Chapter XIV

This system of barbarity of the rebels towards their prisoners having become known to the United States government, efforts were made to ameliorate the condition of the suffering men, but without avail.

Measures of retaliation were entertained by Congress, in hopes of effecting a change by the clamors from the rebel prisoners themselves, and the following resolutions were introduced by Mr. Wade, of Ohio, but they were not adopted:--

JOINT RESOLUTION, advising Retaliation for the Cruel Treatment of
Prisoners by the Insurgents.

_Whereas_, It has come to the knowledge of Congress that great numbers
of our soldiers, who have fallen as prisoners of war into the hands
of the insurgents, have been subjected to treatment unexampled for
cruelty in the history of civilized war, and finding its parallels
only in the conduct of savage tribes; a treatment resulting in the
death of multitudes by the slow but designed process of starvation,
and by mortal diseases occasioned by insufficient and unhealthy food,
by wanton exposure of their persons to the inclemency of the weather,
and by deliberate assassination of unoffending men; and the murder, in
cold blood, of prisoners after surrender; and, whereas a continuance
of these barbarities, in contempt of the laws of war, and in disregard
of the remonstrances of the national authorities, has presented to us
the alternative of suffering our brave soldiers thus to be destroyed,
or to apply the principle of retaliation for their protection:
Therefore,

_Resolved_, by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States of America, in Congress assembled, That, in the judgment of
Congress, it has become justifiable and necessary that the President
should, in order to prevent the continuance and recurrence of such
barbarities, and to insure the observance by the insurgents of the
laws of civilized war, resort at once to measures of retaliation.
That, in our opinion, such retaliation ought to be inflicted upon the
insurgent officers now in our hands, or hereafter to fall into our
hands, as prisoners; that such officers ought to be subjected to like
treatment practised towards our officers or soldiers in the hands of
the insurgents, in respect to quantity and quality of food, clothing,
fuel, medicine, medical attendance, personal exposure, or other mode
of dealing with them; that, with a view to the same ends, the
insurgent prisoners in our hands ought to be placed under the control
and in the keeping of officers and men who have themselves been
prisoners in the hands of the insurgents, and have thus acquired a
knowledge of their mode of treating Union prisoners; that explicit
instructions ought to be given to the forces having the charge of such
insurgent prisoners, requiring them to carry out strictly and promptly
the principles of this resolution in every case, until the President,
having received satisfactory information of the abandonment by the
insurgents of such barbarous practices, shall revoke or modify said
instructions. Congress do not, however, intend by this resolution to
limit or restrict the power of the President to the modes or
principles of retaliation herein mentioned, but only to advise a
resort to them as demanded by the occasion.

Mr. Sumner offered the following Resolutions as a substitute for the Resolution of the Committee:--

_Resolved_, That retaliation is harsh always, even in the simplest
cases, and is permissible only where, in the first place, it may
reasonably be expected to effect its object, and where, in the second
place, it is consistent with the usages of civilized society; and
that, in the absence of these essential conditions, it is a useless
barbarism, having no other end than vengeance, which is forbidden
alike to nations and to men.

_Resolved_, That the treatment of our officers and soldiers in rebel
prisons is cruel, savage, and heart-rending beyond all precedent; that
it is shocking to morals; that it is an offence against human nature
itself; that it adds new guilt to the great crime of the rebellion,
and constitutes an example from which history will turn with sorrow
and disgust.

_Resolved_, That any attempted imitation of rebel barbarism in the
treatment of prisoners would be plainly impracticable, on account of
its inconsistency with the prevailing sentiments of humanity among us;
that it would be injurious at home, for it would barbarize the whole
community; that it would be utterly useless, for it could not affect
the cruel authors of the revolting conduct which we seek to overcome;
that it would be immoral, inasmuch as it proceeded from vengeance
alone; that it could have no other result than to degrade the national
character and the national name, and to bring down upon our country
the reprobation of history; and that, being thus impracticable,
useless, immoral, and degrading, it must be rejected as a measure of
retaliation, precisely as the barbarism of roasting or eating
prisoners is always rejected by civilized powers.

_Resolved_, That the United States, filled with grief and sympathy for
cherished citizens, who, as officers and soldiers, have become the
victims of Heaven-defying outrage, hereby declare their solemn
determination to put an end to this great iniquity by putting an end
to the rebellion of which it is the natural fruit; that to secure this
humane and righteous consummation, they pledge anew their best
energies and all the resources of the whole people, and they call upon
all to bear witness that, in this necessary warfare with barbarism,
they renounce all vengeance and every evil example, and plant
themselves firmly on the sacred landmarks of Christian civilization,
under the protection of that God who is present with every prisoner,
and enables heroic souls to suffer for their country.