Ottumwa weekly courier. (Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa) 1872-1899, 1873-06-05
SENATOR BR0WsLew.
a characteristic Letter.

h f4. z
SIR: An article of yours which re-
Gently appeared in the Charlotte IN.
W Home, of which you are the editor,
ind going the rounds of the newspa-
pcrs, IN which YOU make an attack |
upon the character OF the late General |
Candy, and other deceased officers Of
the United States army. In this edito-
rial you do me the honor to bitterly
denounce me. / say hVa0r, for l esteem
II an honor for any man who has been |
loyal TO his country to be blackguarded
and villified by you. Were | so un-
fortunate as to be the recipient of y0ur
commentator / should feel like ex-
claiming as did Socrates when applaud
ed by bad man like yourself, "What
crime have committed 7"
You exult over the death of the
brave Candy, assassinated by savages,
and attribute his death with that of
Abraham Lincoln, Edwin M. Stanton,
George IL. Thomas, Professor Mahan,2
of West Point, ex-senator Preston
King, of New York, and the late SEN
ator Lane, Of Kansas, to a retribution
of God, because in the late civil war
they opposed the effort to destroy the
Government OF the United States.
You say of General Candy "that
while he was in command at Rich
mond, Va, he personally supcrintend-
ed the hanging of a white mannp by
the thumbs for Kicking an insolent ne
gro" Now this is your version of
Canby's conduct, and the whole edIto-
rial you have written breathes so fiend-
ish and brutal spirit as to make you
unworthy of credit.
Besides this, General Hill. the whole
life of General Candy gives the lie to
your assertion that he did anything
vulgar, inhuman or unbecoming high
toned soldier. Candy was a man of
learning and ability and Christian
gentleman, as well as q model soldier.
] am not prepared to deny that within
Canby's department white man was
tied up by the thumbs. While he was
commanding at Richmond, a negro,
under the Constitution of the United
States as amended. which Candy was
sworn to support. was entitled to all
the rights and privileges of other citi-
zens. As a West Pointer and officer
of the United States army before the
war, you know that to tie malefactor
up by the thumbs was common mode
of punishment in the army, and Candy
failed in his duty if he made distinc-
ton between criminals on account of
race or color in melting the pains and
penalties required by good order and
military discipline.
While as matter of form aud duty
as department commander, Candy
would approve the verdict Of mill
tary court infiicting just and necessary
punishment upon criminals violating
the laws 1t was his duty to enforce, he
was above being his own exccutioner.
I he management of the details he left
to man of brutal instincts, like YOUR
self
Now, General Hill, while You are
falsely accusing Gen. Candy of brutal
ity, propose to enlightcn the public
as TO your military record. While in
command in North Carolina, during
the late war, twenty-six white men
were tried on the charge of being loyal
to the United States. No other offense
was alleged against them. They were
put on trial late in the afternoon, and
by the verdict of drum-head court
martial, acting under hour orders, all
were hung until dead before breakfast
the next morning, without benefit OF
clergy. Are you not beautiful spcci-
men to assail Candy on the score OF
brutality? | can think of nothing as
suprcmeiy ridiculous, unless it would
be tor you and your friend, Captain
Jack, to write treatise on civilization
for distribution among the Ku-klux OF
North Carolina. Indeed. il l did not
know that you were in North Carolina
should infer from the brutality OF
your assault on Candy, Thomas, and
when II was written, and that the arti-
Gle was the joint production of your
self and Captain Jack. t'a
Your assumption that the death of
the noble George Ii. Thomas by apo
plexy, and the sudden deaths of Lin
coin and other loyal men, are aretri-
button of the Almighty for the side
they took in the late war, could be in
spired only by the malignancy of dis
appointed ambition, and the spirit
which possessed the devil, the founder
of Secession Democracy, of prefer
ence to ruling in hell to serving in
heaven.
am happy in the belief that many
thousands Of the honest masses in
Tennessee, North Carolina and else
where, who were misled and coerced
into rebellion by just such men as YOU.
General Hill, now repudiate your
leadership and loathe your teachings,
If were disposed to initiate you.
| could give a long list of men in civil
and military life supporting the rebell-
ion who have come to sudden, and,
in many cases, dishonorable deaths,
but prefer not to do so.
You rejoice over my paralysis as a
punishment of God, because, as YOU
say, II cast my lot with the Abolition
lists" l recognize the hand of God in
my case, but regard Him as interfer-
ing in my behalf. Probably not one
man in thousand would survive the
exposure and hardships to which |
was subjected while driven by rebel
cavalry into the mountains and iucar-
cerated in rebel prison in mid-win-
ter. While | am now in improving
health, with a clear conscience, nearly
al iiiC HitH WIZ WIN instrumental In
my Imprisonment, and who insulted
me while in prison, are dead. Most of
them died with delaWm b.emens, or in
some other unnatural way. / would
not parode their names before the
world, as you would for, when God
lays his hand on man take mine off,
and mention the fact in defending
myself from your attack.
] have noticed that you and others
who have assailed Candy and Thomas,
since thor death, never insinuated a
charge rejecting upon their personal
characters while they were living. To
make accusations against man after
his death which you dared not make
while he was living, would indicate to
unprecedented minds that you are falsi-
fires or towards.
As TO myself, shall 60 on in the
even tenor of my way, and at the ex-
piration OF my term in the Senate two
years hence, I expect to revive the
Knoxville Bhtg for the especial bene-
fit of men OF your stamp. am, &c.
w. q. BRowSLow.
KNoxyIIJF TESN Nav Df 1874