Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1875-05-04
Letter from Gen. Beauregard.
The following is the letter of General Beau
regard to Governor Porter, Of Tennessee

The following ls the letter OF General Beau
regard to Governor Porter, of Tennessee:
NEW ORLEANS, la, April %.
DEAR SIR: Your favor of the 18th instant has
been received, including the form of IN invita-
ton adopted by general meeting Of the SOL
diers, sailors and citizens of Chicago, to be sent
| ITO sl who recogniz. the American flag us an
emblem OF nationality, undivided and undiVlsl-
Bile, to attend a grand reunion of all the soldiers
and sailors of the United States. to be held at
Chicago, May L. Is and ID, 1875" and inquir-
| ing how much truth there is in the remarks Ola
! certain General Frank Sherman, who objected
to the invitation being sent TO me. rs The was
not in favor of extending an Invitation to Il man
who hai said he was i'll favor Of shooting all
i isoners taken under tho American flag" l
/ I'D hoped that the passions and enlniLles coca.
| stoned by the late war were replaced by kind!ler
feelings, but it seems that there are hearts still
| rancorous enough TO be ever a1xlous to Sir
again into fame the dying embers Of the WAT.
| In this section o. the country such ebHlillons
of snimosity are confined to tho'e who, during
the war, were farthest from the enemy, gather
ing up the spoils in the wake of the confronting
armies. Is rot this General Frank Sherman
one of these despicnble characters?
| Not from any regard for such Wlndy dociara-
tions nor for tho man mean enough to six to
such false psndering to popular passion, bat cut
of respect TO myself, and TO that c.use whose
high and holy purpose history will some day
vindicate will very briefly and frankly state
the late civil war, Ms concerned Federal prison
ers After the battle OF the first Msnassgs, when
| it was ted thnt the Federal Government
refused TO recognize Confederate prisoners ss
prisoners of war" that CHRISTIAN hero and abba
soldier General Thomas j. (StuncwalD Jack
son and myself advocated that the Confederate
Government should then proclaim war to tie
knife" neither asking nor granting quarter.
We, moreover, thought that the war would
thereby come sooner to An end, with less de-
nall ,F FL and
thought also that such mode OF warfare would
| inspire greater terror in the armed invaders of
our soil and reduce greatly the number OF amy
followers, bummers, ETC., who were ever the
curse Of ali armed inva>ions.
Subsequently, when the Federals had pene-
| trated certain portions of the South, and deGcl
oped a system of warfare in their operations in
| Louisiana, Mississippi and Virginia, and the in
excusable burning Of Atlanta and Columbia,
and the destructive march of General Sherman
through Georgia and South Carolina, whose
track was marked by smoking ruins and black
ened chimneys; to the suggestion of General
Halleck to destroy Charleston and sprinkle SAT-
on its site that not even grass should grow there
on, to which Genet.l Sherman replied that no
salt would be needed, AS one OF his mist reliable
corps formed the right wing of his army, and
that it always did its work thoroughly; to the
devastating march Of General Sheridan through
the Shenandoah valley re atlvc to which he re.
ported to the General iI.-Chief of the United
| States armies LnhL 4 crow uylNR oFcT Luc Couu-
try would have to carry its own ralions;" hut
he did not say Whist became of the old men,
| women and children who then lived In that fer
tile valley With regard to the mortality of
| prisoners on bo!h sides, the Washington Union
(RAdicaD of October, 1868, contained the follow
ing article:
"In reply to resolution Of the House of Rep
! resentatives calling upon the Secretary Of War
for the number of prisoners OF either side held,
aid that died during the War, he makes the fol-
| lowing rep ri:
Number of Union prisoners South, 261, $40;
died, II, 596; number of Confederate prisoners
North, Z0O,000i died, 26, 435."
That is, two of the former out of every twcn-
ty-two and two of the latter out of every teen.
Comment here is unnecessary, in view Of the
condition and resources of those two sections Of
country, so diametrically opposed to tho ono
| practicei by the Confederates when they in
vaded Mary land and Pennsylvania under their
| great commander, General K. +. Ltn, and l
! saw the emacated forms and wrctched condition
Of our returned Southern prisoners, again I'D
vocsted the hosting of the black flag, willing ut
| any time to forfeit my life in the deadly struy
gle. Notwithstanding these views always
trested my prisoners with humanity and proper
consideration. had the fortune of taking many
thousands Of them at Manassrs Shiloh, Charles
ton, Drury Bluff, bermuda Hundreds and Pc.
tersburg, most of whom arc, | suppose, still
alive and can (and certainly WOULD testify to
the fact
|
l granted to the garrison the same considernte
terms which | had offered before the attack.
Through my intercession the Federal surgeons
and minister. of The Gospel taken Mt Manassas
were reeas el without exchange by the Confed-
crate government The uXy after tnat battle
one of the Federal officers Whose friends
know in New York; applied to me for II small
loan for himself ano friends, which furnished
at oEca from my private funds. 1t WAS faithfully
| returned.
Shortly after the battle of Shiloh | sent, un;,
| der cartel, certain number Of able-botled
| Federal prisoners to General Halleck, who sew
| eral weeks after, returned an equal number OF
| convalescents from st. Louis to Fort fllo"
| The officer in command there refused to receive
| them because several of them were just from the
small pox hospital. General Halleck failed If
terward to make good the exchange.
| At Charleston [ authorz d Admiral Dahl
green to send supplies of clothing, etc, to the
prisoners we had taken from him. those sup
| plies were scrupulously ISSUED TO them.
At Bermuda Hundreds, in May, 1864 when
passing in front Of /. large body of Federal prs-
| oners who had CALAMITY defended u position
which l considered indispensable 10 us, took
eff my hat to them, and they answered this SAL
utaton with CHI, crS.
Terribly as desired the effects Of tho to
fail on all armed invaders OF our country, |
wanted exempted from them non omha.ants-
that is, the old men, women and children and
wished, also, that privste property not contra
band or war and not neeued Dy the conIehalhS
armies in the field, should be entirely protect"n
from seizure or destruction. Such would have
been nv course had | penetrated with army
into Federal territory unless it were in strict
retaliation for material departure by the FEEDER
al troops from this civilized mode Of carrying
on the war.
l remain, dear sir, yours most truly,
&. T.. REAUAEGARD.
To his Excellency Governor james D. Porter
Nashville Tenn.
GAMBLING IN HIGH LIFE. -Sonle little ex-