The Nashville daily union. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1862-1866, 1865-10-21

$ that no one, not admitted within the van I
e c uld see the execution, unless ne s'ooi =,
!, some OF the surrounding buildin gs-"H!
: some di6-so anxiOns were they 70 gel -
( at spectacle at which every one should
: shudder, and which none who had the EEL
ines Of humanity would ever witness, Du'
, from necessity. That c roofs Of hous : 70
, the vicinity we're croEded, is anything oo'
e.editable to the civil zation Of the age
he M5vEs OUT.
The hour Of eleven arrived, snd IMAM
was warned that the time had come When
he must prepare to de. 81 m Re ady, when
you are said ! e to Lieut.. Chitteneen, and
he was led out, by guard Of eight men, 70
the seahold His step was tImi ms csrrlase
erect, and his bearing just what Il hsd pen
from the beginning. He nerved himself up
10 the occasion; not q shudder maire1 the
tranquility Of bis frame; not change
passed over his eounteuanee.
] HIS haLds were pinioned behind MN,
with a ,trong chord. His dress was , aek
SUIT, Of eoar. . cloth, bus nest, and G can
and on his hands we're black gloves. hen
he r aehed the scsffold, C-l0nel Shaiter IN
quircJl "Shsll l help you to ascend =
NO" he replied, all walk up myself
ard he did SO, with firm and unialtering
steps.
| On reaching the platform, be faced the
two or three hundred auditors, aud the
guards, without blenching, but requested
that DR.. Bunting should pray for him. me
doctor complied with the request, ana I'M
| plored the Throne Of Grace to sh0E mercy
| On the prisoner. The prayer recognized the
hand OF God in all things, and asked that
the sui 81 soon TO be launched into eter-
nifty, might find its place on the rignt hand
OF God, as a lasting monument TO ms grace,
and 20 the saving merits of Jesus. lie then
repeated the Lords prayer. and to It the
auditors responded by one deep, snd solemn
4 amen.
During the prayer, the prisoner wePt--
! the first evidence of emotion which he had
| vet given. Colonel Skater took hand
kercnief, and wiped the prisoners eyes, his
own, at the sane time, bsing any other than
dry.
After this, the Colonel read the charges
and specifications agiinss him-Ferguson
/ standing unmoved till he had read the
| fifth, in which he was charged with muir
dering the venerable Reuben Woods. When
/ that name was mentioned, he dropped his
head, and looked steadily on the ground, Tor
time. He was evidently affected re-
morse had penetrated to his eallous
/ heart. But like PbarOah he soon steeled
himselfagainstth the repr9aehes Of conscience,
and he raised his head, and braved the
worst.
On reading the 18th specification, in
which he is chsrg with numbering an
old man named Kizer, and his little daugh-
ter, he shook his head; and on readin the
18th specification, in which he is charged
with numbering three sol5iers, ofthe Union
army, he turned to the Colonel, and said:
81 could tell it better than that, Colonel"
81 presume you could" was the reply, |
and the Teadipg was continued.
From the 18th specification, to the end,
he nodded his head, at the close Of each, in |
nOwledgement of his guilt-or rather, |
as he claimed, in acknowledgement of his |
exploits in legit mate warfare.
his LAST SPEECH.
After Col. Shafter had finished the read |
ing, Returned to the prisoner, sndssaid:
81 In obedience to This order, Mr.. Fergu |
son, it is my duty to execute you"
+" I know it," responded the prisoner.
" Do you blame me?" inquired the Colo
mel.
Not particularly" was the response.
" Have you anything to say?"
g can't speak much said the prisoner; |
" l did some Of the acts charged, but not all; |
some / know nothing about. I desire, Colo |
mel, not to have my body cut up by doctors, |
but I want to have it put in that thing
pointing TO his coffin-"and taken TO the |
grave yard, in White county, Tennessee, |
and laid there. You won't have me cut up, |
will you, Colonel ?''
"No" responded Colonel Shafter, "you |
shall not be cut up your body shall be sent |
to your friends. Have you anything more |
TO say?
Well, whenever you say stop, I'll stop"
said the doomed man "a am under your /
control; l wouldn't be here if l could help |
it, but / must, and must submit. What / |
am, am, and l can't help it; but you would /
not have my body cut up, would you Col
onel p
The Colonel again assured him that his
remains should be given to his family.
81 have" continued the prisoner, "some
es good friends as any man but they can't
help me, nov. All have to say is, l don't
want to be cut up by the doctors will you
put my body in that thing"-again pointing
to his cotliu-"and send It to White county,
Tennessee, and have it buried in the old
grave yard there ?"
The Colonel again assured bin that he
would accede to mis- request.
The cap of death was then drawn down
over his face, and Col. Skater said:
"Have you anything TO say? If you have |
say it now, and we will wait on you"
Raising his head toward Heaven, ne
said, in a solemn tone:
q Lord have mercy on me, I pray you;"
and as his voice ceased, by a stroke Of the
axe, the support was severed, and the drop
fell, and the prisoner was suspended be-
TWEEN Heaven and Earth.
The drop fell at precisely twenty minutes
before tIOelUe, and he remained hsnging
twenty-five minutes, when the body was
cut down and laid in the coffin, and con-
veyed away. His neck was broken, and he |
bled profusely at the nose. After he fell |
his body moved but twice, and that slightly,
30 great was the shock Of the descent.
MISCELLANEOUS.
On being asked concerning his political
faith, Ferguson said al die rebel"
While on the scaffold, Ferguson reeog-
nized a number Of ac9uNintances in the
crowd, to all Of whom he bowed politely,
and accompanied the bow with a smile.
His family, after separating from him,
went to the large house adjoining the peni-
antiarv tn otraif he H. l