New Orleans, Sept. 19th, 1862.
Dear Sir: Hon.
A. J. Hamilton will present this letter to you, and also a letter of
introduction from myself. In this private letter I wish to add a few statements
not proper for an open letter.
Mr. Hamilton refused to leave his seat in the House of
Representatives, when Texas seceded. After his term expired, he returned to Texas,
and has constantly fought secession up to the time of his forced departure from
the State.
Mr. Hamilton is well known throughout Western Texas, and
probably has more influence there than any other man. He is brave and
determined, and stands high in the estimation of all honest men. Whatever
statements he makes to you you can rely on implicitly.
Mr. H. thoroughly appreciates the character of the present
struggle, and imposes no conditions upon his loyalty. This is the man to make
Western Texas a Free State and he will do it wisely and surely. He knows the
country and the people and is such an orator as they love to listen to.
Col. Hamilton can raise a Brigade of Union troops in Texas
more quickly than any other man in the State, and I believe he only wants an
authority to raise such a Brigade when an expedition goes there.
Mr. H. is to Western Texas, what Brownlow, Maynard and
Johnson are to East Tennessee.
In common with all Union men of Texas, I hope he will
receive that encouragement to which his abilities and unfaltering loyalty
entitle him, and under his wise management Western Texas will be freed, at the
same time, from rebellion and Slavery.
SOURCE: Diary and correspondence of Salmon P. Chase, Annual
Report of the American Historical Association for the Year 1902, Vol.
2, p. 314-5
No comments:
Post a Comment