vance beyond the line specified in the 3d article, before the expiration of eight weeks, or until the orders of the respective governments can be received. Article 7. That the public property to be delivered, shall be turned over and received by officers appointed by the commanding general of the two armies. Article 8. That all doubts, as to the meaning of any of the preceding articles, shall be solved by an equitable construction, and on principles of liberality to the retiring army. Article 9. That the Mexican flag, when struck at the citadel, may be saluted by its own battery. Approved: W. J. WORTH, Brig. Gen. U. S. A. J. PINCKNEY HENDERSON, Maj. Gen. commanding the Texan volunteers. JEFFERSON DAVIS, Colonel Mississippi riflemen. J. M. ORTEGA, T. REQUENA, MANUEL M. LLANO, PEDRO AMPUDIA, Z. TAYLOR, Maj. Gen. U. S. A. commanding. Done at Monterey, Sept. 24, 1846. Jefferson Davis to C. S. Tarpley and others. (From Vicksburg Weekly Whig, June 9, 1847.) Monterey, May 7, 1847. Gentlemen-Your letter of the 5th ult., conveying the resolutions of a public meeting held in the capital of our State, on the 3d of April, 1847, has just been received. For the approbation thus conferred on the officers and men of the 1st Mississippi Rifles, I feel most sincerely thankful. For myself, and for those whom it has been my honor and good fortune to command, I will say, that in such manifestations of regard and esteem of our brethren at home, is contained the reward for whatever we have borne of toil, privation or loss; for whatever we may have achieved of honorable service in the cause of our country. The necessary directions will be given, to place your letter on the records, and ensure its reading at the head of each company of our Regiment. For the very kind and highly complimentary terms in which you, as the organ of the meeting have presented its resolutions, I am truly sensible, and offer my grateful acknowledgements. Cordially, I am your friend and fellow citizen, JEFF'N DAVIS. Colonel 1st Mississippi Rifles. Messrs. C. S. Tarpley, Jno. D. Freeman, Jas. J. Deavenport, H. Stuart Foote, C. R. Clifton, Charles Scott, Daniel Mayes, Jno. I. Guion, A. Hutchinson, Jno. Mayrant,-Committee. Albert G. Brown to Jefferson Davis. (From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History. Letter Book of Governor Brown.) Col Jeff Davis Executive Chamber Jackson Mi 17 May 1847 Com 1st Miss Rifles, Sir I have the honor to enclose a copy of a letter written by me to the Secretary of War requesting that officers & men in your Regiment be allowed to retain their arms on retiring from the service or that said arms be issued to Mississippi as a part of her quota from the Genl Government. The Secr. has not yet replied to the letter, but it is not doubted by me that he will at least yield to the last request. Expecting to be absent from home for some weeks I have instructed the Sec of State to forward Gov Marcy's answer to you when it is received. Should either of my requests be complied with, you will allow the men under your command to retain their arms when you disband them. If they are issued to the State, I cannot render a more acceptable service to the people for whom your ever glorious Reg't has won such imperishable honor than to say in their name "there shall be no divorce between the gallant soldier & his Gun." Very Respy 1 James K. Polk to Jefferson Davis. (From Vicksburg Weekly Whig, October 20, 1847.) Washington City, May 19, 1847. My Dear Sir:-The Secretary of War will transmit to you, a commission as Brigadier General of the United States Army. The Brigade which you will command, will consist of volunteers called out to serve during the war with Mexico. It gives me sincere pleasure to confer this important command upon you. Your distinguished gallantry and military skill while leading the noble regiment under your command, and especially in the battles of Monterey and Buena Vista, eminently entitle you to it. I hope that the severe wound which you received at the latter place, may soon be healed, and that your country may have the benefit of your valuable services, at the head of your new command. I am very faithfully, your friend, JAMES K. POLK. To Brigadier-General Jefferson Davis, U. S. Army, in Mexico. Jefferson Davis to John M. Chilton and others. (From Vicksburg Weekly Whig, June 16, 1847.) New Orleans, 11th June, 1847. Gentlemen-Your letter of the 31st of May, conveying in the most kind and complimentary terms the wish of the citizens of Vicksburg and Warren county to receive the 1st Mississippi Rifles at a Barbecue, was received at this place. We most sensibly feel your flattering attention to our ap 'Polk, James Knox (1795-1849), eleventh President of the United States, was born in Mecklenburg county, North Carolina, November 2, 1795, graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1818, removed to Tennessee, studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1820, and began practice in Columbia, Tenn. He served in the Tennessee House of Representatives 1823-1825; was a member of the national House of Representatives, 1825-1839; Speaker, 1835-1839; and Governor of Tennessee 1839-1841. He was President of the United States, 1845-1849. During his administration the annexation of Texas (1845) involved the country in aggressive war against Mexico (May, 1846-September, 1847) which resulted in the acquisition of California and other cessions from Mexico. A dispute with the British government about the boundary of Oregon was settled by the Treaty with Great Britain signed June 15, 1846. President Polk retired from office in March, and died at Nashville, Tenn., June 15, proach, and hope to have the pleasure of meeting you at Vicksburg on Tuesday morning, the 15th inst. To you, gentlemen of the committee, for the pleasing manner in which you welcome our coming, I return, on the part of the Regiment, the sincerest thanks. Very truly, yours, JEFF'N DAVIS. Colonel Mississippi Rifles. John M. Chilton, Ch'n., A. H. Arthur, T. E. Robins, W. H. Johnson, N. D. Coleman, E. J. Sessions, W. C. Smedes, J. Jenkins, M. C. Folkes, N. B. Batchelor, C. J. Searles. Reception in honor of the First Regiment Mississippi Volunteers, War with Mexico at Natchez, Mississippi, June 15, 1847. (From Natchez Weekly Courier, June 16, 1847.) Yesterday was a day which will long be remembered in our annals-a glorious day, alternately illuminated by sunshine or darkened by clouds, and one of the hours of which will be deeply traced with every sentiment which could do honor to an admiring people, or to our glorious returned volunteers, "the bravest of the brave" who have so gallantly won and so nobly worn the brilliant chaplets of fame which adorn their brows. It is to be regretted that our city of the bluffs was not honored by all the companies of the regiment, although those who were present had performed deeds, worthy, if possible, (which could not be) a reception more enthusiastic. But, it is useless to talk about that. No reception could have been warmer, more whole-souled, or more heart-inspiring. It was a sight to make the pulse throb, and the heart beat with accelerated motion to see those gallant soldiers those glorious boys of our own State-the "Star Regiment" of Gen. Taylor's army-THE MEN who had stormed the rocky steeps of Monterey, and met with unquailing hearts the iron storm that raged in that doomed city—now a glorious monument of their valor. There were the men who had breasted unflinchingly the crimson tide of battle at Buena Vista. There were the men who had never faltered in the fiercest of the death struggle and when frightened fugitives were frantically flying from the sanguinary conflict, they remained as firm and unmoved as the rock which for ages has breasted the surges of the billows of ocean. There were their ever-glorious commanders,the noble Davis, the fearless McClung-scarred with honorable wounds yet suffering from the injuries they had received in their country's service-but full of patriotic devotion and with spirits unsubdued, and with hearts as free and souls as high as when they first responded to the call of their government and flew to the field of conflict. They were, officers and men, a spectacle which reminded us of the times of our revolutionary ancestors of the "times that tried" the "souls" of the men who were led to battle by Washington, Montgomery, Greene, and many others, whose names illumine as with a glorious stream of sunlight, the history of that eventful epoch,-and they were evidently from the same stock, for such men could not have sprung from any other stock. But, to the arrival of our laurelled volunteers. The shades of night had scarcely yielded to the bright beams of morn, ere the loud-toned cannon thundered forth the signal, announcing to the citizens of our city and the country round about, the apporach of the pride and glory of our chivalrous State. The whole city was moved as if with one mighty inpulse,-citizens from the country flocked in in thousands-stores and other places of business remained unopened, and one general thrill of joyous enthusiasm appeared to animate the vast mass of moving and excited humanity which crowded our streets and thronged the bluffs of the mighty river which flows past our city, to render "honor to the brave." At about 9 o'clock, the companies of our First Regiment of Rifles were formed at the landing, and at about the same time the fine military companies of our city-the Fencibles, the Light Guard, the Natchez Guards, the Jefferson College Cadets and the Natchez Cadets,-marched under the hill to escort them to our city. The military was formed in the following order: the Fencibles and Light Guard on the right, the Rifles in the centre, and the College Cadets and Natchez Cadets and Natchez Guards in the rear, and thus the long line moved up upon the bluff. The procession then moved up Main street to Pine street, and down Franklin street to the bluff, where preparations on a scale commensurate with the importance of the occasion, had been made to receive our honored guests. When we arrived upon the Bluff, a scene of rare and surpassing beauty, never excelled and rarely equalled, burst upon our sight. The Promenade ground was thronged with the bright and beautiful, and wherever he turned a blaze of loveliness was sure to dawn upon the vision of the beholder. But of all the scenes that pleased us in the highest degree was that presented by the pupils of the Natchez Institute-six hundred in number -who, under the admirable supervision of the Principal of the Institute, Mr. Pearl, were formed in two lines on each side of |