When the history of this war is written there will be
revelations of most appalling cruelties perpetrated upon the Union men of the
South. A letter from Knox county, Ky.,
gives the following account of the murder of Col. Pickens, late State senator
from that county:
He was arrested and taken to Tuscaloosa, Al., where has was
confined in prison for some time, on a charge of treason against the
Confederacy. He was taken out and placed
in the custody of a gang of land pirates, who, it was pretended, were to convey
him to some other point to have his case further investigated. They took the old patriot and started, but
did not proceed far, until they reported him to have taken suddenly sick and
died. But the facts turn out that he was
taken off some distance, and the alternative presented to him to henceforth
espouse the cause of rebellion, and give it the benefit of his influence and
great popularity, or expiate is refusal (crime) by his life! He told them plainly he did not recognize
their government, and told them he could not and would not give his name and
influence to any such cause. He told
them that if his life must be taken for that, his offence, it must go; and he
hoped in God that from his blood and his grave would grow up a holy and a
patriotic ardor, and that would infuse a spirit into his countrymen which would
avenge his death and redeem his bleeding country. Upon this, they deliberately hung Col.
Pickens, after which they very piously
sent his remains to his family.
– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye,
Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, March 15, 1862, p. 1
No comments:
Post a Comment