Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1870-11-22

Galbraith, Head. S15, and other cases
that might be cited.
From these cases we lay down the rule
\ to be, that this court will only reverse
upon the facts of the case, where there
Is great preponderauce of evidence
against the verdict found by the jury, so
that we see clearly that the judgment of
the law, upon all the facts shown in the
evidence, is not that which the jury have
! found.
Applying this principal to the facts
shown IN the record, the question is, can
| this verdict be allowed to stand2
| The facts material to be stated are, that
in April, 1862, a large party of men
started to Kentucky to avoid being
drafted for service in the late civil war,
as part of the Militia of the State, under
q law of the State Legislature passed be-
| fore that time.
| These men were Union men as they are
called in the testimony, and adhered TO
the Federal Government. They seemed
to have started in pursuance of a general
understanding had between themselves,
and to have been regularly organized and
differed, as one witness says that at a.
certain point they waited to be Joined ty
'Capt. Thornhill and Capt. Barrett's
companies" and 'Ethat a man named
Caps took command of the whole COM
pany on the bill beyond Bales" and soon
after this, as they moved Oh, they met
Gentry West son of Jas. T. West, and
took him g prisonerj captured him, " in
the language of the witness, and kept
him, after dismounting him and making
him walk, until the whole party were
captured by Confederate cavalry, Oil
Thursday evening, 18th of April, under
command of Capt. Ashby. They also
captured one Bunch about this time, and
took his horse from him.
This party moved on to place called
Fincastle, near which they were attacked
by Ashby, and 420 of them captured,
after some fighting.
There were about one hundred of the
party, perhaps, armed with guns, and
most of them, with pistols. On the way
they captured lot of guns at Blain's x
Roads.
1t seems that the old man West, the
father of Gentry West, who had been cap
tured by this band, had heard of his cap
ture, and, naturally as father, was anxi-
GUS to have him rescued or released if
possible, and requested and urged the de-
| PENDANTS below 10 go to Strawberry Plains
and report the route of the "stampeders, +"
as they are called in the testimony, to the
troops at that point, that they might be
| captured, or at any rate his son released
from captivity, which seemed to be the
leading object of the old man.
| These parties went to Strawberry Plains,
| got there about II o'clock, on Wednesday,
reported the capture of young West, per-
haps, TO the soldiery there, which seems
to have consisted of parts of unorganized
companies of infantry. The defendant
| left soon afterwards, and returned home,
was not present at the capture, and had
no hand in the attack made by Ashby.
That evening, after Mitchell and Nance
left, about as many as one company of
the soldiers at Strawberry plains, marched
| of, but were seen after their return the
next evening, back again in their tents at
Strawberry Plains. No train passed down
the road towards Knoxville after Mitchell
and Nance were at the Plains, until about
4 o'clock P. M, when the freight train
passed this point. There was no tele-
graph office there by which the parties
could communicate with Rebel troops at
| Knoxville. Nor was any messenger
shown to have been sent to Knoxville,
and if started from Strawberry Plains
| after Mitchell and Nance reached there, a
messenger could not have reached Knox
| will in time to have given he information
that caused the pursuit of the parties
and their capture, as Ashby seems to
| have left Rockville about twelve
o'clock on the day before the capture.
II is shown, too, that the Gou1try was
full of Rebel scouts, and that many pri-
vate citizens acted as spies for Rebel
authorities, and gave them the informa-
ton deemed important to them. The
place of capture of the party was between
forty and fifty miles from Strawberry
| Plains.
We have given a careful examination
to al the testimony in this case, and ex-
tracted from the above statement as its
substance.
The court is unable 10 see any evidence
at all in this record thst in the slightest
degree connects plaintiffs in error with
the capture or Imprisonment of the plain
| tiff below.
The only information they are shown
to have given was 10 parties at Straw
berry Plains. But it was not the troops
at Strawberry Plains that captured plain
tiff. In fact, it was impossible that they
should have done so. That troops from
Knoxville arrested the plaintiff is certain,
at any rate, Ashby's cavalry did it,
whether starting from Knoxville in the
pursuit or from some other poiut no word
of communication is shown between de.
Pendants below and this cavalry, or any
one who had command Of it, and fol
aught that appears from this record, Capt.
Ashby and bis cavalry had never been
heard of by Nance aud Mitchell till after
the capture Of the plaintiff Haney.
While there is nothing in the proof thai
shows that Mitchell and Nance had any
thing 20 do with the arrest of Haney,
there is enough for US to see, that the
probabilities are, that information wa;
communicated to Rebel officers in com
mand at Knoxville, by other persons with
whom Nance and Mitchell had no connec
ton whatever.
The proof shows that Rebel scouts were
all over the country, and many citizens
acted as spies for the Rebels. Is it prob
able that scouts or spies would have failet
to see andrepOrt the movements of a body
of men, that had grown in day or two
to between five and six hundred, who hat
captured two prisoners and large lot o.
guns at Blain's Z Roads, We think
not
At any rate, whoever had given the in
formation, it is certain that nothing il
this record shows that Nance and Mitchell
had anything to do with it further than TO
make fruitless trip TO Strawberry Plains,
at the request of distressed father. Tina
it was fruitless is proven by plaintiff him.
self, by bringing out the statements of the
parties themselves, in examination of his
witnesses.
We can safely say in this case that there
not only is a great prepOnderance of test
mony against the verdict, but that there il
absolutely no evidence in the record that
supports it. 1t is evidently the result o.
passion or of prejudice, and cannot bt
permitted to stand.
There are several other questions tina
might be discussed in this case, such a
the charge of the court on the subject O
a conspiracy, which, to say the least O
it, had'no application to the case as made
in the pleadings, and was well calculated
to mislead the jury. And the question
as to whether the parties, under the cir
cumstancss, having organized into com
, panies, with commander of the who'll
: band, commencing hostilities themselve
by capturing soldiers of one of the bel
. lgerent parties 10 the war then going CD
, capturing arms at another place, and a
: this WITHIN the rebel line, while the wa
, was being actively carried on; we say,
is a QUESTION Of serious doubt whethe
snca parties are not estopp d from claim