The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1879-05-15


and = poiai which /. extremely dan.
gefaus e the welfare 81 thr Rcpahlic
cas- GuALaEH.
The other day Chalmers. who repre-
seats The .shoe stIiog district 10
Mississippi a disiric, stretching along
the river ios hundreds d miles, IN
which . very large majority q the
voters are coIofcd people q whom il
l. safe 70 cay that noi one ever voted
for him unless driven % ao Il By oUt.
side pressure. arose 10 the House the
other day aud asked that committee
Of investigation might be appointed,
10 iaquire into bis conduct at the so
called Fort Pillow massacre CHAIN
ers evidently felt the need q spring
coating Of wbitewash aud hoped that
the House would DO willing 20 favor
him, but the Democratic House did
not see Gt TO crafty him and voted
not to allow the investigation That
party know too well what the conse-
quences Of such an investigation would
be.
Chalmers would not be entirely sup
pressed. however. by the vote, but
volunteered a statement ID which he
said that the affair had been greatly
exaggerated, that there were nearly as
many coniederates killed as there were
Union soldiers, and that he was second
in command aud was not responsible
for what was done 1t happened that
one Of the Republican members was
posted on the affair from former in.
vestigation. That il was proved to the
satisfaction Of the former committee ;
tuat Forest demanded the surrender OF
the fort with the threat that If it was
not instantly complied with no quarter
would be shown. That the number Of
confederates killed did not much ex-
coed thirty, while the Union dead
numbered between five and six hun
dred, almost all Of whom were slaugh-
tered after the surrender, the larger
part Of whom were blacks.
We CHANGED to be stationed at Cairo
at the time of the massacre, and as
Fort Pillow ia but few miles below,
we learned at the time, from parties
who were on the spot, all the details
Of the terrible affair The Union men
were shot down after they had surren-
dered and had thrown down their arms
and for long time there was no effort
made on the part Of the officers to pre-
vent the carnage which would have
made sayages blush for shame. 1t is
true that Forest was FIRST in command
and primarily responsible, but Chalm-
ers' men were engaged in it, and we
never heard Of any protest made 10y
that officer at the time, nor since. The
barbarities of that occasion were Ger.
tainly never exceeded in the annals of
our Indian warfare,
We also had occasion to 60 up and
down the Mississippi at about that time
and learned much about the doings of
Forest and Chalmers The river was
open to New Orleans and the country
on each side had been practically sub
dued. The war ought to have been
over ia that region but these two re-
doubtable chieftains kept up sort of
guerrilla warfare, firing into unarmed
steamers and attacking poorly garri
soned forts and cities. There was moth
ing whatever to be gained for the rebel
cause by these operations aud their
only excuses were plumber and re-
venge. They captured Paducha, KY
just before the Fort Pillow affair but
we're driven out by Uniongu boats.
They captured the city Of Memphis
short time afterwards and held il for
few hours. Memphis was Forests
home and il is needless to say that be
and bis brave soldiers were heartily
welcomed by large majority OF the
people Of that city. There were but
very few Union soldiers in the city and
they retired to the fort outside. There
were also three regiments OF State
militia in the city, many Of whom bad
before been 10 the confederate army,
and OF course they could not be expect
ed TO heartily oppose their former
brethren in arms. In point OF fact
they never made the first show Of re
sistance.
Unlonists were the special objects Of
wrath Of these guerrilaa, aud sc knew
Of several instances where they were
shot down in cold blood All through
that region the Union men were mark
ed Tor slaughter aud bat very few Of
them were left alive. After the war
closed these quasi soldiers very natur
ally fell into the habit Of inlimidating
and numbering the blacks until the
poor creatures dare moi, for fear Of
their lives, assert their fights Ocea-