Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1870-02-08

We find in the Cincinnati Commercial
of the 9th, letter from Col. Pitser Nil
Ter, relative to the conduct and characte
of the so-called Hon. VIM. ]. Smith
holding & seat in Congress from the Mem
pbis District. There is no man in thu
State more generally and favorably known
than Col Miller. He is a man of unques
toned loyalty, a native of East Tennes
see and for many years a resident of the
Western District. The following is the
letter:
To the Editor of the Commercial:
BOLIVAR, Tenn, Feb. !, 1S70.-I read
your correspondents Oonn Patti article
in regard to Gen. w. J. Smith, and
thought the statements were justified by
the facts. | then read the article of Jan.
8, signed by Barbour Lewis, and thirty
eight others, denying all that Dom Piatt
stated, and lauding him to the skies as q
man of fine character, and hero, and
everything that was laudable.
claim TO be as good Union man as
anybody, but like TO see fair play. Gen.
Smith and myself are on the best of
terms, and have always been friendly, but
tie idea of those thirty-nine citizents say
ing he had good chars cter, is remark
able. Most of the thirty-nin that signed
it are clever men, but a pressure must
have been put on them. j know that one
of them, an officer in the Government,
told me they tried hard to get him to
sign it, and another in high office said he
had almost rather have died than sign it,
but it looked as if he was obliged to do it.
Gen. Smiths general character is in
famous. He now holds his seat as Con-
gresham from the Eighth District by an
infamous certificate issued by Brownlow,
when Leftwich was elected by large
majority.
During the war he levied a contribution
on forty of his neighbOrs, at Grand juno
ton, of sixty dollars, and when he col
lected it (the sixty dollars) he took two,
or three or four times as much. He took
from some pianos, from some mules, and
others bales of cotton. So successful was
he in this that, for another pretended loss,
he levied a further contribution of ten
thousand dollars on the same neighbOrs,
and would have collected it, but Gen.
Thomas was appealed to, at Nashville,
and stopped it. -
He has thirty-nine signers to his good
character; and if the same zeal was used
10 get signatures to his infamous char
actcr, your paper would not hold the
names. ~
.-Iwas in the midst of the Federal army
during the whole war, and never heard of
his fighting; but his regiment was terror
70 all good citizens.
As a sample Of his. course during the
war, I inclose copies of a couple of trans
actions with a clever widow living near
Grand junction, flied in our Clerk 5 office,
IN settlement as administrative:
"GRAND JUNCTION, Sept. II, 1862
Received of Mrs. V. Hunt, twenty dol
lars for bringing four negroes from Boil
var. w. J. SMITH
Bolivar was seventeen miles distant
''GRAND JUNCTION, Sept. Il, 1862.
estate of John w. Hunt,
''To w. J. Smith, Dr.
To one pair boots. .....................S3
To five pairs cards. 2O-S2S
Received payment. w. j. SMITH.
Cards worth two dollars at Bolivar.
Col. Yeatman and VIM. II. Brown,
of your city, know me per-
7onally. Hon. Horatio King, late Post
master General, and Gen. c. c. Wash
Jurna- of Washington City, also know
me. Respectfully, PITsER MILLER.