Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1818-12-22
GENERAL JACNSON
TO THE EDITOR OF the ENQUIRER

Dir The violence thar has marked The
| character and conduct of Gen. Jackson
throughout the whole course of his ser.
vice, the acqniescerce of the Executive
III all, and lis positive appreciation of
| some OF the very worst of his measures
| and, more than all. the unaccountable d.
| ratliy Of the public at large i'm regard TO
the whelr subject. have filled mysmind
| with amazrment, Indignation and 'aiarm.
Example and precedent are Of mighty
and wonderful influence iii The affairs of
men. Ii is true in the practice ofali gov
| ernmenls, though il may be false in the
| theory of ours, that whatever has been
omccdone and allowed, may be lawfully
repeated. No services, therefore, howe
| yer meritorlous, nor station however ex.
allied. should exempt from punishment,
much mere from inquiry, those who per-
| petrate ar those who perhi; AN open VIC
| Iatlon of the constitution. An impartial
review OF Tie history OF Gen. Jackson's
| official life, will exhibit ii succession OF
| Offences against all The rules Of military
discipline, against the constitutions oftl,e
United States, and of such of The states
as have been the scene of his operations,
aud against the laws of nature and ma
tons. On his part, sir, we shall find no
justification, no apology, no coDirilion,
and, on the part of the federal Executive,
no act nor effort TO maintain lis owa Dig
n,ty, TO enforce It's just authority, or 10
vindlcaie the violated majesty o! lhe laws.
In the very first service III llich we saw
this officer employed during tle late war,
he set OF nauglt The authority Of the war
department aud tue rules aud articles OF
war. Having early rendered his services
to government, with $500 Tennessee vo-
| lunieers, he was ordered 10 conduct them
10 the lower Mississippi, 10 assist the re-
Suiar force there, Ill repelling a descent of
the enemy upon Louisiana, then 1--WE ne
yer knew WHY seriously apprciiended. He
marched with his usual promptitudc and
CELEBRITY and early in Jan 1918, encampcd
AT his appointed station in tile Mississippi
territory. Here, shortly afterwards, as
the historian of his life iniorms us, "1he
clouds of war having blown over in
that quarter, he received AN order from
the secretary of war, directing him on
lie receipt thereof, 10 dismiss those un-
der his command from service, and TO
=" take measures for delivering over every
article of public property in his pos.
session TO Gen. Wilkinson" Without
| the least hesitation, he disobcyed these
orders; seized upon The public stores,
and all the transportation on which he
could lay his hands, III spite of The quar-
| ter master, and of Gen. Wilkinson and
reconducied his army Ill body TO Ten
ncssee. Instead of making modest re-
| presentation of his motives TO the war de-
partment, and throwing himself OH The
indulgence OF government for pardon
he announced the determinations he had
taken TO disregard lis orders in The haug
test terms; and aggravated the act of
disobedlence with the grossesi insult to
the secretary Gen. Armstrong, and in ef
feet 10 the whole government. =" He ex-
pressed the astonisliment he felt, thai
such orders should lave originated with
+" the famous author of tie NeW6u,g Let
tefy, The then redoubIed advocate for
9. soldiers rights | mean not TO eXag-
gerate his fault. confess, that in my
own opinion, he was actuated.by the ge-
nerous motive, Of affection for his voun-
teers. And as TO Gen. Armstrong, II may
have been provldeDtial dispensation of
justice, that he should be rcproaclied in
his old age with the unatuDed crime of
his youth, and made 10 feel ia his own
person The evil of arms unresirained by
subordination. But deliberate disobedi-
ence of orders, wilful disrespect towards
superiorS, aud especially towards govern
ment, are all crimes in military officer OF
the first magnitude. Gen. Jackson was
guilty of them all. appeal 10 military
men, whether The impunily Of such often
| ces be not the destruction of discipline
Whether il was ever known before, HAT
| such an offender escaped without punish
| ment of any kind, without trial, without
| inquiry at least The humiliation of the
government and Gen. Jackson's victory
were complete. Thenceforth, new re-
| lation MAS established between them Of
which, as.we shall see IN the sequel. bolil
| parlie were seaside, and have borne
| themselves accordingly.
| do moi intend 10 follow him through
| the war he conducted against The Greeks
| III lSl3i1. mention the bloody m8sSa-
! ere Of IaiapOOSe, only 10 express my grlci
for if, shame and adherence. In vain
has his too partial biographer pleaded The
law Of retaliation in his defence i'll vain
alledgcd, that Tie Indians obsiinatcly
| persisted III hopeless resistance; aud
| would neither ak nor accept quarter III
vain protested HAT his general sent TO IN
| wife them TO surrender and spare The ei-
! fusion of their own blood, and that they
| fired upon his flag the historian admits,
that The general well knew they had
ample reason for their desperation and
| the general himself tells the world, In lis
official dispatch, that, after the pursuit..
| or rather the hunt LITERALLY, with fire ana
sword and the carnage, had continued
| Ill darkness covered aud concealed his
miserable victims ; after he was apprised,
that, of their thousand warriors not half
an hundred remained; after whole night
! to cool aud reject, on the mert morning,
the hunt and Tie slaughter I" 'oere reSra-
Ell, and sixteen" Gall that could be found, }
IF tie enemy Sfan, who lad concealed
Mt1nSeiceS undeT the baaks."t Yet will not
urge that as peculiar reprOach against
Gen. Jackson, which rather regard as a