Geo. H. Thomas to J. B. Hoop, January 13, 1865

Nashville, Tenn., January 13, 1865.

General J. B. Hoop, C. S. Army, Commanding O. S. Army of Tennessee :

GENERAL: I take this means of informing you of an act of coldblooded murder of prisoners of war recently committed by a company of scouts belonging to Forrest’s forces and commanded by a Captain Harvey. The circumstances were as follows:

On the 20th of December last three officers belonging to the U. S. service were captured by this company of scouts, which numbered thirty-six men, about fourteen miles southeast of Murfreesborough. As soon as captured they were robbed of everything valuable which they had upon their persons, even their clothing. They were kept under guard for three days with some other prisoners—enlisted men who had been captured near Murfreesborough—until they reached a small town named Lewisburg, some eighteen miles south of Duck River. From there the captured officers were sent under guard of four men, as they were told by the guard, to Forrest’s headquarters, and the enlisted men were taken off on a road leading to Columbia, The officers were taken

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along the turnpike leading from Lewisburg to Mooresville, for the distance of about four miles, when they left the road and turned to the right for the purpose, as they were told by the guard, of stopping at a neighboring house for the night. When they had reached a wooded ravine, about half a mile from the turnpike, the leading man of the guard halted, partially turned his horse, and, as one of the officers came up, drew his revolver and without uttering a word shot him in the head. The other two officers were then killed by being shot through the head with carbines, and their bodies were next morning decently buried, but not by your troops, upon the premises of a citizen living near. It is supposed that the enlisted men, who were taken off on another road, met a similar fate to that of the officers. I have the names of these officers in my possession, and the whole that is herein stated is susceptible of proof.

Itis my desire as far as lies in my power to mitigate the horrors of this war as much as possible, but I will not consent that my soldiers shall be thus brutally murdered whenever the fortunes of war place them defenseless within your power. Such acts on the part of the soldiers of your army are of by no means rare occurrences. A case which occurs to my mind now, and of which no mention has heretofore been made to either your predecessor in command or yourself, is that of the murder of ten prisoners of war by a portion of Ross’ brigade, of Wheeler’s command, at Wood’s Gap, between Gordon’s Mills and Dalton, early in April last. Should my troops, exasperated by arepetition of suchacts, take no prisoners of war at all in future, I shall in no manner interfere in this exercise of their just vengeance, and you will fully understand their reasons as well as mine, and you will please remember that it is your army and not mine who is responsible for the inauguration of the dreadful policy of extermination.

I am, sir,

very respectfully, your obedient servant,

Major-General, U. S. Army, Commanding.