COURT-MARTIAL ON LIEUTENANT-COLONEL FREMONT.
Columbus, the discoverer of the New World, was carried home in
chains, from the theatre of his discoveries, to expiate the crime
of his glory: Frémont, the explorer of California and its preserver
to the United States, was brought home a prisoner to be tried for
an offence, of which the penalty was death, to expiate the offence
of having entered the army without passing through the gate of the
Military Academy.
The governor of the State of Missouri, Austin A. King, Esq.,
sitting at the end of a long gallery at Fort Leavenworth, in
the summer of 1846, where he had gone to see a son depart as a
volunteer in General Kearney's expedition to New Mexico, heard a
person at the other end of the gallery speaking of Frémont in a
way that attracted his attention. The speaker was in the uniform
of a United States officer, and his remarks were highly injurious
to Frémont. He inquired the name of the speaker, and was told it
was Lieutenant Emory, of the Topographical corps; and he afterwards
wrote to a friend in Washington that Frémont was to have trouble
when he got among the officers of the regular army: and trouble
he did have: for he had committed the offence for which, in the
eyes of many of these officers, there was no expiation except
in ignominious expulsion from the army. He had not only entered
the army intrusively, according to their ideas, that is to say,
without passing through West Point, but he had done worse: he had
become distinguished. Instead of seeking easy service about towns
and villages, he had gone off into the depths of the wilderness,
to extend the boundaries of science in the midst of perils and
sufferings, and to gain for himself a name which became known
throughout the world. He was brought home to be tried for the
crime of mutiny, expanded into many specifications, of which one
is enough to show the monstrosity of the whole. At page 11 of the
printed record of the trial, under the head of "Mutiny" stands this
specification, numbered 6:
"In this, that he, Lieutenant-colonel John C. Frémont, of the
regiment of mounted riflemen, United States army, did, at Ciudad
de los Angeles, on the second of March, 1847, in contempt of
the lawful authority of his superior officer, Brigadier-general
Kearney, assume to be and act as governor of California, in
executing a deed or instrument of writing in the following
words, to wit: '_In consideration of Francis Temple having
conveyed to the United States a certain island, commonly called
White, or Bird Island, situated near the mouth of San Francisco
Bay, I, John C. Frémont, Governor of California, and in virtue
of my office as aforesaid, hereby oblige myself as the legal
representative of the United States, and my successors in
office, to pay the said Francis Temple, his heirs or assigns,
the sum of $5,000, to be paid at as early a day as possible
after the receipt of funds from the United States. In witness
whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the seal of
the Territory of California to be affixed, at Ciudad de los
Angeles, the capital of California, this 2d day of March, A. D.
1847.--John C. Frémont_.'"
And of this specification, as well as of all the rest, two dozen in
number, Frémont was duly found guilty by a majority of the court.
Now this case of mutiny consisted in this: That there being an
island of solid rock, of some hundred acres extent, in the mouth of
the San Francisco bay, formed by nature to command the bay, and on
which the United States are now constructing forts and a light-house
to cost millions, which island had been granted to a British subject
and was about to be sold to a French subject, Colonel Frémont
bought it for the United States, subject to their ratification in
paying the purchase money: all which appears upon the face of the
papers. Upon this transaction (as upon all the other specifications)
the majority of the court found the accused guilty of "mutiny,"
the appropriate punishment for which is death; but the sentence
was moderated down to dismission from the service. The President
disapproved the absurd findings (seven of them) under the mutiny
charge, but approved the finding and sentence on inferior charges;
and offered a pardon to Frémont: which he scornfully refused. Since
then the government has taken possession of that island by military
force, without paying any thing for it; Frémont having taken the
purchase on his own account since his conviction for "mutiny" in
having purchased it for the government--a conviction about equal to
what it would have been on a specification for witchcraft, heresy,
or "flat burglary." And now annual appropriations are made for forts
and the light-house upon it, under the name of Alcatraz, or Los
Alcatrazes--that is to say, Pelican Island; so called from being the
resort of those sea birds.
Justice to the dead requires it to be told that these charges, so
preposterously wicked, were not the work of General Kearney, but had
been altered from his. At page 64 of the printed record, and not in
answer to any question on that point, but simply to place himself
right before the court, and the country, General Kearney swore in
these words, and signed them: "_The charges upon which Colonel
Frémont is now arraigned, are not my charges. I preferred a single
charge against Lieutenant-colonel Frémont. These charges, upon which
he is now arraigned, have been changed from mine._" The change was
from one charge to three, and from one or a few specifications
to two dozen--whereof this island purchase is a characteristic
specimen. No person has ever acknowledged the authorship of the
change, but the caption to the charges (page 4 of the record)
declares them to have been preferred by order of the War Department.
The caption runs thus: "_Charges against Lieutenant-colonel Frémont,
of the regiment of mounted riflemen, United States army, preferred
against him by order of the War Department, on information of
Brigadier-general Kearney._" The War Department, at that time, was
William L. Marcy, Esq.; in consequence of which Senator Benton,
chairman for twenty years of the Senate's committee on Military
Affairs, refused to remain any longer at the head of that
committee, because he would not hold a place which would put him in
communication with that department.
The gravamen of the charge was, that Frémont had mutinied because
Kearney would not appoint him governor of California; and the answer
to that was, that Commodore Stockton, acting under full authority
from the President, had already appointed him to that place before
Kearney left Santa Fé for New Mexico: and the proof was ample,
clear, and pointed to that effect: but more has since been found,
and of a kind to be noticed by a court of West Point officers, as
it comes from graduates of the institution. It so happens that
two of General Kearney's officers (Captain Johnston, of the First
Dragoons, and Lieutenant Emory, of the Topographical corps), both
kept journals of the expedition, which have since been published,
and that both these journals contain the same proof--one by a plain
and natural statement--the other by an unnatural suppression which
betrays the same knowledge. The journal of Captain Johnston, of the
first dragoons, under the date of October 6th, 1846, contains this
entry:
"Marched at 9, after having great trouble in getting some ox
carts from the Mexicans: after marching about three miles we
met Kit Carson, direct on express from California, with a mail
of public letters for Washington. He informs us that Colonel
Frémont is probably civil and military governor of California,
and that about forty days since, Commodore Stockton with the
naval forces, and Colonel Frémont, acting in concert, commenced
to revolutionize that country, and place it under the American
flag: that in about ten days this was done, and Carson having
received the rank of lieutenant, was despatched across the
country by the Gila, with a party to carry the mail. The general
told him that he had just passed over the country which we were
to traverse, and he wanted him to go back with him as a guide:
he replied that he had pledged himself to go to Washington, and
he could not think of not fulfilling his promise. The general
told him he would relieve him of all responsibility, and place
the mail in the hands of a safe person to carry it on. He
finally consented, and turned his face towards the West again,
just as he was on the eve of entering the settlements, after
his arduous trip, and when he had set his hopes on seeing his
family. It requires a brave man to give up his private feelings
thus for the public good; but Carson is one: such honor to his
name for it."
This is a natural and straightforward account of this meeting
with Carson, and of the information he gave, that California was
conquered by Stockton and Frémont, and the latter governor of
it; and the journal goes on to show that, in consequence of this
information, General Kearney turned back the body of his command,
and went on with an escort only of one hundred dragoons. Lieutenant
Emory's journal of the same date opens in the same way, with the
same account of the difficulty of getting some teams from the
Mexicans, and then branches off into a dissertation upon peonage,
and winds up the day with saying: "_Came into camp late, and found
Carson with an express from California, bearing intelligence that
the country had surrendered without a blow, and that the American
flag floated in every part._" This is a lame account, not telling to
whom the country had surrendered, eschewing all mention of Stockton
and Frémont, and that governorship which afterwards became the
point in the court-martial trial. The next day's journal opens with
Carson's news, equally lame at the same point, and redundant in
telling something in New Mexico, under date of Oct. 7th, 1846, which
took place the next year in old Mexico, thus: "_Yesterday's news
caused some changes in our camp: one hundred dragoons, officered,
&c., formed the party for California. Major Sumner, with the
dragoons, was ordered to retrace his steps._" Here the news brought
by Carson is again referred to, and the consequence of receiving it
is stated; but still no mention of Frémont and Stockton, and that
governorship, the question of which became the whole point in the
next year's trial for mutiny. But the lack of knowledge of what
took place in his presence is more than balanced by a foresight
into what took place afterwards and far from him--exhibited thus
in the journal: "_Many friends here parted that were never to meet
again: some fell in California, some in New Mexico, and some at
Cerro Gordo._" Now, no United States troops fell in New Mexico until
after Lieutenant Emory left there, nor in California until he got
there, nor at Cerro Gordo until April of the next year, when he was
in California, and could not know it until after Frémont was fixed
upon to be arrested for that mutiny of which the governorship was
the point. It stands to reason, then, that this part of the journal
was altered nearly a year after it purports to have been written,
and after the arrest of Frémont had been resolved upon; and so,
while absolutely proving an alteration of the journal, explains
the omission of all mention of all reference to the governorship,
the ignoring of which was absolutely essential to the institution
of the charge of mutiny.--Long afterwards, and without knowing a
word of what Captain Johnston had written, or Lieutenant Emory had
suppressed, Carson gave his own statement of that meeting with
General Kearney, the identity of which with the statement of Captain
Johnston, is the identity of truth with itself. Thus:
"I met General Kearney, with his troops, on the 6th of October,
about ---- miles below Santa Fé. I had heard of their coming,
and when I met them, the first thing I told them was that they
were 'too late'--that California was conquered, and the United
States flag raised in all parts of the country. But General
Kearney said he would go on, and said something about going to
establish a civil government. I told him a civil government was
already established, and Colonel Frémont appointed governor,
to commence as soon as he returned from the north, some time
in that very month (October). General Kearney said that made
no difference--that he was a friend of Colonel Frémont, and
he would make him governor himself. He began from the first
to insist on my turning back to guide him into California. I
told him I could not turn back--that I had pledged myself to
Commodore Stockton and Colonel Frémont to take their despatches
through to Washington City, and to return with despatches as
far as New Mexico, where my family lived, and to carry them
all the way back if I did not find some one at Santa Fé that I
could trust as well as I could myself--that I had promised them
I would reach Washington in sixty days, and that they should
have return despatches from the government in 120 days. I had
performed so much of the journey in the appointed time, and in
doing so had already worn out and killed thirty-four mules--that
Stockton and Frémont had given me letters of credit to persons
on the way to furnish me with all the animals I needed, and all
the supplies to make the trip to Washington and back in 120
days; and that I was pledged to them, and could not disappoint
them; and besides, that I was under more obligations to Colonel
Frémont than to any other man alive. General Kearney would
not hear of any such thing as my going on. He told me he was
a friend to Colonel Frémont and Colonel Benton, and all the
family, and would send on the despatches by Mr. Fitzpatrick, who
had been with Colonel Frémont in his exploring party, and was a
good friend to him, and would take the despatches through, and
bring back despatches as quick as I could. When he could not
persuade me to turn back, he then told me that he had a right to
make me go with him, and insisted on his right; and I did not
consent to turn back till he had made me believe that he had a
right to order me; and then, as Mr. Fitzpatrick was going on
with the despatches and General Kearney seemed to be such a good
friend of the colonel's, I let him take me back; and I guided
him through, but went with great hesitation, and had prepared
every thing to escape the night before they started, and made
known my intention to Maxwell, who urged me not to do so. More
than twenty times on the road, General Kearney told me about his
being a friend of Colonel Benton and Colonel Frémont, and all
their family, and that he intended to make Colonel Frémont the
governor of California; and all this of his own accord, as we
were travelling along, or in camp, and without my saying a word
to him about it. I say, more than twenty times, for I cannot
remember how many times, it was such a common thing for him to
talk about it."
Such was the statement of Mr. Carson, made to Senator Benton; and
who, although rejected for a lieutenancy in the United States
army because he did not enter it through the gate of the military
academy, is a man whose word will stand wherever he is known, and
who is at the head, as a guide, of the principal military successes
in New Mexico. But why back his word? The very despatches he was
carrying conveyed to the government the same information that he
gave to General Kearney, to wit, that California was conquered
and Frémont to be governor. That information was communicated to
Congress by the President, and also sworn to by Commodore Stockton
before the court-martial: but without any effect upon the majority
of the members.
Colonel Frémont was found guilty of all the charges, and all the
specifications; and in the secrecy which hides the proceedings
of courts-martial, it cannot be told how, or whether the members
divided in their opinions; but circumstances always leak out to
authorize the formation of an opinion, and according to these
leakings, on this occasion four members of the court were against
the conviction: to wit, Brigadier-general Brooke, President;
Lieutenant-colonel Hunt; Lieutenant-colonel Taylor, brother of
the afterwards President; and Major Baker, of the Ordnance. The
proceedings required to be approved, or disapproved, by the
President; and he, although no military man, was a rational man,
and common reason told him there was no mutiny in the case. He
therefore disapproved that finding, and approved the rest, saying:
"Upon an inspection of the record, I am not satisfied that the
facts proved in this case constitute the military crime of
'mutiny.' I am of opinion that the second and third charges
are sustained by the proof, and that the conviction upon these
charges warrants the sentence of the court. The sentence of
the court is therefore approved; but in consideration of the
peculiar circumstances of the case--of the previous meritorious
and valuable services of Lieutenant-colonel Frémont, and of the
foregoing recommendation of a majority of the court, to the
clemency of the President, the sentence of dismissal from the
service is remitted. Lieutenant-col. Frémont will accordingly
be released from arrest, will resume his sword, and report for
duty." (Dated, February 17, 1848.)
Upon the instant of receiving this order, Frémont addressed to the
adjutant-general this note:
"I have this moment received the general order, No. 7 (dated
the 17th instant), making known to me the final proceedings of
the general court-martial before which I have been tried; and
hereby send in my resignation of lieutenant-colonel in the army
of the United States. In doing this I take the occasion to say,
that my reason for resigning is, that I do not feel conscious of
having done any thing to deserve the finding of the court; and,
this being the case, I cannot, by accepting the clemency of the
President, admit the justice of the decision against me."
General Kearney had two misfortunes in this court-martial affair:
he had to appear as prosecutor of charges which he swore before the
court were not his: and he had been attended by West Point officers
envious and jealous of Frémont, and the clandestine sources of
poisonous publications against him, which inflamed animosities, and
left the heats which they engendered to settle upon the head of
General Kearney. Major Cooke and Lieutenant Emory were the chief
springs of these publications, and as such were questioned before
the court, but shielded from open detection by the secret decisions
of the majority of the members.
The secret proceedings of courts-martial are out of harmony with the
progress of the age. Such proceedings should be as open and public
as any other, and all parties left to the responsibility which
publicity involves.