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Chapter 4:
- The author enters the cabinet -- Administration of the war Department -- surveys for a Pacific railway -- extension of the Capitol -- New regiments organized -- Colonel Samuel Cooper, Adjutant General -- a Bit of civil service Reform -- Reelection to the Senate -- Continuity of the Pierce cabinet -- character of Franklin Pierce.
Happy in the peaceful pursuits of a planter, busily engaged in cares for servants, in the improvement of my land, in building, in rearing livestock, and the like occupations, the time passed pleasantly away until my retirement was interrupted by an invitation to take a place in the cabinet of Pierce, who had been elected to the presidency of the United States in November, 1852. Although warmly attached to Pierce personally, and entertaining the highest estimate of his character and political principles, private and personal reasons led me to decline the offer. This was followed by an invitation to attend the ceremony of his inauguration, which took place on March 4, 1853. While in Washington on this visit, I was induced by public considerations to reconsider my determination and accept the office of Secretary of War. The public records of that period will best show how the duties of that office were performed. While in the Senate, I had advocated the construction of a railway to connect the valley of the Mississippi with the Pacific coast; when an appropriation was made to determine the most eligible route for that purpose, the Secretary of War was charged with its application. We had then but little of that minute and accurate knowledge of the interior of the continent which was requisite for a determination of the problem. Several different parties were therefore organized to examine the various routes supposed to be practicable within the northern and southern limits of the United States. The arguments which I had used as a Senator were “the military necessity for such means of transportation, and the need of safe and rapid communication with the Pacific slope, to secure its continuance as a part of the Union.” In the organization and equipment of these parties, and in the selection of their officers, care was taken to provide for securing full and accurate information upon every point involved in the determination of the route. The only discrimination made was in the more prompt and thorough equipment of the parties for the extreme northern line, and
