, 1884-01-10

the British officers. lie would like Il
few more men. but my command
would be insufficient If hostilities
Were commenced, and thought it
would be better not to land my men.
l was on board the steamer Massa-
chusetts in San Juan Harbor. August
u, 1889, when the Plumper arrived,
having on board Lieut. tool Noodle.
of Her AIajesty's Royal Engineers,
(whO was Governor Of British Colum
bia.) and the 200 British Royal
Engineers and Marines. referred to
by you.
Capt. Richards, of the PIumper.
and | were personally acquain- ed,
He called on me. and on leaving.
expressed wish to call on Capt.
Pickett, and asked me to 20 along
and present him, which [ did. On
leaving Capt. PIckett's tent he pro
posed to Introduce me to their Gov
ernOr, Col. Noodle, which lead us up
to Mr.. Griifin's residence. where the
COlOne. and his aid-de camp. Lieut..
Lamprlere, Of the Royal Engineers.
Were stopping. On the way | Inquired
If he had seen the account Of the
battle of Solferino, bu lie. nor any Of
the british officers, had ever heard Of
the battle there could only inform
hun that the French troops had Il
second. and much more decisive battle
III results. than Magenta. but / had
not read the details, expecting at Port
Townsend | might meet with II Tvs.
papers containing detailed Geo INT.
Capt. Richards Informed Col.
Noodle of my news about Solferino,
when L was very closely cross-qucS-
toned by the Colonel TO see If | had
coniOunded Magenta with the later
battle. He then inquired as To the
routine OF business and orders III our
government, and iustanced business
emanatIng through lie , ;artment
of State, as an example for Illustrat-
ing. 1t seemed relief on learning
that the Secretary OF State would ad
wise the Secretary of War as to mat
ters affecting tie military, who would
send the General commanding the
Department proper instructions, and
ne give the orders to such officers as
were cuncernedin i'll the execution.
Capt. Richards had brought me
ashore in his boat, 50 accompanie
me back. GA our way back he eX-
ryssed his belief thst the water
bound ny lines might have been
u ranged ut q G mt of st. James,
,nd the failure o. the royal mails to
connect at the West Intia Islands had
left the British officers III the dark
This seemed to be the impression ui
the group Of officers present At this
int, rvrew, ard led, | believe. 10 tic
immediate dispatch Uf the major oi
the Royal E"glneers to NashIng gtUn
City 10 communicate with Lord
l., ons.
| believed then. and have always
attributed the very discreet and for
bearing course of the British officers
with such an overwhelming wal
force at their command, to the delay
of their mail aud the apprehension
that the question of San Juan Island
had been adjusted in England, and
the news was on the way to them
while we had time to get the neces
sary orders through the proper chan.
neis. There was certainly nothing
to prevent them from landing theiI
forces beyond the reach of Capt
Pickett's muskets, in greatly super
ior numbers, and taking up strong
position for defenso-thus, without
bloodshed, assert their claim, and
await further orders. Any attempt
of Capt. Pickett to dislodge them
would have been sheer folly. They
could have held possession, then,
without Pickett's consent; the rea-
son they did not do it was not be
cause of any fear of Capt. Pickett
nor of General Harney, nor THEN
determination to resist by force.
Bat for General Harney to put tC
the hazard of war all the commerce
of San Francisco and along the coast,
and expose Puget Sound TO the GER
tain conquest Of the British ships OF
war then at hand, without allowing
us moment of time to get ready tC
meet them-to have involved rs III
war at the moment when the two
couxtries We're amicably engaged,
through their commissioners, III fix
ing the boundaries and thereby the
urisdiction-would have been ter
rible crime and a public calamity.
When we recall the agitation which
existed in 1853, especially among the
friends o. the South; the irrepressible
,e.. CT; the manifest efforts of Gov
eSnor Floyd, Secretary of War, to
su ply the Southern States with their
quotas of aall arms and cannon:
the depl, tio of the L. s. Treasury
at that time; the demands war with
England would have entailed upon
that depleted treasury; when we re
ca all this, and l might say the
exasperated feeling of the South, and
preparation to Withdraw from the
Union of States, our peril becomes
the more apparent. The South was
then in no humor to assist the Fed
eral Government in fighting for more
free soil. 1t would have been their
opportunity then to drop out and
form a southern confederacy. Eng
land under the circumstances, would
no doubt have acknowledged the in
dependence Of the South, and assist
ed those states to become firmly
established.
And We owe our escape to the for
bearance OF the British officers, not
to General Harney, nor to Capt. Pick
ett | do not wish to be understood
as ascribing 10 General Barney any
disloyal intention His mind was
that Of a warrior rather than states
man, and did not look at the conse-
quences to the Union. The presI-
Dental bee had gotten into MS bon
net. He was sent to the Department
of Oregon on account of the Indian
troubles; this reception was most fiat
tering to the "Indian Fighter The
Legislatures of Oregon and Wash
iugton presented him with addresses
of welcome, and elected from him
pronounced replies. To beard the
British lion was professional, heroic
and must bring him prominently be