2. Colonel Lee to the Adjutant General.
Headquarters Department of Texas,
San Antonio, March 15, 1860.
San Antonio, March 15, 1860.
Colonel: I have had the honor to receive your letters of the 2d and 3d instant, containing the further instructions of the Secretary of War in relation to the outlaw Cortinas.
I take my departure this morning for the Rio Grande.
For the reasons stated in my letter of March 12, the bold and constant depredations on the northern frontier, I have been unwilling to diminish the small force on that line, and consequently the moral effect of the troops on the Rio Grande upon the banditti in Mexico, to oblige them to disperse, will not be as great as I could wish. I enclose an extract from a letter from Major Van Dorn, received yesterday, in further corroboration of the disabled condition of the horses of the second cavalry.
I have given orders that they be spared and nourished as much as possible; and with a view, if possible, of withdrawing the small bands of Indians from the settlements, have directed Major Thomas to organize all the available cavalry force for a general scout, and break up any camps they may have at the head of the Brazos or elsewhere.
For this purpose I have directed him to draw detachments of the first cavalry from the posts of Washita and Arbuckle.
I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
I take my departure this morning for the Rio Grande.
For the reasons stated in my letter of March 12, the bold and constant depredations on the northern frontier, I have been unwilling to diminish the small force on that line, and consequently the moral effect of the troops on the Rio Grande upon the banditti in Mexico, to oblige them to disperse, will not be as great as I could wish. I enclose an extract from a letter from Major Van Dorn, received yesterday, in further corroboration of the disabled condition of the horses of the second cavalry.
I have given orders that they be spared and nourished as much as possible; and with a view, if possible, of withdrawing the small bands of Indians from the settlements, have directed Major Thomas to organize all the available cavalry force for a general scout, and break up any camps they may have at the head of the Brazos or elsewhere.
For this purpose I have directed him to draw detachments of the first cavalry from the posts of Washita and Arbuckle.
I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
R. E. Lee,
Brevet Colonel, Commanding Department of Texas.
Brevet Colonel, Commanding Department of Texas.
Colonel S. Cooper,
Adjutant General U. S. A., Washington City, D. C.
P. S.—The speediest way of rendering the second cavalry more effective would be to increase the number of horses to each company, which, by paragraph 4 of General Orders No. 13, Adjutant General’s office, October, 8, 1856, were reduced to sixty. In view of the very hard service they are called upon to make, this would be very desirable, as some of the horses would be recuperating while the others would be in the field. Nor would this add much to the expense of the present arrangement, as it would diminish the number of deaths of horses in the field, their being entirely disabled, and consequent sale.
In this event I would recommend that the requisite number of horses be purchased in this department if practicable, as they would be acclimated, accustomed to grass, &c., and I believe could be procured cheaper than if brought from the Mississippi valley.
Adjutant General U. S. A., Washington City, D. C.
P. S.—The speediest way of rendering the second cavalry more effective would be to increase the number of horses to each company, which, by paragraph 4 of General Orders No. 13, Adjutant General’s office, October, 8, 1856, were reduced to sixty. In view of the very hard service they are called upon to make, this would be very desirable, as some of the horses would be recuperating while the others would be in the field. Nor would this add much to the expense of the present arrangement, as it would diminish the number of deaths of horses in the field, their being entirely disabled, and consequent sale.
In this event I would recommend that the requisite number of horses be purchased in this department if practicable, as they would be acclimated, accustomed to grass, &c., and I believe could be procured cheaper than if brought from the Mississippi valley.
R. E. L.
2 a.
Fort Mason, Texas, March 8, 1860.
Captain : So many reports come to me of Indian depredations committed in this vicinity, with the fact that the trails all tend towards one point, that I am induced to believe that there is a large camp somewhere to the northward, and at no very great distance, probably on the headwaters of the Brazos. All the depredations have been committed by very small parties, and they seem to be coming in and going out constantly, as scarcely a day passes that I do not hear of them.
On the 8th instant I ordered out two scouting parties, one under Lieutenant Shaaff, and the other, a small one, under a sergeant. On the 4th I ordered out Lieutenant Cosby, with twenty-five men, to examine the country as far as the Concho in the direction the trails seem to take. Yesterday I ordered out a sergeant and ten men to follow a trail of Indians who had stolen some horses from the Dorse settlement. I hear indirectly of depredations having been committed in the settlements on the Llano and San Saba, below here, and also on the Colorado.
I regret that under these circumstances I have to report that the horses of my command are reduced to almost total inefficiency for service. They are poor and weak, and many of them may be called “broken down.”
On the 8th instant I ordered out two scouting parties, one under Lieutenant Shaaff, and the other, a small one, under a sergeant. On the 4th I ordered out Lieutenant Cosby, with twenty-five men, to examine the country as far as the Concho in the direction the trails seem to take. Yesterday I ordered out a sergeant and ten men to follow a trail of Indians who had stolen some horses from the Dorse settlement. I hear indirectly of depredations having been committed in the settlements on the Llano and San Saba, below here, and also on the Colorado.
I regret that under these circumstances I have to report that the horses of my command are reduced to almost total inefficiency for service. They are poor and weak, and many of them may be called “broken down.”
* * * * * * * * * * *
I desire particularly to call the attention of the department commander to the condition of my horses, taken in connexion with these numerous calls upon me for their services, and to ask that the deficiency as to numbers may be, if possible, supplied at once by purchases in Texas, (by cavalry officers) otherwise I shall very soon, if this state of things continues, be reduced to immobility, and, of course, to inefficiency. I have sent out all the horses that had any promise in them of going to the Concho, having mounted some of the men of F company on A company horses. It is to be hoped that with this expenditure of strength two or three Indians at least may be killed.
Very respectfully, captain, I am your obedient servant,
Very respectfully, captain, I am your obedient servant,
Earl Van Dorn,
Brevet Major, Captain 2a Cavalry, Commanding.
Brevet Major, Captain 2a Cavalry, Commanding.
Captain John Withers,
Assistant Adjutant General, San Antonio, Texas.
Assistant Adjutant General, San Antonio, Texas.
Troubles on Texas Frontier, Letter from The Secretary of War (John B. Floyd), Communicating, In compliance with a resolution of the House, information in relation to the troubles on the Texas frontier, May 5, 1860; House Documents, Otherwise Publ. as Executive Documents: 13th Congress, 2d Session-49th Congress, 1st Session, Volume 12
“During the 12 years following the Mexican-American War, there were present on the frontiers of Texas and Mexico many factors that tended to create disturbances. The topography of the country, the sparsity and general character of its population, the lack of an extradition treaty and of sufficient national authority, wild Indians of uncertain abode, the Mexican tariff system, all caused friction and gave encouragement to lawlessness which not only retarded the development of the region but often threatened to interrupt friendly relations between the two republics.” [Border Troubles along the Rio Grande, 1848-1860, The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Vol. 23, No. 2 (OCTOBER, 1919)]