Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1845-1854, 1847-02-24

!. - a - -S1WeS n. TOtksl ..t..
nj loNM not TO be departed from, is moth
EImd quite different thing.
q From the Gulf Of Mexico, following il
:. boundaries ofthe provinces now ia opr. pc
le session, to the Pacific Ocean, il Is but q Ii
to tlelshort of 2, 600 miles. Farflle great.
ht portion Of Is OPEN aDd shachof Il mo
Id cupied.. Instead Of any lines Of commun
e cation, natural or artificial, where it mu
< necessarily be crossed anywhere. it is
j. mere paper line-a descriptive one. Fo
e hundred Of miles on each side of a erea
r part of such line. the country is the sam,
: roamed over rather than possessed by no
9 madtc tribes, and affording subsistence ant
f shelter to the beasts of the earth. If you
S assume such a boundary, you necessarily
place yourself on the defensive. You must
establish troops along it, and these must be
scattered occupying different POSITIONS
Your enemy thus acts in masses, while you
act in detachments. If he attacks you,
and is disconnected, he falls back behind
his impenetrable barrier. snake clutch.
ed by an eagle is one of the emblems of the
armoral bearings of Mexico If this plan
Of fighting to an air line is adopted, the
proud bird will soon be powerless, and the
reptile will coil itself up to strike at its
leisure and its pleasure. In such state of
offensive defensive warfare, the enemy
chooses his time when you least expect him
or are least able to resist him. He gains
your rear and cuts off your conveys and
supplies, and thus reduces you to weakness
and distress. Or he strikes you in peri
cd Of sickness, and in climate to which
you are unaccustomed, and whose alterna-
tions do not affect him. You cannot pur-
sue him into his country, for the nome mt,
the very instant you do that, you confess
) the folly of your plan and abandon it for
t ever. you cross your boundary you
, must cross it to hold on, and then you have
, a new boundary, or III other words, sys.
tenn of unlimited operations. If you do
not cross to hold on, what will you do?
Your very object in crossing is to chastise
the enemy; and you must pursue him TO his
Efortresses thd capture them, if he has
any, or you must fight him in the open field
and disperse him. repeat, if you do not
do this you may as well stop at your boun.
dairy; look civilly at the retiring enemy,
take of your hats and say: Good bye, gen
tlemen; we will wait till you come back
again. The riches of Cresus would melt
away before such system of fghting-no-
fighting. The laurels of Napoleon would
wither and die. No exchequer could bear
the expense. No public sentiment the dis
honor. There is but one such campaign,
sir recorded in all history, ancient or mod
ern, sacred or profane, true or fabulous,and
that is the campaign of Sisyphus. 1t was
an eternal one. Sanction the plan propos-
ed and yours will be eternal too. This
stone will never be rolled to the top of q
mountain. 1t would be a never ending,
ever renewing war. The distinguished
senator from South Carolina thinks that
four regiments and three fortresses along
this line, and one regiment and few small
vessels for California, "would be ample for
its Defence" The line as described by
himselfis this: beginning at the mouth
of the Rio del Norte, and continuing up
the Paso del Norte, or southern boundary
of New Mexico, which nearly coincide,
and then due west to the Gulfof California,
striking it according to the maps before us,
nearly at its head"
Here, sir, is line across the continent
from the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of
California; and this line is to be so protected
by five regiments, three fortresses and a
few small vessels, as TO be imperviotls to
the rancheros and other light troops Of
Mexico-the best and most indefatigable
horsemen, perhaps, in the world. | have
enumerated, in these means Of defence,
proposed to US, few small vessels, because
they form part ofthe project Of the senator,
How they are to be employed in defending
any part of the line, as do not understand
| will not attempt to explains If the sol
diers were stationed equidistant upon this
boundary, they would probably be mile
apart. 1t seems to me, sir, and say il
with respect, that we might as well attempt
to blockade the coast Of Europe by station.
ing ship in the middle of the Atlantic.
As to the Rio Grande it is no defensive line
at all. Rivers, when best guarded, are
found to afford very insufficient protection.
But in the great country south and west Of
us, yet in state Of nature, or slowly
emerging from it, streams are entitled to
little consideration in defensive operations.
Who is there that has passed his life in the
west, and has not crossed them hundred
times by swimming, in canoes, upon logs,
upon RATS and upon horses? Is it to be
ut is due to the dstiE gnshed senator from
South Carolina to state that, when Mr.. CAss had
concluded his remarks, he obscred that he had
Liz, tet tho deEanca ac the line