Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 24.djvu/60

 .~)i! Southern Historical Society Papers.

of the great Southern States into small freeholds will effect a com- plete social revolution in the South, and this is probably one of the objects which Mr. Johnson has most at heart, and in which he will be fully supported by the new Congress. ' '

President Johnson himself, in a speech delivered shortly after his inauguration, said :

"But if the assassin of the President is not to escape deserved punishment, what shall be done to those who have attempted the assassination of the Republic who have compassed the life of the nation ? The lesson must be taught beyond the possibilitv of ever being unlearned, that treason is a crime the greatest of human crimes."

Expressions from high authority, of which these are samples, seemed to foreshadow unrelenting and vindictive persecution, to what limit none could surmise. Jefferson Davis was a prisoner in Fortress Monroe, ignominiously ironed like a common felon; John H. Rea- gan, late Confederate postmaster-general, was likewise confined in Fort Warren. Other late officials had escaped by flight in disguise and found safety in foreign lands. What future was reserved for the South, prostrate and helpless, wholly subject to the will of the victo- rious North, appeared to be beyond the scope of prophetic vision.

A SCATTERING OF OFFICERS AND SOLDIERS.

Many Texas officers, civil and military, went to Mexico, among them Governors Clark and Murrah, Generals Smith, Magruder, Walker, Hardeman and Bee, who were joined there by Generals Price, of Missouri; Hindman, of Arkansas, and Early of Virginia. General Joe Shelby, of Missouri, fulfilled his promise by leading a portion of his command into exile across the Rio Grande. Other officers of high rank, among whom were Generals Waul, DeBray and Majors, returned to their homes to endure whatever fate might be in reserve for them.

The private soldiers and subaltern officers scattered throughout the State, and the ceremony of surrendering and being paroled was for the most part never performed. Few Confederates in Texas were actually surrendered or were ever paroled, though General Granger issued an order on June igth requiring them to report at certain named places for the purpose of being paroled, and express- ing his disapprobation of their having dispersed without attending to what he considered an important requisite to the release of prisoners