Knoxville journal. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1874-1986, 1876-08-03

very act. Laughter A gang Of
them were tarring a railroad bridge
ready to burn it just before train,
coming with a large number Of SOL
diers on board had reached it. Well,
in catching the fellows at it he hurt
some of them. Laughter and APP
| plause.
The first reports got of the affair,
were from some Of the rebels.
Mac" after attending to this gang,
had gone on to catching others. The
rebels came in whining, and COM
planning that my detachment of
troops had murdered some OF their
friends or shot them after they had
surrendered. j told them to wait
awhile; and / would inquire into it.
Pretty soon, MAC" and the boys
came in. / saw that "Mac" had
blood In his eye. Laughter.I |
asked him what he had been doing.
He said he had caught some of the
devils, and had stopped 'em. Laugh
ter. He.had caught them tearing
down and burning the bridge and
they had got hurt. Laughter /
asked him if he had killed them. He
said he guessed so-as they didn't
move any afterwards. ] asked if it
was SO, that he had shot them after
they had surrendered. He. said it
wasn't so, that he wouldn't let them
surrender. [Cheers.l lie said, "Do
you think i could let those fellows,
who had already murdered some OF
our Union troops, and were trying to
do 1t again, come up to me, with
their hands all tarred over, in an at
tempt to do it again, surrender? No,
sir, / couldn't do it, and / didn't
One lot of them have stopped their
deviltry now that / know of, and
more of them will if i can catch
Them" Applause. What did 4
say? Did j rebuke "Mac" and his
| gallant squad? / said, 'You have
done right, and do it again, when
ever and wherever you catch any
others at the same sort of deviltry.''
Those were the fellows / am charged
with having murdered after they
had surrendered. They didn't sur
render. "Mac" wouldn't let them.
| [Cheers. There were no more
bridges burned on that line while
was i'm command of that road. Soon
after we left they burned bridge,
and threw train into the water,
killing a number of women and
children. They thought they were
laying the trap for soldiers train.
But the night passenger train hap
pened to come first, and SO the sol.
diers escaped. / only wish that
"Mac" and his squad had been there
and caught them setting it on fire.
/ ANONYMOUS LETTERS.
These, felIow-citizens and neigh.
bors, are some of the many charges
made against me, and sent to me
daily by the score, in anonymous let
ters. / cannot refer to all of them
They can prove up many like things
on me, and on any Union officer OF
soldier who was in the war and tried
TO do his duty. We were down
there to make war--not merely, like
Ben Hills rebels, to hug the Consti
tuition.
In having done my duty as SOL
dier, in my humble, and yet earnest
and well-meaning way, / am now
called, after 1 have left the Demo
cratic party, q robber, burner OF
houses, murderer!-just as Gen
Logan, honest, noble, true-hearted
and patriotic, was SO stigmatized
after he had left the same party. DC
you wonder, gentleman, that / have
been stung into making publicly the
remarks that / have here? / have
no abuse to make of any one. l call
no one by name. 1 state simply
the general facts, that others may
see as well as myself that the wal
and the hate of the Union soldiers
did not die, as the st. Louis platform
says, eleven years ago.
THE ST. LOUIS CONVENTION.
That convention did not look as
| though treason was on odious thing,
nor that rebels were any the less to
be honored than patriots. That
gathering proved again what the
Democratic House had already
proved, that the old rebel element is
running tho Democratic party, and
that its whole hope OF success is
staked on their solid support. They
were all there at st. Louis, and were
the lions of the day, especially hon
ored and cheered by the convention,
and honored and lionized by the
same gangs of rebels who were
spouting treason and abusing soldiers
there in 1861, as we were going to
the front, and who were talking the
same treason when ] was there two
years ago. Applause Why is 1t
that the nomination OF 1ilden has
so revived and reinspired the old
rebel element? Why so much more
so than the candidacy of Greeley
four years ago, when there was some
hope of new party, and the death
for good of the old Democracy? You
can answer as well as / can. 1t
looks like they knew their man.
Applause. The alarming demon
STATIONS daily developing i'm the
South would look like it. / sec that
the Leader interviewed my old
friend, Peter Myers, now living in
Missouri, to-day, and that Peter says
that the stories Of raising the rebel
flag in Missouri are untrue. ! hope
thew ara. But tho ranort saams tn