The Arkansas banner., 1848-09-05
General Ysylor's CopsIsi,nsy.

We wers struck with portion of Col. RoaRe's speech at the Democratic Association. in which he consssted part of Gen, Tsylors recent letter pub lished In the Memphis Eagle and one of his reports to the War Department. Ia the former he says; ..As b the romantic story about the wounded soldier, al Baena Vista (ta eonncAioa with Mexi- can lady) which ended so tragicasly, and who is nid to have been shot by nay order il is without the slightest foandssion; aetaiS q ts tiad, or ese" Sp pyoaeAing s, ever tesk place. NOT DROP OF AMERICAN BLOOD WAS SHED BY MY ORDER WHILE IN MEXICO, NOR THAT OF 4 MEXICAN, EXCEPT IN THE HEAT oF BATTLE"
 This we thought an extraordinary declaration and to say the least of ii altogether raiuous For either the conduct Of eur soldiers was such as 10 make military executions unnecessary, or such was the nii'dFeeted lsniency of Gen. Taylor, that he would veto the vesetz eG sl cearas martial rendering all such tribunals perfect naity. If he would not approve any case in which man should be con denned to suffer the punishlnent awarded to him by hs soldiers who were called together to perform a solemn and Ft responsible duty, why go through the miserable farce of ordering court martiali aside from this we think it altogether too small afair to eamanaie from lofty character as the candidate of the enlightened whig party, and the wouId-be-President of this great nation.
 But if our surprise. was great that this nnneees- sary exposition of the General so uld be made we were much more ssteni.hed to find it at vari- ance with the truth and the very reverse of what he communicated to the Ajutant General in his let tie dated at Matamoras, May 30th, 1916, and which appears Tn ths volume ofcurrr-pond-ncc of evrnmapi- cated to Congress. In speaking of the means he adopted to stop desertion from the army Gen. Tsy- ley says:
 al therefore deemed it my duty, and warranted by the hostile attitude of the MexcanS whose con- nanders assumed that state of war existed to givs orders that all men seen swimming the riveI should be hailed by our pieksts and ordered to turn; and iK that they did return. that they would be shot These orders were verbally given 10 the several commanders on or about the lst of April l annex a description of two soldiers who arc supposed to have been shot under this order, remarking that il was impossible in the first in- stance to identify the individuals with absolute tainty while in the act of crossing the river.
 ''HOw far should have been justified in seeing our ranks daily ihinned by the iasidious of the Mexican general. without rcsorting to the most efficient steps to stop it, eheerfully leave to the decision of the War Department.
 Then follows the names and description of two priyates who were shot by the order of Gen. Fay Tor, viz; Carl Gross, a Frenchman and Henry Lamb Swiss, soldier of the 7,h Infantry, the other of ths 5th.
 We do not pretend that this was not right and that Gen1 Taylor was not doing his duty, but we object to his denial of il. Gen. Taylor will hardly avail himself as did whig in this place of the sub terfuge that these men were foreign born. They were American SOtaiers and Gen. Taylor meant the expression when he used it, the killing of any was shedding .fmer,eaa bIooi
 @fat these statements together, the admission and the denial, and what must be thought of the whig candidate for President, whose solid straight forward honesty of character, and reverence for truth was his chief, if not only his commendaton for the Presidential chair