E 472 .2 .C68 Copy 1 E 472 .2 G \J^ ";^* SPEECHES OF MESSRS. COLFAX. OF INDIANA AND TEADDEUS STEVENS, OF PENN., IN REPLY TO MESSRS. DIVEN ANE> BLAIR'S ATTACKS ON GENERAL FREMON'l', Delivered in the House of Representatives^ April 21, 1862. Mr. DivEN, of New York, having spoken in support of his resolution " requesting the Attor- ney General to take proceedings to recover from John C. Fremont and E. L. Beard the sura of money obtained from the public Treasury on the order of said Fremont, payable to said Beard," he was replied to as follows : Mr. COLFAX. Mr. Speaker, there is one thing that I can say for the enemies of General Fremont, and that is, that they exhibit a per- sistency in their malignity that is worthy of a far better cause. Why slept the thunder of the gentleman from Ncav York during the five months that Congress has been in session? Mr. DIVEN. The gentleman will allow me to correct him. This resolution was introduced by me the very day that I read the report of the committee, and I have been watching for its turn ever since. I have not the knowledge of the rules that the gentleman from Indiana has, and which might have enabled me to have brought it forward at an earlier day. Mr. COLFAX. 'She explanation is poorer than if the gentleman had answered with silence. He was a prominent member of the New York State Senate before he came here, and must have been familiar with parliamentary rules. We have had opportunities for general debate often in this Hall during this session, and he has had ample oppor- tunities to make the speech which he has made here to-day; but the gentleman waits, as the en- emies of Fremont did last fall, until he has taken the field in front of the enemies of his country, and then comes into the council chamber of the nation and strikes his arrows at his back. I ask you, in the name of common justice, if it is not time to leave this man alone until the end of the War, and then punish him, if you will, if he can V proven guilty, until the malignity of the gen- tlVnan from New York is sated to its fullest ex- teA '^■^ gentleman said a few moments ago that whei'sg rej^^ the report of the committee, he made up 1i^s,Jq^ against Fremont. I met him in the city ot ^y York before the evidence had been pubVishe- ,'][igiaiiy^ and when he had seen nothing but the Hrraphic dispatches about it which ■were sent \ ^j^^ -^-ires, and he told me then that he had lost confidence in Fremont. That was before Congress met, and before the com- mittee laid their report before this House, and was based upon mere newspaper statements. Mr. DIVEN. Does the gentleman say that I said anything of the kind? Mr. COLFAX. I do. I thought the gentle- man was listening to me ; but I will repeat what I said. I say that before Congress met, and be- fore the committee made their report, I met the gentleman in the city of New York, and he told me then that he had lost all confidence in Fre- mont. Mr. DIVEN I have no recollection of meet- ing the gentleman there. Mr. COLFAX. Yes, sir; it was at the St. Nicholas hotel. I remember exactly the place where we discussed the matter. I am sorry the gentleman's recollection does not accord with mine, for I am positive about it. . Now, sir, if the gentleman from New York de- sired to put this man at the bar of a criminal court for trial, why did he not seek the opportu- nity by appealing to the President or the Cab- inet, or to Congress, when General Fremont was not in active command against the enemies of his country? Mr. DIVEN. I did. Mr. COLFAX. Why did he not use his po- tential influence in this House to demand that investigation? Why did he wait until now, seek- ing, asit were, to make him appear a criminal before the country, to rob him of his influence in the department assigned to him by the Pres- ident, and to destroy the confidemje of his sol- diers and of the people in him, by digging up again the old story about the fortifications at St. Louis, unearthing it here, and attempting to clothe it with sufficient dignity to take General Fremont away from his troops, and put him upon his defence ? Mr. DIVEN. I do not propose a criminal pro- ceeding, but a suit at law. Mr. COLFAX. The gentleman does make him a criminal. A proceeding of this sort, en- dorsed by the American Congress, would virtu- ally brand him as a criminal. i expressed myself frily as to this fortificatioa contract six we^s ago, -in the debate between I behind fortifiontions is worth half a dozen men the gentljfman from- Missgurl General Frembnt wiiVnot in'af id mj'self, when .■tive command. I said then that I believed the terms of this con- tract were extravagant. I told the friends of Fi-cmont so because I believed it, and because I would not vindicate him at the expense of my own convictions and my own conscience. I think that too much money has been paid to these men, more than ought to have been paid them. But there are two things to be mentioned in pal- liation. In the first place, unlike other contracts for which money has been taken out of the Treas- ury, and from which no substantial benefit re- sulted to the country, there was something sub- stantial, in a military point of view, resulting from this. And let me tell the gentleman from New York, that when he goes home to his con- stituents and talks to them in opposition to Fre- mont, they will tell him that they would rather see money taken out of the Treasury, even ex- travagantly, for fortifications, than see it taken for contracts of other kinds with which other departments have been connected, and in re- gard to which the~ gentleman seeks no investi- gation and no trial before a court at the suit Of the Attorney General. Everywhere else, in every other department, mistakes that have been made in the purchase of horses, clothing, and other supplies, have been leniently treated — the public making allowances for the haste with which things had often to be done, the vast amount of business devolved on them, the unprepared condition of the country, and the fact that our governmental machinery was in- tended for peace and not for war. But with Fremont it has been different. Every possible attack has been made on him, and no allowances made for his exigencies. I think, Mr. Speaker, that the price paid for these fortifications was too high ; but look at the circumstances under which they were contracted for. Fremont was about leaving St. Louis with his army in pursuit of Price, seeking to rid the State of Missouri of the scoundrels who had brought it into insurrection, and to restore it to loyalty. He knew' that St. Louis Avas threatened, not only by attack from without, if his line at the south or southwest could be broken through, but was also threatened by secessionists in St. Louis. I saw even the other day that so much dislo}-a''ity still exists there, that guards had to be placed around the residences of women in St. Louis who moved in what are called "respecta- ble circles," because, when the sick and wounded soldiers from Pittsburg Landing came up, Avith captured reljel soldiers, these women waved flags and handkerchiefs from their windows, and hurrahed for Jeff. Davis. Fremont, knowing that he was about to leave the city and to start with his army on a long and difficult march, thought it necessary to have fortifications erected as speed- ily as possible, to defend St. Louis from foes without and foes within. Without hesitating sufficiently to drive a hard bargain, and to try and save as many sixpences as possible, he made this contract. He felt that he Avould save more money to the Government by dispensing with the necessity of leaving a large number of men defend St. Louis than he would by erecting ese fortifications. Remember that one man without them, for the defence of a city ; and then estimate the saving in the pay of the soldiers who could thus be dispensed with, and let that be offset against this " extravagance." I agree Avith the gentleman from Ncav York in this one thing, that the price paid for thi^work AA-as too high" But, sir, the army of the Potomac has cost $500,000,000, and has not yet chased the enemy as far as the army of Fremont did. It has cost nearly as much to take the army of the Potomac doAvn to Fortress Monroe and Yorktown — Avhich, T presume, knowing nothing about mili- tary stwvtegy, must be the best movement that can be made, though I much preferred Avhat is under- stood to have been the President's preferred plan — as the Avhole expense of the " hundred days of Fremont in Missouri." I think that if the gen- tleman from Ncav York desires to punish General Fremont, he ought, at least, to Avait till the war is over, and then appear and act as prosecuting attorney on behalf of the United States. The gentleman from New York says that any other man but Fremont Avould have gone down under the attacks made upon him. In that I concur Avith the gentleman. I think it is true. I think that if these poisoned arroAVS .had been showered on any other general than Fremont he Avonld have gone doAvn under them. General Fremont Avas attacked through the telegraph, attacked through committees, Avithout having an opportunity to defend himself. There has been comraittee'after committee spreading ex parte ev- idence before the country and the Avorld, without ever saying to him, " Here ai-e charges against you : have you any explanation to make? If so, come before us, and you shall have an opportu- nity to vindicate yourself. You can look these Avitnesses in the eye, can cross-examine them, and can bring forAvard Avitnesses, if you please, to explain these things if they are susceptible of explanation." Instead of that, these ex parte re- ports have been spread before the country, and General Fremont has not had that opportunity Avhich the humblest man in thg land should have to defend himself. All this Avas done, just as if the charges Avere unansAverable, undisputed, and as if there could be no explanation. I saAv the otlier day a report made by a gentle- man whose services to the country I esteem, and whom personally I have admired — I allude to Hon. Joseph Holt, of Kentucky — condemning Fremont for forcing the banks of St. Louis to supply money for his army, and declaring posi- tively that no explanation of it had ever been given by him. If Mr. Holt had read the letter of General Fremont to the President of the United States at that time, published, too, nearly a month before his report was, he AVonld have found a full explanation of it. He Avould have seen that General Fremont told the Presideu- that he had no money to pay his troops, tV* they Avere in a state of mutiny, and that the/^v Avay to procure money Avas to get it out i? '"^ sub-Treasury, or force a loan out of the^'^^^'j^s- sion banks of St. Louis. As I underst//' *'ie President never dissented from the ■',, ^ ^^- pressed by General Fremont in that l-'y ' "^^'^i" said that he should not resort to '^ ™eans. Having thus notified the liig^est '*X^^^ *f|e Government of his reasons, he ^'f '^ ''"® money in this way; and now Mr. Holt comes out I and says that no explanation of the act has ever j been made, and on that erroneous statement of , his own proceeds to condemn him. Here is the proof of what I assert, in a letter from Fremont to the President, July 30, 1861: " Our troops have not been paid, and some regiments are in a slate of mutiny, aud the men whuso term of service is ex- ] pired geneially reftise to enlist. / lost a fine regiment last night frvst last night. The Treasurer of the tJiiited States bus here $1)00,000 entirely unappropriated. I applied to him yester- day lor .«100,0(iO fur my Payniusler General Andrews, but was refused We have not an hour for delay. There are three courses open to me. One, to let the enemy po sess himself of some of the strongest points in the State, and threaten St. Louia, which is insurrectionary. Second. To FOKCK A LOAN FROM SECESSION BANKS HERE. Third. To USO the money belonging to the Govenmient which is in the Tre.isury here. Uf course, I will neither lose the State nor permit the enemy a fool of advantage. I have infused en- ergy and activity into the departmeut, and there is a thor- ough good spirit in otBcers and men. This morning 1 will order the Treasurer to deliver the money in his possession to General Andrews, and will send a force to the Treasury to take the money, and will direct such payments as the ex- igency requires. I %vUl hazard everything for tlie defence if the department you have confided to me, and I trust to you for support. ' ' Jlr. MALLORY. Will the gentleman from Indiana allow me a remark ? Jlr. COLFAX. Certainly. Mr. MALLORY. In view of the facts just mentioned by the gentleman from Indiana, it oc- curs to me that that gentleman, who is the friend of General Fremont, ought to desire, by all means, that General Fremont should now have an op- portunit}^ of coming before a court of justice and proving that he has not embezzled public money ; that he has not taken money without ^-arrant of law ; that he has acted justly and honestly and patriotically in those matters wherein so much fraud is imputed to him by this investigating committee. I understand that that is virtually the proposition made by the gentleman from from New York, [Mr. Diven.] It occurs to me that the last thing which the friends of General Fre- mont should do, who have heretofore complain- ed that investigation was stifled, and that he was deprived of bringing witnesses before the committee to prove his innocence, is to object to a process by which he would be enabled to ap- pear before a court of justice, and defend him- self from these charges. Mr. COLFAX. My friend from Kentucky has been rather long in stating his point, but I will answer him briefly. He, like myself, has con- fidence in the President of the United States. The President is the Commander-in-Chief of the army and navy. He makes generals and he un- makes them. He puts some up, and puts others down. On charges made against Fremont he de- posed him. From evidence submitted b}' that General before the committee on the conduct of the war. the President, as I understand, and as I presume from his act, has become satisfied that these charges were not worthy the dignity he first supposed they were ehtitled to. At all events he has reinstated General Fremont, and has intrusted him with an important command. From that I think he is satisfied with the vin- dication of General Fremont. And I have not heard that anybody', even- Fremont's bitterest enemy, ever charged him with embezzling a dol-: lar of the public money for his benefit. The gentleman from Kentucky will allow me to say further, in all kindness, that the friends of General Fremont — of whom I claim to be one — need hardly be expected to look to those who are inimical to him for suggestions as to what justice requires at their hands. The gentleman from New York told us a little while ago that the friends of General Fremont ought to have danianded his trial. So they might, if there were any substantial charges affecting his hon- esty properly brought, upon which an impartial hearing could be expected ; but not upon such a resolution as this, offered by a gentleman who, in his speech advocating it, prejudges the case and condemns the man he attacks before trial. Mr. DIVKN. If the gentleman will allow me, I want to refer in this connection to a remark used some time ago by the gentleman from Indi- ana. I desire to disclaim most expressly what I understood the gentleman to impute to me, and which I presume the gentleman intends now to impute to me, — that is, malice. Now, in God's name, how can I entertain malice to a man who is an entire stranger to me? Mr. COLFAX. I am glad to know the gen- tleman does not. I supposed from the intro- duction of this resolution, and the speech he has made upon it to-day, that he did entertain hos- tile feelings towards General Fremont. Mr. DIVEN. No, sir ; I expressly disclaim any such sentiment or feeling. When this reso- lution was introduced. General Fremont was not employed at all in the field, nor was he in the service of the country at all, and I proposed this as the most practicable method I could devise of obtaining an impartial investigation. Inasmuch, however, as the circumstances are now changed in that respect, I would be not wil- ling to do anything that should take him from his official duties or to embarrass him in com- mand. lAvill, therefore, if I have the opportu- nity, so amend the resolution as to leave out the name of General Fremont altogether, leaving the suit to be prosecuted against Mr. Beard, who has pocketed the money, and that he shall re- ceive all that his contract, whatever it is, would allow him. ' Mr. LOVEJOY. The gentleman from New York will allow me to say one word. Mr. COLFAX. I am upon the floor, and do not like to give away all the brief hour I am en- titled to. Mr. LOVEJOY. Just one word. Mr. COLFAX. Well, go ahead. Mr. LOVEJOY. The gentleman from New York thinks it is utterly impossible that he should entertain any such feeling as malice, and supposes there can be no reason for entertaining any such sentiment on his part. Mr. Speaker, the gentleman will remember that Juno enter- tained malice towards the Trojans and towards their stern goddesses, because her charms had been once rejected. Now, the gentleman may have some similar reason for denying that he entertains malice. Mr. DIVEN. I would like very much to have the gentleman make the application of his allu- sion. I really cannot comprehend it. Jlr. LOVEJOY. I recommend the gentleman to study Virgil. Mr. DIYEN, I am afraid it is rather late iii the day to commence my classical education. [Laughter.] Mr. COLFAX. I am vciy much gratified to learn that the effect of what I liave said has half converted the gentleman from New York, as I perceive it has done, so far as to induce him to strike out half his resolution, the part referring to the General at whom his speech was aimed. Now, if the gentleman will go a little further and strike out the other half, I think it will se- cure a pretty unanimous vote of the House [Laughter.] Mr. LOVEJOY. I ask the gentleman to allow me for a moment. I do not want to make any speech, but I wish to say a word particularly upon this point. It does seem to me that when this peripatetic inquisitorial committee has finished its peregrinations over the country, done up its work, got all its victims into the cell, and tor- tured them with thumb-screws down there as much as it desires, it then ought to follow the practice of the old Spanish Inquisition — bring them all out en matise and have one general auto da /e, instead of bringing them out piece- meal every week, and first torture the victim by burning off one hand, then sending him back, then bringing him out and burning the stuaip, and then burning off the other hand. I am tired of this protracted torture. I want to see them all brought out, burned up at once, and have the thing done. [Laughter.] I think it is exceedingly inopportune, wlieu these generals are now in the field in the face of the enemy, to be continually bringing up these cases and hounding down these men. If it is not malice prepense, it is something that looks very much like it. Mr. COLFAX. I had almost concluded what I had to say in reply to the gentleman from New York. But before I take my seat, however, I will add a single other remark in regard to another one of his statements. The gentleman told the truth when he said tliat no other General could have stood up under all the charges that have been brought against General Fremont. Sir, it is trye, slanders have fallen on him as thick as the leaves of Vallambrosa. Mr. DIVEN. The gentleman will allow me to correct him. He has repeated that statement be- fore. I did not say that any other General would have fallen under the attacks that have been made upon General Fremont. I said that any other General would have fallen under the c-n;- hibition of the proof which is exhibited against General Fremont. That is what I said. Mr. COLFAX. I confess I cannot see the sub- stantial difference between the statement I have made and the correction made by the gentleman; but I will not quarrel about words. I say to the gentleman that it is because of the belief of the people of this country in Fremont's patriotism, a belief that no mountain of slander can crush out, that he has not been stricken down by these at- tacks upon him. I do not believe that he is perfect. I believe that, like every other man, he is liable to mistakes. I do not claint infallibility for him. I believe he made a mistake in reference to the price paid for these fort contracts. I believe, however, that other generals have made far greater pecuniary mistakes. I know, also, that in reference to his pontoon-bridge building, of •which Judge Holt speaks in his report as a mag- nificent folly, that it was prepared in view of a plan which was not carried into execution, for reasons that I cannot disclose here, as the war is not yet over, and which would otherwise have not been money thrown awaj'. vVnd I sincerely believe, if there had been half even of such a pontoon bridge on the Potomac upon a subse- quent occasion, the people of the country Avould have been willing to pay for it, even, if needs be, by private subscription, rather than to have seen the gallant soldiers of the country driven into the Potomac and murdered by the enemy after the reverse at Ball's Bluff, while attempting to escape to the opposite shore. There are many other things for which General Fremont has been arraigned; but when his acts are subjected to the stern verdict of history, he will be found to be a man far more sinned against than erring. Mr. THOMAS, of Massachusetts. The gentle- man says he would not attack a General in the field. I ask him, whether, for the same reason, he should not withhold an attack upon a man in prison ? Mr. COLFAX. I have attacked no man in prison. Mr. THOMAS, of Massachusetts. The gentle- man referred to the Ball's Bluff affair, and to General Stone. Mr. COLFAX. The gentleman does me injus- tice if he supposes I attacked any one in that connection. I made no reference to General Stone or General McClellan, or the then Secretary of War, or to anybody else, as responsible for that sad disaster. But, sir, whoever is responsible for the passage of that' army over the Potomac, with but two scows as the only means of cross- ing the river ; whoever is responsible for the darkness and desolation brought into the house- holds of so many families iu the land, I Avould not exchange positions with him for a coronet of rubies and diamonds. I would not have upon my skirts the blood thus needlessly spilt upon that disastrous battle-field for all the gold of California or the mines of Golconda. I donotflay who is responsible ; for, with the imperfect evi- dence on that point, I do not know positively. But I do say, that if what Judge Holt calls this magnificent folly of pontoon-bridge building had been performed here before the battle of liall's Bluff, the women of the country, if they could have looked prophetically into the future, would have paid for it with their jewels before they would have permitted the sacrifice of the valua- ble lives lost in that disaster. Mr. BLAIR, of Missouri. I wish to ask the gentleman whether lives lost at Springfield were not as precious as those at Ball's Bluff' ? Mr. COLFAX. The gentleman from Missouri and myself had a debate upon the subject of the battle of Springfield the other day, in the course of which I made some statements from the record in reference to the battle to which he now alludes, to which he made no reply. If the gentleman desires to reply on some occasion when the House has two or three hours to spare, I shall not ob- ject to going over the argument with him again. Yes, sir, the lives lost at Springfield were pre- cious, and if General Fremont could have saved them, and saved Cairo too, as I proved the other day he could not, they -svould have been saved. The geatleinari will recollect that I explained all this in my debate with him last month, quot- ing McClellan's dispatch about tlic lack of troops even to save Cairo, General Prentiss's dispatch, and the statement of Lyon's adjutant general. The gentleman also remembers that, at the time when he was straining every nerve to reinforce Lexington, an order was received by General Fremont to send five thousand of the small force under his command to Washington. And, I might add, that we are indebted to the President of the United States that the order was not for twenty- five thousand instead of five thousand, for that was the number originally demanded to be trans- ferred from the department of the West to the army of the Potomac at that very time. Mr. Speaker, whatever feults General Fremont has, I am willing to admit them as readily as any other man; but I will not continue to repeat them, forgetful altogether -of the very many qualities of energy, daring, and patriotism which he possesses. He says in his defence before the committee on the conduct of the war, that he fixed the prices for the fortification contract on the advice and recommendation of others. The commanding general of a large department has to do many things on the advice of others. My friend from Missouri [Mr. Blair] has had the opportunity to see as well as I have had, the vast amount of business, of responsibility, of care, which devolved upon the commander-in- chief of a military department like that of Mis- souri, Kansas, and Western Kentucky at the time General Fremont was there. It is an utter im- possibility for him to investigate every contract that must necessarily be made, and scrutinise every sixpence that may have to be expended. Mr. BLAIR, of Missouri. What business has a commanding general to make these contracts? Mr. DIVEN. I clo not find fault, if the gentle- man from Indiana will permit me to interrupt him Mr. COLFAX. I will answer the gentlemen one at a time, unless they insist on my yielding to both at once. General Fremont was sent out there with powers of a larger character than are generally- given to a commander of a department. He had received instructions from the Adminis- tration here that he should take the responsi- bility necessary for the preservation of the integ- rity of the country in that quarter. The dis- patches are voluminous, and I do not know that, thus suddenly participating in this debate, I can turn to the exact ones which I desire ; but I will try to do so. They have all been published. Here is one of the 26th of July, 1861, from a Cabinet officer. Mr. BLAIR, of Missouri. Read the other one. Mr. BINGHAM. No, read that one. Mr. COLFAX. I will read the dispatch, which is as follows : ■W.ASHIKGTON, July 26, 1S61. Dear General : I have two telegrams from yon, but flud it impossible now to get any attention to Missouri or western matters from the authorities here. You will have to do the best you can, and take all needful respimsihilHy to defend and protect Ih^ people over whom you are specially set. Yours truly and in haste, M. BLAIR. Now, if a Cabinet officer could not get atten- tion paid to this matter right on the spot, is it fair to make such exacting demands of the com- mander-in-chief of a department? Here is a Cabinet officer speaking, as on the counsel of the President of the United States, telling (ieneral Fremont that he will have to do the best he can, and to take all necessary responsibility to defend the country. A Membkr. Who was that Cabinet officer? Mr. COLFAX. Hon. Montgomery Blair, Post- master General. Here is another dispatch from General l\Iont- gomery C. Meigs, Quartermaster General of the United States Army: [Extracts from letters of the Hon. M. Blair, P. JI. G.] " Washixgto.n, Septemher 3, SOI. " Meigs legged me this afiernoou to get you tooriler filteen- inch guns from Pittsburgh for your gunboats. He says that the boats can empty any battery the enemy can make with such guns. He admses that \ov contract for them directly YOURSELF, telliny the contractor you ■mlldirect YOuK ordxance OFFiCEH to pay for them." There was the authority, from the Quarter- master General of the Army of the United States, sent through a Cabinet officer, telling him to go on with the work, and that if it is necessary to make contracts, to make them, and to give his staff officer the necessary orders for proper pay- ment. Notwithstanding this direct and positive authority, one of the most pointed charges in the recent report of Mr. Holt against General Fremont was, that he had contracted for ord- nance without having the matter go through the Ordnance Bureau at Washington. Here is Gen- eral Fremont's defence, patent to everybody. Here is the order from the highest officer in the quartermaster's department, sent through a Cab- inet officer, for him to do exactly what he has done. But I have not yet got through with these dis- patches. If I had supposed that this debate would take place to-day, I would have prepared myself with references; but I did not expect it. Mr. DIVEN. I am rather astonished to know what has become of the resolution which is really the subject-matter before the House. [Laughter.] I think the gentleman has forgot- ten it altogether. Mr. COLFAX. If the gentleman will withdraw his resolution, I will at once leave the floor. But I am only citing these points to show the "justice" General Fremont has received, and of which the pending resolution is only another ex- ample. Mr. DIVEN. I will amend it to the extent I have stated, but I will not withdraw it. Mr. COLFAX. I do not ask him to do it. But to resume. Here is another telegram from Mont- gomery C. Meigs directed to Francis P. Blair, none other than my honorable friend from Mis- souri: " Tell General Fremont that no man more than myself desires to sustain him, no one is more ready to take the re- sponsibility to assist him, and that he has, in my ojiinion, already the power which you say ought to be conferred upon him by the President. Whatever a general command- ing orders, the subordinates of his staff are by regulaliotxs COMPELLED to do , if possible. " The general is charged with saving the country. The country will be very careful to approve his measures, and will judge his mistakes, if any, very tenderly, if successful. Suc- cess crowns the work, and let Hiii spake no responsibiuty, no effort to secure il. ' ' That was on the 2 1st of August. My friend from Missouri, at that time, to use an expression which fell from the gentleman the other daj^, was one of those who, up to that time, was '< an idol- 6 ator" of General John C. Fremont. Listen to what General Meigs, an old army officer, and of much more experience in these matters than General Fremont could be expected to be — listen to what he says: "The country" "will judge his mistakes, if any, very tenderly, if suc- cessful." It was General Meigs's honest opinion they would; but experience has shown that he was not a prophet. He did not know how bit- terly Fremont was to be attacked before another month even had rolled around. And this letter shows, too, and most significant!}', that my friend from Missouri had, at that time, been insisting on more power being given to Fremont. And (Jeneral Meigs closes impressively with, " let HIM SPARE NO RESPONSIBILITY." And now Fre- mont is denounced by committees and otliers, because he complied with this earnest injunc- tion. I want the House to notice that every respons- ibility assumed by General Fremont, about which complaint was made, was rolled upon him by or through the authorities in Washington. X Cab- inet officer wrote him that he, even with all the power and influence of a Cabinet minister, could not get attention paid to western business at Washington, and that General Fremont must take the responsibility, and defend the people at every hazard. General Meigs said that he need not send down here for cannon, but that he should contract for them out there, and order them to be paid for by his own ordnance otHcer. When he has assumed that responsibility, these attacks against him on that score, to my mind, seem to me entirelj' unjustifiable. He was point- edly told by the authorities here that a general is charged with the safety of his country. Gen- eral Meigs wrote that letter from an honest heart ; but he did not know the men of 18G1 and 18G2. Instead of judging of the acts of a Gen- eral, under the circumstances, " tenderly," they have, on the contraiy, magnified and distorted the actions of General Fremont at a trying time, so as to do his character the grossest injustice before the American people. These attacks do not cease even now, when he has been appointed to a new department, crowded in between two others, with not a single regi- ment sent to reinforce him since his arrival there, because, I suppose, none could be spared from other fields, and yet in a week after he reached Wheeling, with his usual vigor, he sets in motion his advance column, few in numbers, but brave as himself, drives the enemy from his front, and, regardless of odds, is already threat- ening Staunton. Now, while he is striving with might and main to drive rebellious hordes from Virginia, the gentleman from New York [Mr. Diven] comes in to-day, upon the floor of the House of Representatives, and gravely asks us, in the face of the country, to vote for a reso- lution, the effect of which would be to condemn General Fremont in advance, and before he had any trial. General Meigs said that they would judge his mistakes, if he made them, " tenderly." What has been the result? They have been magnified from mole-hills into mountains, his best acts misrepresented, and he himself con- demned by those hostile to him without the least show of a trial. I ask nothing for General Fre- mont but justice. I ask that one of the generals of the American army shall not, by the actioa of this House, have his usefulness destroyed in the new field of labor to Avhich he has been sent by the President. Let not these attacks be con- tinued, when the President, who is acquainted with all the facts involved in the controversy, has shown his confidence in General Fremont by assigning him to another department. If we love our country, if we Ipve justice, give this man a chance to be heard before he is stricken down. Do not let en parte investigations, of which there have been so man}' in his case, become the rule of justice in this land. I say— and I think gentlemen will agree Avith me— ^that the expenditures of the department of the West under General Fremont, however ex- travagant they maj' be alleged to be, were eco- nomical compared with the expenditures in the other military departments, so far as regards the duty performed, the difficulties which were sur- mounted, and the vexatious responsibilities which had necessarily to be assumed. If we are to take any action like that which has been suggested by the gentleman from New York, let us wait until the end of the war. If the President, for good cause, strikes down General Fremont, I will not be the man to complain. When the President removed him from the command of the depart- ment of the West no murmur of complaint was heard from me. I bowed to his decision, though I regretted it. When it was understood the com- mittee on the conduct of the war felt, after hear- ing both sides, that he was fit for a command, and the President gave one to him, I rejoiced, as did hundreds of thousands of others, at this act of justice. The cause of the country is dear to me — dearer to me than all personal considera- tions. In every efibrt which I may make for its safety and success, I never want it to be said that petty malice stood in the way of my duty. General Fremont has had ifo regiments sent to him since he has been put in command of the Jlountain department — perhaps, as I have said, because none could be spared. Even Colonel Garfield's brigade has been removed from Cum- berland Gap in his department, and ordered by General Halleck to Western Tennessee — probably, I suppose, because needed there, but, of course, postponing his movement into Eastern Tennes- see.* Notwithstanding that. General Fremont has gone to work with vigor. He has pushed the enemj' back in middle Virginia, and General Milroy, under his orders, still continues to ad- vance upon them. Mr. STEVENS. I remember that during the revolutionaiy war there was more than one cabal got up against General Washington, more pow- erful in their elements than those which have for some time past assailed General Fremont. The only difference was in the class of assailants. That difference is very much in favor of those who assail General Fremont. Then there were very few found trying to destroy the general of * In one of the speeches delivered in Cincinnati by that sturdy old patriot. Parson Brownlow, ho thus expressed his oiiiiiion oi'Goueral Fremont : " When tlic army went to East Tennessee he wanted to go along. It was in Fremont's department, and ho was glad of it. Fre.mo.vt was his sort of a man and ho wanted to go with him to East Tennessee. There had been a great deal of hanging on one Side, and he wished to superintend it on the other." our armies except Cowboys and Tories ; now, I am sorry to say, General Fremont's personal friends, and patriots of the nation, are assailing him. That is the only cfifterenee between the two cases. Otherwise they would be parallel. But, sir, the means taken to assail General Fre- mont are more 'infamous than were ever exer- cised towards the Father of his Countrj' to destroy his reputation ; and I must say here tliat I am astonished to find the gentleman from Missouri impeaching the conduct of the President of the United .States in his restoration of General Fre- mont. The motive which the gentleman from Missouri attributes to the President in that ap- pointment was not to vindicate an injured man ; not to show that he disbelieved the trash and slander which have been heaped upon him. No; but the gentleman said tliat it had been heard in the North that General Fremont had not returned fugitive slaves to their masters ; that it was sup- posed tliat that was the reason of his removal, and that in order to wipe away that impression and to gain some favor himself — if I understood anything of what the gentleman said — the Presi- dent had put General Fremont into a command where he could do neither harm nor good. Now, if ever there was a more serious charge made against an honorable man in high office than that made against the motives of the President of the United States, by the gentleman from Missouri, I have yet to learn it. The gentleman has made none so bad against General Fremont, although lie has joined in condemning him as a I^hmderer — a venial offence compared with that charged against the President of the United States. But, sir, I was going on to state the means taken to destroy General Fremont. For some reason or other, after his proclamation declaring freedom to a few of the slaves of rebels — whether in consequence of that or not I do not know; I suppose not — there were extraordinary missions and commissions sent on his track to St. Louis. In the first instance, one was a Cabinet officer, and another an officer of the Government. After V their return, anotlier Cabinet officer was sentout, together with a military officer — the Adjutant General. The record made by him is one which would disgrace any man, if he were judged ac- cording to his merits; picking up every scrap of scandal, from what an old woman told them in Cincinnati to what old-womanish men told them in St. Louis and elsewhere, and noting down these hearsay charges and these opinions of the capacity of General Fremont. A record was made of all this, without his knowledge, behind his back, and without his ever having an oppor- tunity of presenting anything in contradiction or explanation. That paper, containing not one scrap of anything which a decent man could look upon as evidence, not containing anything which even the gentleman from New York [Mr. Diven] would look upon as evidence against the man he wishes to injure, was published to the world un- der the authority of the Departmentwhich made it. After that was done a committee, composed evidently of enemies to General Fremont, went on his track to St. Louis, while he was away, hunting the enemy, and there, without notice to him, without ever giving him an opportunity to appear before them, then, or at any other time since — for such I understand to be the General's testimony — they hunted up the evidence which they chose to take. And what is it? Among the rest, that there were returned Californians on his staff. That seems to be the great griev- ance of the gentleman from Missouri, that the returned Californians got the contracts, and that some other people, of course, did not, which was a pity. But how came these returned Californians ? The tpstimony taken before the committee on Gov- ernment contracts shows that General Fremont left California on the 1st of January, and went to Pjurope. He never has been back there since. Invited by his country to come and assist in the defence of the nation against the rebels, he re- turned here, and reached St. Louis, I believe, late in July. This Mr. Beard left California in tlie beginning of August; and the General states that he had never had a letter from him nor written a letter to him, nor known that he was coming here till he saw him. And yet the gen- tleman from Missouri, knowing these facts, and having this evidence on record, talks about Fremont's inviting a gang of Californians to plunder the nation. Sir, such things in a pet- tifogger would be detestable, but in a member of tliis House they are respectable. [Much hmgiiter.] Mr. BLAIR, of Missouri. What was the gen- tleman's remark? I did not hear it. Mr. STEVENS. I said that in a member of the House they were respectable, and I hope the gentleman takes no offence at that. [Laughter.] Now, sir, I am not inquiring into the motives which induced these former friends to become such bitter enemies. It has been said, I believe by the gentleman from Indiana, [Mr. Colf.vx,] that the gentleman from Missouri professed him- self to be an idolater of Fremont some time ago. Well, that only illustrates by another instance, that those who forsake their idols from any cause always become iconoclasts ; they are the very men to break down the images that they worshiped before, and they do it more becau&e they have worshiped them than any other reason. But, sir, I will examine for a single moment the testimony upon which the gentleman from New York [Mr. Diven] founds his charge, and asks that suit be brought against General Fre- mont. I believe it is not anywhere said even in that document^that record of "the school for scandal''— that General Fremont has received one dollar of the public money which he was not entitled to. There is no pretence, and, except it be by the insinuations of the gentleman from Missouri — and I do not know that he insinuated it — there is no charge that Fremont was a part- ner in any of these contracts which have been denounced as fraudulent. It is not proved or pretended that Fremont has one dollar of the public money in his possession ; and j-et the gen- tleman from New York introduces a resolution charging that in so many words, and directing the Attorney General of the United States to sue him for the money which he has got in his pos- session. Mr. DIVEN. No, sir; the gentleman mistakes the resolution. It is for the money illegally ob- tained. « Mr. STEVENS. Illegally obtained by General Fremont. Mr. DIVEN. No ; that is not the resolution. Mr. STEVENS. Suit is to be brought against General Fremont and Beard for money illegally obtained by them, when, even in this record that he has referred to, he cannot find a word indica- ting that General Fremont has now, or ever had, one dullar of it. Why, sir, this resolution is but the proper supplement to that ex ■parte report. Mr. THOMAS, of Massachusetts. Will the gentleman from Pennsylvania allow me to sug- gest that no member of the committee is present? Mr. STEVENS. Then the gentleman from New York should not have brought up this res- olution. Mr. THOMAS, of Massachusetts. I merely make the suggestion to the gentleman. Mr. STEV^ENS. I cannot be prohibited from, attending to the record. That is here, if they are not. I cannot sit quiet until they come, although I wish they were present. The committee take up one matter — and if the gentleman from New York had examined into it he would have seen what this record is worth — under the head of " buying horses," and they say that a man of the name ofSacchi, M'hom Gen- eral Fremont had become acquainted with in the city of New York on his return, they suppose, went out there and desired to enter into a con- tract to furnish Canadian horses, and that Fre- mont directed a contract to be made with him for Canadian horses that were never furnished, and I believe they do not say that there was any money paid. The committee then go on to say that it is a remarkable fact that this sameSacchi Avas a member of General Fremont's staff. Now, sir, an affidavit has been made by this man who had the contract for horses, and who the com- mittee say they suppose lived in a garret in New York, in which he says that he went out there and made his contract, I believe through this same Mr. Woods; that he never furnished the horses, because when the time was out Fremont aljrogated the contract for want of fulfilment ; that he is an old man of sixty-odd years of age, who, instead of being an adventurer living in a garret, has, during the last ten years, as the re- cords of the city of New York will show, bought and sold property in that city for more than $100,000; and that the Mr. Sacchi who was on Fremont's staff was a young Hungarian officer, who had come there but a short time before, and was but thirty years of age. And yet the committee, upon suchtestimony as is here in this report, go on to blacken the character of a man whose patriotism was never doubted until tliese people were set upon the scent by some person who had be(-ome his enemy. Mr. ROSCOE CONKLING. Will the gentle- man allow me to make a remark just there? Mr. STEVENS. Yes, sir. Mr. ROSCUE CONKLING. This young man Sacchi, who is named here, is, I understand, a man who has been decorated for heroic actions upon the battle-fields of Italy more than once; a man who came here following the star of free- dom as the shepherds followed the star of Beth- lehem, and went out into that department and joined Fremont's staff, not for pay, not for rank, but as a volunteer ; a man w^o came here, in the language of another, " to crusade for freedom in freedom's holy land." Mr. STEVENS. It is enough for me to know that he is not the man who made the horse contract at all. [Laughter.] And if the com- mittee had had an honest purpose to know the truth, they would have known 'that; and yet they fill several pages of their report in charging that Fremont gave this contract to a member of his own staff. I ask what you would think of the testimony of such a witness found lying one day? Would you believe him on the next? You are an able lawyer, and know how much credit such a witness is entitled to. You know that if he is found falsifying in one case you will not believe him in any. Yet this grave charge against General Fremont is set up upon such testimony as that. Now in regard to these contracts for forts it is in evidence, in the report of the committe to which I have referred, that General Fremont did not pretend to know the price that ought to be paid for such work. He set men to work on them, and they worked as our men did about this city, night and day, Avhen it was beleaguer- ed, or was supposed to be. And he referred the settlement of their accounts to whom ? To the quartermaster general of his army, Mr. McKin- stry, a man who the gentleman from Missouri will not find was appointed by the Government here under the recommendation of General Fre- mont, or at his suggestion. He told Mr. McKin- stry to take tlie accounts and cut them down to what was right, and he would sanction it. That was done ; and now he is charged with plunder- ing the Treasury for paying— if they have been paid — these California swindlers and plunderers. Gentlemen talk about time. Why, sir, it was as late as the 26th of August that a member of the Cabinet, belonging to the family of the re- spectable member from Missouri, wrote a very friendly letter to General Fremont, and his only complaint was that he could not get anything done for him by a perverse President and a perverse Cabinet. Now, I know not what it was that in- terrupted the liarmony that existed between those two gentlemen ; but it seems to me it would have been the same way if a set of con- tractors — say two, one living in Chicago and the other in St. Louis — had been recommended by certain gentlemen for a contract of perhaps $750,000 on about the 25th of August. It Avas refused to them, and then the feud broke out. God knows what was the cause of it. I do not. I know nothing about it. I do not beliqve there is anything infamous in it. I believe it is all for the country's good — the only difference being as to the proper means to be used. Mr. Speaker, I did not rise to make a long speech. If it were proper I would move to dis- charge this scandal-hunting committee from any further proceedings, for I believe in my con- science that they have committed more frauds than they have detected. They are spending the country's money and S(uindalizing the country's best men. At the conclusion of the debate, the resolu- tion of Mr. DivEN was almost unauiinously laid on the table. SCAilMKLL it CO., PRINTJiKS. LIBRftRY OF CONGRESS 013 701 811 1 li#^ \ LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 013 701 811 1 Hollinger Corp.