The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1903-02-11
WAR STORIES.


a few weeks ago we published an
article that has been much read, cnti
tied STRAY Bits Of Confederate His
tory This week we give a fcwmnrr
"reminiscences Of the days Of tie Con-
fcdcracy. The date ha, lecn cullcJ
by Slr. b. Wells, who VA I'aced IN
charge Of the Confederate govcrD-
mcnt papers just ate: the close Of Tie
Civil War. Tho following is from The
records in the archives:
In 1866, I :hink it was, Congress
passed an act 20 reimburse Union men
in the South for their cotton and to-
bacco destroyed by United States
troops. The act provided that before
the claimants could recover for the loss
they must prove their loyalty to the
United States during the war. Tolivc
in the South and be loyal to the Union
cause through the terrible struggle was
an exceedingly trying ordeal to pass
through, but the proof was sine qua
non to a recovery. The act had hardly
been passed when claims began to
come rapidly to the Court Of Claims.
1t was astonishing how many loyal men
there had been in the South. and how
quiet they had been concerning their
loyalty during all the four years. They
had not annoyed their nearest neigh
bors with their r%ccitals Of it. They had
been very modest about it all the time.
The claims soon ran up to millions Of
dollars. The duty Of protecting the
interests Of the United States in these
trials dcvolvcd on the Attorney Gene
+, l.. The Department Ct Justice fur
A.shcd the Secretary of War the names
Of all tho claimants from the South.
The Secretary directed a search to be
made in the Confederate records to sec
If the claimants had been in the Con-
fcderate military or civi}scrvicc or had
taken an oath to support that cause,
or had over had any contract with it to
furnish supplies, or had cvcr written
letters giving the Confcdcracy infor-
nation, or expressing sentiments loyal
to the Southern cause or disloyal to
the United States. Any act or aid
and comfort to the Confederate gov
eminent, willingly given, was suf6-
cient to destroy the right to maintain
an action against tho United States.
In many cases tho applicants we're
found to be registered on the muster
Bolls Of the army as Confederate SOL
diers. All officers, of course, took
the oath to support that government.
Many others were found to have had
contracts with the C~onfederacy, and
the contracts and invoices were pro-
duced in court, to the ,ismay Of the
contractors. The original contracts
were found in the archives of the
C~onfederacy. Others had written let
tiers to the Southern government and
the tell-tale missives were found filed
in the records in our caro-, and came
forth from their hiding places to sit
In judgment on the claims Of their
authors. It was a terrible surpriee as
we'll as e bitter modification to the
claimants to have the letters appear
as witness against their authors. The
claimants supposed all such letters
we're destroyed until brought GU, in
evidence at the pivotal point Of u trial
Of the case. The defeat was always
overwhelming. A claimant must be a
first class intellectual athlete to rccov-
er from such o staggering blow, when
unexpectedly and clevcrly dealt. In
this way from four to FIVE million dol
lars were saved to the government by
the Confederate archives.
Time will not permit to 60 into de-
tails in more than one or two cases.
we'll remember the case Of q Mary
lander, Colonel NJ. He was a mar of
very pleasing manners, a smooth con-
SdIS GhihlDS II uOlC
to talk to a finish. He came to Wash
ington and fell into the good graccs
Of General Joe Hooker, General Burn
side and GeneralNeade. He was loud
in his protestations Of loyalty to the
Union cause. He was willing to risk
his valuable life for a consideration,
go south through our lines, make his
way through those of the enemy and
into Richmond and obtain information
of intended movements and plans Of
attack and campaign, which he prom
ised to give or send to Federal gene
rails at the nearest point. In short, he
desired to go forward and backward
from side TO eide and keep the Federal
army posted. For such a service he was
to be rewarded. In plain English, he
was a spy. His adroit ways and pleas