"it appears that guns were obtained from individuals"

Extract of a letter from A.P. Hayne, Inspector General, commanding, to the Secretary of War.

Dear Sir:                                             Head quarters Tennessee February 13 1818.

     I have the honor to inform you that I shall take up the line of march to-morrow morning at daylight. I
shall march from this ground with 1,100 effective men, and will be joined on the route by another full company.
   I am sorry to inform you that not more than two-thirds of our men are well armed. I shall procure as many arms on the route as I may be able to obtain, and shall state to the individuals from whom they are procured that the will be paid for by the United States, should they not be returned uninjured at the end of the campaign. It may be our fortune to meet the enemy before we form a junction with General Jackson, and, under these circumstances on the subject of arms, I could not hesitate for a moment.


"Sir:                                             Treasury Department, Second Auditor's Office, December 15 1820.
          In compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives of the United States of the 12th instant, (referred by you to this office,) requiring information whether or not the mounted men employed in the Seminole war continued to furnish, at their own expense, horses fit for duty, until discharged; and also whether or not any rule was adopted, or compensation given said troops for their services, not made applicable and given to other troops of the same description, employed in the service of the United States, I have the honor to state:
   That the rolls on file, with the accounts of the paymaster, are the only documents in my possession that will enable me to answer the first inquiry; and from them it appears that the troops in question were regularly mustered into and out of the public service as mounted, and as such received the usual allowance for the use of their horses, and the risk thereof, during their whole tour of duty.
   In relation to the second inquiry, it is found they have received from the paymaster who settled with them an allowance for clothing at the rate of thirty-seven dollars and twenty cents per annum, which, being contrary to law, and not given to other troops of the same description, will be disallowed on the adjustment of the paymaster's accounts; and, further, although they have received the customary allowance for the use and risk of their arms, it appears that guns were obtained from individuals for a portion of the troops, on condition of being paid for by the United States should they not be returned uninjured. Of the number thus obtained, one hundred and forty-three stands were not restored to the owners, and the sum of three thousand four hundred and sixty-nine dollars has been paid for them by Captain William Harris, assistant deputy quartermaster.
   It may be proper to add that, although not returned to the owners, these guns are now lying at Columbia, in Tennessee, under the direction, and subject to the orders, of the Ordnance Department.
                    I have the honor to be very respectfully your obedient servant, 

The Secretary of War.                                                                                    W.M. LEE.


 Sir:                                                                        Department of War, January 8, 1822.

       I have the honor to transmit, herewith, in reply to your letter of the 7th instant, a letter of the Second
Auditor, explanatory of his of the 28th ultimo. In addition, I would respectfully call the committee's attention to the extract of Colonel Hayne's letter, by which it appears that about two-thirds only of the volunteers were armed. It is presumed that he impressed arms for the remaining third. In addition to the arms impressed, it is probable some were issued to the volunteers by Lieutenant Keisa, of the Ordnance Department, then at Fort Hawkins, but as he has since died without rendering his returns, there is no knowledge of the fact in the Ordnance Office.
                             I have the honor to be your obedient servant,
                                                                                       J.C. CALHOUN.

[AMERICAN STATE PAPERS. CLASS IX. CLAIMS. AMERICAN STATE PAPERS. DOCUMENTS LEGISLATIVE AND EXECUTIVE, OF THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES, FROM THE FIRST SESSION OF THE FIRST TO THE SECOND SESSION OF THE SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS, INCLUSIVE: COMMENCING MARCH 4, 1789 AND ENDING MARCH 3, 1823. SELECTED AND EDITED, UNDER THE AUTHORITY OF CONGRESS. BY WALTER LOWRIE, Secretary of the Senate, AND WALTER S. FRANKLIN, Clerk of the House of Representatives, VOLUME WASHINGTON PUBLISHED B. GALES AND SEATON. 1834.]