2d Session. No. 25. MEDFORD CAFFEY. [To accompany bill H. R. No. 642.] JANUARY 11, 1855. Mr. READY, from the Committee of Claims, made the following REPORT. The Committee of Claims, to whom the petition of Medford Caffey was referred, praying for compensation for a horse and equipage, lost in the Seminole campaign of 1818, make the following report: It appears that Medford Caffey was a private in the company of Capt. Hugh Kirk, of the first regiment of volunteer mounted gunmen from West Tennessee, in the expedition against the Seminole Indians, in 1818; "that he entered the service on the 31st of January, 1818, with a horse and equipage valued at one hundred and six dollars; and that he lost his horse in the service on the 8th of May, 1818, by reason of forced marches and want of forage, not furnished by government and not by any neglect on his part." Those facts appear from the official certificate of Captain Kirk, which is certified by R. H. Dyer, colonel commandant of said regiment. They are also verified by the affidavit of Captain Kirk, on file. It is also proved by Robert Jetton, acting major in said regiment, "that Medford Caffey did lose his horse in said campaign, and said loss was sustained, as he believes, for want of forage, not furnished by the government.' It is further proved, by Jeremiah Odle, "that he was a private in Captain Hugh Kirk's company of Tennessee volunteers, in the Seminole campaign of 1818; that he was with the army on the return march from Fort St. Marks to Fort Gadsden, and knows, of his own personal knowledge, that Medford Caffey, a private in said company, lost his horse and equipage for want of forage in the said march, while he was in actual service." and James Aubry testifies that he was a private in Captain Kirk's company, in the Seminole campaign of 1818; "that he was present, and knows that Medford Caffey, a private in the same company, lost his horse and equipage, during the service, on the return march from Fort St. Marks to Fort Gadsden;" and "that said horse was lost for want of forage." Henry Norman testifies as to the good character of Odle and Aubry. All of said depositions are duly sworn to and certified. The testimony is direct and positive, and at least in part, from eyewitnesses who appear to be respectable; and the committee are of opinion the petitioner has established his right to payment for his lost property. They therefore herewith report a bill for his relief, and recommend its passage. 2d Session. No. 26. APPROPRIATIONS FOR MILITARY ACADEMY. JANUARY 11, 1855. Mr. HOUSTON, from the Committee of Ways and Means, made the fol lowing REPORT. The Committee of Ways and Means recommend that the House of Representatives do agree to the first, third, fifth, and sixth amendments of the Senate to the bill making appropriations for the support of the Military Academy for the year ending the 30th of June, 1856; and that they non-concur in the second, fourth, seventh, and eighth of the Senate's amendments to said bill. CONGRESS, CONGRESS, KENNEDY O'BRIEN. [To accompany bill H. R. No. 715.] FEBRUARY 2, 1855. Mr. HENDRICKS, from the Committee on Invalid Pensions, made the following REPORT. The Committee on Invalid Pensions, to whom was referred the petition of Kennedy O'Brien, asking for pension, find that he served in the late war with Mexico, having volunteered two different times; that while in the line of his duty he contracted a chronic diarrhoea, from the effects of which he became blind. The accompanying note of the surgeon fully sustains the case. Your committee, therefore, respectfully report a bill granting him a pension of eight dollars per month, and recommend its passage. SURGEON GENERAL'S OFFICE, At the request of Kennedy O'Brien, late a private of the 5th regiment of Indiana volunteers, and now an inmate of the military asylum, I certify that he is perfectly unable to gain his livelihood by manual labor-his sight being entirely destroyed. A. S. WOTHERSPOON, RICHARD H. COOLIDGE, Assistant Surgeon U. S. A. CINCINNATI, OHIO, August 7, 1850. The bearer, Kennedy O'Brien, having served as a soldier in the Mexican war, and having lost his eye-sight by a disease incurred during that service, is hereby recommended for a pension. R. D. MUSSEY, M. D., Senior Surgeon of the Commercial Hospital. 1 |