up a long line of march, a great deficiency of proper means of transport, and of many important supplies. On the 26th April, when first apprizing you of the increased force called out by me, I wrote that I trusted the War Department would "give the necessary orders to the staff department for the supply of this large additional force;" and when first advised of the heavy force of 12-months volunteers ordered hither, I could not doubt that such masses of troops would be accompanied, or preferably preceded, by ample means of transportation, and all other supplies necessary to render them efficient. But such has not been the case. Suitable steamboats for the Rio Grande were not procured without repeated efforts directed from this quarter, and many weeks elapsed before a lodgement could be made at this place, the river being perfectly navigable. After infinite delays and embarrassments, I have succeeded in bringing forward a portion of the army to this point, and now the steamers procured in Pittsburg are just arriving. I hazard nothing in saying that, if proper foresight and energy had been displayed in sending out suitable steamers to navigate the Rio Grande, our army would long since have been in possession of Monterey. Again, as to land transport. At this moment our wagon train is considerably less than when we left Corpus Christi-our force being increased five-fold. Had we depended upon means from without, the army would not have been able to move from this place. But fortunately the means of land transport existed to some extent in the country in the shape of pack mules, and we have formed a train which will enable a small army to advance, perhaps, to Monterey. I wish it distinctly understood that our ability to move is due wholly to means created here, and which could not have been reckoned upon with safety in Washington. I have adverted to the grand points of water and land transportation. Of the want of minor supplies, the army has suffered more than enough. The crying deficiency of camp equipage has been partially relieved by the issue of cotton tents of indifferent quality. Our cavalry has been paralyzed by the want of horse shoes, horse. shoe nails, and even common blacksmiths' tools, while many smaller deficiencies are daily brought to my notice. I respectfully request that the above statement, which I make in justice to myself and the service, may be laid before the generalin-chief and Secretary of War. I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, Z. TAYLOR, Major General U. S. A., commanding. The ADJUTANT GENERAL of the Army, Washington, D. C. WAR DEPARTMENT, Washington, September 21, 1846. SIR: A letter of Major General Taylor, of the 1st instant, addressed to the adjutant general, and by him laid before me, pursuant to the request therein, is of such an extraordinary character, and impeaches in such unqualified terms the management of that branch of the public service committed to you, that I have deemed it to be my duty to order a copy of it to be placed in your hands, and to direct your particular attention to it. The avowed object of Gen. Taylor in presenting these complaints, or rather accusations, against the quartermaster's department, is to make them a matter of record. I am extremely unwilling, and I presume you cannot be less so than myself, that they should there remain without explanation or investigation. I am fully aware of the great difficulties unavoidable in the management of the quartermaster's department on the sudden occurrence of a war, when the country was not prepared for such an emergency. General Taylor must be presumed to be as well acquainted with all the circumstances of embarrassment attending the quartermaster's department as any other person, and yet his arraignment of it is not qualified by any allusion to them. The inference is, that, all proper allowances made, he considers that the management of the affairs of the quartermaster's department has been such as to deserve censure. Such appears to me to be his meaning, and such, I apprehend, will be the general impression resulting from the perusal of his letter. If this censure is really deserved, it is proper that those obnoxious to it should be ascertained, and dealt with as their conduct deserves; but if, on the contrary, it shall be found that the officers of the quartermaster's department have done their duty in a proper and efficient manner, as I trust will be case, steps must be taken to remove the erroneous impression and indicate their official conduct. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, Major General THOMAS S. JESUP, W. L. MARCY, Quartermaster General U. S. Army. N. B.-The copy has been furnished to the quartermaster general by the adjutant general. NEW ORLEANS, December 5, 1846. SIR: When I received your letter of the 21st September, on the subject of Major General Taylor's complaints, I was apprehensive that neglect or omissions had occurred on the part of some one or more of the subordinate officers of the department, by which his operations had been seriously embarrassed; but I have looked into the whole matter, and I am bound in justice to say that no class of officers, not even General Taylor and the most distinguished men around him, have better or more faithfully performed their duty; and if any thing has been wanting which they could have supplied, it has been because the proper orders were not given or timely requisitions made. Late In conducting a war, it is the duty of the government to designate the object to be accomplished; it is then the duty of the general who conducts the operations to call for the means required to accomplish that object. If he fail to do so, he is himself responsible for all the consequences of his omission. General Taylor complains of want of water and land transportation, camp equipage, and shoes for his cavalry horses. As to water transportation, I find that he called for a single light draught steamer early in May. Lieutenant Colonel Hunt could not at once obtain a suitable boat, but he executed the order as soon as it was possible. in May, or early in June, General Taylor considering four boats necessary, appointed his own agents to obtain them. I was at the time taking measures, under the orders of General Scott, to obtain suitable boats for the navigation of the Rio Grande; but, having no reliable information in relation to the navigation of that river, and believing General Taylor's agents possessed of the requisite knowledge, I preferred that they should execute his orders; and I limited my action in the matter to doubling the number called for by General Taylor, and authorising a further increase, if considered necessary, by his brother and one of his agents. The number required by the general was, I believe, nearly quadrupled, ultimately, by the officers of the department. As to the complaint of the general, that the steamers from Pittsburg were then (September 1st) just arriving, it is proper to state that these were the very boats procured by one of his own agents. When at Pittsburg, I inquired into the delay of those boats; and it is but justice to Captain Sanders, General Taylor's agent, to say, that no effort was spared to get them into service as early as possible. As to the complaint in regard to the want of land transportation, it is proper to remark, that there was no information at Washington, so far as I was informed, to enable me or the War Department to determine whether wagons could be used in Mexico. General Taylor, though he had both mounted troops and topographical engineers, had not supplied the want of that information; besides, he had not, as far as I know, or believe, intimated to any department his intentions, or wishes, in regard to the means of transportatior to be used. It was known that he had a wagon train amply sufficient for double the force he commanded before the arrival of the volunteers. Added to that, he had General Arista's means of transportation; and he was in a country abounding in mules-the means of transportation best adapted to the country, and the only means used by the enemy. A general is expected to avail himself of the resources of the country in which he operates. If General Taylor failed to do so, and was without the necessary transportation, he alone is responsible. Those means were limited only by his own will. He had officers of the quartermaster's department able to have executed his orders, and willing to carry out his views; his authority alone was wanting. As to camp equipage, you are aware that the appropriation which I asked for last year was stricken out, and that not a cent was appropriated, which could be legally applied to that object, before the 9th and 13th of May. When the appropriations were made, the officers of the department were compelled to obtain materials wheresoever they could get them, and such as they could get. Cotton cloth was necessarily substituted for linen in the fabrication. of tents. I have no doubt a great deal of the material was of the quality represented by General Taylor; but that was, under the circumstances, unavoidable. The officers obtained the best they could get, and deserve credit for their exertions, in place of the censures they have received. I am somewhat at a loss to imagine why the deficiency of shoes for the dragoon horses was made a subject of complaint against the quartermaster's department. A blacksmith is allowed, by law, to every troop of dragoons. It is the duty of every commander of a troop to have his shoeing tools complete, and to have, at all times, the necessary shoe and nail iron; and it is the duty of the regimental commander to see that timely requisitions be made. Now, if those officers failed to have what was necessary to the efficiency of their commands, let General Taylor hold them accountable. The quartermaster's department is not responsible for their neglects. As I came through the western country to this city, I was informed that a report was circulating that General Taylor would have taken forward to Monterey a much larger force of volunteers, but for the neglect of the quartermaster's department to furnish the means of transportation. In reply to that report, I respectfully ask your attention to the letter of General Taylor of the 2d of July, to the adjutant general. There he tells you, through that officer, that he proposes to operate from Camargo to Monterey; he tells you that he will operate with a column of about 6,000 men; that he must rely on the country for meat, and depot at Camargo for bread; and adds, as the reason for not taking a greater force, that a column exceeding six thousand men cannot be supplied on that route with bread alone. I feel, sir, that every officer of the department has performed his duty faithfully, if not ably, and that the charges of General Taylor are both unjust and unmerited. As regards myself, I feel that I have performed my whole duty, both to the country and to the army; and, if the slightest doubt remain on that subject, I owe it to myself to demand an immediate and thorough investigation of my conduct, and that of the department, from the commencemeat of operations on the Texan frontier, as well previous to, as during the war. 1 am, sir, most respectfully, your obedient servant, Major General, Quartermaster General. The Hon. WM. L. MARCY, Secretary of War, Washington city. WAR DEPARTMENT, Washington, October 1, 1846. SIR: I have the honor to enclose, herewith, for your information, a copy of an application of the quartermaster general for orders to proceed to New Orleans to direct, in person, the operations of his department in the southwest, and a copy of the communication which has this day been addressed to him, complying with his request upon that subject. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, Major General Z. TAYLOR, U. S. A., Camargo, Mexico. W. L. MARCY, Secretary of War. QUARTERMASTER GENERAL'S OFFICE, SIR: A careful review of the difficulties attending the operations of the branch of the public service confided to my administration has convinced me that an officer of rank, willing to assume all necessary responsibility, and with full authority to do so, should be near the scene of the more important operations of the army. I propose, should it meet your approbation and that of the President, to proceed to New Orleans, and take upon myself the general direction of the affairs of the department there and on the frontier, in order that every exigency may be met and provided for without the delay and inconvenience that result from waiting instructions from Washington. The only possible objection that could be urged against the proposed measure in my case, it seems to me, is the question of rankmy brevet of major general making me the senior of every officer now serving in Mexico; but that I waive. I do not desire military command; and without a different commission from that which I hold, I would not accept it. I propose to go in my capacity as an officer of the staff, ready to obey the orders of General Taylor, General Butler, General Patterson, General Wool, or any other officer whom the government or the accidents of service may place in command of the army, or of any separate division of it. My only object is to benefit the country, by securing the utmost efficiency to the measures of my own department, and by that means giving effect to the whole service. I propose to visit the depots near the army, for the purpose of inspection, and such other posts and places as the proper discharge of my duties may render necessary. With great consideration and respect, I have the honor to be, sir, ycur obedient servant, The Hon. WM. L. MARCY, TH. S. JESUP, Quartermaster General. Secretary of War, Washington city. |