, 1861-03-11
Holt on nThompson-Asca scath1us Letter.
- WASHINGTON, March +, 1861.
AI.1S ax,F4 Nall

Holt on Scath1ng Letter.
a. WASHINGTON, March +, 1861.
To the Editors Of the National Intelligencer:
In your issue Of Saturday last you published
m extract from an address recently made to
the people Of Mississippi, By the Hon. Jacob
Thompson, late Secretary of the Interior, in
which the following language occurs:
~ sras serts1g ny resignation, I sent q
dispatch to Judge ltpngstreet that The Star Of
tic West was coming with reinforcements.
Tho troops were thus put on their guard, and
when the Star Of the West arrived she received
n warm welcome from booming cannon, and
soon beat retreat. was rejolced the vessel
was not sunk, but WITS still more rejoiced
that the concealed trick, first conceived by
Gen. Scott and adopted by Secretary Holt, bnt
countermandsd by the President when too
late, proved a failure.""
We hare hcrea distinct and exultant ayow-
III, on the part Of the Hon. Secretary, thnt,
while yeta member Of the Cabinet, he dis
closed to those in open rebellion against the
rived from his official position, and which he
held under the seal ofa confidence that, from
the beginning Of our history as 4 nation had
never been violated. This step not merely en-
dangered the highest public interests, but put
In Imminent jeopardy the lives Of two hundred
and fifty innocent men, who had never
wronged the Hon. Secretary, aud who in rro
ceeding to- Charleston harbor were simply
o5eyinE the lawful command Of their superb
OF officers. The armed enemies Of the Gov
ernment he was serving, under the solemn
sanctions Of an oath, were as he declares,
titus put upon their guard" u. and the
fraif vessel that was bearing succor to its
friends, "receiVed q warm welcome from
booming c:annon.'' 1t could not be less than
offensive to the heart and to the intelligence
Of tho American people to comment graytly
on this humiliatiug transaction Its true char
acter has already been determined hy the pub
lie voice and that voice will doubtless find its
echo in the Judgment Of history.
The reference in the concluding sentence Of
the Paragraph is not to 1Ae reinforcement
which had been contemplated: by the Brooklyn,
but to that which was attempted by the Star
Of the Hcst. This is denounced Us ia Goa
ceaicd trick, Int conceived By General Scott.
and adopted (of course with u knowledge OF
its eharacter} by Secretary Holt; and tie i'm
preston left npon the mind Of the reader is,
that as soon as the President became aware OF
the " trick, ," it was count fernandez ty him, but
too late II 1t was not designed 10 make this
impression, then the snimadversion Of the
Hon. Secretary would lose most if not all Its
point, as it WIS his evident purpose to sEarpen
his censu1c Of General Scott and myself, hy
leaving it to be Inferred that our action had
been without tic sanction of the President.
As the effort to reinforce Fort Sumter was
the most responsible act Of the Var Depart
mcnt during my brief connection with its I'd:
ninistration, it is due alike TO the public and
to my own reputation that the calumnious i'm
putatfo1 cast upon 1t by the paragraph quoted
should be promptly met and rrtuted. That
refutation will be furnished by the following
correspondence
: ...- WASHINGTON, Jan. s, 1861.
SIR: It ia with extreme regret have Just lesrn-
Cd that additional troops have been ordered to
Charleston. This subject has been frequently dis
cussed In Cabinet Council; and when On huuday
night, 31st OF December ultimo, the orders for re-
ed, distinctly understood from you that no order
OF the kind would be made without being preri-
ouslT considered and decided In Cabinet: 1t is
was ayaln discussed In Cabinet, but ccrtainly no
conclusion was fesched, and the War Department
was not justified In ordering re1nforccments With
ont something more than WAS then said. learn,
steamer Star Of the West sailed from New York
last Saturday u1Eht with two hundred aud fifty
men, under Ideltenant Bartlett. bound for Fort
Sumter Under these circumstances, feel my
self bound to resign my commission, as one Of
you. Constitutional adsisers. into your hands.
With high respect your obedient +, ssIy2nt ~
His Excelency JAMES BucHAsAS,
President Of the United States,
WAsHH61ox, Jan. Q, 1861.
SIR: have received and accepted your resigna-
tion, On yesterday, Of ths office Of Secretary Of tho
: On Monday evening, s1et December, 1850, I sus-
pended the orders which fhad been Issued b. the
War and Navy Departments to send thc Brooklyn
formed yon on The same evening, statcd 70 ypu
my reason for sthis suspension, which ron knew !,
from ttsnature would be speedily removed. In con
espE
This promise was .iaiihfnly observed on my
special Cabinet = meetig @ = On AK Wsdnesdas, % d of
January, 1851, sG-Whteh the question: Of sending