Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1872-09-08
JOHN t. PICKETT.
Letter from the Gentleman who Sold the
Confederate Archives to Grant.
He Defends Himself as a Diplomatic
Agent and Soldier Of the Cen
federacy.
Memoranda from the Notebook Of q
Remarkable Character.

The following letter 20 W. S. Pickett, Esq
/ sf this city, has been handed US for publica-
1 ton, and inasmuch as we published the arti.
Gle the author ofit complains Of, weflnd space
WASHINGTON, d. c., I422 F. STREET,
August 29,lSz2.
Ny DEAR MISUNDERSTANDING from q
months absence, / find your kind and
thoughtful letter OF the frst instant, for which
attention please accept my sincere thanks.
The article from the APPEAL, headed F" The
] Pickett Archives" which you inclose, re-
minds me Of the famous definition of the crab,
/ given by photographer, who declared Il 70
| be 4" a small fsh, Of a red color, which runs
/ backward; = TO which a wag remarked that IL
! was an excellent definition, except in three
! particulars namely-first, the crab is not a
1 nsh; second, il is not Of a red color; third IL
| does not run backward.
/ Thus, the personal attack which the editor
OF the APPEAL has thought proper 10 make
! upon me, is untrue in every essential particu-
lar. BE begins by stating Tia Mr.. Pickett " as
Il not IN the civil or military service OF the Con
! federate states Yet, ia the very ncXt SEN
i tence he says: aIFe acted as Secretary TO the
! Confederate Commissioners 70 Washington,
] in the early part OF 1851, and was subsequently,
( sent as an agent 70 Mexico, whence he was
/ recalled, /" etc. Now, under what head should
the diplomatic service be classified, II il be
neither civil nor military? The editor Of the
] APPEAL cannot have forgotten The famous
/ saying Of Talleyrand, to the effect that, "CeSf
jLSfeIReff CONNIE nous QtuTas. Nous QppeLlOas
tout oe Qlii NEST past cfUt' Eitif0iTel" And rice
/ rersG.
! As 70 my "agenoy" to Mexico, it was that OF
| a Minister Of the fiFst-class-accredited 70 The
supreme political head OF tie nation-my
| commission being precisely the same-mutq-
/ tis allftandis-as those given, Subsequently, to
] Messrs- Mason and S1dell. Be 1t known,
/ too, that this position was wholly unsought
/ by me- was preparing 10 reOrganlze my old
| flibusters and Dictionaries when Il was ten
/ dered to me, and have always felt grateful
] to Messrs. Davis and TOOmbs, for so dis
| tiHguished mark Of their confidence. The
Pickett Archives show conclGsively, that
! my mission failed in the accomplishment of
/ objects from no fault or incapacity of my
| own. was requested. at Montgomery, May
| 1861, to draft my own Instructions. did so,
] but they were emasculated al the Department
| Of state, and thus nothing substantial was
! effected. Had the authority and power asked
been given me, / am morally certain to this
! day that should secure the recognition by
I Mexico; have clothed and shOd the Confeder-
/ ate States armies from that country, and have
! swarmed the seas with letters Of MarQue and
! Reprisal, for which purpose ! was furnished
] with hundreds Of blank commissions. More,
I the Allied European Intervention never
| could have occurred, for / would have
/ negotiated an alliance offensive and defensive
I between the Republic Of Mexico and the
/ Confederafe States The GPicketf Ar
I chives" viii substantiate all this, and
I am not ashamed OF anything OF
my own appearing in them 1 must
/ add that during my negotiations at the capital
! city OF Mexico, President Juarez-between
whom and myself there was an old personal
/ riendship-frequently invited me, through
the Minister OF Foreign Affairs and Others
/ to visit him at the palace privately.
/ But felt il due TO my government 10 decline
being received except in my public character
I I will frankly confess that came, afterward
/ TO regret declining those Invitations as much
good might have resulted from the proposed
inNeTNleNs, D1t Ielt az t1al tlIne llooll strong
IN the strength OF the Oonfederacy. l was
/ never "reealled" In any manner, sense or form
/ from that mission. The editor Of the APPEAL
ought to know that public ministers are not
! recalled, technically speaking; they are suf-
/ fered 10 retire" Finding my mission a fall
ure, ashamed 70 remain in a ''bOmb-proof
Hum nnr fnamH II = = nfsH
render any substantial service, sretired"
myself and withdrew voluntarily from Mexi-
can territory. Arrived at Richmond after a
/ years absence, President Davis told me that
| he had had all my dispatches carefully read TO
/ him, that he approved OF my action IN every
particular, and invited me to dinner. Whence
arose the extraordinary repression which he
and some OF his cabinet exercised toward me
afterward is TO this day wholly unexplained
some future day.
Immediately upon hearing of my return to
the country, General John c. Breckinridge
I telegraphed the authorities 10 send me 10 him
as chief of staff, which was Immediately
done; and il seemed 10 me that, when cam
paigning through Mississippi as the executive
officer OF corps OF fifteen thousand brave
men, and especially when l lay for a month
under the enemys guns and bombs at Nioks-
burg, that / was most furiOusly in the mill
tary seryfce-the editor OF the APPEAL to the
contrary notwithstanding. 1t would be in
teresting TO know where he was at about that
time. Is he the gentleman met handsomely
bomb proofed" at Atlanta, when was a can
didate for the Confederate States Congress. 1
mean nothing personally offensive by this
Twenty years ago, when the gallant, gifted,
good Theodore O'Hara and were editors Of
the Louisville Times, knewan editor Of the
APPEAL who was a hne gentleman. Poor
O'Hara! YOU remember him well; the au-
thor Of "The Bivouac OF the Dead"
"On Fame's eternal camping-ground
Their silent tents are spread,
And glory guards with solemn round
The bivouac OF the dead"
He died Of broken heart on account Of the
treatment which he received from the au-
thorities at Richmond, and his story viii be
found in the ssPickett Archives"
II seemed to me, too, that was still IN the
military service, when General Breckenridge
left me for some days in command OF pOr-
! ton OF his division-I being, from violent
recurrence OF chronic climatic Mexican dis
ease, unable TO mount my horse and accom-
pany him to Louisiana. i surrendered the
command to that most brilliant young sol
der, General Bowen, who, Door fellow, sue
cumbed not long afterward 10 q more pitiless
enemy than even the Nankees-pCilfdG ns0rS.
A short time on the sea-shore partially re-
stored Iny strength, and / fastened straight
way 70 Richmond, and made application for
q new assignment 70 duty, whereupon was
coOlly informed by tine jutant-Generalt that
my commission was vacated by my sick
| leave. then signed in common with some
! half dozen distinguished kentuckians, three
/ Of them members Of Congress a petition 70
the President, asking to be suffered TO accom-
/ psny General Braggs army into Kentucky to
I raise a division Of troops from among ouI
people and friends. They carried the petition
/ to Davis, and returned presently, boiling with
| Indignation, saying he had tnsulted them
most grossly. But one Of those gentlemen, 10
| the best of my information, ever renewed per
7 sOnal relations with him.
Next cut out for Little Rock, Arkansas, in
1 the hope Of obtaining a command through
the influence Of Governor Claiborne Jackson,
\ William), but he died OF cancer the day Of
7 my arrival at the Arkansian capital! Re
naming there month, unable to obtain a
| position, and seeing things going 70 the bad
/ In that department, ] returned 10 Richmond
| TO see what could be done toward having
capable officer sent thither. j LEFT no stone
unturned 10 have either Joe johnson, or Gus
tavus Smith or any gentleman and soldier or
dered out, but in vain. also attended to
some business for the Chief PaymaSter
OF the Trans-Ml Mlssissippi department., for
which l was paid, and every dollar Of which
money I instantly handed over to the
Maryland and another mot at this moment
recollected, but the evidence is among my
4 private papers Soldiers Relief Association.
] repaired 10 i4ttle Rock; reported the result
/ pairing yet again 70 the Confederate capital
made renewed application % the War Depart
ment for employment; which my friends and
I / pressed Tor eighteen months. Finally, an
appointment was sent me As Colonel, with au-
thority 70 raise regiment IN Kentucky, then
absolutely IN possession Of the enemy. re-
! ferred Ii, Indignantly. 10 the Secretary OF
War-as an insulting mOckery OF my earnest
desire 10 serve my county. A aWest-Pointer'
| Though not a graduate); veteran soldier;
past conscriptiOn age; physically exempt, too,
I by cruel surgical disease, IL seemed " hard
OF my friends" My military capacity had
been more highly appreciated by Narciso
Lopez, Louis Kossuth, William Walker, and
since the war, by santa Anna; all quite as
good judges OF men as jefferson Davis. II VIII
tell the story, some day, Of my effort IN con-
nection with Santa Anna, Reverdy johnson,
General Henningsen, and other distinguished
gentlemen, 70 save MaxtInilian. got 70 lew
Orleans, Santa Anna wac " bagged by an
American naval Ofhcer . at Vera Cruz, and
poor MaNinilian was shot Pending these
untiring efforts Of mine 10 be regularly re-
stored 20 the military service went into the
elected First Lieutenant Of the Congressional
Company al Richmond albeit myself nOtan NJ.
C., senator Slmms, OF kentucky Captain. This
company was organized for the defense OF
the capital 70 repel raids, etc. and grave, dig
nificd gentlemen, Senator'S Cabinet officers
Ministers PlenipOtentlHries, ETC., under the
old and new gOYernmenls, did not disdQin
me as theiT officer. But, still, all that wasn't
very military" Yet. when voluntary aid
ridge, on the memorable feld OF Cold Harbor,
June 4, 1854, when the Generals horse was
killed under him by cannon shOt--the rider
being stunned by the fall-and dismOunuDg
Instantly and placing him on my own "charg-
err that be might be safely conveyed OF the
neld, Il did seem 20 me, as an old soldier, thai
ID was rather q military style Of thing. AZ
terward, when my own horse was knocked !
down By the wind Of heavy round shot, !
crushing my foot - badly that Il has neveryet /
recovered its strength, labored under the
Tie s,rniiftarY" service OF the Confederacy or
not, Certainly the fellow who fired that gun
was IN the tiTnilltary" service OF the enemy. |
Arafn when The cheerful little leaden mes