55
WRITINGS OF SAM HOUSTON, 1858
trains. I take it that will be one of the most important matters connected with the Mormon war. The trains will be in great danger, for if the Mormons have any sagacity, their first effort will be to cut off the supplies of the Army, to deprive them of transportation, and thus render them inefficient. If they succeed in this, the Army will be at once at their mercy. It will require the greatest degree of vigilance, adroitness, and capacity to pro- tect the trains. You can as well go into action with volunteers, after they have been drilled for thirty days, as you can with the regiments of the regular Army now in Utah, or that will be there. Employ these two regiments as you please, and I guarantee, from the composition that they will be formed of, that they will be the most efficient troops in the field whether you bring them in contact with an enemy, or whether you employ them in other service. They will excel in the celerity of their movements, and activity of their discipline, their indomitable valor; and in the shock of battle they will sustain themselves as ,vell as any. men can do. But, sir, I cannot believe that there will be a necessity for more than two regiments besides the one which you propose to provide for Texas. Give to Texas one regiment of rangers, well supplied, and well armed, and Texas can dispense with every regular soldier within her limits, or, at any rate, she would not require more than fifty men at each post which the Government has established there. You will, then, have two thousand men to dis- pose of, and you can add them to the army in Utah. The Govern- ment will then have an army of fifteen thousand regulars, officers and men, who can all be directed to ~me point if necessary, except the few who will be required to occupy the fortifications. I am satisfied that, in addition to this number, two regiments of volun- teers will be sufficient for the occasion. I do not mean to offer any speculations as to what the Government ought to do, or to suggest any course in regard to the conduct of the campaign. I have no doubt of the competency of the Administration and its constitutional advisers to suggest and pursue a proper course. I apprehend that there will be difficulty in Utah, and I should be very glad to see provision made for defending the train by this light corps of volunteers. I think it will conduce to the success of the campaign; for if they are not efficient and successful in giving security to the trains, it wi_ll be a most disastrous cam- paign. None can do it if they cannot. Let not the Senator from Georgia say that these volunteers will be inefficient and worthless men brought from cities. Sir, those
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