Report of Legislative Proceedings regarding the Payment of Texas Volunteers, 4 May
18481
Mr. LINCOLN said the objection started by the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Hall) struck him as being a sound one; and he wished to ascertain if there was anything
further to be learned about this claim, for he desired fully to understand it.2 He understood that the volunteers who served in Mexico were not by any general law entitled to pay for lost horses, and he understood that
if this resolution should pass, the Texas volunteers would be entitled to compensation for lost horses. Thus, they would be
placed in more favorable circumstances than others.
. . .3
Mr. LINCOLN said the payment for these lost horses came within a class of cases in
which he was a good deal like a gentleman near him, who was in favor of paying for
everything by way of being sure of paying all those that were right. But if this
resolution should be passed, and the general law should fail, then everybody but these Texas
volunteers would go without their compensation. He was not willing to do anything
that would produce such a result. He preferred placing the Texas volunteers on a level
with all other volunteers; and, therefore, he should vote for the reconsideration.4
1Abraham Lincoln made these remarks in the U.S. House of Representatives on May 4, 1848, during debate over a proposed joint resolution, which David S. Kaufman had introduced in the House on January 31. The resolution allowed pay to a regiment of Texas volunteers who were called into service for the
Mexican War, and who travelled to San Antonio, but were never mustered into service. Additionally, the resolution allowed compensation
to the volunteers who lost their personal horses due to lack of forage provided by
the government.
U.S. House Journal. 1848. 30th Cong., 1st sess., 321.
2Willard P. Hall objected that the resolution allowed compensation to these particular Texas volunteers whose horses perished
due to lack of feed, while other soldiers were only granted compensation if their
horses were killed in battle.
Cong. Globe, 30th Cong., 1st Sess., 726 (1848).
3At this point, Representative Armistead Burt, who had moved for the adoption of the resolution, explained that the Committee on Military Affairs had reported a bill to pay for all horses lost during service in Mexico; but that bill would not cover
these particular soldiers, who had been called into service but were never mustered
in. This bill actually came from the Committee on Claims.
Cong. Globe, 30th Cong., 1st Sess., 727 (1848); U.S. House Journal. 1848. 30th Cong., 1st sess., 463.
4The House of Representatives passed the resolution on May 9, 1848. The next day, the Senate referred the resolution to the Committee on Military Affairs. The committee reported back the resolution on June 14 with amendments, in which the Senate concurred. The Senate passed the resolution as amended. On June 15 the House concurred in the Senate’s amendments, and on June 16, President
James K. Polk approved the resolution and it became law.
Cong. Globe, 30th Cong., 1st Sess., 742, 840, 841 (1848); U.S. Senate Journal. 1848. 30th Cong., 1st sess., 329, 388, 390, 391.
Printed Document, 1 page(s), Cong. Globe, 30th Cong., 1st Sess., 727 (1848).