WRITINGS OF 5AM HOUSTON, 1858
499
There is another point which I must notice. The Senator from Mississippi says the road of promotion from the ranks is now open. It may be open, but I never hear of anybody traveling that road. The door is wide open but nobody goes in. West Point Academy furnishes a suitable supply of officers. Sergeants and other non- commissioned officers, who are commended as worthy of promo- tion, do not receive it. Only the other day one brought me a note attested by officers under whom he had served for eight years. He was recommended to me from the fact that, once having been a sergeant myself, it was supposed I would sympathize with him. I examined him, and I saw that his indorsements of character were sufficient. To the eye, he was a gentleman; but he is doomed to a sergeantcy. He has his lines, and he cannot rise above them. Numbers have applied to me since I have been on this floor as a Senator, to aid them in procuring situations. Some may have received them for aught I know, but if so it never was known to me. I have never known of a solitary promotion ·of that kind. If the door is open, but persons are not admitted, I do not think it amounts to much. Whenever I see that they are sought after, I will look into the ranks of the United States Army for men to sustain the reputation of the country as officers, and then men will enter your ranks for the purpose of obtaining promotion by good conduct. When I entered the service, if I had been doomed all my life to be a private soldier or a sergeant, notwithstanding all the ardor of youth, and the fervor of patriot- ism which I thought I possessed, I could not have been induced in time of peace to enlist in the Army. I believed, however, at that time, that it would not be detrimental to my advancement in the service of my country for me to take a position where I could learn my duty before I undertook to teach others theirs. There I learned the duty of a soldier. I know his wants, and his feelings, and I can appreciate his necessities. Now, sir, to show that the Indians came off badly on some occasions, I will read from the public documents before me a brief extract in regard to the Brule war. Little Thunder and the Indians under his command were set upon while they were peacefully moving with their families, and with the supplies necessary for their support. I desire to read from the report of General Harney-an officer for whom I have always entertained the highest respect. General Harney, it appears, was ordered to retaliate on the Sioux for having murdered some troops-Gun- nison's command, I think. He had a parley with them, and he attacked them, after finding out that they were there with their
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