The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1865-09-30

snant because they refused to aeasde.to dis
Honorable terms of 'exchange, Is Dir speci-
men kof Confederate logic. He says nothing
@ef those horrors of AndersonvilIe which the
Wirz trial is now developing, but takes the
course adopted by Billings1ga 6sb-wife
who when accused of being thief only bawls
"you're anotherp' and he lauds Mr.. Davis as
meek and merciful being who, hi. AYERS, al
ways resisted the pressure brought against
him to retaliate the cruelties of the Federals.
Feeling, however, that this matter of the
starved prisoners is. rather dangerous ground.
Mr.. Benjamin proceeds to throw up a big
cloud OF dust in order to hide his retreat from
it, he revives the old lie about Co. Dahlgren
having gone on an expedition to Richmond to
fire the city and set free the Federal prison
ers, to rayage and plumber it. This accusation
has called out Captain 81. A. Wise ofthe Unit
ed States Navy, who also addresses a letter to
the Times, of which the following is a copy.
Tothe Editor eftae L ndon Times. sans
Sir: In Mr.. Benjamin's attempted defense
OF the cruel and atrocious treatment of Fed
erai prisoners, published in The Times Of to-
day, he has omitted to state that for a long
time the exchange ceased because the Confed-
crates refused to comply with the cartel in
giving up captured negro soldiers as "man for
mana theory which the Federal Govern
ment, on the score of justice and humanity to
The soldiers of the Republic, refused to accede
to. But let this pass, and to quote the words
OF Mr. Benjamin, without betraying the con-
tidence of official intercourse permit me to
mako q iuaf oil of 40 boc
revamped against young Col Dahlgren, who
fell in midnight ambush near Richmond, bru-
tally butchered, stripped not only of his cloth
ing and his wooden leg, the memento from a
bullet in battle, but his finger hacked offfor the
ring it heidi Yes, his own servant, who in the
carly morning removed the naked, bloody and
mutilated remains from the roadside to the
shade OF a hedge, told me OF these facts and
perhaps Mr. Benjamin himself may have seen
the carcase when it was publicly exhibited
in the shambles of Richmond before being
thrown, as the papers said, ito a dungheap
for the dogs to Ieast upon," and thus add his
testimony to the story.
But with reference to the papers found up
on the body, can it be possible Mr.. Benjamin
is not aware that the document which it was
presumed he had itographed in facsimile
and distributed abroad was forgery, and so
clumsily executed that it scarcely resembled
the writing Of Dahlgren, and even the sigma
ture was misspelt? This forgery was expos
ed with bitter Indignation by Admiral Dahl
gren, the father of the dead colonel, publish
ed far and wide in the United States, and
never to my knowledge was the miserable,
unmanly trick to defame the reputation OF a
gallant soldier even palliated by the press or
people of Richmond T 4soN
{ The sole object of Dahlgren's expedition.
was, the. release of our suffering soldiers from
the dens of the Libby Prison, as he told me
on parting, expecting and prepared to sacrifice
youth, hopes and life in that noble attempt;
and, no doubt, had he succeeded in reaching
the ground for operations, he would have
made his sabre felt as he had before in many a
dashing charge on all who stood in his path,
but not to "assassinate the President and the
heads of the Cabmet,n as Mr.. benjamin as
serts. No; such a thought never entered the
brain or reached the true heart of that brave
boy, and Mr.. Benjamin will have to produce
more of his numerous facts bearing on the
subject before he can cite similar case to
that of Dahlgren in justification of the cruel
ties perpetrated upon Federal prisoners
am, sir, your obeaient servant
H. A. WISE, United States Navy.
London Sept. IL. yl