Daily Times
Leavenworth, Kansas
June 1, 1861
About one o’clock yesterday afternoon, the troops from Forts Smith, Arbuckle, Cobb and Washita passed up Fifth Street, on their way to Fort Leavenworth. Several ambulances, containing officers’ wives, and about eighty wagons containing army stores, with about six hundred horses and mules attached, followed the soldiers, the whole making quite an interesting spectacle. The men looked weary and jaded after their long and tedious march, but many of them seemed to be full of vigor and animation. As they moved along, they were greeted, at various points, by the cheers of the people who had assembled to witness the demonstration. The train was nearly a mile in length.
We visited the Fort yesterday, and learned that the whole force arrived from the South, consists of six companies of the 1st Cavalry, and five of the 1st Infantry, numbering 820 men, besides about 200 teamsters and other army attaches. We give below a list of the companies, and their officers.
1st Cavalry.
Co. A, Lieut. E. W. Crittenden, 82 men;
” B, ” O. H. Fish, 82 men;
” C, Capt. D. S. Stanley, 80 men;
” D, 2nd Lieut. C. S. Bowman, 80 men;
” E, Capt. S. D. Sturgis, 82 men;
” F, Capt. E. A. Carr, 75 men.
1st Infantry.
Co. B, Capt. C. C. Gilbert, 66 men;
” C, ” J. B. Plummer, 67 men;
” D, ” Danl. Huston, jr., 70 men;
” E, ” W. E. Pierce, 62 men;
” F, ” Seth M. Barton, 64 men.
The entire force has been in command of Lieut.-Col. Emory, but he having resigned, Major D. B. Sackett has been promoted to fill the vacancy. Lieut. Col. Emory announced his resignation yesterday, in the following letter addressed to the troops under his charge:
Head Quarters U. S. Troops Ft. Leavenworth, }
May 31st, 1861. }
The undersigned relinquishes the command of the U. S. forces, to Major Sackett. In taking leave of the command from the frontiers of Texas, he thinks it due to the officers and men, to thank them for the cordial manner in which he was supported in withdrawing from a difficult position, and the cheerfulness with which they encountered a long and rapid march.
To his own Regiment, the 1st Cavalry, he bids a kind farewell, and hopes it will continue true and loyal to the flag it has so honorably sustained.
To his own Regiment, the 1st Cavalry, he bids a kind farewell, and hopes it will continue true and loyal to the flag it has so honorably sustained.
W. H. Emory,
late Lieut. Col. Commanding.
The circumstances connected with Lieut. Col. Emory’s withdrawal from the service, are these: Sometime since, he placed his resignation in the hands of a brother who lives at Baltimore, to be tendered to the Government, in case Maryland should secede. Shortly after the difficulty in Baltimore between a mob and the Massachusetts troops, the resignation was presented, and accepted. Its presentation having been unauthorized, Col. Emory’s friends have endeavored to have it recalled, but thus far without success.
There are one or two officers and several privates among these troops, whose loyalty is questionable, but, in the main, they are true to their country. Lieut. Crittenden, who commands one of the companies, is a son of the distinguished John J. Crittenden, of Ky. He received, yesterday, a letter from his father, counselling him to stand by the flag under any and all
circumstances. Such patriotic advice must be cheering to the heart of the gallant officer, and should be heeded by every man in the service. In this war for Constitutional liberty and the perpetuation of our Republican institutions, those who remain faithful to the Government, will have their names written high upon the scroll of fame, and will be held in grateful remembrance by future generations. But he who deserts the cause of the stars and stripes in this hour of trial, be he officer or private, will meet with disgrace, defeat, and an ignominious death. For such, posterity and history will have no reward, and they will be consigned to an immortality of infamy.
circumstances. Such patriotic advice must be cheering to the heart of the gallant officer, and should be heeded by every man in the service. In this war for Constitutional liberty and the perpetuation of our Republican institutions, those who remain faithful to the Government, will have their names written high upon the scroll of fame, and will be held in grateful remembrance by future generations. But he who deserts the cause of the stars and stripes in this hour of trial, be he officer or private, will meet with disgrace, defeat, and an ignominious death. For such, posterity and history will have no reward, and they will be consigned to an immortality of infamy.