The Alleghanian. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1859-1865, 1862-11-20
General scott to President su-
E- EEsGEs3s.
HIGHLY INTERESTING CORRESPONDENTS

To the Editors of the National hateIligenesr:
reoret to find myself in controversy
with the venerable ex- President Buchanan.
Recently October 21) you published
my official report to President Lincoln dated
March so. 1861, giving summary OF my
then recent connection with our prlnclpal
southern forts, which, am sorry to per-
ceive. has given offence to tie ex-Presldent.
! That result, purely incidental, dId not enter
into my purpose in drawing up the paper;
! but, on reflection, | suppose that unoef
| the circumstances, offence was unaVolaa-
ole,
| President had right to demand OF me
the immediate commander OF the army
how it had happeud that the InclPient. !.
rebels had been allowed to seize several oI
those forts, and from the bad condition oi
others were likely TO gain possession OF
them also. Primarily the blame rested
exclusively on nae. Hence, to vlndleate
my sworn allegiance to the Union and
professional conduct, the report was SUB
mitted to President Lincoln at sn early day,
| lin his administration and recently to the
world.
Te that short paper ex-President Blu
| chanan publishes a reply Of double the
length in the htcdigencer Of the lst instant,
Nv reioinder, from necessity, If not taste
will be short, for hold the pen IN q rhen-
matte hand, and ann without and de- cam I
or amanueusis, and without q printed
document and my own official papers
Unable, in my present condition, to make
an ANALYSIS of the ex-President's long reply
| avail myself of substitute furnished y
, an accidental visitor, who has kindly
marked the few points which he thinks
may require some slight notice at my
hands,
To account for not having garrison
Cd sufficiently the Southern forts ramet
: against anticipated treason and rebellion
according 10 my many recommcndalttoGS
beginning October %, 1860, repeated tn
next dav, aud again more earnestly, De
cember Is, 10, 2S, ana 30, the eX-Fresi
dent says: There were no available troop
: within reach "
+ Now. although it IS true that, with 0
without the ex Presidents appreciation
. the Secretary of War had nearly denude
our whole eastern seaboard of troops Il
I, order to augment our forces in Texas an
Utah. | nevertheless pointed out, at sewers
<, of the above dates, the six hundre
rec .uits about which we had IN the ha
y bor of New Y York and at Carlisle i}arracS
/. Pennsylvania, nearly all organized mi
IS temporary con, ,panies, and toierabiy driiie
and discipiined-quite equal to the pu
pose in question besides the live compa
les of regulars near at hand, making abo'
one thousand men. These di5posab
+ troops would have given (say) two hundrt
Il. men 10 the twin forts jackson and {
+ Philip below New Orleans; an equ
H. number to Fort Morgan, below Mobile
:. reinforcement Of one hundred men to 10
Pickens, Pensacola Harbor, and garrls
u of the Ike number to the twin fort Meta
y, VI n Garrison of one hundred men to -
NJ Jefferson, Tortugas Island, and the san
" 70 Fort Pulaski below Savannah, whlt
NJ. like Forts jackson, st. Philip, Morg
and McRae, had not at that time soldl
leaving about two hundred men Tor
20. twin forts. Moultrie aud Sumter, Chari
". ton Harbor, where there were two we
companies, making less than ninety m'
Fortress Monroe had already garrison
some eight companies, one or two OF VIII
might in the earlier period OF dang
les have been spared till volunteers could N
been obtained, notwithstanding prin
- hand bills were everywhere postef
Eastern Virginia, by an eccentric char
lm ter inviting recruits to take that import
work.
Now. | have no where said that cit
e. of those forts, even with the reinfor
nents indicated, would have had I
garrison Certainly not. My pioposlt
ott was to put each in a condition, as
pressIy said to guard against surp
IS. or coup de main, Gan off-hand attack,
e''s without full preparation.)
That these movements OF small deta
NJ. ments might easily have been made
November and December, 1860, and st
of them as late as the following MOI
cannot be doubted. But the ex Presto
' w sueers at my "weak device for say
the forts He forSets what the gal
s. Anderson did, with a handful OF men
Fort Sumter, and leaves out OF the acco
what ne might have done with
handful in Fort Noultrie, even witt
.aa further augmentation OF men to di'
5 ], butween the Garrisons. Twin forts
the opposite sides of a CHANNEL not
!. Give a cross fire on he bead OF an att
bu, the strength of zach Is more