RECAPTURE OF LEXINGTON, MO. towards Missouri, and have dissolved, by war, the connection heretofore existing between her and them. The General Assembly of Missouri, the recognized political department of her Government, by an act approved May 10th, 1861, entitled, "An act to authorize the Governor of the State of Missouri to suppress rebellion and repel invasion," has vested in the Governor, in respect to the rebellion and invasion now carried on in Missouri by the Government and people of the Northern States and their allies, the authority "to take such measures as in his judgment he may deem necessary or proper to repel such invasion or put down such rebellion." Now, therefore, by virtue of the authority in me vested by said act, I, Claiborne F. Jackson, Governor of the State of Missouri, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of my intentions, and firmly believing that I am herein carrying into effect the will of the people of Missouri, do hereby in their name, by their authority, and on their behalf, and subject at all times to their free and unbiased control, make and publish this provisional declaration, that by the acts and people and Government of the United States of America, the political connection heretofore existing between said States and the people and Government of Missouri, is, and ought to be, totally dissolved; and that the State of Missouri, as a sovereign, free and independent Republic, has full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other acts and things which independent States may of right do. Published and declared at New Madrid, Missouri, the fifth day of August, in the year of our Lord eighteen hundred and sixty-one. CLAIBORNE F. JACKSON, RECAPTURE OF LEXINGTON, MO. MAJOR WHITE'S OFFICIAL STATEMENT. CAMP LOOK-OUT, QUINCY, Mo., Oct. 24th, 1861. Major-General Fremont: On the 5th instant I received your orders to organize a scouting cavalry squadron for special service, and organized one by making the following detail: Company L, First Missouri Cavalry, Captain Charles Fairbanks, sixty-five men; Company C, First Missouri Cavalry, Captain P. Kehoe, sixty-five men; the Irish dragoons, (Independent,) fifty-one men. We left Jefferson City on the 5th instant, and after a severe march reached Georgetown, our men in good condition, on the afternoon of the 8th. Our 511 horses being all unshod and unfit for travel, we procured a few shoes and a quantity of old iron, called for blacksmiths from our ranks, took possession of two unoccupied blacksmith shops, and in five days shod our horses and mules, two hundred and thirtytwo in number. Our scanty supply of ammunition having been destroyed by the rain, and having two small bullet-moulds in our possession, we procured lead and powder, and, turning a carpenter's shop into a manufactory, made three thousand cartridges for our revolving rifles. On the 15th instant, Colonel Hovey, commanding at Georgetown, received a dispatch from Lexington stating that a valuable baggage train had left the vicinity of Lexington, destined for Price's rebel army; also, a private dispatch from Colonel White, stating that if he and his fellow-prisoners were not relieved within twenty-four hours, they would be assassinated by the rebel marauders infesting Lexington. As Colonel Hovey's command was under marching orders, and therefore could not go to their relief, my command volunteered for the service, and Colonel Eads, of Georgetown, tendered me seventy men from his regiment. Accompanied by Colonel Eads, I started at nine P. M., on the 15th instant, my whole force being two hundred and twenty strong. By a severe forced march of nearly sixty miles, we reached Lexington early the following morning, drove in the rebel pickets without loss, and took possession of the town. We made from sixty to seventy prisoners; took sixty stand of arms, twenty-five horses, two steam ferry-boats, a quantity of flour and provisions, a large rebel flag, and other articles of less value. The rebels fled in every direction. The steamer Sioux City having arrived at Lexington the following morning, was seized by us. Our first care was to rescue our fellow-soldiers, captured at Lexington by Price, viz., Colonel White, Colonel Grover, and some twelve or fifteen others. We placed them on board the Sioux City with a guard, and dispatched them to St. Louis. After administering the oath of allegiance to our prisoners we released them. As the rebels were recovering from their alarm, and beginning to surround us in force, we evacuated Lexington after holding it thirty-six hours. As soon as the rebels were satisfied of our departure, they attacked our deserted camp with great energy. We then proceeded to Warrensburg, making a few cap. tures on our route. The evening of our arrival at Warrensburg we easily repulsed a slight attack, and, by threatening to burn the town if again attacked, remained two days unmolested. We next proceeded to Warsaw, and are now en route to Stockton. Among the interesting articles taken at Lexington were Price's ambulance, Colonel Mulligan's saddle, and the flag I have the pleasure the payment of taxes, did not equal a tenth of those of sending you. [The flag is the State flag of Missouri, which Claiborne F. Jackson stole from Jefferson City some months ago.] at present possessed by our people. It had been exhausted by long wars which had desolated nearly every portion of it. It was withont commerce and without manufactures, while at that time there was hardly any demand in foreign countries for products of its agriculture. It was previous to the use of steam or of labor-saving machines, or of any con I have no casualties to report, and my men are all in good health, anxious for further service. I cannot too highly commend the faithfulness of the officers and men detailed on this service, from Colo-siderable division of labor on which wealth is based. nel Ellis' First Missouri Cavalry, and of the Irish dragoons, commanded by Captain Naughton. ABILITY OF THE NORTHERN STATES TO SUSTAIN A STATE OF WAR. In chapter II. Division V. (pages 242-47) we give facts and figures bearing upon our ability as a nation to sustain the burdens of war. Below will be found interesting and valuable matter directed to the same end. It represents the views which prevailed quite generally in commercial circles of the North-being the European circular of an eminent New York Commission House for September, 1861. The great theme, at the present time, of foreigners, particularly Englishmen, is the vast debt the United States are contracting to put down the rebeltion. They confidently predicted the money could not be raised on loans. Driven from this position, they are equally loud in assertions that our People will not be taxed to pay the interest on the debt and for the ordinary purposes of Government; that they have not that docility which belongs to those of the old world, who patiently bear whatever load may be imposed upon them. We have so long been without a National debt, that it would not have been strange if the systematic outcry of the British Press, the great object of which was to destroy our credit in European markets, should have created some anxiety in reference to this matter among ourselves. Such, however, has not been the case. No one doubts that the interest on the debt that may be created, say $500,000,000, can be easily met from ordinary sources of revenue, with such as we can add, without imposing burdens that will be complained of or really felt. The population were widely scattered, without internal commerce, and were almost solely engrossed in providing for their daily wants. The expenses and revenues of Government were on a corresponding scale. The total expenses of the United States for the first fourteen years after the formation of the Government, exclusive of payments of interest on the National Debt, were $53,372,478, and the yearly average $3,812,391, which is about one-third of the annual expenditures of the City of New York. This small sum taxed the industries of the country mech more severely than ten times the amount, in ratio to the population, would at the present day. Yet the debt was gradually reduced till it was only $45,000,000 at the commencement of the war of 1812, when it was swelled to $127,000,009 in 1816. The population of the country at that time being about 8,500,000, the rate per head was $15. Notwithstanding the impoverished condition of the country, the payment of the debt was immediately commenced, and fully consummated in 1825. A National Debt not exceeding, per head, those twice contracted and paid by our people, is no cause for alarm. But since the creation and payment of these, the wealth of our people has increased, probably in tenfold greater ratio than that of their popu lation. The valuation of all the property in the several States, for taxation, in 1850, equalled $5,989,152,771; in 1860, $11,296,306,942-an increase of nearly 100 per cent.; the increase of population in the same time was 35 per cent. The increase of the former has been in threefold ratio to the latter, from the effect of the new agencies that man is constantly summoning to his aid. The locomotive engines in the United States are now performing the labor of 50,000,000 horses. The machinery brought into use since 1816 in this country is equal to the labor of 500,000,000 men. In effect, the productive capacity and wealth of the country has increased as if the population of the country had gone up to hundreds of millions instead of 31,500,000. This statement strikingly ilfustrates our increased A debt of $500,000,000 is not one-fifth so large in proportion to their means, and not greater in proportion to their population, than our people have twice contracted and twice paid. Upon the adop-means, and is fully confirmed by the extent of the tion of the Constitution, the debt assumed was $80,000,000. The population of the country was 3,900,000. This sum exceeded $20 per head. At that time the wealth of the country, and its means for internal commerce of the country, which is almost entirely the result of the application of steam to lo comotion, and which has been almost wholly created since 1816. The tonnage carried by the railroads FLAG OFFICER MERVINE'S OFFICIAL REPORT. 513 of the State of Massachusetts for 1869 was 3,716,726 | Federal Government upon a peace footing. For tons, worth, at the very low valuation of $100 per such expenditures, we have the customs' revenue, ton, $371.572,600. The tonnage of the Erie Canal estimated to produce $50,000,000; a direct tax of and the Erie and New York Central Railroads for $20,000,000, and an income tax of 3 per cent. on all 1860 were 6,767,736 tons, worth at least $676,773,600 incomes over $800 annually. These sources should -making an internal commerce for the two States produce very nearly the amount required, without alone, exceeding $1,000,000,000 in value, nearly the resorting to excise or stamps, or other internal taxwhole of which has been created since the opening es. The increased burdens will hardly be perceptof the Erie Canal in 1824. Other portions of the ible. The rapid increase of our population daily country show a still greater relative progress, as lightens previous burdens. The increase for the their public works have not only been constructed, past decade was equal to $800,000 yearly. For the but their population supplied within the last forty next it will exceed $1,000,000, proving most fully the years. There are now in the United States 31,500 remark of the Emperor of Russia in his late letter to miles of railroad, that have cost $1,254,000, and our President, that the movement of the United 5,131 miles of canal, that have cost $2,000,000,000. States is upon the ascending scale. When their reThe loyal States have 23,600 miles of railroad, cost- sources and future is fully appreciated, we can preing 950,000,000, and 5,000 miles of canal, costing dict a price for their securities which shall place $200,000,000. If the annual value of the trade of the them on a level with those of the most stable Europublic works of New York and Massachusetts, with pean Governments, and far higher than their previ a mileage of 5170 miles, is equal to $1,000,000,000, ous customary range. that of the remainder of the loyal States, with a railroad and canal mileage of 23,500 miles, must surely amount to a sum twice as large, or $200,000,000. In the United States we have, since the War of 1812, had only two sources of National Incomecustoms and lands. The income from the latter has never paid the cost of their management and the annuities to the various tribes of Indians from whom they were purchased. Customs duties in England are less than one-third of the revenues. We have only to adopt the example of that country to swell ours to five times their ordinary amounts. The economy of our Government has kept our expenditures to one-sixth those of Great Britain. We can raise an equal sum with a simllar system, and a larger one, as labor, which pays the revenues of both countries, is vastly more productive in the United States than that country. That our people will not readily submit to any burdens necessary to put down the rebellion, is a most unwarrantable assumption. The economic working of their institutions, with the marvellous material progress under them, has caused them to be regarded with an affection which people of other countries cannot appreciate. In England the annual taxes for the support of the National Government exceeds $12 per head. In this country they have averaged less than $2 per head. Upon the return of peace they will not probably exceed $100,000,000. This sum will not call for more than $3 per head. A rate per head equal to that paid by the people of New York for municipal and State purposes, would produce $450,000,000; or a rate equal to that asessed upon the taxable property of the city, $550,000,000; a sum exceeding considerably twice the probable expenditure of the FLAG OFFICER MERVINE'S OFFICIAL REPORT UNITED STATES FLAGSHIP COLORADO, The movements of the schooner had been assidu ously watched for several days and nights, and I deemed it so morally certain that she was intended for a privateer, that I determined the attempt should be made to destroy her, even in the face of the fearful odds which would have to be encountered. Lieu. tenant Russell had charge of the expedition, and, with Lieutenant Blake, was to attack the vessel, while Lieutenant Sprocton and Midshipman Steece spiked the guns. The attack was made on the morning of the 14th inst., at half-past three o'clock. The schooner, named the Judah, was found moored to the wharf under the protection of a battery and field piece, and to be armed with a pivot and four broadside guns. Her crew were on her, and prepared to receive our forces, pouring in a volley of musketry as the boat neared the vessel. A desperate resistance was made from the decks of the schooner, but her men were driven off on to the wharf by our boarders, where they rallied and were joined by the guard, and kept up a continued fire upon our men. In the meantime the vessel was set on fire in several places. That which finally consumed her was lighted in the cabin by Assistant Engineer White, and a coal heaver, Patrick Driscoll, who went as a volunteer. She burned to the water's edge, and has since, while burning, been set free from her moorings, and has drifted down opposite Fort Barrancas, where she sunk. severe contusion on his shoulder, and Midshipman Higginson had the end of his thumb shot off. Lieutenants Russell and Blake had narrow escapes, the flesh of each being grazed by one or more musket balls. It is not an easy task to select individual instances of bravery or daring where all beheved so gallantly. The officers unite in giving great credit to the cool ness and bravery with which they were supported by the men, and the latter have learned to look with new pride and confidence on the former. The ma rines, especially, seem to have sustained the repu tation borne by that branch of the service, as they receive encomiums from all sides. Assistant Surgeon Kennedy rendered valuable assistance in the care of the wounded. Assistant Engineer White brought down from the crosstrees of the schooner a man who had been seen to fire upon the boats, killing him instantly. I enclose, herewith, a complete list of all engaged in the affair, with the names of the killed and wounded in each boat. Of the party assigned to the spiking of the gun, only Lieutenaut Sproston and Gunner Horton were able, after considerable search, to find it; the party becoming separated in the darkness. No opposition was made to their landing; Midshipman Steece, with his command, had gone to the aid of those on the schooner, where he performed valuable service. Very fortunately, only one man was found in charge of the gun, and he immediately levelled his piece at Lieutenant Sproston, but was shot down by Gunner Horton before he could obtain certain aim. Both pieces exploded simultaneously. The gun, which THE KENTUCKY SECESSION ORDINANCE AND was found to be a ten-inch columbiad, was immediately spiked, and, bringing off its tompion, these two officers returned to their boat. The work proposed having been well and thoroughly done, in the short space of fifteen minutes. and the whole force of the enemy in the yard-reported by deserters as over one thousand strongbeing aroused, onr boats pulled away, and rallying at a short distance from the shore, fired six charges of cannister from their howitzers into the yard, with what result it is impossible to say. Three of the enemy are known to have been killed, and our officers are confident the number is much larger. The boats then returned to the ship, arriving there about daylight. I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant, WILLIAM MERVINE, Flag Officer Commanding Gulf Blockade Squadron. PLAN OF GOVERNMENT. THE ORDINANCE. Whereas, the Federal Constitution, which created the Government of the United States, was declared by the framers thereof to be the supreme law of the land, and was intended to limit, and did expressly limit, the powers of said Government to certain general specified purposes, and did expressly reserve to the States and people all other powers whatever, and the President and Congress have treated this supreme law of the Union with contempt, and usurped to themselves the power to interfere with the rights and liberties of the States and the people, against the express provisions of the Constitution, and have thus substituted for the highest forms of But, sir, I am grieved to report this brilliant affair rational liberty and Constitutional Government a was not unattended by loss on our side. I have to central despotism, founded upon the ignorant prereport as killed by shots from the crosstrees of the judices of the masses of Northern society, and in schooner, while the boats were approaching, Boatstead of giving protection, with the Constitution, to swain's Mate Charles H. Lamphere, and John R. Herring, seaman and captain of the howitzer, two of the best men in our ship, and marine John Smiththe first man to board the schooner, and who behaved most gallantly-who was, by a sad mistake, having lost his distingaishing mark, killed by one of our own men. We have wounded, probably mortally, seamen R. Clark and E. K. Osborn; severely, nine other seamen. Captain Reynolds received a the people of fifteen States of the Union, have turned loose upon them the unrestrained and raging passions of mobs and fanatics; and because we now seek to hold our liberties, our property, our homes and our families, under the protection of the reserved powers of the States, have blockaded our ports, invaded our soil and waged war upon our people, for the purpose of subjugating us to their will. And whereas, our own honor and our duty to pos. terity demand that we shall not relinquish our own liberty, and shall not abandon the rights of our descendants and the world to the inestimable blessings of Constitutional Government; therefore, Be it ordained, That we do hereby forever sever our connection with the Government of the United States, and in the name of the people we do hereby declare Kentucky to be a free and independent State, clothed with all the power to fix her own destiny and to secure her own rights and liberties. 515 power of the Provisional Government of this Com. monwealth hereby established, shall be vested in a Governor and ten Councilmen, one from each of the present Congressional districts, a majority of whom shall constitute a quorum to transact business; the Govenor and Councilmen to be elected by the members of this Convention, in such manner as this Convention may prescribe. Sec. 2. The Governor and Council are hereby in. vested with full power to pass all laws necessary to effect the object contemplated by the formation of the Government. They shall have full control of the army and namy of this Commonwealth, and the militia thereof. Sec. 3. No law shall be passed, or act done, or appointment made, either civil or military, by the Provisional Government, except with the concurrence of a majority of the Council and approval of the Governor, except as hereinafter specially provided. Sec. 4. In the case of a vacancy in the gubernatorial office, occasioned by death, resignation or any other cause, the Council shall have power to elect a Governor, and his successor, who shall not, however, be a member of their body. And whereas, The majority of the Legislature of Kentucky have violated their most solemn pledges made before the election, and deceived and betrayed the people; have abandoned the position of neutrality assumed by themselves and the people, and invited into the State the organized armies of Lincoln; have abdicated the Government in favor of the military despotism which they have placed around themselves, but cannot control, and have abandoned the duty of shielding the citizen with their protection; have thrown upon our people and the State the horrors and ravages of war, instead of attempting to preserve the peace; and have voted men and money for the war waged by the North for the destruction of our constitutional rights; have violated the express words of the Constitution by Sec. 5. The Council hereby established shall conborrowing five millions of money for the support of sist of one person selected from each Congressional the war without a vote of the people; have per-district in the State, to be chosen by this Convenmitted the arrest and imprisonment of our citizens, tion, who shall have power to fill all vacancies from and transferred the constitutional prerogatives of any cause from the district in which such vacancy the Executive to a military commission of partisans; shall occur. have seen the writ of habeas corpus suspended without an effort for its preservation, and permitted our people to be driven in exile from their homes; have subjected our property to confiscation, and our persons to confinement in the penitentiary as felons, because we may choose to take part in a contest for civil liberty and Constitutional Government, against a sectional majority waging war against the people and institutions of fifteen States of the old Federal Union, and have done all these things deliberately, against the warnings and voices of the Governor and the solemn remonstrances of the minority in the Senate and House of Representatives; therefore, Sec. 6. The Council shall have power to pass any acts which they may deem essential to the preservation of our liberty and the protection of our rights, and such acts, when approved by the Governor, shall become law, and as such, shall be sustained by the courts and other departments of the Government. Sec. 7. The Governor shall nominate and, by and with the advice and consent of the Council, appoint all judicial and executive and other officers necessary for the enforcement of law and the protection of society, under the extraordinary circumstances now existing, who shall continue in office during the pleasure of the Governor and Council, or until the establishment of a Permanent Government. Sec. 8. The Governor shall have power, by and with the consent and advice of the Council, to con clude a treaty with the Confederate States of Amer Be it further ordained, That the unconstitutional edicts of a factious majority of a Legislature, thus false to their pledges, their honor and their interests, are not law, and that such a Government is unworthy of the support of a brave and free people, and we do hereby declare that the people are ab-ica, by which the State of Kentucky may be adsolved from all allegiance to said Government, and have the right to establish any Government, which to them may seem best adapted to the preservation of their rights and liberties. PLAN OF PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT. mitted as one of said Confederate States, upon an equal footing in all respects with the other States of said Confederacy. Sec. 9. Three Commissioners shall be appointed by this Convention to the Government of the Con Section 1. The supreme Executive and Legislative federate States of America, with power to negotiate |