The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1868-09-09
of Federal Prisoners and
Rebel witnesses.


"o "A "a the manner Of the dismissal Of
TO, Ould and other distinguished south
80, who were summoned as witnesses
e." tho defence upon that trial, but were not
Flowed by the prosecution to testify:
WASHINGTON, D. c., Sept. 3, 1868.
~.re Editor Of the National Intclliqencer:
w. attention has been called to the fol-
,.n:a, extract from an article contained in
~" "I~o,;cle of the 9th of August last-to
wit,
40, thnuch announced AS a witness for the
soso,re in the Wirz case, he WAS dismissed
~ tbc prosecution, is authoritatively pro-
onrnced malicious perversion of the facts
~ n,;litsry trials all witnesses are both
1''r,moned and dismissed by the Judge
,[;vo,ate. and had Wirz's counsel designed
thot Mr., Oud should be put upon the stand
Il would have been done, though he woulG
MT have been allowed to make an entirely
irrelevant statement in defence of the rebel
system Of exchange"
The words authorita.ively pronounced
induce me TO halieve that the said article
ruanatcs from one of the participants IL
che trial of the unfortunate Captain Wirz.
They tremble for fear that retribution will
soon follow, and are, consequently, trying
70 exculpate themselves by false state
!aeats. Bnt there is no escaping for them
Last spring report of the Wirz trial was
published by order of Congress. Though
somewhat mutilated and curtailed, it will
vet serve to expose the above falsehood Of
the Chronicle. On page els of that repors
find the following:
"The Judge Advocate Colonel Chip
many There is another point which de
sire to submit TO the court. During the
progress Of this trial have sought to exer
else as properly SIS I knew how the discre'
ton placed in my hands by the court upon
the subject Of subpnnsing witnesses. Som,
witnesses who may properly be termed
rebel functionares have been subpnnaed
by me inadvertently. / have signed sucl
snhronas made out by my clerk with great
haste. and without noticing the fact. Other
we're sphpnnaed by me deliberately, bu
unon further consideration / deemed IL mu
d.tv TO reu0ke the Subpoena. This remark
APPLIES 10 4 certain class OF witnesses which
the court will understand it embraces men
who have been leaders in the rebellion,
such as General Lee, Mr.. Seldom, Mr.. NAL
lory, Surgeon General Moore, Commissioner
Ould, and others"
II will be observed that the Judge-Advo-
cate, having in the eyes of his SUPERIOR
committed the great blunder Of permitting
the defence 10 have such witnesses sub
ppnaed whose testimony could not be other
wise but damaging TO the bloodthirsty plans
Of Stanton, Holt, and their tool Grant, tries
to excuse himself by stating that he hac
corrected his error and revoked the sub
Iuuas. On page Gil he again says:
"Certain political questions in
yolved in suhppnaing such persons as Gen,
era Lee would suggest themselves to any
mind. After it came to my knowledge that
those witnesses were to be brought here fol
purposes other than those. indicated BY
counsel acted on ,rhdt l thought q ,ciSt
discretion, AND REVOKED THE SCBrGNAS T"
GENERAL. LEE AND OTHERS. In every case
where | revoked subpTnas, or decttned L"
;S0te them, the evidence duplicates the part!
as an accessory either before or after the
fact, principal in the first or second de-
gree, or co-cOnsplrator.
In page els he expresses the following
kind feelings towards Colonel Guild:
Colonel Guild is connected witt
those atrocities, or he 1rHtbe c0nnected riL
them before tie conclusion Of the trial, and
the court cannot allow linn TO testify for his
associate. Colonel Ould was in position
where the facts regarding the prison at An
dcreonville must have come to his know
ledge"
Colonel Ould had, therefore, narrow
escape from becoming an inmate of the Ola
Capitol, and sharing the fate CT poor Wirz.
Had the real Andcrsonville murderers only
imagined that some years later he would
expose 10 the world their terrible and crue!
crimes towards their own soldiers, doubt
very much whether Colonel Guild would
ever have been permitted to return to Rich
mond, for "dead men tell no tales"
Il is almost superfuous, after citing the
above extracts from the official record, t.
state in addition that the subpnnas Of Gen
cral Lee, Colonel Guild, and other southern
witnesses, were stopped or revoked ,oihOut
he consent and eren The nOuledqe Of III,
counsel Of captain Wirz. As the whole
trial Was nothing but most wretched
farce, those gentlemen, even if they had
the commission, would not have been per-
,nitted to say anything in favor of the pri-
sOner and the cause Of Justice and hu.
mauity. Perhaps they might have shared
the fate of one Of the witnesses for the de-
fence (Duncan), who was arrested in open
court before he had testified. At any rate
they would have been subject to the over
hearing iusVlence Of the president Of
the commission, General Lew Wallace
whilst at the other end Of the table the
Judge Advocate, by sneering questions
and insulting insinuations, would have
taxed to the utmost the forbearance OF
!he rebels, rs he politely used to denomi-
nate the southern witnesses. In fact, after
II had become apparent that the defence
would not be allowed to produce any evil
dence in favor of the prisoner, particularly
after the aforementioned subpGnas had
been couutermanded or revoked without our
knowledge, no further attempt was made on
our part 20 bring these gentlemen before the
commission. Captain Wirz told me several
times that even to save his life he would
not place his cherished, brave, and noble
chlettain, General Lee, in the position of
being exposed to the insults Of such man
IS Lew Wallace.
The recent revelations by Colonel 0uld
must, indeed, be terrible blow to the par
uclpants in the murder Of Captain Wirz !;
ior murder il was, and has SO been decided
toy the highest tribunal of the country.
"rz, as he promised before his death, is
already haunting them by day and night.
No Loyal Leagues and Grand Armies Of the
III