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He is pained to learn by your letter, brought to him by the
commanding officer of the party, that the remains of some of your soldiers have been reported to you to have been scalped, tomahawked, and otherwise mutilated.
He hopes you have been misinformed with regard to this matter, the Indians who formed part of his forces having for many years been regarded as civilized people.
He will, however, most cordially unite with you in repressing the horrors of this unnatural war; and that you may cooperate with him to this end more effectually, he desires me to inform you that many of our men who surrendered themselves prisoners of war, were reported to him as having been murdered in cold blood by their captors, who were alleged to be Germans.
The General commanding feels sure that you will do your part, as he will, in preventing such atrocities in future, and that the perpetrators of them will be brought to justice, whether German or
Choctaw.
The privileges which you extend to our medical officers will be reciprocated, and as soon as possible means will be taken for an exchange of prisoners.
I am, sir, very respectfully yours,
Reply.
headquarters of the army of the Southwest, camp at cross timber Hollows, March 21, 1862.
Captain: I am in receipt of yours of the fourteenth inst., expressing the reasonable regret of your
Commanding General for the barbarities committed by the Indians at the recent
battle of Pea Ridge.
The fact of many bodies having been found scalped and mutilated was patent, and the
General commanding the army wishes, for the sake of humanity, that the testimony was not incontestable.
In reply to your information that “men who surrendered themselves prisoners of war are reported to the
General as having been murdered in cold blood by their captors, who were alleged to be Germans,” I may say, the Germans charge the same against your soldiers.
I enclose a copy of a letter from
Gen. Sigel, addressed to me before the receipt of yours, in which the subject is referred to. As “dead men tell no tales,” it is not easy to see how these charges may be proven, and the
General hopes they are mere “camp stories,” having little or no foundation.
The
Germans in the army have taken and turned over many prisoners, and the
General has not before heard murder charged against them; on the contrary, they have seemed peculiarly anxious to exhibit the number of their captured as evidence of their valor.
Any act of cruelty to prisoners, or those offering to deliver themselves as such, on the part of the soldiers of this army, coming to the knowledge of the
General commanding, will be punished with the extreme penalty of the law.
Exceptions may undoubtedly occur, as we have murderers in all communities, but the employment of Indians involves a probability of savage ferocity, which is not to be regarded as the exception to the rule.
Bloody conflicts seem to inspire their ancient barbarities; nor can we expect civilized warfare from savage tribes.
If any presumption has been raised in their favor on the score of civilisation, it has certainly been demolished by the use of the tomahawk, war-club and scalping-knife at
Pea Ridge.
I may here state that the
General commanding directed a surgeon of one of the
Indian regiments, taken at the battle, to be sent to
St. Louis, a close prisoner, while other surgeons are allowed, on parole, the freedom of our camps.
Believing the
General commanding the opposing army is equally anxious to suppress atrocities which are too often evinced by our species, the
General commanding the army hopes Indians will hereafter be excluded from your forces.
I am, captain, very respectfully, etc., yours,
The following is a copy of
Gen. Sigel's letter, to which reference is made in the above.
headquarters First and Second divisions, Camp Hoffman, Mo., March 20, 1862.
General: I beg leave to direct your attention to the information which was received yesterday at Keitsville, by some of the wounded of the Flying battery.
While
Capt. Elbert's three pieces of artillery were taken by the enemy, and our men serving the guns were surrounded, they were shot dead by the rebels, although seeking refuge behind the horses.
When such acts are committed, it is very natural that our soldiers will seek revenge, if no satisfaction is given by the commander of the confederate army.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
A rebel narrative.
The Richmond
Whig of April ninth, contains the following account of the
battle of Pea Ridge, which they call the
battle of Elkhorn:
The following interesting and reliable account of the late battle in Askansas was addressed to
the Hon. G. G. Vest, through whose courtesy we are enabled to lay it before our readers this morning.
The letter is from an officer of
Price's army, who was in the engagement:
“The battle's fought,” but whether or not “won,” neither confederates nor Federals can tell.
Yet all can understand.
We have abandoned the field, and have had to ask permission of them to bury our dead.
Capt. Schonburg, who went up with our flag, reports that he superintended the interment of eighty-eight bodies, and the enemy claim that they have buried others of our dead.
They may have done so, but it was unintentionally omitted on our part, and in isolated instances.
Our loss in killed does not exceed one hundred and thirty; it cannot go up to one hundred and fifty. Among them, however, are
McCulloch,
McIntosh,
Rives, and that gallant young embodiment
