Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1837-02-07

eF:cencc, niu belong TO this branch of inquiry.
!. Ten. JeSnp, a. his head. quarters in the Creek cnun-
try, found leisure to write o. second l. tier to Mr.. Blair,
dated September 30. 1886: and published in the Globe
OF the eGth. 'Fhis letter was accompanied by souie Sc.
hcicd letters FROM ne 10 Gen. Jesnp, and his replies,
with ingenious notes. To the trick of the publicGl!ou,i
and the false Impressions given by it as 4 whole, | n.ay,
perhaps, rccur before closing this address.
"Grs. a nea' i'tsle pamFnlsf (r,nk pnPst) written in he
gotten up witt. the assistance of Gen. Jesup and the use
OF his official papers, and which iugenious!y mixes 10.
gethcr the Measurements Of facts with citse principles.
Among the Iltlcr, the Secretary's order. aI:d M mca-
sr:cs 10 prevent the enemy from escc ping across he
Cha,tahoochic towards Florida, are ridiculed and tnr!d-
cd. The j9int production Of the General and his Cap
t:;n.aid-de-camp is. however, only signed by the latter.
The road TO Iavcr had already been discovered, and the
Captain was snoa rewarded With the rank Of Coloncl.
4 word mare, sir, in respect to arms prior 10 the arri.
va! Of the muskets on the 10Th, and the rifles and accqu.
tremcnts about tie POL! Of June.
~ jJr Kirby sal! 10 this Court, that he Transferred into
the s"rYic. o: Tie United States forty five companies Of
the Georgia troops, at Columbus, early in June.-Thcy
were general entirely destitute Of arms and accouI:c.
tnrnts. The few arms they had were generally unfit for
se!"icc in the field"
S1oa after this period, it ought to be stated, in justice
TO Governor Schley, that Some wagon loads of S.aLe
arms, which he had mentioned 10 Inc at Millcdgeviiic IS
being already On HE road to Columbus, arrived, which
enabled Us - arm aud despatch several heavy rein.
iOTccmcnls 10 guard the passes VI. the river below, in Tie
direction Of lrwinton. | have no memorandum Of lie
number Of these arms, and can only conjecture that
it might have been from COO 10 coo, that is muSkttS, but
with few OF no acc0ulremcnts. But after those arms
were distributed, and As many troops sent below, or put
on board armed steamers, to cruise up and down tie
river, Tor til" important purposes mentioned IN Colonel
Duwson's answer TO the first int"rrogaLory, (and on
whc; duty he was himself placed as aCap;ain,) Major
General Sanford, in his reply to the second inierroga;J-
IS submitted 10 HIN, says:
'Of the troops remaining under NY immediate com.
mand, less than une-li!rd were arpn"d. and those vlli.
ously and indit!trenily. Our miserable deficiency in
this respect was %strIAing!y displayed 10 my view when,
upon the occasion u al alarm, II WAS expected thai the
enemy would &c upon Us in full force, had the NORTH.
cation of b~eEoldIag, within my lines l,500or I,G00 men
with no We apaAso CT defence beyond their s:de-arms, clubs
AID club.nxeS.'
General Saniord's camp vas at this time four miles in
advance Of Columbus, Oil The west side Of the river. to-
wards the enemy.
But, Mr.. President: thcrc was another, and i cC!lelu.
sirr reason why It was necessary to wait, at least as late
as The Eth 81 juno, lOr mlskc.s and rifles, with Which
10 arm the whole Of the Georgia line, before commencing
ac,tre Operations 0n the east side Of the enemy Tor. as
late as the l7t:', | had cause to entertain serious doubts
whether the Alabama troops would consent 10 come inLo
the service OF the United States.
Gen. Jesup arrived at ~luskrgce, the head quarters Of
the Alabama line. on the ,!th Of June. The eighth he
wrote to me, i'll advance vi the return 10 Columbus Of
lis escort, Il strange letter, containing this sentence
Il have not yet obtained the command of the troops; but
knt # cMGjn IL al all | shall probably enter on duty TO-
morrow )" ard NJ. L word OF explanation preceded Or
followed.
Surprised, ia ne extreme, at this inl;mation Of 4 want
of zeal and constitutions! devotion on the part of the
A!abana troops, | eagerly inquired, and caused others
u inquire among the very Intelligent officers OF the es-
cort: and several genllencn who accompanied it as indi-
vidualS and Lie apprchcnsians excited by the letter
were inuCh increased. (See, on this point, Governor
Schlry's answer to NY 18th inierrogatory) Nay, il ap-
prarcd to ne, ana 10 many others, who knew the Cur.
cu.us.auces, as uriaia, that the Alabamians had, iiou
The 4uI to e.. 9Th Of June, refused 10 come under the
authorities Of the U. s., Or, al least, under The command
c! Gen. JesuP, ard that they would continue SO toIe-
fuse was even n ,c than probable.
In this state Of apprehension, ! reported the c>-lm-
stance 70 Ii" ~ jH:ant. Genera! June the l2th, advert.d
To TIE subject in my Report Ny means Of the paper ell.
c!osci) oil the 18th.
In reference to The dDaJts 8, reported, the Secretary
Of War in his L=t:rr uI the 2Jlh Of June, instructed me,
in the EGme Of th- President, that if, contrary to the con.
iisncc repr:nd . III the Governor and citizens of Ala.
baua," the militia OF that State should " no, have been
mustered into tie service Of the United States agreeably
to the rcGrIsition 81! Tic Department." | was immediate
" 10 's,up ali expenditures and supplies Of every kind
whatever, on the part Of the United States, for such MI
liIia."
The nrxtlrttcrs from General Jc<up were received by
me on The lilh Of June: and Dated the 18th and l7lh.-
These J acknowledged in 4 letter TO him Of the l1tn, in
which | said:-"Iou lad not inf rmcd me-you do not
even 10" tell me, that you arc IL co!umand Of The Alaba-
MINIS 1t is true that that fact might, on the l'lh,
have Teen inferred but ii was not explicitly stated be-
fore his report to NE dated the 10Th.
Hence, Mr.. President, the business and force Of Co.
vernon Sch!ey answer to my 2Gd interr"gatory, in which
he says :-"!Yith the great uncertainty with regard to
The Alabama troops, and The situation OF General Jrsup,
I coaSidcrrd il aHimportant Ag: The uchoLe Of tic Gc0r-
"ia trOpyS should be prepared 10 take the field" And,
SIR. il has been shown that the muskcls arrived on tie
night Of the 20th were distributed On the 2Ist of June,
and u general movement immediately commenced.
] have thus incidentally shown that was without any
letter from Gen. Jesup after that of tue Sth, until the
Eth Of June, "ien his two letters Of the 18th and 18th
were received. Whence this long silence, Mr.. Prcsi-
dent: In his report Of the 2lli!-lhe first paper sent by
him to me dcscr sing Of that nanle-!e said:
81 was not aware, until yesterday, that a letter which
| wrote to you on the 9Th inst. had not been sent to you
1t was accidentally put up with a bundle Of papers, and
found it ONLY yesterday morning, and from no notice
having been taken Of my letter Of The 18th, fear it has
not been received. 1t was sent by c runner. Ienclose
Il copy Of it,"
Sir, AM sorry to say that this account Of the letter
Of the 9Th is strange, if not altogether improbable and
| think, for reasons which will appear, that 1t is doubt.
ful whether the letter OF tie 18th WAS ever coniidpd
to an Indian runner. Perhaps, on further search, il has
been found like lis predecessors, retained among other
papers. And rs The point is far otherwise than trivial, |
will here quote, in support of my conjectures, what the
same writer found himself compelled 10 say, in similar
cases, to n higher functionary.
Fr"rn Tussagce, Alubama, August 2d, 1886, Genera!
Jesup said 10 Governor Sch!ey "Knowing that | had
written 10 ycu in reply TO your communication, | was
surprised when ] received i copy of a letter you wrote
10 the President. i'll which you declare that | treated with
S;fcat contempt The reasonable request Of the Governor
Of Georgia. | examined my Letter. book, and found my
letters to you recorded in their proper places" sc. 81
felt indignant that a charge so entirely uniounded, as l
then thought, should have been made but am now III
duccd to believ that, by some oversight or omission,
my letters, or al least one of them. had not been semitic
You" He adds, that an officer, late OF his staff, lett
Fort Mitchell for Washington city on the Is; OF July
In looking over a file OF papers put up Gy MN The
morning he left, and not opened since, until last night,
/ fund the enclosed letter. The endorsement is IN
hand, and | think it probable lIla!it was put upon file in
place Of being sent 10 you.
August a5fh. TIE sane to the same. | received
,,onr Es,ter of Tho 18th instant al the moment of setting
a., far " &c. II mas detained longer than l expected,
and onIy returned this morning. Your letter Of The 30lh
vr,tent. no. Intentional. | had forgotten that letter UNI
I'll I received yours Of the 18th"