The Nashville daily union. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1862-1866, 1866-04-10


The sequel Of the late rebellion IS FL
of strange incidents Men who stoo
foot to foot in the deadly fray on di
tant fields of blood, are constantly eE
countering each other in the busine!
of peaceful life. Sometimes these n
cognitions are frightened with plea
ant memories, and sometimes, as IN ia
case we are now about to narrate, the
are made terrible by the memory {
wrongs that have long been broode
unavenged.
On the It'll Of January, a665 Josepl
B. Thurber and q comrse, MATTHEW
Summers both Of company ''K," LIT
Indians volunteers, and hpjh resident
of LaPorte, Ind, being OF upon fol
aging expedition, were eSptured nea
| Tyre Springs, Tennessee, oy q party O
five "bushWhackers" Marching SOM
two or three miles, their eaptors ioine,
another party of rufians, who had il
custody four Federal sd iers, two o
them belonged to the 9St regiment o
Illinois volunteer infans The SIX
hapless prisoners were then ,take1
about fourteen miles, dismounted
stripped of their clothing, tied in cou
pies, and ranged in a row beneath
a tree, when they were informed that
thres of their number we're to be shot
and that they would be permitted to
cast lots for the impending doom. Nc
sooner was this promise given than the
whole rebel party discharged volley
killing every prisoner but young Thur.
Der, and wounding him severely in the
shoulder. To make sure of their bloody
work, the rebels discharged a second
Volley after their victims fell, but,
strangely enough, Thurber, hidden be-
meath the dead comrade to whom he
was bound, escaped further injury. The
murders being finished, the perpetra-
tors affixed paper to the breast of one
of the bodies, declaring that the deed
was done in retaliation" and rode
hastily away.
When all was still, Thurber Olsen
gagged himself from his companion,
crept out, and walking backwards lest
his footprints might lead to pursuit.
escaped to the dense woods, and naked,
sorely wounded, found his way at last
to his regiment after perilous and
painful journey of thirty miles. A
party was at once sent out, who sought
and buried his murdered comrades, and
he, recovered from his wounds, was
subsequently mustered out of the ser
vice and returned to the house of his
father, Alonzo B. Thurber, of LaPorte
county, and one of its most thoroughly
loyal men. His comrades were mould
ering in distant wilderness, and he was
restored TO home and friends; but often
did the thought of those terrible hours
in Tennessee darken his sunshine like q
heavy cloud
And now comes the sequel that
throws the coloTing of romance over
the whole story. Mr.. Thurber entered
the employment of Messrs. Graham az
Murray, commission merchants of this
city, who carry on some sort Of manu-
featuring business a. Holmesville, on
the Michigan Southern Railroad, fifty
miles from Chicago. A few days ago, a
man went thither, sent by q mem
Der of the firm, and became fell
low-workman with our young SOL
der. The moment Thurber set eyes
upon him he recognized him as one of
the party of murderers in the tragedy
of Tyre Springs In the smiling face of
his new companion, he read the brand
of Cain; ON the clean hand he saw
great gouts ofblood Strange as it may
seem, he repressed the tempest Of pas
sion that set his b.bod a boiling, and
became the messmate of this man He
led him into conversation upon his past
life and former residence. He learned
that ne was from Kentucky; that he
had witnessed scenes of violence, and
that, though, by his own admission, not
a regular soldier of the rebel army, he
had done some rough service. Fate
seemed TO draw him on, and at last he
actually described the terrible scenes
beneath the great tree in the woods Of
Tennessee Thurber thus had ''confir-
nation strong as holy writ He was
breathing the same air with one of the
murderers. He informed Mr. Graham
Of the suspicious now hardened into
facts, and declared his determination
at once to take his life. Armed with
an iron bar, he was Fastening TO the
room where the ex-guerrilla sat at sup
per, when Mr.. Graham interposed, and
persuaded Thurber to consult his faith
er, who lives some three miles from
Holmesyille. The interview resulted
in the making of an affidavit setting
forth the facts, and which, by the
courtesy of Hon. Morgan IL. Weir, be-
fore whom it was made, has been plac-
ed in our hands. The arrest was ef-
fected on Saturday last by Deputy
Sheriff Clay Brown, assisted by Messrs.
Closer and Robinson, of La Porte, late
of the Federal army; and the criminal,
of whose name nothing is known but
Charley" now lies in the Jail
at La Porte, awaiting the orders of
Major General Palmer, TO whom the
facts of the case have been forwarded.
The prisoner has grown shrewd and
silent, but he had already admitted too
much, and to one of the very men
whom he believed voiceless victim,
crumbling to dust in the distant viii
derness. A stranger case of recogni-
ton can hardly be found even within
the pages of fiction. They did not
meet in the thronged city; they did not
catch a passing glimpse in some rail-
way train, but they stood face to face
in little hamlet guided, we must be-
lieve, by an unseen hand, until, occu-
pants OF the same dwelling, compan-
ions at the same table, the victim look
ed, as he believed, upon the slayer, and
laid his hand upon his breast and said,
Thou art the man." If Banquos
ghost was the creation Of a heated
imagination, this was an apparation of
flesh and blood. 1t was palpable; no
stars could shine dimly through it.
One of the murdered SIX stood forth
bodily from the heaps of unburied
dead, and summoned him 10 judgment.
How it may result we cannot tell, but
there is terrible direetness and par
tioularity about young ThuEbers evil
dence, that seem more like q supernat-
ural voice than the doubtful testimony
Of fallibe witness. Chicago Journal