Letter: April 4, 1849
Washington City,
April 4, 1849.
Hon. Mr. Crawford,
Secretary at War.
Sir:
The remark which you made that Mr. Marcey said there was no "contract"
with me for my services in Mexico, and the time that had elapsed since
without hearing anything more, naturally makes me uneasy, and I write this
brief statement for the purpose of showing my view of my case.
I certainly made no contract with the Government, nor did such an idea
enter my. I engaged, at the request of President Polk, to go to Mexico,
where I had been for many years, to be of service to our troops, and I
took what they gave me, to wit: letters to accredit me to the Generals.
They did accredit me and imploy me. I went into Santafe ahead of Genl.
Kearney and smoothed the way to his bloodless conquest of New Mexico. Col.
Archulette would have fought: I quieted him. It was he who afterwards made
the revolt which was put down with much bloodshed by Genl. Price. Fight
was in him, and it would have come out at first, carrying Armijo with him
if it had not been for my exertions. I recommended to Genl. Kearney to
give him some place, which would compromise him, which the General
intended to do, but was prevented by some cause to me unknown, and the
consequence was the revolt at Taos, the death of Governor Bent, and all
the bloodshed that took place. Archulette fled to the South and did not
return til after the peace. He was second in command and had about a
thousand of the best troops in New Mexico and if he had held out for
resistance, Armijo would have been obliged to have done the same, and a
bloody resistance would have been made in the defiles through which
General Kearney had to pass. Bloodless possession of New Mexico was what
President Polk wished. It was obtained through my means. I could state
exactly how I drew off Archulette, from his intention to fight. The papers
which I file, Doc. Connelly's letter, Major Cook's and Capt. Turner's, all
allude to it, and Genl. Kearney's was explicit.
After this service I went forward under the directions of General Kearney
to render the same service to General Wool. I entered Chihuahua, he did
not arrive, and that led to my imprisonment to the great loss of my
property and the vast expenses which I had to incur, it was to smooth the
way for General Wool that I went to Chihuahua. If he had come I should
probably have done as much for him as I did for General Kearney.
I have neglected my business for three years, have not been with my family
during that time, have made great expenses and suffered great losses and
the statement of items which I presented is not an account, but a
statement to give some idea of what it would take to remunerate me the
service I rendered is above paid.
I was engaged in June, 1846, by the President and Secretary of War in the
presence and with the knowledge of Senator Benton. The service and the
engagement was acknowledged by President Polk, after I got back in
presence of Senator Atchison and the only reason for not paying me was the
want of money, see Mr. Atchison's certificate, then Mr. Atchison sent a
resolution to the Military Committee of the Senate to inquire into making
an appropriation for me. My papers were before the committee and no other
claim, I am informed, and the $50,000 was reported to cover my case.
Senator Atchison had gone away, Senator Benton is going and I begin to
feel uneasy about my compensation and beg your attention to my case.
Yours respectfully,
J. W. Magoffin.
The United States, Dr.
