WRITINGS OF SA:M HOUSTON, 184-6
484
Till he stood convicted of some criminal design, he (Mr. H.) would always be prepared to excuse if not to commend General Gaines. If the troops had been called out to repel invasion, direct or feared, he was ready to stand by him who called them out, no matter who he was. As to whether the Executive transcended his powers in sending troops to the Rio Grande, that was a ques- tion to be discussed in its proper time. Of one thing he was well assured, that no compromise short of the Rio Grande would stand. 'Congressional Globe, 1845-1846, pp. 929-930. On June 5, 1846, Senator Lewis Cass of Michigan, submitted a resolution "that the President be requested to inform the Senate whether any officer of the army during the past or present year had called volunteers, or the militia into the service of the United States without legal authority; and if so, what is the number of the force, how organized, and whether officers of line or staff have been appointed contrary to law; and whether such calls, if made were necessary; also the probable amount of the cost of same, and whether any advantages have resulted, or are likely to result therefrom, and what measures the Department of War adopted for the defence of the Southern frontier of the United States during the same period." Cass stressed the point that his request was not intended as a military inquiry-merely a civil one. On August 25, 1845, the War Department had ordered General Edmund P. Gaines to draw an auxiliary force from some of the United States as well as the Texas forces. Acting with the best of intentions, Gaines proceeded to do what had never before been attempted under the United States Government; without any specific authority he called for a force of 12,000 men. In the debate on the matter, Daniel Webster asked Cass to read a letter from the Western Department to one of the state governors. The letter, dated May 20, 1846, to the Governor of Louisiana was selected. See Congressional Globe, 29th Cong., 1st Sess., p. 927-928. This is what set off the long debate concerning the assumption of unwarranted authority by General Gaines, in which Houston seemed disposed to defend Gaines.
TO SAM HOUSTON, JR. 1
15th June, 1846.
My dear Son, Your Father loves you, and hopes you are a good boy. He is very anxious to see you, and your dear Mother, as well as your dear Uncles, and aunts, and cousins. These your Pa hopes to see at home. You have not forgot, your dear Grand Ma, Uncle Vernal, and Aunt Ann. These you ought to love as much, as those who are with you, every day. You ought as a good and dear Son, to love your dear Ma, more than all others, and next to her, you should love your dear Grand Ma, and then your Pa!
Powered by FlippingBook