Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1865-12-13
Letter:.From.N New York..

Letter:Erom New York; ;51
We clip from. the N. Z. Rhine Of 2sst uIt
) this noble letter from g Southern lady, an
whiis dong SO, must express our respect fe
the course 5of that papersin' Publishing \
, The Tribune has been most earnest in it
raid,against whatft honestly believed to b
the sin of slavery, and advocated the wa
). with all its might; but when victory wa
Il achieved, it became the advocate for concilia
: ton; whilst tho Hsfafla, !. which professed I,
:. be the greatest friend of the South up to til
breaking oat.of the war, has shown the mos
bitter hatred and vindictive feeling eversiuc'
| it was compelled, by the fear violence
to espouse the war rlparty's cry.,,We will ven
ture to say that no suchletter as the subioinet
would have found its way TO the public ea
through the columns Of the NJ Herald:
"A SOUTHERN WOMAN: TO THE <NQRTH- -.
To he Editor Of the NJ. T. Tribune: .
SIR-In various Northern and Southern
newspapers 1 have read, with feelings of i'll
suppressed indgnation, most pathetic &C
counts of the terrible ssuferings and horrid
brutatities practiced upon the Union prisoner.
at Andersonville, Ga, and wondered if thai
were the only prison in, the broad United
States that " could atale unfold" which would
shock outraged humanity. Have any of,the
keepers of Fort Delaware, Camp Chase
.Johnsons Island, andaother bastiIes of the
North, been tried for cruelties practiced.up
on Southern soldiers 2sR; J..
Thousands of :haggard, emaciated wrecks
/ Of humanity, made 50 BY starvation and cold
endured under their treatment, could testify
against them, to say nothing Of that cloud
of witnesses" whose wearied spirits are now
enjoying eternal 'rcst,aand whose bodies lie
sleeping in a strange land, but whose voices
speak even from their graves.
/. Looking at our returned prisoners, with
their long, bony fingers, hollow checks, and
gaunt, attenuated forms, and listening to the
mournfui stories ..ofitheir dungeon life, told
| in hoarse whispers, broken by hollow coughs,
which, with the bright hectic fushan pre-
ternaturaHy brilliant eye, tell o tale. sadder
than their words; and finding that no One
had as yet demanded redress for tleir wrongs,
.L.could no longer keep silent, especially as,
in, those Northern prisons, al that extreme
harshness was entirely unnecessary.
That the prisonersof Andersonvile suffered;
| is reasonable to suppose sand expect they
| do look back with horror upon the portion OF
their life spent there. i do not know that
prisons, al best, hsyeeve been regarded aS
very. charming places of abode. But whose
| fault was it that they suffered at all? The
;Goufedernte authorities 2 * should thiuk not.
fI;me and 40 sss1id: NIt-, Dayis offsrt to
exchange, and IN The rejection of those offers
Law all the blame What means had the
South of providing for such large surplus
population ? Did not ".the best Government
the world ever saw" blockade all our ports,
proscribc medicines, wines and comforts oil
| all kinds, as contraband? Did not "the best
Government the world ever saw send its ar.
mics, worse than any swarm of Egyptian To-
Gusts, through eur land with fire and sword.
destroying everything the eyecouldrestupon
And, even if this sunny South had been the
perfect El Dorado they seem to imagine, from
their eagerness to come in and possess it, and
furnished three crops year, the fearful raya.
yes of General Sherman and General
Hunter, which were on such an extensive
scale as to excite even their own admiration
| (cide Gen. Sherman's report Of his Georgia
calnpsipa.) would have completely exhausted
it. Like the Pharaohs Of old, they demanded
the same tale of bricks. yet withheld the
straw. More people in this Southern land
beside the prisoners at Andersonyiile suffered
for the want OF the luxuries and even the
comforts of this life. It was matter of ne.
rcessity. Then let the blame rest where it be.
longs-on the Government which had tile
power to rescue its soldiers from sharing
these evils, yet failed to use it..
The idea of duplicating Mr.. Davis, who,
before the war, and since, in every enlightened
community, has occupied the position of no.
ble Christian gentleman, with completely in
ANYTHING that sayored of barbarity, or of ac-
cuslng him of promoting officers for their
proficiency in starving prisoners, is loo absurd.
That he was the President of'an unsuccessful
Republic, and suffers for its ai!ure-though
no more culpabe than every man who voted
for bim-is simply tho fate of war, and no
reason why be SHOULD be. .assaled with the
I'fouIest espersions by every little editor or
correspondent dssirous Of curryiDg favor
with the powers that be-"
True to Yankee nature, nothing can be
4 done vihout.a flaming, exaggera
/ ted articles must appear in their papers
photographs of their prison life, for which the
public is indebted chiefly to the Imagination
Of the artist-eyerything is resprted to, TO
inaan,e the mind Of the Northern people to
avenge wrongs that never existed; while, i
would seem that just tho opposite course
should be adopted, if they really wish to es.
tablish peace and good will between the two
sections. In one breath, they cry Peace
peace. reconstruction and friendship" and in
7 The other" Blood! blood !! Avenge my wrongs
Tie blood Of our murdered men calls fol
I vengeance" But have we no wrongs te
,,I ,aye1eeY Are not some rights due the d.,
j Heated That we failed to establish sepa
;. rate Rep,tlic seems to have been the will O.
! God, and We the people bow with humble
SUBMISSION as The only course left US. Per
haps the future may show that it is for tht
best but this tits given us to feel now, tina
an the insults and expressions Of those il
power ire very lgriey0us to bear. And nov
i that "rim-visaged war has smoothed hi
wrinklel 'front.' and justice and civil lay
pretend to rule the land, where is the. sens,
3. or justite of Furnishing an.act committed, by
I'll Southem man in the service of what Il,
' Thought was his country, while the same &c
o..c.I ,,,1 apnrnrod n a a. iEndaro1 c;~,,,l