Untitled

Southland Times, Volume I, Issue 59, 15 October 1864, Page 3

A SDAYE-WHIPPER. CONDEMNED TO FIVE YEARS' IMPRISONMENT IN THE PENITENTIARY. ; - : -.,.; : Adjutant- General's Office, Washington, 9th May, 1864, before a military commission which convened at ATurfreesboro (Tennessee,) l-itn, Sepr tember, 1863, was arraigned and tried, Hoberfc Taylor, a citizen. Charge : " murder." Specification : ■' Ih this, that he, the said Robert QSaylor, a citizen of Coffee county; in the State of Tennessee, did beat a negro woman named Retter in such a manner that she died from the effects of the wounds thus inflicted. This on or about the 31st day of Augusfc, 1883, afc or near the residence of said Robert Taylor, about three miles from the town of Hillsboro, in Coffee county, Tennessee." To which charge and specification the accused Robert Taylor, a citizen, pleaded "NotgUiifcy." The commission having maturely considered the evidence adduced, finds the accused Robert J Taylor, a citizen, as follows : Of the specification — -V Guilty." Of the cliarge— "Not guflfcy as charged, but guilty of manslaughter.- And the commission does therefore sentence him, Robert Taylor, a citizen,: "to be confined in the State Penitentiary for the period of five years." 2. The proceedings, findings and seritencein the foregoizg case having been approved of by the MajorGeneral commanding the department, and,. laid before the President of the United StaCes, : the following are his orders; — '! The testimony in th© case, as found in the record, ia brief md free from ;

all discrepancy pr contradiction. The prisoner, ifc sooms, allogod that tax amount of monoy had boon stolen from him— how much was riot stated~bufc there was no proof of any such thoft, still loss any tiling to conuect it with fcho murdered, on whom his suspicion foil. * Probably, howevqr, from approhonsion of punishment, this woman, whom ho claimed to own, made an attempt to run away, was pursuod by tho prisonor and his neighbors, captured, and brought back. Tho prisoner thon prbcurod a rppo, ancl addressing himself to tho bystanclors, askod if thoro was any onoprosont who could tio* a han<j-nofcP whon.. a man namo'd Wbniack stoppocl iorward and tiod ' it. A' Tho prisonor thon adjusfcod ifc arpund tho ncok of fcho wbirian, and throwing it over the limb of a tree, in thb sight of liis Pwri dwelling, where wore hia wife and daughters, tho work of murder began. Finding tho woman protected horsolf by soizirig tho ropo with hor hands, it was slackened and hor hands fciod, and again sho was drawn up, so thafc hor toos baroly touohod the ground, and in thia position sho was hold by fcho prisonor until, from suffocation and oxbanstion, hor heart foil on one side. Throughtho interposition of fcho prisoner's wifo and tho bystanders, tho ropo was tlion lodsonod, and au oppprfcunifcy. given to tho woman to rovivo. While this torturo was going on fcho prisonor doclarod his object to bo to compel tho woman to confess tho thoffc chargod upon hor, bufc sho stoutly denied any knowlodgo ot thb monoy allogcd to havo booh' lost; She was now taken by tho prisoner to his tanyard; distant 200 or 250 yardß, and was thoro stripped by "huh of? all hor clothes oxcopt hor chemise. In fcho languago of ono of tho witnossosi she was then' cbnflnbd by crossing her hands and thon tying them togother, thon putting thorn ovor hor kneos With a. stick thrust undor, holding thorn in that position.' Tliub pinionod, and lying alternately on hor faco ancl on hor sido, as tho purposo of hor tormontor required for somo. two hours and a half, with brief intorvals, sho was whipped by tho prisoner with a leather thong, two inches wido,* ancl throo foot long, having a knot at tho end. Afc "fcho 'expiration of this fcimo, some noighbors prcsonfc said thoy thought; ho had whipped hor about enough for that time," and ho thoroforo dosisted. She was then untied, and assisted by one of the neighbours towards tho kitchen, sfcaggoring and falhnj sovoral times from exhaustion on tho way. Sho succooded, however, in reaching tho kitchen, on tho threshold of which sho foil in tho presence ofthe prisoner's wifo arid in a fow minutos thoroaftor expired. Tho shameless character of tho dofonco was in keeping with the crimo. Ifc was insisted in tho dofonco that, the woman's death was produced by somo cold water; of which, in a heated and exhausted condition, sho had drunk; and in attempted palliation ofthe prisoner's murderous brutality, ifc was proved by several of his neighbors that ho bore a good moral ' character, and clothed and fed his slaves well; and, for himself, ho stated thafc ho had onco before, on a similar charge, given a woman a worse whipping than that of which sho died. That a body of officers holding commissions in fcho army of fcho United States, and acting undor. tho responsibility of an path, should deal thus lightly wifch so shocking a sacrifice of human life, cannot but excite sentimonts of mingled surprise and regret. Evory circuinstanco surrounding tho crimo aggravates its enormity, among whicli may be named tho absence of all provocation, the prolonged torturo to which the wrctchod sufferer waa subjected — thus affording amplotimc for all human passion, had any existed, to have cooled; bufc abovo all, the sex and utter helpless of tlio bound and unresist ing victim. Tho President directs that tho sentence — inadequate as it is — shall, except as to the placo of confinement bo carried into execution, and Albany (New York) is designated as the penitentiary whero ho shall be confined ; bufc wliile doing so he fcols ifc incumbent upon him to call tho attention of the army, and especially of thoso charged with the administration of military justice, to tho insensibility displayed by tho commission, and to express the disapprobation wifch which ifc ia regarded. Tho members of the commission, in thus lightly dealing with one of the most revolting murders on record, liave done no honor to themselves, and afforded an example which ifc is hoped will never again be witnessed in the service. Tho prisoner will be sent under proper guard to Albany (New York) and delivered to the warden of the penitentiary at the place of confinement for tho period of five years, in accordance with the sentence. M.y order of tho Secretary of War, E. D. Townsend, Assistant A-ljulonfc-(-k>neral." — San Francisco Evening Bulletin, June 8.