Retaliation

Headql'akxebn in rdK Fibld, Feb. 27, t&fc. 5 Maj. Oen. W. ï. Sheniian, U. 8. Army : Ghniíhal - Your c ■rninuiiicatioii o the Ü-lth iust. féaiihed me tu rtnjr. Iu i yon state (bat h has beeu official 'y re' portod that your foraging pariiei W(fa " murdored" ul'k-r capture, aud vou po on to aay th;it you haii " nrdwed a similar nurnber of pKitfotlora in your hands to be disponed of in liko manuur." 'J h.:t is to sav, yon RitVe brdared a number ot Co:ifi.derato solrücrs to bo " murdered." You clisiraeturizu Vöurordttrjd proper term!?, for the public, vuice, even inyosr owii country, hcie t Keldom dares to ■ ■x rt-a ii.selt' u yiudicatiotí of irutb, ïouor or justice, will urely agrce with ou n pronbunömg; you gu hy of rnurer, if your ordi-r is cárried out. Baore dismissirig1 t h is partion of your Ieter, I b ,;g to a8ure you for every solier f' mine " murdcred" Ly you 1 nhall ',ave executed at uact two of youn, givRg, in all casjs, prelcronce io auy oüierrf who may be in lny bands. In reference to the ntutement j'ou make rcgaraing the death of your foragurs, I have only to suy thut I know nothing of it ; that no orders give u by me áuthorize the kilüng of prisoners after capturo, and that I do not bclicvo that uiy men killud any of yours, except under circumstances in vvhioh it was perféc-tly legititnate aud proper they should kill them. It is a part of the system of tho thieves whora you desigaute as your ioragerá to fire the dvvellings oí thos oitizens wliom they ha vu robbed. To check this inhuman system, which is justly execrated by every civillized niition, I have directed my men to shoot down all of your men wbo are caught burning houses This order shall roniain d lorce as long as you disgrace the profession of arms by allowing your men to destroy' private dwelling'.s. You eay that I cannot, of oourse, question your right to forage on the country. " It is a right as old as ry." I do not, 6r, question this right. But there is a right older eveu thao this, and ono more inalienable - the right that every man has to defeud bis home and to protoet thosewho are dependeat upon him, and from tny heart I wish that every old mui and boy in my country who can fire a gun, would shoot down, as ho would a wild beast, the mea who are desolating their land, burning their houses, and insuiting their women. You ara particular in defiuing and claiming " war rights." May I ask you if you enumérate among them thb right to fire upon a defonculess city without notice ; to burn that city to the ground aftur it had been suirenderod by the auhorities, who claimed, though in vaiD, that protection which is always accorded in civiiized warfare to non-ootnbatants, to fire the d welling houses of -citizens, after robbing them, and to perpétrate even darker crimes thaa these - crimes too black to be tnentioned. You have pennitted, if you have uot ordered, the co:rmission of these offences iigainst humanity and the rules of war. You fired iuto the city of Columbia without a word of warning. After its surrender by the Mayor who demanded protection to private property, you laid the whole city in ashes, ieaviug amid its ruins tbousands oí old meo and helpless women and children, who are likely to perish of starvation and exposure. Your line of niareh can be traced by the lurid light of burning 'uouses, üüd in more than one household thore is au agony far more bitter than that of death. Thu Iudian scalped his victim regardless of sex or age, but with all bis barbarity he always respectöd the persons of his female captives; Your soldiers, moresavage than the Indian, insult tbose uhose natural protectors are absent. In conclusión, I have ouly to requast that whenevor you have any of my men '' disposed of," or " murdered," for the termsappear to be syi.onymous with you, you will let me hear of it, in order that I may know what action to take in the matter. Ín tho ineanti.ne I shail hold 56 oi your men as hostages for those whom you have ordered to be executed. I ain yours, eti WADE HAMPTON, Lieut. Geu.