2d Session. No. 28. PAUL S. RIDGWAY. [To accompany bill H. R. No. 668.] JANUARY 23, 1855. Mr. ANDREW STUART, from the Committee on Invalid Pensions, made the following REPORT. The Committee on Invalid Pensions, to whom were referred the papers in the case of Paul S. Ridgway, ask leave to report: That the said Paul S. Ridgway was a volunteer in Captain John Sharp's company of volunteers at the battle of the Thames in the last war with Great Britain, in which action he received a wound from a musket-shot-the ball passing through the leg a short space above the ankle; that said Ridgway again entered the service of the United States as a private in Captain Gill's company, Colonel Miller's regiment of infantry, August 16, 1814, and was honorably discharged at Chillicothe, Ohio, in 1815, after peace was established, for which service a warrant for 160 acres of bounty land was issued to him; that at one time during this service, when carrying a message across the river Thames on the ice, he broke through, and was wet from head to foot; but that he proceeded and delivered his message, and in consequence had one of his feet frozen. At another time, while firing at a target with a six-pounder, in consequence of a premature discharge, the cannon struck him in its recoil, producing a slight rupture. He is now eighty years of age, and the effect of these injuries has totally disabled him. He forbore to ask pension until the year 1850, when poverty and inability to earn a livelihood compelled him to make application to the Commissioner of Pensions for relief. He was then unable, by reason of the death and removal of his officers and fellow-soldiers, to produce the testimony required in the Pension Office to establish his claim. After travelling several hundred miles on foot, searching unsuccessfully for some of his fellow-soldiers, he came on to Washington, and was before your committee, who examined his wounds personally; and being also personally known to one of the members of the committee as a man of good standing and character, your committee are as well satisfied of the justice of his claim for pension as if he had furnished the specified proof required at the Pension Office. They therefore think that he should be placed on a similar footing with other disabled soldiers, and ask leave to report a bill. 2d Session. {No. 29. MILITARY ROAD IN OREGON TERRITORY. JANUARY 23, 1855. Mr. FAULKNER, from the Committee on Military Affairs, made the following REPORT. The Committee on Military Affairs, to whom was referred House bill No. 543, entitled "An act for the construction of a military road in Oregon Territory," have, according to order, had the same under consideration, and submit the following report: It appears that the protection of Astoria, for some time to come, must be left to field operations and temporary entrenchments, unaided by permanent defensive works; and so long as this is the case, easy communication with the centre of population will be of great military value; and that, even after this point shall have been guarded by fortifications, the means of rapidly conveying succor to it will be important to maintain it against attack. It further appears that sole communication at present is by water, which is cut off by ice during several weeks each winter; while, navigation at the mouth of the Columbia being always open, Astoria might be captured or destroyed by a naval force availing itself of a favorable opportunity, with but little loss. The committee therefore report back the bill, and recommend its passage. |