Nashville union and dispatch. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1866-1868, 1867-08-27
FANCY AND FACT.

/
recently published in the Nashville Press
and Times
"The armed Rebels in Tennessee are
reyengine themselves for Brownlow's ma
| iority by robbing the negroes Of the arms
| which they retained when leaving the
| Federal service, and then numbering those
| who have been thus disarmed. Madison.
county is overrun with the murderous
guerrillas."
This statement will 90 to thousands
who will never hear the facts in regard
to the matter, and they will set down the
people whom the Tribune terms Rebels
as an incorrigibly mean set of fellows.
| The Tribune made considerable char
acter before and for some time since the
war for fairness to its political OPP
ponents, and even to Rebels" but
during the past year it seems to have laid
aside its fair spirit, and to have gone into
the business of clutching up every
SANDER or misrepresentation, no matter
how malignant or how petty, of the
Southern people who refuse to bow
their heads and embrace Radical
ism as the only plan of salvation for this
people If the Tribune was as ready to
defend the Southern people as it is to
calumniate them by reproducing just
such charges as is contained in the para
graph we have quoted from that journal,
it might accomplish something for the
good of the country to be proud Of But,
like almost every Radical paper in the
North, it acts now upon the idea that
nothing good can come out of the South,
except from Radical and it makes all
the use possible of such fancy sketches
as the Press and Times is in the habit of
entertaining its readers with. Now let
us look into this Madison county affair.
The Press and Times of the Goth inst
publishes an extract from a letter adj
dressed to Capt Kirk, commanding a
company of "loyal militia" stationed at
Jackson, in which the writer says:
We are in dangerous condition. The
Union men of this end of the county are
expecting to be assaulted every night l
am especially in great danger. We have
a clan of desperadoes, cut Threats and out
laws, here amongst us who are backed up
by the citizens of the county. If there is
not something done for us we shall be
| compelled TO leave the country. / should
have come TO jackson myself before now,
but my friends advised me not to go, say
ing would not be able TO get there if
started. They had men to follow me to
Neutrality-suspicious. who belong to this
gang of outlaws, and their business was,
doubtless, to kill me on the way. Cap
tain, we want some fifty men stationed at
this end Of the county right away. The
negroes are beginning to leave here-some
go every day rather than stay here and be
cursed and whipped by these bad men.
We need more troops in the county, at
least five or six hundred men. The rebels
are completely organized, and L believe
they intend to make break upon US soon."
Here is fellow who appears to have
been scared out of his wits, if he ever
had any, and yet he does not give
single fact to justify his scare.
Capt Kirk has a word to say of Madi
son county, in letter to Gen. Cooper
and here it is
General The Rebels in this county
are behaving very badly. No Union man,
black or white, can live here in peace and
safety Several prominent Republican
Iii e
from home in order to save their lives
Several colored men have come to me
lately covered with blood and in great dis
tress from the beatings received at the
hands of some of these outlaws. Several
have been whipped nearly to death. have
sent many of them to the officer OF the
little or no relief Please give me some
instructions how TO proceed with these
Rebels who are beating the darkies here.
| shall want ammunition, General. Three
thousand rounds would be acceptable. / |
will take good care Of it and if necessary
make good use Of it.
The Captain must have been frightened |
from the lusty manner in which he calls |
for more ammunition" On the succeed |
ing day he gives further evidences of his
fright in another letter to Gen Cooper |
from which the following is extracted
Since writing you last night | have
learned the Rebels killed three negroes
last evening. They we're found secreted in
the bushes. Two of them were tied to- /
gelher. The Rebels here are acting worse /
than they were during the war. They are |
taking every pistol and gun away from the |
negroes which they brought home with |
them from the Federal service. There are
at least 1000 armed men in this place of |
the Conservatives. Guns and pistols are
fred all night long. Send US the am
munition spoke Of before, for we are going |
to have trouble here"
The letter from which this paragraph
is extracted is dated the 10th inst The
Jackson Wing of the oath inst thus re-
fers to these Statements
ave have yet to find the first citizen of /
the county who has heard anything Of these
reports about our people. The sheriff, the
coroner, the magistrates, the eonstables, the /
municipal authorities, together with the /
agent Of the Freedmen's Bureau, know
hothlng OF the preparation OF the crimes
mentioned. Capt. Kirk has been grossly
imposed upon, and il is bat just to himself
as well as to the people of this county, that
the whole matter be Investigated. We be-
lieve that Medlin the defeated Radical
candidate for Representative is at the bot
tom Of all this misrepresentation Our cit
liens are taking steps to have the charges
Investigated, and when such investigation
is made it will turn ont that Capt. Kirk /
has been deceived by bad men,"
See how efFectually these blood and
thunder stories are silenced by the
testimony of responsible parties. Net
one of them has heard of the horrid |
murders, the taking Of guns and pistols
away from the negroes, the whipping of
whose bloody earcasses Capt
Kirk has seen and whom he sent to the
Freedmens Bureau, has been seen or
heard of by the civil and municipal
officers Of the county or the agent of the
Freedmen's Bureau See how this fancy