AUTOBIOGRAPHT OF A N ENGLISH SOLDIER IN- THE UNITED STATES. MIXT. *
THE author of these reminiscences.of American military service is a Sent& weavers who went to New York in search of employment. He did not expect to " pick up money in the streets," but was ".scarcely prepared. to -finl the scramble for the means of living so fierce and incessant as he found it." The weavers he saw• com- plained of their lot ; for work was not constant, and the expenses were greater- than at home. Some advised him to turn labourer, as they intended to. do ; but, having served in the British army, he enlisted in that of the States. His book consists of anecdotes of life at a depot and in garrison at Florida, with the campaign in Mexico under General Scott, from-Vera Cruz to the oapital.
It is in the picture of the war and of the interioreoonomy of the American• army that the value of the book consists. The writer has suffieient education to give him fluency of style with some .de- gree of smartness,,bnt he has not large experience enough to select or possibly to see the matters whieli_ are moat worth_ observation. The. substance of his bookie alight,. and he records too much of.the small witand-sayings of.regimental wags and barrack-room orators. It is only when he is furnishing- information, or the subjects are so interesting in themselves that any reflection• of them is attrac- tive, that the reader is much attracted by the autobiography. Daily habits, originating it may be with blood or race, are among the-lest things that are got rid of The army is unpopular- with the Americans ;• perhaps the many opportunities of employment and higher pay that offer to a man with health and strength to pass the inspecting-officer prevent men from enlisting. Hence, few native Americans are found-in the ranks. The largest propor- tion, it would seem, are Irish and Germans ; English, Scotch, and natives, generally of indifferent character, make up the. re- mainder.. Theoffieersi according to all accounts, are highly ecru, este& men, having few sympathies. or associations with .gland-; .yet the American army is very like ours is salient points. The drill is nearly the same ; the motley band of many nations-is called to dinner by " 0 the roast beef of old Ragland!" and when the services of any hero are dispensed withi the band celebrates his de- parture with the " Rogue's March."' In matters-which the soldier is prone to consider more important,, our author says the difference iaoonaiderable. The men are not. so well. lookechafter by, their officers, or their comforts so carefully. attended to. He also gives a-much more unamiable oharaoter of the officers than is given by travellers of a higher grade. Many-of them, he says; are haughty lind domineering, worrying. the men with over-strictness, and striking or otherwise ill-treating them.. To the bad feeling exist- ing between officers and men. the writeraseribes.all the desertions in the Mexican war; the long. resistance at the battle of Churn, buseo, and the number of officers killed, the deserters out of re- venge aiming at them only. In the States, punishment by fl *
is.forbidden except for desertion, when expulsion follows.. re seems to be no lack of other punishments..
"I have not the slightest degree of doubt but that those barbarous• modes: orpunishment in common adoption, and the wantof sympathy generally. eie- • jilting between the officers and their men, were the exciting causes of theeemajoOrntey of ttillie modes ooff dpesertion,ctsiot lamp entablywihrieicejugtile city [Mexico]{ consisted in placing the culprit standing on a barrel in the open stree4 ex- posed to the hmt.of the sun.alLday, and the derisive admiration.of thestreett passengers. Of course a sentry was in attendance to shoot or run him, through with a bayonet if he attempted to escape from his. uncomfortable, position. Another mode consisted in placing the victim on a high wooden, horse ; and I knew of one man losinglxislife in consequence of being oompelled to sit for a series of days and nights in that position : one night, while: asleep, he fell from the baok of his inanimate steed, which was about eight: feet high, on the hard pavement, and was so severely injured that he diedt shortly after in consequence. " But the favourite punishment was that called the buck and gag.; which, Lsadm,nlstered after. the following manner. The culprit being seated on.the: ground, his feet arcedrawmup to hislams, and his wrists tied firmly in front: of his legs ; a long stick or broom-handle is then inserted between his legs, and arms, going over hisarms and underhislient knees; a gag is then'placed. in his mouth,and_ tied, firmly behind.his heed: In this helpless condition, unable to move hand,. foot; ortongne, he ielealor a series of hours, or even w Autobiography-of-an English Soldier in the United States Army. In two To- lumes. Published by Hurst and Blacked.
days, according to the humour of his tormentor. This revolting and dis- gusting punishment, which is often inflicted at the mere whim of an officer, has long been, and, I am sorry to say, still continues a favourite mode of punishment in the American army."
The story-of the campaign gives a very good idea of war and fighting as it appears to an individual. The fighting, indeed, was not of a very hard kind ; and the whole account causes the glory of the Mexican campaign to diminish to a small light so far as the resistance of the enemy was concerned. The arms of the Mexi- cans were bad •; their firing, especially of the artillery, was generally bad.; they were badly disciplined, badly led, and not over valorous. They never stood a charge, or availed themselves of opportunities to check the enemy ; and one cause of this might be, that their bad firing‘ left the enemy nearly untouched during the advance. This does not detract from the resolution of General Scott in ad- vancing upon Mexico with a force that ought to have been de- stroyed in such a country, or the firmness with which he resisted the interference of the civilians at Washington. To embark in a war and grumble at its cost instead of paying it, is a common practice with politicians. Our Ministers wanted: the Duke of Wellington to make the war maintain itself in the Peninsula; and the "politicals " at Washington had the same plan for Mexico.
"Shortly after our arrival at Jalapa, the Secretary of. War, under the di- rection of the President, I suppose, sent instructions to General Scott, to commence taking provisions and forage for the subsistence of his troops wherever he could find them, without paying for the same. This they called making the war support itself; and said it was the only way to make the Mexican people anxious to end it, by making them feel its burden. With these most stupid and atrocious instructions, acting with sound policy, as well as from motives of justice and humanity, General Scott in the most explicit and decided terms refused to comply. He declared in his reply to the Secretary, that he would pay, or pledge the credit of the American Go- vernment for every farthing's worth of produce which the Mexicans should furnish the army while under his command. The good consequences of this just and honourable conduct were felt throughout the subsequent part of the campaign in the comparative ease with which we found supplies of all de-
scriptions ; and to the mild and mitigated form which the war assumed un- der this system, as compared with that to which another course would have led,, the speedy and favourable conclusion of the war may be partly at- tributed."
Notwithstanding- the bad firing and bad management at Vert Cruz, and the opportunities neglected by the Mexicans in the diffi- cult country between the capital and the coast, the loss of the American army was very great from sickness, arising from hard- ships and indifferent supplies. Could the invaders have been de- tained in the lowlands near the coast for a time, instead of occupy- ing- the highlands during the rainy season, the war must have failed.
" The convents and public buildings in Puebla afforded ample accommo- dation to our army, but few of our men seemed to enjoy robust health. The sick-list and the hospitals were full to overcrowding, and one-half of those doing duty, wasted with diarrhcea, looked like skeletons or mummies ; the hardships and privations of the previous part of the campaign telling more or less severely on nearly all; and one could not walk far through the streets of Puebla without hearing the mournful strains of the soldier's funeral pro- cession. At Perote, too, where a large number of sick had been left, the castle having been converted into a depot, the sick died at the average rate of twelve a dap for a series of months. These were interred without any military formalities, or even the usual burial-service : being wrapped in the blankets in which they died,. they were carted out and thrown into pits dug for the purpose daily outside the garrison. I suffered a good deal for several months with the prevalent complaint, but, like a great many others, continued to do duty when not very able, being determined not to give in if possible. I derived considerable benefit from the use of pulque and aqua- diente, and at other times from opium, a small piece of which I carried m a box in.my pocket during the campaign, frequently taking a few grains of it before going to sleep at night. "In the mean time, the editors of newspapers, as we could learn from va- rious odd numbers which reached us of `True Democrats,' Snookville dicators,' and others of that ilk, were exceedingly wroth and indignant at our long inaction, and what they denominated the unaccountable passivity of General Scott. As for the rainy season, these gentlemen informed their enlightened readers that it was a complete piece of humbug ; a trifling ex- ouse meant to cover laziness, inactivity, and cowardice."
The following is almost the only approach to a feeling of Repub- lican equality on the part of the officers. The equality, however, was merely nominal when the talkative private found out that he was talking to a general, his eloquence was dulled.
"For some time after our arrival at Tampico, our regiment furnished an orderly to General Shiels, who was selected by the adjutant at guard-mount- ing from the men paraded for that duty. One day, my comrade Bill Nutt having been selected for the office, a rather amusing occurrence happened to him. It appeared that Nutt, who had never seen the General, had taken him for a servant, as he had opened the door for him, and also from his wearing plain.clothes, and his free and unassuming style of manner. The morning was cold, and he had asked Nutt to sit down at the fireside, sitting
down himself on the opposite side, and entering into conversation with him.
Nutt, who laboured under a false impression with regard to the identity of the person he was addressing, had spoken his sentiments very freely on some of the topics connected with the present war, condemning the aggressive sort of policy that seemed to actuate the Democratic party of America. hi the midst ofadiseussion on the question at issue, an officer in uniform entered from an adjacent apartment, and, bowing to Nutt's opponent, who was calmly listening at the time to his views of the subject, addressed him by the title of General. Nutt, who felt quite shocked at the discovery, made a hasty and
unceremonious retreat into the ante-room; and though the General resumed the subject after the departure of his guest, he confessed that the General soon had the best of the argument, as he could not hold'forth with the same freedom as before. Nutt often alluded afterwards to the urbanity and gentlemanlike con- duct of General Shiels; allowing that afew gentlemen might be found amongst the citizens of the enlightened republic, and quoting, him as one example at least that he had met with in his travels."
Previous page
