WRITINGS OF 5AM HOUSTON, 1856
339
I will not here detail? In the examination of the records I found Commander Ringgold's application for the command of the expedi- tion to the North China Seas. In that application to Secretary Kennedy he desired the command, if it should not be called for by any officer of higher claims than himself or his senior in the navy. No other officer called for it. Commander Ringgold was appointed, and his constituted one of the handsomest expeditions which has ever sailed from an American port. But if this was the ground for the removal of Ringgold, is he the only one upon whom a survey took place? No, sir; I found in the course of my examination that Captain Du Pont had at Rio Janeiro a survey upon his health, when he started for the East Indies, and arrived at that point in command of a beautiful vessel-a little ticklish, it is true, in managing, but one of the neatest craft in our navy. He found it necessary to reques~ a survey. It took place, and he was condemned as laboring under a chronic disease, in which he had taken a relapse, and his life was in danger if he prosecuted the journey. He came home. Since then, I believe, he has got along very well. I have heard of no relapse. As it was a "chronic disease" then, I suppose it must have remained so forever, and has never left him. Here the very same man passed judgment on Ringgold, who had himself labored under a survey and condemnation. These are the facts. It will be found that from the very first moment when Ringgold called for the survey under which he was condemned, up to the day when he sailed home, his correspondence with the commodore of the squadron contains as sane and pertinent letters as I have ever read from any gentleman in my life. Yet he was condemned, deprived of his command, and sent home a prisoner. These are the facts. From what I know of that gentleman, personally, if I had to sail on board a ship, there is no one in the service with whom I would sooner risk my life and personal security than with Ringgold. As to his habits, they are irreproachable; as to his chivalry, it is unquestioned. His family have given evidences of it. He is the brother of the gallant Major Ringgold, whose blood was drunk by the thirsty soil of Palo Alto, and who fell a victim for his country's honor. But that was no plea in his behalf. He was too elegant a gentleman to escape the condemnation of this board. Lieutenant Bartlett, who was handed over by the venerable Senator from Delaware to the tender mercies of the Senator from Louisiana [Mr. Slidell], is another officer who is a striking ex- ample of the influence of prejudice against men of merit and
Powered by FlippingBook