equipped for service in the field. They look forward to the discharge of my regiment of volunteers, at the close of the war, as an event that will throw the military defence and control of this country entirely in their hands. This I know to be their calculation, for Hunt and his officers have so expressed themselves to me. This may account for the opposition a re-enlistment of the entire battalion has met from some of their society leaders, as I am well assured they regard an order or instruction from them as paramount to any other power; for at all times I have been told that if a messenger should arrive with but five lines from one of their chief leaders now on the road to this country, all would have re-entered, and all the officers here feel confident that Hunt can raise a battalion if you require it. I have deemed it my duty to give you these brief views of what I conceive to be the Mormon plan of action in California, and you can, no doubt better than 1 can, judge of the propriety of giving them the military control. The company that is ordered to San Diego will be sufficient for all military purposes at that post and the surrounding country; and I have no hesitation in saying that the force I have here, dragoons and New York volunteers, will be sufficient to keep this place against any force that can be brought against us, especially if you will authorize the filling up of the two companies of my regiment stationed here. Our discipline is strict, drills regular and rigid, and every point is strictly and vigilantly guarded day and night; and therefore, unless you require them for some other purpose, an additional force will not be necessary here. This place is at the present time quite unhealthy; two of our men have recently died of fever. Our sick list has not, however, increased since my last communication. It may not be improper for me to remark, that many of the disbanded men are selling their arms to any one that will purchase them. This should prevent any future donation of arms to a company or battalion of Mormons, if mustered into the service. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, J. D. STEVENSON, Colonel R. B. MASON, HEADQUARTERS TENTH MILITARY DEPARTMENT, Santa Barbara, California, August 2, 1847. SIR: Should any of the Catholic priests come to the mission of San Luis Rey, either to locate permanently, or for the performance of any of their religious duties, you will not only cause them to be treated with great courtesy and kindness, but they are to have any of the apartments they desire, and any product of the mission or mission farms for their own use, and the entire management of the Indians, so far as it relates to their connexion with the mission and mission farms, the only object in placing you in charge of the mission and its property being to guard it from desecration and waste. I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, R. B. MASON, Colonel 1st Dragoons, Governor of California. Captain J. D. HUNTER, Sub-Indian Agent, present. P. S.-Colonel Stevenson, at Los Angeles, commands the southern district, in which you are to be stationed, and may sometimes find it necessary to give you instructions; if so, I desire you will obey them. HEADQUARTERS TENTH MILITARY DEPARTMENT, Monterey, California, August 19, 1847. SIR: Your communication of the 13th was received last night. Send the prisoner charged with the Indian murders, under a proper guard, commanded by a commissioned officer, to Sonoma; he must be well and securely ironed. Direct Captain Brackett to receive him, and, with the one or two at Sonoma, in like manner securely ironed, to send to Sutter's Fort, under a guard, with a commissioned officer, where you will direct Lieutenant Anderson to securely keep them for trial and further orders. Impress upon Lieutenant Anderson the necessity of himself looking to the irons and safe-keeping of the prisoners, as he will be held to a strict responsibility for their safety; and direct him to inspect the irons morning and evening himself, and not to delegate that duty to any one else. I am, respectfully, your obedient servant, Major J. A. HARDIE, R. B. MASON, Colonel 1st Dragoons, commanding. Commanding, San Francisco, California. HEADQUARTERS TENTH MILITARY DEPARTMENT, Monterey, California, August 19, 1847. SIR: Your communication of the 15th was received last night. Major Hardie will give all the necessary orders for sending the prisoners, charged with the Indian murders, to Sutter's Fort for trial. You had better send Mr. Grayson, (if he is in the employ of the quartermaster's department,) to pay the expenses of the trial, with instructions to be as economical as possible, and to pay no account without the approval of the court. Enclosed is the account of Wall, approved. The enclosed, addressed to General Vallejo and Captain Sutter, bet pleased to forward after Major Hardie and yourself have read them. I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, R. B. MASON, Colonel 1st Dragoons, commanding Captain FOLSOM, Assistant Quartermaster, San Francisco. HEADQUARTERS TENTH MILITARY Department, Monterey, California, August 23, 1847. SIR: Your several letters of the 11th instant are received, and I am directed, in reply to the several subjects to which they relate, to inform you that your views are correct as to the assistance the military authorities should afford to the civil. The civil officers would, without doubt, be most willing to shift upon military commanders the disagreeable labor of arresting and guarding their criminals, but this must not be permitted. Officers in command are only expected to aid the civil officers when the latter are unable to enforce their decrees, or execute the laws without such aid; and even then a sound discretion should be exercised as to the nature and amount of assistance to be afforded. It does not appear that the second alcalde had any just ground to offer the resignation of his office. In regard to your inquiries as to the character of the land scrip, referred to in department orders No. 34, of July 20, you will find, upon inspection of that order, that it merely gives, verbatim, 'an extract from a newspaper published at New Orleans; nothing more is now known in relation to the subject, but in time full instructions will be received from the proper department that will convey all the information you ask for. Your issue of a small supply of tools to the Indian agent is approved, but it is expected that in future the agent will be able to supply all his own wants from the resources of the property he has charge of. I am, with respect, your obedient servant, W. T. SHERMAN, 1st Lieut. 3d Artillery, A. A. A. Gencral. Colonel J. D. STEVENSON, P. S.--Colonel Mason directs me to add that you are not to infer, from the above instructions, that commanders of posts are prohibited from taking charge of civil prisoners. They can do so when convenient, and should do so when the general good requires it. He, however, remains the full judge of such necessity. W. T. SHERMAN. HEADQUARTERS TENTH MILITARY DEPARTMENT, SIR: The American brig Thomas H. Benton sailed from this port the day before yesterday, and there is every reason to believe she carried away with her two deserters from this command-one, a private of the artillery company, named J. R. Barnes, about five feet ten inches high, dark hair and eyes, narrow chested, stooped shoulders, sallow complexion, supposed to be consumptive, and is said to have a brother on board the said brig Benton - Barnes is an American; the second, a sergeant of volunteers, named Chichester, of company E, 7th New York volunteers, stationed at Los Angeles, California; he was on extra duty at Monterey, an excellent mechanic and machinist, is about five feet eight or nine inches high, healthy and bronzed complexion, brown hair, clear eyes, stoops considerably, but is stout and muscular; he is known well by his company at Los Angeles. If the brig 'Thomas H. Benton is at the port of Santa Barbara, Colonel Mason directs that you quietly endeavor to ascertain whether either or both of these men are on board; but at all events board her and search her hold, forecastle, cabins, pantries, every nook and corner and hidingplace in the vessel; and if you find either of the above-described men, or good written evidence that either of them was carried in her from this port, you will cause the captain to pay you one thousand dollars ($1,000) as a fine imposed on him by Governor Mason. Should he (the captain) fail to pay you instantly the above sum, you will take the "ship's papers, ," and cause her to be stripped of her sails and running-gear-the whole to be taken on shore and kept under your care till you make a rereport upon the fact, and receive further instructions. If the brig has sailed to leeward, despatch this same letter, by the bearer, to Colonel Stevenson or officer in command at Los Angeles, who is hereby required to adopt the same course prescribed if the brig is at San Pedro. This letter is sent by especial despatch; and the bearer agrees to deliver it at Santa Barbara on Friday next for the sum of fifty dollars, ($50,) which sum you can cause to be paid him by the acting assistant quartermaster, if the contract has been complied with. The bearer further agrees to carry the despatch on to Los Angeles for a further sum of twenty dollars ($20) by Sunday next, making in all twenty [seventy] dollars, which the acting assistant quartermaster at Los Angeles will pay him upon his arrival there on Sunday next. I am, with great respect, your most obedient servant, [W. T. SHERMAN,] 1st Lieut. 3d Artillery, A. A. A. General. HEADQUARTERS TENTH MILITARY DEPARTMENT, Monterey, California, August 25, 1847. SIR: Your letter of August 11th, relating to an insult offered some of your camp women, has been received; and yesterday a courier arrived from Santa Barbara, bearing a letter from the alcalde, Luis Carrillo, with copies of his correspondence with you, copies of which I enclose herewith. These letters and papers show that, at the instance of Lieut. Huddart of your command, the two men, Guerra and Ruiz, were charged before the alcalde with having insulted the women, were arraigned, and a fair, open trial begun, and had proceeded so far as to prove, by the witness produced by the women themselves, that the only insult offered was in the use of words "asking a kiss," when the alcalde notified you that there was not sufficient testimony to warrant conviction; and you took the case out of his jurisdiction. In reviewing these facts, the Colonel Commanding sees a desire on the part of the alcalde to do substantial justice, and upon a fair, open trial, to make such a decree as the evidence would require. His notifying you that the testimony was not enough to produce conviction, shows that he desired you to produce other and better. There does not, therefore, appear to be any reason for the interposition of martial law, as the acknowledged court was capable and willing to redress the grievance, if the proper testimony could be procured. I am assured that the practice in Mexican courts is the same as our own; that a prisoner cannot give evidence in court in favor of himself, though his denial of the charge forces the plaintiff to establish every part of it by sworn facts. It is presumed you will find that, in this case, the alcalde has not departed from this well-established practice. You will therefore discontinue your proceedings against Guerra and Ruiz, and notify the alcalde of it, that he may resume their trial. The stealing a reáta from one of your men by a Californian is deemed too trifling a case to call for martial law. Release Señor Ruiz, and let. the soldier sue him before the alcalde. Martial law was not declared in Mexico as a matter of necessity. In California it is proclaimed as a preventive code, to come into full operation when the present courts are interrupted by accident or outbreak, and to supply the defects in the articles of war, so as to prevent soldiers from trampling upon the rights of citizens, which would necessarily produce disaffection. It was not designed, by the publication of orders No. 36, to interfere with the alcalde's jurisdiction in petty cases where soldiers are interested, but merely to make citizens amenable to military tribunals for high crimes against any person serving with the army of the United States. Colonel Mason desires you to do all in your power to restore harmony, and to allay the ill will that seemingly exists between your command and the citizens of Santa Barbara. I have the honor to be, your most obedient servant, Capt. F. J. LIPPETT, W. T. SHERMAN, 1st Lieut. 3d Artillery, A. A. A. General. Commanding, Santa Barbara, California., Orders No. 36, above referred to. HEADQUARTERS TENTH MILITARY DEPARTMENT, [ORDERS NO. 36.] Santa Barbara, California, July 27, 1847. I. For any personal insult offered to any civil magistrate of the country, or peaceable inhabitant thereof, or for any trespasss committed upon any property, house, orchard, garden, or vineyard by any soldier of the United States, the offender will be immediately arrested, confined, and reported to the commanding officer of the post or place, who will without delay cause the proper charge to be preferred, and the accused brought to trial. All drunken soldiers will be promptly confined, and in no case will they be released without being brought before a court martial, unless otherwise specially directed by the commanding officer of the post. II. The following general order, No. 20, dated Headquarters of the Army, Tampico, February 19, 1847, is published for the information of all concerned, and is hereby declared to be in full force and effect in California. All officers and soldiers are exhorted to use their utmost exertions to seize and bring to trial every one who shall offend against any of its provisions : |