£472 .2 .S52 - V • ^ aN^ %^ '■ ■' '^' ^ ^ s. o ^^.- y\^ '%'y'iT-*' J''\''- <^9^ .^ A -^-.N^^ • .-ir'^^^.w'' - v^ ^^-^^^ vV iJ^f:^ .^^-^ s^ (6- .4 o^ C" i" . -^.^*'' rWC^-. ^-^'i' <> ^0 ^oV^ ^c> ,V^ ^^^ivV. ^^ .v^ ^s^h^fW^ -o^S^ VINDICATION OP MAJOR GENERAL JOHN C. FREMONT, AGAINST THE ATTACKS OF THE SLAVE POWER AND ITS ALLIES, BY HON. JOHN P. C. SHANKS, OF INDIANA, IN THE HOUSE OE KEPRESENTATIVES, Tuesday, MIrch 4, 1862. WASHINGTON, D. C. SCAMMELL & CO., Pkiktkrs, corner of Indiaka avenue axd Second strebt, 3rd floor. , 1862. ■-V.v-} E SPEECH The House being in Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union — Mr. SHANKS said: Mr. Cbahrman : It is with feelings of much anxiety that I arise, under the peculiar circum- stances which surround me, to address this House on the subjects before it. My purpose is to call the attention of the committee to some of the matters contained in the " Report in part " of the committee on con- tracts, of which the gentleman from New York [Mr. Van Wyck] is chairman, only, however, so far as they relate to General John C. Fre- mont, and then only to a part of those at this time, as I intend, if possible, to take those subjects in detail when that report and accom panying resolutions may come before us. This " Report in part " was made on the 17th day of December, and ha^ been sent from this House to all parts of the country. Its consideraiion haa been deferred from time to time, until some ten days ago it passed from its character of a special order to a special privilege in the hands of the committee. The country has had the charges for over two months, and yet not a word of defence from those whose characters have been challenged on testimony taken without notice to them. Bnt since I am compelled to speak in Com- mittee of the Whole, I shall take the privilege thus ofiPered me to draw attention to mdtters of more general importance to the country, as connected with him of whom I shall speak to-day, still hoping that the time may come when the matters named in the report to which I have referred shall be well known to the House and the country. The only subject among the several named by the committee, touching the administrative character of General Fremont, which they think worthy to ask special action by the House upon, is in relation to the purchase by him, as commander of the Western Department, for service in his cavalry, of 5,000 new cast-steel breech-loading HalPs carbines, of Simon Ste- vens for the sum of $22 apiece. This pattern of arm was approved years ago, and adopted as a Government weapon 5 and I learn that a manufactory for its fabrication was established at Harper's Ferry, Va. A copy of the army regulations of 1835 now before me gives the cost in detail of this arm for material and manufac- ture at $21 ; they were then smooth bored. On the 6th day of June, 1861, General Ripley, chief of the ordnance bureau, of this Govern- ment, claiming to act under an order from the War Department, which very order the com- mittee say his bureau recommended, sold to a Mr. Eastman 5,400 of these arms for the sum of $3 50 each — just one-sixth their original cost to the Government, Eastman had pro- posed to Ripley for an average of $1 apiece, to chamber and rifle these carbines in the style of the latest improved arm, but Ripley refused it, and got the order on the recommendation of his own department, and sold them as above stated. General Fremont, sorely pressed for arms, having none for his cavalry, and his en- tire command in need of early organization, wholly ni-^glected by the Government, as I will abundantly prove as I go along, received by telegraph from Stfevens the following despatch: New York, Auguslb, 1861. I liav-o 5,000 Hall's rifled cast-stc«l carbines, breech -load- ing, new, at twenty-two dollars, government standard, 58-100 bore. Oin I hear from you ? SIMON STEVENS. J. C. Fremont. Maj. Gen., Com'g Dep'l of thf. West, Cairo, III. To which the following is an answer .- Headquarters WRSTtiRN Department, W. Louis, Auffuste, ISfil. I will Uikc the whole 5,000 carbines. See agent AUaras' Expres.'!, and send by express ; not last freight. I will pay all extra charges. Send also nmmunitiou. Devote yourself solely to that business to-day. J. C. FREJIONT, Major General Commanding. Simon Ste^-kns, A'eit) Torlc. This is a contract, and if honorably made by the Government's agent, it cannot now afford to violate it ; but ifl this case I only desire to lay the fault and blame where they belong ; for I agree with the committee that there haa been a most damnable fraud committed against the Government, but I now insist and will go on to prove that General Ripley is the man who has by his most unaccountable liberality with her much-needed arms, wronged the Govern- ment out of them for a nominal sum. The law provides as found " United States militfiry law- " on page 292, approved March ?>d, 1825, as follows : '■ That the President of the United States be, and he is hereby, authorized to cause to be sold any ordnance, arms, uniniunitioii, or other military stores or subsistence, or medical siipiilies, which upon proper inspection or sur- vej', shall a;ipear to be damaged, or otherwise unsuitable for the public service, whenever in his opinion, the sale of such unserviceable stores will be advantageous to the pub- lic service." It becomes a question whether the President has in the pressing need for arms during a war like the one now upon ua, ordered to be sold arms which General Ripley himself in a letter to Mr. Eastman under date of June 20, in- forming him where to get the carbines which were at arsenals on Governor's Island, N. Y., and Frankfort, Philadelphia, saying that East- man was to have " all of the Hall's carbines of every description (serviceable and unservice- able) on hand, at the rate of $3 50 each." I do not believe that the President did give such order; if he did it was on the recommendation of the department contracting them ; and I am well convinced that the President did not order serviceable carbines at that time to be sold at that price. The army regulations under dale of August 10, 18G1, gives the price of Hall's carbines, at $17 as the cost of material and manufacture, which is four dollars less than in 1835 — owing to the improvement in machinery. The carbine will shoot as well now as then, when made in the same way ; but in looking over the list of prices of small arms manufac- tured by the Government, as found on pages .394 and 395, A rmy Regulations, August 10, 1861, thev are as follows: Musket, $13; rifle, $13.25 ; Hall's carbines, $17 ; artillery muske- toon, f 10.37; cavalry musketoon, $11 ; sappers' ■'Uisketuon, $ 1 0.62 ; pistol, $7. But some of those same carbines were purchased here, by those who sold them for $15. Before Fremont pincha?ed those 5,000, they were all chambered and rifled, making them a superior cavalry piece ; and they are now in service by Halleuk's cavalry, having been armed by Fremont when he commanded. Now this committee ask this House to recommend the Treasury to only pay $12.50 fo- those purchased by Fremont, when the army regulations, dated four days after the purchase, give the price, as shown, at $17. The committee propose to allow $4.50 less than the material and manufacture, with- out the rifling and chambering costs, showing simply that the committee have not understood the case. Ripley sold them for $13.50 apiece less than the reguliitions of August, 1861, fix the actual cost, when there was no pres.sing need for sale, and Fremont gave after they were altered $5 more apiece than the Govern- ment price then, and only one dollar more than the Government price when he had been in service; yet the committee say that " General llipley is a gentleman of large experience, and inexorable in the performance of his public duties." On the 12th of April, 1861, the enemy attacked Fort Suqjter — on the 14ih it surrender- ed. On the 15th the President called for 75,000 men to quell the rebellion, all of whom would need arms. On the 19th the traitors in Balti- more killed our unarmed troops in the strnets. On the 6th of June, the "inexorable" Ripley, on what he claims as authority from the War Department, grounded on a recommendation from his own department, and all in viola- tion of law, sold 5,400 carbines, for $3. 50 each, which the regulation of 1835 tells us are worth $21 each, and the regulation published August 10th, 1861, sixty-four days after the Sile, gives the cost of manufacture at $17. On the 16th of June we lose Harper's Ferry where they were made, and surrender to the enemy all the arms there, with the machinery. On the 20th of Junethe carbines are still in the arse- nals, not paid for and not delivered. Ripley, by written orders, directed that all, serviceable and unserviceable, be delivered to Eastman, at $3.50 — subsequently buying 790 of them at $15. On August 6th, General Fremont, needing arms for men who were ready to defend a vast department, purchased 5,000 of them at $22 in open market, where the Government officers had thrown them contrary to law, but of which he knew nothing. On the 10th of August, four days after his purchase, the very department which sold them at §3 50, report them at $17 cost of manufacturing in Government arsenals. Yet you condemn Fremont and endorse Ripley, after you have said that the carbines were sold in the first place " privately." I think that the committee will do justice when they see these things in their true light. But the committee inform us the Ordnance Bureau, at whose head is General Ripley, in time of war r-icommends the sale, and sells, without law, for one-fifth their value, as shown by the books of his own office, five thousand four hundred stand of arms, with a loss to the Government of near $73,000, and holds his office still — and who is endorsed by the com- mittee. Inexperienced, I now approach with hesitancy to attack the cordon of fortifications thrown by experienced hands across the pathways of an honest, pure, devoted patriot for his destruc- tion, to satisfy the ambition of base and cor- rupt men, who, instead of supporting him, have seized upon the wisdom of his recorded councils and the armies and fleets by him spoken into existence, from which to gather the laurels due his rightful victories to wreathe their brows, while he wears a crown of thorns. My purpose is to do an act of justice to one who, tliougb his name and honor stands con- nected with this report and resolution, was not notified, nor could have been present, when the extrajudicial examination was had by the com- mittee upon which they are based. Nor can he he here now to defend himself upon this floor, against the unjust charges and inferences con- tained in them, against that name which has in this country long been a household word, synonymous with freedom, love 1 at home, hon- ored and respected abroad. I well recollect how the grateful thanks of our Western people went forth to meet the Pres- ident, tor the appointment of the brave and gen- erou-j Fremont to the othce of Major General, and in command of the Western Department ; ^w with one accord our young men rallied to the support of the Union, with the cheering hope that he should command them. The ener- gy and perseverance of the people of our West- ern States have no just comparisons among men. It was not strange, then, that they should look with pride and hope to a command =ir whose courage, energy, and devotion to liberty, are proverbial throughout the civilized world. I recollect how it was proclaimed through the public journals, that he was the right man, in the right place. That as this war was the result of slavery''s treason, freedom\s patriotic dejetider was our proper commander. Our Western people are plain in manners, devoted in thought, and prompt in action. With one hope wie entered our country's ser- vice ; politics were forgotten among us ; our minds recalled, and our tongut^s retold the scenes of his past life, and rejoiced that the hour was nigh when (as we then hoped and believed) he shoui'i lead us to battle. Nor have the people been deceived by the many causeless and unjust efforts made by designing persons to destroy their confidence in one of the abh^st generals in the American army, and the boldest friend of freedom in the Government service. Conceal it as you may, misname it as you will, the elements which have combined for Gener-ii Fremont's destruction, are too ap parent to deceive the common sense and quick perception of our intelligent and patriotic peo- ple. They see it successfully developed in the desigrns of the slave power, as manifested to wards him by its leaders since his proclama- tion to ihi^ people of Missouri, of August .'50, 18(31 — in a combination of long-known, iinder- mining politicians, and in a bigoted militarv jealousy. W« well know that General Fremont was given hh high rank in the army in obedi ence to the loudly and universally expressed wish of the people, who desired v/hen the R> - pablican party came into power that the ser- vices of its first representative, the man who had welded it together, under whom it had won its victories in '56, should be recognised. Against this wish to distinguish one of them- selves, the very men whom the people had ed- ucated into their positions, have set themselves in violent opposition, because he had not re- ceived with them the rite of infant baptism at West Point. Having from my youth learned to combat the world's wrongs and neglects and contend with its privations, I condemn the ingratitude of this class toward him, who only asks of the Government that he be allowed to continue in the active service of his country, leaving impar- tial history to determine between West Point and We-^tern patriotism. There are some chronological events which, when understood and recollected, will ma- terially aid in elucidating the positions I am taking in this case, as well as the action of those who strive with so much zeal to crush out every rising hope of him whom they have thus far practically victimized to their ungen- erous purposes. All will recollect the wide-spread national joy which pervaded all classes of pure, un- conditional Union-loving citizens,, when the lightnings told by telegraph that Fremont would take command in our army. He was, by those who note denounce him, then the brilliant, able, and patriotic son of the West, full of mind, energy, military skill, and promise ; and, in fact, these attributes were his before his promotion to command. So by the recognition of all men, and the contrary was not announced until his hand had written the proclamation of August 30, 18G1, a portion of which is in the following memorable words, and which places his name in history honor- ably, and in most pleasing unity with his life from his earlier adventures when he saved the State of California to freedom. Bat to the proclamation : " The property, real and personal, of all per- ' sons in the State of Mi'^souri, who shall take ' up arms against the United States, or who ' shall be directly proven to have taken active ' part with their enemies in the held, is de- ' clared to be confiscated to the public use, • and their slaves, it any they have, are hereby ' declared free nieii." This v?as the head and front of his offending — the key note on which rallied all the clans ia combination against him. It was but a few hours after he had said that traitors' property should help to pay the expenses of the war, forced on us by them, and that their slaves should be Iree, until from Kentucky and Mis- -louri, from the friends of slavery, who have not risked their lives in this war, came invectives against him and in favor of the cause which wrongs us. Prior to this time, neglect of the Western department and Western men had been the 8 The inevitable conclusion in every mind is, that the inquisition and concurrent publications to which I have referred, were but the prepara- tory ^teps to do what they knew to be a grave j wrong, and which the public mind would not receive until trained to it by a succession of i approaches, made upon it from different quar- i ters and iudueuces, which the sequel to this i history of wrongs will show to have been most i assiduously applied. | Culminating in the "temporary" relief of Fremont from command — retiring of the army from ipringdeld, followed by robbery and blood- shed over two-thirds of the State — the combi nation and conspiracy against him was gain- ing numbers and strength. The force against him had assumed form. Slavery was its centre column: political knavery commanded on the right wing as the post of honor in this most unholy crusade, and on the left were semi-trai- tors in office and influence, disappointed con- tractors, and Treasury plunderers. But the great miscreant in this struggle of wrong against right is slavery ; whose advocates, plying with their usual activity and ingenuity, like great and practiced criminals in the com- mission of fraud, securing its profits, yet avoid- ing that justice due to the committers of those accursed crimes so long inflicted upon our country ; and which have been borne with until we have lost that manhood which God iuteuded all men should have, as a safeguard against wrong and oppression. The responsibility on the people of this coun- try at this time is a fearful one, and fearfully we will answer it, unless freemen stand up and demand freemen's rights. The coming Presidential campaign is looked to by ihocie men with the keen perception of long- practiced political schemers. A transposition of the locality of President and Vice President, will, as a political necessity, take place. As the North and South are in conflict, the East and West will be required to change hands upon this question. Those who cannot expect from this and other reasons to reach the higher, will hope that mere locality may possibly give them the lower of those positions. And knowing that the public mind will be incensed at the accursed cause of slavery v/hich has produced all our national calamities, it becomes necessary to shape that pablic mind so as to receive another cheat and treason as preliminary to its still iurlher use, by men devoid of that lofty devotion to country which marks the real good mau, but yet who rejoice in their unjust successes at the nation's expense and sacrifice ; and to effectually do this, it become^TDecessary to strike down the man who is himself the consistent and acknowl- edged representative of that great truth of his proclamation, which finds at this time, regard- less ot party, a welcome response in the hearts of the Northern people. And knowing that they abhor diahouor iu their public servants, his persecutors shrewdly attempt to fasten that charge upou Fremont by the arts of practiced demagogues and energy of bad men in a bad cause, with the success which follows for a time the efforts of combinations against the single-handed, who, attending to his own duty, does not anticipate or prepare for the associated treason of dishonest men. I know that the combination is a strong one, and that General Fremont, because a friend of freedom, is the sacrifice to be offered by author- ity on the altar of his country as a peace-ofifer- ing to the slave power. It is but the first step of that march to degradation which you will all soon recognise; for the want of nerve and man- hood to repel the aggressors and to sustain Fre- mont in hig proclamation will come upon us from this same combination, which is one for power and place ; and when this war is ended, with rebel slavery protected by the Government, those slaveholding traitors will turn upon you in these Halls, denounce your brave soldiers as a rabble, and rejoice at the blood they have spilled. Under the protection of the flag they have desecrated and torn, they will lash their slaves to daily toil — protected by the laws they have violated and denounced, they will scorn the widows and orphans their treachery has made, and again will they strike down any representative who in these Halls dares to point out their crime. You will talk of the high mission and glory of the nation, while rebels stand, by your permission — nay, with you sanction ; ah ! with still more, your protection — with one hand on the throat of their slaves who are patriots, and with the other tears the flag which is the em- blem of our national honor. You see this, you know it; the world sees it and condemns it; all civilized men pity you, and scorn the im- becility which permits it. You endorse tha proclamations of generals in favor of protecting slavery. At this moment we are asked to en- dorse and make a law of the lats jubilant repetition of General Halleck's Order No. 3. You send your sons to fight this war, brought on by slaveholders, for the purpose of per- manently establishing slavery on the ruins of our Government. Slaves aid their rebel mas- ters iu every species ot the labor of war, and procuring supplies for their armies. You listen to, and endorse the proclamations of those gen- erals who avow that this relation of master and servant, even of Bebels, shall not be molested; protecting, by this means, the very forces you are warring, aud holding the enemies' weapons at the heart of our friends. Not only so, but the slaves themselves are loyal, and would be true to our flag and peo- ple. To endorse slavery is a mark reckless enough in this age of civilization ; but for free- men to aid in holding those persons in bondage to the traitors of the country, men whom we despise aud loathe, is a degree of ingratitude which the negro himself will pity in us, and feel proud that he is a slave. It is not enough that the nation has lost over twenty thousand of her brave sons by death in hospital and bat- tle-field ; that Rachel is wseping for her chil- dren, and will not be comforted, because they are not ; that the blood of those four hundred and eighty brave young men stained the ensan- guined field of Manassas ; that the disgrace of that struggle has severely rebuked our wonted prestige in war; that we have spent in this causeless rebellion over |G00, 000,000, and with the inevitable necessity before us of spending hundreds of millions more ; that the Ball's Bluff murder is but a part; of this accursed tragedy, where treason and treasonable blunders mur- dered by the hands of slavery's maddening de- mons a brave and loved officer and a thousand pure patriots ; that at Springfield, Lyon and his men struggled against a fearful and hellish power, until, outnumbered, he and hundreds of his soldiers lay down, for the last time, and their dead and mangled bodies become prison- erg to traitors, who could not conquer them while living. It is not enough that at Rich Mountain, Cornifes Ferry, Belmont, Freder- ickton, Lexington, Springfield, Roanoke, Forts Henry and Donelson, our brave brethren fell mardered by traitors, for slavery; but these same traitors are to be protected and apologized for here, and the man who dared to proclaim their property confiscated to the public use, and their slaves freemen, is hunted down through every avenue which human ingenuity can in- vent, prompted by the most remorseless desire to fasten on us and continue this cause and or- igin of all our woes. Of history we learn noth- ing ; our own we do not study. We blindly sit here while the vortex is opening again to re- ceive us. The blood of our people, the tears of our widows and orphans, the sword of the army, and the Congress of the nation, all fail to do a simple act which God has warned us, through lamentations and sorrow, is our duty to man- kind and to Him. Bat in face of all this, we support those who, with vulture eye,, have hunted the friend of freedom to his fall, and have divided his garments. The charge of inefiiciency was too shallow a pretext to deceive any one, more especially the Western people, who bore witness to his trials and his efforts, as well as the results of his labors in his extensive department, " which was the State of Illinois and the States and Territories west of the Mississippi river and on this side the Rocky Mountains, including New Mexico," and subsequently including a part; of Kentucky and the river. He took command of the Western Depart- ment wholly, without special instructions, with full discretionary power to conduct himself under the arduous duties of that position as his judgment should dictate. He entered upon his duties at St. Louis on the 25th day of July, •ISfil, and found the department in the most deplorable condition, almost without arms and military stores, wholly without money, clothing. or provisions. From the 6th of June previous Missouri had been in the command of General McCIellan, and from the perplexed and needy condition of the Government, had been wholly but unavoidably neglected. Lyon's troops had not been paid or clothed by the Government during the time he commanded them. General Lyon was in the southwest part of Missouri, need- ing reinforcements. There was trouble in the northwest, requiring more troops than we had there. In the northeast part of the State we had barely enough troops to meet the ene- my ; while in the southeast, Bird's Point, Cape Girardeau, Ironton, RoUa and St. Louis, with Cairo, Illinois, were threatened by a large force of the enemy, and no adequate preparations made to meet the emergency. The railroads were continually threatened and frequently de- stroyed — the incendiary's torch performing its office; arms were taken from Union men by squads of rebels all over the State; treason walked on the highways and denounced the flag and Government with impunity. The State was wild with excitement, persons flocking to the rebel standard from the very doors of the Government officers — St. Louis itself seething with treason and rebelion. " The State government in inextricable con- fusion unable to lend a helping hand ; no arms, no equipments, no horses for cavalry, no large guns for batteries, or small guns for field artil- lery; all the affairs of the Department in helpless confusion ; no system, no money, no officers, and no credit ;" the Department entirely neg- lected by those whose duty it was to provide for it. The whole country was in commotion. The failures of our army of the Potomac at Bull's Run and Manassas : its retreat on Washington ; the surrender of Harpers' Ferry with our arse- nal and arms, the machinery of which for man- ufacture fell into 1:he enemy's hands ; the retir- ing of Patterson from the Virginia shore — had all gone to embolden the rebels, who were then much better armed than were our forces. The authorities at Washington, trembling at the ad- vance of a victorious enemy, who were within sight of the Capitol, wereusiug every effort to make " Washington safe," having but one man- ufactory for arms left, and but few arms in the arsenals or market, the major part of them having been plundered by Floyd and his trai- torous coadjutors, left the Western Department almost destitute. All the arms which could be procured by the Government were sent to the army of the Po- tomac. Its money was spent there ; its clothing was forwarded and used there ; the demand was great and the supplies small. In vain did Gen- eral Lyon, days and weeks before Fremont's arrival, plead tor money to pay his needy troops, and with which to provide commissary and quartermaster's stores. In vain did he ask them to pay the debts he had contracted. In vain did he call for arms and reinforcements. Iq 10 vain did he notify the Government that his troops had neither pay nor clothing tVom the Gov- ernment during their three months' service — that their families were in want, they dispirited from the neglect and unwilling to re-enlist on account of it. In vain did Fremont plead for arms. In vain did he ask for money and mili- tary stores ; compelled to contract loans on his own responsibility to pay troops and furnish troops and arms. In vain did he inform the Government that hia troops were mutinous and those whose times were expiring unwilling to re-enlist on account of the failure to pay. He importuned until a Cabinet officer wrote to him that he could get no attention to the West or- Western matters ; that he must take every need- ful responsibility to save the people over whom he was specially set. Such are the ordeals through which Lyon and Fremont passed,, and paved the way "to others' honor and renown. When General Fremont took command of the Western department, there were less than twenty-five thousand troops in the entire com- mand ; of which forces ten thousand were three months' men, all of whose time expired within ten days after his arrival, leaving him some fif teen thousand in all that vast department. Of the whole forces, Lyon had near one-third at Springfield; the remainder were with Pope in North Missouri ; Prentiss, Cairo; Lawler, Bird's Point; Bland, Pilot Knob ; Wyman, at Rolla; Shrifel, Lexington ; Stephenson, at Booneville ; Smith and Marsh, at Cape Girardeau ; and Burnstine, at Jefferson City ; with a remnant at St. Louis ; all the Missouri troops poorly clothfed, not paid, some of them badly armed, and dispirited ; whilst, as I have said, 'the ene- my, buoyant with hope, had over sixty thou- sand men in the field, and their forces fast augmenting. Pillow, in southeast Missouri, 17,000 ; Har- dee, near Greenville, 7,000 ; Price, southwest, threatening Lyon, with near 30,000 ; Hsirris, in northeast, with 1,600 ; Green, in northwest, with over 1,500; Thompson and Watkins, near Girardeau, 5,000; making a total of 62,100. The enemy had cavalry and large amounts of artillery ; while the Federal forces.were with- out cavalry and but little artillery ; the whole State in revolt, and the young men joining the / enemy. General Fremont, fully anticipating the wants of his vast department, and well knowing the needs of the Govurument, with its disposition to call arms, ammunition, and sup- plies to Washington, on receiving iiiformatiou, while in this city, from Governor Yates of Illi- nois, that he bad seven thousand men ready to march, only that they were without arms, called ou General Ripley, of the Ordnance Department, and obtained^ promise that, out of twenty-five thousand stands of arms then on hand, seven thousand stands should be imme- diately forwarded to the West for those troops. On the next day, Ripley informed General Fre- mont, at New York, that the Grovernor of Illi- nois must be mistaken in wanting arms, and that they could not be had. Of this he notified the President through the Postm.a8ter General, who informed him that the President would in person attend to this matter; which he did by the appointment of Major Haguer to assist General Fremont in procuring arms by piir- chase for the West. And, notwithstanding this precaution and kindness by the President, the arms and supplies purchased for the West were sent by Haguer to Washington for the army of the Potomac as appears in the committee's report of Hagner's testimony. Not over about 2,000 stands of arms came from Hagner to Fremont. Another ruse played on Fremont was to send an order, dated July 2-4, 1861, for five thousand stands of arms on the arsenal at St. Louis, when there were none there to fill the order. Large amounts of those that were there in the spring of 1861 were rifled and repaired, under the supervision of this same Major Hagner, v/ho then had charge of the arsenal, and delivered to General Buckner, which have been used against our troops in Kentucky, until captured by the forces under Generals Grant, Wallace, McClernaad, and Smith, and Commodore Foote, which is a part of the army raised by General Fremont. On his arrival in the West, the Government was almost des- titute of supplies, being compelled to send her agents into the open market to purchase for the Potomac army. Different Governors also had their agents in the market, purchasing supplies for iheir respective States; all of which were competing with each other, raising the prices at cimes to much more, and seldom at as little as the real peace price of the arms and munitions of war. To show the House the very high prices which arms and ammunition reach in times of war, in Governments where as in this country, ample national factories have not been constructed and in use, I will read from a treatise on the rise in prices in arms and ammunition in England during the Crimean war : " When a siuMen tlemanfl aroFO for an enormous supply of the munitidus of war, not only were private establish- ments unable to provide them in sufficient quantities, but those that were supplied wore i)ro(luC!-'d at a cost consid- erably beyond, and in some cases of four and live times their value, and of a cpiality sojnferior as to involve great risk tif the failure of miliUiry operations. "The shells for which the contractors during the late (Russian) war charged $324 por ton, are now produced in tht.' Governraunt facloricB for $06 per ton." It was during such a struggle for arms that General Frt^mont was compelled to enter the market without money to compete with the United States and the several States in the pur- chase of arms for his needy department, of supplies for his gun-boats and his mortar-boats^ and to equip his land and river forces* with a concentration of which to quell a gigantic rebellion in the vast country included in hia 11 command. He could not advertise, for he had no money to pay for what was required. He could only get what people were willing to let him have upon credit. And it is v/orth while naming, in thia connection, that the Govern- ment is at this moment refusing to pay for the supplies thus furnished. At this moment, and ever since the removal of General Fremont, an illegal committee, pre- sided over by the man most instrumental in the procuring of General Fremont's removal, and violently opposed to him politically, has been sitting in inquisition upon bis administration at St. Louis — annulling contracts. I repeat, annulling contracts. The Essex, which, since before the battle of Belmont, has been active in protecting Kentucky, and bore a distin- guished part in the victories which have glad- dened and revived the loyal part of the na- tion — that very Essex, costing much less than half the price of the gun-boats built by Govern- meut — delivered to the Government completely finished and furnished, not only- with every ar- ticle of necessity, but even of comfort, including the cabin furniture of the oSicers and crew — put on board aud paid for by the private means of the officer employed to baild her, (Captain Adams;) even for this they have refused to pay, but stracli: off two-thirds from the fair aud reasonable cost, and that upon the full and de- tailed exhibition of the most satisfactory vouch- ers. And this, because this boat was built under the orders of General Fremont Compelled to strike a bargain wherever he could, he offered — • single-Iianded — the credit of the Government, and plead his pressing necessity as an excuse for the offer; aud though thus burthened with duties which belong to the Government, and which for all her other generals except Lyon she has performed, he procured his arms and supplies,equipped and managed his army, throw- ing his forces along those vast distances, quiet- ing and controlling the rebellion, repairing rail- roads and building bridges, and discharging all the duties of ofiicers of armies organized, and wkicii do not move, in additio!i to those services of which I have spoken. And yet we are told he is inefficient. By whom ? Why, sir. by that cabal which has pursued him because of his proc- lamation, in which are the friends of that fcsti- tution of slavery here held above the peace of families, the desolation of societies and States, the sacrifice of property, and the lives of free men ; a cause whose advocates find no sorrow or shame in marshalling its hosts for strife antJ. blood against the Government, its law, peace, and citizens. General Fremont is always successful when pursuing the dictates of his own judgment, which early pointed out the necessity of having guu-boals and mortar-boats to use on the rivers in connection with his laud forces. He had such constructed, the first under the supervision of the brave and competent Commodore Foote, who commanded them with honor to himself and the country ; the mortar-boats by that most excellent officer and gentleman, Mr. Adams. I clip the following just remarks from the New York Times relative to these boats : "Speaking' of tho success of Footo and I'orter, does it occur to you to look back aud give credit whore credit is duo, to tlio man vrho planned tho enterprises which have yielded such abundant returns? Do you recollect that among thO first charges that were brought against Fremont was the one that ho was waatiu!; money in building gun- boats to be used on the Western rivers, and that an unend- ing flood of ridicule and abuse was heaped upon what was called ' his visionary schiemo ? ' Fremont has not been per- mitlail to reap tho lull harvest of the seed he planted ; but the future will know that for tho fall of Fort Henry, and probably for the ultimate reduction of Columbus and the clearing out of the Mississippi , the nation will be indebted to General Fremoiit's foresight and adaptiition of means to an end. The campaign oi the Wi^st is coming back to the lines npon which Fremont stood when his triumphant career was cut short. Thus time and circumsUmcosare vindicating hftu , aUuosI Ijoforc the ink is dry upon the paper that doomed liim to inaction, and for a time to public censure." After General Fremont had well secured his outposts, and fortified them, with the fortifica- tions of St. Louis in an advanced state, he moved his forces to the towns of California, Tipton, Sy- racuse, Sedalia, aud Georgetown, his headquar- ters to Jetfcrson city, thence to Tipton, intend- ing to move in pursuit of the array under Price, in seven divisions, under Generals Sigel, As- both, McKinstry, Pope, Hunter, Sturgis, and Lane ; in all near forty thousand men. On the llih of October, Secretary Cameron and Adjutant-General Thomas reached St. Louis, as I learn from their published journal ' -V events, so injudiciously given by Thomas t/:« the country, and after examining the fortifics-tions there, reached Tipton, where I saw the Secretary, on Sunday the 13th of the same month, review- ing a portion of the troops there and .in Syra- cuse, leaving the same day, and on the 14th ordered the v/ork on the fortifications at St. Louis to be stopped. This was done without no- tice to Fremont. And at the time Messrs. Came- ron and Thomas were in his camp, they were the bearers of an order to relieve him of com- mand, dated October 7th, six days pri:)r to their visit. Yet they did not serve the order or inform the General that such was in being. This ordfer was left in St. Louis, in the hands of inferior officers, and General Fremont per- mitted to march South with his forces in pur- suit of Price, which he did with the full knowledge of Secretary Camerou and Adjutant Thomas, on the morning of the 1-Uh. On the morning of the Itith, two days after Fremont left the railroad at Tipton, the Van Wyck com- mittee commenced its investigations at St. Louis. And the order lor the relief of Gene- ral Fremont from command was changed from the 7th to the 24th of October, as will appear by reference to the instrument itself. The committee closed their testimony on the 29th, five days after the alteration of the date of the order — which, thus mutilated hv irresponsible hands, was served on him at Springtitdd, No- vember 2d, one hundred and thirty miles from where Secretary Cameron left him. The order to relieve General Fremont was signed by Gen- 12 eral Scott, and before'^ it was served on him, which was 2G days after its first, and 9 days af- ter its last date, General Scott had retired from service, and General McClellan was Comman- der-in-chief; and so strangely was this business transacted, that General McClellan on the 2d of November, the same day that General Fre- mont was relieved at Springfield, Missouri, issued an order at Washington, directing him what course to pursue with his army. This was duly received on the 4th, by General Fremont, two days after its date, on his way to St. Louis, in obedience to the prior order. This is the most singular conduct ever em- anating from any department of any Gg^vern- ment. Let ns review it. An order to relieve the Major General commanding the Western de- partment is issued and signed by the Com- mander-in-chief, October 7 ; is carried by the Secretary of War and his Adjutant General to the camp of the commanding general, six days after its date, and knowing that he is intending to move with an army of forty thousand men, in pursuit of an enemy in the field, with all the equipments for war, do not serve the order or prevent the movement of the army. After he has gone from the last point of prompt com- munication, they stop the work on the fortifica- tions ordered by him prior to starting.' Tv/o daysafterthis an investigating committee, which wa^ appointed by Congress sixteen days before "Major General Fi-emont entered on his duties (and, notwithstanding this committee was ap- pointed at the instance of the chairman to ex- amine the Secretary's conduct, then chal- lenged by him as imprudent and unjust,) com- mence an investigation of this new department, without notice to the General of its purpose, gathering its information from his avowed known and personal enemies — the date of the order to relieve changed by irresponsible infiirior officers to the 21th of same month. The committee closed their investigation on the 29t,h, five days after this change of date. The order is not served until the 2d of November, nine days after its last date, and four days after the committee close their t'istimony, when an order from McClellan reached Warsaw, Missouri, in two days. The trip can be readily ,Tuade from St. Louis to Springfield in three days, being IGO miles by railroad and 1!50 by good wagon road. The investigating committee com- menced its labors two days after he started from the railroad, and left, before he returned. And the Cummander-inchief did not know that a Major General was relieved twenty-six days after the order issued. Whether this singular coincidence was, by the committee, recognised at the time, I do not know ; but that no man's good name should be assailed in his absence, without notice, has been settled as good law. And that a commander-in-chief should learn in less than twenty-six days that an order to relieve a Major General, who was commanding an extensive department, with over sixty thou- sand troops, had issued, will hardly need affir- mation here. It will be remembered that whilst he pur- sued Price with a heavy force, his occupation of Kentucky, at Paducah, Cairo, Illinois, with almost the entire State of Missouri, was fully established and maintained. His removal at the time he had succeeded in concentrating his forces at Springfield, for his certain and swift descent on Price's army, was fatal, not only to him, but to the State of Missouri and the country. With an army in high spirits, well disciplined, with some seven thousand cavalry, eighty-six pieces of artillery, and the remainder iafautry, abundant trains, with provisions, such as could not be procured in the country, had it not been for two occurrences, which are worthy of notice here. General Fremont would have engaged Price before the order for his relief reached him. One was the swollen condition of the Osage river, over which Ire threw a trussel bridge 800 feet in length through a deep and rapid current in thirty-six working hours — getting the material from the forest — on * which his army passed with all his artillery and stores, and returhcd again under General Hunter. The second hindrance was the tardy movements of Generals Pope and Hunter. * The country has been informed, by the pub- lication of Adjutant General Thomas's diary of his peregrinations through Missouri and Kentucky, among other and singular things, that for w^nt of means of transportation General Fremont's army could not move at all, which at the date of his report had tioved sixty miles from where he saw it, and built a bridge over a navigable river, and moving on ; and, secondly, that Generals Hunter and Pope could not do so for the same reason. To dis- abuse the public mind, I will insert the state- ment of Col. I. C. Woods, chief of transporta- tion, made to the General, under date of Octo- ber 18, at Warsaw, showing the amount and character of transportation of each division of the army, except Generals Sturgis and Lane's. The report shows the number of teams, whether Government, hired, or pressed, of each division, at that date : Govornmcat. Iliroil. Gon. Hunter. .. .20!) Gou. l-'opc 90 ' Gon. SiK'c'l 102 25 Knoagb Pi opscd to move Gen. AslK.tli....l05 15 «0 " (Jon. McKinslrv- 30 Co!. MiirslKill.".. .0 12 '1 Maj. Holmiui ... :} Maj. Zugonyi.. .. V2 2 . " for banit. lluudquartui'S. . . 16 3 " Ca3 -10 97 Yet Pope reached Springfield only on the 2d of November, and flunter late in the eve- ning of the ;3d, and his command on the 4th, where Fremont and the other divisions had been for over a week. And though the roads were good, their teams did not arrive with tents, cooking utensils, and provisions, for some 13 time afterwards, puting their men to severe and unnecessary exposure, which I saw with sorrow, and of which I have a right and a will to speak of here. A portion of my constituents were in those coraruauds. The neglect was unneces- sary, and I am .now as I was then, and there stated, firmly convinced that it was done to create distrust in the minds of the troops against General Fremont ; and that they had teams is further evidenced by their subsequent arrival. The advance divisions saved their men by hauling their knapsacks, leaving them their arms and ammunlfion to carry — the roads were good. The world may tletermine whether it was a part of the combination, when they know who took command. While General Fremont was at Springfield, Price with a much heavier force was at Cass- ville, and at intermediate points between those places — his advance at one time reaching to Wilson's Creek battle ground, ten miles from Springfield ; his heaviest forces being at Cass- ville, and McCuUough at Flat Creek, nearer our forces. That the armies would soon have met and' fought is beyond any doubt, unless Price had again fied ; and in that case every preparation was made for a most vigorous pursuit, with ample amounts of stores for the severest campaign. It ha? been said that Price was not in force and threatening a battle. I -shall be willing to believe what such officers as Sigel, Asboth, Albert, and nu- merous scouts, loyal citizens of Missouri, as well as officers from our camp sent to Price's for the exchange of prisoners, bel,ieved to be true, I conversed with them at the time. In this belief, I particularly rely on the state- ments of General Franz Sigel, whose reputa- tion as a military commander is established both in Europe and America, who had com- mand of the advance, and who used in my presence to Colonels Hudson and Lovejoy, the following words : " I know that we will fight Price in forty-eight hours ;" and but for the arrival of Huuter and Pope, and removal of Fremont, it would have taken place. The arri%'al of two divisions of an army was to Price tan- gible, and his information certain, that Fre- mont's forces had reached him; but that General Fremont would be removed at that time, and under the circumstances surrounding him and his army, no man of Price's good sense would believe, even if he had heard it. That Hunter believed the advance of the enemy to be near I am well convinced from the caution he ex- ercised in making a reconnoissance in force to the old battle ground, in which I accompanied him. And, again, only eight days after General Hunter's order to retire with his forces north of the Osage river, Price followed him, and captured part of his train, and for thirty-six consecutive days ravaged all the country south of the Osage, and much of that lying north of it. At the town of Warsaw, where General Fremont crossed the Osage river, and General Hunter returned on the bridge of which I have spoken, if we are to believe the newspapers, our own officers burned a portion of our quartermas- ter and commissary stores, to prevent their falling into the hands of the enemy, so closely were they pursued more than one hundred miles north of Springfield. We all rejoiced over victories made by General Davis, with part of Pope's division, more than one hundred miles north of where Fremont had carried peace and quiet. Sir, the voice of citizens plundered, and the blood of loyal men murdered in all that country by the enemy, after General Fremont's removal, will rise up against those who were engaged in procuring it. To-day we are again rejoicing over victories of our brave troops at Springfield, and on the exact lines of march which Fremont made and intended to make. These gun-boats and mortar- boats scour the rivers, carrying all before them ; the forces organized by him now in Kentucky under the brave Generals Smith, Grant, Wal- lace, and McClernand ; and the forces under General Buell are marching on the identical roads, and taking the same towns, v/hich Gen- eral Fremont advised the President, by the following letter of September 8, should be se- cured : [Private.] IlEADQUARTEKji M'EbTEr.N DEPARTMENT, September S, 1861. Mt Dear Sir. : I send by another hand \yhat I ask you to consider in rHspuct to the subject of the note by your bpu- cial messenger. In this I desire to ask your attention to the posiMou of affairs in Kentucky. As the rebel troops, drivi'U out fi'om Missouri, had invaded Kentucky in considerable force, and by occupying Union City, Hickman, and Columbus, wero preparing to seize Paducah and attack Cairo, I judged it impossible, without losing important advantages, to defer any longer a forward movement. For this purpose I have drav/n from the Missouri siie a part of the force which liad been stationed at bird's Point, Cairo, and Cape GirurJeau, to Fort Holt and Paducah, of which places wo have t:iken possession. As the rebel forces outnumber ours, and the counties of Kentucky betwei-u the Mi.ssis«ippi and Tennes- see rivers, as well as tliose along the latter and the Cumber- land, are st(mgly secessionist, it becomes imperatively ne- cessary to have the co-operation of the loyal L'nion liirces under Generals Anderson and Nelson, as well as of those already "encanipe 1 opposite Louisville, under Colonel Itous- seau. I have reinforced, yesterday, Eaducah witli two reg- iments, and will continue to strengthen the position with men and artillery. As soon as General 8mitli. who com- mands there, is reinforced stiffidiently to enable him to spreail his forces, he will have to take and hold Mayfield and Lovelaceville, to bo in the rear and Hank of Columbus, and to occnpv Smithlaud, controUinj; in this way the mouths of lioth the Tennessee and the Cumberland rivers. At the snni(^ time Colonel Rousseau should bring his force, in- creased, if possible, by two Ohio ngiments, in boats to Hen- derson, and taking tlie U'-nderson and Nashville railroad, i occupy Ilopkinsville, while General Nelson should go with a force of 5,000, by railroad, to Louisville, and Iron) there to Bowling Green. As the population in all the c<^unties throuisti which the above rail roads pass are loyal, this move- ment could be made without delay or molestation to the troops. Meanwhile, General Grant would take possession of the entire Cairo and Fulton railroads, Piketon, New Mad rid, and the shore of the Mississippi opposite Hickman and Columbus. The foregoing disposition having bi-en effected, a combined attack will be made upon Columbus, and if suc- cessful in th;it, upon Hickman, while Rousseau ami Nelson will move in concert, by railroad, to Nashville, Tennessee, occupying Ihe State capital, and, with an adeqnate force, New i'rovidence. The conclusion of this movement would bi> a combined advance towanl Memphis, on the Mississippi, as well as I he :\Iemphisand Ohio railroad, and I trust tbo result would be a glorious one to the country. 14 In reply to a letter fiom f!en. Sherman, by the. hand of Juiijji^ \\ illliims, ill relatioa to he v^st iinportftnco of se- cnriniT posseision in !iclv«t;ce of the cuiutry lyiug between the Ohio, I'ennespuo, ;ind Missicsippi, I huve to-day suggest- ed the first part of thi- precodicg plan. By extend. ng my command to Indi.ina. Tennessee, and Kentucky, you would enable me to attempt the accomplishui'.nt of thi.s all-im- portint reuult : and inorJer to secure the secrecy nee .s- bary to iis sncco.';.'!, I fhnll not exteud the communication which I have made to Gen. Sherman, or repeat it to any one else. With high respect and regard, I am, Tery truly, yours. J. C. FKESIOXT. This was before the enemy had occupied them, and they could have been seized without blood. Nashville would have been iu our possession by the lirst of October, and the Union citizens of Tennessee have been saved from the hellish mur- ders inliictsd on them. The blood of the m.ur- dered of Tennessee, Kentucky, and Missouri, in battle, in the secret places of the mountains, in the prairies and forests, fields, and highways, will, like Abel's, cry to God from the ground for this double murder. The enemies of free- dom in the South rose against her friends there, and the enemies of freedom here rose up againsf their deliverer and destroyed him, cut- ting olf, for a long time, all F.id, whilfe the cav- erns of the mountains echo back the dying shrieks of murdered loyal citizens ; and still the combination in full conspiracy coldly calculates upon the flexibility of the American mind, hoping still to mould it for their further use. Fremont was removed because the slave power demanded it. FOUTIFICATIONS, ST. LOUIS. The question of the necessity for the fortifi- cation of any point is a military one, to be de- termined by the officer in command, at the time and place, in view of the surroundings ; aud whether St. Louis should have been fortified was properly the province of General Fre- ~mont to decide; in fact, the committee do not of their judgment attempt to pass upon it, but introduce General Curtice as a witness of different opinion. I must confess that it was with some surprise I read in the report that General Curtice thought the fortifica- tions unnecessary. I perfectly recollect that in conversation with him at his house at the barracks, whf.re he was in command, on the day prior to General Fremont'* starting to JeBferson City and Tipton, en route for Spring- field and Price, he said to me, that the troops then at the barracks were raw, some of them unarmed, could not defend the city against the attack of an ordinary force, aad that the barracks should have been built in the Slate of Illinois, putting the Mississippi river between them and the enemy. It does seem to me that fortifications were as necessary as this precaution, particularly as troops are to defend against, and not to be defended by the enemy, St. Louis is a large city ; it was to Fremont what Washington is to McCIellan — his base of operation ; that while the Potomac river, a mile in width, forms a protection to this city, running as it does between it and the enemy's advance, preventing the egress and ingress of spies, St Louis is on the south side of the river, v/lth its approaches all exposed, and the river a barrier against rein- forcements from the loyal estates, as certainly as the Missouri river was to General Sturges, who was unable to aid Mulligan, though only the river between them, and the remainder of Gen- eral Stone's command when Baker fell. Yet not only General Scott and General McClellaa thought it necessary to forUfy Washington, but this Cougress at its special session, and this one, have voted directly for that purpose many hundred thousands of dollars. Is property in Washington, the lives of her people, or the cause of justice, or duty of her military oflScer to maintain it, more sacred or more binding than in St. Louis? The committee affirm that the soldiers should have built those fortifications. These were in all a heavy work. It was warm weather : the climate, as has been clearly proven, not conge- nial to the Northern soldier until acclimated. But the strongest reason was that the troops at St. Louis were received raw and generally unarmed. They were necessarily equipped and drilled as soon as possible aud thrown to the outposts. This was the continued and necessary practice at that point. No body of troops were retained af- ter being fully armed and equipped; aud, indeed, necessity sent many to outposts not well armed and drilled. The Governors of States who came up so nobly to the cause requested iu all cases that their troops be not thrown into active ser- vice without drill. Fremont's was not a besieg- / iug or a besieged army. He was in command only 100 days, in which time he raised his forces from 15,000 to 62,000, armiug, equipping, feed- ing, and clothing them, attended with the diffi- culties which I hp.ve already named, moving them to and fortifying points distant from St. Louis as foUovvs: Cape Girardeau, 120 miles; Irouton, 80 ; Bird's Point, 200 ; Jefierson City, 125; Rolla,120; and Cairo, III., 200, and Pa- ducah, Kentucky, 230; besides moving forces over and quieting ail North and West Missouri, watching and repairing railroads through, and holding military occupation of, almost the entire State, moving near 40,000 men 290 miles by way of Tipton to Springfield, guarding the en- tire country, driving a victorious army before him, and giving peace and quiet to the ^ people except in the "south border, and would in a few days have cleared the State of enemies, I had he not been removed. If he had simply been stationed with an immense force to guard ^ the city of St. Louis, as has been the case at this city, he could have fortified it as he did ■ his outposts with his soldiers, and, too, without the aid of Congress. Again : General Fremont found the commerce , and labor of the city paralyzed ; and much want and suffering; a large number of the laboring , people of St. Louis thrown out of employ, dis- 15 satisfied with the Govemnjent, because taught bj those wealthy and traitorous scoundrels who had furaiahed thca-i labor, but now did not, that the Government was the cause of the war aud their suffering. The labor on the barracks and fortifications furniahed employ for several thousand hands at good waj^es, and by this expenditure the minds ot many men were disabused, apd St. Louis now presents the spectacle of poor patriots and wealthy trai- tors — the entire foreign population loyal. The feud between the German and Irish element when Fremont reached St. Louis was of a character approaching an outbreak. By the ex- penditure of this money the city was quieted. The fortifications were so built as to command both the city aud tlie approaches to it. including the river above and below it. The city is wealthy, and if it should fall into the hands of the enemy would furnish supplies to their entire army. Their's is a war of robbery ; ours of protection. Again : General Fremont needed all his forces, his purpose being, so soon as quiet was restored in the Southwest part of the State by the destruction of Price's army, which in a few days he would have effected, without returning with his army to St. Louis, to have met his combined forces at the river, and with a concerted movement of his Ken- tucky troops, with his gun-boats and mortar- boats and Missouri forces, to move down the river, leaving St. Louis in charge 'of troops enough to man her fortifications, it being his grand depot, the centre of travel and trade of the West, approached by seven railroads, three in Illinois and four in Missouri, as well as river line between those States, opening to his gun-boats and mortar-boats the Missourj, Ohio, Tennessee, Cumberland, and lower Mississippi rivers. Connected as it is by telegraph with the free .States and the Capital, he could keep up his lines of communicatiou for all purposes with the granaries of lUiaois, Indiana, Ohio, . and Iowa. The great free Northwest could pour her troops into his army in any need. Sir, the life, the spirit, the labor, the plan, and the success of this great Western campaign, is General John C. Fremont's. Hiitory and the honest judgment of mankind will give it to him, aijd he will yet have the reward of his labor, combinations to the contrary notwithstanding. As a question of economy, the fortifica- tion of St. Louis v.'as entirely tenable. That city has a population of 100,000; her best fighting loyal element was already in our lines, away I'rom their homes. They knew the dan- ger, because compelled to quell rebellion at their own door-steps. With their homes for- tified, those troops felt that the Government was in earnest, and cared for them ; a feeling uot 60 prevalent with many three months' men if we may believe General Lyon, who said they were dispirited and felt they were neglected. Confidence is all and all to fighting men. There is no- man who loves his country btlt who loves his family; and he v/ho' knows that hia famihy is in danger of these murderous slave- drivers, v/hose course so far is one of robbery and slaughter, treads with unsteady step the path which leads from home ; but when he feels himself in danger for the safety of those ob- jects of his hope and atl'ection, he counts no odds, and proudly meets his fo?s. But to hold a city of the size of St. Louis without fortification, against forces which could in the rear of an advancing army rise and seize its stores or burn the city, it would re- quire fully ten thousand well armed troops, with costs not varying materially from the fol- lowing : 10,000 mcu at wages 43 cents per day S4,300 " " at exponsu ^5 " •' " 2,500 500 horses, for teams aud artillery, 20 cents per day 125 7,925 In addition, it will require 100 wagons and harness for horses, with wear and tear in all, equaling $8,000 per day. The fortifications will require less than half that number of men, wagons, horses, and arms. So that the expense of $4,000 per day, with a loss of 5,000 men, 50 wagons, 250 horses, and artillery for field servicp, with arms for all, can be saved by the fortifications, which would be a saving, in fifty days, of their entire cost at the price they were built, not counting the service in the field of the spare forces. Now when quiet is restored it is said they were not needed. It is easy to say that a successful pre- caution was not necessary. But what made St Louis safe ? Was it those committees which have followed General Fte- mont so perseveringly at such respectful dis- tances ? Was it the policy which has suffered the Potomac blockaded, both above and below the Capital — the Baltimore and Ohio railroad and canal destroyed — three out of four of the approaches to the city of Washingt/)n cut off — which surrenders the Harper's Ferry manufac- tory of arms and ar.-ieual, with machinery, to the enemy — an army mur^lered at Ball's Biuff, in sight of their brave aud anxious friends, with- out means of relief — the Capital with 200,000 men beleaguered for six months — was it these ? No I no! It was a brave and active army, im- bued with the same spirit of freedom which moved him who organized it. But in addition to the deprivations against which Lyon and Fremont had to contend, of which I have spoken, troops and arms were called from that endangered and needy depart- partment, at times, too, when they were most required ; compelling General Lyon, at one time, to the unwelcome necessity cf refusing to obey the orders of the Government, and with- holding troops -from superior demand. And as testimony to prove what I have said, I intro- duce aud incorporate in my remafks letters and telegrams, and extracts of each from the cor- respondence of Generals Lyon and Fremont; and for the further purpose of dispelling the 16 unjust aspersiorTB, so industriously circulated against Fremont, charging hiin with a neglect ot duty to Geueral Lyon in not reinforcing him prior to the battle oC Wilson's Creek, showing by the telegrams of General McClelland and the President their opinions of the importance of holding Cairo and Northeast Missouri, and the necessity of saving this region, which lay in proximity to the river and State of Kentucky, •which would, in the hands of the enemy, di- rectly endanger the city of St. Louis and entire Slate of Missouri. These telegrams and official writings will show the following statt of facts : That General Fremont took charge of his command July 25, 18G1. That it was imperatively necessary to rein- force Cairo. That the enemy's forces far exceeded any possible numbers Fremont could bring to bear. That your troops were not fed, paid, or clothed, by the Government, while Lyon was in command. That Geueral Lyon made urgent requests for them. That drafts were made on him for troops un- til he finally refused to obey the order. That General Fremont reinforced Cairo on the 2d of August, which was as soon as possi- ble. That the department was destitute of money or supplies. That Government would not pay attention to his urgent requests more than it did Lyon's. That General Fremont ordered troops to General Lyon, August 3d, seven days prior to the fight at Wilson's Creek, which was Au- gust 10. That General Lyon notified Fremont that, in case of failure to reinforce him, he would re- tire. That a failure to reinforce Cairo would have lost the State, with St. Louis, and not have saved Lyon, because he would have been surrounded. That there was not armed troops enough to reinforce both. IIeajiquabters Department of Omo, CiiiCTuniiti, .Tuno 18. Have received order placing Mipsoxiri under my com- maud. Will leave for St. Louis tomorrow. If more troops are needed telegraph mo details of caso. a. B. McCLELLAN, Major Gen. Chester IIarbinq, jr., AsB"t A'.!j't General. 13ooNEViii,E. Mo., .Tuly 2, 18G1. Dear Colonel t I hope to move to morrow, .-'.nd think it more important jnst now to go to Spriiit;tield. My force in moving from here will bo about 2,400 men Major Sturgis will have about 2.200 men, and you know what force has kouc to Springfield from St. JiOnis, so that you Res what an amount of provi.'sion.s wo sh.all want suppi el at that point ; plca.so attend to us us effectually as possible Our lino Bhou'd'be kept open by all meiine. I must be governed by circumitances at Springfiidd. Yon will of course have due atti.ntiou to th« Sontho.ist. Tlie State. Journul is outrafteous and must be stopped ; you will take siuli measures as you tliiak best to (■fTeol this. Our cau«e is sulTerinpfrr m too much indulgence, and you must so ad- Tise our friends in St. Louis. Ool. Stevenson must have pretty btroni; garrisons at the points ho occupies on the river, and lie mnst have support from other States as occa- sion seems to reiniire. Col. Curtis is, I suppose, en the Ilsiin'bal and St. Josenh rood; rigorous moa^urci should bo shown the disorderly in that region. Our operations tro becoming cxtenuve, aiidourstatl officers Ujust kutp up witli our iiiini gencies. Wc need here a regular Quarter- master and Co:i:missiry. Cannot something be done for us from Washington 1 Vours truly, N. LYON, Commanding. Col. Hardino, St. Louis Arseral. P. S. I cannot spa'e more than 300 st.and of arms for Home Guards at .Klfer.sjn. 1 sha'l not be able to supply other portions of the ctate with the same proportion. N. L. U£ADQUARTEn.?DBPAr.T>rENT OlIIO, liuckhannan, .luly 5, 18C1. Communicate freely with I'rcntiss. If ho does not need Wyman you cau take him. leUgraph to G' n. Pcpe, at Al- ton, to give you a regiment, and to liurlbut, at Quiilcy, to giV' you atiotlier. Do not lose sight of imoortance of Cairo, and of its opera- tions in Southeast ra Missouri. Write to me fully. G. B. McCLliILLAN. Major Gen. U. S. A. To Chester IlAKOixa, Assist. Adj. Gen. IIeadquarteus'Soutuwest Expebitiox, Sljringflfld, Mo., July IG, 1801. Sir: I arrived at this place early this ovenint, two or tbroe hours in advance of my ti-nops, who are ""ncamp-d a f'W m'les back. I h.ive n\iov.t 5,000 men to beprjvidul for, and have expected to find stores here, as I have or J* red. The failure of sloros reaching here seems likely tu <»ius5 .s?rious pmbarrammeiit, which must b' aggravated by cm- tmuvd delay, and in i^roportion to the time I am forced t) wait for supplies. * * * * * i shall cn- d' avor to take every duo precaution to meet existing t mer- gences, and hnpp to bo able to sustain the cause of the Government in this part of the State. But there mu»t t«e no 1"S"; of time in turniiliing me the reeo'ircs I have htrein mentioned. I have lost in reaching tliis plnce al'out four days time, bj' the hijtli waters in Grand and Osaie rivers, which made it nccyssary to f«rry them. The same dilli- culty prevented Sturgi-? from co-operating with Sigd in time to afford any aid. PI' ase telegraph to McU.eran and to Washington anything in this letto'- you deem of import- ance to these'lleadquarters. Shots, shirts, t loufes, ic, arj much wanted, and I would have you furuish them, if po.-ai- b'e, in considerable quantit'es. Yours truly, N. LYON, B ig. Gel. Commanding. Col. Chester Harmnu, St. Louis Arsenal. St. Louis Arsenal, July 15, 1S61, By tclegrnph from Chicago, Ju'y 15, 1861. Ilavo dispatched condition of aff drs to Gen. Fremont, and asked authority to take the field in N. Missouri with live more regiments. Expect answer to-ni^ht. Will go down and couf !r with you as soon us I hear. IIow did you succeed with Harris t JOHN POPE, Brigadier Qocer.al. To Chester U.i.RDixG, Jt. IlEADtJUARTERS AEJIT OF THE WEST. Spriughcld, (Mo.,) July !•% 1861. Colonel : Gen. Lyon is now licro with about 7,003 men ; of these fully one-half are three months' volunteers, who.ie term of service has neatly expired — the latest expiring on the 1-lth of August. Gov. Jackson is concentrating his luroos in the soiiih western part of the State, and is receiving large reinforcements from Arkansas, Tennessee, Louisiana, and Texas. His cft'ictive force will soon bo certainly not less than 30,000 men — proLably much larger. All idea of any further advance movement, or of even maintaining eur present position, must soon bo abandoned, unless thi' Gov- ernment furnish uspromptly with large rein Ibrcemenl 8 and supplies. Our troops arc badiy clothed, poorly fed, and ini- perlectly supplied with tents; none of tliiin have yet boon paid, and the three montlis' volunteers have becoiii" dis- heartened to such extent that very few of them are willing • to renew their enlistment. The blank pay rolls are not here, and IIk! long time required to get them here, lill them up. send them to Washington, have the payment onlered, and the Paymaster reach us, loaves us no hope that our troojis can be paid lor five or six weeks to como. Uiulir these circumstances, there remains no other course but to urgently press upon the attention of the Government Iho abi^olute neei'ssity of sending us lr<'sh troop's at once, with amide supplies for them andforthoye nowhere. At least 10.000 men should bo sent, and that ininnptly. Y'ou will send the enclosed despatch by telegrajih to Gen. McClellan, and also to the War Department, antl forward by mail a copy of this lettor. Lose no time in fitting for tlie field the three years' volunteers now at the Arsenal, and send them 17 here as soon as possible. Call for Ool. McNeil's regiment of Home Guards to garrison at the Arsenal, and allow him to orgauize, if for the regular three j'ears' service, if he desires to do so. It is believed that the remaining Home Guards will bo sufficient for the city. Should it bo necessary, their term of service can be renewed, for a short period, for the purpose of a city garrison. Tha General is not aware whe- ther Col. Smith's re{:iment has yet taken the field ; if not, he presumes that both his and Col. Bland's regiments may bo sent liere witliout delay. You may doubtless leave the care of the soutlieast part of the btate to Gen. I'rentiss. Should ht. fiOuis be in danger from that direction, troops could easily be called from Illinois and Indiana for its de- fence ; moreovi^r, a force moving on St. Louis from the South would be expnsed to attack in rear from Cairo. Hence there seems little or no danger from that direction. Unless we are .'Speedily reinforced here, we will soon lose all we have gained, i ur tronps have made long marches, done much effective service, and suffered no small privations. They, hiwe received no pay nor clothing from the Gfovern- uient. and the small stock- furnished by private contribu- tion is now exhausted ; so that, unless the Government gives us relief speedily, our thus far successful campaign will prove a failure. I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, J. M. SCIIOFIKLD, Captain lltli infantry. Acting Adjt. General. To Col. Che ter U.\r.MNO, Adjutant General of Missouri Volunteers, St. Louis Arsenal, Missouri. P. S. Cannot Col. Curtis's regiment be spared from St. ■Toseph, and, if so, send it forward. N. LYOM, Commanding. He.uxjuaktErs Ripley County Battalion, Camp Burrows, July 16, 1861. Dear Sir; If there is any way to communicate with the Governor, through any person in St. Louis, please let me know it. I am advancing and Gen. Yell will follow me in a few days, with 5.000 men. IIo will take position betwcn RoUa atid Ironton, and act as circumHtances dictate. Gen. Watkins will move up, sustained by Gen Pillow, and if proper energy is exercised we cm drive the oiiemy north of the Misi^ouri and "into St. Louis in thirty days. You will picas" let me hear from you, verbally or not, through the p('r.";on through wliom this passes ; and please send The Daily Jourml for a short time to Doniphan, as it will be sent to me by my couriers! Yours respectfully, Col. k. .TEFF THOMPSON, Commanding Ripley Co. Batt. Joseph Tucker, Esq., Editor The. State Journal, St. Louis. Dear Miss : I have not heard from you yet, but make free to trust this to your care. ■^ Sprixqfield, Mo., July 17, 1S61. Sir: I inclose you a copy of a lettcj to Col. Townspnd on the subject of an order from Gen. Scott, which calls fnr five companies of tUf "id Infantry to be withdrawn from the West and sent to Washington. A previous order with- draws the mountfld troops, as I am informed, and were it not that some of them were en route to this place they would now bo in Washington. This order carried out. would not now leave at Fort Leavenworth a single com- pany. I have companies IS and E 2d Infantry now under orders for Wa.s!iincton. ami if all these troops leave me I can do noth-iig, a-d must retire in the abS' nee of other troops to supply their jjlaces. In fact, I am badly enough off at the be.st, and must utterly fail if my regulars all go At Washington troops f r m all the Northern, Middle, and Eastern States aro available for the support of the army in Virginia and more arc understood to l)e already there than aro wanted, and it seems strange that so many tro ps must go on from the West and strip us of the means of de- fence; but if it is the ii;tention to give up tho West let it bo so — it can only be the victim of imbecility or mal'ce Scott will cripple us if ho can. Cannot you stir up this matter and secure tis relief? See Fscmont if ho h.as ar- rived. Tlie want of sujiplies has crippled me so that I cannot move, and I do not know when I can. Everything seems to coinbi'ie against me at this point. Stir up Blair. Yours, trulv, N. LYON, Commanding. Col. H.4RDiNrx, St. Louis Arsenal, Mo. By Telegraph from Chicago, dated 17th, Received July 17, 1861. We need Bpecially, to fit out one or two regiments of cav- alry, sabres and revolvers. There are absolutely none in this part of the country. JOHN POPE. Brigadier General. To Maj. Gen. Fremont, V. S. A., New York. HEADQUARTEnS ARMY OF WfgT, • Springfield, .Mo., .July 17, 1861. Sir; I have the honor to acknowledxe the receipt of special order No. 11'2, from Head quarters, under date of .luly 5, directing the removal from the Department of the West of companies B C, P, G, and II, 2d Infantry, ani of Captain Sweeny, now acting Bngader General by election of volunteers. The communication reached me yesterday at this p ace. I have been drawn to this point by the move'^iient.i of the rebel forces in this State, and have accumulated such troops as I could make availabb\ including those in Kan- sas. My aggregate is betwi en 7.00 i and 8,'XO men, more than half of whom are three-months' volunteers some of whose term of enlistment has yiit ex: ired; others will claim a discharge within a week or two. and thrt dissolution of my forces from this necessity, already comm' need, will leav« me less than 4,000 men. includ ng com'anies \i and E, 2d infantry, now with me. In my immedi.Tto vicinity it is currently reported there are .^0,' Ue ti oo|js and upward, whose number is constantly augmenting, and who are dil- igently . accumulating arms an 1 stores. They are making Irequent lawless and hosrile demonstrations and threaten ice with attack. The evils consequant upon the withdrawal of any portion of nfy force will be apparent ; loyal citizens will be unprotected, repressed treason will assume alarm- ing bolfiuess, and po.ssible defeat of my troops in battle will peril the continued ascc-udciicv of the Federl power itself, not only in tl e Stxte, but m the whole West. If the inter- ests of tho Government are to be snsti.iucd here, and ja lact in the whole valley Of the Mississippi large bodies of trooj's should be sent forward to tlii Stat'-, instead of being withdrawn from it, till by conccutiation there may be abil- ity to overpower any force that can be gatlu red in the West to act ag.aiost the Government. Troojis \ roperly belonging to the valley of the Missis-ijipi from W sconsin. Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio, have already <'ceu wi.hdrawn to th9 East. The moral effect of the liresenee of the lew regulars in my command is doubtless th>; main cossi lerati.m that holds the enemy in check, and wiib them I may be able to retain what has already been achieved until I am strength- ened ; but any diminution will be imminently hazardous. The volunteers with me have y< t had no pay for their servites, and their duties have b en arduous. Their cloth- ing has become dilapidated, and, ai a body, they are dis- pirited. But for these facts they.wou'd probably nearly all have re-eulibtel. I have no regular officers of the Pay De- partment, nor the Commissary and Quartermaster; the affairs ol both the last are consequently in iifft^rent'y ad- ministered, from want of experience. Nothing but the im- mense interests at stake cnuUl have ever iuduc d me to un- dertake the great werk in which I am eng iged, un ler such discouraging circumstances. In this state of alia' rs pre- sumed to have been unknown when the order wa.s issued, I have felt justified in delaying its execution for further in- struction, so far as the companies with me are concerned. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, N. LYON, Brigadier Gcjieral, Commanding. To Lieut. Col. Townsend, Assistant Adjutant General, &c. St. LocLS, July 19, 1861. It was th» design to oc;upy Southwest .Miss u' i, cutting off all a-ipro iches from Ark.ant-as by way of I'l cah.intas, to occipy Pop'ar Bluffs, Bloomfield, Gr-eii ille, jind the line ( f tie Cairo and Fu ton rai.roa i — accoi-dingly onorogi- m lit a at Ircuton, r ady to advatc wh n rtinforced. Gran; wa-i und r orders, but his orders wer countcrmand- e 1. Marsh is at Cape G rardeau. i'structed to k ■( p open c mmuu cation witii Bloomfield. where Gra t was to be. Gen. I'r^iiti.ss has e':ht re.::me'its at Cairo, and coild sparo five eft' em to po into that country. If we once )o e pos- session of th.' swamps ot tlr t region a large armv will bo required to clear tjtm, whi e it w cet possession fiist and h"ld the cans wav a sm d er for o wi'l oo. Q u McClellf n t legrapho 1 that ho lad authentic iiit llig'nc^ of a largo army gathering at Poc hontas. accord'Ug with what I have advied fir weeks. Kspecting jou here ''a ly I have not t 'e^'raph d btf re; but i' you do not cmi > at one? will you take into considerati n the impor.auco to Cairo that the hou.heast should be held by us? CHESTER HARDING. Jr.. Assistant Adjutant Geneial. To Major Q;neral Fremont. 18 St. Louis Arsenal, July 20, 1861. By telfgrapU from Cincinnati, July 20, 1861. In case of attack oa Ciiiro have uono !'ut Illinois troors to leiuforce, and only 11,000 arms in lUiuoia. Will d rect two regiments t J I e re ajy at Ciujcyville, but you will only use thtm for d'fi'uce of St. Louis, and in casi of absolute ntcess ty. Telcurapli me from lirao to time. ' G. B. McCLELLAN, Major General U. S. A. To Chestee Harding, jr., Assist. Ae'j. General. £t. Louis Ahsenal, July 21, 1861. « * , * * * * * * * * A week since Gen. McC!ellan tdegrapliei that he had the same difiiiite infunnation of troops crossing from Tennessee and comirg up from all parts of Arkanfas to I'ocah ntas, ■which I had learfd frcmuur scciit-jand tpies (one of thtm a pUot ou a Mcmnhis b -at wliich had conveyed some of the troops over.) and ha I Hsut to him. Now, in the Southeast we stand thus: Two regiments, not in communiiatiou with each other ; no artillery, a few Home Guard-, against what ti'ey expect to be 20,000 men (regular troops, w ell provided,) who design marching upon bt. Louis. 1 have explained all this to Gen. Fremont, who will be here Tuesday, and who (as dois Gen. Pope) understands the throatentd movement, and will take vigorous measures to meet it. ***** -1^ * * * * At hon;e our friends are ahirmed, and the city U uneasy. I rtceive about five deputations per diem, warning me tiiat I ought not to seijd away so mauy troops (2,200 U. S K. G. left.) aud semttimes hinting that 1 will be overhauled by higher powers for doiui so. The only danger is in case of an adTance from Arkansas. But the first dmoustration will result in cleiiiing St. Louis o its secession element. CUESTEU UAUDING, Assistant Adjutant General. To Brig. Gen. Ltor. St. Lodis Arsenal, July 23, 1861. By telegraph from Cairo, 23d, 1861. Have but eight (S) regiments here. Six (6) of them are three (S) months men. Their time expires tliis week— are reorganizing now. I have neither tents nor wagons, and must hold Cairo and Bird"s Point. The latter is threatened. I have but two guns equipped for moving. Thus you see I cannot comply with request. Again, news of this morning changes policy of rebels in Kentucky. They are organizing opposite. Waikins is encamped with 2,000 seven miles from Bloomfield. He has no cannon, and poorly armed. This may be tho iorce you have heard from. B. M. PRENTISS, Brig. Gen. To Chester IIardixg. WASni^GTON, July 26, 1861. De.ar General : I have two tclpRrams from you, but find it impossible now to get any attention to Missouri or West- ern matters from the authorities Iicre. You will have to do the best you can, and take all needful responsibility to defend and protect the people over whom you are specially set. » » * * * M= * Yours, truly, and in haste, M. BLAIE. Springfield, (Mo.,) July 27, 1861. Dear Sir; I have your notes about matters in St. Louis, Ac, and your procniing seems tu me perfectly corrcrt. Now that matters North .seem more quiet, cannot you man age to get a few regiments this way '! I am in the deepest concern on this suhject, atid you must urge this matter upon Frtmout, as of vital importance. Thcsetlireo months' volunteers would re-enlist if they could be paid, but they are now dissatisfied, and if troops do not replace them, all that is gained may be lost. I have not been able to move for want of supplies, aud this delay will exhaust the term of the three months' men. Cannot something bo done to have our men ami officers paid as well as our purchases paid fjr. If the Government cannot give due attention to the West, her interests must have a corresponding dispar: atrement. Yours, trulv, *■ N. LYOX, Brigadier General Commanding. To Colonel C, HAnmNO, St. Louis .\rsenal, Missouri. [Memorandum by Col, Pheli>8, from Gen. Lton, to Gen. Fr.EMo.N'T, July 2".] Sec Gen. Fremont about troops and stores for the i)lace. Our men have not been paid, and are rather dispirited ; they are badly off for clothing, and the want of shoes unfits them for marching. Some staff oflicers are badly needed, and the interest of the Government sntTers for the want of them. The time of the three months' volunteers is nearly out, and, ou returning home, as most of them are disposed to, my command will bo reduced too low for effective oper.v tions. Troojis must at once be forwarded to Bupply their place. The safety of tho State is hazarded ; orders from Ucn. Scott strip the entire West of regular forces, and in- crea.«e the chances of sacrificing it. The public press U full of reports that troops from other States are moving toward the northern border of Arkansas for the purpose of invad- ing Missouri. To General FREMONT. St. Loots, July 28, 1861. I ordered the arms shipped to New York, to my order, expecting to forward, on the arrival, to my department. I trust you will confirm this iiispositiit night from InaMlity t > pay tuem a portion of the money due. This regiment had been intended to move on a critical post last night. The Treason. r ol the Unite ! t)la:es has here $3U0,0uu entire y unappropriated, 1 applie I to him yesterday for $i00 00 ' for my Paymaster, General Andn vvs, but was refused. Wo have not an hour for de.ay. There are three courses o]ieti to me. One, to let t e enemy poss ss himself of son:o of the stronpi bt points in he S atr, and threaten .'■t, l.ouis, whith is insurrection- ary. Second, to force a loan Ir m seces ion banks here. Tliird. to use the mouoy I'hngng to tho- Go>ernment, Which is in the Treasury here. 01 course I will neither 19 lose the State nor permit the enemy a foot of advantago. I have infused energy and activity into the department, and there is a thorough good spirit in officers and men. This morning I will order tlio Treasurer to deliver the money in his possession to Ot neval Andrews, and will fend a force to the Treasury to take the money, and will direct such pay- ments as the exigency requires. I will hazard everything for the defence of the department. You have confided to me and I trust to you for support. With respect and regard, I am, yours truly, J. C. FREMONT, Major General, Commanding. To The President of the United States. By telearaph from Cairo, Aug. 1, 1861. The following information just rcc ived is, I b licve, re- liable. Gen. I'illow was at New Mad iJ on the morning of the 31st, with 11,000 troops well-armed and well-drilled; two regiments of cavalry ! p'.enuidly equipped ; one battery of flying artillery, 10 pounders, and ten guns manr-ed and officerid by foreigners; several mountain howitz-s and other artillery, amoun; ing in all to 100. 9,000 m' ro moving to reinforce, tie has pr. mised Gov. Jackson to place "20,- 000 men in Mi souii at once. I ha re a copy of his procla- mation ahd also one of his \\ ritten passes. C.C. MARSH, Col. Commanding Camp Fremont. To Major Qeu. Fremont, St. Louis. Upon this day, August 1, Gen. Fremont went in person to reinforce Cairo, with what troops he could gLither, and with as much display as possible, in order to increase the apparent size of his small force. War Department, Washington, Aug 2, 1861. Since ordering the two batteries for you yesterday, it ap- pears one company has no guns and the other is in Western Virginia; neither can be withdrawn. The order is • oun- termaudod WINFIELD SCOTT. To Gen. Fremont. [Telegram.] Headquarters, "City olAlton," Cairo, Aug. 3, 1881. Order Colonel .1. D. Stevenson's regiment to Holla forth- with. Quartermaster's and Commissary's stores to follow. Use utmost despatch. J. C. FREMONT, Major General, Commanding. Captain J. C. Kelton, Assistant Adjutant General. [Telegram.] nEADQUARTERS, " City of Alton," Cairo, Aug. 3, 1S61. Tho Comman lingGeneral directs that Montgomery's lorce join General Lyon's command at Springfield, Missouri, im- mediately. Sead him tuis order bv express. JOilNC. KELTON, Assistant Adjutant tienoral. Captain W. E. Prince, Commanding Fort Leavenworth. Cairo, August 4, 1861. Information lait night of a large force at Bloomfiel 1, re- ported from eight (8) to ten thousand (10 000 ;) itGarrignn Mil!s, on I ic et ro.d, five hundred (500 ;) at Castor Mills, five hundred (500;) at Strong s iVil s on Casting river, five hvinrtred (COO:) about five miles above ."^tiong s Mi Is they are lierding b>ef cattle. Ou It.t and 2d August they had orders to cook four days rations of bread. C. C. MARSH, Coi. 20th 111. Vol. Coi'imanding. To Major General J. C. Fremont. St. Locis, August 4, 1861. Tpurs of (he 4th received to day. i-"ce dr-pat' h t" Presi- dent. I h've ma e a loan fiom (he bauks here. Send moiioy. It is a moment for the Government to put forth its pjwcr. J. C. FREMONT, Major G tieral Cummanding. Hon. MoNTGOMERT Blair, Wasuirgton city. Cape Girardeau, Aug. 4, 11 a. m.. Via Jonesborough. (received St. Louis, 5th.) Thomson is advancing within 16 miles of me. Am forti- fying the bill in rear o"f Mills's. Send mo re-enforcements and ammuuition. Express waiting for reply. C 0. .MAKSII, Col. 20th 111. Vol., Com'g. To Maj. Gen. Fremont. Capb Gieabdeau, 9 p. m., Aug 5, Via Jonesborriugh. Enemy close on me, over 5,000 strong. Will be attacked before morning; send me aid. C. C. MARSH, CoL To Maj. Gen. Fremont. Cairo, August 5. 1861. The following dispatch was just received : "CapeGirar deau, Aug. 4, 11 p. m. — Gen. Prentiss, enemy advancing Within 16 miles of me; help me if you can. (Signed) C. C. Marsh." B. M. PRENTISS, Brig. Gen. To Maj. Gen. Feemont. By telegraph from the Arsenal, ,A.ug. 5, 1861. There are now in tho Arsenal 2,933 men, besides Smith's 630 at the barracks. Smith's and Color's men don't know tho facings and marchings. Ought not Color to go to the barracks, and should not the officers of the 13th regulars be instructed to drill both regiments ? CHESTER HARDING, Jr. To Gen. Fremont, St. Louis. Headquarters Western Department, St. Louis, Aug 5,1861. 1. The commanding officer directs that Col. Montgomery's force joins 'ien. Lyon's command, at Spiiugfleld, Mo., im- mediately. 2. Tho force under Qol. Dodge, at Council Bluff, is ordered to St. Joseph forthwith. On its arrival at that point, tho ■ commanding officer of the regiment will report to these Headquarters for orders. J. C. KELTON. A. A. 6. Forward these orders with the utmost dispatch. J. C. KELTON, A. A. G. To Capt. Prince, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. By telegraph from Washington, August 5, 1861. Tho President desires to know briefly the situation of af- fairs in the region of Cairo. Please answer. JOHN G. NICHOLAY, Private S«;. To Maj. Gen. Fremont. Headquarters Western Department, St. Louis, Aug., 6, 1861. I re-enforce you this morning with a h<'«vy battery ct 24's and one regiment. Gen. Prentiss re-enforces you from below. Keep me posted. J. C. FREMONT, Maj. Gen. Com'g. To Col. C. C. Marsh, Cape Girardeau. Washington, Aug. 6, 1801. All the troops are ordered out of New Mexico. The first detachment will leave about the 15th. Volunteers received in New Mexico are reported unreliable in defending the largo amount of United States property there. Th se stores cannot be moved East. There is danger of their falling into tho hands of tho Texans. Nevertiieless, the regulars must come away as ordered. At least two regiments of volunteers, say from Kansas, should be sent without delay to New MexicOv with a competent officer for the immediate conimand of all the troops there. Confer with the Gov- ernor of Kansas, and arrange for tho salety of New Mexico as soon as possible. . WINFIELD SCOXT. To Maj. Gen. Fremont. Headquarters Western Department, St Louis, Aug. 6, 18C1. Colonel : I send by special engine Mr. Ed. H. Ca-tle, f.>r any information you may have of Geni ral Lyon's position. Mr. Castle will inform you of what progr. ss Colonel Steven- son has made, who, with his regiment, is on his way to General Lyon's camp. Communicats to me through .Mr. C, who is instructed to return witn any information you may have — all of which you may safely intrust to him. Inclosed letters to bo forwarded as immediately as possi- ble to General Lyon. J. C. FREMONT, Major General, CommanJing. To Colonel Wtman, RoUa, Arsenal Aug. C, 1801, (by telegraph from Cairo.) I have just ordere.l fourcomnanies withtwo 'ix-jnundors on board steamer, to send. They are n < doubt fighting now. See General. If not couutermandid. will hurry them forward. Marsh has called for help again. Enemy 5,000, 20 ftnd over. Citizens have left Cape Girardeau. Answer if I iaust send tiiem. B. M. TRFNTISS, Brigadier General. Arsenal, Aug. 6, 1861. Prentiss telegraphs that hot fighting is no doubt goins on at Cape Girardeau, and that he has on boanl, rea ly to start, lour companies an J two six-pounders to t;o to liisai 1. lie asks if he siiall send them. I'leasj answer hiiu Ou^ht he nut to increase tUo reinforcements. Kuemy 5,u0ji CHESTER UARDING, Jr. To Major General Fremont. Cairo, Aug. 6, 1861. Colonel McArthur, with si.\ companies and four field pieces, left for Cape Girardeau 1}4 "■■ "i- ^^'1' hurry eu- trencliments at Bird's Point. B. M. PRENTISS, General Cjmmanding. To Major General Fremo.\t. W.iSHIXGTON, Aug. 6, ISOl. Orders have been sent Governor Morton to forward fn-T? regiments to \ our department. Hoffman's battery of ai til- lery, from Cincinnati, have been ordered to report to jou for orders. THOMAS A. SCOTT, Acting Secretary War. To Major General Fremont. Headquarters, Aug. 6, 1851. Heavy battery of six tweutv-loui'-pouuders and l,0?0 men left at midnight for Girarde-u under an expeiieuced officer. J. C. FREMONT, M»jor General, Commanding. To Brigadier General B. M. Prentiss, Cairo. Bird's Poi.nt, Aug. G, ISO I. The ni"n -want to go home, a'ld if det.iin id much hnger tlu! w rst cousequencos may bo feared. Their time of ser- vice expired yettterday. Provide for their returu. They are of little use in their present spirit I wait your arswer. ROBERT KOMBAUKR. Miyor General Fremont. [Special Order No. 39.] Hadqu ARTERS Western Department, St. Louis, Aug. 8, 1861. The Seventh Regiment Missouri Volunteers, Colonel Stc- veusuu, now at Koda, will immediately proceed to Spring- field to join General Lyon's command. By order of Major General Fremont. JOHN C. KELTON, Aesisiant Adjutant General. [Extract.] [Telegram.] nEABQBABTERS WESTERN DEPARTMENT, St. Louis, Aug. S, 1S61. Captain Kelton will al^^o order Colonel Stevenson with his I egiment, now halted at Rolla, to go immediately for- waid an]i.ssi.s.sipr'i. ."-^how this to the l^resident. The cutest in the Miss ssippi Val'cy will be a f-evere ce. We had best meet it in t .c face a^ once' and by -o doing we can rout them. Who now serves the country quii-klv serves it twice. (Signed) • J. C. FRli.MUNT. Hbadquartebs We.stehn Pepav.tment , St. Louis August 13. 1861. Dispatch reccjyed. Our so'diers are not iirumptly paid, P'^rtly from the smalf foio^ of paymasters ni re from want of money, whicii fatally embarias es every br • ch of t'je P bii J service her.;. I require this week thrcie miJioaB for Quartermaster's Department. J. C. FREMONT, Major GeLie-al CommandiHg. Hon. Thos. a. Scott, Assistant Secretary of War. The following dispatch was sent to Mr. J. T. Howard, of New York, who, at General Fremont's req-aest, was endeavoring to procure certain arms from the Union Defence Com- mittee of that city : St. Louis, August 13, 1861. Dispatch recsived ; send the arms witho t further bar- gaining, and a'so s 'n 1 your addr ss. Ship p^r Aiams & Co.'s f st freight, who cn.lect herj oj deli.ery Gool mea are losngth ir lives wliile ihe men whom they defend are debating teims. Answer. J. c. freviont, Major Gencr.il Commanding. To J. T. Howard. [Vol. 2, p. 79.] Wasiii.ngton, Sept. 14, 1861. On consultation with tbe President and lie d o ' Depart- ment, it was determined to call u^jU you for five housftnd well-armed infantry, o be sent here without a moments delay. Give them three days cooked rations. This >irjft from your forces to be replaced by you f om (he States of lUin lis, Iowa, Kansai, &a. II w uiauv men have you un- der arms in your district ? Please answer fully and imme- di itely. SIMON CAMERON, Secretary of War. To Maj Gen. Frejiont. [Vol. 2, p. 83.] W.iSHiNOTON, Sept. 14, 1861. Detach five thousand infantry from your iJepartment, to come here without delay, and report the number of the troops that will be left witli you. The I'res ileut dictates. WINFXELU SCOTT. To Maj. Gen. Fremont, [Vol. 2 p. 76.] Hbadquarters Western Department, St. Louis, Sept. U, 1861. T am preparing ti obey the orders received this evening for the five regiments. J. C. FK U 'dO V I, Major General Command'ng. To Col. E. D. TowN.SEND, Assist. Adj. Gen , Wasbiugtou city. . [Vol. 2, p. 82] HE.^DCiUARTERS WESTERN DEPARTMENT, St. Louis, Sept. 14, 1861. I am preparing to obey the orders rceeivod this evening from the Secret..ry of War for five icgimeuts. 1 also send messenger. J. C FREMONT, Majo.- General Commanding To Gen.TnoMAS, Adj. Gen., Washington city. HEADliOARTERS WSSTERN DEPARTMENT St. L'^uis, Sept. 17,1861. Captain: TheOen»ral dire ts mo to say to ou that Ma- jor Farnr, late of Gen. Lyon's staff, states publicly in tno city that he came to th se heidquartcrs and apjdied for re- inforcemen's for General Lyon; that the rem orcementB were refused, and that fro-u the viamn-r of refusal tuj ia- tention was to leave Gen. L\oi to h s fate. What are the facts in the case? Respectfully, J. II. EATO.V, Major U. S. Army, and M. S. Captain J. C. Kelton, A. A. G. 21 To which Capt. Kelton replied as follows : I September 2t, 1861. | Major: Yonr note was not read till this moment. I have no recollection of Major Farrar bringing application for re-enforcements to Qon Lyon. That tivery effort was made to send Oen. Lyon additional troops, after the arrival of Gen. Fremont. I do know. It was found impospil)ln to do so and keep open the railroad communication extending toward Springfield, and at the same time to meet the threatened advance up the Mississippi. I do not know anything of the manner in which the refusal to send rein- forcements was ma le. I can only recall, now, Major Far- rar in connection with his application to mo for a pass over the Pacific Railroad for his horses, which I declined after the Quartermaster had informed me it could not be author- ited. If I had any conversation with Major Farrar on the Mibjoct to which your note alludes, it has escaped me en- tirely. Very respectfully, JOHN C. KELTO:^, Late A. A. G., Col. 9th Reg. M. V. The foHowing is an extract from a statement voluntarily drawn up and offered to General Fremont, by Colonel Chester Harding, Assistant Adjutant General to General Lyon : Pactfic, Oct. 5, 1861. * * * * Looking, then, to the polition of affairs In this State on the 26th .July, 1801, it will bo found that Gen. Lyon was in the southwest, in need of reiiiforje- ments. Tliero was trouble in the northwest, requiring more troops than were th 're. In the northeast there were no more troops than were required to perform the task al- lotted to them, while in the south and southeast there was a rebel army of sufficient force to endanger Bird's Point, I Cape Girardeau, fronton, Rolla, and St. Louis, and no ade- quate preparation was made to meet it Gen. Fremont sent the 8th Missouri to Capo Girardeau, and tiio 4th U. S. Reserve Corps (whose term of KTvice wan to expire on the 8th August) to reinforc Bland at Ironton. lie took some of Gen. fopo's f rce from liim. added to it two battalions of the 1st and 2d U. S. Reserve Cori)s, (whoso term of service was to expire on the 7th August.) equipped Bud's light batiery, and started about the l^t August for Bird's fi.int, with the troops thus celf cted, being some- thing less than i.StO men. and being also all the availabls troops in this region, expecting to find an enemy not less than 20,000 strong. Subsequent events showed that the rebel force was not overestimated and noth ng but the reinforcements sent to the points «bove named and the expeditions down the river prevented its a !viinc(* upon them Common report greatly magnified these reinforcements; and it was gener- ally believed in the city and no doubt so reported to the rebel lealers, that Fremont had moved some 10 i' or 12,- 000 troops to the southeast, while in fact h6 did n( t have over 5,000 to move, and was not strong enough at any point to talco tlie li'. Idand coinnrenco offensive operations. Gen. Fremont wasnnt inattentive to the situation • f Gen. Lyon's colimin. and went so far as to remove the garrison of Booneville, in order to send him aid. During the first days of August troops arr.ved in the city in large rnmbers. Nearly all of them wei e unai med ; all were without trans- portation. Re.iiiment after regiment laid for days in th« city without any equipments, for the reason that" the arse- nal was exhausted, and arms and accoutrements had to bo brought from the East. From these men Gen. Lyon would have had reinforcements, although they were wholly un- practiced in the use of the nnisket, and knew nothing of movemen s in the field: but in the me.intimo the battle ot the 10[h of August was fought CHESTER HARDING. Jr., Late A. A. G. upon the Staff of Brig. Gen. Lyon. nc ^; %.^ ^»^ \-/ '^^^^-^ -^^^^ ''^<^ "'^^S J'^^^ "-^^w*" 4.^^% ^^iK*" o.^^^^. o V ^^-^^^ \^ .. -^ "'"' f ^ " \'J' .. -^ <•* Z^--, "^-^.Z .-is^!^'. ^^..^v* •'^«^^'- "<■" ^^^ -^^0^ v^^ *° ^^'"-^. °o^«:^** ^^^^-' ^v'^ :i^?^:^ .v^. A' "v>^ '^ '--^My-,-" «*^'\. "'I'^d^V^ \^:^ik^\^ ^'^^■^^^^%. J'.^^^ik^^^. .^^.;^.\ ^* cT "^ ^.^iW.' '^ ^^^s^' .^^^^. vV '\ ^. " o ^>t- o ';r^^^i>:^.^ ^0 ^ O^T' c o ^^ . » • i^.' PC"^ ;«. MANCHESTER. C^ .^ v-o^ "^-..s^ ./\ vP INDIANA \ .0 ''^,-; -1 o ,<^