HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY,
Washington, April 1, 1861.
Bvt.. Col. HARVEY
BROWN,
U. S Army, Washington, D. C.:
SIR: You have been
designated to take command of an expedition to re-enforce and hold Fort
Pickens, in the harbor of Pensacola. You will proceed with the least possible
delay to that place, and you will assume command of all the land forces of the
United States within the limits of the State of Florida. You will proceed to
New York, where steam transportation for four companies will be engaged, and,
putting on board such supplies as you can ship, without delay proceed at once
to your destination. The engineer company of Suppers and Miners; Brevet Major
Hunt's Company M, Second Artillery; Captain Johns' Company C, Third Infantry,
Captain Clitz's Company E, Third Infantry, will embark with you in the first
steamer. Other troops and full supplies will be sent after you as soon as
possible.
Captain Meigs will
accompany you as engineer, and will remain with you until you are established
in Fort Pickens, when he will return to resume his duties in this city. The
other members of your staff will be Asst. Surg. John Campbell, medical staff;
Capt. Rufus Ingalls, assistant quartermaster; Capt. Henry F. Clarke, assistant
commissary of subsistence; Bvt. Capt. George L. Hartsuff, assistant
adjutant-general; and First Lieut. George T. Balch, ordnance officer.
The object and
destination of this expedition will be communicated to no one to whom it is not
already known. The naval officers in the Gulf will be instructed to co-operate
with you, and to afford every facility in their power for the accomplishment of
the object of the expedition, which is the security of Fort Pickens against all
attacks, foreign and domestic. Should a shot be fired at you, you will defend
yourself and your expedition at whatever hazard, and, if needful for such
defense, inflict upon the assailants all the damage in your power within the
range of your guns.
Lieutenant-Colonel
Keyes, military secretary, will be authorized to give all necessary orders, and
to call upon the staff department for every requisite material and
transportation, and other steamers will follow that on which you embark, to
carry re-enforcements, supplies, and provisions for the garrison of Fort
Pickens for six months. Captain Barry's battery will follow as soon as a vessel
can be fitted for its transportation. Two or three foot companies will embark
at the same time with the battery. All the companies will be filled up to the
maximum standard, those to embark first from the recruits in the harbor of New
York. The other companies will be filled, if practicable, with instructed
soldiers.
You will make Fort
Jefferson your main depot and base of operations. You will be careful not
reduce too much the means of the fortresses in the Florida Reef, as they are
deemed of greater importance than even Fort Pickens. The naval officers in the
Gulf will be instructed to cooperate with you in every way, in order to insure
the safety of Fort Pickens, Fort Jefferson, and Fort Taylor. You will freely
communicate with them for this end, and will exhibit to them the authority of
the President herewith.
The President
directs that you be assigned to duty from this date according to your brevet
rank in the Army.
With great
confidence in your judgment, zeal, and intelligence, I remain, respectfully,
WINFIELD SCOTT.
APRIL 2, 1861.
Approved:
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
[Inclosure.]
SOURCES: Robert
Means Thompson & Richard Wainwright, Editors, Publications of the Naval
Historical Society, Volume 9: Confidential Correspondence of Gustavus
Vasa Fox, Assistant Secretary of the Navy, 1861-1865, Volume 1, p. 15; The
War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and
Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume 1 (Serial No. 1), p. 365-6;
