Bellows Falls times. [volume] (Bellows Falls, Vt.) 1856-1965, 1876-08-18
Bellous falls Jimes,
BELLOWS FALLS, AUG. IS, 1876.
Hear Gen. Tuttle,
His Reasons for Leaving the Democratic
Party.


Party.
Gen. James M. Tuttle of Iowa, a true
Union man, but democrat all his life
time, has recently announced that he
could no longer act with the democratic
party, and should support Hayes and
Wheeler. He is a candidate for no office,
but has recently been the democratic
candidate for governor of his state, and
simply announced his determination as
citizen, whereupon the rebels, copper
heads and many Others who also claim
to be democrats, have attacked him with
the pure venom of Southern secession.
To these attacks he recently made re-
sponse in speech to the people of his
State, from which we copy the following
DEMOCRATIC BITTERNESS.
One thing have now come to which
is painful to speak about, as it is largely
a private matter. So far from being al
lowed to leave the democracy in peace,
as | had hoped and expected, with no
noise about it, you have seen, many of
you here, what has been said and charg-
ed against me in the democratic press.
But what you have seen is nothing. In
the last ten days | have received scores
of letters, the most of them anonymous,
abusing me without stint, and charging
me with all sorts of crimes. These
things, which would annoy any man who
had feeling, have simply confirmed me
in my estimate of many members Of the
party l have eft, and have simply inten-
sifed my conviction that my course was
and is right. can see by these an ex-
planation of one thing that puzzled me
in the career of my old comrade in arms,
Gen. John A. Logan. Logan and were
together great deal in the fore part of
the war, and we talked things over as
fellow democrats, and in every respect
nearly we agreed After the close of the
war we met again. When had parted
from him he was democrat then he
was a republican and bitterly anti-dem-
ocrat. | said to him, " can understand
your course in changing parties, and
cannot blame you much but what
cannot understand is what makes you so
terribly bitter against the democrats. "
He replied, You will never fully un-
derstand it till you yourself leave the
democratic party, which day will surely
come, but then you will see it plainly
enough. You will get all sorts of anon
ymous, viilainous, cowardly letters
charging you with all sorts of crimes
and heaping upon you all sorts of vile
abuse"
THE BURNING OF RICH REBEL HOUSES
Another charge is that | am house
burner. The news that | have left the
democratic party seems to have got away
down in the old rebel country, and som,
one down on the Lower Mississippi write
to st. Louis paper, wondering if | an
the Gen. Tuttle whose troops, on the
march from MiIliken's Bend to GranC
Gulf, burned so many fine houses OIL
Lake st. Joseph, among them the fnest
residence in all the Southern country
that of Col Bowie, the inventor of the
famous Bowie knife. l am the mar
[much laughter and applause] the same
Gen. Tuttle who, with his boys, went
along there. Nearly all the houses were
burned before my command came up
The Bowie mansion was not. | was in
it. 1t was the grandest house ever saw
or read about. The house and furniture
are said to have cost S500,OO0 The up
hoistering was grand beyond all descrip
ton. | found number of Union sol
diers in the house, belonging to Steele's
division, which was just ahead of mine
They were lounging around in Their
muddy boots, enjoying the luxuries. ]
sent them on to their command, and
passed on with the head of my division
My command was probably five miles
long, along the road. After about halt
of the division had passed, and l was
about two or three miles away, looked
back, attracted by an immense blaze,
and the Bowie house was gone.
| suppose it was burned by some OF
my boys. l do not doubt it. Some Of
my soldiers-of Iowa regiments, too
were just out of rebel prison, with all
its tortures fresh in their minds-and
this was their first march. They remem-
bered well, and they probably know
something about it. Our orders were all
against burning the houses. | suppose
we could have prevented their burning
if we had made it speciality. Laugh
ter But we had another speciality on
hand just then. Renewed laughter. I
This is my record as house burner.
THE STEALING WOOD CHARGE.
They charge me, too, with stealing
wood, and name the amount-2O cords.
I =