Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1848-06-08
Whole Number 421.

suggestions be adopted" This fact shows tina,
the letter received your particular attention. When
this letter (Which you know was forwarded 10 tho
Department. was here Notwithstanding that your
unprecedented difficulty in obtaining sufficient trans.
porali0n Al the south was unlounded, and that il
could be provided in that quarter in great abund-
ance on favorable elms--my order Of the 18th Of
December, so far, and only so far as related 10
sending out vessels in ballast, was countermanded.
II is strange, indeed, that, after you were made
acquainted with The object Of my inquiries and
Gen. Jesup's letter in reply to them, You should
have looked for transport vessels in ballast from
the Atlantic cities, and still more strange that their
non-nrriyal should be The proof YOU rely on TO con
vict me Of having neglected my duty in this in
stance. If, in truth, you delayed the expedition
nearly two months for these transports, am blame
less. The responsibility is in another quarter II
cannot he said that this statement as 10 the sutti-
cheney Of transports TO be obtained at the south
had an implied reference TO what had ordered
from the Atlantic cities for my order was then un.
known 10 yourself and the Quartermaser General
You first received copy Of it several days after
the date OF General Jesnp's letter 10 me, and Of
your endorsement thereon. See your letter TO
me of the 18th January Resisted as You vera
by head Winds enyeoped in "frighlful norlhers,"
aud oppressed with complicated and perpexiug
duties in arranging and preparing the expedition
against Vera Cruz, some temporary bewlderment
may be excused but, TO charge The War Depart
men with your own misapprehenslons and Ius.
| takes, is incxcusable.
My reply 10 your accusations forces mt 10 ex.
pose some Of your Measurements of fact. You
allege that the expedition, for the wan, of the "tcn
vessels WAS delayed from the 18Th Of January
10 the 9th Of March. You certainly mean 10 bo
understood that on the 9th Of January your troops
were ready 10 embark, and were DELAYED for want
. nr thasp irnn RuI Tho mot uJ I
am indebted 10 YOU for most abundant proof 10 es-
tabllsh your inaccuracy. The great body Of your
troops for The expedition was drawn from General
Taylors command at Monterey and in the lnterl-
or Of Mexico; and no pat of them had reached
either The Brazos or 1ampco-the points of EN-.
barkaon--on the 10th Of January. In your let
Ter Of tho 18th Of that month TO Gen. Brooke, at
New Orleans, you said. 81 have now 10 state
tina, it is probable the troops have called for from
Gen. Tuylors immediate command TO embark here
(the Brazos) and Iampico, will not reach lhoss
points ill late IN tho present month, (January,l
say about tho 25lh." In letter TO me Of the goth
Of January, lou remark that Gen, Butler respond
ed 10 your call for tho troops with the utmost
promptitude, and that Gen. Worth made an i'd
mirabc movement 'Ihe head of his divsion
arrived with him al the mouth Of the Rio Grade
the day before yesterday" Oath Jannary.)-
When the remainder came up, is 10. stated; yet
one OF your 'nhhCu historical .dCt9 places me
whole command nj The points Of embarkation walt
ing for the "tcn vessels II, least nine days before
tho actual arrival of any part Of them. But if they
had been there, why should they have been de-
lained for these ,essels In The same letter
written but TWO days after the arrival Of the head
of the first division, and probably before the other
troops had come up--you say that 1.-The Quarter
master General, (Brevet MAJOR General Jcsup, a;
ur t. S %S'%as End has taken all proper meas
everything depending on his department for the
despatch and success of my expedition" II more
was wanted, cumulative proof might be drawn
! from the same source your own correspondence
10 show not only that this charge against lie has
no foundation in Truth, but that you can have no
apology for having preferred ii,
/ After showing how unfortunate you have been
in your specific charges, may with ploprleiy
meet those of general and sweeping character
with less particular deall OF proofs 10 show their
groundessness.
| Though the "ten vessels were not FOR the very
sufficient reasons have assigned, sent out in bal!
last from the Atlantic cities; yet very large num-
her were sent thence With stores, supplies, aud
troops, to cooperate in the expedition.
In General Jesup's letter to me Of tho 18th in
slant. copy Of which ID sen, herewith, ne states
that fifty three ships barques, bgs, and schooners,
were sent from the north, und the department ac-
Tampico, for the army, before i, took up the line
Of march into the Interior one hundred and sixty
three vessels.
have alluded 10 the large number of surf boats,
and the great difficulty Of procuring them as the
cause Of the delay in their arrival. have also
sima: reason 10 offer in reply 10 your complain,
for not having seasonabIy received the seige train
and ordnance supplies. The delay il TO be ascrb-
ed 10 the enormously large onft you required.
! "a, Il =.
curing il, no one is in the fault. lfoo large, YOU
certainly should not regard as reptehensibe delay
the time necessarily taken up in preparing it. To
show that ii was large, and required much time To
procure it, will select from many, single item.
You demanded from eighty TO one hundred thou.
sand ten-nch shells, and forty or fifty morlars Of
like calbre. This enormous quantity Of shells
about 1000 tons; was mostly 10 be manufactured
after YOU left Washington All the furnaces in
the country, willing 10 engage in the business.
were set to work; but, with the utmost diligence
and despatch, the supply Of this one article, or
even two-lhirds Of it, having to be manufactured
and transported 10 the seabourd from The furnaces.
locaed IN most instances in the interior Of The
country at season Of the yeur when water com.
municatons were obstructed by ice, could not DO
ready 10 be sent forward TO you in many months
after your departure fom Washington. Had your
acquisitions been moderate and undoubtedly more
moderate ones would have suiticed-- they could
have been furnished at II much earlier period
The memorandum which you left for The siege
train and ammunition therefor" was submitted to
me BY the Ordnance Department. on the Goth OF
November, with ar intimatron that ii could not he
complied with in season for the expedition 10 60
forward ~ early as you had contemplated. en-
dorsed upon it, "comply Nth The aborE as far as
practico6ie;" and this order, am satisfied, after
full examination, was faithfully executed
What could be done ut Washington, was
promptly done You had with you the Quarter.
master General, with all the means at the com
nand Of the War Department, and with unresltic-
ed authority 10 do whatever you might require. -
tie was under your supervision, and subject TO
your orders, able and willing to execute them
You have never ntimated that he in any respect,
failed in his duty; but, on The contrary, you have
spoken in highly commcndu,ory terms Of his eth
cient services
have already qnoted your ackno wledgmen,
that he had taken all proper measures with judy
ment and prompttude TO provide everything de-
pending on his department for the dispatch and
success of your expedition. In an issue Of fac,
between YOU and The head Of the War Depart,
ment, his testimony. next to your own confession.
is tho hest that can be offered to correct your mis-
statements and to refute youl charges
In his letter TO ME of the I'd Of January, 1877,
he SAYS: General Scott lett for the interior on the
4.