The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1846-06-24
TWENTY NINTH CONGRESS.
First session.
wrDsrsDAr, june "a. ls4s.
In SENATE.

In SENATE.
The journal having been read
GENERAL GAINES
The PRESIDENT laid before the Senate the fol
lowing letter from General Gaines TO the Department
Of War, which was read and ordered 10 De Printed
4EADsUARrERs WEsrERs DIVISION,
New Orleans, June 7Ih, 1916.
Sir: have to acknowledge the honor Of your
letter of the 26th May--last month.
IL was with surprise learned the Department o.
War regarded with disapprobatlon the reques. ineue
by me upon the governors Of Kentucky ana o my
States for assistance. At the time II was msue, N'he
Alb Of May last,) General Taylor was IN the mos
critical situation. He had been leit WIN
honor-opposed TO an army near Tour times aS
st,ono "a his own and cut off from his military
stores The country was uncertain whether ne
could escape destruction. BY his own gahanry
and the indomitable courage oil MS omeeis ana men
md the proydence Of God he extrlcated himself
from the difficulty. At this crisis he requested
,roons to be sent 10 him with all possible despatch
A. Commander of this division Of the United States
army, | Immediately sought the means OF meeting
his wishes. And | would have deemed mysei'
ysereani to my trust, and merng dismissal from the
service if had postponed action on the subject toi
two weeks, until orders could have been received
from Washington.
The War Department may deem the number OF
troops asked by me as greater than the exigency
required. This must confess would astonlsh me,
as the Wa Department asked and procured a oil
authorizing the levy of SO, 900 volunteers, and ap
propristing (sl0, 000, 0O0) ten millions To meet the
same exigency.
The War Department seems to be Of opinion
that there is discretionary power lodged IN me to
act without positive orders j. therefore, would ASK
for ioformalion-f a seryile insurrecton should
occur-if an Eruption should be made by large
tribes Of Indians-if swarm OF steamers, with
paixbsn guns were seen lowering about this sea
cosst-or il general, at the head of a great part
OF the army of the United States upon the frontier
of Il aeighboring State near me- should ask assist
snce, would il be my duty to refuse all aid until
should have received orders from Washington
bun,by conceive that the latter has existed
,p,thin the last month; and If have erred IN deem
ing General Tayo and his army IN situation so
b,zardsus as to demand immediate suecor, II Is an
error under which the country, the Congress, and
Oh. War DEPARTMENT have equally labored. Had
assistance been delayed by me, and had General
'Tavlor and his army been cut of, would have re-
yarded il as an inJelible stigma upon my name. j
am aware that the exercise Of such discretion
must ever be at the peril Of the officer exercising It.
That peril can never hesitate TO incur whenever
,bs velfare of the country demands it. II exer-
else il unwisey, am willing that my commission
shall he Corfeited; or If exercise II vanly, or for
disaonorabie purposes, am willing to be shot. J
am more than willing to abide the consequences Of
NV conduct in this matter, confident as am that j
have not transcribed my duty, or acted with greater
zeal than the emergency required. II the battles Of
the 9Th and 9th Of May, well contested, as they
were for time on both sides, had resulted in the
loss Of Taylors army, II would have plunged the
whole Union into deep mournlng-and into that
most poignant Of all human grefs-an abiding sense
of self-reproach for the settled and cold indifference
with which his want of competent force and sup
plies had been for months Witnessed
The talented and gallant General De Buys, who
for a long time commanded the finest division Of VOL
unteers have ever seen since the war OF 1914 and
is, and who, am sure, has no superior for the
command Of this description Of force, with l.. Tex
ada, esq, one Of the most promising young members
of the legislature and the talented Judge Bryce, were
not as YOU seem to suppose, private citizens. They
were Louisiana volunteers, and gentlemen OF high
responsibility, and were appointed by me to act as
officers OF the genera staf-upon the same primer
ple that the distinguished Edward Livingston, A. l.
duncan, and John r. Grymes, all hrstrate lawyers,
were appointed by Jackson to act as staG officers
JacksonIs object was, as my object has ever been
upon such occasions to MAINTAIN the great principle
upon which Ia dsfsnns and the independence of our
beloved Union must forever depend that TO be a
pripas polusser is 10 hold station Of high honor
whence an acting general staff may with strict proPrI-
ETY. be taken and put on duty in the absence Of the
regular staff Of the army.
These appointments, and all the measures taken
nv me 70 which you object, were deemed by me as
pes sanctioned by the greatest and best of men
known to me- some Of whom took their degrees in
military and political science IN the school of our
beloved Washington, Greene, and Knox; and in the
more civic school of Jefferson, and Dearborn, and
Gsllatiu and though last, not least in the school OF
Madison, Eustis, Dallas and Armstrong, Monroe,
and Calhoun, the master spirits Of the war of 1872
20 1914 and is
Be assured, sir, that will obey with much pleas
ure the orders of the President of the United States
according to my oath of office. As to the repr-
mands with which you have honored me in the last
year. and in the last and present month, although
they strike me novelties not being warranted by
the sentence of general court-martial, yet | care
lessly submit to them, as they to be a source
of pleasure to the War Department, and certainly
inhict no injury me- can conceive but one mo-
tive for their frequent occurrence and that is that
nv name shall he banded before the country,
that the public may be prepared to with indffer-
ence my name passed by in silence if more distin-
guished officers created in the army. If this is
so, the labor is useless, as may very soon be una
bile to discharge the active duties of my profession
(though long in the enjoyment of excellent health y
for am already old, of conentsd disposition, and
have received sufficient distinctions during my hum
ble life Not the least of these distinctions do
gard the late prompt car measures of Congress and
the President, and the noble hearted Louisanians
and other whole souled western and southern men,
in not only indirectly, but expressly, generously,
and unanimously approving my conduct in having
for many months urged the adoption of the princi
pal measures which have recently been carried as by
acclamaton.
do not wish to have the place of any general or
other officer known to me. !, SIR was born at a
time and reared among men who had not learned the
art of marching to distinction by rampIing under
foot the claims of their dearest friends or brother
soldiers. Very respectfully, yours,
EDMUND PENDLETON GAINES,
Major General United States Army,
Commanding the Western division
Hon. VIM l.. MARCY, Secretary of War,
Washington city, D. c.
PETITIONS.
The PRESIDENT also presented the petition of
the American Philosophical Society, praying that the
provisions of the present tariff relative TO the admis
of hooks nnap and pther rla free