Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1869-01-29
The jury reported that they could not sat
isfactorily ascertain who committed the

alleged crime commenced its sitting on the
18th of May, 1867. A few days before the
sitting of this Court, General AUery applied
to Gen. Sickles for the arrest and trial be-
fore Military Court Of Capt. To]ar, Pow
ers and Watkins, and Duncan G. McRae.
Gen. Sickles ordered the arrest. Before
the prisoners werecarried off by the military,
the Grand Jury of the county upon bill
preferred by the Solicitor against Tolar for
murder, found it true bin, and cdpi0s
issued accordingly, which the Sheriff could
not execute, because the military refused
to surrender him. No bill was sent against
the others, because the attention Of the
Solicitor was not called to any witnesses,
who would swear to facts warranting the
fore, could not be based on any pretext
that the Court eOas in any a0dy in fduU
Duncan G. McRae had long been a lead
ing Justice Of the Peace of his county, was
a member of the State Convention in 1865,
and was widely known as a man of eXem-
plary character and strong Union procliyi-
ties. On his way to Fort Macon, the military
prison designated for his confinement, dis
tant some two hundred miles from bis
home and family, he got friend to send
a telegram to Gen. Sickles, inquiring for
what cause, and by whose order, he had
been arrested, and whether he could be
allowed to give bail. He declined to accept
bail, and referred to Gen. Miles. Chief of
the Freedman's Bureau, stationed here, as
to the charge. &c. Upon application by
nee to Gen. Miles he said the arrest had
been made by order Of Gen. Sickles, upon
the application of Gen. Arery, and that he
had not power to release McRae upon bail,
or on his parole that Gen. Sickles alone
had this power that Gen. Avery was not
then in his office ; that, as soon as he came
in, he would ask him to call at my Office
and explain. The conduct of Gen. Miles
was entirely satisfactory to me. Gen. Avery
called on me soon after, and stated that
the charge against the prisoners would be
specifically made out and sent to Head
quarters soon that he then could only
state to me, in general terms, that the
charge WAS the murder of Bebee and that
McRae was All accessory before the fact.
/ learned from him, or had otherwise
heard U cannot be certain which), that the
foundation of the arrest of Mclae was the
affidavit Of weak minded. base woman,
procured by ten. Arery, in which she
proved that, Immediately after the COM
hitting of Bebee, lie had gone oat on a
platform, to o window, and called on the
crowd to shoot the prisoner, and that, I'M
mediately thereafter, the negro was shot.
The friends of McRae furnished me
soon after with the affidavits OF the uncle
Of Beebe, who had procured for him the
services of lawyer who had appeared for
him on the trial. of the lawyer himself, and
of several other witnesses, white and black,
who swore positively that they were pres
ent and knew that McRae had not risen
from his seat from the time of ordering the
committal until after the fatal shot was
fred, and that when he heard the negro
was killed, he expressed his regret.
These afidavits I sent to Gen. Sickles
and asked him if he corld not take bail to
discharge McRaa on his parole. I further
asked that all the prisoners be TUNED over
to the civil authorities for trial / had
heard the Court Martial for the trial Of
these prisoners WGs to sit here. Fayctte-
Vile is 80 miles distant from this City and
no communication between the two places
by Railroad or steam, except by way of
Wilmington and GoldsborO, circuitous
route more than 200 miles long. / asked,
therefore, if he coull not turn over the
prisoners to the civil Courts, as it was pro-
bable that vast number of witnesses
would be examined, that the Court Mar
tial should be held in Fayetteville Or il
Wilmington, rather = IN here. l. was
known that the defend 4nts could not pay
their witnesses. many Of whom would pro-
badly be unable to pay for their transpor-
tation and their expenses while here He
replied that the prisoners would be tried
before Court Martial in Raleigh, but
that the Judge Advocate would be directed
to summon the witnesses for the defence
and to give them transportation to and
from Raleigh.
The arrest was made on the 18th Of
May. Ali Of them were confined at Fort
Macon till the Goth OF July brought on
that day to Raleigh 10 be tried before a
Court Martial, of which General Auery acas
Judge AdcOcae. Tie Judge Advocate had
not made out and filed his charges and
specifications, and, not being ready for
trial, the Court adjourned from day to day,
at his instance, until the 22d OF July. when
the trial commenced.
On the Goth Of July the Judge Advocate
introduced the aforesaid woman, the only
witness against McRae. Nobody, white
or black could be found to say she was
worthy to be believed. Her conduct on
the witness stand exhibited such manifest
willingness to perjure herself that General
Avery relented and asked to withdraw her
testimony and to enter a mol pros as to
McRae, which was unanimously granted
by the Court, and ne was discharged after
more than ten weeks imprisonment. It is
proper to add that I am informed by
McRae that General Avery, in the month
McRae for an official act of the latter and,
finding McRae would not yield to his die
tation, told McRae he should suffer for ii!
| The trial of the other defendants termi-
mated about the middle of Semptember in a
conviction of murder, after sitting of
more than two MONTHS at an enormous and
unnecessary expense to the government
and the prisoners. It would be interesting
to know the cost of these trials. The Court
Martial adjudged that the prisoners should
be hanged. This sentence, under the act
of Congress could not be executed without
approval. It did not go before you, pre-
sumo, because Gen. Candy committed it to
fifteen years imprisonment at hard labor.
Whether this finding was just or unjust
does not fall within the scope of this COM
municatio and I have not examined the
annexed evidence save as read it, as re-
ported for the newspapers as the trial pro-
crossed understand it to have been
founded On the evidence of one Phillips, |
whom the military at one time held under
arrest as one of the murderers, who pro-
cured his own release by turning States |
evidence, and upon the evidence of other
witnesses who SwOra thew saw TOlar shoot !