The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-06-14

date of June 10. announced the death, at
the neighboring town of Salem, of George
B. McCartee formerly an employee of the
United States Treasury Department. The
dispatch added: "Mr McCartee was the
man who wrote, on dictation as private
secretary to Gen. John A. Dix. secretary
of the treasury In President Buchanan's
Cabinet. the message: If any man hauls
down the American flag. shoot him on the
spot T" This is mistake. That dispatch
was written by Gen. Dix himself. A pub
lished facsimile of 1t shows the body and
signature to be in the same bold hand
writing, and thirty years ago General Dix
wrote 1t. The dispatch was sent Jan. %.
1861, less than a month after General Dix
became secretary of the treasury. At that
time the financial condition of the treas
ury was desperate, treason was plotting on
every hand, and the seizure of govern
ment property in the South was threat
ened. General Dix sent Hemphil Jones,
a trusted employee of the Treasury De-
partment, who was afterwards for many
years chief clerk of the first controllers
office, on a special mission South to secure
for service two revenue cutters then in
Southern waters. Jones found the Lewis
Cass In the hands of insurgents at Mobile.
The Robert McClelland, another cutter,
was In command Of Captain Breshwood at
New Orleans. Special Agent Jones gave
Captain Breshwood an order from Gen.
eral Dix to sail north. and Breshwood abb
solutely refused to obey the order. Jones
wired this fact to General Dix, adding
that the collector at New Orleans sus-
tanned the rebellious captain. General
Dix instantly telegraphed back as follows:
Treasury Department Jan %, 1861
Tell Lieutenant Caldwell to arrest Cap
tain Breshwood. assume command of the
you. II Captain Breshwood. after arrest.
undertakes to interfere with the command
of the cutter tell Lieutenant Caldwell to
consider him as a mutineer and treat him
accordingly. If any one attempts to haul
down the American flag, shoot him on the
spot. JOHN A. DIX,
Secretary of the Treasury.
When this dispatch became public i,
thrilled the American heart and a medal
was struck commemorative of the event
called the Dix medal. In August, 1873, a
friend wrote to General Dix stating that
different persons were claiming the author.
ship of the dispatch and asking for a
statement from him. General Dix replied
| as follows:
| Seafield. West Haven. n. Y. Sept. q, 1873
| Your favor is received The order allud
| ed to was written by myself. without any
| suggestion from any one. and it was SEN
| off three days before IL was communicated
| to the President or Cabinet Mr. Stanton.
| letter to Mr.. Bonner, OF the Ledger stat
| ing that IL was wholly mine, was pub
lished in the New York Times last Oct l
or late in September, to silence forever
the MISREPRESENTATION in regard TO it
| After writing 1t about o'clock in tn,
evening", l gave 1t to Mr.. Hardy. clerl
| in the Treasury Department, to copy. TIL,
| copy was signed by me and sent to tn,
| telegraph office the same evening, and thu
| original was kept. 1t is now in posses
| sion of my son, Rev. DR.. Dix, OF New
| York. 1t was photographed in 1863 or 1854
made. Very truly yours
JOHN A. DIX.
There never was any ground for contest
ing General Dix's authorship of the dis
patch, and the statement In regard to tn
late George b. McCartee is wholly un
authorized. He had nothing to do witt
the dispatch. The writer OF this articl
knew Hemphill Jones we'll during the civi
war period and has heard him relate tn
circumstances of the dispatch. which a
that time was never attributed to an
person but General Dix.