“SIR: I enclose copies of two letters from N. F. Collins, Esq., (one of the twenty-ninth ultimo and the other of the eighteenth instant,) in relation to the negroes which you were directed to turn over to him as the agent of the Creeks. From these papers, and from other information received here, it would seem there has been great disregard, if not a violation, of the orders of the War Department in this matter. I trust you will be able to make such explanations of your conduct as will relieve you from censure—a prompt answer is desired.
“It may not be amiss to inform you that, when on duty in the Indian Department, you are bound to obey the orders of no military officer, unless you have been placed under his direction. Captain Morrison is the only army officer authorized to control your movements.”
“Very, etc.,
C. A. HARRIS, Commissioner.
Lieut. J. G. REYNOLDS.”
These intimations to Lieutenant Reynolds of censure, and the distinct call for explanations, could be neither misinterpreted nor misunderstood; and, although the complaints and charges had been preferred not merely by a man in private life, but by an individual whose very employment as an assistant slave-dealer had rendered him odious and infamous among honorable men, yet this officer who had fought under the flag of his country, and was ready at any moment to peril his life in the support of his country’s honor, was now constrained to meet charges coming from an infamous source. The surprise of Lieutenant Reynolds at this procedure was expressed in the following letter:
“NEW ORLEANS, Sept. 20, 1838.
“SIR: Your letter, dated twenty-seventh ultimo, enclosing copies of two communications received at your office from Mr. N. F. Collins, the Creek attorney, came to hand on the tenth instant. I was surprised at being called upon to answer for ‘my conduct’ toward Mr. Collins, as also the Department for disregarding its orders. Indeed, sir, I have been, in my own estimation, too faithful a servant in the special department in which it was the pleasure of General Jessup to assign, and you to continue, me, to make a defense to the allegations advanced by Collins. At the time of Mr. Collins’s departure from this city, he did not evince that virulence of feeling that he has thought proper to express in his letter; on the contrary, he was then apparently under the full conviction that I had done all that was possible to aid him, and carry out the orders received in relation to the negroes in question. What object could I possibly have in wishing clandestinely, and in the very face of orders, to send those negroes to Arkansas? Had Mr. Collins been here, sir, so far as I was concerned, he should have had the negroes upon identity. I enclose papers, sir, from various gentlemen to disprove the assertion of Mr. Collins, ‘that the negroes were in my possession during the time he was here;’ on the contrary, they did not come into my hands until some time after his departure. It is true, I have frequently referred to Major Clark for advice in matters relative to my official situation. It was on account of the high regard I have of his character as a gentleman, and an officer of long standing and experience, and whose integrity stands preeminently and deservedly high.
“I have the honor to be, sir, very respectfully,
Your obd’t servant,
JNO. G. REYNOLDS,
U. S. M. C. Disb. Agent, Ind. Dep’t.
C. A. HARRIS,
Com. Ind. Affairs, Washington City, D. C.”
We have too little space in this work to copy official papers to any considerable extent. Those which accompanied Lieutenant Reynolds’s reply were—
First. A full statement of facts from Sheriff Buisson, showing that the thirty-one prisoners, who had been in his charge, were not turned over to Major Clark until the twenty-eighth of June, 1838.