Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1846-06-04
MEXICO AND THE MEXICANs.


MEXICO AND THE MEXICANS.
From Recolcctions of MeSco by Wuddy Thompson, Esq.,
late Envoy Extraordinary aud Minister y6nipoenary of ho
United staes nj Mexico.--Ncw York; Wiley x Putnam
That which is IN all respects the greatest nuis-
ance, and the most insuperabe barrier 10 the pros
perity and progress of Mexico, is the army. They
will tell yon there it amounts 10 forty thousand
men; but they have never had half that number
have no doubt tina, the accounts at the Department
of War exhibit nearly the number stated, but
large portion of them are men of s,raw-fctitious
names iraudulently inserted for The benefit of the
officers who pay them. They are paid every dav
or rather, that is the law but the pay is lust as c
titlous as the muster rolls.
They have moe than two hundred generals, most
OF them without commands. Every officer who
commands a regiment has the title of general. and
is distinguished from generals who have no COM
mands by the addition of General efectivon-
The rate Of pay is not very different from that of
our own army. Each officer and soldier however
IS his own commlssary, no raons being issued
and they are well satisfied if they receive enough
OF their pay to procure their scanty rations. which
was very rarely the case, except with Santa Annals
iavorte troops, whom he always kept about his per-
son, and this made it their interest to sustain him
IN one OF the last conversations which had with
him. told him that the army would remain faith
lul to MN Just so long as he could pay them, and
no logger, and that did not see how it was posi-.
Dle lor MN TO pay Them much longer.
The result proved the truth of both predictions
and that, have no doubt, was the cause Of the
revolution which overthrow him. 1t was not alone
with the French SdnScuoties that la liberte ct la
pene" is cry of fearful potency. Shortly before
l left Mexico, IN officer in the army came to the
city and settled his accounts with the War Depart
nent, d received a certificate that 25 hundred
dollars were due him; after hawking it about
amongst the brokers, he sold the claim for hun
dred and twenty five dollars which was five cents
on the dollar.
The say they obliged to have a standing ar
my, and that they can only enforce their laws by
the grace of God and gunpowder." This may be
true, but doubt it. But if this be- is there any
military man who will deny that five thousand sol. |
ders well-paid, fed and disciplined, would be more
efficient than fifty thousand such troops as they
have? 1t has been the policy Of all great comman-
ders not to take doubtful and undiscipned troops
INTO great battle. do not hesitate TO saw that i'll
was IN command Of an army of ten thousand dis 4
cplned troops, and was going into battle and was
offered ten thousand more Mexican troops, that
would not take them. Napier in his history Of the
PeninsulOr War, describing some battle, uses tins
expression: "The British army was strengthened
or rather toedkened by twenty thousand undlscplIn
ed Spanish troops" The inequality between dis
cplined and undiscplined troops is estimated by
military men as one TO five. This inequality Is
much greater with large masses, and do not think
llldJ COulu perform II TACTICAL eVOT
luton with five thousand Mexican troops. do noa
believe that such an one-a maneuvre in the faceN
OF an enemy-was ever attempted in any Mexican
battle; they have all been mere melees or mob
fights, and generally terminated by charge of
cavalry, which Is, therefore, the favOrte corps with
all Mexican officers. | should regard it, from the
dlminutye size Of their horses and equally diminu-
tive stature and feebeness of their riders, as utter
ly inefficient against any common infantry. | said
SO IN conversation with Colonel B-n an officer
who had seen some service, and had some reputa-
ton. | was not little amused at his reply. He
admitted that squares OF infantry were generally
mpregnabe TO cavalry, but SAID it was not SO with
Mexican cavalry, that they had one resource by
which they never had any dl Guilty in breaking the
square. | was curious to know what this new and
important discovery in the art Of war was and
waited lmpallently the "push Of his one thing"
when to my INFINITE amusement he renlied--the
Lasso; that the cavalry drmed with assos rode up
and threw them over the men forming the square,
and pulled them out, and thus made the breach /
remembered That my old nurse had often got me to
sleep when child, by promising to catch me some
birds the next day, by putting salt on their tails,
which thought quite as easy operation as this
new discovery Of the Mexican colonel had read
Of "kneellng ranks and charging squadrons." but
this idea o! assolng squadrons was altogether new
to me- Bonapare fought and gained the battle e
the Pyramids against the best cavalry in the world
SltiiOiy lie lOSt me Oatllc
Of Waterloo because the British squares were I'M
pcnetrable to the next best-tho French cavalry
during all of that long and awful conflict. This
| idea, however, OF the lasso did not occur 10 the
Mameukes Of Egypt, nor to Bonaparte at Water
! loo was reminded Of the equally novel attack
Of the Chinese upon the English, when they were
all formed IN battle array aud the Chinese threw
somersets at them instead Of cannon balls and
shells
The Mexican army, and more particularly their
cavalry, may do very well to fight each other, but
in any conflict with our own or European troops, it
would not be battle but massacre. Frederick
the Great, who was the author, in great degree,
of the modern system Of tactics, had three naxims
as to cavalry. First, that a cavalry corps should
never be charged but should always make the
charge Second, that, in charge of cavalry, they
were not going fast enough unless when halted the
troth from the mouth Of the horse struck the rider
I'M the face; aud third, which was rather the sum
mng up OF the first two that the spur was more
important than the sword In other words, that the
impulse aud momentum at the horse was of more
consequence than the arms and blows of the rider.
! What then mnst be the murderous inequality be-
tween a corps Of American cavalry and an equal
number Of AleXicans? The American CORPS from
the superior size Of their horses, would cover twice
as much ground, and the obstruction offered by the
Mexcans on their small and scrawny ponies would
scarcely cause their horses to stumble In riding
over them to say nothing Of the greater inequality
OF the men themselves five to one at least IN indl-
Vldual conbals and more than twice that in bat
tie. The infantry would be found even more i'm,
potent