The San Francisco call., 1910-06-26
THE BRAVE YOUNG BOY SOLDIERS OF CENTRAL AMERICA
by ARTHUR II. BUTTON

T has many times been said that the
great civil war in the United States
from 1861 to 1855 was waged by boys.
for the great majority of the soldiers,
on both northern and southern sides,
were very young men, tens of thou
sands of those In the union army alone
being still in their teens
But even more youthful armies are
60 be found in some of the Latin
American countries to the south OF us,
where repeated rebellions and revolu-
tions make sore demand upon the man
hood of the distracted little republics,
which are not overpopulated at best.
In the armies of these republics boys
of IL to Is years old are numerous.
Some of them are so small that their
rifles, when ,at order arms" tower
above them, and their big army caps
make them look almost ridiculous.
Whatever their looks, these boy SOL
diers of Latin America are far from
ridiculous on the battlefield They are
fierce little fighters.
i"Thosesboys are the best of them ALL
said Colonel Santiago Gregory of the
Colombian army to me once. They
will go anywhere. Give them an or
der to charge and in they go with
rush, unthinking of the consequences
1t was during the revolution of the
Colombian liberal party, which ragged
from 1899 to 1902, that l saw many of
these boy soldiers, in the province of
Panama, where most of the hard fight
ing was done. They were in the con-
servative or government army, which
was warning with the liberal insurrec-
tos. They were an active, bright lot
of young fellows, for the conservatives
were in sore straits for recruits as so
many Of their men had been killed or
captured by the enemy. Any boy large
enough to carry and shoot rifle was
drafted into the army, until its ranks
looked more like those of school
regiment than of a force engaged in a
hard and bitter strife. Even many of
the officers were youths of II or Is
years of age.
Yet these young soldiers fought
splendidly. They were quick to learn
soldiers duties, and performed them
WELL They seemed almost to enjoy
their service and were usually in much
better spirits than their older COM
panions, who deplored the war appre-
ciated better it's hardships and suffered
it's evils to a greater extent.
The weapon used by the Colombian
conservative infantry was the Gras
rifle, an obsolete French arm, breech
loading, but long and heavy, with large
caiiber bullets and huge bayonet. 1t
was a ponderous gun for boy to carry
through the tropical jungles and over
the steep mountains, with the weight
of the ammunition besides. but these
boys did it and went through several
arduous campaigns with great credit
They withstood hunger, fatigue and
other hardships with all the fortitude
of the grown men, and in battle none
were braver than the boy soldiers. The
sound of the bugle would seem, to fire
them with enthusiasm and they would
follow their officer anywhere.
The crack Battalion of Colombia"
commanded by Colonel, afterward
General. Esteban Huertas, who made
possible the secession of Panama in
1904, was largely composed of boys un-
der 20. This was one Of the finest If
not the finest of the organizations in
the Colombian regular army. its men,,
in many cases it's boys, being picked
veterans. and most of its officers hav-
ing been distinguished for gallantry
in action. 1t was modelled on European
lines and whether on parade or in ac-
tion always made a creditable show
ing.
In the present strife in Nicaragua