Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1893-03-10
MEN OF FORLURN HOPE.
LEGION OF SOCIAL OUTLAWS
IN THE FRENCH ARMY.
Arts tocrats In Disgrace and Criminals
memberships Ofenses Bripg
Death or Terrible Pun
ishment.


more public attention to the daring
bravery of the two or three regiments
known by the name of the foreign le-
gion, which constitute the nucleus OF
his force. fttt ft
1t is to this legion that is invariably
assigned the most dangerous of SER
vice in warfare, and it is they, too,
who, as a rule, head the forlorn hope.
Whenever there are hardships to
be borne to which the French author
tiles do not care to expose the regu-
lar line regiments, the foreign legion
Is invariably designated for the pur-
pose.
Unlike the other French regi-
ments, it is composed entirely of men
who have voluntarily enlisted, says
the Paris correspondence of the New
York Tribune. Some of them are
French, while at least so per cent Of
the entire corps is composed Of for
eigners.
There Ia scarcely a man in the en-
tire brigade who has not behind him
some history of more or less roman
tic and frequently dramatic char
acter.
Thus found in one and the same
company a Roumanian prince who
was under suspicion of having muir
dered his brother, an Italian lieuten-
ant colonel of cavalry, who had
been dismissed from King Humbert's
army in disgrace in consequence of
being found cheating at cards, Rus
sian nihilist who escaped from ST.
IBERIA, and an ex-canon of the cathe-
dral of NOtre Dame at Paris, who
had been suspended from his ecclesi-
astical functions in consequence of an
offense committed against public
morality; an English ex-captain of
the rifle brigade, and a German
count, who not only served as lieu
tenant in the first regiment OF guards
at Berlin, hut who had also held a
position on the military staff of the
late emperor of Germany.
All these men were serving as sim
pie privates in the ranks, and were
subjected to the iron discipline for
which this corps is celebrated.
In no other European army are the
punishments so severe as in the for
eign legion of France.
Composed as it is almost entirely
OF social outlaws, men who have
broken with their past, and who have
in many cases a criminal record be-
hind them-men, in one word, who
seek oblivion, and who are mostly
serving under pseudonyms, it is not
astonishing that the utmost severity
is needed to render them subservient
to orders.
The slightest offense or act of ag-
gression against q superior officer is
punished with death, and during the
Tonquin war there were as many as
eleven members of one regiment
court-martialed and shot in one day.
The minor offenses are punishable
by the so-called ''silo," which con
sists of burying the prisoner in the
sand for hours, leaving only his head
exposed to the rays of the sun by
day and to the stings of the insects
by night; and the "crapaudine, in
which the prisoner is bound hand and
foot and left for hours, nay, some
times days, on the sand, lying help
less, somewhat in the position of a
trussed fowl
Many OF the most famous names
Of France have figured at the head of
these regiments.
| Among those who have held the
rank of colonel of the foreign legion l
find, for instance, the names of Mar
shall Bazaine, General de Negrier,
General Duphin, who so distinguished
himself by his cruelty during the
guerrilla warfare in Mexico, and, last,
but not least, the brilliant Colonel de
Malaret.
The last had in his younger days
been one of the gayest and most pop
ular officers Of the Tuileries, and a
particular favorite of the Empress
Eugenie.
However, having contracted some
horrible malady which had practical
ly eaten away almost one entire side
of his face, he asked for and obtained
the command of a regiment OF the
foreign legion.
Anxious to serve his country, and
yet TO withdraw from the world to be
no longer exposed to the looks of
horror, disgust and pity which the
appearance of his face excited, not
only among strangers, but even among
former friends.
Iwell remember the dramatic pic
ture drawn by one of his fellow-offi-
GERS Of his appearance at the morning
parade OF his regiment.
He would arrive on the ground
with the hood OF his military mantle
drawn over his head even in the hot
test weather, in such manner as to
shroud and almost entirely conceal
his face.
Indeed, one could see little else but
his brilliant steel-gray eyes piercing
through the gloom. He reminded
one of those serror-inspiring members
of the inqui.S.ion of the middle ages,
and, like them, his lips rarely opened
save to order some more OF less severe
punishment.
| BE Ca~efuI While Busting.
There is an art in busting which