Daily Nashville patriot. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1857-1858, 1857-10-05

MONDAY, ocToBER 5, 1s57.
Gen. PILLOW aud his brother omcers

vate himself at the expense of his brother
oficers-has had the effect of bringing
some of these latter gentlemen out in re-
ply. We have already placed the letter
of Col. HITCHCOCK before our readers, to-
gether with the reply of Gen. Pillow,
closely followed by the brief and caustic
card of Gen. SooTT, the commander-in-chief
of our armies in Mexico; as also letter
from Ex-President TYLER, correcting the
statements in regard to the use of secret
service money by the Government in other
cases. We must say that we can see no
reasonable excuse or propriety in Gen. PHI
LOWS making an electioneering address to
the people of Tennessee, the place and We
hicle for a gratuitous onslaught, so deeply
rejecting On the personal and official honor
of Gen. SCoTT and others. In doing so he
seems to have cOurted and richly merits, all
the excavations and rebukes which it prom
iseS to bring upon him, by those whose
honor he has impeached, and by the public
press and the public sentiment of the coun-
try. While Gen. Pillow, whatever may
have been the character of his achievements
in Mexico-and we wish to pluck no laurel
from the brow of the soldier who fights for
his country well though it may be, not
wiSely-retired from those glorious fields
to the repose of an apparent neglect" as
agonizing probably, as any wounds he bore
from those fields, Gen. SCoTT has retained
the very highest position before the cOun-
try. Although a majority of his country
men have expressed opposition to him as a
politician, his patriotism, his herosm and
his pre-eminent abilities as a military chief
tain have been universally recognized
When therefore the charge was strongly
intimated in the address, and boldly ut
tered, in so many words, in Gen. PmLOw's
reply to Col. HITCHCoCK, that "Gen. SCoTT
and Gen. SANTA ANNA had agreed to play
the game Of open and Shut TIL stake being
the LtUes and blood Of our army-and SANTA
ANNA haUjng THE A0ld, )" and shat the army,
IN such a conflict, did not perish, a0as O10iag
to IT'S O1o1 ladOmita6le VaIOT"-it was not to
be expected that the old hero would sub
init in silence to an impeachment so bold
and so deeply dishonorable. If the charge
were established, the public opinion not
only of this country, but of the world,
would be instantly reversed; all the bright
and splendid deeds of his long career
would be insufficient to wipe out the foul
stain, and history would be feeble in
the expression of the full measure and
depth of his infamy. A positive crime
of so great magnitude as that charged,
could find no parallel in our times, and
if true, would send SCOTT to posterity
the companion and peer of CATHINE. The
murder of the Consuls, the sacking Of the
treasury, and the burning of the city Of
Rome would have been, perhaps, more
imposing spectacle, but it could not have
exhibited a scene of more hideous depravi-
ty than the delivery of the American army
in Mexico, into the hands of him who de-
liberated the massacre of Goliad, and
shouted a triumph when the quivering
bodies Of Travis and Bowie and Crockett
were crisped upon the fagots he had
kindled. 1t was not to be supposed, there
fore, but that Gen. SCoTT would tarn upon
his assailant-if for nothing else, to spurn
him from his pathway. He has done that,
and with much more force and skill than
he exhibited in the prolix controversy with
another, no less renowned, assailant, Col.
DAVIS.
But this controversy cannot stop where
it now is. Gen. Pillow ought not to be
permitted to wrap the cloak of his dignity
about him and fly the field altogether, as
he has done, so far as Col HTcHcocK is
concerned, in the conclusion of his reply to
that gentleman. Whatever may be his
prospects or the result of his canvass fol
Senatorial honOrs, he has voluntarily
! brought before the country an important
fact in our history as nation-that fact
is controverted, and the nation is interested
in the issue. There are many passages il
the history of the war with Mexico, whic!
have, doubtless, never come before TIT
world. Intimately connected with the on
now under discussion, and perhaps forming
a part of it, is the admission of SAINT.
ANNA into the territory of Mexico, at tn
time and under the circumstances attend
ing his admission. The one may, at least
throw some light upon the other. TIL
country is entitled to the truth, the Who'll
| truth. That war was commenced ant
prosecuted during time of heated part
contests in this Union: many of its inc
dents were discussed with much party raj
cour and bitterness, and it is possible tina
many of its incidents were suppressed o
account of this state of things at home
But now, any false coloring which the
may have received may be reetifed, an
any important facts heretofore omitte
from general notoriety may be brought t
light. There are numbers of officers an
men yet living, who can give unbiased an
valuable testimony. Let US have the Ell
tire secret history.
Lieut.. HerndSn Saved.