demanded, and this time of Captain Nicklin, the cause of my arrest, or his authority for it. His answer was that he was acting under the military authorities of Louisville. At Louisville we were taken to the military prison, and incarcerated in a room with some sixty other prisoners, where I remained some three or four weeks. Our fare in prison was bad, insufficient, and unhealthy. I was released upon giving a peace bond in the penalty of four thousand dollars, and taking an oath with a death penalty. The oath, I think, was administered by Major Harney. I paid my own expenses home. I never had any trial or examination, and never knew what I was arrested for, unless it was because I am a Democrat. I have every reason to believe that Governor Morton ordered my arrest. My impression is that I was arrested for saying that I would vote for no man who would not, in the Legislature, favor the return of Hon. Jesse D. Bright to the United States Senate, and that he had been expelled from his seat by a pack of scoundrels. Question by Mr. LASSELLE What reason had you for believing that Governor Morton ordered or was the cause of your arrest? Answer-While we were in prison, Mrs. Kyle came on a visit to her husband, and stated to Mr. Kyle that James H. Titus knew who had caused our arrest. Afterward Titus came to Louisville and told Mr. Kyle that Oliver Ormsby, Fred. Courvoisier and Frederick J. Waldo had pointed us out. Others informed me that a letter had been written from Ghent, Kentucky, by one James Robison, of that place, to Governor Morton, stating that certain men in Vevay should be arrested, and that that letter was returned by Morton, with an accompanying slip inclosed to said Ormsby, telling him that if there were such men in Vevay to have them arrested. This information I had from reliable persons. Question by Mr. BAKER State the names of the persons who gave you information of that letter? Answer-Charles Goldenburg was one; Julius Defour stated that a letter had come there, but did not say where it came from. I understand that Julius Dufour is Provost Marshal of Vevay; and others I do not recollect. Question by Mr. BAKER Did Mr. Goldenburg tell you that he saw the letter? Question by Mr. BAKER Do you know that Governor Morton ordered your arrest? Question by Mr. BAKER What language did the soldiers use to you when they arrested you? Answer-They denounced me as a dd son of a bh, repeating the expression God d-d traitor; and cursed me all the way to the boat. Question by Mr. BAKER How were you treated after going on board the boat? Question by Mr. BAKER Have you opposed the war to suppress the rebellion? Answer-I have opposed the war upon Constitutional grounds. I have said that there was no Constitutional power to coerce a sovereign State of this Union. Question by Mr. BAKER Had you not said that the South ought to succeed in this rebellion, prior to your arrest? Answer-I don't think I did. Question by Mr. BAKER— Have you aided the rebellion by your sympathy? Answer-I never have, and don't think any one can aid the rebellion by sympathy. Question by Mr. BAKER What did you say about the battles of the country? Answer-I said we had got a dl of a thrashing at Bull Run and Big Bethel. Question by Mr. BAKER Under whose authority were you while in custody at Louisville? Answer-General Boyle was Military Governor, Colonel Dent was Provost Marshal, and Captain Dillard had command of the military prison. Question by Mr. GREGORY Before you were arrested, did you ever say to any one that the United States could never conquer or put down the rebellion? Answer-I have, in these words: that war was disunion-final and inevitable; that the Union could never be restored except by peaceable means. Question by Mr. LASSELLE You state, in reply to Mr. Baker, that you opposed the war on Constitutional grounds, was that opposition actively or only in sentiment? Answer-Only in sentiment. I never rendered the rebellion any aid or service to the amount of one cent. On the contrary, I offered one dollar a-piece to a recruiting officer to get some strong war men there to enlist in the service of the United States. He never called upon me for any money; he never could succeed in getting them. I gave another man a dollar to enlist, which he accepted, but came back the next night. Question by Mr. LASSELLE You state that you said that we had received a thrashing at Bull Run. Did you express any gratification over that defeat? Answer-I did not? FRANKLIN DEFOUR. HENRY E. ZOOK SWORN. Examined by Mr. LASSELLE Answer-My name is Henry E. Zook; aged about thirty-four years; by occupation a cabinetmaker; reside at Louisville; but at the time of my arrest was a resident of Vevay, and had resided there about fifteen months previous to my arrest. I have a familya wife and four children. I was arrested at Vevay, on or about the fourth or fifth of June last, by a file of about twenty or twenty-five armed soldiers, under whose immediate command I do not know. I was taken on board the steamer "Storm," then lying at the wharf, placed on board, and taken to Louisville. On the boat I found that Captain Nicklin was in command of the soldiers. At my arrest I demanded the authority and cause for my arrest, and was answered that it was none of my business. I was taken to Louisville, and placed in the military prison there. The room in which I was confined was about forty-five feet square, and, during my imprisonment, as many as one hundred persons were confined in that room at one time. Of Colonel Dent I also demanded the authority and cause of my arrest and detention, and received no answer. My treatment there was bad. I was sick, and could obtain no medicine. I have never been able to ascertain the cause for my arrest. During my imprisonment my wife came and applied to General Boyle for my release. General Boyle inquired of her where I was born, and upon being told that I was born in Virginia, observed that it was a disgrace for any man to be born there, and if he ever caught me again he would hang me. I was released by Major Harney, who administered to me the oath, and counseled me to "go home and stop talking." I paid my own expenses home. I am a Democrat. I was in prison about four weeks. After my release, on the day of the election, Jessee J. Stepleton, Lieutenant-Colonel of the Indiana Legion at Vevay, stood at the polls and commanded the inspector not to receive my vote, and, by threatening me, prevented me from voting, though I three times attempted to vote, and was legally entitled to vote at that poll. I never had any examination or trial, and never knew for what I was arrested. My family was left destitute by my absence, and were supported by my neighbors until my return. No warrant of arrest was ever shown or read to me. CROSS EXAMINED. Question by Mr. MORGAN- What have you ever said against the Administration, or against the prosecution of the war? Answer-I said they would never restore the Union by fighting. I also said that if they were agoing to make an Abolition war of it to free the negroes, it would not be much odds if they were whipped. I also said that I believed it would turn to that. Question by Mr. LASSELLE Did you ever afford any substantial assistance to the rebels in any shape or form? Answer-I did not. Question by Mr. LASSELLE Did you ever discourage any one from enlisting in the service of the United States, at any time. Answer-No, sir; I did not. Question by Mr. LASSELLE Have you any belief as to the cause of your arrest? Were you not in the habit of talking generally against the war? H. E. ZOOK. JOHN E. KILGORE SWORN. Questioned by Mr. BROWN Answer-My name is John E. Kilgore; aged thirty-eight years; by occupation a farmer; reside in York township, Switzerland county; born and raised in that county; and have a family-a wife and seven children. I was arrested on the fifth day of July, 1862, near midnight of that day, at my house, by a company of armed men, some of them claiming to be soldiers, and from thence taken to Warsaw, Kentucky, where I was placed in the county jail until the next day, when, upon taking the oath, I was paroled for ten days, by order of Colonel Landrum, in order that I should file my bond. At the expiration of that time I returned, having concluded to decline filing the required bond, and reported to Justice Spencer, who insisted upon my compliance with the terms of my parol, but I refused to do so and returned home. Those who arrested me said they had the authority for my arrest, but I did not demand it, nor did I ever hear or know what, if any, charges they had against me. Politically, I am a Democrat. I never heard of the arrest of any Republican. I was arrested on the same night and by the same men who arrested Schmied and William Scott. Question by Mr. BAKER Did you ever say any thing, prior to your arrest, in opposition to the war to put down the rebellion? Answer-I did not. I never said any thing to discourage volunteering. Question by Mr. FERRIS Have you had a son in the United States service. Answer-I had a son, a post-teamster, in the army at Pittsburg Landing. JOHN E KILGORE. |