The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1848-04-30


The expedition nearly two months for these transports,
am bameless. The responsibility is in another quarter
IL cannot be said that this statement the sucIenoy
oil transports 10 be obtained at the south had implied
reference TO what had ordered from the Atlantic eiues
for my order was then unknown to yourself ana the
Quartermaster General You first received a copy oil II
several days after the dale OF Gen Jesups letter 70 me
and Of your endorsement thereon ose your ie"el
me q me i2h January and Oppressed
with eomnl;ca,ed and King duties in arranging and
preparing the expedition against Vera CRUZ some Tempo
rarv Enlightenment may be excused but, TO charge the
War Department with your own misaPprehensons and
mistakes is ineXcisape
Nv repy TO your accusations forces to expose
of your nissiasments OF fact You allege that the expe
dtion for the OF the stem vessels DELAYED
from the 18th Of January to the 9th of March You
tainy to be understood that on the 18th OF January
YOUR troops ready to embark and were delayed for
want OF these transports But this SO and am
indebted TO Tor most abundant proof establish your
inaccuracy The great body of your troops for the expe-
diuon was drawn from Gen, Taylors command at Mon
teey and in the interior of Mexico; and no part of them
had reached either the Brazos Tampcohe points Of
enbarcaton-on the 18th Of January la your letter of
the 18th OF that month to Gen Brooke. New Orleans
you sad 81 have now to state that il is probable the
command 10 embark here (the Brazos and at Tampico
Will not reach those points till late in the present
month, (.annuafyl say about the 2aih In letter to
responded TO your call for the troops with the utmost
promptitude, and that Gen. Worth made an admirable
movement The head of his division arrived with him
at the mouth of the Rio Grande the day before yeser-
day.. Oath january When the remainder up, is
not stated vet one of your naked historical facts places
the whole command at the points of embarcaon waiting
Tor the en vessels at least nine days before the actual
arrival Of any part of them But il they had been there
why should they have been detained for these vessels
In The etterwritten but DAYS after the arrival
of the head of the first division, and probably before the
other troops had come upyou say that the Quartermas-
Ter General (Brevet Major General Jesup at New Or
eans) hnd has taken all proper with judy
ment and promptitude to provide everything depending
on his department for the despatch and of my
expedition" more was wanted, cumulative proof
ho dreyp tho
respondenceto show not only that this charge against
me has no foundation in truth, but that you have
apology for having preferred it.
After showing how unfortunate you have been in your
SPECIFIC charges, may with propriety meet those of a
general and sweeping character with less particular de-
tail OF proofs to show their groundlessness.
Though the .en vessels" not, for the very suf
tcient reasons have assigned sent out in ballast from
the Atlantic cites yet very large number sent
thence with stores, supplies and troops to cooperate In
In General Jesup's letter TO me of the 18th inst, a
copy of which is sent herewith he states that fifty three
ships barques, briggs and schoones, sent from the
north, and the department actually furnished at New
Orleans, BraZos, aud Tampico, for the army before it
took the line OF march into the interior, one hundred
have alluded to the large number Of surf boats,
and the great difficulty Of procuring them, as the cause
to offer in reply to your complaint for not having
ably received the siege train and ordnance supplies The
delay to be ascribed to the enormously large outfit
required II was necessary and despatch used in
procuring it, one is in fault If too large, you
alny should not regard as reprehensble delay the time
necessarily taken up in preparing it. To show that
1t was large, and required much time to procure it, will
select from many single item. You demanded from
eighty to one hundred thousand inch Shells and forty
orfity norars of like calbe This enormous quantity Of
shells--about four thousand tons--was mostly to be
manufactured after you left Washington. All the fur
naces in the country, willing TO engage in the business
set to work. but. with the utmost diligence and des
PATCH the supply OF this article, two-thrls
OF it, having 10 be manufactured and transported TO the
eeaboari from the furnaces, located in most instances
IN the interior OF the couny) at season OF the year
when water communications were INSTRUCTED ny Ice
e2nld not be ready to be sent forward 10 you in many
months after your departure from Washington Had your
relustIons been mOderateand undoubtedly more mod
crate ones would have sufced they could have been
furnished at much earlier period
The memorandum which you left "for the siege train
and ammunition therefor" submitted 10 me BY the
Ordnance Department the 26th of November, with an
intma.ion that it could not be complied with in season
for the expedition to 60 forward early you had con-
templaed endorsed upon IL "comPfy nth ne ADORE as
far praceabe;" and this order, am satisfied, after
full examination, faithfully executed
What coAld be done at Washington, promptly done.
You had with you the Quartermaser General with all the
means at the command of the War Department and with
unrestricted authority to do whatever you might require
ders, able and willing to execute them Yon have never
nn that he in any respect failed IN his duty but
the contrary you have spoken in highly commemorate
ny terms OF his efficient services.
have already quoted your acknowledgment that he had
taken all proper measures with Judgment and prompttude
to provide everything depending his department for
the despatch and success OF your expedition In issue
of fact between you and the head of the War Department.
his testimony, next TO your confession, is the best
that be offered to correct your msstaemens and to
refute your charges
In his letter to me of the I'd of January 1s47 he says:
g General Scott left for the interior the Goth ultmO,
and am taking active to have everything de-
pending upon ready for his operations The quarter
sc masters department, find, called upon to do great
deal that should be done by other branches of the staff
" 80 far as Gen SCOTS operations co. shall have every
thing done that is necessary whether it belongs to my
" department or to other departments TO do it,"
You had with you and subject your orders, only
the Quarermaser General, but officers of the other staff
departments They did not look to the War Department,
but TO yourself for drectons and it your duty, and
not nine, 10 see that your requirements complied
with. That they were So to The utmost practicable
tent, have doubt but if they were not the
fault il any, is not with the War Department You also
gave the instructions in relation TO providing the means
OF land transportation, and the officers charged with that
duty under your immediate control and if there
blame anywhere for any deficiency in this respect
not be imputed TO the War Department. Your whole
shows that you very properly took upon yourself the
letter to Captain Hezel, senior duartermaster at the
Brazos, speaking this subject of the land anspora
ton which may be needed after the descent on the ene
my's coast near Vera Cruz, YOU say: &c" have already
discussed and arranged with you the detail of the enru
" land transportation tran," &c. On the 10Th of March,
YOU furnished General Jesup with your estimates and d.
iectons on this subject The staff officers being with
son, and under your orders, nothing further was or
properly could be, required expected to emanae from
Washington. beyond the supply Of funds and this being
done, you were disappointed in not realizing your ex.