A Military Genius Part 18

Without intending to express any a.s.sent or dissent to the positions therein a.s.serted, but merely with a view of forming a judgment in respect to their merits as argumentative compositions, I have carefully perused Miss Carroll's pamphlets mentioned in the within account. The propositions are clearly stated, the authorities relied on are judiciously selected, and the reasoning is natural, direct, and well sustained, and framed in a manner extremely well adapted to win the reader's a.s.sent, and thus to obtain the object in view. I consider the charges quite moderate.

CHARLES O'CONOR.

WAs.h.i.+NGTON, _September 19, 1862_.

Without having seen the writings mentioned in the within account I have heard them so favorably spoken of by the most competent judges that the charges of the account seem to be most reasonable.

REVERDY JOHNSON.

706 Walnut St., PHILADELPHIA, _Oct. 11, 1862_.

Having been requested to give my opinion of the pamphlets described in the within list, I have in a cursory way looked over them. As I have just returned from Europe from a long absence and am at present with many unsettled matters of my own, I cannot undertake therefore to study them. From the examination I have given them I cheerfully say they appear to be learned and able productions and the work of a well-stored mind. They are written in a clear style and must be read with interest and advantage, and certainly cannot fail to be of service to the cause they uphold.

Much labor must have been given to these productions. Their actual value in money I cannot determine, but I think they are well worthy of a high and liberal compensation.

BENJAMIN H. BREWSTER.[33]

[Footnote 33: Benjamin H. Brewster was a noted lawyer of Philadelphia and a member of Arthur's Cabinet.]

WAs.h.i.+NGTON, _September 23, 1862_.

I have read several of the productions of Miss Carroll, and, among others, two of the within mentioned. The learning, ability, and force of reasoning they exhibit have astonished me. Without concurring in all the conclusions of the writer, I think that the writer is fully ent.i.tled, not only to the amount charged, but to the thanks and high consideration of the Government and the nation.

RICHARD S. c.o.xE.

WAs.h.i.+NGTON, _September 10, 1862_.

Having read with care the several pamphlets mentioned within, and comparing them with professional arguments in causes of any considerable importance, and considering the vast learning and the ability with which it is handled, I have to say that in my judgment the charges are not only very reasonable, but will, in the estimation of all men of learning who will carefully examine the doc.u.ments, be deemed _too small_.

L. D. EVANS.

WAs.h.i.+NGTON, D. C., _September 23, 1862_.

I have read the pamphlets mentioned within, together with others on similar subjects written by Miss Carroll, and I fully concur in the opinion above expressed, believing that said pamphlets have been of essential service to the cause of the Union.

S. T. WILLIAMS.

_September 8, 1862._

I have carefully perused, some time since, the papers referred to within, and without entering into any question of concurrence or non-concurrence of views I deem the doc.u.ments of great value to the Government, and that the estimate of the account is reasonable.

ROBERT J. WALKER.

WAs.h.i.+NGTON, _October, 1862_.

Miss Carroll:

While I never put my name to any paper, I would very cheerfully state at the Department that I consider the charges for your publications _too small_, but I do not think it can be necessary.

What more could any one want than such an endors.e.m.e.nt as you have from Mr. O'Conor and other eminent men?

Very respectfully,

EDWARDS PIERREPONT.[34]

[Footnote 34: Edwards Pierrepont was Minister to England under Grant.]

Later developments showed that the $1,250 that Miss Carroll had credited to the secret-service fund had come out of Thomas A. Scott's own pocket as his private contribution to the national cause and to help on the circulation of such important doc.u.ments.

Mr. Scott sent the following letter, to be found in Miss. Doc. 167:

PHILADELPHIA, _January 16, 1863_.

Hon. JOHN TUCKER, _a.s.sistant Secretary of War_:

I believe Miss Carroll has fairly earned and ought to be paid the amount of her bill ($6,750), and if you will pay her I will certify to such form as you may think necessary as a voucher.

THOMAS A. SCOTT.

Mr. Tucker not having the settlement of the account, and the matter being referred to a.s.sistant Secretary Watson, Miss Carroll submitted the account endorsed by many eminent men as reasonable, and also endorsed with Hon. Thomas A. Scott's recollection of the agreement upon which they were produced.

An agent tendered but $750, _with a receipt in full_.

On objecting he said her redress was with Congress, and, upon being informed by Mr. Reverdy Johnson that the receipts would not bar her claim, she accepted it. The original account, with endors.e.m.e.nts, etc., it is stated, is "on file in the War Department." The Senate Military Committee of the 41st Congress, 3d session, Report 339, referring to these publications, said: "Miss Carroll preferred a claim to reimburse her for expenses incurred in their publication which ought to have been paid."

Miss Carroll having also credited the $750 to the secret-service fund, Mr. Thomas A. Scott wrote her that she should not have done so; that it came out of his own pocket in his indignation at finding the agreement made by himself in his capacity of a.s.sistant Secretary of War disregarded by his successor. For thirty years this account has been presented in vain. In 1885 it was retransmitted from the Court of Claims on some judicial grounds, though accompanied by the "moral a.s.sent" of the court.

Miss Carroll had written the great and influential pamphlets of the day which ought to have made her a minister of state. She had devised the military movements that ought to have given her a very high military rank. Under our arrangements for securing a male aristocracy no services, however brilliant, could secure to a woman any post whatever. She must remain an _unrecognized_ member, and being an unrecognized member for her there was no pay--not even her traveling expenses. Any help towards the circulation of her invaluable pamphlets had to come out of the private means of Thomas A. Scott. From first to last, for all her intense and unremitting labors through all the years of the civil war, she has, it would appear, received from the _Government_, in any department whatever, not one cent. To her personally, through the generous and unhesitating use of her own private means, the result has been a long martyrdom of poverty and suffering.

That is how America has treated her n.o.blest daughter.

That is the result of belonging to a disfranchised cla.s.s.