, ,., f--. .. 1 1 iir-i. i t r -- ,fl" 1 " n " Tl" "n 1 rtl"ni " 111 ,r -,- - -- irr" r" "'" " """ ' i '
Vu U. JACOST, I'uMisfcerO
VOLUME 16.
THE STAR O F THE' NORTH
' IS ' PUBLISHED ETERT Wr.DNrfDAT BT '
JVM. IT. J J COB V,
Witi cv !Bain St., rd Square below Karkcl.
TERMS : Two -Dollar, ml Fifty Cenn
" in advance; 1 1f not paid till the end of the
J'ear, Three Dollar will be charged.
" No subscriptions taken for a period less
laansi montns ; no discontinuance prrm. - . . - dele-ate was stand-
" hi'AZTnoV"6 P,d,BB,eM 8tfnfanlfeadVra sham'p.gne tumbler, !
, Ihe option of the editor. i rr , h.i. hi. n,ter iwj
KATES OF ADVERTISING :
TfV n'LvrnvsTtTIM'P'i S.MTTAHP
. - . V .w. : vi
- Kvery subsequent insert.on.le. tbao 13,
? Oa.coloronloneye.r, - - 50
Admioisaators' and Executors' notices.3
Transient adrer:isin f a ab'e in advance,
all other du a'ter the fir-t insertion.
- BRtCK" fOMEROF ON BPSQ.riTOS.- ;
"Brick" Pomeroy.ot the La Crosse(Wis )
" Democrat, gives the ,'bllowing' as his expe
' rience in gettin? mosquitos intoxicated
. "Jarsh BUlinss" can't teat it:'
MOFQCITOS ON A RENDER.
Nipht before last, in order to alcep. e
placed a piece of raw bee! steak on a plate
. at th bead of onr bed. In the rooming it
; was by the mosqoitos sucked as dry of
, blood aa an old sponae, and our skin saved
. at least ;wo thousand perforations. .. All
. about the room in the morning were mos
- qu'r.os", plethoric with blood, loaded till they
. coold no', fly. . -We killed a lew but the job
was too eacgo inary , o we left them to their
ieasL
Last night in order to get even with the
, aerenadiug dvila. we steeped half a pound
v. of fresh beel steak in some old rye whisky,
,- end left-it on a plate near ihe bed. Nothing
. like beins hosoitablv inclir.d. In Hsu mm
vtesafter thelicht was extingui-hedaswarm
of these back bninji bill pn-tert made an ad
. vance movement. (Joe l ttiem careseu n
j , sweetly on the nose he sent in his bill
p . there wa a slap a dilmed damn a dead
f , x .. mosquito 1 v Sooo we heard a tremendous
- bozzmg about the whiky-soaked beef. The
entire moqui:o family came singing in, and
) such" an rpera good Lord deliver u! But
hey did not disturb us with hii(. we fell
' asleep to be awakened in ten minute by the
xrotrt mosquito concert ever editor, mor al,
j ' ' devil, ansrel. divine. Dutchrnati'or any other
- man listened to. W raised a light, and the
greatest show of the season was there to be
feen. Every mosquito was dranltas a blind
" fiddler, and such an nproarons night as th-s
Ions-billed whelps had, never was sen be
" fore thia side of tetuft! "The worst an'ic!
L'W Fome were pla)tng circus on the plate.
One JIg fellow, wi:h a belly like FaMafT,
full of blood and whisky, was d.ucing jnha
en the Bible, whiTe a tat frienud o his tribe
lay on her back beating the devil's dream
J ' on an invisible tarn borine with one hind
l leg! Two more wer wrestling on the fooi
I tosrd of the bed, eac . with bi bill stuck
'.' v fast in the timber. " Another was tying the
lens of oor pants .into a bow knot o ti
about the ntck. of. Anna Dickinson, which
hangs against the wash stand, while another
red-stomached customer was trying to stand
on hie head in the wash bowl.
, .AH over the room were dronken mosqui
i loes! Oneflong bill, gauol representative
; tvas trying to ram the mucilage bottle full
I of newspaper chipptngs. Another chap
mti drilling a hole through a revolver han-
U. , die and singinj "My Mary Ann," while
.. another was limping across the.window still
. in search of fresh air, to the agonizing tune
of tram p tramp tramp! One l;itle ram
of a ikeet was trying lo jam the cock out of
Ben. Butler's eye with a too'.h grosh, a bis
' r picture hung in ihe room beside that of
; " Kidd the pirate anTa few other thieve. -
Another drunken statesman of the Morqui o
. family, reminding a o.' Z-ch Chandler, was
. talking Russian to a lot ot drnnken coropan-
! , ion as they lay in a heap on a plate, wh ile
another one sat on the handle of our bowie
knife, doubled np with cramp in the stom
ach, and trying. to untie his tail witfi his bill,
i which teemed --lik Lincoln's back-done
f N when Anna Dickinson said - it wauled stiff
1 ening. He was a sick looking skeeter, ami
1 ' , died in three mion'es afifcr we sa jt him, her,
or it. as the cae may te. Two others look
a bath in the inkstand. - A no. Her one with a
I bill like the devil's' narrative was fry ing to
? t wind our wa'ch with the pen-wiper while
-. ' anoiher had just died a hn was sitting on
j the rim of a dish in the room, irytnn to
! chant "Mother, t:e come home to die!''
Toor skeeter. - A nice skeeter, but "'twas a
' pfty tie th-ank.'' An old veteran with a
pioncb foil of alf and 'alf hlood. and wbis.
) ky sat on ihe table reading Lea Miserables,
.while his wife was under the Move trying to
ttend her broken wing with a timpsey tooth
i pick. She looked disgnsfed I Ano:her One
. .rombed his hair with a paper of pins, tied a
lpiece of whire paper about his neck, pasted
a five cent infernal revenue Mamp on his
; tamp, and died like a loyal oitizeo. His
'last wrrds were
"; '"Tell ihe traitors all aroorrd yoo,'"&c.
r ' Another druuken scamp r has jnst started
KHix tfre window for John B. Gpuah, or a
stomach pomp. A worse behaved set of
- cummers we never, saw. They ' have acted
rsarfol. AbogMwo thousand lie about dead
bat sadness seemed not to break in upon
- iheir hilarious Tiotiog opon blood and whis
ky. Half a dozen ot thera set on our new
bat pjayinj draw polkrusing worm lozert
- . . ges tor checks, while .one of the par.y got
4 clean busred by making a fifty dollar blind
good on a four flush, which didn't fill : He
will be apt to wear cotton socks next winter'
' and keep away Irom church collection days.
Aother one sat on top of a brandy bottle,
reading Baxter's Call to the Uucoa verted,
while his partner lies dead at. his feet, evi
dently forced to close doors by the failore of
ð3ra .& Son, of New! York! ? Six others
wer,e trying P bang one that' looks like a
Copperhead to th3 corner of a rqaich eafe,
at as they jere d;unk and he sober it's
not safa to bet on fcis being darjgled They
' pare eatsn the beef rdrank the blood and
whisky dril'aJ the plate loll of holes and
4 fia the center (able organized a son of Malta
ode, csing a fj vt cent shinplaitar for
Llaiiiat in the act eoliUsd "The Elevation of
- lan." ' v- : ' '
--Another red bslliei leader of the Miss
ira:er family tad a battalion of drunken
- bummer cn the edge of a spittoon watching
Ma Jim a far overcoat into his left ear.
:' ll ra foolish foolish enough for . Briga
- dif-rGenera! or a member of congras. A
IItl!a cess with black legs, crimson stomach
.f b.z J dosbla jointed bill, was vomiting in a
i satia Upf sr, wbila his wife, a sickly look-
ir Uly cf her tribe, was jjnawmg at the
- t roe iSm!n.i it a bo o"na A no-hsr
ar;
:d3-.'.y an old maid, eat under the
la rr.i::,-tr:tr tha cat, whila her sis er wai
r;c;;--e pair Ol WCQln Growers IDIO cer
' -C ; -"-'m a gVj-Jaed strain : :
. ...
. ; - . - - . - Trnio ana liigui mu 41 "u v " j . . . - -
3Trr - -
"Come re! in this bosom'.'' "
We have applied for a season ticket front
ea.- - v . -r ' ' ' ;
Another one with a certificate of rriarriage '
over his head -in ihe shape of a welt the
. ot a canoe mom, was uancmg ,.,.-
11 1 . .. 1 . 7.. n
danao with two in own u no virgins on a
' - J : n n gy f . I f
churches sat playing old sledge with a cork-
screw, lo see which should ho foe a gin
chiU taith his other he was Dointins ouH
in the road to Richmond to- a lot of fkeets-st
50 dmnker than bim.el , wh.ch w ere a, Uw.g
00 f'" ,he P'".ow- We.bould I say
00 ' gr prty-qu,tely a!
amputations, circose , nesro lanerais, arw
poker sparking, or other amueement, there
is nothing to be compared to a flsck of
mosquitoes on a bender. If you don't be
lieve it, fix them up with a piece of beef
eiealc soaked in tvhisky, and laogh jour
sides sore at (he antiqs the drur.ken war
blers cut.
S P E EC H
or
COL. JOHN G. FREEZE,
At the Nob Mountain Mrfling; Wednesday
MornlDj, August SfJtb,
Repotted by D. F. .&lurpky, E;q
- Sir Fcrxow Citizens : This morning ha
ben devoted to tli review of an epi-oile
of the late war, popularly known as "the
Columbia County Invasion,?' and U has ben
assigned io me, lo perform that duly. I he
f:iUe and malicious representations made
ad puMtfhed broa I cn over trie land,
; ...i,! .k' 'nkt, m;,i 9nii ,hn. mak
- f . author of 'hi fool wrona and
deep outrage, from the jus' indignation ol
all honest and riht minded men. The
time haa already come when a thorough
ex4orition is require, and there cn be no
n;or fining occasion than thi, when ihe
ritizpiis of the county interested in the
thoronah ventilation of this enormity, are
here to cnr.'iNiratu the farts adduced ; and
many people from a distance, for the firM
time fchall become lull? acquainted with
the cross inMilt and deep wrong to our
population whn in a peaceful and quiet
community, the evil pasions of bad men,
s'irred up to a feeling of intense hatreil by
disappointed political ambition, railed op
on the military to avenge their private
wrong, and in direct violation oTihe law
and the Constiiution, made the civil power
r.urordinate to the miliia'y
The us;enMon of the writ of Wti Cor
pi $ wa a fi'tinz ant ne earjr prelude to
ihis'crnsade. -Without that not one ol thi
men who were subsequently arrested on
fal-e and frivolous rha'ges. which it is pro
poed now io investigate. cooll have been
laket; beyond the county, conl J tiavs been
docied trial in the civil Conns, or could
have bren convicted therein ; because the
rul4 of legl evutenr?, and tne cntitu-J
tional right to a trial by jury wnl I have ;
proiected-innocrnce, and exposed the mal- I
ice and rancor of political jrarti'Tanshi;.
I say therefore. Fellow Crizens. and I(
hope to eatify jou before I c!oe. that ihi
Invasion of Colombia County wa a purely
political rail, and the local leaders of ihe .
Republican abolition partv are guilty of an
outrage, which will make such a record .
against them, as many of our citizens re
member against their fathers during the
Revolution. They have made a history
whirh they shall not erape they have
made a record, during their. phurt leae of
pl.tre and power, whicf)wi!l remain fnruv
er aaint them, and which their on will
blush to read, if pnbli virtue and private
rtfctiiude (-hail ever find a lodgment in their
breafcts. j
On Saturday evening, August 13 h, J864. ,
the quiet village of Bioomburj, t'le County
eat of Colombia County, va suddenly
di-turVd by the appearance, on its gtreets, :
of eighty cavalry and forty infjnsry and two '.
pieces of ar'i llery. ThfTlown was ir.pta.'tily i
in an excitement ! The exultation of ihe
Abolitioni-ie was ' most iiitenne, their eyes '
sparkled with delmht, iheir (oval tongue
were loosed, and threat against the Demo -
crats and Democratic printing office, and
statements that the troop- were to 'cour
the roonty" were in the mouth of Loyal
Leagusrs and their followers. Very many
expressions, showing the animus of the op
position, have been taken down and are
remembered ; and the fierce desire on the
part of some of them to inaugurate a reign
of riot and bloodshed, was painfully appa-
rerrt. ' f for bloqd and lustily cheering on the sol-
On Tuesday morning following, Major ! dier in ,his detestable business. The po
General Couch, commanding the Depjn llti, JtI aspect of the invasion was still more
mont of iha S,i sorief.a nna. whieh mi-1 n.l-H , lolly developed upon- this oc aion. At
Columbia County, with two hundred and
fifty more troop, made hi headquarter iu
Bloottifcbcrg. Reinforcements rontiened to
arrive, and within a few ifays "The Army
of the Fihingcreek" numbered one thousand
menl
And you will obervp, my Fellow Citi
zens, that it was not . Until after ihe Stat
and Presidential elenion in the Fall fol
lowing were . over, that it was found that
the "Fishingcreek Rebellion" was at an
end Then the political object having been
fulTj" accomplished, those one thousand j
armed men were all withdrawn from your
must. . -
,, .ln order lo show yoa mre fully the dead
ly malice which actuated the?e men, I
shall refer you to a letter published in that
general receptacle of falsehood, folly and
sensation stories, the Philadelphia Inquirer,
dated "Carnp C.adwalader, Columbia coun
ty, Peuna., September 6;h, 1864.'' But un
doubtedly written in Bloomsburg, and but
one man there, ia my opinion, could have
had the hardihood lo write such a ma of
deliberate, wilful and malicious falsehoods.
The letter was promptly contradicted ; but
the editors of the Inquirer, (rue to their poli
tical instincts, took no notice of the contradiction-
the lie once started could go on its
way thus eudorsedand effcl the desired
results.. 1 will read parts of the letter and
comment as I proceed. It opens as follows:
i .Correspondence of the Inquirer.
- t
"Camp Cadwalapkr, Col. Co., Pa.
September 6, 1864.
We of . the army of the "Fishing Creek"
feel surprised and exceedingly disappointed
that your valuable paper his not pursued
yonr usual course of enterprise, antf bad a
reliable correspondent with this army.
Oar
' deeds ot valor and nardshiDs have been al
j (owea 10 pass oncnroniciea, ana oor praiees
I may j-o .unsung
' : it i-- 1 r - .1 ( - 1 1
I louwm utm, ueiiuemen, oeioreigjava
I fiaijhed, that ihera was a tery reteable cor-
' : TTT nT.
respondent somewhere. Rat ha goes on :
'Ii is not generally known that certain
drafted raea from ibis and other connties ; of
this State, and some pf the lower ones ol
New York, hare been in the mountains in
lhenorhern part" of Colombia Connty, on.
the head waiers of Fishinsi Creek, where
they have openly defied both the civil and
.""
i Now, Gentlemen. I fay here that there is
not one single syllable ot truth in that sen-
sdc There never wa in the northern
Part of Columbia county . amoni! the moon-
tains, or anywhere else in his section of
ill.' counirv. a uanu 01 men. Miner citizens 01
countrr, a Dand ot men, either citizens
the cocnty, of other counties in the State
or of portions of the State of New York,
associated together for any soch purpose,
for any illegal p nrpose, or indeed for any
purpose at all thai neither the civil nor
military authorities of ourcoontry were de-
i fied, openly or secretly and that in fact
there never was any such body of drafted
men in the locality .specified by this corres
pondent. The assertion is absolutely and
unqualifiedly false. . -
''Matters had reached stich a point that a
few weeks ago a party of dralted men fired
upon and severely wounded Lieut. Robison,
upon his attempting to arrest them."
Now a word on that point. It has never
been shown anywhere, by any sworn testi
mony, by any evidence whatever, that the
man who is here called Lieut. Rooion had
authority from any person or power, mili
tary or civil to make special or general ar
rests. The lacts are, that this Robison, a
Luzerne county man, and ihree or four other
persons raiding around the oonn'y of Colom
bia after midnight came across several citi
zens ol the county traveling upon their own
bu.-iness, not drafted men, so far as- is
known, nor men liable to arrest for any
known cause, who upon being challenged
by Robison's party and ordered to s'op or
else they would be fired upon, seem to
have fired themselves, in reply to the chal
lenge. The act is neither to be defeii'ded
nor excused ; but it was a night affray be
tween those persons and citizens of Lu
zerne who had neither right nor authority
here, no lawful power over ODr people and
no legal riuht to arrest them. The mee'ing
was accidental, the parties unknown, the
numbers insignificant ; and it i sheer non
sense lo ta'k aboul an army of 1,000 men
or any other number being requirJ lo ar
rest '.hem. And yet, that i given as one
of the causes for this Invasion.
. :tThe. force of ihe insurgents provinsr to
be much larger than supposed, we were
reinforced by a battalion of infantry under
command of Lieut. Col. Stewart. We re
mained in camp at Bioonsburg for several
days, when all things being in readiness, we'
advanced io Benton, a distance of eighteen
miles. There we asain encamneJ and
were further reinforced by a battalion of the
eteran Reserve Coips, making a command ,
of atuut one thousand met."
Yes, my S"1 Citizen, this valiant J
"army of ihe &hnz Creek" rested in
Bloomsburg from tye 1 3t h to the 21t of Au- t
gust ; and on Sunday morning broke np its j
camp and took np its line ol march. With- !
out any nece-sity, against all proprieiy and
all decency, the holy hours of the christian
Sabbath were desecrated by the sounds of
martial music and the measured tramp of I
soldiers who, themselves mostly-innocent, j
were made the instruments of designing '.
men, and sent on a political mission against '
peacelul citizens, whose only crime was a
devotion to the principles of the Constito i
tion, and an nnforlunate propensity to vote
the Dercocratic ticket. (Applause). For;
mark you Fellow Citizens, the facts make ,
it perfectly clear that it was not against de-
serters that this immense force was sent, j
The best information I caa procure makes !
it probable that in that entire region there ;
wre le?s than 100 non reporting dratted j
men. when the "army of the Fishirtg Creek" .'
arrived in Bloomsburg ; beini a les p.r- I
centage than almor-t any connty in the
Slaie, or the eiitire North could sho w. And !
very few it anv men charged and showi to
be desenersunder the act ol Congress, were j
rent to the front by the 1,000 men who com
posed the "army ot the FUhing Creek.
i."
So far the military results were not very
brilliant. Hut I call public attention to the
fact, that not one of the one hundred men fire was ut-elnl also, to some extent, in atd
who were arrested on the 31st of AnjustJ ing the ventilation, attd from the chilliness
1S64, was a deserter, not one of them was
j ever charged wuh desertion, nor was one
01 inem ever tried ror mat onense. it is an
important tact also; that not one of them
had had anything to do, or any connection
with the Robison shooting affair previously
noticed, nor was any one of them ever
charged with any participation therein.
Ah! Ladies and Gentleman this was a
remarkable march the streets were full of
' exultant and jubilant abolitionists, thirsting
feat a dozen carriages and hrggies filled
with aboliuo'iists, whose joyful faces will
long Le remembered, followed this army of
Invasion and Occupation ; like the famous
aooliiioo congressmen whose splendid turn
outs followed McDowell to the firi battle of
Bull Run. (Laughter and applause )
Bu'-.le' us l iliiw the Inquirer correspon
dent a liule further.
On the 23:h of August General Cadwal
a ler ar'tved and assumed command. Mat
lers remained quiet until ihe morning ot the
31st. The last day of Summer, 1864. will
be long remembered in the annals of Co
lombia County. During the nt2hi of the
30:h the forces were posted in different por
tions of the county, and upon the breaking
of day. which was. the lime appointed, about
one hundied of the citizens who were im
plicated in the troubles were quietly arrest
ed and brought into camp."
A memorable day truly ! never to be for
gotten "in the annals of Columbia Count)'"!
One hnndreu ot her citizen arreted w;',n
out due process of law, in defnnce of their
constitutional rights, without au'ltori'y from
the legal and constituted magistrate, but by
virtue o.' the bru e force ot K'OO armed men.
One hundred citizens ."quietly arretted J
Why Gentlemen, it had been given oui that
there was a aegular rebellion in the Fishing
Creek Country that men worain and chil
dren were under arms that there was not a
house that was not fortified that ihera was
not a gun which was not loaded to ihe muz
zle 1 (laughter) and yet this Philadelphia
Inquirer man says that on he morning of
August 31st r 100 ciuzens were quietly ar
rested !" Where ? Each nt hit own home
f opon rising from his bed at the "breaking of
J day" dragged from bis family fasting, and
; in some cases only partially dressed." Where
, then was khe reba lion i here were lne
(rmej jnen . .mere
was no opposition of
either individuals or numbers, even to that
Til 1 . 1 : I t ... -. . j '
iubw suu lumruai uunu xuinanueu vj
'thee men upon lb at ci9roio. Tb citizeos
. . n i i.J am) nn f'nniifrr.
nhiT ximv -n a wT?nQn Ay SEPTEMBER. 20, 1865.
of Columbia County "quietly" submitted.
They were marched off to a church one of
those political clnb rooms where treason
had teen preached for years before the
South seceded, where the blood hounds of
Zon had stirred op political strife and ani
mosity, instead of le irh rig 1ovj, prace arid
good will 1 such a place were thjy tan
the 100 were separated and set apart, the
sheep from the goats, probably, (i;iua:li;er)
and the sheep earned oil 'o Fort Mifllin.
The military authorities confined them in
the meeting house without their breakfast,
and marched, tbetn to Bloomsborg afier
wards without providing them anything . to
eat, and on lo Philadelphia, before they led
ihem. Then these men who had com mit:ed
no crime, who had made no rebellion, who
had done nothing wrong, who aid not even
resist an illegal arrest, were taken to Fort
Mifflin below Philadelphia, and locked up
in bomb proofs under the eanh, denied air,
exercie,-Wrd the blessed light of Heaven.
They had boards on the damp earth for
beds. They were subjected to loul air, and
measre and sometimes unhealthy food, un
til sickness took hold on the strong frames,
the wasting sirer.gth and lack luster eyes
told of fast coming death, and whence the
Iriends of William E. Roberts bore his body,
late so full of life, through the length of our
county to its last resting place.
There at least wa one Democratic vote
forever extinguished ! So far at least this
army of 1,000 men had success. (Emo
tion.) That I may not be supposed lo be siatins
any thing more than the fact9 of the cae, I
refer :o the sworn statement of William Ap
plernan, one ol the Fort M'filin victims, as
to the treatment they experienced.
Appleman's Statkmknt.
We arrived at Philadelphia at eight or
nine o'ctock in the morning, (Sopt. 1st,)
and were . taken to Barracks 5ih & Button
wood. There at noon we obtained some
thing to eat tin-cupa of soup and some
bread and meat, which was the first food
furnished u Irom the time we had been ar
rested. At the Uenton Church some eata
bles were sent to us from the house ol John
J. Stiles, by his-direction, he being one of
the atrested men, w hich was all we had hd.
I ami iny sous wer taken !rorn home be
fore breakfa'.
The alternoon of fame diy lst; we
were taken on to rv M fii.:i aid put in
Bomb-proof No. 3. Gamu through a Ions,
dark, arched paaae or gangway ol about
P0 leet in length Iro.-n the iron grated doors
f .av fi feet hiiih in the centre and 5 or 6
leet wide") we pass lh'oush a heavy douole
' . . . . i r i- i
nlanked and riviied ooor into me i.mi.
prool. Thi bomb-proof is partly be(ow the
level of the river, is archet overhead
and
j has thick walls of stone and brick. By
i nemon it I and other made its width to
be 19 feel and its length 54 feet. This was
the space allotted to the prisoners, 44 in
nomber. One of the original prisoners had
been discharged when we arrived at the
Fort on ihe ground thai be had been arrest
ed by mistake. ...
Air and light were imperfectly admit'ed
on one side and at one end of Ihe bomb
proof through openings in the wall, per
haps a dozen in nuynber. The main ones
may have been four inches wide by a foot
in height on ihe ootside, widening t-swards
the interior. The floor was-of hard earth
or gravel and 6rm. On the sides scantlina
were laid on the ground lena'h-wise of the
room and across these board were plar-ed.
Again at ihe ends of the bords next the
wall, short pieces of scantling or blocks
were placed at interval end wise to Ihe
walls, acios which boards were laid, form
ing a narrow platform next the walls a lew
inche high. This constituted a subs-timte
for pillows, the lower and wider platlorm ol
branls ar,werii.g the pnrpise of a bed. A
singte soldier blanket was furnished to each
man, out no oenumg or e-raw
The room
-jra very dur.p, ar 1 a' wet
time the wa'er cams through arcii om
head from the earth npon it, dm;p:i)2 dawn
in the part farther Irom the fir. There
was also sweating ol the vide walls. To
fherk the damDnos it . wa recessary to
! keep np a fire cotitant! in the grate at one j
end ol ihe room, but this was not sufficient,
Alihoii"h attended lo rush! and day. The
o! ihe room wa required for comfortable
warmth even in September.
Our prison fare was as follows ; To each
a loaf ol baker's bread for ti e day. One
slice of boiled pork or beef and a tin of
coffee in the morning; one tin of bean or
pea soup ai dinner, and a titi ot cnflVe at
night. On three or lour occasions we tirew ;
potatoes boiled in the skin instead of soup i
at dinner. Several times the meal was not ',
good, and five or six times there was none
furnished.
The prisoners, however. pcrchae.l pro
visions for themselves, to some extern, at
enormous rates. The expense incurred in
ihis way was very considerable during .the
time I remained in confinement.
One half a single candle was fornished at
nights lor" th whole room, and we were
obliaed to procure lights at our own ex
pense. A fi'th trrb was furnished tis made by
sawing a barrel acroshe middle. Stand-
ins upright on the closed end, a stick was
run across it through holes-bored a little
way below the top. Thus provision wa
made for its beinc carried by two men. It
had no cover. For about three weeks it
stood in the gangway or entrance pa-sage
outide the door of oor prison room, during
the day time. Afterwards, upon my appli
cation, we were permitted to keep ii duru g
the day, in an empty room .adjoining the
gangway. Two of the prisoner went out
with it occasionally, under guard. Alwav
at iiiht it was necessarily kept in our 100m.
the dcor being locked, fhis wh?le mader
'l bo prjionf" wer rffft-v iror 40 year
of ae.'all accusMrnid to hc ttve em ploy -rnttM,
n pun wionri imp-i-onm-." t bore se
verely. About ,iie e !i.t 1,1" Septt'Tiber. Win
E. RoJert and Jr-hn York were taken sick
with bowel com plaiV. and were r moved
to the hospital near the Fort. Roberts died
about :en days afterwards.
Fellow Citizens, before these arrests were
made. General Cadwalader had been up
I ' r . . . a -1 .
I Fishing .Creek, and came back iq biooms-
bur, and there had long secret conierences
with leading abolitionists of thai place. Af
ter these conferences were over, the arrests
were made, and when my friends who now
sit on the platform behind me, were being
marched downlo Bloomsburg towards eve
ning, withont anything to ear having been
furnished them, they met my lord General
Cadwalader, joorneyiog.at bis leisure up
the creek, in all the glory of shoulder-slraps
and all the insolence of Federal place and
power. Ha passed thera without speakicg
to lliern. : .
Let us return once more to the letter of
;he Philadelphia lnquirtr.
"I should state that previous to the march
from Bloomsburg,. Major General Couch
had issued a proclamation to the Insurgents
sivina ibem several days to lay down their
arms and return to their al!egian;e "
Now, Gentlemen, I wan? to read you
what Maj Gain. Conch did any in order that
yon may undersiand exactly how malicious
ly false that Inquirer statement was, and
bow thoroughly the record convicts him ol
wilful lying :
HD QU DEPMT
OF THE SrQ' KHaNNA
B'oombiirg Pa
August 16th 64 ,
Col J. G. Freeze
Bloomsburg Pa
Sir
Yon are authorized
by me to inform thoe persons in Columbia
Co who have not reported as required under
the previous "drafts, "' and are known as de
serters, that the charge f desertion skull be re
milled by me provided, they duly report
therm-elves on or before 12 P. M Saturday
Aug 20th current.
Thi doe not apply to those charged with
fhe crime of murder.
I am very respt
D N Couch
Maj Gen
Corndg Dept"
Now, mark yon, Fellow Citizens, the 2a
quirer went, broad cast over the country. It
need to have fianding at ihe head ol its
columnsa statement, that its circulation was
over 60 000 copies dailj, until some other
abolition paper, knowing its propensity lo
lie, contradicted the assertion and forced
Ihe L.q'iiref lo lake it out. Bui the state
ment ol this letter which I am reviewing
circulated over this em ire common wealth,
and were copied into all the abolition pa-
f pers of the country, "That the insurgents
were to lay down meir arms ana return lo
their allegiance." Gentlemen, there never
were any insurgents in Columbia county
there were no arms to lay down and Gen.
Conch never issued ' a proc'amation " to
any "insurgents."
He -imply wrote a teller asking the draft
ed men who had not reported, to present
themselves within a certain time, promis
ing if they did so, they should not be charg
ed with desertion.
L)o you fully appreciate the malice of
this writer, his determination io manufac
ture public sentiment. against you, his abso
lute invention of falsehond to serve hi- pur-
poe ? Bnt here, fortuna ely, the record so
i i . . : . . i i . l
utterly refutes him, as lo ren.ier what he
may say on any other point, entirely unreli
able. Let us, nevertheless con'inne our exami
nation of this most surprising letter. It pro
ceed I
"It is almost to be regretted that we wra '
not allowed to march 2inst these northern
traitors immediately upo i our arrival, for at
this time they -ere located near Ronton,
at a plap called Still-water, and were throw
ing np rifle pits to resi-l our advance u;i j
the valley. Had we advanced at this time
we might have hd a rhance lo aJm nister
some ot the same kind of union arguments
lo these scoundrels as their friend in the
Sonth have been recajving at the hands of,
our soldiers. But disloyalists are cowards,
and so soon ss ihe excitement of bad whis
key has passed away the mas of iheir forces
lost heait, and tho.-e men who had property
to lose, who were in the ranks, t-uddenly
became intensely loyal. At a . preliminary
examination he'd upon the prisoners, about
One half were allowed to return to their
homes, some giving security for their future
good behavior. Thi left about fifty, care
being taken to retain none against whom
there was not sufficient evidence to convict,
as wilfappear on their trial.'-'
Now, my Fellow Citizen, the man who
wrote thi hitory in the Philadelphia a
qirer iol I a wiilul, ma'icious and deliher-
e lal-eiiond. (Col Pmllkt, "Who-n dj
30U suppose it was 1'') Coi. Fkf.ze I
tt-it.k it was the Editor of the Atmlinon
Newspaper at Blocmsbnrs. If he Jid not
d0 jt he can deny it. but whether I shall be
lieve his denial or not is ano'her qr.estioji.
' N rt mn ever s.'tw a rifle nt in lntumlna sn
: and
no man hre, except one who has
' been in the army, knows what a rifle pit is
i I do not believe thai any m. n who was in
j that army ol 1 000 men was such a liar,
! scoundrel and fool as to write, that rifle pits
i had teen thrown op at tiii-water by ciii
! zns, to impede the advance of 1 GvO men,
I who had brer, trained for three year in the
j war. in their march op the valley of the
; Fihing Creek. Besides, the army had now
passed over the ground where these ride
pits were said to be. B.it no man ever saw
them, every one of those thousand men knew
thai no such thing ever existed; and it does
i not seem possioie inai any omcer or soldier
j would invent such wholesale and malicio'is
(a!-ehoods. The Inquirer correspondent
, calls you "traitor," "scoundrels," "dUloy
j alists," 'cowards' and drunkards -j
-The whole country was to believ ihat ihe
; very people who stand before me lo day,
j ami who have been attenJiiig this, ihe most
. quiet and orderly and magnificent meeting
, 1 over saw; were among the most abandon
I
I
ed wreterms in me universe, ana laise lo
J every ining sacred and honorable. And
why f B-'canse a political contest wa go
ing on in Pennsylvania, and thoe opposed
lo the policy ol the administration had 10
be denounced and'derided arid abned The
State must be carried, and Columbia coun
ty with herfifepri hundred Democra ic rrja
j iritr must be crushed out; and in ordr to do
it effectually this man wants Mov, he bot es
for a fiht, the groans of widows and ihe
shrieks of orphans are mu-ic to hi abolition
ear- ; atid the tinge of blood is ihe color,
next to black, which most delights his eyes.
"O i Friday we once more took up our
line ol march arid are now in the monn
tiins Our camp is located in a valley on
ihe east branch of Fih:nsr Creek. Mountains-are
all around us. The valley is bare
ly wde enough for our cam p, the mountains
on each 'sine rising up almost perpendicular
for over seven hundred leet.
Of coure I am not aware of the informa
tion poiessed at head-quarters, tun from all
1 can "earn, the iosurzenis are encamped in
a gorge in the mountains, where they have
intrenchments mounting two field piece.
They are said to be from three to fie hun
dred strong and from their location it will
be extremely difficult to approach them
with 6-jfIicient numbers to overcome their
extremely sarong-position., It is the prayer
of evrey soldier in the command that they
remain and give us a fight. We hardly
have hopes ot this, from the cowardly course
they have pursued up 10 this time. Still
Italics marked. in' the original by Gen
Couch. : -
they are hemmed in and may be brought to
bay."
Cadwalader and bis thousand men are
spoiling for a fiht (laughter) but it they
were really as anxious as they seem to be,
ihey would be down at the front, where
Grant arid his brave fellows, begrimmej by
the smoke and Ftunred by the roar of bat
lle, are doins service against the enemi;
instead of listening to ihe quiet murmur ol
the Fihins Creek, the crowina of Ihe cocks
(which were speedily captured,) the grunt
ina ol the pig (which were quickly slaugh
tered.) and the reveilleotthe thousand men.
But ihe- General and his men doubtless pre
lerred Colombia County as the -cene of
iheir exploits. It was a safe place there
was no danger (laughter) anJ he marched
his men up to the head watprs of iIih Creek
and encamred them there in ihe beaatiltil
a valley, with magnificent mountains all
around, and quiet and peace reigning su
preme. Gen'l Cadwalader is a man ofcon?S?r
able military experience. He made him
self a very excellent reputation as an officer
in the war with Mexico; but that was before
he permitted himself to be used by men
who had no respect lor constitutions or for
laws.
I wish I could , fairly describe to you
GenM Cadwalader' hunt after that fori
mounting two field pieces' what trouble
he had to el snides and scours (there
were np intelligent contrabands in that
country) how he sent a squad of men af
ter my old friend James Hess how after a
midnight ride he captured a boy who knew
some other boy who knew where the Fori
was how that boy did'nt know but mold
lell them where there wa a boy who did
and how at last somebody was found who
undertook In fix the spot. Then Ihe Major
General's scientific knowledge of military
matter came into full exerci-e.his 8tra2tic
ability hud a foeman worthy of hi lame;
and his thousand men were divided and
located aud limed with Ihe utmost military
skill and precision. The grand "army of
the Fishing Creek," in three divisions, ad
vanced against the lonely Fort. (Laughter )
After clambering for half a day over ro-ks
and stone, through briars and hnrkleberry
bn-hes, finding ihree or four old bear Iraps
which my Iriend John Mcllenry had set up
there to caudi bears, itiey began to find
sign of a p!a'e where somebody had been:
and then, "Look to your arm bo v.," and
keep your powder drv." Laugh'er And
so this valiant army progressed eattli divi
sion coining in otder and al prop-r time,
suddenly e unou'ining the top of the moun
tain, and raptured a p!nre inhere some of
yonr biys and kith hit leen hiving; a huckle
Lerry pic-nic and that wa all liieyevr
did find. Great laughter. No Foit no
e'n'renchment, no rifle pits, no fi-ld pieces,
110 five hundred men, 110 rebellion, no
nothing. That wa- the end of the expedi
tion, and Cadwalader, like that ancient be
ing of Spain,
With twenly ihonaan I men, again.
Marched up the hill, and then marched down
Laughter
He was thoroughly disgusted He came
to Biorn-bt;rg and upon his military
knowledge and experience as a military
oflicer, he pronounced, I use his own
word, "Ihe whole thing a farce."
What then should he have done? He had
arre-ted abont one hundrad of our citizen,
had incarcerated Forty four of them in lh
bomb-prools of Fort Mifflin, he had satisfi
ed himself after a thorough search in all
direction ihatt he Fort was moonshine and
tne rebellion a "farce;" and as an honest
man, as au otlirer, deserving the name, he
should have made it a personal rnat er to
procure their release; bui he had not the
manliness to risk hi rommi-sion .
So the original excuse lor putting thee
rr.en into Fo't MitUiti had utterly atid ahMi
lute'y failed, it was brok-n tlown beyond
any re-iurert iori. and a tie v exctte miit
be invented for keeping 1 .000 arm ed mt-n
in Columbia County. Tni 1 olm-ral raid
in 11 -t l!l be kept up, and 'he Ramz meet
ing, a it i railed, in i:-e:f entirety hi;,o
pi-m was the next exri:-e far b.-igiig ae
soldier. But the Rantz mealing wa i.ot
field until alter the solJier-- rame to Bl jum
burg, would never hue been hell, but lor
their romT.ing; and could not, therefore, be
the caue of the Invasion But the catie
and reason of thai Ritz meeting having
been held, was given by the witnes-e for
Ihe administration before the 'Mdi'arv
L'oinmiMOn that tried our citizen. 1 read
from trie testimony of Nathan J. He-.
It was reported arcinJ by d':fTjr:nt
persocli tiiat noldicrs were coming; up to
h' lp scrue ritis'ns who had been trying- to
lak drafted men, and that they would
burn the buildtDg of tbm th t were
drafted arid them that resisted no oppo
sition was made or resistance offered to
the soidiera when they came up
Hoard the report as to the objects
of the soldiers a day or three or four be
fore this Ilantzj meeting I heard after-
.s..i 1 . v .
warJs ttitit tne oitj.ct was Decaue tney
heard the soldiers were foiu.i to burn and !
. t .1
destroy ana tn:s was alter tne soldiers
Came Up. I
. .
hdward McIIcsrv, al-o a witness
for
the administration 6wcars :
4kI heard soju talking at the Iautz
meeting that the olJiers were going to
burn building, destroying wouvmi and
children."
That is the testimony of tha adminis
tration, and it explains why the ltantz
meeting was held. And when the soldiers
came up, 110 citiren of the county harmed
or threatened to harm one of them. To
resistance was offered to them, nor to ony
person in the discharge of his proper du
ties. The people fed them with cakes
and pies, and gave thfm good whiskey to
drink ; and yet thee same men tore down
their fence., burned aod used up their
boards and lumber, cut down their sugar
trees, dug" up their potatoes, stripped off
their roabting ears, led up their hay, eat
up their chickens, and killed their sheep,
and refused to pay Ihey did
Thev caught a young lad in
tnore. !
JacksoD
township, took him to a barn, and hung. Board in Benton (a cripple) was arrested,
him by the neck several times, became hc j so a to delay or prevent the opening of
could not or would not tell where Lis fa-' tbo polls several persons in Sogarloal
ther was. I honor the young man for it. wero arrested and detained until theeleo
Ile would have been recreant to his duty tion was over along the rod leading to
as a ton if he had consented to bptray j the places of holding ihe elections, squad
his father- He was finally let off before ! of soldiers were stationed many ettirena
life was extinot; but is since dead, as is' crossed the fields to avoid them, others
believed, from the effects of that hanging ; remained away altogether, rather than be
by the soldiers of the "army of the iuh- i
$2 00 in Advance, per A nnnn.
NUMBER 48.
Such was the treatment the people of
Columbia County received , and the pigs
chickens and sheep were about the only .
deserters the eoldiers caught. .;
But there was another reason which the
abolitionists subsequently hunted up to
account for the presence of those one thous
and soldiers. It was, that there had beeu
a lot of Democratic meetings in tho county
some time before. It was pretended that
tbey were secret and therefore objection
able ; and that in the ftce of ..'Know
Nothing Lodges,", .and ' Loyal L'eague
Rooms" which the opposition had bcru
constantly running lor years. - :
- On the point of secresy,Nathan J. lies,
a wifnes3 for the administration, swears
that he attended one that was secret, but
lhat he was not a member. Of course it
must have been vtry secret, when a nj;m
cot a" member could attend ; and that h
attended. but one. and that at the house of
Pc-ter Kase. He also r swears that it was
10 June 1803 ; and all the evidence giveu,
proves the meetings to hare., reased :i
year cr sixteen months before the arrests of
August 31, 18Gf. And yet every thing
else failing,thoe little meetings of twenty -fivd
or thirty persons, assembled in School
Houses and which,' for more than a year
had ceased to be h ld and which a large
mass ol testimony shows to have been en
tirely innocent io character, are given as
a reason why a thousand, armed men
should iBvade Columbia County.
Fellow Citizens, no amount of special
pleading can weaken the force of these
facts. The statements I have made to you '
are substantiated by sworn testimony
And the conclusion is irresistable, that tho
military raid into Columbia County was
for a political purpose, aud had no other
object whatever. Let us examine the
facts bearing upon this point a little more
fully.
The State election was rapidly drawing -near
True, Forty-four Democratic voters
were securely locked up in Fort Miffitn
Gen. Cadwalader had ret'red from the
field after his campaign on the Fish i eg
Creek to his quarters in Philadelphia,
with ail his blushing honors thick, upon
him, and some still more pliant tool mu3t,
be found to finish up the work. A Colo
nel (now General) A'brigbt was detailed
to hunt up something that would be a good
enough Morgan till after the election.
And thou came hard swearing, aud se
cret meeting, and midnight conferences,
and btarchamher examination then
disappointed political aspirants could safe
ly wreak their vengeance. agiot Demo
cratic vuters, and iudulge in those person
al grudges which political partisanship
bad engendered or embittered. Many
days were spent io this unhallowsd work.
all the willing testimony that offered
itself was taken io secret cit leni were
arrested aud brought into camp, and de
tained under guard, until something was
extorted Irom their fcar.s or their puimh
meol,and thosa who knowing; nothing re
fused to fabricate, were suVjected repeated
ly, to this military mode of taking testi
mony. Finally when every thing was supposed
to be ready, tho gallant Colonel returned
to Cloomsburg, carpet bag fluffed, and to '
a little meeting ot abolitionist, got up for
the occasion, and wrth that testimony as
his text, he opened the political campaign
in Columbia County. Thereupon that plat
form, in a loud and pompous voice, he de
tailed and descanted upon the statements
moit i'f them filsc, taken down after an
11 responsible oath, to secret, exparte, and
without a crosti examination, and that .
speech bccaae the key-not ol the politi
cal contest. The campaign which had
hope cgdy broken down under Cadwalader,
wa resurrected by Albright, and was
now purely political.
Iut the county of Columbia was not yet
considered safe. Two years br f ore it had
iroominiously defeated the straight je
pubiican candidate for congress; and it
wa feared that now it ruiEht elect my
friend Col. Pio let. a straight Democratic .
candi late. It would never do to let htm
get ioto congress be would make the fur
Sy eff of the shoddy contractors and the
robbers of the puhlio mouey. That at all
hazard? must be prevented.
The connty was put under strict mili
tary survcilliance tiight alter ntght citt
ien were arretted, detained under guard,
locked up in j-iil, or hurried to some point
beyond the county reports were circula-
lJ I, . a OT Ast tl Vk t A PVAtlf A1
i u mucin wciu w - "
Ijr '"e purpose uouuuess wi muuviug "icui
. r .1 . - 1 . f
r . .1 1 ...!.. 1-... ..t !.,.
to leave home for the time being lists of
prominent Democrats were made and
handed about with mock secrecy, and in- ;
timation of their arrest given out The
' Loyal League" held it stent nightly
meetings the abolition newspaper at
Hloonisburg gave noftee that every draft
ed man who approached the polls to de
posite his vote, would be arrested as a
deserter an I every other device known to
political rascality, was made use of to in-
timate and disfranchise voters.
But the grand climax of this never-to-be-forgotten
Political raid was reached on the
niglit before the October election.
ln defiance of the statutory prohibition
against f tationing troops near the plaoe of
holding elections, this ''Army of the Fish
ing; Creek" was once more ''posted in diff. ,
erent portions of the connty, and upon the
breaking of day," several prominent ctti-
reus in different parts of it were arrested.
The only remaining member of the election
Concluded on Fourth-Page
a:
a
ai