Bryan morning eagle. [volume] (Bryan, Tex.) 1898-1909, 1906-12-20

a.. =. urant. issuea from the nesaausr.
Nov. fs. 1851. In reference 10 the TWEEN
tieth Illinois Members OF this rcki.
ment had broken into a store and taken
goods 10 the value Of Soma tl.3fo. end
the rest OF the regiment. including es-
peciaIiy two officers. failed. In the
words OF General Grant. 70 exercise
their authority to ferret out the men
guilty OF the offenses." General Grant
accordingly mustered out Of the service
OF the United States the two officers
in question. and assessed the sum Of
81. $40 against the said regiment as a
whole. officers and men to be assessed
pro rata on their pay. In its essence
this action IL precisely similar to that
have taken: although the offense
was OF course trivial compared TO the
offense with which had 10 deal.
Ex-corpoia Al Hesse recites what oc-
Cured in a United States regular regt-
ment in the spring 81 1850. Corporal
Hesse subsequently. when the regiment
was surrendered to the Confederates by
General Twiggs. saved the regimental
-olors by wrapping them about his
body. under his clothing. and brought
.hem north In safety, receiving n medal
Of honor for his atcion) II appears that
certain members Of the regiment
iynched = barkeeper who had KILLED ons
OF the soldiers. Being unable - discore-
the culprit. Colonel Robert r.. Lee, then
In command OF the department 81
Texas. ordered the company to be dis
banded and the members transferred
10 other companies and discharged mt
the end OF their enlistment, without
honor. owing TO the outbreak ~ the
civil war. and the consequent loss of
records and confusion. II Is not possi-
BILE 90 say what finally became OF this
case.
When General Lee was In command
Of the army ~ Northern Virginia. as
viii appear from the Enclosed clipping
from the Charlotte Observer, he is
sued an order in October. 1864. disband-
ing n certain battalion for cowardly
conduct. stating az the time his regret
that there were some officers ami men
belonging to the organization who. al
though not deserving IL. were obliged
TO share In the common disgrace. be-
cause the good Of the service demand
ed a.
In addition to the discharges Of or
ganization. r.hich are of course infre-
quent. there are continual cases OF the
discharge Of individual enlisted men
without honor and without trial by
court martial The official record
shows that during tho fiscal year end
ing June 30. last. such discharges were
issued by the war department without
trial by court martial In the cases u
Sb2 enlisted men Of the regular army.
ab OF them being on account OF "having
become disqualified for service through
their own misconduct" Moreover, In
addition TO tho discharges without hon
or ordered by the war department,
there were considerable number 81
discharges without honor issued by
subordinate military authorities under
paragraph las 81 the Army Regulations.
"wherc the service has not been hon
est and faithful-that n. where the SER
vice does not warrant establishment"
So much for the military side OF the
case. but wish 10 say something adj
ditional. from the standpoint 81 the
race question. In my message az tho
opening OF congress I discussed the
matter of lynching. In u I gave utter
ance 20 the adherence which all decent
citisens should feel for the deeds %
the men Gin almost all cases white