The State guard. [volume] (Wetumpka, Ala.) 1847-18??, 1847-06-29
WAR DEPARTMENT,

Washington, January %, ls47
The President of the United States
directs that paragraph $50 Of the Gener-
al Regulations for the Army establish-
ed the LIST of Marcn and no, included
among those published January IS, I64i
be now repubshed, and that its observ-
anceas part OF the general regulations
be strictly enJoined upon The army;
By ORDER OF THE PRESIDENTS:
VIM l.. MARCY,
Secretary OF War.
The tokoaoing as The paragraph of The
general Regulations for The amy es.
tabIished on The 81 Of March, 1925, re-
ferred 10 abore:
$50. Private letters or reports, rel.
alive to military marches and operations,
are frequently mischievous in design,
and alw ,ys disgrace!uI TO the army
Taey are therefore, strictly forbidden;
and any officer found guilty OF making
such report for publication, without spe.
cial permission, or OF placing the wri--
ting beyond his control, so that il finds
its way TO the press, within one month
after The termination of the campaign to
which it relates, shall be dism ssed from
the service By order:
w. G. FREEMAN,
Assistant Adj General.
Now what had produced the order?
Unquestonably the appearance OF Gen.
TayIor's letter in the New York Elk,
press. Now that was letter written
by Gen. Taylor TO a friend--a private
letter-rot intended for publicaion.-
For its publication al knew that Gen.
Taylor was in nowise responsible. He
Mr.. A argued that its publication was
an act OF indiscretion. He thought that
it had done great injustice 10 Gen. Tay-
Tor Nothing could justify The unauS
thor zed pub lcation 10 the world of the
thoughts comm unicalcd by one officer
to aiothcr Under the seals of private
friendship But he thought hat honora.
bic gentleman would hesitate before they
condemned Gen.. Taylor for that publi>
cation There was nothing in it for
which he could be justly censured. But
he [Mr. a knew that Gen. TAYLOR
would not sanction the publication. Yet
the order TO which he had called the at
tenion Of The House, WIS directly in.
tended TO ceosnre Gen. Taylor for that
act tie may not publish any letter or
dispatches until one month after the
campaign. Who, Their, could tell when
il would be in the power Of the general,
or any other officer Of the army TO COM
municate any intelligence Was it in
the power Of any prescirnce to calcu
late when the present cumPaign would
terminate2 In answer 10 The call, the
President would send to Congress what
he thought the public interest might re.
quire 10 be published now, and General
ray Tor must be silent-he could no. nj.
ter one word in his own defence. He
could not have any dispatches sent to
Congress, or any on the files OF the de.
partment published in his vindicaiion
and defence. He had 70 means of
counteracting the injurious effects Of the
publication Of &c parte statements or sc :
lections ftom his correspondence made
BY hostile administration. He [Mr.
AL had voted for The Introduction of the
resolution. He voted for it in order that
the gentleman who believed that Gen.
Tay Tor had done his duty, ard his whole
dmy, should not be suspected in the
slightest degree of endeayoiing to shield
bin from any inquiry, however search.
ing and Inscriptions. His conduct, he
FMr. A J had no doubt, would in all res
poets stand the scrutiny of time. He
did not believe that anything-that any
examination, howe yer partial and disin-
genuous, could injure that officer. When
the zone month after the close OF Tie
campaign should have expired, and the
generals mouth should be unseaIed,
there would be a verdict rendered by
the people OF the country, which would
set at naught all contrivances TO cloud
his reputation, and il jure his character.
The order which Re had just read, was
peculiar in one other respect. They
had seen the official organ occasionally
publishing privare dispatches from the
army. II had discovered no scruples
in the publication, when suitable for its
purposes, Of communications from the
army, now inter dicted as 'mischievous
in design, and always disgracefnI 10 tho
army' But change had come DER
the spirit OF its dream, and now the COR
Respondents from The ARMY was de-
nounced and forbidden, because II vas
Imagined that its continuance m ght in :
terfere with the projeci Of lieu.ensnt
! general SO earnestly urged on Congress