Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1847-03-30
THE ENQUIRER.
RICHMOND, va.
Monday Morning, March 20. Is47.
DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE FOR THE SIXTH
CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT,
w A l. n IL IL ID. LIE A H e,
OF GOOCHLAND.
FIXING THE REspONsIBILITY.


the discussion as to who is to bear the blame,
should Gen. Taylor meet with a disaster in
whose realization we do not believe. A perusal of
the official correspondence has satisfied US that
the Government has vested Gen. Taylor with
vast discretion, simply throwing out suggestions
for his consideration TO be adopted or rejected as
In his judgment would seem best. No one can
expect that the President, al the distance Of 5000
miles from the seat Of war, should undertake to
tie down commanding General TO specific ir-
struc,ions, as 10 che defence OF this or that par
licular pass or town, or the location OF this or
that regiment of troops. From The very neces-
sily of the circumstances, wide discretion must
be reposed in The commanding officers as TO The
management OF delails-a nd this, we are satisfied,
the President has sludiously sought 10 accom-
plish.
The views that we thought proper 10 express,
not ia censure Of Taylor, but in vindicalion of
The Administration, and which have elected the
criticisms Of The Times, are corroboraled by The
Washington correspondent, OF the Baltimore Sun,
neutral paper. We make an extract:
You will perceive from the last official de-
spaiches forwarded by General Taylor 10 the
Adjulant General here in Washington. that the
position he assumed at Aqua Nueva was entirely
on his own responsibility, and that General Scott
had advised him 10 fall back on Monterey, and
act, for while, on The defensive. And it will
also be seen, from the correspondence between
the War Department and General Taylor, that
The former, so far from pressing him forward,
rather expressed 4 wish that ne might oonfiae
himself 10 Monterey, and there await the enemy.
If General Taylor has acted against the advice
given him from these quarters he must have had
good reason 10 do so, and l. therefore, trust that
he will be able to give good account Of him.
self, Notwithstanding the fatal rumors Of dsas.
tiers which have reached US from the Rio Grauds.
That those rumors are exaggerated no one
can doubt, and the anxiety about the safety Of
Gen. Taylor has considerably subsidized. In The
first place, il is known al the Adjuianl Generals
office that the army under The command OF Gen.
Taylor, including all the troops stationed along
The Rio Grande, is not less than Is, 900 men,
Allowing 900 OF these TO be on The sick list or
otherwise abed, there remains still twelve
thousand effective men, OF whom not less than
seven thousand are with the General himself
Several regiments are now on their way to the
Brazos, 50 that MalamoIas and Canlargo must
have already received or will soon receive REIN
lorcemenls
OF The new regiments it is understood all that
is now disposable will be marched down 10 the
Brazos, by way Of the OHIO and Mississippi,
which will al least save fortnight. The head.
quarters Of these reg menls is 10 be The BrazoS.-
The companies now ready will be marched in
day or Two, and the rest will be dispatched as
soon as 81 men are enlisted in company. a
lieutenant, however, will be left behind TO recruit
the remaining 3G men, to make up The compile
ment OF 100 men for each company.
II Gen. Taylor has succeed& in reaching
Monterey, he will, it is believed DE able TO hold
out ill these reintorcemenls arrive, and with
these he will be srong enough to act again on
the offensive.
The above statement Of the forces under .tne
command Of Gen. Taylor, is substantially con-
frmed by the Union, which obtained from The
cfice OF The Adjulanl General, as nearly as could
be ascertained, the amount of force left under the
orders OF Gen. Taylor, aiicr The withdrawal OF a
part OF the army 0. occupation Tor service under
Gen. Scot. The details are interesting:
"The statement embraces the regular troops left
under the command o: Gen. Taylor, together with
the regiments of volunteers called out in Novem-
Der, 1916, three Of which are known 10 have al
ready arrived on the Rio Grande. There can be
little, il any doubt, indeed, that they all reached
Matamoras before the 23d instant.
"According 10 this statement, the aggregate
OF force, both regular and volunteer, under The or
ders OF Gen Taylor as shown upun the muster
rolls, is 1890 Otthese ,l22 are regular troops
$3.50 are volunteers of the levies of May aod
June last; making total OF 1874 men, exclusive
of the aeu volunteer regiments. But il is sup
posed lha, of these 1914 not more than about s.
600 certainly should be counted as elective. II is
probable indeed that OF these troops ID The field,
The effective force may not exceed 1900. To this
number, however, must be added The new regi-
ments Of volunteers called out IN November, 1916,
amounting 10 1896. OF these, not more than A.
900 can probably be reckoned as effective. The
whole actual effective force, therefore, under the
command OF Gen. Taylor, is not far from 1000.
1.-THE same Statement, exhibits also, so far as is
known The distribution of these troops Exclusive
of the new regimenls) along the line Of The Rio
Grande from the Brazos 10 Camargo, AMI thence
along The line of operations 10 Monterey and
Aqua Nueva. From this part Of The statement,
il appears that there are al the posts on The Rio
Grande. including Brazos island, Point Isabel
Fort Brown, Malamoras, Camargo, and Mier,
total Of ,434 troops. OF these, Share at Camar-
go; 500 are at Matamoras and Fort Brown on
the other side ofthc river Blu, the new regiments
must have already reinforced some if not all oil
these posts; and the number Of troops now at Ca
MARCO is probably not less than 1900. The gar
rison a, Monterey numbers 1927 troops, with for
ty pieces OF artillery. Between The posts on the
Rio Grande and Monterey, at Toredo, Punla
Asuada, Cerralvo, and Marin, there are about
700 troops; and he remainder of@ihe force, as
above stated, is supposed TO be al Aqua Nueva,
(lhe headquarters Of General Taylor, when last
heard from officially) at SaiIio, and at The Pass
of the Rinconada."