To inquire and examine into the causes of the delay in opening and
prosecuting the campaign in Georgia and Alabama against the hostile
Creek Indians in the year 1836, and into every subject connected with
the military operations in the campaign aforesaid, and, after fully
investigating the same, to report the facts, together with its opinion
on the whole subject, for the information of the President.
It appears from the proceedings that after the testimony of nine
witnesses had been received by the court, and after more than one
hundred documents bearing on the subject had also been produced in
evidence, and after Major-General Scott had addressed the court on the
subject, the court proceeded to pronounce its opinion, as follows:
Upon a careful examination of the abundant testimony taken in the
foregoing case the court is of opinion that no delay which it was
practicable to have avoided was made by Major-General Scott in opening
the campaign against the Creek Indians. On the contrary, it appears
that he took the earliest measures to provide arms, munitions, and
provisions for his forces, who were found almost wholly destitute; and
as soon as arms could be put into the hands of the volunteers they
were, in succession, detached and placed in position to prevent the
enemy from retiring upon Florida, and whence they could move against
the main body of the enemy as soon as equipped for offensive
operations.
From the testimony of the governor of Georgia, of Major-General
Sanford, commander of the Georgia volunteers, and many other witnesses
of high rank and standing who were acquainted with the topography of
the country and the position and strength of the enemy, the court is
of opinion that the plan of campaign adopted by Major-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
recalled from the command upon representations made by Major-General
Jesup, his second in command, from Fort Mitchell, in a letter bearing
date the 20th of June, 1836, addressed to F.P. Blair, esq., at
Washington, marked "private," containing a request that it be shown to
the President; which letter was exposed and brought to light by the
dignified and magnanimous act of the President in causing it to be
placed on file in the Department of War as an official document, and
which forms part of the proceedings. (See Document No. 214.) Conduct
so extraordinary and inexplicable on the part of Major-General Jesup,
in reference to the character of said letter, should, in the opinion
of the court, be investigated.
The foregoing opinion is not accompanied by any report of the _facts_
in the case, as required by the order constituting the court; on the
contrary, the facts are left to be gathered from the mass of oral and
documentary evidence contained in the proceedings, and thus a most
important part of the duty assigned to the court remains unexecuted.
Had the court stated the facts of the case as established to its
satisfaction by the evidence before it, the President, on comparing
such state of facts found by the court with its opinion, would have
distinctly understood the views entertained by the court in respect to
the degree of promptitude and energy which ought to be displayed in a
campaign against Indians--and one which the President's examination of
the evidence has not supplied, inasmuch as he has no means of knowing
whether the conclusions drawn by him from the evidence agree with those
of the court.
The opinion of the court is also argumentative, and wanting in
requisite precision, inasmuch as it states that "no delay _which it
was practicable to have avoided was made by Major-General Scott_ in
opening the campaign against the Creek Indians," etc.; thus leaving it
to be inferred, but not distinctly finding, that there was some delay,
and that it was made by some person other than Major-General Scott,
without specifying in what such delay consisted, when it occurred, how
long it continued, nor by whom it was occasioned. Had the court found
a state of facts, as required by the order constituting it, the
uncertainty now existing in this part of the opinion would have been
obviated and the justice of the opinion itself readily determined.
That part of the opinion of the court which animadverts on the letter
addressed by Major-General Jesup to F.P. Blair, esq., bearing date the
20th of June, 1836, and which presents the same as a subject demanding
investigation, appears to the President to be wholly unauthorized by the
order constituting the court, and by which its jurisdiction was confined
to an inquiry into the causes of the delay in opening and prosecuting
the campaign against the hostile Creeks and into such subjects as were
connected with the military operations in that campaign. The causes of
the recall of Major-General Scott from the command and the propriety
or impropriety of the conduct of General Jesup in writing the letter
referred to were not submitted to the court as subjects of inquiry. The
court itself appears to have been of this opinion, inasmuch as no notice
was given to General Jesup of the pendency of the proceedings, nor had
he any opportunity to cross-examine and interrogate the witnesses, nor
to be heard in respect to his conduct in the matter remarked on by the
court.
For the several reasons above assigned, the President disapproves the
opinion of the court, and remits to it the proceedings in question, to
the end that the court may resume the consideration of the evidence and
from the same, and from such further evidence as shall be taken (in
case the court shall deem it necessary to take further evidence), may
ascertain and report with distinctness and precision, especially as to
time, place, distances, and other circumstances, all the facts touching
the opening and prosecuting of the campaign in Georgia and Alabama
against the hostile Creek Indians in the year 1836, and the military
operations in the said campaign, and touching the delay, if any there
was, in the opening or prosecuting of said campaign, and the causes of
such delay; and to the end, also, that the court, whilst confining its
opinion to the subject-matters submitted to it, may fully and distinctly
express its opinion on those matters for the information of the
President.
The Secretary of War _ad interim _will cause the proceedings of the
court on the subject of the campaign against the Creek Indians, with the
documentary evidence referred to therein and a copy of the foregoing
opinion, to be transmitted to Major-General Alexander Macomb, president
of the court, for the proper action thereon.