The sun., 1916-10-29
Exact Facts
Concerning Con.
ditions in the Con-,
tinental Army Are
Presented by En-.
inent Writer, Who
Also Discusses
Some Events = in
His tory Much
More Recent Than
the Revolution

the Revolution
their camp life are full Of humanity
Ind polish. They are a much like the
commanders Of the present day
n the Chevalier Bayard was like
Turkish bashi-basouk.
There was a 'feid of operations In
which persons who assumed to repre-.
both sides were guilty of excuses
that ran into barbarity. That was the
border ground between British and
American armies lying neal each
other. The zone between New York
who were part OF neither
army. South Carolina. after the Sec
ond British invasion. was in q fear
full state Of partisan warfare between
troops regularly enrolled: between Ire
regular companies out Of touch with
headquarters; and between groups Of
bandits who plundered the other side
by preference. but wore . curse to
their own frisnda Many were the
excuses IN both sides. and on neither
side are those excuses chargeable to
the armies or their leaders.
The animus Of. the charge Of Sec
rotary Baker, 10 that the organized
army Of tho United States vas a. ir.
responsible and inhuman - the %.
called armies Of Carranza and villa.
Two British forces were captured In
the course OF tho war: those Of Bur.
goyne and CORVALLIS. The prisoners
then made, As well a. those made IN
other fights. were treated with hu.
mainly. Many wen Of the detested
Hessians settled In the country after
the war was over. and their descend
ants are still here, cordially accepted
as fellow-citizens.
An American army occupied most
Of Canada for several months: an
American force raided tho British
West India port. New Providence; the
Virginia troops under Gedvke Rogers
Clark captured the British post Of Vim
ennes In no cas- are there charges
Of the murder Of prisoners and o n
combatants. such az is the regular
days work Of the Mexican revolution.
lists.
And what was the American army
against which the Official head Of the
present American army brings charges
Of riot and rapine? 1t val the army
which attracted such noble spirits a.
Lafayette. who was honored to &C.
cept the friendship Of Its officers and
to assume high command. 1t was the
army with which Rochambeau and the
French allies c~ooperated in the final
victory of Yorktown. It was the army
which faced the British through the
terrible winter OF l777-l77s. Somehow
the few thousand men in winter quar-
ters at Valley Forge. half fed, half
clothed. poorly armed. badly disciplined.
insubordinate to their immediate OH
GERS. foraging In the countryside for
their daily bread and food for their
animals. was q better army than tho
experienced regular redcoat regiments
under Howe. lying a few miles away in
their snug cantonfnents in Philadel.
| phia-
When. . century hence. some Sec
rotary Of War goes back to the news.
paper accounts Of the call Of the mill
tia to serve on the Mexican frontier
in 1915 he will tell the world that in
the era Of Newton d. Baker, then the
highest oficial Of the American army,
American militiamen broke into bake
shops and helped themselves to food.
Perhapo tho Official will deduce from
such peccadilloes hat the soldiers were
part Of an army OF braggarts and
thieves.
Let It be remembered In that time,
as It should be remembered at this
day. that evesA army. even Cromwell's
Ironsides. Stonewall Jackson's brigade
and Sherman's veterans. contains some
men who would loot II they got the
chance. No army. no War Depart.
ment ought to be measured by ito
poorest material. The vital question 10,
What has been the policy and purpose
OF the officers and the controlling In.
h%uences? Most Of the organized Mex.
lean forces for q hundred years past
have murdered prisoners. have Ill used
foreigners. have stolen private prop.
erty, and In many cases have do.
scended TO the most abominable out.
RACES and excuses.
To place on an equality Mexican
military forces which are saturated
from commander to camp follower
with the spirit Of raptne against the
Revolutionary army Of usually hu.
name men. commanded by officers Of
character. however loosely orxanized
and disciplined. Is like comparing q
dance hall with a Y. n. c. A. There
are some rascals In all societies. What
Is the proportion? How far are they
kept under? That Is the issue.
From still another point Of view
Secretary Bakers insulting COMPARE
son slams against a stone wall, villa
Is q disgraced commander. who was
able to keep the field during the period
when he was allowed to receive NUM-
tions from the United States. which
were withheld from his rivals. The
only exploit of Villa In which we are
vitality affected was a raid against q
United States post. which lasted n few
hours. The men Of Valley Forge. on
the other hand. whom Secretary
Baker holds so cheap. were part OF the
aggregation which defeated the Eng
lish army and navy. wrested independ-
ence and divided the British Empire.
1t Is fashionable nowadays to scale
down the military regulations of
Washington and his associates. Let
It be forgotten that those crude
and chaotic regiments held their lines
in tho face OF a great European ma
ton; that the Americans defeated
Burgoype. defeated Howe. and. with
the aid OF the French. defeated Corn.
wallis; that man for man they were
better than the %redcoats: and general
for general they were better than the