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MEXICOS FIGHTING FOREIGN LEGION Battling Corps of Cosmopolitans Which Followed the Fortunes of Francisco Madero Aside from the famous French Foreign Legion there was perhaps never such a heterogeneous class of men combined into a fighting unit as was those composing the Legion Estrangero which followed the fortunes of the late illfated President of Mexico Francisco I Madero RedMooded men from every walk of life men afflicted with the wanderlust and an overwhelming love of adventure gunmen cowboys miners prospectors educated men who had failed in life young men just out of school thirsting for adventure they were all there Attracted by the glamour of a Latin American revolution they were gathered from the four cor ¬ ners of the earth and formed into a fighting unit the like of which I never expect to see again againThere There was Viljoen the exBoer general who led a forlorn hope in his native land against the Eng ¬ lish and came to America after the war was over there was Lewis an exartillery captain of the English forces who met Viljoen on the ship com ¬ ing over and the two former foes became the best of friends both of these men were officers on Maderos staff staffFIGHTING FIGHTING IKISH SCOTCH FEENCH FEENCHThen Then there were the Triplets Mahoney Mc ¬ Donald and Charpcntier Irish Scotch and French they were and fighters all There was Paul Ma ¬ son who had i articipatcd in half a dozen revolu ¬ tions before and whose body bore the marks of many wounds he spoke with a strong German accent and many people were of the opinion that Mason was not the name lie was given in infancy One wing of Maderos army was commanded by Giuseppe Garabaldi a scion of the famous Gara baldi family that stands out so prominently in Italian history he is a general now leading an army against the Hun in Italy There was a char ¬ acter known as Death Valley Slim from the deserts of Arizona a young college graduate from the hills of Tennessee named Magee Magee had never handled a rifle in his life yet within a week of his enlistment he took part in a three days fight and acted like a veteran He had in him the fighting blood of Old Hickory Jackson JacksonAt At Casas Grandes where Madero was wounded and defeated there was with him about sixty men of the legion under an exsergeant of the United States Army named Harington For a while the legion bore the brunt of the attack Harington together with about one third of his men were killed They were all buried in one grave Among those who escaped were Jim Harper and John Greer two Texas cowboys They were pursued by Mexican rtirales for about thirty miles and escaped only after they had formed an ambush along a narrow mountain defile where it was necessary to ride single file They hid behind rocks and picked off their pursuers one at a time as they rode along the nar ¬ row trail They finally made their escape across the international line into New Mexico MexicoGreer Greer was killed about a year later in a fight with a sheriffs posse Harper is somewhere Over There as are all the others who survived the Madero revolution revolutionOUT OUT OF BUSINESS WITH MADEEO MADEEOAfter After the revolution was over and Madero be ¬ came President of Mexico the Foreign Legion ceased to exist Its members left Mexico and returned to the United States An Adventure Club was formed in El Paso and they all became members of it The club is no more its members are all in France fighting for the allies many of them joined the Canadian army and went to the front before we cot into the game Viljoen is dead And a braver man never lived Were he living no doubt he would be Over There1 too fighting side by side with his former foes just as General Smoots is doing doingThis This article would not be complete without a mention of Jimmy Hare the war correspondent He used a camera instead of a gun and the firing line was never too hot for him to risk his life in order to get a good picture While other torre siKHidents were writing to their papers comforta ¬ bly seated in the lobby of their hotel Jimmy was cut where there was something doing On one occasion during the three days fight when Maderos forces were storming Juarez Garabaldi at the head of his men came charging down the street just as Hare was in the act of taking a snap shot Hey there Look out there Garry you are spoiling my picture The bullets were flying like hail but Jimmy Hare just would have that picture And he got it too I dont know where lie is now but I dare say he is somewhere Over There where bullets are flying thickest thickestAs As long as I live I will never forget that dare ¬ devil bunch of human misfits that composed the Foreign Legion of Maderos army Some of them sleep in Mexican soil and the place of their re ¬ pose is not even marked Others will no doubt ere long be sleeping in French soil Whatever their fate may be I wish them well and I am glad that I met and knew them They were all redblooded men of action who did things and it is to such men that the world doffs its hat and pays high reverence Dr I J Hush in Outdoor Life
