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A continuation of the crimes perpetrated on the innocent civilians of the South with a special focus on the State of Virginia.
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Details
A continuation of the crimes perpetrated on the innocent civilians of the South with a special focus on the State of Virginia.
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A continuation of the crimes perpetrated on the innocent civilians of the South with a special focus on the State of Virginia.
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During the Civil War, there were numerous reports of crimes and depredations committed by Union soldiers against the civilian population of Virginia. These included trespassing, pillaging, and attempts at burglary. Immigrants placed into the Union Army by Abraham Lincoln were involved in these crimes, as they had no connection to the country and were only interested in what they could gain. These crimes occurred even before the first major battle of the war. The Union Army failed to control these soldiers, and in some cases, officers were involved in plundering and destruction. Similar reports of depredations were also made in other states. The issue of crimes committed by Union soldiers was widespread and continued throughout the war. ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ� ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ First major battle of the war at First Manassas. Well, as most folks who actually keep up with the historical elements of the so-called Civil War, which was in fact our second war for independence in this country, the battle, first major land battle, was the Battle of First Manassas. The Yankees call it Bull Run. But the Battle of First Manassas did not occur until July, I think it was the 21st of 1861. And yet, as we look into the crimes against the civilian population of the state of Virginia, we find that the first mention of this, at least in the official records, comes from Arlington, Virginia on May the 29th, almost a full two months before the first major battle. And in that we have from Brigadier General Irvin McDowell, commanding the Department of Northeastern Virginia, and his report was issued to Brebbit Lieutenant General Winfield Scott, General-in-Chief of the United States Union Army. And I quote, there have been rumors of outrages committed by volunteers in Alexandria. Colonel Daniel Butterfield of the 12th New York has reported several cases of trespass, depredation, and attempts at burglary I'm sorry, in his vicinity. The Battalion of Georgetown, the District of Columbia, volunteers at the head of the Chain Bridge are acting harshly toward the inhabitants on this side. And then from McDowell on June the 4th, 1861, and he again advised Union Army headquarters, and I quote, the presence on this side of some Corps indifferently commanded has led to numerous acts of petty depredation, pillage, etc. Well, we're beginning to see here firsthand before the war even starts, about these immigrants that had been placed into the Union Army by Abraham Lincoln, because he didn't care if they were Marxist Communists, he didn't care what they were, as long as they could fill the ranks of his Union Army, of which he could use to destroy the South, which was his primary goal from the date of his election. And so here we are beginning to see crimes and depredations against the people, pillaging, and just absolute outrages against the people of Northern Virginia, before even the first battle. This tells us what happens when you put immigrants into uniforms, and give them weapons, and send them out to pillage and plunder, and because they have no connection to the country whatsoever. The only connection they have is what they're getting for free, or what someone is paying them, and almost immediately we see that the Union Army absolutely has no control of these people, and we know what we'll get into later on with other states, is that Abraham Lincoln not only didn't care that this was going on, he actually promoted it. So let's jump to July the 18th, which is just, you know, five days before the first major battle, and McDowell again at Fairfax Courthouse in Virginia, during the advance of his army through Fairfax Courthouse, Fairfax Railroad Station, and Germantown, towards Centerville, in the first Bull Run campaign, notified Union Army headquarters, and I quote again, I have to report excess by our troops. The excitement of the men found vent in burning and pillaging, unquote. The same day, in General Order Number 18, he communicated to all officers and enlisted men in his command, and I quote, hardly had we arrived at this place when several houses were broken open and others were in flames by the act of our Union soldiers, unquote. Folks, this was not something that began with William Tecumseh Sherman. This is something that began even before the first major battle. Well, looking also into the month of June, at Fort Monroe, Major General Benjamin F. Butler, commanding the Department of Virginia, on June the 4th, telegraphed to General Winfield Scott, and I quote, volunteer troops seem to have adopted the theory that all property of the inhabitants of the South are subject to plunder. The outrages to be investigated are very grave, unquote. Brigadier General William S. Rosecrans, commanding the Army of Occupation in Western Virginia, which is now West Virginia, at Clarksburg, on July the 28th, now this is after the first battle, naturally, in General Orders Number Three, stated to his command, and I quote, numerous instances of plunder by Teamsters in the employment of the U.S. Quartermaster's Department and others of citizens along the train routes have been reported or discovered, and we continue on. Colonel Rush C. Hawkins of the 9th New York, Commandant of Fort Clark, reported, and I quote, conduct of the men and some of the officers of the 20th New York has been that of vandals. They have plundered and destroyed. The next day, they commenced breaking open private homes and stores, and I saw party after party come in, some of them headed by highly commissioned officers, loaded down with the results of their plundering. Also on that day, Colonel Hawkins wired this information to Major General John E. Wool, Department of Virginia at Fort Monroe. On September 9th, Wool reported, and I quote, I am recalling Colonel Max Weber's German Regiment, the 20th New York, much complained of by the inhabitants for depredations and various outrages upon them. Then we have an order from General McClellan on October the 1st, which was General Order Number 19, and I quote, the attention of the General has been directed to depredations of an atrocious character that have been committed upon the persons and property of the citizens in Virginia by the troops under his command. The property of inoffensive people has been lawlessly and violently taken from them. Their houses have been broken open, and in some instances even burned to the ground. Pardon for that little break there, folks, my bad, but to get back to Brigadier General Henry W. Slocum, 2nd Brigade, reported from Alexandria, Virginia, on October the 6th, details of an expedition on October the 3rd to Pohik Church, 12 miles southwest of Alexandria, with the objective of capturing a body of Confederate cavalry at Pohik Church. The expedition was commanded by Colonel William H. Christian, 26th New York, and the force consisted of 300 infantry from the regiments of the 2nd Brigade and one company of cavalry. In his report, Slocum would write, and I quote, the expedition proved an entire failure, and what is still more annoying to me and disgraceful to my command is the fact that instead of being marched back to the camp in good order, a large portion of the command was allowed to disband beyond our line of pickets, and this force was converted into a band of marauders who plundered alike Union sympathizers and Confederates. Well, General also, General William S. Rosecrans, again in Wheeling in northwestern Virginia, of course now that's West Virginia, on March 4th, 1862, wrote to Congressman Frank P. Blair, Jr., who was chairman of the military committee, and I quote, owing to the negligence of officers or their inability to control the men under their command, much property has been unnecessarily destroyed by the troops in this department. Fences and houses have been burned, horses have been seized and appropriated without authority or warrant of necessity. Claims for property so taken or destroyed we are almost daily presented to me. So this was standard operating procedure for the Union Army. Well, to continue on here, Major General Ormsby W. Mitchell, 3rd Division, Army of the Ohio, Camp Taylor, near Huntsville, north Alabama, he sent a notice to Secretary of War Stanton, and it's mixed up here with Virginia, which I'm trying to concentrate on, so I apologize for that mistake. We'll get back to that one. Those are very important as well, but I'm trying to center and focus on the depredations and the intolerable evil that was brought to the citizens, the innocent citizens of the state of Virginia. But Brigadier General Rufus King, Commanding Division of Major General Irvin McDowell's 1st Corps, McClellan's Army of the Potomac, on April the 7th, 1862, at Bristow, Virginia, 30 miles southwest of Washington, issued General Order Number 36, and I quote, Numerous complaints have reached division headquarters this morning of depredations committed upon peaceable and undefending citizens by the troops in this command. This evil has grown to be intolerable. Well, was it intolerable for the command structure of the Union Army and the Commander-in-Chief? Obviously not. Now, moving into another example, on May 16th, 1862, Colonel Herman Haupt at Potomac Creek near Acquia Creek Station, northeast Virginia, sent a dispatch to General McDowell, and I quote, Gorillas are forming in various parts of the country provoked by rapes and other crimes committed by Union men. Cases have occurred in this vicinity recently of an aggravated character. Now, on the same date, McDowell, Department of the Rappahannock, opposite Fredericksburg, Virginia, threatened in General Order Number 12, and I quote, Some of the few men among us who are evilly disposed have attempted the commission of a crime which will justly draw upon the troops' universal condemnation. The punishment for rape will be death, and any violence offered a female, white or colored, with the intent to commit a rape will be considered as one and punished accordingly. Well, how wonderful that is, but we will see that none of those orders were ever carried out, especially in Athens, Alabama. Now, here is another good one. Later in a court of inquiry into charges against General McDowell in Washington, during testimony of Brigadier General Herman Haupt about events while he was in charge of rebuilding the Acquia and Fredericksburg Railroad from the Potomac to Falmouth, McDowell questioned him, and I quote, What acts of violence on the women of the country came to your knowledge near Fredericksburg? Haupt's reply, and I quote, I reported one case which occurred within three miles of Potomac Bridge. A rape was committed upon the daughter of a farmer who had rendered me material assistance in securing timber. I inquired of the parents in regards to the facts, and found out that the act had been perpetrated by one of the numerous stragglers from our command who was passing through the country, and from these ravages not a single farmhouse in the vicinity of the road was exempt except when heavily guarded, and not always even then. Wow, these examples, guys, it's just, you know, it curls my toes in so many ways to think about what was done to those innocent people. War perpetrated on innocent civilians is a crime of the most heinous nature. But let's take another look here on August 27th. Colonel Dixon S. Miles from Harpers Ferry, Virginia notified Major General John E. Wool, 8th Army Headquarters in Baltimore, and I quote, I telegraphed to you this morning the capture of Captain Samuel C. Means Company, the Loudon Rangers of the Union, surprised while sleeping in a church at Waterford in Loudon County, Virginia, fourteen miles southeast of this by about a hundred and fifty rebel cavalry. Means Company, lately raised without discipline, has committed all kinds of depredation on the inhabitants, living on their plunder, taking what they pleased, and when it suited them, until the arrival of the Confederate troops in this vicinity brought about retaliation. Now let's take a look at another one here. Major General John A. Dix, Department of Virginia, 7th Army Corps, Fort Monroe, on November the 26th, communicated to Brigadier General Michael Corcoran, commanding at Newport News, and I quote, a complaint has been made to me that the colored people who are to go to Craney Island have been forced to remain all night on the wharf without any shelter and without food, and that one has died, and that others are suffering with disease, and that your men have turned them out of their houses which they have built for themselves, and have robbed even them of their money and personal effects. Oh, so the war was over slavery, and we have these crimes committed by Union forces against even the blacks in the South, and you want to tell me about that wonderful Yankee virtue. Looking further, we will find that Brigadier General Robert H. Milroy, Chief Mountain Division in Petersburg, West Virginia, in November of 1862 issued some drastic orders that applied to Moorfield, Virginia and vicinity, and to Hardy County, West Virginia. Obeying these orders, Captain Horace Kellogg of the 123rd Ohio, commanding post St. George Tucker in St. George Tucker County, Virginia, near the Shenandoah Mountains, on November the 28th, notified Mr. Job Parsons, son of Abraham Parsons, and I quote, Sir, in consequence of robberies upon Union citizens by guerrillas, you are assessed fourteen dollars and twenty-five cents, and upon your failure to comply, the following order will be executed. For example, if they fail to pay, their houses will be burned and themselves shot, and their property all seized, and be sure that you carry out the threat rigidly. You will inform the inhabitants for ten or fifteen miles around your camp, on all the roads approaching the town upon which the enemy may approach, that they must dash in and give you notice, and that upon failure of anyone to do so, their houses will be burned and the men shot, by the order of Brigadier General R.H. Milroy. So here, folks, those wonderful Yankees were ordering the faithful citizens, the civilians of Virginia, to report to the Union army when the opposing forces might be approaching them, and then warning them that if they did not do so, that their houses would be burned and all of the men would be shot. Civilized warfare, and we are told those wonderful Union Yankees went south to stop the terrible institution of slavery. Yeah, sure they did. Ironically, in regard to these orders, the, you know, Union General-in-Chief Henry Halleck wrote on January the 15th, 1863, and I quote, Brigadier General Milroy had no authority to issue these orders which are deemed in violation of the laws of war, unquote. And then William Rosecrans in Nashville, Tennessee, on December the 3rd, 1862, threatened in General Orders Number 30, and I quote, officers and soldiers are warned not to straggle, go into homes, abuse the inhabitants, or commit any depredations. Such conduct shall not be tolerated. It shall no longer go unpunished. But it did. It not only went unpunished, it went rewarded by none other than King Abe I. Now, folks, while this one isn't specifically about Virginia, I think it needs to be repeated in every lesson that I do. And commenting on the Antietam campaign in September, the New York World Issue of December the 15th, 1862, reported, and I quote, the ragged, half-starved rebels passed through Maryland without any disorder or marauding, without one injury to the country, showing their excellent discipline. And then, the well-fed, well-clothed Union soldiers of McClellan's Army of the Potomac laid waste everything before them, plundering houses, hen roosts, and hog pens, showing an utter want of discipline. So, obviously, folks, the Union commanders, well, many of them were Marxist, too, and they didn't care. So, even the Marxist troops, these immigrants that were put into the Union Army, even they disobeyed any command not to commit crimes against the civilian population. And, of course, obviously, in many instances, which we are going to read here, not only was it these immigrants, but they seemed to influence those wonderful Yankees with them. And I also think, even though this one is not specifically Virginia, I think it is critically important to what we are learning here, and that was General William Rosecrans, commanding the Army of the Cumberland in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, on January the 11th, 1863, sent a report to Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, and I quote, the crimes of murder, arson, rape, and others are increasing, and the power to check them by inflicting the penalty of death is a complete nullity. For, with the delays necessary to get them a regular court-martial trial, and then holding them until the matter is reviewed and approved by the President, such time elapses that the troops are often relieved by necessity and the culprits escape punishment. And, again, this goes to the command, the total lack of discipline in the command, but let's look at all of the Marxists that Lincoln put into positions, not only as high-ranking generals, but also in the command structure, a number of lieutenant colonels and colonels and others were also Marxist, many of them with no connections whatsoever to this country, prior to migrating here because they were facing trials in England and other parts of Europe for their criminal activities there. So, General Dix at Fort Monroe, Virginia, on February the 19th, 1863, sent a wire to Major General John Peck of Suffolk, Virginia, and he said, Colonel Charles C. Dodge, 1st Battalion, New York, mounted rifles, has allowed, with impunity, his men to plunder the entire country. And now we go to Lieutenant Commander Charles A. Babcock of the USS Morse, off the coast of West Point at Marapanee River in Virginia, on May the 24th, 1863, reported to Acting Rear Admiral Samuel P. Lee, North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, and I quote, Yesterday, four miles below West Point, on the right bank of the York River, Rebel artillery opened fire on the U.S. mail boat Swan, while on her passage up from Yorktown. Armed crews from the Morse went on shore and burned 12 houses in the vicinity, three of which were full of corn, three were full of bacon, and three outhouses, and three dwelling houses. So, if the Union Army were actually confronted by Confederate forces, the Union Army took out their revenge, if you will, against the innocent civilians, burning their homes and what have you. What a bunch of frickin' cowards. And then we begin to understand, as we will see as we move along, that many times the depredations, the crimes against the civilians, were actually orders from higher command. And here's a great example. Colonel William H. Powell of the 2nd West Virginia Cavalry at Libby Prison in Richmond, Virginia, on September the 30th, 1863, wrote to Confederate Major General Samuel Jones in the Department of West Virginia at Dublin, Virginia, and I quote, burning the houses and barns of Austin Hanley and James A. Themester near Lewisburg in Greenbrier County, southern West Virginia, northeast of Bluefield, on January the 9th or the 10th in 1863, was done by an order issued by Brigadier General George Crook to J. John C. Paxton, Colonel, 2nd West Virginia Cavalry, and was transmitted to me by Colonel Paxton. Said property was fired and destroyed by my order. Well, folks, this one is not Virginia, so I'm going to skip out here, but I think this needs to be made public, especially in today's world about all of us crazy, racist rebels in the South. And this one, again, from the National Archives. Lieutenant Colonel Augustus W. Benedict, 4th Infantry, the Corps d'Afrique, was charged with cruelty to Negro soldiers under his command during a period of over four months at Baton Rouge at Fort St. Philip and at Fort Jackson, Louisiana, that culminated in a mutiny of the Black troops on December the 9th, 1863, at Fort Jackson. The record of the military commission that convened on December the 12th at Fort Jackson includes the testimony of Major William E. Nye, 4th Infantry, of the Corps d'Afrique. The soldiers whipped on December 9th were the two drummer boys named Harry Williams and Monroe Miller, with a mule whip, such as used on carts, a whip with a stock and a lash." And then from Captain James Miller, from the 4th Infantry, the Corps d'Afrique, which is the African Corps. I hope I'm pronouncing that correctly. But here is his direct testimony, and I quote, I have seen Benedict in August at Fort St. Philip spread a black man out on his back, drive stakes down and spread out his hands and legs, take off his shoes and then take molasses and spread it all over his face, hands and feet. Lieutenant Colonel Benedict ordered this punishment and was present for its execution. The man lay there a whole day and was put out again the next day. I have seen him strike men on other occasions, meaning the Commander Benedict. I have seen him strike men on parole, on parade, without any cause. It was a common thing among his Corps. So when have we ever heard about the terrible treatment of black soldiers? Oh, we've seen all of the wonderful movies about how they did this and how they did that. But has any of them contained the truth like this that is contained in the National Archives? Well, here, let's look at another one since we're on this path right now. First Lieutenant George H. Kimball, regimental adjutant of the 4th Infantry of the Corps d'Afrique, swore in testimony, and I quote, on August the 7th at Baton Rouge, when officer of the Guard, I was ordered by General Benedict to take two men, have their shoes and stockings taken off, and to lay them on the ground and stake them and cover their feet, faces, and hands with molasses. He told me to keep them there during the day and the night and said he did not care if I kept them there until they all died. They belonged to Company B. I understood him at the time that the men had been stealing some corn to roast. Captain William H. Knapp, Company A, 4th Infantry of the Corps d'Afrique, recounted, and I quote, on October 19th, I was officer of the day, and Private Joseph L. Francis of my company did not dress properly, and Benedict took the sergeant's sword and struck him in the face. I have frequently seen Benedict at Fort St. Philip, at guard mounting, striking men in the face with his fist and kicking them because their brass was not bright or their boots were not polished. The military commission on board the steamer Suffolk on the Mississippi found that during the mutiny at Fort Jackson, one man, one black Union soldier proposed to, and I quote, kill all of those damned Yankees, unquote. A general court-martial at Fort Jackson, December 17th to 19th, found Benedict guilty of inflicting cruel and unusual punishment and to be dismissed from the service. Well, unlike Colonel Turchin, he didn't get promoted to general after his court-martial, did he? Oh, and now back to Virginia. General George G. Meade of the Army of the Potomac, north of the Rappahannock River in Virginia, on August the 8th of 1863, wrote to Major General Alfred Pleasanton, Cavalry Corps, and I quote, I inquire by what authority the several cavalry commands arrest citizens living within our lines, against whom there is absolutely no evidence whatsoever of having been engaged or committing in any depredations or even in aiding those engaged in such a practice, but who merely decline to take an oath of allegiance to Abraham Lincoln and the Union Army. Well, folks, I also have to throw in these wonderful comments by that wonderful William Tecumseh Sherman and his, you know, his wonderful history, and of course, how many people know that in the north, prior to the war, he was on a list of approved communists. Well, this should reach the exact point here. Major General John J. Peck, Army and District of North Carolina in New Bern, on September the 11th, 1863, issued General Order Number 14, and I quote, Complaints have reached the General of depredations upon private property by white and colored troops, unquote. But here's the good one. William Tecumseh Sherman, on September the 17th, sent a letter to General-in-Chief Henry Halleck, and I quote, The United States has the right and the power to penetrate to every part of the national domain. We will remove and destroy every obstacle, if need be, take every life, every acre of land, every particle of property, everything to us that seems proper. We will not cease until the end is attained. If the people of the south oppose us in our mission, they will do so at their own peril. Then, Sherman in Memphis, on October the 10th, 1863, wrote again to General Halleck, and I quote, I have your telegram saying the President has read my letter and thought it should be published. I profess to fight for but one single purpose, to sustain a government capable of vindicating its just and rightful authority, independent of niggers, cotton, money, or any other earthly interest. Now, this one does have a connecting connection to Virginia, but, uh, well, this one is something else too. General Benjamin F. Butler, 18th Army Corps, Department of Virginia and North Carolina, at Fort Monroe, on December the 31st, wrote to Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, and I quote, General Wilde was dispatched, by my order, upon an expedition with regiments of colored troops into the northeastern counties of North Carolina. Wilde took the most stringent measures, burning the property of some of the officers of guerrilla parties, and seizing the wives of families of others as hostages for his negroes that were captured, and appears to have done his work with great thoroughness, but perhaps with too much stringency. I think we are much indebted to General Wilde and his negro troops for what they have done." Unquote. And then, on January the 10th of 1864, General Benjamin Butler wrote to Mrs. Elizabeth T. Upshur, a citizen of Franktown, Virginia, and I quote, The negro soldiers at Elizabeth City did nothing but what they were ordered to do, that we had to burn the houses and carry away the families of the guerrillas is most true, but all of it was done under our orders. So folks, when and how did it change, do you think? When did it change from being depredations by the soldiers to being ordered by the commanders, or was it actually ordered by the commanders from the very beginning? These pillaging, the rapes of black and white women, it didn't matter. Burning their homes, and if they were fired upon by opposing forces, then they burned the homes of civilians. How can anyone in any way, at any time, ever consider the Union Army the Union Army to have a thimble full of honor or integrity? Not once, and that was because the leadership had not an ounce of integrity either. Now this one too has no direct connection to Virginia, but again, it's one of those that just absolutely needs to be read, and it needs to be heard. And General Granville Dodge, a very close friend of Abraham Lincoln, on November the 27th sent a message to Colonel Henry R. Meisner of the 14th Michigan Mounted Cavalry, commanding Columbia, Tennessee, 38 miles southwest of Nashville, and I think what he put into that message is very, very relevant. He says, I regret that any of my soldiers should have been guilty of acts in violation of the laws of war. My orders are that my troops shall live upon this country, but it must be done in an orderly and legitimate manner. I propose to eat up all of the surplus, and perhaps the entire crops in this country, take all of their serviceable stock, mules, horses, etc., so that when we leave here, no rebel army, if it should ever get here, will be able to live for even a day. These people are proud, arrogant rebels. The hands of all federal officers should fall justly but heavily upon them, so that they should respect us, not from love, for they never will do that, but from the fear of the power of our government. If they bring it to me freely, I will pay for it, but if I have to go get it, I never pay. This one, again, comes from the wonderful William Tecumseh Sherman, who was commanding the Department of the Tennessee at Vicksburg on January the 31st of 1864, and he advised Major Roswell M. Sawyer, Assistant Adjutant General in Huntsville, Alabama, and again, I realize, not Virginia, but it covered the whole South, in his comment, the government of the United States has in North Alabama any and all rights which they choose to enforce in war, to take the lives, the homes, the lands, everything, because war does exist there, and war is simply power unrestrained by any constitution or compact. To the petulant and persistent secessionists, why, death is mercy, and the quicker he or she is disposed of, the better. Satan and the rebellious saints of heaven were allowed a continuous existence in hell merely to swell their just punishment. To such as would rebel against a government so mild and just as ours was in peace, a punishment equal would not be unjust. I think it's also important that we make public the fact that they all talked about how the uh colored troops, how they joined the Union Army, you know, to fight for their freedom. Well, a crazy thing that comes to mind is how can you fight for your freedom if your freedom is taken away from you by forcing you to join a military? And Major General John A. Logan of the 15th Corps of the Army of the Tennessee on February the 26th in Huntsville, Alabama, sent a message to Ulysses S. Grant in Nashville, and I quote, he says, a major of colored troops is here with his party capturing all the Negroes in sight and putting them into our army with or without their consent. They are simply being conscripted. Freedom? They were a war for freedom? Yeah, okay. Here again is another great quote from these official records, and of course we were never told about this, but here it is. Colonel Ignatz G. Kattner, 2nd U.S. Heavy Artillery, colored, commanding Fort Pickering near Memphis on April the 7th of 1864, reported to Brigadier General Ralph P. Buckland in the District of Memphis, and I quote, the White Cavalry broke en masse into the camps of the colored women and are committing all sorts of outrages against these women. The Black is made a man by being trusted with arms, but it's going to be very hard for a man to see his family abused and not to use them against these men who are raping their women. Yes, it was all about freeing the Black, wasn't it? An expedition from Yorktown into Matthews and Middlesex counties in Virginia on March the 17th to March the 21st of 1864 was commanded by Colonel Samuel A. Duncan of the 4th U.S. Colored Troops, commanding brigade comprised of the 4th U.S. Colored Troops, Lieutenant Colonel George Rogers, and the 6th U.S. Colored Troops under Colonel John W. Ames. Rogers on March the 29th reported, and I quote, on March the 18th the men began to consider the expedition of a kind of a plundering foray. By March the 21st the tendency of the expedition to demoralize the men had grown strong. Oh, and then there's those wonderful contraband camps of which so little has been told, where probably at least, I think, up to a half a million Blacks died in those wonderful contraband camps. But here is one on a notice in Virginia, and it says, Major General William F. Smith, commanding the U.S. troops at Gloucester Point and Yorktown, Virginia on April the 23rd, 1864, sent a telegram to General Benjamin Butler at Fort Monroe, and I quote, send me the best regiment of colored troops you have to guard these contraband camps in this vicinity as the white soldiers have been committing all forms of rapes and depredations upon the Black women who are in those camps. Now here's one, folks, I wish to throw in simply because it came from a figure that most Americans have heard of, and this came from Kit Carson, Colonel Christopher Carson of the 1st New Mexico Cavalry. On June the 11th, and he wrote to General C.B. Fisk, and I quote, there is a company commanded by one Captain Fish. I will say with all candor they are the worst set of men I have ever seen. Most of them are drunkards, gamblers, whorehouse pimps, thieves, murderers, house burners, and Captain Fish is as mean a man as I have ever known. Captain Irvin Fish enrolled Missouri militia into the Union Army, commanded a company of two officers and 50 enlisted men. He had been placed on duty on June the 3rd and stationed in Buckhannon County, District of Northern Missouri. Even people like Kit Carson, but of course, you know, a year later, Kit Carson is doing the same thing that he just complained about to the Navajos in New Mexico. Well, during operations on the south side of the James River in Virginia, the Army of the James advanced to Bermuda 100 and Brigadier General August B. Kautz's Cavalry Division raided the Petersburg and Weldon Railroad May the 5th to the 11th in 1864, and the Richmond and Danville Railroad May the 12th to the 17th. Kautz, near Point of Rocks, reported these raids to General Benjamin Butler, commanding the Department of Virginia, North Carolina, and the Army of the James, and I quote, I deplore a disposition to pillage and plunder on the part of some of the men and a want of proper officering on the part of some of the officers to check this tendency. There seems to be a looseness of sentiment in this respect to the command. Kautz's Division was comprised of the 1st Brigade, Colonel Simon H. Mix, 3rd New York Cavalry, and 2nd Brigade, Colonel Samuel P. Spear, 11th Pennsylvania Cavalry. Now, moving forward through this, I hope to stay on Virginia, and I would give much credit for my notes and the depredations and what was happening to Virginia, and I would highly recommend much of this can be found in a book by Michael Andrew Grissom, which is called American Terrorist, Lincoln's Armies in the South. So I will be drawing heavily from that in the rest of my presentation here. So first, let's start with a quote from General Philip Sheridan of the Union Army, and he said, and I quote, Mosby has annoyed me and captured a few wagons. We hung one and shot six of his men yesterday. I have burned all of the wheat and hay and have brought off all stock, sheep, cattle, horses, etc., south of Winchester. Unquote. Well, there was a Mrs. Cornelia Peake McDonald. Very interesting story here. Ms. McDonald lived with her children in Winchester, Virginia, a town which changed hands several times during the war. Her husband, upon leaving with the Stonewall Brigade, expected the town to be occupied by Union forces immediately, and consequently requested that his wife keep a diary while he was away. Not only was Winchester occupied, but her own home was commandeered as headquarters for the Union Army forces. In March of 1862, she dutifully begins her diary. The following excerpts were extracted from a very long and informative account of the indignities suffered by the people in wartime Virginia. And so here we have from her diary. No one had been allowed to go to the battlefield the night before, though many had begged to be permitted to carry relief to the wounded. No one knew who was dead or who was lying out in that chilly rain, suffering and famishing for the help that was so near, and would have been so willingly given, but for that barbarous order that no relief should be sent from the town. No eyes closed during those nights for the thought of the suffering faces turned up under the dark sky, or for the dying groans or helpless cries of those they were powerless to help. Not until the Federal dead were all buried on the field and their wounded brought in, which occupied nearly two days, were our people allowed to go to the relief of our wounded. Then, no doubt, many had perished who could have been saved had timely relief been given. Our people buried our own dead. Such confusion reigned in my house that it was impossible for me to do anything to stem the tide of these Yankee soldiers crowding in and out and back and forth. The hall, the rooms, and even the kitchen were thronged with Union soldiers. I tried to get into the kitchen to get some supper for my children, but I had to give it up. So Mary and I took our little ones and went upstairs for the night. The next morning I went down, determined at all hazards, to have some breakfast for my family. My heart sunk as I beheld the scene that awaited me down those stairs. Mud, mud, mud was everywhere, over and on and in everything. No colors were visible on our carpets. Wet, great coats hung dripping on every chair, and great pools of water under them where they hung. I went to the hall door and looked out at the lawn. I would never have recognized it. A sea of deep mud had taken the place of the lovely green. Horses and mules were feeding under the trees, many of which had been stripped of bark as far up as the animals could reach. Wagons were tilted up with lazy men around them laughing and joking. I turned from the sight and went into the dining room where there was a scene almost as irritating and wretched. Stretched out on a lounge, pale and ill, lay the man who had been hurt. The lounge was drawn close to the fire, and seated around were several more men who never moved or looked up at my entrance. One had hung his great coat on the back of a large rocking chair before the fire to dry, and another was scraping the mud from his boots over the handsome bright carpet, or what had been so the day before. Then we moved to an entry into the diary in June. They have begun to tear down Mr. Mason's house. All day axe and hammer are at work demolishing that pleasant, happy home. I saw the roof taken off today. That roof, the shelter of which had never been denied to the homeless, and whose good and gifted owners had never withheld their sympathy from any who were sad and suffering. Then to a December 24th entry. Someone told me that the robbers were in the kitchen carrying off all of our things, and I went and found it full of men. One took up a tray of cakes, and as I turned to rescue them, Mary the servant pulled my sleeve to show something else they were carrying off, and when I turned to him, another seized something else till I was nearly wild. At least, at last, Mary said, Miss Cornelia, he's got your rusks, light-softened sweet biscuits. A man had opened the stove and taken out the pan of nice light brown biscuits, and was running out of the house with them. A fit of heroism seized me, and I darted after him, and just as he reached the porch steps, I caught him by the collar of his greatcoat and held him tight till the hot pan burned his hands, and he was forced to drop it. Then to January of 1863. General Milroy is screwing the engine tighter every day. One night he will not let us buy anything, another he forbids more than two female rebels to talk together on the street. He now employs spies to enter houses and report what the women talk about, or if the children play with any Confederate flags, or make any mention of Jeff Davis. The most sickening sight of all. Yankee ladies in dainty riding habits, hats and plumes, pace by as if the ground they passed over was their own, and chatting with their bows, glance around at us as if they chanced to see us, as if we were intruders in their domain. I confess I feel wicked then, resentful and vengeful. I would be glad at those times if our artillery could, from some near point, sweep them all away. Then on January the 19th. Daily, hourly, there is something to annoy. Soldiers stalk in and out of my house at their pleasure, for in the front room, that was my husband's, a meek-eyed old quartermaster has his abode, an inoffensive old creature that I permitted to come in the hope of keeping away the offensive ones. But the strain, the excitement and irritation is so great that if I hear a footstep on the porch my heart palpitates violently, and I tremble all over in apprehension of intrusion, or of something being done to offend or irritate, or worse, that messengers are come to force me to leave my own home. On March the 7th, the last Congress clothed Lincoln with the military power of the whole nation, allowed him to suspend the writ of habeas corpus, and placed all of the finances of the country into his hands, obliterated all state lines, and abolished all state militias. On April the 7th, the whole town has been shocked and outraged by Milroy's treatment of Mrs. Logan. He wanted her elegant house for his own headquarters, and Cooley gave her orders to vacate it and her entire family. They demurred, as was natural, and Mrs. Logan and her daughters were ordered to a room in the house, where they were kept close prisoners all day, without even a morsel of food from their own stores. And at evening, a rude wagon was sent to the door, the ladies put into it and driven six miles out of town, where they were set down by the roadside, destitute of everything. Her son was imprisoned in the guardhouse. As Mrs. Logan left her house, Mrs. Milroy entered smilingly, and as she did so, Mrs. Logan's keys were handed her with the information that in the future they belonged to the Union Army. April 10. Went in town this afternoon and saw an ambulance drawn up in front of Milroy's headquarters, filled with ladies and children and one gentleman. They looked sad and wearied. I passed on in returning, found them getting out at Mrs. Sherrard's door. Five ladies, three children, and one gentleman. They were Mrs. Stewart, Mrs. James, and another lady, sent out of Baltimore for disloyalty. Ladies are daily dragged from their homes, and the protection of their male relatives, and hurried off to a strange land without even clothes to wear. Today a young girl, a teacher in Mrs. Eichelberger's school, wrote a note to a friend in town, which was intercepted on its way and read by a detective. It contained some comment on Milroy's doings and was reported to him. This evening the young lady was sent out of their lines six or eight miles out of town, and there just simply left by the roadside to find what friends and shelter she might. April 14. Today Milroy sent Mrs. Mary McGill out of the lines, thinking it perfectly right and safe to write a letter to a northern lady, an officer's wife, who had been nursing her sick husband in Mrs. McGill's house, and whom she liked very much. She discanted rather imprudently on Milroy's treatment of the citizens. At five o'clock in the afternoon a detective drove up and demanded Miss Mary put her in a buggy and driving five miles out of town, set her down by the roadside without a house or a human being in sight, and then turned and drove back to town. April 15. Mary McGuire is dying of consumption and languishing in the close air of the town. All requests to have her removed to the country have been refused. I heard today that Milroy had said that every house was to be burned, the owners of which had sent their slaves into Confederate lines for safekeeping. Miss Taylor House was one that was to be burned. May 22. Moore, the captain of the Jesse Scouts, was yesterday captured by our men. Today they sent and took George Ward and his little brother prisoners to be held as hostages for Moore's safety. Him, who they knew, deserves hanging. George is the age of Harry and his little brother about ten. They are now shut up in the prison with all sorts of evil men. June 9. Today Dr. Baldwin was ordered to pay wages to a negro whom he had hired from his master. He refused to do it, saying the money was due the master and not the man. When Milroy had him seized and sent out of the lines with his wife at an hour's notice, his house and all of his furniture had been seized and confiscated. Then in June of 1864, the Virginia Military Institute, with all the professors' houses, was set on fire, and the distracted families amid the flames were rushing about, trying to save some of their things, when they were forced to leave them, officers standing by for the purpose. Not even their books and papers could they save, and scarcely any clothes. Colonel Williamson, the only Confederate officer of the Institute who remained in the village, and he had to keep quiet and say nothing when his daughters were driven from their house and all its contents burned. Even the old black mahogany desk, where hidden away was a yellow lock of his wife's hair and her letters, which he had tied up with a blue ribbon. This, one of his daughters told me, was the greatest loss of all. All the warehouses at the river, all the mills and buildings nearby were burned, all in flames at the same hour, and it really seemed as if the evil one had been set loose to work his will that day. The town people were so frightened that few dared to show themselves in the streets, and the Yankees and the exultant Negroes had their full satisfaction. Negroes were seen scuttling away in all directions, bearing away the spools of the burning houses. Books, furniture, tanks, trunks full of the clothes of the absent cadets were among their spoils. We were told that they would leave on Tuesday, which we rejoiced at, and when the time arrived the signal was given to depart. Some had already gone, when on looking down the street in the direction of Governor Lecter's house I saw that it was on fire. I instantly put on my bonnet and ran down there to help Mrs. Lecter as I was able, for though many persons were in town who knew her better than I did, none dared to leave their houses. I was too used to their ways to be afraid of them any more, and so in breathless haste got there in time to see the house enveloped in flames. Mrs. Lecter had consented to entertain two officers at her house that she had been civilly asked to do. They had spent the night and eaten breakfast with the family, sociably chatting all the while. When they rose from breakfast, one of them, Captain Berry, informed Mrs. Lecter that he would immediately set fire to her house. He took a bottle of benzene or some inflammable liquid, and pouring it on the sofas and curtains in the lower rooms, applied a match, and then proceeded upstairs. Mrs. Lecter, as soon as she became aware of his purpose, ran upstairs in snatching her sleeping baby from the cradle, rushed from the house with it, leaving everything she had to the flames. Lizzie ran upstairs and went into her father's room to seize some of his clothes, and had hung over her arm some of his linen. When Captain Berry came up near her with a lighted match and set fire to the clothes as they were hung on her arm, he then gathered all the family clothes, embedding into a pile in the middle of the room, and set fire to them all. When I reached the scene, Mrs. Lecter was sitting on a stone in the street with her baby on her lap sleeping, and her other little children gathered around. She sat tearless and calm, but it was a pitiful group, sitting there with their burning house, for a background in the picture. Some officers who had stayed all night at Mr. Matthew White's and breakfast there had, in reply to the anxious inquiries of the poor old mother about her son who had been arrested some days before, assured her that he was in the jail just opposite her house, and that he was temporarily detained but would be released immediately. That afternoon, as I sat by the window, I saw a wagon pass on its way up the street, and in it a stiff, straight form covered with a sheet. It was poor Matt White on his way to his mother. He had been taken out to the woods and shot, as the children had said, and had been left where he fell. Mrs. Cameron's daughters, hearing the firing, went down to the place when the party had left, and finding the poor body, stayed there with it all night to keep it from being mangled by animals. December of 1864 The entry states, one half the privation and misery endured by the southern people will never be known. Folks, I don't know about you, but when I go through these records, and especially in reading these diaries of these people who had been left by their men who went off to defend themselves, and to defend their country from an invasion, and the depredations, the crimes, the murder, you know, all of the things that were committed against these people. And today they want to do away with our history. They want to do away with everything. People, the only thing I can tell you is we're about to see a replay of that exact same thing. All of these immigrants brought into this country, being paid by the United Nations to do so, are going to commit the exact same atrocities that were committed by the Yankees under Abraham Lincoln. God save us all. It's about to happen again. And folks, if there's any way possible, please support my work at Substack. Become a paid subscriber. I thank you for your time and for your attention. God bless the South. God bless these brave people who endured a totally corrupt government, the same government we still have today. See you next time. God bless. you
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