Brownlow's Knoxville Whig, and rebel ventilator. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1863-1866, 1866-01-17
Persecution of UniOniStS I'm Grundy
County.

STATEMENT OF TwENTY-sIN RETURNED OFF
GERS AND SOLDIERS
1t is always a source of the deepest regret to u
that we are ever called upon to record the cxstenc,
Of insubordination and the fperpetration of law.
less acts in any portion of this State, but
our duty as a public journalist is imperative
and cannot be summed Some davs ago we
published a brief item making a very unfavorable
representation of affairs in Grundy county and the
following official communication, signed by twenty
Six Union officers and soldiers citizens of that coun-
ty gives, a most painful confirmation Of our previ-
Gus statement
ALTAMoNT Grundy county, Dec 6,I865.
Cor. ". G. .Brol0nlolg-Honored Sir: We, the un-
dersgned, discharged soldiers and loval citizens Of
Grundy county, take the liberty of addressing YOU
TINS communication to make you acquainted with
the condition of our county. There are still two
parties among us here, Union and rebel. The reb-
els have devised plan to drive us from our homes
by presenting before the civil courts for acts done
Whe IN the service Of our country and by order of
brig. Gen. Wood, and other Union officers We
would not complain if all persons were treated alike
but there are two or three companies of rebel bush
whackers still living in this county who robbed the
Unlon men OF everything they could find durinr
the campaign of 1864. These outlaws did not be-
long to any regular command but for all these out
RACES they go unpunished, and grand juries refuse
TO md any bill against them We now appeal TO
the authorities to know if men who have left their
homes and families for the service of their country
are to be harrassed and ruined rebels who fought
against their country. Are we to be driven from
our homes by such men as these?
We are governed in this county by disfranchised
rebels. We know they are not commissioned, but if
we resist their unlawful authority we shall be sig-
matized as outlaws, which is the name applied to all
the Union men of this county by the rebels.
We hope TO hear from you before the second Mon
day IN next month. Ii you say abide by their ille-
gal proceedings we must submit if not although
few IN number, we will take care of ourselves At
the last court some of the Grand Jury had never
taken the oath. All these facts we can substantiste
by convincing proof. Respectfully.
Your Obedent servants.
Here follow the names oftwenty-six Tennegseeans,
who, when this State in armed rebellion against
the Government enlisted under the national flag
and risked their lives in its defense and for the
maintenance Of free government. We suppress their
names, fof fear that their publication might work
the forfeiture Of their lives at the hands of their
embIttered enemies who seem to think that d par
don from generous and forgiving Government is
license for the renewal Of treason. This statement
OF plain unambitiOus citizens who only ask TO en-
Joy the sweets Of private life in peace is full of
painful suggestions. Is it prophetic of the condi-
ton Of the Unionts of this State when the pressure
of the Federal arms shall be removed? Grundy
county is somewhat remote from tie channels of
communication and this alarming condition of af-
fairs may lead to suspect that its reconstructed
citizens are not only little in advance of their
neishboTs, who understand how to wait until their
time comes. We pity the peor Lincolnite5 and the
dcspised freedmen when the broad shield of the
Federal Government shall be removed, if treason Is
TO be exalted in high places, and patriotism made
odiou and rebels to preside in the superior and
and inferior courts.-NoshriHe Press and Times.