St. Cloud Democrat. [volume] (Saint Cloud, Stearns County, Minn.) 1858-1866, 1863-04-30

warrant his having refused Capt Barrett
permission to join Capt. Freeman and
proceed without further delay to Aber-
cvombic. As this affair has already &C.
CAPPED too much time and space, We will
be brief as possible in noticing a few of
Capt. McCoy's points:
In the FIRST place we ask Capt. Mccoy
to look once again at his instructions and
see il, in his anxiety to throw as much Of
the blame for delay as possible on them,
he has not made IN enor of At least one
word, and that an important one. In his
letter he very carefully italicized the word
"posstbte." In Special Order No. 62,
dated Aug. 30th. 1862, wherein the Ad-
jutant General directed Col. Smith to de-
tach these two companies, the following is
the language employed: .,.. as., .-gasG
90 \ for the purpose of protecting
the inhabitants of the Sank Valley from any
attack of hostile Indians, and to Cooperate as
far as possible with the troops at Fort ;Aber-
crombie; and in case there is no (D6e1 prob
able danger of interference from such Indians
in the Sank Valley that then they will pro-
coed to Fort Abercrombie, and report to the
Captain commanding at that post
As will be seen, the changing of that
one word throws very different light on
the instructions from that sought to be
given them by Capt. Mccoy. That it
was the intention of the Adjutant Gener-
al and Col. Smith that he should make all
possible endcavors to relieve Abercrom-
bic, is evident from Special Order No. 4s,
dated three days earlier, wherein it was
directed that e.. .
"All the cavalry and mounted men at St.
Cloud ana vicinity will organize into compa-
| MES Of not less than 40 privates, by electing l
Captain, LIST Lieutenant, I'd Lieutenant,
and will forthwith proceed to Fort Abercrom-
bic and report TO the commanding officer.
We make these extracts from the Adju-
tant General 8 Ohclal Report. .*~
1t was well known at the Adjut,nt Gen
erals Office that there was but one COM
pany Of cavalry herc-and Capt. Mccoy
himself places its number at fifty men
and it is scarcely probable that they would
be ordered 70 perform duty considered
too dangerous for two full companies Of
infantry, much better armed and equip.
ped.
Leaving this to our readers, to whom
the Captain appeals, we proceed to his
next statement, with regard to the time
occupied in coming from Minneapolis to
this place. He admits to being five days,
but lays the blame on others. With re.
gard to the cause We cannot speak, any
further than that those who were with
the expedition informed US that the de.
lay was wholly unnecessary and that much
time was idlcd away. ..
With regard to the detention at this
place from lack of transportation, there
was assuredly enough to have met the re.
quirements Of Capt. Barrett's company,
and then Capt. Mccoy could have pro-
ceeded more leisurely with his OK train.
This statement Of the Captains does not
improve the case by any means.
We have the authority Of the citizens
whose names ale mentioned for saying
that they called on Capt. Mccoy the
first evening Of his arrival opposite this
place, and We are fully aware Of this fact
ourself; and further that they did not
represent to him that the Fort was sur
rounded by thousands Of bowling sava-
ges." But they did urge the necessity
Of prompt action, while such action could
be Of benefit; and not fritter away time
until Fort Abercrombie-its brave little
garrison worn out by constant watching
and fighting, while the dcfenses of the
post were so weak as to be of little avail
should fall into the hands of the 'sava-
ges" the Captain so much dreaded, and
the whole frontier Of the Red and Sank
River Valleys be thus left at their mercy,
and any effort Of his to benefit Sank Gen.
tire be of no avail. Whether it would
have been a "direct violation of his in
structions" for Capt. Mccoy to have de-
tached Captain Barrett's Company and
sent it forward to Capt. Freeman-an old
pioneer, fully acquainted with 1ndian
character and the condition Of affairs,
who had already started to the Fort and