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A Slander of Traitors Rebuked.

The patriotic resolutions of the 56th Regiment Illinois Volunteers, which we publish on our first page, furnish a noble reputation of the charge made by copperheads and rebels that our Union soldiers are fighting for the freedom the negro. These men say:

We are not fighting for the freedom of the negro — WE FIGHT FOR THE PRESERVATION OF THE UNION. If the Union can be preserved without freeing the slaves, we are satisfied; but, if to preserve the Union it is necessary to free all the slaves, we say, save the Union; and we denounce as traitors all those who have made the proclamation a pretext for organized opposition to the Government.

The 56th was organized at Shawneetown in 1861, and is composed almost entirely of citizens of Southern Illinois.