About the last of May, a planter hung his servant (a woman) in presence of all the neighborhood. Said planter had killed this woman's husband three weeks before. This occurred at Suggsville, Clark county.
About the last of April, two women were caught near a certain plantation in Clark county and hung; their bodies are still suspended.
On the 19th of July, two freedmen were taken off the steamer Commodore Ferrand, tied and hung; then taken down, their heads cut off and their bodies thrown in the river.
July 11, two men took a woman off the same boat and threw her in the river. This woman had a coop, with some chickens. They threw all in together, and told her to go to the damned Yankees. The woman was drowned.
There are regular patrols posted on the rivers, who board some of the boats; after the boats leave they hang, shoot or drown the victims they may find on them, and all those found on the roads or coming down the river are most invariably murdered.
This is only a few of the murders that are committed on the helpless and unprotected freedmen of the above-named counties.
All the cases I have mentioned are authentic, and numerous witnesses will testify to all I have reported. Murder with his ghastly train stalks abroad at noonday and revels in undisputed carnage, while the bewildered and terrified freedmen know not what to do. To leave is death; to remain is to suffer the increased burden imposed on them by the cruel taskmaster, whose only interest is their labor wrung from them by every device an inhuman ingenuity can devise. Hence the lash and murder are resorted to to intimidate those whom fear of an awful death alone causes to remain, while patrols, negro dogs, and spies (disguised as Yankees) keep constant guard over these unfortunate people.
I was in Washington county in the latter part of June, and there learned there was a disposition to coerce the labor of these people on plantations where they had always been abused. I was alone, and consequently could not go where my presence was most required, but I learned enough then to convince me there were many grievances which required military power to redress. Since my return I have been attentive to the recital of the horrors which these people suffer, and have carefully perused their statements, which receive corroborate testimony.
I have been careful in authenticity, and very much that has been related to me I have declined accepting as testimony, although I believe its truth.
The history of all these cases, besides others, I have in full, with all their horrible particulars.
Believing, sir, you required the earliest intelligence in this matter, I concluded not to await your arrival.
- With much respect, I am, sir, your obedient servant,
| W. A. POILLON, | |
| Captain and Ass't. Sup't. Freedmen. |
Brig. Gen. Swayne.
A true copy of the original deposited in this office.
Major and A. A. A. General.
No. 23.
Captain: I have the honor to report that, in compliance with Special Orders No. 5, Headquarters Sub-district Southwest Mississippi, I proceeded to the counties of Madison, Holmes, and Yazoo, but that I did not reach Issaquena from the fact that the country between Yazoo City and that county has been so overflowed as to render the roads impassable.
I found a provost marshal of freedmen at Yazoo City—Lieutenant Fortu, who seemed to understand his duties well, and to have performed them satisfactorily. There was no officer of the bureau in either of the other counties. The whole country is in a state of social and political anarchy, and especially upon the subject of the freedom of the negroes, but very few who understand their rights and duties.
It is of the utmost importance that officers of the bureau should be sent to all the counties of the State to supervise the question of labor, and to insure the gathering of the growing crop, which, if lost, will produce the greatest suffering. In no case ought a citizen of the locality be appointed to manage the affairs of the freedmen: first, because these men will wish to stand well with their neighbors and cannot do justice to the negro; and secondly, because the negroes only know these men as oppressors of their race, and will have no confidence in their acts. The officers of the bureau should be especially charged to impress upon the freedmen the sacredness of the family relation and the duty of parents to take care of their children, and of the aged and infirm of their race. Where a man and woman have lived together as husband and wife, the relation should be declared legitimate, and all parties, after contracting such relations, should be compelled to legal marriage by severe laws
