Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1872-07-18
THE aBEAFY BOUNTY FRAUDS.
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A Gard from Col. VIM. B. stokes II
WaudicafaOn Of Himself.

a Gard from Col. VIM. ID. Stokes I'm
YIndicatiOn Of Himself.
Some months since there was no little
eminent about my supposed connection
with what was then known as the ''Beaty
bounty fraud, and though the subject is not
60 prominently before the public eyes now,
vet the fumors then circulated are not alto
gether forgotten. For the purpose Of my
c.mplete Vindication from any reflection
against me as a man or member OF Con
gress, so far as that matter is concerned, L
ask for this card place in your paper, and
trust it may receive the candid considera-
ton of your readers. 1t may be proper for
me to say that from TIE first have intended
to furnish the public with my own state
ment Of the matter, but have waited until
row in order that might appear, neither to
argue my own case nor to forestall public
opinion suntil the courts could give the
charges complete investigation. Grave
charges of fraud ard conspiracy were pre-
ferred against me, assailing not only my re-
putation as member Of Congress, but also
my honesty and integrity as man, and in
the public mind have been exaggerated and
added to In the repetition of them by parti-
sans on both sides, prompted, however, by
dicstion to myself and my character against
these accusations than TO detail the facts as
they were aud let an honest pubic come TO
its own conclusion. 8 M on
The prosecution Tor more properly the
persecution) against me for an alleged con-
spiracy to defraud the Government, only
served long enough to empty the virus of
such an accusation into the public prints;
o,,A a r;o1 oh hs5 sto
fomenters as an impotent, forlorn, but
cherished enterprise. But more of this
further on. / was arraigned on an indict-
ment containing eight counts, preferred
under the act of Congress of Feb. 20, 1858,
which act Is as follows: =. u &C. III.
"Any Senator or Representative in Con-
gress, who, after the passage of this act,
shall for compensation paid or to be paid,
certain or contingent, act as agent or attor-
ney for prosecuting any claim or claims
against the United States, or shall in any.
manner or by any means, for such compen-
sation, aid or assist in the prosecution or
support of any such claim or claims, or
shall receive any gratuity, or any share OF
or interest in any claim from any claimant
against the United States, with intent to aid
or assist, or in consideration of having aided
or assisted in the prosecution of such claim,
shall be liable to Indictment for INSIDE
meanor in any court of the United States
having jurisdiction thereof, and on convic-
ton shall pay fine not exceeding five
thousand dollars, or suffer imprisonment in
| the penitentiary not exceeding one year, or
both, as the court in its discretion shall
judge" will start out by saying that the
first or old roll of Beaty's scouts was made
out by Capt. j. d. Lewis, and the same
handed to me by Capt. Beatty and Hon. L.
g. Houck, in Washington City, January,
1867. This was the first time l heard Of
the roll. knew none of the scouts, and
had no knowledge Of the making up of the
roll. / introduced the first bill for their re-
ef,entertaining no doubt as tothe truth and
correctness of the rolls as certified to by
Beatty. This roll contained the names Of
ninety-nine men, and three officers, repre-
senting that they had served from January,
1862, to June, 1866. twill be remembered
that eighty-one of those names appear upon
the last roll (the discrepancy viii be here
after explained.) The services of the COM
pany was vouched for by Gen. George ii.
Thomas, A. E. Burnside, BrownloW, Fow-
Ter, Maynard, Houk and others. There
was also two or three petitions containing
hundreds of signatures, asking Congress to
grant them pay. The same is on file in the
Clerks flee of the House of Representa-
tives. The bill intoduced by me passed the
House, but failed in the Senate. There the
matter rested until in May, 1870, when
Beatty, Strohmier and Hatfield appeared in
Washington, and at their suggestion Mr..
Maynard introduced the same bill, filed the
same papers and had them referred to the
Committee on Military Affairs. When the
case came up before the comHlittee for their
action, the papers were examined; there
upon Gen. George w. Morgan, member
of the committee, stated that he was in
command at Cumberland Gap and was
satisfied that the statement made by Gen.
Thomas, Burnside, and others as to the
services rendered by the company was true.
Thereupon the committee unanimously
directed Gen. Cobb to report the bill to the
House with the recommendation that it
pass. | prevailed upon Gen. Cobb to strike
out the words bounty and other allowances,
thereby saving the government of at least
one hundred thousand dollars. The bill
passed both Houses Of Congress and be-
came law by the approval of President
Grant, the 14th day of July, 1870, as will
be seen from the act, which is as follows:
TPRIvATE-No. 96.1
An act for the relief of Captain David
Beaty's company of independent Scouts.
Whereas, David Beatty, of Fentress
county, Tennessee, did, on the twenty
fifth day of January, eighteen hundred and
sixty-two, organize company Of indepen-
dent scouts, numbering one hundred and
| two men, including himself as Captain, and
his First and Second Lieutenauts; and
whereas, said company was on contin nous
| duty engaged in the work of suppre ssing
the rebellion from the date of its organiza
ton until the first day of June, eighteen
hundred and sixty-fVe, serving under the
orders of the commander of the army in
Tennessee; and whereas, said company wa:
never legally mustered into the service O
the United States by any properly autho
| rized officer, and neither officers nor priVate'
of said company have never received any
compensation for said service from th'
Government of the United Statesi there
fore,
Be it enacted by the Senate and House o
Representatives of the United. States O
America in Congress assembled, that tn
organization set forth in the foregoing pre-
amble be, and the same is recognized as
part of the military force of the Unitet
States engaged in suppressing the recen
rebellion; and the members thereof, Oh
making proof of actual service, are declared
to be entitled to the same pay, pensions a
though they had been regularly mustere
into the service Of the United States a
cavalry: provided that there shall be fileC
in the War Department roll Of said com
pany, which shall be sworn to by the cap
tain and two lieutenants of said company
and provided further, that each soldier
upon applying for payment under this act
J shall be required to make oath as to tn
| .length of his service in said company.
Approved, July IA, 1870.
It will be seen that the preamble and az
,, explains itself. That ninety nine men an
three officers were to be paid for their serv
ices from January, 1862, to June, 1S6;
This was the work Of the law-making pow
er of the nation. As these men were m
. constituents, I called to see Gen. Vincent
: Assistant Adjutant Gederal, in regard t
making out the rolls for pay. He informe
me that they would have to be made out i
triplicales; that he could not prepare il
structlons then, but said he would forwar
blank rolls and instructions, in shol
time, to me at my home, which he did.
/. then wrote Capt. Beatty to come to m
i house and make out the rolls, or / woul
send him the blank rolls and instruction
Il