Until this time he had been unwilling to interfere with the “peculiar institution” of the South. But the moment the Stars and Stripes were insulted by the proud power, that moment a new resolve was made, to hate and to hurt the accursed thing henceforward, until the last vestige of it should be obliterated from American soil!
Captain Geer is an earnest man. He engaged in the war, not for position or popularity, but as a soldier. Although he started into the service as Chaplain, he was willing to resign that responsible office to the charge of another; and at once accepted a position that promised more excitement and adventure in days of battle. He was appointed Assistant-Adjutant General on the Staff of General Buckland, which commission he held when he was wounded and captured at Shiloh.
In these days of adventure and sacrifice, when the noblest men in the nation are made to suffer for country’s sake, it is shameful to see how certain northern people and papers, professing to be loyal, are in sympathy with the arch-treason of the Secessionists. However well-attested may be the statements of surviving sufferers,—and no matter how fair the reputation of the man who dares to denounce the Slaveholders’ Rebellion,—there are lurking copperheads with viper tongues to hiss their venomous abuses on all the brave soldiers who have bled under the Federal banner! From the liberty to talk treason, slander the Administration, and abuse the soldiers—O God, deliver us! The nation cries for liberty—not license—a liberty that is always loyal to God and this Government—a liberty to love and bless the poor, the outcast, the suffering, and the oppressed!
It may not be amiss to append the following extracts from letters which will explain themselves:
“Springfield, Ohio, May 3, 1863.
“To all whom it may concern:—
“The undersigned, ministers of the Gospel in the Methodist Protestant Church, take pleasure in certifying that Captain John J. Geer is also a minister in the same church—that he is in good standing, and that he is a man of moral probity and Christian character. Some of us have known him for many years as a reputable, useful, pious man. We are all personally acquainted with him, and we have no hesitancy in recommending him to personal and public confidence.”
Rev. George Brown, D. D.
Rev. A. H. Bassett,
Ag’t M. P. Book Concern.