The Ashland union. [volume] (Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1860-04-11
From the La Cross Union and Democrat.
TRAITS In THE CHARACTER OF GEN.
10. LANE.

80 A great many of our eastern exchanges con-
tain articles favoring the nomination of Gen.
10 Lane, as the Democratic candidate for the
Presidency. Though we have studiously avoid
ed committing ourself in favor of any candi,
:; date, we may be pardoned for publishing the
- subjoined incidents in the life of the old hero
statesman, which We take from Brackctt's
, : work, entitled, "Gen.f Lanes Brigade in Cen
trail Mexico" - - 49,
little after noon on the LIST of October,
our force left Jaapa in one of the hardest
. rains I ever witnessed! We were accompa-
ined by Major Laliy's command with the excep-
& ton of Capt. Fairchild's company of Lou
sil isiana cavalry, and the sick and wounded,
which were left behind. The ram fell in tor
rents, and after crossing a high ridge near the
~ aity, and coming into a valley, we found the
whole face of the country completely iuunda
ted. 1t seemed like entering a great lake, and
the water on the road was a foot or eighteen
inches deep. The men marched sullenly along.
shielding their muskets as we'll as they could
with their jackets and blankets. The cavalry
was q pitifal sight, and their blue overcoats
were dripping wet.
Before night we came upon high ground, and
commenced the ascent of the steep and rocky
Cordillera mountains, which are a connecting
link between the Andes of South America and
the Rocky Mountains No sound broke the
| stiffness, save the clinki of our a c~coutrements,
re- and the rough jolting of the baggage wagons,
and the artillery carriages, as they crushed un-
; der their wheels the stones which lay in our
road.
-, i, Darkness came upon us suddenly, and with
( out tents or fires we halted to spend the night.
g. Our men lad taken the precaution, before
leaving, Jalapa, to put four days provisions IN
their hayersacks, and now in the darkness they
- prepared to eat their suppers. 1t was most
gloomy, and perhaps a body of men never I'M
derwent greater exposure.
It was at this spot that an occurrence took
2 place, which goes further to illustrate General
Lanes character than a hundred long-winded
q speeches. Lane had, in common with most of
the officers, no supper, and going out in the
darkness came upon a party of soldiers who
81 were eating, and asked them Tor something to
eat. They supposed he was an old soldier by
his dress, which was a blue over-coat and black
hat, and uneeremoniously told him to leave,
that they would not give him any. One of
z the soldiers, knowing Lanes voice, told his
comrades in a whisper, that it was Gen. Lane.
!, Immediately two or three of them stepped for
. ward and offered their bread and beef to him.
He would net accept any, saying at the same
time to them:-"Id do not wish your food, and
wilLno5 accept it. When you supposed 1 was
a poor hungry soldier, you would not give me
any; but when you found I was a general, you
were perfectly willing to share with me. ]
= am no better than any old soldier" This was
a severe rebuke, and the men felt it keonly.-
They were always atterward ready to share
u their last crust with any one.
.sua*E IL
When at La Hoya, a party of our soldiers
assembled a high and rocky eminence to the
left of our biyouac, and found on the summit
a little plat of grIund which a poor Mexican
. had cultivated in order to raise corn enough to
support himself, his wife, and his children
The corn was Immediately seized by our half
FINISHED soldiers, and in spite of the pitiful
appeals of the old Mexican, and the tears of
his ninos, carried off to the fires and speedily de-
voured. In the morning the Mexican came
down and laid his grievance before General
Lane, who ordered the quartermaster to pay
him. ri have paid him." said the quarter
= master "the highest market price for corn
which amounted to fifty dollars" "That is
- not enough said the General; and turning t.
an aid-de-camp, he ordered him to go to his
> trunk and get fifty dollars of his own private
money, which he paid over to the poor old
Mexican, who went away breathing blessings
upon the name of the brave, and generous
American commander.