The Congressional Globe, [Volume 19]: Thirtieth Congress, First Session, Appendix Page: 74
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74
APPENDIX TO THE CONGRESSIONAL GLOBE.
[Jan. 11 and 12,
30th Cong 1st Sess.
The War with Mexican—Mr. Clayton.
Senate.
have been presented by others, and which have
been the subject of discussion this morning, furnish
a very extraordinary commentary, I think, sir, on
this war, the objects to be attained by it, and the
course we are now about to pursue. 11 seems to
be taken for granted by gentlemen, that we are to
acquire a great amount of territory; but before we
obtain an acre, there is a violent contest what we
shall do with it.
Mr. President, yesterday, when the Senate
adjourned, I had adverted to the subject of the in-
demnity due by Mexico for the claims of our citi-
zens. I had said, what I maintain now,and what
I shall at all times hereafter maintain, that the
just claims of my countrymen against Mexico
ought to be asserted and supported in every suita-
ble and proper manner. But I did not then state—
what I think it right to state now, in order to pre-
vent any error in the public mind—that the amount
of those claims has been greatly overrated.
I understand that the whole amount of claims
presented to the Commissioners was #6,29J,605.
Of this 8um, $2,260,140 were allowed by the Com-
missioners on the part of Mexico; and the Mexi-
can Government was providing to pay that amount
without any controversy as to its justice at the time
when the war broke out. It appears, then, that
there was a sum of $923,628 claimed by the citi-
zens of the United States, which was disallowed
by the Mexican Commissioners. This was sub-
ject to controversy; and whether our claim for that
amount was right or wrong, remains to be decided \
by the Commissioners appointed by both Govern-
ments. Three million three hundred and thirty
thousand eight hundred and thirty-seven dollars of
the claims of our citizens had not been examined
__ by the Commissioners. I make this statement, as
1 have said, in order to prevent an erroneous im-
pression in regard to the amount of these claims.
Mr. WEBSTER, (in his seat.) Mr. Trist was
authorized to claim #3,000,000 only. I
Mr. CLAYTON. It is true that Mr. Trist was
authorized to negotiate, on the ground that the [
sum due to us in the aggregate was three mil- j
lions. It will not be conten^d, I presume, that j
we went to war for the recovery of this claim. I I
have not heard that the true object of the war was J
the recovery of this money. Other causes were j
alleged for the war in which we were involved on
the 13th of May, 1846. The great cause assigned
by the President for the war at that time was, that |
American blood had been shed upon American :
soil. I do not propose to go into the discusqjon of
the question at this time whether that assertion i
was or was not true. There are other matters
which invite my consideration, and to which I
think it important to call the attention of the Sen-
ate. But I desire, sir, in the progress of this dis-
cussion, to have it distinctly understood, as far as
I am concerned, that I have always been ready i
and anxious to vindicate the honest claims of my !
countrymen upon Mexico, and that neither by tfee !
votes which I am about to give upon these bills, !
nor by any vote which I shall in future be called
on to give in reference to this war, do I desire it to ;
be understood that I am denying the justice of the '
fair claims of the citizens of this country upon |
Mexico for indemnity. What I meant to say yes- 1
terday, and mean to repeat to-day, is, that the
amount of these claims was small compared to the i
value of the enormous quantity of territory which |
the President declares shall be ceded by Mexico [
to us before there can be a just and honorable '
pence between the two countries. It has been said
that the proposition was made by the American !
Commissioner to give them twenty millions of dol-
lars for Upper California alone. I know not from
any official information how the President esti- i
mates the difference between the claims of our i
citizens and the value of the land which he intends j
to demand of Mexico at the cannon's mouth. But i
he says, in his message :
" As the territory to be acquired by the boundary proposed
might be estimated to be of greater value than a fair equiv- i
aleni for our just demands, our Commissioner was autho- I
rized to stipulate for the payment of such additional pecu-
niary consideration as was deemed reasonable." j:
And this is a clear admission on his part of a
fact, otherwise notorious to all the world, that the
cession he demanded was beyond—-ay, vastly be-
yond—the value of the indemnities we had a right
to ask. b
The honorable chairman of the Committee on
Military Affairs tells me to-day that he has ascer-
tained the date of the letter from General Scott to
our Government in which the suggestion is made,
that in a certain event more troops will be neces-
sary to be added to the army. That letter, he
says, is dated so far back as the 18th of September,
and I suppose the extract he has read from it is
nothing more than the suppressed part of the Gen-
eral 'sofficial letter of that date, in which he recounts
his victories. It is the part of that letter marked
by the asterisks, I suppose. It is clear, then, from
the statements of the honorable chairman of the
Committee on Military Affairs, that General Scott
has never recommended to the Administration of
this country, or to any department of this Govern-
ment, the passage of these bills to raise thirty more
! regiments for the war. He has made no such
j proposition; upon his head none of the responsi-
i bility of these measures can rest; it must rest on
! the heads of those who have suggested it.. Al-
though the President has generally recommended
in his message-an increase of the army, he has not
toid us how many regulars, how many volun-
teers, or how many troops of all kinds should
be added to the army. Sir, General Scott has
never desired such an increase of the forces in
Mexico. It could only embarrass and distract
him in his position' at present, however useful
such an addition might have been before he left
Vera Cruz, and penetrated into the interior of
■ Mexico. At tftis time, these measures would add
thirty thousand more mouths to be fed in Mexico.
Sir, it is not consistent with the known character
of this great captain to ask for more troops than
can be usefully employed in the service of the
country. Before he left this place for Mexico, in
conversation with him, I observed to him, that
when he arrived in Mexico he would meet a very
I formidable enemy, and that he might, perchance,
' be defeated in the difficult mountain passes of that
' country. He smiled, and replied to my observe-
1 tion: " Sir, give me a column—a granite column
of American regulars, consisting of four or five
thousand men—and I will whip any Mexican army
that can be brought into the held, if it should rain
Mexicans for a week." That was the fixed de-
liberate opinion of that distinguished commander
at that time. Well, sir, when he was fighting the
battles of Contreras, Churubusco, Chapultepec,
and Molino del Rev, it really seemed as if it
did rain Mexicans for about a week. But he
vindicated the opinion he gave of the prowess of
| American soldiers by the brilliant victories which
, he gained in those ever-memorable and glorious
battles. He entered the city .of Mexico, as he tells
you, with an army of less than six thousand men.
Let us look a little into the history of this most
extraordinary campaign, after General Scott de-
, parted with his gallant little army from Vera
Cruz, and led it into the jnterior of the enemy's
! country. Let us see the comparative amount of
j the American and Mexican forces that were en-
gaged in those battles which were fought previous
; to the entry of the American army into the city
| of Mexico. It will show us that there is no neces-
i sity whatever for such an increased force to be
added to the army of the United States.
The first great battle after the capture of Vera
Cruz was that of Cerro Gordo.
The Commanding General, in his despatch to
the Secretary of War, says :
" Our whole force present, in action and in reserve, was
8,50J; the enemy is estimated at 12,000, or more. About
3,0(10 prisoners, 4,01)0 or 5,000 stand of arms, and 43 pieces
of artillery, were taken. By the accompanying return, I
regret to find our loss more severe than at first supposed-
amounting in the two days to 33 officers and 398 men : in
all, 431, of whom 63 were killed. The enemy's loss is
computed to be from 1,000 to 1,200."
Of the next battle, sir, in which our army wa3
engaged against the Mexicans, the General speaks
in his despatch of the 18th September, from which
I read the following.extract:
" This army has been more disgusted than surprised that,
by some sinister process on the part of certain indi viduals
at home, its numbers have been, generally, almost trebled
in our public papers—beginning at Washington.
" Leaving, as we all feared, inadequate garrisons at Vera
Cruz, Perote, and Puebla—with much larger hospitals; and
being obliged, most reluctantly, from the same cause, (gen-
eral paucity of numbers,) to abandon Jalaps, we marched
[August 7-10] from Puebla with only 10,738 rank and file.
This number includes the garrison of Jnlapa, and the 2,429
men brought up by Brigadier General Pierce, August 6.
"At ContreJM, Cburubusco, &c., [August 20,] we had
but 8,407 men engaged—after deducting the garrison of Au-
gustin, (our general depfit,) the intermediate sick and the
dead ; at the Molinos del Key [September 8] but three brig-
ades, with some cavalry and artillery—making in all 3,*251
men—were in the battle; m the two days—September la
and 13—our whole operating force, after deducting, again,
the recent killed, wounded, and sick, together with the gar-
rison of Mixcoac (the then general depdt) and that of Tacu-
baya, was but 7,180; and, finally, after deducting the new
garrison of Chapultepec, with the killed and wounded of
the two days, we took possession [September 14] of this
great capital with less than 6,000 men ! And 1 reassert,
upon accumulated and unquestionable evidence, that, ill not
one of those conflicts, was this army opposed by fewer than
three and a half times its numbers—in several of them by
a yet greater excess.
"On the other hand, this small force has beaten on the
same occasions, in view of their capital, the whole Mexican
army, of (at the beginning) thirty-odd thousand men—posted,
always, in chosen positions, behind intrenehments, or more
formidable defences of nature and art; killed or wounded,
of that number, more than 7,000 officers and men; taken
3,730 prisoners, one seventh officers, including 13 generals,
of whom 3 had been Presidents of this Republic; captured
more than 90 colors and standards, 75 pieces of ordnance,
besides 57 wal^nicces, 30,000small-arms, an immense quan-
tity of shot, sffls, powder, &c.
"Of that enemy, once so formidable in numbers, appoint-
ment", artillery, &c., twenty-odd thousand have disbanded
themselves in despair, leaving, as is known, not more than
three fragments—the largest about 2,500—now wandering
in different directions without magazines or a military
chest, and living at free quarters upon their own people.
* * * TheGovernment will find itself without resources;
no army, no arsenals, no magazines, and but little revenue,
internal or external. Still such is the obstinacy, or rather
infatuation, of this people, that it is very doubtful whether
the new authorities wiil dare to sue for peace on the terms
which, in the recent negouations, were made known by our
Minister."
This official report fully sustains the statement
made bythe Senator from Kentucky, who declared
that, in his opinion, Mexico was now to be con-
sidered and treated as a conquered country. Their
army is utterly broken up and annihilated; their
revenues are destroyed ; the real Government of
Mexico is almost annihilated; and it is under these
extraordinary circumstances that we are called
upon, with an admitted army of nearly seventy
thousand men, and with forty-five thousand actu-
ally in Mexico, to vote thirty thousand more troops
to be sent to that country by the President, for the
purpose of securing what he calls " indemnity for
the past," and " security for the future." What
that cant phrase means I do not exactly under-
stand; but I have been told by an ingenious friend,
that indemnity for the past means the half of Mex-
ico, and security for the future the other half. If
this, sir, be the right interpretation of these terms,
then 1 unhesitatingly say to my friends on the other
Side, that I am utterly opposed to adding indem-
nity for the past and security for the future. I
am called upon to vote these troops, for the pur-
pose of securing a cession of the country which
the President has expressly set forth in his mes-
sage. Neither the Commander-in-chief of the
army, nor General Taylor, (whose great name
must always be associated with whatever relates
to this war,) appears to have been consulted. I
do not believe that that gallant old " Mexican
Whig," Zachary Taylor, after having beaten
Santa Anna, with an army of less than one-fourth
the number of that which was arrayed against him,
has ever asked for more forces, for the purpose of
defending himself against the wretched bands of
guerrillas which infest the country where his
forces are encamped. No, sir; practical men have
not recommended this addition. The recommenda-
tion comes from the Executive here. It comes
from men who fight battles on paper at home—
from men who never
" set a squadron in the field,
Nor the division of a battle know
More than a spinster."
In the very outset of the inquiry to which our
minds are directed when we are called on to vote
upon these bills, we are met by the question—
which I beg leave, most respectfully, to suggest
to gentlemen on the other side of the Chamber—
whether this Government was formed for the pur-
pose of acquiring foreign territory by conquest or
rapine; and, whether it be in the true constitution-
al competency of Congress to wage war for the
purpose of acquiring territory by conquest. I
deny it, sir. 1 hold this Government to be a gov-
ernment of specific and delegated powers, and I do
not find it enumerated anywhere, either by express
words or necessary implication, that any such
power as that was ever ceded to this Government.
The preamble to the Constitution expresses the
purposes for which this Government was formed,
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United States. Congress. The Congressional Globe, [Volume 19]: Thirtieth Congress, First Session, Appendix, book, 1848; Washington D.C.. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc30772/m1/84/: accessed April 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.