The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1875-05-01
Con. 6saufegard's Ropixto Gen. Frank
Sherman's AspeSs3nns. sls, 81


and especially in TENNESSEE and Ken
tucky. that Gov. Porter hasyseyef since
the. war, maintained tho position 6fpa-.
ciicntor in regard to healing up the old
animcsities engendered by It. II IL not
| strange, therefore, knowing General
Beauregard rs we'll ns he does, that. he
should address letter Of inquiry to him
conveying the speech Of Gen. Frank
Sherman at Chicago the other. day, in
| which he asserted that Gen. sBeauregard
was not entitled to receive an invitation
Grand Army Of the Republic. The fol-
lowing is Gen. Beauregard's letter:
New ORLEANS, La, April 23.-D Dear
Sir: Your favor Of the 18TH instant has
| been received, inclosing the form of IN
| invitation adopted by ~ general meeting
| of tho soldiers, sailors and citizens Of
Chicago, to be sent Ito all who recognize
the American flag as an emblem Of ma
tionality, undivided and uniivisablc, to
! attend grand reunion Of NIL the SOL
diers and sailors of tho United States, to
be held ut Chicago, May 49,. IL and II,
1915, and inquiring how much truth
Frank Sherman, who objected to the in
vitation being sent to me-, as che was
not in favor Of extending an invitation to
| man who had said he WAS in favor of
shooting all prisoners taken under the
American flag" I had hoped TINT the
| passions and enmities occasioned by the
late war were replaced by kindlier feel
ings, but it seems that there are hearts
still rnncorous enough to be ever anxious
to stir ngnin into flame the dying en-
bers Of the war. In this section Of the
country such cbullitions Of luminosity
are confined to those who, during the
/ f,,rk
gathering mp the spoils in the wake of
tho contending armies. Is not this Gen.
Frank Sherman one Of these despicnble
characters?
Not from any regnrd for such windy
declarations. nor for the IMAM mem
enough to sink to such false pnndering
to popular passion, but out of respect to
myself, and to that cause whose high and
holy purpose history will some day vim
dicate, I will very briefly and frankly
state the position took in regnrd to the
conduct of the late civil war, as con-
cerned Federal prisoners. After the
battle of the first Manassas. when it wus
reported that the Federal Government
refused to recognize Confederate prison.
crs us prisoners Of war;" that Christian
hero and able soldier, General Thomas j.
| (StoncwalD Jackson and myself advo-
catod that the Confederate Government
should then proclaim '.H;nr to the
knife, neither asking nor granting quar-
ter. We, moreover, thought that the war
would thereby como sooner to an end,
with less destruction, finally, of life and
property. We thought also that such
modo Of warfare would inspire greater
terror in the armed invaders of our soil
and reduce greatly the number Of army
followers, bummers, etc, who were ever
the curse of all armed invnsions
Subsequently, when the Fcderals had
and developed system of warfare in
their operations in Louisiana Mississippi
und Virginia, and the inexcusablc burn
ing of Atlanta and Columbis, and the
destructive march Of Gen. Sherman
through Georgia and South Carolina,
whose track was marked by smoking
ruins and blackened chimneys; to the
suggestion Of Gen. !Hnlleok to destroy
Charleston and sprinkle salt on it's site
that not oven grass should grow thereon,
to which Gen. Sherman replied that no
salt would be needed, al one of his most
reliable corps formed tho right wing of
his army. and that 1t always did its work
thoroughly; to the devastating march of
Gen. Sheridan through the Shenandoah
Valley, relative to which he reported to
the General-in-Chicf OF the United
States armies that ''n crow flying over
the country would hnve to carry its own
rations:" but he did not SAY what became
of the old men and children who then
lived in that fertile valley! With regard
to the mortality OF prisoners ON both
sides, the Washington Union. (Ra,lical)
of October. 1868, contained the following
article:
I'm reply to n resolution of the House
of Representatives calling upon the Sec
tary of War for tho number OF prisoners
of either side hold, and that Glictl during
the war. he makes the following report:
Number Of Union prisoners South,
2G0,940; died, %, 500; number of Con-
fedcmte prisoners North, 2up, GOO died
26. 1876"
That is, two Of the former on: OF every
twenty-five. and two of the latter ont
"f every fifteen. Commrn. l., here
unnecessary, in view Of tn, condition
tions Of country, so di.tmetrirally
opposed TO the one practiced by the Con-
federates when they invaded Maryland
and Pennsylvania. under their great
commander, Gen. r. E. Leo, and SAW
the emaciated forms and wretchel con-
,lition of our returned Southern prison
ers, 1 again advocated the hosting of the
black flag, willing at any time to forfeit
my life in the deadly struggle. Notwith-
standing these views, always treated
my prisoners with humanity and proper
consideration. I hnd the fortune Of
taking many thousands of them ut Ma
nnysas Shiloh Charleston Drury's Rluff