474 



HABEAS CORPUS. 



The troops are on the ground, guarding the engines, 

 which are now at work. 



John Lowe's house was attacked, and some windows 

 broken, when the troops dispersed the crowd. 



11.30 P. M. Everything is quiet now. 



On the 5th of May Mr. Vallandigham pub- 

 lished the following address to his political 

 friends : 



MILITARY PBIBON, CINCINNATI (Omo), May 5<A, 1S63. 



To the Democracy of Ohio : I am here in a military 

 bastile for no other offence than my political opinions, 

 and the defence of them, and of the rights of the peo- 

 ple, and of your constitutional liberties. Speeches 

 made in the hearing of thousands of you in denuncia- 

 tion of the usurpations of power, infractions of the 

 Constitution and laws, and of military despotism, were 

 the sole cause of my arrest and imprisonment. I am 

 a Democrat for the Constitution, for law, for the 

 Union, for liberty this is my_ only "crime." For no 

 disobedience to the Constitution ; for no violation of 

 law ; for no word, sign, or gesture of sympathy with 

 the men of the South, who are for disunion and South- 

 ern independence, but in obedience to their demand 

 as well as the demand of Northern abolition disunion- 

 ists and traitors, 1 am here in bonds to-day ; but 



" Time, at last, sets all things even! " 

 Meanwhile, Democrats of Ohio, of the Northwest, of 

 the United States, be firm, be true to your principles, 

 to the Constitution, to the Union, and all will yet be. 

 well. As for myself, I adhere to every principle, and 

 will make good, through imprisonment and life itself, 

 every pledge and declaration which I have ever made, 

 utterea, or maintained, from the beginning. To you, 

 to the whole people, to TIME, I again appeal. Stand 

 firm ! Falter not an instant ! 



C. L. VALLANDIGHAM 



He was ordered to be tried by a military 

 commission, which met on the 6th of May. 



The Commission convened at 10 o'clock A. M. 



The Judge Advocate read the general order from the 

 headquarters of the Department of the Ohio, appoint- 

 ing the following officers a commission to try all parties 

 brought before it, and Mr. Vallandigham was asked 

 whether he had any objections to offer to any member 

 of the court. 



The following officers composed the court : Brig.- 

 Gen. R. B. Potter, President ; Capt. J. M. Cutts, Judge 

 Advocate ; Col. J. F. DeCourcy, 16th Ohio ; Lieut. Col. 

 E. B. Goodrich, Commissary of Subsistence ; Maj. Van 

 Buren, aide-de-camp ; Maj. Brown, 10th Kentucky 

 cavalry; Maj. Fitch, 115th Ohio; Capt. Lydig, aid-de- 

 camp. 



Mr. Vallandigham said he was not acquainted with 

 any of the members of the court, and had no objection 

 to offer to them individually ; but he protested that the 

 Commission had no authority to try him, he being 

 neither in the land nor naval force of the United 

 States, nor in the militia in the actual service of the 

 United States, and was not therefore triable by such a 

 court, but was amenable only to the judicial courts of 

 the land. 



The members of the Court were then sworn to try 

 his case impartially. 



The Judge Advocate then read the following charge 

 and specification. 



Charge. Publicly expressing, in violation of Gen- 

 eral Orders, No. 88, from headquarters, Department of 

 the Ohio, his sympathies for those in arms against the 

 Government of the United States, declaring disloyal 

 sentiments and opinions, with the object and purpose 

 of weakening the power of the Government in its ef- 

 forts to suppress an unlawful rebellion. 



Specification. In this, that the said Clement C. Val- 

 landigham, a citizen of the State of Ohio, on or about 

 the 1st day of May, 1863, at Mount Vernon, Knox 

 county, Ohio, did publicly address a large meeting of 

 citizens, and did utter sentiments in words, or in effect, 



as follows, declaring the present war " a wicked, cruel, 

 and unnecessary war ; " "a war not being waged for 

 the preservation of the Union ; " "a war for the pur- 

 pose of crushing out liberty, and erecting a despot- 

 ism ; " " a war for the freedom of the blacks and the 

 enslavement of the whites ; " stating " that if the Ad- 

 miuistration had so wished, the war could hare been 

 honorably terminated months ago;" that "peace 

 might have been honorably obtained by listening to 

 the proposed intermediation of France; " " that propo- 

 sitions by which the Northern States could be won back 

 and the South be guaranteed their rights under the 

 Constitution, had been rejected the day before the late 

 battle of Fredericksburg by Lincoln and his minions ; " 

 meaning thereby the President of the United States, 

 and those under him in authority. Charging " that the 

 Government of the United States were about to ap- 

 point military marshals in every district, to restrain 

 the people of their liberties, to deprive them of their 

 rights and privileges." Characterizing General Order 

 No. 38, from headquarters, Department of the Ohio, 

 " as a base usurpation of arbitrary authority ; " " invit- 

 ing his hearers to resist the same by saying, ' the 

 sooner the people inform the minions of usurped power 

 that they will not submit to such restrictions upon 

 their liberties the better;'" declaring " that he was at 

 all times and upon all occasions resolved to do what 

 he could to defeat the attempts now being made to 

 build up a monarchy upon the ruins of our free gov- 

 ernment," asserting " tnat he firmly^ believed, as he 

 said six months ago, that the men in power are at- 

 tempting to establish a despotism in this country, 

 more cruel and more oppressive than ever existed 

 before." 



All of which opinions and sentiments he well knew 

 did aid, comfort, and encourage those in arms 

 against the Government, and could but induce in his 

 hearers a distrust of their own government and sym- 

 pathy for those in arms against it, and a disposition to 

 resist the laws of the land. J. M. CUTTS, 



Capt. llth Inf., Judge Advocate, Dep't of Ohio. 



Mr. Vallandigham was asked by the Judge Advocate 

 what his plea was. 



Mr. Vallandigham refused to plead, and asked time 

 to consult his counsel, and for a process to compel the 

 attendance of Fernando Wood, of New York city, who 

 should be required to bring with him a letter which he 

 received from Richmond in relation to terms offered 

 for the return of Southern Senators to their seats in 

 Congress, with the letter of the President declining to 

 entertain the proposition. 



Mr. Vallandigham continuing to refuse to plead to the 

 charge, the President directed that the plea of "not 

 guilty " be entered on the record. 



The Court then gave Mr. Vallandigham time to con- 

 sult his counsel, and for that purpose ordered a recess 

 to half past one' o'clock. 



The court was then cleared for deliberation, as to 

 whether the delay asked for by Mr. Vallandighain 

 should be granted, and remained closed until near 

 noon. 



The Court again met pursuant to adjournment, and 

 the doors were opened. 



The President asked Mr. Vallandigham whether he 

 desired to appear with counsel. 



Mr. Vallandigham said he did not. His counsel, G. 

 E. Pugh, George Pendleton, and Alexander Ferguson, 

 remained in the adjoining room. 



The Judge Advocate announced that the case would 

 be proceeded with, and called the first witness for the 

 prosecution. 



Capt. H. R. Hill, of the 115th Ohio volunteers, was 

 sworn. 



Question by Judge Advocate : Were you present at a 

 meeting of citizens at Mount Vernon on May 1st, 1863 ? 



Answer. I was. 



Q. Did you hear accused address that meeting ? 



A. I did. 



Q. What position did you occupy at the meeting, 

 and were you near enough to hear all he said ? 



A. I was leaning against the end of the platform on 



