The republic. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1849-1853, 1850-07-06

Texan Rangers were mustered into service
one company of them being at Corpus Christi,
General TAYLoR's headquarters! This cir
cumstance has no bearing whatever upon the
reason assigned by General TAYLOR for not
calling for Texas volunteers at the time refer
red to-their remoteness, namely. from the
scene of action-but it shows that General
HoUsToN is not sufficiently careful in his
statements of fact
But hear him in continuation. He says:
"Why, sir, two hundred and fifty Texan rangers,
if he General Taylorl had applied for them,
would have repulsed any attempt that might
have been made to cross the Rio Grande, and
the song Of peace would have been heard
uninterruptedly until this day that border.
Five hundred would more than have done It..
Yet, instead of calling them to his aid according
to his authority under the Government, he de-
nounces them Unreliable" &c.
What! the gallant army who fought and
conquered at Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma
Of less account than would have been two hun
dred and fifty Texan rangers! For this is
what General HoUsToN means. He has method
in the extravagance of his language. His OBJ
ject mantestly was to disparage those brilliant
achievements, to decry all upon whom they had
conferred honor and distinction-to convey the
idea that they were insignificant affairs, no
thing like what t,co hundred and fifty Texan
rangers could and would have done, had they
only been there! Is such language becoming
in soldier, Texan Senator, and, above all,
speaker who commences his remarks with a
grand flourish of his intention TO "carry con
victiOn to the mind of every candid man who
is disposed to canvass or discuss truth, when it
is presented to him?"
The alleged wrong done to the men ofTexas
by General TAYLOR, in not calling upon them
for aid. at the time referred to, appears to be
greatly heightened and magnifed, in General
HoUsToN's opinion, by their extreme and de
vourng anxiety to be let at the Mexicans. He
says:
"And when at last they called upon, what
did they do2 Like chafed lions, they
ious to pursue the enemy, for it the first time
they had had the prospect Of encountering them
upon equal terms, but they were restrained" &C.
1t was the prospect, then, of encountering
the MeXcans upon equal terms that created
this anxiety on the part of the Texans to pursue
them So says General HoUsToN Why, he
had just stated that two hundred and fifty Tex
an rangers, if General TAYLOR had applied for
them, "would have repulsed any attempt that
might have been made [by the Mexicans to
cross the Rio Grande, and the song of peace
would have been heard uninterruptedy until
this day on that border" Ifthis be so-f such
handful of Texans were more than match
for the Mexican army which encountered our
forces at Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma
that the mere prospect of encountering the
Mexicans upon equal terms caused the Texans
To chafe like lions when restrained, as he says
they We're, from pursuing them2 There is a
gross inconsistency here, which we should much
like TO see cleared up.
Like chafed lions they were anxious to pur-
sue the enemy" BY reference to House Doc
ument No. ll9, Doth Congress, I'd session,
page 81, it will be seen that on the Both of
April. 1916, General TAYLOR called upon the
Governors OF Louisiana and Texas for force
each of four regiments, which he then deemed
that quarter In his letter he states il was sex
tremely doubtful whether the foot regiments
from Texas" could be raised; that he should de-
sire the Governor of Texas to suspend the call
for them; and that "none Of the mounted com
panies, except Captain PRIcE's, already in ser
written on the 10Th Of May, 1916. Only three
of the four regiments called for from Texas were
organized-two of horse and one Of foot.
On the 3lst of July, 1916, he writes as fol
lows from Matamoros:
1.-The Texas volunteers now in service in this
entered the service upon the terms with those
from louisiana, viz; for six months. OF course
they be legally held for only three months,
and at the expiration Of that time shall have
them mustered out Of service and paid. But
deem their services particularly Of the mounted
regiments, indispensable to my operations, and
propose at the end Of the service, TO muster them
again for three months; dscbarging, however,
all who wish IL. The regiment OF foot under Col
A. S. JOHNSTON, formerly Of the army, is eI-
cellent corps, Injured 10 frontier service. All the
. Texantroops arc anxious TO go forward; they are
hardy and subsist on little, and trust shall
be allowed to retain them in the manner indica
ted. may add that very few, If any, Of those
now mustered in would consent to serve for
twelve months.'
This letter scatters TO the wind General
HoUsToS's gross and monstrous perversion Of
the language and meaning Of the extract quoted
by him from General TAYLoR's letter of the
10Th Of March preceding, in which the latter
said the militia of Texas were SO remote from
the border he could not depend upon them for
their aid and which extract General HoUs-
TON affects to regard as "stigmatizing the men
Of Texas as inefficient and unreliable in time
Of peril" Ii shows that General TAYLOR,
when, in his opinion, it became proper for him
TO call for volunteers, called alike upon Texas
and Louisiana; il shows that he had the high
est opinion Of the efficiency and reliability Of
the "aid' he received from Texas in response
to that call, which opinion he was prompt to
express in an official letter TO the Adjuiant
General, and that, too, before they had encoun-
r,I 4 H.,