It is rumored to-day, I know not on what authority, that the
President mentioned the matter of the Drainsville disaster to the Secretary of War,
and intimated that it was attributed to the machinations of the Union men
discharged from prison here. It is said Mr. Benjamin denied it — denied that
any such men had been discharged by Gen. Winder, or had been concerned in the
affair at all. Of course the President had no alternative but to credit the
solemn assertions of his confidential adviser. But my books, and the register of
the prisons, would show that the Drainsville prisoners sent hither by Gen.
Joseph E. Johnston were discharged by Gen. Winder, and that their expenses home
were paid by the government; and officers of unimpeachable veracity are ready
to testify that Gen. Stuart was misled by these very men.
SOURCE: John Beauchamp Jones, A Rebel War Clerk's
Diary at the Confederate States Capital, Volume 1, p. 98
No comments:
Post a Comment