The Bedford gazette. (Bedford, Pa.) 1805-current, October 03, 1862, Image 2

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

    BEDFORD GAZETTE.
B. F. MEYERS, EDITOR.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 3, 1802.
DEMOCRATIC) NOMINATIONS.
STJTE TICKET.
AUDITOR GENERAL.
HON. ISAAC SLENKER,
OF UNION COUNT*.
SURVEYOR GENERA!.,
COL. JAMES P. BARR,
OF ALLEGHANY COUNTY.
COUNTY TICKET.
CONGRESS,
A. H. COFFROTH, Somerset co.
SENATOR,
JOSEPH B. NOBLE, S. Woodberry.
ASSEMBLY,
JOHN CESSNA, Hedford Borough.
COUNTY SURVEYOR,
SAMUEL KETTERMAN, Bed. Bor.
IMS. ATTORNEY,
JOHN PALMER, Bedford Bor.
COMMISSIONER,
ANDREW CRISMAN, Napier tp.
POOR niRECTOR.
SOLOMON REIGIIARD, S. Spring tp.
AUDITOR,
JOHN H. BARTON, E. Prov. tp.
The Carlisle Presbytery will meet in the
Presbyterian Church of this place, on next
Tuesday evening, October 7th, at 7 o'clock.
The opening sermon will be preached by Ihe
moderator, the Rev. I. N. HAYS. The
church will also be open, Providence per
mitting, for services next Sabbath morning.
Death of Maj. S. H. Tate.
It becomes our mournful duty to record the
death of Maj. SAM FIX H. TATE, of this place,
which occurred at his residence on \Y edncsday
morning last, after an illness of about four days.
In the death of Maj. Tate, our county has
lost a useful citizen, the poor and distressed a
sympathising friend, and his family a kind and
Woved husband and father.
"No farther seek his merits to driclosef'
~c .run juunu rns tctsi repose,
"The bosom of his Father and his God."
A Brace of Proclamations.
The President of the United States, on the
22d anil 24th days of September, issued consec
utively two proclamations, both of which will
t>e found in this issue of the Gazette. The first
proposes to free all the slaves in every state in
rebellion against the Government by the first of
January next, the test of loyalty being repre
sentation in Congress by the actual vote of a
majority of the people. This arbitrary, unne
cessary and Quixotic decree of the President, is
not founded upon, nor does it execute, as some
suppose, any clause of the Confiscation Act
passed at the last session of Congress. That
law relates to all the property of rebels in any
Btate, while this proclamation refers expressly
and exclusively to all the slaves of the States in
rebellion. Besides there is great legal difference
between freeing slaves and confiscating them to
the use of the Government, for the lifetime of
the owner , which is the utmost limit of time to
which confiscation can be extended under the
Constitution. Ilcnce this ulcate of Mr. Lincoln
is as clear and undeniable a usurpation of pow
er, as bold and undisguised a trampling under
foot of the paramount law of the land, as much
an act of rebellion against the written charter
of our Government, as any thing yet done,
without force of arms, in any of the insurrec
tionary States of the South. But its unconsti
tutionality and its assumption of a power which
the people of the Union never dreamed of giv
ing to their Chief Magistrate, arc not the only
objectionuble features in this startling revolu
tionary document. Its effect upon the country,
both North and South, cannot fail to bo other
wise than disastrous. It will weld together in
a perfect white heat of hatred against the North,
all the slave-holding interest of the Border as
well as of the Cotton States. It will give the
sinews of war to the Kebcl Army and nerve with
the unrelaxing vigor of a most direful and dead
ly desperation, the soldiers enrolled under the
banner of rebellion. It will divide, nay, it has
already irreconcilably divided, public sentiment
at the North with regard to a cordial support of
the Administration. And should it be possible,
fif the rebellion bo not suppressed by the first of
January) to carry its provisions into execution,
•hould it be possible for our armies to march
into the rebel states to release the slaves or cn-
courage them to servilo insurrection, what would
be the result? A creeping horror steals over tho
. tenses at tho contemplation of tho scene! Wo
men and children butchered in cold blood, fire
and rapine ravaging the homes over which wc
would fain extend the benign protection of the
Constitution, the carnage and diabolism of a
nejr San Domingo purpling with human gore
and blackening with ashes, the soil of onoe bap
gj America 1 Then, when the carnival of these 1
sable Sepoys shall have ended on the planta
tions of thcSouth, bloated with booty and drunk
with blood, they will mako the fair fields of the
North, where they have been taught that color
is no badge of distinction, tho desire of their
hearts. Tho white laborer will be crowded from
the plough, the axe and the spade. Starvation
will come, and the grand but bloody Jinale will
be a war of races, with what result it would
not be hard to predict.
The second proclamation of the President
makes a military district of the whole North,
by declaring the writ of Habeas Corpus sus
pended in regard to all persons arrested during
the rcltellion, or who are now, or hereafter shall
be, imprisoned in any fort, camp, arsenal, mili
tary prison or other place of confinement, by
any military authority, or by the sentence of
any court martial or military commission. This
edict establishes the military despotism, which
bus been so long predicted, and now it only re
mains to be sceu whether tho American people
can be made slaves by a single stroke of the pen
of Abraham Lincoln. It only remains to be
seen whether freemen will not resent at the bal
lot-box (the only place where they should do so)
this outrage upon the white race and the Amer
ican name, this proclamatory liberation of the
negro on the one hand and enslavement of the
whito man on the other.
Compromise.
Do not be startled, dear reader, by the cap
tion of this article! We do not mean to say any
thing that will settle the war in thirty days, for
that would subject us to a trial for treason by a
drum-head court martial. We do not mean
even to propose an armistice, with a view to
inake possible a peaceful settlement of our na
tional troubles, for that would defeat the dar
ling proj >ct of the Abolitionists and would, there
fore, send every man in favor of it to a dungeon
in some Lincolnitish Bastilc. What we do pro
pose to say, is, that if we are to hope for ofiei-s
of compromise or settlement from the South,
we had better .see to it that we elect a Congress
to which the Southern people will be inclined to
make such offers of compromise or settlement.
Owing to the ultra enactments of the present
Congress and the well known sectional, anti-
Southern, anti-slavery position of the "Repub
lican" party, we believe that no terms of settle
ment will ever be offered to our Government,
by the people of the South, so long as the po
litical complexion of Congress is not materially
changed. The animosity existing between the
"Republican" leaders and the Southern insur
rectionists, is deadly and immitigable, because it
is personal, political and sectional. But the
conservatives of the North, though largely rep
resented in the armies engaged in the effort to
put down the Southern rebellion, do not enter
tain such bitter and implacable hatred for the
Southern people. They regard them as misgu'.-
ded and erring men, whose leaders deserve to be
punished, not malignantly nor rovnnjipfiilty, I>.>
tution; and, therefore, they do not hate them,
or bear them malice.' This is well known to
the Southern people, and what little Union feel
ing yet exists among them, has inspiration from
this very fact. Now, then, if we wish to dis
integrate and break up the secession organiza
tion, so that eminent lending men maybe indu
ced to come out from its ranks and advocate an
offer of reconciliation to our Government, would
it not be wise to elect men to Congress whoso
well known conservatism would be calculated to
encourage snob an advance on the part of South
ern men? Most assuredly. Therefore, let us be
certain in casting our votes at the coming elec
tion, that we do not give tlicm for a candidate
for Congress to whom flic Southern people will
never propose terms of reconciliation nnd re
union. We of the North look to the South for
the first advance towanl a restoration of pence,
and doing so, we should take care that we place
no impnssablo barrier in the way of those from
whom we expect such an advance to be made.
Dawes' Speech.
Mhy doesn't the Bedford Abolition organ
nublish the groat speech of the I fox. Mr?. DAWKS,
of Massachusetts, exposing the corruptions of
Lincoln's administration? Mr. Dawes is a good
Republican and deserves to be heard. Some of
the renders of the organ might be enlightened
in regard to the promised "economy" and "bet
ter times" of their party by a perusal of this
speech. Mr. Dawes says that more money has
been stolen from the public treasury in one year
during the present administration than it cost to
carry the Government during the four years
of Mr. Buchanan's administration 1 Shall Dawes
bo heard through the columns of the organ?
Full-blown Abolitionism.
The black poppy, Abolition, whose opiate seeds
arc the deadly Hasheesh upon which the people
of the North, have, alas! too long been feeding,
has at last opened its dark loaves in full-blown
maturity to the astonished gaze of the deluded
populace. There are still infatuated leaders who
call upon tho people to follow them and [duck
this forbidden flower. Others urgo the people
to shun it as they would if a serpent's sting
were coiled within it. To descend from the
figurative to the practical, tliero aro a few fa
natics who would have sober, sensible, patriotic
people endorse the Abolition Proclamation of
the President. But the great preponderance of
thought and feeling in the North is against it.
The whole Democratic party and many conser
vative oppositionists are against it. In our own
county the people are almost unanimously op
posed to it. Every man on the Democratic
county ticket, from Congressman to Auditor,
disapproves of and opposes it. No man can be
a Democrat who does not repudiate it. Be
assured that the Democratic ticket is a unit on
this qacstion. Democrats will nover pluck this
Lincoln poppy.
Hon. Jos. B. Noble.
It is well known in this county that Judge
Noblo did not seek the nomination for tho office
for which he is a candidate. On tho contrary
he was solicited by men of all parties to allow
the use of his name in that connexion, on tho
ground of his peculiar fitness for the position,
owing to his sterling integrity as a man and as
a citizen. lie has not been in office for eleven
years, nor does he now ask tho suffaages of the
people as an otlioe-sceker. 110 conies forward
at the call of his fellow citizens, to bear aloft
the standard of Conservatism, the true Union
Hag, under which alone our country can be res
tored to its pristine happiness and prosperity,
lie comes forward as the representative of the
sober-minded, earnest thinking men of the coun
try, who desire to rid the halls of legislation of
the harpies and plunderers that have well nigh
drawn the life-blood out of the body politic,
lie comes forward as the friend of good and
liberal government and the enemy of monopo
lies and grasping corporations. To our Hunt
ingdon friends we would say that Joseph B.
Noble was and is an uncompromising opponent
of the repeal of the Tonnage Tax, and if elect
ed will not play false to them 011 th is great ques
tion. Wo make this pledge for him fairly and
honestly and without any reservation of any
kind. At the same time Judge Nobie is an ear
nest and sincere friend of local enterprise, and
and will, if elected, do as much for our coun
ty's interest, as could be expected from any man.
We put it to tho people of Bedford county,
can you send a better man to tho Senate than
honest Joseph 15. Noble ? Answer, ye who know
him, and answer in accordance with your can
did convictions.
Rally! Rally!!
Democrats, the prospect of ousting from place
and power the plunderers of the public treasu
ry, the destroyers of our country's weal, is bright
oning every day! You cannot, must not, dare
not, fail now to do your duty, if you would res
cue yourselves and your posterity from the ruin
which is impending! Rally, Rally, Rally! Eet
every voter turn out to the election! Let every
Democrat bo a committee to see that his-neigh
bor goes to the polls. Wc must and will be vic
torious! Now's the day and now's the hour!
Close your ranks! Nostrnggling! Nolmlf-heart
cd work! But charge the enemy in front, and
flank and rear, and never, never yield till the
day shall be won. "Up, Guards, and at tliem!"
A Wet Blanket.
The last great proclamatory efforts of Abra
ham, trampling under foot the Constitution,
liberating the black man and enslaving the white,
fell like a wet blanket on some of the "Repub
licans" in this neighborhood. Of course, the
avowed Abolitionists, such an tho ostensible ed
itor of the Inquirer and a few others, swallowed
it like so much manna dropped from a naradise
trfisTratTlKeir "tv ffi'tTi'cran k and file, for
once, liavfe the independence to repudiate their
leadership?
Be Assessed!
Saturday next is the last day on which you
can he assessed as a legal voter. Bo sure you
attend to it and see that your neighbors are as
sessed.
CvfTho children of the Presbyterian and Lu
theran Sabbath Schools have recently had" their
annual picnics. Ilappy youth, whose pastimes
are so full of innoeoaeo, whose ''ways are
ways of pleasantness and all whose paths are
peace.'"'
ea-.T. O. Fisher, Esq., has been appointed
a clerk in the Protlionotary'a offiice. A first
rate selection.
Acceptance of Gen, Coffroth.
The following correspondence between the
committee appointed by the late Democratic
Congressional Conference, to inform Hen. Cof
froth of his nomination by that body, and that
gentleman, has been handed us for publication:
MCDONALD'S HOTEL, Fulton Co., )
Sept. 11th, 1802. )
GF.N'L. A. 11. COFFROTH:
Sin : The undersigned nppointed a commit
tee bv the Democratic Congressional Confer
ence for the district composed of the counties
of Adams, Bedford, Fulton, Franklin and Som
erset. to inform you of your nomination by that
body as the Democratic candidate for Congress
in said district, beg leave herewith to make
known to you such nomination and to express
the hope that you will accept the same. With
our best wishes for your success should yon con
sent to he the standard-bearer of tbo Democ
racy of the District, we remain
Yours Truly,
GEO. M. STRNGER,
G. H. SPANG,
H. G SMITH,
Committee.
SOMERSET, Sept. 20, 18(52.
GENTLEMEN :
Your letter of tlio 11th, informing me
that T was nominated for Congress hy the
Democrat icCongressional Conference for this
District, has been received.
In this note, accepting the nomination, I
will say, that Tarn for the "Constitution as
it is and the Union as it was," and, if elect
ed, will sustain the Government in all the
requisite measures to bring to a Bpeedv close
the present unfortunate war, and in doing
so, restore peace and harmony to the people.
Yours respectfully,
A. IT. COFFROTTT.
ToG. IT. Rnani*j IT. G. Smith and Geo.
M. Stenger, Esq'rs., Committee.
At least two—Blair and Seward—and it is
believed three members of the Cabinet were
opposed to the emancipation proclamation of
the President In consequence* resignations
are looked for shortly.
COUNTY CORRESPONDENCE.
For the Gazette.
M. ME VERS :
As a quiet citizen of old Napier, I have
thought proper to trouble you with a few thoughts
and facts which passing events havo called me
to notice, and which I consider that the Dem
ocrats of Bedford county generally should
know.
I by aceident happened to see the two last ]
nunfbers of tho Bedford Inquirer , and having
heard it stated that my neighbor and friend, Mr.
Andrew Crisman, bud been spoken of in that
paper as being anything but nn honest, upright'
man, I was induced to read tho filthy sheet to
see what the editor knows about Andy, as he
calls him. The Inquirer of the 12th inst., asks
the question, "Is there a man in Bedford coun
ty personally acquainted with Andy Crisman,
who knows him to be a loyal man V I have
been a resident of Bedford county for fifty years,
and have been intimately acquainted with An
dy Crisman ever since I was a little boy, and I
have never heard his "loyalty", or good charac
ter as a citizen doubted until lie became a can
didate for County Commissioner® nd only then
by the Editor of the Inquirer, for I am confi
dent that no honest man in tho county who is
as well acquainted with Crisman as I atn, lias
ever had the slightest cause to doubt his loyalty
in any way.
The Inquirer again asks: —Is there a man
in the county who knows that Andy Crisman
was not nt the meeting specified ! —Andy was
at a meeting referred to by the Inquirer, hut
not for the purpose which he (the editor) would
fain have the people believe was the object in
view, for there was. 111 reality, 110 meeting there,
unless the coming together of a few citizens
who met together at a place and talk over the
"passing tidings of the times" can be called a
meeting" for there was no organization, and they
were not in any house that night for the pur
pose of holding a meeting', and I know that An
dy Crisman is too good a patriot to take part
in anv meeting contrary to the laws of tiiftland.
But the editor says: —"Wo do know that he
was at the meeting." "We do know that he
was there !" We know, too, that he has been one
of the leading dements of resistance!" Now T
would like to know where the editor of the
Inquirer was at the time of that meet
ing, that he knows these things; he certainly
must have been very close, or lie could not know,
for unless be saw Andy Crisman there, lie cer,
tainly could not know that he was there, and I
would like to know what the editor of tho In
quirer would be doing, or what business called
him to the West side of the Chestnut Ridge,
at that time in the day.
In the Inquirer of the lffth inst., I find tho
following sentence, in an article under the cap
tion of "Andy Crisman." "Wo know he is a
terrible subject, so is Jeff* Davis, and there is
quite an analogy between them." Now permit
mo to ask the editor of the Inquirer when and
where did you become acquainted with Mr.
Crisnmn 1 I doubt very much whether you ev
er saw tho man, much less become acquainted
with him. And I know that you are unac
quainted with him, or you would not make the
statements respecting him that you have made.
No man can be acquainted with Andrew Cris
man and not respect him, forhiffuprightnessand
good citizenship will make him esteemed by ev
ery honest man, and the tongue ol the slander
er can do him no iniury. Mr Crisman lias
Vears,-
brought before the public as a candidate for of
fice, his character was without a blemish, but
no sooner than his name is announced, his char
acter is assailed, and that, too, by 'men who
have no knowledge of his virtues. But let tliem
go, their reports cannot injure Mr. Crisman in
the parts he is known, and I trust the people
of Bedford county havo too much respect for
virtue, to be led astray by any assertions which
the editor of the Inquirer nmy make. I should
have thought it useless, Mr. Editor, to notice
the Inquirer at nil, but being a neighbor of Mr.
Crismati's, I thought it no more than my duty
to let the people know the true character of the
man at home. For many years Air. Crisman
and I were opposed to each other in political
views, but then, as now, wo were true "loyal"
friends, and if I am spared until the 14th of
next month, T intend to vote for my neighbor,
let the Inquirer say what it will, and I think
that the vote Mr. Crisman will receive in Na
pier township will convince tho people through
out the county that the Inquirer man knows
but little about him.
NAPIER.
Sept. 29,1802.
Proclamation by tbo President of tbo
United States.
The Writ of Habeas Corpus Suspended
in the Case of All State Prisoners.
By THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF
AMERICA.
A PROCLAMATION.
WHEREAS, It has become necessary to call in
to service, not only volunteers, but also portions
of the militia of the States, by draft, in order
to suppress tiic insurrection existing in the Uni
ted States; and disloyal persons arc not ade
quately restrained by the ordinary processes of
the law from hindering this measure and from
giving aid and comfort in various ways to the
insurrection; •
Now, therefore,
•" BE IT ORDERED,
F<rst —That during (he existing insurrection,
and as a necessary measure for suppressing the
'same, all rebels and insurgents, their aiders and
abettors, within the United States, and all per
sons discouraging volunteer enlistments, resis
ting militia drafts, or guilty of any disloyal
practice, affording aid and comfort to tho rebels
against the authority of the United States, shall
be subject to martial law, and liable to trial and
punishment by courts martial or military com
missions.
Second —That the writ of habeas corpus is
suspended in respect to all pei-sons arrested, or
who are now, or hereafter, during the rebellion,
shall be, imprisoned in any fort, camp, arsenal,
military prison or other place of confinement,
by any military authority or by the sentence of
any court martial or military commission.
In witness whereof I have hereunto set my
hand, nnd caused the seal of the United States
to be affixed. .
Done at the city of Washington, this twen
ty-fourlli day of September, in the
T ar °" r on ' one thousand eight
hundred nnd sixty-two, and of the
Independence of the United States
tho eightv-seventh.
ABRAHAM LINQOLN.
By tho President:
W. 11. SEWARD,
Secretary of Stato,
JRMVJORRESPOIEME.
IN CAMP, NEAR FAIRFAX SEMINARY, Va., )
Sunday evening, September 21, 1802. )
! MR. MEYERS : ,
There is u number of the mountain boys
, of Bedford county, who, for the past year havo
| been residents in the camps of Mara, from whom
their friends at home but seldom receive tidings,
except through occasional private letters, and
who, perhaps, are not unworthy a passing no
tice in the columns of your paper. Various
have been the inquiries inudc by fathers and
j mothers as well as other friends, interested in
the welfare of their sons and former companions.
It is now about one year ago, that, led by their
gallant Lieutenant, W. W. Anderson, of Bed
ford borough, they left their homes and those
they loved lo engage in the service of their coun
try. Bemaining at Camp Curtin a short time,
they were ordered to Philadelphia, and attach
ed to the second Cavalry lfegiment, P. V., Col.
Price commanding. The regiment did not re
ceive its full quota of horses until it arrived in
Washington City. Being ordered into Virginia
they were encamped a few weeks near Cloud's
Mills, below Alexandria. Since leaving there
we havo not been idle, but have encountered all
the arduous duties and hardships of the cavalry
soldier. Attached to Gen. Buford's cavalry
brigade, we accompanied it in the advance of
Gen. Pope's army in his recent bold but unsuc
cessful movement toward Richmond, enduring
our share of the hardships, we were the first to
tread the banks of the ltapidnn, from whence
we were driven buck lo the main body of the
army. With the army during the recent bat
tles on (lie Rappahannock, Bull's Run, &c., and
its retreat, of which enough has already been
written, a short time, since we found ourselves
once more on the banks of tho Potomac. Tho'
not permitted to participate in the recent battles
in Maryland, when wo expected our homes to
be invaded, yet our hearts and sympathies wore
with our brothers in arms. Alter resting our
horses a week or two at this place, 011 Wednes
day last we were again ordered to prepare for a
j two days march, and towards evening the bu
j gles pealed forth to us the then welcome sound
I of "Boots and Saddles!" The regiment, lessen
' ed by hospital inmates, paroled prisoners and
i wtint of horses, lost recently, wore soon in line,
j Company 13, comiimndpd by our Lieut. Ander-
I son, was represented by thirty-two men, rank
i and tile. Marching but a short distance, we
j fastened our horses to the bushes along the road
} side, made our simple and rude beds in the sari*
dy highway in rear of oar horses, our saddles,
as usual, serving for a pillow, we retired for the
night. By dawn we were again in the saddle,
and penetrated the country to within three, miles
!ot Thoroughfare Gap. Here we came upon a
I detachment of the rebel Gen.Ewell's body guard,
I three of whom wo captured. They were es-
J eorting Gen. F.well, who was wounded in the
recent battle, to Richmond. A number of wag
ons, and thirty prisoners were taken, among
whom were several rebel officers, three of them
■ being members of Ewell's staff. The distance
| traversed was eighty miles; all of which was
' accomplished in eighteen hours, wc returning to
• camp 011 Friday afternoon. We rode all night
I and saw no signs of the enemy between Arling
j ton and Thoroughfare Gap, except those spoken
of above. We came ivur taking Gen. Ewell
j himself; he only escaped by being driven oil" at
! a rapid rate in an ambulance. Company E had
i tho honor of capturing a rebel Major, one Lieu-
J... iViiles. A H.r u'.vs are all
j well except Perry 1 lite "-and Andrew Frederick,
| who are in a Washington hospital. Mr. Tho's.
Richardson, who resides near Bedford, is in Ids
glory here. All old soldier, he knows how to I
j forage, and has been the cause of (lie rebel far
. mors losing considerable horseflesh, poultry, &c.
| In the raid last week he was fortunate enough
J to capture a carriage, having two inules attaeli
!ed to it, and two or three prisoners. He says,
| "Horses are cheap in Virginny, humph! we
j might as well have them as the Greybaeks,
humph ?" He is a terror to fanners who have
horse stables, chicken roosts or spring-houses.
Lieut. Anderson, in all his intercourse with us,
has proven himself a courteous gentleman, kind
to ail and ever anxious for our welfare. Lieut.
Col. Brinton is now in command of tho regi
ment. There is a rumor that we will soon move
again. There are many of the soldiers weary
of this war, and wish it was ended. Many in
and out of the army still think that the war can
only be terminated by an entire emancipation of
the negroes. If I thought that that was the
object, I would not willingly shed a drop of my
blood or draw my sabre, for I think the slave
is better off' where he is, unless lie can be sent
to the land of his fathers. If the South choose
to ride to hell on the back of their negroes, let
them rip, it matters not to us. But possessing
but the rude pen and rough hand of a mountain
farmer, perhaps I have 110 right to meddle with
politics or write for a newspaper. Hoping: that
all are well in and around our homes, and wish
ing all the Bedford boys now in the army 11 safe
and speedy return to their homes, and the arms
of tho fair ladies they love, but left behind them,
(sorry I have none.) 1 rem- in yours, &c.,
BEDFORD BOROUGH.
Abolition Proclamation by the President.
WASHINGTON, Sept. 22.
lit/ the President of the United States of America.
A PROCLAMATION.
I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the Unitod
States of America, and Commander-in-Chief of
the A rmv and Navy thereof, do hereby proclaim
and declare that hereafter, as heretofore, the war
will be prosecuted with the object practically,
of restoring the constitutional relation between
the United States and each of the States nnd
the people thereof, in which States that relation
is or may be suspended or disturbed. Thntitis
my purpose upon the next meeting of Congress
to again recommend the adoption of practical
measures tendering pecuniary aid ta the free ac
ceptance or rejection of all slave states, so call
ed the people whereof may not then be in re
bellion against the United States, and which
States may then have voluntarily adopted, or
thereafter may voluntarily adopt immediate or
gradual abolishment of slavery within their re
spective limits; and that the effort to colonize
persons of African descent, with tjheir consent,
upon this continent or elsewhere, with the pre
viously obtnincd consent of the governments ex
isting there, will bo continued; that on the first
day of January, in the year of our Lord one
thousnnd eight hundred and sixty-three, all per
sons held as slaves within any State, or desig
nated parts of a State, the people whereof shall
then be in rebellion against the United States,
shall he then, thenceforward and forever free,
and the Executive Government of the United
States, including the Military authority and Na
val authority thereof, will recognize and • in
tain the freedom of such persons and will Jo no
aci or acts to repress such persons or any of
them in any efforts they may make for actual
freedom; that the Executive will, on the first
day of January aforesaid, by proclamation des
ignate the States, nud parts of States, if any,
in which the people thereof, respectively, shall
then be in rebellion against the United States,
and the fact that any State, or the peoplo there
of, shall on that day be in good faith represen
ted in the Congress of the United States by mem
bers chosen thereto at elections wherein the ma
jority of the qualified voters of such State shall
have participated, shall in the absence of coun
tervailing testimony, lie deemed conclusive evi
dence that such State, and the peoplo thereof,
are no? then in rebellion against the United
States. That attention is hereby called to an
act of Congress, entitled an act to make an addi
tional article of war, approved, March 13, 1802,
which act is in the words and figures following:
lie it enacted by the Senato and House of
Representatives of the United States of Amer
ica in Congress assembled. That hereafter the
following shall bejjromulgatcd as an additional
article of war for the good of the army of tho
U. S., and shall be observed as such article:
All officers or persons in the military or na
val service of the United States, are prohibited
from employing any of tho forces under their"
respective commands for tho purpose of return
ing fugitives from service or labor, who have'
escaped from any persons to whom such service
or labor be claimed to be due j and any officer,
who shall be found guilty by a court martial
of violating this article, shall be dismissed from
the service.
Section Second, And be it further enacted that
this act shall take ell'ect from and after its pas
sage. Also to the ninth and tenth sections of
an act entitled an act to suppress insurrection,
to punish treason and rebellion, to seize and
confiscate property of rebels, and for other pur
poses approved July 17th, 1862, and which
sections arc in the words and figures following
Section A mt/t, And be it further enacted that
all slaves of persons who shall hereafter be en
gaged in rebellion against the Government of
the United States, or who shall in any way give
aid or comfort thereto, and captured front such
persons and taking refuge within the lines of the
amy, and all slaves captured from such persons,
or deserted by them and coming under the con
trol of the Government of the United States,
and all slaves of such persons found on or being
within any place occupied by reliel forces, and
afterwards occupied by forces of the United
States shall be deemed captives of war, and
shall be forever free of their servitude and not
again held as slaves.
Section Ten, And be it further enacted that
no slaves escaping into any State or Territory
or the District of Columbia, from any other
State shall be delivered up or in any wny im
peded or hindrod of his liberty except for crime
or some offence against the laws unless the per
son claiming said fugitive shall first make oath
tlint the person to whom the labor or service of
such fugitive is alleged to be due is his lawful
owner and has not borne arms against us in the
present rebellion, nor in any wny given aid and
comfort thereto. No person engaged in the mil
itary or naval service in the United States shall
under any pretense whatever assume to dccido
on the validity of the claim of any person to
the service or labor of any other person, or sur
render up any such person to the claimant, on
pain of being dismissed from the service.
And I do hereby enjoin upon, and order all
persons engaged in the Military and Naval ser
enforce, within their respective sphere of ser
vice, the act and sections above recited; and
the Executive will in due time recommend that
all citizens of the United States who shall have
remained loyal thereto throughout the rebellion,
shall, upon the restoration of the constitutional
relation between the United States and their re
spective States, and the people if that relation
shall have been suspended or disturbed, lie com
pensated for all losses by acts of the United
States, including the loss of slaves.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto sot my
band and caused the seal of the United States
to be affixed.
Done, at (he City of Washington this twenty
second clay of September, in the year of our
Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty
two, and of the independence of the United
States the eighty-seventh.
AIIHAHAM LINCOLN.
liy the President,
WM. IT. SEWARD, Secretary of State.
The Terrific Battle at Antietam.
On the crest of a hill this side of Shar|>sburg
the enemy were discovered in great force. Their
troops had been brought down from Hagerstown,
up from Harper's Ferry, and part of the army
held in Virginia as reserve. Lee, Jackson,
Longstreet, Hill, and all the best generals left
with them were there, and with all their best
troops. Except occasional artillery contests,
the armies faced each other in quiet during the
rest ot Monday. On Tuesday there was no
movement on our side till toward night. Tho
rebels had kept batteries in position, but their
infantry was withdrawn from view, and it was
still uncertain whether they were retreating or
reinforcing.
About four in the afternoon of Thursdav,
Hooker was ordered to cross Antietam croek,
at the upper ford on the right, with his whole
corps, attack the enemy's left and occupy a po
sition on their flank. He crossed without op
position, sent forward cavalry skirmishers who
were speedily driven back, and then, advancing
with his whole force about six, took possession,
ot strong ground, close to the rebels' left, and
immediately became engaged with artillery and
infantry. Darkness ended the fight with slight
loss on either side, Hooker carrying and holding
the woods from which the enemy's fire first came.
There were constant alarms during tho night,
the hostile pickets being close to each other'all
along the line. Early in the evening the rebels
took to fighting among themselves, and several
heavy volleys were delivered before they discov
ered their mistake.
At daybreak the fight was renewed suddenly
and vehemently, both sides opening fire together.
The re lie I line was formed on a crescent-shaped
ridge, which in front slopes down into an undu
lating valley, irregularly broken by connecting"
ranges of hills. Behind the crest the rebel for
ces lay in uneven and strong positions, sheltered
~by ridges and hills, and especially strong on the
flanks. Antietam creek, a stream too deep to
be forded, except in very few places, sweeps by
the base of their position, and protected it from
assault.
McClcllan's forces were first formed in front,
afterwards thrown to the right and left. Thero
is little or no ground on our si lo equal in height
to the rebel psi ion
I\ii keitr- also '.v n .• ;h-wootfc
in his front, and Doubt. : . i. e-.s,
front against a hem, ... . . &s.cn<fe ad■