General Turchin -- Mrs. General Turchin in Command of the
Vanguard of the 19th Illinois -- The 18th Ohio at Athens --
Children and Fools always Tell the Truth -- Picket Talk --
About Soldiers Voting -- Captain Kirk's Line of Battle.
It is well known by all that General Turchin has been fully
vindicated. Captain Heaton, of Columbiana County, who was an
eye-witness of his trial, and who knew the noble Russian, said to me,
in speaking of this gallant soldier, "He looked like a lion among a
set of jackals!" General Turchin was basely persecuted. He came out of
the ordeal unscathed. The correspondent of the _Gazette_, who was in
Huntsville, gave an account of affairs under Rousseau, who was as
rigid in the punishment of rebels as Mitchel was before him. The
court-martial convened to try Turchin for _punishing traitors_ bid
fair to last for months, under Buell's management.
Mrs. Turchin, before the arrest of her husband, had been making the
campaign of Northern Alabama in his company, enduring, with the utmost
fortitude, and for weeks together, all the hardships incident to a
soldier's life. To ride on horseback, forty or fifty miles per day,
was to her a mere matter of amusement, and in the recent march of the
19th Illinois, from Winchester to Bellefonte, she is said to have
taken command of the vanguard, and to have given most vigorous and
valuable directions for driving off and punishing the infamous
bushwhackers who infested the road. These and similar things had so
much excited the admiration of Colonel Turchin's men, that they would
have followed his gallant lady into the field of battle with all the
enthusiasm that fired the hearts of the French chivalry when gathered
around the standard of the Maid of Orleans. As soon as Colonel Turchin
was arrested, Mrs. Turchin suddenly disappeared. The next that was
heard from her she was in Washington City; and now the story goes,
that when she left the South she hastened to Chicago, enlisted the
sympathies of noble-hearted men in the cause of her husband,
prevailing upon a delegation of noble Illinoisans to accompany her to
Washington, and, with their assistance, secured the confirmation of
the Colonel as a brigadier-general of volunteers. Truly, in the
lottery matrimonial, Colonel Turchin had the fortune to draw an
invaluable prize.
All that has been alleged against Generals Turchin and Mitchel
authorizing the sacking of Athens, Alabama, appears to have reacted;
and, except General Rousseau, they were the most popular officers in
that region.
The 18th Ohio was stationed at Athens, and encamped upon the
fair-grounds. Here they were assailed by Scott's rebel cavalry. They
resisted for some hours, when, learning through their scouts that an
overwhelming force of the enemy were advancing against them, they
thought best to retire, which they did in good order. As they passed
through the town, on their way to Huntsville, some rash, inconsiderate
rebel sympathizers jeered at and insulted them, cheering lustily for
Jeff Davis and the Southern Confederacy. One or two of them, also,
seized their guns, and when the rebel forces made their appearance,
joined them in pursuit of our soldiers. A feeling of vindictive wrath
sprang up in the minds of the boys of the 18th, and when they met the
19th Illinois and other troops, who, under command of Colonel Turchin,
were coming to the rescue, they naturally magnified their own loss,
and told the rescuers exaggerated stories of the manner in which they
had been treated by the citizens of Athens.
Under those circumstances the whole force re-entered the town, driving
the rebels before them, and, in the midst of great excitement, vowing
vengeance. Then came the inevitable result: some good soldiers were
carried away into acts of unwarrantable violence, and a few
unprincipled scoundrels seized upon the opportunity to plunder,
pilfer, and steal. But the mass of the forces entered the place under
the impression (as appears from the testimony before the
court-martial) that it was to be sacked and burned, as a just and
proper military punishment. This impression was, unfortunately, not
corrected by Colonel Turchin, because it was, in all probability,
unknown to him. It arose, no doubt, from the fact that a general order
had been issued, or, as reported, was about to be issued, denouncing,
in severe terms, all citizens who should fire upon, or in any way
molest our troops, and threatening both them and their property with
destruction. Such a proclamation or order was, in fact, issued about
this time.
Notwithstanding it was generally understood that the plundering of
Athens was permitted, at least three-fourths of the soldiers
voluntarily abstained from laying their hands upon a single dollar's
worth of private property.
Now, as to the outrages themselves, I unhesitatingly pronounce that
they have been greatly exaggerated. To say that the town was in any
way "ruined" is simply an exhibition of ignorance on the part of those
who are not acquainted with the facts, and a falsehood on the part of
those who are.
Some three or four stores were broken into, and the most valuable part
of the merchandise abstracted; the contents of the apothecary's shop
were badly injured, and articles of value were taken from at least a
dozen houses; some thousands of dollars' worth of horses, mules, and
"niggers" were taken out of the town and suburbs; two or three
scoundrels abused the persons of as many colored women; and this was
the extent of the "ruin" inflicted upon Athens. I visited it more than
a month ago. I saw no sign of "ruin," dissolution, or decay, and I am
too good a friend of the Athenians not to say that I consider their
beautiful town as being to-day the most flourishing in all North
Alabama; and if a citizen from any other place, especially from
Huntsville, should go to Athens and say otherwise, nothing but the
presence of the military would prevent him from getting a thrashing
upon the spot.
It is an old and trite saying, that "children and fools always tell
the truth." Captain Moar and Lieutenant Wood, of General Steadman's
staff, went out with a full expedition. It was under Colonel Bishop,
of the 2d Minnesota; but these staff officers preceded the party. We
arrived at the proposed field, where we were to bivouac for the night.
A house was near, and Colonel Moar proposed to go there and order
supper. There were four females in the house. All pretended to be glad
to receive us. We brought them sugar and coffee, articles they had not
enjoyed for over a year. While supper was preparing, Lieutenant Wood,
seeing a very pretty little girl, said to her, "Come here, sissy."
The child reluctantly advanced, and as the Lieutenant placed her upon
his knee, the little innocent looked up and said, "I HATE YANKEES!"
The mother tried to catch the eye of the child.
Lieutenant Wood said, "O, no, you don't!"
"Yes, I do," reiterated the child.
"Why, sissy, what makes you hate Yankees?"
"_'Cause mother told me I must_," was the child's reply.
The mother blushed crimson, and said, very confusedly, "WHY, HATTIE! I
NEVER!"
PICKET TALK.
I have often heard pickets chaff one another. Just after the capture
of New Orleans, one of our boys, on picket duty, as light dawned,
discovered a rebel just lighting his breakfast-fire up a ravine. Our
picket called out to the rebel to stop building fires and come over
and take breakfast with him. The rebel replied:
"No, I shan't, You haven't got any coffee."
"Yes, I have," says the Union soldier.
"Well, you haven't any sugar?"
"Yes, we have. We've got _Orleans_."
The man who makes the assertion that our boys in the field, when
called upon to vote on resolutions, are influenced by fear of
officers, _is most grossly mistaken_. Why, your American soldier is
the most independent "cuss" in the world; and if a regiment is in
line, and asked to vote, you may rest assured they vote as they
please, and are governed by the dictates of their own consciences. The
great address that was sent from the army was voted upon in this way:
The regiments were drawn up in line, the address read, and the
color-bearers were asked, "Do you indorse the address to which you
have listened?" From every one came the hearty "I do!" when the colors
were ordered two paces front. The regiments then voted on the address,
the "ayes" stepping out in line with the colors, and, if there had
been any "noes," they were to stand fast; but I have yet to hear of
the man who did so. They rallied on their colors to a man, and stood
with an unbroken front.
During the fight this side of Chapel Hill, Captain Kirk, one of the
General's aids, seeing two rebels a little way off, on a by-road, put
spurs to horse and gave chase. We all watched him very eagerly until
he ascended the hill, when three more rebs joined the two, and made a
stand. Kirk, thinking discretion the better part of valor, reined in
his horse, when, to the infinite amusement of the staff, young Lu.
Steadman (a son of the General, and, though but sixteen years of age,
a gallant boy) exclaimed: "Father, father, look yonder; _Kirk has
formed a line of battle!_" It is scarcely necessary to say that Kirk
soon changed his base on a _double-quick_.