Maryland free press., 1862-11-07
FX.PRtSlDsNT BUCHAAAk'S LerTsR.
ftviGW or THE LAST FnUR MONTHS tF HIS
ADMINS FRAT ION.
REPLY TO LIEUT.. GENERAL SCOTT.

rfob, ex Pre- sident Bueh anan, wherein be defend.
his conduct daring the last months OF his admin
i,tration The letter in reply to General Scoiti
s letter 70 Gently rubished. The Iutelligslcer
says:
sin the paper 1pw placed before cur readers
the venerable ex.Presidsnt shows that re was not
unmindrul of the obligations placed upon him by
! the trying events through which he was compel
led to rass in the closing months OF his admins
traticp, and he clearly states the confederation
OF public duty under which he acted, as sl9o the
limits within which he had power to ret at ALL
At the sane time he places in q clear liz ht some
rscts which, from the commanding position hc
then he'd It the head OF affairs, he is able to pre-
s.nt ia co location TINT redeems his conduct
S.orn certain niisapprebensions vhich may have
been enter ed at the time by Observers less
y ctgtizArt &C al the circumstances which made
up the situation, eli civil as military, ct the
1 oatbreak of secession"
INTER FROM Ex PnssIDnEl BUCHANAN.
To the Editors of the Ma onsl Intel igencer -
On Wednesday last received the National lntel'
lsenosr containing Gan. Scon's address to the
1ub:ic. This is throughout 10 undisRuistd cen
rurs oi my conduct during the lsst months OF the
4 administration in regard to toe seven Cott1n
States nov IN rebellion. From cur past relations
l w.s sres'ly GprpGised at The fppsars1cs OF such
n paper. 10 one aspect, however, 1t was highly
gratifying. II has justified me nay, IL bas ZEN
dsred it absolutely necessary that 1 Should no
longer remain silent in respect to charges watch
havo been long vaguely circulating, but are now
i endorsed by the responsible name oi Gen. Scott
y |. Tho first and most proni,cnt among these
s ehsrges i, my reiu.al Immediately to garrison
nius snrmerstsd fortifcAtions scattered over ak
of tie Southern States, according to the recon
fnendaton OF Geu. Scott, in his views" addrsssde
! TO the War Department on the 2s,h and sou OF
October, 1850. And it has even been alleged thst
If this bad been dcu. il II ght have prevented the
oiril war.
Thia refusal is attributed thout the least csuse
to the influence OF Governor Floyd. All my cab.
met IN ust bear me witness that was the Presi-
dent myself, responsible for all the scis Of The
ndministr stior; and certain 1t is that during the
last siI months previous to the 2olh of December,
1860, (he day on which he resigned his Office after
my request, he exercised less Influence on the
Naturalization than any other member of the cab
met. Mr. Holt WAS i'm mmedi,tely thereafter trans
ferred from the Postotfice Department to that of
W r, 80 that from this time until the f;h Of
March, 1851 which was by far the most important
period Of the administration, he performed tie
duties OF Secretary OF War to nv entire sStisfac.
tCn.
But Why did not Immediately garrison ;hes"
nine fortificati0ns in such manner, to use the
language of Cen. Scott, Gas to make auy attempt
to take any one of them By surprise or coup.de
main r,Gicuou,?" Th ere is one answer, both
es.y and conclusive, even il ether valid reasons
did not exist. There were available troops
within resch which could be sent to these fortfi
cations. To have attempted military operation
on scale go extensive by any means within the
Presidents power would have been simply absurd.
o. this Gen. Scott himself sacms to have been
'convinced, for op the day after the date of bis
frst "views," he addressed ION the 30th OF octo-
be, J supplemental views to the War Department,
In which he states: "Thers is one (regulsr)
company in Boston, one here, (at the Nsrrows,)
one at Pitt.burg, one at Augusts, Ca, one at
Baton Rouse"-in sll Eve companes only within
reach to garrison or reinforce the forts Mentioned
in the "vievs."
Five cnmpsuies-feur hundred men-to occupy
and rsirforee nine Notifications 10 six highly ex-
Cited Southern Stated The force "uitbin reach
was so entirely inadequate that nothing more
need bs ssid on the subject. To have attempted
snch = military operation with go feeble a force,
and the Presidential election impending, would
have been invitation to collision and secession.
Iudsed If the whole American army, consisting
then of only sixteen thousand men, had been
"witbn reach" they would have been scarcely
srfi:isnt for this purPose. Such was our want of
troops tha,, although Gen. Scott, believing, in
oppoition to the opinion of the oommi ttee raised
in the House Of Representatives, that the iuauS
ration q: Mr.. Lincoln might be interrupted by
t,,;l; ~ b
inston, 90 late as tbs I'h March, six hundred ard
fifty. y.thfee men, rank and file of the army. And,
to make up this srmy, even the sappers and miners
were brought frcm West Point.
Bat why wss there no greater force within
react! This question could be better answered
ty General Scott himself than By any other per-
ssn. Our sus regular army, with the exception
of fen hundred men, we're out of reach, on our
remote frontiers, where it had been continuously
stationed FOR yesrs to protect the inhabitants and
the cmgrsnts on their way thither against the
attacks of hostile Indians. All we're insufficient
and both IN. Scott and myself had endeavored
in vsiA to prevail upon Congress to raise several
additional regiments Tor this purpose.-In re
commencing this augmentation of the army, the
General states il his r,bort to the War Depart
msnt of November, 1857, that dit would rot more
needed in Florida, Texas, New Mexico, California,
Oregon, Washington, (T.) Kansas, NeDra.ks,
leaving not a company for Utah."-
nd sgain, in his report OF November, 1858, lie
says:
"This want CT troops to give reasonable securi-
~ to our citzers in distant settlements, incudin
emigrants on the plains, can scarcely be too
strongly stated but will only add that as often
as We have been obliged to withdraw troops from
nne frontier in order to reinforce another, the
weakened points have been instantly attacked or
with formidable INVASION
These "views" OF General Scott exhibit the
crude notions then prevailing even among intelli-
gent and patriotic on this subject of secession
In the frat sentence the general. whilst statipg
that, "to save time, time the right OF secession
may be conceded" yet Immediately says, "tbis
IS instantly balanced by the correlitive light on
the part of the Federal government against an
Interior State or States to reestablsh by force,
IL necessary, Its former continuity of territory"
For this he cites "Pae,'s Moral and Political
Philosophy, last ctapter.") It may be there,