The republic. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1849-1853, 1849-06-14
THE TEXAS FRONTIER.
Editorial correspondence o|the Pic0yu'se.

Editorial correspondence o. me ftcGyuk
PARIS, April 4, lS49
With not little surprise see that the different
companies of Texan rangers have been disbanded.
If the account have read is true they have all
been regularly mustered out of service, and one re-
port has il that portion of the important frontier
duty is hereafter to be performed by mounted in
fantry of the old line of the army. say nothing
against this branch of our service when assert that
for all border work-for following and fighting the
Camanches and other mounted Indians in case they
should become troublesome, which they villa
single company of the old Texans is worth any
three companies Of the hne which may be picked
out, or any thirty, for that matter Regulars must
eat at times; must have baggage and rations; and
hence must move slowly. Encountered with heavy
muskets, knapsacks, bayonets, cartridge-boxes,
and commssariat, on the prairies the Camanches
would hover round and laugh at them. For de-
fence they would be well enough, but for pursuit
and attack they would be valueless. Not so with
the rangers-each one Of whom is his own quar-
termaster and commissary With little wallet of
salt, sugar and coffee, which he ties behind his
saddle, he is ever ready to dash out upon three
months campaign; and whether at q running fight
on horseback, or at bushwhacking on foot in the
chaparra-for in no other way can the border
tribes of Texans be reached-he is ever at home
He is even more enduring than the Indian himself
in encountering fatigue hunger, or hardship; out
mpercephble trail on the prairie as easily as ord
nary men follow a turnpike; is expert to a degree
in the use of arms of his own choosing; and being
almost invariably good horseman and well mount
ed, the savage soon to hold him in that dread
which is itself half the battle.
In saying all this, repeat, that urge nothing
against the regular soldier it is not his fault if past
discipline, taught him in front of his barrack, and
on full rations, has neither given him wings nor
excessive endurance. Give one of our old officers
well-drilled men enough to form single square,
and he would laugh at the onslaught of the most
powerful force any one Of the nomadic tribes of
praries could launch upon him; give him the en-
tire army, and his charge upon this same force
would be as Intellectual as upon drove of wild
mustangs. But in either instance the system of
tactics which long experience has given the Texans
would come into active play; fast horses and good
riding Colts revovers and close shooting, no mat
ter how Insignificant the force, will always strike
terror into the denzens of the great western plains
which an army with banners displayed could not
produce.
1t can hardly be that Gen. Worth has suggested
the disbandment of the rangers, for no officer in
our service better knows their immense utility and
importance than he. In carrying out his own skill
ful and mastery plans of attack, upon the western
side of Monterey, they of the greatest service
to him--a service which he warmly and hand
sQmey acknowledged. From the gallant storming
Of the Iona dc Federation, up to the time when
Gen. w. had pressed Ampudia until he had hemmed
him In the grand plaza of Monterey from the side
on which he operated, the sharp crack of the Tex
an rifle was always heard in the advance, and its
biting influence felt. Up to this time they had
been looked upon a set of wild, harum-scarum,
impracticable scouts, who might fight or might run
as the notion took them. They had no discipline,
no apparent tactics or method; and although some
of their leaders, as Hayes, McCuloch Chevallier,
'In,a ,,.l tnI
known to be men Of strong natural sense, great
bravery, and untiring perseverance, yet the old sol
ders certainly did not expect that assistance from
the main body, when 1t came to the brunt of bat
tie, that they afterwards received But when the
first battery of the Mexicans on Federation Hill
was carried, by the combined efforts of regulars
and rangers, the former began to feel that their APP
parenty undscplined allies had method which
told upon the enemy if it said but little for science;
and during the same eventful afternoon, when the
work of La Soldada upon the same hill was car
rled by the mixed force for the first time they
were fairly on the best Of terms with each other.
There upon the heights of Monterey, to use a
French expression, they traternizsd, and old SOL
diers who had little water in their canteens, and
cold pork and hard biscuit in their haversacks,
freely shared both with men they looked upon
with little favor few hours before. Nor should
| it pass unobserved, that the Texans themselves
| were impressed with far better opinion of
the 'reg lars than they had previously entertained.
During the campaign they had been wont to remark,
| in their backwbods slang, that "when il come to
rough work, in the chaparral, on the hill sides, or
upon the house-tops, that 'uctacs' wouldf count"
! but when they now found themselves closely backed
up by men, who combined steadiness of movement
with indomitable courage, they frankly confessed
that they had been mistaken. | recollect hearing
| an old Texan remark-a man whose hair, hat, and
habiiments would stampede dress parade-that
| 'them old rcg1ars were some after all and at any
game that could be scared up" This was after
one of the heights west Of Monterey had been car
red, and after they had found each other out, the
saying is.
| But set out by remarking that was astonished
| that all the Texan light troops should have been
disbanded, and | still hope that it is not Gen.
Worth has now most important command-has
all the stronger and hercer border tribes TO watch
and control-and some time or other they will give
the settlers trouble. With regular troops TO man
the different outposts, and with the old rangers to
do the light scouting work. the frontier is always
protected, at least against any serious inroads-wlth
no other than the former, the Indians slip in and
| out almost at will. They do every thing with a
dash-their system is TO strike and run. They must
be raied, hunted and followed, and men with drums
\ flies and baggage wagons cannot do this One ac-
count have seen, repeat IT. is to the effect that
some Of the regular infantry are to be mounted
Uuh VI WHhl btfNiCe DC OF
Unskiled as horsemen they neither run after
nor from such Indians as the Camanches. Let US
suppose, for instance, party of twenty-five regu-
lars sent out to the praries Indian hunting horse
back, and that this party comes across its own
number Of the enemy. The latter will neither
charge, nor stand, matter Of course, and must
be pursued and run down. Now, who does not
know that the first piece Of hog-,oaiio,o they en-
| counter, to use Texan mode Of expression, would
"spill the regulars all out Of their saddles And
again, supposing they came upon a force entirely
too large to cope with in the open plain, and were
obliged to run for the first friendly mot Of timber
in sight-could they hope TO outride enemy
composed Of men who seem to cling TO the animals
they bestride though they were but part and
parcel Of themi In either case the Texans would
be at home Reared almost on horseback and al
ways in possession Of the best animals that be
procured armed better than any light troops in
the world, and with weapons the use Of which they
thoroughly understand; capable, as already stated
Of bearing great fatigue and ready TO start out
without baggage or commssarat, they form the
only force which successfully, and can say
economically, cope with the prairie tribes, and to
me II seems that their disarmament is Of question
able policy.