The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 72, July 1968 - April, 1969 Page: 437
498 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Zachary Taylor and the Indian Volunteers
another Democrat, won the election called to fill the vacancy." It was
a fateful choice. The doctor was good natured, brave enough, and
intelligent; but he was no soldier. More interested in scientific pur-
suits than in mastering military tactics, he was seen on occasion
bringing in botanical specimens from the surrounding countryside
while his men drilled. His military duties were often assumed by Joe
Lane who, although brigade commander, remained "the colonel" to
the men of the Second. He drilled them, tented with them, and
stayed with them in the field.' In effect, the Second Indiana had two
colonels.
Besides the military incompetency of Colonel Bowles, animosity
between General Joe Lane and Colonel James Lane further ham-
pered the volunteers. Ambitious and aggressive by nature, both men
were always alert to possible slights and insults that the other might
offer. Joseph Lane's obvious preference for the Second Regiment did
not help matters. As time passed, the rivalry between the Lanes in-
creased until on the eve of the Battle of Buena Vista they came to
blows in a fight that large numbers of volunteers witnessed." During
the battle itself a duel was pending between them, but James Lane
later insisted that "immediately before going into action, they agreed
to suspend all personal hostilities in order that they might act more
efficiently in behalf of their country."9
For the Indiana Brigade the Mexican War was not the easy road
to glory that its members had anticipated. The men of the First Regi-
ment experienced only an endless routine of homesickness, tedium,
and disease. They spent most of their twelve months encamped at the
mouth of the Rio Grande on guard duty, and never had an oppor-
tunity to test themselves in combat.z The men of the Second and
Third regiments were more fortunate. Although they too had to
suffer through months of wearisome marching and drilling, at least
they were made part of Taylor's army.
'Oran Perry (comp.), Indiana in the Mexican War (Indianapolis, 1908), 54-55; Joseph
Lane to William A. Bowles, September 3, 1846, "Proceedings of a Court of Inquiry
Convened at Buena Vista Mexico . . . April 12, 1847," Appendix A, FF123-1848, Records
of the Office of the Judge Advocate General, Army (Record Group 153, National Archives,
Washington) .
7[Wallace], An Autobiography, I, 183.
'Madison (Indiana) Daily Banner, July 14, 1848; for an account of the fight see Buley,
"Indiana in the Mexican War," Indiana Magazine of History, XVI (March, 1920o), 66-67.
'Madison (Indiana) Daily Banner, July 25, 1848.
1o[Wallace], An Autobiography, I, 121-192, passim.337
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 72, July 1968 - April, 1969, periodical, 1969; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth117146/m1/391/: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.