Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1882-01-09
BLACKBURN -BURBRIDGE.
A WINDY WAR OF WORDS.
Irate KenIuckIans Raking up Ashes
Old Pictures OF the Dark and
Bloody Ground RetOuched-NO
Harm Done as Yet.

Harm Done as Yet.
WASHINGTON, January THE following
has been furnished for publication:
LEXINGTON, KY, December %, ISL
General S. @. B,tr5rtdge: sIR-Your note of
recent date, with enclosure from one Ows-
ley directed to you, was handed to me by
An Assistant Doorkeeper Of the House of
Representatives on the day Of the adjourn
ment of Congress, to-wit, 21st inst.
In your communication YOU complain
OF my reOpening the wounds of the
war, and charging you with having dotted
my district over with graves of men whom
you had murdered during the war, and seek
to apologize for your action Of that period.
This is substantially the contents Of your
letter. l would have replied earlier had |
not been leaving the city as soon as | was
well enough to do so. / am thus forced to
answer by mall. l wish you to
understand sir, that l have never
sought to reopen the issues OF the war, nor
have | ever at any time spoken unkindly Of
any Cficer o; the United States army, un-
less his acts put him beyond the pale of
civilized warfare in the twilight OF barba-
rsm, nor will l consent TO employ harsh
language or severity Of criticism toward my
opponents in that struggle, save q nder the
circumstances stated. But, SIR, after careful
consideration, allow me to say that in spite
Of your special plea that a number Of dis
tinguished gentlemen whom you name
approve your conduct (whO, in so doing,
must have acted without full knowledge
of facts), whenever circumstances require,
or l may be called upon to speak thereto,
my statements shall be consistent with truth
and those heretofore made by me.
Respectfully, j. e. S. BLACKBURN.
WASHINGTON, ID. c., January S-General
Burbridge has furnished for publication a
statement in reply to the charges made
against him by representative Blackburn.
He begins by giving the latter's letter,
which was telegraphed hence last night, and
follows it with the appended response:
WASHINGTON, January b Hon j. S. {.
Blackburn: SIR--Your letter of the 9th
ult., in reference to mine of the 2lst, is
received. In you make the point that the
distinguished gentlemen who approved my
conduct must have acted without full
knowledge OF the facts. Declining TO assail
the characters of men whose Loyalty to their
State and country at the period of my ad-
minis.ration in Kentucky is in striking con.
trast to your own, you assume that they
have not a full knowledge of the facts.
The deeds, which received the hearty apprO-
val Of all Union men, and which, In a cor
responding ratio, provoked the wrath Of the
rebels in Kentucky in 1864, were not done
in corners. They were planned in strict
accordance with orders from Secretary STAN
ton and General Sherman, and executed in
the light Of day. Letters, copies of which
will be produced in connection with
your letter and this reply were
written after my military career had closed,
and at a time when the Democratic press of
Kentucky was loudest I'm its denunciatiOn
OF my official conduct. They were written
BY men who were fully cOnversant with all
the facts both before and after they had
been disturbed by rebel hate. 1t is to be
regretted that in passing sentence upon me
as an officer, TO whom orders for the sup
preston of guerrillas were entrusted, YOU
failed to include in your denunciation the
gueTrillas themselves. Have you ever heard
how Berry's baud murdered kalfus on the
Bord-tOwn turnpike while he was protect
ing his family, and how the incensed neigh
bors arose and pursued them until Mr.
Roberts, the County Surveyor, was killed
Hundreds OF such crimes were committed
bv the guerrilla bands who rode over the
State.
You refer to men whose acts put them
beyond the pale Of civilized warfare in the
twilight of barbarism, or, worse, In the
domain of actual crime" Would It have
been an act of this character to hunt down
BeTry's band and hung every one of its
members If your district was "dotted
over with graves" It was for such ac's as
these. As l informed you in my previous
letter, not a man was put to death by nv
order without first having been tried and
| convicted by an organized court-martial.
The acts which place the perpetrators "be-
yOnd the pale Of civilized warfare in the
twilight of barbarism, or, worse, in the
domain Of actual crime," were the very acts
which it became my duty to punish.
That l was too lenient and allowed many
to secure pardon upon promise of future
amendment, admit. That l was frequently
censured for this is true. At time when
the Kentucky Legislature had no power to
command me, l appeared voluntarily before
the committee appointed by the Senate.
All the charges to which you now refer
were fully Investigated, and upon the advice
of Hon. Asa c. P. Grover, of the Senate,
the investigation was abandoned by the
lower house.
In conclusion allow me to suggest that
these acts attempted by adherents to your
cause, who, like those to whose death you
pathetically allude, never Tisked their lives
ia battle, which not only "put the perpe-
traitors beyond the pale OF civilized warfare
in the twilight of barbarism or, worse, in the
domain of actual crime," which so far sur
passed those above mentioned as to provoke
an inquiry whether they were not concocted
DF tue pIlufb VI udi hlteb uiilbEtl. L dlluIb,
sir, to the attempted Introduction of cloth
ing infected with yellow fever in
the Northern cities during the war. I
do not know by whom this crime against
civilization was attempted. Ny proofs of
the attempt are ample, al while vexing
your righteous soul about the barbarous
treatment Of thieves and cutthrOats in Ken
lucky, 1t might be well to allow some por-
tion Of your indignation to find vent against
HfohOlfaa1 Of tO rnrrdar
women and children. Respectfully,
BURBRIDGE.
Appended are a number OF kilograms and
letters, among others q telegram from Gen.
Sherman, dated Big Shanty, Ga June 14th,
1864, in which Gen. Burbridge is instructed
TO hunt down every guerrilla and robber in
Kentucky; a letter written on the 2lst of
the same month by Gen. sherman, urging
at length summary dealings with guerrillas,
and letters from Secretary Stanton written
from Washington in 1864, authorizing Gen.
Burbrdge to seize all he can lay his hands
on and TO turn over 10 the QUartermaster's
Department all he cannot use.
WASHINGTON, d. C., 1S64.-General Bur
bridge, Leria9tOH, ny: ] hear that you ar
rested my rela i've, Mrs. Helm, and released
her on her showing you 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. A. LINCOLN.
Then following letters from General
Schofeld. under date of Washington, D. c.,
June II, 1864, and from President Lincoln
and Secretary Stanton on the same day,
congratulating General Burbridge in his
actions oyer Morgan. Numerous other let
tiers, including one from Montgomery
Blair and one from Salmon P. Chase, are
submitted. They endorse even Burbndge's
manner of discharging his military duties in
Kentucky.
The statement concludes with letters
from Robert J. Breckenridge, W. G. Good
l0e, T. s. Bell, Judge Advocate General
Holt, W. r. Renney, c. F. Burnam, j. T.
Robinson, d. NJ. Key, NJ. D., and others,
all Of which tend to show that in the
opinion Of the writer's General Burbrdge's
record has been worthy Of commendation in
all respects