TEXAS INDIAN PAPERS, 1846-1859
105
I have the honor to be, Your Obt. Servant. GEORGE T. W OOD
[Endorsed] Letter to Sec'y of War, in relation to troops, Indian affairs, etc. [George T. Wood, Executive Record Book, Number 31, Pages 91-92.]
No. 85 LETTER FROM G. T. Woon TO J. K. POLK Executive Office,
Austin, September 2, 1848
To His Excellency, James K. Polk
etc.
President etc.
etc.
Sir, I have before me a communication from Col. P. H. Bell, commanding the force now in service for the protection of the frontier ·of Texas against our neighboring Indians, which in- forms me that the discharge of these troops had been ordered by Genl. Brooke, under instructions from the War Department. The order of Genl. Brooke, a copy of which has been for- warded to me by Col. Bell, directs the discharge of "Lt. Col. Bell's battallion." This intelligence has created much excite- ment and alarm among our frontier citizens as the immediate execution of this order would leave them wholly unprotected, until such time as their place might be supplied by such force as the General Government intend to employ for that purpose. Such a measure I feel satisfied was never contemplated by the War Department, advised as it is of the unsatisfactory state of our Indian relations at this particular juncture. If this order be carried out our frontier settlement will recede at once, and the consequence will be not only great individual loss and suf- fering, but an outbreak on the part of the Indians who are now only restrained by the strong demonstrations made by our own troops upon this frontier. The order of Genl. Brooke, referred to above, directs, that the troops in question be marched to San Antonio, for
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