Brownlow's Knoxville Whig, and rebel ventilator. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1863-1866, 1866-02-21
"a coI. prer. and Lynch Law,

:. ,h;z naper went to press last week, trsg-
,,,rrs5 IN this city which has thrown over the x
pail of gloom most lamentaoie 70 De =
LILA Calvin NJ Dyer, Of Granger county, iate =
rieutenant-C Colonel of the gallant First Tennessee
Cavalry, was cruelty, foully murdered by cooreo e
soldier without the shade of the shadow OF provo
cation. In our last paper brief statement OF tais
murder was given. and the subsequent summary ex-
ecut1on, by an Infatuated and wild populace OF the
brute who committed the atrocious deed olhee
then we have made diligent inquiry of parties re-
sponsibe, and understood to be well versed IN the
facts Of the case SO as to give the public impair
tial statement Of the affair Our interrogatorieS
have been especially directed to adopted citizens
who were officers in the Union regiments from the
Northern States-gentlemen who have ne preIuoice
apainst the colored race The Chief Quartermaster
of this Department Capt. Wainwright advertised :
sale of Government property at the Charleston
Depot in this city, which he invited citizens to at
tend In obedience to this invitation Col. Dyer
(who was farmer) attended the sale. In company
with Capt james Sharp, (late of the Federal army,
9th Tennessee Cavalry having completed his pur-
chases the Colonel went to the Of the building,
which contained the property they had purchased
At this place negro guard stationed with Or
ders to allow no one to enter the building except on
business Each of the gentlemen had the requisite
papers to show that he was entitled to entrance and
entered following one of Capt. Wainwrights en-
ployees who went with them to deliver the property
they had purchased. This employee asked them |
to come in. Captain Sharp entered first IN
questioned, but Col. Dyer, who with the Cap |
tain, WAS ordered to halt. He did so Immediately,
showing his papers and then stepped into the build
ing, when the guard fred upon him and killed him
instantly. The guard after having committed this
atrocious murder was arrested by Capt Wainwright,
and sent under guard to his Office there to be placed
in custody of Capt. Abdl commander Of his COM
| pany. Before reaching Capt. Abdills office, the
guard quilted him, in plain English, they permitted
hin, TO escape After his escape he met his Captain,
| who asked him what he doing away from his
| place of duty; TO which the negro answered he
had shot a man, and had been ordered to his quar-
tiers under arrest" This officer then, AFTER
told the negro to go to the coral the negro shan
ties near the depot and remain there, and he would
get him pass and send him to Chattanooga. This,
Capt Abdill, in the presence of several gentleman
| from the North, who served in the Federal army,
admits to have been his instructions. The negro
|
eminent coral near the depot of the road leading to
Chattanooga doubtless for the purpose of taking the
train at night for that place. 1t not until two
hours after the murder of Col Dyer that there WAS
any appearance of mob purpose to mob the
murderous guard and not then until 1t 1cas k'so'Ca
that he toas not under arrest and 1T currently
reported and beIieced throughout the city that the
gro 0O,Ed escape The fact known to the people that
| two or three citizens had been murdered in East
Tennessee by colored soldiers ,rithout prorocatio,
and that the murderers escaped UNPUBLISHED, created
the belief that such would be the result in this
| In fact, when the mob collected at Capt. AbdilIs
office, and demanded the negro, this officer told them
he had instructed the negro to get out Of the 1ody
| When the mob learned this, they menaced Captain
Abdill with threats of hang ing the charge that
| he was accessory to the escape. They then demand
| ed that Capt. Abdill should seek him This he left
them to do with persons VINO went with him, but re-
turned with the information that his search in
| vain Believing that he was insincere, the mob
| made the success Of the search condition Of his
own life. Several of them then took Capt Abdill
in charge, and at about two o'clock, with his assist
ance, the murderer was found at the Government
coral, where he had secreted himself. In attempt
|
him. three of which took effect, but none seriously
injuring him. At length he captured and drag
| ged to the Office of the Freedmen's Bureau, where
an effort made to hang him. Up to this time
| he had exhibited little sign of life and some
believed that the shots he had received had proved
fatal; but upon being pulled up by the rope he
struggled so violently that the rope broke, and he
fell to the ground. Jumping up he made effort
to escape but was Overpowered and taken TO the
yard in front of Capt Wainwrights quarters where,
after procuring stronger rope and allowing the
doomed man few moments for prayer, the inexo-
rable mob hung him to tree. The mob stood
around the dangling form Of the atrocous murderer
until life was extinct There were several hundred
persons in Knoxville from the adjacent counties at
tending this SALE and very few of the citizens of this
county participated in the hanging. They were
from the adjacent counties and nearly all discharged
L MON soldiers, all of whom loved Col. Dyer, and
many of whom served under him in the army
Whatever may be said about the outrage of resort
ing 10 mob law in this instance, we assert that I'M
der the same circumstances the same violence would
have been done in almost any section Of the coun-
try. We have no idea that lynch law would have
been rered to but for the universal belief that the
negro was about to be hurried off where he would
60 UNPUBLISHED, and this is evidenced by the state
ments Of some of the leaders Of the mob, vino pub
Hcly announced after his arrest and before it
known that he had been allowed escape that they
were entirely satisfied long they knew he would
be held and tried by competent court for the crime
and not then but for the presence of several hun
dred Union soldiers who served under and with Col.
Dyer, and loved and appreciated him. more afro
cious murder was never committed in Tennessee,
and no event has caused more intense excitement in
Knoxville than the tragedy referred to. While no
circumstances can make mob law GeezSibLe if there
ever was a case in which it ercHsGbte this is the
case.
In this connection it is unfortunate that the ne
gro was taken to the Office of the Freedmen's Bu-
reau when he could have been hanged at the coral,
several hundred yards distant, where he cap
tured This act is alleged by some to have been a
deliberate attempt to insult the Government. This
we regard AS altogether erroneous. He was taken
to the Office Of the "Freedmens Bureau because of
the eTroneous rumor that the attaches of that Of
fee were aiding in his escape and the purpose
to personally insult the officers Of the Bureau Such
is the cause of the threats of some of the mob when
first asscmbled) to hang Capt. W. A Wainwrig hit
E Upon learning however, as they did as as they
demanded the negro, that he in no wise respon-