The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1878-03-28

men, we'll armed and mounted. l saw at
once that this people were in the supreme
crisis of their fate, and that they could
only meet it successfully by bringing
them face to face with their duty by in
slant and fearless discharge of mine, and
by thus quickening their sentiment of
obedience to law, to set in motion
counter current against the lawless men
who stood in armed array against the
constitutional authorities.
AS Redmond was the central and sup
porting figure of the unlawful combina-
ton, l resolved 10 strike at him. To
have selected one of his subordinates as
the subject OF prosecution, would have
made it appear that the arm of the law
itself was sharing in the general paraly-
sis, while to have united others with him,
would have been to lose the advantage of
isolating the chief criminal from his fol-
lowers, and to have incurred the hazard
of uniting them more closely to him by
q sense of their common danger. i,
therefore, determined that if legal proof
of crime could be obtained against him
q bill should be laid before the grand
jury with view to his immediate indict-
ment, but not for his alleged forcible
entry into the Jail, for that was only
nlisdemeanor under our laws, and public
sympathy was strongly in favor of the
| three prisoners who were thus released,
as it was generally believed that they
had committed no offence against the
laws of the United States, and it was
known that they were respectable farm
ers, who were arrested without warrant,
in violation of law, and had been grossly
maltreated by the revenue officers before
they were lodged in Jail.
/ was satisfied from information furn-
ished me that both law and justice had
been outraged in the persons of those
prisoners, and my judgment upon this
point has since been confirmed by the
fact that the ta0o who were recaptured by
the sheriff's posse were discharged by the
United States commissioner to-day on
the declared ground that there was no
evidence 1ohatsoever upon which to author
ize their detention, or to support the
charge that they had violated any law
of the United States. But Redmond, a
day or two after the rescue of the pris-
oners, had with his armed band entered
the house of a citizen in this vicinity and
had taken therefrom two oyercoats of the
value of forty dollars, left there for safe
keeping by their owners, who were also
United States revenue officers. As the
taking was done forcibly, in the presence
of the lawful custodian or bailee, and by
putting him in terror, the act was rob-
berry, both at common law and under the
statute, and was grave felony.
After much earnest effort on my part
the citizen, Mr.. Hendrix, above referred
to, overcame his fears and made the ne
cessary affidavit charging che robbery.
The trial justice thereupon issued his
warrant, and upon the return of the
sheriff, that the accused openly defed
arrest, the papers were delivered to the
solicitor, and on last Monday a bill was
drawn accordingly and laid before the
grand jury.
I delivered q most earnest charge to
them, admonisbing them of their sworn
duty "to have no man unpresented
through fear, favor or Affection" and I
said in the course of my charge: "Gen-
tlemen of the grand jury, if upon the tes-
timony of credible witness, it should
appear 70 you that there is probable cause
to believe the accused guilty of the Of
fence charged, and you willfully fail or
refuse to find tue bill, then you declare
to the world that in the County of Pick
ems the trigger finger of Lewis R. Red
mond's right hand is stronger than the
arm of the law! And you do this while
Wade Hampton, the defender of law and
order, the wise and just chief magistrate,
the trusted leader and friend of the whole
people, rules as Governor in South Car
olina I"
The grand jury then retired, and after
remaining in their room several hours,
came into court and returned the indict-
ment endorsed mo bill"
l at once informed them that 1 pre-
sumed the evidence was insufficient, and
that on the next morning the bill would
again be delivered to them, and the So
licitor would send additional witnesses
before them to support it. The next
morning Tuesday the bill was again
laid before the grand jury, and then
stated to them that 1 had information
which deemed trustworthy to the effect
that one of their body was the close ally
and intimate associate of Redmond, the
person accused in the bill, who was then
having his headquarters at the house of
the grand juror referred to, and that if
these statements were not denied by the
grand juror OH oath, he must be excused
from acting during the consideration of
this case, and should at once retire from
the grand jury. 1 thereupon named the
unworthy grand juror, and stated that I
was prepared to heaz his denial. He
Immediately withdrew from the grand
tjury without uttering word.
The grand jury then retired, but re-
turned into court within a few minutes
with "True bill," the foreman stating
that it was the Unanimous" finding Of
the grand jury. A bench warrant was at
once issued, and ordered the sheriff to
forthwith summon and organize an
armed posse of one hundred men and
proceed to use the necessary force in its
execution. In three or four hours the
posse, fully armed and equipped, and
we'll mounted, moved out from the county
seat, accompanied by Capt. Griffin, in
command of the Hampton Home Guard,
a company of State volunteer troops, who
had reported to the sheriff for duty, pur
suant to your telegraphic order of the
18th instant. This company is about
fifty strong, and has number of noun
taineers in its ranks, who are all good
and true men.
The statement that some of the arms
of this company are in the hands of Red
mond's men, or that one man of the COM
pany has joined the outlaws band, is
utterly false. By request of the sheriff,
which fully approved, the revenue Off
GERS did not accompany the State posse,
but have gone in an opposite direction.
I received dispatch (which l enclose)
by courier, at II o'clock last night, from
the sheriff and Capt Griffin, from which
it appears that they have reached Red
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