Page:Vol 5 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/587

Rh which entered Mexico in 1821 to affirm the independence, headed by officers who had been educated in military colleges, and developed under a system of slow and merited promotion, and fitted to hold its own against almost any opponents! Since then it had sunk into an instrument or accessory of factions, under the leadership of men who owed their advancement chiefly to intrigue; men wholly untrained and unfitted, who by heading or adhering to pronunciamientos had swung themselves from the position of sergeants to captains, colonels, and generals, and maintained the position by virtue of their influence over a certain number of followers, bribed or intimidated, and who now assisted to intimidate a weak government risen by the same process, and therefore dependent on the caprice of factions. Under such circumstances, merit was ignored, proving sometimes even an obstacle to success; and insubordination being thus fostered by extraordinary rewards, it naturally spread among the rank and file, to the general demoralization of the army. Embezzlement by officers, and a chronic poverty of the treasury, contributed greatly to this state of affairs, by driving a neglected and starving army to desperate acts. The service fell into such disrepute that recruits could not be obtained save by cruel impressment, chiefly of Indian peasantry, who with a natural distaste for the business had to be driven into battle and guarded in camp.

At the conclusion of the late campaign the government found that desertion had reduced the troops to small proportions, with an excess of officers, although a large number of them had, from a lack of faith in their courage or skill, sought safe retirement. The moment was favorable for reconstructing the army, since to abolish it, as some proposed, was out of the question, as the northern frontier was ever threatened by raiding Indians, to say nothing of the turbulent disposition of the people generally.

But apart from this circumstance, the necessity of