resigned nor refused the acceptance of it. His particular friends, however, expressed a wish to appoint him again; but on its having been moved that an enquiry should take place the succeeding session into the conduct of the executive for the last year, nothing more was said on the subject, but General Nelson, who then was at the head of the militia, was elected Governor. Mr. Jefferson was sent to the Assembly in the fall or spring following and there called on the house for the threatened examination in a very handsome address, but by this time even those who thought him culpable began to think otherwise on a real reflection and a better information, and the house, by a general vote, directed their thanks to be delivered to him from the chair, by John Tyler, then their speaker, who did it accordingly in a warm and affectionate manner.

The appointment of General Nelson was at Staunton, where the Assembly sat. Mr. Jefferson I believe was immediately sent to Congress, and from thence to France, where he continued seven years, discharging his important affairs, highly to the interest of his country, and greatly to the satisfaction of the government of France. Richmond, September 9, 1805. John Tyler."

After this, for many years these charges of inefficiency in the gubernatorial office were entirely suppressed, and Mr. Jefferson passed from post of honor to post of honor, serving as member of Congress, minister plenipotentiary to France and Secretary of State under Washington. But in 1796 Mr. Charles Symmes, of Alexandria, a virulent Federalist, revived the old exploded charges, and was answered by Mr. Jefferson's friends, who drew the record on him.

It appears rather queer that, when soon after John Adams came in as President, he should so flout a man holding the vice-presidency, as to appoint Symmes, his worst detractor, collector of the port of Alexandria, then the most lucrative Federal office in Virginia.

The tale was next handed over to Mr. William Smith, a Federalist of South Carolina, who with a view to influence the election in that State represented it with additional coloring in his pamphlet styled Phocion.

Was a signal service like this to be treated with ingratitude?

Adams appears to have thought not. "This furbisher of refuted falsehoods, this shameless fabricator of extracts of letters," was soon tricked out by Adams in the honorable garb of minister to Turkey.

The administration of John Adams came to an end in 1801, and Jefferson succeeded to the Presidency. The muck rake was laid aside for a time, but once more got busy at the beginning of Jefferson's second term. By that time there was little left of the Federalist party in Virginia; but such as was left survived in the persons of some of the most embittered partisans to be found anywhere in the Union. One of these was Thomas Turner, who, making many ugly additions to the old story, went so far in a letter to a sympathetic correspondent in Boston as to declare the great Jefferson "a dastardly traitor to the trust reposed in him.”

Symmes, Smith and Turner richly deserved some punishment for their misrepresentations and ugly temper, but true to his political beliefs, instead of turning Symmes out of office, and putting Turner into prison, as Adams had done his defamers, Mr. Jefferson was content to leave to his friends the matter of refuting the calumnies in the newspapers. Symmes remained in the office which Adams bestowed upon him, and Turner was merely turned over to the pen of Thomas Ritchie, Editor of the Richmond Enquirer.

JOHN B. FLOYD-A DEFENCE.*

Norfolk, Va., April 15, 1912.

To the Editors of Harper's Weekly:

An article on Sumter in your issue of April 8, 1911, says: "Chief counsellor to the President, and really at the front of military affairs as Minister of War, was a subtle schemer who foresaw what was to come and was making plans accordingly. John B. Floyd, taking advantage of the powers of his office and the pro-Southern attitude of the majority of the Cabinet, had scattered the little army of the United States to far-off posts or positions where they would fall an easy prey to organized attack. Throughout the Southern armories he had distributed vast quanti ties of arms and ammunitions of war, free gifts to the states that were soon to rise."

This charges two acts of faithlessness to his official duty: (1) exposing the army, (2) transferring arms and ammunition.

As to the first charge on December 6, 1875, Adjutant General Townsend showed that the changes in the stations of troops during Floyd's incumbency were unimportant. (Vol. I., Battles & Leaders of the Civil War, p. 7). If the charge was true, why did not Floyd's successor, Judge Holt, change them? He had ample opportunity, and most of the troops captured by the Confederates had been transferred to the danger point by him. (Serial number 122, Official War Records, p. 23). Was he also a "subtle schemer ?"

As to the second charge, Judge Black-Buchanan's close friend and no friend of Floyd-says: "A Committee was appointed by

*In the Richmond Dispatch for August 7, 1911, appears a letter of Mr. Robert M. Hughes on somewhat similar lines, which was offered to Harper's Weekly, but not published. Subsequently Harper's Weekly published the above letter in its issue of May 11, 1912, and it is reproduced here, with the consent of the editors as also of Mr. Hughes, because of its historic value.

the House in January, 1861, to ascertain how the public arms distributed during the year 1860 had been disposed of. Mr. Floyd was not present at the investigation, he had not a friend on the Committee; it was organized to convict him if it could. It reported the evidence but gave no judgment criminating him. On the contrary, the opinion was expressed by the Chairman that the charges were founded in rumor, speculation and misapprehension."

"There was a law for the distribution of arms among the different states for the use of their militia. Under it the Ordnance Bureau, without any special order from the head of the department gave to each state that applied for it, her proper quota of muskets and rifles of the best pattern. During 1860 the number distributed was 8423, of which the Southern states received 2091 and the Northern 6332. Long range rifles numbering 1728 were also distributed, and all went to Northern States except 758, which went to certain Southern States. The fact that

the Southern States neglected to take their quota satisfied the Committee that there could have been no fraudulent combination in 1860 between them and the War Department. That concluded the case, since it was impossible for a sane man to believe that such a plot could have been formed and acted upon at a previous time and yet had no existence in the year immediately preceding the war. But the Committee went back, and it was proved that, in 1859, before any war was apprehended, before the election of Lincoln was dreamed of, Floyd ordered a transfer of 115,000 muskets from Northern to Southern arsenals. These arms were worthless and unserviceable.

000 of them

We had 500,

and Floyd ordered 115,000 to be sent to

the South, doubtless for mere convenience of storage." (Black's

Essays, 266 & seq.)

That Floyd had no such motive for the transfer is shown by the following facts:

(1) He was then opposed to secession.

(2) He was a Virginian, and not a musket of the lot went to Virginia.

(3) He knew the splendid material for cavalry in the South.

Yet not a sabre, carbine or revolver was sent to the South by his order.

(4) He knew the South's poverty in field artillery, yet did not send a piece South.

(5) No ammunition was sent by him. (Curtis's Buchanan, Vol. II., p. 416).

If it was wrong to send arms South in 1859 and 1860, it was worse to leave them there early in 1861. Yet the inventory of the Norfolk Navy Yard for July 1, 1860 showed $654,526 of stores and for April 10, 1861 it showed $664,884.

Were Secretaries Toucy and Welles also "subtle schemers " This same article quotes the concluding part of Floyd's telegram to Anderson (authorizing him to surrender rather than sacrifice his command), and implies that it was an insinuation to Anderson to betray his trust.

The fact is that this was not in Floyd's original draft, but was added by Buchanan ten days later. (Crawford, Story of Sumter, pp. 73-5).

In your issue of February 17, 1912, on the Fort Donelson fight in February 1862, it is stated that Floyd was then under a federal indictment. The statement is not true. Floyd resigned on December 29, 1860. On January 25, 1861, he was indicted for alleged complicity in the abstraction of certain bonds of the Indian Trust Funds in the Department of the Interior. He was also indicted for alleged malversation in office. On hearing of it, he returned to Washington, gave bail and demanded a trial. On March 7, 1861, the Court records show the following order on the complicity charge:

"In this case, there being no proof to sustain the charge, a nolle prosequi is entered."

The Court records also show that the malversation charge was quashed by the Court on March 20, 1861.

Robert M. Hughes.