30'^^-' 6 COLLECr/_ UNWEHS^TV BROCK : o T r Dor- T>J- i IN SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES, December 29M, 1829. JResolved, That the report of the Secretary of War, made to the House of Representatives, on the 10th day of May, A. D. 1828, upon the subject of the claims of the State of Massachusetts for certain services rendered during the late war, be printed for the use of the Senate. Attest WALTER LOWRIE, Secretary/. 2d Session. MASSACHUSETTS MILITIA CLAIMS. LETTER * FROM THE SECRETARY OF WAR, Transmitting, in pursuance of a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 15th Dec 4? 1826, a report upon the s\ibject of the CL.AI3IS OF THE STATE OP 3IASSACIIUSETTS F'OR CERTAIN SERVICES RENDERED DURING THE LATE WAR. Mat 10, 1828. —Read, and laid upon the table. December 5, 1828 . —Printed by order of the House of Representatives Department op War, Mai/ 9, 1828. resolution of the of Sir : In obedience to a House Representatives, of the 15th of December, 1826, directing "that the Committee of the Whole House be discharged from the further consideration of the bill to authorize the settlement and payment of the claim of the State of Massachusetts for certain services rendered during the late war ; that the same, with the claim of Massachusetts for military services, be referred to the Secretary of War; and that he be instructed to report to this House what classes, and what amount of said claim, may be allowed and paid, upon the principle and luiles which have been applied to the adjustment of claims of other States, for mi- litary services, during the late war, and to which the assumed authority of the Governor of that State to control the Militia, and to judge of the neces- sity of ordering them into service, does not apply ; and also, if an}- parts of said claim are disallowed, to state the reasons for wliich the same are re- jected ;" I have the honor to transmit, herewith, a copy of my inslruclions to the Third Auditor, marked A, and his report, with accompanying docu- ments, marked B, in fulfilment of the duty assigned me by the above reso- lution. I have the honor to be your obedient servant, JAMES BARBOUR Hon. Andrew Stevenson, Speaker of the House of Representatives. A. Department op War, December 22d, 1826. Sir : The House of Representatives having resolved '*that the Commit- tee of the Whole House be discharged from the further consideration of the bill to authorize the settlement and payment of the claim of the State of Massachusetts for certain services rendered during the late war ; that the same, with the claim of Massachusetts for military services, be referred to [ Doc. No. 3. ] 3 the Secrelat-y of War ; and that he be instructed to report to this House what classes, and what amount of said claim may be allowed and paid, upon the principle and rules which liave been applied to the adjustment of claims of"other States for military services, durint;; the late war, and to which the assumed authority of the Governor of that State to control the Militia, and to judge of the necessity of ordering them into service does not apply ; and also, if any parts of said claim are disallowed, to slate the reasons for which the same are rejected ;" the pxaniination of those claims, preliminary to the performance of the dutv assigned to the Secretary of War, is referred to the Third Auditor. The whole claim, in all its parts, must be prepared. It will then be suhjectcd to the following classihcation : 1st. Embracing oil the iten.s not warranted by the principles of adjust- ment adopted in se''ling similar claims made by other States. 2d. AH the items embraced by such principlss. ih\. Subdivide this clissitiettion by noticing what portion resulted from calls made by the Executive of Massachusetts, and those by Militia officers, without the sanction of the Executive; and note whether the calls made by the Executive of Massachusetts were spontaneous, or made in compliance with calls made by the Executive of the United States ; and in either case, whether he consented or refused to subject them to the authority of the Government of the United Slates; adding, in every case of the calls, the circumstances, as far as they can be ascertained by the documents leading thereto. As this claim has already in part been investigated by the Third Auditor, and some progress made in ascertaining the amount of this claim, so much thereof as is applicable to the duties now enjoined may be considered as performed. I have the honor, &c. JAMES BARBOUR Peti;r Hagner, Esq. Third Jluditor. B. Treasury Department, T'hird Jluditor''s Office, 30/A January j lSi38. Sir : I have the honor, in relation to the claim of the State of Massachu- setts, to inform you, that, agreeably to the directions contained in your let- ter to me of the 22d December, 182G, reciting a resolution on the subject, passed by the House of Representatives, the claim has been examined, and, as nearly as it has been found practicable, classified conformably to those directions, and I now send you statements exhibiting the result, marked A, B, C', D, E, F, and G, and also a synopsis of the whole claim, marked H. These statements severally show, as well as could be derived from the vouchers, the aggregate of the charges, in I'espect of each particular call of the Militia into service, and by whom, or under what authority, the same was made ; and the documents explaining at whose instance ever)' such call took place, and the circumstances occasioning it, are therein either full}' set forth, or the purport of them related. 4 [ Doc. No. 3. ] General remarks, in relation to the deductions enumerated in the state- ments, are appended to the synopsis; and lest particular explanation con- cerning them may be deemed necessar}', the rough notes in detail, made on the examination of the vouchers, and contained in books numbered from 1 to 12 inclusive, are herewith transmitted. These should be return- ed to this office, when done with, there being no copies thereof, nor any other means of supplying their places than could be obtained by a rc-exam- ination of those very numerous vouchers. The immensity of the labor attending the investigation of the claim, and its preparation in the mode required, may in some degree be judged of from the^e notes; but they con- convey a very imperfect idea of the time necessarily occupied in collect- ing, from such an extensive mass of items, those applicable to each distinct call, especially in the scattered state in which these were, and in dissecting, as had to be done in numerous instances, a voucher into a variety of parts. I notice this, to account for the apparent great length of the period this busi- ness has been on hand. With great respect, Your most obedient servant, PETER HAGNER, .auditor. Hon. James Barbour, Secretary of War. ( A. ) GUARDS. %. A Statement applicable to such items in the claim of the State of Mas^ sachuseits, as relate to expenditures consequent on calls of militia in- to service^ [for guard dutt/,) under the authority given to several Ma- jor Generals of Militia by a general order, issued by the Jidjntant General of the State, by direction of the State Executive, on the idth June, 1814, an extract of which follows: " The constant alarin excited and kept up by the predatory course (f warfare lately adopted on our sea-board, renders it necessary that guards should be Jeept tip at ^ome of the places, those, particularly , exposed Ijy having quantities of ship- ping lying therein. To facilitate the execution of such a purpose, and to render the necessary aid as prompt and efficacious as possible, his Excellency the Cominander-in-Chief directs me to signify it to you as his pleasure, that you furnish to every town, whose situation, from the present pressure of the ivar, is exposed to surprise and im- mediate danger, such military force, and more especially such guards by night, as its peculiar situation and circumstances requit^e." Guard at Scituate. From the 28th of June to the 5th November, 1814. Admissiblf Aggregate expenditure _ . jSl,285 61 Deduct payments for clothing - ISO SI Do. use of arms - 26 07 [ Doc. No. 3. ] Deduct overpayments, &c. - - 16 50 rations reduced - - 59 22 miscellaneous accounts - 34 00 32G 60 950 01 )vembe 512 [ Doc. No. 3. *1 At Kingston. Three detachments, commencing 25th June, and ending 3d Nov. 1814. Aggregate expenditure - _ . §427 50 Deduct payments for clothing 59 do. use of arms overpayments rations reduced - miscellaneous accounts 100 84 326 GQ These detachments appear to have been called out and discharged pur- suant to division orders issued by Major Geneial N. Goodwin, on the 23d June, 1st July, and '21st August, and 26Lh October, 1814. Whether or not any application was made to him by the town for them, does not appear. 3 8 [ Doc. No. 3. ] place have been under arms for some time, and are almost exhausted with fatigue. JMr. Gideon Barstow, the bearer, can give you all the information. With due obedience, sir, I remain your humble servant, DANIEL B. LORING, Captain. Major General Goodwin. June 22. —Ordered one sergeant, one corporal, and fifteen privates, for^; the above harbor. N. GOODWIN, Maj. Gen. At Wareham. Two detachments, commencing 24th June, and ending 88th October, 1814» Aggregate expenditure _ - - _ j§ 1,188 92 Deduct payments for clothing - - 170 67 do use of arms - 34 1 overpayments - - - 2 rations reduced - - - 53 11 miscellaneous accounts - - 5 70 263 63 925 29 Division orders for calling out and discharging these detachments, appear to have been issued by Major General N.