The Ashland union. [volume] (Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1865-08-30
Letter from Junius Henri
BrOWne.-StantOn the Grave
Digger OF Our Sacrificed Men.

Digger OF Our Sacrificed Men.
The telegraph haying given the sub;
stance Of letter by Junius Henri BtoWhs
the noted prisoner Of war and "loyap'
correspondent Of the Neo York Tribune;
we publish it in full below !: tIdSf.
Lately, Mr.. Charles A. Dana, alluding
in the journal Of which he is the Editor,
in. Chief, to a statement in my recently
published volume-"Four Years in Seces.
sia"-that Edwin NJ. Stanton is response,
Bile for the failure to exchange the thous-
ands of prisoners Of war held in the
South, avoided the question at issue and
entered into an elaborate explanation 10
show that the 20 months detention in
captivity of my confrere, Mr.. Albert D.
Richardson, and myself, was in no man
ner attributable to the Secretary Of Wat.
Neither of the CORRESPONDENTS Of the
Tribune has ever made any complaint,
privately ar publicly, Of his long captivi-
ty, and I should be deeply mortified to
suppose that any one should think that,
after we had escaped, we were so lacking
in good sense and humanity as to maun.
der or make accusations against an af6csr
of the Government from mere pereonal
feeling, when tens Of thousands Of cap.
tives were perishing systematic cruelty
in the rebel prisons Of the South. -.
Mr.. Dana, as have said, does kot un.
dertake to meet the general and inciden-
tai declaration that not one Of all the
prisoners in the South could make Mr.
Stanton resonsible for the torture be suf-
ferd in the South. This is simply not
true, as all who had acquaintance with
the administration Of affairs in Wishing
ton during two years previous to the close
of the war must, l should think, have
been aware, - -
Mr.. Richardson and myself spent near.
ly week in the National Capital after
our escape, erdeavoring TO do all that
was possible for the release Of the brave
men in the hands of the enemy = and
every one we met told the same stor5i
that the Secretary of War was the obsta.
Gle in the way OF the resumption Of ex.
change. 'liH
Moreover, General Butler, In his speech
at Lowell, Mass, stated positively, that
he had been ordered by Mr.. Stanton 70
put forward the negro question to oom-
plicate and prevent the exchange. Col.
A. B. Streight, of Indianapolis, Indiana,
fellow prisoner with us in the Libby,
told Mr.. Richardson, after our return u
freedom, that, in an interview between
the Secretary and himself, the former de-!
clared to him the Government could not
afford to exchange able bodied men fot
skeletons. Other officers and civilians;
whose names 1 cannot now remembef,,
have assured me that he had used to them
tho same language, in effect; and there
is no doubt whatever that that was his
policy and his determination until the
clamors Of the people compelled him %
retire from his barbarous position.
Every one is aware that, when the sx.
change did take place, not the slightest
alteration had occurred in the question:
and that our prisoners might as we'll have
been released twelve or eighteen months
before as at the resumption Of the cartel,
which would have saved to the Republic
at least twelve or fifteen thousand heroic
lives. That they ,Oere not saped is due
alone to Mr.. Ed,oin M Stanton's peeu-
liar policy and logged obstinaey; and,
as Ihave remarked before, HE is UNI
QUESTIONABLE THE DIGGER OF,
THE UNNAMED GRAVES, THAT
CROWDTHE VICINITY OF EVERY
SOUTHERN PRISON WITH HIS
TORIC AND NEyER.T0. .BE.F0R-
COTTON HORRORS. u
II l regret the revival Of this painful sub:
iect, but the gratuitous efforts Of Mr..
Dana to relieve the Secretary Of War
. from responsibility he seems willing 70
bear, and which, merely as q question 'of
policy, independent of all considerations.
Of humanity, must be regarded as Of great
weight, has compelled me to vindicate
myself from the charge Of making grave
statements without due consideration. :, !
Once for all, let me declare that I
, have never found fault with any one
because was detained in prison, for l
, am we'll aware that that was q matter IN
which no one but myself, and possibly
, few friends, could feel an ,interssti ths.
, my sold motive for impeaching the Sec
retary Of War was that the people OF the
. loyal North might know to whom they
were indebted for the cold-blooded and
J needless sacrifice Of their fathers and
} brothers, their husbands and their sons.
JuNIus HENRI BRowNx.;
, New YoRK, Aug, 8, 1855. sggs d9il