, 1865-04-01
The Refugees Letter from Chaplain
Lear3.

The following letter from Chaplain Lesrd, nov
in this city, detailipg the sptcrinss and needs
Of the Union refugees in Arkansas, and those
brought here, should be read and acted on BY er-
erybody:
Dear brethren Of the Northwestern American
Culnn Commission, have been In the Depart
Meut Of Arksnsas about one year and h4lf, and
have obtcrEed closely the footsteps OF boe!a
ermtee, the progress OF devastatiea,sthe testruc-
work N tns S,atc. From the reign Of terror by
the rebels to the present day. OK rather from the
rmc that reign began. the resources Of The eonn-
citizen. WERE the objects of terrible psrsccution
EMO military conpcript1on. Many wcro fored tnto
tes rebel army moie* fol1ns ; thousands fed to
eisttrg on Whist they had brought to them steaItht
y hy tteir families. ct what game thex could
Kill s}5ly., Msny. suftereds death rather than
near starvation. enduring. cold aud nasedness.
opportunity ot pursuing them win biosdhounds
caiicd i 'Aorntatn Feds: Their history il faii or
horrors, yet wildly grand az the mouu aims With
which il Il aezoe,atea: The families Of these
robbed, ,AousAs burned, and ii many cases cruel;y
tortured, that the secrets Of their husbaads'
whereabouts might be cxtorted. These were the
band1css, thtt numbered the widows IN erery
neishborhood, and m.de orphans by sEarnas.
When The Union army entered tho State ths
izsd as soldiers for the linton. Glad day!. The
rebels who had inaugufated the wur retired with
tleiT ncerocs or US Eaany rs they could take with
gue.iIlas. All who On 6earin. Of the Union iorcss
had expressed sympathy Tor them, were new to
GENE in for their ahsSe Of persecution. Bush
ter BanEs defeat and H. re1reat Of our army last
spring from Camden, this mode Of warfare q
should say murder) became the special order OF
ne ment. IT, Union citizens ded to ous lincs By thou
sands-comtng In daiI5-tn many cases nearly
stnrred, with ecaseefy enough clothes to hide
was end Is yet, when they found 4 Union man, tQ
shoot or hang him and come Of the large boys,
burn the house, take the stock, and drive the Wild
on away without food OF clothing in sufficient
quantity. In many cases have known the widow
ind three OF four, or more, little children TO walk
forty miles, sometimes more, TO Get to orr lines
osn sss would eoave 70 et sa% r. of 91s1
srd the wagon heT1t. with her last bed, the
horse ehot-and II one case the Oldest boy too,
fourteen 5ears od@n hTE 6ap an not
to attract 10 more than paastng notice. In
rome caees the wife IS plced Oh coals Of dre till
nearly burnt TO death. to force her to reveal any
To obtatn what money might he about the house
was generally the object OF the fleet burning"
The bush hackers had two objects in stew: Isl
onr posts with poor Who would thus :at our COM
uissasy and thus compel the Union army to lcarc
at the asnle time, they cnt OF our supply trains
thst there arc thousands Of widows and orphans
inside our lines who are destitute and depend fur
food and clothing upon the hencTolcn:7
nc.r crcugh to feed even the bushu,cn. Wao oc.
cupied the country Ehile the Eniou forces occu-
p1td the toNna, Viz: Little Rock. Fort Smith,
1t the present time there Is less bushwhacEing
than formerly. The resources Of tho country are
q far exhausted as TO yield little 10 any raEty.
Ruin has driven II: p'onghshare all oser tns Land
Ieut for subsistence arc large, The people an
no more renew their clothing thsn they can feed
themselves. Thousands are coming North to be
fed end clsd. their transportation being furnished
by the Government There ere otners, cEpectaliy
Tie c.pl,aa ciess, that must have work where they
As to the numbcr Of half CT full orphan children
IN anS p1Lcc. VIC could give no definite amount;
the proportion is unusually large. The destltu-
tion ssaons this lciple:s class has been, IN msAy
Col. Scarle, commanding the 1st Arkansas infan-
tzy, that many 1smllles have lived on poor becf
ali the 2intcr-tlrut beef from the Last OK or COW
which h-the. widow hsd. can attest the, truth Of
the remark. Lsstfalf, according to Official reports,
ICC0 csralry horees died In the Fort smith DIS
t1ct- The cattle within cur lines nearly all died
from starvation, and at Christmas there was not
single COW IN the city OF Fort Smith In good milk
ing ofdtr- Dead cows, mules and horses were
sccu On every etzcet. and ,shco Gen. Bassey took
command {February) the air was burdened with
the scent Of dead matter in various parts OF the
city The poor have suffered vastly, even in aieht
Of our commissasy, which is with hundreds The
only means Of keeping eoul md body together.
There has been fof Several months past cases Of
deRutute ard tricndless children brought to our
notice. Aany Of them hare been taken to The
homes, but not under legal conditions. q
Ref. F. Springer and l hare collected and
transported, q half Or entirely orphans, 100
cago) Mareh sd, with thirty such chIldren, twen.
1y-six of whom are without living parents. col
]tcted them within tbree weeks, without means
to clothe them except what the soldiers could a.
State with them, having but one su1t-no chanse
for the way. They are here in COED quarters 1t
the present writing. THINK God. What We s0aaf
are nearly naked when we find them. We need
to-day garments and fabrics out Of which to make
garments enough to clothe 1000, and embrace
only thoee In extreme need In the State OF Arksn-
sas alone. This Ia . low esumate OF the number
Of needy children besides there are adults in lust
as much Dctd, who have no means TO renew their
to he Gorth, md ana them good BONES Where.
1hey can be educated properly. To assist In this
1he Government proposes to furnish tr7nsporta.
lion and subsistence, but ne want clothing to pre-
Tho,c We cannot bring, nc want to e1othe them
where they arc. Coarse and substantial fabncs
In regard to the eolnred population, We ind
fewer III the Arkansas Department than IN many
other Places owing to The fact that they have been
taken 10 Texas by the rebc1s. That State has been
slnce the war general depot for Arkansas. Mis-
sou1l, ard other adjoining States, TO collect the
negroes in. There are many among us, but not
IN as large proportion as in the other Depart
ments. They sre needT as we'll as white children,
Iheresare Indian children there TINT might be
and ought to be assisted. Shall VIC help them.
We feel confident that II the wants OF the South
the orphans q the so1th-wetc Known, tae
D. IL. LEARD, Chaplain U. 8. Y.
In view Of the pressing needs OF the orphan
children in the department from which Chaplain
a. soon as possible, The N. v. linton Commission
apneai Inust eBIneSfY 70 the pssnrs and nenric Of