Varina Davis, Jefferson Davis: Ex-President of the Confederate States of America, A Memoir by his Wife, Volume 2

On the 22d of this month a cartel for the exchange of prisoners of war was signed between Major-General D. H. Hill, in behalf of the Confederate States, and Major-General John A. Dix, in behalf of the United States.

By the terms of that cartel it is stipulated that all prisoners of war hereafter taken shall be discharged on parole till exchanged.

Scarcely had the cartel been signed when the military authorities of the United States commenced a practice changing the character of the war from such as becomes civilized nations into a campaign of indiscriminate robbery and murder.

The general order issued by the Secretary [356] of War of the United States in the city of Washington, on the very day that the cartel was signed in Virginia, directs the military commanders of the United States to take the private property of our people for the convenience and use of their armies without compensation.

The general order issued by General Pope on July 23d, the day after the signing of the cartel, directs the murder of our peaceful inhabitants as spies, if found quietly tilling their farms in his rear, even outside of his lines ; and one of his Brigadier-Generals, Steinwehr, has seized upon innocent and peaceful inhabitants to be held as hostages, to the end that they may be murdered in cold blood if any of his soldiers are killed by some unknown persons whom he designates as “bushwhackers.” ¹

Under this state of facts, this Government has issued the enclosed general order, recognizing General Pope and his commissioned officers to be in the position which they have chosen for themselves, that of robbers and murderers, not that of public enemies, entitled [357] if captured to be considered as prisoners of war.

We find ourselves driven, by our enemies, by steady progress toward a practice which we abhor, and which we are vainly struggling to avoid. Some of the military authorities of the United States seem to suppose that better success will attend a savage war, in which no quarter is to be given and no sex to be spared, than has hitherto been secured by such hostilities as are alone recognized to be lawful by civilized men in modern times.

For the present we renounce our right of retaliation on the innocent, and shall continue to treat the private enlisted soldiers of General Pope's army as prisoners of war; but if, after notice to the Government at Washington of our confining repressive measures to the punishment only of commissioned officers, who are willing participants in their crimes, these savage practices are continued, we shall reluctantly be forced to the last resort of accepting the war on the terms chosen by our foes, until the outraged voice of a common humanity forces respect for the recognized rules of war.

While these facts would justify our refusal to execute the generous cartel by which we have consented to liberate an excess of thousands of prisoners held by us beyond the [358] number held by the enemy, a sacred regard to plighted faith shrinking from the mere semblance of breaking a promise, prevents our resort to this extremity. Nor do we desire to extend to any other forces of the enemy the punishment merited alone by General Pope and such commissioned officers as choose to participate in the execution of his infamous orders.

You are therefore instructed to communicate to the commander-in-chief of the armies of the United States the contents of this letter, and a copy of the enclosed general order, to the end that he may be notified of our intention not to consider any officers hereafter captured from General Pope's army as prisoners of war.

On June 29th last, you were instructed by the Secretary of War to make inquiries of the General in command of the United States forces, relative to alleged murders committed on our citizens by officers of the United States army, and the case of William B. Mumford, reported to have been murdered at New Orleans by order of Major-General B. F. Butler, and Colonel John Owen, reported to have been murdered in the same [359] manner in Missouri, by order of Major-General Pope, were specially referred to.

The inquiries thus made by you of Major- General McClellan were referred by that officer to his Government for reply, but no answer has yet been received.

We have since been credibly informed that numerous other officers of the armies of the United States have, within the Confederacy, been guilty of felonies and capital offences which are punishable by all law human and divine.² A few of those best authenticated are brought to your notice.

The newspapers received from the enemy's country announce as a fact that Major. General Hunter has armed slaves for the murder of their masters, and has thus done all in his power to inaugurate a servile war which is worse than that of the savage, inasmuch as it superadds other horrors to the indiscriminate slaughter of all ages, sexes, and conditions.

Brigadier-General Phelps is reported to [360] have imitated at New Orleans the example set by General Hunter on the coast of South Carolina.

Brigadier-General G. N. Fitch is stated in the same journals to have murdered in cold blood two peaceful citizens, because one of his men, while invading our country, was killed by some unknown person defending his home.

You are now instructed to repeat your inquiry relative to the cases of Mumford and Owen, and further to ask of the Commanding General of the enemy whether the statements in relation to the action of Generals Hunter, Phelps, and Fitch are admitted to be true, and whether the conduct of those Generals is sanctioned by their Government.

You will further give notice that, in the event of our failure to receive a reply to these inquiries within fifteen days from the delivery of your letter, we shall assume that the alleged facts are true and are sanctioned by the Government of the United States.

In such event, on that Government will rest the responsibility of the retributive or retaliatory measures which we shall adopt to put an end to the merciless atrocities which now characterize the war waged against us.