These hopes have proved fallacious and hostilities have been renewed
throughout the whole of the Territory. That this contest has endured so
long is to be attributed to causes beyond the control of the Government.
Experienced generals have had the command of the troops, officers and
soldiers have alike distinguished themselves for their activity,
patience, and enduring courage, the army has been constantly furnished
with supplies of every description, and we must look for the causes
which have so long procrastinated the issue of the contest in the
vast extent of the theater of hostilities, the almost insurmountable
obstacles presented by the nature of the country, the climate, and
the wily character of the savages.
The sites for marine hospitals on the rivers and lakes which I was
authorized to select and cause to be purchased have all been designated,
but the appropriation not proving sufficient, conditional arrangements
only have been made for their acquisition. It is for Congress to decide
whether these conditional purchases shall be sanctioned and the humane
intentions of the law carried into full effect.
Pages:
835
836
837
838
839
840
841
842
843
844
845
846
847
848
849
850
851
852
853
854
855
856
857
858
859