The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1868-09-01
Grant, Heartless Cruelty
From the World.

at Lowell. The three or four year,
since elapsed have been so crowded
with events that that speech seems
pretty we'll forgotten, although it drew
much attention at the time. 1t was
soon after the ridiculous Fort Fisher
.fasco. In consequence of that fasco
General BUTLER had been relieved ol
his command by General GRANT, and
sent home. BUTLER, though an indif
ferent officer, was sharp, alert OBJ
server; and he felt at liberty, in bis
Lowell speech, to express his opinion
of GRANT with considerable freedom
We concern ourselves at present only
with his damaging exposure Of General
GRANTS cold-blooded cruelty and sneak
ing hypocrisy in relation to the poor
suffering Union prisoners. He fastened
on him the inputation of brutal indif.
ference to their lingering starvation in
loathsome Southern prisons. BUTLER
stated in that speech, that he had him.
self made successful arrangement with
Mr.. OULD, the Southern Commissioner,
for the exchange of all our uhite soldiers
against an equal number of rebel pris,
oners held by us, leaving the exchange
of the negroes for a separate and subse-
quent arrangement. This BUTLER said
would have left q balance of fifteen
thousand rebel prisoners in our posses
sion, and about five hundred negro pris-
oners in the hands of the rebels. When
the negotiations had reached this stage,
General BUTLER was brought to sud-
den halt, and his work undone, by supe-
rior authority. What followed was SO
remarkable, and is so fraught with pain
full interest, that the account must be
given in General BUTLER's own lam
guage:
l reported the points of agreement
between myself and the rebel agent to
the Secretary of War, and asked for
power to adjust the other questions OF
difference, so as to have the question
of enslaving negro soldiers stand alone,
to be dealt with by itself; and that the
whole power of the United States
should be exerted to do justice to those
who had fought the battle of the coun-
try, and been captured in its service.
The uhole subject was referred by the Sec.
retary of War to the Lieutenant General
commanding, rho telegrdphed me on the
Nth of April, 1864, in substance: "Break
off all negotiations on the subject Of er-
chanqe till further orders" And, there
fore, all negotiations were broken of,
save that a special exchange of sick
aud wounded on either side went on.
On the goth of April / receired another
telegram of General Grant, ordering "not
another man to be giren to the rebels" To
that l answered, on the same day:
Lieutenant General Grants instruc-
tions shall be implicitly obeyed. l as
sumo that You do not mean to stop the
special exchange of the sick and
wounded now going on" To
this | received reply in substance /:
"Do not give the rebels single able
bodied man" From that hour, so long
as remained in the department, ex-
changes of prisoners stopped under that
order, because | could not give the
rebels any of their able-bedied soldiers
in exchange. BY sending the sick and
wounded forward, however, some twelve
thousand of our suffering soldiers were
relieved, being upwards of eight thou
sand $4,000 more than we gave the
rebels. In August last Mr.. Ould, finding
negotiations were broken of, and that
no exchanges were made, wrote to Gen
eral Hitchcock, the commissioner at
Washington, that the rebels were ready
to exchange man for man. all the pris-
oners held by them, as / had proposed in
December. Under the instructions OF
the Lieutenant General, l wrote to Mr..
Ould letter, which has been
published, saying: "Do you mean
| to give up all your action,
and revoke all your laws about black
men employed as soldiersi" These
questions were therein argued justly, as
think. not diplomat cally, but obtru-
sively and demonstratively, NOT FOR
HEPURPosE OF FURTHERING EXCHANGE
OF PRISONERS, BUT FOR THE PURPOSE OF
PREVENTING AND STOPPING THE EX-
CHANGE AND FURNISHING A GROUND on
WHICH WE COULD FAIRLY STAND. am
now at liberty to state these facts, be-
cause they appear in the correspo ndence
on the subject of exchange now on the
public files of Congress, furnished by
tho War Department upon resolution.
l am not at liberty to state my opinions
as to the correctness and proprlety oi
this course of action of the Lieutenant
General in relation to exchanges, be-
cause, as it is not proper to utter
word of condemnation of any act of my
superiers, may not even applaud where
| think them right, lest not applauding
in other instances, such acts as
may mention would imply censure.
l only desire that the responsible
ty of stopping exchanges of prisoners,
be it wise or unwise, should rest upon
the Lieutenant General commanding,
and not upon me. l have carried the
weight of so grave a matter for nine
months, and now propose, as the facts
are laid before Congress and the coun-
try, not to carry any longer any more OF
it than belongs to me. Since l wrote
my farewell address to the Army of
the James, have received letters from
the far West saying, "Why do you
claim that you have not uselessly sac
riticed the lives of your men, when you
have left thousands of our brothers and
sons to starve and rot in Southern pris-
ons." In answer to all such appeals /
am allowed only to repeat ! have not
uselessly sacrificed the lives of the SOL
diers of the Union; their blood does not
stain my garments. This is not criti'
cism upon the acts of anybody, but only
the enuneiation of fact, in explana-
tion of which the responsibilities of my
position will not allow me to say
more.
The astounding recital By General
BUTLER unmasked one of the most re.
markable examples on record Of cold
hearted atrocity, studied deceit and