The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1852-08-07


Justly merited by these several branches Of the
department, assailed .as they are indirectly by
you, | see no good reason for withhold my opn
ION, that an instance cannot be- found where sc
much has been done, and well done, in so short O
time, by amy similar body Of officers under smi
lar circum stances
As you have. by Implication, laid heavy hand
upon the bureau which is charged with the oner
Gus duties Of executing the laws and orders fur
raising and sending forward the recruits and
evies, ] feel bound to affirm that you have done
to that branch Of the public service the greatest
iinlustice No industry has been spared, no pos
slble effort omitted, to raise the forces which were
authorized, and to send them to their destination
within the brlefest practicable period The nu
merous orders issued from the Adjatant Generals
office, and its voluminous correspondence on that
subject, will sustain this assertion.
/ You have pressed with unwonted zeal the
charge IN relation to dIvertng the detachments OF
the new regiments under Gen. Cadwaladers com.
mand to the Brozos, aud have INDUCED in the
widest speculatlOns as TO the sad consequences
which attended this imputed error Assuming
/ that my orders diverted these troops, or any
others, ian assetion which shall coniroyert here
aiter) the circumstances justified the measure
The critical condition Of Gen Taylor, according TO
all accounts received here at that time, IA stated
IN my letter to you Of the 22d Of March To show
that the department acted properly, though it III.
cured your reproof, 1t is necessary to recall the
iacts hs they then appeared here. They are pre-
sented IN the following extract from that letter
/ ." he Information which has Just reached us in
The shape Of rumors, a. to the situation Of Gen
/ lay Tor, and the forces under lis command ha,
excited the most painful approximations for then
safety. 1t is almost certain that Santa Anna has
preceitated the large army be had collected al
san Luis de Potos upon Gen. Taylor and it may
be that the general has not been able TO maintain
the advanced position he had seen tit to take at
Aqua Neya, but has been obliged to fall back on
Monterey. 1t il equally certain that Mexican
force has been ntcrposod between Manterey and
the Rio Grande, aud that il has interrupted the
line OF communication between the two places
and seized large supplies which were ON the way
to Gen, Tay lors army
8" II the hostile force between the Rio Crande
and Gen. Taylor's army is a. large as report re-
present it, our troops now Oh that river may not
be able to re.establi,h the line, nor will it. per
haPs, be possible TO place force there sufficient
for the purpose, in time to prevent disastrous
consequences to our army. unless aid can be af
iorded f ON the troops under your immediate
command.
From one TO two thousand Of the new recruits
for thete1tregiments from this quarter will be
on the way to the Braz0s in the course Of three OF
four DAYS. AL the other forces will be directed
to that point, and every effort made TO relieve
GeC. Taylor from his critical situation. You will
have been fully apprized before this can reach
you of the condition of things in the valley OF the
RIO Grande, and at the headquarters of General
Taylor and have taken, trust such measures Hs
th" Importance af the subject reqnires | mood
. IL
would result from any serious disaster which
might behll the army under Gen. Taylor, nor do
doubt that you will do what is in your power
to avert such a calamity"
The course pursued by the War Department
on that occasion, which you convert into charge
must, on revision, think, commend itself to gen
erll appreciation. Had it been initferen; to the
alarming condition Of Gen. Taylor's army, aud
lurburGc to use Rt the earliest moment, the most
energetic measures to guard against the fatal
consequences of its defeat then too probable, it
would have deserved an arraigumeut as severe
as that which you have made against IT for having
done lts duty IN that critical emergency. When
you first received the reasots assigned for the
course adopted here, they appear to have been
satisfactory. In your dispatch Of the 2Sth oi
April You say: Yesterday learned, by vour
letter Of the a2d, and the AdjItant Generals OF
the 26th ulumo, that all the recruits of the rcgi.
ments-some 3OO0-rased or kely to be raised
in time for this army. have BEEN ordered to the
Rio Grandc.' You did not tien intimate the
slightest Observation-Disclosures eien : prcmoniory
symptom Of that deep di~tres' with which, in
santly on Mr.. Trist's arrival nMrxico YOU repre-.
sent yourself to have been seized 1t is conci.
dence not unworthy Of notice that the letter con
tanning your first condemnntTy remark on this
subject was written on the da Of the date of Mr..
lriSt's first note to you, and nly the day before
your capilous reply to it, ane in both you assnll
the War Department Your withering dsap
! polniment seems To have slunbered for ten days,
and then TO have been arouse' by the appearance
Of Mr., Trist in Mexico aud yo quarrel with him.
, II the order from War Department had IN fact
diverted the forces with Gc, Cadwalader, still
II was fully IhSiihed by the treat,ninE aspect Of
Affairs on Rio Grandc; but | IN quite sure It did
not divert them, preyiousurder from the de
partmcnt had designated aiy other place Of
rendezvous than the BraZos W the troops that
were To- JOIN your column II vuo well under
stood, before you lett Wa'hlnghn, that all the
troops inr both armies were be sent 10 that
place. aud there To :all under ydr command
lhls arrangement wa, not mr. was It expected
that It would he here chngeI until You had
penetrated so far into theenenys country as to
! render Your communicates win that place OF
: general rendezvous diliedt and dllatory
You also complain Iha the order was not coun
termanded. II there hal been such an order,
aud It had been cuun'c'nanaod what would
u have been the consequence The troops would