Southern sentinel. [volume] (Plaquemine, Parish of Iberville [La.]) 1848-1858, 1848-10-05
A Pleasant Incident.
YOUNG SOLDIER OF TAYLoR's

A Pleasant Incident.
r A YOUNG SOLDIER OF T%AYLoR's ARMY.
AT a meeting of the Rough and Ready
CIubofone of the Philadelphia city wards,
held o Tuesday evening last, after the
business had been transacted and an adj
iournment was about to take place, a pale
faced youth, apparently about nineteen
years of age, and a stranger to all pre-
sent, asked permission of the President to
say a few words about General TAYLOR
His request was Of course granted. There
was a profound silence in the meeting
when he rose, and with some trepidation,
a%pologised for asking to be heard. He
said he had reason to know General Tay-
Ior; he knew him as a man and a soldier.
He had been in his army seventeen
months, and a portion of that time, when
he was sick and exhausted by long
marches, and ready to die, he found a
warm hearted friend and protector in
General Zachary Taylor. t"Gentlemen,"
said he, II am but nineteen years old
am a stranger here, and never attempted
to speak in public. But [ have read in
some of the papers attacks upon General
Taylor's character as a Misunderstanding
him with inhumanity and cruelty, and |
want to say bIuntly, that such charges are
false-faIse from beginning to end, no
matter who utters them. I have seen
cruelty and inhumanity on the part of
subordinate officers to their men-inhn-
man punishment inflicted for slight often
ces; but neuer in tie presence of Gen.
Iaylor-who was always a kind father
and protector to the poor soldier, and
whom every honest soldier in his army
loved. No man of honor who ever serv-
ed under him will charge him with cruelty,
either to his " troops or to the enemy.
| was with him at Fort Brown-marched
with him to Point Isabel-was in the bat
ties of Palo Alto, Resaca and Monterey.
After the capture of Matamoros, instead
of using one of the houses in the city as
his quarters, he gave them all up to the
sick, wounded and suffering soldiers, and
slept in his tent on a bed that was not
more than four inches above the mud and
water that surrounded it.
The speaker related many interesting
incidents connected with the movements
of the army, illustrating the benevolence
of Gen. Taylor, and the perfect conf
dence of the troops in the goodness of his
heart, and his skill as a commander. "He
made us all feel as if every man wal
and had twice the strength we
really possessed, and could do twice as
much as any other army in the world.
But was always the first to meet danger,
and used to tell us to watch him close
and never run till he rum. But he never
from the enemy; he never turned away
a suffering soldier without doing all
he could to relieve and cheer him.
On the march to Seralvo, "continued the
my strength gave out, and had it
not been fol, Gen. Taylor, l might have
been left upon the road to die or be mur-
dered. But he saw me, and knew from
my looks that l was exhausted. He took
me up and set nj OF his own mule, and !
rode with him thus for several days. He
saved my life then. I am ready to give
him every drop Of my blood, whenever he
wants a soldier. i = y
At one time we were almost out of
provisions. We had nothing to eat but
nusty biscuit and slushed, maggotty pork.
An officer went to Gen. Taylor, and COM
that he could not eat such food.
Well, SIR said the General, tcome and
AXE your dinner with me- The invita-
ion was gladly accepted, and the officer
anticipating a first rate dinner, dressed
up, and went to the quarters of
he General; but instead of finding a re.
gular dinner table, filled with delicacies,
he saw the General sitting before a fire
toassing a piece of the same old slushed
pork on a stick, and that, with some
musty biscuit and a little bean soup,