tells me he has been
warned to leave. Through the means above detailed Mr. C. has very
nearly secured possession, which is nine-tenths in law.

With great respect, yours, very truly,

H. W. PIERSON.

To MAJOR GENERAL MEADE.

On the 10th of February, 1869, Captain Bean called on me and introduced
himself as a member of General Meade's staff, and said he had come from
Atlanta to Andersonville by order of General Meade to make
investigations in regard to the matters referred to in my letters. I
went with him to the stockade and pointed out the new fences made and
the grounds claimed by Mr. Souber. At his request I went with him to the
office of Mr. Williams, the superintendent of the cemetery, and in my
presence he told him _to notify Mr. Souber to suspend all work upon
these grounds_.

I confess that I was exceedingly gratified at this complete success of
my efforts. I felt that these historic grounds, this Gethsemane of the
nation, had been rescued from what I could but esteem a sacrilegious use
and possession, and that the flag that floated over the dead at
Andersonville had been honored by this order. When I told the Freedmen
the result of Captain Bean's visit their joy was great. In describing to
me, as they often had, the suffering and losses they had endured when
they were driven from their homes, and their cabins were burnt last
summer, they always, in their simplicity, spoke of it as the time "when
the Government busted up." And this truly described the condition of the
Government from that time to the present, so far as they were
concerned, for these facts show that no matter how horrible and brutal
the outrage and personal violence committed upon them there had been no
punishment to the perpetrators and no redress to the Freedmen. Now they
felt that the Government would again afford them some protection.

But great as was my joy, and the joy of the suffering Freedmen, it was
nothing to the _rage_ of those who, after so long a struggle, had been
defeated in their efforts to get possession of these grounds just as
they were about to become completely successful. Captain Bean visited
and left Andersonville on the 10th. On the 12th I received a Ku-Klux
letter, of which the following is a true copy:

****************
* Skull and *
* cross-bones. *
**************** "FEBRUARY 12, 1869.

"Dr. PEARSON (so-called).