Deposition of Frank Pierre., this 11th day of April, A. D. 1866, and of the independence of the United States the 90th

Deposition of Frank Pierre.

I, Frank Pierre, being duly sworn, depose and say, that I am a native of the canton of Bitche, in France; that I lived there up to the age of sixteen years, and then emigrated to America in, the year 1851; that I became a naturalized citizen of the United States on the 23d of October, 1856. On the 8th of January, 1866, I applied for and received a passport from the Department of State, and came to France to visit my sisters, who reside at St. Louis, department of the Moselle. I arrived at that place on the 15th of March, and on the day following the mayor of that city informed my aunt, Miss Shild, that my presence in the place was unlawful, and that, unless I immediately left the town, he (the mayor) would be obliged to inform the gendarmes of my presence and order my arrest. I then sought a personal interview with the mayor, and asked him under what pretext this warning was given. The mayor said I was liable to military service, and that as soon as my presence was known to the gendarmes I would be arrested. I then said I would myself inform the gendarmes of my presence; that I was not engaged in any improper or unlawful practices, and would not leave the city until I was ready. I then went to Bitche, the capital of the canton, and saw the brigadier of the gendarmes, showed him my passport and papers of naturalization. The brigadier admitted that no claim for service could be made upon me, and the next day he asked me for those papers, saying that he would use them to have my name erased from the rolls, and would then restore them to me again. The next day, which was Monday, the 19th of March, while I was at dinner in the house of my uncle, Francis Pierre, glass worker of St. Louis, I was seized by a party of gendarmes and taken in an open vehicle, at my own expense, through a drenching rain-storm to Bitche. When [arrived there, after a journey of ten kilometres through the rain, I was thoroughly chilled and exhausted. My clothes were saturated with water, and valuable papers and drawings which I had collected for the use of the New England Glass Company, in whose employment I am, were entirely spoiled. In this state I was thrust into a damp prison, where I remained all night without an opportunity of drying my clothes, notwithstanding that my uncle, M. Gerard, of Bitche, requested permission of the brigadier to keep me at his house during the night, offering to hold himself responsible for me and to pay the expense of a guard for me. After passing a night without sleep, in the morning half a loaf of bread and a bottle of water were offered me for my breakfast, which I refused. It was only after an altercation with the guard that I was at last permitted to eat the breakfast that my uncle had prepared for me. I was then taken to Sarreguemines in a wagon which I hired at my own expense, being unable to walk that distance—32 kilometres. I was there thrown into a prison with common criminals of every description, and kept two days and nights in their company. The second day the procurer imperial came and searched my person and valise, and took from me all my papers, even including my letters from my wife and family, and kept them for five days. The third day I was taken from Sarreguemines to Metz, and there I had to live on prison fare in common with the rest of the prisoners. I had asked them repeatedly to let me have some food that I could eat, at my own expense, but the answer was that the prison regulations did not permit it. I was detained there seven days. I was then set at liberty, my papers restored to me, without a word of explanation.