The New era. [volume] ([Portsmouth, Va.]) 1845-1847, 1846-08-11

" Army. he denounced Washington as an infer
" topper. endeavoured TO starve him and his faith
" ful soldiers. and fnrce them to weld to their
" worse than savage foe but the moral power
" of the People, their Army and beloved Com
Z" mandeT. prevailed over the treacherv of Mai,r
+" General Benedict Arnold. and they triomphed.
" while he, with his new associates, were every
Z" where beaten and disgraced Not SO with the
-" Army of France. That Army ,riumphed ev
cry where while commanded by Napoleon Bo.
"napdrte, as long as its Commanders cordially
and tervently cooperated with each other
" But the want of this spirit Of CO operation ON
" the par, of Field Marshall Grouchy. near the
" Battle ct Waterloo, gave to the allied forces
under Wellington the great triumph conquer
" ing Napoleon, the cOnqneror Of Europe.
These extracts are taken from my letter Of the
10Th of September. 1916. reporting my reasuns
for making arrangements in the preceding month
to reinforce General Taylor. In reply received
from the Department uf War the Letter Of Instruc-
ton of the 3Oih IF The same month containing the
magnanim"us views of the President, here pre-
scented To the Court. assuring me that The po,ccr
Uhich had exercised could be rcsorted to only
IN cases of entreme public peril. But that an
error Of judgment ,cifh such motives as the Pres
ideRt has Nth pleasure conceded to haze g0rern-
Ell my conduct an this case. cannot be regarded
as" a crime" From this Letter of instruction |
could not but infer, that the stale charge of my
having been guilty of unofficer like conduct was
groundleSs, as was distinctly told in reply 10 my
demand tnr an investigation OF my conduct befnre
a General Court Martial. that the President " did
" not perceive any necessity for ordering Court
" Martial for that Official Act"
am sure have rejoiced as cordially as any
man in the country could. 10 find that there was
at that time Gin August, 1859 no immediate me-
cessity Tor calling out more than the Battalion Of
the truODS recommends d 10 mo ha-
less, convinced that the principle upon which
had acted was suund one. That the indications
OF hostility on the part of Mexico of that un-
erring character. which could leave no doubt of
the Ultimate necessity of considerable augmen-
talon of our forces upon the western frontier be
fnre nation like Mexico. numbering eg hit millions
ot people-much practiced in war for quarter Of
century past, under the auspices Of her aspiring
JHthfnry On. eftains. blind vote res of that" Mon
ster Party" which had Frustrated the Freedom
OF the People SO recently achieved. wonld be dis
posed to treat upnn inst principles. The opera
lions upon the Rio Grande in April and Nav,
1916. have fully demonstrated the correctness of
my views.
On hearing of the commencement of hos,ilities.
l, "n the Isl of May. 1876. wrote to the Depart
ment OF War letter, from which will here
quote the -four first paragraphs.
Convinced as am that recent events in Mex.
have satisfied you that my views of the last
=" summer and antumn were rot such as to Justify
I" The extra-judical reprmand with which you
+" were pleased to assure me Of the Presidents
" disaPprobalion of my conduct, | do myself the
honor Ia renew my application to concentrate
:" npon the south western border OF Texas fifty
=" batialI"ns of western volunteers.
am under the impression that could have
. the greater part Of this force concentrated upon
in hv no E,L 6 H.
=" month, ready for action. This force would have
- the benefit of military school far superior to
that at West Pon-a military school that
" would, In six months. render every officer and
soldier OF these volunteer corps equal to the best
:" OF our working regulars-for at West Point they
=" do not learn To work, whilst in campaign TO
- the Rio Grande, and to the city of Mexico, the
- history of every days duty would be history
oil incessant labor on the part of every member
= OF the army, from the commanding general to
q" The youngest private soldier, incusiyely
propose to place this force under the COM
mand Of General Taylor. or, in the event of our
difficulties with England being settled, | pro-
p"se To take command ofthis force myself should
" the President so order. | wish, however, to
nave nothing to do with any command in that
quarter without at least fifty battalions-ten OF
winch propose to be mOunted-as il has long
- been obvious to me, that no decisive good can
result from placing upon that frontier, force
unable To maintain the attitude of proud defiance
upon the whole frontier bordering upon Mexico
and able to put down all opposition.
a purely defensive policy cannot be main
tanned with such nation as Mexico, without
ample force to punish such bandits as have fur
many years past marked the character of MANY
of the armed men Of that miserable nation /:
and, 1t necessary, to follow them into the heart
OF Their country, and at the same time to pro-
tect the good citizens of the country against
this lawless rabble.''
| 1t will be seen by the MESSAGE Of The President
OF the United States of the | III of NAV, 1916.
mat Gen. Taylor had been instructed in August,
40. as precautionary measure" against in.
vasioh' u the emergency required it, to accept
the services of Volunteers from several of the
Siaies. These instructions were repeated in
January, and on the I'd day of March, 1876 an
| extract follows
AS war exists, and, notwithstanding all our
Efforts to avoid IL, exists by the act of Mexico
nerse't, we are called upon by every considera-
ZION of duty and patriotism, to vindicate with
decision the honor, the rights, and the interests
OF our country. Anticipating the possibility
OF Crisis like that which has arrived, insruc
lions were given in August last " as precau-
uonary measure" against invasion or threaten.
ed INVASION, authorizing General Taylor, if the
emergency required, to accept Volunteers, not
only from Texas, but from the States of Louis
Iana, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, and
kentucky and corresponding letters were ad-
dressed to the respective Governors of those
STATES These instructions were repeated, and
IN January last, soon after the Incorporation OF
Texas into our Union of States" General
Taylor was further " authorized by the Presi-
dent TO make requisition upon the Executive
oi mat oiate Tor such Of its militia force as may
De needed to repeI invasion or to secure the
conhtry against apprehended Invasion" On
me "a day OF March he was again reminded,
~ me event OF the approach of any cOnside-
raoie Mexican force, promptly and efficiently 10
use me authority with which he was clothed
10 cal, 10 MN such auxiliary force as he nigh,