The National tribune., 1894-09-27
ANSWERS HIS CRITICS.
ID. Il. Boring Admits Some Errors, but De-
tends His Opinions.

1enus Ills
EDITOR NATIONAL TRIBUNE: Among
the criticisms from alert comrades all along
the line" on my Fighting for Vicksburg,"
is one in the Issue of Sept. 6, By II. B. Tur-
rilI, Co. K, I'D Ohio, which consider worthy
of notice.
Upon reflection and investigation l find
that Comrade Turrll is, in the main, correct,
and / hereby not only yield, but thank him
| for his generous corrections.
The two assaults on Vicksburg placed by
my article upon the ODD and 27th of May,
were on the 10Th aud 22d instead of 22d and
9th also, Logan was not the successor OF Nc
Clernand, as stated by me, bnt was my diyis-
ion commander; but with regard to Wits
thing Dick, we had a gun in front of our
| division of that name. 1t perhaps was a
| namesake of the original. If / ever knew
| anything about the . Whistling Dick of the
enemy, mentioned by Comrade Turrili, /
have forgotten him. But / have . very
vivid recollection of this big gun in front of
US, and remember seeing him and helping
dig the trench and pull him through it with
ropes and pulleys and saw him mounted.
But time has recorded 81 years against us
since those exciting days In the trenches
and rit1e-pits around Vicllsburg; and 10 i
write most of my articles from memory
alone, and of scenes and incidents that
saw or took part in as a boy or young man,
of course | am very liable to mistakes from
lapses of memory, but stand ready at all
times for correction.
p d. Thomas, Co. Fl, 18th NJ S. c. (col-
ored, l suppose), takes exception to that
passage in which / said that "at the close
of the war there should have been an exodus
of both the old reb and the negro" etc.
10 cfa ant he
ground of loyalty or disloyalty, as Comrade
Thomas evidently infers. And while | am
anxious to avoid falling into any contrO-
versy with my colOred comrades, yet, In
reply to his criticism, will say that | had
reference to the state of political affairs in
the South since the war.
l claim that the plantation negro, or ex
slave, was but politically born at the close
of the war, and, considering the manner III
which the men in rebellion were allowed to
return Immediately to the ballOt-box and
to office, that the emancipated negro was
but clay an the hands of the potter" and
the ex-reb was the potter.
Placing the ballot in tbs hanus of the
freedmen at the time it was done was un-
wise, unsafe, and uncalled for and an in
justice to the white American youth who
are required to live and wait 81 years before
they can cast vote. The electoral fran
chise, claim, should have been withheld
from the emanclpated negro as long after
emancipation as ID is from the white boy
after his birth.
The emaDcipated negro was unschooled,
uneducated In the laws and duties of cti-
zenship, and unqualified, and therefore I'M
able TO cope with The master III whose hands
he was so recently chattel property. And
belonging as he does, to race without
record, a nationality, language, or litera-
ture, it remains to be seen whether the
negro race in America can be elevated to "a
self-sustsining sovereignty, or whether his
emancipation is mere experiment or scheme
for the perpetuity of the "solld South"
/ know that negro soldiers fought well, in
most instances; it was vii n them victory
or massacre, as at Fort Pillow where they
suffered the latter. So did the American
Indian during our wars with England. The
Five Nations and some other tribes did as
gallant fighting for the American cause as
did any colored troops during the rebellion.
B. F. BORING, Co. ID, Both ILL.,, South
Terre Haute Ind