The northern tribune. [volume] (Bath, Me.) 1847-1855, 1848-01-27

Us
to perceive that he only estimates the number
of men it would require to do this or to
maintain our present conquests, at seventy
thousand men for the frst and some thirty
five or forty thousand for the second. he
says nothing of the annual consumption OF
men during this prolonged contest. During
the most favorable period of the peninsular
war, carried on in a country friendly to them,
the British forces lost annually sixteen per
cent, one foutth of whom died of wounds
and casualties. In Mexico we should lose,
at least twenty per cent per annum of regular
forces, and at least forty per cent of volun-
the Caspian and Black Seas that the Russian
forces required to be resulted entirely in
three years; that is to say, they required .
renewal of one third every year.
"The conquest of that country by Russis
affords US lessons we ought to profit by. The
Russian forces overran the Caucasian country
in 1895, and received the submission of the
people. They" conquered peace" Well,
in 1907 1 passed through the heart of the
country, which had been garrisoned with
twenty thousand men for eleven years, alta
cost of between sixty and seventy thousand
men, or six or seven thousand men, year.
At that time it was necessary to wait the de-
parture of train from post to post, as it was
unsafe to move with less than two pieces Of
artillery and full company Of infantry
This state of things continued until 1910,
when the Caucasians organized a powerful
opposition to their conquerors, and up to the
present day have contended against them
with advantage. The Caucasus does not
contain more than a million and half OF in
habitants the Russian empire not less than
sixty millions. The Caucasians have no regu-
lar army the Emperor six hundred thousand
well disciplined troops.
"Both the President and the Secretary
called anac Of }iRs sassfsnss, as !. IS
no military man would suggest such an
anomaly. They suppose frontier can only
be defended by chain of posts bordering on
the line; whereas it is best secured by strong
interior defences. But did not intend to
intrude my opinion on military matters
Settle what territory you intend to claim, and
tell Mexico you intend to keep it. She will
buster and protest but never attack you.-
Her leaders will have too much at stake to
venture far from the capital. She will have
no means to equip armies and maintain them
on long marches and distant campaigns; and
l hazard nothing in saying that two or three
strong places in the interior of our line would
keep them in chek for half q century, and in
less time we might buy title, it thought
necessary. By adopting this plan, peace
would come at last, with present indemnity,
and, instead of raising thirty thousand men,
you would have troops enough to keep peace
able possession OF our new territory, and
might dismiss the volunteer force.
ITO succeed in levying the military con-
tributions the President speaks Of, and provi-
sioning the array by force, the troops must
be very much increased. 1t requires very
large force to procure supplies without pay
ing tor them. lney can ohiy o0 S" -
formidable detachments and our army never
has been and never will be sufficiently nu-
merous to enable the commanding general to
separate so many men from the main body
~ have given you my opinions very hur-
riedly, for it appears to me there is little time
to lose in settling the course to be pursued.
We can at this period withdraw our forces
without dishonor; nay, such an act would el-
evate us in the estimation of the world The
slightest reversal threat of foreign interview
t;on-miqht render such an act difficult, If not