Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1857-10-07

4
| commanding general
Here, with my address before him, this ex-
| Inspector General states what he knew to be
| deliberate falsehOOd, viz: that confess myself
to have been spy upon Gen. Scott; and, having
| assumed this lie, he has the effrontery upon it
to base his calumnious structures, foully asper
| sing my character, and c0rertiy aSsailing the
memory of President Polk. Who does not per-
ceiye that, if / had accepted the position Of a
| spy upon Gen. ScOtts movements, and had in
! So doing dishonOred myself. the President, in
| imposing such a duty upon me, was diShonOring
| himself. But | accepted no such position, and
| he knew 1T when he penned the article.
How despicably base must he be who will thus
| Intentionally fabricate falsehood in order to
| get an opportunity of slandering the memory of
the illustriOus dead and of venting the malice
| of his soul against tho man whom he tried to
| Uictimize with his false testimony before the
courts of inquiry
If be were now before a court of Justice for
the first time, and with untarnished reputa-
ton would not this triLtI fa!SehoOd utterly
! diScredit him?
Nearly ten years ago, in my defence before
| that court, (Which was published to the WORLDLY
| / denounced him as destitute OffrHfh honor
ami courage. He has pOcketed this withering
denunciatOn ever since in Siiencs. He now
comes forth, protesting to be governed alone by
the desire to protect the character of the 'gysat
sOidieT,' and to snlighten the people Of Ten
nessee as 20 my claims to Senatorial honOrs-his
| males, aIG5Sed with JdfsshOOd, striking like
| the assassin in the dark.
| Ten years ago, when l was under the arrest,
awaiting trial upon charges which hs was OK
pected To prove, he wrote an anonymous letter
| to the New York Courier and Enquirer, in which
| he said: "PillOw, too, is in arrest. lie is SO
| and charges running through several sheets of
| paper have been forwarded to " Washington, and
| they represent him in such an OdioHS fight that
| We cannot think Of him but with disgust. He
! is charged with lying, and with dnpIicifv and
treachrry; in fact, his characters utterly pros
| trate here
Again he said: He Pillow could only have
| received slight blow of some sort; possibly, he
struck his foot or ankle against some projecting
| limb, without knowing what it was
Gen. Scott, in his official report, said of this
| ''SfSht HOU' against a "prOj OjScting limb"
! This gallant leader was struck dorm nrhiLs
mp ruth the front raNksby an agoniSing
| IrOU1d"
Again Hitchcock says in his letter, Il will
confne my remarks to facts within my own
knowledge" So. then, it appears that he had
| psrS0Ha EHOrrledge Of the fdcts told him in
! Trist lies A PERSONAL kNOrrledgs Of all that
| took place at Trists quarters tcheH hs not
present. Though the army had been fighting
| from IL meridian till p. N. on the 18th of
August, under my order and with no senior
officer upon the field, he has personal Anoacl-
| edge that had given orders to Generals
| rwiggs, Riley, Cadwallader, or Col. Morgan,
when these officers all testify that had, and
| when he EGS not present.
| On the morning of the goth Of August. when
the entrenched camp Of COntreras was carried
| under Smith, was upon the hill Of Chepulte-
pee, In full view Of the assaulting force yet he
had personal knOuIedge that was in bed at
| San Augustine.
Again: Hitchcock says Trist told him that
| took him in a - prfr0tr room" Ton the night of
the 10Th August, after Gen. Scott had directed
the assault on the morning of the 20th under
| ten. Smith suggestiOn,) and told him (Trist)
that disapproved this plan, and notified him
that washed my hands of the responsibility of
the movement. Now, it so happens that this
| fact as stated by Trist, was embraced in SCOTS
charges against me. Trst swore to the fact
! but the court was satisfied that he lied, and
found against him in this. as in all his other tes
timOn, and Hitchcock knew ii; yet he now re-
wives and brings forward this proven falsehOod
| Of Trists, and repeats it as true, under his
pledge " TO cOnfne himself to matters within
his own knowledge" But, independently of
this view of the subject, why should l wish to
wash my hands of the responsibility OF measure
ordered by Gen. Scott? lie was in command
OF the army, my seni0r in rank, and the entire
responsibility would of course rest upon him
| Yet Hitchcock repeats this old disprOven false
hood as if he himself believed it
is further fact or commentary necessary to
show the utter moral depravity Of this Acting
| Inspector General ~
The other misrepresentation that 1 deem it
proper to correct, relates to the Puebla negOti-
atiOnS In .ny address | made the following
statement:
"When reached the headquarters Of the army
at Puebla, was Invite d To a conference with Mr..
| TTist. On my arrival at his quarters | found
Gen. Scott there. Mr. Trist Informed me that
| he had opened negotiations with Santa Anna,
| and had pretty well az reed upon the preiimina-
Gies of negotiations for peace. BY these terms
| Santa Anna was to be paid, cash in hand
| nest money, SIC, ,OJO, aud our army was to march
TO tine valley OF Mexico and fight battle before
| the city. III we UoH armistce was to he
| granted, and commissioners appointed 10 treat
for peace. When peace should be concluded,
Santa Anna was to receive one million OF dollars
more.
'.Mr. Trist further informed me that these terms
had been agreed to, but il was open question
whether SAINT, Anna or General Scott (after the
battle was fought should take the initiative and
send the flag Of truce, preparatory to the armis
tiee-Santa Anna insisting that General scott
shoud send the nag, but General Scott insisting
| if h- won the battle Santa Anna should do
He further said Gen. Scott had furnished him the
money. and that he had paid the 80, go required
10 be paid in advance, and that General Scott had
the means in the disburSing department Of the
army, or could raise the means Of paying the mil
lion 10 be paid at the conclusion of the neEOtu-
tions lie also said he had invited me To the
ference in pursuance Of the order of the Piesi-
dent, and desired my approval OF the terms.
II asked Mr.. Trist ii there any law au-
replied there was not. l then asked him II the
President had authorized such of it, He
replied he had not but he thoug ht il the best
he could do.
Regarding this as a n improper use Of the pub
lie money, and as d tyibs 10 the commander of the
ensmy's forces, and as dishon0ring the Govern
ment, and disgTaceful 10 our army, / at once pro-
tested aga nst the whole matter. :.
''Gen Scott justified and defended the meas
ure, both upon the score OF morals and to the
usage OF Governments. He said we not cor
rupIng Santa Anna, for the fact that he was found
in the market, asking 5ri6s, is proof that he
was already corrupted.
''In regard TO the practice Of Governments, he
said ID was Esdgs Of all Governments to rtf,ct
their purposes, when necessary, by money, and
that our Government had sanctioned the practice.
He said the prssents made by IL 10 the chiefs Of
Indian tribes aud 10 the Barbary powers were no
| thing but brides. He further said that, In the
settlement OF the Northeastern boundary question,
e5OO.UO had been used-nO one know. how, but
the oricers Of the Government. uHless il used
, 10 brIDe the Maine press. He mentioned other in