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THE POST, , FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 2 28, 1941
rime Pmt ot eee bene
Valley Soldiers Fight at Vera Cruz
From the History of 109th Field Artillery
(Continued from last week)
1847
“Upon arriving at New Orleans
the regiment was ordered into camp
upon the old battle ground six miles
below the city. * * * It was about
the middle of January when the
Artillerists, with three other com-
panies, embarked on board the
“Russell Glover,” a crazy old hulk
of about fifteen hundred tons burth-
en which was towed to the south-
west pass of the Mississippi, and
there left to the mercy of the winds
and waves. * * ’ It is needless to
recount the incidents and petty an-
noyances of the voyage; but after
being at sea for twenty days, with
no possible means of providing for
ordinary cleanliness, the stench be-
tween decks became intolerable, al-
most.”
“The men having exhausted every
means of amusement, became ex-
tremely restive and impatient at
the great length of the voyage,
which they very justly considered
uselessly prolonged; and one Satur-
day afternoon they assembled upon
the upperdeck and organized a
meeting. Phil Ritsell, a rollicking
printer from Philadelphia, was called
upon to state its objects. He ac-
cordingly mounted the cook’s gal-
ley and proceeded to address the as-
semblage, Just such a speech was
probably never heard before or
,since. It was overflowing with witty
quaint sayings, delivered in the
Pennsylvania English-Dutch vernac-
ular, which fell as glibly from Rus-
sell’s lips as though it was his na-
tive mother-tongue and probably it
was. Among many other good
things, he said that the captain of
the ship was sailing around trying
to find a whale, which he wanted
to show Colonel Wynkoop, and that
when he (Capt. Tripe) came up to
Pottsville the Colonel was going to
show him the coal mines. A series
of ludicrous resolutions were then
passed one of which declared that
as the morrow was Sunday no action
would be taken on that day, but if
they did not come to land by sun-
down on Monday then every man
would come from below and cut his
name on deck, as a testimony of
their appreciation of Capt. Tripe's
skill as a navigator. Of course this
was all bosh and only resorted to
as a means of amusement, but some
of the officers, knowing little of the
temper of the men with whom they
had to deal, were thoroughly alarm-
ed. That evening they were paraded
by companies and regaled with the
articles of war, read in a stentorian
voice and with an unction that was
intended to be particularly impres-
sive.”
“Whether the meeting and resolu-
tions had corrected Capt. Tripe’s
reckoning and aided him in observa-
tions, or whether the ship had been
on its course all the time, and the
voyage was lengthened out by acci-
dent rather than design, it would
be difficult to say at this day. It is
certain, however, that the island
hove in sight on Monday afternoon.”
A general landing ®n Lobos Is-
land “was impracticable the evening
of the arrival; but there were scores
of men on board the vessel who
were desperately sick—who had
had been stricken by the pestilen-
tial atmosphere between decks and
were as utterly helpless as infants.
To them even this desert island was
a haven—an oasis where health was
to be regained or least freedom to
breathe the free air, untainted by
the foul atmosphere which surround-
ed them on shipboard. These men,
the surgeon, who was a humane
gentleman, determined to land at
once. The writer was one of this
number, and it was a glad moment
when his feet touched the beach,”
The island, a mile in circumfer-
ence and of coral formation was
covered with tropical growth, and
inhabited by ‘‘myriads of lizards and
crabs, scorpions, centipedes and
tarantulas * * * Water was secur-
ed by sinking barrels inland in the
yielding sand. Of course it was only
sea water filtered and partially puri-
fied. It was brackish and execrable,
The heat was intense; and with fat
pork and unbaked flour as the
principle ration, it is remarkable
that the men preserved the sem-
blance of health. Sea bathing, how-
ever, was a frequent and daily pas-
time. * * * There was music, long
strolls along the beach in search of
shells * * * songs, practical jokes.
Then too there were daily sompany
drills. * * * Altogether, life on Lo-
bos was rather pleasant than oth-
erwigse, * * *
“Thus the sultry days of Senruary.
wore away. Ships were continually
arriving and disembarking other
regiments. No official notice of des-
tination had as yet been given, but
it was well understood that a land-
ing was to be made at Vera Cruz,
and that terrible castle of San Juan
d’Ulua, about which so much had
been written, was a great bugbear.”
On March 2d we embarked again,
and the old ship was nearly wrecked
on the coast. “I will not attempt to
describe the scene, It was awfully
sublime. Captain Dana was in rap-
tures, and seated upon a coil of rope,
he rapidly sketched the rocky
promontory, with the angry waves
between, and the sun looking like a
great ball of fire, about to sink be-
neath the western horizon.”
We landed on March 8th three
miles south of Vera Cruz. “It was
a moment of supreme suspense to
1
those on shipboard, and they could
feel their hearts beat with the in-
tensity of suppressed emotions as
they watched with eager eyes each
sweep of the oars, each foot of prog-
ress made by the surf boats, as they
rapidly neared the beach. At length
they ground. The men leap into the
water, waist deep, and rush to the
shore. Lines are formed as though
by magic. For a very brief space
there was a halt. Suddenly a regi-
ment breaks from the line, and with
a dash and a wild hurrah, which is
taken by the entire division, and
echoed by ten thousand throats on
shipboard, rushes for the neighbor-
ing heights. It is followed by other
regiments, and. now the struggle is,
to be first in planting regimental
colors upon the eminence. The ves-
sels are crowded, from top to taff-
rail with eager, excited spectators.
But the nervous strain is over. Not
a shot has been fired * * *.”
“ * * %k it was quite dusk when
we found ourselves in line on Mex-
ican soil.”
“At peep of dawn the following
day the * * * work of forming a
semi-circle around the doomed city,
a belt of fire, as it were, was com-
menced, * * * Qur position was the
city. That morning we sniffed gun-
powder in real downright earnest ;
and the men behaved well.”
“The siege lasted just twenty days,
from the landing until the surrender
although the time seemed much
longer. While a party of foragers
including some of our company were
collecting beef they were attacked
by Mexican troops and had to be
rescued by a force under General
Patterson. This was the battle or
rather skirmish of Madelin. On the
28th of March the city of Vera Cruz
surrendered, their army marched out
of the city between two parallel lines
of ours, grounded their arms and
took up the line of the march for
the interior. Our bands played Hail
Columbia, the Star Spangled Banner
and Yankee Doodle while the field
batteries and the guns in the castle
and forts saluted and our troops
took possession of the city.”
“One man, however, showed the
white feather, unmistakably. He
dropped his gun, lost his cap, and
ran as though for dear life. Sam
Marks, one of the Lewistown boys,
who never knew what fear was,
picked up the abandoned implement
of war and headpiece. When he met
the frightened soldier, considering
the occasion worthy of a little for-
mality, he said: ‘Daniel, here is your
gun and cap. If you had mentioned
that you were going to leave us so
suddenly I would have taken charge
of them for you. As it happened I
have brought them along, thinking
you might possibly need them some
time.” The joke was that this man
whose name is not given for appar-|
ent reasons, was an arrogant brag-|
gart and bully. He had boasted;
what terrible things he was going’
to do with Santa Anna and his|
army and overawed the modest men
of the company with his blatant
talk, With a single incident we will
dismiss him from further considera-
tion. He ‘played sick’ and shirked
the battle of Cerro Gordo. When ac-
cused of cowardice by some men
who did not fear him as a bully, he
straightened himself, and with a
peculiar wag of the head and the
immense effontry af which he was
capable, said: ‘Well, fellows, I know
I am a coward; but just wait until
we are going home, and I will tell
the biggest story of any of you’; and
he kept his word.”
“After a few days’ rest we march-
ed as part of Pillow’s Brigade and
on the 18th of April fought the bat-
tle of Cerro Gordo. General Pillow
had made himself unpopular with
our men. Generals Twiggs, Worth
and Shields made the attack to our
right and made the flanking move-
ment which got to the enemy’s rear
while we made the holding or fron-
tal attack. As the other troops ar-
rived in the Mexican rear great
numbers of them on our immediate
front surrendered, three thousand
in all. It was a serious defeat for
the Mexicans and their General San-
ta Anna ‘without escort, almost
without companions’, barely es-
caped.”
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CZARIST INVENTOR SLAIN IN NEW YORK
Shown with a washing machine of his invention, Michael Borislavsky,
'Russian-born inventor, was found shot to death in New York City soon
right and left center, fronting the'after he had boasted that he expected to get $500,000 from the United
States for a new type bomb he had invented. Borislavsky was a colonel
n the Russian White Army.
DALLAS HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS
SEEK A FIRST CLASS NICKNAME
Not everybody likes his nickname but Dallas Borough High School
hasn’t got one and its students are on the alert to find one—short and
catchy—that will please everybody.
Carol Shaver crystalizes the desire in the following editorial in the
latest issue of the Hi-Light, student publication:
“This editorial has been written to
prove to you that our school should
have a nickname. There are several
reasons to be discussed on this sub-
ject. One is a nickname is shorter
to say. The students in school should
be proud to have a nice nickname;
not only proud, but they should like
to have one.”
“It would increase the school
spirit, distinguish Dallas Borough
from Dallas Township and make our
school more outstanding, especially
if it were a good original name. As
to its relation to the teams it would
lead to better and more cheers and
also serve as a name for the basket-
ball teams as well as the school.”
Miss Shaver’s editorial meets with
the approval of all newspapermen
who have to write headlines. Long
names such as Dallas Borough, to
distinguish it from Dallas Township,
Kingston Township to distinguish
from Kingston Borough, and the use
of the word, “township” after the
name of any school, while making
identification simple, makes head-
lines difficult. Nicknames of many
famous baseball teams, football
squads, and schools have resulted
from some newswriter’'s imagination
and desire to make a shorter head-
line.
If Miss Shaver’s editorial sugges-
tion falls on fertile ground all
schools will soon have nicknames
for their teams. Lehman High
School already has one, having se-
lected the name ‘Scottie’ as theirs
at a meeting last fall. The students
took into consideration that theirs
is not a big school wih lots of brawn,
nor are its teams ferocious or boast-
ful, so they selected the name of
the terrier who is canny and wise,
gentle and refined but who has the
determination and grit to stick to it
and get want he wants.
Campus
Breuvities
The President and Dean of Col-
lege Misericordia represented the
college at the annual convention of
the National Association of Deans
of Women’s College held in Atlantic
City through the past week. More
than 500 representatives registered,
120 of whom were from colleges con-
ducted by various religious orders
throughout the east and west.
Collateral meetings were held by
the National Association of Person-
nel Workers; the National Vocation-
al Guidance Association; and by a
special chapter of Catholic Deans,
organized with the approval of the
National Association. Meetings of the
latter were held each Svemng at
Rita Mercy Hall with Doctor Eugenia
Leonardi, associate professor of
Guidance at the C. U. A., presiding,
and with College Misericordia’s Dean
College Recital
The orchestra of College Miseri-
cordia presented a program under
the direction of Miss Marie Patrullo
in the Little Theatre at 1:00 p. m.,
on February 20th. The program was
a group of selections by Robert
Schumann.
Those who participated were: vio-
linists, Helen Grown, Mary Helen
Beline, Marie Morris, Florence Banks,
Nancy Gallagher, Nancy O’Brien,
Mary - Ellen Schiff, Helen Marie
Marr, Wanda Perkuroski, Claire
Mullens, Mary Mangan, Marion
Jones; celloists, Mary Rogers, Aud-
rey Senior; bass, Barbara Cook; sax-
aphone, Sadie Morris; trombone, Jo-
sephine De Simone; cornet, Helen
Grzeszkiewicz, Marie McCarthy; pi-
anist, Morgaenie Corigan
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