Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1862-04-18

" IVA ~ w.
country, and look after the interests OF tfsi'
friends in the army.
The Fort DonelsOn Investigation.
As the public sre informed, tho SPecla
Committee to whom WAS referred this matter
hayo made a Report 10 tho House, declining, a
present, 70 announces the conclusion OF tht
committee, owing to tho mass OF testimony ye'
TO be taken; but submitting hat already OBJ
tsinel and asking i; to be printed Tor the use
OF members.
In addition TO this Report, two Of the COM
mit!ee, Messrs. Foote and Bruce, asked leave
to peesen. 8 Minority R,port expressing an
opinion upon some Of The subjects involved II
the investigation; but consent not having been
granted, it wss aot presented. Some portions
Of it, however, have been published, and It is
deemed proper 70 publish the following OK
tract touching the same points, from a Report
prepared in response thereto BY another mem
bsr of the communicable. Barksdsle, Of Mis-
sippi. The reception Of the latter was not
asked by its author. after the refusal OF the
House, under the rule, to receive the former
krTR4CT.
IT'S undersigned solemnly protests agsinst
ths conclusions enunciated in that report, in
relation to the conduct Of Generals Floyd and
Pillow, in the matter of the surrender at Fort
Donelsoa. He protests that it is not the pro.
yincs of the Committee, and that it was no part
Of toe intention Of the House to interfere with
the constitutional ~prerogatives Of the Presi-
del, who deemed the suspension Of those
officers to be- proper, until IN Investigation Of
their couduc! could be instituted.
Scrupul1us 10 do no injustice, the undersign-
el declines 10 express any definite opinion in
relation to The acts OF those Generals, on the
occasion referred to, until full information
upon the subject shall have boon received.
It is due 10 c.ndor, however, to cay that,
with tho lights now before the Committee, tho
undersigned has not bsen able to arrive at
tho conclusion stated in the report heretofore
mentioned, that all the enquiries propounded
By the War Department 70 those Generals,
have been ''most satisfactorily answered by
than" 1t is painful fac! tina, while that re-
pprt expresses an ihdentical opinion upon the
ponduct Of both those officers, their official
reports cosaict with, and contradict each other
10 essential and important particulars, Both
cannot DO right
In tbs report Of one Of these officers (Gen.
Floyd i; is stated that il the council of war
he exac.ed, as a condition Of the surrender,
that he would take away his " brigade by
cutting through the supposed lines of the enc
my or otner " ise. Tho undersigned cannot
Conceive Why e single Brigade was thought to
be equal to such an undertaking, when it WAS
no. deemed attainab,e by the entire force under
his command.
The undersigned deems il due to the State
of Mississippi. sad to the gallant men Of the
10Th Mississippi Regiment, to declare, that
until somis more satisfactory" evidence is
produced 70 Justify the abandonment of that
regiment to captivity by the General whose
fortunes it had followed, while the other regi.
ments Of his command, raised in his y
neighborhond, were afforded the facility for
escaping on the only steamboats, at the Fort
ne can join in no such report az the signers Of
the one in question have deemed it thor duty
submit.
IT. his supplemental report, Gen. Floyd has
stated that no ons OF the regiments" corupo-
sing his command, "was either wholly saved
or wholly left" but it is within the knowledge
of the committee that the 20sh Mississippi
regiment is nh exception to the remark, not
six members Of that regiment having escaped
with Gen. Floyd. The 'three hundred mem.
bers of the regiment who we're reported by
him to have BEEN ''saved," it 80 happens, were
for the most part absent irom the Fort when
the battle WAS fought at home or in hospitals,
on furlough, sick leave, &c. Or the entire
number, (sbout 500,) who were in the battle,
comparatively mono were Saved" in the boats
which took away the main portions Of tho
other regiments composing Gen. Fioyd's bril-
gade. 4 few others escaped by land sfter the
departure OF tho boats, without molestation
from the enemy.
III renuirad
tho exercise Of more than ordinary ingenuity
to coustrno, a. the signsrs Of tho above
named report have done, tho unofficial letter
of the lamented General A. S. johnson, dated
March is, Es an expression Of his approval of
the surrender Of Fort Donelson. In o spirit
of magnanimity, he spsaks in general terms
Of his confidence in ''the gallantry, energy aud
devotion to the rcause Of the Oonfederacy' Of
Generals Floyd and Pillow; but he ,~rsirsins
from any expression implying his approval Of
their conduct in that affair. On the contrary,
he declared that ''syents subsequent to the fall
Of Fort Donelson shoso that tie Investment Of
tie Fort aoGs not as complete as their infornan.
NATION from. their scouts Tel them to 6eiiees."
Il was upon this information, thus pro.
nounced to DO erroneous by tho General
in command Of the department, that the
fatal surrender was made, consigning to
captivity q gallant army, who, according to
testimony taken by the committee, were eager
and able to cut their way, if aeed be, out Of
the lines Of the enemy.
In the same unofficial letter of Gen. john
ston, he uses the following language, which
certainly forbids the construction placed upon
the words Incorporated in the report to which
this is a response. He says: "When the
forcs was detached" (for tho defence of Dom
slson) 81 was in hopes tha$such dispositions
would have been made az would have enabled
the forces to defend the fort, on @ith0ra,o
sucrifcing the army. On. the 14th
I ordered General Floyd by Telegram, IF he
LOST THE FORT TO GET lIs FORCES BAcE TO
Whether Genera! Johnston found in the
attending the affair at Donelson,
q sufficient reason for the failure Of TIE Cen
oral il command to execute this .order, is not
stated In his lotrsr. He preferred to await tho
opportunity OF obtaining at the facts, and to
weigh them impRr!ially before expressing 81
The undersigned impuies NO improper no
tives to thu authors Of the report but his own
sense o~fjustice impels him to protest agains.
their conclusions, being approved by this
house, under circumstances SO extraordinary
SO those which he has detailed
E, BARKsDlLE,