personal bravery he united a moral courage comparable to that of Washington, and a firmness and decision of character that left no room for doubt as to his aims and his views concerning any question upon which he was entitled to express himself. His order on assuming command of the army was a production worthy to stand with Washington's farewell address, and a few sentences therefrom may be appropriately quoted: "The state of the military establishment is of a nature to excite a deep concern for its interests. The minute divisions which it has suffered, from the necessity of furnishing garrisons for the numerous posts that line our inland and maritime borders, and the abridgment of the sources of competition, inseparable from its dispersed condition, are alike unfavorable to its discipline. The principle of emulation, which, in combined forces, has an irresistible operation by a force inherent in itself, is lost upon bodies which do not feel the influence of contact, and can find a substitute only in the increased devotion of those who are invested with command. Discipline, no longer nourished by a principle of constitutional activity, becomes in a great degree dependent for existence on the application of authority by those in command, and on the principle of obedience in those of subordinate situations. . . . .. Subordination in authority is the essence of military government, and it must be fostered by that respectful deference which is due from all officers to each other, in their private as well as in their official correspondence. "The major general feels it his duty forcibly to enjoin on the officers of the army the necessity of maintaining a spirit of harmony among themselves. In addition to the consideration that personal schisms tend directly to the subversion of military order and discipline, it will be obvious to them that their profession imposes obligations which do not exist in the other walks of life. Dissensions and controversies among private gentlemen affect only the characters of the individual parties, while those among military officers impair the reputation of the body of which they are members; and it is but just to expect that every gentleman of honorable sentiments will sacrifice the gratification of his personal enmity to the consideration that the reputation of his associates will necessarily be invo in the obloquy which he draws upon his own. "The officer is the depository of the rights of the sol and the obligations of his office, as well as the laws of honor humanity, claim a faithful execution of the trust. When soldier ceases to regard the officer as his protector, the aut ity with which the laws invest the latter loses its efficacy in estimation. The surest remedy for the evil of desertion is tained in a rigid and steady discipline; to be salutary it r possess both these qualities, but no violation of law car deemed essential to its enforcement. Its effect upon the dier becomes impaired the moment he feels that the sys which governs him is fluctuating in its course, or that it viol the principles upon which it is founded. The certainty of constitute their principal efficacy, and however severe res tions may be they are obeyed so long as they are dispense the hand of justice and not of oppression. "The nation must be convinced that the army is prog ing in all useful improvements, and must be made to feel it is connected with its safety and honor. It is in vain officers complain of the difficulty of this achievement; called for by the highest duties enjoined by patriotism, it must be effected, as they value their own reputation and consciousness of having performed their duty. "The efficacy of example is too generally felt to be asser and to officers of rank the major general looks for constant hibitions of zeal and attention to their profession. If they form their duty he cannot doubt, confiding as he does in work and talent of the junior grades, that the army will be tinguished for its devotion to the institutions of the coun and a model of order and excellence in the military professi Three months after the death of General Brown, M General Alexander Macomb succeeded to the command of army. His was an interesting career. Born at Detroit A 3d, 1782, he was educated in Newark, New Jersey. At the of sixteen he enlisted in the New York rangers, a select c pany, which in 1798 volunteered for the threatened war v France. That war failing to materialize, he obtained a c mission the following year as cornet in the United States ar When the corps of engineers was established he became a member of it, with the rank of lieutenant, being made a captain in 1805 and major in 1808. He continued to advance in rank until, in 1812, he had reached the command of the third artillery, with the rank of colonel. He distinguished himself at Niagara and Fort George in 1813, and in January, 1814, was made brigadier general and charged with the defense of the country bordering on Lake Champlain. With a force of about 1,500 regular troops and a few detachments of militia, brought in from the surrounding neighborhood, he took station at Plattsburg and awaited the attack of the British commander at the head of a force of 14,000 veterans of the British army. At the same time, Commodore McDonough, with the squadron under his command, took up a position before that town and awaited the attack of a naval force of the enemy very much superior to his own in number of vessels, men and weight of metal. When the shock of battle came, the enemy's land forces suspended operations in the very act of engaging, appearing to await, in a measure, the outcome of the sanguinary contest that they saw being fought to a finish on the water; and when that contest ended in the total overthrow, almost annihilation, of the British squadron, the British land forces, overwhelming as they were in numbers, beat a hasty retreat. It was one of the most wonderful victories, if not the most wonderful, in our history, and in the public mind Macomb was bound to share the honors of it, in a measure, with the heroic McDonough. The president advanced Macomb to the rank of major general, dating the commission from the day of that great victory, September 11th. At the conclusion of the war General Macomb was stationed at his native town, and given command of the northwest frontier. In 1821 he was called to Washington as chief of the corps of engineers, and after the death of General Brown became commander in chief of the army, which position he retained until his death, on the 25th of June, 1841. Macomb was immediately succeeded in the command of the United States army by General Winfield Scott, whose birthplace was that town in Virginia which, in his old age, became the scene of the grand climateric of the Civil war in which his very dear personal friend and long time chief of staff (Lee) |