The Savannah morning news., 1902-06-01
SIDNEY HERBERT'S LETTER.
THE ARMY REGISTERS INFORMA-
TION CRITICISED.


DisapprOved-The Question of the
Discussed-The Only United states
Pension Agent Who Was Not a
Participant in the Civil Wharf.-The
Growth of the Military Spirit in
the SehooIs-InfOrmatiO About
Gen. Fitzpatrick Furnished-Other
Matters of General Interest.
Pine Crest Villa. Maitland, Fla,
May S1.-The printer who put out the
of Maj. Asa Bird Gardiner, in my
last letter was guilty of a serious Of
tense in that gentleman's eye. 1t is his
less ambitious brother who calls him
self plain Gardner" the same as Asa
did when he "Jined the army" in 1861.
Gen. w. w. Gordon kindly
corrects my statement in regard to the
first two children born in Chicago. 1t
was Mrs Gordon's aunt who was the
first white child born outside Fort
Dearborn. The General sends me
"Waubun" by Mrs. John H. Kinzie,
being a sketch of the early days at the
Northwest A hasty glance over the
pages of this interesting volume show
ed that l was not mistaken as to the
high character and eminent services of
Mrs. Gordons father, or in regard to
the perils and hardships endured by
the noble women of that day.
Yesterday was the Memorial Day"
for Union soldiers, and all over Flor
ida they gathered at the cemeteries and
4 - I,a
graves of their dead comrades. In
some places the ceremonies were very
impressive while in Others the graves
wre simply decorated without any pub
lie service. This year the new and
beautiful custom of strewing flowers
upon the waters was observed in men,
DRY of the brave sailors sleeping be-
meath the rolling waves.
The army register is not a true guide
to a mans real sectional status. Take,
for example, Gen. Lunsford L. LomaX,
c. S. A. born in Rhode Island, and yet
his father was a Virginian and a
ma jor in the United States army. An
other example, Gen. E. Kirby Smith,
c. S. A, born in Florida. was a son
of Judge Joseph S. Smith of Connecti-
cut. Still another example, Gen. M. G.
Meigs, U. S. A, born in Georgia, was
the son of DIR. c. ID. Meigs of Pennsyl-
vania, temporarily in Augusta, Ga,
where the son was born. There was a
time when, as / remember, the regular
army officers and Methodist itinerant
preachers seldom had more than two
of that number-children born in the
same place. Some army officers chill
dren were scattered in birthplaces
from the forts on the Maine frontier
TO the garrisons of far-off Minnesota,
and from Western New York to Louis
lana.
The Youths Companion, I am sorry
to see, copies from the Washington
Post a foolish story about Gen Sterl-
ing Price and Gen. P. G. T. Beaure-
gard, in which Price is made to say:
We'll. / hain't never seen none like
FER but onct befo'. . Yep, finei l
done tux her" Now, l never knew
Gen. Price, and, like Gen. Forrest, he
may have been a little loose in his use
of the Kings English" but l doubt
if he was as bad as he is painted
in this story. Although not a West
Pointer ne was a Mexican war vet
eran, a native of Virginia. and an ex-
member of Congress, ex-Gov. of Mis-
souri, and the president of her proposed
secession convention. In the Mexican
war he was colonel of volunteer cav
airy and made a brilliant campaign
that won for him a brigadier generals
commission in the regular army. His
career in the Confederate army was
rounded off with the rank of lieuten-
ant general. 1t is simply outrageous to
Islander such man by attributing to
him the slouchy utterances above quot
ed from the Youths Companion.
An ARMY Omcer." in Golfers
Weekly, of May "a, discussing The
Army Reform Movement" under the
sub-head of what is Genera. Miles
Officer" says: The position of Com
manding General of the Army under
our form of government is purely a fic
ton. The President is the constitu-
tional Commander-in- Chief, and there
is no possibility of having another
without friction" This is precisely
what 1 have always said. And it was
for this reason that Lieut.. Gen. George
Washington declined the higher
rank of full general. He clearly stated
that it would trench upon the prerog
atives of the President" Grant, Sher
man and Sheridan, however. accepted
that same rank, and at times there
was friction" there was 'trenching"
upon the Presidents "prerogatives."
The most scholarly man who ever held
the rank of general or lieutenant gen.
eral in the United States army, Lieut..
Gen. John NJ. Schoheld, has clearly dis
cussed this subject and Congress will
be wise if it listens to his advice His
ripe and rare scholarship, and his wide
and varied experience from a cadet at
West Point to Secretary of War and
commanding general of the whole
army, entitle his views to the most
careful consideration.
Correspondent Oil, writing from
Washington, d. c., compliments the
good work in the Philippines of Lieut..
Fred w Benteen, U S. A., a late APP
pointment from Atlanta, where his
father died a few years ago. Although
a brave and gallant cavalry comman-
der, his father Maj. Fred w. Benteen,
was not general as Correspondent
Oil states, but was retired with the
rank of major, yet having won the bre-
vets of major, lieutenant colonel and
colonel for gallant and meritorious
service" in battle. The son. now in the
infantry, seems to be making a good
record for himself in the Philippines.
No matter how big a political
''bee in his bonnet" Capt Rich p Hob
son, U. S. N, may have, getting on
the retired list will not enable him to
hold Office in Alabama. The state law
is clear on that point, and a retired
army or navy officer is still an officer
in a legal sense. subject to the orders
of the War or Navy Department and
drawing his pay regularly from the
government. There have been cases
where retired officers like District At
torney Gardiner, in New York, and
Postmaster Lewis, in Atlanta, and
Congressman Dan Sickles have held Of