APPENDIX C.

CONFEDERATE STRAGGLERS.

The assertion has been so often and so persistently made in the South, sincethe war, that devastation of property was only practised by the National troops,that it is well to preserve for reference such extracts from their newspaper pressas the following:

Extracts from a letter to the Confederate Secretary of War, published in theCharleston Courier of January 10, 1865, and in the Charleston Mercury (tri-weekly) of January 11th j

“ I cannot forbear appealing to you, in behalf of the producing population ofthe States of Georgia and South Carolina , for protection against the destructivelawlessness of members of General Wheeler’s command. From Augusta to Har-deeville, the road is now strewn with corn left on the ground unconsumed.Beeves have been shot down in the fields, one quarter taken off, and the balanceleft for buzzards. Horses are stolen out of wagons on the road, and by wholesale

out of stables at night.Within a few miles of this neighborhood,

Wheeler’s men tried to rob a young lady of a horse while she was on a visit to aneighbor’s, but for the timely arrival of a citizen, who prevented the outragebeing perpetrated. It is no unusual sight to see these men ride late into campwith all sorts of plunder. Private houses are visited; carpets, blankets, andother furniture they can lay their hands on are taken by force in the presence ofthe owners,” eto.

In an editorial of a column in length apropos to the above, the editor of theMercury says: “There must be radical reform. It is folly to talk of red-tapenow. We want the thing; we must have it: reform—shooting—cashiering—order—subordination—soldiers—not runaways, ragamuffins, ruffians.”

The following iB from the Savannah Republican of October 1, 1861: “It isnotorious that our own army, while falling back from Dalton, was even moredreaded by the inhabitants than was the army of Sherman. The soldiers, andeven the officers, took everything that came in their way, giving the excuse thatif they did not, the enemy would. Subsequently, stragglers from our own armyalmost sacked the stores in Atlanta . Now, complaints loud and deep come upfrom that portion of Georgia in the neighborhood of our army, telling of outragescommitted by straggling squads of cavalry, and of insults offered to the familiesof the best and most patriotic citizens.”