Part 13 (1/2)

About the last of May, a planter hung his servant (a woman) in presence of all the neighborhood. Said planter had _killed_ this woman's husband three weeks before. This occurred at Suggsville, Clark county.

About the last of April, two women were caught near a certain plantation in Clark county and hung; their bodies are still suspended.

On the 19th of July, two freedmen were taken off the steamer Commodore Ferrand, tied and hung; then taken down, their heads cut off and their bodies thrown in the river.

July 11, two men took a woman off the same boat and threw her in the river. This woman had a coop, with some chickens. They threw all in together, and told her to go to the d.a.m.ned Yankees. The woman was drowned.

There are regular patrols posted on the rivers, who board some of the boats; after the boats leave they hang, shoot or drown the victims they may find on them, and all those found on the roads or coming down the river are most invariably _murdered_.

This is only a few of the murders that are committed on the helpless and unprotected freedmen of the above-named counties.

All the cases I have mentioned are _authentic_, and _numerous_ witnesses will testify to all I have reported. _Murder with his ghastly train stalks abroad at noonday and revels in undisputed carnage_, while the bewildered and terrified freedmen know not what to do. To leave is death; to remain is to suffer the increased burden imposed on them by the cruel taskmaster, whose only interest is their labor _wrung_ from them by every device an inhuman ingenuity can devise. Hence the lash and murder are resorted to to intimidate those whom fear of an awful death _alone_ causes to remain, while patrols, negro dogs, and spies (disguised as Yankees) keep _constant_ guard over these unfortunate people.

I was in Was.h.i.+ngton county in the latter part of June, and there learned there was a disposition to _coerce_ the labor of these people on plantations where they had always been abused. I was alone, and consequently could not go where my presence was most required, but I learned enough then to convince me there were many grievances which required military power to redress. Since my return I have been attentive to the recital of the horrors which these people suffer, and have carefully perused their statements, which receive corroborate testimony.

I have been careful in authenticity, and very much that has been related to me I have declined accepting as testimony, although I believe its truth.

The history of all these cases, besides others, I have in full, with all their horrible particulars.

Believing, sir, you required the earliest intelligence in this matter, I concluded not to await your arrival.

With much respect, I am, sir, your obedient servant,

W.A. POILLON, _Captain and a.s.s't. Sup't. Freedmen_.

Brig. Gen. SWAYNE.

A true copy of the original deposited in this office.

CHARLES A. MILLER, _Major and A.A.A. General_.

No. 23.

Vicksburg, Mississippi, _July_ 8, 1865.

Captain: I have the honor to report that, in compliance with Special Orders No. 5, Headquarters Sub-district Southwest Mississippi, I proceeded to the counties of Madison, Holmes, and Yazoo, but that I did not reach Issaquena from the fact that the country between Yazoo City and that county has been so overflowed as to render the roads impa.s.sable.

I found a provost marshal of freedmen at Yazoo City--Lieutenant Fortu, who seemed to understand his duties well, and to have performed them satisfactorily. There was no officer of the bureau in either of the other counties. The whole country is in a state of social and political anarchy, and especially upon the subject of the freedom of the negroes, but very few who understand their rights and duties.

It is of the utmost importance that officers of the bureau should be sent to all the counties of the State to supervise the question of labor, and to insure the gathering of the growing crop, which, if lost, will produce the greatest suffering. In no case ought a citizen of the locality be appointed to manage the affairs of the freedmen: first, because these men will wish to stand well with their neighbors and cannot do justice to the negro; and secondly, because the negroes only know these men as oppressors of their race, and will have no confidence in their acts. The officers of the bureau should be especially charged to impress upon the freedmen the sacredness of the family relation and the duty of parents to take care of their children, and of the aged and infirm of their race. Where a man and woman have lived together as husband and wife, the relation should be declared legitimate, and all parties, after contracting such relations, should be compelled to legal marriage by severe laws against concubinage.

Where parents have deserted their children, they should be compelled to return and care for them; otherwise there will be great suffering among the women and children, for many of the planters who have lost the male hands from their places threaten to turn off the women and children, who will become a burden to the community. The two evils against which the officers will have to contend are cruelty on the part of the employer, and s.h.i.+rking on the part of the negroes. Every planter with whom I have talked premised his statements with the a.s.sertion that ”a n.i.g.g.e.r won't work without whipping.” I know that this is not true of the negroes as a body heretofore. A fair trial should be made of free labor by preventing a resort to the lash. It is true that there will be a large number of negroes who will s.h.i.+rk labor; and where they persistently refuse compliance with their contracts, I would respectfully suggest that such turbulent negroes be placed upon public works, such as rebuilding the levees and railroads of the State, where they can be compelled to labor, and where their labor will be of benefit to the community at large.

It will be difficult for the employers to pay their laborers quarterly, as required by present orders. Money can only be realized yearly on a cotton crop, because to make such a crop requires an entire year's work in planting, picking, ginning, and sending to market. The lien upon the crop secures the laborer his pay at the end of the year, for which he can afford to wait, as all the necessaries of life are furnished by the planter, who could not pay quarterly except at a great sacrifice.

The present orders recommend that the freedmen remain with their former masters so long as they are kindly treated. This, as a temporary policy, is the best that could be adopted, but I very much doubt its propriety as a permanent policy. It will tend to rebuild the fallen fortunes of the slaveholders, and re-establish the old system of cla.s.s legislation, thus throwing the political power of the country back into the hands of this cla.s.s, who love slavery and hate freedom and republican government. It would, in my opinion, be much wiser to diffuse this free labor among the laboring people of the country, who can sympathize with the laborer, and treat him with humanity.