Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1880-02-12
TERMS ,s2.oo PER YEAR
WHOLE NO. 1922.


yond the Nueces River, and We. we
pushed on to the Rio Grsnde and
crossed 1t. ] am always ashamed oil
my country when / think of that in.
yasion. Once in Mexico, however,
and the people, those who had prop.
erty, we're our friends. We could
have held Mexico, and made it a
permanent section Of the Union, with
the consent,of all classes whose con.
Sent was worth having. Overtures
were made to Scot and Worth to re-
main in the country with their arm
les. The Mexicans are a good PEG.
pie. They live on little and work
hard. They suffer from the influence
OF the Church, which, while was in
Mexico, at least, was as bad as
could be. The Mexicans were good
soldiers, but badly commanded. The
country is rich, and if the people
could be assured good government,
they would prosper. See what we
have made of Texas aud California
empires. There are the same mater
ials for new empires in Mexico. /
have always had deep interest in
Mexico and her people, and have al.
ways wished them we'll / suppose
the factthat ! served there as ayoupg
man, and the impressions the country
made upon my young mind. have q
good deal to do with this. When /
was in London, talking with Lord
Beaoonsfeld, he spoke Of Mexico. He
said he wished to heaven we had tax
en- the country. that England would
not like anything better thar to see
rthe United States annex it. / sup.
pose that will be the future of the
country. Now that slavery is out of
the way there carld be no better flu.
ture for Mexico than absorption in
the United States. But it would have
to come, as San Domingo tried to
come, by the free will of the people.
| would not fire gun to annex terri
tory. | consider it too great a priv.
llege to belong to the United States
for us to go around cunning for new
territories. Then the question of an
nexation means the question of suf
frage. and that becomes more and
more serious every day with us. That
is one OF the grave problems of our
future.
"When the Mexican war broke
out" said the General, "my ambition
was to become an assistant professor
of mathematics in West Point. I
think would have been appointed.
But so many officers from my regi.
ment had been assigned to other do.
ties that it was nearly stripped, and
although l should have been glad to
have found an honorable release from
serving in war which / detested
and deplored as much as | did our
war with Mexico, l had not the heart
to press the matter. But in that day
Conduct counted against a cadet to
snch 2 degree that any special excel.
lence in study would be affected by
the manner in which he tied his shoes.
Conduct did not mean necessarily
bad, immoral conduct, but late ris.
ing, negligence in dress, and so on.
Scoield was one of the best mathe.
ma;icians in the country, and in 9th.
er respects q very superior man.
Yet his marks in conduct kept him
down. The same with Sherio an.
Poor Sheridan was put back year
in his course for a row with one of
bis cadets, and was so low in con.
duct that in the end he only squeezed
through. This conduct rule was an
injustice in its old operation and
one reason why / assigned Schofeld
to command West Point was thai,
knowing how the rule worked in his
day, and against 80 able q man as
himself, he might amend it. | think
West Point is the best school IN the
world. do not mean the highest
grade, but the most thorough in Its
discipline. A boy to go through
four years in West Point must have
the essential elements of strong,
manly character. Lacking any Of
these, he must fail | hear army
men say their happiest days were at
West Point. / never had that ex
perience. The most trying days OF
my life were spent there, and never
recall them with pleasure.
81 was never more delighted at
anything" said the General, "than
the close of the war. / never liked
service in the army-not as q young
officer. / did not want to 90 to
West Point. My appointment was
an accident, and my father had to
use his authority to make me 90. If
l could have escaped West Point
without bringing myselfinto disgrace
at home, / would have done so. /
remember about the time / entered
the academy there were debates
in Congress over proposal to abol
ish West Point. used to look over
the papers, and read the Congress
reports with eagerness, to see the
progress the bill made, and hoping
to hear that the school had been
abolished, and that l could 90 home
to my father without being in dis.
grace. ! never went into battle viii.
iingly or with enthusiasm. Twas al.
ways glad when a battle was over.
l never want to command another
army. take no interest in armies 8.
When the Duke of Cambridge asked
me to review bis troops at Aldershot
! told his Royal Highuess that the
one thing | never wanted to see
agajr was military parade. When
] >s.gned from the army and went
to farm l was happy. When the
rebellion came and / returned to the
service because it was q duty. l had
no thought of rank all did was to
try and make myself useful. NV
FIRST commission as Brigadier came
in the unanimous Endorsement of the
delegation from Illinois. / do not
think I knew any of the members
but Washburne, and 1 did not know
him very well. II was only after
Donelson that / began to zoe how
important was the work that Provi-
dence devolved upon me. And yet
after Donelson / was in disgrace aud
under arrest, and practically with
out command, because of some mis-
understanding On the part of Hal.
Loeb t. eli 1890 IL =.