tf cc was co TWO : plete t be unif ON STI express COOPE RLEY'S ILLUSTRATED EDITION OF and tht country works. Publi be sent miles. The work BANCROFT LIBRAJQf s )f his >f his 7 will ^ , - - 3,000 " be obtained from local agents (generally the principal Booksellers) in all the large cities. BOOKSELLERS and others desiring an agency where none has been established can ascertain terms, &c., by addressing the Publishers, IV' A. TownrsEnri> & co., 46 WALKEK STKEET, NEW YORK. JAMES FENIMORE COOPER: OPINIONS OF HIS WORKS FROM DISTINGUISHED AUTHORS, STATESMEN, ETC. WASHINGTON IBVINGk || " Cooper emphatically belongs to the nation. He has left a space in our litera- \ '{ ture which will not easily be supplied." GEOEGE BANCEOFT. !1 "The glory which he justly Avon was reflected on his country, and deserves the yf grateful recognition of all who survive him. His surpassing ability haa made his own name and the names of the creations of his fancy ' household words' through out the civilized world." EDWAED EVEEETT. "The works of our great national novelist have adorned and elevated our literature. There is nothing more purely American, which the latest posterity ' will not willingly let die.' " WILLIAM II. PEESCOTT. iJs writings are instinct with the spirit of nationality. In his productions f]\ every American must take an honest pride. For surely no one has succeeded like j j I : ^ Coopov in the portraiture of American character, or has given such glowing and M ]!V eminently truthful pictures of American scenery." WILLIAM CULLEN BEYANT. " j wrote for mankind at large; hence it is that he has earned a fame wider Sj than any author of modern times. The creations of his genius shall survive through centuries to come, and only perish with our language." [j DANIEL WEBSTEE. ^ "The enduring monuments of Fenimore Cooper are his works. While the love fl lif of country continues to prevail, his memory will exist in the hearts of the people. n> ... So truly patriotic and American throughout, they should rind a place in ^ L\ every American's library." jft LEWIS CASS. " His country and the world acknowledge and appreciate his claims, and the j;C productions of his genius will go down to posterity among the noblest efforts of j'Y the age. lie will ever live in the history of human greatness." CHAELES SUMNEE. W "As a patriot, who loved his country, who illustrated its history, who advanced J$ its character abroad, and, by his genius, won for it the unwilling regard of foreign v nations, he deserves a place in the hearts of the American people." HENEY W. LONGFELLOW. ' The country owes him a great debt of gratitude, and all who are of the guild of authorship should show the most alacrity in paying it. I was in no country of Iv kr Europe where the name of Cooper was not familiarly known. FEANCIS PAEKMAN, JR. $? "For myself, I have always felt a special admiration for Cooper's writings. [',) i> They were my chosen favorites as a boy, and I may say, without exaggeration, j I'V character than Fenimore Cooper. His genius has contributed a rich fund to the sH 1. 1 instruction and delight of his countrymen, which will long be preserved among fil vf ^ the choicest treasures of American letters, and will equally conduce to render our ^ jf M national literature attractive to other nations." ]f THE SOU)] Kit I.\ MKXK'O. ADVENTURES ENGLISH SOLDIEB IX THE UNITED STATES ARMY. New York: \V. \. TOAVXSKXD & POMP A XV. ] SCO. THE MEXICAN WAR, BY AN ENGLISH SOLDIER. COMPRISING INCIDENTS AND ADVENTURES IN THE UNITED STATES AND MEXICO WITH THE NEW YORK: W. A; TOWNSEND & COMPANY. 1860. DURING the discussion in the Senate of the United States, upon the bill to confer additional military rank upon General Winfield Scott, in acknowledg ment of his great services to his country, General Shields remarked that no worthy history of the Mexican war had yet been written. The truth of the observation was everywhere felt. What has hitherto appeared on the subject, beyond the official despatches, has more resembled romance than his tory, being in the main confined to dashing narra tives of the personal adventures of roving or belli gerent Hotspurs, who knew little and cared less about the discipline and routine of the every-day life of the regular soldier ; or on the other hand to eulogistic compilations, prepared for sale, rather than as contri- n PREFACE. butions to history. The writers of both classes have " cast discreetly into shade' 7 whatever would " offend the eye" of the readers they sought to appreciate. As a partial remedy for the evil complained of by the gallant officer above referred to, the publishers put forth the present volume. If it does not rise to the dignity of history, it at least partakes of that faithfulness of record and clearness of detail which give history its value. The author is manifestly superior to that class of his countrymen ordinarily found in the rank and file of an army, in intelligence, in education, in observation, in descriptive and nar rative power, and in candor and liberality of senti ment. Something of foreign misapprehension, pos sibly some degree of foreign preference or prejudice, may be found in his pages ; and it is by no means improbable that some of his criticisms upon men and events may be unjust ; but there is throughout the volume an evident desire to be just as well as inde pendent, both in criticism and in narration. The publishers confidently express the opinion, in which they are confirmed by the verdict of the lite rary gentlemen to whom the work has been submitted PREFACE. Vll for supervision, not only that nothing has yet issued from the American press that gives so intelligent and lively a description of the actualities of the war in Mexico, but that no work is extant in the English language which presents so interesting a picture of a soldier's life his round of conversation, his employ ments, his toils, dangers, and escapes what he sees and does, and how he does it as this autobiography. The reader will find it difficult to part company with the author. There is no " fine writing" to pall upon the taste. Everything is told naturally, and every thing is described earnestly. The style is nervous yet chaste, and free from the coarseness which too often disfigures a soldier's narrative. Yet there is no sentimentality. The manliness of the true soldier is apparent on every page. The charm of the work is in the impressive distinctness of every picture of place or incident. The reader will feel as though he accompanied the hardy soldier from the moment of his enlistment to that of his discharge ; messing with him on Governor's Island, marching with him to join the forces under General Scott, sleeping with him on the mountain side, where the bed is made Vlll PREFACE. softer by putting aside some of the larger stones, cir- cuitously approaching the scene of action, exchanging a repartee or a word of encouragement with a com rade, mingling in the melee, and finally entering the city of Mexico in triumph, and realizing all the pecu liarities of its buildings and its people. So vividly is every scene painted that a stranger, with tho volume as his guide, might trace the entire route of the American army through Mexico, locate every bivouac, and comprehend every manoeuvre or military movement. The publishers feel assured that this commendation of the volume will be verified by every intelligent reader of its pages. CHAPTER I. I arrive in New York, and make several strange acquaint ances, 9 CHAPTER II. My first experience as an American soldier, and attendance at military punishment, .......17 CHAPTER III. Embarkation at the Battery Yankee opinion of Soldiers Fort Adams New comrades Defects of organization Routine of duties life in quarters 80 CHAPTER IV. Departure from Fort Adams Providence Robbing the Or chard Boston Life in a Transport The Captain and the Nigger, -.* 42 CHAPTER V. The Soldier at Sea, ........ 61 CONTENTS. Page CHAPTER VI. Soldier of Fortune, CHAPTER VII. Lard in Sight Pensacola Bay Fort Pickens Rough Lodg ings Smuggling Whiskey A Carouse, - - 86 CHAPTER VIIL The Surprise Doctor Brown Fishing at Pensacola Bathers and Sharks, 92 CHAPTER IX. Tampa Bay Indian Paradise Beautiful Squaws Forest Life The Hummocks Snakes Rumours of War Lost in the Wood, .... 100 CHAPTER X. General~Sottr The Coast of MexicoA jolly Captain A Gale of Wind The River Tampico, - 121 CHAPTER XI. The Town ana its Population Reinforcements General Shields Bill mitt as Orderly Expedition to Vera Cruz, . 1ST CHAPTER XII. Sacrificios The dwoarkation A bivouac A night alarm, - 145 CHAPTER XIII. General Scott The Shell Naval sporting Investment of Vera Cruz Vergara Spoiling the knapsacks, - - - 152 CHAPTER XIV. A prophecy fulfilled The bombardment Visit to Vera Cruz, 162 CONTENTS. XI Pag- CHAPTER XV. Sickness March on Jalapa Position of the enemy Order to attack The counter-order and its effect, ... 161 CHAPTER XVI. Arrival of General Scott Ascent of the ravine The charge The loan of a pipe Colonel Barney General Pillow- Bill Crawford Victory, m CHAPTER XVH. After the battle The wounded Mexican surgeons The litter of dead An unexpected regale, .... 190 CHAPTER XVIII. Santa Anna's leg Distribution of spirits Colonel Childs Interring the dead March to Jalapa, - - -197 CHAPTER XIX. Santa Anna's house Aspect of the country The ladies of Jalapa A Mexican funeral Description of the city The priesthood Procession of the Host Paying the troops, 203 CHAPTER XX. Departure from Jalapa Deserters On the march Captain Walker Perote Tepe Agualco Puebla, - - - 215 CHAPTER XXI. Puebla Convents and Public Buildings Newspaper Gene rals An Indian City San Martin Valley of Mexico, - 231 CHAPTER XXII. Saa Augustine Reconnoissance Guard-house luxuries A convivial party An unexpected interruption, ... 280 Ill CONTENTS. Pag. CHAPTER XXIII. The Field of Battle King's Mill The Execution The Pur suit, - 249 CHAPTER XXIY. Kavages of "War Entry into San Cosmo Character of the Population Markets The cemetery, .... 261 CHAPTER XXV. Conclusion, - - - - .. - - - 281 AUTOBIOGRAPHY ENGLISH SOLDIER IN THE U, S, ARMY CHAPTER I. I arrive in New York, and make several strange acquaintances. I LEFT home for the United States in the summer of 1845, for the same reason that yearly sends so many thousands there, want of employment. I had both read and heard a good deal about America, and knew that money could not be picked up in the streets there, any more than at home ; but I was scarcely prepared to find the scramble for the means of living so fierce and incessant, as I found it in New York. Being a handloom weaver, I called on several persons be longing to that business, and from the same town as myself, Paisley, in the west of Scotland. They told me they had to work yery hard to earn three dollars and a half, or at most, four dollars a week ; while loom rent and other expenses, with loss of time, changing and putting in new sorts of work, reduced their wages to an average of less than three dollars, or about twelve shillings a week. There were some weavers in carpet factories in Philadelphia they told me, and also a few in New York, who earned five or six dollars a week ; but only a few could find employment at these places, which 1* 10 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. were also subject to periods of stagnation of business, when the 3ost of living soon exhausted the savings of those who were provident enough to save a little for a rainy day. They generally, while informing me of plenty of places where I might find employment at weaving, such as it was, advised me to try and find employment as a labourer in preference ; which some of them declared their intention of doing as soon as they had finished their engagements. While walking along the wharfs at the East River one morning, my attention was arrested by a placard above one of the shops which front Brooklyn, stating, in the usual Brobdignagian typography of these announcements, that one hundred able-bodied men were wanted for whaling. Appli cants were directed to walk up stairs. With a vague idea that possibly a South Sea voyage might answer my peculiar situation, I walked up and presented myself to a man whom I found sitting at a desk in a large room, barely furnished, and very dirty. I asked him if he could inform me as to the terms of engagement. " I can't do anything else," he re plied, as he got up from his desk, and coming close up to me, asked if I meant to join the money-making business of whaling. He was a small cadaverous looking being, with sandy hair, sallow complexion, and red eyes that glittered like a ferret's, as you caught an occasional glimpse of them from behind a pair of green spectacles. I told him in reply, that I was out of employment, and not particularly nice as to what I tried, if I were able for it, and it promised tolerable pay. " Ah !" said he, " Stranger, I guess you are in a par ticular all fir'd streak of good luck ; we are nearly filled up, that is a fact, but if you are in good health let me just look at y.mr arm," he continued, as he seized hold of one, feeling it up to the shoulder for the purpose of testing its muscular condition. Being satisfied with his examination, apparently, THE BRIGHT SIDE OF WHALING. H he asked me if I was an American citizen. I told him I was not, having only arrived in the country a few weeks before. " That is no matter," said he, winking one of the ferret eyes, "I can fix that right away." He then congratulated me upon being in a fair way to make my fortune, and informed me that the men employed in whaling were paid by shares, which they called lays, and that their wages were propor tionate to their luck. He had known a young man have eight hundred, or a thousand dollars for his share, or lay, in a voyage that did not last over eighteen months. A whale ship would have very bad luck if the men aboard of her did not clear three or four hundred dollars a year. Bad health alone, he said, had prevented him from going a voyage or two ; and so he went on with a great deal more to the same effect, most of which I thought too good to be true. Thank ing him, however, for his information, and promising to call again after thinking the matter over, I left the office. I can't deny that his statements made a considerable impression on me at the time, though of course I believed that he greatly exaggerated. Still it is probable that I would have doubled Cape Horn in one of these whalers, perhaps touching at Nukuheva, and a few of ,the islands in that vicinity, and real izing some of those scenes of enchantment of which the inimitable Herman Melville has given such charming and graphical descriptions in his Typee and Omoo, but for the following incident. Going down the steps from the office, I met in the street one of the sailors of the ship in which I had arrived, a fine old fellow with whom I had often had a chat during the pas- sage. After the usual salutations, he asked me if I would help him to " splice the main brace," the nautical phrase for taking a glass of grog. I assented, and while taking a glass and a cigar together, he confidentially informed me that he had 12 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IV MEXICO. considered me a Christian ever since the fourth of July. My claim to this high character, which the old fellow I suppose considered perfectly valid, rested on the following rather slen der foundation ; The night preceding the fourth of July had been wet and stormy, the wind blowing a pretty stiff gale. In the morning, the crew having been on deck all night, were tired, cold, and wet ; and the vessel being on the temperance principle, they had no grog, at which they grumbled sadly. The sailors were mostly Americans, and the fourth of July, the, anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, being held as a day of jubilee and general festivity in the States, the contrast suggested to their minds by their present condition, made them feel the deprivation more acutely. I had brought a small stock of whiskey with me, and not requiring it for my own use, I served out an allowance to each man ; thus cheaply earning the reputation of a Christian. He proceeded to acquaint me with his having " shipped " in a vessel which was to sail in a few days for the East Indies. He had drawn a month's pay in advance, for the purpose of having a spree, as he was going on a long voyage. " Look here, matey," said he, " I have a few of the shiners left yet," and pulling a hand ful of silver from his pocket, he insisted that I should take part of it. I thanked him for his offer, which I said I would cheerfully accept if I required it. " Avast there, mate," said he, " did I not see you coming out of a land-shark's office there on the wharf ?" I acknowledged having gone into an office there, telling the object of my visit, and repeated part of the statements made by the shipping agent. u I thought so," said Jack, with a sneer, " but listen to me, lad." He then gave me a history of his own experience on board a whaler, with a number of anecdotes gathered from different mess mates, all tending to show that it was a life of great hardship, with very poor wages. He strongly advised me to look for INDUCEMENTS TO RECRUITS. 13 some other sort of employment, and as to sharing his money, if I didn't it was all the same, he could pitch it into the river ; he never carried any money on board with him when going on a long voyage. As I was not greatly above the want of a little pecuniary assistance, though not quite destitute of resources, having a good suit of clothes, and other articles easily convertible into money at my lodgings, I accepted a dollar from him as a loan. I did this the more readily, as I saw he would be grievously offended should I persist in re fusing his kind offer. " Ay, ay," said the honest and warm hearted old fellow, as we shook hands at parting, " you and I may happen to meet some other time, when your luck's better than mine. If we don't, and you should ever see a messmate on his beam ends, give him a lift, God bless you, and it will do all the same." My interview with this honest fellow having dissipated any idea I had previously entertained of going to sea in a whaler, I strolled about for the. remainder of the day, medi tating on my future prospects, which presented a rather cheerless aspect at this juncture. Having served for a con siderable time in the English army, from which I had purchased my discharge about five years previously, I finally resolved, as a sort of last resource, to try five years in the American service. The bills advertising for recruits, stated, that a few enterprising young men, of good character, were wanted for the service of the United States ; and promised good treatment, as far as physical comfort was concerned, being somewhat to the following effect : That soldiers of the United States' service were provided with good quarters, an ample sufficiency of good and wholesome diet, an abun dant supply of clothing, and in case of sickness, the most careful attendance, and the most skilful medical aid. The statement concluded with the amount of money which could 14 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. be saved by sergeant, corporal, or private, during their period of five years' service, varying from four to seven hundred dollars. It was about the middle of August, 1845, that I called at the recruiting office in Cedar street, for the purpose of enlisting. The sergeant in charge of the establishment, having asked me if I had been in the British service, to which I replied in the affirmative, said in that case he was afraid they could not enlist me, as they had lately received an order from Washington to that effect ; deserters from fhe British service having generally turned out bad soldiers. As I saw he was under the impression that I was a deserter, I explained that I had purchased my discharge, which I could produce if required. This, he said, altered the case ; he was going to the recruiting officer's quarters, and if I had no objec tion he would take me along with him. I went with him, and was soon ushered into the presence of Lieutenant Burke, a tall handsome man, with fine expressive dark eyes, and large black whiskers, but a rather melancholy cast of countenance. He became Captain Burke soon after, in consequence of the war in Mexico, which caused considerable promotion among the officers for some time ; but he did not live to enjoy it, being killed at the battle of Churubusco, outside of the city of Mexico, in August, 184*7, about two years after my enlistment. After asking me a few questions, he said he would be glad to have me if I passed the surgeon's examination, and could procure a document to show that I had been discharged from the British service. I accordingly went to my lodgings, and returned with my certificate of discharge, which he slightly glanced over, and remarking that it was quite satis factory, directed the sergeant to go with me to the inspecting surgeon. I then underwent an examination similar to that which recruits undergo when enlisted in the British service, 15 and immediately after, went with the sergeant to the office of a magistrate, and took the usual oath of allegiance. Being a soldier once more, and desirous of ascertaining the actual condition of one in the American service as soon as possible, I asked the sergeant when it would be requisite for me to be ready to go over to Governor's Island. This is a small island in the Manhattan Bay, where recruits are stationed until sent to join their respective regiments. It is rather more than a mile in circumference, and about a mile from the battery. The sergeant, who seemed a civil fellow, said that I might either go over in the garrison boat at sun set that evening, or if I had anything to arrange in New York, I might defer going over until next evening. He advised me to sell my clothes, and purchase old ones in New York, as I would get almost nothing for good clothes in the island, and would have no opportunity of coming over to sell them, as recruits after landing never obtained per mission to leave the island until sent to join their regi ments. I followed his advice with regard to the clothes, for which a purchaser was easily found, replacing them with a light linen jacket, and chip hat, which cost a mere trifle, but were good enough to throw away in a day or two, when I should put on soldier's uniform. I also sold my trunk, and a few other articles which, as a soldier, I had neither much use for, nor convenient means of carrying ; and being desirous of going over the same evening, I then returned to the recruiting office. At sunset the sergeant accompanied me and two other recruits down to the boat, which lay in front of Castle Garden. The garrison boat was a large, handsome, and neatly painted cutter, rowed by six soldiers, with a corporal acting as coxswain. Seated in the stern of the boat were a couple of young officers smoking cigars. They were proba- 16 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. bly chagrined at having been detained a minute or two while we were coming down, for one of them called out in a petulant tone to us, to jump in and be damned. I looked with a little surprise at the would-be aristocrat specimen of equal rights who had spoken, and could perceive that he had the apology of youth and inexperience, being little more than a boy. One of the recruits muttered loud enough to be heard by the gentleman, who stared and coloured, but perhaps thought it prudent to decline a reply, " Faith and there's many a strong word comes off a weak stomach." The evening was delightful, and in a few minutes we were landed on the wharf at Governor's Island. The other two recruits and myself were shown to a tent, where we were to sleep for the night. We found that it contained only two straw mattresses, and two blankets, but as the weather was very warm, we slept that night very comfortably. CHAPTER II. My first experience as an American soldier, and attendance at mill* tary punishment. WE were roused next morning by the reveille, which is always beat a little before sunrise. Having got up with the assistance of a good-natured recruit who happened to look into our tent, we rolled up our mattresses, and folded the blankets according to regulation, and then, falling into the ranks formed in front of the tents, we answered to our names as they were called by the sergeant who had charge of us. All hands were then distributed in separate parties, each party in charge of a corporal, to " police" or clean round the garrison. A portion of this duty, at which the recruits grumbled loudly, and which I soon learned was one of seve ral standing grievances of which they complained, was being sent to the barrack-square, where a company, called the per manent company, were stationed. As the recruits lay in tents outside, and at a considerable distance from the bar racks, they naturally felt indignant at the unjust degradation to which they were subjected, in being compelled every morning to act as a scavenging commission for the perma nent company. The refusal to obey orders, caused by this foolish regulation, was the means of many of the recruits being confined in the guard-house while I was on the island. At six o'clock we were assembled and formed into squads for drill ; we were then drilled until seven, when we were di&- missed. 18 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. At half-past seven o'clock, at beat of drum, we again fell into the ranks, having our leathern stocks on, and jackets buttoned up to the collar. The roll was again called, after which we were marched to the cook-house to breakfast. It is a rule in the American service that soldiers shall breakfast, dine, and sup in the cook-house, a very absurd and inconve nient regulation, for which I never heard any satisfactory reason assigned. Our breakfast consisted of six ounces of bread, a slice of salt pork, and a pint of weak unpalatable coffee, totally innocent of the useless extravagance of milk, instead of which we were permitted to season our sumptuous fare with vinegar at discretion, a large black bottle full of that condiment being placed at each end of the table. Before commencing, and as I was about to sit down to my first breakfast on Governor's Island, a recruit, Sawney, belong ing to New York, one of the " bhoys," as they delight in being called, and a recognised and privileged wit among the recruits, volunteered to ask a blessing. It was evidently a preconcerted arrangement with several of his influential friends, who used all their address, and a considerable degree of exertion to obtain silence. Having finally succeeded, Sawney rose with a face of the utmost gravity, and com menced a profane and irreverent parody. He concluded by d g all those infernal scoundrels who rob poor soldiers of their rations ; amen. " Sawney, get up, and go to the guard house," said a sergeant who entered as he sat down, after finishing this singular grace. " Ay, ay," grumbled Sawney, 44 1 expected as much ; I said how it would be. If a poor devil wants to be ever so religious, it's no use a trying of it here. I suppose that's what you call liberty of conscience in this blessed free republic of ours. Hang me if it is not enough to make a man curse Washington, or his old grand' mother even." So saying, and swallowing his indignation CLOTHING, INSPECTION, AND DRILL. 19 aloiig with a gulp of the wretched coffee, and taking his bread in his hand, amidst the sympathy of his admiring friends, he walked off to the Guard House, muttering curses, not loud but deep. After breakfast, the sergeant in charge of the recruits took me and the two others who came over on the previous even ing to the clothing store, where each received the following articles of clothing. A forage cap, leather stock, jacket, and trousers of coarse blue cloth, two cotton shirts, two pairs of socks, one pair of half boots, a blanket, a great-coat, a knap sack, and a havresack. Having brushed our clothes, cleaned the metal buttons of our jackets, and polished our boots, at 10 o'clock, we again fell into the ranks for inspection and drill. After a minute inspection by the officer who had us in charge, to see that we were smart and clean in our appear ance, we were formed into a number of separate squads for drill ; those who had joined earliest, and consequently were the most forward with their drill, being placed in the first squad, and so on in succession. The other two recruits, Murphy and Finnegan, and myself, were turned over to a corporal named Bright, to be taught the preliminary steps of a soldier's drill, as " the position of a soldier," or the manner in which a soldier should stand in the ranks ; " the facings," or mode of turning on the heels to the right or left, with slow marching, and a few of those things which usually com mence the course of instruction with recruits. Corporal Bright, who was an Irishman by birth, was a United States soldier by profession, and long custom. He had served three enlistments, and entered on the fourth. He was a stout, punchy, little fellow, rather round-shouldered, slightly bowlegged, nose carbuncled, and portending an addic tion to strong potations. In addition, he had a very decided squint from a pair of dull, grey, and glassy-looking orbs, 20 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. which, as Finnegan when criticising his personal appearance remarked, " stuck out of the crathur's head like the eyes of a boiled cod fish." Notwithstanding these slight drawbacks, Corporal Bright had an idea that he was a very handsome and well-made man, and on this account became the uncon scious butt of all the recruits he got to drill. " Murphy, arrah bad luck to you for an awkward-looking omadhaun," he would call out, "can't you hold up your big head, and look me straight in the eyes ?" (Murphy aside) " Be the hokey, my bright-looking customer, and that's what I defy mortial man to do." Corporal Bright (marching in front), " Look at me now Murphy, and yourself too Finnegan ; there now, do yez iver see me duck my head like a gandher going under a gate or bent two double like some old Judy going to a wake ?" Finnegan (aside) " Faith, an it's a Judy you make of yourself, sure enough, you consated crathur." Corporal Bright (ad dressing his squad), " Be my sowl, I'm ashamed of yez for counthrymen ; stand at ease I'll just march a few paces in front now to show yez how yez ought to march ; now if yez plase will yez take a patthern." So saying, he would step off, and march twenty or thirty paces to the front, with such a ludicrous imitation of the beau ideal graceful ease, and dig nified carriage of body which he recommended, as to some times prove rather too much for the gravity of his pupils. These performances he would intersperse with a few instruc tions, and self-laudatory remarks, such as, " There now, do yez persaive the difference, can't yez carry yer shoulders back, yer heads ereck, and march as you persaive I do, as bould as a lion, and as straight as a ramrod." Finnegan (aside) " Arrah, look at the gommagh, with the airs and consate of him, marching in front there as bould as Julius Csesar ; sure it's a holy show the unfortunate crather makes ov himself with his * straight as a ramrod ;' faith, the ramrod GARRISON LIFE. 21 that's no straighter than you, would do to load the gun that shoots round the corner. Murphy (aside in reply), " Faix, but it's the beautiful cook they spoiled, when they made the same fellow a corporal ; he could have one eye up the chim ney, and the other in the pot at the same time." Such is a faint sketch of Corporal Bright and his squad of recruits, on the drill ground at Governor's Island. Having been well drilled while serving in the British army, I found no difficulty in acquiring my drill on the island, the systems of English and American drill being essentially the same. I therefore escaped a good deal of that annoyance to which recruits are often subject, upon first joining the army, and which frequently proceeds from the ignorance or bad temper of the non-commissioned officer appointed to drill them. The proper combination of intelli gence, firmness, and mildness of manner, requisite to form a good drill instructor, is of rare occurrence, and owing to this cause, many a young and high spirited recruit, discouraged and fretted by the bullying and blustering tone of those who ought to be his patient instructors, is tempted to desert the service, when, with proper treatment, he might have been made a good and efficient soldier. At half-past eleven o'clock the squads were dismissed, and the greater part of the recruits who possessed money, or had credit at the sutler's store, went over to it to buy crackers and cheese, pies and other eatables, and to drink cider, ginger, arid root beer, all of which articles, with tobacco, and several other necessaries, were sold there at the slight advance of 100 per cent, upon the price at which similar commodities could be purchased in New York. The sutler's store is a shop kept in every garrison, and is somewhat similar to a canteen in the British service, only the sutler's stores are prohibited from selling spirits, Re- 22 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. emits, on arriving at the island, were allowed credit in the sutler's store to the amount of two dollars, which sum, or the amount taken by the recruit, was remitted by the captain of his company on the first pay-day after he joined his regiment. Those recruits who had exhausted their credit at the store, either went to their tents, or lay stretched on the grass, under the fine shady trees that ornamented the parade ground, reading, dozing, or smoking, and chatting, according to theii various inclinations. At twelve o'clock the dinner call beat, a fifer and drum mer playing the regulation tune, " the Roast Beef of Old England." We again fell into the ranks, buttoned up as at breakfast roll-call, and having answered our names were marched to the cook-house to dinner. This meal consisted of six ounces of bread, a slice of salt pork, and a basin of bean soup. This compound was very salt, and very fat, and contained a quantity of half-boiled beans. I have seen some strange and rather uninviting dishes, both before and since, but never anything so utterly unpalatable as the bean-soup of Governor's Island. A few of the more verdant of the recruits occasionally swallowed a portion of it, under the false impression that it was a species of military soup, which might possess some hidden nutri tious virtues, though so singularly uninviting in taste and appearance. For this venial error, however, they were pretty sure to suffer a moderate degree of penance, until led by experience to see their mistake. The old and more experienced hands, usually preferred to wash down their dry victuals with a drink of water, so that the quantity of Spartan broth, and salt pork, daily left on the dinner table of the recruits,* was quite enormous, a fact easily cited to refute any complaint of an insufficient dietary. At three o'clock we again fell in for drill, and were A STANDING GRIEVANCE. 23 dismissed at half-past four ; and at five o'clock we were inarched as before to the cook-house for supper, which consisted of six ounces of bread and a pint of coffee. I need not insist upon the inadequacy of the diet furnished to the recruit, both as regards quantity and quality, at Governor's Island, where a complete organization seems to exist, for the purpose of robbing the recruit, and disgusting him with the service at the very outset. The diet and general treatment are much better when the soldier joins his company ; although I am free to confess that, throughout the service generally, a very wide field still remains for improve ment. I am aware that it will seem to many a thing quite incredible, that in a country abounding as America does with cheap food, a standard grievance with the soldiers should be the manner in which they are fed ; it is a fact ? nevertheless, quite notorious to every soldier who has ever served in the American army. After supper, we usually had an interval of rest until nine o'clock. " Now came in the sweet of the night," while the old and sedate portion of the recruits strolled along the foot-walks that intersect, and surround the island, or sat in small parties conversing in front of their tents, the younger and more volatile among them engaged in a variety of pastimes and amusements. Foot-ball, leaping, wrestling, foot racing, leap-frog, throwing the stone, or dancing when music could be procured, were a few of the more prominent of the diversions commonly resorted to. Later in the evening, after having answered our names at retreat, which was beat precisely at sunset, groups assembled round the tent doors, to smoke, chat, tell tales, or sing songs. Nigger songs or the broadly humorous, formed the staple of these social enter tainments, except with the German portion of the recruits, who, having been taught to sing in their national schools 24 ADVENTURES OP A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. had acquired a more refined ear, and a taste for music of a rather superior quality. They generally arranged, therefore, a separate party, forming a very pleasing concert among themselves, by singing their national songs ; these, when heard a little distance off, on a still evening, had a very beautiful and harmonious effect. At nine o'clock we fell in, to answer our names at tattoo roll-call, when the drums and fifes played a few merry tunes, after which the roll was called and we were then dismissed to bed. About fifteen minutes were then suffered to elapse, when the drummer beat three distinct taps on the drum, at which signal every light in tents or quarters had to be extinguished, and the most strict silence preserved, on pain of the offender being sent to the guard-house the immediate punishment for all wilful infrac tions of the rules of the service. Such is a summary of one day, and, with but slight variations, of every day of the three weeks I spent on Governor's Island. I had been upon the island about a week, when a large draft of recruits was ordered to Texas, where they were to join different regiments, preparing for that expedition to the frontier, which resulted in involving the United States in the war with Mexico. The popular feeling in the United States, at that period, seemed to be strongly in favor of a war. Texas had just been annexed, and the papers teemed with paragraphs calculated to rouse the war spirit, dwelling on the indignities offered to the States by the Mexican. Govern ment ; especially in refusing to pay certain indemnities claimed by American citizens, for injuries received by them from Mexican civil functionaries, in their trading relations with that nation. In the meantime the refusal of Mexico to recognize the independence of Texas, or to listen to any statement of American grievances, with the circumstance of her having an army on the Rio Grande, showed that she CAUSES OF DESERTION. 25 was careless how she provoked the coming struggle, which she probably now began to consider inevitable ; and tended to show that hostilities would soon break out between the sister republics. I cannot say how far the near prospect of a war may have operated upon the minds of recruits to cause 'desertion, but certainly the number of desertions at the period I speak of was very great. This crime I had imagined would be almost unknown, or of very rare occurrence in this army, where the period of service was limited to five years, and which professed to treat its soldiers so liberally on all other points. But the practice of putting all recruits who join at Governor's Island during the summer months, into tents, where they are roasted as if in an oven during the day, and frequently drenched with wet, and starved with cold during the night, must produce a degree of disgust to the service in the mind of the recruit at the very outset. For a tent, though excellent accommodation to the soldier on a campaign (especially if one has been compelled to rough it for a week or two occasionally with the blue vault or the black sky for a canopy), is a miserable substitute for a substantial barracks. And it certainly must produce a rather unpleasant impres sion on the recruit, to reflect, that probably the most misera ble loafer in New York is in a more comfortable lodging than himself. It is to this practice, together with the con finement to the island, and the wretched system that prevails in regard to their food, that much of the desertion among the recruits is to be attributed. In fact, throughout the American service generally, desertion, though the only offence for which the disgraceful punishment of flogging is permitted by the military code, is not looked upon in the light of a crime by the soldier. This is principally owing to the con viction that they are not treated justly. No great amount 2 26 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. of logic is required to perceive that a contract, to be binding must bind both parties ; but it would take a good deal to convince the soldier, that he is bound to observe an oath which he has taken under certain implied conditions, which he finds are not observed. The common method adopted by the recruits who wished to desert from Governor's Island, was to engage a boat to come over in the night time to take them off, while others trusted themselves and their fortunes to a single plank in the following manner. Watching when the tide was setting into the harbour, they fastened their clothes to a plank, and by swimming and holding on to it while they directed its course, with the assistance of it and the tide, they easily reached New York, or Brooklyn. One morning we missed two large tubs which we had made by sawing a hogshead in two, and which always stood at the pump, being used as washtubs by the recruits, who were under the necessity of scouring their own linen on the island. Many and various were the conjectures as to the missing utensils, until some one suggested the probability of their having been used to ferry over the two recruits who were reported absent that morning. This surmise was soon after confirmed by one of the permanent company who had been in New York on the previous night, and who stated, that he had seen two small strange-looking craft, answering to our description of the missing tubs, paddling, in the gray twilight of the morning, alongside one of the wharfs in New York, where there is little doubt that their adventurous navigators effected a safe landing. A rather ludicrous circumstance happened to a captain of a schooner who picked up one of these deserters in the bay. The deserter had left Governor's Island on a plank, and having miscalculated the run of the tide, he was rapidly CATCHING A TARTAR. 27 drifting out to sea, when he was seen and picked up by the schooner. It would seem, however, that the poor fellow had only escaped one danger to run into another, for the captain, on questioning him, and finding that he was a deserter, not being of those who think that a good action is its own reward, resolved upon obtaining the more tangible one of thirty dollars, the sum paid for the apprehension of a deser ter, by delivering him up to the authorities as soon as they should arrive at New York. However, he concealed his design from his intended victim, to whom he appeared ex ceedingly kind and attentive, giving him a good stiff glass of grog, and some dry clothes, to wear until his own were dried. On arriving at the wharf he told him he had busi ness ashore, and recommended him to stay where he was until evening, as there was danger of his being apprehended should he go on shore in daylight. At all events he was not to think of going till he should return. So saying, and locking the cabin door upon the deserter, he went off to Go vernor's Island to procure a party of soldiers for his appre hension. Meanwhile the deserter was not idle or asleep, and having " smelt a rat" from the captain's manner, especially from the circumstance of his having locked the cabin door, he resolved upon turning the tables upon him. The result of this reso lution was, that on the return of the captain with a party of soldiers, he found that not only had he lost his trouble, but that during his absence his chest had been broken open, and a considerable sum of money, together with a valuable silver lever watch, had been abstracted by the miserable- looking wretch on whom he had calculated for turning in thirty dollars. The captain, who looked extremely foolish, had evidently caught a Tartar instead of a deserter, being minus sixty, instead of plus thirty dollars, and in place of 28 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. receiving sympathy was laughed at by all who heard the story. What added flavour to the jest among the recruits, was the curious, half-witted, and simple looks of the deserter, who was generally considered deficient in intellect, but who clearly proved himself more rogue than fool upon this occa sion. In order to check the frequency of desertion, great efforts were made to apprehend some of the soldiers in the act of escaping from the island, for the purpose of inflicting a pun ishment that might deter others from following their ex ample. At length, having succeeded in apprehending two who were trying to cross in a small boat to Brooklyn, the commanding officer immediately caused a court-martial to be summoned for their trial ; and after the lapse of a few days, during which the proceedings of the court were sent to the commander-in-chief for his approval, the prisoners were brought out on parade to receive sentence and punishment. Both of them having been proved guilty of the crime of desertion, were sentenced to "undergo the infliction of a corporal punishment of fifty lashes on the bare back with a raw cowhide, and further to have their heads shaved, and be drummed out of the service with ignominy." They were young and good-looking men, one of them a native of the States, the other a German, and both received their punishment, which was inhumanly severe, with admira ble fortitude. A number of the recruits were compelled to fall out of the ranks and go to the rear, owing to a sensation of faintness caused by witnessing this exhibition of modern torture. This is a common occurrence with young men, both officers and soldiers, many of whom seem to suffer nearly as much as the recipient, at witnessing these barba rous punishments for the first time. Fifty lashes is the full extent of corporal punishment that can be inflicted in tin EXEMPLARY PUNISHMENT. 29 American army, and that only for the crime of desertion ; but as far as physical suffering is concerned, or the damage done to the constitution by that inhuman mode of punish ment, fifty lashes with a cowhide are fully equivalent tp three hundred with a cat, such as is used in the British army. After being flogged, the prisoners were marched back to the guardhouse, where they had their heads shaved bare, in pursuance of their sentence. Next morning they were brought out to the parade-ground under the charge of a file of the guard, and marched from thence round the garrison, a fifer and drummer playing a tune specially used on these occasions called the " Rogues' March," being the same tune used in the British service on a like occasion. They were then marched down to the wharf, and sent over in the garrison boat to New York. A subscription was secretly got up, and several dollars collected for them among the recruits, by whom their condition was generally commiserat ed, though some of them did not hesitate to say that they considered them lucky fellows, and had better be flogged and drummed out, than shot up in Texas or Mexico. CHAPTER IE. Embarkation afc the Battery Yankee opinion of Soldiers Fort Adams New Comrades Defects of Organization Routine of Duties Life in Quarters. ABOUT the latter end of the month of August a draft of forty recruits were ordered to Fort Adams, Rhode Island, to complete two companies of artillery stationed there. I had the good fortune to be included in the number selected for this draft, and was happy at any prospect which promised a relief from the disagreeable confinement of Governor's Island. About five o'clock on the evening of the thirty-first August we got on board a sloop belonging to the garrison, which landed us at the Custom-house wharf near the battery. There we were met by a crowd of idlers, who gathered round us, curious to have a look at the soldiers who they imagined were ordered to Texas to fight the Mexicans ; the most trivial movement of troops being magnified into an event by the rumour of the approaching war with Mexico. We marched round the Battery to the wharf on the North River, where we went on board a steamboat, and shortly after started amidst the cheers of a crowd of urchins, several of these pre cocious juveniles, apparently not more than ten years of age, shouting with intensity of glee at the idea of the fun, " O won't they give the Mexicans hell ?" But, " as the old cock crows, the young one learns," as the old proverb has it. For some time after starting, we amused ourselves by ad miring the delightful villas and beautiful scenery of both the INTERCHANGE OF CIVILITIES. 31 Manhattan and Long Island side of the channel, which glowed in the rich mellow colouring of the autumnal sun set like the realms of a fairy land. But evening soon closed over us, and as we were at our destination early next morn ing, we had little opportunity of seeing much of the scenery on our voyage, however much we might have been disposed to admire it. Our men were directed by the officer in com mand of our party to keep together in the fore part of the boat during the night, and to sleep on the deck in the best manner we could. As the night air at that season of the year was beginning to feel rather cold, we grumbled a little at this arrangement, but there was no help for it The boat was full of passengers, a few of whom occasionally entered familiarly into conversation with the soldiers, and showed their good breeding by various acts of civility and kindness. But we could scarcely help remarking that the majority of them seemed to look upon us in the light of a degraded caste, and seemed to think that there was contamination in the touch of a soldier ; for it is a singular fact that though Jonathan is so vain of his military prowess, and a little too apt to boast of the wonderful exploits of those armies of his that can whip all creation so easily, it is only in the collec tive term, or as an abstract idea ; he is exceedingly shy of the individuals who compose it. In reply to some casual obser vation made by a fellow passenger upon our appearance on board, I chanced to overhear an old fellow of most vinegar- looking aspect drily remark, " Ay, ay ! they are a fine set of candidates for the States prison." I was standing partly concealed by some boxes that stood upon deck, and to do the old fellow justice, I believe he did not intend that his remark should reach a soldier's ears : however, I could not resist the impulse of the moment which prompted me to repeat for his edification Sir John's reply to Prince Hal, when criticising 32 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. his soldiers rather too curiously, " Tut, tut, good enough cc toss, food for powder, food for powder ; they'll fill a pit as well as better : tush, man, mortal men, mortal men." My quotation, while it rather took the old fellow by surprise, and raised a smile among a few of the surrounding passengers, had the more substantial effect of being the means of pro curing me a good bed that night ; a luxury which I believe I was the only one of the party who enjoyed. A young gen tleman overhearing the conversation, in whom I afterwards discovered an enthusiastic admirer of the " Mighty Poet," in vited me to take a glass of brandy. We afterwards engaged in a conversation, which being enlivened and promoted by an occasional tribute to Bacchus and a fresh supply of cigars, lasted until pretty late in the night. Upon getting up to go to bed, and learning that I was to sleep on deck, he said, that must be a mistake, but he would rectify it : and going to the steward, he immediately returned with a ticket for a berth> which he gave me, nor would he hear of thanks for his kind ness ; insisting that it cost him nothing, and that the circum stance of the soldiers sleeping on deck must have originated in a mistake. I hardly knew what to think of it at the time, but afterwards upon reflection I felt convinced that he had paid the steward for the accommodation, which he wished to offer me in this delicate manner. Bidding him a friendly good night, I availed myself of rny ticket by going down below, where I found a good bed, and slept comfortably untii roused by beat of drum next morning. On getting upon deck I found we were near our destination, being opposite Fort Adams, which is about a mile from the town of New port, where we landed, but as the road from Newport to the Fort skirts a deep bay, we found the distance by land about three miles. We had now reached the head-quarters of our regiment, ARRIVAL AT HEAD-QUARTERS. 33 and having taken off our knapsacks, rested a little, cleaned ourselves, and taken breakfast, we were marched to the hos pital to undergo a final medical inspection. Stripping off all our clothes at the door of a large apartment, each of us entered in succession, one going in as the other came out. I could scarcely help smiling when in marching into the room in puris naturalibus, the surgeon thus addressed me, "So, an old British soldier, I suppose?" which taking for granted, without waiting for any answer, he continued, " Have you been much in hospital while in the British service ?" I told him I had enjoyed very good health while serving there. He then asked me how long I had served, where stationed, and in what regiment, and, after making me walk about a little and extend my arms, dismissed me. I admired his acuteness in thus, telling at a glance that I had served in the British army, for as our names were not called as we entered, he could not have ascertained the fact except from observation. The result of the examination was, that we were all without exception declared fit for service ; indeed it rarely happens that recruits are rejected on joining their regiments, as they are minutely examined by the surgeon at the recruiting station where they enlist. We were now to be told off to our respective companies, an important event to the soldier, as each company forms a separate and distinct family, from which during his five years' period of service he is seldom transferred. It is true these companies are all subject to the same general regu lations, but their whole internal economy, discipline, and the general comfort of the men are altogether dependent on the methods adopted, and the interest manifested in its arrange ments by the officer intrusted with its command. Company K, commanded by Captain Taylor, and company I, com manded by Lieutenant Capron, were the two companies 2* 34 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. stationed at Fort Adams at that time. We were to be distributed between these two, and the simple method ol taking a man alternately from the top to the bottom of the roll having been decided on as the most fair and impartial, I found myself at the end of the proceedings, along with nine teen more of my comrades, told off to company I. We were now shown to our quarters, large, arched, bomb proof rooms. They were tolerably comfortable, with the exception of the wooden bedsteads, and the exceedingly disagreeable custom, still universal in the United States service, of sleeping two in a bed a custom which has been abolished in every barrack in Great Britain, and the Colo nies, to the infinite comfort of the soldier, for the last twenty years. -The orderly, or chief sergeant of the company, a rank which corresponds with that of colour sergeant in the British service, told us off in twos, and appointed the beds we were to occupy ; affixing a label with the names of the occupants upon each. I happened luckily to get a very good comrade, the usual term for a bed-fellow in the army. He was an Englishman, named Bill Nutt, a regular cockney ; who had been brought up in London to the trade of a carver and gilder, by his father, once a respectable master-trades man in that business there. He had run away from home when a boy, and served a, three years' cruise in a British man-of-war, where he had "seen a little sarvice," having been, to use his own language, "in a bit of a shindy with the Dutch boors at the Cape of Good Hope." He was a witty, pleasant young fellow, and a general favourite with the men for his cheerful temper, and good nature. Still, a real specimen of the John Bull family, he was keenly sensitive to any ill-natured reflections thrown upon his country, or her institutions. He also felt grievously annoyed at the insolent and impertinent tone assumed by native Americans to all A MISCELLANEOUS COMPANY. 35 foreigners ; indeed I learnt that he had left several work shops in New York from quarrels arising out of this circum stance. Company I to which I now belonged, though nominally artillery, had precisely the same duties to perform as in fantry; being armed with muskets, and in every respect equipped and drilled in the same manner, with the exception of an occasional drill at the battery guns of the Fort. The company, after having received our draft of twenty recruits, consisted of sixty men, including non-com missioned officers and privates ; of these, two were English; four Scotch, seven Germans, sixteen Americans, and the remainder Irish. Such was its composition at the time I entered, but in the American service a company soon under goes a change in its component parts. During the five years which I served, from the combined causes of deaths, desertions, and discharges, more than two-hundred-and-fifty had joined it ; although its strength never exceeded one- hundred-and-twelve, to which it was augmented while in the city of Mexico, being then a light battery. The infantry companies were also augmented to about eighty privates each, during the war with Mexico. The short period of service in the American army has obvious disadvantages. The men, from being so frequently changed, never seem to acquire that feeling of brotherly re gard for one another, or any of that kindly forbearance, and good will, which a long acquaintance naturally produces; and which helps so materially to form and promote the esprit du corps, which is found to animate more or less, according to the good or bad qualities of the officer com manding, every regiment, troop, or company in the British service, as regards the mutual relation in which officers and soldiers ought to stand to each other. It has also 86 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. the following prejudicial effect the American officer, from want of a habit of strict attention to the management of hia company, partly caused by the transitory interest he must feel in a perpetual current of strangers, becomes careless of either learning the characters, or caring for the interests of his men. Thus, frequently the seeds of distrust and ill-will are sown between the two classes ; a serious evil in the service, which sometimes produces a bitter result. A signal instance of this occurred at Churubusco in our Mexican campaign, of which I shall have to speak hereafter. We were now in better circumstances than we had been while on Governor's Island ; we had comfortable quarters in place of tents, and our diet was considerably improved by the produce of a garden, which belonged to the garrison; it being on ground belonging to the government, and planted and cultivated by the soldiers. The potatoes, cabbages, and onions, raised by their labour, formed a welcome addition to the rather indifferent fare furnished to the soldier by govern ment. The cheapness of dairy produce, too, at Rhode Island, where butter was sold at ten cents, or five pence a pound, and cheese at one half of that price, enabled us to improve our diet at a trifling expense. In addition to this abundance, fish of excellent quality were plentiful in the bay close at hand, where we could easily at any time catch a few trout, rock fish, flounders, lobsters, eels, crabs, and a variety of others, of a richness and flavour which might tempt the palate of an epicure, and whose names I have forgotten at present, but a grateful recollection of whose merits remains in the catalogue of the good things of that period. In the intervals between the hours of drill we amused ourselves by fishing in the bay, by sea bathing, or by rambling about the country in the vicinity of the garrison. Sometimes we went over to the town of Newport, a distance of about three miles THE RECRUIT AND THE SOLDIER. 37 by the highway, but which a short cut through the fields reduced to two. To go more than a mile from the garrison without a written permission signed by an officer, is for bidden by a regulation of the service, a soldier being liable to severe punishment for its infringement ; but this rule is not often rigorously enforced, and officers seldom restrict their men to any particular distance from the garrison, unless circumstances require it, as long as they are regular in their attendance on their duties, roll-calls, and parades. Recruits are treated with a certain degree of indulgence for some time after joining the regiment, or company, to which they belong. They are usually excused from the per formance of all duty while learning their drill, a period of about two or three months. When the adjutant of the regiment, who is responsible for its discipline, considers the recruit sufficiently drilled, he dismisses him from drill, and sends him to duty, as it is termed ; he has then to take every duty in rotation. As soon as he mounts his first guard, he drops his title of recruit, which is thenceforth merged in that of soldier ; and proud of his newly acquired distinction, he speedily adopts the manners, customs, vices, and virtues of his model, to be like whom has been for some time the high est object of his ambition. But if the recruit has gained in his own estimation by advancing to a level with the old soldier, he soon finds that the duties imposed upon him by his new position are a considerable drawback upon his newly attained dignity. In the first place he has to mount guard once every fourth day on an average ; this duty commences at nine or ten o'clock in the morning, and terminates at the same hour next morning. A soldier remains on guard for twenty-four hours in all ordinary cases, during which he is not permitted to put off his clothes or accoutrements, or to quit his guard, even for an instant, without permission from 38 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. the officers in charge of it. There are three sentries to each post, who are relieved every two hours in succession ; thus each man is two hours on post and four hours off, giving each eight hours sentry during his twenty-four hours on guard. When off post, he is permitted to stretch himself upon a sloped wooden bench, with a wooden pillow, called the guard- bed, where he may sleep if he chooses, being at liberty to se lect the softest boards he can find for that purpose, but strictly prohibited from taking oft* any of his accoutrements. When relieved from guard he cleans his musket and appointments, which, with an hour or two of drill, occupies his time until evening. The next duty to be performed is that of " general police," all who came off guard on the day previous being appointed for that work. The principal duties of the general police are to clean the parade ground and the purlieus of the garrison, and to cut wood and carry water for the use of the officers and soldiers. They are under the superintendence of the orderly officer, a duty which is taken in rotation by all, except the commanding officer of the post. The orderly officer has also the supervision of the barrack guard, and the duties of the garrison generally ; all reports are made to him, and, in the event of any extraordinary occurrence, through him to the commanding officer ; in short, the duty corres ponds to that of officer of the day in the English army. A very objectionable part of the duties required from the general police, and the source of a good deal of discontent, is a practice which exists of causing them to do a considera ble portion of work for officers, which ought to be done by their own domestic servants. The men consider it quite reasonable that they should clean the garrison, and perform the necessary duties of cutting their own wood, and bringing water for their own use ; but they very naturally grumble at BREACH OF DISCIPLINE. 39 doing the same for their officers, who they know are furnish ed by government, in addition to their pay, with a liberal allowance of money and rations, for the express purpose of providing themselves with servants from civil life. This custom of making the soldiers do the domestic drudgery of the officers' household, thus converting the soldier into a degraded menial, a Gibeonite hewer of wood and drawer of water, is universal throughout the American army, although at direct variance with the rules of the service. It has a most deteriorating effect upon the character of the soldier, whom it renders disaffected to his officers and the service, careless in his habits, and slovenly in his appearance. It is chiefly owing to this bad practice, I have no doubt, that the American soldier is so much inferior in smartness of appear ance, and in the neatness of his uniform and appointments, to the English soldier, who is accustomed to see the rules of the service as stringently binding upon the officers as they are upon the men. What serves to render this breach of discipline more glaringly inexcusable, on the part of the American officers, is that the Commander-in-Chief, General Scott, aware of the existence of the practice, and the bad effects which it produces, has, time after time, issued circu lars, calling the attention of officers to the existing regulations on this subject. These circulars, as directed, are frequently read on parade : and the perfect indifference with which the system is carried on, in open defiance of the prohibition, shows the complete degree of impunity with which an officer of the United States army may disregard the orders of a superior, however high his rank, when they happen to be disagreeable to himself. These duties of mounting guard, and general police, aro the principal part of the American soldier's duty when in quarters ; in addition to these he is occasionally on company 40 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. police, which consists in keeping the barrack rooms *and pa sages clean, and doing any work that the Captain or Orderly Sergeant may require in connection with company affairs. There is also the daily cleaning of his arms and appointments, a thing which a good soldier seldom neglects, and which generally occupies an hour or two 5 and the usual drills and parades, which generally occupy two or three hours each day ; the remainder of his time is pretty much at his own disposal. While we remained at Fort Adams, we had a great num ber of visitors from the town of Newport, which is a fashion able resort in summer for sea bathing, and parties of ladies and gentlemen came over from it daily to look at the fort. Some of the old hands made a dollar now and then by acting as cicerone to one of these parties ; but the practice, upon what principle I must say I could not clearly perceive, was generally considered low and disreputable. The fortifications at Fort Adams are on a scale of great magnitude, and must have cost a great deal of money. They had been a number of years in progress of erection, and were not quite finished when we left. The fort commands the entrance to the Sound, and is a very strong and complete defence, having a series of subterranean passages connected with its interior defence, parts of which can be suddenly filled with water in a manner highly ingenious. There are also bombproof vaults, capable of accommodating a sufficient force for the garrison of the place, which has an immense number of very heavy guns on its various batteries. While we lay at Fort Adams, we had church service per formed in one of the barrack rooms every Thursday evening, by a Methodist preacher from town. This was in consequence of the distance being too great to march the men to church in town upon Sunday. The attendance not being compul- ORDERS TO MOVE. 41 sory, very few of the men went, but our officers, with their wives and children, attended regularly, with as many of the men as they could persuade, a thing which they sometimes tried with but indifferent success. I recollect hearing a Lieu tenant ask one of the men, whom he met in the square as he was going over to church service, if he would not come over and hear a sermon. " Heaven forbid, sir," was the reply of honest Dennis O'Tool, a Munster man, and a staunch Catho lic. " Eh ! what's that you say, Dennis ?" said the Lieutenant, in a bantering tone. " Sure, Lieutenant, the Blessed Virgin knows I'm bad enough already, without sinning my soul any more by going to hear a swaddling preacher mocking the holy religion," was the reply of Dennis ; at which the Lieu tenant's wife lifted up her eyes in pious horror, while the Lieutenant himself went away laughing heartily. The regiment I had joined had been expecting a change of station for some time, and about a fortnight after the arrival of our draft, the order came for us to be in readiness to proceed to Florida. Most of the old hands were sorry to leave good quarters and a healthy situation like Fort Adams ; many of them had formed acquaintances and connections in the town of Newport also, which made them still more sorry at leaving. The recruits, however, seemed rather pleased at the idea of change, and the bustling interest and excitement of a sea voyage and change of scene had its charms for some. For my own part I believe I felt rather indifferent on tb