The Indianapolis journal., 1894-06-17

the face OF each of the prisoners. In the
meantime thrty-six militiamen were de-
tailed TO serve as firing squads The requi-
site number was drawn up in 'front.' or the
condemned men, six soldiers to each prls-
oner. All preparations were now complete.
and the moment for giving the firing signal
had arrived. There was a breathless still
ness. not whisper broke on the victims or
the tremendous tragedy about To take place
The firing squads, in serried and silent col
umn. their eyes half haZed with tears, stood
waiting the solemn signal. They had not
long to wait. Colonel RusselPs lips parted
and he hoarsely said: Ready quickly fol-
lowed by "Aimr' The members Of the fir
ing squads cooked their pieces. brought
them to their shoulders and glanced down
the barrels toward the condemned men.
Then for moment there was a CHASTITY
hush. broken by Colonel Russell exclaiming
'Fire! The sharp report or thirty-six
rifles rang out upon the air and the six men
dropped limp TO the ground by the side OF
their collins. All the men were stone dead,
except Lewis. His body twitched for few
moments, and then he slowly raised his
head. from which the white cap had slipped,
revealing his young face besineared with
his life blood. The blood trici<led from
three other cruel wounds his breast,
satnrating his shirt. Not spectator
ing around he grasped his coffin and slow
ly pulled himself toward 1t. With great ef-
fort he feebly crawled upon the coffin.
There. covered with blood, half reclining.
half sitting on that repugnant reminder of
death, he presented a spectacle unsurpassed
In hideousness by any of the horrible scenes
enacted during the reign OF terror when
riot ruled France. His life blood trickled
in streamlets down his face and breast
and congealed in little puddles on his coffin.
He gazed at Colonel Russell with a far
in the distance the little home of his child
hood. His lips quivered
DEAD MAN SPEAKS
Colonel" said Lewis, Il am not killed,
but am badly cut and mangled. Colonel,
| did not behave well?'
'Yes. Lewis, like a man." replied Colonel
| Rnssell
"Wel sir" said Lewis, shave not atoned
| for my offense? Shall not liver Then
| bloody foam rushed to his lips and he
| tainted away his coffin. That scene is
| historical Colonel Russell ordered the sur
| geon to do all in his power to save the life
| of Lewis, but he was past medical aid
execution. Before he died great drops of
tears would chase each other down his
/ cheeks when he would speak of having TO
| die so young. The squad of soldiers. through
/ a mistaken idea OF humanity or sympa-
| thy, had failed to shoot him dead, four
SO greatly were the people elated over
| the declaration OF peace that notice was
| army had been disbanded and the soldiers
| returned home. II was sad day in Ten
| nessee when the militia returned and it was
| learned that the official shooting of the
| soldiers had put almost as many homes in
| mourning the enemy had done. The rela-
Il
| of the execution till their comrades re-
| turned home. They reasoned that If it were
| necessary to have an execution, one life or
| two should have been taken instead of six.
| The people were appalled,. In the revou-
| ti0nary war an execution sometimes took
atrocious case. but neither there nor in
| any other war had they known of six
| of their countrymen drawn out to be ille-
| gally shot down at one fire after the vic
| tory was won, the enemy driven from the
| country and the army about to be disband-
fbrosbe,,t tba nn,,ntro oi vben terrsbI,
| truth gradually leaked out that the eXecu-
| ton was illegal led TO an inquiry in Con
| gress. The House of Representatives di-
| rected the Secretary of War TO lay before
| them all the official documents bearing on
| the subject; When the documents went to
| the House they were referred to partisan
| committee. which exonerated all concerned
| in the laundering business. but politicians
| claimed that the facts had been CLOSED
| over.
The term of service of the men had un-
| questionably expired when they left camp
| for their homes. The whole thing hinged on
| the question whether the men had enlisted
| for three months or six. Yet the proceed
ings of the court-martial show that the
| length of the form or service not
| brought up much less discussed 1t was
| there that the members OF the court blum
dered. The military law Of 1875 restricted
| the term OF service to six months. April
| 10. 1872. a special law was passed to raise
| 100000 men for the militia of the country
| to serve not exceeding six months. This law
| was limited to two years and expired on
| April 10, 1914. April Is 1914 four days after,
new law was passed which extended the
months. if, in the opinion of the President,
the public interest required 1t. Thus the
| law stood when the Tennessee militia was
| called into service.
THEIR DEATHS ILLEGAL.
If the President had issued any orders re-
| quiring their time to be extended to six
months, then they were bound to serve for
that time. But if he had issued no such
orders then they were bound to serve only
| three months under the act of 1895 The
records in the War Department show that
no such orders were issued, therefore the
| term of service of these men, who en-
listed June 20. 1914, expired Sept. 90 1874
and they were entitled to their discharge
| No officer had the right TO detain them
after Sept ls, 1914, and they were not SUBJ
| ject to the rules and articles of war after
| that time. Consequently their execution
| for going home Sept. 20 was illegal, not to
| say official murder
Three months service had usually been
more than suf1cient to stop the Indian
| wars, ana, as a consequence, that length of
enlistment became instiIled in the minds of
the men They deemed II an unnecessary
hardship to serve longer and generally went
home at the expiration of the three months.
But, unlike IKE. a certain Pennsylvania regi-
they did not pull up stakes and bodily
leave the field for home in the face of the
1 cAcilAy- NO that PENNSYLVANIA
regiment was court-martialed, much less
executed, because their three months en-
lstment had expired and their cowardy
leaving the battlefield in the face of the
enemy was taken as matter of course
In 1873. when jackson was "A candidate
for President, the blood of those executed
mliiuamen was resurrected and Wrongfuly
placed at his DOOR and the campaign waxed
warm. The War Department was ran
sacked FOR official documents bearing on the
subject, and they were published and scat
tered broadcast The signature of Governor
Blount, OF TENNESSEE who called out the
troops TO be found in some of these Inustv
documents. is calculated cause amuse-
meat In this day, for he invariably sub
seribed himself willie Blounr" The truth
finally came out in all OF its hideousness
but as 1t was used for political purposes il
Jailed TO injure anyone But the hue and
cry raised by politicians undoubtedly irri-
tated the old Hermit in his retreat near
Nashville, which Is shown In his replies to
their accusations. Nevertheless he stood
the storm, his habit, and came out
or the catacysm of dsnunciations and abuse
unscathed, still the idol of the people
He was honest in what he did and prob
ably never signed an order with clearer
conscience than when he approved of the
execution of those six militiamen The
members of the cOurt-martial appointed by
him to try, the men were selected from the
neighborhdod of the homes of the prisoners
and he. of course. had implicit confidence i'm
their impartial Justice Besides he was be-
ing threatened on every side by a powerful
invading army, veterans of campaigns
against the great Napoleon, when the men