His guide
was the requisition upon Tennessee for 2,500, and he should never have
departed from it.
The brave men whose patriotism brought them into the field ought to be
paid, but I seriously doubt whether any of the money now appropriated
can be used for this purpose, as all the volunteers authorized by the
act of Congress have been apportioned, and the appropriations should
be first applicable to their payment if they should be ordered into
the field. All that we can do is to bring the subject before the next
Congress, which I trust will pass an act authorizing the payment. Those
men obeyed the summons of their country, and ought not to suffer for the
indiscretion of those who caused more of them to turn out than could be
received into the service. The excess would have been avoided had the
governor of Tennessee apportioned his requisition to each county or
regiment, so as to make the proper number. This, however, can now only
be regretted. I can not approve the mustering or reception into the
service of the excess further than it may have been done to secure them
hereafter the justice which it will be in the power of Congress to
extend to them.
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