Facts in the case.
Now, the facts are these.
A few days before this occurrence, a man dressed in citizen's dress came to the house of a farmer,
Myers, in
Fauquier county, and asked for work; he said he was a deserter from
Sheridan's army.
Myers did not belong to my command nor to any command.
I never saw him. The man spent several days with
Myers.
Chancellor was a soldier who had come home on a short visit to his father, who was a neighbor of
Myers.
Chancellor was on his horse about leaving home when
Myers with some citizens rode up with the professed deserter.
They were sure from his actions that he was a spy feigning desertion.
They asked
Chancellor to take him out to the
Confederate lines.
Chancellor agreed.
It the man was a spy, it was
Chancellor's right to hang him on the spot, just as
General Washington hung
Major Andre.
If, on the contrary, he was a deserter, then
Powell would have shot or hung him if he had caught him. He was not entitled to the protection of a prisoner of war; if he was a spy, he had dearly forfeited his life to one side or the other.
But
Chancellor was merciful, and gave the man the
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benefit of the doubt.
He started off to deliver him as a suspect to the
provost marshal at
Gordonsville.
If the motive had been cruelty, the man would not have been taken ten miles across a river for the purpose of shooting him. He would have been given a hasty burial in
Fauquier.
The prisoner tried several times to get away;
Chancellor warned him that the next attempt would be his last.
He tried again and was shot.
Nobody will dispute the right of a guard to shoot a prisoner to prevent an escape.
For what purpose are guns given to prison guards if not to shoot?
When the man was killed they had crossed the
Rappahannock river and were at least ten miles from the place from which they had started.
This proves that the killing was not premeditated.
Chancellor shot him running.
His desperation in trying to escape confirmed the suspicion that he was a spy. He expected to be hung if he got to
Gordonsville.
If he had been a
bona fide deserter he would not have risked his life to get back to
Sheridan.
Myers was not with
Chancellor.
No matter what corner of the earth he may be in,
Powell is pursued by an avenging fury.
