ANY sunny afternoon, on Fifth Avenue, or at night in the _table d’hote_
restaurants of University Place, you may meet the soldier of fortune who
of all his brothers in arms now living is the most remarkable. You may
have noticed him; a stiffly erect, distinguished-looking man, with gray
hair, an imperial of the fashion of Louis Napoleon, fierce blue eyes,
and across his forehead a sabre cut.
This is Henry Ronald Douglas MacIver, for some time in India an ensign
in the Sepoy mutiny; in Italy, lieutenant under Garibaldi; in Spain,
captain under Don Carlos; in our Civil War, major in the Confederate
army; in Mexico, lieutenant-colonel under the Emperor Maximilian;
colonel under Napoleon III, inspector of cavalry for the Khedive of
Egypt, and chief of cavalry and general of brigade of the army of King
Milan of Servia. These are only a few of his military titles. In 1884
was published a book giving the story of his life up to that year. It
was called “Under Fourteen Flags.” If to-day General MacIver were to
reprint the book, it would be called “Under Eighteen Flags.”
MacIver was born on Christmas Day, 1841, at sea, a league off the shore
of Virginia. His mother was Miss Anna Douglas of that State; Ronald
MacIver, his father, was a Scot, a Rossshire gentleman, a younger son of
the chief of the Clan MacIver. Until he was ten years old young MacIver
played in Virginia at the home of his father. Then, in order that he
might be educated, he was shipped to Edinburgh to an uncle, General
Donald Graham. After five years his uncle obtained for him a commission
as ensign in the Honorable East India Company, and at sixteen, when
other boys are preparing for college, MacIver was in the Indian Mutiny,
fighting, not for a flag, nor a country, but as one fights a wild
animal, for his life. He was wounded in the arm, and, with a sword, cut
over the head. As a safeguard against the sun the boy had placed inside
his helmet a wet towel. This saved him to fight another day, but even
with that protection the sword sank through the helmet, the towel, and
into the skull. To-day you can see the scar. He was left in the road
for dead, and even after his wounds had healed, was six weeks in the
hospital.
This tough handling at the very start might have satisfied some men, but
in the very next war MacIver was a volunteer and wore the red shirt of
Garibaldi. He remained at the front throughout that campaign, and until
within a few years there has been no campaign of consequence in which he
has not taken part. He served in the Ten Years’ War in Cuba, in
Brazil, in Argentina, in Crete, in Greece, twice in Spain in Carlist
revolutions, in Bosnia, and for four years in our Civil War under
Generals Jackson and Stuart around Richmond. In this great war he was
four times wounded.
It was after the surrender of the Confederate army, that, with other
Southern officers, he served under Maximilian in Mexico; in Egypt, and
in France. Whenever in any part of the world there was fighting, or the
rumor of fighting, the procedure of the general invariably was the
same. He would order himself to instantly depart for the front, and on
arriving there would offer to organize a foreign legion. The command of
this organization always was given to him. But the foreign legion was
merely the entering wedge. He would soon show that he was fitted for
a better command than a band of undisciplined volunteers, and would
receive a commission in the regular army. In almost every command in
which he served that is the manner in which promotion came. Sometimes he
saw but little fighting, sometimes he should have died several deaths,
each of a nature more unpleasant than the others. For in war the obvious
danger of a bullet is but a three hundred to one shot, while in the pack
against the combatant the jokers are innumerable. And in the career of
the general the unforeseen adventures are the most interesting. A man
who in eighteen campaigns has played his part would seem to have
earned exemption from any other risks, but often it was outside the
battle-field that MacIver encountered the greatest danger. He fought
several duels, in two of which he killed his adversary; several attempts
were made to assassinate him, and while on his way to Mexico he was
captured by hostile Indians. On returning from an expedition in Cuba he
was cast adrift in an open boat and for days was without food.
Long before I met General MacIver I had read his book and had heard of
him from many men who had met him in many different lands while
engaged in as many different undertakings. Several of the older war
correspondents knew him intimately; Bennett Burleigh of the _Telegraph_
was his friend, and E. F. Knight of the _Times_ was one of those who
volunteered for a filibustering expedition which MacIver organized
against New Guinea. The late Colonel Ochiltree of Texas told me tales
of MacIver’s bravery, when as young men they were fellow officers in the
Southern army, and Stephen Bonsal had met him when MacIver was United
States Consul at Denia in Spain. When MacIver arrived at this post, the
ex-consul refused to vacate the Consulate, and MacIver wished to settle
the difficulty with duelling pistols. As Denia is a small place, the
inhabitants feared for their safety, and Bonsal, who was our _charge
d’affaires_ then, was sent from Madrid to adjust matters. Without
bloodshed he got rid of the ex-consul, and later MacIver so endeared
himself to the Denians that they begged the State Department to retain
him in that place for the remainder of his life.
Before General MacIver was appointed to a high position at the St. Louis
Fair, I saw much of him in New York. His room was in a side street in
an old-fashioned boarding-house, and overlooked his neighbor’s back yard
and a typical New York City sumac tree; but when the general talked one
forgot he was within a block of the Elevated, and roamed over all
the world. On his bed he would spread out wonderful parchments, with
strange, heathenish inscriptions, with great seals, with faded ribbons.
These were signed by Sultans, Secretaries of War, Emperors, filibusters.
They were military commissions, titles of nobility, brevets for
decorations, instructions and commands from superior officers.
Translated the phrases ran: “Imposing special confidence in,” “we
appoint,” or “create,” or “declare,” or “In recognition of services
rendered to our person,” or “country,” or “cause,” or “For bravery on
the field of battle we bestow the Cross----”
As must a soldier, the general travels “light,” and all his worldly
possessions were crowded ready for mobilization into a small compass. He
had his sword, his field blanket, his trunk, and the tin despatch
boxes that held his papers. From these, like a conjurer, he would draw
souvenirs of all the world. From the embrace of faded letters, he would
unfold old photographs, daguerrotypes, and miniatures of fair women and
adventurous men: women who now are queens in exile, men who, lifted on
waves of absinthe, still, across a _cafe_ table, tell how they will win
back a crown.
Once in a written document the general did me the honor to appoint me
his literary executor, but as he is young, and as healthy as myself, it
never may be my lot to perform such an unwelcome duty. And to-day all
one can write of him is what the world can read in “Under Fourteen
Flags,” and some of the “foot-notes to history” which I have copied
from his scrap-book. This scrap-book is a wonderful volume, but owing
to “political” and other reasons, for the present, of the many clippings
from newspapers it contains there are only a few I am at liberty to
print. And from them it is difficult to make a choice. To sketch in a
few thousand words a career that had developed under Eighteen Flags is
in its very wealth embarrassing.
Here is one story, as told by the scrap-book, of an expedition that
failed. That it failed was due to a British Cabinet Minister; for had
Lord Derby possessed the imagination of the Soldier of Fortune, his
Majesty’s dominions might now be the richer by many thousands of square
miles and many thousands of black subjects.
On October 29, 1883, the following appeared in the London _Standard_:
“The New Guinea Exploration and Colonization Company is already
chartered, and the first expedition expects to leave before Christmas.”
“The prospectus states settlers intending to join the first party must
contribute one hundred pounds toward the company. This subscription will
include all expenses for passage money. Six months’ provisions will be
provided, together with tents and arms for protection. Each subscriber
of one hundred pounds is to obtain a certificate entitling him to one
thousand acres.”
The view of the colonization scheme taken by the _Times_ of London, of
the same date, is less complaisant. “The latest commercial sensation is
a proposed company for the seizure of New Guinea. Certain adventurous
gentlemen are looking out for one hundred others who have money and
a taste for buccaneering. When the company has been completed, its
share-holders are to place themselves under military regulations, sail
in a body for New Guinea, and without asking anybody’s leave, seize
upon the island and at once, in some unspecified way, proceed to realize
large profits. If the idea does not suggest comparisons with the large
designs of Sir Francis Drake, it is at least not unworthy of Captain
Kidd.”
When we remember the manner in which some of the colonies of Great
Britain were acquired, the _Times_ seems almost squeamish.
In a Melbourne paper, June, 1884, is the following paragraph:
“Toward the latter part of 1883 the Government of Queensland planted the
flag of Great Britain on the shores of New Guinea. When the news reached
England it created a sensation. The Earl of Derby, Secretary for the
Colonies, refused, however, to sanction the annexation of New
Guinea, and in so doing acted contrary to the sincere wish of every
right-thinking Anglo-Saxon under the Southern Cross.
“While the subsequent correspondence between the Home and Queensland
governments was going on, Brigadier-General H. R. MacIver originated and
organized the New Guinea Exploration and Colonization Company in London,
with a view to establishing settlements on the island. The company,
presided over by General Beresford of the British Army, and having
an eminently representative and influential board of directors, had a
capital of two hundred and fifty thousand pounds, and placed the
supreme command of the expedition in the hands of General MacIver.
Notwithstanding the character of the gentlemen composing the board of
directors, and the truly peaceful nature of the expedition, his Lordship
informed General MacIver that in the event of the latter’s attempting to
land on New Guinea, instructions would be sent to the officer in command
of her Majesty’s fleet in the Western Pacific to fire upon the company’s
vessel. This meant that the expedition would be dealt with as a
filibustering one.”
In _Judy_, September 21, 1887, appears:
“We all recollect the treatment received by Brigadier-General MacI. in
the action he took with respect to the annexation of New Guinea. The
General, who is a sort of Pizarro, with a dash of D’Artagnan, was
treated in a most scurvy manner by Lord Derby. Had MacIver not been
thwarted in his enterprise, the whole of New Guinea would now have been
under the British flag, and we should not be cheek-by-jowl with the
Germans, as we are in too many places.”
_Society_, September 3, 1887, says:
“The New Guinea expedition proved abortive, owing to the blundering
shortsightedness of the then Government, for which Lord Derby was
chiefly responsible, but what little foothold we possess in New Guinea,
is certainly due to General MacIver’s gallant effort.”
Copy of statement made by J. Rintoul Mitchell, June 2, 1887:
“About the latter end of the year 1883, when I was editor-in-chief of
the _Englishman_ in Calcutta, I was told by Captain de Deaux, assistant
secretary in the Foreign Office of the Indian Government, that he
had received a telegram from Lord Derby to the effect that if General
MacIver ventured to land upon the coast of New Guinea it would become
the duty of Lord Ripon, Viceroy, to use the naval forces at his command
for the purpose of deporting General MacI. Sir Aucland Calvin can
certify to this, as it was discussed in the Viceregal Council.”
Just after our Civil War MacIver was interested in another expedition
which also failed. Its members called themselves the Knights of Arabia,
and their object was to colonize an island much nearer to our shores
than New Guinea. MacIver, saying that his oath prevented, would never
tell me which island this was, but the reader can choose from
among Cuba, Haiti, and the Hawaiian group. To have taken Cuba, the
“colonizers” would have had to fight not only Spain, but the Cubans
themselves, on whose side they were soon fighting in the Ten Years’ War;
so Cuba may be eliminated. And as the expedition was to sail from the
Atlantic side, and not from San Francisco, the island would appear to be
the Black Republic. From the records of the times it would seem that the
greater number of the Knights of Arabia were veterans of the Confederate
army, and there is no question but that they intended to subjugate the
blacks of Haiti and form a republic for white men in which slavery would
be recognized. As one of the leaders of this filibustering expedition,
MacIver was arrested by General Phil Sheridan and for a short time cast
into jail.
This chafed the general’s spirit, but he argued philosophically that
imprisonment for filibustering, while irksome, brought with it
no reproach. And, indeed, sometimes the only difference between a
filibuster and a government lies in the fact that the government fights
the gun-boats of only the enemy while a filibuster must dodge the boats
of the enemy and those of his own countrymen. When the United States
went to war with Spain there were many men in jail as filibusters, for
doing that which at the time the country secretly approved, and later
imitated. And because they attempted exactly the same thing for which
Dr. Jameson was imprisoned in Holloway Jail, two hundred thousand of his
countrymen are now wearing medals.
The by-laws of the Knights of Arabia leave but little doubt as to its
object.
By-law No. II reads:
“We, as Knights of Arabia, pledge ourselves to aid, comfort, and protect
all Knights of Arabia, especially those who are wounded in obtaining our
grand object.
“III--Great care must be taken that no unbeliever or outsider shall gain
any insight into the mysteries or secrets of the Order.
“IV--The candidate will have to pay one hundred dollars cash to
the Captain of the Company, and the candidate will receive from the
Secretary a Knight of Arabia bond for one hundred dollars in gold, with
ten per cent interest, payable ninety days after the recognition of (The
Republic of----) by the United States, or any government.
“V--All Knights of Arabia will be entitled to one hundred acres of
land, location of said land to be drawn for by lottery. The products are
coffee, sugar, tobacco, and cotton.”
A local correspondent of the New York _Herald_ writes of the arrest of
MacIver as follows:
“When MacIver will be tried is at present unknown, as his case has
assumed a complicated aspect. He claims British protection as a subject
of her British Majesty, and the English Consul has forwarded a statement
of his case to Sir Frederick Bruce at Washington, accompanied by a copy
of the by-laws. General Sheridan also has forwarded a statement to
the Secretary of War, accompanied not only by the by-laws, but very
important documents, including letters from Jefferson Davis, Benjamin,
the Secretary of State of the Confederate States, and other personages
prominent in the Rebellion, showing that MacIver enjoyed the highest
confidence of the Confederacy.”
As to the last statement, an open letter I found in his scrap-book is an
excellent proof. It is as follows: “To officers and members of all camps
of United Confederate Veterans: It affords me the greatest pleasure to
say that the bearer of this letter, General Henry Ronald MacIver, was an
officer of great gallantry in the Confederate Army, serving on the staff
at various times of General Stonewall Jackson, J. E. B. Stuart, and E.
Kirby Smith, and that his official record is one of which any man may be
proud.
“Respectfully, MARCUS J. WRIGHT, “_Agent for the Collection of
Confederate Records_.
“War Records office, War Department, Washington, July 8, 1895.”
At the close of the war duels between officers of the two armies were
not infrequent. In the scrap-book there is the account of one of these
affairs sent from Vicksburg to a Northern paper by a correspondent who
was an eye-witness of the event. It tells how Major MacIver, accompanied
by Major Gillespie, met, just outside of Vicksburg, Captain Tomlin of
Vermont, of the United States Artillery Volunteers. The duel was with
swords. MacIver ran Tomlin through the body. The correspondent writes:
“The Confederate officer wiped his sword on his handkerchief. In a few
seconds Captain Tomlin expired. One of Major MacIver’s seconds called to
him: ‘He is dead; you must go. These gentlemen will look after the body
of their friend.’ A negro boy brought up the horses, but before mounting
MacIver said to Captain Tomlin’s seconds: ‘My friends are in haste for
me to go. Is there anything I can do? I hope you consider that this
matter has been settled honorably?’
“There being no reply, the Confederates rode away.”
In a newspaper of to-day so matter-of-fact an acceptance of an event so
tragic would make strange reading.
From the South MacIver crossed through Texas to join the Royalist army
under the Emperor Maximilian. It was while making his way, with other
Confederate officers, from Galveston to El Paso, that MacIver was
captured by the Indians. He was not ill-treated by them, but for three
months was a prisoner, until one night, the Indians having camped near
the Rio Grande, he escaped into Mexico. There he offered his sword to
the Royalist commander, General Mejia, who placed him on his staff, and
showed him some few skirmishes. At Monterey MacIver saw big fighting,
and for his share in it received the title of Count, and the order of
Guadaloupe. In June, contrary to all rules of civilized war, Maximilian
was executed and the empire was at an end. MacIver escaped to the coast,
and from Tampico took a sailing vessel to Rio de Janeiro. Two months
later he was wearing the uniform of another emperor, Dom Pedro, and,
with the rank of lieutenant-colonel, was in command of the Foreign
Legion of the armies of Brazil and Argentina, which at that time as
allies were fighting against Paraguay.
MacIver soon recruited seven hundred men, but only half of these ever
reached the front. In Buenos Ayres cholera broke out and thirty thousand
people died, among the number about half the Legion. MacIver was among
those who suffered, and before he recovered was six weeks in hospital.
During that period, under a junior officer, the Foreign Legion was sent
to the front, where it was disbanded.
On his return to Glasgow, MacIver foregathered with an old friend,
Bennett Burleigh, whom he had known when Burleigh was a lieutenant
in the navy of the Confederate States. Although today known as a
distinguished war correspondent, in those days Burleigh was something of
a soldier of fortune himself, and was organizing an expedition to assist
the Cretan insurgents against the Turks. Between the two men it was
arranged that MacIver should precede the expedition to Crete and
prepare for its arrival. The Cretans received him gladly, and from the
provisional government he received a commission in which he was given
“full power to make war on land and sea against the enemies of Crete,
and particularly against the Sultan of Turkey and the Turkish forces,
and to burn, destroy, or capture any vessel bearing the Turkish flag.”
This permission to destroy the Turkish navy single-handed strikes one
as more than generous, for the Cretans had no navy, and before one could
begin the destruction of a Turkish gun-boat it was first necessary to
catch it and tie it to a wharf.
At the close of the Cretan insurrection MacIver crossed to Athens and
served against the brigands in Kisissia on the borders of Albania
and Thessaly as volunteer aide to Colonel Corroneus, who had been
commander-in-chief of the Cretans against the Turks. MacIver spent three
months potting at brigands, and for his services in the mountains was
recommended for the highest Greek decoration.
From Greece it was only a step to New York, and almost immediately
MacIver appears as one of the Goicouria-Christo expedition to Cuba,
of which Goicouria was commander-in-chief, and two famous American
officers, Brigadier-General Samuel C. Williams was a general and Colonel
Wright Schumburg was chief of staff.
In the scrap-book I find “General Order No. 11 of the Liberal Army of
the Republic of Cuba, issued at Cedar Keys, October 3, 1869.” In it
Colonel MacIver is spoken of as in charge of officers not attached to
any organized corps of the division. And again:
“General Order No. V, Expeditionary Division, Republic of Cuba, on board
_Lilian_,” announces that the place to which the expedition is bound has
been changed, and that General Wright Schumburg, who now is in command,
orders “all officers not otherwise commissioned to join Colonel
MacIver’s ‘Corps of Officers.’”
The _Lilian_ ran out of coal, and to obtain firewood put in at Cedar
Keys. For two weeks the patriots cut wood and drilled upon the beach,
when they were captured by a British gun-boat and taken to Nassau.
There they were set at liberty, but their arms, boat, and stores were
confiscated.
In a sailing vessel MacIver finally reached Cuba, and under Goicouria,
who had made a successful landing, saw some “help yourself” fighting.
Goicouria’s force was finally scattered, and MacIver escaped from the
Spanish soldiery only by putting to sea in an open boat, in which he
endeavored to make Jamaica.
On the third day out he was picked up by a steamer and again landed at
Nassau, from which place he returned to New York.
At that time in this city there was a very interesting man named
Thaddeus P. Mott, who had been an officer in our army and later
had entered the service of Ismail Pasha. By the Khedive he had
been appointed a general of division and had received permission to
reorganize the Egyptian army.
His object in coming to New York was to engage officers for that
service. He came at an opportune moment. At that time the city was
filled with men who, in the Rebellion, on one side or the other, had
held command, and many of these, unfitted by four years of soldiering
for any other calling, readily accepted the commissions which Mott had
authority to offer. New York was not large enough to keep MacIver and
Mott long apart, and they soon came to an understanding. The agreement
drawn up between them is a curious document. It is written in a neat
hand on sheets of foolscap tied together like a Commencement-day
address, with blue ribbon. In it MacIver agrees to serve as colonel of
cavalry in the service of the Khedive. With a few legal phrases omitted,
the document reads as follows:
“Agreement entered into this 24th day of March, 1870, between the
Government of his Royal Highness and the Khedive of Egypt, represented
by General Thaddeus P. Mott of the first part, and H. R. H. MacIver of
New York City.
“The party of the second part, being desirous of entering into the
service of party of the first part, in the military capacity of a
colonel of cavalry, promises to serve and obey party of the first part
faithfully and truly in his military capacity during the space of five
years from this date; that the party of the second part waives all
claims of protection usually afforded to Americans by consular and
diplomatic agents of the United States, and expressly obligates himself
to be subject to the orders of the party of the first part, and to make,
wage, and vigorously prosecute war against any and all the enemies of
party of the first part; that the party of the second part will not
under any event be governed, controlled by, or submit to, any order,
law, mandate, or proclamation issued by the Government of the United
States of America, forbidding party of the second part to serve party
of the first part to make war according to any of the provisions herein
contained, _it being, however, distinctly understood_ that nothing
herein contained shall be construed as obligating party of the second
part to bear arms or wage war against the United States of America.
“Party of the first part promises to furnish party of the second part
with horses, rations, and pay him for his services the same salary now
paid to colonels of cavalry in United States army, and will furnish him
quarters suitable to his rank in army. Also promises, in the case of
illness caused by climate, that said party may resign his office and
shall receive his expenses to America and two months’ pay; that he
receives one-fifth of his regular pay during his active service,
together with all expenses of every nature attending such enterprise.”
It also stipulates as to what sums shall be paid his family or children
in case of his death.
To this MacIver signs this oath:
“In the presence of the ever-living God, I swear that I will in all
things honestly, faithfully, and truly keep, observe, and perform the
obligations and promises above enumerated, and endeavor to conform to
the wishes and desires of the Government of his Royal Highness, the
Khedive of Egypt, in all things connected with the furtherance of his
prosperity, and the maintenance of his throne.”
On arriving at Cairo, MacIver was appointed inspector-general of
cavalry, and furnished with a uniform, of which this is a description:
“It consisted of a blue tunic with gold spangles, embroidered in gold
up the sleeves and front, neat-fitting red trousers, and high
patent-leather boots, while the inevitable fez completed the gay
costume.”
The climate of Cairo did not agree with MacIver, and, in spite of
his “gay costume,” after six months he left the Egyptian service. His
honorable discharge was signed by Stone Bey, who, in the favor of the
Khedive, had supplanted General Mott.
It is a curious fact that, in spite of his ill health, immediately after
leaving Cairo, MacIver was sufficiently recovered to at once plunge into
the Franco-Prussian War. At the battle of Orleans, while on the staff
of General Chanzy, he was wounded. In this war his rank was that of a
colonel of cavalry of the auxiliary army.
His next venture was in the Carlist uprising of 1873, when he formed a
Carlist League, and on several occasions acted as bearer of important
messages from the “King,” as Don Carlos was called, to the sympathizers
with his cause in France and England.
MacIver was promised, if he carried out successfully a certain mission
upon which he was sent, and if Don Carlos became king, that he would be
made a marquis. As Don Carlos is still a pretender, MacIver is still a
general. Although in disposing of his sword MacIver never allowed his
personal predilections to weigh with him, he always treated himself to a
hearty dislike of the Turks, and we next find him fighting against them
in Herzegovina with the Montenegrins. And when the Servians declared
war against the same people, MacIver returned to London to organize a
cavalry brigade to fight with the Servian army.
Of this brigade and of the rapid rise of MacIver to highest rank and
honors in Servia, the scrap-book is most eloquent. The cavalry brigade
was to be called the Knights of the Red Cross.
In a letter to the editor of the _Hour_, the general himself speaks of
it in the following terms:
“It may be interesting to many of your readers to learn that a select
corps of gentlemen is at present in course of organization under
the above title with the mission of proceeding to the Levant to
take measures in case of emergency for the defense of the Christian
population, and more especially of British subjects who are to a great
extent unprovided with adequate means of protection from the religious
furies of the Mussulmans. The lives of Christian women and children are
in hourly peril from fanatical hordes. The Knights will be carefully
chosen and kept within strict military control, and will be under
command of a practical soldier with large experience of the Eastern
countries. Templars and all other crusaders are invited to give aid and
sympathy.”
Apparently MacIver was not successful in enlisting many Knights, for
a war correspondent at the capital of Servia, waiting for the war to
begin, writes as follows:
“A Scotch soldier of fortune, Henry MacIver, a colonel by rank, has
arrived at Belgrade with a small contingent of military adventurers.
Five weeks ago I met him in Fleet Street, London, and had some talk
about his ‘expedition.’ He had received a commission from the Prince of
Servia to organize and command an independent cavalry brigade, and he
then was busily enrolling his volunteers into a body styled ‘The Knights
of the Red Cross.’ I am afraid some of his bold crusaders have earned
more distinction for their attacks on Fleet Street bars than they are
likely to earn on Servian battle-fields, but then I must not anticipate
history.”
Another paper tells that at the end of the first week of his service as
a Servian officer, MacIver had enlisted ninety men, but that they were
scattered about the town, many without shelter and rations:
“He assembled his men on the Rialto, and in spite of official
expostulation, the men were marched up to the Minister’s four
abreast--and they marched fairly well, making a good show. The War
Minister was taken by storm, and at once granted everything. It has
raised the English colonel’s popularity with his men to fever heat.”
This from the _Times_, London:
“Our Belgrade correspondent telegraphs last night:
“‘There is here at present a gentleman named MacIver. He came from
England to offer himself and his sword to the Servians. The Servian
Minister of War gave him a colonel’s commission. This morning I saw him
drilling about one hundred and fifty remarkably fine-looking fellows,
all clad in a good serviceable cavalry uniform, and he has horses.”’
Later we find that:
“Colonel MacIver’s Legion of Cavalry, organizing here, now numbers over
two hundred men.”
And again:
“Prince Nica, a Roumanian cousin of the Princess Natalie of Servia, has
joined Colonel MacIver’s cavalry corps.”
Later, in the _Court Journal_, October 28, 1876, we read:
“Colonel MacIver, who a few years ago was very well known in military
circles in Dublin, now is making his mark with the Servian army. In
the war against the Turks, he commands about one thousand Russo-Servian
cavalry.”
He was next to receive the following honors:
“Colonel MacIver has been appointed commander of the cavalry of the
Servian armies on the Morava and Timok, and has received the Cross of
the Takovo Order from General Tchemaieff for gallant conduct in the
field, and the gold medal for valor.”
Later we learn from the _Daily News_:
“Mr. Lewis Farley, Secretary of the ‘League in Aid of Christians of
Turkey,’ has received the following letter, dated Belgrade, October 10,
1876:
“‘DEAR SIR: In reference to the embroidered banner so kindly worked by
an English lady and forwarded by the League to Colonel MacIver, I have
great pleasure in conveying to you the following particulars. On Sunday
morning, the flag having been previously consecrated by the archbishop,
was conducted by a guard of honor to the palace, and Colonel MacIver,
in the presence of Prince Milan and a numerous suite, in the name and
on behalf of yourself and the fair donor, delivered it into the hands
of the Princess Natalie. The gallant Colonel wore upon this occasion his
full uniform as brigade commander and chief of cavalry of the Servian
army, and bore upon his breast the ‘Gold Cross of Takovo’ which he
received after the battles of the 28th and 30th of September, in
recognition of the heroism and bravery he displayed upon these eventful
days. The beauty of the decoration was enhanced by the circumstances
of its bestowal, for on the evening of the battle of the 30th, General
Tchernaieff approached Colonel MacIver, and, unclasping the cross from
his own breast, placed it upon that of the Colonel.
“‘(Signed.) HUGH JACKSON,
“‘_Member of Council of the League_.”
In Servia and in the Servian army MacIver reached what as yet is the
highest point of his career, and of his life the happiest period.
He was _general de brigade_, which is not what we know as a brigade
general, but is one who commands a division, a major-general. He was a
great favorite both at the palace and with the people, the pay was good,
fighting plentiful, and Belgrade gay and amusing. Of all the places
he has visited and the countries he has served, it is of this Balkan
kingdom that the general seems to speak most fondly and with the
greatest feeling. Of Queen Natalie he was and is a most loyal and
chivalric admirer, and was ever ready, when he found any one who did
not as greatly respect the lady, to offer him the choice of swords or
pistols. Even for Milan he finds an extenuating word.
After Servia the general raised more foreign legions, planned further
expeditions; in Central America reorganized the small armies of the
small republics, served as United States Consul, and offered his sword
to President McKinley for use against Spain. But with Servia the most
active portion of the life of the general ceased, and the rest has been
a repetition of what went before. At present his time is divided between
New York and Virginia, where he has been offered an executive position
in the approaching Jamestown Exposition. Both North and South he has
many friends, many admirers. But his life is, and, from the nature of
his profession, must always be, a lonely one.
While other men remain planted in one spot, gathering about them a home,
sons and daughters, an income for old age, MacIver is a rolling stone,
a piece of floating sea-weed; as the present King of England called him
fondly, “that vagabond soldier.”
To a man who has lived in the saddle and upon transports, “neighbor”
conveys nothing, and even “comrade” too often means one who is no longer
living.
With the exception of the United States, of which he now is a
naturalized citizen, the general has fought for nearly every country in
the world, but if any of those for which he lost his health and blood,
and for which he risked his life, remembers him, it makes no sign. And
the general is too proud to ask to be remembered. To-day there is no
more interesting figure than this man who in years is still young enough
to lead an army corps, and who, for forty years, has been selling his
sword and risking his life for presidents, pretenders, charlatans, and
emperors.
He finds some mighty changes: Cuba, which he fought to free, is free;
men of the South, with whom for four years he fought shoulder to
shoulder, are now wearing the blue; the empire of Mexico, for which he
fought, is a republic; the empire of France, for which he fought, is a
republic; the empire of Brazil, for which he fought is a republic; the
dynasty in Servia, to which he owes his greatest honors, has been wiped
out by murder. From none of the eighteen countries he has served has he
a pension, berth, or billet, and at sixty he finds himself at home in
every land, but with a home in none.
Still he has his sword, his blanket, and in the event of war, to obtain
a commission he has only to open his tin boxes and show the commissions
already won. Indeed, any day, in a new uniform, and under the Nineteenth
Flag, the general may again be winning fresh victories and honors.
And so, this brief sketch of him is left unfinished. We will mark
it--_To be continued_.