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WRITINGS OF 5AM HOUSTON, 1856
330
thought so and so. He did not drill his men for fire, nor train them for anything but passing powder. They all passed powder well. But what is powder without ball and without the other facili- ties which give efficiency to its use? I will read what Lieutenant May said in regard to Captain .Pendergrast. On these charges he was never arraigned-never tried. This is a key to open the mysteries of the Navy Department, and it will show why reform has been necessary, and where the default was, and where the error originated and now exists. Lieutenant May, as far back as the 13th February, 1852, says: [We have omitted the quotation from Lieutenant May.] He never was called to account on these charges. Whether true or false, it was the duty of the Secretary of the Navy to bring him to trial. They were substantiated by a respectable officer, whom for some reason the board retained on the active list; so that he was an indorsement by them ; and yet these charges still remain in the Navy Department. Mr. Houston here gave way to a motion to adjourn. Tuesday, April 24, 1856. Mr. Houston said: Mr. President, when the Senate adjourned yesterday upon the motion of my friend from Tennessee [Mr. Bell], I was engaged in making some remarks in reference to certain charges preferred against Captain Pendergrast by Lieu- tenant May, of the United States Navy. Those charges were of a most grave and imposing character. They remained in the Department, and are yet there upon file; they were never with- drawn. No action was ever taken upon them. They should have been adjudicated. They were preferred by an officer of high character and reputation in the navy of the United States. It can not be charged that he is one of those disaffected toward the board; it can not be said that chagrin and mortification have in- fluenced him; for he has been retained on the active list of the navy, and is now in commission in active service. These charges were of a most grave and important character. Captain Pender- grast was charged with being deficient in every point of his duty. He had failed in the exercise of his crew. He had failed in every part of his duty that was calculated to give efficiency to his com- mand and efficiency to the navy of the United States. With all these cnarges staring the Secretary of the Navy in the face, he selected him as one of the members of this retiring board. He was one of the individuals who was to determine on the merits and
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