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WRITINGS OF 5AM HOUSTON, 1836
HOUSTON TO HENRY SMITHl Executive Department, Columbia, 26th Dec. 1836
To the Hon. Henry Smith, Secretary of the Treasury Sir, within your Department, the following regulations. No officer who was ap [o inted] to any situation by D. G. Burnet, President of the "Ad Interim" Government, nor by any Officer under him, who has not performed actual duty and the same coming within the knowledge of any of the officers of your De- partment, shall neither have an account audited or paid, without a special order from the Executive Department. You will be pleased to communicate to all the officers No officer who has been appointed to a command in the Army, where such command in fact did not exist, shall be paid for any charges which he may make. Any officer who was appointed to a higher command than the number of men under him would authorize, shall only be entit!ed to the amount of pay anc_i rations which could be chimed by the officer whose proper command the number of men would consti- tute agreeably to law. Twenty eight men would authorize a first Lieutenant; fifty- six men (Rank & file) would authorize one Captain, one first and one second Lieutenant, four Sergeants and three Corporals; five companies ( a Battallion) would authorize one Major and one Lieutenant Colonel; Two Battallions would form one Regiment with an additional Colonel Commanding. The Staff of the Regiment should consist of one Surgeon, two Surgeon's mates, one adjutant taken from the Lieutenants of the line, with the additional pay of eighteen dollars per month; One Regimental Quarter Master with the same additional pay also taken from the line of Lieutenants; one Sergeant Major taken from the non-commissioned officers; One Quarter Master Ser- geant taken from the Sergeants of the Regiment; one Commi3- sary Sergeant to each company. These Regulations have been suggested by the fact that offi- cers, Quarter Masters, and Commissaries to an unheard of amount have existed in the Army, without any legal authority or any necessity, all totally irresponsible, and if all the claims were me; which will be prefered against the Government, growing out of this irregular course, it would be equal to the actual necessary ex- penses of the Army in the field. Sam Houston.
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