The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1892-10-11
enn WEAVER al PULAsKI

Weaver. by c~opperheads, at Pulaski,
Tenn. As we publish Cleveland's de-
malls in this issue, we may be excused
for giving Weaver the benefit of some
investigations made by the editor of
the Nashville TOiIer. We will only
publish some extracts from the long
article. The ToiLer says:
1.-THE civil war was drawing to a
close. The Union army had control OF
Tennessee. At this time, when the
men who were high In power In the
United States were doing all they could
by oppression to crush out patriotism
in the South, Gen. @. NJ. Dodge was
commander of the left wing OF the SIX
teenth army corps. It was a time re-
membered by many old citizens DIS "
period of extreme oppression.
1--WE do not propose to discuss Ghe
oueIjon of mon whom the blame for
these orders should be laid, but ali that
we or anv other reasonable person
know is that the subOrdinates of the
Union army were not to blame. One
of the men who received these orders
and whose duty as a soldier was to see
them executed, was Gen. James B.
Weaver, who was in command OF the
post at Pulaski, Tenn, and who was
acting directly under the orders OF the
aforementioned Gen. Dodge. General
Dodge, after placing Gen. Weaver n
command at Pulaski, issued an order
for all persons 20 bring IN supplies to
the forces then at Pulaski and they
would receive vouchers for them. The
vouchers were given and paid, when
presented, by assistant cOmmlseary
general Cyrus @. Carpenter. At this
time Gen. Dodge, VINO, bear in mind,
was a higher officer than Gen. Weaver.
commanded Weaver to make a levy of
$1,000 upon the prominent citizens of
Pulaski for the purpose of supporting
refugees then In the camps. 1t was
Gen. Viewers duty as a soldier to
obev this command whether he con
eideredi il right or wrong. This accounts
for the 81. $50 which the Democratic
executive committee of Giles charges
that Gen. Weaver took from the PEG
pie of Pulaski. This money was never
handled Dy Gen. Weaver but was paid
directly to Col. Carpenter, who re
ceipted for it. So much for General
Viewers official acts. He was a sol
der, and a soldier in the Federal army.
To be a soldier Is to obey the, orders of
superiors. This Gen. Jas. B. Weaver
did. Now should he be held respon
sible for the acts of his superiors?
ut Is true shat in some cases Federal
commanders overstepped the bounds
of their authority and committed eX
cesses which their orders did not JUS
tify. The actions of Gen. Weaver have
been construed In this way by some.
We have already seen hat he was jus
tifiable In all the principal charges
made against him, and the TOiLeF sent
q reporter to Pulaski, not long since.
for the purpose of investigating Gen.
Viewers private acts while he was
stationed at that place.
Tine first person interviewed was
MF. a j. B~ailenIIne, a prominent cItl-
zen Of Pulaski and a director of the
Peoples NATIONAL bank al that place.
he VAS seen at ms residence, and our
reporter, knowing that be was an ex-
Confederate soldier, said:
:" AIR. BallanUlne, I believe you are
an ex-ContederaJe soldier and a good
Democrat N as such oppose the PEG
pies party He replied: Yes, sir, l
am, Il would do anything IN my
power 10 defeat this Third party.'
Then, Mr.. B~alIantIne, 1 guess you
are the man I'm hunting. l want to
know something about this rascal
Weaver, who was stationed here dur
ing the war
Young man, IL you want to hear
anything Ia the way of abuse of Gen.
Weaver never come to a Baliantine
after It. As for me, Inever saw Gen.
Weaver, and was opposed to him dur,
ing the war and am against him now.
With all that, l can never say a word
against q man who protected my
mother and sister as Gen. Weaver did
Uh1tn ia hnar4nI nth %LC., L. 49,
that my mother had four sons in the
g~oDfederate army, yet he treated her
with the greatest respect. l was IN the
army at the time and know nothing
OF Weaver as an officer or as a gentle
man. All l know that mother said he
was q gentleman and a kind hearted.
brave COLDER. So, you see, young
man, When my mother (she has been
dead two years now tells me that this
man was a nice man, it is hard for me
70 belleve other wise. | remember one
morning after the close of the war that
= asked me to see after some paDers
2 had They proved to be vouchers
Tor supplies given to Weaver. / took
them very reluctantly and told her she
WouId V realize anything on them.
a few weeks later she asked me about
them, and L confessed that I thought so
little about them that I had lost them
down az the store. Gen. Weaver, how
ever, camet othe rescue and triedto get
the money for us. My brother was
With the General in Congress and |
often
Mr. Ballantine is a loyal S~outherner
u q courteous gentleman, and his
statements are bound to carry wei0nt
With them. o"'
he then saw Mr.. Jas. A. P. Skill
eTn, q sOn-in law of Rev. Robt. Ca1J-
Ne1 who was a friend of Gen. Wea-
mnw7n Mr. SB1n0~- -