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Thompson, Jacob : Speech of Hon. J. Thompson, of Mississippi, on the Correspondence Between Gen. Scott and the War Department. Delivered in the House of Representatives, March 21, 1848

Printed at the Congressional Globe Office, Washington, D.C., 1848

Original publisher's beige paper wrappers. Text printed in black ink. 5 3/4" x 9." Eight pages, complete. Pages are very clean and intact overall except for light age toning, moderate foxing, several small dampstains limited to margins along edges, and some chipping and splitting along spine. A Very Good copy. A speech about the Mexican-American War that was originally delivered before the United States House of Representatives on March 21, 1848 by Jacob Thompson (1810-1885), an American lawyer and politician. He was a Democrat. Thompson served as a U.S. Representative from Mississippi from 1839-1851 and the U.S. Secretary of the Interior from 1857-1861. Thompson resigned as Secretary of the Interior after he took a committed stance favoring Confederate secession. He became Inspector General in the Confederate Army. Thompson is also believed to have been the leader of the Confederate Secret Service in which capacity he may have organized many covert schemes against the Union during the Civil War. In this speech, Thompson pointedly counters the apparent claims made by Thomas Clingman, a Democratic Congressman from North Carolina, that blame President James K. Polk, the U.S. War Department, and Generals Zachary Taylor and Winfield Scott for the outcome of the Battle of Monterrey. The Battle of Monterrey was fought from September 21-24, 1846, and while it resulted in a victory for the U.S., both U.S. and Mexican forces suffered heavy casualties. Thompson organizes his arguments around two accusations by Clingman, that U.S. losses during the battle would have been much less had Taylor been furnished with adequate means of transportation and that Scott's withdrawal of Taylor's troops for his own operations had weakened Taylor's position. Thompson proceeds to reference correspondence by Taylor, Scott, Secretary of War William L. Marcy, and other U.S. officials as a way to support his counterarguments against Clingman. For example, Thompson interprets one of the letters reprinted herein between Scott and Taylor as evidence that the two generals had actually negotiated the number of troops to be moved from Taylor's forces to Scott's. Ultimately, Thompson's perspective is that Taylor and Scott acted competently and should be hailed as heroes and that U.S. involvement in the war was justified.. Book. Book Condition: Very Good. Binding: Soft cover

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