Sentinel of the valley. [volume] (Woodstock, Va) 1841-1848, 1848-01-27

! castle supposed TO be impwgnsble. He sue
ceeslsd in accomplishing it. but he has done
ltt'e nothing beyond that. Every battle
which was fought between the city of Mexico
was fought with disparity ''of.numbers act,re
aiY appalling. That noble leader was forced
To march a distance of one hundred and fifty
ar 200 miles. (I forget the exact dIstance,3
INTO the enc m, 5 country. and for great por
''"n 1of;t!.e WI? through ..depse population.
to assaii city containing 100 900 or 100000
inhabitants. surrounded by for, tications which
were supposed to be impregnable, and with
our fhe means of communication with the sea
board for the purpose of getting supplies
These supplies found their way to him frons
time o inc by the gallaucry Of The escort, who
were obliged TO fight foot, to foo almost every
great and Extraordinary triuniphs. Scott fnd4
himself in the city Of Mexico will, only 5000
soldiers. Now, s.r, who does not believe that
ifhe had started viii, an army of $4,000 men,
altho' he might have been deprived of the
glory of his many victories. we might have
been in possession Of The city of Mexico PER-
haps without the shedding Of drop Of blood
American or Mexican. Who can doubt that
it is the duty Of an Executive managing / war
declared to exist by a christian people to do
what the honorable Senator from Mississippi
(Nr Davis) said it would be tie effect Of this
bill to accomplishment to ensure triumph
on the battle field, but to avoid battle by
accomplishing success by force of numbers
10 break down the mora! power If the enemy;
to conquer peace by demonstrating to thai
enemy that resistance is in vain. All at once
q find no fault with it, on the contrary re-
loice at it) the eyes Of the Executive have
been opened. Ali at once it seems to be per.
ce:ved by him tdat the war heretCf fore has not
been vigorously prosecuted except on paper.
Well, whose FAULT is it, Mr.. President Who
would have borne the dread responsibility If
our gallant little army on the Rio Grande had
been sacrificed Who would have had the
equally tremendous responsib I41ty il. those gal
liant spirits now in the halls of the Montezu-
mas had been sacrificed The nations of the
world would have said with one accord the
Executive OF the U. Upon him the respor
s5Iity Tor the useless and cruel expenditure
of blood and of treasure would have rested.
Sir, I make bold to say, in speaking in the
presence of those who know Infinitely more
npon suct subject than dc, that If the Pre-.
sdent had called out the SO, 600 volunteers af-
ter hearing of Palo Alto and Resaca de la
Palma. there never would have been another
blow struck in Mexico, and peace long since
restored The Mexlcans, to be sure, have
high and indomitablc spirit; q speak particu;
lary of that portion IF them Who have iii their
veins the true Casti!ian blood;) but they know
that there is point st which resistance ceas,
es to be virtue, and they would have seen
that that was their condition When they saw i
determination on the part of the U. S. to exert
heir power in the accomplishment Of the
purpose for which the war has been declared.
Who can doubt that, ii the Executive of the
United States had announced that the purposs
OF THE war was merely 10 procure indemnity
for wrongs and to vindicate outraged character,
and to maintain the honor of our flag, and had
placed fifty thousand troops in Mexico, as he
might have done, it would have led to a cessa-
ton of hostilities. Sir, think we have nc
peace because the President of the United
States has not exerted the power which Con-
gress placed in his hands, and which Was in
tended to be exeried. think. and therefore
charge upon him, that the American blood
which has SO freely been poured out, has beeE
thus freely poured out because of his error
think, and therefore charge upon him. tina,
the millions of money which have been spent,
and have yet to be spent, have been and are to
be spent Because of HIS error. This is all that
propose to say, Mr. President, on The manner
in which this war has been conducted. :.
And this leads me to consider very briefly
what should be, in my judgment, the mode Of
its future prosecution. There are only three
modes to be resorted to. The first is, TO with
draw the troops altoge her---if not to the Nue.
ces. to this side Of the Rio Grande. The sec
ond, to withdraw them to what is termed de-
fersive line; and the third, to carry on the war
in the heart Of Mexican territory until Mexico
agree to terms Of peace. lprefer the last
Mr.. President. in saying that prefer the
Ia / 1,, he I
fer the last, if the object to be accomplished ID
not one which, in my Judgment, would tarnisk
the american name. prefer the last, If the
object to be accomplished is merely the vindi.
cation ofoyqr violated honor and, indemnity fof
our hare,o.ors violated .riehts But if the ,pur-
pose of this war with the President of the .Uni-
ted States is to annihilate the nationality Of
Mexico; if it ia the fofcible dismemberinent Of
her territory then say on my own responsible
ity as Senator and man. | would not give
him dollar.
Strive live at a time when character is of i'm
inense value with nations, as we know it to be-
with individuals; and if there be any one thing
which more than another. stains national char
actef. it is using national power to intfict ma
tlonal injustice. And if there be any national
crime more crying and enormous ID the opinion
Of all christendom than any other. it is the
forcible ACKNOWLEDGMENT Of the Territory of I
weaker nation
When |. say, Nj. President, that am fof
fighting the war ont, mean that am for
fghting it !odt in order to accomplish the pur,
posh which we seek to have Accomplished"
that is, to have American rights recognised,
and American honor vndicated. and so recog7
missed and 50 indicated as to furnish full and
complete security against any subsequent vio-
laton.
Tia Two first points to which have REFER
ed-the proposition for Withdrawing the troops.
and that for taking defensive line-I have al
ready said cannot concur in. To Withdraw
the troops altogether, in my judgment, would
be national disgrace, and cannot therefore en-
terrain the idea for moment. To take de-
fensive line would not in my judgment lead I'd
peace. but wanld on the contrary be perpetual
war; and so far as expense is to be mentioned
in any comparison with the othef cSlamfties Of
war. il Would be attended with infinitely great
e, expense than that of fighting tout. Now:
sir, the The. objection to carrying the war on ia
the expenditure Of money with which it will
be necessarily attended. and the. CONSEQUENT
arrangement Of the whole financial condition of