Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1882-01-09


iod. These are the principal contents of your
letter. would have replied earlier had not
as I was Sufficiently we'll enough to
do so. I am thus forced to answer by mail.
I wish you to understand, sir, that I have
never sought to reopen the issues OF the war,
nor have at any time spoken unkiudly of an
officer of the United States army, unless his
acts put him beyond the pale of civilized war
fare IN the twilight of barbarism, nor will l
consent to employ the harsh language or Sc
verify of criticism toward my opponent. But,
sir, after careful consideration allow me to say
that in spite of your special plea under the
distinguished gentleman whom you name ap-
proved your conduct, who in SO doing must
have acted without full knowledge of the facts
whenever the circumstances require, or may
be called upon to speak in regard thereto, my
statements snail be consistent with the truth,
and those heretofore made by me.
lSigned. Respectfully,
JOS. BLACKBURN.
BURBRIDGE TO BLACKBURN.
WASHINGTON, Jan. 6.-Gen. Burbridge has
furnished for publication statement in reply
to the charges made against him by Repres-
entative Blackburn. He begins by giving the
latter's letter of December 30, 1881. and fol-
lows it with the appended response thereto:
Washington, Jan. 6, 1SS9.-To Hon. j. s.
q. Blackburn, NJ. c., Seventh Dis
trict, Kentucky-Sir: Your letter of the 9th
ult., in reference to mine of the Dist, is
received. In it you make the point that the
distinguished gentleman who approved my
conduct, must have acted without full knowl-
edge of the facts, declining to assail the char
acter of the men whose loyalty to their state
and country at the period of my adminlstra-
ton in Kentucky, is in striking contrast to
your own. & You assume that they have not
full knowledge of the facts. The deed which
received the hearty approval of all Union men
and which In a corresponding ratio, provoked
the wrath of the rebels in Kentucky in 1864,
were not done in the corner. They were
planned in strict accordance with orders from
Secretary Stanton and Gen. Sherman. and exc
cuted in the light of day.
Letters, copies of which will be published
in connection with your letter, and this reply
were written after my military career had
closed and at time when the Democratic press
of Kentucky was lOudest in its denunciation
of my official conduct. They were written
by men who were fully conversant with all of
the facts, both before and after they had been
distorted by rebel hate.
It is to be regretted that 10 passing sentence
upon Mr.. Mum as an officer TO whom the ex-
ecution of the order for the suppression of
guerrillas was entrusted, you failed to include
in your denunciatiOn the guerrillas themselves.
Have you ever heard how Berry's band muir
dered Mr.. Kolfen, on the BOrdentown turn
pike, while he was protecting his wife from
insult, and how the incensed neigh6ors arose
and pursued them, until Mr.. Roberts, the
county surveyor, was killed? Hundreds of
such crimes were committed by guerrilla
bands who roamed over the state. You refer
to men whose acts put them beyond the pale
of civilized warfare In the twilight of barbar-
ism, or worse even, the domain of actual
crime. Would it have been an act of this
character to hunt down Berry's band and hang
every one of its members? If your district
was dotted over with graves it was for such
acts as these.
AS I informed you in my previous letter,
not q man was put to death by my order with
out first having been tried and convicted by q
regularly organized court martial. The acts
which place the perpetrator beyond the pale
of civilized warfare in the twilight of
barbarism, or worse, in the domain of
actual crime, were the various acts which it
became my duty to punish. That 1 was too
lenicpt and allowed many to secure pardon
upon promise of future amendment, l admit.
That l was frequently censured for this is
true. At time when the Kentucky legisla-
ture had no power to command me, 1 ap-
peared voluntarily before a committee ap-
pointed by the senate and all the charges to
which you now refer were fully investigated
and upon the advice of Hon. Asa G. P. Grover,
of the senate, the investigation was abandoned
by the lower house.
there were acts attempted by the adherents to
your cause who like those to whose death you
so pathetically allude, never risked their lives
in battle, which not only put the perpetrators
beyond the pale Of civilized warfare, in the
twilight of bArbarism, or worse, in the do
main of actual crime, which SO far sur
passes those above mentioned as to
provoke the inquiry whether they were not
conceived by the prince of darkness himself.
1 allude sir to the attempted introduction of
clothing infected with yellow fever in the
northern cities during the war, l do not
know by whom this crime against civilization
was attempted but the proofs of the attempt
are ample, and while veXing your righteous
soul abaut the barbarOus treatment of thieves
and cutthroats in Kentucky, it might be well
to allow some portion of your indignation to
find vent against this diabolical attempt to
murder innocent women and children. Re-
spectfully,
(Signed.) s. G. BURBR1 DGE.
A telegram from Gen.. Sherman, dated Big
Shanty, Ga, June 18th, 1864, in which Gen.
Burbridge is instructed 70 hunt down every
guerilla and robber in Kentucky; letter. writ
ten the Dist of the same month by Gen. Sher-
man, urging at length that summary measures
must be adopted in dealing with guerillas
and letter from Secretary
Stanton, day and month not given, written
from Washington in 1854, and authorizing
Gen Burbridge to seize all he can lay his hands
on, and to turn over to the quartermaster's
Department all he cannot use, are given, to-
gether with the following:
Washington, d. c., 1S64.-To Gen. Bur
bridge, Lexington, KY: I hear that you ar.
rested my relative, Mrs. Helm, and released
her on her showing letter from me. II it
contains anything that allows her to talk or
act treason, disregard it and treat her as you
do other rebels. (Signed), A. LINCOLN.
Then follow letters from Gen. Schofield,
under dates of Washington, June IA, 1864,
and from President Lincoln and Secretary
Stanton on the same day, congratulating Gen.
Burbridge on his victory over Morgan.
Numerous other letters, including one from
Montgomery Blair. under date OF Washington,
June 81, 1865, and one from Salmon r.
Chase, under date of Washington, June 10,
1859, are submitted. They endorse Gen. Bur-
BRIDGES manner of discharging his military
duties in Kentucky. The statement concludes
with letter from Robert j. Breckenridge, w.
G. Goodloe, James Speed, T. L. Bell, Judge
Advocate Gen. Holt, w. r. Kinney, Z. +.
Burnam, ]. F. Robinson, D. NJ. Key, and
others, all of which tend to show that in the
P.,rI ibid "a