Daily union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1865-1866, 1866-10-23
OF FREEDMEN IN
RRORk7LA.

There having been several personssrres
by military, authority for cruelties to freed
men in Henry county, Georgia, a public
meeting was held on the 9Th inst, to vindi-
cate their obedience to law, and to remon-
strate against the qnarteriDg of soldiers
among them. which Gen. TILLsoN had
thought necessary to protect the freedmen
from violence. It's proceedings were COM
municated to Gen. T., who in reply stated
in detail the facts on which be based his
action. and closed as follows:
CAL peaceful efforts having been ex-
hausted and failed the civil authorities
/ having shown themselves unable or unWilI-
ing to protect the freed people, in their
rights of person and property, OF 70 bring to
| trial and punishment, persons guilty of in
hicting monstrous cruelties upon them; there
was no alternative but TO use military force
I in compliance with General Orders No.
A, above referred to.
shall hold the prisoners, and maintain a
garrison In Henry county until the conduct
of the people, and the action of the civil
authorities warrant the belief that the laws
protected. Longer TO trust mere profession,
in the presence Of facts in my possession,
would be INDUCING in criminal credulity.
As the publication Of these resolutios sent
me, tend to give the impression that the
military authority have acted in an oPpres-
sive and tyrannical manner, without due in
vestigBtion or knowledge of facts, shall
publish the foregoing statement.
/ have altogether mistaken the character
and intentions Of the people Of the State, if
after reading this statement, they shall de-
eide that my action has been hasty, ill-con-
sidered or too severe.
/ am gratifed to add that this is the first
instance in this State when the efforts to re-
store the supremacy Of civil law, in a man
ner to protect the rights of all citizens, ir-
respective of color or condition, has proved
so nearly failure.
/ am, very respectfully,
Your obedient servant,
DAVIS TILLsoN."
Referring to the subject, the Augusta C5n-
stitutiOnalist has the following:
at cannot be denied that outrsges perpe-
trated upon the freed-people are exceptional.
Even Gen. Unison admits this But it is
still not deniable that crimes Of this kind do
exist in some portions of the country to the
modification Of candid and honorable men
throughout the South. 1t would be uto-
plan TO expectan utter absence of lawlessness,
as long as the millennium remains but
promise, and mans fallen nature makes the
millennium a remote conjecture. But it is
reasonable to have expected lawlessness
would have assumed a different shape.
1t has been the peculiar boast of the South
that her religion and society preserved their
integrity, in spite of the ravages of an I'M
holy war. In comparison with the North,
this boast is not meaningless; but few
wicked men, reckless and demoralized, are
doing their worst to negative the admirable
morality of their countrymen at large. Of
all atrocities those inflicted upon the
freed-people are, perhaps, most dam
natory, and in the unfortunate cor
dition of the South, most detrimental.
These people have been emancipated by noact
of their own. They have been of immense
utility in the past, and are, if properly
cared for, capable of prodigious service in
the future. Great proportions Of them pre-
serve their urbanity of department, system
of labor, and modesty of speech. They
have, considering their opportunities and
numbers, behaved, in critical periods, with
exemplary fidelity and generosity. No SER
vile race on the face of the earth ever re-
ceived sudden and violent emancipation
with equal imperturbability. This was due,
in considerable degree, to the careful
training Of the whites but to whatever
cause, it is none the less worthy of attention.
There are few men in the South who have
not mad, at one time or another, the kindli-
est relations with them. Many have been
sucked by them, and thousands, when boys,
scampered the fields together. Under these
circumstances, we are reluctant to believe
that any outrages have been committed by
men of whom the South is proud, but rather
by individuals whose responsibility and de-
cency are in the vocative"