The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1848-01-08
this basin have reached US; the FIRST ia
a New Orleans, and the second through

1t requires not a'liite charity 10 be.
lieveahat .he principal heroes of ths
scandalousv letters alluded to did hot
write them, or specially procure them
Is he written, and the intelligent can be
at no loss in conjectuurrin,g The author
chiefs, p~artizans, andpetfdniliars. To
the honor Of the service, the fdisease-
pruriency Of fame, not earned--cainnncot
have seized upon half 4 dozen officers
lplesenil all Of whom, il is belieysd,
belong 10 the same two coteries.
False credit may, no doubt, be OBJ.
tanned al home, By such dsspicable self.
Pufings and malignant exclusion Of
others; but, at. the expense of the just
esteem and consideration OF aILhonora-
BILE officers who love their country,
their profession and The truth of'histo-
ry. The Indignation cofthe great nom
Der OF the latter class cannot faibin the
end, to bring down the conceited and
the envious TO their proper level.
By command Of Maj. Cen. Scott
H. l.. ScoTr, 4. 4. A.G.,
The letters alluded to BY Gen. Scott,
as "the echoes from home," are esi.
IDENTIFY the "Leonidas" letter, and the
other a letter which appeared frstYin
the Pittsburgh Post, was thence, trans
ferred to- the Union. and the whole
then appeared in a Tampico paper, in
which Gen. Scott first saw the letter.
Upon The publication of Gen. SCOTS
orders, given above, Lieut.. Col. Duncan
came out promptly in the North Amer
lean with the following frank, apowal
of his connection with the "Tampjco
letter." so called. According 10 tho
North American the "Tampico letter.
was "compiIed from two letters writ
ten by officers of the army ia Mexico
to a brother officer in Pittsburgh; for
his eye alone."laaB But read what Col.
Duncan has to say o fit; af9niedF
Mexico, Nov. I3, 1917.
To the Editor Of the North anerican: s5HF
SIM herewith presen. n copytof
the "Tampico letter." characterized as
'sc%andaIous,' 'despicable,' malignant
&C., in general orders No. 349, pub
Iished in the American Star Of this
morning. no Y10V%tH
To the end that the true character
of this letter may lie Known, | desire
that you re-pubIish il lin your paper;
and, that non Of my brother officers
may 'nnocently suffer for q publication
SO obnoxious, hereby publicly ac-
knowledge myself to be its author
The substance Of i'll communicated
from Tacubaya soon after the battles,
10 a private letter TO a friend, in Pitts
burgh., ,aad oak sti s.aye. oa,,obn NJ
The. statements in the letter are
by very MANY officers Of this
army TO be true, and | cannot think that
the publication OF truth is morelikeIy to
do violence to- individuals or. the SER
vice than the suppression orlperversion,
Of it.
Justice to Cen. Worth who is e,yvi-.
one Of the sheroes'o pointed at
in order 349) requires me to state that
he knew nothing whatever Of my pur-
pose 10 write the letter in question, nor,
that. it had been written till well on its
way 10 its destination; he never saw,
nor did he know, directly or indirectly,
the purport OF one line, word or
syllable OF it till he saw tin pnnt, and
he is equally ignorant of my design 10,
make this declaration, which | do, as /
wrote the letter, unprompted and on
my own responsibility. 7elp l>aas'd .
Very respectfully, IL @! aid bsgab7o
asb7o Your obedient ~seryant,n ala so
br- yi,nst1f,, r JAMES DUNCAN, ,,,,;
Brevet Lieut.. Col. us. A.
After the publication or this letter.
Col. Duncan was placed under arrest
and subsequently, Gen. Pillow was oar.i
and next Gen. Worth. h The,
American is ofopinion that Gen.
was not arrested on account OF,
The "Leonidas"lette but on the follow
grounds:J '2'"fa NH9 aia 3sHosiT4
There has been another arrest that
of Gen. Pillow, one of the chiefs afore-.
but not, as appears, on, account
IF the letters Of which he is the hero.
We hear generally, that the cause was.
Gen Pillow, having taken excsp..'
ions TO the fndingo ola court Of inquiry
which finding has been approved by
Zen. Scott, addressed a paper relating,
the matter to the, Secretary OF War,
the commander n-chief, preserv.
d copy which he avowed, in letter
accompanying, he had sent Cor cwodidt
end) daectlyloithe Secretary at Wash-5
'agioa. Ia This transaction is judged to,
a contempt, and for the 50 judged.
contempt Gen. Pillow is arrested. Not
understanding the technicalities Of the
:ase, we nre not advised whether part
whole transaction is. regarded
4. the contempt--but this is ,immaterial.