“General Hamilton is not a bad man, but he does not manifest great force of character, and is surrounded by men who came here on the Government transports, unbeknown to me, for base, speculative purposes, and nothing else. I notified him of the conduct of these men, and he promised to correct it, but has not yet done so. He explains their presence by saying, that in the North he became indebted to them for pecuniary assistance. I sent him notice that they would be required to leave the Department if their course was approved by him.
“It was mainly the impatience of these people that prompted me to forward the detachment to Galveston; but only upon the concurrence of Admiral Farragut and General Butler as to its expediency and safety. Such is a full statement of my participation in this affair.
“I have the honor to be, with much respect,
“your obedient servant, “N. P. BANKS, “Major-General commanding.
“Major-General Halleck,
“Commander-in-Chief U. S. Army.”
The flag-of-truce scheme, so fortunately put into use by Major Smith, led to some correspondence on the subject between General Magruder and Commodore Bell, commanding United States forces off Galveston. None of this correspondence is of material interest to the Forty-Second Regiment, except the following extract from a letter by Colonel Debray to Commodore Bell, January 22d, viz.: “As to your complaint of a breach of truce in connection with the Forty-Second Massachusetts, I would respectfully state that the land troops were not embraced in the terms of truce on the 1st instant, either directly or indirectly. As soon as daylight came they could have been destroyed by our guns and musketry in five minutes. To avert a misunderstanding on this subject with you, which Major-General Magruder would much regret, he will send a full statement by to-morrow morning.”
The full statement of Magruder to Bell is embraced in the following papers sent to the Confederate War Department in Richmond, Va., by Major-General Magruder, in justification of himself. It is proper to state that the statement signed by Colonel Burrell, was drafted after a long consultation between his officers, and, while not correct in every respect, the officers felt under obligations to Generals Magruder and Scurry, for favors granted and expected, and were disposed to help Magruder out of his muddle with the Confederate War Department. The documents were:
“The following document is not to be considered or used as official in any way, but as strictly personal.
“ISAAC S. BURRELL, “Colonel 42d Regt. Mass. Vols.
“Statement in relation to the surrender of a portion of the Forty-Second Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteers, at Galveston, Texas, on the morning of January 1st, A.D. 1863, to the Confederate forces under the command of Major-General J. B. Magruder, with the circumstances attending the surrender: