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I OF i American Officers Who Vho Served elved on OR Mexican Frontier I BRAVE BEATE MEN LEN AND ND TRUE I GRANT WAS AMO rG THE FIRST OF THEM TEEM 4 Such Heroes as Taylor Diaz Jez Sheridan e Bragg Br gg Wallace Wall ce and nd I Lawton All Played Pla ed Praiseworthy worthy I Parts Pait in th Wais Down Do Along ong the i TUo Grande I I II It t I ome Ti e lower Rio Grande has hIts during th us wars that vexed its history b been bom n visited by the soldiers of many armies ar ies and by men who being there thereas as subalterns have since risen to world worldwide worldwide wide feme says the City of Mexico Herald Here have served d the soldiers of old ohl Spain of pf the Mexican republic of the American Union of the confederacy confederacy the empire of France Grant Taylor Diaz Manuel Gonzales and Davis rose to the highest positions 1 in irs the gift of their fellow cit citizens citizens citizens while Sheridan Bragg Escobedo Berriozabal Lew Wallace Otis Law Lawton Lawton Lawton ton and many others have written their names namee on the imperishable pages of the history of their respective coun countries countries countries tries There were many gallant young officers then unknown to fame who served under old Rough and Ready in the campaign from Point Isabel Is l to Buena Vista Grant who was to rise to be celebrated aa as one of the greatest g captains the world has seen seon and who also aleo was ruler of his country and who received ed his hia baptism of fire in the as an assault ass sault s on the ciudadela at Monterey Lee Bragg Hardie Hardle May Worth Da Davis DaI Davis I vis is Johnson Twigg etc while wJ le op opposed opI opposed I posed to them theIR were such sueh men as Arista Ampudia De Do La L Vega Vaga V and Santa Ana i himself more than one of whom rote rose roseto to the supreme power JOwer Of this galaxy of great men I have personally met and that only casually as a journalist but three thre Diaz Gran Gras and Devi Davi the latter when he was t of the Southern Life of Mem Memphis Memphis Memphis But of those these who came after I 1 recollect a good many Sheridan was wan down on the river toward tow rd the close ol 01 the confederate war and I believe ii it I was waa after alter a particularly muddy ride from San Antonio to Houston that ht he made his famous unfavorable compari comparison I son between the Lone Star state and an anI the realms re of othis his satanic majesty Me lle Meus I us who died with Maxmilian at Quero QUeri taro tare was waa a full blooded Indian and a aI aa I thorough soldier of the old school of I a o Bernard P Bee about the only confederate of note who held com corn command command mand mend on the river was waa the type of the old Texas planter but of not much weight as a sol and I do not recollect recollect lect bet any Frenchman n n who afterward ros to be of any an note aa as having ha served or om cm the frontier Of Mexican libera there were a host Manuel Gonzales president from front 1880 to 1884 1834 was born near Matamoros as was Pedro Hinojosa and besides elsewhere el where mentioned menU ned Tre Trevino Trevisa visa vino Negrete Naranjo Sostones Ro Ho Rocha Rocha Hocha cha and many mana others of less lees note de defended defended defended fended Mexico in hi the darkest darke t hours of her history ariM the dense chaparral along aloi the Rio Bravo The Th post of Fort Brown as it now exists was waa built under the orders I 1 think of Brigadier General Alexander McD MeD McCook He lie was waa one of at the I family of fighting M Cooks and was universally P The place as he heI made it for a fc R t aHon tion infantry r and I two troops of ot o cavalry and the same seme number nU of batteries of f rJ the buildings all an of brick is one of the most commodious in the republic Of course I recollect best beet those om officers omers ers cers who have h ve been in Texas and along the frontier since sin e the confederate war and the imperial times The first of the commanded of the department of Texas whom I knew kiew k w well was Brigadier General Christopher Chri opher Columbus Augur who died in January 1898 in Wash Washington Washington ington U He wa a soldier of the th old school a most polished gentleman de devent devout vent vout Episcopalian Ull and of so society clety Under hl h I regime San Antonio became quite a social center and all kinds of diversions were the order of the day of which the Augurs were the center and prime movers and it was wasI I quite the proper pro r caper for officers and civilians c who had not formed any pre pro preVious religious r affiliations s to join the I Episcopal fold fol Augurs successor was much more of a soldier and cared but little for the pleasures of society General Ord the father of Mrs Irs Geron Geronimo GeronImo Geronimo imo Trevino He was very plain in his way I recollect seeing him once go going ing in a government a from Fort Cark Carlt to Eagle Pass PRES He was dressed in m a common soldiers blouse pants and cap seated on the front seat talking with the Irish driver while his I alde Lieutenant Ord known among the boys bos as pouter in a gor gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous canary lined cavalry cloak sprawled over the back bank seat in regal I Pouter was war wa inclined to embonpoint and used to have his blouses made very tight about the waist where he h buttoned them and left the upper part open and puffed out which gave him the resemblance nce to a pouter pigeon nance his nickname Ge l Sykes gallant corps com corn 1 of the of the Potomac who not being in fm accord with the pow powers power ers er that t at were wert was ll left a simple colonel of or the Twentieth infantry after the I I war Wt was in command of Fort Brown Bron BronI I during the and died there He was wasI wasa I I a great greet martinet t though a thorough i soldier and nd most no t desperate fighter i I Sykes successor in command of the Twentieth and Fort Brown was Gen General oral eral Elwell S Otis now supreme in the Philippines Otis was vas well veli liked but butras was ras very earnest earnt earD in all he did and ant at times to keen l u the mesa mere moving At that time the tho Rio Grande threatened the garrison front and to undermine and sweep Sweep away aWIl tho the administration building Otis OUs was tireless and fought the tUe Insidious waters day and night sight with bush brush ush pick and shovel and saved the garrison from irreparable damage But all the same the enlisted men who formed the fa fatigue fatigue a tigue parties did not enjoy being routed out at all hours to work ork in the mud and water at the river front The moat most popular officer among his men mel that I have ever ver met wah Major lI jor Jerry Russell Ru U now retired He was a native of Ireland and had worked up from the ranks having first entered the United States service as a private in the th mounted rifles in and had fought to a during the con confederate confederate confederate federate war Differing from most moat of the officers who have risen from the ranks he always sympathized with and favored the common soldier Strange to say y the commander most bitterly hated by b hi troopers was w s also a 8 cavalry captain serving at the same pot port po t and who is now a major on the active list 1151 He appeared a nice enough fellow but his Ils men had him dU Vinegar Jack and even those thore who had served under him and been long out of the army arm appeared to retain as vivid a hatred for him sa an those actually under u der his command General Shafter who got what little credit there was v sout out of the Santiago was for a a long time in the In ana at Fort Duncan near Eagle Pass Pas on tho Upper tipper river as lieu lieutenant tenant colonel of the infantry He had the reputation at that time tim among array army people peaple of being a 8 very good business man but not nt notwithstanding notwithstanding withstanding his avoirdupois to be rather a as a military man I once nce Rad hai t a he be pleasure vlen to see him Wm on n His enormous weight made mad a huge hige h ge steed necessary and nd the tho bulk of blue tunic to the animals motion mott n with his hia short legs reaching haU har way do j its sides U v made a queer picture indeed I have often wondered 1 since how on earth he ever got Into the saddle Of the other enormously stout om officers omi i cers cern I have met one was waa the late Colo Cob Colonel I nel Juan Trevino Canales who when in command of the Third auxiliary cavalry at Matamoras Matamoros many years ago I at a review on the plaza in front of the Casa Case Mata rolled in the dust horse h and rider his unfortunate steed being I unable to bear boor up his enormous I weight Another soldier of weight is Colonel Nieves Hernandez at present en In Isa 1876 he threw v his for fortunes fortun fortunes tunes tun with General Diaz and supported hire hint loyally from the firt first only beg begging begging ging permission to follow his hia leader in a buggy As he explained a a buggy could just jus as well go with the army anny on the march as a horse hor and in battle an infantry officer did not net need peed a horse anyhow unless it was to run away on onit onit onit it He was given permission to take his buggy and rendered very good service during the short campaign that followed Brigadier r General Samuel mUel S B Hola Holabird Holabird Holabird bird United States Stat army retired was when I 1 knew him an officer of ot enor enormous I moud avoirdupois In It the TOs when assistant quartermaster Quarter general of the I department of Texas Texan he sent scat his sword belt to the saddler at the San Antonio arsenal to be let out When finished I the man took it into the office and hung hui it on a nail on the waN wall where it was Aas discovered by some of the young officers who made so much fun of its gigantic proportions that Holabird re me repudiated it and asid left it hanging there Besides General G Ignacio Martinez who by the way tay ay was not a doctor I when he was acting as general nor a general whoa when practicing his profession the only military medical man who has become noted that I have known was Major George H Torney U S A who became prominent during the war with Spain in connection with equipping the hospital ships He wag was stationed at Fort Brown in the SOs and was I recollect a very good doc doe doctor doctor tor tar and very thorough in all he did |
