Then there is a man named
Thompson, whose case is very amusing. Of him the committee thus
speaks: "It must be said that Thompson was not forgetful of the
obligations of gratitude, for, after he got through with the
contract, he presented the son of Major M'instry with a riding pony.
That was the only mark of respect," to use his own words, "that he
showed to the family of Major M'instry."
General Fremont himself desired that a contract should be made with
one Augustus Sacchi for a thousand Canadian horses. It turned out
that Sacchi was "nobody: a man of straw living in a garret in New
York, whom nobody knew, a man who was brought out there" - to St.
Louis - "as a good person through whom to work." "It will hardly be
believed," says the report, "that the name of this same man Sacchi
appears in the newspapers as being on the staff of General Fremont,
at Springfield, with the rank of captain."
I do not know that any good would result from my pursuing further
the details of this wonderful report. The remaining portion of it
refers solely to the command held by General Fremont in Missouri,
and adds proof upon proof of the gross robberies inflicted upon the
government of the States by the very persons set in high authority
to protect the government.
