CHAPTER IV.
OPERATIONS IN FLORIDA.
January 6-August 31, 1861.
(Secession)
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UNION CORRESPONDENCE.

{p.348}

SENATE CHAMBER, December 21, 1860.

Hon. JOHN B. FLOYD, Secretary of War:

SIR: You will oblige me by a statement of the officers connected with the Army of the United States who were appointed from Florida, their rank, and pay.

Respectfully yours,

D. L. YULEE.

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WAR DEPARTMENT, Washington, December 28, 1860.

Hon. D. L. YULEE, Senate:

SIR: In answer to your letter of the 21st instant I have the honor to inclose to you a statement showing the Dames, rank, and pay, and emoluments {p.349} of the officers of the United States Army appointed from Florida.* The contingent allowances for fuel and quarters and similar items are not included.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

JOHN B. FLOYD, Secretary of War.

* List not deemed of sufficient importance for publication.

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SENATE CHAMBER, January 2, 1861.

To the SECRETARY OF WAR:

SIR: We respectfully request you to inform us what is the numerical force of the troops now in garrison at the various posts in the State of Florida, and the amount of arms, heavy and small, and ammunition, fixed and loose, at the various forts and arsenals in that State.*

Respectfully, your obedient servants,

D. L. YULEE, S. R. MALLORY.

* See Maynadier to Holt, January 3, p. 349; Yulee, and Mallory to Holt, January 7, p. 3.51, and Holt to Yulee and Mallory, January 9, 1861, p. 351.

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ORDNANCE OFFICE, Washington, D. C., January 3, 1861.

Hon. J. HOLT, Secretary of War:

SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the reference to this office of a letter from the honorables Messrs. Yulee and Mallory, of the Senate, dated 2d instant, and, in compliance with their request, to report that there is only one arsenal in the State of Florida, and that is one of deposit only. It is called Apalachicola Arsenal, and is situated near the town of Chattahoochee, at the junction of the Flint and Chattahoochee Rivers.* The arms, ammunition, &c., now at that post, are one 6-pounder iron gun and carriage, with 326 shot and canisters for the same, 57 flintlock muskets, 5,122 pounds of powder, 173,476 cartridges for small-arms, and a small quantity of different kinds, of accouterments.

The ordnance and ordnance stores at the other military posts in Florida are as follows:

At Fort Barrancas.–Forty-four sea-coast and garrison cannon and 43 carriages, viz: Thirteen 8-inch columbiads and howitzers; two 10-inch mortars, and eleven 32, ten 24, five 18, and three 19-pounder guns; 3,152 projectiles for the same; 20,244 pounds of powder, and 2,966 cartridge bags.

At Barrancas Barracks.–A field battery, consisting of four 6-pounder guns and two 12-pounder howitzers, with carriages, and six caissons, with 300 projectiles and 270 cartridge bags for the same.

At Fort Pickens.–Two hundred and one sea-coast and garrison cannon, viz: Four 10-inch columbiads and four 10-inch mortars, fifty 8-inch and flanking howitzers, and two 42, sixty-two 32, fifty-nine 24, six 18, and fourteen 12 pounder guns, and 128 carriages for the same; also, 4,974 projectiles of all kinds; 3,195 grape-shot, loose; 500 24-pounder stands canister shot; 12,712 pounds of powder, and 1,728 cartridge bags.

At Fort Taylor.–Sixty sea-coast and garrison cannon, viz: Fifty 8-inch columbiads and ten 24-inch flanking howitzers, with caissons, and four 12-pounder field howitzers, mounted; 4,530 projectiles, suited to {p.350} the guns; 34,459 pounds of powder; 2,826 cartridge bags; 962 priming tubes, and 759 cartridges for small arms.

At Fort McRee.–One hundred and twenty-five sea-coast and garrison cannon, including three 10-inch and twelve 8-inch columbiads; twenty-two 42, twenty-four 32, and sixty-four 24 pounder guns, with 64 gun carriages; 9,026 projectiles, and 1,258 stands of grape and canister, and 19 298 pounds of powder.

At Key West Barracks.–For 6-pounder field guns and carriages; 1,101 rounds of shot and other ammunition for the same; 171 pounds of powder; 158 cartridge bags; 538 priming tubes; 7 rifles, and 2,000 rifle cartridges.

At Fort Marion.–Six field batteries, of four 6-pounder guns and two 12-pounder howitzers, and twenty sea-coast and garrison cannon, viz: Four 8-inch howitzers and sixteen 32-pounder guns; also, six 6-pounder old iron guns, and 31 foreign guns of various calibers; 2,021 projectiles; 330 rounds of fixed ammunition; 873 priming tubes, and 931 pounds of powder. Also, 110 muskets, 103 rifles, 118 Hall’s carbines, 98 pistols, 147,720 cartridges for small-arms, and 15,000 percussion caps.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

WM. MAYNADIER, Captain of Ordnance.

* See Holt to Yulee and Mallory, January 9, 1861, p. 351.

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HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY, Washington, January 4, 1861.

Maj. ZEALOUS B. TOWER, U. S. Engineer Corps:

SIR: With this you will receive an order assigning you to duty according to your brevet rank, and placing you under my command. You will proceed without delay to the Barrancas and assume the command of the troops and forts in and about Pensacola Harbor. You will wait on the commander of the Pensacola navy-yard, ask his hearty cooperation in the great object of your mission, viz, to prevent the seizure of those works or either of them by any body of men whatsoever. Should either of them be preoccupied by any hostile body of men you will first summon them to surrender, and, in case of refusal, consult with the naval commander as to the sufficiency of your joint means to compel a surrender, and if it should appear to both on grave consideration that the means are sufficient you will exert them to a reasonable extent to effect that object.

Should the intruders surrender without the application of force you may permit them to depart in peace, with the promise of an exemption from legal pursuit, and if the surrender be the result of the application of force permit the captives to depart, but without any promise whatever.

With every confidence in you, I remain yours, truly,

WINFIELD SCOTT.

If the telegraphic wires be in operation, report often; but both the wires and the mail may be under hostile control. In important cases, therefore, send messengers.

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HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY, Washington, January 4, 1861.

Captain MEIGS, U. S. Engineers:

SIR: With this letter you will receive one hundred muskets and accouterments complete, with one hundred rounds of cartridges for each {p.351} musket, to be used in defense of Fort Jefferson if you can find bands to use them. Major Arnold with his company will probably sail from Boston on the 7th instant to garrison your work. In the mean time it is quite possible that some attempt may be made to seize the fort by an expedition sailing from Charleston, say in the Isabel, and secessionists from Florida. All that it is possible for you to do without troops we know will be performed.

WINFIELD SCOTT.

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Hon. SECRETARY OF WAR: SENATE CHAMBER, January 7, 1861.

SIR: We addressed a letter to your Department a week past, asking certain information interesting to be known to us in connection with our public duty, and not having received a reply we beg leave to call your attention to it, and to ask as early an answer as may be convenient to you.

Respectfully yours,

D. L. YULEE. S. R. MALLORY.

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WAR DEPARTMENT, Washington, January 9, 1861.

Hons. D. L. YULEE and S. R. MALLORY:

GENTLEMEN: In reply to your note of the 2d instant I have the honor to state that the interests of the service forbid that the information which you ask should at this moment be made public.

Very, &c.,

J. HOLT, Secretary of War ad interim.

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HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY, Washington, January 21, 1861.

Bvt. Col. JUSTIN DIMICK, Lieut. Col., Second Artillery, Commanding Fort Monroe, Va.:

SIR: The General-in-Chief directs that you embark, after arrangements with the commander of the sloop-of-war Brooklyn, one company of the First Artillery with at least three officers, with arms, a good supply of ammunition, and as much subsistence, not exceeding four months’ supply, as the Brooklyn may be willing to receive. Fill up the company to the maximum standard by transfer. Some spare arms should go with it. Issue, or if there be time purchase and ship, a good supply of desiccated vegetables. Superscribe the inclosed sealed orders with the name of the captain designated by you. They are not to be opened until he is at sea.

I remain, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

L. THOMAS, Assistant Adjutant-General.

P. S.–Put on board, if possible, six field howitzers with their carriages and equipments and one hundred rounds of ammunition.

L. T.

{p.352}

[Inclosure.]

HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY, Washington, January 21, 1861.

[Capt. ISRAEL VOGDES,] First Artillery, Fort Monroe, Va.:

SIR: You are designated to embark with your company on board the sloop-of-war Brooklyn to re-enforce Fort Pickens, of which you will become the commander as well as of other forts and barracks which it may be in your power to occupy and defend with the co-operation of any naval commander or commanders at hand, although it is understood that Fort Barrancas and probably Fort McRee are already in the hands of the seceders. It is probable that the Brooklyn may be obliged to land you outside the harbor, but it is hoped not so far from Fort Pickens as to be beyond the protection of its guns if the debarkation should be opposed. Of course, the company will be first landed to cover the supplies which are intended for the fort. The Brooklyn will touch at Key West. Deliver the accompanying letter to Captain Brannan, and desire him to communicate freely with Major Arnold, who sailed eight days ago from Boston to occupy Fort Jefferson, giving him intelligence of your movement, and the intention to re-enforce both Forts Taylor and Jefferson with a company each, hoping and believing that the latter is in the possession of the major.

The General-in-Chief, by whose direction I write, has every confidence in the zeal and ability of the officers of the First Artillery.

I have the honor to be, sir, your most obedient servant,

L. THOMAS, Assistant Adjutant-General.

P. S.–You are to understand that you are, not to attempt any reoccupation or recapture involving hostile collision, but that you are, to confine yourself strictly to the defensive.

L. T.

P. S.–The guns, &c., if it has been found possible to get any on board, are intended for Fort Jefferson.

L. THOMAS.

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HEADQUARTERS FORT MONROE, VA., January 25, 1861.

Lieut. Col. L. THOMAS, Assistant Adjutant-General, Headquarters of the Army, New York City:

COLONEL: I have the honor to report that in compliance with instructions from the General-in-Chief, Captain Vogdes’ company (A, First Artillery) left this post yesterday between 4 and 5 o’clock p.m. to embark on board the U. S. sloop-of-war Brooklyn. A return of Captain Vogdes’ command is herewith transmitted. I also inclose copies of orders issued by me relative to Captain Vogdes’ movement.

I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

J. DIMICK, Lieut. Col., Second Artillery, and Bvt. Col., Comdg. Post.

{p.353}

[Inclosure.]

ORDERS No. 13, Extract.

HEADQUARTERS FORT MONROE, VA., January 23, 1861.

In compliance with instructions from the General-in-Chief, Capt. I. Vogdes, First Artillery, will embark with his company (A, First Artillery), filled to the maximum by attached men from the other companies of this post, on board the sloop-of-war Brooklyn, as soon as the commanding officer of that ship reports himself in readiness to receive him. The following number of privates will be detailed from the companies at the post, to be attached to Captain Vogdes’ company, viz: From Company C, First Artillery, 5; from Company B, Second Artillery, 6; from Company L, Second Artillery, 6; from Company F, Third Artillery, 6; from Company K, Third Artillery, 5; from Company D, Fourth Artillery, 6; from Company L, Fourth Artillery, 6.

The assistant commissary will furnish this command with three months, provisions, it being all that can be transported on the Brooklyn. Fifteen thousand rounds of musket-ball cartridges will be issued. Four mountain howitzers and two 12-pounder field howitzers will be taken, with such a supply of ammunition, not to exceed one hundred rounds for each gun, as can be, supplied from this post and arsenal.

Bvt. Second Lieutenant Whittemore, Second Artillery, will proceed with the command.

Sealed orders received from the General-in-Chief have been furnished Captain Vogdes, to be opened when at sea.

By order of Colonel Dimick:

T. J. HAINES, Adjutant.

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WASHINGTON, D. C., January 23, 1861.

Hon. J. HOLT, Secretary of War:

SIR: I proceeded to Pensacola, Fla., pursuant to orders received from the General-in-Chief, with dispatches to Commodore Armstrong, U. S. Navy, commanding the navy-yard at that place, and agreeably to your, request submit the following statement respectfully to your notice:

On my arrival at Pensacola I, as soon as the light of day would permit, went to the beach (having learned on the cars when about twenty miles from the city that the yard had been surrendered, and that two vessels-the Wyandotte and Supply-of the U. S. Navy, were in the harbor) to make a signal to Captain Berryman, of the Wyandotte, in order to place in his hands the dispatches intended for Commodore Armstrong, the latter being a prisoner of war. I there found no sign of a naval vessel, and learned that they were distant some seven miles. I then returned to the hotel, and after having arrived on the porch, where I had been only a few minutes, I was arrested by two persons, who said they were authorized by Colonel Chase to arrest me. They carried me to the latter’s house, where I was brought before the colonel, in the presence of some six or eight persons, and requested, or rather demanded, to surrender my dispatches, which I refused to do, as my dispatches were for Commodore Armstrong. Colonel Chase then said he would allow me to deliver them to Commodore Armstrong in the presence of Captain Randolph, then in charge of the navy-yard for the State of Florida. I proceeded to the yard in company with three troopers belonging to the State troops, and saw the commodore, who received my dispatches sealed, and they, still sealed, were demanded from him {p.354} by Captain Randolph, who opened them and then forwarded them to Colonel Chase. I remained at the yard all of one day, having been placed on parole of honor not to communicate with any officer of the United States Government either at the forts or at the yard, but learned from reports and what I saw that the fort occupied by the United States had been re-enforced by some thirty or more sailors belonging to the navy-yard. The yard had been surrendered, and all the officers, with the marine, guard, had been placed on their parole, and the latter had been placed on board of the Supply, to be conveyed to New York. The yard, as also Fort Barrancas, was occupied by State troops, and Fort McRee was to be occupied so soon as troops should arrive.

I left on the 15th instant, and was given by Colonel Chase the following, in order to allow me a safe passage through the country:

I have the honor to remain, respectfully, your obedient servant,

JNO. S. SAUNDERS, Brevet Second Lieutenant, Ordnance, U. S. Army.

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WAR DEPARTMENT, January 26, 1861.

Lieut. Gen. W. SCOTT:

DEAR GENERAL: The President is much disturbed by a telegraphic dispatch which announces that the Brooklyn has sailed with two companies instead of one as was ordered. I assured him that the dispatch must be inaccurate, but would be glad to repeat the assurance on your authority.

Sincerely yours,

J. HOLT.

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PENSACOLA, January 28, 1861.

To Hon. JOHN SLIDELL, or, in his absence, Hon. R. M. HUNTER, or Governor BIGLER:

We hear the Brooklyn is coming with re-enforcements for Fort Pickens. No attack on its garrison is contemplated, but, on the contrary, we desire to keep the peace, and if the present status be preserved we will guarantee that no attack will be made upon it, but if re-enforcements be attempted, resistance and a bloody conflict seem inevitable. Should the Government thus attempt to augment its force-when no possible call for it exists; when we are preserving a peaceful policy an assault may be made upon the fort at a moment’s warning. All preparations are made. Our whole force-1,700 strong-will regard it as a hostile act. Impress this upon the President, and urge that the inevitable consequence of re-enforcement under present circumstances is instant war, as peace will be preserved if no re-enforcements be attempted. If the President wants an assurance of all I say from Colonel Chase, commanding the forces, I will transmit it at once. I am determined to stave off war if possible.

Answer promptly.

S. R. MALLORY.

{p.355}

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WAR DEPARTMENT, January 29, 1861.

Lieut. ADAM J. SLEMMER, First Regiment Artillery, U. S. Army, Commanding Fort Pickens:

SIR : The dispatch of which the inclosed is a copy was transmitted today, and the hope is indulged that it will be received before the arrival of the Brooklyn. Lieutenant Saunders goes as the bearer of this communication in order that the Department may be assured that the dispatch has reached you safely, and has suffered no alteration in its transmission, and also that his return may afford you an opportunity of reporting fully all that has occurred in connection with your command since the transfer of your forces to Fort Pickens. In the absence of any detailed information as to the circumstances under which this movement was made, I can only commend its patriotic purpose and express the gratification felt by the Department at its success.

You are instructed to act strictly on the defensive, and avoid as far as possible a collision with the hostile troops concentrated at Pensacola and in the adjacent forts. Should you, however, be attacked you will make the best defense of which your position and resources are capable. The naval forces of the United States now at Pensacola, or which may hereafter arrive there, it is expected will cordially co-operate with you. You will observe that it is expressly understood as the basis of instructions, forwarded to you that the communication between yourself and others in command at Pensacola and the Government is to be kept open and unobstructed. You will avail yourself of this provision, and report by special messenger to the Department as events may justify or require it.

In your dispatches by Lieutenant Saunders you will make known the details of the transfer of your command, the forces which you now have available for active service, the strength of your position, the character of the preparations, if any, in progress which look to an assault upon the fort, and all other matters in any manner bearing upon your ultimate safety.

Respectfully, your obedient servant,

J. HOLT, Secretary of War.

[Inclosure.]

WASHINGTON, January 29, 1861.

To JAMES GLYNN, commanding the Macedonian; Capt. W. S. WALKER., commanding the Brooklyn, and other naval officers in command; and Lieut. ADAM J. SLEMMER, First Regiment Artillery, U. S. Army, commanding Fort Pickens, Pensacola, Fla.:

In consequence of the assurances received from Mr. Mallory in a telegram of yesterday to Messrs. Slidell, Hunter, and Bigler, with a request it should be laid before the President, that Fort Pickens would not be assaulted, and an offer of such an assurance to the same effect from Colonel Chase, for the purpose of avoiding a hostile collision, upon receiving satisfactory assurances from Mr. Mallory and Colonel Chase that Fort Pickens will not be attacked, you are instructed not to land the company on board the Brooklyn unless said fort shall be attacked or preparations shall be made for its attack. The provisions necessary for the supply of the fort you will land. The Brooklyn and other vessels of war on the station will remain, and you will exercise the utmost vigilance and be prepared at a moment’s warning to land the company at Fort Pickens, and you and they will instantly repel an attack on the fort.

The President yesterday sent a special message to Congress commend {p.356} ing the Virginia resolutions of compromise. The commissioners of different States are to meet here on Monday, the 4th February, and it is important that during their session a collision of arms should be, avoided, unless an attack should be made or there should be preparation for such an attack. In either event the Brooklyn and the other vessels will act promptly.

Your right, and that of the other officers in command at Pensacola, freely to communicate with the Government by special messenger, and its right in the same manner to communicate with yourself and them, will remain intact as the basis on which the present instruction is given.

J. HOLT, Secretary of War. ISAAC TOUCEY, Secretary of the Navy.

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FORT TAYLOR, FLA., January 31, 1861.

Col. L. THOMAS, Assistant Adjutant-General, U. S. Army:

SIR: My company left Fortress Monroe, Va., on the 24th of the present month, and arrived at this place this morning. The Brooklyn will coal at this place, and then proceed to Fort Jefferson. As there was but a very small supply of fixed ammunition at Fort Monroe for field howitzers, I took only two 12-pounder field howitzers and four mountain howitzers. There was plenty of ammunition for these last, but I could only obtain about one hundred and fifty rounds for the 12-pounders.

I have communicated your instructions to Captain Brannan, in command at this place, and have been informed by him that Major Arnold arrived at Fort Jefferson on the 18th instant. Captain Brannan furnished him with six 8-inch columbiads, ten 6-inch field guns, two 12-pounder field howitzers, 10,000 pounds of powder, 700 8-inch shells, and a small amount of ammunition for the field guns. Captain Brannan states that the supply of ammunition on hand is small and the quality bad. The citizens of this place are well disposed, and when the re-enforcements arrive it can be maintained against any force that the seceders may bring against it.

The desiccated vegetables for my command could not be had in Norfolk. Will you please have a supply sent me as soon as possible? I understand that it is impossible to obtain any fresh provisions at Pensacola.

A schooner arrived at this place yesterday, after five days from Pensacola. All of the forts except Fort Pickens were in the hands of the seceders. The strength of these forts was about 3,000 men. All was quiet when the schooner left, and the volunteers were not at all satisfied with their duties. I give you this report as it was given to me. It is probable that you may be in possession of later and more reliable information, but for fear that you may not, I here mention it in my communication.

The privates taken from the companies at Old Point to fill up my company were not regularly transferred. Will you be kind enough to order their regular transfer, as it will greatly simplify the company returns?

I am somewhat doubtful about being able to obtain a supply of fuel at Fort Pickens. However, I shall write to you as soon as I arrive, and give you all the information in my power.

Lieutenant Craven, U. S. Navy, leaves this place this evening for New York, and has kindly offered to take charge of this communication {p.357} for me. Lieutenant Craven has been very kind, and disposed to afford any assistance in his power to the troops stationed at this place.

I have the honor to be, yours, &c.,

I. VOGDES, Captain, First Artillery.

P. S.–My having just arrived from a sea voyage I trust may be deemed a sufficient excuse for any irregularities in this communication.

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PENSACOLA HARBOR, FLA., February 7, 1861.

Col. L. THOMAS, Assistant Adjutant-General, U. S. Army:

SIR: I have the honor to report that I arrived on this station yesterday in the U. S. steamer Brooklyn, with Company A, First Artillery. I met orders here which prevent the landing Of My company or the re-enforcement Of the garrison of Fort Pickens at present. Yesterday I landed at Fort Pickens, assumed command of the forces on the station, inspected the defenses, and had a consultation with Lieutenant Slemmer. I am compelled to remain on board the Brooklyn for the present, and can, of course, only give general instructions to Lieutenant Slemmer. I am sorry to inform the Department that I found Fort Pickens in a very inefficient state of defense. At the time Lieutenant Slemmer removed his command to Fort Pickens there were only forty guns mounted in the fort. At present there are fifty-four in position. The accompanying sketch* indicates the position and class of guns now in position; total, fifty-four of all kinds.

Lieutenant Slemmer has with him only forty-six enlisted men for duty, and thirty ordinary seamen from the yard at this station, and the latter are entirely untrained, insubordinate, and of but little use in case, of attack. There are fifty-seven embrasures that are unprovided with cannon, and are only about seven feet from the bottom of the ditch, and at present but few of them have only the common wooden shutter, presenting only a slight obstacle to an enemy. There are only very imperfect means of barricading them. Such as they are, however, I have given orders to be immediately employed.

Lieutenant Slemmer has been obliged to employ his command in getting guns into position and in barricading the embrasures. He is obliged to keep one-half of his men under arms every night, and they are nearly all exhausted with fatigue. The guns and carriages and implements are all old, and nearly unserviceable. I have made a requisition direct on the Department for the necessary supply of guns, carriages, and ammunition. The supply of this last is very inadequate. There is no ammunition for the columbiads, no cartridge bags for them, nor flannel to make any. In fact, had it been the intention of the Government to place the fort in the state to render its defense impossible, it could not have been done more efficiently than it has been done. The post is without any medical officer, and if it is intended to defend it there should be an Engineer officer sent at once to the station. I trust that the Department will immediately order that the supplies requested be sent. There are no bunks either for the hospital or for the troops, and but little bedding for the sick. I request a supply may be sent. There are plenty of provisions for the present, although I should like some desiccated vegetables and supplies for the officers. I {p.358} would mention that all of the troops will be compelled to live in open casemates, and many of them will soon be on the sick-list.

The seceders have a considerable force in and about Pensacola; what number I am unable to say positively, but they are estimated at about 1,700 men. They are disorderly, and very unwilling to be controlled. Their leaders, from what I can learn, I believe are sincere in their intention to observe the armistice, but their ability to control the men under their command is very doubtful. They are engaged in erecting batteries, are making sand bags, &c. They have plenty of means of transporting their troops to Santa Rosa Island, and can attack the fort on all sides at once. At present there is not one trained man to a gun within the fort. Should the enemy decide to attack, it is exceedingly probable that he might succeed in penetrating into the fort before my company could be landed or any succor could arrive from the fleet. I should therefore urge upon the Department the necessity of the fleet taking up a position such as to prevent the landing of any forces within one and a half miles of the fort; this would give time to provide for the defense of the work and the landing of the troops from the fleet; otherwise we may have the mortification and disgrace of seeing the fort taken by a body of untrained troops under our very noses.

Should the armistice be broken, my company, all the marines, and as many sailors as may raise the garrison to four hundred men should be immediately landed. All of the advantages of the present armistice are entirely on the side of the seceders. I would therefore urge upon the Department the necessity of immediately re-enforcing the garrison. The two additional companies ordered to Forts Taylor and Jefferson are not immediately required for the defense of those works. In fact, in their present state, and with the forces now in them, they would be stronger than Fort Pickens will be when garrisoned with four hundred men. Captain Meigs kindly offered his services, if necessary, to assist in the defense of this place, and I request the Department that he may be ordered to repair to this place.

Lieutenant Slemmer has done all that it has been possible to do with the small force under his command. His resolution to defend his post at all hazards evinces the highest moral courage on his part, but at the same time I must state that with any amount of vigor on the part of the assaulters his defense would have been hopeless. His resolution has probably been the means of preserving Fort Pickens from the seceders.

Yours, &c.,

I. VOGDES, Captain, First Artillery.

P. S.–I must not be understood as recommending any violation of the existing armistice, but the collection of an amount of troops on the station as may be necessary for the defense should anything occur to rupture the present armistice.

* Not found.

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FORT PICKENS, FLA., February -, 1861.

Hon. J. HOLT, Secretary of War:

SIR: I have to report that since my last letter per Captain Sands, U. S. Navy, matters have assumed no different form. I am continuing the defenses of the fort, and with my command will soon have it prepared to repel an attack. I have now seventy-eight guns mounted and ready {p.359} for action. I will put up to-morrow three 10-inch light mortars. I have no others. The casemate embrasures are closed, some with brickwork and others with stone and pieces of wood. These will be strengthened as time permits. I am making canister for some of my barbette guns, there being none in the fort. An abatis of brush is being placed about the exposed points of attack. I have two 10-inch columbiads mounted, in order to render inefficient any battery which may be erected on the opposite side. There are two others in the fort which can be mounted if necessary. All work has been stopped on these batteries, according to the promise of Colonel Chase. I do not think there are more than four hundred State troops occupying the fort and barracks opposite. Fort McRee is occupied, but no guns mounted to my knowledge.

I am, sir, very respectfully, your most obedient servant,

A. J. SLEMMER, First Lieutenant, First Artillery, Commanding Post.

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FORT PICKENS, FLA., February 12, 1861.

Hon. J. HOLT, Secretary of War:

SIR: Since the departure of Lieutenant Gilman as special messenger for Washington nothing of special interest has transpired. I am continuing the defenses, mounting guns on the ramparts, and blocking up the casemate embrasures. Having observed a battery in course of erection upon which they were mounting heavy guns, 8-inch columbiads, and as this battery would rake two bastions and the connecting curtains of this fort, I addressed the following note to Colonel Chase:

To which I received the following satisfactory reply:

I have the honor to be, sir, very respectfully, your most obedient servant,

A. J. SLEMMER, First Lieutenant, First Artillery.

{p.360}

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HEADQUARTERS OF THE: ARMY, Washington, March 12, 1861.

Captain VOGDES, U. S. Army, On board U. S. sloop-of-war Brooklyn, lying off Fort Pickens:

SIR: At the first favorable moment you will land with your company, re-enforce Fort Pickens, and hold the same till further orders. Report frequently, if opportunities present themselves, on the condition of the fort and the circumstances around you.

I write by command of Lieutenant-General Scott.

I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

E. D. TOWNSEND, Assistant Adjutant-General.

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FORT TAYLOR, KEY WEST, FLA., March 13, 1861.

Lieut. Col. L. THOMAS, Asst. Adjt. Gen., Headquarters of the Army, Washington City:

COLONEL: I have the honor to report that everything is quiet at Key West to this date, nor do I apprehend any attack on this fort until a perfectly-organized force is raised. Flags of the Southern Confederacy have been raised upon the stores of various citizens. I doubt if any resident of Key West will be allowed to hold office under the Federal Government unless supported by the military and naval forces. We are on terms of friendship with the best portion of the citizens, and all hope there will be no collision.

I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

J. M. BRANNAN, Captain, First Artillery, Commanding Post.

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U. S. STEAMER BROOKLYN, Pensacola Harbor, Fla., March 17, 1861.

Col. L. THOMAS, Assistant Adjutant-General:

SIR: On the 24th of last January I left Fort Monroe, Va., with sealed orders from the headquarters of the Army, which assigned me to the command of the forts in this harbor. On my arrival at, this station I met a telegraphic dispatch from the Secretary of War which instructed the commander of the Brooklyn not to land my company for the present.

A few days since I requested a copy of the post return from Lieutenant Slemmer in order to make a monthly return of the whole command. He declines furnishing me with it, as he holds that the telegraphic dispatch superseded my orders, and of course deprived me of the right to command. I do not so construe the dispatch, nor can I consider it as binding upon me, as I have never received a copy of it, nor is it in any way directed to me. I can hardly imagine that the Department could intend that I should be superseded by an officer junior to myself both in grade and rank, and that it would have at least informed me directly of the fact if such had been its intention.

I need not point out to you how important in the present critical state of affairs it is to have a perfect unity of command. Should anything occur that may render it necessary that my company should be landed, it is necessary that some previous arrangements should be made for its {p.361} reception and distribution of the whole command. It is unnecessary for me to state that such arrangements cannot be made by Lieutenant Slemmer, nor can I for one moment consent to his dispensing of either myself or my command. Besides which, until Lieutenant Slemmer declined sending me the return, I had no idea that he disputed my right to command, and I had made arrangements with Captain Adams, commanding the naval forces on this station, to land a force of marines and sailors, which, with ray company and the troops now in the fort, will raise the command to five hundred men. This force, in my opinion, will be sufficient to hold Fort Pickens against any force that may at-tempt to carry it by escalade. There is, however, a great deficiency both of ammunition and supplies for so large a command. The medical supplies are very limited. There are no bunks either for the hospital nor for the men. The casemates are open, and have only brick floors. At present the men are in the officers’ quarters, but these will be, required for the officers, and would besides be entirely inadequate to accommodate so large a command. To expose the men to sleep on the damp brick floors, exposed as they would be to the inclemency of the weather, would soon place most of them on the sick-report.

It is important that requisitions should be made for medicines and quartermaster’s supplies of lumber, bunks, and clothing for the command. I directed the attending surgeon and the acting assistant quartermaster to make the necessary requisitions, but whether they have done so or not I cannot say, as they have not been submitted to me.

I think that the above statement will satisfy you as to the importance of placing things upon such a footing as may settle at once the right to command. I have not deemed it judicious to take the course with Lieutenant Slemmer which I should have taken at any other time, but I think I have said sufficient to satisfy you that it is important that all ambiguity as to my right to command should be at once removed. I therefore ask that instructions may at once be given for me to at once take up my residence within the fort, which the authorities now seem to think is contrary to the agreement entered into.

I deem it important that the commissary and quartermaster’s department at, this post should be supplied with money, as it is impossible to obtain supplies without it.

Some batteries have been erected by the seceders between the navy-yard and Fort Barrancas, on the shore. These may offer a very serious obstacle to the ships-of-war entering the harbor. The troops, however, I think can be safely landed on Santa Rosa Island, and enter the fort without encountering any serious impediment. May I request that you will give your early attention to the above case, and let me know your decision?

Yours, &c.,

I. VOGDES, Captain, First Artillery.

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FORT PICKENS, FLA., March 18, 1861.

Lieut. Col. L. THOMAS, Assistant Adjutant-General, U. S. Army:

SIR: I have the honor to report that since my last report nothing has happened to disturb the peaceable relations existing between the United States forces and those opposing us. I have placed the fort in condition for defense as well as the means in my power would permit.

The contractor has refused to furnish fresh beef, alleging that he is {p.362} without funds for purchasing cattle. The United States is indebted to him for three months’ supply.

If the intention of the Department is to place re-enforcements in the fort, I would recommend that subsistence stores be sent immediately.

On the morning of the 12th instant four negroes (runaways) came to the fort, entertaining the idea that we were placed here to protect them and grant them their freedom. I did what I could to teach them the contrary. In the afternoon I took them to Pensacola and delivered them to the city marshal, to be returned to their owners. That same night four more made their appearance. They were also turned over to the authorities next morning.

On the evening of the 12th I received this communication:

As I was absent at Pensacola delivering up the negroes, I did not see Captain Wood. I made the following answer, accompanying it with copies of the agreement entered into by Colonel Chase and the War Department, with copies of such other papers as would enable the general to understand our positions:

To which I received the following reply:

The battery which the general mentions has no reality, and I so requested his aid, Lieutenant Gaines, to inform him.

On the 15th I made the following answer:

I sent yesterday by mail (via New Orleans) my monthly returns and muster rolls for February. I hope they will arrive safely. I was then not aware, that Commander Adams would send a special messenger.

I would most respectfully call the attention of the commanding general to the fact that there is mention of a notification being given as to the termination of the agreement on either side.

I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

A. J. SLEMMER, First Lieutenant, First Artillery, Commanding.

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U. S. STEAMER BROOKLYN, March 21, 1861.

[General SCOTT:]

GENERAL: I wrote to you a few days since asking you to decide the subject of command on this station. Since then Lieutenant Gilman has arrived. I hope, however, that you will give my communication a careful consideration, and will see the necessity of establishing a unity of command on the station. As I mentioned in my communication, it is indispensable that, there should be a perfect understanding between the troops and the naval forces, and the positions to be occupied beforehand be fully determined upon. How this can be done when the troops will have to land only when the fort is attacked I am unable to see. It cannot be done unless Lieutenant Slemmer is to be allowed to give me orders and to assign me a position, and to that I never will submit. I will endeavor to perform my duty, I trust, on all occasions, but I never will submit to be commanded, directly or indirectly, by my junior. Moreover, when I enter the fort I become its commander, and will be held responsible for its defense. This will be, probably, when the enemy is already before its walls, and when I must, of course, be ignorant of the disposition which Lieutenant Slemmer has made for its defense. How am I to be held accountable for its defense when I have not the command until the last moment ? I trust, general, that you will see at once the false position in which I am placed, and at once relieve me from it. If not, I enter my protest against being in any way held accountable for what may take place.

Until within a few days the naval and military forces have been supplied with fresh provisions from Warrington and Pensacola, but General Bragg has issued an order prohibiting any supplies being furnished to us, and prohibits the citizens communicating with us, except by special permission.

The conditions of the agreement entered into by the late Government and Major Chase and Senator Mallory give every advantage to the seceders, yet some of them deny the right of those two gentlemen to make it. They are not required to give any notice of its abrogation, and may attack the fort without a moment’s notice, and under the most favorable circumstances it will be impossible to send any assistance to the fort from the ships in less time than three hours. Should there be the least panic among the troops within the fort it would probably be taken. There are about forty guns mounted, and the garrison is about one man {p.364} to a gun. They could only make a single discharge, and would not probably be able to reload the guns. Should those on any of the fronts be discharged too soon, that front would be left without any defense. Moreover, the garrison is kept constantly harassed, and is almost every night obliged to be under arms, from fear of attack. With the present garrison, my company, and one hundred marines, which we could obtain from the fleet, I think it would be perfectly secure from assault.

Our means of communication with the. Government are very uncertain. We do not feel certain that our communications have reached the Department, nor do we know whether the Department’s messenger to us may not have been intercepted. Of course, we do not know how we are expected to act. I would suggest that a small steamer should ply between here and Havana, so as to communicate with the mail steamer from New York-at that port. The supplies at the fort are getting low, and those of the naval forces are still lower. These last have not ten days’ supply.

The Brooklyn leaves to-morrow for Key West or Havana in order to obtain a supply. Should she not succeed, the naval forces will have to be withdrawn. The Brooklyn has by far the most efficient battery of any of the ships on the station, and is besides probably the only vessel that could take up a position to effectively cover our landing. It is much to be regretted that she should be withdrawn at this juncture. My company is to be transferred to the frigate Sabine.

Major Tower, of the Engineers, arrived on the 19th, but under the existing arrangement cannot reside within the fort. Even was he there, not having any force to labor, he could not do much. I have endeavored to lay before you a true statement of the disadvantageous position in which we are placed, and I trust that so far as it can be done it will be remedied. Whatever may be done, I trust that we will be soldiers enough to do all that lies in our power to uphold the honor of our country’s flag, and prevent its forts from being seized by those in rebellion against its authority.

Yours, truly,

I. VOGDES, Captain, First Artillery.

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HEADQUARTERS FORT TAYLOR, FLA., March 27, 1861.

T. A. M. CRAVEN, Lieutenant, Commanding U. S. Steamer Crusader, Harbor of Key West:

SIR: In reference to our conversation this morning and the letter shown by you to myself, and with the desire that we may act together should an occasion occur, I deem it advisable to state that this fort is fully garrisoned with veteran soldiers, and I believe it is entirely within my power to control this island and to prevent a lodgment thereon by any hostile force whatsoever; further, that I intend to treat any attempt to do so as an overt act of war, to be met at its initiation. I have no specific instructions from the War Department, but the course of my duty is clear, and I mean to follow it.

I am, sir, very respectfully, your most obedient servant,

WM. H. FRENCH, Brevet Major, First Artillery, Commanding.

{p.365}

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FORT PICKENS, FLA., March 30, 1861.

The ASSISTANT ADJUTANT-GENERAL, Headquarters of the Army:

SIR: I have the honor to report that matters have not assumed a hostile attitude. Everything appears quiet. Troops are being quietly concentrated and preparations made for an immediate movement should the present amicable agreement be interrupted. From all I can learn, there are now nearly one thousand enlisted men occupying the various posts and batteries in the vicinity and five, thousand expected. Since my last report the redoubt between Fort Barrancas and the bayou has been occupied and made an ordnance depot. Nearly all the powder has been transferred from the navy-yard to that post. The troops are organized and apparently under good discipline, a marked difference existing between them and the volunteers who first occupied these positions. Guns are being mounted at Fort McRee. The light-house battery has four 8-inch columbiads which bear directly on this work. Another battery of four 8-inch columbiads is situated to the cast and front of the naval hospital. Report says that another battery has been constructed at the old light-house. I cannot distinguish any signs of it, however. If made, it is, effectually masked.

Fort Barrancas is fully armed. Guns are mounted in the navy-yard for its protection. These works are being strengthened and completed each day, and soon the position will be one which will be very difficult to reoccupy, and one which will prove a serious annoyance to this post. Shot and shells can be thrown from each of these works into Fort Pickens. I have protested against the prosecution of these works, but with no effect. Colonel Chase did stop the work, but his successors have continued them on the plea of being for defensive purposes. With one or two batteries established on Santa Rosa Island, Fort Pickens would be in almost as bad a position as Fort Sumter. Fort McRee and these batteries would be able to drive off any shipping and prevent the introduction of re-enforcements and provisions. I have thus far succeeded in preventing any lodgment on the island, and will consider any such movement a breach of the agreement.

It is very necessary that we should be informed as to passing events, and would, therefore, most respectfully call the attention of the Commanding General to the fact that from the 23d February until the 29th March no important communication has been received. We receive nothing but from the sufferance of the opposing forces, which at any moment may be stopped should anything occur contrary to their desires. I am now left without an officer, but will request the transfer of Lieutenant Langdon to the fort during the absence of Lieutenant Gilman.

Fresh provisions are now denied us. If it is the intention of the Government to hold this fort., I would most respectfully suggest that the stores and supplies necessary for the effective defense of the work be forwarded immediately, with definite instructions as to their being landed.

I am, sir, very respectfully, your most obedient servant,

A. J. SLEMMER, First Lieutenant, First Artillery, Commanding.

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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 {p.366} 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 Sappers 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 to 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.

{p.367}

[Inclosure.]

EXECUTIVE MANSION, April 1, 1861.

All officers of the Army and Navy, to whom this order may be exhibited, will aid by every means in their power the expedition under the command of Col. Harvey Brown, supplying him with men and material and co-operating with him as he may desire.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

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WILMINGTON, N. C., April 2, 1861.

General JOS. G. TOTTEN, Chief Engineer, Washington, A C.:

GENERAL: I have the honor to report my return from Fort Clinch and my performance of the duty assigned to me by your order of the 18th ultimo, so far as I have been able to perform it.

I have paid off all the employés mentioned in Captain Whiting’s letter of the 8th ultimo, and discharged all not before discharged except the fort keeper, Mr. J. A. Walker, and two laborers. I thought it best to retain the services of these two laborers, partly because the sand embankments inside the fort require constant attention, and partly because I was not able to sell any of the public property.

After I had paid off the accounts, Colonel Butler, commanding the Florida militia at Fernandina, very politely informed me that the authorities of that State had virtually taken possession of Fort Clinch, and that any sale of its property by the United States would be regarded as illegal, and that he thought it his duty to resist such sale if necessary. After some conversation, finding myself unable to change his resolution, I was, of course, compelled to yield.

The State of Florida, or the Confederate States, will probably soon take formal possession of Fort Clinch.

I have told Mr. Walker that while things remain as they are he may regard himself and his two assistants as in the service of the United States, at least until he shall be officially informed to the contrary, but that whenever the property or the fort shall be actually seized the United States will be no longer responsible for services.

There are some small accounts for supplies and for services still unpaid. As soon as I receive them I will forward them to the Department for your decision.

Respectfully,

D. P. WOODBURY, Captain, Engineers.

[Indorsements.]

ENGINEER DEPARTMENT, April 8, 1861.

Respectfully referred to the honorable Secretary of War for his instructions as to the course to be pursued in regard to the care of the Government property at Fort Clinch.

It will be perceived from the within report that while this property is nominally in the possession of the United States, it is actually under the control of the Florida authorities, as is shown by their refusal to permit the sale of the same.

Should the United States, therefore, continue its expenditures for the care of the fort and the property thereat? Unless the Government designs {p.368} taking actual possession of and holding this work and property, I would recommend their being at once abandoned.

J. G. TOTTEN, Brevet Brigadier-General, and Colonel Engineers.

APRIL 10, 1861.

Let the work cease for the present.

SIMON CAMERON, Secretary of War.

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APRIL 3, 1861.

[For Totten to Secretary Cameron in reference to Forts Sumter and Pickens, see p. 232.]

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U. S. TRANSPORT ATLANTIC, [New York,] April 6, 1861-21 p.m.

Hon. Wm. H. SEWARD, Secretary of State:

DEAR SIR: By great exertions, within less than six days from the time the subject was broached in the office of the President, a war steamer sails from this port; and the Atlantic, built under contract to be at the service of the United States in case of war, will follow this afternoon with 500 troops, of which one company is sappers and miners, one a mounted battery. The Illinois will follow on Monday with the stores which the Atlantic could not hold.

While the mere throwing of a few men into Fort Pickens may seem a small operation, the opening of a campaign is a great one.

Unless this movement is supported by ample supplies and followed up by the Navy it will be a failure. This is the beginning of the war which every statesman and soldier has foreseen since the passage of the South Carolina ordinance of secession. You will find the Army and the Navy clogged at the head with men, excellent patriotic men, men who were soldiers and sailors forty years ago, but who now merely keep active men out of the places in which they could serve the country.

If you call out volunteers you have no general to command. The general born, not made, is yet to be found who is to govern the great army which is to save the country, if saved it can be. Colonel Keyes has shown intelligence, zeal, activity, and I look for a high future for him.

England took six months to get a soldier to the Crimea. We were from May to September in getting General Taylor before Monterey. Let us be supported; we go to serve our country, and our country should not neglect us or leave us to be strangled in tape, however red.

Respectfully,

M. C. MEIGS.

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U. S. TROOP-SHIP ATLANTIC, lat. 32˚ 13', Long. 74˚ 49' 15", April 10, 1861.

Hon. WM. H. SEWARD, Secretary of State:

DEAR SIR: We expect to touch at Key West, and will be able to set things in order there and give the first check to the secession movement by firmly establishing the authority of the United States in that most ungrateful island and city. Thence we propose to send dispatches under cover to you. The officers will write to their friends, {p.369} understanding that the package will not be broken until after the public has notice through the newspapers of our success or defeat. Our object is yet unknown on board, and if I read the papers of the eve of our departure aright our secret is still a secret in New York. No communication with the shore, however, will be allowed.

Your dispatch arrived as I was on my way to the Atlantic, just before the hour at which she was to sail, and two or three hours after that appointed for the Powhatan. When the arrow has sped from the bow it may glance aside, but who shall reclaim it before its flight is finished?

A violent gale compelled us to lay head to wind for twenty-four hours. We ran one hundred miles out of our course. The Powhatan having taken this gale earlier may have got through it with less delay, so that it is not now likely that we will overtake her. She had orders to call off Key West, and by boat or signal ascertain whether we had passed. It is important that she should reach the port before us.

Permit me to urge, the importance of the purchase of these Collins steamers. Britain has already taken the first, the Adriatic. Jeff. Davis or the United States may take them. They were built under contract subject to be taken at a valuation if needed for war. This ship, the Atlantic, cost $750,000. We have chartered her at $2,000 per day for thirty days, with the privilege, at the end of thirty days, of retaining her at that price, giving her up, or purchasing by the United States at $350,000, one-half her cost. During the height of the gale she showed no signs of weakness, rode easily, without labor, and the very line of cabin-lights reflected from a mirror, which doubles all distortions, was straight and true. This too with forty tons of horses in place of port-guns on her bow, and thirty tons of hay and stores on her after-hurricane deck. The weight of 10-inch pivot guns would not therefore hurt her. Thus far we have lost but one horse, exhausted by struggling after falling during the gale.

The Baltic I hope is chartered on terms like those of the Atlantic. Both should belong to the United States. British agents, if not Southern envoys, are after them. Had we been on board a vessel less staunch and seaworthy not a horse would have been seen on deck and the ship might have shared the fate of the San Francisco.

The dispatch and the secrecy with which this expedition has been fitted out will strike terror into the ranks of rebellion. All New York saw, all the United States knew, that the Atlantic was filling with stores and troops. But now this nameless vessel, her name is painted out, speeds out of the track of commerce to an unknown destination. Mysterious, unseen, where, will the powerful bolt fall? What thousands of men, spending the means of the Confederate States, vainly beat the air amid the swamps of the southern coast, and, filling the dank forts, curse secession and the mosquitoes!

Buy all the steamships, fill them with troops and stores, start them on such mysterious errands, and Mr. Memminger will need more loans and South Carolina herself will grow sick of rebellion.

God promised to send before his chosen people an advance-guard of hornets, Our constant allies are the more efficient mosquitoes and sand-flies. At this time the republic has need of all her sons, of all their knowledge, zeal, and courage.

Major Hunt is with us, somewhat depressed at going into the field without his horses. His battery of Napoleon guns, probably the best field guns in our service, is to follow in the Illinois; but the traitor Twiggs surrendered his horses to the rebels of Texas, and the company {p.370} of well-trained artillerists finds itself, after eight years of practice in that highest and most efficient arm, the light artillery, going into active service as footmen. They, too, feel the change deeply.

I inclose a memorandum which Major Hunt has written at my suggestion, and I bespeak your influence to see that he is supplied with horses. If, in the end, this be not found the best field for the campaign-and I am not yet prepared to advise on this point-then these trained men and officers, these instructed soldiers, may be easily transferred to another field and replaced by some company whose training will suit the duties to be performed at our destination. The major served through the Mexican war in Duncan’s famous battery, was brevetted for Churubusco, again for Chapultepec and the City of Mexico, and commanded the battery at Molino. These are historic names. Such an officer should be encouraged, promoted, translated to that sphere to which his peculiar training and skill will be most useful to his country. I have been gratified, even surprised, at the soldierly and loyal spirit with which these officers go upon this expedition. Whether our aim be Charleston, Savannah, Dominica, Pensacola, Mobile, Key West, Louisiana, or Texas, they do not know, but with cheerful trust in the Government they rely upon its wisdom and patriotism, and not a sad brow or a complaining spirit is on board. This loyalty and devotion is beautiful. It promises for the country, if properly appreciated and encouraged, a most efficient army, animated by hope and patriotism. From such men, and not from the pillows used to bolster up political reputations, should the colonels of your new regiments be selected. Such men will raise regiments at their call. The soil will sprout armed men. They can train them into soldiers who will save the country, if arms can save it. All patriots should look to these things. On the spirit and loyalty of your officers depends the success of your armies.

I am, most respectfully, your obedient servant,

M. C. MEIGS, Captain of Engineers.

[Inclosure.]

Memorandum for Captain Meigs.

My battery, dismounted in consequence of Twiggs’ treason, left its horses at Fort Brown, Tex. The guns, light 12-pounders (the new canon-obusier of Louis Napoleon), are the only ones in our service of that kind. They were brought off by the company in spite of extraordinary efforts on the part of the Texans to get possession of them. Their firing is very accurate, and with equal mobility they have much greater power than the 6-pounder. Each is perfectly adapted to the use of all the projectiles known in the service-shot, shell, spherical case, and canister. The fire of one portion of the battery is therefore never sacrificed to that of another, as so often happens in ordinary batteries, where the fire of

the gun must often be sacrificed to that of the howitzer, and vice versa. The men of the company are well instructed both as drivers and cannoneers, a work requiring time and patience, and it is of great importance that the knowledge they have acquired by long training should not be lost to the service, for neither drivers nor cannoneers can be improvised when wanted. The battery has with it its forge, battery-wagons, harness, &c., and requires only horses to make it thoroughly efficient. These ought to be supplied at once, as they would convert a comparatively inefficient, because uninstructed, infantry company into an efficient field battery.

{p.371}

The number of horses required is eighty; for quality and description see page 46 Artillery Tactics. A few good saddle-horses for officers should be sent in addition, say eight or ten.

HENRY J. HUNT, Brevet Major, Captain Second Artillery, Commanding Light Battery M.

Steamer ATLANTIC, At Sea, April 10, 1861.

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HEADQUARTERS U. S. TRANSPORT SHIP ATLANTIC, April 11, 1861.

Capt. E. B. HUNT, U. S. Engineers, Fort Taylor:

SIR: You will make a reconnaissance of the island of Key West with a view to the erection of any field-works which may be required to enable the garrison of Fort Taylor and of the town of Key West to prevent a hostile landing. In making this project you will consult with the commander of the forces in the island, and call upon him for any necessary assistance. The project, when complete, should be submitted to headquarters of the Department of Florida for further orders. You will, for fear of accident, make it in duplicate, retaining one copy and forwarding the other to said headquarters.

I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

HARVEY BROWN, Colonel, Commanding.

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U. S. TRANSPORT SHIP ATLANTIC, April 11, 1861.

Bvt. Maj. L. G. ARNOLD, Commanding Fort Jefferson:

SIR: You will take measures for the occupation by sea-coast earthen batteries of all the points in the harbor of Tortugas necessary to secure a complete command of the anchorage and of the channels of entrance thereto. For this purpose you will consider that a certain number of sailing vessels of the Navy will be available. They will be moored in such positions as to command the anchorage and the passes, and will themselves be supported by the shore batteries. These batteries should be constructed to resist projectiles now used in our own and European navies, and should therefore be provided with earthen parapets of not less than twenty-four feet in thickness. It is considered that no battery should contain less than three pieces of heavy caliber, and that the means disposable will not permit more than three to be constructed at any one point. The batteries should be closed works capable of offering some resistance to a sudden assault; should contain bomb-proof magazines for a small supply of ammunition, renewable from the ships or from Fort Jefferson, and will be occupied by detachments from the crew, of the troops or the garrison of the fort, relieved at short intervals.

Sufficient shelter for the garrison must be provided. For this purpose temporary sheds of lumber will suffice. The guns should be mounted in barbette. They will be supplied either by the fleet or by the Ordnance Department. The works will be constructed of the materials to be found on the spot, sand and fascines or gabions. Timber will be supplied from the public stores for the platforms, magazines, &c.

The points to which your attention is particularly directed as probable to be occupied are Bird Key, Sand Key, Loggerhead Key, East Key, {p.372} Middle Key, and Bush Key. The construction of their outlines should be commenced at once, in order that they may be ready to receive the guns as soon as they arrive. In their construction your command will be employed. The Engineer officers at Fort Jefferson will be called upon by you for their professional advice and assistance in this matter.

Plans, as soon as prepared, should be forwarded to the headquarters of the department for consideration and approval, but you will not wait for this approval of the complete system to commence the works.

The first point on which to commence work is Bird Key.

Respectfully, your obedient servant,

HARVEY BROWN, Colonel, Commanding.

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HEADQUARTERS U. S. TRANSPORT SHIP ATLANTIC, April 11, 1861

Lieut. J. ST. C. MORTON, Fort Jefferson, Tortugas:.

SIR: You will act in concert with Major Arnold, commanding the harbor of the Tortugas, in preparing with the least possible delay projects for the complete temporary defense and occupation of the whole harbor of the Tortugas. The orders issued to Major Arnold, which he will exhibit to you, will impress you of the general project. Requisitions have been made upon the Ordnance Department for twenty to twenty-four heavy guns with barbette carriages and platforms of timber for these batteries. If these arrive they will be used. If ships arrive before them, the guns from the ships will be landed for this use, to be replaced by the Army pieces when received.

Orders have, been issued to the commander of Fort Taylor to clear the brush and timber from a certain portion of the island of Key West. This brushwood will be used to make fascines, and will be transferred to the Tortugas upon requisition.

Relying upon your resources, energy, and intelligence for official professional aid in this matter,

I am, respectfully, your obedient servant,

HARVEY BROWN, Colonel, Commanding.

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HEADQUARTERS STEAMSHIP ATLANTIC, Off Key West, April 12, 1861.

Lieut. Col. E. D. KEYES, Secretary to General-in-Chief, Washington, D. C.:

COLONEL: In obedience to the special instructions of the General-in-Chief, I proceeded to New York on the 2d, and arrived there on the morning of the 3d instant, and was engaged until Saturday, the 6th, in preparing for this expedition. On the afternoon of that day Barry’s battery (Company A, Second Artillery), Hunt’s company (M, Second Artillery), Duane’s company of Sappers and Miners, and Companies C and E (Johns’ and Clitz’s), Third Infantry, and twenty Engineer carpenters were embarked on board the steamship Atlantic, Captain Gray. We hauled out in the stream at dark, but continued to take in cargo through the night, and on Sunday morning at 3 1/2 weighed anchor and went to sea. On Tuesday and Wednesday we had a heavy gale, dead ahead, the horses of the battery suffering very much from the heavy sea, the wet, and the cold, and were preserved only by the substantial excellence {p.373} of our ship and the vigilant care of the officers. Only two died during the gale, and the rest are doing well. My command are all healthy and in good spirits.

I have directed Lieutenant Balch, ordnance officer, to make on the proper offices requisitions for various articles which were not to be procured at our departure. I respectfully urge that they be sent immediately.

I ordered the purchase of two 6-pounder rifted guns, which are said to be at Fort Columbus, and that a 42-pounder rifled gun, also at that post, be sent, with all the necessary implements and projectiles, by the first vessel. I have also directed Lieutenant Balch to make a special estimate of guns for Fort Jefferson, which may be of vital importance, and which should be furnished without delay.

I would respectfully and earnestly urge that six 42-pounder rifled guns, with implements complete, and one thousand rounds of ammunition to each gun, as specified in the requisition of Lieutenant Balch, be immediately prepared and sent by steamer to Fort Pickens. Their value will be inestimable. With them we shall be able to act, if need be, with great efficiency against Fort McRee, Barrancas, and the navy-yard, and place our opponents from an offensive to a defensive position. I earnestly solicit the approbation of the General-in-Chief on this subject, and that the guns may be prepared and sent by steam without a moment’s delay. James’ apparatus for rifling guns is at Fort Columbus, and the guns, if diligence be exercised, may be prepared for shipment in a week.

We go into Key West for two or three hours on important duty enjoined by the General-in-Chief, and from thence to Fort Jefferson for some indispensable articles, where we shall be delayed only a short time, and shall then proceed to our destination.

I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

HARVEY BROWN, Colonel, Commanding.

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HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF FLORIDA, Key West, April 13, 1861.

Lieut. Col. E. D. KEYES, Secretary to the General-in-Chief, Washington, D. C.

COLONEL: We arrived at this place this afternoon. Captain Meigs and I have had an interview with Judge Marvin which has been entirely satisfactory. He, though anxious to leave the place, will remain, having now the assurance of support from the military authority. I have found great industry, intelligence, and enterprise in putting forward the works at the fort, and consider it quite secure against any force that can at this time be brought against it. Brevet Major French, the commanding officer, has been untiring in his labors, assisted ably by Captain Hunt, of the Engineers, and the officers of the garrison. He and all his officers are, I am happy to say, entirely devoted to the Union and the country, under any and all contingencies. I have issued General Orders in relation to the posts, copies of which will be forwarded by the first opportunity. Finding here some 10-inch mortars, I have taken three of them with the necessary ammunition, and also, there being here two 6-pounder field batteries, I have directed one of them to be put on board the Atlantic.

{p.374}

We sail this evening for Fort Jefferson, where we go to get a flat, some boats, and other indispensable articles.

I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

HARVEY BROWN, Colonel, Commanding.

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GENERAL ORDERS, No. 1.

HDQRS. DEPARTMENT OF FLORIDA, Key West, April 13, 1861.

In obedience to the instructions of the General-in-Chief, approved by the President of the United States, creating the Department of Florida, and assigning it to the undersigned, he hereby assumes the command of the same.

The department comprises the State of Florida and the contiguous islands in the Gulf.

The headquarters of the department will hereafter be announced. The following named officers compose the staff of the department, and will be obeyed and respected accordingly:

Bvt. Capt. G. L. Hartsuff, assistant adjutant-general.

Capt. R. Ingalls, assistant quartermaster.

Capt. H. F. Clarke, assistant commissary of subsistence.

Dr. John Campbell, assistant surgeon.

Capt. M. C. Meigs, chief engineer.

First Lieut. G. T. Balch, ordnance officer.

HARVEY BROWN, Brevet Colonel, Commanding.

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U. S. STEAMER CRUSADER, Off Key West, April 13, 1861.

Hon. WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State, Washington :

DEAR SIR: We arrived here and anchored some three miles below the fort to prevent communication. Going to the fort in a boat Colonel Brown sent notes to Judge Marvin; to Colonel Patterson, the newly appointed Navy agent; to Mr. Howe, the new collector; and to Mr. Tiler, the late Navy agent. Mr. Clapp, whose commission as marshal we brought with us, we found at the fort. To these gentlemen the general policy of the Government in regard to the fort and island of Key West was explained, and the assurance of support from their Government was received with great satisfaction. I found that Colonel Patterson has lately made himself quite conspicuous by his Union sentiments and their open avowal. The best feeling prevails between the gentlemen now appointed and the officers of the garrison and I have no doubt that all will work harmoniously together.

The anxiety to which Judge Marvin has been subjected has preyed upon his spirits and he looks depressed, but he is ready to do his duty and stand to his post, at least until the Government is ready to relieve him. His presence for a time, and his influence are, I think, of much importance in eradicating the treasonable spirit which has lately had full and free sway here. He will be able as now supported, I think, to accomplish it without recourse to any harsh measures.

The officers here assure us that the reports spread through the newspapers of the demoralization of our troops in Texas are untrue. The troops are well disciplined, loyal, and ready to serve their country. At {p.375} one time, when the administration then in power seemed to be allowing things to take their own course, and the Government seemed to be falling to pieces, the officers and men might have been inclined to look around for some refuge, but the first act of vigor satisfied them that they yet have a Government, and to it they will be true.

We yet have some 10-inch mortars which will be of use; some artillery for the land fronts, and a few other things which were needed to increase our strength.

The Brooklyn is supposed to have reached Pensacola about the 1st or 2d, and there is little doubt that as she carried the orders to the troops to land, they landed immediately upon her arrival.

Captain Craven, U. S. Navy, of the Crusader, informs me that Captain Adams had told off marines and sailors enough, in addition to Captain Vogdes’ company, to make the landing party five hundred strong; so that apparently it will be left for us only to strengthen the garrison, supply it with ammunition, artillery, and stores, and to put it in position to stand a long siege. This occupation of this strong-hold, within one hundred miles of Montgomery, must have a great effect upon the rebellion.

As an instance of the spirit of the soldiers, Captain Brannan was directed to detail seven of his men to fill vacancies in the command on the Atlantic, and telling them that he wanted seven men for the purpose, and that, as they were to go where there would certainly be fighting, he would prefer volunteers, the whole company stepped forward.

The administration will find I trust elsewhere that as here Union men enough will appear as soon as supported and protected by their Government they can speak with safety and effect.

I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

M. C. MEIGS, Captain of Engineers.

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HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF FLORIDA, April 13, 1861.

Bvt. Maj. W. H. FRENCH, Commanding Fort Taylor, Key West:

SIR: You will use the forces of your command, if need be, for the protection of the officers and citizens of the United States on this island in the discharge of their public duties, and the pursuit of their legitimate private occupations. You will not permit on the island any person to exercise any office or authority inconsistent with the laws and Constitution of the United States, and will, if necessary, prevent any such exercise by force of arms. If unhappily rebellion or insurrection should actually exist at any time, you will then publish a proclamation, with which you will be furnished, suspending the writ of habeas corpus, and will immediately remove from the island all dangerous or suspected persons. You will before publishing this proclamation take the advice of the United States judge and attorney on its necessity and expediency (its legality has been determined by higher authority), and receive with deference their opinion, giving them that consideration and weight to which their patriotism and legal knowledge entitle them. In exercising the authority here vested in you the greatest conciliation and forbearance must be observed, that while the duty be rigidly performed it may always be done in a spirit of conciliation and kindness.

I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

HARVEY BROWN, Colonel, Commanding.

{p.376}

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U. S. FRIGATE SABINE, Off Pensacola, April 14, 1861.

Hon. GIDEON WELLES, Secretary of the Navy, Washington:

SIR: I have the honor to inform you that immediately on the receipt of your order by Lieutenant Worden, on the 12th instant, I prepared to re-enforce Fort Pickens. It was successfully performed, on the same night, by landing the troops under Captain Vogdes, and the marines of the squadron under Lieutenant [John C.] Cash. No opposition was made, nor do I believe the movement was known on shore until it was accomplished.

A strong party of officers and seamen were sent to assist in case of resistance, who afterwards returned to their ships. The marines remained in the fort, at the request of Captain Vogdes, a copy of which I inclose.* the whole expedition was under the charge of Commander Charles H. Poor, assisted by Lieutenant [Albert N.] Smith, of the Brooklyn, Lieutenants [R. F. R.] Lewis and [L. H.] Newman, of the Sabine, and Lieutenant [G. E.] Belknap, of the St. Louis; and it is highly creditable to these officers that this service was performed without accident or disorder under unfavorable circumstances. The Brooklyn, Captain [W. S.] Walker, and the Wyandotte, Lieutenant Commanding [J. R. M.] Mullany, were very skillfully managed. They carried the landing party to the designated spot with accuracy in spite of the darkness of the night, and not having the light-house to guide them, the light having been extinguished early in the evening.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

H. A. ADAMS, Captain, Senior Officer Present.

* Not found.

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HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF FLORIDA, Transport Steamship Atlantic, April 15, 1861.

Lieut. Col. E. D. KEYES, Secretary to the General-in-Chief, Washington, D. C.:

COLONEL: I wrote you at Key West, reporting our arrival there, and took from Fort Taylor some guns and stores necessary for our expedition, and detached from the companies of the fort and barracks thirty-three men to fill up in part the companies of the command to their maximum organization, intending to take the balance from Fort Jefferson. These men are required to fill vacancies caused by desertion or other absence at New York.

We left Key West at daybreak yesterday morning (the 14th), and arrived at Fort Jefferson at 1 p.m. I found this post in the good order to be expected from its vigilant commander. The present armament of the fort is thirteen 8-inch columbiads and a field battery, and 104 barrels gunpowder, 608 shells, 150 shot, and a vessel now at the Wharf is unloading thirty 8-inch columbiads and twenty-four 24-pounder howitzers, with carriages, implements, &c., complete, with 250 barrels of powder, 2,400 8-inch shells, 600 round shot, and a proportioned quantity of fixed ammunition, so that this post may be considered secure from any force that the seceding States can bring against it. The whole lower tier of this work may with little labor be prepared for its armament. Some flagging and the traverse circles are the principal work to be done. On the recommendation of Captain Meigs, chief engineer, {p.377} I have directed Major Arnold to have four water batteries, mounting three guns each, to be erected on the adjacent keys. This being done, with-the support of one or two ships of war, the whole anchorage will be within command of our guns.

I would respectfully recommend that at Fort Jefferson for the 42-pounders ordered 8-inch unchambered columbiads be substituted, and that the wooden carriages of all three forts be replaced at the earliest possible day by iron ones. I took from Fort Jefferson twenty negro laborers for the Engineer Department, thirty-one privates to fill up the companies, so that they are now full, a field battery and four mountain howitzers, with implements, and ammunition, some bricks, and a large flat. We got under way, at 8 o’clock p.m., and very soon lost the flat. Her lashing-rigs and hooks, not being sufficiently strong, drew out and left her adrift. Lieutenants McFarland and Reese, of the Engineers, on the advice of the chief engineer, have been attached to this command.

I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

HARVEY BROWN, Colonel, Commanding.

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HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF FLORIDA, Transport Steamship Atlantic, April 15, 1861.

Bvt. Maj. L. G. ARNOLD, Commanding Fort Jefferson, Fla.:

MAJOR: My short stay at your post and the hurry of business prevented my conversing with I on so freely as I could have wished on the defense of the fort. The importance of Fort Jefferson can hardly be overestimated, nor can I too strongly impress on you the importance of the constant exercise of every precaution and of the most unceasing vigilance against surprise. Your post may not improperly be considered the Gibraltar of America, and you should guard it with the same jealous vigilance you would if we were at war with a strong maritime power. No vessel, Government or merchant, should be allowed to approach without being boarded, and, if necessary, required to heave to for the purpose. Your guns should habitually be kept loaded and ready at a moment’s notice to be fired; a sufficiency of ammunition always prepared for immediate service, and the officers and men assigned to their positions, so that by day or night each can at a moment’s notice be at his post. Your drawbridge should always be raised at night, the embrasures closed and fastened, and the guards by day and night required to the observance of the greatest possible vigilance. The troops must be impressed with the necessity of almost constant fatigue in mounting guns, erecting batteries, laying platforms, &c., and other necessary work, and encouraged to a cheerful compliance with the exigencies of the service.

I am aware, major, of your zeal and ability, and of the excellent discipline that has characterized your command, and I doubt not that you will have anticipated these suggestions. If so, no harm is done, and I wish, if any here made may have escaped you, that you will without delay give them your attention.

I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

HARVEY BROWN, Colonel, Commanding.

{p.378}

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FORT PICKENS, FLA., April 16, 1861.

To the ASSISTANT ADJUTANT-GENERAL, Department of the East:

SIR: I have the honor to report that on the 14th instant it was reported to me that a small boat bad landed at the wharf with a flag of truce, and that the bearer solicited an interview with the commanding officer of the post. I requested Lieutenant Slemmer, of the First Artillery, to accompany me, and repaired to the wharf. On my arrival the gentleman bearing the flag informed me that he was the bearer of a message from General Bragg, and that he was his adjutant-general. He then inquired whether I was the commanding officer of the fort. I replied that I was. He then stated that he was directed by General Bragg to inquire why the armistice in respect to re-enforcing Fort Pickens had been violated by throwing re-enforcements into it. I replied that I had never been a party to any armistice; that I had been sent by the General Government to take command of the post, and had entered under the orders of the General Government. He then addressed himself to Lieutenant Slemmer, and stated that he was directed to inquire of the former commanding officer why the armistice had been violated, to which Lieutenant Slemmer replied that he always obeyed the orders of his superiors. This ended our official interview. After exchanging the usual civilities customary among gentlemen previously acquainted, we parted, and Colonel Wood left the post. I would mention that Lieutenant Ingraham, formerly of the Marine Corps, was present during the interview as a witness on the part of Colonel Wood, and that Lieutenant Slemmer, at my request, performed the same duty on my part.

I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

I. VOGDES, Captain, First Artillery, Commanding Fort Pickens.

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HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF FLORIDA, Fort Pickens, April 18, 1861.

Lieut. Col. E. D. KEYES, Secretary to the General-in-Chief, Washington, D. C.:

COLONEL: We arrived off this place on the evening of the 17th instant, having encountered a heavy norther on the passage from Tortugas. I immediately sought and obtained an interview with Captain Adams, commanding the naval forces here, who promised me every assistance in his power, and boats to laud my command. I decided to land with a part of my force without delay,, and while preparing to land, signal rockets from Fort Pickens, indicating an expected attack, hastened our departure. I got in the fort at 2 o’clock yesterday morning with the Sappers and Miners and a part of Clitz’s company. Our arrival probably prevented the contemplated attack. I found in the fort, besides the two companies of artillery, a detachment of one hundred marines and sailors. The greater portion of them I have sent back to the ships. In the course of yesterday and to-day all the troops and horses have landed, and a very small portion of stores, the landing of which in the surf is a slow operation.

In going over the fort and examining its condition, the miserable state of its armament, the small supply of ammunition and stores, I am almost discouraged at the task before me. The mounted guns are few in number-two 10-inch shell guns, four 8-inch howitzers, seventeen 32-pounders, {p.379} and seven 18 and eleven 12 pounders. The guns are generally indifferent, and the carriages old and not to be depended on.

I have not been able to ascertain the exact force of the secessionists, but so far as I can learn their force is nearly 7,000 men. Their forts are fully armed, Fort McRee having, it is said, one hundred heavy guns. Fort Barrancas’ guns are not so heavy, and they have, besides, several heavy batteries, so that every face but one of this fort is taken in reverse, and if they take possession of Santa Rosa, which with my force I cannot prevent, they can erect batteries so as to enfilade every face.

I cannot too strongly urge the importance of the heavy rifled guns, with their carriages, for which 11 have estimates, sent without a moment’s delay, though how we are to get them ashore in the face of an enemy I cannot now say.

I am now impressed with my inability to return, even moderately, a fire for any considerable time, and the entrance of the Powhatan will certainly cause a collision for which I am unprepared. I have urged Captain Meigs to defer his entrance until we are better prepared. A collision at this moment would embarrass me exceedingly in unloading the ship and getting my supplies ashore, and we are so short of all necessaries that they are of the first importance. In the face of the heavy batteries she will have to encounter, I very much doubt the possibility of the Powhatan getting in by daylight, though I may be mistaken. The odds against her are fearful.

I thought it advisable to inform the secession general of the position in which I stand, so I sent to him a flag of truce with the letter marked A, to which he returned no answer, only remarking to the bearer, Captain Vogdes, that in re-enforcing this fort I had broken the truce.

It is reported to me that until the day Captain Vogdes entered the fort communication by mail was allowed, they inspecting the letters, and forwarding such as they pleased and retaining the others; but since then no letters are forwarded either to or from this post. The post-office should be transferred to this place, and an officer appointed postmaster.

I have my whole force employed in mounting guns, making roads, preparing quarters, and unloading the steamer. Many traverses are indispensably necessary for the protection of the men and guns in case of a bombardment, and I have not been able for want of tools and sand bags even to commence them. In two days I think I shall be able to make a respectable defense against the combined force of the forts and batteries, and to inflict more injury than I shall receive.

I found affairs in Key West tending to so favorable an issue that a part of the forces-there may be spared. I have, therefore, ordered two companies of infantry to proceed in the Crusader, which Captain Adams has kindly authorized me to use, to this post. When they arrive and those in the Illinois, I shall be so strong as to defy the taking of this fort by assault, whatever maybe the force brought against it. I think these companies should be replaced by two others if they can be spared.

I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

HARVEY BROWN Colonel, Commanding.

{p.380}

[Inclosure A.]

HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF FLORIDA, Fort Pickens, Fla., April 17, 1861.

Brig. Gen. BRAXTON BRAGG, Commanding Troops of Confederate States near Pensacola, Fla.:

SIR: I have the honor to inform you that I have arrived at this post, and that I shall, unless assailed, act only on the defensive, and make only such disposition of my forces as is necessary to protect them from any enemy, foreign or domestic. I have also to inform you that no movement of, the troops of my command or of United States vessels in this vicinity will have any other than a defensive object, unless we shall unhappily be compelled to act offensively, repelling aggression against the flag, persons, or property of our country.

I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

HARVEY BROWN, Colonel, Commanding.

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GENERAL ORDERS No. 3.

HDQRS. DEP’T OF FLORIDA, Fort Pickens, April 18, 1861.

Extract.

Fort Pickens is hereby announced as the headquarters of the Department of Florida:

...

By order of Colonel Brown:

GEO. L. HARTSUFF, Assistant Adjutant-General.

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HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF FLORIDA, Fort Pickens, April 19, 1861.

Lieut. Col. E. D. KEYES, Secretary to the General-in-Chief, Washington, D. C.:

COLONEL: I respectfully report for the consideration, and I hope for the approval, of the General-in-Chief the reasons inducing me to urge on Captain Meigs and Lieutenant Porter a delay in forcing an entrance into the harbor of Pensacola. Aware of the desire of the Government that a ship should be placed there, and knowing that I was opposing the wishes of Captain Meigs, nothing but a profound sense of its necessity would have, induced interference on my part; but, believing if the actual state of this post at this time were known that no such instructions would have been given, I did not hesitate to express my views and wishes in the case.

As I have already reported to you, I found this post in the worst possible condition for hostilities-the batteries out of order; some of the largest and most important guns dismounted; the necessary traverses and other protections for the troops unprepared; the garrison deficient; the subsistence nearly exhausted; the ammunition (except powder) not sufficient in important articles for one day’s service; a total want of Engineer, Quartermaster, and Ordnance tools and implements, and the fort in a complete state of confusion, all requiring the labor of every man in it; the steamer Atlantic lying here with large supplies of indispensable stores, which can only-without extreme inconvenience, involving {p.381} great time and labor-be landed within range of the guns of Fort McRee, and the vital importance of getting these stores ashore, rendered, in my judgment, delay in encountering hostilities of the utmost importance, and any act of ours provoking, or I may say assuredly and certainly causing it, to be premature and unwise.

Time with us is everything, and I can see but little injury accrue from delay. I cannot and will not see the flag of my country fired on without returning the fire, and I am desirous not to be plated in this category until I am able efficiently to defend myself and assail the enemy, which now I cannot do.

I desire that my remarks on the condition of the fort may not be considered as reflecting in the slightest degree on my predecessors in command. To Lieutenants Slemmer and Gilman too much praise cannot be awarded for their energy, zeal, and perseverance in keeping this post a truly forlorn hope-and I trust they will receive the reward their gallantry merits. To Brevet Major Tower, of the Engineers, and Lieutenant Whittemore very great praise is due for associating themselves voluntarily with Slemmer in the day of his darkest hour, and for their efficiency in assisting the defense. Captain Vogdes had been in command but a few days and had done everything during that time that his means permitted.

I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

HARVEY BROWN, Colonel, Commanding.

[Inclosures.]

U. S. TROOP-SHIP ATLANTIC, OFF SANTA ROSA, April 18, 1861-1 a.m.

Col. H. BROWN, Commanding Expedition:

DEAR SIR: It is so quiet to-night that I think it quite important to make use of the opportunity to land all the men possible, and as I find that the boats carry more than we expected, and one-half of Mr. Hildt’s company is already on shore, I have ventured to use some discretion and land the rest of his company with Major Hunt’s. This leaves only the battery to be landed to-morrow with their horses. We will request the fleet to cover the landing of the horses and battery, and you tan send a company of infantry to their assistance should it appear that it is best to place them east of the fort. This can only be determined after a reconnaissance of the island.

Respectfully, your obedient servant,

M. C. MEIGS, Captain, U. S. Engineers.

U. S. TROOP-SHIP ATLANTIC, April 18, 1861.

Col. HARVEY BROWN, Commanding Department of Florida:

DEAR SIR: I advise you to call upon Captain Adams to send a sailing ship to Key West to order up the Crusader with two companies of infantry and such stores as they can spare. The Wyandotte from long service, without time for repairs, is liable to break-down at any moment, and the Crusader will be very useful in her place. The zeal and energy of her commander in this cause, too, will tend much to your advantage. The three companies left at Fort Taylor will be able to hold that place against all opposers. When relieved the Wyandotte might go to Key West to report, but at present, at any risk, she must be kept here. Let the carpenters make wagon-bodies as soon as possible. We will, by the {p.382} Wyandotte, send boats to the nearest lauding-place. Captain Barry says his horses are strong enough to be used.

Respectfully, your obedient servant,

M. C. MEIGS, Captain of Engineers.

P. S.–I will bring mattresses for the carpenters from the boat. They should be encamped and kept in good humor. They are more valuable than soldiers just now.

U. S. STEAMSHIP POWHATAN, OFF PENSACOLA, April 18, 1861.

Col. H. BROWN, U. S. Army, Commanding Fort Pickens, Florida:

DEAR SIR: In looking carefully over the orders of the President in relation to my entering the harbor, I find them so imperative that they leave no margin for any contingency that may arise. Your letter to Captain Meigs, of the 13th, requesting me not to go in and draw the fire on you before you had time to prepare, is quite sufficient to satisfy me that any such course on my part would be very indiscreet, but, to satisfy the authorities in Washington, I would be obliged to you if you would address me a little more fully on the subject, and state as near as you can your actual condition, and the time required to make up deficiencies. If you think that in two days’ time you will be ready for me to make the attempt, please notify me, for after that time I shall have to run the gauntlet by moonlight, which would no doubt be a good time for an exhibition, but darkness would suit better for a piece of strategy. I know that I am here to give you aid and comfort, and keep any of the enemy from crossing over in boats on the inside, but while I will do all I can in the way of aid, I cannot do much in cutting off boats where I now am. Will you please make such suggestions as your good sense will dictate, and I will endeavor to follow them as near as I can.

I remain, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

DAVID D. PORTER, U. S. Navy.

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FORT PICKENS, FLA., April 19, 1861.

Col. L. THOMAS, Adjutant-General U. S. Army:

SIR: I would respectfully recommend that a mail may be made up in the quartermaster’s office in New York for this place, and be sent from thence by way of Havana. Also, I would suggest the propriety of transferring the post-office at Warrington to this place. That post-office was intended principally to supply the wants of the Army and Navy, and those employed by the War and Navy Departments. The post-office is now in the hands of the seceders, and all communications pass through their hands. General Bragg has issued an order that all mail matter for the fleet and Army should be sent to the commander (seceder) at the Pensacola navy-yard, and letters from the fleet or Army should pass in the same way. It certainly was not intended that the facilities of the mail should be provided for the enemies of the country, or that the officers of the service should be subjected to the mortification of submitting to receive their letters in this humiliating way.

I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

HARVEY BROWN, Major, Second Artillery, Brevet Colonel, Commanding.

{p.383}

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ENGINEER DEPARTMENT, Washington, April 19, 1861.

Hon. SIMON CAMERON, Secretary of War:

SIR: I inclose the copy of a letter from Captain Hunt, dated Key West, April 11, which you may think advisable to lay before the Secretary of the Navy. I may be permitted to add that the danger is a real one that Captain Hunt specifies, namely, the landing of a considerable body of hostile troops on the shore of that island, out of reach of the guns of Fort Taylor. This the fort and its garrison can in no degree prevent. If landed with heavy artillery this force may reduce the fort* by siege, because as yet that part of the structure that is to cover its walls from land batteries has not been built, nor can it be erected so as to fulfill its object for a year or more.

In the mean time complete security may be assured by small, quick-armed steamers stationed at Key West and cruising in its vicinity, provided other demands of the public service will permit the Navy Department to supply such protection.

I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

JOS. G. TOTTEN, Brevet Brigadier-General.

[Inclosure.]

FORT TAYLOR, KEY WEST., FLA., April 11, 1861.

General J. G. TOTTEN, Chief Engineer, Washington, D. C.:

SIR: It will probably be known ere this time if there is reason to anticipate any active demonstration by the C. S. Army to secure possession of this work. With the probability of such an occurrence will come the duty of defeating or preventing it by anticipatory measures. It is not for me to speculate on this probability, but if it does exist it cannot be amiss for me to ask attention to the defensive problem which would then arise. I shall do this, although perfectly aware of your acquaintance with the case, and strongly hoping that a peaceful possession by the United States of this line of keys may be assured. Supererogation can be no crime in this instance.

If there is any likelihood now of a large demonstration to take this place, measures should at once be taken to prevent the landing of forces and munitions on the part of the key beyond the range of Fort Taylor guns. This lauding can be made without difficulty unless something more is done, and thus regular siege can be laid to the fort. This ought to be prevented, as it can most readily by maintaining an excess of naval force. The only good landing places not commanded by our guns are along the east portion of the south beach. You will see the landing even of a siege train there would be quite practicable if left undisturbed. But if two or three naval vessels, steamers being best, of course, are stationed along the south beach at points near the shore, say one-half mile, there is enough water, and they could cover all this line by their fires, and could also watch for any rendezvous of an attacking force in the vicinity. The same result-can be attained by establishing two or three batteries along that shore and having the forces stationed here increased by several hundred men. The landing of men in boats would be quite practicable with such rapidity as to speedily outnumber the permanent garrison of the key, and, indeed, I see nothing to hinder putting several thousand ashore almost before the landing is suspected. This, however, would be made an entirely fruitless operation if our naval strength and {p.384} distribution were such as to make the landing of stores and munitions impracticable, and the capture of the transport fleet certain. Along the north side the water is quite shoal, and a landing of men or stores could only be made by boats or scows of light draught, and, indeed, on the south beach scows would be the lauding agency for stores.

You will at once see that if we are kept restrained by a superior field force suddenly landed, the debarkation could go on if no naval interference interrupts it. Open batteries could hardly be held against the assault of superior numbers, and might be turned by landing on the north side through Boca Chica or more eastern channels.

Thus, unless we have a force superior to any likely to be landed, open batteries would be rather unsafe reliances. By using abatis, &c., some power of resistance could be given to such defensive batteries, and they might be useful adjuncts. But the best and safest reliance is in a naval cordon and reef cruisers to cut up any expedition by the roots, and forbid it any foothold on this island. Our Navy, being at once available, could crush out any demonstration and annihilate the fleet of transports on which reliance would be placed as the base of operations. The combination of a larger land artillery force with naval strength would be the same basis of defense, and this would afford the needed watch and give a chance of forming a line across the key cast of the salt-house. I might discuss the strategy of the case much more, but it can hardly be needful. I should mention that the necessity of using steamers for dispatch boats in case of siege should be duly considered. Without this resource we might be for a long time shut up without information being conveyed. Whether the Havana and New York boats could be relied on then is to be doubted. On the whole, the main question is this: Are we in any danger of siege I If so, landing should be made impracticable or useless by such a concentration of force here as to control the east cud of the key or to cut off all chance of landing a siege train and supplies. The attempt to use light-draught steamers to operate out of reach of naval vessels on the north side is to be considered and duly obviated.

I have been obliged to write this in haste. I do not suppose you will need to be reminded of the points considered, but it is better that I should omit nothing which might be thought my duty, should these considerations chance not to have been entertained.

Mr. Mallory wrote here, I have been told, by a recent mail, that when the C. S. Army were ready, an attempt to take these works would be made, but I do not believe this would be tried were our assured strength such as to contest the debarkation.

I am glad to say that from what I have heard to-day the secessionists here have essentially given in and are beginning to see the error of their ways. Judge Marvin has at last been induced, I believe, to hold on to his place, and I trust that all conflict of jurisdictions will now be avoided. It is surmised that judge McIntosh may conclude not to come here at all.

Very respectfully, yours, &c.,

E. B. HUNT, Captain of Engineers.

P. S.–Judge Marvin feels sure be will be here by the next boat, April. 21. I suppose the shadow of destiny begins to show too clearly for further doubt. I think a turning point is passed, and “submission” to their former peace and quiet will, I hope, replace the rule of bad passions.

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The main question is to be decided by the United States once for all, and I do not doubt that this decision is already made.

P. S.–The yellow fever is to be considered in sending men here, acclimation being very important. Crowding a large force on the key will endanger its appearance in a destructive type, and if acclimated crews and troops can be sent this would be a great safeguard.

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U. S. SHIP ATLANTIC, April 19, 1861-3.20 p.m.

Col. HARVEY BROWN, Commanding:

MY DEAR COLONEL: I have received your letter, and thank-you for the very kind terms in which you express your difference in opinion with me. Believing that it was wrong to interrupt the disembarkation of stores by any movement of this ship while this most favorable weather lasted; yielding in all naval matters to the experienced opinion of Captains Porter and Gray; knowing that the Powhatan has her steam down and her steam chimney under repairs, and that she cannot, therefore, move to protect us in any new position; informed that the best landing yet discovered is that at which we, lay (Harris already in this quiet sea to-day stove the only boat sent towards Fort Pickens, and drenched in salt water the officers’ baggage), I concluded not to attempt to move the ship until, the work of the day being over, we could do so without delay to the unloading of stores.

Received your note as I was about entering a boat to examine the beach with Captain Porter and determine what place will do for her new berth. I am sure that were you on board and had so seen the destruction caused by the surf last evening you would agree with us and would think we bad done our best. Your orders are commands to which I shall always while with you implicitly conform when they are given without leaving me discretion, and I have ordered Captain Gray to put up steam and move down the coast. We can get about two miles nearer, no more, and then we will be within fire and I think much troubled by the outer sand-bar parallel to the coast.

As for the other matter, the entrance of Captain Porter into the harbor at this time, I agree with you in opinion. It was only by exhibiting your letter to him and indorsing most thoroughly my agreement with it, and giving him a copy of the General Orders just published to all officers to co-operate as you desired, that I stopped this gallant officer, bent on a desperate deed of self-sacrifice and devotion to his country. He will await your orders, as I shall, in all obedience and fealty.

Most truly, your friend and aid,

M. C. MEIGS.

Please say to Major Tower that his wishes are being executed, and the sand bags I doubt not will be sent at the earliest opportunity; that Gillmore was left with Keyes.

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U. S. TROOP-SHIP ATLANTIC, Off Santa Rosa, April 20, 1861.

Col. H. BROWN, Commanding Department of Florida:

DEAR COLONEL: If my estimate is correct you have now about 690 me