Carroll free press. [volume] (Carrollton [Ohio]) 1834-1861, 1848-05-26
Loss Of Life IN the Mexican Campaigns.


There is no fact, 10 regard To the var in Mex
leo, which has been more.y carefully kept om
%! ght, by the var organs Of The President Of
the United Slaiss, ihan this-ihai the loss Of
human lie 10 that most unhappy invasion, has
been, ia proportion 10 the number Of the troops
employed, and The duration Of hostllilies, almost
unparalleled in the history Of warfare. This
may appear strange 70 those who have only
looked at The Isis Of killed and wounded, as
they appear in The official reports Of The officers,
after eng rgsments have taken place; but It il not
there thai we are 10 look for The lrue picture Of
deaths doiugs.
Thousands have been induced TO enlist. under
bciiel Us'ihed by The lacls Of the case, that a.
gansi an enemy 50 weak, 50 cOwardly, 30 liiIle
yersed ln the rules Of modern warfare, the dan
ger Of falling IN bauls was very slight indeed
Aud so, 10 fact il was. But these miserable self
deluders allowed themselves 10 forgeI IhaI in
unhappy Mexico, death, in all It's varied aud ter
rible forms, seems 10 have established his own
peculiar throne, and organized his most absolute
aud despouc power
Il has EOI been in the battle, amid The clangor
Of arms orhymned by the shouts Of victory that
The spirits Of our brave counTymen have depar.
ted. The stern joy Of The victorious warrior
has not lighted up The faces Of the dying-lhe
huzza Of glorious success has not mingled with
their parting breaJh-the clarion Of conquest has
not broken upon the dull ear Of him whose SEN
ses were going ouI forever, 10 call back for an
instant the Pickering fame Of life, and send one
lasIlhrli Of pleasureIh through the slifening irame
I Had death come in this form, the warrior would
have died as he had hoped odie-he would have
obeycd The law of his profession, and bowed IN
submission TO his own peculiar destiny.
So have not our warriors died. For Them
death has urked in every nook OF Mexco'smo
/ talns and valleys. lie has slalked in the chap
pena aud crouched in the tall grass Of the pral-
! RE. He has swept by in the breeze, and darled
his arrows in The disguise Of the sunbeams. lie
has fallen with deadly weight in the dews Of the
evening, and risen in his might with the poison
malaria OF the marshes. He has had his home
IN the bic Of the serpent, and has swept silent
/ Iy along on the wings Of the insecI tribe. He
has been ever present. unseen and uniet until
his fatal sting has been planted, and the victim,
all unconscious, has been doomed to certain de-
slruclion.
lis in the records Of the hositals that the ex-
tent Of the frghlul loss of life sustained in this
most unholy war Is to be learned. Here we
! find the enemy whose artillery has cut down al.
ready more Than lwenty thousand Of our fellow
American citizens. PInipg with deadly sickness
tossing, thevlctims Of burning lever-sudden-
ly snalched away by the terrific uOmitO-all the
miserable varieties Of acute and incurable dis
ease; of torture and Of lormenl-slowly dying
| by inches-suddenly leapng from life 10 death
/ in the extreme of honld agony-these have
been the means, these The causes by which the
bones Of American citizens have been thrown
like the oHuls Of slaughter house, upon the
soil of Mexico, to furnish the prize for which
wolves have fought, while they snarled IN the
face of The scarce living survivor.
And there those bones lie bleaching The
sun shines and the rain falls, The grass springs
ranker by The side of them as they lie, aud The
luxuriant vegetation Of The prairie covers them
with green mould and gradually hides them from
view, and they are forgotten.
They are forgotten. The suns of their own
native land shine on the monuments Of the off,
GERS, and inflated ePitaphs tell Of their virtues
and their courage. Their bones have received
an exlravaganl and showy burial at the public
expense, and we are Told that history has an i'm
mortal tablet whereon 10 record their exploits.
But The soldier; he dies and it is concealed
his name is engraved upon no white stone above
his remains, and long, long ere his carcass is
dlgested by the wolves and vutures, his name Is
as i. he never had lived, except as may be EN-
balmed in the aching hearts Of parents, wives
or relaIives.-Ohi0 State Journal.