Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1880-08-09
EXCHANGE OF PRISONERS.
Ho,c the Republicans Care for Soldiers
Brutal Treatment.

Ho,o the Republicans Care for Soldiers
Brutal Treatment.
To the Editor of the Globe.
AS time rolls on, and political sentiments
are continually changing, we almost lose
sight of some of the real life and
facts which should be kept fresh in orr
memory. Our nation has passed through
one of the most bloody civil wars of which
we have any history, and We are satisfied
with the general result; but we, as partici-
pants in that great national struggle.
have a right to look back and
review, and even criticise, the wrongs
perpetrated by some heartless wretches
who happened to be placed in posi-
tons which they were not capable of filling,
| and whose hearts were filled with personal
and political malice and revenge instead of
patriotism and love of country. One of the
most prominent, which will mention, is q
stigma to the history of our republic, and
will he looked upon By all future generations
as disgrace to any civilized nation: The
exchange of prisoners, which was the cause
of the death of thirty or forty thousand
brave and good men, and in regard 10 the
brutal treatment and suffering and death of
those prisoners no one can tell, but ths sur
vivors of those filthy prison pens of the
South. But what was our federal govern
ment doing to allow this great national out
rage to be committed, in whose power it was
to lift every one of them from their suffering
and death and place them in the many COM
Portable hospitals and homes in the North,
and thereby saved their lives. There was
not a time but what our government could
| have affected an exchange of prisoners had
she made determined effort, but no, in
stead of placing some man who had some
| influence as commissioner of exchange, old
Ben Butler, or "beast," as he used to be
properly termed, was appointed, whose pol
icy was that we could better affordD to let
| forty thousand union men be
tortured, suffer and die than to give up
an equal number of rebel prisoners who
were in condition to be placed in the field
again. What cowardly, shameful and dis
graceful act, and one which has dishonored
the history of our nation as a civilized re-
public in all time to come. believe in
| Deity and future rewards and punishment,
and 1 sincerely and firmly believe, when
| Ben Butler is called to stand before that
| tribunal he will not stand as a common MUIR
| derer, but one which will have to answer for
| the murder of thousands of patriots who
| NASN I'M Ri6o "ohOWiAS III thCAt OWu AAAbh.
in the prisons of the South; aud during his
stay on earth he will be looked upon by the
| grief-stricken mothers, sisters aud relatives
of those prisoners with shame, disgrace and
contempt. And yet he claims to be one of
those patriotic Republicans who put down
| the rebellion. have seen communications
from Col. Old, the rebel commissioner of
| exchange, to Gen. Butler, Offering to ex-
change man for man and rank for rank,
which would have taken every prisoner out
| of the South and still left 10000 to $4,000
in our possession, and yet was refused on
| some pretext of few colored men which
were held as prisoners by them 10 Charles
| ton, s. @. And when com -uittees of Union
soldiers were allowed TO be sent fIom An
Jacksonville to Washington to inform Cur
| government of the mortality of the prison
| ers, they were treated almost with con-
tempt, and no action taken to save
them, and they claim that we
at Washington were the patriots of our
country in time of need. 1t is the very
height of folly and falsehood for any one
political party to claim that they put down
the rebellion when we had thousands and
thousands of soldiera, whose bosoms swelled
with the love of their country, who never
knew nor cared anything about politics,
when one great common object had to be
accomplished. We often hear these home
Republicans say that We are the party who
saved the country. And even in the face of
Sherman, Old Pap Thomas, Rosencr rams,
jeff. @. Davis, Hancock and thousand 9th
ers of the same kind, whose names alone are
enough without any comment. And let me
say to the friends of all prisoners, let us
vote for Hancock and English and protect
them who protected Us. E. GORDON.
One of the six hundred officers placed under
fire of our own guns at Charleston, s. @.