JWB and Company and Atrocities Against Southern Citizens

[J. Beckert]

Good points, Toia, but I found this proclamation by Gen. Lee to be very telling of the man's character.

"The commanding General considers that no disgrace could befall the army, and through it our whole people, than the perpetration of the barbarous outrages upon the unarmed and defenseless and the wanton destruction of private property, that have marked the course of the enemy in our own country...

It must be remembered that we make war upon only armed men, and that we cannot take vengeance for the wrongs our people have suffered without lowering ourselves in the eyes of all whose abhorrence has been excited by the atrocities of our enemies...

While similar orders regarding conduct came from the North, they were largely winked at. One of the most vile persons involved in this looting and pillaging was Ben Butler, who increased his personal fortune by almost 2 million dollars during his occupation of New Orleans.