The Wyandot pioneer. (Upper Sandusky, Ohio) 1853-1868, 1868-02-27
MajOr-General Burbridge's De-
fence of His Administration i'm
Knntur..lyxr

kentucky. sT- -l's.r .-.--7grG'l !
/ have seen the extract of a speech,
delivered in the House of Represen-
tatives ofthe Congress of the Uni.
ted States, by one S. S. Marshall, of
Illinois, that demands Il notice at
my hands. The reckless and vim
dictive man, true to~his perverse
nature, proceeded to characterize
me as the military JeffIies Of Ken
lucky, aud "who WAS So fortunate
in arresting and massacreeing non
combatants and peaceful citizens,
and ,imprisoning women and chill,
dren placed under his jurisdiction.
He is deeply panied that his confed-
crates were arrested in Kentucky,
and tried by a court martial com
posed Of honorable officers of the
national army for the crimes of
murder and gross outrages against
the laws of war, and were convicted
upon indisputable evidence, and
executed under my administration.
His statement that these men were
ssnon combatants' and peaceful
citizens" is perhaps as near the
truth as such nature is capable of
making, These peaceful citizens
were outlaws against society, and
criminals against human nature it
self; numbering, robDing and plum
dering, without regard to age, sex
or condition. They were men
whom no faith would bind, and no
circumstances of life appease. They
made every community they entered,
living witnesses. Of their ferocious
crimes. It will sound strange to
the citizens and good thinking peo-
pie of this country to hear from the
halls of Congress, a court composed
of honorable soldiers, who had sus
tanned the burdens of many bio ody
battle field, charged with the crime
of massacreeing "non-combatants
and peaceable citizens.' To say
nothing of my own sense of justice
and honor, I apprehend that there
is not a heart SO debased, unless it
be among this mans faithful con
federates, as to believe such a state
ment, and not another tongue so
false as to utter it. sag.
It is again stated that irnprison-
ed some women and children placed
under my protection. The truth
is, that some women Of, notoriously
reasonable character, for aiding
and abetting the, enemies of the
country, and who sought to com
pass the destruction of our troops,
were ordered out Of the State of
Kentucky by me, acting under a
general order from General Sher-
man, far more rigorous, but not the
less just, than my own. No woman
was ever ''imprisoned;' - ne child
was ever imprisoned" by me. Thus
this charge is as willfully and per-
ver:ely false as the other.
For the discharge Of my duty to
my country in the most humane
manner compatible with the public
safety, l have been maligned and
traduced by the whole pack of trait
ors, North and South. That duty
was performed faithfully and ear
nestly. IF the times ever demand
it, which may God avert, it shall be
done again, earnestly, promptly and
efectually. It is to be regretted
that the hand Of justice fell so heav-
lily only upon the misguided, but
none the less criminal traitors of
the South. If those in the North
who inspired this crime had pos
sessed their courage, justice would
have been more equally distributed.
Their shield was their cowardice,
not their patriotism or their virtue.
If am to be prescribed for my ser
vices to my country, let the truth
be known. I shall not tamely sub
NIT to have my character aspersed
by men so regardless. Of truth and
honor, and so wantonly malicious
toward the soldiers Of this Ur ion
as this representative of treason in
the Congress Of the nation. [ have
no excuse to give and no apology
to make for my presence in Wash
ington. I presume that even a Fed
eral soldier may visit the capital of
the country he has fought to sus-
tain whenever he may think proper.
1t is but little to me who thinks to
the contrary, and least of all those
whose records are blackened by dis
loyalty. S. 6. BURBR1DGE.
The Right Kind of Religion.