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 Washington, 
 
 March 2, 1844. 
 
 Official arrangements for the funeral solemnities and interment of the 
 late Secretary of State, Abel P. Upshur ; the late Secretary of the 
 Navy, Thomas W. Gilmer; the late Captain Beverly Kenxox, U. 
 S. Navy, Chief of Bureau ; the late Virgil Maxcy, of Maryland, late 
 Charge d'Affaires to Belgium; and of the late Hon. David Gardiner 
 of New York. — 
 
 To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States. 
 
 I have to perform the melancholy duty of announcing to the two 
 Houses' of Congress the death of the Hon. Abel P. Upshur, late Secre- 
 tary of State, and the Hon. Thomas W. Gilmer, late Secretary of the 
 Navy. 
 
 This most lamentable occurrence transpired on board the United States 
 ship-of-war, the Princeton, on yesterday, at about half after four o'clock 
 in the evening, and proceeded from the explosion of one of the large guns 
 of that ship. 
 
 The loss which the Government and the country have sustained by 
 this deplorable event, is heightened by the death, at the same time, and 
 by the same cause, of several distinguished persons and valuable citizens. 
 
 I shall be permitted to express my great grief at an occurrence which 
 has thus so suddenly stricken from my side two gentlemen, upon whose 
 advice I so confidently relied in the discharge of my arduous task of ad- 
 ministering the office of the Executive Department, and whose services 
 at this interesting period were of such vast importance. 
 
 In some relief of the public sorrow which must necessarily accompany 
 this most painful event, it affords me much satisfaction to say that it was 
 produced by no carelessness or inattention on the part of the officers and 
 crew of the Princeton ; but must be set down as one of those casualties 
 which, to a greater or less degree, attend upon every service, and which' 
 are invariably incident to the temporal affairs of mankind. I will also 
 add, that it in no measure detracts, in my estimation, from the value of' 
 the improvements contemplated in the construction of the Princeton, or 
 jfrom the, merits of her brave and distinguished commander and projector. 
 
 JOHN TYLER. 
 
 i Washington^ Feb. 29th, 1844. 
 
 
E-3 
 
 Mr. Rites rose and addressed the Senate as follows : 
 Mr. President : The general feeling of the Senate has, I am sure, 
 already anticipated me in what I have risen to suggest. The awful ca- 
 lamity communicated to us in the message of the President just read, and 
 which has made of yesterday, with all its unearthly brightness, one of the 
 darkest and most inauspicious days in our national calendar, is but too 
 well known to the Senate, in all its dreadful details and heart-rending re- 
 sults. Surely, Mr. President, never, in the mysterious ordinances of God, 
 has a day on earth been marked in its progress by such startling and as- 
 tounding contrasts — opening and advancing with hilarity and joy, mutual 
 congratulation and patriotic pride, and closing in scenes of death and dis- 
 aster, of lamentation and unutterable woe. It was my sad fortune, 
 Mr. President, to be an eye-witness of these never-to-be-forgotten events. 
 If I had language to describe them, the power of speech would fail me. 
 
 I have risen, in the midst of the universal sadness and dejection of 
 heart which prevail around me, and under the overpowering weight of my 
 own feelings, to suggest the propriety of suspending our ordinary labors 
 and pursuits, in the presence and under the chastisement of this awful 
 visitation of Providence. It has fallen to the lot of my own State to be 
 the chief mourner on this melancholy occasion. Two of her distinguish- 
 ed citizens, filling high places in the civil government of the country, 
 have been cut down in the midst of their days and their usefulness ; and 
 another of her sons — a gallant officer of the Navy — has been destined to 
 all, by disastrous accident, on a deck which, under other circumstances, 
 he might have illustrated by his valor. 
 
 But, in so overwhelming a calamity, which stands almost without a 
 parallel in the records of human misfortune, all bear their equal and sympa- 
 thizing share. Surrounded, as we are, on every hand, by the desolate 
 wailing of the widow, and the helpless cry of the orphan, none of us can 
 be in a state of mind to discharge, with intelligence and composure, the 
 duties which belong to us here. 
 
 Let us, then, Mr. President, bowing in all humility of spirit beneath 
 this stroke of an All-wise and Mysterious Providence, discard from our 
 minds, for a season, the cares and excitements of our daily duties in this 
 hall.. Let us lay to heart the monitory lesson so impressively read, to us 
 in the events of yesterday, that " In the midst of life we are in death." 
 With this lesson engraven upon our hearts, let us keep constantly in 
 
view the eternal, as well as temporal, responsibilities under which all the 
 duties of both public and private life are to be performed. Let the deep 
 sense of common calamity and mutual affliction unite us more closely by 
 the ties of brotherhood and affection. Let us "put away from us all 
 bitterness and wrath and evil-speaking ;" and when we come together 
 again, under these chastening influences, we shall all feel, I trust, how 
 much better patriots we are, for being better Christians. 
 Mr. R. concluded by submitting the following resolutions : 
 
 Resolve,!, That the Senate is impressed with a profound sense of the awful calamity 
 which yesterday occurred on board of the Steamer Princeton, by the explosion of a gun, 
 involving the lo* of many valuable lives, and among them of the Secretary of State and 
 
 Secretary of the Navy. 
 
 Resolved, That the Senate will attend, in a body, the obsequies of the deceased mem- 
 bers of the Cab.net, and that a committee of five be appointed to make arrangements 
 with such committee as may be appointed on the part of the House of Representa- 
 tives, for attending the funeral. 
 
 Resolved, That, in consideration of this afflictive dispensation, the Senate do now 
 
 adjourn to Monday next. 
 Resolved, That the Senate will go into mourning by wearing crape on the left arm 
 
 %e^L?That a copy of the foregoing resolutions be transmitted to the President 
 of the United States. 
 
 The resolutions having been read, a message was received from the 
 House of Representatives, by the hands of Mr. McNulty, their Clerk, an- 
 nouncing the action of that body touching this awful calamity. The 
 message was read and concurred in. 
 
 The resolutions submitted by Mr. Rives were unanimously agreed to, 
 and 
 
 The following Senators were appointed a committee of arrangements 
 on the part of the Senate, to act in conjunction with the committee on 
 the part of the House of Representatives, viz : Mr. Rives, Mr. Archer, 
 MvKing, Mr. Woodbury, and Mr. Bayard. 
 
 The following resolutions were submitted to the House of Representa- 
 tives by Mr. Hopkins, and adopted : 
 
 Resolved, That this House has heard with deep sorrow of the dreadful catastrophe 
 which occurred yesterday on board the United States ship-of-war Princeton, when 
 many valuable lives were lost, and by which, amongst others, the Hon. Abel P. Up- 
 shur, Secretary of State, and the Hon. Thomas W. Gilmer, Secretary of the Navy, 
 met a sudden and awful death. 
 
Resolved, That this House will manifest its respect for the memory of the late dis- 
 tinguished Secretaries of State and of the Navy, and its sympathy for their bereaved 
 families, by attending their funeral in a body. 
 
 Resolved, As a further mark of respect to the deceased, and to manifest our sense 
 of this most melancholy and afflicting di>pensation of Providence, that this House will 
 transact no legislative business until after the funeral obsequies of the deceased shall 
 have been performed. 
 
 Resolved, That the members of this House will wear the usual badge of mourning 
 for thirty days. 
 
 Resolved, That a committee of five be appointed in conjunction with the committee 
 which may be appointed by the Senate, to make arrangements for the funeral. 
 
 Resolved, That this House adjourn until Monday next. 
 
 The resolutions were agreed to, and the following gentlemen were ap- 
 pointed the committee on the part of the House, viz : Mr. Hopkins, of 
 Virginia ; Mr. C. J. Ingersoll, of Pennsylvania ; Mr. Cave Johnson, of 
 Tennessee; Mr. J. Q. Adams, of Massachusetts ; and Mr. D. P. Bar- 
 nard, of New Yoik. ,. 
 
 
 GENERAL ORDERS: 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 
 February 29, 1844. 
 
 In the deepest grief the President of the United States has instructed 
 the undersigned to announce to the Army that, from the accidental ex- 
 plosion of a gun yesterday, on board the United States steam ship 
 Princeton, the country and its government lost, at the same moment, the 
 Secretary of State, the Honorable A. P. Upshur, and the Secretary of 
 the Navy, the Honorable T. W. Gilmer. 
 
 Called but a few days since to preside over the administration of the 
 War Department, it is peculiarly painful to the undersigned that his 
 first official communication to the Army, should be the announcement of 
 a calamity depriving the country of the public services of two of our most 
 accomplished statesmen and popular and deeply esteemed fellow citizens. 
 Their virtues, talents, and patriotic services will ever be retained in the 
 grateful recollection of their countrymen, and perpetuated upon the pages 
 of the history of our common country. 
 
 Deep as may be the gloom which spreads over the community, it has 
 pleased the Almighty Disposer of events to add another shade to it by 
 blending in this melancholy catastrophe the deaths of an eminent citizen, 
 Virgil Maxcy, Esq., lately Charge d' Affaires to Belgium, a gallant and 
 meritorious officer of the Navy, a chief of a Bureau, Captain B. Kennon, 
 
and a private citizen of New York, of high and estimable character, be- 
 sides others, citizens and sailors, either killed or wounded. 
 
 As appropriate honors to the memory of these distinguished Secreta- 
 ries, halt-hour guns will be fired at every military post, furnished with 
 the proper ordnance, the day after the receipt of this order, from sunrise 
 to sunset ; the national flag will be displayed at half-staff, during the same 
 time ; and all officers of the Army will wear, for three months, the cus- 
 tomary badge of mourning. 
 
 WM. WILKINS, 
 
 Secretary of War. 
 
 wr V!-*B q! w.>* *i >i-jtu m i*' jw 
 
 GENERAL ORDER. 
 
 Navy Department, Feb. 29, 1844. 
 
 As a mark of respect to the memory of the late Hon. Thomas W. 
 Gilmer, Secretary of the Navy, whose career, at his entrance upon the 
 duties of his office, which wo.ild have be«;n nobly mainted by that ability 
 and vigor, of which his whole p»evious life had been the guarantee, the 
 flags of all vessels in commission, at Navy Yaids, and Stations, are to be 
 hoisted at half-mast on the day after the receipt of this order ; minute 
 guns, to the number of seventeen, are to be fired between sunrise and sun- 
 set, and crape is to be worn on the left arm and upon the sword for the 
 space of three months. 
 
 L. WARRINGTON, 
 Secretary of the Navy, ad interim. 
 
 By COMMAND OF THE PRESIDENT. 
 
 GENERAL ORDER. 
 
 Navy Department, 
 
 February 29, 1844. 
 
 On the day after the funeral honors have been paid to the late able and 
 lamented Secretary of the Navy, minute guns, to the number of thirteen, 
 will be fired between sunrise and sunset ; mourning for the space of thirty 
 days will be worn on the left arm, and the flags of the vessels in commis- 
 sion, at the Navy Yards, and Stations, will be hoisted at half-mast, as a 
 token of respect to the memory of the late Captain Beverly Kennon, 
 
Chief of the Bureau of Construction, Equipment, and Repair, who had 
 won for himself the highest rank of the service, by the faithful and dili- 
 gent discharge of his duty, and by his acknowledged gallantry and uni- 
 formly officer-like deportment. 
 
 L. WARRINGTON, 
 
 Secretary of the Navy, ad interim. 
 By command of the President. 
 
 Washington, March 1, 1844. 
 
 In pursuance of authority vested in us by the President of the United 
 States and the Committees appointed on behalf of Congress, we have 
 determined upon the following official arrangements for the funeral so- 
 lemnities of Abkl P. Upshur, late Secretary of State ; Thomas W. 
 Gilmer, late Secretary of the Navy ; Captain Beverly Kexnon, United 
 States Navy, late Chief of the Bureau of Construction and Equipment 
 of the Navy ; Viiigtl Maxcy, of Maryland, late Charge d'Affaires of the 
 United States to Belgium; and of the Hon. David Gardiner, late of 
 New York. 
 
 W. BRADFORD SHUBRICK, RICHARD S. COXE, 
 
 WM. D. MERRICK, J. H. AULICK, 
 
 ROGER JONES, SELAH B. STRONG, 
 
 JOHN H. EATON, JOHN T. McLAUGHLIN. 
 
 ORDER OF PROCESSION. 
 
 Funeral Escort in Column oe March. 
 
 Volunteer Troops. 
 
 Batallion of United States Marines. 
 
 Squadron of Cavalry. 
 
 Troop of United States Light Artillery. 
 
 Commander of the Escort and Staff. 
 
 Dismounted Officers of Volunteers, Marine Corps, Navy and Army, in 
 
 the order named. 
 Mounted Officers of Volunteers, Marine Corps, Navy and Army, in 
 
 the order named. 
 
 Major General Walter Jones, commanding the Militia, and Staff. 
 
 Major General Scott, commanding the Army, and Staff. 
 
CIVIC PROCESSION. 
 
 The Mayors of Washington, Georgetown, and Alexandria. 
 
 Clergy and Medical Faculty of the District of Columbia and elsewhere. 
 
 Committees on the part of Congress and the Executive. 
 
 Pall-Bearers — to precede the hearse. 
 
 PALL-BEARERS. 
 
 The Hon. Mr. Archer, of Vir- 
 ginia, and the Members of 
 the Committee on Foreign 
 Relations of the Senate. 
 
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 PALL-BEARERS. 
 
 The Hon. C. J. Ingersoll of 
 Pa,, and ttie Members of 
 the Committee on Foreign 
 Affairs of the House of Re- 
 presentatives. 
 
 Family and Relatives of the late Hon. Mr. Upshur. 
 
 The Hon. Mr. Bayard, of Del- 
 aware, and Members ot the 
 Committee on Naval Af- 
 fairs of the Senate. 
 
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 The Hon. Mr. Parmenter, of 
 Mass., and Members of the 
 Committee on Naval Af- 
 fairs of the House of Re- 
 presentatives. 
 
 Family and Relatives of the late Hon. Mr. Gilker. 
 
 Capt. Smoot, U. S. N., 
 Com. Morgan, " 
 Com. Bolton, " 
 Col. Totten, U. S. A. 
 Gen. Worth, " 
 Gen. Gibson, " 
 
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 Capt. Aulick, U. S. N. 
 Com. Shubrick, " 
 Com. Crane, " 
 
 Col. Bomford, U. S. A. 
 Gen. Towson, " 
 Gen. Jesup, " 
 
 Family and Relatives of the late Captain Kexxon. 
 
 Hon. Mr. Merrick, Md. 
 Hon. Mr. Causin, Md. 
 Hon. Mr. Spence, Md. 
 G. C. Washington, Geogetown. 
 M. St. C. Clarke, Washington 
 J. W. McCullough, 
 
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 Hon. Mr. Pearce, Md. 
 Hon. Mr. Preston, Md. 
 Hon. Mr. Kennedy, Md. 
 Hon.Mr.Carter,Georgetown 
 J. H. Bradley, Washington. 
 Gen. Weightman, " 
 
 Family and Relatives of the late Hon. Mr. Maxct. 
 
PALL-BEARERS. 
 
 Hon. Mr. Wright, Ne v York, 
 Hon. Mr. Strong, « 
 
 Hon. Mr. Moseley, " 
 Hon. Mr. Fish, « 
 
 Hon. Mr. Leonard, '" 
 P. R. Fendall, Washington. 
 
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 PALL-BEARERS. 
 
 Hon. Mr. Carroll,NewYork. 
 
 Hon. Mr. Davis, 
 
 Hon. Mr. Hunt, 
 
 Hon. Mr. Barnard, 
 
 Col. Murray, 
 
 Darius Olagett, Washingt'n 
 
 
 Family and Relatives of the late Hon. Mr. Gardiner. 
 
 The President of the United States and Cabinet Ministers. 
 
 Ex-Presidents of the United States. 
 
 The President of the Senate and Secretary. 
 
 Senators and officers of the Senate. 
 
 The Speaker and Clerk of the House of Representatives. 
 
 Members and Officers of the House of Representatives. 
 
 The Chief Justice and Associate Justices and Officers of the 
 
 Supreme Court. 
 
 Foreign Ministers and Suites. 
 
 Governors of States and Territories and Members of State Legislatures. 
 
 Judges of the Circuit and Criminal Courts of the District of Columbia, 
 
 with the Members of the Bar and Officers of the several Courts. 
 
 The Judges of the several States. 
 
 The Comptrollers of the Treasury, Auditors, Treasurer, Register, 
 
 Solicitor, Commissioners of Land Office, of Pensions, Indian 
 
 Affairs, Patents, and Public Buildings. 
 
 The Clerks, &c, of the several Departments, preceeded by their 
 
 respective Chief Clerks. 
 
 And all other Civil officers of the Government. 
 
 Corporate Authorities of Washington. 
 
 Corporate Authorities of Georgetown. 
 
 Corporate Authorities of Alexandria. 
 
 Such Societies and Fraternities as may wish to join the Procession 
 
 to report to the Marshal of the District, who will assign 
 
 their respective positions. 
 
 Citizens and Strangers. 
 
 The troops designated to form the escort, will assemble in the avenue, 
 north of the President's House, and form line precisely at 10 o'clock,, 
 
9 
 
 A. M., on Saturday the Id instant, with its right (Capt. Ringgold's 
 troop of Light Artillery) resting opposite the western gate. 
 
 The procession will move precisely at 11 o'clock, A. M., when min- 
 ute guns will be fired by detachments of Artillery, stationed near St- 
 John's Church and the City Hall, by the Columbian Artillery at the Capi- 
 tol, and by the Commandant of the Washington Navy Yard. At the same 
 hour the bells of the several Churches in Washington, Georgetown, and 
 Alexandria will be tolled. 
 
 The Adjutant General of the Army and the General Commandant of 
 the United States Marine Corps are charged with the military arrange- 
 ments of the day, to be aided by the Assistant Adjutants General on 
 duty at the Headquarters of the Army and the Staff of the Marine Corps. 
 The United States Marshal of the District of Columbia, aided by such 
 assistants as he may appoint, is charged with the direction of the civic 
 
 PJIOCESSION. 
 
10 
 
 U. S. SKIP PRINCETON, 
 
 Potomac River, off Alexandria. 
 
 Wednesday evening, Feb. 28, 1844. 
 
 Minutes of the proceedings of the committee designated by the President 
 to remain with, and to make the preliminary arrangements for the in- 
 teiment of the bodies of those killed by the bursting of the cannon on 
 board the Piinceton, February 28, 1844. 
 
 The committee consisting of 
 
 Com. W. B. Shubrick, U. S. N., Lieut. J.T. McLaughlin, U. S. N., 
 
 Gen. Roger Jones, U. S. Army, Col. Murray, of >iew York, 
 
 Gen. Hardin, Hou-e of Reps., Mr R. S. Coxe, of Washington, 
 
 Hon. M. Brown, House of Reps., Mr. Reuben M. Whitney, of Pa., 
 
 Captain Aulick, U. S. Navy, Gen. J. H. Eaton, of Washington, 
 
 Captain Ramsay, U. S. Navy, Dr. Thomas, of Washington, 
 Captain Powell, U. S. Navy, 
 
 met in the cabin of the Princeton, and organized by appointing Com. 
 Shubrick, Chairman, and Lieut. McLaughlin, Secretary ; when, upon 
 motion, 
 
 A sub-committee, consisting of Gen. Jones, Capt. Aulick, the Hon. 
 Mr. Brown, and Mr. Richard S. Coxe, were deputed to visit Alexandria, 
 to make the necessary arrangements with an undertaker to prepare the 
 bodies for interment. 
 
 The sub-committee having visited Alexandria, and returned on board, 
 reporteJ that coinus, &c, would be furnished on the following morning, 
 at 9 A. M. 
 
 It was then, on motion, 
 
 Resolved, Tha' a sub-committee be appointed by tbe Chair, to wait on the families of 
 the d<c< ased, lor the purpose of consulting their wishes with regard to the disposition of 
 the bodies, alter their arrival in the city ; with instructions to report to the committee 
 on the following morning at 11 o'clock, A. M. 
 
 Whereupon the Chair designated the following gentlemen to compose 
 the sub-committee : 
 
 Gen. Jones, Capt Powell, Gen. Eaton, and Mr. R. S. Coxe. 
 The committee then adjourned until 11, A. M., Thursday, February 
 29, 1814. 
 
 
11 
 
 Minutes of the proceedings of the Committees of the Senate and House 
 of Representatives of the U. States, of the delegations of New York and 
 Maryland, and the Committee designated by the President to make the 
 preliminary arrangements for the interment of the persons killed by the 
 bursting of the cannon on board the Princeton, on the 28th February, 
 1844. 
 
 The Committees met in the President's Mansion, February 29th, and 
 organized in Committee of the Whole by appointing the Hon. Mr. Rives 
 to the Chair, and Limit. McLaughlin, Secretary. 
 
 Whereupon, on motion it was Resolved, 
 
 1st. That a committee of seven be appointed by the Chair, for the purpose of arrang- 
 ing the programme of the procession. 
 
 :2l. That the funeral procession proceed directly from the President's Mansion to the 
 Congressional burying ground, at eleven o'clock, A. M., on Saturday, March 2d. 
 
 3d. That a committee of three be appointed by the Chair, for the purpose of making 
 special arrangements for the religious ceremonies. 
 
 4th. That the Marshal of the District be requested to co-operate on the occasion of 
 the procession, with the committee of seven, and to appoint such number of assistants as 
 they may deem necessary. 
 
 5th. That the Marshal of the District be further requested to take charge of the re- 
 mains of the deceased now in the President's Mansion, until the organization of the pro- 
 cession. 
 
 6th. That citizens and volunteer soldiery of the District of Columbia, and the neigh- 
 boring cities, be requested to panieipaie in the solemnities of the occasion. 
 
 7th. That the Chairman and Secretary of this meeting, be added to the committee of 
 seven to determine upon the programme of the proceedings. 
 
 The following Committees were then named from the Chair : 
 The Committee of seven ordered by the 1st Resolution, 
 
 Mr. R. S. Coxe, Hon. Selah B. Strong, Capt. Aulick, 
 Gen. R. Jones, Com. Shubrick, Gen. J. H. Eaton. 
 
 Hon. Mr. Merrick, 
 
 The Committee of three ordered by the 3d Resolution, 
 
 Hon. Mr. Barnard ; Mr. R. S. Coxe, and Col. Murray of N. Y. 
 
 When it was Resolved, That the proceedings be signed by the Chair- 
 man and Secretary, — and the meeting then adjourned. 
 
 W. C. RfVES, 
 
 Chairman. 
 John T. McLaughlin, 
 
 Secretary. 
 
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