Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1862-11-15
90 &C. RspIy . Baehapsp.

oeherai seotts Reply to Buchanan.
;r the telegraph gave but confused sy-
Aopeis Of the reply Of General Scott to the
late letter Of the last ex-Presidept. The
~ 1all document enables Us to rive our read
-ili en- more Ineligible one. General Scott
hrsi notices the assertion Of Buchanan
tnat there we're no available troops within
alsa rsaehs with which to garrison the forts
winch were in danger. To this he savs
nat there were 600 recruits in the barbor
e 'aot New York, and at Carlisle Barracks
Ds "a besides hve companies Of regulars
a near at hand, making in all, about 1000
men. General Scott would have sent 200
. Of them to Forts Jackson and Phillip. be-
Cd ay loWzNeH 0rleansj an equal number to
Fort Morgan, below Mobile; 100 to Fort
Riekenss and an equal number to Fort
w MeRea, at Pensaeols; 100 to Fort Jeffer-
-. son, Tortugas Island; 100 to Fort Pulaski,
.so near Savannah, and the remaining 200 to I
,9zs Forts MOultrie and Sumter These would |
BY no means have been war garrison for
= these works, but would have prevented a
Surprise. These movements might easily
have been made in November or December
1860, and some Of them as late as JaDns.
~, 1861, but the President now sneers at
this "weak device.D General Scott saws:
-', :, He forgets what the gallant Anderson did
with handful Of men, in Fort Sumter. {
and leaves out Of the account what he {
might have done with a like handful
IN Fort Moultrie, even without apv
iarther augmentation Of men e divide be- !
ss tween the garrisons Twin forts. on the =
- opposite SIDES Of channel not only give :
ia cross TIRE on the head Of an attack, but 1
the strength Of each is more than doubled a
by the Hawking fire Of the other. The c
same remarks apply to the gallant Lieut. II
Slemmer, with handful Of brave men in n
Fort Pickens. With what contempt might Il
he not have looked upon Chase or Bragg in
a troDt Of him. with varying masses Of from
.a AOOO to 5000 men, if Fort Pickens, and Of
Its twin fort McRea had had between
them only 200 men I"
- He next notices the indignation Of the =
ex-Presidsnt at having the neglect of the y =
forts attributed to the influence Of secreta-
~ Floyd, Buchanan having asserted that -
he himself was President, and responsible r,
for al the acts Of the Administration. To N
this assertion General Scott scathingly re- %
" spends: Ou
snow Notwithstanding this broad assunp- 9. g.
.Aon VI fesp ponslDllly. should be sorry to NO
= believe that Mr.. Buchanan specially con- =. -
scented to the removal by Secretary Floyd ~, ~
sloof ll6 900 extra muskets and rifles, with m
ll all their implements ard ammunition from -
Northern repositories to Southern arsenaIs, -
80 that on the breaking out of the matur- t;o
ing rebellion they might be found without Nc
cost except to the United States, in the ~,
most convenient position for distribution al
among the insurgents. So too, Of the l2O ~,
r or l40 pieces of heavy artillery, which the ~ ~
same Secretary ordered from Pittsburgh to i
Ship Island in Lake Borgne, and Calves of
ton, Texas, for forts not yet erected"
The rest of the letter is much as report
ed by telegraph IN
BuchanIn has made nothing by this con- aH'
troversy. His efforts to cover up and ex- ne
cuse his inbeciity or treason, have only ne
exposed stu more glaringly their naked hea
.- ness, BE will go down to his grave wear
ing the mantle Of infamy which his official
acts hava faefnnad ,,ro,