Alabama Regiment missed the Fighting

No sooner was the war against Mexico declared than Alabama raised a regiment.  By June 1846, approximately 900 volunteers gathered in Mobile.  There was not enough room on the steamship for all of them, so only 8 of the 10 companies set out, the other two waiting for another transport.  The 1st Regiment of Alabama Volunteers arrived at Brazos Santiago on July 4th and were soon encamped on the beach.  After a few days, they relocated to Camp Belknap, a mile or so inland.  A few weeks passed where men became sick with dysentery before the regiment was sent to Camargo.  Camargo proved to be less hospitable still, a dusty, sweltering region that didn't benefit from a sea breeze.  At long last, General Taylor sent the army marching to Monterrey, but the Alabama Regiment was left behind as a garrison.  The Alabama men were disappointed.  Many of the wilder soldiers ravaged the locals, triggering reprisals that left some Alabama volunteers dead.

In November, the US Navy captured Tampico but wanted the army to garrison the city.  Taylor dispatched the Alabama Regiment, among others.  The regiment was posted there until February, when General Scott included them among his forces for a landing at Vera Cruz.  Thus, in March, the Alabama Regiment landed on the beaches south of Vera Cruz and took part in the siege of that city.  Mostly, the regiment sat on its thumbs while US Artillery pummeled the city into submission.

While General Scott directed the majority of the army inland toward Mexico City, the Alabama Regiment was part of an expedition to Alvarado.  General Quitman was to coordinate with Commodore Perry in the capture of the port city.  However, upon arrival, it was discovered that the city had already surrendered to the USS Scourge and there was no battle to be had.  General Quitman led his forces back to Vera Cruz and then followed Scott inland.  They arrived at the Battlefield of Cerro Gordo several days after the battle.  Soon after, the regiment arrived in Jalapa.

As their 1-year terms were about to expire, General Scott asked the volunteers to extend their enlistments.  Few, if any, did.  The Alabama Regiment was sent back to Vera Cruz where it found passage to New Orleans.  Of the 900 men who set out from Alabama, only 550 made this return journey from Vera Cruz.  Many had been discharged for illness throughout the year and 150 had died.

An excellent account of the Alabama Regiment is available here.  Recommended.

$8.2 Million for Senate Seat

Roy Moore has won a defamation case against a Democratic PAC.  For those who don't recall, Moore was the Republican candidate for Senate in Alabama in 2017.  His campaign was harmed by an ad that claimed he hit on teenaged girls at the mall in 1979 and that his behavior resulted in being banned from the mall.  Of course, Moore denied it.  Nonetheless, he lost the race and Democrat Doug Jones was elected.  Now, many years after the fact, Moore has been vindicated (sort of) and the Democratic PAC ordered to pay $8.2 million in damages.  Obviously, this may be overturned on appeal, but it raises an interesting question: if the Democrats had been told in 2017 that it would cost them $8.2 million to win the race, would they agree to the price?  Will this fine deter future defamation or encourage more?

Roy Moore is an odd bird and may have lost anyway.  The teenager in question was 14 when he told her she was pretty but 16 (Alabama's age of consent) when he asked her for a date.  For a guy in his 30s at the time, that's cradle-robbing.  Then again, I wasn't raised in Alabama where this may be just fine.  Let the folks of Alabama decide.  On the other hand, Alabama hadn't elected a Democrat in 25 years prior to Doug Jones; Moore was running in a Republican state and replacing the new US Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

Politics, it seems to me, for years, or all too long, has been concerned with right or left instead of right or wrong.

Richard Armour

Bad Night for Al Franken

Doug Jones has won the Alabama Senatorial race and Roy Moore will ride off into the sunset to trouble the Republican Party no more.  Al Franken had intentionally offered that vague non-resignation with the expectation that he could revoke it when Moore won the race.  Or maybe he would make his resignation contingent on Moore's not being seated in the Senate.  Whatever the case, Franken's last, best hope for remaining in the Senate just went down the drain.  What will the Senate Ethics Committee do now?