The weekly Oskaloosa herald. [volume] (Oskaloosa, Iowa) 1855-1885, 1873-07-10
A sRoWNLoW LETTER.

, OIL
~, lFr0m F the Knoxville Chronicle, May 27.I
10 III. ID. HiH, late Lieutenant Gen.
eTae y ehe Rebel Arnay.
SIR: An article of yours which
recently appeared IN the Charlotte
IN. c. Home, Of which Won are
edltor, ind going the rounds of the
newspapers, IN which you make an
attack upon the CD aracter of the late
General Candy, a nd other deceased
officers of the United States army.
In this editorial you do me the honor
to bitterly denounee me. / say hon
or, FOR L esteem it an honor for any
man who has been loyal to his
country to be blackguarded and
vilified by you. Were L to be un-
fortunate as to be the recipient of
your commendation, | should feel
like exclaiming, as did Socrates,
when applauded by bad man like
yourself. "What crime have COM
mitted ?n
You exult over the death of the
brave Candy, assasinated by saw
ages, and attribute his death. with
that OF Abraham Lincoln, Edwin M.
Stanton, Geo. II. Thomas. Prof
Mahan, of West Point, and the late
Senator Lane, of Kansas, to ret,ibu
ton of God, because in the late civil
war they oppos ed the effort to de.
stroy the Govern ment of the United
Slater.
You say that. while General Candy
was in command at Richmond,
Va, he "personally superintended
the hanging of a white man up by the
thumbs for kicking an insolent ne
gro" Now, this is your version of
Canby's conduct, and the whole
editorial you ha We written breathes
so fiendish 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 unbe-
coming high-toned soldier Candy
was man of learning and ability
and a Christian gentleman, as we'll
as model soldier. am not pre-
pared to deny that within Canby's
department white man was tied up
by the thumbs. While he was COM
manding at Richmond a negro, un-
der the Constitution amended, which
Candy was sw orn to support, was
entitled to all the rights and privi-
leges of other citizens. AS West
Pointer and an officer of the United
States army before the war, you
know that to ii . a 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 out the pains
and penalties required by good order
and military discipline. While as
matter of form and duty, as depart
ment comma nder, Candy would
approve the verdict of military court
inflicting just a nd necessary punish
ment upon criminals violating the
laws it was his duty to enforce, he
was above being his own executioner.
The manageme ent of the details he
left to a man of brutal instincts like
yourself
Now, General Hill, while you
are falsely acc using General Candy
of brutality, 1 propose to enlighten
the public as to your military record.
While in com mmand of North Caroli-
ma, during the late war, twenty-six
white men were tried on the charge
of being loyal to the United States.
No other offence was alleged against
them. They were put on trial late
in the afternoon and by the verdict
of drum-head court martial acting
under your orders, all were hung be-
fore breakfast the next morning,
without benefit of clergy. Are you
not a beautiful specimen to assail
Candy on the score of brutality ?
can think of nothing as supremelyri-
diculous, unless it would be for you
and your friend Captain Jack to
write treatise on civilization for dis
tribution amo ong the Ku klux of North
Carolina. / should infer from the as
sault on Can by, Thomas, and others
that you were in the lava beds when
it was written, and that the article
was the production of yourself and
Captain Jack.
Your assn mption that the death of
the noble George I'll. Thomas, by
apoplexy, and the sudden deaths of
Lincoln and other loyal men, are
retributidD of the Almighty for the
side they took in the war, could be
inspired only by the malignity born
of disappointed ambition and the
spirit which possessed the devil, the
founder of secession Democracy, of
a preference to ruling in hell to serv-
ing in heaven.
l am happy in the belief that many
thousands of the masses in Tennes-
see, North Carolina, and elsewhere,
who were misled and coerced
into rebellion by inst such men as
you, General Hill, now repudiate
your leadership, and loathe your
teachings.
If 1 were disposed to initiate yon,
I could give long list of men in
civil and military life supp orting the
rebellion, who have come to sudden,
and in many cases, dishenorable
deaths, but prefer not to do so.
You rejoice over my paralysis as
punishment of God, because, as YOU
say, l cast lot with the Abolitionists.
l recognize the hand of God in nv
case, but | regard him as interfering
in my behalf Probably not one man
in thous and would survive the ex.
posure an d hardships to which l was
subjected while driven by rebel cav
airy into the mountains and incar-
cerated in rebel prison in mid win
ter. While / am now in improving
health with a clear conscience, near
| ly all the men who were instrument
tai in my imprisonment, and insulted
me while in prison, are dead. Most
of them died with delirum tremens,
or some other unnatural way. I
would not parade their names before
the world as you would, for when
God lays his hand on man I take
mine off, and l mention the fact in
defending myself from your attack.
/ l have noticed that you and 9TH
ers, who have assailed Candy and
Thomas since their death, never in.
sinuated charge upon their person
al character while they were living.
To make accusation against man
/ after his death which you dared not
l. l.