The western Democrat. [volume] (Charlotte, N.C.) 1852-1870, 1865-10-10

eQual terWSS1n Or0er 10 recover sOlUleTS WHOM
we could replace from other source. On the
other hand interest and humanity were ut wax
+ in their influence on the Federal officials -
Others must judge of the humanity and justice
of the policy which consigned hundreds Of thou
! sands of wretched men to captivity apparently
hopeless, but can testify unhesitatingly to it's
sagacity and efficacy, and to the pitiless stern
ness with which il was executed: Indeed, this
refusal to exchange was one OF the most fatal
! blows dealt Dis during tho war, and contributed
to our overthrow more, perhaps, than any other
single measure. write not to make complaint
of it, but simply to protest against the attempt
of the Federals so to divide the consequences of
their own conduct as to throw on us the odium
attached to cruelty plainly Injurious to us, OBJ
viously beneficial to themselves.
The sense of duty which prompts this letter
would be but imperfecty satisfied were l to
withhold at this uncture, the testimony, which
none so we'll as myself can offer, in relation to
the charge of inlsumanity made against Presi-
dent Davis. For the four years, during which
have been one of his most trusted advisers,
the recipient of his confidence; the sharer, to
the best of my abilities, in his labors and respon-
sibilities, | have learned to know him better,
perhaps, than he is known by any other living
man. Neither in private conversation nor in
Cabinet Council have / ever heard him utter
one unworthy thought, one ungenerous senti-
ment On repeated occasions, when the savage
atrocities of such men Butler, Turchin,
NELL and Others we're the subject of anxious
consideration and when it was urged upon JEFF
ferson Davis, not only by friends in private
letters, but by members of his Cabinet in coun-
Gill; that it was his duty to the people and to the
army, to erdeavor to repress such 6utrages by
retaliation, he was immovable in his resistance
to such counsels, insisting that it wss repugnant
to every sentiment of justice and humanity that
the innocent should be made victims for .he
crimes of such monsters, Without betrayiug
the confidence of official intercourse, it may be
permitted me to say that when the notorious
expedition of Dahlgren against the city Of Rich
mond had been defeated, and the leader killed
ih his fight, the papers found upon his body
showed that he had been engaged IN an attempt
to assassinate the President and the heads of
the Cabinet to release the Federal prisoners
confined in Richmond, to set fire to the city,
and to let loose his men and the released pris-
oners, with full license to crafty their passions
on the helpless inhabitants
The instructions to his men had been elabor
ately prepared, and his designs communicated to
them in an address; the incendiary materials for
firing the town forused part Of mia equipment
The proof was complete and .undeniable In
the action 10 which Dablgren fell, some of his
men were>taken prisoners They were brought
to Richmond, and public opinion was unani-
nous that they were not entitled to be consid-
cred as prisoners of war; that they ought to be
put on trial as brigaIds and assassins, and exc
cuted as such if found guilty. In Cabinet Coun-.
Gil the conviction was expressed that those men
had acquired no immunity from punishment for
their crimes, if guilty, by the fact of their hav-
ing been admitted to surrender by their captors,
before knowledge of their offences A discus
sion ensued, which became so heated as almost
to create unfriendly feeling, by reason Of the
unshaken frmness of Mr.. Davis in maintaining
that, although these men merited refusal to
grant them quarter in the heat of battle, they
had been received to mercy by their captors, as
prisoners Of war, and as such were sacred; and
that we should be dishonored if harm should
overtake them after their surrender, the accep-
lance Of which constituted, in bis Judgment, a
pledge that they should receive the treatment
of prisoners of war To Jefferson Davis alone,
and to his constancy Of purpose, did these men
owe their safety ir spite of hostile public opin-
ion, and in opposition to two thirds of the
Cabiwr.
forbear from further trespass on your space,
although [ am in possession of numerous other
facts bearing on the subject that could not fail
to interest all who are DESTROYS Of seeing justice
done to the llustrious man of whose present
condition will not trust myself to speak.
l remain, sir, your obedient servant,
u. p. BENJAMIN.