n, he denounced Order No. 38, and Burnside as
its author. His words were noted down in short-hand by a captain of
volunteers who was there on leave of absence from the army, and the
report was corroborated by other reputable witnesses. He charged the
administration with designing to erect a despotism, with refusing to
restore the Union when it might be done, with carrying on the war
for the liberation of the blacks and the enslavement of the whites.
He declared that the provost-marshals for the congressional
districts were intended to restrict the liberties of the people;
that courts-martial had already usurped power to try citizens
contrary to law; that he himself would never submit to the orders of
a military dictator, and such were Burnside and his subordinates;
that if those in authority were allowed to accomplish their
purposes, the people would be deprived of their liberties and a
monarchy established. Such and like expressions, varied by
"trampling under his feet" Order No. 38, etc., made the staple of
his incendiary speech.

When the report was made to Burnside and he had satisfied himself of
its substantial truth, he promptly accepted the challenge to test
the legality of his order, and directed the arrest of Mr.
Vallandigham. It was characteristic of him that he did not consult
with his subordinates or with lawyers. He did not even act through
my district organization, but sent his own aide-de-camp with a guard
to make the arrest at Dayton. My recollection is that I did not know
of the purpose till it was accomplished. His reason for direct
action, no doubt, was that if there were many links in the chain of
routine, there were multiplied chances of failure. He did not want
to be baffled in the arrest, or to give the opportunity for raising
a mob, which there would be if his purposes were to become known in
advance,

The arrest was made in the early morning of the 5th of May, before
dawn, and the prisoner was brought to Cincinnati. He was at first
taken under guard to the Burnet House, where he breakfasted, and was
then put in the military prison connected with the houses used as
barracks for the troops in the city. A military commission had been
ordered on the 21st of April from Department Headquarters for the
trial of the classes of offenders named in Order No. 38, and of this
commission Brigadier-General R. B. Potter of the Ninth Corps was
President. General Potter was a distinguished officer throughout t