Maryland free press., 1862-11-07

into mere chld'g play" In the Ganerei's opini"r
ia smallsr evil (than these Intestine 7Etsl would
| be to sicw ,he frsgircf'r If she rrest 'opub'ic
| to fori, tbem6eIves intr ''rr cnrfederscesl prob
ablv f'pf,"
! H. N, l,ri7 out what ought t. b. ths boun
dsrie. hptsesr the new Unions and at the end
Of each goes 20 far as even to indicate the cities
which ought IN be the capitals of the three first
on this side Of the Rocky Mountains, tn wit -
columbia, South Carolina" ""AIton. or opincv.
Ill.," and "Albany, New York." excluding wa,h
ington city altogether. This indication Of cspi.
tss contained in the original, now in nv posses
sion is curiousy omitted in the version publish ed
IN the National Int eligencsr. He designates m
corital for the fourth Union on the Pacific. The
reader will jadge what encouragement these
views, proceeding from 60 distinguished source,
must have afforded tn the secessionists Of the
cotton Statc-.
| trust I have said enough, and more than
enough, to convince every mind why l did not,
with force OF five mpsnies, attempt tn rein
orce Forts jackson aud St. Philip on the Missis .
s'rpi; Fort Morgan, below N ,bf; Forts Pickens
and NcRea, in PenaacoIa harbor; Fort Pulask',
below Savannah; Forts Moultrie and sumter,
Charleston harhor, and Fort Monroe, in Vii ginia.
These "views." both original aud supplements
ry, were published By General Scntt in the Nat
ionsl Iutelligspcer of January 18Th, 1861, at the
most i'm 2ortsat and critical period al the admins
istratior. Their publication at that lime coulo
do no possible good, and might do mech haFm-
To have published them without the .'fe'ii' nrS
kn0n ledge and consent, was as muah ~ Violate"
OF the sacred confidence which ought ,c prevail
brtween the Commanding General OF ,he Army
and the Commander in Chief, as it would have
been for the Secretary of War to publish the
same documents without his authority. What is
of more Importance, their publication was caicu-
lated iniuriousy to effsct the compromise meas
urea then pending before Congress and the coun-
try, and to encourage the seees"iolista IN tDslf
mad and wicked attempts to shattsr the Union
into fragments. From the great reapeal winch
then entertained for the General, passed it over
in silence.
It ia worthy CT remark, that soon a't>r tee
Presidential election, represent ,tions of what
these "views" contained, of more or lees correc'A
ness were unfortunately circulated, especially
throughout the South. The editors OF the Ma
ticnal IntelIigencer, in siEning reason for
their publication state that both 10 public prints
aud in public speeches silusious bad heea made %
them, ant ScLhe io-o VI sH''' 'HN
acter had got abroad.
H. and Ill. General Scott states that he ar
rived in Washington on the 12tb. ard, accom-
panied by ths Secretary OF War, held conver-
sation with the President on the 10 ID of Decem-
Der. Whilst / have no fecoilection whatever Of
this conversation, he douttle.s;y stAtes correctly
that l did refuse to send three hundred men to
reinforce Major Anderson at Fjrt Moulnie, who
n.sk kar
son for this rerlssl is manifest to al who recoec,
the history OF the time. Bat twelve day. before,
in his annual msssoge OF the 81 of December, l
had urged upon Congress the adoption u amend
meuts to the constitution Of the same character
with those subsequently, proposed BY Mr.. Crit
tendep, called the "Crittlndeu Compromise. -
At that time high hopss were entertained
throughout tie country that these would BE-
adopted. Besides, believed and this correctly,
as the eveFt proved, that Major Anderson was
then in AErS oi Htt-eE. 1ndeei, hs nd ais-
command were then i+esred With marked Kind
ness by the auhurit es aad people OF Charleston.
Under these circumstances, TO have sent such
force there would have have been only to impair
the hope Of compromise, to provoke collision aud
dsarpoint the country.
There are some dctaiis>of this conversation in
regard to which the Generals memory must be
defec,ive. At present shall specify only one
[ could not have stated that on future contn'
gent occasion l would telegraph "M'j>r AIder-
s.n, of Fort Moutrie, to hold the forts (Moultrie
and Sumter) ag.inst attack" because, with pFu-
dent pre- caution, this had already been done seVe-
ra. days bororo ,hryugn II special messenger sent
to Msior Anderson for this very purpose. lrelsr
to Major Buell., of the army.
The Generals supplementary note of the same
dav. presenting to me Gen. Jackson's conduct in
1888. during the period of qualifications, as an
example, rt quires no special notice. Even II the
cases were not entirely different, had previous
" determined upon policy Of my own, as will
appear from my annual message. This was, al
crery hazard to collect the customs at Charles
ton and outside of the port, If need be, in YES
sel.of war. Mr.. Colcock, the existing collector,
as lad anticipated resigned his office about the
end of December, and Immediately thereafter
to the Senate, as his successor u s"'''
able person, prepared at any personal risS 10 40
bis duty. That body, howeverj throughout lis
tire se sion, declined to act on this nomination
Thus, without collector, it was rendered impos'
sible to collect the revenue.
Nv. General SCOUTS stEteihenI "hes'' ~
'the Brookl5n, with capt. Vodges' company
alone, left the Chesapeake for Fort PickeOs about
January 22i, and on the 2o;h President Ba'han'
an, having entered into qnd's armis'iee win
certain leading seceders at Pensacola and e'sa'
where, caused Secretaries Holt aud Toucey to
instruct, in joint note, the commander OF the
war vessels off Pensacola, and Lieut.. Sleinfner'
Fort Pickeas, to commit no act Of
hostility, au1 not 10 land Capt Eodges' company
lnIess the fort should be attacked" He after
Yards states, within brackets, "That joint note
,ever saw, but suppose the armistice was conss-
Iuent upon the meeting of the Peace Conventior
4 Washington, and was understood to terminate
With it,"
The statements betray singular want of mem
ry on the part of General Scott. 1t is scarcely
redible that this very joint note, presented in
uch odious colors, was submitted to Gsperal
scott on the day it was prepared, (29th january
md met bis entire appreciation. 1 would not
enture to make this assertion If l did not psssess
conclusive evidence to prove it. On that iay
Secretary Holt addressed me note, from which