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♦LIBRARY OF CONGRESS.* 
 
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 f UNITED STATES (IF AMERICA. ! 
 
REPORT TO THE CONTRIBUTORS 
 
 PENNSYLVANIA RELIEF ASSOCIATION 
 
 EAST TENNESSEE, 
 
 COMMISSION SENT BY THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 
 
 VISIT THAT REGION, AND FORWARD SUPPLIES TO THE LOYAL 
 AND SUFFERING INHABITANTS. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA: 
 PRINTED FOR THE ASSOCIATION. 
 
 1864. 
 
PENNSYLVANIA RELIEF ASSOCIATION 
 
 EAST TENNESSEE. 
 
 PEESIDENT. 
 
 EX. GOV. JAMES POLLOCK, 
 
 U. S. Mint. 
 
 I 
 
 SECEETAEY. 
 
 JOSEPH T. THOMAS, 
 
 245 South 5th Street. 
 
 TEEASUEEE. 
 
 CALEB COPE, 
 
 306 Walnut Street. 
 
 Chairman of the Committee on Collections and for the Forwarding of Supplies. 
 
 J. B. LIPPINCOTT, 
 
 715 Market Street. 
 
 Chairman of Executive Committee. 
 LLOYD P. SMITH, 
 
 Philadelphia Library. 
 
At a meeting of the Pennsylvania Relief Association for East Tennessee, held 
 March 26th, 1864, Ex-Gov. Pollock in the chair, the Commission appointed at 
 the last meeting to visit Knoxville and make arrangements for the transmission 
 of supplies, made a Report ; whereupon the following resolutions were, on motion, 
 unanimously adopted: — 
 
 Resolved, That the Report be accepted and that the earnest and heart-felt 
 thanks of this Association be returned to the Commissioners for their untiring 
 industry and efficiency in the discharge of their duties. 
 
 Resolved, That the Report be referred back to the Commission, with a request 
 to prepare the same for publication for the use of the Contributors to the Fund. 
 
REPORT. 
 
 The fact that throughout the Southern States a large propor- 
 tion of the people has never, in heart, renounced allegiance to 
 the Federal Government, is proved by the immense numbers 
 in that section of the Union who have been imprisoned, exiled, 
 robbed, and murdered by the rebels. It is shown by the num- 
 bers who have braved every peril to reach the lines of our 
 army, with a view to enlist under the flag of the United States ; 
 and by the welcome which our troops have met with in every 
 part of the Southwest, in North Carolina, and elsewhere. If any 
 justification were needed in the court of conscience and before 
 the tribunal of History for taking up the gauntlet thrown down 
 by the Southern leaders when they dared to fire upon the flag of 
 our common country, and for prosecuting the war thus com- 
 menced to a successful issue, the mute appeals of Union men, 
 who have been imprisoned in great numbers rather than take 
 the hated oath to a pretended government ; whose crops have been 
 destroyed, whose houses have been burned ; who have been mur- 
 dered upon their own thresholds, or while following the plough, 
 for refusing to enter the rebel ranks ; who have been hunted with 
 bloodhounds, and shot in the woods and swamps like wild beasts, 
 for trying to evade the conscription; these indications of southern 
 loyalty would be justification enough. They are enough to bind 
 us of the North by every consideration of honor and self-respect 
 to carry on this war until indemnity for the past and security for 
 
6 
 
 the future can be afforded to those who, relying on our strength 
 and perseverance, ventured to range themselves on our side. 
 We cannot desert these men without disgrace. They have stood 
 by us in this awful conflict, and we must stand by them. Nearly 
 all parts of the South have shown these signs of loyalty in a 
 greater or less degree, but the record of East Tennessee will go 
 down to posterity in colors eternally bright with the noblest 
 evidences of unflinching patriotism. The story of the wrongs 
 endured by that brave and noble people during two years and a 
 half of rebel rule, and of their present destitution, is told in 
 language eloquent with the force of simple truth in the Ad- 
 dress of the East Tennessee Belief Association of Knoxville, 
 which forms an Appendix (A.) to this Eeport. To that Address 
 your Commissioners beg leave to call the attention of every one 
 who would understand the condition of things in that most inter- 
 esting section of the United States. It contains many facts pre- 
 viously unknown to Northern men. 
 
 Although the cloud of war has hitherto obscured from our 
 sight the sufferings of our brothers in East Tennessee, glimpses 
 have been obtained from time to time sufficient to excite our 
 sympathies ; and when a delegate from that land, Col. N. G. Tay- 
 lor, appealed on behalf of his people to this community, in a 
 speech delivered on the 29th January last, at the Academy of 
 Music, Philadelphia at once responded. An association was or- 
 ganized on the spot, and a committee appointed to collect funds 
 for the relief of East Tennessee. Our citizens did not fail to 
 show, by liberal contributions, their admiration for the patriotism 
 and fortitude of their suffering though far-off brethren, and in a 
 short time a considerable sum was collected and handed over to 
 the Treasurer to purchase food and clothing for them. 
 
 To the ladies of Philadelphia, however, ever patriotic, and ever 
 full of good works, belongs the honor of being the first to answer 
 the cry of the famishing. So far back as the early part of Decem- 
 ber, 1863, Mrs. Joseph Canby and Mrs. Caleb W. Hallowell heard 
 
some soldiers of Kearney's regiment speak of the famine in East 
 Tennessee, and of how they had sometimes themselves lived on 
 a cracker a day, in order to give to the children who flocked to 
 the camp begging for the remnants of their rations. Touched 
 with compassion, they quietly went to work to sew and collect 
 articles for a Fair ; and being joined by their friends and neigh- 
 bors, including some from Norristown and Lancaster County, 
 the Fair will be held next week. 
 
 The Governor of Pennsylvania, in an earnest appeal, recom- 
 mended in January an appropriation by the Legislature, and a 
 Bill for that purpose is now pending. Col. Taylor has also since 
 visited Boston and other places, in company with Col. Jesse E. 
 Peyton, to whom East Tennessee is under deep obligations for 
 his valuable and disinterested services in her behalf; and has 
 met with a response similar to that of this State. In Boston 
 his appeal resulted in the voluntary contribution of very large 
 sums, out of which the Hon. Edward Everett, Treasurer of the 
 Massachusetts Association, generously intrusted to our care ten 
 thousand dollars, to be applied at once to the object in view. 
 
 In the meantime some of the leading Union citizens of East 
 Tennessee, men of intelligence and probity, hearing of the work 
 going on at the East, formed themselves, at the instance of Col. 
 Taylor, into " The East Tennessee Eelief Association," to co-ope- 
 rate with us, by raising additional funds, and by undertaking to 
 distribute the supplies about to be forwarded, in an impartial 
 and judicious manner. They also appointed a committee to 
 address the President of the United States, and through him, 
 both Houses of Congress, on the condition and wants of the 
 people of East Tennessee, and ask their attention to the necessity 
 of some action on the part of the government for their relief. 
 The interesting and touching Address of that committee is ap- 
 pended to this Eeport, as mentioned above. 
 
 This action at the scene of distress at once relieved our Asso- 
 ciation from an onerous and difficult part of its labor, and it only 
 
remained to purchase such supplies of food, seeds, clothing, &c, 
 as were indicated by the Knox vi lie Association, and to transmit 
 them to their destination. Here, however, a serious difficulty 
 presented itself. The only practicable communication with East 
 Tennessee was by the military railroad from Nashville to Chatta- 
 nooga and thence to Knoxville ; and this road is always so 
 choked up with army supplies that it is impossible to forward 
 anything save by favor of the military authorities. 1 
 
 Impressed with this fact, your Executive Committee, at a meet- 
 ing held on the 16th February, appointed a sub-committee, con- 
 sisting of Messrs. Joseph T. Thomas and Frederic Collins, to lay 
 the case before the "War Department, and ask for free transporta- 
 tion for our supplies. 
 
 At a meeting held on the 29th February, the sub-committee 
 reported that they had had an interview with the Secretary of 
 "War, who assured them that whenever commissioners were ap- 
 pointed to proceed to Tennessee, he would give them a letter 
 to General Grant, requesting him to furnish them with all the 
 facilities of transportation in his power. Accordingly a commis- 
 sion consisting of Frederic Collins, N. G. Taylor, of East Ten- 
 nessee, and Lloyd P. Smith, was appointed to proceed to Cincin- 
 nati, and purchase supplies of food there ; to appoint agents at 
 Cincinnati, Nashville, and Chattanooga ; to make all necessary 
 arrangements for transportation, and to have a personal interview 
 with the officers of the East Tennessee Relief Association at 
 Knoxville. The names on this commission were forwarded to 
 the Secretary of War, and in due time the promised credentials 
 from the Department were received. They are given herewith 
 (see Appendix B), and were of essential service in carrying out 
 the work of your Commissioners. 
 
 Col. Taylor, who was absent from the city at the time of his 
 
 1 It is understood that the other road from Nashville to the Tennessee River 
 (at Decatur) has been opened within a few days. This will somewhat lessen 
 the difficulty of transportation. 
 
appointment, telegraphed us from Boston, that his engagements 
 would not permit him to return home at present, and requested 
 us not to wait for him, but to proceed at once on our mission. 
 We did so, leaving Philadelphia on the 4th of March, and being 
 kindly passed free of charge on the railroads between this city 
 and Cincinnati, as, indeed, we were afterwards, over the whole 
 route to Knoxville and back. 
 
 Meanwhile, the Knoxville Association, not knowing our plans, 
 had appointed an agent, Mr. Gr. M. Hazen. to proceed to Cincin- 
 nati or elsewhere, and invest any funds that might be contributed 
 to their Association, in the purchase of supplies, and to attend to 
 their transportation. We were so fortunate as to meet Mr. Hazen 
 at Cincinnati, where we had a conference at the Burnett House, 
 with him and Mr. David Richardson, the Chairman of the Execu- 
 tive Committee of the Knoxville Association. At that confer- 
 ence it was agreed that the first shipment should consist of 
 
 200 bbls. flour, 10 bbls. beans, 
 
 20 hkds. bacon, 20 bbls. sugar, 
 
 20 sacks coffee, 200 bags salt, 
 
 4 tierces rice, 20 casks soda, 
 10 bbls. molasses, 
 
 and that these articles should be sent by water to Nashville. 
 This shipment we accordingly made, purchasing the supplies 
 through the instrumentality of Mr. T. G. Odiorne, of the Sani- 
 tary Commission, who was accustomed to perform similar duties 
 for that Association, and who generously tendered his valuable 
 services. 
 
 As Mr. Hazen's instructions required him to see Col. Taylor at 
 New York, Mr. Richardson kindly accompanied us to Knoxville, 
 in his stead. 
 
 Before leaving Cincinnati we called a meeting in the ladies' 
 dining-room of the Burnett House, of such gentlemen from East 
 Tennessee as happened to be in Cincinnati, including a delega- 
 tion then on their way to Washington to lay the case of East 
 
10 
 
 Tennessee before the government, inviting also a number of in- 
 fluential citizens of Cincinnati. The meeting was organized by 
 calling Mr. George F. Davis, President of the Cincinnati Chamber 
 of Commerce, to the chair, and after we had stated the object of 
 our mission, speeches were made by Col. Netherland and others 
 from East Tennessee, as well as by several residents of Cincinnati. 
 The latter, while heartily sympathizing with the object of our 
 Association, were impressed with the belief that their own duties 
 lay nearer home, and that there was great need of a special organi- 
 zation for the relief of the refugees now arriving at points on the 
 Ohio Eiver in great numbers. They agreed to call a public 
 meeting on the following Thursday, and we were gratified to find, 
 on our subsequent return to Cincinnati, that the new society was 
 already in vigorous life, and had collected a considerable sum of 
 money. A circular issued by the Association is appended hereto 
 (see Appendix C), and we heartily commend the Eefugee Belief 
 Commission of Ohio to your sympathies and aid. 
 
 On our arrival at Nashville we were introduced by the Hon. 
 Horace Maynard to Mrs. John Harris, of Philadelphia, who took 
 us to visit the building appropriated by government for refugees. 
 Some account will be given in a later part of this Eeport, of the 
 deplorable condition in which we found these sufferers. Suffice 
 it to say in this place, that we gave $500 from the funds at our 
 disposal, to Mrs. Harris, for the benefit of the helpless women 
 and children to whose necessities she and other benevolent ladies 
 are now engaged in ministering. At the same time we impressed 
 upon such influential gentlemen as we happened to meet, the 
 utility of organizing a society in Nashville for the relief of refu- 
 gees. This was afterwards done, and the names of the officers 
 are copied below (see Appendix D). 
 
 Waiting upon Col. 'Donaldson, the Chief Quartermaster at 
 Nashville, we found him desirous of aiding us. He informed us 
 of the extreme pressure put upon him for the transportation of 
 
11 
 
 army supplies, but nevertheless very kindly promised that our 
 freight should go forward immediately on arrival. 
 
 We accordingly proceeded to Chattanooga, where we were 
 kindly received by Mr. M. C. Read, of the Sanitary Commission 
 there, who entered warmly into our plans, as his brother, Dr. A. 
 N. Read, the Sanitary Agent at Nashville, had done before him. 
 Mr. Read suggested that one of the most useful things we could 
 forward would be early garden seeds, and he offered to distribute 
 them to suitable persons in his neighborhood. We accordingly 
 wrote to Mr. Odiorne, at Cincinnati, requesting him to send $250 
 worth of seeds to Chattanooga, and a similar quantity to Knox- 
 ville; which he did. Since then a contribution of seeds to a like 
 amount has been generously made by Mr. David Landreth, of this 
 city, and forwarded to Knoxville, Adams' Express conveying 
 it free of charge to Cincinnati. The difficulty of sending bulky 
 articles is such, that these garden seeds are particularly accept- 
 able just now. We may mention here that a large box of 
 articles of women's clothing, &c, given by various benevolent 
 persons, has been forwarded by the Chairman of the Committee 
 on Collections over the Pa. Central Railroad and the connecting 
 roads, free of freight to Cincinnati ; and that further contributions 
 of blankets, flannels, brown sheetings, Lancaster ginghams, shoes, 
 felt hats, women's garments, trimmings, &c. &c, are needed, and 
 may be sent (marked E. T. R. A., Knoxville) to Messrs. J. B. 
 Lippincott & Co., No. 715 Market Street. 
 
 After various delays we finally reached Knoxville on the 
 evening of the 14th inst., and the next day we had a conference 
 of three hours with the officers of the East Tennessee Relief 
 Association. We found them highly respectable and worthy gen- 
 tlemen, every way suitable to assist in carrying out the objects of 
 our Association. They will organize such a plan of relief that 
 the goods will be impartially distributed among the different 
 counties with due regard to the wants as well as to the loyalty 
 
12 
 
 of applicants. A part will be sold at cost and the proceeds 
 reinvested. 
 
 Before taking leave of these gentlemen, we read, and left in 
 the hands of the President the following letter, which we hope 
 will meet with the approval of the contributors to our fund. 
 
 Loudon, March 14th, 1864. 
 Rev. and Dear Sir : — 
 
 Thinking that after our arrival at Knoxville we might not have time to 
 prepare a memorandum of the views of the Pennsylvania Relief Association 
 for East Tennessee in regard to the distribution of their supplies, we take 
 advantage of a detention at this point to do so in advance. 
 
 The motives which have influenced the contributors to our fund are of a 
 twofold character : First, to testify in the unmistakable language of deeds 
 to their admiration for the fidelity of the people of East Tennessee to the 
 flag of their country under the hardest trials ; and, secondly, to perform an 
 act of Christian charity. 
 
 We are well assured that the East Tennessee Relief Association, of which 
 you, sir, are the honored President, are actuated by similar patriotic and 
 humane feelings in undertaking to co-operate with us in this labor of love ; 
 and accordingly it is rather with a view of placing on record our wishes in 
 this matter than with any idea of trammelling you in your good work, that we 
 respectfully recommend the following plan for the distribution of the pro- 
 visions, seeds, clothing, and other necessaries now on their way to you, and 
 hereafter to be forwarded. 
 
 First, in accordance with the suggestion of your agent, Mr. Hazen, with 
 whom we conferred in Cincinnati, we would advise that these supplies should 
 be sold, and not given away, in all cases where the applicants are able to 
 purchase ; and that even when sold a preference should be given in the order 
 to be enumerated below. 
 
 Second, that Union families who have suffered at the hands of the rebels 
 on account of their loyalty should have the first and largest portion. After 
 them other families who have adhered throughout to the Federal Government. 
 Next, such as, whatever their past conduct, do now adhere to the same ; and, 
 lastly, to the old men, women, and children of such families as now have 
 representatives in the so-called Confederate army. In our view, no part of 
 this bounty was intended for secessionists of the fighting age. 
 
 In conclusion, we would suggest that a regular record should be kept by 
 your Association of the course which these supplies shall take, with a view of 
 
13 
 
 ultimately embodying its results iu a report for the satisfaction of the con- 
 tributors to the fund. 
 
 Hoping that the work which our two associations have undertaken in com- 
 mon, may tend to draw together by the ties of love your people and our peo- 
 ple, and to show to the world that while the loyal men .of these United States 
 of America are determined to crush rebellion, they are more than ever united 
 at heart, 
 
 We have the honor to subscribe ourselves, 
 
 Dear sir, yours with much respect, 
 
 FRED. COLLINS, 
 LLOYD P. SMITH, 
 Commissioners of the Pennsylvania Relief Asso. of East Tennessee. 
 
 Rev. Thomas W. Humes, President of the East Tennessee Relief Associa- 
 tion, Knoxville, Tennessee. 
 
 On our return to Nashville we found our goods there unload- 
 ing on the levee, and we left them in charge of Dr. Kogers, of 
 East Tennessee, Col. Donaldson assuring us again that they should 
 go forward on the first opportunity. This promise has since been 
 redeemed, as we learn by a telegram from Governor Johnson, 
 who had been good enough to assure us of his approval and co- 
 operation, in an interview we had with him at Cincinnati : and 
 the first shipment has arrived safely at Knoxville. 
 
 Such is a brief narrative of what your commissioners have 
 done during their absence of less than three weeks. In that time 
 they have travelled about 2500 miles ; they have forwarded con- 
 siderable supplies, and made arrangements for the transmission of 
 more ; they have put themselves in personal communication with 
 the East Tennessee Eelief Association, of Knoxville, and been 
 instrumental in organizing associations in Cincinnati and Nash- 
 ville for the benefit of refugees ; at the same time they have 
 acquired such information of the state of things in the region 
 now, unhappily for itself, the seat of war, as cannot fail to stimu- 
 late the interest already felt in the faithful but unfortunate people 
 of East Tennessee and the surrounding region. 
 
 Your commissioners were not prepared to find the inhabitants 
 
14 
 
 of that mountain country so generally and so unconditionally 
 loyal as they proved to be. With these men, devotion to the 
 Union is not a mere sentiment, it is a passion. For the Union 
 they will give up their property, their liberty, their lives ; and 
 what is harder yet, they will sacrifice, if necessary, even their 
 lifelong prejudices. What a lesson to us of the North ! 
 
 East Tennessee, in proportion to its population, has furnished 
 more than twice as many men to the Federal government as any 
 other section of the United States. The Colonel of the Third Ten- 
 nessee Infantry stated that he had in his regiment 886 men, all 
 but one native born Tennesseeans. He estimates that there are 
 now in the Union army 21,000 men from East Tennessee, 2000 
 from Middle Tennessee, and 3500 from West Tennessee ; and 
 while from the whole State 45,000 or 50,000 have entered the 
 Kebel army, only 4000 or 5000 of that number are from East 
 Tennessee, and they mostly unwilling conscripts. From Anderson 
 County there are now 1262 men in the Federal army, the ordi- 
 nary vote of the county being about 1100, and that on the ques- 
 tion of secession 1375. Sevier County polled, according to Col. 
 Houk, 1632 for Union and ''ne'er a vote against it." 
 
 In January, 1862, a Dr. B. went home secretly from Kentucky 
 and brought North 700 men, who are now in the Union ranks. 
 They walked 200 miles by night. On the 17th April, 1862, 1002 
 undertook to escape North, having only 75 or 80 guns, mostly 
 fowling pieces, in the whole " crowd," as one of them termed it. 
 When they got to Powell's Valley they were intercepted by four 
 companies of rebels, well armed. A fight ensued, in which three 
 or four were killed on each side, and 423 of our men were taken 
 prisoners. 
 
 Even now this process of evasion from within the Rebel lines 
 is going on. An instance came under our own notice at Cleve- 
 land, a point on the road from Chattanooga to Knoxville, which 
 illustrates the feeling of the people. Being detained by an acci- 
 dent, we got out of the cars and entered into conversation with a 
 
15 
 
 fine-looking young man, dressed neatly in homespun, from Clay 
 County, North Carolina, who had just enlisted in a Tennessee 
 regiment. He " wanted to get revenge out of those rascals that 
 made him lay out two years in the cold mountains." He and his 
 companions " would have fought the rebel raids," but they were 
 afraid of bringing destruction on the settlements. He said the 
 rebels would handcuff their conscripts and take them down south 
 and put them in forts where they could not get out. Some Union 
 recruiting officers are now in the woods getting recruits. 
 
 But not only has the loyalty of East Tennessee and the sur- 
 rounding country been proved by the extraordinary numbers 
 who have forced their way against every obstacle to the Union 
 standards, but the conduct of such as remained at home and the 
 number who were imprisoned, despoiled of their property, hung 
 and shot for their Union sentiments, gives splendid evidence of 
 their unwavering fidelity to the General Government. "For 
 more than eighteen months," said Mr. R., of Knoxville, "I never 
 closed my doors at night without serious apprehensions lest before 
 morning I should be roused from my bed, arrested, and carried 
 off to prison. When I heard a rap at the door in the evening, 
 while sitting with my family around me, my wife would say, 
 " David, don't go to the door ; perhaps it is some one to arrest 
 you I" From his parlor window he had often witnessed men 
 hanging by the neck who had given offence to the rebel authori- 
 ties. Union men did not dare to express their sentiments even 
 in their own houses without seeing that the doors and windows 
 were closed, and they were not allowed to congregate even to the 
 number of two or three in the streets. The serious aspect and 
 tone of voice which we noticed in nearly all we met with during 
 our journey, are accounted for by the prolonged anxiety which 
 the reign of terror had caused. 
 
 We of the North, on the other hand, have just reason to be 
 proud that, in the midst of a civil war, by which men's passions 
 are violently agitated, the constitutional freedom of speech and 
 
16 
 
 of the press — a freedom which leaves room for argument and 
 reason to assert themselves — this first of all blessings, has never 
 been seriously interfered with. Moral influences, and not brute 
 force, are what we rely on to convince those whose judgment 
 has unhappily been perverted on the questions of the day. 
 
 At last this long-suffering people saw Burnside's columns ad- 
 vance to their relief, and in September, 1863, the flag of the 
 United States was once more unfurled in Knoxville. The occa- 
 sion was one long to be remembered. As if by magic, the long- 
 concealed Union flags were brought forth, and the cherished 
 symbol waved in all parts of the town. The people poured into 
 Knoxville from distances of five to twenty miles on foot, on 
 horseback, and in wagons, bringing with them in baskets the 
 little delicacies which they had stored away, to greet the United 
 States soldiers on their arrival. In one instance, a Baptist 
 clergyman, living about nine miles from Knoxville, heard at 11 
 o'clock at night of the arrival of our advance-guard. He rose, 
 dressed himself, and started immediately to communicate the glad 
 tidings to his neighbors ; and they, catching his spirit, did like- 
 wise, and from a distance of eight to ten miles they flocked into 
 Knoxville, arriving there before sunrise. A refugee whom we 
 met in the cars returning to his home, told us that his mother 
 went eighteen miles on horseback to Knoxville, "just a purpose 
 to see Burnside's army." It may not be improper to remark in 
 this place, and, indeed, it is only just to do so, that General Burn- 
 side has won the love and respect of the East Tennesseeans in a 
 peculiar degree, from the considerate and impartial manner in 
 which he exercised his rule amongst them, and the signal ability 
 with which he conducted the military and civil affairs of his de- 
 partment. After his recall, and when our army was reduced to 
 the greatest straits for food, some of the citizens waited upon 
 General Foster, and requested him, if it became necessary either 
 to send away the people or to evacuate the country, to pursue 
 the former course. 
 
17 
 
 A refugee farmer whom we met returning to his home, told us 
 that if secession had succeeded, he would have left all, and re- 
 mained at the North. " I would rather protect the government 
 than protect my property. If I had one bushel of corn, I would 
 be glad to give one-half of it to the Union men. We could do a 
 heap of good if we could only stay there, and raise truck for the 
 army." 
 
 At a point between Bridgeport and Chattanooga we were de- 
 tained by another accident, and, getting out of the cars, we ap- 
 proached a group of refugees decently, but poorly dressed, hud- 
 dling round a fire. There were three families, thirteen in all. 
 They were going to Vincennes, Indiana, where they had friends. 
 One old man, dressed in homespun, with a straw hat on his head, 
 said, simply, " All's gone." He might have added, and with more 
 truth than did Francis I. at the battle of Pavia, " save honor." 
 He lived eleven miles east of Knoxville, and when Burnside 
 arrived, he went to Knoxville and volunteered, remaining five 
 weeks in camp. When the time came for him to be mustered 
 in, he was rejected on account of age, being in his 67th year ! 
 
 He said, " The Union soldiers injured me more than the Eebs 
 did — they did not even give me a receipt. I went and showed 
 them my corn, and told them to take it, or the others would get it. 
 The best farmers hain't got thirty bushels to-day. A great many 
 of my neighbors have come away, and more are coming. I didn't 
 know when I left home where to get a bushel of corn for $5." 
 He said, however, that there was a " right smart" crop of wheat 
 sowed, and that some would make out corn to plant. Nobody in 
 his neighborhood was getting rations from government. At 
 Knoxville, however, some families were drawing rations from 
 the Quartermaster. 
 
 Col. Baxter told us that the daughter of a Mr. Carey, a wealthy 
 gentleman of the neighborhood, came to Knoxville on horseback 
 a few days before our arrival, bringing some forage with her, and 
 when it was exhausted, she was obliged to go home. 
 2 
 
18 
 
 Such is the destitution of feed and forage in East Tennessee, 
 that 10,000 animals belonging to the army are now dead at the 
 front, and the farmers are compelled to let their horses and cattle 
 die. The few we saw were emaciated in the extreme. The barns 
 we passed on the road were perfectly empty ; no fences were to be 
 seen, no hogs, no poultry, nothing but the bare land. Flour, of 
 poor quality, is worth at Knoxville, §30 a barrel ; coffee $1 50 a 
 pound, in Federal currency, and other articles in proportion. 
 
 At Chattanooga we met Capt. Thos. A. Jones, of the 2d regi- 
 ment Tennessee Cavalry, who was going to his home, eighteen 
 miles east of Knoxville, on furlough, because his wife had writ- 
 ted him so strongly about her sufferings, and those of his chil- 
 dren. Tears came into his eyes, when we told him of our mission. 
 
 The destitution is not confined to any one class. The most 
 thrifty and hitherto well-to-do, are involved in the common ruin. 
 In Blount County, south of Knoxville, there is a settlement of 
 members of the Society of Friends. The day we arrived at 
 Knoxville, one of them, a Mr. Jones, went to Col. Baxter, and 
 said — 
 
 "Colonel, can you tell me where the Quartermaster lives?" 
 
 " What do you want?" 
 
 " I want to get assistance ; I have nothing to eat." 
 
 " Are you in that condition?" 
 
 " Yes, we are all in that condition." 
 
 They were previously very well off. They had never held 
 skwes. 
 
 There is another Quaker settlement at Newmarket, about 
 twenty-five miles northeast of Knoxville, not quite so large as 
 that in Blount County, but in a still w-Qrse condition. The Hon. 
 Horace Maynard told an anecdote which is very significant of 
 their sentiments. About eight or ten years ago there were two 
 candidates for the legislature " stumping" the district in company. 
 One of them was rich, but had been a negro trader. After mak- 
 ing his speech, the other candidate mounted the platform, and, 
 
19 
 
 pulling out of his coat pocket a pair of handcuffs, held them up 
 to the audience, saying, "This is the way he made his money." 
 The negro trader lost every vote. 
 
 On communicating the foregoing facts, immediately after our 
 return, to members of the Society of Friends in this city, a meet- 
 ing of Friends was called, and a committee appointed to collect 
 funds, and apply the same for the relief of their destitute brethren 
 in East Tennessee. At the same meeting liberal subscriptions 
 were made for this special object, though many had previously 
 contributed to the fund. 
 
 Such are the people whose mute appeal is now made to the 
 S}'mpathies and aid of this city of brotherly love, and such are 
 some of the indications of their extreme destitution which met 
 the eyes and ears of your Commissioners. But perhaps the 
 strongest and saddest evidence of the overwhelming losses of 
 this people is presented by the great numbers now slowly and 
 painfully making their way from their once happy homes to 
 the North in search of bread. At Nashville, Dr. Eead, of the 
 Sanitary Commission, told us that over 9000 refugees from dif- 
 ferent parts of the South, mostly old men, women, and children, 
 had passed through that city during the last two months. Their 
 numbers are increasing daily, so that, during the week before we 
 arrived, it was estimated that 2500 had reached Nashville. The 
 same exodus is going on, and for the same reasons, throughout 
 the whole southwestern country. There are now 3000 white 
 refugees at Cairo, 1000 at Little Kock, 1900 at Memphis, 1000 
 at Helena, and many more at other points on the Mississippi 
 Eiver waiting government transportation. It is the wise policy 
 of our military commanders to furnish rations, when necessary 
 and practicable, to such as take the oath of allegiance, and also 
 transportation to the Ohio River, to those who desire to go 
 North. The happiest effects result from this humane treatment. 
 One rebel deserter said that his heart never melted towards the 
 Federal government until he learned that it was feeding his wife 
 
20 
 
 and children. A rebel officer said be found it impossible to 
 fight against such a government. So the traveller in the fable 
 willingly threw off his cloak under the genial rays of the sun, 
 though he had only wrapped it closer around him, when the 
 wind tried to force it from his grasp. At Chattanooga we saw a 
 large crowd of women waiting their turn at the provost marshal's 
 to obtain orders for rations from the Quartermaster. Five thou- 
 sand rations a day are issued at that point to the inhabitants. 
 
 Undoubtedly, many families will return to their homes as soon 
 as they can possibly do so. But meantime, their sufferings on 
 the road are painful to witness. We visited, at Nashville, the 
 barracks set aside by government for the refugees, and found 
 them full of sick, poorly clad, and dispirited women and chil- 
 dren. They were from East Tennessee, Western North Caro- 
 lina, Northern Georgia, and Northern Alabama. A woman 
 named Illit, from Fannon County, Georgia, had been two months 
 on the road. In one room, a Mrs. McAfee, from Clay County, 
 North Carolina, was standing in much distress of mind, beside 
 the bed on which her husband lay dangerously ill. She said 
 they came away because the " Eebs" took away everything from 
 them, and were about to force her husband, aged 54, and her son, 
 aged 17, into the army. Her son enlisted in our army the very 
 day he reached Nashville. In another room sat a poor woman 
 by the stove, who had lost her reason in consequence of her mis- 
 fortunes. In one corner a woe-begone mother sat up in bed, sur- 
 rounded by four children, all five sick with the measles. 
 
 Many refugees did not even know of the government barracks ; 
 and Col. Donaldson, the Chief Quartermaster, told us that he had 
 seen some decent looking families, including delicate females, 
 ill-clad, who had sat all night on the levee, with the thermometer 
 below freezing point. Again, the 9th Tennessee cavalry took in 
 some refugees who did not know where to go, and gave up their 
 own tents to them. 
 
 The emigration will continue for a long time to come, even 
 
21 
 
 when the pressure of necessity is withdrawn. Mr. Read, the 
 agent of the Sanitary Commission at Chattanooga, remarked that 
 a great many about there have new and more correct ideas re- 
 specting the advantages of northern society, northern schools, and 
 the comforts of life to be enjoyed in the free States. It was very 
 questionable, however, to your Commissioners, whether, in the case 
 of loyal families in general, and those of East Tennessee in par- 
 ticular, it was desirable to encourage this emigration. Judge 
 Patterson, of Nashville, the President of the Refugee Relief Asso- 
 ciation organized in that city at our suggestion, himself a refugee 
 from East Tennessee, was emphatic upon that point. He con- 
 tended that it is important to keep the loyal population at home on 
 account of their labor and their votes. They are wanted to re- 
 organize the State on the old basis of harmony with the Federal 
 government. 
 
 The difficulties, however, in the way of forwarding supplies 
 are almost insuperable, as was explained in the first part of this 
 Report ; and nothing will give permanent relief to East Tennes- 
 see, except the construction of the remaining link of railroad 
 between Cincinnati and Knoxville, as recommended in President 
 Lincoln's first annual message. On this subject, the annexed 
 Address to the President of the United States by the East Ten- 
 nessee Relief Association of Knoxville is so clear and conclusive, 
 that it is only necessary to add that your Commissioners entirely 
 agree in the opinion that the government ought to undertake the 
 work at once, thus literally following the wise counsel of Polo- 
 nius : 
 
 " The friends thou hast, and their adoption tried, 
 Grapple them to thy soul with hooks of steel.'''' 
 
 If the President's recommendation had been carried into effect 
 by Congress, East Tennessee would have been reclaimed a year 
 before it actually came into our possession, and instead of a desert 
 we would have gained a smiling country full of inestimable sup- 
 
■ 22 
 
 plies. Even now the saving of transportation would in one year 
 repay the cost of building the road. 
 
 But, whether this road be constructed or not, the existing war 
 is clearly destined to introduce northern men, northern ideas, and 
 northern enterprise into the border States, and as our military 
 lines advance, throughout the* whole South. Major Walsh, of 
 the 11th Illinois infantry, stated that during the eleven months 
 he remained in Davidson County, Tennessee — the county in 
 which Nashville is situated — there were thirty-one marriages 
 between men of his regiment and southern women. Soldiers 
 discharged for disability, etc., remain, to a large extent, in the 
 South, and are to be found scattered on the plantations. A 
 planter in Gallatin said he had a discharged soldier to work for 
 him, and he would rather have him than any four negroes he had 
 ever had. Mr. Johnson, the Sanitary Commission's agent at Lou- 
 don, remarked that many of our soldiers would settle about there. 
 "We dined with a planter near Loudon who had employed a dis- 
 charged soldier to work for him, and who was perfectly aston- 
 ished at his steady application to labor. He said the soldier did 
 more work in one day than any negro he had ever had in five. 
 East Tennessee, with its fertile lands, its rich mines, and valuable 
 water-power, presents a fine field for the application of northern 
 labor and capital, and when this calamity is overpast, and a direct 
 railroad communication with the North is secured, it will prosper 
 as never before. 
 
 Especially will this be the case, when the incubus of slavery 
 is thrown off; and that it will be thrown off by the vote of Ten- 
 nessee herself, your Commissioners saw no reason to doubt. It is 
 believed that a majority would be given against it to-day, if a 
 vote could be taken. A great change of sentiment is now going 
 on both in Kentucky and Tennessee. One Kentuckian, owning 
 twenty-three negroes and 1100 acres of land, said he would make 
 more by free labor than he ever did with slave labor. A mer- 
 chant made the same remark ; so did a lawyer from Lancaster. 
 
23 
 
 Col. N. declared that any politician who now stands up for 
 slavery is a fool. There are seventeen National Union League 
 Councils in Tennessee, and their members are bitterly opposed to 
 the institution. In most cases slaves in Nashville are now paid 
 wages — say $10 or $12 per month. 
 
 At Chattanooga we saw a negro regiment, the 14th U. S. C. T., 
 Col. T. J. Morgan, of Indiana, commanding. It had been raised 
 in Gallatin, Tennessee, "a regular secession hole," as it was 
 described to us, and numbered 950 men, every one of whom, save 
 eight, had been a slave. Their camp was the cleanest we had 
 ever seen, and their appearance and drill unsurpassed. The 
 colonel has full confidence in their fighting qualities, and one of 
 the captains remarked that they could not fail in action with such 
 stuff as their men are made of. The chaplain teaches them three 
 hours a day, and many can read and write. The sight of that 
 regiment on dress parade, with every head bare to heaven as the 
 chaplain lifted up his voice and prayed that they might be strong 
 and quit themselves like men in the day of battle, was one never 
 to be forgotten. Adjoining their camp was that of the 42d U. S. 
 C. T., a regiment now forming and containing about 150 men. 
 The contrast between the slouching gait and slovenly appearance 
 of the raw recruits, some of whom still had on their plantation 
 clothes, and the soldierly bearing of the disciplined men, was 
 very marked. 
 
 At Knoxville, at wealthy gentleman, Col. B., told us he had 
 freed twenty of his negroes last week, and would hereafter employ 
 paid labor. Some rich secessionists in that city have taken the 
 oath, and it is believed, sincerely. At Nashville, we saw a crowd 
 of " Butternuts" who had come to town to take the oath. One of 
 them said they had complied with all the requisitions of the United 
 States government up to that point, and now they wanted to take 
 the oath and buy some coffee, sugar, and other supplies, the mili- 
 tary authorities very properly requiring all persons in disloyal dis- 
 tricts to go through that purifying and wholesome process. 
 
24 
 
 A man from Clay Co., N. C, wfyom we saw with his family at the 
 depot at Chattanooga, said, " The Southern men think they're 
 whipped, and badly whipped. There's a heap of men there that 
 hold slaves that say they don't care, and the North may come as 
 soon as they mind to, and take their slaves. About one hundred 
 of us had our little houses in the mountains. "We lived on game 
 for two years to avoid the rebel conscription. We don't like Gov- 
 ernor Vance. A great many are leaving for the North. After the 
 war the rebel leaders can't stay there. Macon, Cherokee, Henderson, 
 Transylvania, and Clay Counties are pretty much Union. Those 
 who had been forced into rebellion are coming back. Nearly all the 
 negroes have run off this way ; the rest have been taken South." 
 He himself was going to Kentucky, though he had no friends 
 there and no means — the government furnishing him transporta- 
 tion and rations. He was unable to read, but was a fine-looking 
 man, with a bright eye and clear complexion. 
 
 His testimony that those who had been forced into the rebel 
 ranks are coming back as fast as they can find an opportunity to 
 desert, was confirmed in so many and in such unexpected ways, 
 and there was such an absence of evidence to contradict it, that 
 we were forced to believe that such was the fact. A gentleman, 
 a Union man, who had remained at Knoxville during the rebel 
 rule and conversed a good deal with the rank and file passing 
 backwards and forwards through that town, gave it as his opinion 
 that two-thirds of the private soldiers were Union men at heart. 
 Dr. Blankinship, a lifelong abolitionist of Tennessee, estimates 
 the proportion of the disaffected at the same figure. He said if 
 the Amnesty Proclamation were properly distributed, in three 
 months there would not be 5000 men in Johnston's army. Col. 
 Houk said if all coercion were removed, one-third of the rank 
 and file of the rebels would come over and do their best to re- 
 move the stigma which would rest upon them. Major Walsh, of 
 the 11th Illinois, put the number as high as two-thirds at least. 
 A deserter from Dalton, who had belonged to the 24th Texas, said 
 
25 
 
 they had not half enough of anything to eat. "Two-thirds at 
 least of the rebel army are ready to come over. In fact not 
 more than one out of ten of the rank and file are secessionists at 
 heart." When he came away there were not more than a dozen 
 men left in his company. He had seen eighteen or twenty of his 
 company in Nashville. A resident of Knoxville said that a com- 
 pany in Palmer's N. C. Kegiment had an election, and the " secesh" 
 candidate only got six votes. 
 
 And, really, when we had traversed Middle and East Tennessee, 
 and seen for ourselves what an immense and magnificent country 
 has been conquered by our arms ; when we gazed on the im- 
 pregnable fortifications of Nashville, Murfreesborough, Chatta- 
 nooga, and Knoxville, and saw the innumerable stockades, earth- 
 works, and camps which line the railroads ; the bridges that 
 had been reconstructed, the steamboats that had been built, and 
 the railroads that had been repaired ; when we beheld the levee 
 at Nashville covered with 30,000 tons of government freight — in 
 fact all the resources of the North poured out to crush rebellion 
 and used with great efficiency — we were not surprised that any 
 man of common sense should conclude that secession is a losing 
 game. Just as soon as a new base of supplies can be established 
 at Chattanooga, our armies ought to sweep everything before 
 them. Nothing during the war has been more admirable than the 
 tenacity with which our troops have held East Tennessee, in the 
 face of scarcity amounting almost to famine. At one time the 
 soldiers were reduced to a ration of an ear of corn a day in Knox- 
 ville. 
 
 The first supplies which reached that town were those sent by 
 the Sanitary Commission across the mountains in wagons. And 
 here it affords your commissioners great pleasure to bear their 
 unqualified testimony to the value of the work which the Sanitary 
 Commission are doing at the seat of war. At every important 
 point we made the acquaintance of the agents of the Commission 5 
 and returning from Knoxville we travelled thirty-six hours in a 
 
26 
 
 hospital train furnished by them with comfortable beds and a 
 car for preparing food. Everywhere we found the gentlemen of 
 the Commission obliging, experienced, and active men, and we 
 were convinced of the inestimable value of their services at the 
 front, and especially after a battle. At Chattanooga, the agent is 
 now planting 100 acres in vegetables ; and, as mentioned above, 
 he has undertaken to distribute early garden seeds to the neigh- 
 bors on our behalf. The Christian Commission is also doing 
 an excellent work, cheering the hearts of the soldiers, and thus 
 verifying the truth that " man does not live by bread alone." 
 
 The Eefugee Eelief Commission of Ohio, organized at Cincinnati 
 through our agency, also commends itself to your sympathies 
 and aid, as well as the one at Nashville, which may in like manner 
 be considered as an offshoot from our own society. The number 
 of refugees now being conveyed by the government to the various 
 towns on the Ohio Eiver, is daily increasing; and the situation of 
 many of the helpless women and children among them is truly 
 pitiable. The objects of all three associations are entirely simi- 
 lar, and the good understanding and cooperation which now 
 exist will doubtless continue to the end. The Cairo Eelief Asso- 
 ciation, another excellent society, has issued a striking address to 
 which we would call attention. (See Appendix E.) 
 
 In conclusion, we may congratulate ourselves that Philadelphia, 
 which, from her geographical position and her history, ought to 
 be and is as devotedly Union a city as exists in the United States, 
 has been the first to set the example of sympathy and material 
 aid to our suffering and loyal brethren in East Tennessee. 
 We are persuaded that the moral effect of this movement in 
 strengthening a true Union feeling between the North and the 
 South, the East and the West, will be most salutary. The Eev. Mr. 
 Humes remarked that when the people heard of our approach with 
 supplies for their relief, men's hearts seemed to revive. 
 
 There is a great work before us. We must not confine ourselves 
 ,to East Tennessee. There remains yet very much land to be 
 
27 
 
 possessed; and, as our armies advance, the whole South will 
 require the fostering care and material aid of the North. The 
 welcome given to the Prodigal Son, in the parable, even " when 
 he was yet a great way off'.'' teaches a profound lesson, singularly 
 applicable at the present time. 
 
 FREDERIC COLLINS, 
 LLOYD P. SMITH. 
 
 Commissioners. 
 
 Philadelphia, March 31, 1S64. 
 
 I fully approve of the above Report, and desire here to return 
 my warmest and most sincere thanks to my colleagues on this 
 Committee for their labors on behalf of my suffering people, and 
 for their lucid exposition of the present condition of East Ten- 
 nessee. N. G. TAYLOR, 
 
 of East Tennessee. 
 Philadelphia, April 2, 1864. 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 A. 
 
 ADDRESS TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES IN 
 BEHALF OF THE PEOPLE OF EAST TENNESSEE. 
 
 Knoxville, Tens., February 9th, 1864. 
 To His Excellency ABRAHAM LINCOLN, 
 
 President of the United States: — 
 
 Dear Sir : "We have the honor to make known to your Excellency 
 that on the 6th instant, in this city, an association of loyal citizens was 
 organized, entitled " The East Tennessee Relief Association." The 
 objects of said association are definitely set forth in the second article of 
 its constitution, which declares : — 
 
 " The objects of this association will be to contribute, as far as possible, 
 to the relief of the people of East Tennessee, who are now suffering 
 under the effects of a protracted war ; by receiving and dispensing any 
 donations or contributions, whether of moneys or supplies, that may be 
 appropriated for that purpose by individuals, associations, or corpora- 
 tions ; by aiding the people, in every legitimate way, in securing from 
 the authorities, both civil and military, Federal and State, proper pro- 
 tection in the resumption and prosecution of their industrial pur- 
 suits, and in obtaining from the Government more speedy and satisfac- 
 tory compensation for their property that may have been destroyed by 
 authority or appropriated by the army as necessary for the public ser- 
 vice; and, furthermore, it shall be the object of this association to 
 encourage and support, by every means in its power, any and every pro- 
 ject or enterprise calculated to open up to the people of East Tennessee 
 the channels of communication with the markets of our more prosperous 
 sister States." 
 
 By a resolution adopted by the said association on the 6th instant, 
 the undersigned were appointed a committee in behalf of the association 
 and of the people of East Tennessee, " to address the President of the 
 
30 
 
 United States, and, through him, both houses of Congress, on the con- 
 dition and wants of the people of East Tennessee, and ask their atten- 
 tion to the necessity of some action on the part of the Government for 
 their relief." 
 
 In former times and under ordinary circumstances it would hardly have 
 been deemed proper to address your Excellency in this extraordinary 
 way ; but when it is considered that the people of Tennessee, by 
 reason of the rebellion, are now without representation in either branch 
 of Congress, and that they have no State Legislature through which to 
 communicate with Congress, we will be warranted, we trust, in approach- 
 ing the Government, through your Excellency, in something like an origi- 
 nal capacity. In attempting, therefore, the discharge of the duty imposed 
 upon us by the association we represent, we feel that it is hardly neces- 
 sary to recount to your Excellency the painfully interesting history of 
 the people of East Tennessee since the outbreak of the rebellion ; though 
 a brief recital of their wants and sufferings may not be out of place. 
 
 In the beginning of the pending civil strife East Tennessee, by an over- 
 whelming majority, declared against the rebellion. From her geographi- 
 cal position, her railroad communications, her trade and social inter- 
 course had been mainly with the Southern States. Her domestic insti- 
 tutions and social organization were the same as theirs or nearly assimi- 
 lated thereto, and, according to the commonly received opinion, her 
 future success and full development were identified with and dependent 
 upon the growth and prosperity of the Smith. Nevertheless, when the 
 scheme of corrupt and ambitious men to dismember the National Govern- 
 ment was fully disclosed, her people did not stop to consider their local 
 or pecuniary interests. Their innate love of country rose above the nar- 
 row and selfish considerations that controlled the people and dictated 
 the policy of other States. Appeals to local interests and sectional pre- 
 judices and hatreds were alike unheeded ; and, in her isolation from all 
 the loyal States, and amidst the jeers and threatened violence of a South- 
 ern mob, her people stood firm in their determination to maintain the 
 Federal Constitution and the Union of States existing under it. In the 
 second and last election in Tennessee upon this question, on the 8th of 
 June, 1861, out of an aggregate vote of about 48,000 in East Tennessee, 
 only 14, tOO votes were polled in favor of separation, and many of these 
 were the illegal votes of rebel soldiers ; and even after the pretended 
 ordinance of separation had been passed and formally announced, the 
 loj-al people of East Tennessee, through a convention of their delegates 
 at Greenville, Tenn., on the 20th of June, 1861, unanimously resolved, 
 "That the action of our State Legislature in passing the so-called 'De- 
 claration of Independence,' and in forming the ' Military League' with 
 
31 
 
 the Confederate States, and in adopting other acts looking to a separa- 
 tion of the State of Tennessee from the Government of the United States, 
 is unconstitutional and illegal, and, therefore, not binding upon us as 
 loyal citizens." 
 
 But the trusted leaders of the people in the Middle and Western Divi- 
 sions of the State, at an early day, yielded to Southern clamor. The 
 Executive and Legislature betrayed the trusts confided to them. Five 
 millions of money were appropriated for the purpose of forcing Tennessee 
 into the Southern Confederacy. Through the patronage and power thus 
 acquired, some men were bought, others intimidated. The press was 
 muzzled, and free discussion suppressed, and, by such means, Tennessee, 
 which less than four months before, had given a majority of 60,000 in 
 favor of the Union, was, through the mere form and mockery of a popular 
 election, declared in a state of insurrection against the United States. 
 Still, loyal East Tennesseeans refused to acknowledge the validity of the 
 act of separation. With unwavering devotion they still adhered to the 
 "Old Government." Through the valley of East Tennessee ran one of 
 the most important railroads in the Confederacy — connecting the South- 
 west with the capital of the Rebel Government. Geographically and 
 strategetically considered, this road was essential to the maintenance of 
 the Confederacy. The 35,000 Union voters inhabiting this section, mu- 
 tually encouraging each other's patriotism, and strengthening a feeling of 
 nationality in all, constituted a dangerous element in a very important 
 locality. Prudence called for vigilance on the part of the rebel author- 
 ities, and malignity demanded revenge. Large armies were quartered 
 among us. For more than two years the Federal Government was ejected 
 from East Tennessee. Union citizens were disarmed — arrested without 
 warrant, and for alleged military offences, imprisoned at the pleasure of 
 petty military tyrants in violation of all law — forced to take oaths against 
 their consciences and in derogation of their allegiance to the United States 
 — taxed with illegal costs to support corrupt officials ; their property 
 seized for public and for individual uses. Their fields were laid waste — 
 in some instances houses were burned over the heads of families as a 
 punishment for their loyalty ; and in other instances, not a, few, men 
 
 patriotically sealed their devotion to their country with their life-blood 
 
 either butchered by a lawless soldiery, or officially murdered by a military 
 court. 
 
 Amid this accumulation of wrongs and oppressions, being for the time 
 hopelessly removed from, and cut off from the Government to which they 
 looked for protection, the people were unable, in their unarmed condition, 
 to organize anything like an adequate resistance to the force always present 
 among them. Smarting under these wrongs, they determined to be free. 
 
32 
 
 By small companies they gradually and stealthily withdrew from their 
 cherished homes, leaving their property and families behind, sought the 
 Federal army in the neighboring State of Kentucky, organized into regi- 
 ments, and claimed the high privilege of returning with the flag of their 
 country, to relieve their oppressed families and friends from the galling 
 tyranny of Confederate rule. While some eight or ten thousand East 
 Tennesseeans, by means of conscription and other appliances, were induced 
 to enter the rebel service — at least fifteen to eighteen thousand loyalists, 
 being one-half the loyal voting population, stole their way through rebel 
 pickets, and across the Cumberland Mountains, in search of that emblem 
 of protection — the Stars and Stripes — to which they and their families 
 still looked for relief. 
 
 This much we have deemed it proper to say in justice to our people, 
 although the recital of their wrongs may be to your Excellency but the 
 repetition of an oft-told tale. Were this all, and did the suffering stop 
 here, no murmur would now be heard to trouble the ear of Government. 
 But the patriotism of our people, and the tyranny of the rebels have, 
 naturally enough, co-operated to impoverish our country. Most of those 
 who entered the armies, both Federal and Rebel, were laboring men, and 
 thus more than half the ordinary labor of the country was withdrawn 
 from the common industrial pursuits. The productions suffered a cor- 
 responding diminution, while the demand was increased by the pressing 
 necessities of the Rebel Government. In the fall of 1861, for instance, 
 East Tennessee furnished over 60,000 hogs to support the rebellion. In 
 1862, the rebel authorities were inexorable for further supplies. Every 
 available hog was hunted out and taken. The products of our farms 
 were seized wherever found. The stock to which we looked for future 
 increase was destroyed without stint, and heavy drafts were made upon 
 the citizens for clothing and blankets for the soldiery. The blockade of 
 the Southern coast, so disastrous to the Confederacy, embraced us also 
 in its ruinous effects, and deprived us of most of the comforts and neces- 
 saries of life to which we had been accustomed. In a word, we suffered 
 all the ills of isolation, depopulation, and oppression. The hope of our 
 people was meanwhile in the coming of the Union army. Finally, about 
 the 1st of September of last year, that army came, but in its hurried 
 and successful march across the mountains, over steep and rugged roads, 
 it could not bring supplies a distance of one hundred and eighty miles 
 from its depot of provisions. The advent of the Union troops was hailed 
 with joy, and the broken and crushed spirits of Union men and women 
 rallied with new life as they beheld the old flag coming once more to 
 signalize the authority of the government of their fathers. But these 
 troops found us with a reduced crop, the product of less than one-half 
 
33 
 
 the ordinary labor of the country, and much of that, too, produced by 
 the labor of women and children, whose tender hands had hitherto been 
 unused to the sterner labors of the held. These troops required subsist- 
 ence, and their necessities could not await the slow providence of com- 
 missaries and quartermasters. They must needs take supplies wherever 
 found, but the people, with hearts overflowing- with gratitude for their 
 deliverance, gave up their scanty stocks without seeming to count the 
 cost or consider the probabilities of payment. The country was regained, 
 and for a time we had reason to believe that East Tennessee, from one 
 extremity to the other, was about to be, if not already, restored to the 
 authority and protection of the Federal Government, and that the native 
 industry of our people, in conjunction with the opening of our communi- 
 cations with the Northern markets, would soon restore us to a state of 
 comparative comfort; but in this we were disappointed. Early in No. 
 vember, the rebels under Longstreet, numbering at least 25,000, entering 
 lower East Tennessee, began their march upon Knoxville, for the re- 
 conquest of the whole of East Tennessee. The quick and unerring sa- 
 gacity of General Grant saw the advantages which this division of rebel 
 forces gave to the Federal army, and accordingly, by instructions to 
 Gen. Burnside, who has carried with him, to whatever field of labor he 
 may be assigned, the affection and gratitude of all loyal East Tennesseeans, 
 the advance of Longstreet was facilitated. Knoxville was besieged. 
 Soon afterwards, the country extending from Chattanooga to Knoxville, 
 through which Longstreet came, was traversed by the Union forces 
 under Gen. Sherman, to the amount of 25,000 men, and the two armies 
 necessarily exhausted and laid waste the country through which they 
 passed. As the army of Sherman advanced, that of Longstreet withdrew, 
 and it still sullenly holds its position not more than thirty miles distant, 
 and occupying the country to within five miles of this place. The two 
 armies, amounting to not less than 50,000 men, with a very heavy pro- 
 portion of cavalry, have drained and exhausted the whole of East Ten- 
 nessee. Union men, upon the approach of the rebel army here, aban- 
 doned their homes, and the more prominent rebel citizens, for the most 
 part, have deserted their possessions within our lines, and sought safety 
 with their friends. 
 
 From what has been said, your Excellency will see that we are reduced 
 to almost the last extremity of suffering and want. That part of Our 
 labor not already in the army, cannot now be profitably employed in the 
 midst of hostile demonstrations. Our stock, including cattle, hogs, and 
 sheep, is well nigh gone, our horses have been taken by one government 
 or the other, or stolen by stragglers or natural thieves, and our farms, 
 in a great degree, have been left fenceless. It is impossible that the 
 3 
 
34 
 
 usual agricultural pursuits be resumed. Less than ten per cent., perhaps 
 not more than five, of the usual breadth of wheat has been sown. No 
 oats nor potatoes, or very little of either, have been left for seed the 
 present season, and it is the opinion of the undersigned that, for the 
 reasons above mentioned, not more than (if, indeed, so much as) twenty 
 per cent, of the usual corn crop will be planted. Our meadows and corn- 
 fields have been made desolate by the tread of armies ; homes have been 
 rendered comfortless, until many of our citizens, tired of strife and de- 
 spairing of peace and comfort, are abandoning the country and seeking 
 elsewhere that protection which they have failed to obtain in the land of 
 their birth. 
 
 Against this tide of desolation we most respectfully and earnestly 
 invoke the exerGise of all the powers with which the President and Con- 
 gress are invested. We cannot believe that the conduct of a people who 
 have endured so much in behalf of the government will fail to command 
 its attention. We do not approach the government as mendicants, beg- 
 ging alms. By the sweat of our brows we had provided bread for 
 another year, but that supply, as before stated, was given up to the 
 Union army. For the want of that supply our people are now suffering, 
 and for it they have, in the main, received no equivalent. The necessi- 
 ties of our army, and often the wants of the soldiers, have been so great 
 that a large portion of the stock and provisions taken were taken by 
 unauthorized persons, who, of course, gave no receipts or vouchers. 
 Hundreds of families, heretofore blessed with an abundance of all the 
 necessities and many of the comforts of life, have been reduced to almost 
 absolute beggary, because of the privations imposed by the army. Many 
 of these families are without money with which to replace the supplies, 
 and, had they money, the supplies could not be found. Besides, it is too 
 often the case that the receipts and vouchers given are irregular and 
 informal, and such as no quartermaster will honor. 
 
 The first remedy that the undersigned would respectfully suggest is a 
 more speedy and prompt payment of the claims due to loyal citizens for 
 property destroyed and supplies furnished — especially that some provi- 
 sion be immediately made for the ready adjustment and payment of these 
 irregular claims to which reference has been made. During the siege of 
 Knoxville, for instance, the houses of many Union men were burned by 
 order of the commanding General, yet the families of these men, house- 
 less and homeless though they be, can obtain no satisfaction from the 
 government, for the alleged want of authority in the quartermasters to 
 pay such claims. The same may be said of irregular claims from all 
 parts of East Tennessee. We would, therefore, most respectfully beg 
 your Excellency to direct the issuance of such orders on the part of any 
 
35 
 
 department of government having jurisdiction thereof, or to recommend 
 the passage of such a law on the part of Congress as will secure the 
 speedy payment of all such claims as those before mentioned. The 
 prompt payment to the people of East Tennessee of the claims in their 
 hands, and due, would do much to relieve their present wants. 
 
 The second and, at the present time, the most important question that 
 we would call to your Excellency's attention, is that of transportation. 
 Had we money without limit, it would be all but little toward relieving 
 the present wants of our people, for the purchase of supplies would profit 
 us nothing unless we were supplied with the means of transportation. 
 
 To bring supplies across the Cumberland Mountains by wagons or 
 pack trains, even had we the facilities, would be next to impossible. The 
 experience of the army is sufficient to demonstrate the impracticability of 
 supplying a population of more than three hundred thousand by that 
 means. The navigation of the Tennessee River is permanently ob- 
 structed by the Muscle Shoals, which are not passable by boats of the 
 lightest draught, except during extreme tides, and by this means we have 
 no hope of relief. Nashville is now, and for some time to come must 
 necessarily be, the depot of supplies upon which the immense armies 
 operating in lower East Tennessee and Georgia must depend. The 
 demands of this force will necessarily, to a great extent, exclude the 
 citizens from the privilege of transportation. True, by means of the two 
 railroads from Nashville — the one tapping the Tennessee at Decatur and 
 the other at Bridgeport — supplies might be transported to the river ; 
 but then we have no boats at our command, and even had we the boats, 
 the upper Tennessee, the Holstein, the Clinch, and French Broad rivers 
 are unreliable for navigation, and indeed are unnavigable for six months 
 in the year. Besides, the route from Nashville to East Tennessee by 
 way of the river is, to a considerable extent, parallel with the enemy's 
 lines, and therefore subject to repeated raids from guerrillas, whose daring 
 is never so much stimulated as by the prospect of food and raiment. 
 While much might and should be accomplished by this route to alleviate 
 the present wants of our people, the undersigned are fully convinced that, 
 in view of the necessities of the army, sufficient facilities of transportation 
 cannot be obtained to afford anything like reliable or permanent relief to 
 the citizens of East Tennessee. Still, we trust the government will grant 
 every possible privilege to our citizens, and extend to them every reason- 
 able facility for the shipment by this route of necessary supplies. 
 
 We beg your Excellency to bear in mind that our wants are not merely 
 temporary, and that they will not cease with the advance of the army. 
 From the want of seed, the great diminution of labor, and other causes 
 above stated, our next crop will be far lighter than any preceding one. 
 
36 
 
 From our exhausted pockets our farms, are again to be stocked before that 
 plenty to which we have been accustomed again smiles upon us. While 
 deeply impressed with a sense of present need, it is the future that 
 most deeply concerns us. Under the most favorable direction of events, 
 it is impossible for our people to obtain relief, of their own resources, 
 before the harvest of 1865 has been gathered. Meanwhile, they must 
 seek a communication, direct and sure, with the markets of our more 
 prosperous sister States. That communication can now only be 
 obtained through a direct railroad connection with Louisville and Cin- 
 cinnati. The construction of such a railroad your Excellency, so early 
 as the fall of 1861, had the sagacity to recommend to Congress as a 
 necessary military work for the suppression of the rebellion, and had the 
 recommendation of your Excellency then been adopted, East Tennessee, 
 teeming with abundance, would have long since dropped like a ripe 
 apple into the possession of the Government, instead of being finally 
 captured at an expense of millions to the Government, and in an ex- 
 hausted condition. The Union army, upon its arrival, would not only 
 have found plenty, but would have been still in close communication 
 with the plenty of the North. The transportation, or, rather, the means 
 of transportation alone of the Army of the Ohio, with the losses neces- 
 sarily incident thereto, has cost the Government not less than five mil- 
 lions of dollars since the army left its place of rendezvous in Kentucky. 
 Less than that sum, even with fully compensated labor, would have con- 
 structed and equipped a railroad from Sanford, Kentucky, to this point, 
 and the Army of the Ohio would now have been within twenty days' 
 travel of its true base of supplies. That the immediate construction of 
 this road is a military necessity is now apparent to every member of this 
 army. The scanty rations of the soldier give evidence of the fact, and 
 the dying animals that fall and perish by the way-side fully attest it. 
 For the want of such a communication the army, by reason of the ex- 
 hausted condition of the country, has been reduced to extraordinary 
 straits, its energies have been well nigh paralyzed, and for some time past 
 the chief problem has been that of self-support. With the opening of 
 the road to Chattanooga, however, the condition of the army will be in 
 a measure relieved ; but we would respectfully suggest that, in order to 
 facilitate military operations from this base, it will be necessary not only 
 to *>'i>phj the army, but to accumulate supplies from which to make 
 future drafts. Impressed with these views, General Burnside and his 
 successor, General Foster, have, we understand, both recommended the 
 construction of the road above referred to as a military measure. By 
 way of Nashville and Chattanooga, from Cincinnati to Knoxville, the 
 distance is about five hundred and fifty miles, while by the route 
 
37 
 
 proposed the distance between the same points is less than three 
 hundred miles. The construction of this road could be effected in 
 six mouths with the labor of the country emancipated by the war, and 
 for the present needing discipline and employment. Already the roads 
 projected by Louisville and Cincinnati have been extended in this direc- 
 tion something over one hundred miles. Louisville, as we understand, 
 is now engaged in extending her road from Lebanon to Stanford, and 
 Cincinnati must necessarily push forward her line from Nicholasville to 
 the same point, or lose the advantage, hitherto enjoyed, of the valuable 
 trade of that productive region. The distance from Stanford to Knox- 
 ville, by the most feasible route, is about one hundred and fifty miles. 
 In her days of prosperity, East Tennessee, with an enterprise that was 
 creditable to her people, undertook to fill up this link in one of the most 
 important railway communications on the continent. Ten miles of the 
 road, beginning at Knoxville, are already completed and in running 
 order. Ten miles more are graded, the masonry complete, and the 
 bridge across the Clinch River, twenty miles from Knoxville, is partially 
 completed. One hundred and thirty miles will complete the connection 
 and bring us within easy communication with Louisville and Cincinnati. 
 The route has been surveyed by competent engineers, and found to be 
 not only practicable, but comparatively free from the difficulties usually 
 characteristic of mountain routes. It traverses one of the finest coal and 
 iron regions on the globe. While its construction would relieve the 
 army in this region and that operating south of here, it would at the 
 same time afford relief to, and, in fact, furnish the basis of the resettle- 
 ment of East Tennessee. It would stimulate enterprise, and develop the 
 rich mineral resources of the country through which it would pass. It 
 would give to the cities of the North and West the trade of a country 
 numbering 400,000 in population, irrevocably unite our destinies with 
 theirs, appreciate the value of property along the line and at both ex- 
 tremes, create wealth by encouraging industry and building up manufac- 
 tories, and establish a new bond of reunion through the social and com- 
 mercial intercourse thus secured. These incidental advantages to the 
 people of East Tennessee, we would respectfully suggest, would be but a 
 grateful return to them for the countless losses they have sustained, and 
 for the untold persecutions they have heroically endured for the sake of 
 the Union ; especially when it is considered that our people have never 
 participated in the benefits of any of the liberal grants of public lands 
 made by Congress from time to time to our sister Western States for 
 educational and railroad purposes. If the purposes of Government can 
 lie facilitated, and its necessities removed, and at the same time the wants 
 of the people of East Tennessee be relieved, we feel well assured that 
 
38 
 
 your Excellency will find in the incidental result a new and stronger 
 inducement to urge the speedy accomplishment of the work proposed. 
 
 We have thus, in compliance with our instructions, attempted briefly 
 unci plainly to make known to your Excellency our present and proba- 
 ble future condition as a people, and to suggest the remedy which, in 
 our opinion, seems best calculated to afford sure and permanent relief. 
 We feel well assured that your Excellency will not be insensible to our 
 appeal, nor unmindful of the sufferings of a people in whose welfare 
 your Excellency has heretofore manifested so lively an interest. We 
 rely, too, with confidence upon the liberality and wisdom of the repre- 
 sentatives of a great and magnanimous people for such action on their 
 part as may be consistent with their duties and conducive to the relief of 
 our people. 
 
 Allow us, in conclusion, to congratulate your Excellency upon the 
 success already attained by the Union armies in breaking the. power of 
 the rebellion, and to express the hope that, with the entire restoration 
 of the national authority, our people everywhere may ere long be blessed 
 with a return of that peace and prosperity which can be enjoyed only 
 under the Government of the United States. 
 
 We have the honor to be, very respectfully, your Excellency's obedi- 
 ent servants, 
 
 THOMAS W. HUMES, 
 WM. HEISKBLL, 
 W. G. BROWNLOW, 
 JOHN BAXTER, 
 0. P. TEMPLE, 
 JOHN M. FLEMING. 
 
 B. 
 
 Wak Department, Washington City, 
 March 2d, 1864. 
 General — 
 
 An Association for the relief of those citizens of East Tennessee 
 who have been reduced to destitution by the events of the war, has been 
 formed in Philadelphia, and a considerable fund has been raised to pro- 
 cure supplies. 
 
 The Association has appointed as its Commissioners for the distribution 
 of these supplies, Messrs. Frederic Collins, Col. N. G. Taylor, and Lloyd 
 P. Smith. I beg to commend them to your kindness, and to request that 
 you will render them any assistance which may be in your power. They 
 should have free transportation for themselves, their agents, and the 
 
articles which they desire to distribute, upon all Government railroads 
 and chartered vessels. 
 
 I am, General, yours with great respect, 
 
 C. A. DANA, 
 
 Assistant Secretary of War. 
 
 The above letter bears the following indorsement : — 
 This letter will serve to introduce the bearers to General Thomas, 
 General Schofield, or any other commanding officers to whom they may 
 have occasion to apply, beside General Grant. 
 
 C. A. DANA, 
 Assistant Secretary of War. 
 
 "For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat ; I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink ; 
 I was a stranger, and ye took me in ; naked, and ye clothed me ; I was sick, and ye 
 visited me ; I was in prison, and ye came unto me." — Matt. xxv. 35, 36. 
 
 fjcnbquartcrs Refugee Relief Commission of Ohio. 
 
 No. 178 Vine Street. 
 
 President. — GEO. F. DAVIS, President of Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce. 
 
 Treasurer B. F. BRANNAN, President of Franklin Bank. 
 
 Vice-President. — D. B. PIERSON, President of Cincinnati Horticultural Society. 
 
 Secretary.— JOHN D. CALDWELL. 
 
 Executive Committee. — Thos. G- Odiorne, Caltin W. Stahbuck, Capt. D. E. A. 
 Tweed, Wm. H. Harrison, Henry Kessler, John Carlisle, S. C. Newton, 
 Joseph Trounstine, S. S. Davis, Thos. Gilpin, James Dalton, W. Clifford 
 Neff, L. S. Rosenstiel. 
 
 Cincinnati, 0., March 17, 1S64. 
 
 A Refugee Relief Commission for Ohio has just been organized in this 
 city to receive contributions of money, clothing, and other articles needed 
 for white Refugee sufferers from the Rebellion. The startling informa- 
 tion reaches us that thousands of women, children, and aged men have 
 been driven out of the South, or have fled to attainable points within the 
 Union lines, and most of them are inadequately provided for, at Chatta- 
 nooga, Nashville, Cairo, Pilot Knob, &c. ; all are meanly clad, well nigh 
 starved, and many well nigh heart-broken. 
 
 The demand for supplies is urgent — the cause is one of the most Chris- 
 tian of charities. Humanity demands of all to forward such relief as is 
 in our power. Money, clothes, fruits, vegetables, luxuries for the sick 
 
40 
 
 and delicate women are needed. The Express Companies will carry all 
 articles to our address "Free." Send money to B. F. Brannan, Trea- 
 surer, President of Franklin Bank, Cincinnati. Articles should be ad- 
 dressed "Refugee Relief Commission," Cincinnati. Letters should 
 be addressed to John D. Caldwell, Secretary. 
 
 It is expected that the destitution of Refugees will require the special 
 attention of loyal people in the North, for yet many months. We con- 
 fidently appeal to the generous and humane in all parts of Ohio and 
 elsewhere to send supplies to this point for distribution. Thousands in 
 the South were forced into revolt or deceived by conspirators. Now, 
 when the women and children are suffering, let us extend them immediate 
 and abundant relief. 
 
 Respectfully yours, 
 
 JOHN D. CALDWELL, 
 
 Secretary. 
 
 Please have this Circular read from the Pulpits that Congregations 
 may organize as Auxiliaries. Ladies' Aid Societies are requested to' 
 take an active part in this benevolent enterprise. 
 
 NASHVILLE REFUGEE COMMISSION. 
 
 President. 
 Hon. DAYID T. PATTERSON. 
 
 Secretary. 
 JOHN M. GAUT, Esq. 
 
 Committee to Receive and Distribute Donations. 
 Hon. JOS. S. FOWLER, Gen. ALVINE C. GILLEN, 
 
 Hon. HORACE MAYNARD, JOS. R. DILLIN, Esq., 
 
 J. C. MERCER, Esq., JAMES M. HINTON, Esq. 
 
 THE WHITE REFUGEES AT CAIRO. 
 THEIR CONDITION, NUMBERS, AND WANTS. 
 
 Cairo Relief Association, 
 
 February 22d, 1864. 
 To answer many inquiries concerning the condition of the White Re- 
 fugees arriving here from the South, as well as to inform all of the true 
 
41 
 
 situation of this hapless class of our fellow citizens, who feel an interest 
 in their welfare, the Executive Board of the Cairo Relief Association 
 would respectfully represent that : — 
 
 With the triumphal march of our armies through sections in rebellion, 
 whole communities have flocked to our lines for protection against a 
 misrule they took no part in establishing, and a despotism they have 
 been powerless to resist. The fact of their having lived in rebel States 
 is hastily and wrongly seized upon as evidence conclusive of their dis- 
 loyalty. While this is true in some instances, yet we are satisfied from 
 much personal intercourse with them, that had they been surrounded by 
 loyal influences, the mass would have been quite as devoted unionists as 
 thousands amongst us whose loyalty is unquestioned. To the union men 
 and women of the South we must look for the most brilliant evidences of 
 devotion to the old flag under trials of which we, in the full tide of peace 
 and prosperity, can form no adequate conception. 
 
 A SKETCH OF THEIR CONDITION IN THE SOUTH. 
 
 The reign of terror which exists throughout all the rebel States lying 
 in and adjacent to the Mississippi valley, has no parallel in the most 
 barbarous annals of our country. 
 
 Their able bodied men have been conscripted, or, fleeing to the woods 
 and swamps, have been hunted with bloodhounds and shot like beasts. 
 
 Their crops have been destroyed. 
 
 Their lands laid waste. 
 
 Their cattle and teams driven off. 
 
 Their granaries robbed. 
 
 Their cotton burned. 
 
 Their houses sacked and razed. 
 
 Women have been stripped of their clothing, and turned naked upon 
 the world. 
 
 Men, deserting from a service they hated, have been caught and made 
 to "dance wild on the wind" from the branches of trees which overhung 
 their own dwellings. 
 
 Children, interceding, have been shot. 
 
 Mothers, imploring mercy, have had their infants stabbed on their 
 breasts. 
 
 Sympathy with the Union cause has been made the sole occasion for 
 atrocities unheard of in intestine war. 
 
 The rich and poor alike are prostrate, smitten and srrppliant from their 
 very destitution. 
 
 The presence of our troops brings security. Their advance is the sig- 
 
42 
 
 nal for the " conscript hunters" to impress the men, for the "forest men," 
 who know no law, and respect no age, sex, or condition, to rise up. pil- 
 lage and destroy what contending armies had left, and to prevent those 
 from escaping who would flee from the horrors of starvation which awaits 
 the thousands who remain. 
 
 Thus, with cruel hand, has rebellion mingled a bitter cup for its un- 
 willing subjects, and is now dealing out to them its dregs. It has indeed 
 given them for Happiness, Misery; for Liberty, Tyranny; and changed 
 the joy of their lives into the wormwood of intolerable existence. 
 
 What should a Christian people do for exiles in such a case ? 
 
 THEIR SITUATION IN CAIRO. 
 
 They are sent here by the military authorities, on government trans- 
 ports and steamers, and landed on our levee at all hours of the night 
 and day. There they are left, shelterless and penniless, their future an 
 aimless blank. More than two hundred have recently been set on shore 
 at a late hour of the night, and compelled to remain exposed to the in- 
 clemencies of the weather until morning. The average number per 
 month now exceeds two thousand, with a prospect of an increase rather 
 than diminution of arrivals. 
 
 A few have teams or money enough to take them a hundred miles into 
 the country by railroad. Some have friends in the North who would 
 assist them on their reaching them. Nearly all are anxious to get into 
 the rural districts, where they can find homes and make an honorable 
 livelihood by their labor. Some, indeed, who have been taught and ac- 
 customed to look upon labor as menial, may have to learn by sad expe- 
 rience the blessing and dignity of manly toil. 
 
 Nine-tenths of all are women and children, four-fifths of whom are 
 children of tender years. But very few are infirm from age.* 
 
 Of late, the proportion of men is increasing, owing to desertions and 
 the rigor with which the conscription is enforced. Every religious denomi- 
 nation and fraternal brotherhood have their representatives among them. 
 
 They bring with them some articles of their " household plunder" and 
 the tattered remnants of wardrobes that have not been replenished during 
 the three years of suffering since first their "troubles came." Children 
 come without hats, shoes, or stockings, and hundreds without a change 
 of clothing. Those who have lived in affluence are reduced to equal ex- 
 tremities of want with the poor. Of course, cleanliness is impossible in 
 their condition. 
 
 * No colored fugitives are arriving. Very liberal provision is being made for 
 thein by the government, and through the several Freedmeu's Commissions. 
 
43 
 
 The health of the most is reduced by exposure and by bad and scanty 
 food. Many are sick, requiring immediate medical attendance and the 
 tenderest nursing care. 
 
 A mother and her four daughters have died of exposure within the 
 space of one week. The widowed mother of several children is now sick, 
 with but little prospect of recovery. The number of sick is increasing 
 rapidly. 
 
 GOVERNMENT AID. 
 
 The only gratuity they receive from the general government after 
 arrival is rations of flour and bacon, with fuel, and the occupancy of one 
 small barrack. 
 
 Neither stoves, straw for beds, medical attendance, nor transportation 
 beyond this post is furnished. 
 
 THE WORK OF PRIVATE MUNIFICENCE. 
 
 The benevolent people of the North, in response to the earnest solici- 
 tations of Rev. E. Folsom, Post Chaplain, have contributed about $8000 
 and a large amount of clothing. C. N. Shipman, Agt. U. S. S. Com., 
 has, with this money, furnished transportation to about 4000 persons, 
 and disbursed the clothing judiciously to many more. 
 
 The local organization which we represent, was established to aid "any 
 sufferers who might be cast among us by the casualties of war or the un- 
 toward events of civil life." After providing for every needy person in 
 the city, our efforts have been engrossed by the wants of the White Re- 
 fugees. It has been our aim to look after the very needy, to provide 
 them with shelter, suitable food, and medical attendance for the sick, to 
 procure homes and employment for the well. 
 
 A Refugee's Rest and Hospital is being established, and such general 
 assistance rendered as may be required. The physicians of the city and 
 the ladies have volunteered their assistance and reudered very important 
 and timely service. 
 
 The work has grown upon our hands. Demands are made upon us 
 each week for transportation, and aid in various ways, sufficient, if met, 
 to exhaust our means. 
 
 Should these private enterprises fail or prove inadequate, as there is 
 reason to apprehend, the situation of new arrivals must become heart- 
 rending — verging on despair. 
 
 Some of the railroad companies have already expressed their readiness 
 to transport them at reduced rates. Correspondence is pending to extend 
 these facilities. 
 
u 
 
 WHAT THEY NEED. 
 
 First. Homes, and some help to start in life again. 
 
 Second. Employment at such work as they may be capable of doing. 
 
 Third. Clothing of a plain substantial character, shoes, hats, dresses, &c. 
 
 Fourth. Seed for planting gardens in the spring. 
 
 Fifth. Money to pay their passage to homes in the country, for the 
 purchase of necessaries, and for defraying current expenses of the "Rest." 
 
 Sixth. The childreu need, not less than food and clothing, school learn- 
 ing, and instruction in some useful calling to fit them for business. 
 
 APPEAL. 
 
 Spring time is at hand. Ten thousand unfilled acres lie waiting for 
 the labor which these famishing people could bestow, had they the op- 
 portunity. 
 
 They are not all "poor white trash," cursed by a double bondage of 
 ignorance and unthrift. Many of them owned farms and tilled them with 
 their own hands ; spun, wove, and made their own clothing. They still 
 seem hopeful, courageous, and intelligent, asking only for a chance to 
 start again, nothing doubting that they can do well. Hundreds point 
 with proud satisfaction to their fathers and brothers standing side by 
 side with our heroes in the Union army of the West. 
 
 Lately, they were our friends and neighbors; we bought of their pro- 
 ducts and sold them our merchandise. If we receive and treat them 
 kindly, they cannot live our enemies; if we turn them off in coldness, who 
 can predict the dark despair that shall settle down upon their future ! 
 
 Never has helpless womanhood appealed in vain for aid. Surely a 
 nation that has a heart and open hand for the oppressed of other lands, 
 cannot be dead to the supplications of the terror stricken of its own. 
 
 Shall not the cry of the children, as they lie on the levee, with inno- 
 cent hands uplifted for help, be heard ? Time can never blot from their 
 minds the thoughts of the hapless fate to which rebellion has consigned 
 them. May we not embrace the opportunity to show them the blessings 
 and worth of a great and good government? Let them not wait as 
 at Bethesda, until the day of their healing and salvation is passed. Let 
 us take them by the hand right speedily. 
 
 Our only aspiration is " to do all the good we can." With this view 
 we solicit the assistance and co-operation of the benevolent and humane 
 everywhere, pledging the strictest integrity in the use of means committed 
 to our trust. 
 'Correspondence is solicited with those wanting laborers. 
 
45 
 
 Money may be remitted in drafts to our treasurer, clothing or other 
 
 goods through any Sanitary Commission, marked " White Refugees, 
 
 Cairo, Illinois." Full and frequent reports will be sent to all who may 
 
 contribute. 
 
 GEO. D. WILLIAMSON, President, 
 
 JOHN C. WHITE, 1 
 
 JOS. McKENZIE, | — „ ., . 
 
 ' V Vice-Presidents. 
 
 DANIEL HURD, 
 
 CHAS. GALIGHER, J 
 
 WM. J. YOST, Recording Secretary. 
 
 C. T. CHASE, Corresponding- Secretary. 
 
 A. B. SAFEORD, Treasurer. 
 
 N. B. Persons receiving this circular are requested to procure for it 
 a reading in the Churches, and publication in the local papers. 
 
 THK END. 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS