The National tribune., 1909-05-13
THE ST. ALBANs AFFAIR.


Ex-Gov. Woodbury.. of Vermont,
joined with ex-Gov. Ormsbee, Roberts
Post and the veterans generally of Yer
mont in protesting against the invita-
ton extended to Bennett H. Young. Of
Louisville, to be present at the celebra-
ton of the Tercentenary of the discov-
cry of Lake Champlain. The criticisms
of the veterans have stung the commit
tee SO that it comes out with a long de-
fense of its action, in which 1t says.
1.-The ST. Albans raid certainly was a
deplorable affair. 1t brought taste of
the alarm and peril of actual warfare
right home to us here at the North
after We had ourselves been spreading
desolation and ruin, havoc, pillage.
slaughter. thruout the South. 1t has
been condemned as an act of irregu-
lar warfare by good authorities. but the
South sought to justify il as a measure
of retaliation. 1t must be recalled that
the Raid took place in the last des-
pairing months of the Confederacy
when the desperate leaders of the re-
bellion were ready to resort to almost
any means to bolster up their totter-
ing cause. The South was the seat of
the war and 1t had suffered long and
fearfully. 1t was afiame with the snirit
of sacrifice. women and men alike, and
no enterprise was too hazardous, no
undertaking too perilous. for the mar
tial spirit of young and old, Il only
there might be some chance that the
forlorn Iope might somehow infiict
damage upon the hated enemy.
Under these circumstances and in
the temper Of this memorable if me-
lancholy season, Young. a lad II years
old, with the graybeards and counsel
iors of the Confederacy behind him,
with the authority of the government
he had sworn to defend and preserve
behind him. undertook and executed
what he believed was a desperate act
of retaliation upon the foe that might
mean simply that he and his men were
sacrificed and nothing gained. 1t is not
difficult now, after all these forty
five years have passed, to understand
how Young at his age might have
glowed with patriotic ardor at the op-
portunity to signalize himself at such
great risk for the good, as he believed,
of his country. We may say that the
Raid was not a legitimate form of
making war, but the South was 6es-
perate and was ready to turn to any
thing in order to strike terror into
the North that had. after all, known
nothing of the real horrors of the war
that was waged SO far away. At all
events, ii is fair to assume that the
lad, with all that was behind him urg-
ing him to the task, did not believe
himself to be "a brigand. a pirate,
guerrilla at the time, and nothing in
his life since has ever suggested that
such was his nature. On the contrary,
We find that Bennett H. Young is
man OF conspicuous public service and
usefulness In his city and State, we
hnd that he enjoys high distinction
for his learning and talents; that, 50
Tar from being of the pirate type, he
IS the writer Of several books on reIi-
gious matters and has been given the
honorary degree of Master of Arts by
religious college and the degree of
Doctor of Laws by Tennessee unfver-
sity"
This does not go to the heart of the
matter at all. and "a lad 21 years old"
is far-fetched. Young was then of age
and accounted a man of legal ac-
countability. No matter what Mr..
Young is now. the raid upon st. Albans
was not an act of war, but had all the
aspects of foray for murder and rob-
berry. and 1t cannot take any other ap-
pearance in the minds of the younger
generation. 1t cannot be made to an
pear in any other light than the similar
high crimes and felonies committed by
such men as Quantrell, the Younger
brothers. the James brothers and other
The labored effort of the COM
mittee to make 1t appear in any other
light is wasted. The destruction that
the Union armies were committing in
the South was all directly in the nature
OK legitimate military operations, and
the efforts of every Union commander.
officer and right-thinking Union soldier.
were strongly directed to limiting such
destruction to strictly military purposes.
In no possible way could such a raid as
that upon st. Adams be connected with
awful militsTy operations. It belonged
absolutely to the class which DIR. Black |
ourn was conducting when he proposed |
o send infected clothing into New York |
and Philadelphia to start the yellow |
ever and smallpox in those cities. It |
vas destruction of life and property
without any compensatory effect In ad-
'ancing the Confederate cause.
As soon as these strong criticisms |
cached Mr.. Young he sent the follow
ng telegram to the st. Albans people. |
md the incident may now be regarded
Is closed:
Louisville, KY, May /, 1903.
IL. j. Alexander, st. Albans, Vt:
Il learn from the public prints that
'ome Grand Army Pest has criticized
he invitation from the people of st. /
Aioans to me to speak to them on the
occasion of the tercentenary celebra-
ion July 5. This invitation came to
ne unsolicited. 1t was accepted In the
pirit in which IL was sent I now beg
o withdraw my acceptance thereof.
Bennett H. Young"