The Sunday tatler and Jersey City express. (Jersey City, N.J.) 1883-1886, 1886-03-07
The Row in The Ninth.

Colonel B. Franklin Hart and his me1
of the Ninth Regiment are just now q
moving spectacle-to men, at least. If not
t, angels The gallant Colonel is in the
unhappy predicament of leader without
any followers. His soldiers are in an open
and animated state of revolt. The contro-
versy that has brought about this deplora-
BILE condition of things is already familiar
to the public, but it again obtained noto
riety by the extraordinary and unprece
dented military exhibition that took place
recently in the Armory at Hoboken.
Brigadier- General Steele ordered full
dress parade and review of the regiment.
apparently ignorant or unmindful of the
characterization that prevailed among the
rank and file. The affair proved, as might
have been anticipated, complete and
mournful failure. About sixty officers
and men, all told, turned out on this occa-
slon The Captain of one company, when
the assembly" was beaten by the drum
corps, made his appearance followed by a
Lieutenant and Sergeant. All his pri-
Yates had deserted. Another Captain sue
ceeded in mastering as many as two pri-
Yates, but he was woefully deficient in the
matter of Lieutenants, Sergeants and Cor
porals. The strongest company paraded
with twenty-four men.
The 800 other members of the regiment
who did not participate in this military
wake occupied the gallery of the Armory
and fred off jokes at the Colonel and bis
body guard. They are all under charges.
and are awaiting trial by courtmartial.
We do not know and we do not care much
about the merits of the somewhat childish
dispute between the Colonel and bis men.
but we do know that the conduct of both
the parties to the dispute is reprehensible
and ridiculous. If Colonel can't make
his soldiers obey him, what is the use of
his being Colonelf Mr.. Hart may be an
excellent officer. He may possess the
courage of Leonidas, the strategic skill
of Napoleon, and the personal grace and
elegance of Murat but If his troops are
not going to pay any more attention to
HIM than if he were the town pump, we
fail to see the practical utility of his varied
and exquisite accomplishments. If the
French Guard, when ordered by Bona
Parte to charge upon the allied army at
Austerlitz. had, instead of charging, put
their thumbs to their noses and told
Bopaparte to go off and soak his head,
the history of Europe would be very
different from what we find it. Mr.. Hart
Is simply wasting his time in pretending
to be Colonel of the Ninth, and strutting
around in gorgeous uniform, when nearly
all the men IN the regiment are metaphori-
cally throwing weary eggs at him. He
should resign, if for no other reason than
that because he is of no earthly use to
himself or any one else In his present
position. AS to the alleged "men," they
ought to be sent home to their mammas
and put to bod without any supper. That
they have no idea-not even the faintest
glimmer of conception-of the soldierly
spirit and Of military discipline. is abund-
antly attested by their conduct. They
dislike their Colonel, and because they
dislike him, they refuse to do their duty.
For this behavior there is no excuse except
infancy and ignorance. 1t is about time
that some adequate authority should take
the Ninth and its Colonel in hand and
effectually do up and dispose of both of
them. Their antics make the community
tired. They burden US.