The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 66, July 1962 - April, 1963 Page: 24
641 p. : ill., maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
Texas. On August o20, he sent the general a copy of the war
department requisition of May 16, which called for one regi-
ment of cavalry and one battalion of infantry, and suggested
the propriety of considering the force with Colonel Harney as
the regiment and the frontier companies as the battalion.28
The general's reply was blunt enough, the burden being:
I have no authority to receive into service any troops not raised in
pursuance of requisition from the War Department; and am now in
possession of orders to discharge all troops not mustered to serve twelve
months. These orders will be carried into effect as soon as prac-
ticable ...29
On the day after the governor wrote General Wool, he re-
ceived a letter from Secretary of War W. L. Marcy which seemed to
solve his problem in exactly the way he had proposed to the
general. Marcy stated that the governor should view the war
department requisition of the preceding May as having been
answered by Colonel Harney's call.80 The date of the letter,
however, makes clear the fact that the secretary of war could have
had in mind only the seven companies requested on May 2, but
the letter was cause enough for the governor to write captains
Ross, Smith, and Stapp similar letters of encouragement, assuring
them that it was not to be doubted that they would soon be mus-
tered into service of the United States.31 With the possibility, prob-
ability even, that Governor Horton had the letter from Secretary
Marcy at the time he made his proposal to General Wool, the
suggestion that the five companies be considered as meeting the
May requirement for an infantry battalion stimulates interesting
inferences as to the working of the chief executive's mind. Among
other things, had the companies been accepted as a battalion, in-
stead of separate units, they would have been entitled to elect the
appropriate field grade officers, a lieutenant colonel and a major.
By early September the war department had taken favorable
action on the plea made by the governor during the second week
28Horton to Wool, August 20, 1846 (MS., Executive Record Book, Archives,
Texas State Library), III/28, pp. 64-65.
29Wool to Horton, August 24, 1846, ibid., 65.
soMarcy to Horton, July 22, 1846, ibid., 63.
slHorton to Ross, Smith, and Stapp, August 21, 1846 (MS., Governor's Letters
[Henderson], 1846 August-December, Archives, Texas State Library).
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 66, July 1962 - April, 1963, periodical, 1963; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101196/m1/36/?rotate=0: accessed May 4, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.