Sunday morning globe., 1901-08-25
LOST HIS LIFE
And Saved That of His Client Ac-
cuSed Of Murder.
HON. CLEMENT C. VAlINDINGHAM
Ohio Champion Of tho COnIedsraCy and His
Tragic Ending After The War-The Raid
and Destruction Of The Sentinel Office BY
the Second Ohio as Naualed BY EH-SOIdIer
eause-A Historical Chapter

e, Second Ohio Cavalry, has prepared
the manuscript history Of his regiment
and proposes issuing the same in book
form. 1t is entitled, From a Rural
District to the Cavalry Service as 10
Looks From the Ranks"
Mr.. Cause served four years and one
month at the front, and wears the
medal of honor for the capture Of the
Eighth South Carolina Infantry, It's
battle-fiags, etc. The action took place
Sept. 10. 1864. Cause led the advanced
guard Of his regiment, and meeting the
enemy's infantry promptly charged
them three times, finally penetrating
to their rear and forcing the surrender
of the remnants of the regiment.
He has permitted the Sunday Morn
ing Globe to extract a chapter from the
proposed publication detailing the raid
on and destruction Of Clement l.. Val
lindgham's Columbus (O) Sentinel
during the war Before proceeding to
quote Mr.. Cause The Globe desires to
reminiscently touch upon the tragic
ending Of this noted historical charac,
ter and firm friend Of the Confede-
racy's legal right to secession other
wise champion States rights advocate.
Mr Vallindgham, after the war, re-
turned to Ohio, from whence he had
been expelled as "a rebel sympathizer,"
and settled down to the practice Of his
profession. While defending a man
named Thomas Mcclellan at Hamilton
Ohio, on a charge Of murder, he lost
his life I'm the following manner.
Mr.. Vallindgham and his associate
counsel we're i'm consultation in the
evening at their hotel Vallindgham
had a theory Of the killing which he
was explaining to his confrere. This
theory was to the effect that the muir
dered man accidentally discharged his
own pistol in his pocket, and therefore
Mcclellan was innocent of his murder.
There were two pistols on the table be-
tween the learned counsel; one was
loaded and the other empty. Mr.. Val
indgham had repeatedly snapped the
unlOaded weapon in explaining mat
ters to his confrere, and, laying down
the pistol, continued TO outline the the
ory more in detail. When he arrived
at that portion of the defense where
the murdered man was supposed to ac-
cidentally shoot himself while drawing
the weapon he intended to use on Nc
Gehan, Mr. Valindingham seized one
of the pistols on the table and placing
it in the position he had described.
pulled the trigger. To the horror and
CONSERVATION Of his brother counsel,
the weapon exploded and Valinding-
ham fell to the floor mortally wound
ed shot exactly I'm the same portion Of
the body as the murdered man, or the
man the State claimed was murdered
by Mcclellan.
1t would be impossible for the people
of to-day to realize the impression Val
inginghams death caused throughout
Ohio. and, indeed, the nation at large
BY the legal profession he was regard
ed as a martyr in his clicnts cause
the old aboiitiOnists saw i'm his death
the hand of Providence while the De-
mOcracy of the State keenly felt his
loss His thousands Of personal friends
mourned his untimely death, and the
South he had so gallantly stood up
for passed resolutions Of condolences,
and in every way manifested its sor-
row for his death and its gratitude for
his services. Mcclellan was acquitted
as his counsel only too realistically es-
tablished his innocence, or at least the
correctness of his theory Of the death
of McGehan's victim. The latter was
assassinated subsequently, and sup
posedly by his victims friends, who
shot him through the window Of his
saloon while behind his counter.
re son Of this champion Of the
South, Charles Valindingham was
twice elected to the Ohio legislature,
was subsequently elected clerk of the
Ohio senate and went back on the Dem.
ocratic party i'm a crisis and drifted
into the Republican camp as a report
er on the Cincinnati Commentaries
zette We have heard young Valinding.
ham and the son of Stephen A. Doug
las speak from the same platform in
advocacy of the Republican party and
candidate in the city of Columbus!
LOngstreet, MOseby and other gallant
COnfederates doing the same thing was
not half the shock to the rockribbed
Democracy Of Ohio as that the sons
OF Douglas and Valindingham should
have repudiated the memories of two
such historic characters as Stephen A.
Douglas and Clement L. Valindingham.
The story told by Mr.. Cause, in his
proposed book, is substantially as fol
lows
THE 30 days leave having expired,
I returned to camp Chase, and was
treated to a surprise when Sergeant
Harris informed me that a raid had
been recently planned to clean out the
Sentinel Office and invited me to join
the party.
The Sentinel was a sheet published
in Columbus by one c. l.. Valinding-
ham, the sentiments of which were an
tagonistic to the Union soldier When
the regiment was in Kansas some ed
itorials appeared in which the writer
expressed the wish that any soldier
that crossed Mason and Dixons line
would not live to return. The article
raised our ire, and some threats were
made at the time, and il appears that
some took 1t to heart so much as to put
the threats inO execution at the first
opportunity. Although / could see no
reason how anything Valindingham
might have said would affect us in any
way, but as there were others who
knew more about such matters, and
they belonged to the Second Ohio, /
was willing to help them get revenge.
1t was showing at the time, and | OBJ
served that It Is a bad night. He re-
piled, 1T is, but the leaders have been
waiting for the boys to return from
leave, and everything is now ready and
will be carried out tonight. The prin-
cipal reason being that we can pass the
guard and enter the city under the
guise Of q church party on Sunday
night, and evade detection by applying |
for a pass
After retreat, the usual call for vol |
unteers to form the church party was
made, and TO which none would re-
spond on such a bad night bu those un-
doretoudfnu fho gigni0canpn OF the |