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Show I SOME SIDELIGHTS ON THE MEXICAN WAR; i By A VETERAN. The fever-port of Vera Cruz had been captured four times before Uncle Sam seized it on April 21. Once it fell to Gen. Winfield Scott, once to the allied forces of France, England and Spain, and twice to the buccaneers of the Spanish Main. I know several men today who were present at the siege of 1S47. It is probable none of these veterans of the first Mexican struggle will see service this time, although I have just seen a letter from Brig. Gen. Horatio G. Gibson, U. S.' A., retired, eighty-seven years old, in which the venerable fighter offers his sword to the stars and stripes and refers to Major Gen. Leonard Wood as sponsor for his physical and mental ability. General Jibson served through the Mexican, Civil and several Indian wars. It was March 7, 1847, when the fleet bearing General Scott and his little army appeared off Mexico's principal seaport. The troops landed without much trouble after the city had been bombarded, but it took a sanguinary, siege of thirteen days to capture the defenses. Trenches were dug and regular reg-ular operations conducted. So our troops this time can commence com-mence their march toward the capital with much less of a handicap than General Scott's., While the troubles of the United States which culminated in the Civil war were brewing Mexico grew arrogant arro-gant to this country and to Europeans. The crowning insult was President Miramon's seizure of ?630,000 in specie from the British consulate. Great Britain, France. Spain and Prussia decided de-cided to move. Meantime the great Benito Juarez, the General Washington Washing-ton of Mexico, was conducting a revolt re-volt in the North. Ke overthrew Mira-nion, Mira-nion, but the foreign troops kept on their way. On December 14, 1861, Vera Cruz was seized by a Spanish force under General Prim. The result was the elevation of Maximilian to the throne and, after the European troops had been withdrawn, the unfortunate Austrian's execution. The pirates, with force equal to a respectable army, captured Vera Cruz in 1683. They burned, slew and robbed for many days before they weie driven to their ships. In 1712 the notorious buccaneer kings, Laurent Lau-rent and Van Horn, seized the port and held it ten days. They killed hundreds hun-dreds of Mexicans, carried away women wom-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 I will give you to Van Horn." Reparation for One Insult. I was much amused by the ill-informed ill-informed if well-meaning persons who cried out that Dictator Huerta had given sufficient reparation for the insult in-sult to the flag at Tampico by his meager and half-hearted apology. From the files of the navy department depart-ment I have dug up a report from Commander J. Blakely Creighton, U. S. N., commanding the Oneida, who witnessed Japan's atonement for an offense against our bluejackets. It reads: "Hiogo, Japan, March 14, 1868. Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the United States Navy, Washington, D. C. Sir: I have the honor to communicate com-municate the particulars of the execution execu-tion of the Japanese official Tati Zan-zutaro, Zan-zutaro, retainer of the Matsdaira Bi-zen, Bi-zen, No Kami, who ordered his troops to fire on the foreigners at this place on th9 fourth ultimo. "This execution was witnessed by me at the request of our minister, Gen. R. B. Van Valkenburgh, and was as follows: I left the legation at about 9:00 p. m. in company with the officers attached at-tached to the foreign legations and proceeded to Hiogo, where we were met by a guard, who escorted us to the temple where the execution, was to take place. "There was a large number of people on each wide of the street leading lead-ing to the temple, and quite a number num-ber of sodliers drawn up inside and about the temple. We were shown into a room adjoining the Japanese officials, where we were asked if we wished to question the person about to be executed, to which we answered in the negative. ' They also took the names of every official present. "After waiting about half an hour we were conducted by the Japanese officials into what appeared to be the principal room of the temple, which was lighted with candles, and in front of the altar was raised a platform plat-form of about a foot in height, which extended tcross the room and which was pla d on the right of the altar, within i few feet of where the execution execu-tion was to take place, with the Japanese Japan-ese officials on the left. "In front of the altar was a green cloth and in front of that a red one. We were informed that the execution would take place on the red cloth. Seating ourselves upon the mats on the platform, we awaited the execution. execu-tion. "In a few moments the prisoner came in, dressed in the usual Japanese dress of a person of rank, accompanied accompa-nied by the executioner, who was his pupil and most intimate friend. He walked with a steady, firm step in front of the altar, where he knelt In prayer. He then arose and went to the red cloth, where he knelt and made the confession that 'he was the officer that ordered his troops to fire upon the foreigners and also to fire upon them when they were trying to escape,' and that 'he was sorry for w-hat he had done.' "He then disrobed himself to his waist and reached out for a knife that was near him. which he thrust into his bowels and drawing it toward his right side, and leaning forward at the same time the executioner, with one blow from his sword, severed his head from his body. This occurred at about 10:30 p. m. "The Japanese then bowed to the floor, on which we all did the same. We were then asked fV we were satisfied satis-fied with what we had witnessed, when we replied in the affirmative. "After the lapse of a few moments we were informed that all was over, when we arose and took our departure. The whole scene was one of great solemnity sol-emnity and very impressive. "Very respectfully, "Your obedient servant, "J. BLAKELEY CREIGHTON, "Commander." What War Realty Means. Let us hope we will have peace again soon. The jingoes are not found among the veterans. War is worse than Sherman said it was. This description, de-scription, which I copy from the Independent, In-dependent, is all too true: No more thunder of artillery, no more blare of trumpets, no more beat of drums; only the low moan of pain and the rattle of death. In the trampled ground some redly-glimmering pools, lakes of blood; all the crops destroyed, only here and there a piece of land left untouched, and still covered cov-ered with stubble; the smiling viV,ages of yesterday turned into ruins and rubbish. The trees burned and hacked in the forests, the hedges torn with grapeshot. And on this battle-ground thousands and thousands of men dead and dving lying without aid. No iblossoms of flowers are to be seen on wayside or meadow; but sabers, bayonets, bayo-nets, knapsacks, cloaks, overturned ammunition w:agons, powder wagons blown into the air, cannon with broken carriages. Near the cannon, whose muzzles are black with smoke, the ground is bloodiest. There the greatest great-est number and the most mangled" of dead and half-dead men are lying literally lit-erally torn to pieces with shot; and the dead hoi-ses and the half-dead which raise themselves on their feet such as they have left them to sink again; then raise themselves up once more and fall down again, till they only raise their heads to shriek out their pain-laden death-cries. There is a hollow way quite filled with corpses trodden into the mire. The poor creatures crea-tures had taken refuge there, no doubt to get cover, but a battery had driven over them, and they have been crushed by the horses', hoofs and the wheels. Many of them are still alive a pulpy, bleeding mass, but "still alive." It is impossible to depict it accurately. accu-rately. Flies were feeding on their open wounds, which were covered with them; their gaze, flaming with fever, wandered about asking and seeking for 'some help for refreshment, for water and bread! Coat, shirt, flesh and blood formed in the case of most of them one repulsive mass. Worms were beginning to generate in this mass and to feed on them. A horrible odor filled every place. All these soldiers sol-diers were lying on the bare ground; only a few had got a little straw on' which they could repose their miserable miser-able bodies. Some who had nothing under them but clayey, swampy ground had half-sunk into the mud it formed they had not the strength to get out of it. In Masloved, a place of about fifty houses, there were lying, eight days after the battle, about 700 wounded. It was not so much their shrieks of agony as their abandonment without any consolation which appealed to heaven. In one single barn alone sixty of these poor wretches were crowded. Every one of their wounds had originally origi-nally been severe, but they had become be-come hopeless in corscq-jonco of the ir unassisted condition, and their want of nursing and feeding; almost f-ll were gangrenous. Lin-'-. eri:;;l by shot formed now mcr hrr.-'V putrefying pu-trefying flesh, faces a mere mats nt coagulated blood, covered with in which the mouth wa rpprpepntd by a shapeless black opening, from which frightful groans kept welling out. The progress of the putrefaction separated whole mortified pieces from these pitiable bodies. The living were lying close to dead bodies which had begun to fall Into putrefaction, and 'or which the worms were getting ready. |
