General Scott Part 17

"ART. 20 provides what disposition shall be made of merchandise arriving in Mexico, if the customhouses shall be delivered up less than sixty days from the signatures to this treaty.

"ART. 21. If disagreements should arise between the two countries, every effort will be made to adjust the same peaceably; and failing in that, the subject-matter of dispute shall be referred to arbitration.

"ART. 22 provides what shall be done with the citizens of either country residing in the other, should war unhappily break out between the two republics."

The treaty was given to a trusty messenger, dispatched to Vera Cruz, and the general commanding at that point was ordered to forward it immediately by the swiftest steamer in the harbor. The general requested, in case the treaty was accepted and ratified, that he be instructed as early as practicable in regard to evacuating Mexico, and the disposition to be made of the wagons, artillery, and cavalry horses, and the points in the United States to which the troops should be ordered, and hoped the troops could leave Mexico before the return of the _vomito_, which would probably be in May.

It had been rumored in the army for several weeks that General Scott was to be superseded in command, and he announced the fact in the following order:

"HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY,

"MEXICO, _February 18, 1848_.

"GENERAL ORDERS NO. 59.

"By instruction from the President of the United States just received, Major-General Scott turns over the command of the army to Major-General Butler, who will immediately enter upon duty accordingly. In taking leave of the troops he has so long had the command of in an arduous campaign, a small part of whose glory has been from position reflected on the senior officer, Major-General Scott is happy to be relieved by a general of established merit and distinction in the service of his country.

"By command of General Scott.

"H.L. SCOTT,

"_Acting a.s.sistant Adjutant General_."

There was nothing for General Butler to do but wait the action of the United States on the treaty that had been forwarded, and then evacuate the Mexican territory. As has been seen, ratifications of the treaty were exchanged at Queretaro May 30, 1848, and proclaimed July 4, 1848.

Although General Worth had served with General Scott as his aid, and the most friendly relations had heretofore existed between them, circ.u.mstances occurred in May and June, 1847, that caused an estrangement between them which was never healed. On June 16, 1847, General Worth issued a circular at Peublo of the following purport: "Intelligence has come to the headquarters of this division, in a form and from sources ent.i.tled to consideration, that food exhibited, and, in tempting form, for sale to the soldiers, is purposely prepared to cause sickness and ultimately death"; and he appealed to every soldier to forbear the procurement or use of such food, as ample rations were issued, and added: "Doubtless there are among those with whom we are situated many who will not hesitate, as is the habit of cowards, to poison those from whom they habitually fly in battle--a resource familiar in Spanish history, legitimately inherited and willingly practiced in Mexico."

General Scott had animadverted upon the terms granted by Worth to the functionaries of the city of Puebla, about May 15, 1847, and strongly censured the circular referred to. These reproofs induced General Worth to call for a court of inquiry, which was ordered to convene June 17, 1847, at 10 o'clock A.M. The court met, and General Worth submitted a statement of the matters in which he deemed himself wronged by the general in chief, and to which he invited investigation. The court gave the matters before it careful consideration on the evidence adduced and the doc.u.ments submitted, and p.r.o.nounced their opinions. The court found nothing in the remarks of the general in chief in regard to General Worth's terms to the functionaries of Puebla to which he [Worth] could take exception; "that the terms or stipulations granted by Brevet Major-General Worth to the functionaries of the city of Puebla upon his entrance with his advance of the army on the 15th of May last were unnecessarily yielded, improvident, and in effect detrimental to the public service," and continues: "The court, as required, further declares its opinion that the 'circular' published by Brevet Major-General Worth to his division, dated Puebla, June 16, 1847, was highly improper and extremely objectionable in many respects, especially as it might tend, by exasperating the whole Mexican nation, to thwart the well-known pacific policy of the United States, and, in view of the high source from which it emanated, to disturb the friendly relations of our Government with Spain, or at least give occasion to that power to call for explanations or apologies. The barbarous offense against which that 'circular' warned the soldiers of the First Division, if it exists at all, equally affected the whole army. The information obtained by General Worth, if worthy of notice, should therefore have been communicated to the general in chief, that he might have exercised his discretion on the means to be adopted for correcting the evil. With these views of the 'circular' alluded to the court is of the opinion that it called for the 'emphatic admonition' and rebuke of the general in chief."

About two months after the occupation of the City of Mexico by the United States forces a mail arrived from the States. It was found that two letters written from the valley a few days after the battles of Contreras and Churubusco had been published in the newspapers. One of them, published in the New Orleans Delta, was known as the "Leonidas letter," and gave to General Pillow nearly all the credit for winning these important battles, and placed him on a plane of military genius far above the facts, as was understood by parties present. Among other things the letter said: "He [Pillow] evinced on this, as he had on other occasions, that masterly military genius and profound knowledge of the science of war which has astonished _the mere martinets of the profession_. His plan was very similar to that by which Napoleon effected the reduction of the fortress of Ulm, and General Scott was so perfectly well satisfied with it that he could not interfere with any part of it, but left it to the gallant projector to carry into glorious and successful execution."

The "Tampico letter," as the other letter was called, is given in full:

"TACUBAYA, MEXICO, _August 27, 1847_.

"The whole force which moved from Puebla, amounting to ten thousand, more or less, marched in four columns on successive days, in the following order, viz.: Twiggs, Quitman, Worth, and Pillow. In approaching the City of Mexico by the main highway you go directly on to Penon, which is a strong position, exceedingly well fortified.

Before leaving Puebla, it had been considered whether the main road can not be avoided and El Penon turned by pa.s.sing around to the south and left of Lakes Chalco and Xochimilco. The engineer officers serving immediately at general headquarters had questioned a number of persons, including spies and agents sent expressly to examine the route, and the ma.s.s of testimony was entire to the boggy, mucky, and perfectly impracticable character for wagons and artillery of the road leading in that direction. It was therefore in contemplation to turn Penon by forcing Mexicalcinzo, although the ground was difficult and the batteries known to be numerous. This route, you will observe, is to the north and right of the lakes. The reconnoissances of the engineers were consequently directed to this end. In the meantime General Worth, whose division had been left at Chalco, while General Scott, with Twiggs, had gone to Ayotla, sent Colonel Duncan with a large party to examine the denounced route.

"Colonel Duncan found it just the reverse of what it had been p.r.o.nounced to be; it was firm, rocky, and quite practicable, requiring, to be sure, a little labor here and there. General Worth instantly sent Colonel Duncan with this information to General Scott, and urged the movement of the whole army to the left of Lake Chalco. The direct attack was abandoned, and on the morning the whole army was in motion."

Owing to a letter written by General Taylor to General Gaines, which was intended to be private and confidential, finding its way into the New York Morning Express, the Secretary of War issued the following:

"WAR DEPARTMENT, WAs.h.i.+NGTON, _January 28, 1847_.

"The President of the United States directs that paragraph 650 of the General Regulations of the Army, established the 1st of March, 1825, and not included among those published January 25, 1841, be now published, and its observance, as a part of the general regulations, be strictly enjoined upon the army.

"By order of the President.

"W.L. MARCY, _Secretary of War_."

The following is the paragraph referred to and ordered to be "published":

"Private letters or reports relative to military movements and operations are frequently mischievous in design, and always disgraceful to the army. They are therefore strictly forbidden, and any officer found guilty of making such report for publication, without special permission, or of placing the writing beyond his control, so that it finds its way to the press within one month after the termination of the campaign to which it relates, shall be dismissed from the service."

Upon the appearance in print of the two letters referred to, the commanding general issued the following:

"HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY,

"MEXICO, _November 12, 1847_.

"GENERAL ORDERS No. 349.

"The attention of certain officers of this army is recalled to the foregoing--650th paragraph, 1,825 regulations--a regulation prohibiting officers of the army from detailing in private letters or reports the movements of the army, which the general in chief is resolved to enforce so far as it may be in his power. As yet but two echoes from home of the brilliant operations of our army in this basin have reached us--the first in a New Orleans and the second through a Tampico newspaper.

"It requires not a little charity to believe that the princ.i.p.al heroes of the scandalous letters alluded to did not write them, or especially procure them to be written; and the intelligent can be at no loss in conjecturing the authors, chiefs, partisans, and pet familiars. To the honor of the service, the disease--pruriency of fame not earned--can not have seized upon half a dozen officers present, all of whom, it is believed, belonged to the same two coteries.

"False credit may no doubt be attained at hand by such despicable self-puffings and malignant exclusion of others, but at the expense of the just esteem and consideration of all honorable officers who love their country, their profession, and the truth of history. The indignation of the great number of the latter cla.s.s can not fail in the end to bring down the conceited and envious to their proper level."

The day after the publication of the above General Orders General Worth forwarded to army headquarters a communication in which he said:

"I learn with much astonishment that the prevailing opinion in this army points the imputation of 'scandalous' contained in the third, and the invocation of the 'indignation of the great number' in the fourth paragraph of Orders No. 349, printed and issued yesterday, to myself as one of the officers alluded to. Although I can not suppose those opinions to be correctly formed, nevertheless, regarding the high source from which such imputations flow, so seriously affecting the qualities of a gentleman, the character and usefulness of him at whom they may be aimed, I feel it inc.u.mbent on me to ask, as I do now most respectfully, of the frankness and justice of the commander in chief, whether in any sense or degree he condescended to apply, or designed to have applied, the epithets contained in that order to myself, and consequently whether the general military opinion or sentiment in that matter has taken a right or intended direction. I trust I shall be pardoned for pressing with urgency an early reply to this communication."

On the day General Worth addressed his communication to General Scott, Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel James Duncan wrote to the editor of the North American (a newspaper published in the City of Mexico in English), in which he avowed that the substance of the "Tampico letter" was communicated by him to a friend in Pittsburg from Tacubaya soon after the battles, and added: "The statements in the letter are known by very many officers of this army to be true, and I can not but think that the publication of the truth is less likely to do violence to individuals or to the service than the suppression of it." He states that justice to General Worth, who was evidently one of the persons pointed at in Orders No. 349, requires him [Duncan] to state that he [General Worth] knew nothing of the writer's purpose in writing the letter in question; that General Worth never saw it, and did not know, directly or indirectly, even the purport of one line, word, or syllable of it until he saw it in print; that this letter was not inspired by General Worth, but that both the "Tampico letter"--or rather the private letter to his friend which formed the basis of that letter--and this were written on his own responsibility.

On November 14, 1847, General Scott acknowledged General Worth's letter of the 13th, and said: "The General Order No. 349 was, as is pretty clearly expressed on its face, meant to apply to the letter signed 'Leonidas' in a New Orleans paper, and to the summary of two letters given in the Was.h.i.+ngton Union and copied into a Tampico paper, to the authors, aiders, and abettors of those letters, be they who they may."

It may be well questioned if an officer has a right to demand of his superior in command whether or not certain expressions used in written orders apply to him. If one officer could claim this privilege another also could, until every officer in the command had interrogated the commanding officer as to the intention of words used in general orders. To comment upon and disapprove or censure the official acts of his subordinates is not only a privilege of the commanding general, but an obligation, for the maintenance of discipline and the _morale_ of the army.

But any officer aggrieved by any censure or disapproval may demand a court of inquiry, which General Worth did in a letter dated November 14, 1847, addressed to General Scott, in which he says: "I have the honor to receive your letter in reply, but not in answer to mine of yesterday, handed in this morning. The General Order is too clearly expressed on its face to admit of any doubt in regard to papers, and, in public military opinion, in regard to persons. The object of my letter, as I endeavored clearly to express, was to seek to know distinctly, and with a view to further measures to protect myself, if, as is supposed, I was one of the persons referred to. Regretting the necessity for intrusion, I am compelled again respectfully to solicit an answer to that question. I ask it as an act of simple justice, which it is hoped will not be denied."

To this General Scott replied through his a.s.sistant adjutant general [H.L. Scott], November 14, 1847, "that he [General Scott] can not be more explicit than in his reply through me already given; that he has nothing to do with the suspicions of others, and has no positive information as to the authors.h.i.+p of the letters alluded to in General Orders No. 349. If he had valid information he would immediately prosecute the parties before a general court-martial."

The correspondence on this subject was terminated by General Worth in the following letter:

"HEADQUARTERS FIRST DIVISION,

"MEXICO, _November 14, 1847_.

"SIR: It is due to official courtesy and propriety that I acknowledge your letter No. 2, in answer to mine of this date; and in doing so, and in closing this correspondence with the headquarters of the army, I beg permission to say, and with regret, that I have received no satisfactory answer to the just and rightful inquiries which I have addressed to the general in chief; but inasmuch as I know myself to be deeply aggrieved and wronged, it only remains to go by appeal, as I shall do through the prescribed channels, to the const.i.tutional commander in chief.

"The general in chief is pleased to say through you that he has nothing to do with the suspicion of others, and that he has no positive information as to authors.h.i.+p, etc., granted. But has not the manner in which the general in chief has been pleased to treat the case established--whether designedly or not remains to be seen--an equivocal public sentiment on the subject? There are always enough of that peculiar pestilential species who exist upon the breath of authority to catch up the whisperings of fancy and infect a whole military community. I do not design to be stifled under the miasma of such, nor stricken down in my advanced age, without an effort to convince my friends that I scorn to wear 'honor not earned.' Your obedient servant,

"W.J. WORTH, _Brevet Major General_."

Following this, General Worth prepared the following communication, and sent it to army headquarters:

"HEADQUARTERS FIRST DIVISION, _November 16, 1847_.