The southern press. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1850-1852, 1850-07-20

nocent soul, or to remain as a weeping witness
upon this earth, crying for revenge at the hands
OF her countrymen upon her ravishers And
there stood that poor old man, the father! He did
not..weep-he could not weep-his sorrow was too
great 10 be relieved by tears. There was within
him, plain to be seen, a struggle between life and
death. He lived, but since that awful sight has
never been himself. 3 at
do not wish to be understood as attempting TO
impeach the courage and worth Of our regular
troops; no, far from it for, in my opinion, that
army has never existed that ever proved them
selves Drawer or superior to the regular. army of
the United States since the first days Of its organ
izaton; and with that portion of it upon the Rio
Grande are to be found officers and men who, du-
ring the late war with Mexico, crowned them
selves with wreaths Of everlasting fame, and did
such deeds of gallant daring and bravery as well
deserve to be recorded in letters mpershable upon
the pages Of our most glorious Union. Why,
then, did they not find the Indians' Was it that
they lacked the energy No, it was not. II was
that they were infantry, and their enemy was the
Cumanches, the best horsemen in the world, and
could clude or run away from their pirsuers
whenever they thought proper to do so. Does
that man hive IN our country who is ignorant of
horsemanship as to believe that he could take
company of men of the infantry corps of our
army, the most of whom it is reasonable to sup
pose never mounted horse in their lives, and
put them IN the saddle, and that they would be,
or that they could be made horsemen in years
think not; but il there should be one, recon-
mend HIM TO collect few Irish and Germans-of
which people three-fourths Of. our army are COM
posed-and mount them on horses, and start them
off in a gallop; wheel them two or three times
quickly, and will venture to say that he will
find the most Of them upon the ground-some
perhaps with broken limbs, and their horses
running at their will without riders. Those
are the kind of men that sent TO battle against
horsemen that are only to be equaled by the wild
Arab of the desert. II is but sending men to be
butchered when they get into fight, which they
must do some time; for, if they do not find the
Indian while hunting him, and they are the
stronger party, (Which they never willy the In
dian will find the occasion when he is the stronger
one, and become the attacking party; and all men
know, who know our American officers and SOL
diers, that nine-tenths Of them would remain
feless corpse upon the field of battle sooner than
retreat before an Indian foe, il their numbers even
double their own.
There have been objections made, as I under
stand, to an increase of two mounted regiments to
our army, on account of the increased expense,
that it is supposed it would be to our government
Now, have no hesitation in saying, that in less
than one year it would be the cause Of an actual
saving in the money paid out for the support of the
troops upon the frontier for the following reasons
VIZ; All of the supplies now required upon the
frontier for the feeding Of our troops are sent from
the interior States, instead of being raised in the
country in which the troops are quartered, as they
could and would be, were the inhabitants protec-
ted and safe in their fields, as two regiments of
mounted light-troOps would be able to make them
and that would Cause saving of at least three
fourths IN provisions for the army Take the arti-
Gle OF corn, for instance, which is the one most
quired for frontier troops, and make comparison
OF that. AT the post Of Laredo corn costs the
government from rs to 20 per bushel at Paso
del Norte over "; at Santa Fe over 80 and all
other supplies cost in proportion. II the country
was protected at all of the places named, corn
could be purchased at Is cents, wheat and beef
with proportionate difference in fact, almost
every article Of ration required for the soldier and
all for his horse, would be raised in that country,
and furnished at nearly as low a rate as they are
In our northern and western States all freight
would be saved ; and the cost Of transportation to
any of those frontier posts more than trebles the
original cost of any article of provision, thereby
making it a less expense to feed three men with
the country protected than it is to feed one in it's
present unprotected state.
Again il will cost more than double the amount
to keep infantry mounted than it will to keep good
cavalry, for the reason that they know nothing of
the ills of horse flesh, like men who have been
saddle them, nor sit on them when saddled. Con-
sequently they will always have lot Of soreback
horses, unfit for service, eating their seventy five
cents worth Of forage per day, which is sufficient
to ration three soldiers; they will never get in
chase or an engagement without great number
Of them being dismounted, and the Indians carry
ing of their horses, and for every horse lost the
cost to the government will be about equal to the
pay of eighteen men for one month the govern
ment never buys horse in that country that does
not cost over one hundred dollars add on the
equipments, it will make $50; and she pays her
men SS per month, which, to eighteen men,
amounts to $l44. 1t is safe to say that the gov
eminent will he o. in koap
company OF infantry mounted than would pay all
the expenses Of good horse company. 1t may
be asked is not this loss as liable in one body Of
troops as the otheri answer, No; for in raising
new regiments for the frontier service, there could
be enlisted young Americans from the backwoods;
and they are Eorsemen that cannot well be thrown,
and when their horses get sick they know how to
cure them if they are durable; they know how to
saddle them to keep from hurting their backs,
and, from having been with horses all their life,
they feel fondness for them that the other never
acquires therefore, instead OF doing only what
they are ordered and compelled to do, in taking
care of their. horses, they pay them many atten-
tons that do not come under the regular order,
and which will make vast difference in the en-
durance Of the animal.
The portions Of the country now devastated and
unprotected are some of the fairest and richest
parts of the United Statesrich in soil, mild plea
SAINT, and healthy in climate, cheap in lands in
can be offered by any country and it would be
very short time before all of the valleys on the
different streams in Western Texas would be in
high state of cultivation if they were protected.
At this day if peace and security had reigned
over that country since 1848, the difference in the
demand for articlesof consumption would be near
five hundred thousand dollars over its present de-
mand. fs
In carrying out our treaty stipulations with
Mexico in relation to the Indians, the United
States would herself be large beneficiary in a
pecuniary point of view; COR every dollar taken
from her treasury, to give necessary protection
to that country, ten would be returned The
upper end Of the States of Durango and Chihua-
hua are known to be the richest mineral districts
of Mexico, and formerly their trade amounted to
one and half millions Of dollars more than it
does at present. The cause of the great diminu-
ton is owning to the Indians, who have literally
taken possession of those two States, broken up
most of the mines, and driven the miners into the
large cities, and other portions of the country
further South. BY protecting our own frontier,
the lives and property Of our own citizens, we
would, at the same time. keen our Indians ont