Army Training, ca. 1835

[Robert Braun]

With one or two exceptions, the officers of the Fourth United States Infantry were well liked by the men as well as by the citizens. But we had one officer, Capt. L-, of Company I, who was a petty tyrant.

Capt. L- was drilling his company one morning, and one man had been drinking a little too much, and it angered the captain, so he ordered him to stand in front of his quarters at a shoulder arms. The man stood there for a long time, until he got tired and brought his gun down to an order. The captain, seeing him, immediately ordered him to come to a shoulder. But the man said, "I cannot, captain; I am exhausted." The captain intimated he was the son of a female dog, and told him to bring his gun to his shoulder or he would run him through with his sword. The man did not obey quick enough to please the captain, and he made a thrust with his sword; but the man was too quick for him and stabbed the captain in the groin with his bayonet. Of course this was insubordination, and must be punished. The soldier knew this, and was determined to escape. A chase and struggle ensued, but the man was captured and bound; he soon was courtmartialed and sentenced to be shot. The day for execution arrived, and twelve men were detailed as the fireing party. The man was led out and placed upon his coffin and the fireing party ordered to fire. But they were in sympathy with the man, and fired over his head. Immediately afterward a horseman came riding at full speed, shouting that the man had been reprieved by the President. The man was discharged and ordered to leave; but the citizens were so indignant over the whole proceeding that they raised $500 and gave it to the man before he left.

This same Capt. L- was suddenly taken sick just before our first engagement with the Seminoles. A year afterwards, when we were in California, he used to order a detail of men to row him around in the waters of Puget Sound, and on one occasion there came up a sudden squal and overturned the boat, and the whole party was drowned, and that was the end of Capt. L-, of Company I.



James D. Elderkin. Biographical Sketches and Anecdotes of a Soldier of Three Wars, as Written by Himself. (Detroit: 1899), pp. 14-16.

[Greg Carter]

That quote paints a pretty poor picture of some of the choices of leadership in the regulars, eh?

GMC

[Larry Koschkee]

GMC,

Your are painting with a pretty wide brush there son!

Don't you think there were some poor leadership choices in the militia as well, eh?

Larry

[Greg Carter]

I wasn't comparing them to the militia. I am just remarking. I have read more than just this singular account of officers being tyrannical in their treatment of men, especially at the far-out posts where there was no way for the men to seek help for their problems with the officers. Something along the lines of a really cracked Swiss Family Robinson.

GMC

[Gene]

Reminds of some security supervisors I know.
Gene
*Inside joke

[Greg Carter]

No Comment! I will only say Fire in the Hole and leave it at that.

GMC

[Pete Shrake]

I agree with Gregg,
I cannot speak for the personality traits for the entire officer corps of the regular army, but at least on the frontier, especially in Wisconsin, there certainly were some nasty characters in command. David Twiggs is perhaps the worst. Tyranical seems to best fit his persona. Almost every account of Twiggs describes him as a touchy, rather pompus, man prone to irrational bits of anger when dealing with his own men and with other settlers who had buisness about the post. Talbot Chambers of Fort Crawford was another beauty.

It strikes me, however, that the milita was different.
Though there were most certainly militia officers who were unpleasant characters, it strikes me that in terms
of dealing with other whites they probably could not afford to be quite as dictatorial. The militia was as much a social and more importantly a political organization as it was a military one. Many politicians of the era including Andrew Jackson used thier positions in the militia to gain public office.

In such a situation, a officer had to be a leader of men, he had to have the ability to lead but I would suggest that if he was tyrannical and exhibited behavior like Twiggs did on a regualr basis, he would not remain an officer for very long.


Pete

[Greg Carter]

Well said, Pete.

GMC

[Greg Carter]

Commenting long overdue, I have to note here that the difference between militia and regular officers of the day was primarily in selection. In the regular army, officers were appointed when slots opened for them.

In the volunteers the officers were elected at almost all levels. This makes the election process a "popularity contest" more than anything else. As Pete said, being a tyrant in the militia did not keep you in command long, especially with re-enlistments occurring every 20-30 days!

Some officers did not do very well, as recounted by at least one scathing report located in one of Whitney's volumes. Undoubtedly many of these men were not re-elected in peacetime after showing their true colors in war time.

GMC

P.S.- 400th post! Wow.