The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1861-03-30

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/ held under the seals Of condolences tSas
from the beginning Of our history a. ma
ton bad not been violated" he ustesed :
vie faisehood aud calamry.
But Mr.. Holt inserts "a his e0mmuniea-
ton my letter of resignation and the PFesi-
dents reply, the very point iE ISSUE IN which
was, that this expedition lDf the Star Of the
West was fitted oat withoat usy knowledge.
in violation OF an express understanding
But, when the President admitted in his
repi- that he expected my resignation when
this disclose was made, and ss | did noa re-
sign, Of course did NOS understand Is be
thought lie expressed hinself. And a.
well knew the acting Secretary Of War, IN
his eagcrness 70 crush out tisnse whom he
considered s.in open rrbelliglz," wzs ready
10 seize upeu any loose exFwessioR of the
President 10 Justify himself IL adopting any
suggestion Of Gen. Scott. WHICH lse surprised
would effect That end, | did not choose to
push controversy with tbs President IN
volying question Of veraeity. lint If Dir.
Holt intends 10 be understood by qu ,iing
this correspondence, that this order which
the President claims 20 have made, was the
s'oEsicitl' information held hy me under the
seals of confidence, and which comm'ani-
cssted, pronounce him dishnnoreble Ind
un qualified ials5fer. Allmy correspondence
with the President has never been publish
ed, aud | append copy VI that porlaon
which has not yet been pFiatcd. and hope
that you will insert il in ygar psper is a
part of this letter.
On Wednesday the I'd Of January. the
question of sending reintorccnents 10 Hort
Sumter was Formally discussed in Cabinet.
The letters of Major Anderon were read,
and as the differences draws rom them were
different by the several members, the presi
! dent decided that special messenger should
/ be sent to Major Anderson to learn his true
! condition, and suggested TO Mr.. Holt save
/ raj interrogatorics to be propoanded 10 him.
i This conclusion was reached rs admitted By
every member of the cabinet. As soon as
/ this question was disposed Of, the reply of
/ the South Carolina Commissioners was taken
! up and returned. After that the CONVEX
/ sation was desultory, and if the President
used the expression that "reinfrcements
must not be sent 1t is certain that neither
Judge Black, CIV. Thomas or myself heard
the remark These are the only two mem
bers Of the Cabinet with whom have had q
special conversation on this particular sub
ieot. 1t is certain, however, that the then
acting Secretary of War, moved upon by
Gen. Scott did inangurate this secret ex-
pedition of the Star of the West, with the
belief that he could throw two hundred and
City soldiers Into Fort Sumter by stealth
1t is also certain that the President order
cd the sending of troops to be arr s:ed, and
intrusted the carrying out of this counter
mand to Mr.. Holt 1t is also certain that
this order Of the President was made in full
time to have arrested the expedition, if all
parties had discharged their duty. 1t is
certain that it did so happen that the Star
of the West set sail without receiving the
order Of countertuand; and it is certain that
after her return to New York, it was evil
dent to all that the sending of her was great
mistake. [ deal with the facts, not the
reasoning involved in this transaction. 1t
is further certain that history will not re-
cord this expedition as one of those brilliant
strategic movements which will mark the
military career Of the Lieutenant General,
though he was confdin=ly sustained by the
acting Secretary Of War.
Mr. Holt concludes his remarkable com
munication by an appeal to the sympathy
of the Union men of tie South lie has
forfeited all claim to their consideration,
and they will not extend 20 him their conf
dence He has waxcd fat on their kind
ness and patronage, it is true, but they viii
reject his approaches with disdain, when
he informs them that in adhering to THEN
respective States, they are ''in open rebel
lion" They hold this is government o
consent, and cannot be kept together by hi,
sovereign remedy Of powder aud ball. They
held that the States are separate and indie
pendent parties to the compact which form
ed the General Government That each
State has the right to assert her indepen
dcnce whenever the safety of her people re
quire it, and, in doing SO, neither commit,
rebellion or treason, as she owes no ale
glance to the General Government as he
t sovereign, and th-t, therefore, the citizen ii
r adhering to his State and yielding obedi
r ence to her commands, is either rebel o
a traitor We all know if military force
e used to subdue the seeded States, til
q question of African slavery is at once subor
: dinated to the higher and greater one G
). making slaves of white men,
4 Mr. Holt further says, that he is denounc
$ cd throughout the South simply and solel
e because while in Office, he refused to ''blaci
J. en- his soul with perjury" Now. if this b
true, the South is wrong; but what will the
t think of him, when, onthe very day he b,
# came a private citizen, he consented ,
: st,ike at the best friend he ever had,
: perfect disregard of Ged's high comman
e -''Thou shalt not bear false witness again
l. thy neighbor." j. THOMPSON.