CHAPTER VII.
Scott prefers complaint against General Jesup—Court of inquiry ordered by the President—Scott fully exonerated by the court—Complaints of citizens—Difficulties of the campaign—Speech in Congress of Hon. Richard Biddle—Scott declines an invitation to a dinner in New York city—Resolutions of the subscribers—Scott is ordered to take charge of and remove the Cherokee Indians—Orders issued to troops and address to the Indians—Origin of the Cherokee Indian troubles—Collision threatened between Maine and New Brunswick, and Scott sent there—Correspondence with Lieutenant-Governor Harvey—Seizure of Navy Island by Van Rensselaer—Governor Marcy.
General Scott had, a short time previous to the events just narrated, complained to the War Department of disobedience of orders on the part of General Jesup, who had written a letter to the Globe newspaper in Washington charging that Scott's conduct had been destructive of the best interests of the country. Mr. Francis P. Blair, the editor to whom the letter was addressed, showed it to President Jackson, who indorsed on it an order to the Secretary of War to recall General Scott to Washington, and that an inquiry be held as to his delay in prosecuting the Creek War and the failure of the Florida campaign. On Scott's arrival in Washington he asked for a court of inquiry, which was ordered on October 3d, composed of Major-General Alexander Macomb and Brigadier-Generals Henry Atkinson and Hugh Brady, with Colonel Cooper, General Macomb's aid-de-camp, as judge advocate. The court assembled at Frederick, Md., and was delayed some time by the absence of witnesses. General Scott addressed the court in his own defense.
The finding was unanimous that the plan of the Seminole campaign was well devised, and prosecuted with energy, steadiness, and ability; and as to the Creek campaign, the court decided that the plan of the campaign as adopted by General Scott was well calculated to lead to successful results, and that it was prosecuted by him, as far as practicable, with zeal and ability until he was recalled from the command. This was not only a full vindication, but a compliment to him expressed in the broadest sense.
He now addressed a letter to Secretary of War Joel R. Poinsett, asking the immediate direction of affairs in Florida, as this was a part of the geographical division to which he had been assigned, and a large number of the troops of his command had been ordered there; and that he was senior in rank to General Jesup, then commanding there. The members of Congress from his native State made a unanimous appeal to the Secretary of War seconding his application, but the application was denied.
Some citizens of Florida made complaints of the nonsuccess of the army, and severely censured General Scott. In fact, complaints of this nature were made against every officer who commanded in Florida, except General Zachary Taylor. It has been seen that the court of inquiry fully vindicated General Scott's course in the management of the war in Florida. The campaign, however, vindicated itself. Considering the scarcity of all the means at hand, it is remarkable how much was accomplished with so little loss of life.
When General Scott undertook this campaign Florida was a terra incognita. The greater part of it had scarcely been visited by the whites, and very little was known of the settlements of the Seminoles. They were known by their approaches to the white settlements, and when the war broke out by their plunders and devastations. It was not known where their hiding places were, and this could only be determined by pursuing them. At the time of General Scott's assignment to the command all the information tended to locating them on the waters of the Ouithlacoochee and the St. John's Rivers; and accordingly against this portion of the country the movement of the army was directed.
It was not only the want of ordnance, clothing, and subsistence, but the geographical peculiarity of Florida—with its marshes, thickets, hammocks, everglades, and impenetrable swamps—that made this campaign almost fruitless, and which for years baffled all efforts of the Government to subdue this small but brave and desperate tribe of Indians.
In Congress General Scott's campaign in Florida was defended by some of the ablest men in the country. Richard Biddle, of Pennsylvania, in 1837, when the House of Representatives was engaged in a debate on appropriations for carrying on the war in Florida, said: "It would be recollected by all that after the war in Florida had assumed a formidable aspect Major-General Scott was called to the command. An officer of his rank and standing was not likely to seek a service in which, amid infinite toil and vexation, there would be no opportunity for the display of military talent on a scale at all commensurate with that in which his past fame had been acquired. Yet he entered on it with the alacrity, zeal, and devotion to duty by which he had ever been distinguished....
"When the late General Brown, writing from the field of Chippewa, said that General Scott merited the highest praises which a grateful country could bestow, was there a single bosom throughout the wide republic that did not respond to the sentiment? I, for one at least, can never forget the thrill of enthusiasm, boy as I then was, which mingled with my own devout thankfulness to God that the cloud which seemed to have settled on our arms was at length dispelled. On that plain it was established that Americans could be trained to meet and to beat in the open field, without breastworks, the regulars of Britain....
"Sir, the result of that day was due not merely to the gallantry of General Scott upon the field. It must in part be ascribed to the patient, anxious, and indefatigable drudgery, the consummate skill as a tactician, with which he labored night and day, at the camp near Buffalo, to prepare his brigade for the career on which it was about to enter. After a brief interval he again led that brigade to the glorious victory of Bridgewater. He bears now upon his body the wounds of that day. It had ever been the characteristic of this officer to seek the post of danger—not to have it thrust upon him. In the years preceding that to which I have specially referred—in 1812 and 1813—the eminent services he rendered were in the positions which properly belonged to others, but into which he was led by irrepressible ardor and jealousy of honor.
"Since the peace with Great Britain the talents of General Scott have ever been at the command of his country. His pen and his sword have alike been put in requisition to meet the varied exigencies of the service. When the difficulties with the Western Indians swelled into importance, General Scott was dispatched to the scene of hostility. There rose up before him then, in the ravages of a frightful pestilence, a form of danger infinitely more appalling than the perils of the field. How he bore himself in this emergency, how faithfully he became the nurse and the physician of those from whom terror and loathing had driven all other aid, can not be forgotten by a just and grateful country....
"Mr. Chairman, I believe that a signal atonement to General Scott will one day be extorted from the justice of the House. We owe it to him; but we owe it still more to the country. What officer can feel secure in the face of that great example of triumphant injustice? Who can place before himself the anticipation of establishing higher claims upon the gratitude of the country than General Scott? Yet he was sacrificed. His past services went for nothing. Sir, you may raise new regiments and issue new commissions, but you can not without such atonement restore the high moral tone which befits the depositories of the national honor. I fondly wish that the highest and lowest in the country's service might be taught to regard this House as the jealous guardian of his rights, against caprice, or fanaticism, or outrage from whatever quarter. I would have him know that in running up the national flag at the very moment our daily labors commence, we do not go through an idle form. On whatever distant service he may be sent—whether urging his way amid tumbling icebergs toward the pole, or fainting in the unwholesome heat of Florida—I would enable him as he looks up to that flag to gather hope and strength. It should impart to him a proud feeling of confidence and security. He should know that the same emblem of majesty and justice floats over the council of the nation, and that in its untarnished luster we have all a common interest and a common sympathy. Then, sir, and not before, will you have an army or a navy worthy to sustain and to perpetuate the glory of former days."
Soon after the decision of the court of inquiry exonerating him from blame or censure General Scott was tendered a public dinner in New York from leading members of both political parties. He accepted the invitation, but it was subsequently postponed until about the middle of May, and before that time it was altogether declined, for reasons expressed in a note of which a copy follows:
"Gentlemen: Early last month I accepted the invitation to a public dinner which you and other friends did me the honor to tender me. In a few days the embarrassments of this great emporium became such that I begged the compliment might be indefinitely postponed. You, however, were so kind as to hold me to my engagement, and to appoint a day for the meeting, which is now near at hand. In the meantime the difficulties in the commercial world have gone on augmenting, and many of my friends, here and elsewhere, have been whelmed under the general calamity of the times. Feeling deeply for the losses and anxieties of all, no public honor could now be enjoyed by me. I must therefore, under the circumstances, positively but most respectfully withdraw my acceptance of your invitation.
"I have the honor to remain, gentlemen, with the greatest esteem, your friend and servant,
"Winfield Scott."
The subscribers to the dinner, on receipt of General Scott's letter, called a meeting, Cornelius W. Lawrence in the chair, and unanimously adopted the resolutions which follow:
"Resolved, That in the decision of General Scott to withdraw, for the reasons assigned, his acceptance of the public dinner designed to testify to him our high appreciation both of his private and public character, we find new evidence of his sympathy with all that regards the public welfare, and of his habitual oblivion of self where the feelings and interests of others are concerned.
"Resolved, That we rejoice with the joy of friends in the result, so honorable to General Scott, of the recent court of inquiry instituted to investigate his military conduct as commander in chief in Alabama and Florida, and that the President of the United States (Mr. Van Buren), in approving its proceedings, acted in gratifying unison with the general sentiments of the nation."
General Scott also received invitations from Richmond, Va., and Elizabeth, N.J., both of which places had been his former homes.
The Florida War was brought to a close by the defeat of the Indians by Colonel Zachary Taylor, in the decisive battle of Okechobee, for which he received the brevet of Brigadier General, and in 1838 was appointed to the chief command in Florida. Taylor was succeeded by Brigadier-General Armistead, and in 1842 General Worth succeeded to the command and made a treaty with Sam Jones and Billy Bowlegs, allowing them to remain and possess a large tract of land.
In the spring of 1836 General Scott was ordered to take charge of and superintend the removal of the Cherokee Indians to the reservation which had been set apart for them by treaty west of the Mississippi River. Great opposition to removal was expected from the Indians, and much fear felt by the inhabitants contiguous to their settlements. General Scott, however, by his kindness and generosity, won the confidence of the Indians, and was not compelled to resort to any act of violence. Twenty-four thousand five hundred and ninety-four were removed, two hundred and thirty-six having lost their lives on the steamboat Monmouth. Only seven hundred and forty-four remained east of the Mississippi River. The Cherokees occupied territory in the States of Georgia, North Carolina, Alabama, and Tennessee. Many of their leaders were well educated and were men of ability, and some of them were wealthy, owning fine farms and negro slaves. General Scott in his Memoirs says: "The North Carolinians and Tennesseeans were kindly disposed toward their red brethren. The Alabamians much less so. The great difficulty was with the Georgians (more than half the army), between whom and the Cherokees there had been feuds and wars for many generations. The reciprocal hatred of the two races was probably never surpassed. Almost every Georgian on leaving home, as well as after arrival at New Echota—the center of the most populous district of the Indian Territory—vowed never to return without having killed at least one Indian."
General Scott arrived at the Cherokee agency, a small village on the Hiawassee River in Tennessee, in the early part of May, 1838. He published and circulated two addresses—one to the troops and the other to the Indians—but had them circulated together.
Following is the address to the troops:
"Headquarters, Eastern Division,
"Cherokee Agency, May 17, 1838.
"Considering the number and temper of the mass to be removed, together with the extent and fastnesses of the country occupied, it will readily occur that simple indiscretions, acts of harshness, and cruelty on the part of our troops may lead, step by step, to delays, to impatience, and exasperation, and in the end to a general war and carnage—a result in the case of these particular Indians, utterly abhorrent to the generous sympathies of the whole American people. Every possible kindness compatible with the necessity of removal must therefore be shown by the troops; and if in the ranks a despicable individual should be found capable of inflicting a wanton injury or insult on any Cherokee man, woman, or child, it is hereby made the special duty of the nearest good officer or man instantly to interpose, and to seize and consign the guilty wretch to the severest penalty of the laws. The major general is fully persuaded that this injunction will not be neglected by the brave men under his command, who can not be otherwise than jealous of their own honor and that of their country.
"By early and persevering acts of kindness and humanity, it is impossible to doubt that the Indians will soon be induced to confide in the army, and, instead of fleeing to the mountains and forests, flock to us for food and clothing. If, however, through false apprehensions, individuals or a party here and there should seek to hide themselves, they must be pursued and invited to surrender, but not fired upon, unless they should make a stand to resist. Even in such cases mild remedies may sometimes better succeed than violence; and it can not be doubted, if we get possession of the women and children first, or first capture the men, that in either case the outstanding members of the same families will readily come in on the assurance of forgiveness and kind treatment.
"Every captured man, as well as those who surrender themselves, must be disarmed, with the assurance that their weapons will be carefully preserved and restored at or beyond the Mississippi. In either case the men will be guarded and escorted, except it may be where their women and children are safely secured as hostages; but in general, families in our possession will not be separated, unless it be to send men as runners to invite others to come in.
"It may happen that Indians will be found too sick, in the opinion of the nearest surgeon, to be removed to one of the depots indicated above. In every such case one or more of the family or the friends of the sick person will be left in attendance, with ample subsistence and remedies, and the remainder of the family removed by the troops. Infants, superannuated persons, lunatics, and women in helpless condition, will all, in the removal, require peculiar attention, which the brave and humane will seek to adapt to the necessities of the several cases."
Following is the address to the Indians:
"Major-General Scott, of the United States Army, sends to the Cherokee people remaining in North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, and Alabama this
"ADDRESS.
"Cherokees: The President of the United States has sent me with a powerful army to cause you, in obedience of the treaty of 1835, to join that part of your people who are already established in prosperity on the other side of the Mississippi. Unhappily, the two years which were allowed for the purpose you have suffered to pass away without following and without making any preparation to follow, and now, or by the time that this solemn address shall reach your distant settlements, the emigration must be commenced in haste, but, I hope, without disorder. I have no power by granting a further delay to correct the error that you have committed. The full moon of May is already on the wane, and before another shall have passed away every Cherokee man, woman, and child in those States must be in motion to join their brethren in the far West.
"My friends, this is no sudden determination on the part of the President, whom you and I must now obey. By the treaty the emigration was to have been completed on or before the 23d of this month, and the President has constantly kept you warned during the two years allowed, through all his officers and agents in this country, that the treaty would be enforced.
"I am come to carry out that determination. My troops already occupy many positions in the country that you are to abandon, and thousands and thousands are approaching from every quarter to render assistance and escape alike hopeless. All those troops, regular and militia, are your friends. Receive them, and confide in them as such. Obey them when they tell you that you can remain no longer in this country. Soldiers are as kind-hearted as brave, and the desire of every one of us is to execute our painful duty in mercy. We are commanded by the President to act toward you in that spirit, and such is also the wish of the whole people of America.
"Chiefs, headmen, and warriors, will you then by resistance compel us to resort to arms? God forbid! Or will you by flight seek to hide yourselves in mountains and forests, and thus oblige us to hunt you down? Remember, that in pursuit it may be impossible to avoid conflicts. The blood of the white man or the blood of the red man may be spilt, and if spilt, however accidentally, if may be impossible for the discreet and humane among you or among us to prevent a general war and carnage. Think of this, my Cherokee brethren! I am an old warrior, and have been present at many a scene of slaughter; but spare me, I beseech you, the horror of witnessing the destruction of the Cherokees.
"Do not, I invite you, even wait for the close approach of the troops; but make such preparations for emigration as you can, and hasten to this place, to Ross's Landing, or to Gunter's Landing, where you will be received in kindness by officers selected for the purpose. You will find food for all, and clothing for the destitute, at either of those places, and thence at your ease and in comfort be transported to your new homes according to the terms of the treaty.
"This is the address of a warrior to warriors. May his entreaties be kindly received, and may the God of both prosper the Americans and Cherokees, and preserve them long in peace and friendship with each other.
Winfield Scott."
There was some delay in bringing in the mountain Indians of North Carolina, but the Indians of Tennessee and Alabama were readily collected for emigration. General Scott remained with the Georgians, and followed up his printed addresses by suggestions which proved to be invaluable.
In a short time the Indians, excepting a few parties, were collected at the place of rendezvous. The camp selected was twelve miles in length, with a breadth of four miles. It was well shaded by large forest trees, and had a large number of springs furnishing an abundance of the best of water.
The sick were placed in hospitals, and attended by good physicians and furnished with everything necessary for their comfort. General Scott rode through the camps daily, and saw that every attention was given to the Indians which they required, and he made inquiries and gave special attention to the care of the sick and to the women and children. At length he placed the matter of the emigration of the Indians in the hands of the Cherokee authorities, having won the entire confidence and regard of the Indians, and he ordered all of the volunteers to their homes, except one company which he retained as a police force, and one regiment of regulars which it was thought necessary to retain to meet any unforeseen contingencies that might arise. Two other regular regiments were ordered off, one to Florida and the other to the Canada frontier. The company of volunteers retained was from Tennessee, and of it General Scott said: "The company of volunteers (Tennesseeans) were a body of respectable citizens, and under their judicious commander, Captain Robertson, of great value as a police force." The Cherokees were at this time receiving large sums of money from the Government in the way of damages and indemnities, and a number of gamblers and confidence men sought to enter their camps. They were, however, kept out by the vigilance of the Tennessee company.
In October the movement west began. General Scott accompanied them to the junction of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. General Scott gives credit for services and aid rendered him to his acting inspector general, Major Matthew Mountjoy Payne; Captain Robert Anderson, acting adjutant general (later the commander of Fort Sumter, and a brigadier general); Lieutenant Erastus Darwin Keyes, aid-de-camp, afterward major general, United States volunteers; Lieutenant Francis Taylor, commissary; Captains Page and Abner Reviere Hetzel, quartermasters; Lieutenant Henry L. Scott, Fourth Infantry, then aid-de-camp and inspector general; Major H.B. Shaw, aid-de-camp, Tennessee volunteers; Colonel William Lindsay, Second Artillery; Colonel William S. Foster, Fourth Infantry; and Colonel Ichabod Bennett Crane, First Artillery. Generals Worth and Floyd rendered important service in this campaign, and their names should not be omitted.
It may be necessary, for a better understanding of the Cherokee Indian difficulties, to add something more to what has been written. The chief troubles which had arisen were in Georgia, and many complications arose between the Indians and the whites. In a case decided by the Supreme Court of the United States, the opinion being rendered by Chief-Justice John Marshall, the status of these Indians was thus defined: "Their relation is that of a nation claiming and receiving the protection of one more powerful; not that of individuals abandoning their national character and submitting as subjects to the laws of a master."
Regarding the acts of Congress to regulate trade with the Indians the Chief Justice said: "All these acts, and especially that of 1802, which is still in force, manifestly consider the several Indian nations as distinct political communities, having territorial boundaries, within which their authority is exclusive, and having a right to all the lands within those boundaries, which is not only acknowledged but guaranteed by the United States." By one of the treaties made by the United States Government with this tribe of Indians, it was enacted and agreed that "the United States solemnly guarantee to the Cherokee nation all their lands not hereby ceded," and, "that the Cherokee nation may be led to a greater degree of civilization, and to become herdsmen and cultivators, instead of remaining in a state of hunting, the United States will from time to time furnish gratuitously the said nation with useful instruments of husbandry." Acting under this treaty, a greater portion of the Cherokees had become both cultivators and herdsmen, and rivaled their white neighbors in both.
The trouble which arose in Georgia was from the fact that she claimed the right to extend her criminal jurisdiction over these Indians, and that the United States was bound to extinguish the Indian titles within her borders. This claim of Georgia, persistently pressed, caused the United States Government in 1802 to agree to purchase the Indian lands, and remove them to some other territory. The Indians resisted this action on the faith of treaties. Eventually a treaty was made with a portion of the Cherokees by which they were to relinquish their lands and accept lands across the Mississippi River. Many of the Indians resisted and never ratified this treaty, yet the Government insisted upon carrying out the treaty. General Scott received his orders on April 10, 1838, and first established his headquarters at a small village called Calhoun, on the Hiawassee River, in East Tennessee. Colonel Lindsay, an officer of merit and who enjoyed the full confidence of General Scott, was in immediate command of that territory, had established posts in many of the settlements, and had arranged to have the mountain passes well guarded.
Referring to these matters, the National Intelligencer of September 27, 1838, said: "The manner in which this gallant officer [Scott] has acquitted himself within the last year upon the Canada frontier, and lately among the Cherokees, has excited the universal admiration and gratitude of the whole nation. Owing to his great popularity in the North, his thorough knowledge of the laws of his own country, as well as of those which govern nations, united to his discretion, his great tact and experience, he has saved the country from a ruinous war with Great Britain. And by his masterly skill and energy among the Cherokees, united to his noble generosity and humanity, he has not only effected what everybody supposed could not be done without the most heartrending scenes of butchery and bloodshed, but he has effected it by obtaining the esteem and confidence of the poor Cherokees themselves. They look upon him as a benefactor and friend, and one who has saved them from entire destruction. All the Cherokees were collected for emigration without bloodshed or violence, and all would have been on their way to the West before the middle of July, had not humanity induced General Scott to stop the movement until the 1st of September. Three thousand had been sent off in the first half of June by the superintendent, before the general took upon himself the responsibility of stopping the emigration, from feelings which must do everlasting honor to his heart. An approval of his course had been sent on by the War Department, before his report giving information that he had stopped the emigration had reached the seat of Government. In the early part of January last the President had asked Congress for enlarged powers, to enable him to maintain our neutral obligations to England—that is, to tranquilize the Canadian frontiers. Before the bill passed Congress, General Scott had finished the work and effected all its objects. These, too, he effected by flying from one end of the frontier to the other in the dead of winter, and during the severest and coldest period of it. He returns to Washington, and is immediately ordered to the Cherokee nation, to take charge of the very difficult and hazardous task to his own fame of removing those savages from their native land. Some of his best friends regretted most sincerely that he had been ordered on this service, and, knowing the disposition of the world to cavil and complain without cause, had great apprehension that he would lose a portion of the popularity he had acquired by his distinguished success on the Canadian frontier. But behold the manner in which this last work has been performed! There is so much of noble generosity of character about Scott, independent of his skill and bravery as a soldier, that his life has really been one of romantic beauty and interest."
It was General Scott's intention to accompany the Indian emigration farther west, but receiving information that the Canadian insurgents were making renewed attempts on the Canadas, he was directed to proceed at once to that frontier.
Passing through the States of Kentucky and Ohio, accompanied by Captain Robert Anderson, he called upon their respective governors and arranged for the calling out of volunteers should they be needed, and also gave proper instructions to the United States marshals and district attorneys for such duties as they might be called upon to perform. He passed on rapidly to Cleveland, Sandusky, and Detroit, and met great assemblages of excited citizens, and, by his appeals and reasoning with them, prevailed upon them to desist from any acts in violation of the neutrality with Great Britain. Pending these important services, he learned of the trouble which had arisen between the State of Maine and the British colony or province of New Brunswick, and at once made haste for Washington. On his arrival at the capital, after reporting to the President, he was called before the committees on foreign affairs of both Houses of Congress, before whom he urged and succeeded in securing the passage of two bills—one authorizing the President to call out the militia for six months and to accept the service of fifty thousand volunteers, and the other to place to his credit ten millions of dollars. On taking leave of the President he said to him: "Mr. President, if you want war, I need only look on in silence. The Maine people will make it for you fast and hot enough. I know them. But if peace be your wish, I can give no assurance of success. The difficulties in its way will be formidable." The President replied, "Peace with honor"; and the general, who fully reciprocated the President's feeling, took his leave, accompanied by Captain Robert Anderson and Lieutenant E.D. Keyes, his aid-de-camp. He left with general instructions, but in certain events he was to act on his own judgment without restriction. Arriving in Boston, he met Governor Edward Everett, and arranged for calling out the militia and accepting volunteers if needed.
Governor Everett introduced him to his executive council with the following address: "General, I take great pleasure in introducing you to the members of the Executive Council of Massachusetts. I need not say that you are already known to them by reputation. They are familiar with your fame as it is recorded in some of the arduous and honorable fields of the country's struggles. We rejoice in meeting you on this occasion. Charged as you are with a most momentous mission by the President of the United States, we are sure you are intrusted with a duty most grateful to your feelings—that of averting an appeal to arms. We place unlimited reliance on your spirit, energy, and discretion. Should you unhappily fail in your efforts, under the instructions of the President, to restore harmony, we know that you are equally prepared for a still more responsible duty. Should that unhappy event occur, I beg you to depend on the firm support of Massachusetts." He was then given a reception by the Legislature, and received on its behalf by Robert C. Winthrop.
From Boston he proceeded at once to Portland, where he found the people greatly excited, and demanding the immediate seizure and occupation of the disputed territory. At the capital, Augusta, where he next proceeded, he found the same excitement with the same demands. The Legislature was in session, and a large majority of its members were for war. The strip of disputed land was valuable chiefly for ship timber. Some British subjects had entered the territory and cut some of the timber, and the Governor of Maine sent an agent with a posse to drive them off. The British seized and imprisoned the agent, and much angry correspondence followed between the authorities of both sides.
General Scott soon determined that the only mode of settlement was to prohibit or have an agreement on both sides to leave the territory unoccupied by either party until the matters in dispute could be arranged between the governments of the United States and Great Britain, taking the matter out of the jurisdiction of the State of Maine and the province of New Brunswick. Previous to Scott's arrival in Maine the Legislature of that State had passed an act placing eight hundred thousand dollars at the disposal of the Governor and authorizing the calling out of eight thousand troops. Some of these troops had been organized and moved near the disputed territory, and others were held ready to move when ordered. British troops, both regulars and militia, had also been moved forward. Everything indicated a war. On February 27, 1839, President Van Buren had sent a message to Congress transmitting various documents received from the Governor of Maine, and a copy of a memorandum signed by the Secretary of State of the United States and the British Minister to the United States, which, it was hoped, would prevent a collision of arms. Mr. H.B. Fox, the British Minister, had acted without specific authority from his Government, and the memorandum therefore had only the force of a recommendation. All correspondence had for some time ceased between the governors of Maine and New Brunswick.
The Governor of New Brunswick, John Harvey, had been an adjutant general of one of the armies of Canada in the campaign of 1813, and was well known to General Scott. Scott, it will be remembered, was an adjutant general in this campaign, and he and Colonel Harvey had frequent correspondence, and it was so conducted as to create a feeling of respect on both sides. At one time in the campaign mentioned, when Scott was on a reconnoitering expedition, his party came upon Harvey, and a gun in the hands of a soldier near Scott was leveled on him. Scott caught the gun, and said, "Hold! he is our prisoner," but Colonel Harvey made a rapid turn and escaped.
On General Scott's arrival in Maine he had with him a private letter from Sir John Harvey, the Colonel Harvey just mentioned, then Governor General of New Brunswick. It is proper to mention here, as additional reason for good feeling between General Scott and Sir John Harvey, that at one time in the War of 1813 an American soldier under Scott's command had come into possession of the uniform coat of a British staff officer, and in one of the pockets was found the miniature of a young lady. The portmanteau from which the coat and miniature were taken was marked "Lieutenant-Colonel Harvey." Scott purchased these articles from the soldier and sent them to Colonel Harvey. The picture was that of his young bride, then in England.
Governor Fairfield, of Maine, had on March 12th sent a message to the Legislature objecting to the terms of the memorandum, but recommending that, when fully satisfied that the Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick had abandoned all idea of occupying the disputed territory with a military force, or of attempting the expulsion of citizens of Maine, he [the Governor] be authorized to withdraw the military force, leaving the land agent with a posse of armed or unarmed men, as the case might require, sufficient to drive out or arrest trespassers. The Legislature on March 20th passed resolutions in accordance with these recommendations. The message of the Governor of Maine and the resolutions of the Legislature required the lieutenant governor to make the advance.
General Scott, after the action of the Legislature above mentioned, sent a reply to Harvey's private letter, which he had held unanswered so long. This elicited a friendly reply, and other letters of the same character quickly followed on either side. A line of couriers was established between them to facilitate correspondence. Governor Harvey took the first step, and made the concessions which were necessary to appease the authorities of Maine, but the Governor did not feel authorized to withdraw the troops from the disputed territory unless authorized by the Legislature. General Scott mingled freely with members of the Legislature, urging pacific measures, and on March 20th resolutions were passed; and Scott having his memorandum with Sir John Harvey with all concessions to restore tranquillity, the Governor of Maine added his approval, and the question was transferred to the authorities of the United States and Great Britain, which resulted in a satisfactory settlement to both nations of this unhappy affair.
An uprising, confined chiefly to the French inhabitants of Upper Canada, occurred in 1837, in which they demanded a separation from the British Government, and they enlisted many sympathizers among citizens of the United States, especially among those living on the Canadian boundary. Organizations of sympathizers with the Canadians were secretly formed by American citizens to such an extent that the President of the United States issued a proclamation enjoining its citizens to observe neutrality. This did not quiet the excitement, but rather tended to increase it. Matters were brought to a crisis by the action of a certain Van Rensselaer, who had been dismissed from the Military Academy at West Point, and who styled himself "Colonel" Van Rensselaer. He organized a party of Americans reckless like himself, and took forcible possession of a small British island opposite to Fort Schlosser, on the American side, and known as Navy Island. This island was a short distance above the falls of Niagara. Young Van Rensselaer engaged a small steamboat called the Caroline to ferry parties from Navy Island, which he occupied, to Schlosser on the American shore.
The first night on which the Caroline began her voyages the British fitted out an expedition to capture her. Instead of making a descent on Navy Island within British territory, they boarded the steamer at Schlosser, on the American side, and thus violated our territory. The boat at the time of this invasion was filled with people, many of whom were there for idle curiosity, including a number of boys. In the mêlée of capture one American citizen was killed and several others wounded. They cut the boat from its moorings, set it on fire, and it drifted down the cataract. It was reported and generally believed that when the vessel went over the cataract it had a small number of wounded Americans on board.
The publication of this affair created the greatest excitement from one end of the country to the other. This occurred on December 29, 1837, but the news did not reach Washington until January 4th. On the evening of that day General Scott was to dine with President Van Buren and a number of other distinguished gentlemen. The entire party had arrived, but the President failed to appear. After a time he came in and spoke inaudibly to Henry Clay, one of the guests, and then said to General Scott: "Blood has been shed; you must go with all speed to the Niagara frontier. The Secretary of War is now engaged in making out your instructions." General Scott left at once, and passing through Albany, met William L. Marcy, the Governor of New York, who with his adjutant general (McDonald) accompanied him to the scene of the troubles. The United States troops at this time were all either in Florida or on the Western frontiers. General Scott, in passing through New York, had ordered some small detachments of army recruits to follow him. Governor Marcy was with him ready to answer his requisitions for militia, and he had the aid of the officers commanding on Lake Erie and the Detroit frontier and on the Niagara, Lake Ontario, and St. Lawrence. All United States marshals and other civil officers of the Government were ordered to support and aid him. He passed from one place to another, going where his services could be needed, exhorting the people to observe the neutrality proclamation of the President; and where he found them obstinate and determined, he notified them in terms which could not be mistaken that any attempt to violate this proclamation would be met by resistance from the Government, which would promptly overpower them.
Pending these troubles, a steamer called the Barcelona was taken from the harbor of Buffalo in January, 1838, and passed down the river, with a view to aid the insurgents on Navy Island. Scott, on learning of this, sent an agent who made terms to employ the Barcelona for the service of the Government. The vessel then proceeded back to Buffalo, where it was intended to use her on Lake Erie; but the Canadian authorities had determined to destroy her. As the vessel passed near Grand Island, within the jurisdiction of the United States, some armed British schooners had taken position, aided by land batteries, to open fire on her. This was on January 16th. General Scott and Governor Marcy stood on the river bank watching events. Batteries on the American side were put in preparation to return the fire of the British.
The day before the event just mentioned, Scott had written and dispatched a note "To the Commanding Officer of the Armed British Vessels in the Niagara":
"Headquarters, Eastern Division, U.S. Army,
"Two Miles Below Black Rock, January 15, 1838.
"Sir: With his Excellency, Governor Marcy, of New York, who has troops at hand, we are here to enforce the neutrality of the United States and to protect our own soil or waters from violation. The proper civil officers are also present to arrest, if practicable, the leaders of the expedition on foot against Upper Canada. Under these circumstances, it gives me pain to perceive the armed vessels mentioned, anchored in our waters, with the probable intention to fire upon that expedition moving in the same waters. Unless the expedition should first attack—in which case we shall interfere—we shall be obliged to consider a discharge of shot or shell from or into our waters, from the armed schooners of her Majesty, as an act seriously compromising the neutrality of the two nations. I hope, therefore, that no such unpleasant incident may occur.
"I have the honor to remain, etc.
"Winfield Scott."
The next morning, January 16th, the same information was given by General Scott to a British officer who called on him at his quarters. The Barcelona moved up the river, and Scott had his cannon pointed and his matches in readiness for firing. Scott stood on the highest point in full uniform and in view of the other shore. The vessel passed up unmolested, and doubtless by this act of Scott a war was averted.
In the meantime Van Rensselaer with his adherents had evacuated Navy Island and landed some miles below, where they were arrested by General Scott's orders. Thus ended a disturbance which might have resulted in war, and it can not be gainsaid that its peaceful settlement was due to the wisdom, firmness, and prudence of General Scott.