7, in answer to a resolution of the House of
Representatives of the 1st of that month, requesting the President "to
communicate to the House of Representatives all the correspondence with
General Taylor since the commencement of hostilities with Mexico which
has not yet been published, and the publication of which may not be
deemed detrimental to the public service; also the correspondence of the
Quartermaster-General in relation to transportation for General Taylor's
Army; also the reports of Brigadier-Generals Hamer and Quitman of the
operations of their respective brigades on the 21st of September last"
(1846).

JAMES K. POLK.

WASHINGTON, _January 12, 1848_.

_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:

I have carefully considered the resolution of the House of
Representatives of the 4th instant, requesting the President to
communicate to that House "any instructions which may have been given to
any of the officers of the Army or Navy of the United States, or other
persons, in regard to the return of President General Lopez de Santa
Anna, or any other Mexican, to the Republic of Mexico prior or
subsequent to the order of the President or Secretary of War issued in
January, 1846, for the march of the Army from the Nueces River, across
the 'stupendous deserts' which intervene, to the Rio Grande; that the
date of all such instructions, orders, and correspondence be set forth,
together with the instructions and orders issued to Mr. Slidell at any
time prior or subsequent to his departure for Mexico as minister
plenipotentiary of the United States to that Republic;" and requesting
the President also to "communicate all the orders and correspondence of
the Government in relation to the return of General Paredes to Mexico."

I transmit herewith reports from the Secretary of State, the Secretary
of War, and the Secretary of the Navy, with the documents accompanying
the same, which contain all the information in the possession of the
Executive which it is deemed compatible with the public interests to
communicate.

For further information relating to the return of Santa Anna to Mexico I
refer you to my annual message of December 8, 1846. The facts and
considerations stated in that message induced the order of the Secretary
of the Navy to the commander of our squadron in the Gulf of Mexico a
copy of which is herewith communicated. This order was issued
simultaneously with the order to blockade the coast