Jeffersonian Republican. [volume] (Stroudsburg, Pa.) 1840-1853, 1852-09-30
Prentice ON Pierce.

Prentice of the Louisville Journal, lndul-
ges in merciless criticism ofGen. Pierce's
military career. However harsh it may
sound, it is certainly borne out by the Of
fetal documents. His falls at Contreras
and Churubusco, though very uDlucky,
might have been set down to bad horse
manship; but his sudden indisposition
and retirement from the field, when or
dered to move Immediately under the
guns of Chapultepec, and his as sudden
recovery next morning, when the fighting
was over, certainly have very ugly as
pect.
But hear Prentice, and make every al
lowance possible for an uncharitable critic;
"The first attempt of General Pierce
at fighting was in the preliminary move
ments for the battle of Contreras, that
extraordinary achievement of General
Persifer T. Smith. During the prelimi-
naries, on August 10Th, General Pierce S
horse fell with him and hurt his leg
That night, at l o'clock, the leading spir-
It's OF the American army were actively
! engaged in the arrangements for the bat
tie of Contreras Gen. Pierce was waited
upon, but he pleaded that his leg would
not permit him to take part in that bril-
liant deed of arms, which was destined
to cover all engaged in it with glory.
1t was well for the American army
that Persifer f. Smith, Riley, Cadwala-
der, Shields, and such men were not in
curably given to sudden attacks of sick
ness. They broke through all obstruct-
tons and gained splendid victory. The
battle was over very early in the morn
ing, lasting about 20 or 80 minutes, and
the defeat was so thorough that General
Pierce may be pardoned for supposing
that the Mexicans would not fight any
more that day. Under this delusion, al
though he was too much ind1Sp0SeI before
to command his brigade, as soon as tie
battle Of ContfcraS acGS 0Uer, he reported
himself ready for duty. But, unfortu-
nately for him, the Mexicans we're quit as
enterprising as his convalescence. The
battle of Churubusco loomed up very un-
expectedly to him on the day of Contre-
ras, and surprised him in the field on du-
ty! Caught in this unlucky plight, be
could not hang up his lame leg, as hehad
done few hours before. Thus fairly in
the tolls, Gen. Pierce seemed unable to
find a retreat, and in fit of desperation,
prepared to stand the brush if possible
The batteries Of the enemy looked for
midable, one of twenty-five guns, especi-
ally, seemed to make an indelible impress
sion on Gen. Pierce, and, instead of ta-
king part in the glorious action, he
was taken acith q .tai,ting fit. He says :
L fell a few yards from the seyerest fire
of the enemy. Before fainting, he seems
to have measured the range of the fire
with mathematical precision. He must
have felt, while laying "a few yards from
the fire of the enemy" as Falstaf did a:
Shrewsbury "Though l could escape
shot free at Concord, | fear the shot here;
here's no scoring but upon the pate. = :
| am as hot as molten lead, and as heavy
too. God keep lead out of me l need
no more weight than mine own bowels
Ih0ce ded my raganu6fnS uhere THEY
are peppcred." "
We can almost imagine we can see
General Pierce, as we have seen Hackett,
in Falstaff, after the fall Of Hotspur, peep
ing cautiously over the field to see if the
storm of strife was clearing up. When
the battle was loud in its tumult, and ter
rible in its carnage, General Pierce must
have felt that his sickness was lasting an
age, and he must have longed for the mo-
ment when it would be safe to be in health
again,
Whether General Pierce suffered any
in the way of swooning on the 21st Of
August, the day after the battle of Chur-
ubusco, we cannot tell. On the 22nd he
formed one Of the board for arranging an
armistice, and went through these labors,
for three continuous days, without faint
ing once.
General Pierce enjoyed good health du-
ring the armistice. On the 18th of Sep
tember he was again in the field On
| that day his business was one of NANCY
ring merely; and as there was no fight
ing there was no fainting. General Pierce
kept up all day. But, alas there came
an order to him to move his brigade, af-
ter dark, under the cover of a long range
of buildings known as Molina del Rev,
which place." General Pierce says most
expressively, "iS Immediately undey the
guns Of Chapuhepec." This was enough
for Gen. Pierce, for Notwithstanding he
enjoyed fine health from the Goth of Au-
gust, throughout the armistice, up to the
18th of September, and was we'll enough
to nad'aG@Ure his brfgde all Of the day Of
the last date, echale there aeaS no fighting,
yet, when the the brigade had to move
after dark, under the guns of Chapulte-
pee, the stomach of General Pierce came