20, yes And, by the way, let me
say that it will Cypress the people Of
the South very much if the Govern
ment of tho United States confscates
the cotton belonging to private indi-
viduals These people need the cotton
and tobacco to commence business on.
They are the only articles they have TO
sell Give them a chance to sell their
cotton and their tobacco, and there will
be greenbacks introduced and trade
will revive The cotton which the Cor
federate Government owned | believe
to be the rightfuI property of the
United States, and further, believe
that the people of the South should be
honest, and turn that property over to
the agents authorized to receive IL
One man told me he had some COnfed-
crate cotton on his plantation, and that
he intended to burn it before the enc
my should get possession Of it told
him he would be doing very wrong in
committing such an act On my wIie's
plantation in Alabama ! have some
cotton that belonged to the Confeder-
ate Government, and which am well
guarding. aud will turn L over when.
ever the United States agents are ready
| 10 recei Va IN - o. y y H.rnrI