WRITINGS OF SAM HOUSTON, 1837-18LH
51
post or station, without leave or orders from his superior officer, he shall be deemed a deserter and dishonorably discharged" ; and No. 35 continues to explain the mode in which furloughs are to be obtained :-"Any officer wishing a furlough, must apply through his superior officer, to the '\Var Department, and without its appro·- bation none can be granted"; and No. 36 continues further to direct the proper course-it will be found to read as follows: "If an officer in command of a separate post shall desire a furlough, he will address the Secretary of vVar directly by letter." These rules are as applicable to the Navy as to the Army, the reason of this requirement is so manifest, that none could doubt it. If an officer is placed in command of a post, he is held responsible for its defence and regularity, the salvation of the country may depend upon it-the nation, of course, regards it of importance. Then if a commanding officer abandons it, or those detailed under him, without leave and law, what security is there that the soldiers or sailors, in imitation of the example of their superiors, will not all likewise abandon it, and leave it defenceless and at the mercy of the enemy? If it is necessary to order an officer to a post, it is necessary that he remains there until he receives counter orders or is re- lieved:-if one officer disobeys, all will have an equal right to do so;- if all disobey, who will be left to arraign or punish them for disobedience? The power must exist somewhere or it is no Government. The President is held responsible for the defence of his country, to the full extent of the means at his disposition, and to meet that responsibility, the power certainly is vested in him to employ those means in accordance with the laws and constitution of the coun- try; and in obedience to that principle, the President dismissed Captain Wheelwright from the service. In the month of March, after the promulgation of the Rules and Regulations, and when the laws had been published for more than a year, Captain Wheelwright absented himself from the post at Galveston where he had been ordered on duty, without leave of absence or furlough, for which he has rendered no excuse, show- ing an utter contempt for the authorities which his oath compells him to obey. Furthermore, he gave to Lieutenant Lathrop a furlough to visit the United States, and did not deem it worth while to com- municate the fact for months after to the Head of the Depart- ment, and then not officially.
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