The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1866-10-27
Affairs In Ssesrvsa.

STATEMENT BY GENERAL. TILLsoN
IN Consequences tlo oat..-y----r-.. froo1-
men by white persons in Henry and other
counties in Georgia, General Tillson was COM
PEELED to send a garrison of about seventy SOL
diers to McDonough which aroused the ire of
the whites, who called meeting and passed
resolutions denying that outrages had been
committed, protesting against the sending of
United States troops to McDonough, and de-
nouncing the agent of the Freedmen's Bureau.
In reply to those resolutions General Tillson
presented the following plain statement of
facts shi.lj .Iii b1a l.H. .u ''1+'
AUGUSTA, Ca, Oct 1G, 1866.
Genhenen-I have the honor to acknowl-
edge the receipt of your communication of the
oth hlnst, forwarding copies of resolutions adopt-
ed IN public meeting by the citizens of Henry
County. 0Il 4 =. -
In reply, l beg leave to make the following
statement: On the 18th of May last, reports
reached these headquarters of outrages upon
Ireed people, ana threats upon the part of the
citizens to shoot Mr.. Phillips, agent of the bu-
reau, If he dared to arrest any person for whip
ping damned niger"
May 25-Similar reports were received
July 26-lnformation reached these head
quarters of the existence of gang of jaw
hawkers in Henry County, who were whip
ping, robbing and killing freed people and
driving them from plantations where they were
employed. '' 90. .HIg H.5 a. =
July 3l-I addressed a letter to the Judges
Of the Inferior Court, and the sheriff of Henry
County, calling upon the civil authorities
to enforce the laws and protect the freed peo-
pie. " -tf 10 Y. T.-l -
This letter was sent through Mr. Phillips
who reported its delivery and the reply of the
Judge and sheriff that they ''could not do otny-
thing" He further reported that the outrages
upon the freed people still continued Au-
gust %, one G. D. Gardner whipped a freed
girl most numerically. The blood soas ooziag
from her back and arms token she presented her
| self before the agent. Gardner was arrested by
the soldiers on duty with the agent and after
| wards released on writ of habeas corpus is
sued by the Hon. s. g. Mcdaniel Judge of the
| County Court. The agent was instructed to
rearrest Mr. Gardner and hold him under Gen.
| eral Order No. Al Is. C) from headquarters of
| the army, unless the civil authorities insttut-
ed proceedings against him. The Judge of the
county was informed of the instructions by the
agent. tta
| About this time the gang of outlaws before
referred to murdered freedman. The agent
| report that he asked the judge if the guilty
| parties would be tried by him if they were ar
rested by the agent. The judge replied that he
would not, that the arrest would be illegal. In
addition to these reports, others were received
| from Capt Walbridge, b. 8. A. commissioner
at Atlanta, and Captain Ehlers at Griffin, that
! freed people who had been subjected to cruel
| ties in Henry County had appeared before
| bruised and bloody persons the proof of their
| treatment.
| Capt. Walbridge states that frequent COM
| plants reached him from Henry County that
the inhabitants attacked the scholars and teach
ers of freedmen schools-stOned them on their
way home, and threatened to skill every id
| nigger or white man" who upheld the estab-
| lishment and continuance of the "nigger
school," He further states that he notified the
civil authorities and called upon them to rem
edy the evil; but they took no notice of it and
claimed they could not In one instance a
freedwoman was fearfully beaten, her person
outraged, and afterwards subjected to crlelties
so atrocious and revolving that description
would be unit for publication
On one occasion, after Mr. Phillips had ar
rested man, in pursuance of orders from these
headquarters, mob of armed citizens OF the
county, numbering from one hundred 10 Two
hundred, compelled Mr.. Phillips to release the
prisoner.
On another occasion United States soldier,
in the performance of his du!y, was hred up
on, and on many other OCCASIONS rs 'ne rlShtml
authoritv of the government OF the United
States has been insulted, defied and treated
With contempt by the citizens and civil author
ities of Henry County.
Mr. Phillips reported to me personally that
he called upon the sheriff of Henry Comfy.
and asked him to arrest certain parties charged
with committing Outrages on the freed people
The sheriff replied that 1T would be unpopu-
lar to punish white men for anything done to
negro-it might be unsafe; that he was not go
ing to obey the order of any id Yankee; and
thatsthe rebellion was not over yet in Henry
&oUny." Facts which have come to my
iIodge through other sources, leave but hit
3ou to doubt the truth of this report.