The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1866-10-11
8mIln,ond Dispatth.
THURsDAY. ......oCroBER IL, 1866.
Beast Butler Defends Himself and
Blames General Grant In the Matter
Of the ExcAAmEe Of PfiaOAerA.

General Butler said at Hamilton, Ohio,
the other day, that while he never an
swered anonymous newspaper attacks, he
felt it his duty here at Hamilton to refute
q slander which had been circulated from
this platform a few days ago by gentle
man of standing in advocating the election
of the Democratic candidate.
lie has chosen to say that am RESPONSE
bic for the starvation Of our prisoners at
Belle Isle and Andersonville, by refusing
to exchange soldiers because the rebels did
not recognize the negroes in our service as
regular soldiers.
/ don't propose to criticise anybody, or
to saw who was right or who was wrong,
but | propose to state the exact facts, be-
cause it has been widely charged against
me that in order to rescue the negro SOL
diers I preferred that 10000 OF our men
should starve rather than agree that the
negro should not be exchanged.
Whatever might have thought 1t best
to have done, am only here to-day TO say
that did not do it. The duties Of Com
missioner Of Exchange were put in my
hands. made an arrangement to have an
exchange etiected-man for man, officer for
officer. communicated my plan to Gene
eral Streight, of Indiana, who is here to-
day, and who had then just escaped from
the Libby. told him how proposed to
get our negro soldiers out of rebel hands.
We had 10000 or thereabout Of their
prisoners. They had 10000 of ours, or
thereabout. don't give the exact num-
bers, as quote from memory but these
are the approximate numbers.
l proposed to 60 on and exchange with
the rebels, man for man, officer for officer,
until / got 10000 of our men, and then /
would still have had 10000 Of theirs left in
my hands. And then proposed to twist
these 10000 until got the negroes out of
the rebels. [Applause.l / made this ar
rangement with the Confederate commits
sioner. This was on the 1st of April, be-
fore we commenced to move on that CAM
paign of 1864, from the Rapid Ann to the
James, around Richmond. At that time
the Lieutenant General visited my head
quarters, and told him what had done.
He gave me certain verbal directions.
What they were shall not say, because l
have his Instructions in writing. But L
sent my proposition for exchange to the
Government of the United States. 1t was
referred to the Lieutenant General. He
ordered me not to give the COnfederates
another man in exchange.
photographed back to him in these words:
"Your order shall be obeyed, but as
sr,me you do not mean to interfere with
the exchange of the sick and wounded 7"
He replied: "Take all the sick and
wounded you can get, but don't give them
another man."
You can see that even with sick and
wounded men this system would soon cause
all exchanges to stop. ..
1t did stop. 1t stopped right there, in
April, 1864, and was not resumed until
August, 1864, when Mr.. Ould, the rebel
commissioner, again wrote me: 1--WE Will
exchange man for man, officer for officer"
and saying nothing about colored troops.
laid this dispatch before the Lieutenant
General. His answer, in writing, was sub
stantially: "If you give the rebels the
so, 900 men whom We hold, it will insure
the defeat of General Sherman and endan-
ger our safety here around Richmond. l
wrote an argument, Extensively put, to the
Confederate commissioners, SO that they
should stop all further offers of exchange:
say. nothing about the policy of this
course offer no criticism of it whatever !;
/ say only that, whether ii be good or
bad policy, it was not mine, and that my
part in it was wholly in obedience to orders
from my commanding officer, the Lieu
tenant General.
After some further considerations ad-
dressed to Democrats, General Butler was
forced to stop short in his speech by the
fact that the time for the train to leave had
come. He was heartily cheered as he left,
and was again escorted through the town
hy the Boys in Blue and other citizens.