HEADQUARTERS TENTH MILITARY DEPARTMENT, Monterey, California, August 12, 1849. MAJOR: Your communication of June 19, with its enclosures, and that of July 5, were received on the 10th instant, and have been submitted to the brigadier general commanding, by whom I am directed to say that he will keep the companies composing your command filled up to the standard authorized to companies serving in this department. Beyond that it is not in his power to go, without instructions from the War Department. Your correspondence with the commission will be transmitted to the Secretary of War with the following endorsement: "This correspondence is respectfully submitted to the Secretary of War, with information that under instructions from these headquarters of April 15, 18, and June 30, the companies of this escort have been filled up to an efficient strength, and that arrangements will be made to keep up this strength by transfer from other companies serving in this department. This force, in conjunction with that furnished by Mexico, I deem amply sufficient for protection in any operation west of Gila river. Beyond that river a greater force will probably be necessary; but it cannot be furnished from this department without serious detriment to the service, nor do I feel authorized, without further instructions from the War Department, in going beyond the instructions of general order No. 65. "At the date of last report from San Diego, Major Emory's command had an aggregate present of 101, and the Mexican of 140." By department special orders No. -, Lieutenant Slaughter, 4th infantry, was continued on duty with the company to which he was then attached. As this order may have failed to reach you, I enclose a dupli cate. The communication from Major McKinstry, to which you refer, in relation to the transportation to San Luis Rey, has not been received; nor is the commanding general in possession of any information in regard to it, except that communicated in your letter. The officer in command at San Luis Rey when it was abandoned has been directed to report what disposition has been made of the transportation at that place. It has not been in General Riley's power to furnish a medical officer to your command. His inability to do so was reported some time since to the Adjutant General, and an additional number of officers applied for. The number of officers of the medical staff originally assigned to this department was reduced by the Surgeon General before the troops left the United States; and although General Riley has received no instructions to furnish a medical officer for your command, he would of course have done so if there had been one at his disposal. It is important that the commanding general should receive, as early as possible, a return of your command, in order that he may direct any transfer that may be necessary. Very respectfully, major, your obedient servant, Major W. H. EMORY, Topographical Engineers, E. R. S. CANBY, Assistant Adjutant General. Commanding escort of Commissioners. HEADQUARTERS TENTH MILITARY DEPARTMENT, Monterey, California, August 14, 1849. MAJOR: I am instructed by the commanding general to enclose, for your information, a copy of a letter to the assistant quartermaster at San Francisco in relation to the land upon which the Post Office agent at San Francisco was authorized by you to erect a building. This portion of the reserve is covered by a grant to Mr. A. B. Thompson, given by the Mexican authorities in 1838, which, although not considered good, was recognised by Governor Mason (the former governor of California) himself, to the extent of "occupancy of the house and right of way to the water.' The remainder of the reservation is in possession of Mr. Steineberger, under authority given him by the assistant quartermaster at San Francisco, which was not submitted to the commanding general of this department. Mr. Allen's application to General Riley and your conditional permission have been forwarded to division headquarters disapproved. Dr. E. Jones, mentioned in the enclosed communication, was the agent or assignee of Mr. Thompson, and the papers therein referred to are on file in the presidio of San Francisco. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, E. R. S. CANBY, Assistant Adjutant General. Major R. ALLEN, Assistant Quartermaster. HEADQUARTERS TENTH MILITARY DEPARTMENT, GENERAL: Your communication of December 8, 1848, to Governor Ma-son, in relation to the arrangement for supplying the officers of the quartermaster's department in California with funds, was turned over to me on the 19th of April last. The funds, thus far, have not been sufficient to meet the current expenditures, and your department is greatly indebted to the "civil fund" of this Territory. In advance of my annual estimate, to be transmitted by the next steamer, I have now the honor to request that arrangements may be made as soon as practicable for the remission of the sum of $500,000, to meet the indebtedness above referred to and the current disbursements until after my detailed estimate shall have been received and acted upon. Very respectfully, general, your obedient servant, Brev. Brig. Gen. U. S. Army, commanding, &e. HEADQUARTERS TENTH MILITARY DEPARTMENT, MAJOR: Your communications of June 30 and July 1 and 5 were received on General Riley's return to this place, .(a few days since,) and have been submitted to him. I am directed to say, in reply, that he designs visiting San Diego for purposes connected with your suggestions immediately after the adjournment of the convention that meets in this place on the 1st proximo. In the mean time, he directs that estimates be prepared and forwarded to headquarters for the lumber and other materials that will be required for building quarters for two companies of infantry, with the necessary storehouse and hospital. The difficulty of procuring building materials in this country is so great, that the commanding general is not disposed to authorize any permanent buildings until materials can be sent out from the United States. If, however, quarters for your command cannot be obtained at San Diego, it will be necessary to put them under cover before the commencement of the rainy season. The best position for the erection of these quarters will be as near Punta Guij (already selected by a board of engineer officers for the construction of a fortification for the defence of the harbor of San Diego) as a suitable position can be found-reference being had to a good supply of water, convenient to the landing, and to a location that will not interfere with any work of a more permanent character. You are desired to collect information on these points, and any others that may be useful in aiding the commanding general in making a selection when he visits your post, and report them for his information. No information has reached department headquarters with regard to building materials left at San Pedro, but instructions will be given to send any that are there to San Diego. In consequence of a want of officers, a general court-martial cannot at. present be convened at San Diego for the trial of the charges returned by you, but one will be assembled there at the earliest period that the interest of the service will permit. It is a matter of great regret that the stores sent you from San Pedro and San Francisco should have proved insufficient. A six months' supply for 300 men was ordered by General Riley, and he now directs that you immediately estimate for any additional supply that may be required. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, E. R. S. CANBY, Assistant Adjutant General. 2d Infantry, San Diego, California. Major S. P. HEINTZELMAN, HEADQUARTERS TENTH MILITARY DEPARTMENT, Monterey, California, August 20, 1849. CAPTAIN: Your communication of the 3d instant, in relation to quarters for your family during your absence from San Diego with the escort of the commissioners of the boundary survey, has been referred to the commanding officer at San Diego, with the following endorsement: The commanding general directs that, during the absence of Captain Hayden from San Diego, his family be furnished with the quarters and fuel to which he would be entitled if he were on duty at that post. The allowance to be in kind, or the commutation to be paid, as may be most convenient to the service." Very respectfully, captain, your obedient servant, Captain J. HAYDEN, E. R. S. CANBY, Assistant Adjutant General. 2d Infantry, Camp Riley, near San Diego, California. HEADQUARTERS TENTH MILITARY DEPARTMENT, MAJOR: Your communications of July 16, 25, and August 2d, 3d, and 12th, were received by the steamer on the 18th instant, and have been submitted to the commanding general, by whom I am directed to say, that the court-martial for which you apply will be ordered at the earliest practicable moment. Your requisition for supplies has been approved and forwarded. The lumber ordered to your post is intended only for repairs; and, until the requisitions of paragraph 111, general orders No. 49, 1848, and vin of department orders No. 16, current series, are first complied with, no authority can be given for the erection of buildings. The commanding general will visit San Diego for this purpose as soon as it is possible to leave this place. The military express from San Diego to Monterey is exceedingly important in connecting department headquarters with the intermediate places, and it will be continued until the establishment of the post office mail, now in contemplation, renders it no longer necessary. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, E. R. S. CANBY, Assistant Adjutant General. Major S. P. HEINTZELMAN, 2d Infantry, San Diego, California. HEADQUARTERS TENTH MILITARY DEPARTMENT, Monterey, California, August 20, 1849. SIR: Your communication of yesterday in explanation of your interference in the matter complained of by Mr. Forbes, vice consul of her Britannic Majesty, has been received and submitted to the brigadier general commanding, by whom I am directed to say that the interference of a military force to aid the civil authorities in the exercise of their duties can only be called for when all the means under the control of the civil authorities have been unsuccessfully employed; and that when applied for, the requisition should come from the highest judicial authority in the district in which the alleged offence was committed. Even if properly clothed with the authority he attempted to exercise, Mr. Bellamy had no jurisdiction in the case; nor does it appear that efforts were made to execute the process by a civil posse, or that any reference of the case was made to the first alcalde of the district. His conduct, therefore, is not approved; and your interference is deemed unnecessary, particularly when the whole matter might, without any difficulty or prejudicial delay, have been referred to higher judicial authority, or to the governor of the Territory. For the course to be pursued under similar circumstances, you are respectfully referred to the several paragraphs of department orders No. 16 and orders No. 17 of the 8th of May last. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, Lieutenant E. H. DERBY, E. R. S. CANBY, Assistant Adjutant General. Topographical Engineer, Monterey, California. HEADQUARTERS TENTH MILITARY DEPARTMENT, COLONEL: Lieutenant Wilson, 1st dragoons, was instructed, on the 2d of June last, to proceed with his company to Los Reyes river, for the purpose of apprehending the perpetrators of some Indian murders that had recently been committed on or near that river. He was also directed to report the result of his expedition promptly for the information of the commanding general;" to collect and report any information that might be useful with regard to the Indians-their numbers, haunts, the best position for the establishing of troops to operate against them. In my communication to you of July 22, I repeated that I expected on. my arrival at Benicia to receive a report from Lieutenant Wilson "that would determine this point"-the best route for supplying a command sent to that river-" and enable me to report more definitely than I now can." I was greatly disappointed in not finding Lieutenant Wilson's report at Benicia, and still more so that it was not received by the mail which arrived last night. Although it is exceedingly important that troops should be sent to the Los Reyes river before the mining population is established in that neighborhood, yet, from the imperfect knowledge of that region, and the ascertained fact that the whole neighborhood of the lake is at certain seasons of the year exceedingly unhealthy, I am greatly averse to the establishment of troops in that country until after the receipt of the information expected from Lieutenant Wilson, or until that neighborhood be properly examined for the selection of a healthy position. If the report of Lieutenant Wilson should not be satisfactory in this respect, I shall recommend that Major Miller's command remain in its present location until the commencement of the rainy season; and that, it then be withdrawn and established in quarters on the coast during the winter. In the mean time, if topographical engineers should arrive by the next steamer, as I expect, I will cause the neighborhood to be thorough-. ly examined, and the necessary preparations to be made for the establishment of this post early in the spring. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, Lieutenant Colonel J. HOOKER, E. R. S. CANBY, Assistant Adjutant General U. S. A., Sonoma, California. |