Meade, George Gordon (1815-1872) Major General Meade's report on the Ashburn murder
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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC01113 Author/Creator: Meade, George Gordon (1815-1872) Place Written: Atlanta, Georgia Type: Book signed Date: 1868 Pagination: 1 v. : 130 p. ; 18.5 x 12.5 cm. Order a Copy
Inscribed by Meade to Spencer Miller on a blue bound-in title page: "Spencer Miller Esq compliments of Gen. Meade." Contains an errata slip opposite the title page. Report on the murder of George W. Ashburn, a prominent white supporter of reconstruction and African-American rights, in Columbus, Georgia. Report outlines the attack on Ashburn by a group of "thirty to fifty" men who were "disguised in masks, and with blackened faces;" based on their style of dress, "there is no doubt that the party...belong to the better class of citizens." The report opens with a statement written to Ulysses S. Grant from Major General Meade, dated 21 July 1868, which summarizes the attack on Ashburn and the reluctance of local authorities to investigate and apprehend the guilty parties. Under Meade's direction, Captain William Mills was placed in charge of a military investigation to "ferret out the guilty." Mills's team found "it was utterly impracticable to obtain any testimony from any party in Columbus, as their lives would be forfeited if they dared to disclose what they knew." Mills recommended that Meade move witnesses and suspects to a secure location where they could disclose information in safety. Meade instructed that these prisoners should not be ill-treated, but faced accusations that investigators abused them. Argues that these claims are wildly exaggerated. He adds, "My conscience is free that throughout the whole transaction I have been animated by but one purpose, which was to secure the ends of justice and vindicate the law. " The rest of the report contains correspondence between Mills, Meade, Grant, and other key parties as they discuss the investigation of Ashburn's murder.
George W. Ashburn was a vocal opponent of secession during the Civil War. He led a regiment of southern loyalists during the war, and was chosen as a delegate to the Georgia constitutional convention of 1867. He was a prominent supporter of Congressional proposals for reconstruction.
Meade writes, "The character of the crime, the social status of parties implicated in its commission, and the doubts as to the guilt of the several parties, had no influence on me except to increase my determination to bring the facts out, even at the risk of for a time putting persons to inconvenience, who might subsequently prove innocent....Had the civil authorities acted in good faith and with energy, and made any attempt to ferret out the guilty; or had the people of Columbus evinced or felt any horror of the crime, and co-operated in any way in detecting its perpetrators, much that was seemingly harsh and arbitrary might have and would have been avoided: but the case required prompt and decided measures, which I did not hesitate to take, and am satisfied now, that when the whole truth is made public, as it will be by the documents accompanying this report, and the evidence on the trial, that every right-thinking man will justify me."
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