American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1872-06-22
Tho Tender-hearted Mr.. Greeley
A Cruel Letter to q Distressed
Mother.

from the COumOuA (60. sun
The following correspondence will
show the tender heart of one Horace
Greeley. The circumstance alluded
to require no explanation to South.
ern readers. Tho capture of the
steamerChesapeake, from New York,
is a familiar story. Captain, then
Lieutenant Brain, uOw resident of
Columbus, commissioned officer
in the Confederate States Navy,
went 20 New York with his crew.
He had conceived bold design.
He took passage on the steamer.
When out at sea, he and his faith
full followers overpOwered the Yam
KEGS and captured the ship. She
boldly hOistcd the Confederate col
ors and was carried to a Canadian
port. During the capture an engin-
eer who resisted was killed by an
accidental shot, while an attempt
was being made to overpower him,
when he knew everything on board
was in the hands of the Confeder-
ates, and resistance was useless. Of
this killing Lieut.. Brain knew no.
thing until order was fully restored.
Afterwards, Lieut.. b. was promoted
to Captaincy and commanded
Confederate cruisers, the last of
which he burned rather than sur
render her. He returned home from
the West Indies, and engaged in
civil pursuits. Several months af-
ter his return, he was arrested for
capturing the Chesapeake an d
thrown into a Yankee Jail, Andrew
johnson at the time being President,
and confined some three or four
years in a penitentiary cell. He
vainly eDdeavored to get hearing,
and finally was released without
trial.
1t will be noticed that this petit
ton to Horace Greeley and the re-
ply to the afflicted, almost heart
broken mother, was written in 1869,
four years after the close of the war.
A man of feeling, after such a re-
quest, would have made some in
quiries. Not so with the virtuous
Horace, Had it not been for Grant
our noble and honored Lee, the gal
liant Johnston and others might
have suffered similarly.
The Yanks may say the capture
of the Chesapeake was the act of a
pirate. What then do they term
the action of the cOwardly Yankee
commander, who, while the crew
mostly was ashore, took the COnfed
crate steamer Florida in a Brazil
port They afterwards apolOgized
to Brazil, but promoted the gallant
(Iord help us, if such be deemed
gallantry,) Massachusetts captain.
MONTREAL, 1877 ST. Constant stu
Jan IL, 1869.
To Horace Greeley:
SIR-I take the liberty of trespassng on
your valuable time, on behalf of my son,
Lieut.. John Clibbon Brain, now a prisoner in
the Kings County Psnitentiary, Brooklyn,
where be has been incarcerated for the last
two years and four months, for having faith
fully served an officer in tho Southern
war.
My object in writing is to soc if you can
give an anxious mother any reason why he
should not participate in the last general proc
lamatiOn of pardon issued by the President.
As l have heard his case does not come under
this last general pardon. and having no friends
from whom can obtain the information,
have taken the liberty of appealing to you a.
the most likely person to give me some in
formation regarding his case; and if in any
way you would bring your influence to bear
in obtaining his release, you would confer a
lasting obligation on his Borrowing mother
and if it is not asking too much, 1 would
crave a reply at your earliest convenience
/ remain sir, yours, respectfully,
ELIZABETH BRAIN.