Richard Brooke Garnett

Nephew of James Mercer Garnett (q. v.), and Robert Selden Garnett (q. v.); born in Virginia, in 1819; graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1841. He entered the army as second lieutenant, and served in the Florida war, and subsequently in the west. He was made first lieutenant in 1847, and later captain. He aided in quelling the Kansas disturbances in 1856-57; was engaged in the Utah expedition. He entered the Confederate service as major of artillery in 1861, and was promoted to brigadier-general the same year. He served in the Shenandoah Valley under Jackson, and at the battle of Kernstown commanded the Stonewall brigade. During and after the Maryland. campaign he commanded Pickett's brigade, which he finally led at Gettysburg, where he fell dead, shot from his horse in the midst of action. He died July 3, 1863.

SOURCE: Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography, Vol. 3, p. 53

Robert Selden Garnett

Son of Robert Selden Garnett (q. v.), born in Essex county, Virginia; graduated from United States Military Academy, in 1841, as second lieutenant of artillery, and was an instructor there till October, 1844. In 1845 he went to Mexico as aide to Gen. Wool, and served with distinction at Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma; and was aide to Gen. Taylor at Monterey and Buena Vista. As captain, he was again an instructor at West Point in 1852-54. Promoted to major he served on the western frontier. He was on leave of absence in Europe when the civil war broke out. Returning, he resigned, was commissioned lieutenant-colonel, C. S. A., and was adjutant-general to Gen. R. E. Lee. In June, 1861, as brigadier-general, he went into service in western Virginia, and while leading his troops at Carrick's [sic] Ford, July 13, was killed by a volley from the enemy. His body was tenderly cared for by Gen. McClellan, and returned to his friends.

SOURCE: Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography, Vol. 3, p. 54

Jefferson Davis’ Remarks on the Resolution of Thanks to General Zachary Taylor, May 28, 1846

Mr. JEFFERSON DAVIS said, as a friend to the army, he rejoiced at the evidence now afforded of a disposition in this House to deal justly, to feel generously towards those to whom the honor of our flag has been intrusted. Too often and too long had we listened to harsh and invidious reflections upon our gallant little army, and the accomplished officers who command it. A partial opportunity had been offered to exhibit their soldierly qualities in their true light, and he trusted these aspersions were hushed-hushed now forever. As an American, whose heart promptly responds to all which illustrates our national character, and adds new glory to our national name, he rejoiced with exceeding joy at the recent triumph of our arms. Yet it is no more than he expected from the gallant soldiers who hold our post upon the Rio Grande-no more than, when occasion offers, they will achieve again. It was the triumph of American courage, professional skill, and that patriotic pride which blooms in the breast of our educated soldier, and which droops not under the withering scoff of political revilers.

These men will feel, deeply feel, the expression of your gratitude. It will nerve their hearts in the hour of future conflict, to know that their country acknowledges and honors their devotion. It will shed a solace on the dying moment of those who fall, to be assured their country mourns the loss. This is the meed for which the soldier bleeds and dies. This he will remember long after the paltry pittance of one month's extra pay has been forgotten.

Beyond this expression of the nation's thanks, he liked the principle of the proposition offered by the gentleman from South Carolina. We have a pension system providing for the disabled soldier, but he seeks well and wisely to extend it to all who may be wounded, however slightly. It is a reward offered to those who seek for danger, who first and foremost plunge into the fight. It has been this incentive, extended so as to cover all feats of gallantry, that has so often crowned the British arms with victory, and caused their prowess to be recognised in every quarter of the globe. It was the sure and high reward of gallantry, the confident reliance upon their nation's gratitude, which led Napoleon's armies over Europe, conquering and to conquer; and it was these influences which, in an earlier time, rendered the Roman arms invincible, and brought their eagle back victorious from every land on which it gazed. Sir, let not that prevent us from parsimony, (for he did not deem it economy,) adopting a system which in war will add so much to the efficiency of troops. Instead of seeking to fill the ranks of your army by increased pay, let the soldier feel that a liberal pension will relieve him from the fear of want in the event of disability, provide for his family in the event of death, and that he wins his way to gratitude and the reward of his countrymen by perilling all for honor in the field.

The achievement which we now propose to honor is one which richly deserves it. Seldom, sir, in the annals of military history has there been one in which desperate daring and military skill were more happily combined. The enemy selected his own ground, and united to the advantage of a strong position a numerical majority of three to one. Driven from his first position by an attack in which it is hard to say whether professional skill or manly courage is to be more admired, he retired and posted his artillery on a narrow defile, to sweep the ground over which our troops were compelled to pass. There, posted in strength three times greater than our own, they waited the approach of our gallant little army.

General Taylor knew the danger and destitution of the band he left to hold his camp opposite Matamoras, and he paused for no regular approaches, but opened his field artillery, and dashed with sword and bayonet on the foe. A single charge left him master of their battery, and the number of slain attests the skill and discipline of his army. Mr. D. referred to a gentleman who, a short time since, upon this floor, expressed extreme distrust in our army, and poured out the vials of his denunciation upon the graduates of the Military Academy. He hoped now the gentleman will withdraw those denunciations; that now he will learn the value of military science; that he will see in the location, the construction, the defence of the bastioned field-work opposite Matamoras the utility, the necessity of a military education. Let him compare the few men who held that with the army that assailed it; let him mark the comparative safety with which they stood within that temporary work; let him consider why the guns along its ramparts were preserved, whilst they silenced the batteries of the enemy; why that intrenchment stands unharmed by Mexican shot, whilst its guns have crumbled the stone walls in Matamoras to the ground, and then say whether he believes a blacksmith or a tailor could have secured the same results. He trusted the gentleman would be convinced that arms, like every occupation, requires to be studied before it can be understood; and from these things, to which he had called his attention, he will learn the power and advantage of military science. He would make but one other allusion to the remarks of the gentleman he had noticed, who said nine-tenths of the graduates of the Military Academy abandoned the service of the United States. If he would take the trouble to examine the records upon this point, he doubted not he would be surprised at the extent of his mistake. There he would learn that a majority of all the graduates are still in service; and if he would push his inquiry a little further, he would find that a large majority of the commissioned officers who bled in the actions of the 8th and 9th were graduates of that academy.

He would not enter into a discussion on the military at this time. His pride, his gratification arose from the success of our arms. Much was due to the courage which Americans have displayed on many battle-fields in former times; but this courage, characteristic of our people, and pervading all sections and all classes, could never have availed so much had it not been combined with military science. And the occasion seemed suited to enforce this lesson on the minds of those who have been accustomed, in season and out of season, to rail at the scientific attainments of our officers.

The influence of military skill—the advantage of discipline in the troops—the power derived from the science of war, increases with the increased size of the contending armies. With two thousand we had beaten six thousand; with twenty thousand we would far more easily beat sixty thousand, because the General must be an educated soldier who wields large bodies of men, and the troops, to act efficiently, must be disciplined and commanded by able officers. He but said what he had long thought and often said, when he expressed his confidence in the ability of our officers to meet those of any service—favorably to compare, in all that constitutes the soldier, with any army in the world; and as the field widened for the exhibition, so would their merits shine more brightly still.

With many of the officers now serving on the Rio Grande he had enjoyed a personal acquaintance, and hesitated not to say that all which skill and courage and patriotism could perform, might be expected from them. He had forborne to speak of the General commanding on the Rio Grande on any former occasion; but he would now say to those who had expressed distrust, that the world held not a soldier better qualified for the service he was engaged in than General Taylor. Trained from his youth to arms, having spent the greater portion of his life on our frontier, his experience peculiarly fits him for the command he holds. Such as his conduct was in Fort Harrison, on the Upper Mississippi, in Florida, and on the Rio Grande, will it be wherever he meets the enemy of his country.

Those soldiers to whom so many have applied deprecatory epithets, upon whom it has been so often said no reliance could be placed, they, too, will be found in every emergency renewing such feats as have recently graced our arms, bearing the American flag to honorable triumphs, or falling beneath its folds as devotees to our common cause to die a soldier's death.

He rejoiced that the gentleman from South Carolina [Mr. BLACK] had shown himself so ready to pay this tribute to our army. He hoped not a voice would be raised in opposition to it; that nothing but the stern regret which is prompted by remembrance of those who bravely fought and nobly died will break the joy, the pride, the patriotic gratulation with which we hail this triumph of our brethren on the Rio Grande.

SOURCE: Dunbar Rowland, Editor, Jefferson Davis, Constitutionalist: His Letters, Papers and Speeches, Volume 1, p. 46-9

John J. Crittenden to Robert Jefferson Breckinridge, April 21, 1851

WASHINGTON, April 21, 1851.

SIR, Your letter of the 12th inst. was received yesterday, and read with painful surprise. It is marked with such a spirit of rebuke and irritation that I hardly know how I ought to understand or reply to it. You have almost made me feel that any explanation under such circumstances would be derogatory. But, sir, suppressing all these feelings, and preferring in this instance to err, if at all, on the side of forbearance, I have concluded to address you a calm reply and explanation of the subject that has so much irritated and excited you.

Know, then, that I did receive the letter you addressed to me last winter requesting my assistance in procuring for your son the appointment of cadet in the Military Academy at West Point.

All such appointments, except ten, are so regulated by law that they must be made, one from each congressional district, on the nomination and recommendation of the representative of that district.

There was no vacancy in your district, and, of course, the only hope for your son was to obtain for him one of the ten extraordinary appointments at the disposal of the President. The power of conferring these is understood to have been given to the President for the benefit of the sons of officers of the army and navy, and especially of those whose fathers had perished in the service of their country; and although these appointments have not, in practice, been always confined to this description of persons, their claims have been generally favored and preferred. The number of such applicants has been greatly increased by the Mexican war, and their competitors from civil life are still more numerous.

From this general statement may be inferred the uncertainty and difficulty of procuring one of these appointments.

In the winter of 1849 and '50 I had, at the instance of my old friend, Gabriel Lewis, of Kentucky, very earnestly recommended a grandson of his to General Taylor for one of these appointments. He did not get it, and it was then determined by his family, with my advice and my promise to give what assistance I could, to renew or continue his application for another year, and I had, accordingly, again recommended him for one of the appointments that were to be made this spring.

Such was the condition of things and such my situation and engagement when your first letter was received. Notwithstanding all the difficulties in the way, I was not without the hope of serving you, for the sole reason, perhaps, that I wished to do so, and wished to obtain the appointment for your son. To learn something of the prospect of success, I conversed several times with the Secretary of War on the subject. He could only tell me that no selections would be made, that the subject would not be considered till the time had arrived for making the appointments, and that the number of applicants was very great, amounting to hundreds,—I think he said fifteen hundred.

I ought, perhaps, to have acknowledged the receipt of your letter and have given you all this information; and most certainly I would have done it if I had had the least apprehension of the grave consequences that have followed the omission. It did not occur to me that any punctiliousness would be exacted in our correspondence.

But, besides all this, and to say nothing of the daily duties of my office, and my almost constant attendance upon the Supreme Court, then in session, I had nothing satisfactory or definite to write. I waited, therefore, willing to avail myself of any circumstance or opportunity that time or chance might bring forth to serve you and to procure an appointment for your son as well as for the grandson of Mr. Lewis. I could find no such opportunity—no opportunity even for urging it with the least hope of success.

The appointments have all been recently made, and, with few exceptions, confined to the sons, I believe, of deceased officers, to the exclusion, for the second time, of the grandson of my friend Lewis, who has been on the list of applicants for two years, with all the recommendation I could give him.

I should have taken some opportunity of writing to you on this subject, even if your late letter had not so unpleasantly anticipated that purpose.

This, sir, is the whole tale. It must speak for itself. I have no other propitiation to offer. I am the injured party. When you become conscious of that, you will know well what atonement ought to be made and how it ought to be made. Till then, sir, self-respect compels me to say that I will be content to abide those unfriendly relations which I understand your letter to imply, if not proclaim.

I can truly say that I have written this "more in sorrow than in anger." I have intended nothing beyond my own defense and vindication, and if I have been betrayed into a word that goes beyond those just limits and implies anything like aggression, let it be stricken out.

J. J. CRITTENDEN.

SOURCE: Ann Mary Butler Crittenden Coleman, Editor, The Life of John J. Crittenden: With Selections from His Correspondence and Speeches, Vol. 1, p. 385-7

Robert Jefferson Breckinridge to John J. Crittenden, May 3, 1851

LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY, May 3, 1851.

Hon. J. J. CRITTENDEN.

DEAR SIR,—I regret very much to perceive by your letter of the 21st ultimo that you considered my letter to you of the 12th April wanting in proper respect to you, and prompted by irritation on my part. I retained no copy of that letter; but, assuredly, I know very little of myself if it contained the evidences of either of those states of mind.

For the first time in my life I had condescended to solicit, from any human authority, anything, either for myself or any member of my immediate family, though many hundreds of times I have done what I could for others. It was particularly distressing to me that I had been seduced into such a position by the extreme kindness of an old personal friend (Mr. Duncan), as I explained in my first letter to you, and, by some ridiculous notion, that the present administration might consider itself any ways connected with that of General Taylor, so as to feel disposed to fulfill any expectations it may have raised.

Unless my memory deceives me, my first letter, making the application, intimated to you that I was not sure it was proper in me to write you such a letter, and asked you to excuse the impropriety, if indeed one existed. Such, I remember well, was the state of my mind, and I think I expressed it. The only notice ever taken of that letter, by you, is the allusion to it in your letter before me. What took place in the mean time may be uttered in a sentence, and need not be repeated here.

Under all the painful, and to me altogether unprecedented, circumstances of a very humiliating position, I thought it due to you to express my regret at having implicated you, in any degree, in such an affair by my letter of application to you; and I thought it due to myself to express to you, under such circumstances, my regret at allowing myself, in a moment of parental weakness, to embark in a matter which, in all its progress and its termination, was especially out of keeping with the whole tenor of my life and feelings. If my letter, to which yours of the 21st April is an answer, expresses more or less than these things, it is expressed unhappily and improperly. If, during the progress of the affair, you had judged it necessary or proper to have treated it differently, or had had it in your power to do so, I should not have been more bound to feel obliged by any other or further service than I am now bound to feel obliged, by such as your letter informs me you were good enough to render me, under circumstances which, it is now obvious, must have been embarrassing to you, and which, if I had known, I would have instantly released you from. But all this, as it appears to me, only the more painfully shows how inconsiderate my first application to you was, and how needless it was for my subsequent expression of regret for having made it to be taken in an offensive sense.

The sole object of this letter is to place the whole affair on the footing which, in my opinion, it really occupies.

Certainly I had no right to ask anything of the sort I did ask at your hands. But assuredly having been weak enough to ask it, and having, in the course of events, had full occasion to perceive that weakness, I had the right without offense to express sincere regret for what I had inconsiderately done,—to the needless annoyance of yourself and others, and to the wounding of my own self-esteem.

Permit me, in conclusion, to say that altogether the most painful part of this affair, to me, is that I should have given offense to a man who, for nearly if not quite thirty years, I have been accustomed to regard with feelings of the greatest esteem, admiration, and confidence, and for whom, at any moment during those thirty years, I would have periled everything but my honor to have served him; such a man will know how to appreciate the workings of a nature perhaps oversensitive and overproud, in the midst of unusual and oppressive circumstances. If not, it is better to forget all than lose our own self-respect.

As to Mr. Fillmore and Mr. Conrad, strange as it may seem to you, I would never, under ordinary circumstances, have asked either of them for any favor whatever. I rather considered myself asking you and Mr. Clay and Judge Underwood and Judge Breck and a few other old friends to whom I brought myself to the point—not without great difficulty—of saying what I did. This may seem very absurd to you; perhaps it is so; it is nevertheless the truth; and most certainly I did not suppose that any administration of which yourself and Mr. Clay and Judge Underwood and Judge Breck were avowed, if not confidential, supporters, would, under the entire circumstances of this case, have it in its power to refuse so paltry a boon; and after seeing the published list of successful applicants, from which alone I learned the fate of my application, I saw still less reason to comprehend such a result. As to yourself, three particulars separated your case from that of the other friends I have named: 1st. I loved you most, and relied most on you. 2d. I the most distrusted the propriety of writing to you, on account of your connection with the cabinet. 3d. From you alone I had no word of notice; and for these two last reasons, the more felt that an explanation was demanded of me as due both to you and myself.

If you have had patience to read this letter, it is needless for me to say more than that I still desire to be considered your friend.

R. J. B.

SOURCE: Ann Mary Butler Crittenden Coleman, Editor, The Life of John J. Crittenden: With Selections from His Correspondence and Speeches, Vol. 1, p. 387-9

Lewis E. Harvie to Senator Robert M. T. Hunter, January 19, 1852

APPOMATTOX DEPOT, AMELIA CO[UNTY, VA.],        

January 19th, 1852.

DEAR HUNTER: I am very solicitous to procure an appointment as Cadet, for my second son Jno. Harvie, in the military Academy at West Point. My only chance of getting him in is as one of the appointments by the President. I have written to Mr. Mason on the subject and desired him to show you my letter. I would not write to you because I thought about this time you would be annoyed by your election. Since I wrote I have been to Richmond and learnt (with sincere gratification as you will believe) that your success was well nigh certain. I have concluded to write to you and let you understand that I am much interested in procuring this appointment, hoping that you will interest yourself in it and aid me as far as you can. I do not know what step to take and hope you will let me know. This boy has as I am informed by his teachers a considerable talent for Mathematics which I wish cultivated and this is one among various reasons why I wish him sent to West Point. It has been suggested to me to state to you (what I should certainly not have thought of but for the suggestion) that he is a grand nephew of Maj[o]r Ja[me]s Eggleston who served as Lieu[tenan]t in Lee's Legion during the Revolutionary war, and was afterwards elected to Congress, from this District. As you know he was a gallant officer and highly respected as a citizen and Public man. His Great Grand father Col. Harvie, was also an active Patriot during the same struggle and a member of the V[irginija Convention in 1775 and 76. He was afterwards in Congress and signed the Articles of Confederation in 1778, and was then made Register of the Land Office in V[irgini]a, showing that his services were appreciated. I mention these matters with reluctance and only because I have been urged to do so. I hope you will forget I have done so unless they can be made available in favouring this appointment. I am sure that Holliday, Edmundson, Caskie, Bocock, Strother, Meade and Genl. Millson will aid me if I know how to use their assistance. I am under the impression also that I may be able to procure the intervention of Genl. Scott and Mr. Crittenden on account of others and not myself. My main reliance tho' is on you and Strother and I shall expect you to work for me as I would under similar circumstances for you and him. If I can't get him in this year I would be content to get him in the next. Let me hear from you as soon as may be.

SOURCE: Charles Henry Ambler, Editor, Annual Report of the American Historical Association for the Year 1916, in Two Volumes, Vol. II, Correspondence of Robert M. T. Hunter (1826-1876), p. 134-5

Robert Jefferson Breckinridge to John J. Crittenden, November 23, 1850

LEXINGTON, Nov. 23, 1850.

MY DEAR SIR,—More than a year ago our friend Garnett Duncan made application to the President and to the Secretary at War for a cadet's warrant at West Point for my oldest son. He did this spontaneously as an act of personal regard, and perhaps as some expression of his sense of things of other days. I had other friends whose influence might have aided him; but in the same spirit that actuated him, I told him I would do nothing; so that if he succeeded, he should have all the gratitude of the lad and all the pleasure of the good deed. He failed. But the President and the Secretary both promised to put the lad's name on the list, and held out strong hopes, if not a certain assurance, of his appointment a year from that time, to wit, now.

Now, my dear sir, if this appointment can be had, I shall be very glad; my boy will be gratified in the strongest and almost the earliest wish of his heart, and I trust the country may be gainer thereby in the end. The lad is now a little past sixteen years of age; he is a member of the Sophomore class at Danville, and is of robust constitution, fine talents, and earnest, firm, and elevated nature. It is to gratify him in a strong, nay, a vehement, passion that I desire this thing. For myself I never did, never will, solicit anything from any government. The ancestors of this lad, paternal and maternal, have done the State some service. You know all about all I could with propriety say.

If there is any impropriety in my thus addressing you, I pray you to excuse it; if there is none, and this thing can be accomplished, it will be only another proof of your goodness and another ground of the grateful and affectionate friendship of Yours ever,

R. J. B.

Hon. J. J. CRITTENDEN.

SOURCE: Ann Mary Butler Crittenden Coleman, Editor, The Life of John J. Crittenden: With Selections from His Correspondence and Speeches, Vol. 1, p. 384

Robert Jefferson Breckinridge to John J. Crittenden, April 12, 1851

LEXINGTON, KY., April 12, 1851.

DEAR SIR,—You may, perhaps, recollect that I was inconsiderate enough to address a letter to you during the last winter on the subject of a warrant to West Point for one of a numerous family of sons, under circumstances which I erred, perhaps, in supposing were somewhat peculiar, and with claims upon the country, personal and hereditary, which I no doubt greatly overrated in my desire to gratify the ardent wishes of a beloved child.

I was not fortunate enough to receive any answer to that letter; and although the application was warmly supported by both the senators from this State and several members of Congress from this and other States, being myself without political influence, it failed, as I ought to have foreseen it must. I feel it to be due to you and to myself to say that I regret very much having, in a moment of parental weakness, committed so great an error, and by this declaration atone, at least to my own feelings, for the only instance, through a life now not very short, in which I have asked from any one anything for myself or any member of my family. Praying you to excuse what I so much regret, I am, very respectfully,

Your friend and servant,

R. J. B.

Hon. J. J. CRITTENDEN.

SOURCE: Ann Mary Butler Crittenden Coleman, Editor, The Life of John J. Crittenden: With Selections from His Correspondence and Speeches, Vol. 1, p. 385

Remarks of Jefferson Davis on the Bill to Raise Two Regiments of Riflemen delivered in the House of Representatives, March 27, 1846.

Mr. JEFFERSON DAVIS said he did not intend to enter into a wide discussion with reference to the tariff, to Oregon, to Texas, or to the improvement of the rivers and harbors of the country. The House had under consideration a proposition to raise two regiments of riflemen. The only questions to be determined were: first, the necessity of the increase; and, second, the mode in which it should be made. There were two great propositions imbodying different modes: one to increase the army by increasing the number of regiments; the other, to add to the rank and file of the existing regiments. Our organization under a peace establishment is designed only to be the skeleton of an army; we organize our regiments not so much with a view to their present efficiency as on the arising of an emergency which shall require them to enable us to fill them up and render us the greatest service. We who were literally the rifle people of the world, who were emphatically skilled in the use of the rifle, were now falling behind France, England, and other nations, who were paying attention to it, and now actually had no rifle regiment. For this reason, if there were no other, he would vote to raise a rifle regiment to perfect our organization, and add the wanting bone to the skeleton of our army.

Another reason in behalf of this bill was, that it was recommended by the President of the United States. [Mr. D. read that part of the Message recommending the establishment of stockade forts on the route to Oregon, &c.] It did not depend upon the notice, upon future emigration, but was necessary to protect the emigration now passing to Oregon. He pointed out the dangers from the attacks of nomadic hostile Indians, to which the traveller across the prairies is exposed, the necessity of mounted riflemen for their protection, and the superiority in very many respects of mounted to unmounted riflemen for this service. He agreed with the gentleman from Kentucky, [Mr. BOYD,] who, in his amendment, proposed to make it discretionary with the President whenever, in his opinion, the public interests shall require, to mount such portions of these regiments as he may deem necessary. He (Mr. D.) hoped that at least half of them would be mounted; for it was perfectly idle to send infantry to guard emigrants against Indians who live on horseback, who rob all companies not sufficiently strong to resist them, and fly with their booty as on the wings of the wind.

He denied the correctness of the position of Mr. RATHBUN, that this bill was intended for raising troops to transport our men, women, and children to a territory over which we dared not assert our rights; and said that the President had recommended mounted riflemen to protect the emigration which is now going on; we needed it before emigration commenced, and emigration has only increased its necessity. He urged the importance of this measure, and the advantages and facilities which would be extended to emigrants to Oregon, by the erection of a line of stockade forts on their route. In further reply to Mr. R., he vindicated the qualifications of western men for this particular kind of service, acknowledging that they would be loth to submit to military punishment, but assigning their habitual subordination to the laws of the country, and their patriotic and gallant devotion to its interests, as the means by which they would avoid subjecting themselves to it. In the course of his remarks, he adverted to the necessity of the Military Academy in reference to the attacks from time to time made upon it, maintaining the unquestionable necessity of a military education to prepare a man for command in the army; which education, he said, was only to be obtained at a military academy, or piece by piece to be picked up, at the hazard of loss of property and life, by the officer, after he was commissioned and under heavy pay. Mr. D. also touched briefly upon one or two other points.

SOURCE: Dunbar Rowland, Editor, Jefferson Davis, Constitutionalist: His Letters, Papers and Speeches, Volume 1, p. 39-40

Senator John J. Crittenden to Governor Thomas Metcalf, March 25, 1850

FRANKFORT, March 25, 1850.

MY DEAR SIR,—I have received and perused with great concern your letter of yesterday, and hasten to relieve your feelings and my own as far as I can by an immediate reply. You do me but justice in supposing me incapable of betraying or deceiving so old a friend as yourself. I am, indeed, incapable of deceiving any man intentionally, and my nature would revolt from the betrayal of one whose friendship I have valued and cherished so long as I have yours. For our friend Orlando Brown I would answer as for myself. It was during the last fall that, at your written request, I addressed a letter to the Secretary of War recommending your grandson, young Campbell, for appointment as one of the cadets at West Point. You were anxious for his appointment, and I felt a sincere pleasure in contributing all I could to your gratification. I accordingly recommended him zealously, and urged his appointment not only on account of his own qualifications but on account of his hereditary claims and the great consideration that was due to you, your wishes, and your public services. A prompt acknowledgment of that letter was received from the War Department, which I made known to you. I do not remember whether, when I wrote that letter, I was apprised that there was or was about to be a vacancy for a cadet from your district; nor do I recollect whether I recommended your grandson in general terms as a person that ought to be appointed, or specifically for a district appointment or one of the presidential appointments. In all this I was no doubt guided by your letter requesting my recommendation. I will write immediately for a copy of my letter, and will send it to you that you may see how earnestly I recommended your grandson. Some time after all this a friend stepped into my office (then generally thronged) and requested me to write a recommendation of a young Mr. Lashbrook for a cadet appointment. Upon his representation I did so, and without the least thought or apprehension that he and your grandson were seeking the same place or that there was any competition between them. Had such a thought ever crossed my mind, I should never have recommended young Lashbrook. No consideration would have induced me knowingly to recommend any one in opposition to your grandson; besides, I had no motive to do so disreputable a thing. I had no personal knowledge of young Lashbrook and was under no special obligation to his father. My letter in his son's behalf passed at once from my mind, and would probably never again have been remembered but for your late letter and the untoward circumstances that now recall it to my recollection.

The whole case, I suppose, is this: I have inadvertently given a letter in favor of young Lashbrook and produced an effect that I never contemplated. It is as though I had shot an arrow which, missing the mark it was aimed at, wounded a friend, an old and valued friend. I regret it most deeply; nor can that regret be altogether removed by my confidence that you will not attribute what has happened to any design or ill intention on my part. There will still remain the regret of having fallen into a blunder. I am not willing to make the painful addition to that regret of supposing that my letter in favor of Lashbrook was the cause of his being preferred to your grandson, for there was also my more earnest letter in favor of your grandson. But I will say no more on this most unpleasant subject, and can but hope that my explanation will be satisfactory to you. It will gratify me to receive a line from you as soon as your convenience will permit,—my feelings are much disturbed by this matter.

Your friend, etc.,

J. J. CRITTENDEN.

Governor THOMAS METCALF.

SOURCE: Ann Mary Butler Crittenden Coleman, Editor, The Life of John J. Crittenden: With Selections from His Correspondence and Speeches, Vol. 1, p. 359-60

Senator Henry Clay to James B. Clay, May 27, 1850

WASHINGTON, May 27, 1850.

MY DEAR SON,—I have written to you less of late than I wished, owing to my perpetual public occupations. We are yet in the midst of our slavery discussions, with no certainty of the final result. I have hopes of the final success of the compromise reported by me of the Committee of Thirteen, but with less confidence than I desire.

By this time, I presume that your public duties at Lisbon are brought to an unsuccessful close. I fear that the display of force in the port of Lisbon has not been attended with the benefit anticipated from it.

I have got Henry Clay admitted as a cadet in West Point, and he has gone home to see his relations, and to return to me next week to enter the Academy.

You will see in the papers that I have spoken a great deal (much more than I wished) in the Senate. In my last speech I had to attack the plan of the Administration, for compromising our slavery difficulties; its course left me no other alternative. My friends speak in terms of extravagant praise of my speeches, and especially of the last.

Since I began this letter, I received your letter of the 28th April, with Susan's long and interesting letter to her mother, which I have read and forwarded this moment.

I do not entertain much hope of the effect of the display of naval force in getting our claims allowed, and consequently I expect you will leave Lisbon soon after you receive this letter. Should they be allowed, and should Portugal raise the rank of her representatives, I suppose the measure would be reciprocated by our Executive.

I am delighted to hear that you are all so happy, and that dear Lucy has some good prospect of recovery.

I send a letter from Mary to Susan, and I am to blame for some delay in its transmission. My love to her, and to all your dear children.

SOURCE: Calvin Colton, Editor, The Private Correspondence of Henry Clay, p. 609-10

Jefferson Davis to John C. Calhoun, July 7, 1824

Lexington, July 7th 1824.        

Transylvania Univer

The commission of Cadet granted the undersigned March 11th, and remitted to Natchez, on account of my absence was forwarded here. I accept it.

Am not able to go on before Sept. for reasons I will explain to the superintendent on my arrival.

Yours &c

Jefferson Davis.

J. C. Calhoun.

_______________

* Calhoun, John Caldwell (1782-1850), an American statesman of the States-rights school, was born of Scotch descent, in Abbeville district, S. C., March 18, 1872; was graduated from Yale College in 1804; studied law in Litchfield, Conn., and in an office in Charleston, S. C., and was admitted to the bar in 1807. He was a member of the South Carolina general assembly 1808-1809 and of the national House of Representatives from March 4, 1811, to March 3, 1817; was Secretary of War from December 10, 1817, to March 3, 1825; was Vice President of the United States from March 4, 1825, to December 28, 1832; U. S. Senator from December 12, 1832, to March 3, 1843, and from November 26, 1845, to March 31, 1850; Secretary of State from April 1, 1844, to March 6, 1845. He died in Washington, D. C., March 31, 1850. Calhoun was the author of the South Carolina doctrine of nullification, which conceded to each State the right to nullify any United States law which the State regarded as unconstitutional. He proposed to check the anti-slavery movement by preventing Northern commerce from entering Southern ports and preferred a dissolution of the Union to a submission to the will of the North with regard to slavery. Consult John C. Calhoun, by Gaillard Hunt, 1 Vol., 335 pp., Philadelphia, 1908, and W. M. Meigs, Life of John C. Calhoun, 2 vols., 934 Pp., New York, 1917.

SOURCE: Dunbar Rowland, Editor, Jefferson Davis, Constitutionalist: His Letters, Papers and Speeches, Volume 1, p. 1

Jefferson Davis to Susannah Gartley Davis, August 2, 1824

Lexington, August 2, 1824.

Dear Sister: It is gratifying to hear from a friend, especially one from whom I had not heard so long as yourself, but the intelligence contained in yours was more than sufficient to mar the satisfaction of hearing from any one. You must imagine I cannot describe the shock my feelings sustained at the sad intelligence. In my father¹ I lost a parent ever dear to me, but rendered more so (if possible) by the disasters that attended his declining years.

When I saw him last he told me we would probably never see each other again. Yet I still hoped to meet him once more, but heaven has refused my wish. This is the second time I have been doomed to receive the heart-rending intelligence of the Death of a Friend. God only knows whether or not it will be the last. If all the dear friends of my childhood are to be torn from me, I care not how soon I may follow.

I leave in a short time for West Point, State of New York, where it will always give me pleasure to hear from you.

Kiss the children for Uncle Jeff. Present me affectionately to Brother Isaac; tell him I would be happy to hear from him; and to yourself the sincere regard of

Your Brother,

Jefferson.

Mrs. Susannah Davis,
        Warrenton, Warren County, Miss.

_______________

¹ Samuel Davis, father of Jefferson Davis, died July 4, 1824, and is buried at the Davis farm in Wilkinson county, Mississippi, near Woodville.

SOURCE: Dunbar Rowland, Editor, Jefferson Davis, Constitutionalist: His Letters, Papers and Speeches, Volume 1, p. 2

Pierre G. T. Beauregard to William T. Sherman, July 10, 1860

NEW ORLEANS, July 10, 1860.

DEAR MAJOR: . . . I should like much to be able to accept your kind invitation to attend your examinations but my occupations and this intolerably hot weather will not permit me to do so. I have no doubt however that the result of these examinations will do credit to your institution and be satisfactory to yourself and assistants.

Not wishing to send money by mail and supposing you would, for a like reason, prefer a check, I send one herewith for $50 on the Bank of Louisiana, of which one half is for my son, less the amount due by him or for him and the other half for Mr. Reid's son for the purpose of bringing them home. Should young Proctor have need of any I will send him some, for his father and family have gone to the Virginia Springs for the summer, where he is to go to meet them.

I have just succeeded in getting off from the superintendency of West Point, where I was to have been ordered this summer. The thing is delayed for one or two years longer.¹

I am going to send you my youngest son Henry in October next to be prepared for West Point; he will stay with you two years nearly. I want him to do credit to himself and honor to your Academy. So you must have an eye on him. He has been appointed in René's place a state cadet from the Parish of St. Bernard. René will go back as an ordinary cadet. . .

_______________

¹ Beauregard became superintendent of West Point for a short time in 1861.- ED.

SOURCE: Walter L. Fleming, General W.T. Sherman as College President, p. 242-3

William T. Sherman to George Mason Graham, April 12, 1860

LOUISIANA STATE SEMINARY, Alexandria, April 12, 1860.

DEAR GENERAL: I have been pretty busy in obeying the orders of the Board of Supervisors and of the Academic Board in writing constantly according to their dictation, and last night learned with some surprise that I was to continue to act as treasurer, bookkeeper, etc., whilst Henarie was to hold the money. I have been in town all day to find out what is meant. I can't see the system, though Dr. Smith insists on its being carried out and expects me to try the system. I can see very well that all moneys appropriated by the legislature and that arising from the tuition fees of cadets, should be appropriated by the Board of Supervisors, and, as it will be paid in large amounts [it] could be held in the bank at New Orleans without risk and without cost, whereas as I now look at it you are to pay Henarie six hundred dollars for that whilst I am as heretofore to ask for money to pay the cadets' wants, supply them and keep the accounts.

Here is a work that employs about a dozen at West Point, at least three at Lexington, Va., and yet I must do it all. I can do it all, not thoroughly but good enough, if the treasurer resides here and relieves me of the necessity of taking care of so many little items of books, clothing, and every species of things needed by cadets. If the institution be pressed by want all of us can do extra work, but this six hundred dollars now is absolute wastage, and negatives the idea of poverty. Still that is none of my business and from present appearances I see I will have my hands full.

The atmosphere has changed since I went north, and I will find out its drift. I think I see where it lies, and I think I divine your plan of defence. Judging from the personal nature of your colleagues and their fondness of disputation I only say that if their intention be to submine our regulations, you can by encouraging discussion on the earlier passages cause them to desist from a close examination of clause by clause, and have them generally adopted as originally agreed on by the committee appointed to draft them.

If you can get the regulations substantially adopted, and adjourn with an order for their publication, and an agreement as to the arrangements of the terms, I will be willing to go on keeping the individual accounts of cadets through this term, but if my powers are substantially curtailed, or any overt disposition made to complicate matters too much I may have cause to regret my sudden refusal of the Roelofson proposal. I have abiding faith in you — and knowing that you can prevent their meeting for mischief now, that without you they cannot act at all, and that you can command a quorum always, I will continue to have faith.

I do think the new fence ought to be built to keep out hogs and cattle, and because I made a distinct point before the committee at Baton Rouge. Were you to make the want of fences next year a cause of application for more money it would be detected. Still if you have postponed it till after June, I will give Ledoux notice that at the close of April, I will discharge one and maybe two of his negroes, as all wood-cutting and carrying has ceased, and Henry with occasional assistance can sweep the galleries and empty the water. I will await the result of your Saturday meeting, and conform thereto.

Smith tells me you are down on him for gallanting. I ought to take the blame. At the wedding he appointed a revisit to the party, and on Sunday at church he asked my leave to accompany them to Mrs. Flower and Dr. Bailey. Miss Patterson is the daughter of a particular friend of mine in St. Louis. I gave Smith permission because I was glad to see him attentive to that party. Not an iota of duty was lost. Boyd heard his class. I drilled and had evening parade and he was home by tattoo, and if we must conform to every rumor we will lead a devil of a life here. If we do our work the public ought to be well satisfied. I think had Miss Patterson been of Rapides Parish, Smith would not have been complained of. . . .

SOURCE: Walter L. Fleming, General W.T. Sherman as College President, p. 198-200

Brigadier-General Rutherford B. Hayes to Sardis Birchard, Monday, December 12, 1864

CAMP RUSSELL, VIRGINIA, December 12, 1864.

DEAR UNCLE:— The snow is at least eight inches deep. A fierce northwester has been blowing for the last fifteen hours and the cold is intense. I fear that men on the picket line will perish of cold. We probably notice severe weather more when living as we are in rather poor tents, but I certainly have seen nothing worse than this even on the shore of the lake.

The campaign in the Valley has closed. The Rebel infantry has all been withdrawn. Our own is leaving rapidly. It goes to Grant. The destination of Crook's command is not yet known. It probably waits news from Sherman.

I shall ask for a leave of absence as soon as we get orders to go into winter quarters, which may come any day.

I have been promoted to brigadier-general. The honor is no great things, it having been conferred, particularly at the first part of the war, on all sorts of men for all sorts of reasons; but I am a good deal gratified, nevertheless. It is made on the recommendation of General Crook, approved by Sheridan. This at the close of such a bloody campaign is something; besides, I am pleased that it seems so well received by officers and men of the command. It has not yet been officially announced, and will not be for perhaps a week or so.

I am very glad Governor Chase is Chief Justice. I had almost given up his appointment. I received letters from Swayne's friends urging me to write in his behalf. I heard nothing of the kind from the friends of Governor Chase. I suppose they felt safe. I replied to Perry and others that I was for Governor Chase.

It seems I have a place at West Point at my disposal. It is quite encouraging to know that my district abounds in young Napoleons. I hear of a new one almost every mail. The claim of one is based largely on the fact that he has two brothers in the service. I happen to know that they (both officers) have been so successful in finding soft places in the rear that neither of them after more than three years' service, has ever been in a battle!

I begin to feel very anxious about Sherman. His failure would be a great calamity in itself. Besides, it would bring into favor the old-fogy, anaconda style of warfare. Boldness and enterprise would be at a discount. If he has made a mistake, it is in not moving with more celerity.

We ought to have another draft without delay – or rather another call for troops, to be followed by a draft if volunteering failed to produce the required number within a reasonable period.

Sincerely,

R. B. HAYES.

S. BIRCHARD.

SOURCE: Charles Richard Williams, editor, Diary and Letters of Rutherford Birchard Hayes, Volume 2, p. 546-8

Emory Upton to his Sister, January 6, 1860

WEST POINT, January 6, 1860.

MY DEAR SISTER: Another year has joined the past, and 1860 bright with promises, has dawned upon us.  “We know not what a day may bring forth.”  1860 may be as indelibly stamped upon our memories as 1859 or 1856, when our loved ones were summoned from hearth.  As we look over our diminished numbers, we ask who is to go next.  The one most robust in health may be the first to succumb to disease.  Let us thank God for his goodness and mercy, for we feel that he has called them unto his glory.  We should be more watchful, more diligent in our service to god than we have been.  Let our united prayers ascend to God that he may hasten the conversion of those of our family who still delay.

SOURCE: Peter Smith Michie, The Life and Letters of Emory Upton, p. 17-8

Emory Upton to his Sister, January 20, 1860

West Point, January 20, 1860.

MY DEAR SISTER: The nature of your letter shows conclusively your deep interest in my welfare. Your letter did me much good. In order to answer its questions, I had to examine myself to ascertain what motives actuate me. I can not be too thankful for having been reared under Christian influences, for especially at this time do I need the assistance of God to keep me in the path of rectitude. We are living in perilous times. Government, society, everything seem to be on the verge of revolution. The passions of the people are being waked up, and they must have vent. God is directing the storm, and all is for the best. We may ask, How have we incurred his displeasure ? The answer is easy. Mormonism, spiritualism, intemperance, slavery, corruption in politics, either of which is almost sufficient to curse a people. Few there are who have not bowed the knee to Baal. We must have reform. We must return to reason and virtue. Why should we expect tolerance when God suffered such calamities to befall his own chosen people? He scourged them with war, and he will punish us likewise. If we are to have war, I shall have no conscientious scruples as to engaging in it, for I believe I shall be on the side of right. I am ambitious; but I shall strive to limit it to doing good. It will profit a man nothing to gain the whole world and lose his own soul.  Since I first began to call upon God, I have daily asked his assistance and direction, and I feel that he is nearer me now than ever before.  You know not to what temptations we are exposed here, yet he has not allowed me to be tempted further than I could bear.  Whenever lethargy, indifference or skepticism has crept over me, the remembrance that our sister and brother died happy, trusting in God, has been an incentive to renewed effort to continue faithful to the end.  I shall trust in God.  If he intends me to occupy a high position he will raise me to it; if not, I shall be happy in having done my duty and in meeting his approval.  There will be no limit to the opportunities of doing good in the army.  There will be wounded soldiers to minister to, and the dying to comfort.  Surely I can do good.  These remarks may be premature; but the conviction strengthens that we must have war.  I thank God that none of my relatives will feel its horrors; but I pity those where conflict must occur.

SOURCE: Peter Smith Michie, The Life and Letters of Emory Upton, p. 18-9

Emory Upton to his Sister, February 5, 1860

WEST POINT, February 5, 1860.

MY DEAR SISTER: . . . I have just been discussing with my room-mate our prospects as army officers.  My life really begins with the date of my commission.  What will time disclose?  I may meet with success, and I may have been educated but too become the mark of a “red-skin.” Our profession differs from all others. It is a profession of fate and a fatal profession. A long war would make many of us, and prove the grave of as many; but you know it matters not how we meet death, provided we are prepared for it. We must leave all to the dispensation of an all-wise Providence.

SOURCE: Peter Smith Michie, The Life and Letters of Emory Upton, p. 21-2

Emory Upton to his Sister, June 3, 1860

WEST POINT, June 3, 1860.

MY DEAR SISTER: . . . This is the anniversary of my arrival at West Point. Four years ago today, in the pride and buoyant spirits of a young military aspirant, I took my first lessons in military life. ’Tis pleasant to look back upon the past and compare it with the present. Four years of constant confinement and regular duties have passed, and we now stand on the threshold of our first class-year. Hard times and troubles are all over, and inviting scenes lie before us.

One short year more, and the key which is to unlock the honors and emoluments of our profession will be delivered into our hands. I hope to do well, since my general standing in a great degree will depend on my examination. Chemistry, infantry, artillery, and cavalry tactics will follow the examination in ethics. Were it not for drawing, I should, without doubt, better my last year's standing. I shall probably not fall below it. The Secretary of War has decided not to grant us a leave. My only plea is a broken shoulder, got in the riding-hall, but, as I am getting “painfully smart,” my hopes, even in that direction, are diminutive. You may, therefore, regard my leave as extremely doubtful, and even dismiss it from your mind.  I am very sorry to disappoint my loved ones.

SOURCE: Peter Smith Michie, The Life and Letters of Emory Upton, p. 18-9