The Ouachita telegraph. [volume] (Monroe, La.) 1865-1889, 1871-11-18
The bounty Frauds.
HOW THE WORK WAS DONE,

ent Of the New York Times, In
his dispatch published on Satur-
day last, while relating the Cir
cumstances of the bounty frauds
which have recently come to
light writes -, II
In July, 1870, Representative
William B. Stokes, then n mem-
ber of the House from Tennessee,
introduced and advocated, both
| before the Committee on Militia
ry Affairs and the House, the
following joint resolution, which
was passed on tho 14th of the
same month: a....l ..t., zf, -, q
"Whereas David Beatty, of
Fentress county, Tennessee, did,
on the 25th day of January, 1862,
organize a company of independ-
ent scouts, numbering 1O2 men,
including himself rs captain and
his first and second lieutenants:
| and
"Whereas said company was
on continuous duty, engaged in
supprcssing the rebellion, from
the date OF it's organization until
the lst day of juno, 1866, serv-
ing under the orders of the COM
mander of tho Army Of the Ten
nessee, and
"Whereas said company was
never legally mustered into the
service of the United States by
any properly authorized muster
ing officer, and neither officers
nor privates of said company
have ever received any compcn-
sation for said services from the
Government of the United States;
therefore .,...-,..,,-,l.,,,. ,,,,g.
"Be, 1t enacted, That the or
ganization set forth in the fore
going preamble be, and the same
is hereby, recognized as a part of
the military force of the United
States engaged in suppressing
the recent rebellion, and the
members thereof, on making
proof of actual service, declared
to be entitled to the same pay
and pensions as though they had
been regularly mustered into the
service of the United States as
cavalry; provided that there
shall be filed in the War Depart
ment, a roll OF said company,
which shall be sworn to by the
Captain and two Lieutenants of
said company; and provided
further, that each soldier upon
applying for payment under this
act shall be required to make
oath as to the length of his SER
vice in said company .... 3D..
Mr.. Stokes was very active i'm
pressing this motion, and was be-
friended in it-honestly, of course
by his colleague, Mr.. Maynard,
and dishonesty by Powell, the
clerk, now under arrest; and
Congress, in the haste of the
closing days of a long session,
and in response to the prompt
ings of patriotic ardor, yielded to
Mr. Stokes persistency and
passed the above act, which,
when once a statute, bore down
all the objections and silenced all
the suspicious of tho officers of
the War Department. The work
of presenting the roll of the
Stokes devoted himself to it.
They were Union guerillas sum-
moned for their predatory expe-
ditions at the blast of a horn and
dispensing at pleasure. Beatty
was captain, and one Of his sons
first lieutenant. Some may have
served year, some longer, some |
less, and some certainly only a
month or two. But it was never
theless one of the most remarka-
ble companies that was ever
raised; for when Stokes got up
the roll for the War Department
there was the maximum number
of men to a company thereon,
just one hundred and. two; and
strange to say, there. had been no
desertions, no discharges from
disability, but one death, and
they had all served through to
the end of the war with marvel
Gus fidelity, over three years, SO
that each man getting pay and
bounty was entitled to u little
over 81 900. .....
Latterly there has been trou-
bic among the compensators.
They have quarreled over the
spoils, demanded more money,
and finally have exposed the
whole thing. When Belknap had
sitted up the transactions, they
were about Il month ago turned
over to the Department of JUS
tees for the prosecution of the
| otfepJerS An officer was ut, once