The Wichita daily eagle., 1893-01-24
The aaita Dai1u Eao Tuesday 7orrino aunary a. 1893
RECKLESS IN BATTLE.
Strange Legion of Social Oatcasts Who
right For Franco.


more public attention in France TO the
| daring bravery of two or three regi-
ments, known by the name of the For
| eign Legion, which constitute the
nucleus Of his force. 1t is to this le-
! gion that is invariably assigned the
| most dangerous service in warfare, and
it is they, too, who, as rule, head the
! forlorn hope. Whenever there are
| hardships to be borne to which the
! French authorities do not care to ex-
pose the regular lire regiments the
! for = -egion is invariably designated
| for the purpose. Unlike the other
/ French regiments it is composed entire
! ly of men who have voluntarily enlist
! ed. Some of them are French, while at
! least fifty per cent OF the entire corps
! is composed of foreigners. There is
scarcely man in the entire brigade
who has not behind him some history
| of a more or less romantic and fre.
! quently dramatic character.
Thus / have found in one and the
same company a Roumanian prince,
who was under suspicion of having
murdered his brother, an Italian lieu
! tenant-coloneI of cavalry, bearing an
| illustrious name, who had been dis
missed from King Humbert's army in
disgrace in consequence of being found
| cheating at cards, a Russian nihilist,
who had escaped from Siberia, and
! an ex-canon of the cathedral of
Notre Dame, of Paris, who had been
suspended from his ecclesiastical func-
/ .. -, -
! mitted against public morality, an En-
! glish ex-captain of the rife brigade,
and a German count who had not only
| served as lieutenant in the First regi-
ment Of guards of Berlin, out who had
/ also held a position on the military
/ staff of the late emperor OF Germany
! All these men were serving as simple
privates in the ranks, and were sub
! jected to the iron discipline for which
this corps is celebrated.
/ In 10 other European army are the
/ punishments so severe as in the foreign
/ legion of France. Composed as it is al
most entirely of social outlaws, men
/ who have broken with their past, and
/ who have in many cases criminal
record behind them: men, in one word,
4 who seek oblivion. and who are mostly
/ serving under pseudonyms, it is not as
+ tonishing that the utmost severity is
needed to render them subservieut to
! orders. The slightest offense or act of
/ aggress against a superior officer Is
punished with death and during the
/ Tonquin war there have been as many as
4 eleven membe of one regiment court
martialed and shot in one day. The
minor otfenses are punishable by the
/ so-called ''silo," which consists of bury
/ ing 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 crap
audine," in which the mon is bound
! hand and foot and left for hours, nay,
+ sometimes days. on the sand lying help
/ less, somewhat in the position of
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 I find.
for instance, the names of Marshal Ba-
zaine, Gen. de Negrier, Gen. Dupin,
who so distinguished himself by his
cruelty during the guerrilla warfare in
Mexico, and last, but not least, the
brilliant Col de Malaret. The last had,
in his younger days, been one OF the
gavest and most popular officers of the
Tuileries and a particular favOrite of
the Empress Eugene. However, hav-
ing contracted some horrible malady
which had practically eaten away al
most one entire side OF his face, he
asked for and obtained the command of
a regiment of the foreign legion, anx-
ious TO serve his country and yet to
withdraw sufficiently from the world
TO be no longer exposed to the looks of
horror, disgust and pity which the APP
4 pearance Of his face excited, not only
among strangers, but even among
former friends. l well remember the
dramatic picture drawn by one of his
fellow officers 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 hottest weather,
in such a manner as to shroud and al
most entirely conceal his face Indeed,
one could see little else but his brilliant
steel-gray eyes piercing through the
gloom. He reminded one of one of
those terror-inspiring members OF the
Inquisition Of the middle ages, and like
them his lips rarely opened save to or
der some more or less severe punish
ment- Very different was Gen. de Ne
-rier. who was rather beloved than
feared by these strange troops, of
whom it has been said with some
Justice that they were a strange mix
ture between the grand dame and the
frailest of the frail, between the chival-
rous and high-minded gentlemen Of
birth, breeding and honor and the
most criminal blackguards-
Gen. de Negrier won his present rank
for having on one memorable occasion
disobeyed orders an offense which, had
/ it been committed by one Of his subor-
dinates. would have been punished by
( death Two COmDan MES of his regiment
which had been sent forward on out
post duty, or to select the ground for
camp. had been surrounded by the
enemy on The frontier of Morocco. An
Arab scout brought in the news that
they were surrounded by an over
whe1ming force and would be unable TO
hold out long Col. de Negrier imme-
diatelv gave orders to hasten 70 the res
cue. and the troops were about to start
when suddenly an order arrived from
the general IN command Of the expedi-
ton. bidding Col. de Negrier to rejoin
the main body Of the army and to re-
treat without delay on the receipt Of
the order.