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About The Conservative (Nebraska City, Neb.) 1898-1902 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 2, 1899)
8 The Conservative. drngoons , which had been sent by land under the command of Lieutenant A. J. Smith and a company of infantry under my'command. The services of Major Wharton and the dragoons were shortly after required at Fort Leavenworth and I was left to continue the construction of the post. I succeeded in erecting a blockhouse , when I was ordered to abandon the place , and employ some suitable person to take charge of the public property. I think Mr. English was the person so employed. If any purchase of the reserve was made from the Otoes I think it must have been effected by Colonel Kearney , either at Fort Leavenworth , or on one of his expeditions to the mountains , cer tainly not at the time we located the post. The Otoes made us but one visit , and that was during the time Major Whar ton was in command ; this was evidently made with a view to exhibit their strength , and the - subjects treated of in the interviews with them pertained to matters of general interest. My public papers of that date were all destroyed in the great fire which oc curred at St. Louis in 184fl. It is pos sible they might have furnished some evidence of a more definite character upon the subject. Very respectfully , Your obedt. servt. , W. E. PKINCE , Captain First infantry. Mojor-General Thos. S. Jesup , Quartermaster General , U. S. A. , Washington , D. C. 19. Roster of the troops forming the first garrison of Camp Kearney on the Mis souri river. CO. A , FlKST U. S. INFANTRY. First Lieutenant W. E. Prince. Second Lieutenant E. C. McLean. Bvt. Second Lieutenant A. B. Lincoln. Three officers and forty men. Remarks on returns. Lef t Fort Leav enworth , May 15,1846 ; arrived at Camp Kearney , Missouri river , May 22 , and left for Fort Leavenworth , July 19,1846. CO. C , FIRST U. S. DRAGOON'S. Captain B. D. Moore. First Lieutenant A. J. Smith. Two officers and 24 men. Remarks on returns. Left Fort Leav enworth , May 15 ; arrived at Table creek , May 21st ; left for Fort Leaven- worth , May 80 , 1846. This command loft Fort Leaveuworth , June 26 , 1846 , as a part of the column under Colonel S. W. Kearney , on route to Santa Fe , arrived August 18,1846 ; left September 26 , as a part of an escort to General Kearney to California and arrived in California December 1,1846. 20. FORT KEARNEY , NEBRASKA. Act of congress (29th ( Cong. Firsl Sess. ) Chap. 22 , 9 Stat. at Largo 18 1 entitled An act * * for establishing military stations on the route to Oregon. # * # # # * * Sec. 6. And be it further enacted , That a sum not exceeding three thous- end dollars , out of moneys of the treas ury not otherwise appropriated , be , and ; ho same hereby is appropriated , to de- tray the expenses of each military sta- : ioii or defence which the president may leem necessary on the line of communi cation with Oregon , and a sum not ex ceeding two thousand dollars for making compensation to the Indian tribes which nay own or possess the ground on which the said station may bo erected , and for each station. Approved , May 19 , 1846. 21. War Department , Juno 1 , 1847. With a view to carry into effect the provisions of Section 6 , of the act of May 19 , 1846 , a requisition has been made upon the state of Missouri for one mttalion ( five companies ) of mounted volunteers , to be employed in establish ing the military stations , contemplated 3y said act , on the line of coinuiuuica- ; ion with Oregon. These stations for the present will be limited to two , the first near Grand Island where the road ; o Califomia encounters the Platte river , and the second at or near Fort Larainie. As soon as the necessary preliminary arrangements are made for the move ment the battalion will be put in march for its destination and will be accom panied by an officer of the corps of en gineers , and an assistant quartermaster of the regular army , who under the in structions of their respective chiefs , will be charged with the duties appertaining to their particular branches of the ser vice , and who will receive from the offi cers and men of the battalion , under the direction of the commanding officer , every aid and assistance they may re quire in the performance of their appro priate functions. The commanding officer of the battal ion will bo expected to fulfill all the re quisitions made upon him by the engi neer officer who will be charged with the location and construction of the posts. These requisitions will be mainly labor , and for surveys and reconnais sances , which must be supplied by regu lar details from the troops of the com mand. The details will , in every instance , be accompanied by one or more officers of the battalion , whose duty it will be to see that the work is executed in conformity with the direc tions of the engineer officer , agreeably to paragraph 868 of the regulations of 1841. The commanding officer will be responsible for the completion of the works , and will urge upon the troops that their duty is first to build and then to garrison them. He will not move his command from a post until the defenses are well advanced , so that it might be loft with safety in the care of a part of the force. Two medical officers , one from the regular army , and the other from the volunteer service , will accompany the command. Besides the duty of attend ing to the sick , they will render such aid as may bo required of them in the selection of healthful sites for the posts and af terwards bo assigned to them by ; he commanding officer. The assistant quatennoster will pro vide the necessary equipage and trans portation for the command , as well as transportations for such materials and implements as may be procured by the engineer officer , and he will be furnished with funds to pay the troops their per diem , as working parties , under the law. He will have an eye to the timely pre paration of hay for the horses and cattle of the command for winter use , and to this end , will be furnished by the com manding officer with the necessary de tails of troops. Besides the duties of quartermaster , ho will be required to perform also the duties of commissary for the command. The act referred to appropriates a sum , not exceeding $2,000 , for the purchase , from the In dian tribes , of each of the sites to be se lected for military posts. This money will be disbursed by the assistant quar termaster , under the direction of the commanding officer , who is authorized to enter into a treaty with the Indians for the purchase of the ground for these sites , which will be as extensive as the appropriation will procure. The ordnance department will furnish the requisite ordnance and ordnance stores for the posts to be established , upon the requisition of the engineer officer. These instructions will be communi cated to the commanding officer of the troops , and to the several chiefs of staff departments for their information and government. W. L. MAROY , Secretary of War. Adjutant General , Washington , D. C. 22. Headquarters Fort Leavenworth , August 8 , 1847. Sir : Four companies of the Oregon battal ion have reached here , and the fifth is daily expected , but , as usual , much de lay may be anticipated in the election of the field officer to command. The gov ernor of Missouri has designated Inde pendence and Weston in the state as the places where to hold the elections. The returns , no doubt , must bo sent to his excellency from both places that he may determine the result. The election in Independence has been held ; it is said that at Weston will be held today. I have no idea that the battalion can go farther than Grand Island this season. Indeed the prevailing opinion is that even there it will arrive too late to pro-
