adopted in 1780, with a Bill of Rights prefixed, | inadequate for, or subversive of this purpose, it declaring that "all men were born free and is the right, it is the duty of the latter to alter equal, and have certain natural, essential, and or abolish it. The Bill of Rights of Virginia, unalienable rights," among which is liberty. framed in 1776, reaffirmed in 1830, and again The Courts decided that under this Constitu- in 1851, expressly reserves this right to the tion slavery could not and did not exist. This majority of her people, and the existing Conwas a very different process from that described stitution does not confer upon the General Asby Mr. Davis. sembly the power to call a Convention to alter its provisions, or to change the relations of the Commonwealth, without the previously expressed consent of such a majority. The act of the General Assembly, calling the Convention which assembled at Richmond in February last, was therefore a usurpation; and the Convention thus called has not only abused the powers nominally intrusted to it, but, with the connivance and active aid of the Executive, has usurped and exercised other powers, to the manifest injury of the people, which, if permitted, will inevitably subject them to a military despotism. But were the slaves thus made free "sold to the South"? Happily, that question may be answered. According to the census of the Province of Massachusetts Bay, taken in 1765, the colored population in 182 towns was 4,978. Dr. Jesse Chickering, in his "Statistical View of the Population of Massachusetts," a work of the very highest authority, estimates that a number not exceeding 147 ought to be added for 16 towns from which there were no returns, and 74 for two towns where the returns did not specify color, making 5,199 in all. The next census was that of 1790. The table for Massachusetts reads thus: 1765. 1790. 1800. 1810.. Total Colored Population. From 1765, fifteen years before slavery ceased, to 1790, ten years after its cessation, the colored population, instead of being diminished by a sale of slaves to the South, increased 264. In the next ten years, soon after" 1789, it increased 989 In the next, the increase was only 285. The great increase of 989, from 1790 to 1810, was at the very time of the decrease of colored people in Rhode Island, as stated above. The increase for the next ten years, 285, represents very nearly the usual increase in subsequent decades. Even that small increase has been due mostly, and perhaps wholly, to immigration; for their natural increase, in our climate, is about nothing. So far is this statement, which Mr. Davis has put forth with all the solemnity of an official document, from being true; so unsupported are some of the grounds on which Southern men are officially exhorted to separate themselves utterly from their fellow-citizens of the North; and so easily detected and conclusively proved is a misrepresentation, which would be so discreditable to us, as a fact. May we not hope that men who, whether deliberately or carelessly, indulge in such statements, will soon lose their present control over Southern minds? -Boston Courier, July 9. Doc. 256. DECLARATION OF THE PEOPLE OF VA., REPRESENTED IN CONVENTION IN WHEELING, JUNE 17, 1861. THE true purpose of all government is to promote the welfare and provide for the protection and security of the governed, and when any form of organization of government proves The Convention, by its pretended ordinances, has required the people of Virginia to separate from and wage war against the Government of the United States, and against the citizens of neighboring States, with whom they have heretofore maintained friendly, social, and business relations: ed by Washington and his co-patriots in the It has attempted to subvert the Union foundpurer days of the Republic, which has conof citizens and upon every section of the counferred unexampled prosperity upon every class try: It has attempted to transfer the allegiance of the people to an illegal confederacy of rebellious States, and required their submission to its pretended edicts and decrees: force and military operations of the CommonIt has attempted to place the whole military wealth under the control and direction of such Confederacy, for offensive as well as defensive purposes: tive, instituted wherever their usurped power It has, in conjunction with the State Execuextends, a reign of terror, intended to suppress the free expression of the will of the people, making elections a mockery and a fraud: sage of the pretended Ordinance of Secession, The same combination, even before the pasinstituted war by the seizure and appropriation of the property of the Federal Government, and by organizing and mobilizing armies, with the avowed purpose of capturing or destroying the Capital of the Union: They have attempted to bring the allegiance of the people of the United States into direct conflict with their subordinate allegiance to the State, thereby making obedience to their pretended Ordinance treason against the former. We, therefore, the delegates here assembled in Convention to devise such measures and take such action as the safety and welfare of the loyal citizens of Virginia may demand, having mutually considered the premises, and viewing with great concern the deplorable condition to whic! this once happy Commonwealth must be reduced, unless some regular adequate remedy is speedily adopted, and appealing to the Supreme Ruler of the Universe for the rectitude of our intentions, do hereby in the name and on the behalf of the good people of Virginia, solemnly declare, that the preservation of their dearest rights and liberties, and their security in person and property, imperatively demand the reorganization of the Government of the Commonwealth, and that all acts of said Convention and Executive, tending to separate this Commonwealth from the United States, or to levy and carry on war against them, are without authority and void; and the offices of all who adhere to the said Convention and Executive, whether legislative, executive, or judicial, are vacated. Doc. 257. GENERAL LYON'S PROCLAMATION. Government. It was so denounced by Gen. Harney, who characterized it as a secession ordinance in his proclamation of 14th May last. That proclamation, doubtless, gave rise to an interview between Gen. Harney and Gen. Price, that resulted in an agreement which it was hoped would lead to a restoration of tranquillity and good order in your State. That a repudiation of the military bill, and all efforts of the militia of the State under its provisions was the basis of the agreement, was shown as well by this proclamation of Gen. Harney immediately preceding it, as by a paper submitted to Gen. Price, containing the preliminary conditions to an interview with him. This agreement failed to define specifically the terms of the peace, or how far a suspension of the provisions of the military bill should form a part of it, though from the express declaration of General Harney at the time of the conference, as well as from the foregoing paper, a suspension of any action under the bill until there could be a judicial termination of its character by some competent tribunal, must in good faith be regarded as a fundamental basis of the negotiation. proclamation inaugurating complaints of attempts to execute the provisions of this bill, by which most exasperating hardships have been imposed upon peaceful loyal citizens, coupled with persecutions and proscriptions of those opposed to its provisions, have been made to me as commander of the United States forces here, and have been carried to the authorities at Washington, with appeals for relief, from the Union men of all parties of the State who have been abused, insulted, and, in some instances, driven from their homes. That relief I conceive it to be the duty of a just government to use every exertion in its power to give. Upon this point the policy of the Government is set forth in the following communication from the department at Washington: To the Citizens of Missouri: PRIOR to the proclamation issued by Gov. Jackson, of date of June 12, it is well known Nevertheless, immediately after this arrangeto you that the Governor and Legislature sym-ment, and up to the time of Gov. Jackson's pathized with the rebellion movements now in progress in the country, and had adopted every means in their power to effect a separation of this State from the General Government. For this purpose, parties of avowed secessionists have been organized into military companies throughout the State, with the full knowledge and approval of the Governor. The establishment of encampments in the State at an unusual period of the year, and authorized for an indefinite period, could have had no other object than the concentration of a large military force, to be subjected to the provisions of the military law then in contemplation, and subsequently passed-a bill so offensive to all peaceable inhabitants, and so palpably unconstitutional, that it could be accepted by those only who were to conform to its extraordinary provisions for the purpose of effecting their cherished object -the disruption of the Federal Government. That bill provides for an obligation to the State on the part of all persons enrolled under its provisions irrespective of any obligation to the SIR: The President observes with concern United States, when the Constitution requires that, notwithstanding the pledge of the State all State officers to take an oath of allegiance authorities to co-operate in preserving the peace to the United States. This of itself is a repu- of Missouri, loyal citizens in great numbers diation of all authority of the Federal Govern- continue to be driven from their homes. It is ment, whose Constitution is the supreme law, immaterial whether these outrages continue on the part of the State Government, its offi- from inactivity or indisposition on the part of cers, and such citizens as might choose to adopt the State authorities to prevent them. It is the provisions of the bill, and, coupled as it enough that they continue, and it will devolve was, on the part of the Legislature and the on you the duty of putting a stop to them sumGovernor, with declarations hostile to its au-marily by the force under your command, to be thority and in sympathy with those who were arrayed in a condition of actual hostility against it, could leave no doubt of its object to carry out the provisions of this extraordinary bill, having in direct view hostilities to the Federal | ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE, aided by such troops as you may require from Kansas, Iowa, and Illinois. The professions of loyalty to the Union by the State authorities of Missouri are not to be relied upon. They have already falsified their professions too often, and are too far committed to secession to be admitted to your confidence, and you can only be sure of their desisting from their wicked purposes when it is not in their power to prosecute them. You will, therefore, be unceasingly watchful of their movements, and not permit the clamors of the partisans and opponents of the measures already taken to prevent you from checking every movement against the Government, however disguised, under the pretended State authority. The authority of the United States is paramount, and whenever it is apparent that a movement, whether by order of State authority or not, is hostile, you will not hesitate to put it down. L. TпомAS, Adjutant-General. It is my design to carry out these instructions in their letter and spirit. Their justice and propriety will be appreciated by whoever takes an enlightened view of the relations of the citizens of Missouri to the General Government. Nor can such policy be construed as at all disparaging to the rights or dignity of the State of Missouri, or as infringing in any sense upon the individual liberty of its citizens. The recent proclamation of Gov. Jackson, by which pany K, in the aggregate one hundred and thirty-five men, at the crossing of the road. I sent Lieutenant-Colonel Parrott with two companies of one hundred and seventeen men to Fall's Church and to patrol the roads in that direction. I stationed two companies, Company D and Company F, one hundred and thirty men, to guard the railroad and the bridge between the crossing and Vienna. I then proceeded slowly to Vienna with four companies, Company E, Captain Paddock; Company C, Lieutenant Woodward, (afterwards joined by Captain Pease;) Company G, Captain Bailey, and Company H, Captain Hazlett. Total, two hundred and seventy-five men. On turning the curve slowly, within one by raking masked batteries of, I think, three quarter of a mile of Vienna, we were fired upon guns, with shells, round shot and grape, killing and wounding the men on the platform and in When the train stopped the engine could not, the cars before the train could be stopped. on account of damage to some part of the running machinery, draw the train out of the fire. and retired to the right and left of the train The engine being in the rear, we left the cars, through the woods. infantry and by cavalry, which force we have hundred South Carolinians, we fell back along the railroad, throwing out skirmishers on both flanks, and this was about 7 P. M. Thus we retired slowly, bearing off our wounded five miles to this point, which we reached at 10 since understood to have been some fifteen he has set at defiance the authorities of the United States, and urged you to make war Finding that the enemy's batteries were susupon them, is but a consummation of his treason-tained by what appeared about a regiment of able purposes, long indicated by his acts and expressed opinions, and now made manifest. If, in suppressing these treasonable projects, carrying out the policy of the Government and maintaining its dignity as above indicated, hostilities should unfortunately occur, and unhappy consequences should follow, I would hope that all aggravation of those events may be avoided, and that they may be diverted from the innocent, and may fall only on the heads of those by whom they have been provoked. o'clock. Captain Hazlett's Company II-two known to The following is a list of the casualties: be killed, three wounded, five missing. CapIn the discharge of these plain but onerous tain Bailey's Company G-three killed, two duties, I shall look for the countenance and active co-operation of all good citizens, and I shall wounded, two missing. Capt. Paddock's Company E-one officer slightly wounded. Comexpect them to discountenance all illegal company C-Captain Pease and two men missing. binations or organizations, and support and uphold, by every lawful means, the Federal Gov- instead of retiring slowly, as I ordered, detachThe engineer, when the men left the cars, ernment, upon the maintenance of which de-ed his engine with one passenger car from the pend their liberties and the perfect enjoyment of all their rights. N. LYON, Brig.-General United States Vols., Commanding. Doc. 258. AFFAIR AT VIENNA, VA. REPORT OF GEN. SCHENCK. To Lieut.-Gen. Scott: rest of the disabled train and abandoned us, running to Alexandria, and we have heard nothing from him since. Thus we were deprived of a rallying point, and of all means of conveying the wounded, who had to be carried on litters and in blankets. We wait here, holding the road for reinforcements. The enemy did not pursue. I have ascertained that the enemy's force at Fairfax Court House, four miles from Vienna, is now about four thousand. I LEFT camp with six hundred and sixty-eight rank and file and twenty-nine field and com- When all the enemy's batteries opened upon pany officers, in pursuance of General McDow-us, Major Hughey was at his station on the ell's orders to go upon this expedition with the available force of one of my regiments. The regiment selected was the First Ohio Volunteers. I left two companies, Company I and Com foremost car. Colonel McCook was with me in one of the passenger cars. Both these officers with others of the commissioned officers and many of the men, behaved most coolly under this galling fire, which we could not re turn, and from batteries which we could not flank or turn from the nature of the ground. The approach to Vienna is through a deep cut in the railway. In leaving the cars, and before they could rally, many of my men lost their haversacks or blankets, but brought off all the muskets, except it may be a few that were destroyed by the enemy's first fire or lost with the killed. ROBERT C. SCHENCK, Brigadier-General. THE AMBUSCADE AT VIENNA, A correspondent of the N. Y. Tribune, writing from the federal camp near Vienna, the day after the surprise, says: In the case of our surprise near Vienna, yesterday afternoon, there is another reason why a minute narrative should be received with interest. The general plan and intention of the rebels, for the present, seem to have been indicated here, and it will be our own fault if, understanding thus early their indisposition to meet us in an open way-until they shall have united their forces in some desperate stronghold-and their fondness for lurking slaughter and precipitate retreat, we do not take thorough precautions against such fatal consequences in future as those which yesterday unhappily befell us. itself. Had the entire regiment-and a larger body would have been better-been pushed rapidly down to Vienna, we should have been more fully prepared to encounter and act against an ambush; and, had all proved quiet, nothing would have been lost, since we had the advantage of railroad speed, by stationing the guards on the return, instead of the advance. It is true that the entire course of the road is through a valley, and that the hills on either side, and the heavy thickets which screen them, appear to offer excellent situations for ambuscade; but the roads in the neighborhood are few, and those which exist are quite impracticable for the ready transportation of troops, not to speak of artillery. Decidedly the suspicious spot was Vienna and its vicinity. A certain disposition to tardy caution was frustrated by the carelessness of the engine-driver. He had been directed to stop at the distance of a mile from the town, whence skirmishers were to be thrown out, and proper reconnoissances to be made. Instead of doing so, he shot ahead until within half a mile or less, so that this single chance of averting the impending danger was wasted. The train was rounding a gentle curve, and the men were laughing, quite unconscious of peril, when the first round of shot fell among them, tearing five of them to pieces, and wounding many others. The rebels' guns had been carefully planted in the curve, and were hidden until the worst part of their work was accomplished. The first discharge was the most fatal. The four companies were disposed upon open plat It is probably known that no important movement in advance was intended by the Ohio regiment. The railway from Alexandria to Vienna had just been restored, and the day before a number of troops had passed over the line, and returned, though not without moles-form cars, and were first of all exposed to the tation. The shot which wounded the Connecticut soldier should have served us as a warning that treachery flourished in all this region. It was evident that the road would not remain safe without a proper protection, and the duty upon which the First Ohio regiment started was that of stationing efficient guards at all the bridges and other dangerous positions. The Ohio camp was situated about three miles out side of Alexandria, in the direction of Vienna, which is some thirteen miles distant. The expedition-if an affair with so comparatively peaceful a purpose requires to be called sowas under the direction of Brigadier-General Schenck, who, I believe, arranged the details. The immediate command of the regiment was in the hands of Col. McCook. The troops were embarked, and on their way early in the afternoon. They proceeded leisurely, pausing at intervals, and detailing guards. By this process, the regiment naturally grew thinner at every mile, until, when at the outskirts of Vienna, only four companies were left. However wise or necessary this plan of dropping squads behind might be in an ordinary advance, it certainly was of doubtful expediency in this case. There were no villages or groups of houses along the route, among which the enemy's men could have established themselves in force, and the only point from which an attack could be seriously apprehended was Vienna enemy's fire. The engine was at the rear of the train. It was fortunate that most of the men were sitting, for the shot flew high, and only those who stood erect were struck. Major Hughey was among the foremost, but was unharmed. Gen. Schenck and Col. McCook were in a covered car behind the troops. The Col. instantly sprang out, and gathered the best part of his men together. The enemy's field-pieces had been stationed to command the line of the railroad and nothing else. They were at the termination of the curve, to the left of the track, and elevated a few feet above the grade. With the exception of that company which was the most exposed, and which suffered the most, the men promptly assembled near Col. McCook, who proceeded to form them in line of battle, and to lead them into the protection of a little wood, or thicket, at the right of the track, apart from the range of the battery. Meanwhile shot and shell continued to assail the train, and those who lingered near it. The engine-driver, in a panic, detached his locomotive and a single car, and dashed off at full speed. The rebel artillerists then directed their range, so as to menace Col. McCook's three companies, upon which the Col. quietly marched them over to the left of the track, into another clump of trees, where he collected all his little force, and arrayed them boldly in line. The shot from the rebels now flew very wild, the shadows of the woodland, the last offices were fulfilled, and they were buried together in the soil which their sacrifice makes truly sacred. cutting the trees overhead and around, and, in their hurry, they made the frequent blunder of discharging their shell without opening the fuze. But, notwithstanding this, Col. McCook's position was far from comfortable. He saw The rebels deserted Vienna, but their brief that he was prodigiously outnumbered, and opposition transformed our movement into a that if the enemy could only keep their wits regular and important advance. Many regifor a few minutes, he must inevitably be cap-ments have since changed places. The 69th tured, or venture a struggle at fearful odds. New York regiment moved on to Vienna. He had only about 180 men, while the rebel The two Ohio regiments are encamped upon force exceeded 2,000. Their field-pieces alone, the way. The Connecticut men are near at decently managed, would have destroyed the hand. Cavalry and artillery support the 69th, little Ohio band in a twinkling. But the Ohio so that, if an attack is made upon them, (which men never flinched, and this was the reward is not immediately apprehended,) they will be of their bravery: The rebels observing such a able to show the rebels, in whatever force they mere handful bearing themselves undaunted come, that retreating is a game of which we before their superior host, were at first amazed, do not seek to share the glory. The Ohio men and then startled into the conviction that pow- are fixed in their new position. Last night they erful reinforcements must be close at hand. slept upon the grass, without shelter, in the How else, it seemed to them, could this sprink- rain. But no one thought of the exposure. ling of troops hold their ground. It could be They were looking forward, and you may feel nothing but the confidence of overwhelming sure that when these men and the men of South strength that sustained them. And this is not Carolina meet, the reckoning will be no light conjecture. The information since received one. from Vienna proves it to have been their real belief. Disheartened by this belief, they became irresolute, their fire slackened, they wavered, and, in a few minutes, broke up their lines and slowly retired. At the same time Col. McCook, having secured his wounded, also withdrew, his two thousand assailants making no attempt or motion to oppose his retreat. A REBEL ACCOUNT. A gentleman who arrived in Richmond, direct from the scene of action, furnishes the following account of the Vienna fight : On Sunday morning, Col. Gregg received orders to go out on a reconnoitring expedition. He took with him 600 South Carolinians, a company of Kemper's artillery, and two companies of cavalry, including 45 of Capt. Ball's Chester company and Capt. Terry's company, of Bedford. He started at 8 o'clock A. M. They remained Sunday night at a place called Dranesville. On Monday morning, Col. Gregg, with a detachment of cavalry, went forty-five miles down to the Potomac River to make observations. They remained in the vicinity about an hour, and distinctly saw tents and men on the Maryland side. They judged they were about 300 men encamped at that Thus, by a manly defiance, our Ohio men preserved themselves. The first indication of weakness or trepidation would have undone them. But now they can proudly and truly say that they stood before ten times their number of opponents, and saw those opponents, all men of South Carolina, glide away from their sight, while they never for an instant swerved. Their own retreat was in perfect order, and they would have carried away their dead, as well as wounded, had any been visible at the moment of their departure. But the poor fellows were all lying out of sight upon the plat-point. form cars, and were for a short time overlooked. When they were missed, their bodies were sought, and brought in. In most of the cases, death must have been instantaneous. They were frightfully mangled. One man's arm was torn or wrenched away by a round shot, and hung to the socket by a half-severed muscle. The rush of blood through the ruptured arteries must have put him beyond all suffering at once. Another's head was shot almost from the neck, and with another, the missile passed straight through his chest, beneath the shoulder. Still another was literally cut into shreds, below the waist, and his musket was bent into a curve. It was evident that all had been killed by heavy shot, and that the shell and smaller projectiles had inflicted only serious wounds, at the worst. The bodies, folded in blankets, were all brought to the 1st Ohio regiment's camp this morning. They were tenderly taken in charge by their former comrades, and in the afternoon, among Col. Gregg afterwards returned to Dranesville, formed his command into column and marched down the road to a place called Vienna. Here they remained only long enough to tear up the track of the Alexandria, Loudon and Hampshire railroad, and destroy a water tank-probably about an hour-after which they started to return to Dranesville. The troops had proceeded about half a mile when the whistle of the locomotive was heard in the distance, whereupon Col. Gregg ordered a halt, wheeled his column, and marched rapidly back to Vienna. They had scarcely time to place two cannon in position, when a train of cars, consisting of six flats and a baggage car, came slowly around the curve, pushed by a locomotive. Each flat was crowded with armed men, whose bayonets glistened in the evening sun, and gave our men an impression that a severe contest was at hand. This, however, was not realized, as the result will show. |