Mexico Missouri message., 1914-05-07
SOME SIDELIGHTS ON The MEXICAN WAR
BY A VETERAN.

., Gpn Winfield Scout, once 10 Tue
.nio5 forces of France. England and
.n,in and twice to the buccaneers OF
the Spanish Main.
know several men today who were
,-esent at the siege of 1847. 1t Is
nr,bable none Of these veterans OF the
e., Mexican struggle will see service
his time, although have Just seen
Litter from Brig. Gen. Horatio G.
ruson II. S. A., retired. elghtyseven
cars old. in which the venerable
scr,or offers his sword to the stars
and sirines and refers to Major Gen.
leonard Wood as sponsor for his
nbysical and mental ability. General
Gibson served through the Mexican,
civil and several Indian wars.
II was March 7, 1S47, when the feet
,,arinp General Scott and his little
,rrnv aupeared off Mexico's principal
soonort The troops landed without
much trouble after the city had been
honbarded. but II took sanguinary
siege of thirteen days to capture the
defenses Trenches were dug and reg
ular operations conducted.
So our troops this time can com
,rspce their march toward the capital
with much less of a handicap than
General Scotts.
While the troubles of the United
States which eliminated in the Civil
war we're brewing Mexico grew AFRO
giant TO this country and to Europeans
The crownng insult was President
Miramon's seizure OF $3.50, 900 in specie
from the British consulate. Great
Britain, France, Spain and Prussia de-
cided TO move Meantime the great
Benito Juarez. the General Washing
ton of Mexico, was conducting a re-
volt ia the North. lie overthrow Mira
mon, but the foreign troops kept on
their way. On December IA, 1861,
Vera Cruz was seized by a Spanish
force under General Prim. The result
was the elevation of Macmillan to the
throne and after the European troops
had been withdrawn, the unfortunate
Austrians execution.
The pirates, with force equal to a
respectable army, captured Vera Cruz
In 1888 They burned, slew and
robbed for many days before they
were driven to their ships. In 1912
the notorious buccaneer kings. Lau-
rent and Van Horn, seized the port
and held il ten days. They killed hun
dreds Of Mexicans, carried away WON
en- captive and did an immense
amount Of damage.
To this day the nurse girl OF Vera
Cruz, seeking to still the fretful child,
SAYS BE quiet or will give you to
Van Horn"
Reparation for One Insult.
was much amused by the Ill.
informed If well-meaning persons who
cried out that Dictator Huerta had
given sufficient reparation for the in.
suit to the flag at Tampico by his
ineager and half-hearted apology.
From the files of the navy depart
ment have dug up report from
Commander j. Blakely Creighton, U.
), n, commanding the Oneida, who
witnessed Japans atonement for an
o1ense against our bluejackets. 1t
reads
'Hiogo, Japan. March IA, 1861
Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the
United States Navy, Washington,
D Sir: have the honor to COM
municate the particulars OF the execu-
uon OF the Japanese official Tati Fan
lularo retainer OF the Matsdaira b.
zen No kami, who ordered his troops
10 IRE on the foreigners at this place
on the fourth ultimo.
lhls execution was witnessed by
me at the request of our minister, Gen.
n b. Van Valkenburgh, and was as
follows:
left the legation at about 900
y H. IN company with the officers at
'acnea TO the foreign legations and
D'oceeded to Hiogo, where we were
met by guard, who escorted us to
ne temple where the execution was
pluNt.
mere was a large number of
people on each side OF the street lead
,As 10 the temple, and quite num-
oe' OF soldiers drawn up inside and
aoOu' the temple. We were shown
Doo room adjoining the Japanese
DmV'als, where we were asked If we
a'Sued to question the person about |
W Dc executed, to which we answered |
u 'ne negative. They also took the
names OF every official present.
Alter waiting about half an hour
w ~9 were conducted by the Japanese |
o 9ul into what appeared to be the |
p."''pal room of the temple, which
va. lighted with candles, and in
t, on' OF the altar was raised a plat.
o,, avn o. about a foot in height, which
,r ,,e"ueu across the room and which
D,,% paced on the right of the altar.
tio ,,4'u a lew feet of where the execu-
s ,," was to take place, with the Japan
zoe o'hcIals on the left.
o,,n "a iTont of the altar was a green
WON w and in front OF that a red one,
vor, gs,e informed that the execution