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or the Flirt, will be on the coast to attend your advance movement. You cannot calculate upon any assistance from them for two or three weeks to come.* Nothing herein contained is intended to revoke or modify the instructions heretofore given for aggressive operations on your part under the circumstances therein specified. WM. L. MARCY,

To Brig. Gen. Z. TAYLOR,

Commanding U. S. army in Texas.

Secretary of War.

LETTERS FROM THE ADJUTANT GENERAL TO GENERAL TAYLOR.

ADJUTANT GENERAL'S OFFICE,

Washington, September 13, 1845.

GENERAL: Your communications of the 29th and 30th ultimo, with accompanying "orders" 3 and 4, and "special orders" 5 and 6, have this day been received.

Your notice of the unwarrantable disclosure of the countersign to a person not entitled to it, by an officer of the camp, on the night of the 28th of August, and admonitory remarks on the occasion, it is hoped may have the desired effect; but an offence of so grave a nature, for which the martial code provides the severest punishment, would seem to have called for an investigation by a general court martial.

The concentration of so large a portion of the army at Corpus Christi may afford you the opportunity, while resting upon your arms, of practising a regular system of field and camp instruction, according to the strictest principles and rules of the service; and this I am instructed by the Secretary of War to say is the wish and expectation of the President. The general-in-chief does not doubt that all laid down in the general regulations, under the heads of "guards," "troops in campaign," "daily details and duties," and all other duties comprehended in the terms discipline, police, inspection, &c., you will cause to be scrupulously observed by every corps and regiment, and all the officers and men under your command.

To perfect the organization of your staff, I am directed to say that you will please to appoint an acting inspector general for the army under your command, who should be an active, experienced field officer, a good disciplinarian, and one who will minutely observe and enforce the regulations and rules of the service.

You will please to see that the regulations which establish the "dress" of the army be duly observed by every officer; and as the troops under your command will be organized, and, it may be presumed, will move only in battalions, regiments, brigades, or division, the excuses for their non-observance during the Florida ser

The naval force did attend the movement of the army, and rendered assistance pursuant to general orders before issued from the Navy Department.

vice (in many instances unavoidable) will not, in the army of occupation, be so readily admitted.

I send herewith a copy of the estimated strength of the regular force ordered to Texas, prepared early in the month for the Secretary of War and the commanding general. The aggregate is 4,336, from which, as you will see, some three hundred are deducted on account of the various casualties incident to the service. This reduction would make the army of occupation, when all the troops en route shall have arrived, about 4,000.

No return of your command has yet been received for the month of July, which, I suppose, may have been unavoidably delayed or miscarried. While on the subject of "monthly returns" and "reports," I respectfully refer you to paragraph 823, &c., of the army regulations.

The battalion of the 4th infantry, drawn from Fort Scott, appears to have been greatly delayed in its movement from St. Louis (where it arrived the 30th of July) to Corpus Christi, being nearly a month. The only report from the commander. Brevet Major Graham, is dated on board the steamer, August 3d, being then thirty-five miles above the mouth of the Ohio. What detention he may have met with in New Orleans is not known, nor has the day been reported when he joined the army of occupation. For the information of the War Department and the general-in-chief, you are requested to inquire into the cause or causes of the (apparently) extraordinary slow progress of the two companies, after their arrival at St. Louis.

I send herewith, by direction of the Secretary of War, for your information, a copy of his letter of instructions to Brevet Major General Gaines, commanding the western division, of this date. I am, general, very respectfully, your obedient servant, R. JONES, Adjutant General.

To Brig. Gen. Z. TAYLOR,

Commanding army of occupation, Corpus Christi, Texas.

NOTE. Since writing the above, Captain Page's report of the 28th ultimo has been received, by which it is seen that Brevet Major Graham's command reached the army in Texas the 26th of August.

R. J.

ADJUTANT GENERAL'S OFFICE,
Washington, September 16, 1845.

GENERAL: The two companies of volunteer artillerists, mustered into the service by General Gaines, which were so unexpectedly sent to you by that officer from New Orleans, it is inferred from your despatch of the 26th August, will scarcely be longer required in your camp. If this be so, I am instructed by the Secretary of War to say that you will please cause them to be honorably discharged from the army, and sent home again to mingle with their

friends and relatives, from whom a sense of duty to their country had so suddenly separated them.

It is understood that the United States schooner "On-ka hy-e" has been ordered to ply regularly between Aransas bay and the city of Mobile; by which conveyance your despatches would, ordinarily, reach Washington one day sooner, it is said, than via New Orleans. I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

Brig. Gen. Z. TAYLOR,

R. JONES, Adjutant General.

Commanding army of occupation, Corpus Christi, Texas.

ADJUTANT GENERAL'S OFFICE,

Washington, December 24, 1845.

GENERAL: I have the honor to inform you that, on the 16th instant, the United States steamer "Colonel Harney" was ordered to be transferred from the Navy to the War Department, and that measures have been taken by the quartermaster's department to place her at your disposal, for the purpose of keeping up prompt and regular communication between New Orleans and the army at Corpus Christi. It is hoped that this arrangement will fully meet your views on the subject, as communicated in your letter of November 8, (No. 32,) and which I acknowledged on the 11th in

stant.

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

Brig. General Z. TAYLOR,

R. JONES, Adjutant General.

Commanding army of occupation, Corpus Christi, Texas.

ADJUTANT GENERAL'S OFFICE,

Washington, February 26, 1846.

GENERAL: The Secretary of the Navy has despatched the sloop of war St. Mary's, with orders to be "put in communication with the army in Texas." I understand that the St. Mary's draws sixteen or seventeen feet, and I fear, therefore, she will not be suitable for the service, for which you require the presence of "a small armed vessel." I have communicated my opinion to the Secretary of War and Secretary of the Navy.

I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
R. JONES, Adjutant General.

Brig. General Z. TAYLOR,

Commanding army of occupation, Corpus Christi, Texas.

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SIR: Herewith I enclose you a copy of a letter from the Secretary of the Navy to the Secretary of War, dated the 2d instant, by

which you will perceive that, since my letter of the 26th ultimo, informing you that the sloop of War "St. Mary's" has been ordered to be "put into communication with the army in Texas,"" two small vessels (the "Somers" and "Flirt") have been directed to "co-operate with the army in Texas."

I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
R. JONES, Adjutant General.

Brevet Brig. General Z. TAYLOR,

Commanding army of occupation, Corpus Christi, Texas.

[Extract.]

ADJUTANT GENERAL'S OFFICE,
Washington, April 8, 1846.

GENERAL: All the disposable recruits for the general service from New York and Newport, Ky., are en route for your army, which you will please to assign on their arrival to such regiments and companies as you may judge best. I regret to say that the number will but little exceed 200; to which 100 may be added at New Orleans from the regimental depots-in all, over 300 men. Every exertion has been made to push the recruiting service, but results show it has fallen off for several months past. Even in New York, where, usually, a large number are recruited, but few have entered; and at Albany, another good station, but one man enlisted in March.

**

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

Brevet Brigadier General Z. TAYLOR,

R. JONES, Adjutant General.

Comm'dg army of Texas, Point Isabel, Texas.

ADJUTANT GENERAL'S OFFICE,
Washington, April 20, 1846.

GENERAE: Since my last acknowledgment of the 31st ultimo, the following despatches and orders have been received from your headquarters, viz:

Despatches, numbered from 22 to 25, inclusive;

"Orders," from number 32 to 36, inclusive; and
"Special orders," number 38.

Your despatch No. 16, and special orders No. 17, are still wanting to complete the series.

On the subject of recruits, required to fill the regiments in Texas, and to which you refer in your despatch of the 29th of March, Í respectfully refer you to my letter of the 8th instant, which informed you that about 300 were en route for the army under your command, being every man that could be collected.

On the 18th, orders were despatched to send you four companies of the 1st infantry, from Jefferson barracks, without delay, with a field officer to command the battalion.

This battalion will not be less than 250 strong, as the two remaining companies of the 1st infantry, at Jefferson barracks, have been broken up, and all the privates, except six, transferred to the marching companies to fill them up. The overplus will be attached as supernumeraries until the passage of the law to increase the rank and file, when they will be permanently incorporated with the four companies now ordered to Texas.

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

Brevet Brigadier General Z. TAYLOR,

Commanding army of occupation,

R. JONES, Adjutant General.

Camp opposite Matamoras, Texas.

DESPATCHES FROM GENERAL TAYLOR TO THE ADJUTANT GENERAL

HEAD-QUARTERS, 1st MILITARY DEPARTMENT,

New Orleans, La., July 20, 1845.

SIR: I respectfully acknowledge your communication of July 8, covering the instructions of the Secretary of War of the same date, relative to the Mexican settlements on this side of the Rio Grande. Those instructions will be closely obeyed; and the department may rest assured that I will take no step to interrupt the friendly relations between the United States and Mexico. I am gratified at receiving these instructions, as they confirm my views, previously communicated, in regard to the proper line to be occupied at present by our troops.

I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
Z. TAYLOR,

Brevet Brig. Gen. U. S. A., commanding. The ADJUTANT GENERAL of the Army,

Washington, D. C.

HEAD-QUARTERS, ARMY OF OCCUPATION,

Steamship Alabama, Aransas Pass, Texas, July 28, 1845.

SIR: I respectfully report my arrival at this place on the 25th instant, with eight companies of the 3d infantry, it having been found necessary to leave two companies of that regiment, to be brought over in other transports.

The troops are temporarily established on St. Joseph's island. I am waiting the report of a boat expedition sent to Corpus Christi bay before I determine on the site of an encampment. I hope to receive the necessary information in the course of the day, when I

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