Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1876-01-28

| lht auluoTlil Is III lne ulEtEeut OtdteS Oi
this conf-deracy. /
Two great questions were thus
raised first, that certain class of
officers, merely because they served
under General Butler, should be de-
clared not entitled to the rights of
prisoners of war, but should be put
to death when taken. These men
were serving, not Benjamin F. But
Ier, but the / MON. They did not
choose him as their general. They
were assigned to him, and by this
proclamation that assignment con-
signed them to death at the hands
of their captors. But the second
question was still more important.
II was an order that all men who
had been slaves and had enlisted
under the flag of the Union should
be denied all the rights of soldiers
and when captured should be dealt
with as runaway slaves under the
laws of the States where they former
| Iy belonged, and that commissioned
officers who commanded them were
to be denied the rights and privile-
ges of prisoners of war The de-
cision of the Union people every
where was that, great as was the
suffering of our poor soldiers at
| Andersohville and elsewhere, we
would never make an exchange of
prisoners until the manhood and the
rights of our colored soldiers were
acknowledged by the belligerert
| power. And for long weary months
we stood upon that issue, and most
of the suffering occurred while we
waited for that act of justice to be
done on the other side.
To enforce this proclamation of
Mr.. Davis law passed on the last
of May, 1868, by the confederate
congress, reported, doubtless, from
the Judiciary committee by the gen.
tleman who spoke yesterday, and IN
that law the principle of the pro-
clamation | have just read as fol-
lows
That every white person, being IN
nfissioned officer or aetihg AS such, who,
Il Iluring the present war, shall command
iAsgrOes or mplattoes in arms against the
\ Confederate States, or who shall arm,
lrSin, organize, or prepare negroes or
I lhGla1t0es for military seryice against
Tue Confederate States, or who shall vol
u, AlarIiy aid negroes or mulattOes in any
mil 16tAry enterprise, attack, or conflict in
such service. shall be deemed as melting
seryil E lAsurTectIOn, and shall, if captur-
ed. be sus TO death or be otherwise pun
ished a, the discretion of the court.
Every person. being a commission ed
officer or acalaHg rs such in the service of
the enemy, who shall during the present
war excite. et&empt TO excite, or Cause to
be excited, a seryAle RpsurEeetion, or who
shall incite o. cause to be iReitsd slave
10 rebel, shall, il captured. be put to
death or be otherwise pG,9lshed, ut the 4
discretion of the Court.
All negroes and mulattoes who shall
be engaged in W 1r or be taken in a, sus
against the Confederate States. or shall
give aid or comfort TO the enemirs of the |
Confederate States. shall, when Captured |
IN the Confederate States, be delivered |
TO the authorities OF the State or-States |
In which they shall be captured, to be
dealt with according to the present or |
luIure laws of such State or S lies
Approved May1, 1863
Now, Mr.. Speaker, l am here to |
say that this position taken by the
head of the confederacy, indorsed
by his congress and carried into ex-
ecution by his officers, was the great
primal trouble in all this business of
the exchange of prisoners. There
were minor troubles, such as claims
by both sides that paroles had been
violated. l think General Halleck
reported that a whole division. four
brigades Stevenson's division which
had not been properly exchanged.
fought Us at Lookout Mountain but
that may have been a mistake. 1t
was one If the points in controversy.
But the central question was that of
the Government of the United States
having committed itself to the doc
trine that the negro was a man and
not a chattle, and that being a man
he had right to help US in fighting
for the Union, and being soldier
/ he would perish rather than that he
should not be treated as a soldier.
To sho W that l am not speaking
at random l will read from report
which hold in my hand, report of
the Secretary of War on the difficult
ty of the exchange of prisoners. This
paper is dated August "a, 1864. l
think it is a misprint for 1868, from
what surrounds it but no matter as
to that. 1t was in August General
Meredith reported
To my demand "that all officers com
manding negro troops. and negro troops
themselves should be treated as other
prisoners of war, and be exchanged as
such," Mr.. Ould declined acceding, re-
marking that they Qhe rebels) wolld
"die in the last ditch" before giving up
the right 10 send slaves back to slavery
as property recaptured,
am, general, very respectfully, your
obrdient servant, S. A MEREDITH.
BrigadierGeneral and Commissioner
for Exchange.
Major-General E. A. HrrcHcocK,
Commissioner for Exchange of Prison
ers, Washington. D. C.
Thus it appears thatin the nego-
tiation, as late as the month of Au-
gust, 1868, the refusal of the rebel
authorities to treat the negro as a
man and a soldier prevented the ex-
change of prisoners.
One other point in that conn &C.
ton and l will leave this subject.
have here letter, dated March II,
1868, written by Robert Ould and
addressed to that man of "bad en-
ine ce," General Winder, in which
Mr.. 0uld, speaking of his arrange
ment for the exchange of prisoners,
says
The arrangements that have made
work largely iu our favor. We get rid
Of a set of miserable wretches and receive
some of The best material ever saw.
Now in that single line, in COM
munication between two men, not
par mobile .tratrum but par turpe
dia6olOruna, is proof that the obiecte
of this outrageous treatment at
>Andersonville was to make our men
so that their exchange, would be
valueless to us, and it throws light
upon the charge about eur treatment