The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1874-05-22

ia entitled to such consideration, VIII!
should not q loyal man expect to b
protected in his rights2
General George B. Mcclellan, wher
be entered Western Virgins
in May, 1861, at the beginning Of TIT
war, issued proclamation and address
ito the Union men OF Western Virgin
ia," dated May 26. 1861, from which
take come brief extracts to show TIT
specific promises made BY the Govern
ment TO our people:
"You have now shown. under adverse
circumstances, that the great mass o
the people OF Western Virgins are
true and loyal to that benefcent Gov
vrnment under which we aud our Ia.
theirs have lived go long. \
l have ordered troops to cross the Ohio
river. They come as your friends and
brothers, as enemies only 10 the armed
rebels who are preying upon you
Your homes, your families. and your
property are safe under our protection:
Again, in q proclamation and ad.
dress ITO the inhabitants of Western
Virginia" dated June %. 1861, among
other things he said
1.-THE proclamation iseued by me un-
der date OF May &c, 1861, (referring to
the above proclaim alton will be strict
ly maintained. Your bouses, families
property, and all your rights will be re-
iigiously respected. We are enemies to
none but armed rebels and those vol
UNFAIRLY giving them aid"
He also issued an order to his SOL
diers dated Grafton, Virginia, June %,
1861, in which he ssid:
Bear in mind that you are in the
country OF friends, not Of enemies; that
you are here TO protect, not to destroy.
Remember that | have pledg-
ed my word to the people OF Western
Virginia that their rights in person
and property shall be respected. | ask
every one of you 10 make good this
promise in its broadcast sense. We come
here to save, not to upturn."
The Government has committed it,
self in this matter, and it is a late day
now to gay, "Well, we thought it neces-
sary and wise, in order 10 establish our
supremacy, to assure those OF you on the
border and Southern States who re-
manned loyal, especially those Of you
who acted az the breast works, as it
were, of the Northern States, that you
should be projected in your liberties
ard property; but now that the war
has been waged, and we have come out
OF the conflict victorious, we choose to
ignor your sufferngs, your loyalty, your
services, your sacrifices; we choose to
forget our manifold promises OF protec-
ton and redress. 1t was all very well
when the Union was in danger, when
the fate OF the nation was trembling in
the balance; but now that the affair
has been decided, what matters to us
whether you gave your all 10 bel p save
us2 You can be OF no further use to
us therefore we ignore and disclaim
you. What matter TO us that, for the
sake OF your devotion, you braved inso-
lssce, outrage, and persecution; what
matter that You endured confscstion,
conhsgration, exile, and often death p
Is this the policy that will make this
nation the shining light in the galaxy
of nations that its founders intended ii
should be? think not.
HOW THE LoYALIsTs OF THE SOUTH sUF-
FERED.
The mission OF war is to kill, capture
and destroy. 1t aims TO. infict upon
the enemy the creates: amount Of mis-
chief possible To do this it some
times becomes necessary to ruthlessly
destroy the property of friend and foe
alike, as IN the memorable march OF
General Sheridan through the valley OF
the Shenandoah in 1864, and the march
OF General Sherman to the sea coast.
As an apt illustration Of the manner
in which the loyal people of the border
had to suffer, | will refer to the raid
through the valley OF the Shenandoah
during the fall of 1864. General Sher-
dan, in his letter to General Grant,
dated Woodstock, Virginia, October
7, 1864" says:
ION moving back 10 this point, the
whole country, from the Blue Ridge to
the North Mountain, has been made
un,enable for a rebel army. lave
destroyed over two thousand barns fill
ed with wheat and hay and farming
implements; over seventy mills filled
with flour and wheat; have driven in
front OF the army over four thousand
head of stock, and have killed and is-
sued to the troops not less than three
thousand sheep. This destruction en-
braces the Lursy valley and Little Fort
valley, as we'll as the main valley. A
large number OF horses have been OBJ
tanned, q proper estimate OF which |
cannot now make"
The historian tells US al whatever
OF grain and forage had escaped appro-
priatiou or destruction by one or
another OF the armies which had so
frequently chased each other up and
down this fertile and productive valley
was now given TO the torch. Some OF
it was the property OF men who not
only adhered 10 the Union but were
fighting to uphold it."
JUSTICE OF THE CLAM.
The losses of private property on the
part OF citizens faithful TO the govern
ment, and OF which the government has
received the benefit, ought 10 be borne,
as the expense OF raising and support
ing armies is borne, not by the few who
are forced by the fortunes OF war tenn
porarily to sustain them, but by the
whole people. Certainly no one will
deny that it is the spirit and intent oil
the organic law OF the land that the
burdens of government shall be borne
alike by the whole people, and that its
| oban 10 abora1 alba bv q ii