Page:Speeches, correspondence and political papers of Carl Schurz, Volume 2.djvu/219

Rh that territory as part and parcel of the territory of the United States according to the Constitution.

Now I come to the orders which President Tyler issued, in pursuance of which a naval and military armament was sent down to the Mexican waters and the Texan frontier.

, April 15, 1844.&emsp; To Commodore

Commanding Home Squadron, Pensacola:

I will not read the whole order, but the main part of it:

If, while the question of ratification is pending, an armed force shall threaten an invasion of Texas, you will remonstrate with the commanding officer, and you will accompany your remonstrance with the assurance that the President of the United States will regard the execution of such a hostile purpose toward Texas, under such circumstances, as evincing a most unfriendly spirit toward the United States, and which, in the event of the treaty's ratification, must lead to actual hostilities with this country.

So far the Navy. Now as to the Army.

April 27, 1844.&emsp; Brevet Brigadier-General ,

Commanding First Military Department,

Fort Jesup, Louisiana.

You will take prompt measures, in the first instance by a confidential officer, and subsequently by the ordinary mail or special expresses, as you may deem necessary, to put yourself in communication with the President of Texas, in order to inform him of your present position and force and to learn and to transmit to this office (all confidentially) whether any, and