HO^ 
 
 -J 
 
 ^"-^^^ 
 
 
 'o} -. . . • ^ 1* - . . 
 
 °. ■&* 'iT' ** c 
 
V 
 
 
 
 r 
 
 *' ""'. 
 
 
 
 

\N 
 
 N 
 
 ^ ^ 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL ZACHART TAYLOR 
 
TAYLOR AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 
 
 A BIOGRAPHX Of 
 MAJOR-GENERAL ZACHARY TAYLOR, 
 
 WITH 
 
 A FULL ACCOUNT OF HIS 
 
 MILITARY SERVICES. 
 
 WITH 27 PORTRAITS AND ENGRAVINGS. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA: 
 PUBLISHED BY E. H, BUTLER & CO. 
 
 1848. 
 
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1S4S, by 
 
 E. 11." BUTLER & Co., 
 
 m the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United Stales in and for the 
 
 Eastern District of Pennsylvania. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The time is past for eulogizing General Taylor. 
 The American people, the World, with an unanimity 
 almost unparalleled, have pronounced judgment upon 
 his deeds. From that judgment there is no appeal; 
 to it his most devoted admirers can wish no addition. 
 The heroic greatness of the man shines forth with a 
 steady and refulgent light that requires no adventitious 
 aid to increase either its brightness or its intensity. It 
 is not the object of the present publication, therefore, 
 to eulogize either him or his deeds, or to attempt to 
 increase the number of his admirers, but to present for 
 their use a clear and succinct account of what he has 
 done. The aim is simply to exhibit the facts, not to 
 laud them. With this view, the events of his life have 
 been obtained from documentary or other unquestioned 
 authority, and then set forth with particularity, indeed, 
 as to dates and places, but with the utmost directness 
 and simplicity of style. Such a book, it was believed, 
 would be far more acceptable at the present time than a 
 larger and more elaborate performance. 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 Major-Geaeral Zachary Taylor Frontispiece 
 
 Equestrian Figure (Taylor) Title 
 
 Corpus Christi Page 27 
 
 Fort Brown 29 
 
 Colonel Cross 33 
 
 Point Isabel 37 
 
 Captain Walker 41 
 
 Palo Alto 45 
 
 Major Ringgold 47 
 
 General Twiggs 49 
 
 Arista 51 
 
 Major M'Call 53 
 
 Colonel May 69 
 
 May's Charge 61 
 
 Major Barbour 63 
 
 Lieutenant Blake 65 
 
 Charge on Arista's Camp 69 
 
 Flight of the Mexicans -.73 
 
 Matamoras 75 
 
 Taking of the Bishop's Palace 83 
 
 Storming of Federation Hill and La Soldada 85 
 
 Storming of Monterey (Worth's Division) 89 
 
 Storming of Monterey (Taylor's Division) 91 
 
 General Wool 105 
 
 Battle of Buena Vista Ill 
 
 Scene at Buena Vista 115 
 
 Dragoons Saluting Taylor at Buena Vista 119 
 
LIFE 
 
 AND 
 
 MILITARY SERVICES 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL ZACHARY TAYLOR, 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Zachary Taylor was born in the county of Orange, 
 in Virginia, in the year 1790, on an estate which 
 had been almost from the days of colonization in posses- 
 sion of his family. His ancestors had emigrated in the 
 days of the early settlement from England, and at once 
 occupied a high social and political rank in their new 
 home. In the list of the adherents of Bacon, the rebel, 
 as Sir William Berkeley styled him, is found the name of 
 B. Taylor, of Caroline. It subsequently appears in the 
 annals of the colony and state, connected with the most 
 distinguished men of the country. 
 
 In the year 1790, when Kentucky was a district of 
 Virginia, Colonel Dick Taylor, as he was ever called, 
 emigrated thither with his whole family, in company 
 
10 GENERAL ZACHARY TAYLOR. 
 
 with the elder Croghan, Colonel Bullett, and others of 
 scarcely less note. The country was then a wilderness, the 
 cattle-field of the Indians north of the Ohio, and of the 
 great tribes established south and east of the Alleghany. 
 These various nations were attracted to it by the chase, 
 and collisions ensued whenever two parties chanced to 
 meet. Subsequently, when the population from Virginia 
 and Carolina began to tend thither, frequent incursions 
 w^ere made against the settlements or stations of the whites. 
 During the revolution. Colonel Taylor commanded one 
 of the Virginia regiments, and served repeatedly under 
 the eye of the Father of his country, in the respect 
 of whom he occupied a high position. In the Indian 
 wars of Kentucky, he w^as distinguished by his daring 
 and cool skill, and when peace was restored held many 
 civil stations of trust and importance. He was one of 
 the framers of the constitution of the state, and subse- 
 quently represented both the city of Louisville and 
 the county of Jefferson in the senate and house of rep- 
 resentatives of the state. He died not long since on 
 his plantation near Louisville, leaving six children, 
 Hancock, Zachary, and Joseph, Elizabeth, Sarah, and 
 Emily. Of these Zachary, Joseph, and Sarah, alone are 
 living. 
 
 General Taylor grew up amid a border war, which 
 left its impression permanently on his mind. It pre- 
 pared him for his subsequent career, and fully devel- 
 oped the daring disposition which has ever characterized 
 him. A hundred anecdotes of his boyhood are told, 
 illustrative of his life, curious, but necessarily excluded 
 from such a sketch as this is. After enjoying as many 
 advantages as at that time could be obtained in Kentuck}', 
 and profiting by the instructions of his father, an alum- 
 nus of William and Mary College, Taylor found him- 
 
FORT HARRISON. 11 
 
 self at the beginning of life called on to choose a career. 
 This was the era of outrage committed on the Chesa- 
 peake, and the popular mind was in the highest degree 
 excited. In the west this feeling was peculiarly violent, 
 from the fact that the country had long been harassed 
 by outrages of the Indians acting, beyond all doubt, 
 under British influence. Taylor was most anxious to 
 enter the military service, and a commission of first 
 lieutenant in the 7th infantry was conferred on him by 
 Mr. Jefferson, on the 3d of May, 1808. Taylor was 
 then eighteen. The war seemed imminent, but four 
 long years ensued before a blow was struck. During 
 this interval of time, the young lieutenant devoted him- 
 self to the study of the detail of his profession, and to 
 military history with such avidity as to become conspi- 
 cuous for his knowledge of the latter in the whole army. 
 
 It had long been evident that the war could not be 
 avoided, and both parties were preparing for it. The 
 British were enlisting the Indians on their side by bribes 
 and persuasions, with partial success. The scheme 
 was, however, discovered, and General Harrison, the 
 governor of the northwest, proceeded with a large 
 force to the country of the Miamis, who were known to 
 have entered into stipulations to take up arms. 
 
 General Harrison, on this expedition, determined to 
 build a fort on the Wabash, about fifty miles above Vin- 
 cennes, subsequently known as Fort Harrison. To the 
 command of this, Taylor, who had previously become a 
 captain, was assigned. War, it will be remembered, 
 was declared June 19, 1812. 
 
 Captain Taylor at that time had been but a month in 
 command of Fort Harrison ; a mere stockade, the gar- 
 rison of which was a single company, exhausted in a 
 long march through the wilderness. He was alone, 
 
12 GENERAL ZACHARY TAYLOR. 
 
 surrounded by a treacherous enemy, kept constantly on 
 the alert, and aware that he had nothing to depend on 
 but God and his own cool head. The garrison were 
 also employed unceasingly in strengthening their weak 
 defences. While in this condition, wdth but a handful of 
 his men lit for service, he was attacked by a force four 
 times larger than his own. The attempt was made 
 at night, and Captain Taylor's defence is one of the 
 most brilliant feats recorded by the military annals of the 
 United States. 
 
 The Indians had for some time been prowling around 
 the garrison, w^ithout committing any positive act of hos- 
 tility. On the evening of the 3d of September, how- 
 ever, two young men, who, though citizens, resided in 
 the fort, were shot and scalped. On the evening of 
 the 4th, a party of Indians, composed of the chiefs of 
 many of the bands, led by the Prophet, came to the gar- 
 rison with a white flag, evidently to ascertain the condi- 
 tion of things and the defences. 
 
 This placed Captain Taylor yet more on the alert, 
 and he immediately prepared his command for the con- 
 test. So weakened was it by disease and sickness, that 
 the number of effective men did not exceed fifteen. 
 The commanding officer himself was so exhausted that 
 he could sustain himself on his feet only for a portion of 
 the night. At tattoo fresh precautions were taken, and 
 one of the non-commissioned officers was ordered to pat- 
 rol the line of defences frequently through the night, to 
 prevent the enemy from acquiring any advantage by an 
 unexpected attack. 
 
 At eleven the attack was made. At the first shot of 
 the sentinel the commanding officer ran out and posted 
 his men. At the diagonal corners of the picket were two 
 block-houses, one of which was under the charge of the 
 
DEIENCE OF FORT HARRISON. 
 
 13 
 
 first sergeant. The other was used as a store-house, with 
 the exception of the ground plan^ which was intrusted 
 to a corporal and ten privates as an alarm post. This 
 one the Indians succeeded in firing, crawling up in the 
 dark to a place where a rupture in the floor had taken 
 place from the great weight of salt which rested on it. 
 In the interim a constant and well directed fire was kept 
 up by the enemy on the roof, and as all water was to be 
 carried in buckets, some delay ensued, so that the flames 
 extending to some spirits, also in the building, ascended 
 to the wooden roof and bafiled all efforts to suppress it. 
 
 This block-house was. built out from the barracks in 
 a bastion-like form, and endangered all the defences. 
 The men immediately became terrified, so that Captain 
 Taylor had great difficulty in enforcing obedience to his 
 orders. He saw readily that if the roof of the building 
 was thrown off as far as practicable and the rest could 
 be kept wet, the barracks might yet be saved ; and even 
 if the block were burned, an entrance of only twenty feet 
 would be left in the line of defence, which might easily 
 be closed with a temporary breastwork. This was 
 effected under the superintendence of the surgeon of the 
 post, Dr. Clark. While on the roof of the block-house 
 the whole fire was concentrated on this officer and his 
 party, yet but one man was killed and two wounded. 
 The Indians kept up a continuous fire of ball and arrows, 
 which fell in every part of the parade, by which only one 
 other man was killed during the whole attack, which 
 lasted seven hours. 
 
 During the attack, when the roof was burned, two 
 soldiers had leaped the pickets and attempted to escape. 
 They were, however, intercepted by the Indians, and 
 one was immediately killed. The other, desperately 
 wounded, crawled back to the pickets to die. In the 
 
14 GENERAL ZACHARY TAYLOR. 
 
 interim day broke, and Captain Taylor was enabled to 
 see the enemy and bring his musketry to bear. The 
 enemy then withdrew, driving with them all the stock 
 and horses. 
 
 The number of assailants was about seven hundred, 
 and comprised the whole strength of the Miamis and 
 Weas, besides other bands. 
 
 The slaughter of the Indians was large, but they bore 
 away their killed and wounded. The garrison lost by 
 the burning of the block-house all its supplies, and was 
 forced for a long time to subsist on green corn. The 
 situation of Captain Taylor continued perilous ; alone 
 in the wilderness, without supplies, and unable to esta- 
 blish communication with General Harrison. He could 
 not, therefore, weaken himself by a large detachment, 
 but was compelled to confide his communication, after 
 one attempt to descend the river had failed, to two sol- 
 diers, who were more fortunate. 
 
 His situation, however, became daily more critical, 
 and he was compelled to send another express. Soon 
 afterwards he was reinforced by Colonel Russel with 
 several companies of those valuable troops, the United 
 States rangers, and a party of Indian volunteers. Cap- 
 tain Taylor and his command, leaguered by Indians, must 
 in a day or two have died of starvation. 
 
 The Indians, exasperated at their defeat, commenced 
 a border war and carried havoc along the frontier. The 
 gallant defence of Captain Taylor won him high repu- 
 tation from all classes of the country. This admiration 
 reached the head-quarters of the army, and drew from 
 Mr. Madison an honor he was chary in bestowing, the 
 brevet of major, the first bestowed in the present army, 
 or in the government subsequent to the revolution. All 
 
BLACK HAWK WAR. 15 
 
 prior brevets had been conferred by General Washing- 
 ton in virtue of his authority as generalissimo. 
 
 After the defence of Fort Harrison, Major Taylor 
 participated in an expedition commenced by Major- 
 General Hopkins against the Winnebago Towns, and 
 those of the Prophet. In the events of this campaign, 
 important at that time, but now almost forgotten. Ma- 
 jor Taylor participated and received much commen- 
 dation. 
 
 The war in the northwest was utterly termmated 
 by the defeat of Proctor, and it was the misfortune of 
 Taylor to be stationed at one of the forts in the wilderness 
 strewn over Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, where he also 
 remained long, withdrawing as the tide of emigration 
 swept on, until he had passed the Mississippi. At these 
 posts from 1815 to 1832 he remained, having in the in- 
 terim served as major and lieutenant-colonel in the 1st 
 and 6th infantry. The Black Hawk war occurred in 
 1832, when Lieutenant-Colonel Taylor was assigned to 
 the command of the regular troops of General Atkinson's 
 army.^ With this rank, Taylor participated in the battle 
 of the Bad Axe, by which the Black Hawk war was vir- 
 tually terminated. The affair may be summarily ex- 
 pressed as a charge of regulars, and of Dodge's Rangers, 
 a retreat and rout. Black Hawk, however, was no com- 
 mon man, and with his nation stood long enough to 
 preserve his reputation as a warrior and leader. The 
 Indians maintained their position so as to cover the re- 
 treat of the squaws with the children, and then fled pre- 
 cipitately. 
 
 Immediately after the war, Lieutenant-Colonel Taylor 
 was promoted to the command of the 1st regiment of in 
 fantry, become vacant by the death of Colonel Morgan ; 
 and presided over the Indian department, in which are 
 
16 GENERAL ZACHARY TAYLOR. 
 
 the tribes on both sides of the Upper Mississippi. In 
 this capacity he won the respect of the Indians, and 
 was designated by them emphatically Kahega Make- 
 tonga, or chief of the Long Knifes. 
 
 In 1836-37, when the court of inquiry was convened 
 at Frederick, in Maryland, to investigate the charges 
 against General Scott, which grew out of dissatisfaction 
 of the government with his admirable plan of conduct 
 of the Florida war. General Atkinson, who had com- 
 manded the northern department of the western division, 
 was ordered eastward, as one of its members, and, in 
 the interim, Colonel Taylor assigned to his command. 
 After the adjournment of this court. Colonel Taylor re- 
 turned to his post at Prairie du Chien, and, in 1837, he 
 was ordered with his regiment to Florida, though at the 
 time on a short furlough, the first he had enjoyed for 
 many years. 
 
 Major-General Jesup was at that time in command 
 of the whole peninsula, with Colonel Taylor as the chief 
 of a column ct)mposed of the 1st, 4th, and 6th infantry, 
 a company of artillery, a few pontonniers and pioneers, 
 and a regiment of Missouri volunteers commanded by 
 a Colonel Gentry, from Missouri. 
 
 At that time, in spite of many years of experience, 
 efforts were being continually made to negotiate with the 
 Indians ; and it was not until the 19th of December, 1837, 
 that he was able to follow his own will, and negotiate 
 with a treacherous enemy, at the head of his column. 
 
 Of the circumstances of this march, all we know is 
 gathered from his own reports to the adjutant-general, 
 which, had he never written the admirable communica- 
 tions from Mexico, would alone have placed him among 
 those who can use both the pen and the sword. 
 
 On the 19th of December, 1837, General Jesup in- 
 
TAYLOR IN FLORIDA. 17 
 
 formed him that all hopes of negotiation, through the 
 medium of the Cherokee delegation, had failed, and 
 that Sam Jones, who then controlled the Seminole nation, 
 was determined to tight. The communication also or- 
 dered Colonel Taylor to fight the enemy, wherever he 
 could do so with probability of success. 
 
 Taylor moved down the west shore of Lake Kissi- 
 mee, towards Istopaga, with the certainty that the hostile 
 Indians would either be secreted in their villages, or, if 
 not hidden there, would, to avoid General Jesup, who 
 was moving in an opposite direction, be driven towards 
 the place where the Kissimee enters into the Okee-Cho- 
 bee. Colonel Taylor also wished' to induce any who 
 might wish to come in to treat, to leave the hostile cause 
 and join the small band which w^as willing to emigrate. 
 Colonel Taylor also adopted this course to be enabled 
 to keep up his communication with Colonel P. F. Smith, 
 of Louisiana, who was operating on the Sangbel river, 
 under his orders. 
 
 This whole country was an unknown wilderness. It 
 had ever been the policy of the Seminoles to exclude 
 the whites from their territory. Under the Spanish 
 regime^ the population had rarely extended beyond the 
 head of tide-water, and though the officials at Havana 
 and St. Augustine had beautiful quintas on the shore, 
 they knew nothing of the interior. Before the battle of 
 Okee-Chobee the existence of the lake was unknown, 
 though it is eighty miles wide, and the government has 
 since kept in commission steamboats of large tonnage on 
 it. Around this whole lake was a dense hammock, 
 almost impenetrable to foot or horse. 
 
 After the end of the first day's march, Parks, a Sha- 
 wanee who commanded about one hundred and twenty 
 friendly Indians in the service of the United States, 
 2 
 
18 GENERAL ZACHARY TAYLOR. 
 
 brought in Jumper, a chief who previously had exerted 
 much influence over the Seminoles. With him was a 
 large party of warriors with their famiUes and negroes, 
 all of whom were*sent to a depot which the colonel had es- 
 tablished on the forks of the Kissimee. The whole party 
 would certainly have been arrayed against the column, but 
 for the efforts of Parks, a shrewd and cukivated man, 
 over whom Colonel Taylor had acquired great influence. 
 
 On the next day Taylor continued his march towards 
 the lake. Lieutenant-Colonel Price w^as detached with 
 a battalion of Gentry's Missourians to pick up any 
 stragglers, and to act as an advanced corps to the whole 
 column, and communicate to the main body anything 
 which might occur. The Seminoles who had previously 
 surrendered, had also been sent forward — who returned 
 with news that Alhati Hajo, or Alligator, had abandoned 
 his camp to separate his 'people from the Mickasukies. 
 Various other similar circumstances also satisfied Taylor 
 that he might expect a battle. 
 
 Having subsequently captured a party of Indians in 
 direct communication with the hostiles, he induced the 
 men by a mingling of threats and persuasions to become 
 his guides to the camp of the Mickasukies. Having 
 become sure of an action on the 25th, the column was 
 displayed in order of batde as follows : 
 
 In the first line were the Missouri volunteers, com- 
 manded by Colonel Gentry, and the spies under the 
 orders of a gentleman named Morgan, who for some 
 years had been connected as a sutler with the military 
 establishment of the country. 
 
 The second line was composed of the 4th and 6th 
 infantry. The 1st infantry was held in reserve. The 
 first line was ordered to enter the hammock, and attack 
 the enemy ; in case of necessity they were to fall back in 
 
OKEE-CHOBEE. 
 
 19 
 
 the rear of the second line, in the centre of which was 
 the colonel commanding. 
 
 After advancing for some distance towards a ham- 
 mock, in which the enemy were supposed to be, a dense 
 swamp was reached, nearly impassable for horse, and 
 almost so for foot, covered with high grass, knee-deep 
 .n mud, and terminated on one side by a creek, while on 
 the other it extended as far as the eye could reach. 
 
 At this point the men were dismounted, and the im- 
 pedimenta left under a suitable guard. 
 
 Captain Allen (now brevet major of the 4th) was 
 ordered, with two companies of infantry on horseback, 
 to examine the edge of the swamp. If he saw nothing, 
 to return to the baggage-train ; in case of hearing a 
 heavy fire, to join Colonel Taylor, wherever he might 
 be. Scarcely had Colonel Taylor penetrated the edge 
 of the hammock, when the volunteers and spies received 
 a heavy fire, which was returned by them. Colonel 
 Gentry, a brave and gallant soldier, then fell, mortally 
 wounded, and the mass of the Missourians retreated. 
 They did not, as they had been ordered to do, form 
 between the reserve and second line ; but, in the words 
 of Colonel Taylor, << they retired across the swamp, to 
 their baggage and horses ; nor could they be again 
 brought into action as a body, although eflforts were 
 made repeatedly to induce them to do so." 
 
 For a short time the enemy advanced, but met the 
 4th and 6th foot, called by their commander <' a moving 
 battery." Almost the whole fire of the enemy was con- 
 centrated on one wing of the 6th, which, however^ ad- 
 vanced until Lieutenant-Colonel Thompson and his 
 adjutant. Lieutenant Center, were killed, and every 
 officer but one fell dead or was wounded. The ser- 
 geant-major and the first sergeants of all th^ companies 
 
20 GENERAL ZACHARY TAYLOR. 
 
 were either killed or wounded ; and then only did this 
 veteran regiment retire. After falling back a very short 
 distance, its remnant was again re-formed and brought to 
 the charge. In one of the five companies, every man 
 but four was either killed or wounded. 
 
 In the meantime, Lieutenant-Colonel Foster had en- 
 tered the hammock, w^ith six companies of the 4th, two 
 of the 6th, commanded by Captain Noel, and a few of 
 Gentry's men, at the head of whom was a brave Mis- 
 sourian, named Gilliam, who united and drove the 
 enemy to the shore of Okee-Chobee. 
 
 Captain Allen had heard the firing, and, with his 
 characteristic impetuosity, had advanced. He had in- 
 formed the commanding officer of this movement, and 
 the 1st and the reserve w-as ordered to turn the enemy's 
 left. The old 1st performed this movement scientifi- 
 cally, and, at its first fire, the enemy broke, pursued by 
 the 1st, 4th, and 6th, until night and the fatigues of the 
 day terminated all. 
 
 The battle was a severe one. It lasted from half 
 after twelve until after three, during wliich time, of Tay- 
 lor's force, twenty-six were killed and one hundred and 
 twenty wounded. The enemy left ten dead on the 
 ground, and probably carried off thrice as many. 
 
 Colonel Taylor thus speaks of the condition of his 
 army after the action : 
 
 " And here, I trust I may be permitted to say, that I 
 experienced one of the most trying scenes of my life, 
 and he Avho could have looked on it with indifference, 
 his nerves must have been very differently organized 
 from my own ; besides the killed, there lay one hundred 
 and twelve wounded officers and soldiers, who had 
 accompanied me one hundred and forty-five miles, most 
 of the way through an unexplored wilderness, without 
 
OKEE-CHOBEE. 
 
 21 
 
 guides, who had so gallantly beaten the enemy under 
 my orders, in his strongest position, and who had to be 
 conveyed back through swamps and hammocks, from 
 whence we set out, without any apparent means of doing 
 so. This service, however, was encountered and over- 
 come, and they have been conveyed thus far, and pro- 
 ceeded on to Tampa Bay, on rude litters, constructed 
 with the axe and knife alone, with poles and dry hides — 
 the latter being found in great abundance at the encamp- 
 ment of the hostiles. The litters were conveyed on the 
 backs of our weak and tottering horses, aided by the 
 residue of the command, with more ease and comfort to 
 the sufferers than I could have supposed, and with as 
 much as they could have been in ambulances of the 
 most improved and modern construction." 
 
 Many brave men died, and many gallant soldiers 
 earned distinction in this battle. Lieutenant-Colonel 
 Davenport, of the 1st infantry, sustained his high repu- 
 tation, and his regiment added a new title to their old 
 sobriquet of the " fighting first." 
 
 Colonel Foster, who died subsequently at Baton 
 Rouge, of what is now called vomito, but in those days 
 w^as known as yellow fever, led the 4th infantry into 
 action, and never yielded one foot of ground until 
 arrested by the waters of the lake. Colonel Foster was 
 a veteran of the war of 1812, and fully maintained his 
 early fame. Brevet Major Graham, Captain Allen, and 
 Lieutenant Hooper, earned much distinction. The lat- 
 ter, though severely wounded early in the day, continued 
 to head his company until the enemy were finally routed 
 
 The 6th infantry bore the brunt of the battle. Colo- 
 nel Taylor thus speaks of them : 
 
 " It was their fortune tb bear the brunt of the battle. 
 The report of the killed and wounded which accompa- 
 
2^ GENERAL ZACHARY TAYLOR. 
 
 nies this, is more conclusive evidence of their merits than 
 anything I can say. After five companies of this regi- 
 ment, against which the enemy directed the most deadly 
 fire, were nearly cut up, there being only four men left 
 uninjured in one of them, and every officer and orderly 
 sergeant of those companies, with one exception, were 
 either killed or wounded. Captain Noel, with the remain- 
 ing two companies, his own company, « K,' and Cross- 
 man's, ' B,' commanded by Second Lieutenant Woods, 
 which was the left of the regiment, formed on the right 
 of the 4th infantry, entered the hammock with tliat regi- 
 ment, and continued the fight and the pursuit until its 
 termination. It is due to Captain Andrews and- Lieu- 
 tenant Walker, to say, they commanded two of the five 
 companies mentioned above, and they continued to direct 
 them until they were both severely wounded and car- 
 ried from the field ; the latter received three separate 
 balls." 
 
 The gallant commander of this regiment. Colonel A. 
 K. Thompson, was killed. Though he had early in the 
 day received two wounds, he continued to command, 
 with as much coolness as he would have exhibited on a 
 regimental drill. When he received the third ball he 
 exclaimed, <' Steady, men, steady ; remember your regi- 
 ment," and died. 
 
 Captain Van Swearingen and Lieutenant Brooke, a 
 nephew of General George M. Brooke, were also killed. 
 Colonel Taylor, in his despatch, says they had no supe- 
 riors ; and he is not " a man of words." 
 
 This action was an important one. It affected mate- 
 rially the power of the Seminoles, destroyed their ener- 
 gies, and contributed to their ultimate defeat. The 
 secretary of war and the general-in- chief both compli- 
 mented him highly on his success, for which he received 
 
EVERGLADES. 23 
 
 the brevet of brigadier-general, which, in his case, was 
 an absolute promotion, as he never afterwards com- 
 manded but according to his grade. He commanded in 
 Florida until 1840, when, at his own request, he was 
 removed, and the command was assigned to Brigadier- 
 General Armistead. 
 
 The services of General Taylor, after the battle of 
 Okee-Chobee, were important, but were of that charac- 
 ter to attract little reputation among those who look less 
 at result than appearance. His head-quarters were at 
 Fort Bassinger, whence he sent out various expeditions 
 into that country whither, by his victory, the Indians 
 were driven. One of these expeditions, and the nature 
 of this country, are best explained by the following pri- 
 vate letter from an officer of rank to a friend : 
 
 " We have just returned from the everglades. These 
 everglades are, at the northwest, termed wet prairies. 
 They are large wet prairies, or grassy lakes, of which 
 the Indians know but little, and where they cannot live a 
 month, without great suffering. 
 
 We saw but few Indians, and they fled rapidly at 
 our approach. We took about sixty horses, and ascer- 
 tained that their cattle w^ere exhausted. Colonel Taylor 
 has taken about six hundred head. We found, on our 
 last excursion, but few cattle tracks, and only two cows 
 were taken. The Indians are suffering for food ; in all 
 their camps we find they had subsisted on palmetto roots 
 and the cabbage-tree, which are never eaten by them 
 except when hard run. 
 
 One hundred and thirty Indians and negroes have 
 come in since the battle of Okee-Chobee, and they say 
 many more will come in soon, and that they are tired of 
 the war and destitute of provisions. 
 
 Florida is generally a poor, sandy country. The 
 
24 GENERAL ZACHARY TAYLOR. 
 
 southern portion is nearly all prairie, wet and dry alter- 
 nately. Not more than one-tenth, at the utmost, of Flo- 
 rida is fit for cultivation ; and I would not give one good 
 township of land in Illinois or Michigan for every foot 
 of land in East Florida. 
 
 The Indian prisoners now admit that they lost twenty 
 in the fight with Colonel Taylor. They had a strong 
 position, and fought well, but were terribly whipped, 
 and have never returned near the ground since." 
 
 General Taylor, after a brief furlough, was assigned 
 to the command of the first department of the western 
 division of the army, including the state of Alabama 
 and all the other states on the Mississippi, south of Ten- 
 nessee and Missouri, with head-quarters at Fort Jesup, 
 in Louisiana. This assignment led to his being intrusted 
 with the command on the Mexican frontier, the field of 
 his subsequent glory. 
 
 General Taylor, in an account of the battle of Okee- 
 Chobee, took occasion to animadvert severely on the 
 conduct of the volunteers of Missouri, in especial, and, 
 by implication, on the whole class of troops. Monterey 
 and Buena Vista were then unheard-of names, and cir- 
 cumstances justified him fully in speaking as he did of 
 the Missourians. The circumstance, however, excited 
 in Missouri much ill feeling, and an angry discussion 
 ensued, forgotten now or lost in the halo of Palo Alto, 
 La Resaca, Monterey, and Buena Vista. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 Forerunners of the Mexican war — Instructions to Taylor — 
 Murder of Colonel Cross — Correspondence between Taylor 
 and Ampudia — Bombardment of Fort Brown — Battles of 
 Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma. 
 
 The origin and justice of the Mexican war has been 
 much discussed. Mon nobis tantas componere lites : it 
 may not, however, be improper to refer succinctly to a 
 few of the circumstances which were the forerunners of 
 this war. On the 1st day of March, 1845, Texas was 
 admitted into the American Union, and the two countries 
 at once assumed a hostile attitude. 
 
 On the 28th day of May, 1845, Mr. Marcy, the 
 secretary of war, directed General Taylor, then at Fort 
 Jessup, La., to hold his troops in readiness to move 
 into Texas to repel invasion either of the Mexicans or 
 Indians ; and in case of hostility by Mexico, to call for 
 any force near him which he might think necessary. 
 He was also ordered to open communication with the 
 government of Texas and the diplomatic agent of the 
 United States, resident near it. 
 
 On the 15th of June, 1845, the Hon. George Ban- 
 croft, secretary of the navy, and ad interim of war, 
 Informed General Taylor that on or about the 4t:i of 
 July, the people of Texas would have acceded to the 
 Union, and Texas become de facto and de jure one of the 
 United States. He was forthwith ordered to march to 
 the mouth of the Sabine, or wherever he might think it 
 
26 GENERAL ZACHARY TAYLOR. 
 
 advisable., within Texas. He was also authorized to 
 occupy any post on or near the Rio Grande which he 
 might think necessary to repel invasion. General Taylor 
 was ordered not to cross the Rio Grande unless Mexico 
 should make the first attack. 
 
 General Taylor soon after received intelhgence that, 
 by the formal consent of the republic of Texas, its 
 amalgamation with the United States had become per- 
 fect, and on the next day left for the island of St. 
 Joseph's, where he arrived on the 2oth of July. In 
 August he moved to Corpus Christi, on the west side 
 of the Nueces, not far from the Gulf, where he remained 
 until the 11th of March, 1846. While at Corpus Christi 
 a party was sent forward to the Rio Grande to recon- 
 noitre the intervening country, and recommended the 
 selection of Punto de Isabel (Point Isabel) as a suitable 
 place for a depot. The correspondence which passed 
 between Taylor and the war department at this crisis, 
 demonstrates that he acted as the agent of the govern- 
 ment, under orders, and is by no means responsible for 
 the first outbreak of the war, either in a moral or 
 political point of view. The government had resolved 
 on war," and both by letters to General Taylor, and to 
 the governors of the southwestern states, had declared 
 that it expected a contest, by the activity it evinced 
 in making arrangements for the enrolment of volun- 
 teers, kc. 
 
 On the 8th of July the secretary of war issued the 
 following explicit order to General Taylor, contained 
 in an official autograph letter, the first part of which, 
 after ordering him to occupy some posts opposite 
 Matamoras and Mier, and in the neighborhood of 
 Loredo, continued : 
 
 "In the positions you may take in carrying out 
 
27 
 
 f!Ifltl:in::,iii-rTr\Yt!lSrii!ll!i, 
 
28 GENERAL ZACHARY TAYLOR. 
 
 these instructions, and other movements that may be 
 made, the use of the Rio Del Norte may be ver^ 
 convenient, if not necessary. Should you attempt to 
 exercise the right which the United States have, in 
 common with Mexico, to the free navigation of this 
 river, it is probable that Mexico would interpose 
 resistance. You will not attempt to enforce this right 
 without further instructions; 
 
 You are requested to report to this department, 
 without delay, what means you may require, if any, 
 beyond those you now possess, to enforce and maintain 
 our common right to navigate this river, as well as 
 your views of the importance of this right in the 
 defence and protection of the state of Texas. 
 
 It is not designed, in our present relations with 
 Mexico, that you should treat her as an enemy ; but, 
 should she assume that character by a declaration of 
 war, or an open act of hostility towards us, you will 
 not act merely on the defensive, if your relative means 
 wdll enable you to do otherwise. 
 
 Since instructions were given you to draw aid from 
 Texas, in case you should deem it necessary, the 
 relations between that state and the United States have 
 undergone some modification. Texas is now fully 
 incorporated into our union of states, and you are 
 hereby authorized by the president to make a requi- 
 sition upon the executive of that state for such of its 
 militia force as may be needed to repel invasion, or to 
 secure the country against apprehended invasion." 
 
 The correspondence and interchange of orders and 
 reports between General Taylor and his military 
 superiors and the department are most interesting, but 
 scarcely comport with the plan of this book, belonging 
 more properly to the general history of the nation. 
 Vol. II. 3 
 
29 
 
 III" 
 
 iir- 
 
 i"iiri 
 
 II, '"ill!' 1 1 
 
 lliii'^i'^ii'IinTmiu. 
 
 m 
 
 ^r-^^ 'I I'ii 1 111 
 
 - ' I 
 
 '/. J 
 
 I iilllllk 
 
 linii 
 
 !! rill 
 
 I ,1 
 
30 GENERAL ZACHARY TAYLOR. 
 
 On the 29th of March, General Taylor reachea Ihe 
 bank of the Rio Grande, opposite Mata moras, witnout 
 any resistance. Two dragoons sent forward from the 
 advance did not return, and it \vas considered doubtful 
 by him if they had not deserted. He immediately set 
 to work to fortify his position, and commenced the 
 breastwork of what was subsequently called Fort 
 Brown. 
 
 During all this protocolling and concentration of 
 troops, Mexico had been busy. After protesting at 
 every part of the negotiation betw^een Texas and the 
 United States against the course of the latter, the 
 Mexican minister had left Washington, and all inter- 
 course between the two governments had been de- 
 stroyed. Many abortive attempts had been made to 
 renew negotiations, and other questions had become 
 involved in the dispute. Bodies of troops had been 
 prepared by the southern republic, and Mexico looked 
 on the aggregation of Texas with the United States 
 as the first step towards a policy which would lead to 
 her dismemberment. The whole nation looked on it as 
 a cause of war, which it seems to have foreseen and 
 prepared for. The conduct of the Mexican republic at 
 this crisis strikingly recalls that of the Moors in 
 Grenada, in the days of Ferdinand and Isabel. Both 
 foresaw war and its consequences, and knew^ defeat 
 awaited them, but nerved themselves for a contest 
 which had become inevitable. In April, 1846, there 
 were at Matamoras four thousand artillery and infimtry, 
 and two hundred horse. 
 
 The march of General Taylor from Corpus Christi 
 to Fort Brown, made between the 11th and 28th of 
 March, was of itself a military achievement of no ordi- 
 nary merit; when he arrived opposite Matamoras, he 
 
MURDER OF COLONEL CROSS. 
 
 31 
 
 found himself in the presence of a strong Mexican 
 force, commanded by General Mejia, who soon after- 
 wards was relieved by Ampudia. The latter imme- 
 diately summoned General Taylor to evacuate the terri- 
 tory claimed, as belonging to the Mexican nation, on 
 which General Taylor then stood, within twenty-four 
 hours. This, General Taylor refused to do ; many dis- 
 cussions took place, and a collision became inevitable. 
 
 Colonel Trueman Cross, about the lOlh of April, 
 disappeared from the camp, and the very many inquiries 
 which have been made, have so far, furnished nothing 
 in relation to his death. General Taylor, in the interval 
 between his disappearance and the discovery of his 
 body, had twice written for information in relation to 
 him, to the Mexican commander at Matamoras. This 
 official, however, most positively denied all knowledge 
 of him, in spite of which, his friends fondly hoped he 
 might have been taken to Matamoras, and secretly 
 confined there. There was a motive for concealment, 
 as the fact of his having been made a prisoner would 
 be a commencement of hostilities. 
 
 On the 20th of April, a Mexican came into camp, 
 and reported that he knew where lay the body of an 
 American officer ; a party was sent under his guidance, 
 and found the body of Colonel Cross, not to be recog- 
 nised but by detached portions of his dress. He ap- 
 pears to have ridden, as usual, from the camp for exercise, 
 and the Mexican who discovered his body, said, had 
 been captured by a band of rancheros, commanded by 
 Romano Falcon, long notorious in the Texan frontier 
 wars. Having been robbed, it was proposed to take 
 him to Matamoras a prisoner ; but as Falcon knew he 
 would be forced by the Mexican general, (who was 
 evidently most anxious to procrastinate the commence- 
 
32 GENERAL ZACHARY TAYLOR. 
 
 nient of hostilities), to surrender there the plunder 
 taken from the coloneFs person, the latter was killed by 
 a treacherous pistol shot. 
 
 A board was ordered to investigate the circumstances 
 of his death, and reported, that Colonel Cross was 
 murdered. On the 24th of April, while the Mexican 
 army under Ampudia was, for the first time, crossing 
 the river, the body of Colonel Cross was buried with 
 all the honors due his high rauk ; attended to the grave 
 by every officer of the Army of Occupation not on 
 duty, by his son as mourner, and escorted by the veteran 
 7th infantry, and a squadron of dragoons. Colonel 
 Cross was buried in front of the eastern curtain of Fort 
 Brown. He was the first victim of the war. 
 
 Colonel Trueman Cross had entered the army on the 
 27th of April, 1814, as an ensign of the 42d infantry, 
 and had gradually risen to the high position of assistant 
 quartermaster-general, with the rank of colonel of 
 cavalry, a commission he received July 7th, 1838. 
 He w^as at the time of his death about forty-seven 
 years of age, and w^as one of the most distinguished 
 officers of the department to which he belonged. He 
 was a native of Maryland. 
 
 On the 17th of April, Lieutenant Porter, a lieutenant 
 of the 4th infantry, and Lieutenant Dobbins, left camp 
 for the purpose of discovering the body of Colonel 
 Cross, in relation to whom the greatest anxiety was 
 entertained by the whole Army of Occupation. On 
 the night of the 18th, Porter met a party of rancheros, 
 about one hundred and fifty, and on approaching them, 
 he was fired at.* He returned the fire with his own 
 
 ♦ Tlje Mexicans were peacefully engaged (jerking beef), but had 
 sentinels posted, a circumstance natural enough, in the existing 
 state of affairs. 
 
33 
 
 COLONEL CROSS 
 
34 GENERAL ZACHARY TAYLOR. 
 
 fusee, when they fled, and he took possession of their 
 camp, equipage, and horses. While on his return to 
 General Taylor's positions, in the midst of a dense 
 rain, he \vas fired on, and after a severe contest was 
 wounded, and fell. His men retreated to the chapparal, 
 and when all was over, the wounded officer was mur- 
 dered by the knives of the rancheros. A few of the 
 men reached camp and reported these circumstances to 
 General Taylor. 
 
 General Taylor had previously blockaded the river, 
 a circumstance which elicited a letter, from which the 
 following is an extract, addressed to him by the Mexi- 
 can general, Don Pedro de Ampudia : 
 
 "I have learned that some vessels bound for the 
 mouth of the river have not been able to effect an 
 entrance into that port, in consequence of your orders 
 that they should be conducted to Brazos Santiago. 
 The cargo of one of them is composed in great part, 
 and of the other entirely, of provisions, which the con- 
 tractors charged with providing for the army under my 
 orders had procured to fulfil the obligations of their 
 contract. You have taken possession of these provi- 
 sions by force, and against the will of the proprietors, 
 one of whom is vice-consul of her Catholic Majesty, 
 and the other of her Britannic Majesty ; and whose 
 rights, in place of being rigorously respected, as was 
 proffered, and as was to be hoped from the observance 
 of the principles which govern among civilized nations, 
 have, on the contrary, been violated in the most extra- 
 ordinary manner opposed to the guarantee and respect 
 due to private property. 
 
 Nothing can have authorized you in such a course. 
 The commerce of nations is not suspended or inter- 
 rupted except in consequence of a solemn declaration 
 
35 
 
 of blockade, communicated and established in the form 
 prescribed by international law," &c. &c. 
 
 The reply of General Taylor was a master-piece; 
 he retorted on the Mexicans the charge of beginning 
 the war : 
 
 '' On breaking up my camp at Corpus Christi, and 
 moving forward with the army under my orders to 
 occupy the left bank of the Rio Bravo, it was my 
 earnest desire to execute my instructions in a pacific 
 manner ; to observe the utmost regard for the personal 
 rights of all citizens residing on the left bank of the 
 river, and to take care that the religion and customs of 
 the people should suffer no violation. With this view, 
 and to quiet the minds of the inhabitants, I issued orders 
 to the army, enjoining a strict observance of the rights 
 and interests of all Mexicans residing on the river, and 
 caused said orders to be translated into Spanish, and 
 circulated in the several towns on the Bravo. These 
 orders announced the spirit in which we proposed to 
 occupy the country, and I am proud to say that up to 
 this moment the same spirit has controlled the operations 
 of the army. On reaching the Arroyo Colorado I was 
 informed by a Mexican officer that the order in question 
 had been received in Matamoras ; but was told at the 
 same time that if I attempted to cross the river it would 
 be regarded as a declaration of w^ar. Again, on my 
 march to Frontone I was met by a deputation of the civil 
 authorities of Matamoras, protesting against my occu- 
 pation of a portion of the department of Tamaulipas, 
 and declaring that if the army was not at once with- 
 drawn, war would result. While this communication 
 was in my hands, it was discovered that the village of 
 Frontone had been set on fire and abandoned. I viewed 
 this as a direct act of w^ar, and informed the deputation 
 
36 GENERAL ZACHARY TAYLOR. 
 
 that their communication ^voulcl be answered by me 
 when opposite Matamoras, which was done in respectful 
 terms. On reaching the river I despatched an officer, 
 high in rank, to convey to the commanding general in 
 Matamoras the expression of my desire for amicable 
 relations, and my willingness to leave open to the use 
 of the citizens of Matamoras, the port of Brazos, until 
 the question of boundary should be definitely settled. 
 
 Notwithstanding these repeated assurances on the 
 part of the Mexican authorities, and notwithstanding 
 the most obviously hostile preparations on the right 
 bank of the river, accompanied by a rigid non-inter- 
 course, I carefully abstained from any act of hostility — 
 determined that the onus of producing an actual state 
 of hostilities should not rest with me. Our relations 
 remained in this state until I had the honor to receive 
 your note of the 12th instant, in w^hich you denounce 
 war as the alternative of my remaining in this position. 
 As I could not, under my instructions, recede from my 
 position, I accepted the alternative you offered me, and 
 made all my dispositions to meet it suitably. But, still 
 willing to adopt milder measures before proceeding to 
 others, I contented myself in the first instance with 
 ordering a blockade of the mouth of the Rio Bravo, by 
 the naval forces under my orders — a proceeding per- 
 fectly consonant wnth the state of war so often declared 
 to exist, and which you acknowledged in your note of 
 the 16th instant, relative to the late Colonel Cross. If 
 this measure seem oppressive, I wish it borne in mind 
 that it has been forced upon me by the course you have 
 seen fit to adopt. I have reported this blockade to my 
 government, and shall not remove it until I receive 
 instructions to that eflfect, unless indeed, you desire an 
 
37 
 
 iiiiiiiiii' 
 
 I 
 
 
38 GENERAL ZACHARY TAYLOR. 
 
 armistice pending the final settlement of the question 
 between the governments, or until war shall be formally 
 declared by either, in which case I shall cheerfully open 
 the river. In regard to the consequences you mention 
 as resulting from a refusal to remove the blockade, I 
 beg you to understand that I am prepared for them, be 
 they what they may." 
 
 In the interim, preparations had been made by both 
 parties with great activity ; and a circular had been 
 insidiously disseminated through the American army 
 inviting the naturalized foreigners in its ranks to desert. 
 This degrading proposition was everywhere treated with 
 contempt, and had no influence whatever on those to 
 whom it was addressed. 
 
 Hostilities at last commenced. General Taylor had 
 made a depot of arms and munitions of war at Point 
 Isabel. At the time of the funeral of Colonel Cross, 
 be learned that twenty-five hundred Mexicans, of all 
 arms, had in two bodies crossed the Rio Grande for the 
 purpose of interrupting the communication between Fort 
 Brown and the depot. As one part of this force had 
 crossed above, and the other below Matamoras, two 
 parties of dragoons were detached, the one with orders 
 to reconnoitre one division, and a second the other. 
 
 The one which ascended the bank of the river, was 
 commanded by Captain Seth B. Thornton. After a 
 march of about twenty miles, his Mexican guide refused 
 to go farther, alleging that the country was filled with Mex- 
 ican troops, and Captain Thornton was obliged to proceed 
 without his assistance. Having reached a small hacienda 
 or ranchoj surrounded by a thicket of chapparal, he 
 entered the enclosure in single file, and found that he was 
 hemmed in by a force of five hundred Mexicans, com- 
 manded by Torrejon, a brigadier-general. The American 
 
CAPTAIN THORNTON. 
 
 39 
 
 force, which numbered less than forty saddles, was at 
 once formed, and a charge was ordered by Thornton, 
 with the hope of being able to cut his way through. He 
 was successful in escaping, but was ultimately retaken. 
 His command was beaten back by the overpowering 
 force of Mexican foot, which appeared at every point of 
 the hammock. Captain Hardee, on whom the command 
 devolved, then surrendered himself and party, and were 
 immediately taken to Matamoras. 
 
 The loss of the Americans, in this affair, w^as one 
 officer (Lieutenant G. T. Mason), two sergeants, and 
 eight men killed, with twenty-eight officers and men pri- 
 soners ; being one-third of General Taylor's mounted 
 force. The party of Captain Ker, w^hich proceeded down 
 the river, did not find any traces of the enemy. 
 
 On the 28th of April, a volunteer officer, named 
 Walker, since become distinguished, and now^ a captain 
 of mounted riflemen, attempted to proceed from Point 
 Isabel to Fort Brown, with a small party. He was, 
 however, driven back. On the 29th he succeeded in 
 communicating to General Taylor, from Major Monroe, 
 commanding the depot, the fact that the Point was 
 menaced by a large force. 
 
 It was obvious at once, to the mind of every military 
 man, that General Taylor could not maintain his position 
 a single day, if the enemy obtained possession of the 
 depot, and he at once resolved to open the communi- 
 cation, at all hazards. The breast-work, therefore, which 
 had been thrown up in front of Matamoras, w^as confided 
 to Major Jacob Brown, a veteran officer of the 7th in- 
 fantry, with two companies of artillery, commanded by 
 Captain Loud, and Major Brown's own regiment. This 
 was on the 1st of May. 
 
 In the meantime, General Arista had assumed com- 
 
40 GENERAL ZACHARY TAYLOR. 
 
 mand of the Mexican forces at Matamoras ; and either 
 did, or pretended to, construe General Taylor's move- 
 ment as a retreat. In a bulletin sent to the city of Mex- 
 ico, he spoke of it as a fact, and assured the nation that 
 it had gained a bloodless triumph. 
 
 On the same day, but a few hours before, the Mexican 
 general-in-chief left Matamoras to join the forces already 
 thrown forward on the north bank of the Rio Grande. 
 General Taylor marched with all his available force 
 towards Point Isabel, and was not overtaken by Arista. 
 The latter was certainly anxious to do so. Failing in 
 this, an attack was made on Fort Brown, on the 3d of 
 May, from a battery of seven guns, which were soon 
 silenced by the fire of the fort. The Mexicans were 
 not, however, intimidated, but returned to the attack 
 with shot and shell, which, notwithstanding, did but 
 little serious damage. 
 
 General Taylor at the head of his troops had marched 
 to the depot, and there heard the firing. A party hav- 
 ing been sent to reconnoitre, returned with information 
 that Major Brown could very w^ell maintain his position 
 against the Mexican assailants. The result of the first 
 day's bombardment, the Mexicans affected to think a 
 victory, and drew from it the conclusion that the Ameri- 
 can army, in courage and skill, was the inferior of 
 their own. 
 
 During the night of the 4th of May, a body of Mexi- 
 can troops crossed the river, and threw up a strong 
 battery in the rear of Fort Brown, from which, as well 
 as the city, a heavy fire was opened on the morning of 
 the 5th. Before the close of the day, however, the 
 Mexican guns w^ere silenced. 
 
 On the 6th the fire was renewed, and the shot and 
 shell were thrown with great accuracy. The size of the 
 
41 
 
 CAPTAIN WALKER. 
 
42 GENERAL ZACIIARY TAYLOR. 
 
 work, however, and the small number of men left to 
 defend its area, rendered the loss of life far less than 
 would have been the case, had its garrison been ample. 
 Early on this day, Major Brown was struck by a shot, 
 which carried off one of his legs, and so shattered his 
 nervous system that two days afterwards, amputation 
 having in the meantime been performed, he died. Ma- 
 jor Brown was an officer of great distinction, and was 
 regretted by all who knew him, as a loss not only to his 
 regiment and the army, but to the country. In its ser- 
 vice he had grown gray, and had served in every climate, 
 and under the most trying circumstances, with honor and 
 reputation. The command then devolved on Captain 
 Hawkins, of the same regiment. The keen perception 
 of General Taylor had enabled him to foresee the result 
 of the attack on Fort Brown. He had therefore left 
 with its commander the most distinct orders to defend 
 himself at all hazards, to risk no sally, and in case of 
 being surrounded, to fire his heavy guns at stated inter- 
 vals, which w^ould inform him of the fact. After the 
 Mexican battery in the rear had opened its fire, this 
 signal was given, and General Taylor immediately set 
 out to return to the gallant defenders of the fortress. 
 The Mexican general also understood the signal, and 
 redoubled his efforts to overpower the garrison before 
 Taylor could arrive. At this crisis Fort Brown was 
 summoned to surrender. The commander positively 
 refused, replying, "That he did not understand Spanish." 
 
 The firing, which had temporarily ceased, was again 
 renewed with more intensity than at any previous time. 
 At this crisis the ammunition was nearly exhausted in the 
 fort, and the garrison was compelled to remain almost 
 inactive. 
 
 On the morning of the 7th the fire of the Mexican 
 
BOMBARDMENT OF FORT BROWN. 43 
 
 batteries was heard again, with the exception of the one 
 in the rear of the fort, which had been taken to Mata- 
 moras. The fire did not, however, last long. It was 
 from time to time afterwards resumed. A few men had 
 deserted from the fort, and havmg informed the Mexi- 
 cans that the garrison was almost without ammunition, 
 the latter changed their course, and evidently evinced a 
 determination to force the besieged to expend the small 
 supply they yet possessed. From time to time they ap- 
 proached near the fort, but were driven off by the excel- 
 lent practice of the American artillery. After night on 
 this day, under the command of Captain Mansfield, of 
 the engineers, thetroopslevelled a few^ natural and arti- 
 ficial defences of which the enemy had taken advantage. 
 A few volleys were fired after midnight, and the cannon- 
 ade was resumed on the next day. 
 
 On the 8th of May, at noon, the garrison was nearly 
 exhausted by the length of the bombardment, and 
 scarcely paid attention to the shells thrown among them 
 from Matamoras. At length the fire ceased. A long, 
 loud, and heavy cannonading was borne on the winds 
 from towards Point Isabel. Every breath was hushed, 
 every ear was attentive. Again and again it sounded. 
 They knew that General Taylor was advancing. The 
 firing told them that he, too, had an enemy in front, and 
 the simultaneous cheer which burst from the lips of every 
 one showed how confident they were as to the result of 
 the contest. The people of Matamoras heard the firing 
 and the cheers of the garrison, for immediately forces 
 were thrown forward to reinforce the Mexican army, and 
 the bombardment was again begun. A new battery, 
 the fourth, was then opened on the fort. At nightfall 
 all again became quiet, and it was time ; for during the 
 
44 GENERAL ZACIIARY TAYLOR. 
 
 twenty- four hours three hundred solid and hollow shot 
 had fallen within the parapet of Fort Brown. 
 
 The signal guns hurried General Taylor from Point 
 Isabel, which he left on the evening of the 7th, with 
 twenty-one hundred men, and a train of two hundred 
 and fifty wagons. He had determined to fight the enemy. 
 On that night he encamped about seven miles from 
 Point Isabel. At early dawn he resumed his march 
 w^ithout any obstacle, until -noon, when the vanguard 
 reported that the Mexican army was draw^n up in battle 
 array. He w^as soon after informed that it had fallen 
 back towards Fort Brown. The train and troops again 
 advanced until they reached a level prairie, surrounded 
 by a grove, known in the country as El Palo Alto. The 
 American army advanced between two small fresh wa- 
 ter lakes, each of which w^as bounded by chapparal, a 
 thicket of cactus, meschete, and various spiny shrubs 
 peculiar to the country, and almost impenetrable. 
 Across the prairie the Mexican forces were again arrayed, 
 in the following order : On the right was a regiment of 
 lancers, next artillery, and next infantry of the line, with 
 other troops of the three arms alternating on the prolonga- 
 tion of the deployment. 
 
 The train was formed at once into a compact square, 
 and General Taylor deployed his column. While this 
 mancEuvre was being executed. Lieutenant J. E. Blake, 
 since dead of a wound received by the accidental dis- 
 charge of his pistol, made a reconnoissance of the whole 
 Mexican line in so gallant a manner, as to elicit the 
 praise of the whole army. The report he delivered to 
 General Taylor on this occasion, subsequently verified 
 by sure information, evinced a military eye and know- 
 ledge, which gave the most brilliant promise for his 
 future career. 
 
45 
 
46 GENERAL ZACHARY TAYLOR. 
 
 The two armies were now within seven hundred 
 paces of each other. The Mexican stood firm, and 
 the American with silent step (the prairie was covered with 
 dense grass) was closing up. The artillery and horse 
 moved up, and the only sound heard was the rattling of 
 the equipage of the men and guns. The Mexican bat- 
 teries at this time opened on the American line, which 
 was formed as follows : 
 
 On the right was the 5th infantry, commanded by 
 Lieutenant-Colonel MTntosh ; next to which was a 
 troop of flying artillery, commanded by Major Ringgold. 
 The 3d infantry stood next, and was commanded by its 
 senior captain, Lewis N. Morris ; on its left were two 
 eighteen-pound guns under the direction of Lieutenant 
 W. N. Churchhill, of the 3d artillery'. Beyond the 
 heavy artillery was the 4th infantry, commanded by Major 
 G. W. Allen. The 3d and 4th infantry brigaded together 
 were commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel John Garland ; 
 and the whole, besides two squadrons of dragoons com- 
 manded by Captains Ker and May, w^ere led by Colonel 
 Twiggs of the 2d dragoons, since become a general. 
 On the left were the artillery battalion commanded by 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Childs, a troop of light artillery com- 
 manded by Captain Jajnes Duncan of the 2d artillery, 
 and the 8th infantry under Captain W. R. Montgomery. 
 This brigade was commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel 
 Belknap. 
 
 The whole Mexican artillery, w^hich was dispersed 
 along their line, poured a heavy fire into the American 
 army, which had advanced by head of columns, deployed, 
 and halted. The heavy artillery of Churchhill began to 
 fire, and Duncan's and Ringgold's batteries rushed into 
 the open prairie and fired with a rapidity almost in- 
 conceivable. The Mexicans fired badly, their balls 
 
47 
 
 MAJOR RINGGOLD. 
 
48 GENERAL ZACHARY TAYLOR. 
 
 passing for the greatest part over the American line, 
 while the American light artillery delivered their shot 
 with a precision rarely equalled and never surpassed. 
 At last the infantry, maddened by inactivity, while the 
 artillery were so busily engaged, became impatient. 
 The Mexican cavalry also prepared to charge. 
 
 General Torrejon at the head of a body of Mexican 
 cavalry sought to pass our right for the purpose of at- 
 tacking the train, which, under the charge of Captains 
 George Grossman and A. C. Myers, were in the rear 
 of the army, guarded only by one squadron of dragoons, 
 (Ker's.) The 3d and 5th infantry, with half of Ring- 
 gold's battery, commanded by Lieutenant Randolph 
 Ridgely, were thrown forward to repel this attempt. 
 Torrejon, however, continued to advance with a force 
 of horse and foot, and the 5th infantry was thrown into 
 square ; on its right were a few mounted Texans, while 
 Ridgely unlimbered and with a few rounds of grape 
 drove back the infantry of Torrejon. The lancers, a 
 first-rate regiment, numbering more than a thousand 
 saddles, dashed up almost to the 5th. This veteran 
 regiment wheeled into square, and by a fire from one of 
 its fronts scattered them, rhey were not yet routed, a 
 part of the regiment continuing to advance towards the 
 train. The 3d infantry was, however, ordered by Colo- 
 nel Twiggs to meet them, from whom they at once 
 retreated in column of squadrons. Then Ridgely ad- 
 vanced with his guns, and their retreat become a route. 
 Ringgold was not idle, but kept up an intense fire ; 
 Duncan too was busy on the left. At last the prairie 
 grass took fire, and the vast masses of smoke hid from 
 view the enemy's line. After a combat of about two 
 hours, the enemy ceased to fire, and retreated to form a 
 new line of battle. This is a hazardous manoeuvre at 
 
49 
 
 GENERAL TWIGGS. 
 
50 GENERAL ZACHARY TAYLOR. 
 
 all times, and, when well executed, speaks volumes for 
 the discipline of the troops who perform it. The Mexi- 
 can general formed a new line. A change of the Ameri- 
 can position became necessary, which was effected so 
 that Churchhill's eighteens stood where the Mexican 
 cavalry had been drawn up. The new Mexican position 
 was in front of a dense chapparal, and was exceedingly 
 strong. 
 
 The action began again. Our artillery fired evi- 
 dently with more accuracy than before. A charge of 
 cavalry was ordered, which was ineffective from the small 
 force of mounted men on the field. Night was nearly 
 come, and the Mexicans prepared themselves for one 
 last effort. A heavy fire was poured in, which mortally 
 wounded both Major Ringgold and Captain Page. 
 
 Colonel Childs w^ith the artillery battalion (acting as 
 infantry) advanced to the support of the artillery on the 
 right. A strong body of Mexican cavalry made a de- 
 monstration on this part of the American line ; to resist 
 which, the battalion formed square. The American 
 eighteen-pound guns then opened on the Mexican ca- 
 valry, and routed them. Several volleys of musketry 
 were received and given by the battalion ; one of the 
 first of which wounded an officer (Lieutenant Luther) 
 and killed several men. 
 
 General Arista made one other effort to gain the 
 American rear, by turning the lefl flank. This move- 
 ment Captain Duncan saw and checked, until the 8th 
 regiment could be brought into position. He, with his 
 subaltern (Roland), manoeuvred with great skill and 
 courage, and drove the enemy before them several times. 
 The Mexican officers rallied their columns, and brought 
 them again to the attack ; only, however, to be beaten 
 to pieces by the iron hail of Duncan's battery. 
 
51 
 
52 GENERAL ZACHARY TAYLOR. 
 
 Night came at last, and the American army bi- 
 vouacked where the enemy had stood. The soldiers 
 sank, weary, on the ground, overpowered with the 
 fatigue of a hard-fought fight. They knew that repose 
 was necessary, to enable them to bear the brunt of an- 
 other battle, which no second-sight was necessary to fore- 
 tell for the morrow. The dragoons w^ere in the saddle dur- 
 ing the whole night, to prevent a surprise. The Mexican 
 forces did not, however, molest them. General Taylor 
 called a council of war, which was unanimous in ad- 
 vising him to advance in the morning, and give the 
 enemy battle. 
 
 The force of General Taylor was twenty-one hundred 
 strong ; that of the Mexicans certainly not less than five 
 thousand. The American loss was four men killed, 
 and three officers and thirty-seven men wounded. The 
 Mexicans lost two hundred killed and four hundred 
 wounded, besides many by desertion. Their loss, in 
 killed, wounded, and missing, was but little short of 
 one thousand men. 
 
 Early on the morning of the 9th of May, the enemy 
 began to retreat from Palo Alto towards Fort Brown, 
 their rear being covered by numerous and well-appointed 
 lancers and other cavalry. About five miles from their 
 last stand, they halted at La Resaca de la Palraa. Dur- 
 ing the preceding day and night, they had thrown up at 
 this place a breastwork, and posted three batteries, com- 
 pletely closing all access to Fort Brown. 
 
 La Resaca, or the ravine, is crossed at right angles 
 by the road, and is about fifty yards wide and four feet 
 deep, and, in the rainy months, the seat of a stagnant 
 pool, which covers the road. Beyond La Resaca, is 
 thick chapparal, between which and its outer bank the 
 enemy were formed, in two lines. The second was com- 
 
53 
 
 MAJOR M'CALL. 
 
54 GENERAL ZACHARY TAYLOR. 
 
 pletely sheltered by the natural glacis of the bank, while 
 the other stood just within a dense line of chapparal. 
 Large reinforcements, during the night, made their 
 number nearly seven thousand strong, and they were 
 also strengthened by intrenchments and a strong natural 
 position. Their artillery, posted most scientifically, 
 commanded completely the narrow road over which it 
 was necessary to attack them. 
 
 As soon as the enemy had retreated. General Taylor 
 re-formed his army in Ime of battle, and ad\'Bnced by 
 heads of column until he reached the edge of the chap- 
 paral, where he halted, and threw forward his light 
 infantry troops, commanded by Captain George A. 
 McCall, of the 4th infantry, to reconnoitre. 
 
 This service was performed most ably and spiritedly 
 by Captain McCall, who was fired on by one of the 
 Mexican batteries. The information was promptly 
 conveyed to the corps d'armee^ when General Taylor 
 ordered Ringgold's (now Ridgely's) battery, and the 
 3d, 4th, and 5th infantry, to attack the enemy. The 
 light infantry was divided, the one half under Captain 
 McCall, and the other commanded by Captain Charles 
 F. Smith, of the 2d artillery, flanking to the right and 
 left. 
 
 Major George A. McCall is an officer of much 
 distinction. His first commission dates from July 1st, 
 1822, when he entered the army as second lieutenant 
 of the 4th infimtry, which he joined in Florida, serving 
 there for several years. 
 
 In his boyhood, George A. McCall received every 
 advantage of education, and although appointed a cadet 
 of the United States Military Academy at an early 
 age, he was at that time familiar with the Greek and 
 Latin classics. He was at once admitted at West Point, 
 
RESACA DE LA PALMA. 55 
 
 and in the regular course of time was commissioned a 
 second lieutenant in the 4th regiment United States in- 
 fantry. In 1831, he was appointed aide-de-camp to 
 Major-General Gaines, whom he joined in May, at St. 
 Louis ; and whom he accompanied immediately on an 
 expedition against the Sac and Fox Indians, of the 
 Upper Mississippi. From this time until the latter part 
 of the year 1836, McCall remained in the staff of 
 General Gaines, and during that period performed the 
 duties of assistant adjutant-general of the Western 
 Division of the army. 
 
 At the breaking out of the Florida war, McCall went 
 with General Gaines to that country, in February 1836. 
 He was present at the several engagements with the 
 Seminole Indians on the Ouithlagoochie river, and was 
 at the side of General Gaines when he was w^ounded on 
 the 29th of February. 
 
 In September of this year Lieutenant McCall was 
 promoted to a captaincy in his regiment, and thereupon 
 he resigned his appointment in the staff. 
 
 Having joined his regiment. Captain McCall served 
 w4th it in the Cherokee country, both east and west of 
 the Mississippi river, until 1841, when the regiment was 
 again ordered to Florida. 
 
 Here, in the severe and trying campaign in the " Big 
 Cypress," where the exposure of the troops to unpre- 
 cedented privations and hardships broke down three- 
 fourths of their numbers. Captain McCall was con- 
 spicuous for his activity and untiring enterprise, and his 
 conduct was noticed in complimentary terms in the 
 official reports of the campaign. Subsequently, the 4th 
 was transferred to the Arkansas frontier, where Captain 
 McCall performed much duty of a confidential character 
 at the crisis when much difficulty was anticipated 
 
56 GENERAL ZACHARY TAYLOR. 
 
 with the Cherokees in consequence of the feud of the 
 Ridge and Ross parties. He remained with his regiment 
 for a series of years, and returned to Florida with it. 
 
 On the 19th of April, 1842, Captain McCall was 
 with Colonel (now General) Worth, at the battle of 
 Pilaklaklaha, which handsome affair put, as Worth 
 said, '* the finishing stroke to the war." In this affair, 
 Captain McCall commanded the detachment which first 
 entered the hammock, and brought on the action with 
 Halleck Tustenuggee. After this affair, Colonel Worth, 
 in his official report dated the 25th of April, spoke of 
 Captain McCall in terms of high commendation, and 
 recommended him to the department for the brevet of 
 major. This reward for arduous and approved services, 
 however much deserved, was withheld. 
 
 Some days after the battle of Pilaklaklaha, Captain 
 McCall was detached by order of Colonel Worth, with 
 his company (seventy-five strong) and thirty mounted 
 men, to surprise the camp of a part of Halleck's band, 
 then on the waters of the Oclewaha. This expedition 
 was entirely successful. By skilful manceuvres the In- 
 dian camp was effectually surrounded. The surprise 
 was complete, and resulted in the capture of twenty-one 
 Indians of the most crafty and inexorable band of 
 savages that infested the country during the war. The 
 captives, with their arms and baggage, were carried into 
 Camp Wapdell, at the Warm Springs, and delivered to 
 Colonel Garland, on the 4th of May. Captain McCall 
 remained with his regiment in Florida until October of 
 this year ; when, at the close of the war, the regiment 
 went into quarters at Jefferson Barracks. 
 
 Captain McCall was with his regiment at Corpus 
 Christi, and marched with it to the Rio Grande. 
 
 After Captain Thornton's capture by Torrejon, it 
 
RESACA DE LA PALMA. 57 
 
 was reported that Colonel Canales was somewhere in 
 the neighborhood of the American army (then en- 
 camped opposite Matamoras) with a force of fifteen 
 hundred men. Captain McCall was ordered by General 
 Taylor to march with seventy-iive picked men to recon- 
 noitre the country to the north of our camp, and ascertain 
 the truth of this report. He marched at nightfall, and 
 scoured the forest in the direction of Palo Alto during 
 that night and the next day, but ascertained that no 
 force of any strength was in that direction. He fell in 
 with two parties of scouts or highwaymen, however, 
 three of whom and six horses were captured and brought 
 in to General Taylor. His party returned at half past 
 eight o'clock the following evening, having marched in 
 all near fifty miles. 
 
 On the 1st of May, w^hen the army took up the line 
 of march for Point Isabel, Captain McCall w^as sent in 
 advance with one hundred picked men to scour the 
 country as far as Palo Alto. 
 
 After the battle of Palo Alto, on the morning of the 
 9th of May, McCall was again sent forward to follow 
 the trail of the enemy. He had a command of two 
 hundred and twenty men, and a few dragoons, one vf 
 whom he sent back from time to time with such infor- 
 mation as he obtained. 
 
 He at length found the enemy in position at Resaca 
 de la Palma, and w^as fired upon by a masked battery, 
 killing one and wounding two men of the party. 
 Having withdrawn to a strong position, the fact was 
 reported to his commander, and there he awaited the 
 arrival of the head of the column under General Taylor. 
 On the arrival of the general, he ordered Captain 
 KcCall to advance, " to draw their fire," (for the enemy 
 
58 GENERAL ZACHARY TAYLOR. 
 
 was entirely concealed), " to bring on the action, and 
 then get upon their right flank." This was done. 
 
 For this service McCall received the brevet of major, 
 dnd was subsequently appointed assistant adjutant- 
 general. In the latter capacity he was ordered to the 
 2d division of United States volunteers, whom he 
 joined in September, and with this division he served 
 until after the hl\ of Vera Cruz. From the effects 
 of the climate, and exposure in Mexico, Major McCall 
 has suffered severely in health. 
 
 The citizens of Philadelphia, of which city he is a 
 native, have also presented him with a sword as a token 
 of their admiration. 
 
 Lieutenant Randolph Ridgely rushed up in front of 
 the enemy's batteries, firing and changing position so 
 frequently as to defy their gunnery. Under the cover of 
 his fire, the 5th, one half of the 4th, and the 3d foot 
 dashed at the enemy's left. Major McCall had, in the 
 meantime, attacked the right, and. the 8th foot advanced 
 to the attack in double quick time. At this moment a 
 long, loud cheer rang down the American line with such 
 hearty good-will that its moral effect was scarcely less 
 than the heavy fire which was at the same time delivered. 
 The fire of the three Mexican batteries was now concen- 
 trated on Ridgely's mounted artillery, and had their 
 practice been equal to his own, he must have been cut to 
 pieces. The 3d infantry, under a veteran officer. Cap- 
 tain L. N. Morris, came to his aid. The 3d and 4th, 
 under Major Allen, had scrambled through the chappa- 
 ral and formed in the ravine. 
 
 The 8th infantry and the light troops of Captain 
 Smith now faced to the right flank, and swept the ene- 
 my in that direction. 
 
 The enemy fought on the defensive, but extremely 
 
59 
 
 COLONEL MAT. 
 
t)U GENERAL ZACHARY TAYLOR, 
 
 well. They were all veteran troops ; heroes of a hundred 
 battles, (as Arista before the action said) ; but they gradual- 
 ly gave Avay before the American bayonet. They lied from 
 the ravine, which was immediately occupied by the Ame- 
 rican line. Even then, one of their guns having been 
 captured by the American infantry, they charged the 
 ravine, which was swept by their batteries. 
 
 The strongest position of the enemy, however, was 
 a battery which enfiladed the whole line of the army. 
 Captain May, of the 2d dragoons, had during the whole 
 battle been held in reserve, and sat at the head of his 
 squadron. The military eye of the general saw that it 
 w^as a time for the action of horse. He gave the order, 
 and May obeyed. He was but a captain, and could not do 
 otherwise. His charge was delivered boldly and well, 
 when we remember it was the first cavalry charge made 
 in the American army since the days of Lee's legion 
 and Colonel Washington's horse. The squadron after 
 the charge was rallied by Captain Lawrence P. Graham, 
 of the 2d dragoons, a young oflficer, second to none in 
 the army. 
 
 The charge was an important one ; during which, a 
 Mexican ofl[icer, Don Romulo de la Vega, a brevet 
 brigadier-general and commander of the battery which 
 had done so much mischief, was captured in the act of 
 applying a linstock to a loaded gun. Captain May had 
 the honor of receiving his sword. As May w^as about 
 to give the order charge^ to his squadron, Ridgely, who 
 with his battery was on the flank of the cavalry, saw 
 what was going on, and recommended him to wait a 
 moment until he (Ridgely) drew the enemy's fire. May 
 did wait, Ridgely delivered his fire, received the ene- 
 my's, and then the dragoons charged in good style and 
 did what they were ordered to do. 
 
61 
 
62 GENERAL ZACHARY TAYLOR. 
 
 The charge of the dragoons had driven the enemy 
 from the battery; but before the horse were rallied they 
 were remanned. Before a fire could be delivered, Colo- 
 nel Mcintosh, at the head of the 5th, carried the battery 
 with the bayonet. The Mexican artillerists fought with 
 their falchions and rammers until they were nearly all 
 cut down, and the Americans had gotten in the rear of 
 the carriages. 
 
 The 8th and 5th charged up La Resaca, and drove 
 the enemy from the field. 
 
 No general ever commanded better troops than those 
 of General Taylor; and the evidence is, that every 
 officer who met the enemy hand to hand, distinguished 
 himself. A few instances, as they illustrate the army, 
 and seem to have in the scheme of this book no more 
 appropriate place, may be told here. Lieutenant Charles 
 D. Jordan, of the 8th foot, when that regiment and 
 McCalPs light infantry faced to the right and charged 
 ^e enemy, fell, wounded. As he lay on the ground, 
 Lieutenant George Lincoln, of the same regiment, who, 
 born of a historical family, has since sealed with his 
 blood his devotion to his country, saw a Mexican in the 
 act of bayoneting him. Immediately rushing forward, 
 he so disturbed the Mexican's equilibrium that the bayo- 
 net passed through the officer's arm, instead of his breast, 
 and at the same moment Lincoln, who was a strong and 
 muscular man, cleaved him to the chin. 
 
 When the 3d and 4th regiments charged the chap- 
 paral, they became of course scattered, and almost 
 every officer was thrown on his own resources. Here 
 Captain^Buchanan, of the 4th, and his subaltern (Hays) 
 distinguished themselves. At this point (across the 
 ravine), Hays charged knee-deep in water, and seized 
 by the head the mules of a gun the enemy were seeking 
 
es 
 
 MAJOR BARBOUR. 
 
64 GENERAL ZACHARY TAYLOR. 
 
 to carry off, while another subaltern (Woods) seized a 
 handspike, and gave, by main force, such a direction to 
 the wheels that they became entangled in the trunk of a 
 tree, so that the gun remained with the 4th. The Mexi- 
 can cavalry then charged these officers, when Barbour, 
 of the 3d, a young captain, came to the rescue, and 
 charged the Mexican horse with the bayonet. In this 
 rencontre, a Mexican lieutenant-colonel of cavalry was 
 killed by an American sharp-shooter. 
 
 Captain Buchanan, of the 4th, having joined with 
 such men of his regiment as he could rally, the 5th, 
 commanded by Colonel Mcintosh, charged the chappa- 
 ral, into which the Mexicans had been driven. The 
 instant Colonel Mcintosh penetrated this, his horse fell 
 dead, and he was attacked by a bevy of Mexicans. He 
 received three fearful bayonet wounds, and was borne 
 half-dead from the field. The regiment, for the rest of 
 the day, w^as commanded by Major Stanniford. 
 
 After May's charge, the two lines had become so in- 
 volved, that Ridgely was forced to suspend his fire. 
 Captain Duncan's command had been entirely unen- 
 gaged. They were now with Smith's light infantry, 
 thrown across the resaca. Ker's drasfoons were also 
 thrown forward, and commenced a fire on the enemy. 
 Duncan came up just as Mcintosh, with his regiment, 
 had passed the chapparal, and fell, wounded. The bat- 
 tle had now become a pursuit; and Lieutenants Woods, 
 Hays, Cochran, and Augur, with a few men from every 
 regiment engaged, unexpectedly found themselves at the 
 head-quarters of General Arista, of which they took 
 possession. A Mexican officer having reconnoitred, 
 charged them, at the head of a squadron of lancers. 
 They were received with a volley, but still came on. 
 The Americans took refuge in the thicket. Lieutenant 
 
65 
 
 LIEUTENANT BLAKE. 
 
66 GENERAL ZACHARY TAYLOR. 
 
 Cochran remaining alone in the pathway down which 
 they came. He fell dead, with seven lance-thrusts. 
 
 The enemy still maintained a few isolated positions, 
 from which they were successively driven. The last 
 Mexican flag which waved over the battle-field was 
 that of the coast-guard of Tampico, an old and veteran 
 regiment which had figured illustriously in the civil wars 
 of the republic, and in the resistance made to the attempts 
 of Spain to recover its ascendancy. The soldier who 
 bore it, when all else w^as lost, sought to retain its 
 honor, and tearing It from the staff", attempted to escape. 
 He was, however, cut down by a nameless soldier of 
 the 5th infantry, and the shot-torn and blood-stained 
 standard was taken from his bosom. Thus was won 
 perhaps the proudest trophy of La Resaca, while the 
 name of its captor even is unknown. In a foreign ser- 
 vice the soldier would have been honored by promotion 
 and a decoration ; in our own he might have expected 
 at least that ray of fame which sometimes plays around 
 the pompon of the private as well as the plume of the 
 general. 
 
 About the time that the battle of the 9th of May 
 began, Lieutenant Blake, of the topographical engineers, 
 died by an accidental discharge of his own pistol. He 
 had gone the day before within one hundred yards of 
 the enemy's lines, reconnoitering them, and had brought 
 valuable information to General Taylor of their strength 
 and disposition. He died regretting he was not killed 
 the day before in action. He was a native of Phila- 
 delphia, and an ornament to the army. 
 
 A brother officer of the army* furnished the follow- 
 ing account of the reconnoissance of the Mexican forces 
 on the field of Palo Alto by Lieutenant Blake, on the 8th 
 
 of May : 
 
 • Lieutenant-Colonel Duncan. 
 
BLAKE S RECONNOISSANCE. 67 
 
 " After the line of battle had been formed, General 
 Taylor rode down the line and surveyed his command. 
 Well might he be proud of his little band, and venture 
 into a fight with the odds of three to one against him. 
 I must confess I never saw such perfect composure and 
 indifference in my life. Every man was as cool as pos- 
 sible, and had they been going to take dinner, could not 
 have appeared more indifferent. At this time General 
 Taylor had not the slightest knowledge as to whether 
 the enemy had any artillery or not. The long prairie- 
 grass prevented any one from distinguishing it, when 
 masked by men in front of the pieces. What was to 
 be done ? It was an all-important point. Captain May 
 was ordered with his squadron to go forward and recon- 
 noitre the enemy, and if possible draw a fire from their 
 artillery ; but to no purpose. They took no notice of 
 him ; and the general was no wdser than before. Lieu- 
 tenant Blake then proposed to go forward alone and 
 reconnoitre. I was close to him, and volunteered to go 
 with him. He consented, and we dashed forward to 
 within eighty yards of their line, the whole army 
 looking on us with astonishment. Here we had a full 
 view. Lieutenant Blake alighted from his horse, and 
 with his glass surveyed the whole line, and handed it to 
 me. To satisfy his observation I did so, and returned 
 him the glass. Just then, two officers rode out towards 
 us ; I mentioned it to Blake, and requested him to mount ; 
 he quietly told me to draw a pistol on them. I did so, 
 and they halted. Scarcely had he reported, w^hen they 
 opened their batteries upon our line, and the work of 
 destruction commenced. Our batteries at once answered 
 their fire, and soon we were enveloped in a cloud of 
 smoke. Our examination proved to be correct ; they 
 had seven pieces in one battery, and five in another, to 
 which we had ten pieces exposed." 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 American loss — Flight of the Mexicans — Mexican loss — Colo- 
 nel May — Death of Major Brown — Sketch of his life — Ex- 
 change of prisoners — Capture of Matamoras — Garland's ex- 
 pedition. 
 
 In spite of the defeat of the previous day, Arista 
 seems to have anticipated a victory. His camp is said 
 to have been brilliantly furnished, and the victors en- 
 joyed a repast prepared beforehand by the Mexicans in 
 sure anticipation of triumph. Large supplies of ammuni- 
 tion, small arms, and the private service and equipage 
 of the general were captured by our army. 
 
 There were many killed on our side, among whom 
 were Lieutenant Inge, who fell in May's charge. Lieu- 
 tenants Cochran and Chadbourne, of the 8th infantry. 
 Lieutenant-Colonel M. M. Payne, acting inspector-gene- 
 ral, Lieutenant-Colonel Mcintosh, Captain Hoe Mont- 
 gomery, Lieutenants Dobbins, Fowler, Gates, Jordan, 
 Felden, Maclay, Burbank, and Morris, were wounded. 
 General Taylor's forces were not greater certainly than 
 those who won the battle of Palo Alto, and that number 
 was diminished by the detail necessary to guard and 
 attend to the many sick, wounded, and: prisoners. 
 Thirty-six men were killed and seventy-one wounded. 
 
 After the enemy was driven from the whole prairie, the 
 artillery battalion and Ker's horse were ordered in pursuit, 
 and followed him with great rapidity. The Mexicans 
 
69 
 
 „„,ri|ii(;'!!'|!iiini!iil""'' ';/k..„, ,^ 
 
 m 
 
 w 
 
 
70 GENERAL ZACHARY TAYLOR. 
 
 retreated pHe-mele to the river, crossed it, disgracefully, 
 it is said, the general-in-chief and second in conamand 
 leading the flight. The Mexican force in the action was 
 certainly not less than six thousand, and their loss must 
 have been immense, as the working party on the next 
 day buried two hundred of all grades. The loss of 
 killed and w^ounded of the Mexican forces in the two 
 battles has been estimated at nearer two than one thou- 
 sand. 
 
 Completely identified by popular opinion with this 
 action is brevet Lieutenant-Colonel Charles May. This 
 officer is a son of a well known physician of Washington, 
 District of Columbia, and was first appointed in the 
 army by General Jackson with rank as a second lieuten- 
 ant of the 2d dragoons, from the 8th June, 1836. He 
 immediately proceeded with the first detachment to 
 Florida, where, in 1839, he had already become a first 
 lieutenant, and on the 2d February, 1841, w^as promo- 
 ted to a company. May was a bold, active officer, sta- 
 tioned in almost every part of East and West Florida, 
 and did much duty. His career in Florida was, however, 
 without any striking event. He was always remarka- 
 ble for a profusion of brown hair, and a beard which by 
 no means improved his personal appearance. For his 
 services at Palo Alto, May received the brevet of major, 
 though the report shows that he absolutely had no oppor- 
 tunity to do anything; and for commanding in the 
 charge by which the Mexican battery and General La 
 Vega were captured, he received the brevet of lieuten- 
 ant-colonel. He was subsequently at Monterey and 
 Buena Vista, but his services there were not conspicuous. 
 A short time after the capture of Monterey, Colonel May 
 was unlucky enough to fall into an ambuscade and lose 
 a part of his command. 
 
DEATH OF MAJOR BROWN. 
 
 71 
 
 These two battles, the defence of Fort Brown and 
 capture of Matamoras, make together a little campaign 
 of rare consequence, and fully exhibiting the prowess of 
 the army. All the credit is due to it. The laurels were 
 shared by none, for in the command there were not two 
 dozen volunteers. 
 
 The garrison of Fort Brown heard every shot fired 
 on the 8th and 9th of May. Though hemmed in by 
 the Mexicans, it was impossible to divine on which side 
 victory was disposed to stoop. 
 
 On the morning of the 8th, the fire of the enemy cut 
 down the flag, which was nailed to the staff by an officer, 
 under the concentrated fire of the Mexican batteries; 
 and, at ten o'clock, a sortie was made by ten men, 
 headed by a sergeant, who burned the RaminerOj a ran- 
 cho, whence the Mexican sharp-shooters were able to 
 annoy the garrison. 
 
 At two o'clock on the 9th, Major Brown died, in one 
 of the bomb-proofs, to which he had been removed. At 
 the time of his death, the place was perfectly silent, and 
 he died in the arms of the men and officers of his regi- 
 ment. 
 
 This gallant officer was a native of Vermont, a 
 " Green Mountain Boy." At the commencement of the 
 war of 1812, he entered the army as a private sentinel, 
 and, from that station, fought his way up to the one 
 which he so gallantly filled at the time of his death. 
 His merit was soon perceived in the active service re- 
 quired last war, upon the northern frontier, and quickly 
 won him an ensign's commission. He was in nearly all 
 the hard-fought battles on the Niagara, during the years 
 1813-14. Before the close of the war, he obtained a 
 lieutenancy, and from that rose by regular gradations to 
 the rank of major; in which capacity he has served 
 
72 GENERAL ZACHARY TAYLOR. 
 
 from February 27, 1843. At the time of his death, he 
 was about fifty-eight years of age, and had served thirty- 
 four years in the army. He was in active service during 
 the whole period of the Florida war. His habits of exact 
 discipline and strict accountability, made his services 
 always in request. Possessing the confidence of his 
 superiors and the good-will of those under his command, 
 he was an officer in the proper acceptation of the term ; 
 one who had learned his duty and habitually performed 
 it, and took care that others should do so. 
 
 Soon after the firing of the light artillery was heard, 
 every man sprang to the parapet, and ever}' eye and ear 
 was distended with anxious suspense. The batteries 
 from Matamoras then opened also. The American am- 
 munition was almost exhausted, and the heavy guns 
 were only fired from time to time as signals. At last, 
 the firing of cannon at La Resaca grew more irregular ; 
 then the musketry began to cease ; and, finally, all was 
 silent. The battle was decided! Who was the victor? 
 The city of Matamoras also seemed to sympathize with 
 the garrison, and no music broke from it — no peal of 
 bells was heard. 
 
 About six o'clock a confused mass of gaudy lancers 
 and cavalry rushed to the river bank, with all the evi- 
 dences of a routed army. Then the garrison gave one 
 long cheer, to which the people of Matamoras could 
 make no response. 
 
 The country, between the battle-field and Fort Brown, 
 is rough, and of dense chapparal growth, and in it a 
 large number of the Mexicans took refuge ; but masses 
 still fled to the river, abandoning everything in their 
 flight. Then one of the guns of the fort was turned on 
 the fugitives. At this moment the pursuing column 
 wheeled around an eminence, and saw the American 
 
73 
 
74 GENERAL Z A CHARY TAYLOR. 
 
 flag above Fort Brown. The American drums and fifes 
 halted, and struck up the Star-Spangled Banner, while 
 the column continued the pursuit. The advance of 
 dragoons, the artillery battalion and light troops, bi- 
 vouacked on the bank of the river. 
 
 There had been, during the whole operations of the 
 Mexican army on the north side of the river, a constant 
 communication kept up between it and Matamoras, by 
 a ferry above Fort Brown. To that place tended the 
 whole of the routed Mexican forces, to escape from 
 pursuit by a single ferry-boat. For the possession of 
 this, horse and foot fought repeatedly; and once, when 
 filled with exhausted and wounded soldiers, it was 
 charged on and taken possession of by a platoon of 
 lancers. The maimed and crippled went down toge- 
 ther. Priests, colonels, and drummers were swept off 
 by the waters of the Rio Grande. 
 
 Long custom had taught the city of Matamoras to 
 look on the Mexican soldiery as anything but protectors, 
 and on the night of the 9th were seen six thousand 
 wanderers in its streets. Every hour the wounded were 
 brought in in panniers of skin on the backs of mules, 
 and their groans and the wailings of the women made 
 night hideous. The substantial citizens fled for pro- 
 tection elsewhere, the tradesmen were anxious for the 
 American army to save them from rapine, and the dis- 
 contented officers in every lonja were loud in denouncing 
 the cowardice or incompetency of their generals. 
 
 General Arista having proposed an exchange of 
 prisoners, Captains Thornton and Hardee, Lieutenant 
 Kane, and their commands, were exchanged, grade for 
 grade and man for man. 
 
 On the next day General Taylor marched back to 
 Point Isabel to confer with Commodore Conner, the 
 
75 
 
 ';'li'il'> i^?-':y-.:'': • '^i)i.'l;'K^i;'l'i1t^* 
 
 ::K 
 
 m 
 
76 GENERAL ZACHARY TAYLOR. 
 
 commander of the naval forces on the gulf. A conjoint 
 attack was made by the army and naval forces on 
 Barita. The land portion of the expedition was com- 
 manded by Lieutenant-Colonel Wilson, 1st infantry. 
 The town surrendered without resistance. 
 
 On the evening of the 14th General Taylor returned 
 to the Rio Grande, where his whole force had been 
 concentrated, and resolved at once to attack Matamoras 
 by a conjoint movement of himself and Colonel Wilson 
 w^ith the garrison from Barita, w^hich was arranged for 
 the 17th of May. 
 
 Orders for Colonel T^\^ggs to cross had already 
 been given, when the Mexican general, Reguena, crossed 
 to confer with the American commander, proposing 
 an armistice. This General Taylor at once rejected, 
 because he knew the city of Matamoras was filled with 
 arms, &c., and that time was only sought to convey 
 them away. The interview was unsatisfactory, and 
 General Reguena left, saying that he would return at 
 3 P. M., a promise he did not fulfil. On the 18th, 
 Captain Bliss, assistant adjutant-general, and Captain 
 Forbes Britton, of the 7th, sounded a parley, and were 
 met by a civil deputation. Captain Bliss assured them 
 of protection in person and property, and promised 
 that their religion should be respected, at the same time 
 that he demanded the surrender of Matamoras and the 
 public property it contained. The prefect assured this 
 officer that no resistance would be made to the entry 
 of the American troops. 
 
 During this parley the American army was crossing 
 above the town, and when the result was told the 
 whole passed over. The first American flag be- 
 yond the Rio Grande was raised by Captain Cro- 
 ghan Ker, of the 2d dragoons, over Fort Pa redes. 
 
garland's expedition. 77 
 
 The troops, except a mere guard, did not enter the 
 city on that night. The mission of Reguena was 
 ascertained to be a mere ruse to gain time, Arista 
 during the parley having been busy in conceaUng and 
 carrying away arms, munitions, &c. On the evening 
 of the 18th Arista began his retreat, carrying with 
 him four thousand men and two Hght field-pieces, and 
 leaving behind him his sick: and wounded. This act 
 evinces either that the Mexican fully appreciated the 
 chivalry of the American army, or proves him one of 
 the most heartless villains that ever lived. 
 
 The passage of the American army was achieved 
 without difficulty, except that Lieutenant George Ste- 
 phens, second dragoons, was swept by the current from 
 his horse, and drowned. On the 19th, formal posses- 
 sion was taken of Matamoras, of which Colonel Twiggs 
 was appointed governor. 
 
 General Taylor, after taking possession of his con- 
 quest, sought at once to ascertain the position of his 
 enemy, and for that purpose detached Ker's and May's 
 squadrons, and Walker's handful of Texans, under 
 Colonel Garland, to follow on their traces. After an 
 absence of three days, during which he penetrated sixty 
 miles, Colonel Garland returned to Matamoras with 
 twenty-two prisoners and an ammunition wagon cap- 
 tured from a rear-guard of the enemy. Arista was 
 about twenty-four hours in advance of the cavalry. At 
 one of the ranches a Mexican asked whither the Ame- 
 rican troops were going, and when told in pursuit of the 
 enemy, exhibited the greatest surprise, havino; heard from 
 Ampudia that the American army was routed. The 
 capture of Matamoras and expedition of Garland ter- 
 minated the campaign for a time. The Mexican army 
 of the north was annihilated ; and General Taylor, for 
 
78 GENERAL ZACHARY TAYLOR. 
 
 want of troops and supplies, was forced to remain for a 
 long time inactive. 
 
 We have now passed a great crisis in General 
 Taylor's life. We have watched him a subaltern in the 
 war of 1812, winning for himself fame and promotion. 
 In the Black Hawk war his merit was conspicuous; 
 and in Florida he commanded in an action which con- 
 tributed more to the termination of the war than any 
 other which occurred. He was assigned to the com- 
 mand of the army in Texas when public opinion was 
 entirely unformed in relation to him ; fought two of 
 the best battles which have taken place on the con- 
 tinent ; terminated a campaign in twelve days, and made 
 his name historical. So brilliant had been the merit he 
 exhibited, that even censure was disarmed ; and though 
 a nation praised him, no one dared to find fault. His 
 name became at once the property of all ; and the 
 sobriquet given him by his soldiers, in their hours of 
 relaxation, was adopted by the world. He was become 
 a great man, and in his subsequent eventful career has 
 done nofliing to forfeit it. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Volunteers hasten to the seat of war — Arista's pronunciamento 
 — Mier and other posts taken — Advance to Seralvo — The 
 American army encamps at the Walnut Springs — Appear- 
 ance of the city of Monterey — ^Worth's operations — Twiggs's 
 operations — General Butler — Articles of capitulation — Loss 
 of the Americans. 
 
 Volunteers began to hurry to the seat of war from 
 all parts of the country, and the most distinguished men 
 of Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi, hastened to the 
 scene of strife. In the beginning of June, General Tay- 
 lor was in command of about nine thousand men, seven 
 hundred and fifty of whom were stationed at Barita, and 
 five hundred at Point Isabel. It is to be regretted that 
 at this time General Taylor w^as unable to march on 
 Monterey, which doubtless w^ould have surrendered 
 without resistance. Had this been the case, the subse- 
 quent stand made by Santa Anna at Buena Vista must 
 have taken place beyond San Luis, and the defeat of 
 that general would have placed the metropolis of the 
 republic in the hands of the invader. 
 
 The Mexican people, however, nerved themselves for 
 another stand, and collected a large body of troops at 
 Monterey, which doubtless would have been far more 
 formidable had not the whole nation been distracted by 
 a revolution or pronunciamento of Arista, against the 
 actual president. An election took place on the 16th 
 of June, by virtue of which Paredes became president 
 
80 GENERAL ZACHARY TAYLOR. 
 
 and General Bravo the vice-president of the republic. 
 Under the new administration General Arevalo was 
 assigned to Monterey, against which it was obvious 
 General Taylor would march, and which was strength- 
 ened and fortified with all the resources of the republic. 
 During the month of June men were collected from 
 all parts of the Union. The transportaton, however, was 
 not supplied until late in August, when, with six thou- 
 sand men. General Worth advanced to Seralvo, where 
 the head of his column arrived early in the month of 
 September. 
 
 In the meantime McCulloch's Texan rangers had 
 seized Mier, Camargo, Reynosa, and other posts, with- 
 out resistance. The people of Tamaulipas were abso- 
 lutely conquered, and acquiesced in the commands of the 
 invaders. The whole country was gradually occupied. 
 On the 5th of September General Taylor was informed 
 by General Worm that Ampudia, with three thou- 
 sand men, had occupied Monterey, the whole force 
 within the walls of which was more than four thousand 
 strong, without counting the large armed population of 
 the city, and the hordes of rancheros that w^ould for 
 defence, &c., hurry to it. On the 7lh of September, 
 General Taylor advanced towards Seralvo, leaving Gene- 
 ral Patterson in command of the commissariat depots 
 and the few troops stationed at Matamoras. From 
 Seralvo General Taylor moved towards Monterey with 
 seven thousand men. 
 
 As the army advanced it became more obvious that 
 another battle was to be anticipated, and more than once 
 the eclaireurs of our army and the outlying Mexican 
 posts came in contact. 
 
 On the 19th of September, the American ai'my en- 
 
CITY OF MONTEREY. 81 
 
 camped at the Walnut Springs, about a league from 
 Monterey. 
 
 The city of Monterey is the capital of the present 
 state of New Leon, and by far the most important point 
 of all the provincias internas. It is situated in the 
 midst of a table-land, surrounded by lofty mountains on 
 three sides, while on the other (the east), were strong 
 stone walls, on which was a formidable array of artil- 
 lery, overlooking all the paraphernalia of fosses and 
 bastions of the days of Cohorn. This work w^as of that 
 school of defence of which the Spaniards were so fond, 
 and of which they left such monuments in Italy, in the 
 low" countries, at Calao, at Vera Cruz, St. Augustine, and 
 Pensacola ; wherever in fact they penetrated. Not 
 only was this the case, but every house was a cita- 
 del, the massive walls and grated windows of which 
 might shake the heart of any invader. The flat and 
 turreted roofs afforded a safe refuge, which defied 
 pursuit, and made the woman or the invalid, armed 
 with a broken tile, a most formidable adversary. Every 
 street was barricaded, and every strong position taken 
 advantage of. To attack this city, now garrisoned 
 with ten thousand fighting men, General Taylor had 
 come with seven thousand soldiers. 
 
 The despatch of General Taylor thus reports the 
 detailed appearance of the city and Mexican positions : 
 on the north side of the city, a strong work had been 
 thrown up, which closed all approach by way of the 
 Monclova road ; while the road to Saltillo w^as defended 
 by the Bishop's Palace, a strong turreted building, and 
 batteries erected on eminences near it, filled with artil- 
 lery. The eastern road was also commanded by various 
 strong positions. 
 
 General Taylor, an old 'Indian -fighter, more prone 
 6 
 
82 GENERAL ZACHARY TAYLOR. 
 
 perhaps to look at natural objects than at the Avorks of 
 art, saw at once from the contour of the hills and 
 gorges, that it was possible to turn them towards the 
 south, and after satisfying himself by a reconnoissance, 
 most successfully made by I\Iajor Mansfield of the corps 
 of engineers, that this was the fact, General Worth was 
 ordered to march with his division on the 20th, to turn 
 the hill on which stood the Bishop's Palace. 
 
 The command of General Worth was the second 
 division, composed of Lieutenant-Colonel Duncan's 
 light artillery, the artillery battalion commanded by 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Childs, and the 8th infantry, under 
 Captain Scriven ; which were united into a brigade, 
 under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Staniford. 
 The horse artillery of Lieutenant Mackall, the 5th and 
 7th infantry, commanded by Major Martin Scott and 
 Captain Miles, together with one company of the volun- 
 teers (Blanchard's), formed a second brigade, under 
 the command of Brevet Brigadier-General P. F. Smith, 
 colonel of mounted rifles. Colonel Jack Hays's Texan 
 rangers mounted, completed this division. 
 
 Afte^- leaving the Walnut Springs, or Bosque de Santo 
 Domingo, the peculiar difficulty of the country ren- 
 dered it impossible to reach the front of the works of 
 the enemy towards Saltillo, before six P. M. To 
 effect this, a road was opened in a masterly manner, by 
 Captain Sanders of the engineers. The work in front 
 of Avhich General Worth halted, was a battery on an 
 isolated hill, called La Independcncia, half way up which 
 was the famous Palacio del Obispo. From this point, 
 reconnoissances made under escort of Hays's mounted 
 men, towards the intersection of the Presquina Grande 
 road, along which Worth marched, and that to Saltillo, 
 satisfied him, that he would meet with resistance in any 
 
83 
 
 ^'|,^l[im„lliMl,liii>.:M:U.;, 
 
 Mhil/J T „ IMiK,LjJu.,d.l'.Li, iJ',()^,i/, ^\^f^ / fi^.f' 
 
84 GENERAL ZACHARY TAYLOR. 
 
 attempt to carry the positions in front of him. These 
 were very important from the fact that they com- 
 manded the communication to Saltillo, and also on 
 account of their great natural strength. 
 
 On the morning of the 21st, in two columns, so ar- 
 ranged as to present a front readily in any direction, 
 Hays's men and light companies of the brigade, in open 
 order, covering Duncan's battery and the artillery, each 
 of which headed a column, were thrown forward, and 
 at six A. M., at a hacienda near the foot of the mountain, 
 came on a strong Mexican force of horse and foot. The 
 Mexican lancers rushed upon the Texans, who received 
 them with a heavy fire. The light companies also fired, 
 and Duncan's battery and half of Mackall's, in the 
 course of one minute, had unlimbered and commenced 
 action. 
 
 The first brigade formed line at once and commenced 
 firing, while the second, which could not be deployed on 
 account of the nature of the ground, was held in re- 
 serve. In the course of fifteen minutes the enemy were 
 driven oflf, leaving on the ground one hundred killed 
 and w-ounded. Among the former was Don Juan Ne- 
 pomuceno Najira, colonel of the regular regiment of 
 lancers, picked carefully out and shot by a Texan rifle- 
 man, as he charged at the head of his men. The 
 Texans and first brigade pushed forward, and managed 
 not only to cut oK the escape of the fugitives into 
 the city, but obtained possession of the defile which is 
 the point of union of all the roads to Monterey on that 
 side. 
 
 The command was halted in this gorge and further 
 reconnoissance made, which showed that no attacks 
 could be efifective on the city, until the exterior forts were 
 captured. Captain C. F. Smith was then ordered to 
 
85 
 
 llilli"*^ 
 
 •5|iSlfel-« ,': 
 
 
 nil 
 
 o 
 
 3 
 
 i I 
 
 
 
 
 ;"||i[|i;|||;i 
 
 •'SlilM 
 
 1 3 
 
 
 l^:lliiS 
 
 BiiiiMklJJiiiiiK 
 
86 GENERAL ZACHARY TAYLOR. 
 
 storm the nearer hill, La Federacion^ and then a fort 
 called La Soldada ^dhout six hundred yards beyond the 
 first, the two guarding effectually all the approaches to 
 the city. This command consisted of four companies 
 (K, 2d, B, 3d, and G and H, 4th artillery) of th'e ar- 
 tillery battalion, and Greene's, McGowan's, R. A. Gil- 
 lespie's, Chandler's, Ballowe's, and McCulloch's com- 
 panies of Texan riflemen, under Major Chevalier, acting 
 in co-operation — in all about three hundred effectives. 
 It was impossible to mask the movement of the storm- 
 ing party. The enemy threw into the command a har- 
 assing fire, which being seen, a support of two companies 
 of the 7th was thrown forward, and the enemy gradually 
 driven after a hard contest up the hill. At this time re- 
 inforcements to the Mexican force on the brow of the 
 hill were seen approaching, and the whole 5th and 
 Blanchard's company were ordered forward under Gen- 
 eral P. F. Smith. As he advanced General Smith dis- 
 covered that he could without great difficulty make an 
 attack on La Soldada, which with the 5th, 7th, and 
 Blanchard's company he did. Captain Smith in the 
 meantime captured La Federacion and turned its gun, a 
 nine-pounder, on La Soldada, and marched immediately 
 to attack it. General Smith, however, carried it in gal- 
 lant style, having been reinforced by Colonel Hays, who 
 had with his command returned from special service in 
 time to participate in this attack. 
 
 The batteries on La Federacion and La Soldada were 
 then turned on the Bishop's Palace, as before stated, 
 situated on La Loma de la Indcpendencia, on the other 
 side of a valley but six hundred yards wide from crest 
 to crest. Before any demonstrations could be made, a 
 violent storm ensued, and night coming on, the opera- 
 tions of the day terminated. All who could be spared 
 
STORMING OF MONTEREY. 87 
 
 from duty slept on their arms until three in the mornin^r, 
 when preparations were made for an attempt to carry 
 La Loma de la Independencia. 
 
 The storming; party was commanded by Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Childs, and consisted of I and G of the 4th, and 
 A, 3d (artillery battalion) ; three companies 8th infantry, 
 (A, B, and D,) under Captain Scriven, with two hun- 
 dred Texan riflemen, under Colonel Hays and Lieu- 
 tenant-Colonel Walker (captain of rifles), acting in 
 co-operation. This party w^as conducted by Captain 
 Sanders and Lieutenant Meade, of the military and 
 topographical engineers. By dawn of day, under shelter 
 of the weather, the command reached a position within 
 three hundred yards of the crest on which, anticipating 
 the attack, the enemy were stationed. The commands 
 of Colonels Childs and Hays then rushed to the attack, 
 after a well directed fire, with bayonets and clubbed 
 rifles and knives, and carried the work. The enemy had 
 previously withdrawn the cannon ; and it was then dis- 
 covered that no impression could be made on the walls of 
 the palace by rifle or musket. At this time Lieutenant 
 Roland, belonging to Duncan's company, was ordered 
 to bring from the main camp a twelve-pound howitzer. 
 In two hours (aided by fifty men from the line, under 
 Captain Sanders, military engineers, for the purpose of 
 selecting the route least diflScult) that officer had his 
 gun in position on the summit of an acclivity between 
 seven and eight hundred feet. A fire was immediately 
 opened from the howitzer, covered by the breastwork 
 of the captured battery, upon the palace and its out- 
 works, four hundred yards distant, which soon produced 
 visible impression. 
 
 Various light aff"airs then ensued, and a heavy sortie 
 was made from the palace to regain the crest of La Loma. 
 
88 GENERAL ZACHARY TAYLOR. 
 
 This effort was repulsed by Lieutenant-Colonel Childs, 
 whose command was flanked on the right and left by 
 Hays's and Walker's Texans. In the retreat the enemy 
 were so closely pressed that two companies of lio;ht 
 troops, under Captain Yintoii, entered the palace with 
 them, and raised over it the American flag. The guns 
 of the castle, a six-inch howitzer, one twelve, and two 
 nine-pounder guns, with the light artillery of Duncan and 
 Mackall, were then turned on the retreating Mexicans 
 as they filled the road, a prolongation of one of the 
 streets of Monterey. The guns were so posted as to 
 play upon La Plaza de la Capella, which they did with 
 terrific effect ; and the whole division was concentrated 
 around the palace for the purpose of assaulting the city 
 on the next day. 
 
 At ten o'clock on the 23d, a heavy firing told General 
 Worth that his chief was at work on the other side of 
 the city, and that his own orders had miscarried. Two 
 columns of attack were at once orjranized to move alono 
 the two principal streets, leading from his position, in the 
 direction of the great plaza, composed of light troops 
 slightly extended, with orders to mask the men wherever 
 practicable ; to avoid those points swept by the enemy's 
 artillery ; to press on to the first plaza (Capella) ; to get 
 hold of the ends of streets beyond, then enter the 
 buildings, and by means of picks and bars break through 
 the longitudinal section of the walls, work from house 
 to house, ascend the roof, and place themselves in 
 equal position with the enemy. The light artillery fol- 
 lowed by sections with a reserve strong enough to pro- 
 tect the pieces against cavalry charges, and the whole 
 operations in that quarter. 
 
 The Mexicans had barricaded every street with v/alls 
 of masonry, pierced with embrasures. They had pos- 
 
89 
 
 «w i«iWin( 
 
 1111 W 
 
90 GENERAL ZACIIARV TAYLOR. 
 
 session of every eminence, and by a crossing fire of 
 musketry from ^vindo\^s, made the approach to every 
 encuadra, or crossing, peculiarly dangerous. Under all 
 this the storming columns worked their way steadily, and 
 by dusk had captured a large building which overlooked 
 the chief defences. Before morning, on the roof of this, 
 two howitzers and a six-pound gun were placed. 
 
 Before dawn, the hour fixed for the attack, a flag was 
 sent to General Worth, asking a suspension of fire. 
 The circumstance was at once reported to General Tay- 
 lor, who proceeded to General Worth's head-quarters- 
 where subsequently terms were agreed on. 
 
 On the east side of the city the work liad been almost 
 as w^arm. General Twiggs, at the head of a division 
 composed of Lieutenant-Colonel Garland's brigade 
 (the 3d and 4th infantr}' and Bragg's light artillery), 
 and Lieutenant-Colonel Wilson's brigade (the 1st in- 
 fantry and Baltimore volunteers), were ordered to make 
 a diversion against the east side of the city, in favor of 
 W^orth, who was on the west and south. Under a gall- 
 ing fire the Baltimore battalion was ordered to attack the 
 front, and the regulars the right and rear of the works 
 on the east side. The enemy were driven from these 
 works, and pursued into the city by the 3d and 4th 
 infantry. The strong barricades, however, made it im- 
 possible for them to make headway. The enemy here 
 had barricaded every street, and each company was 
 necessarily obliged to act under its own captain, inde- 
 pendently, and after a struggle of six hours drove the 
 enemy from every position in the suburb. The 3d 
 infantry and part of the 4th then entered the town again, 
 and by a well directed effort, sustained by the action of 
 the volunteers, carried positions which controlled the 
 enemy's most advanced and strongest battery. 
 
91 
 
 
 ti^ M^y:Ji 
 
 ^'^k% -' "^^-^^^ 
 
92 GENERAL ZACHARY TAYLOR. 
 
 The volutiteer division, conimanded by Major-Gene- 
 ral W. O. Bulk'i", an officer a])pointed under the Kiw of 
 1846, advanced against this work. The first brigade 
 (Quitman's) continued to advance, having in front of it 
 three companies of the veteran 4th infantry, while Butler 
 entered the city more to the left. The covering party 
 of Quitman's brigade, while leading the advance, was 
 received with a fire that struck down one-fourth of its 
 officers and men, and forced it to halt for a reinforcement 
 of two companies then seen advancing. The volunteers 
 continued, however, to advance, and carried the work 
 in handsome style, taking five pieces of artillery, much 
 ammunition, and thirty prisoners. 
 
 Major-General Butler, at the head of the 1st Ohio 
 regiment, entered the town, and at once discovered that 
 no good could result from such a movement. General 
 Taylor was about to order a retrogression, when he heard 
 of the capture of a strong work in another quarter, of 
 which he resolved to retain possession. Soon after 
 General Butler W'as severely wounded, and the 1st 
 Ohio regiment was recalled. 
 
 Parts of all the regiments engaged were under cover 
 of General Quitman's battery and buildings on its front 
 and right. Hither Bragg's and Ridgely's flying bat- 
 teries were advanced. The second position and other 
 defences of the enemy kept up a constant fire on this 
 work, to which General Taylor had come. Here, too, 
 was General Twiggs, who, in a short time, turned all 
 the captured guns on their former owners, under the 
 direction of Captain Ridgely. Webster's more effective 
 how^itzer battery soon arrived, however, and replaced 
 them. 
 
 Licut.-Col. Garland, with parts of the 1st, 3d, and 
 4th infantry, and the Baltimore volunteers, now entered 
 
STORMING OF MONTEREY. 93 
 
 the city and advanced beyond La Puente de la Purissijna, 
 a bridge, for the })urpose of storming the second battery. 
 It was impossible, however, to turn this; and, after a 
 contest for some time, they withdrew. With Colonel 
 Garland's command was Ridgely's battery. 
 
 The Mexican lancers had attacked the Ohio and part 
 of the Mississippi regiment, and, though beaten back, 
 now made a demonstration towards the citadel. They 
 were, however, dispersed by a mixed command, under 
 Captain Miller, of the 1st infantry, and Bragg's battery. 
 
 Ridgely's battery and the regulars of the 1st division 
 kept watch on the city during the night, and the remain- 
 der of the troops, except the 1st Kentucky, were with- 
 drawn. During the night, under Lieutenant Scarrit, of 
 the engineer corps, the captured works were made more 
 secure. 
 
 The object, on this side of the town, had been 
 achieved, but with a great loss of men and officers; 
 among whom were either killed, or mortally wounded, 
 Captain Williams, topographical engineers ; Lieutenants 
 Terrett and Dilworth, 1st infantry; Lieutenant Woods, 
 2d infantry ; Captains Morris and Field, Brevet-Major 
 Barbour, Lieutenants Irwin and Hazlitt, 3d infantry ; 
 Lieutenant Hoskins, 4th infantry ; Lieutenant-Colonel 
 Watson, Baltimore battalion; Captain Allen and Lieu- 
 tenant Putnam, Tennessee regiment, and Lieutenant 
 Ilett, Ohio regiment. Many others were w^ounded, and 
 a large proportion of the rank and file shared the perils 
 of the day. This occurred on the day that General 
 W^orth carried La Loma de la Independencia and its de- 
 pendencies. On the 22d but little was done in the lower 
 ■part of the city, hostilities being confined merely to 
 occasional firing. During the night, the enemy evacuated 
 all their defences there. This was reported by Gene- 
 
94 GENERAL ZACHARY TAYLOR. 
 
 ral Quitman, who was ordered, with his brigade, to enter 
 the city, covering his men as prudently as possible. Gene- 
 ral Twiggs, with the other troops, being held in reserve, 
 General Taylor went forward in person, and ascertained 
 tliat General Quitman w^as fighting his way towards the 
 Plaza Grande. The Texan 2d was then dismounted, 
 and, with Bragg's battery, under General Henderson, 
 was thrown forward, followed closely by the 3d regiment 
 United States infantry. 
 
 With axe and mattock, as had been done on the 
 other side of the town, these men advanced through 
 the city, piercing the walls of the houses in a direction 
 parallel to the streets. All firing of artillery on the 
 plaza, on our part, had now^ to be suspended, in conse- 
 quence of the vicinity to it of Henderson's and Quit- 
 man's command. At night, Quitman's brigade was re- 
 lieved by General Hamer. Worth, in the meantime, had 
 advanced within a short distance of the main square, 
 from the south and west. 
 
 On the next day it was meditated to make an attack 
 from both sides ; but, early on the morning of that day, 
 Ampudia made propositions to evacuate the town. A 
 personal interview between the two generals took place, 
 and the followins^ terms were ag^reed on: 
 
 " Article I. As the legitimate result of the opera- 
 tions before this place, and the present position of the 
 contending armies, it is agreed that the city, the fortifica- 
 tions, cannon, the munitions of war, and all other public 
 property, with the undermentioned exceptions, be sur- 
 rendered to the commanding general of the United 
 States forces now^ at Monterey. 
 
 Article H. That the Mexican forces be allowed to 
 retain the following arms, to wit : the commissioned 
 
ARTICLES OF CAPITULATION. 95 
 
 ofKcers their side-arms, the infantry their arras and 
 accoutrements, thecavah-y their arms and accoutrements, 
 the artillery one field-battery, not to exceed six pieces, 
 with twenty-one rounds of ammunition. 
 
 Article III. That the Mexican armed forces retire, 
 within seven days from this date, beyond the line formed 
 by the pass of Rinconada, the city of Linares, and San 
 Fernando de Preras. 
 
 Article IV. That the citadel of Monterey be evacu- 
 ated by the Mexican and occupied by the American 
 forces to-mori'ow morning at ten o'clock. 
 
 Article V. To avoid collisions, and for mutual 
 convenience, that the troops of the United States will 
 not occupy the city until the Mexican forces have with- 
 drawn, except for hospital and storage purposes. 
 
 Article VI. That the forces of the United States 
 will not advance beyond the line specified in the 3d 
 article, before the expiration of eight weeks, or until 
 orders or instructions of the respective governments can 
 be received. 
 
 Article VII. That the public property to be deli- 
 vered, shall be turned over and received by officers 
 appointed by the commanding generals of the two 
 armies. 
 
 Article VIII. That all doubts as to the meaning 
 of any of the preceding articles, shall be solved by an 
 equitable construction, or on principles of liberality to 
 the retiring army. 
 
 Article IX. That the Mexican flag, when struck 
 at the citadel, may be saluted by its own battery. 
 
 Done at Monterey, Sept. 24, 1846." 
 
 The capitulation of Monterey was made the subject 
 of severe criticism in various quarters. General Taylor, 
 
96 GENERAL ZACHARY TAYLOR. 
 
 on receiving from the department of war an intimation 
 that the president regretted his not having insisted on his 
 first proposition to General Ampudia, wrote an answer, 
 which, in the opinion of every military authority compe- 
 tent to decide in such a case, affords a triumphant refu- 
 tation of all objections to that proceeding. 
 
 The fact is, that General Taylor was fully aware of 
 all the enemy's means of resistance or escape, and he 
 felt the policy of refraining from pushing him to despe- 
 ration. The result shows that every advantage which 
 could possibly have been gained even by an uncondi- 
 tional surrender, was gained by the capitulation ; and 
 that no movement of any utility could have been made 
 by General Taylor during the period assigned for the 
 armistice. 
 
 No commander has ever shown a more thorough ap- 
 preciation of all the advantages and disadvantages of his 
 position than was evinced by General Taylor on this 
 occasion. The disadvantages which he laboured under, 
 arose from deficient support in his operations by the war 
 department. The advantages gained were the result of 
 his own excellent judgment, enterprise, and valor, and 
 of the indomitable courage and spirit of his officers and 
 men. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 Description of Monterey — Dissatisfaction in regard to the 
 convention — Taylor's explanation — Advance to Victoria — 
 Scott takes command — March to Saltillo — Battle of Buena 
 Vista — Victims of the battle — Taylor's forced inactivity. 
 
 General Taylor immediately established his head- 
 quarters in Monterey, and took steps for the protection 
 of the Mexican people. The city was found to be far 
 stronger even than had been imagined, and to have 
 been fortified with the most consummate art. The 
 population of the city was about fifteen thousand, and 
 their condition was far better than that, probably, of 
 any other part of Mexico. 
 
 Through the city ran the river San Juan, dividing 
 it, crossed by the bridge La Purissima, leaving the 
 larger part between it and the lofty ridge of La Sierra 
 Madre. Towards the east was a gentle swell, covered 
 with fields of cane and corn, and here and there chapparal. 
 The army ascended this slope, and saw from afar the 
 ! preparations made to welcome them. The city, sur- 
 rounded by trees which half hid its white walls, re- 
 called the old Moresco cities of Spain. At the foot of 
 this slope was a fort of large size, of solid masonry ; a 
 w^ork, the engineers said, only to be taken by regular 
 approaches. 
 
 On the west, peak above peak, towered the Sierra 
 I Madre ; such a range as in all other lands has 
 I nourished a race of hardy mountaineers not to be 
 
98 GENERAL ZACHARY TAYLOR. 
 
 conquered. On the other side, through a deep gorge 
 commanded by the Bishop's Palace, extended the road 
 to Saltillo and Mexico. This was the only route 
 through which the Mexican army could hope to receive 
 aid or to retreat, and was the point against which 
 General Worth's efforts were directed by General 
 Taylor. Such w^as the city, every crossing of which 
 was barricaded, defended by its population and ten 
 thousand troops. 
 
 On the evening of the surrender, General Taylor had 
 carried every approach to the plaza, in which, however, 
 yet was collected a large and formidable force. Even 
 then the city was not captured, and if in an attack the 
 assaulting columns were beaten back, all the advan- 
 tages gained were lost. With General Taylor the pos- 
 session of the city was a necessity ; if repulsed, the whole 
 population of Northern Mexico would have risen on him, 
 and not one of his command would have escaped. The 
 Mexican troops had fought well ; they had been driven be- 
 fore the veteran soldiers of the army, and the men who had 
 won the liberty of Texas, assisted by the resolute and chiv- 
 alric citizen soldiers of the nation ; but had lost not one jot 
 of honor. They were the veterans of a hundred battles, 
 who would have won and earned immortality, but for 
 the fact that all their triumphs had been over their coun- 
 try's liberties. 
 
 The result was doubtful, and Taylor was right in ac- 
 cepting the surrender of the city as it stood. Had he 
 insisted on an unconditional surrender, he must have fed 
 his prisoners with an impoverished commissariat or 
 turnc^d them adrift. All his officers coincided with him ; 
 but there were found persons who censured him, and 
 this surrender became the subject of an angry dispute. 
 All now, however, coincide with him or are silent. 
 
99 
 
 Men a thousand miles from a battle-field, may calmly 
 scrutinize the conduct of generals and point out faults, 
 but a great, true-hearted people never see anything but 
 the result and the valor by which victory is won. 
 
 The secretary of war, and even a higher personage, 
 became mingled in this cabal, and the surrender was 
 discussed on the floor of the house of representatives. 
 It may not be improper, in relation to this matter, to 
 quote General Taylor's own account of the circumstances 
 which led to the capitulation. 
 
 A letter from the general, dated October 13th, con- 
 tains the following passages : 
 
 "****** The convention presents two distinct 
 points : 
 
 Firsts the permission granted to the Mexican army 
 to retire with their arms, &c. Secondly^ the temporary 
 cessation of hostilities for the term of eight weeks. I 
 shall remark on these in order. 
 
 Tlie force with which I marched on Monterey was 
 limited by causes beyond my control to about six thou- 
 sand men. With this force, as every military man must 
 admit, who has seen the ground, it was entirely impos- 
 sible to invest Monterey so closely as to prevent the 
 escape of the garrison. Although the main communica- 
 tion with the interior w^as in our possession, yet one 
 route was open to the Mexicans throughout the opera- 
 tions, and could not be closed, as were also other minor 
 tracks and passes through the mountains. Had we, 
 therefore, insisted on more rigorous terms than those 
 granted, the result would have been the escape of the 
 body of the Mexican force, with the destruction of its 
 artillery and magazines, our only advantage being the 
 capture of a few prisoners of war, at the expense of 
 valuable lives and much damage to the city. The con- 
 
100 GENERAL ZACHARY TAYLOR. 
 
 sideration of humanity was present to my mind during 
 the conference which led to the convention, and out- 
 weighed in my judgment the doubtful advantages to be 
 gained by a resumption of the attack upon the to\^Ti. 
 This conclusion has been fully confirmed by an inspec- 
 tion of the enemy's position and means since the surren- 
 der. It was discovered that his principal magazine, 
 containing an immense amount of powder, was in the 
 cathedral, completely exposed to our shells from two 
 directions. The explosion of this mass of powder, 
 which must have ultimately resulted from a continuance 
 of the bombardment, would have been infinitely disas- 
 trous, involving the destruction not only of Mexican 
 troops, but of non-combatants, and even our own people, 
 had we pressed the attack. 
 
 In regard to the temporary cessation of hostilities, 
 the fact that we are not at this moment, within eleven 
 days of the termination of the period fixed by the con- 
 vention, prepared to move forward in force, is a suffi- 
 cient explanation of the military reasons which dictated 
 this suspension of arms. It paralyzed the enemy during 
 a period when, from the want of necessary means, we 
 could not possibly move. I desire distinctly to state, 
 and to call the attention of the autliorities to the fact, 
 that, with all diligence in breaking mules and setting up 
 "wagons, the first wagons in addition to our original train 
 from Corpus Christi (and but one hundred and twenty- 
 five in number), reached my head-quarters on the same 
 day with the secretary's communication of October 13th, 
 viz: the 2d inst. At the date of the surrender of Mon- 
 terey, our force had not more than ten days' rations, and 
 even now, with all our endeavors, we have not more 
 than twenty-five. The task of fighting and beating 
 
 THE ENEMY IS AMONG THE LEAST DIFFICULT THAT WE 
 
TAYLOE'S EXPLANATION. 101 
 
 ENCOUNTER — the great question of supplies necessarily 
 controls all the operations in a country like this. At 
 the date of the convention, I could not of course have 
 foreseen that the department would direct an important 
 detachment from my command without consulting me, 
 or without waiting the result of the main operations 
 under my orders. 
 
 I have touched the prominent military points involved 
 in the convention of Monterey. There were other con- 
 siderations which weighed wdth the commissioners in 
 framing and with myself in approving the articles of 
 the convention. In the conference with General Am- 
 pudia, I was distinctly told by him that he had invited 
 it to spare the further effusion of blood, and because 
 General Santa Anna had declared himself favorable to 
 Deace. I knew that our government had made propo- 
 sitions to that of Mexico to negotiate, and I deemed 
 that the change of government in that country since my 
 last instructions, fully warranted me in entertaining 
 considerations of policy. My grand motive in moving 
 forward with very limited supplies had been to increase 
 the inducement of the Mexican government to nego- 
 tiate for peace. Whatever may be the actual views or 
 disposition of the Mexican rulers or of General Santa 
 Anna, it is not unknown to the government that I had 
 the very best reason for believing the statement of 
 General Ampudia to be true. It was my opinion at the 
 time of the convention, and it has not been changed, 
 that the liberal treatment of the Mexican army and the 
 suspension of arms, would exert none but a favorable 
 influence in our behalf. 
 
 The result of the entire operation has been to throw 
 the Mexican army back more than three hundred 
 miles to the city of San Luis Potosi, and to open the 
 
103 GENERAL ZACHARY TAYLOR. 
 
 country to us as far as we choose to penetrate it up to 
 the same point. 
 
 It has been my purpose in this communication not 
 so much to defend the convention from the censure 
 which I deeply regret to find impHed in the secretary's 
 letter, as to show that it was not adopted without 
 cogent reasons, most of which occur of themselves 
 to the minds of all who are acquainted with the con- 
 dition of things here. To that end I beg that it may 
 be laid before the general-in-chief and secretary of 
 war." 
 
 This would seem on this point to be final. 
 
 It is a matter of curiosity that this capitulation, claimed 
 in the United States to be so decidedly favorable to Mex- 
 ico, gave the greatest dissatisfaction to the Mexican 
 nation. General Ampudia was charged with having 
 disgraced the Mexican name, and was stripped of all 
 command. Though pre\iously a man of importance in 
 the annals of his countr}', he subsided into entire insig- 
 nificance, and took no part in that series of events which 
 made the chief magistracy and high offices of the Mexi- 
 can republic a prey to any who had nerve enough to 
 grasp the insignia of command. Which of the two na- 
 tions was right? General Filasola, Minon, Colonel 
 Mata, and other foreign officers of distinction, in the 
 Mexican service — military critics in France, England, 
 and Germany, have expressed the greatest admiration 
 of Taylor's generalship. Is it likely that they are all 
 mistaken ? 
 
 The city was taken possession of, according to the 
 terms of the surrender, and due humanity observed to- 
 wards the conquered, who marched beyond the line 
 agreed on in the surrender, to be occupied by them dur- 
 ing the armistice. This was terminated on the 13th of 
 
TAYLOR ADVANCES. 103 
 
 October, by a notice sent to San Luis de Potosi, where 
 the Mexican general had established his head-quarters. 
 
 Immediately after the formal surrender of Monterey, 
 General Worth was ordered to occupy Saltillo, a strong 
 position south of Monterey, and two thousand feet in 
 elevation above it. General Butler was assigned to the 
 command of Monterey, and General Taylor started for 
 Victoria. In the meantime. Wool's army of the centre 
 had penetrated, without resistance, as far as Parras. 
 General Taylor considered Parras and Saltillo both valu- 
 able positions, inasmuch as, with the aid of an interme- 
 diate post at Patos, the two w^ould be able to commu- 
 nicate readily. 
 
 The force of General W^ool was about twenty-four 
 hundred men and six guns, while Worth had twelve 
 hundred regulars and eight guns. At Monterey were 
 two companies of artillery, the skeleton of the 4th infan- 
 try, and General Butler's division of volunteers, com- 
 prising the Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana troops, all 
 commanded by General Butler. 
 
 Tampico was garrisoned by eight full companies of 
 artillery and the Alabama regiment. Near Victoria the 
 Mexican general, Urrea, was believed to be at the head 
 of a strong body of horse. Major-General Patterson 
 w^as accordingly instructed to march from Matamoras on 
 Victoria, with three regiments of volunteers from his 
 division, one being the Tennessee cavalry. General Tay- 
 lor left Monterey about the 15th of October, with the regu- 
 lar troops, under Brigadier-General Twiggs, and the other 
 regiments of General Patterson's division, under Briga- 
 dier-General Quitman. At Montemorelos, sixty-eight 
 miles from Monterey, he wished to effect a junction with 
 Colonel B. Riley, and incorporate with the column the 
 2d Tennessee regiment, under orders for that place. 
 
104 GENERAL ZACHARY TAYLOR. 
 
 With this force he wished to effect a junction with 
 Major-General Patterson before Victoria. 
 
 When General Taylor had gone as far as Montemo- 
 relos, he learned that General Worth, who commanded 
 at Saltillo, hourly expected an attack. General Quit- 
 man was therefore sent with a field-battery to meet Gen- 
 eral Patterson at Victoria, and he proceeded to Monte- 
 rey, and thence on the 20th, with Twiggs's division, 
 towards Saltillo. General Wool had, however, reached 
 that post with the central army ; and General Taylor 
 being informed of the circumstance, retraced his steps 
 towards Victoria, whither on the 30th of December he 
 arrived. When the enemy heard of the near approach 
 of Wool, he withdrew towards San Luis de Potosi. 
 
 The Mexican government, by means of great exer- 
 tions, had collected another and a well equipped army, 
 which had been advanced against the invaders. The 
 distinguished Don Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, by 
 far the most able man of the nation, in a military point 
 of view, had returned from exile on the 16th of August, 
 1846, and in a short time had collected an army, and 
 with money or other means had placed it in the field. 
 He was the general under whose auspices the next battle 
 was to be fought, and the perfection of military know- 
 ledge, the strategy with which he manoeuvred, the skill 
 which enabled him to threaten Victoria, Monterey, San 
 Luis, Saltillo, and even points on the shore of the gulf, 
 were sufficient to convince all that he merited the fame 
 he had won. 
 
 At this crisis. General Scott was ordered to Mexico, 
 and by virtue of his office as commanding general of the 
 whole army, of course assumed the general direction 
 of all operations. The history of the campaigns termi- 
 nated at Matamoras and at Monterey had shown con- 
 
105 
 
 GENERAL WOOL, 
 
106 GENERAL ZACHARY TAYLOR. 
 
 clusively that no serious impression could be made on 
 the government of Mexico by blows struck at its remoter 
 territories. The capture of all that had been taken from 
 it had not advanced the prospect of peace at all ; and it 
 was evident that this could be attained only by taking pos- 
 session of the capital and the ports, by which communi- 
 cation was had with Europe. The hrst attempt, there- 
 fore, was to be made against the city of Vera Cruz and 
 castle of San Juan. 
 
 The siege of Monterey had shown conclusively that 
 General Taylor's volunteers were amply able to cope 
 with the Mexican army in any field, but it was also evi- 
 dent that to approach such a work as San Juan, the best 
 possible troops would be required. General Scott, 
 therefore, felt himself called on to withdraw the regulars 
 from General Taylor's army. The matter was not very 
 important, as they numbered but about six hundred men, 
 and the policy of the government, as intimated to Gene- 
 ral Scott, before he left Washington, was for the time 
 to keep the wing of General Taylor on the defensi^-e. 
 There is no doubt besides, that this act of Scott's was 
 based on the supposition that new troops, as the govern- 
 ment promised, would immediately replace the regu- 
 lars and other forces he felt constrained to call for. 
 The following is an extract of a letter, dated New 
 York, November, 1846, immediately before he left for 
 New Orleans and the seat of war: 
 
 " I am not coming, my dear general, to supersede 
 you in the immediate command on the line of operations 
 rendered illustrious by you and your gallant army. My 
 proposed theatre is different. You may imagine it; and 
 I wish very much that it were prudent, at this distance, 
 to tell you all that I expect to attempt or hope to exe- 
 cute. I have been admonished that despatches have 
 
SCOTT TAKES COMMAND. 107 
 
 been lost, and I have no special messenger at hand. 
 Your imagination will be aided by the letters of the 
 secretary of war, conveyed by Mr. Armistead, Major 
 Graham, and Mr. M'Lane. 
 
 But, my dear general, I shall be obliged to take from 
 you most of the gallant officers and men (regulars and 
 volunteers) whom you have so long and so nobly com- 
 manded. I am afraid that h shall, by imperious neces- 
 sity — the approach of yellow fever on the gulf coast — 
 reduce you, for a time, to stand on the defensive. This 
 will be iniinitely painful to you, and, for that reason, 
 distressing to me. But I rely upon your patriotism to 
 submit to the temporary sacrifice w^ith cheerfulness. No 
 man can better afford to do so. Recent victories place 
 you on that high eminence ; and I even flatter myself 
 that any benefit that may result to me, personally, from 
 the unequal division of troops alluded to, will lessen the 
 pain of your consequent inactivity. 
 
 You will be aware of the recent call for nine regi- 
 ments of new volunteers, including one of Texas horse. 
 The president may soon ask for many more ; and we 
 are not without hope that congress may add ten or 
 twelve to the regular establishment. These, by the 
 spring, say April, may, by the aid of large bounties, be 
 in the field, should Mexico not earlier propose terms of 
 accommodation ; and, long before the spring (March), it 
 is probable you will be again in force to resume offensive 
 operations." 
 
 General Taylor knew all this, and fully appreciated 
 the motives of General Scott. On the 1st of January, 
 therefore, and the few days after it, the volunteer divi- 
 sions of Generals Patterson and Pillow, and the brigades 
 of Quitman, Twiggs, and Worth, were detached for the 
 purpose of acting under Scott, as he had directed. There 
 
108 GENERAL ZACHARY TAYLOR. 
 
 is no doubt, had they not been withdrawn, that the battle 
 of Buena Vista would never have been fought ; but it is 
 also more than probable that, without them, the siege of 
 Vera Cruz would not have been terminated with such 
 brilliancy and success. 
 
 General Taylor then returned from Victoria to Mon- 
 terey. He had been detained for some time at the for- 
 mer place, with the expectation of bringing on an en- 
 gagement with General Urrea, said to be one of the best 
 cavalry officers in Mexico, who, at the head of a large 
 body of lancers and rancheros, was annoying the army 
 much by interrupting communication with the coast and 
 attacking small parties. At Monterey, in the last of 
 January, General Taylor was in command of four hun- {{ 
 dred and fifty regulars, of all arms, and a volunteer 
 force sufficient to make his army, after reinforcement in 
 February, about six thousand strong. 
 
 About this time some checks were experienced, which 
 showed a disposition of the Mexicans to assume the 
 offensive, and made action on the part of the American 
 army necessary. Lieutenant-Colonel May having been 
 sent out with a mounted force to obtain information, was 
 attacked at a defile near Encarnacion, with some loss, 
 and without being able to act towards the enemy at all 
 on the offensive. A force of Arkansas and Kentucky 
 horse, commanded by Majors Borland and Gaines, was | 
 also surrounded by General Minon. These circum- ' 
 stances, and the evident tone of Santa Anna's strategy, 
 which looked towards the country between Monterey and 
 Matamoras, induced General Taylor to march to Saltillo 
 for the purpose of finding him and fighting. He left 
 Monterey, therefore, with a force of five thousand men, 
 about fifteen hundred remaining in garrison. He arrived 
 at Saltillo, February 2d, and two days afterwards 
 
I BATTLE OF BUENA YISTA. 109 
 
 marched to Agua Nueva, a strong position between San 
 Luis and Saltillo, from the latter of which it was distant 
 about twenty miles. He encamped here, and busied him- 
 self in making arrangements for the discipline of his 
 troops, until he received news that General Santa Anna, 
 at the head of an army of upwards of twenty thousand 
 men, was marching against him. 
 
 General Taylor had resolved to fight Santa Anna 
 ishould he cross the mountain ridge near him, and was 
 resolved to defeat him. On his march to Agua Nueva 
 he had been struck with the position of Buena Vista, 
 only eight miles from Saltillo, whither he proceeded. 
 
 The day of the 22d of February was one of unusual 
 beauty, even for the climate in which the American 
 army stood, and everything gave a favorable augury to 
 our arms. It was a national holyday, and every heart 
 beat high with the knowledge that the whole republic, 
 amid its rejoicings on the anniversary of the birth of the 
 model man of the age, remembered its children, who had 
 borne the standard of the Union so gloriously abroad. 
 Far in the rear the stars and stripes were seen waving 
 over the fortifications of Saltillo, while a cloud of dust 
 in the direction of Agua Nueva, and the murmurs borne 
 by the wind, informed them that the Mexican army was 
 approaching. 
 
 The assembly was beat from the head-quarters of 
 General Wool at 11, A. M., and was answered immedi- 
 ately from the tents of the junior generals, and the stirring 
 roll was taken up by choirs of drums and bugles of every 
 regiment and corps. The line of battle was at once 
 formed. The position was curious. Buena Vista is a 
 hacienda on a plain beneath a mountain pass or gap, on 
 the right of which is a deep ravine, while on the left rise 
 the rugged and stern peaks of the Sierra Madre, nowhere 
 more precipitous. 
 
110 GENERAL ZACHARY TAYLOR. 
 
 Between the ravine and the mountain is a range or 
 spur of hills, on the crest of which the American army 
 was posted. At the foot of this ridge, close to the 
 ravine, is the San Luis road, on which Captain Wash- 
 ington, 4th artiller}', with five pieces of light artillery, 
 were posted. The Mexican army was in front, between 
 which and the Americans was a web of ravines, steep 
 and difficult to cross, from the nature of the soil, which 
 was a mass of smooth round pebbles. The flank of the 
 American army could only be turned on a narrow piece 
 of ground, near tlie mountain, a circumstance which de- 
 prived the enemy of much of the advantage of his gr^at 
 numerical superiority. The position could not have 
 been better selected. The valley was but three miles 
 wide, the road lay along the bed of a dried-up water- 
 course, impassable to any body of troops^ and the other 
 side was equally well defended by an impassable series of 
 hills. As has been stated. Captain Washington's battery 
 was posted to command the road, while the 1st and 2d 
 Illinois regiments, under Colonels Hardin and Bissell, 
 each eight companies (to the latter of which was attached 
 Captain Conner's company of Texas volunteers), and 
 the 2d Kentucky, under Colonel McKee, occupied the 
 crests of the ridges on tlie left and in rear. The Arkan- 
 sas and Kentucky regiments of cavalry, commanded by 
 Colonels Yell and H. Marshall, occupied the extreme 
 left near the base of the mountain ; while tlie Indiana 
 brigade, under Brigadier-General Lane (composed of 
 the 2d and 3d regiments, under Colonels Bowles and 
 Lane), the Mississippi riiiemen, under Colonel Davis,* 
 the squadrons of the 1st and 2d dragoons, under Captain 
 
 • This officer, with his command and May's dragoons, subse- 
 quently accompanied General Taylor to Saltillo, and did not occupy 
 his position on the 23d until the action was about to begin. 
 
Ill 
 
112 GENERAL ZACHARY TAYLOR. 
 
 Steen and Lieutenant-Colonel May, and the light batte- 
 ries of Captains Sherman and Bragg, 3d artillery-, were 
 held in reserve. 
 
 This order of battle will bear the most careful scru- 
 tiny. It evinces a thorough appreciation of all the princi- 
 ples of the higher strategy, while its simplicity and facility 
 to be understood by the volunteers, by whom it was to be 
 fought, can not be too highly praised. It was drawn up 
 by General Wool, and the troops were already on the 
 march to their positions when General Taylor arrived in 
 the camp from Saltillo, whither he had gone to make 
 arrangements for its defence in case of attack. The 
 orders for the commencement of the action all emanated 
 from Wool. 
 
 Scarcely had these arrangements been made when the 
 advances of the enemy w^re seen. They were, however, 
 preceded by a Mexican officer, bearing a flag, and sum- 
 moning General Taylor to surrender to Santa Anna, pro- 
 mising the honors of war and good treatment. The 
 officer who bore the flas: also corroborated the statement 
 of General Santa Anna's note, that the Mexican force 
 was more than twenty thousand strong. General Taylor 
 declined to surrender. This took place near meridian. 
 
 General Santa Anna at this time was in sight, per- 
 sonally reconnoitering, but did not begin the action, evi- 
 dently because he waited for the rear battalions of his 
 column to reach him, so that by one rush of his masses 
 of men the American force might be swept away. At 
 about four, P. M., the first shot was fired, being a shell 
 thrown from a Mexican mortar into the American camp. 
 The Kentucky cavalry and the Arkansas troops, dis- 
 mounted, had been posted near the mountain, as skir- 
 mishers ; and, at half-past four o'clock, commenced the 
 action by engaging fifteen hundred light troops, whom 
 
BATTLE OF BUENA VISTA. 113 
 
 Santa Anna had despatched, under the command of 
 Ampudia, to occupy the mountain on the American left. 
 The command of Ampudia consisted of four full regi- 
 ments of light infantry and Cazadores, and, after a des- 
 perate struggle and great loss, succeeded in occupying 
 the hill. 
 
 The Mexican infantry was divided into three columns, 
 commanded respectively by Generals Lombardini, Pa- 
 checo, and Andrade. The artillery was commanded by 
 Don Antonio Corona, and the cavalry by General Juvera. 
 The artillery was in the rear of the centre, the cavalry 
 of the right, and Santa Anna in pei-son midway between 
 the two lines, with a brilliant staflf and strong body- 
 guard. 
 
 A strong body of cavalry, said to be commanded by 
 General Minon, having been seen in the rear of Saltillo, 
 and evidently directed against that place, General Taylor, 
 aware that nothing would be done before the 23d, pro- 
 ceeded, with an escort, to look after its safety. This 
 having been done, he returned to Buena Vista on the 23d. 
 
 On the morning of the 23d, both armies, having bi- 
 vouacked on the field, were in position. The battle 
 began at dawn, the Mexican infantry advancing to the 
 attack from behind the crest of the hill on their side of 
 the ravine. The three lines w^ere all displayed, the one 
 above the other, and opened a destructive fire on the 
 American line. This was promptly returned, the men 
 firing twenty rounds, at point-blank distance, with great 
 effect. Washington's battery here opened with great 
 effect. The Mexican loss at this place was very hea\^, 
 and the Americans also, in the course of a few minutes, 
 had sixty men and officers killed and wounded. It will be 
 remembered that the fire of five thousand infantry was 
 concentrated on two regiments. 
 
 8 ■ 
 
114 GEXERAL ZACHARY TAYLOR. 
 
 The Mexicans having, during the night, placed a 
 twelve-pound gun on the height occupied by Ampudia, 
 which overlooked the whole American position, Lieuten- 
 ant O'Brien, of the 4th artillery, was detached, with 
 three pieces of Washington's battery. With him was 
 Lieutenant Bryan, topographical engineers, and, by their 
 united efforts, this formidable though small battery was 
 silenced. 
 
 It was in the meantime discovered that behind the 
 inequahties of the ground, on the Mexican side of the 
 ravine, a large force of horse and foot was being 
 concentrated, with the intention of outflanking the Ame- 
 rican left. The hills on that side, it will be remembered, 
 were already occupied by Don Pedro de Ampudia. On 
 the left of the line was the 2d Indiana and 2d Illinois 
 regiments, commanded by General Lane, under whose 
 orders also were three field-pieces (Lieutenant O'Brien's). 
 General Lane ordered the 2d Indiana regiment and 
 the guns to advance. O'Brien did so, under an in- 
 tense fire of musketry, but was unable to check the 
 Mexican advance. The 2d Indiana regiment had be- 
 come panic-stricken, and fell back, followed by part of 
 the 1st, in great disorder, leaving the battery exposed 
 to a cross-fire of small arms, on the front and right, and 
 of grape and canister, on the left. The Indiana regi- 
 ment could not again be brought to a stand, and the 
 Mexican infantry came on so rapidly, that O'Brien lost 
 one of his guns. The colonel of the 1st Indiana regi- 
 ment (Bowles), with a very few men, joined the Missis- 
 sippi ibot (Davis's), and subsequently did good service. 
 The rest fled in disorder to Saltillo. 
 
 Colonel Bissel's 2d Illinois regiment was also out- 
 flanked and outnumbered, and with Sherman's battery 
 was compelled to wididraw. The Mexicans now threw 
 
115 
 
116 GENERAL ZACHAEY TAYLOR. 
 
 mass after mass around the left of the army of the Uni- 
 ted States, which seemed likely to be surrounded. Gen- 
 eral Wool was everywhere, but the rupture of the Ame- 
 rican line, caused by the retreat of the Indianians, and 
 the overwhelming masses, made the chances of the day 
 precarious. At this crisis General Taylor arrived from 
 Saltillo with the Mississippi regiment and a squadron of 
 United States dragoons. 
 
 General Wool had previously reinforced the lefl with 
 the 2d Kentucky regiment and Bragg's artillery, which, 
 with a part of Hardin's Illinois regiment, turned on the 
 enemy and sent them in double quick time to the right 
 about. The artillery of Bragg and Sherman now came 
 again in play, and firing on the enemy who had gained 
 the American rear and the advancing masses, checked 
 their advance. 
 
 The Mississippi regiment (Colonel Davis) was severe- 
 ly pressed, and the 3d Indiana (Colonel Lane) and one 
 gun under Lieutenant Kilbarn of Bragg's battery were 
 sent to his support. Here the battle was long disputed, 
 and charges of horse and foot were made more than once 
 by the Mexicans, and always repulsed. At this time the 
 wagon train was menaced by the Mexican lancers, who 
 were driven back in great disorder, by a charge of a 
 squadron of the 1st dragoons, commanded by Lieutenant 
 Rucker (Captain Steen had previously been wounded, 
 and the other captain, Eustis, was absent in camp from 
 sickness); May with the rest of the horse then came up, 
 and the result of this cavalry affair would have been 
 more decided, had not a large portion of Arkansas troops 
 from some causeless panic fled to Sahillo, where they 
 reported the battle as lost. This had already been done 
 by the Indianians. 
 
 Lieutenant-Colonel May, 2d dragoons, with two 
 
BATTLE OF EUENA VISTA. 117 
 
 squadrons of his own regiment and Captain Pike's 
 (Arkansas horse) was then employed in hohhng as far 
 as possible in cheek tlie eoniinued advance of the ene- 
 my, who still sought to turn the base of the mountain. 
 
 Captain Bragg's and part of Sherman's battery had, 
 in the meantime, been ordered to the left, against which 
 the enemy still made a demonstration. The heavy fire 
 of the light artillery soon threw them into confusion, and 
 tliey sought to fall back on the Mexican reserve. 
 
 This w^as a time for horse ; and Captain Rucker, w4th 
 a squadron of the 1st dragoons, was ordered forward. 
 The difficulty of the ground and the fire of the Mexican 
 line, however, rendered it impossible for him to charge. 
 On the extreme left the enemy were observed to concen- 
 trate, probably with the intention of attacking the haci- 
 enda, where w^as collected the train of w^agons, &c., of 
 the American army. May was ordered thither with his 
 command, and two pieces of Sherman's battery. Before 
 he reached the spot, however, the Mexican cavalry had 
 been beaten back by a small body of troops commanded 
 by Major Monroe of the artillery, after having been 
 divided into two portions by a charge of the Arkansas 
 (Yell) and Kentucky (Marshall) horse. May then ap- 
 proached wnth his command, to which was added the 
 squadron of the 1st dragoons and many Arkansas and 
 Indiana troops. It was at this part of the field that the 
 gallant Colonel Yell died, at the head of his regiment. 
 
 It will be remembered that a portion of the Mexican 
 troops had reached the American rear, and it was obvi- 
 ous they could not again unite with the main army. At 
 tills time a message was received from General Santa 
 Anna, asking to know what General Taylor wanted. 
 General Wool was at once sent to the Mexican general- 
 in-chief, but as the enemy continued to fire he returned 
 
118 GENERAL ZACHARY TAYLOR. 
 
 without an interview. By means of this ruse^ however, 
 the right of the Mexican army was enabled lo escape 
 from its perilous position. The firing had partially 
 ceased on the principal field, the enemy limiting all his 
 efforts to the protection of his guns. The table-land 
 became again, however, the scene of a fearful contest. 
 The Illinois and Kentucky infantry had engaged a vastly 
 superior force of the enemy, and were on the point of 
 being overwhelmed. O'Brien, with two pieces, had 
 assisted in sustaining this unequal contest, and was left 
 alone, the foot being driven back. Captain Bragg then 
 came into battery, and fired into the hostile line, which 
 was within but a few feet of the muzzles of his guns. 
 This fire saved the day, the enemy retiring precipitately. 
 The 2d Kentucky regiment, which had advanced beyond 
 supporting distance in this affair, was driven back and 
 closely pressed by the enemy's cavalry. Taking a 
 ravine which led in the direction of Captain Washing- 
 ton's battery, their pursuers became exposed to his fire, 
 which soon checked and drove them back with loss. In 
 the meantime the rest of our artillery had taken position 
 on the plain, covered by the Mississippi and 3d Indiana 
 regiments, the former of which had reached the ground 
 in time to pour a fire into the right flank of the enemy, 
 and thus contribute to his repulse. In this last conflict, 
 Colonel Hardin, 1st Illinois, and Colonel McKee and 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Clay, 2d Kentucky regiment, fell 
 W'hile leading their commands. 
 
 Previous to the retreat of the enemy from Bragg's 
 battery, which he had pushed almost into the smoke and 
 dust of theu" column, every man and horse at three of his 
 guns had been shot or disabled. These guns the Mexi- 
 can infantry carried off with them. The matter was 
 much regretted, as, but for the precipitate retreat of 
 
119 
 
120 GENERAL ZA CHARY TAYLOR. 
 
 Santa Anna, he might, with some color, have made a 
 claim to the victory, weak, but sufficient to satisfy the 
 credulous Mexican nation. 
 
 This was the last effort of the Mexicans ; they 
 were defeated disgracefully. During the day, as be- 
 fore said, the horse under General Minon threatened 
 Saltillo, and on one occasion approached so near that 
 they w^ere fired upon from the redoubt on the east side, 
 in which w^as stationed Captain Webster. They then 
 obliqued tow^ards the w^agon train ; as they approached 
 it, however, they w^ere beaten back by Captain Shover, 
 with his gun, and a piece under Lieutenant Donaldson, 
 detached from Webster's battery. 
 
 The enemy made during the night no other attempt 
 to force the American position, and all were busied in 
 attending to the wounded, and removing them to 
 Saltillo. The sufferings of the latter were intense, a 
 severely cold night succeeding the broiling heat of the 
 day. The army lay down without fires, expecting 
 that the battle would be renew^ed at dawm. Rein- 
 forcements w^ere also withdraw^n from the town, and it 
 was known that Brigadier-General Marshall, wnth 
 fresh Kentucky horse and a battery of heavy guns, was 
 near at hand. The enemy was however discovered 
 to have fled to Agua Nueva. He w^as still twenty 
 thousand strong (having been joined by Minon's com- 
 mand), and General Taylor with his five thousand men 
 was unable to pursue him. On that day a negotiation 
 for the exchange of prisoners was made. The day was 
 passed in burying the American dead, and removing to 
 Saltillo the many Mexican wounded abandoned by 
 Santa Anna. 
 
 On the evening of the 26th a close reconnoissance 
 was made, and Agua Nueva was found to have been 
 
DEFEAT OF THE MEXICANS. 121 
 
 abandoned except by the cavalry, the mass of the 
 Mexican army having hurried to San Luis. On the 27th 
 the American army advanced to Agua Nucva, and the 
 general purposed to beat up Santa Anna's quarters at 
 Encarnacion, a hacienda in the midst of the lofty plain 
 between Saltillo and Potosi. The cavalry horses were 
 unable to sustain the march, and an infantry command 
 was sent, which discovered that Encarnacion had been 
 abandoned, and the army gone towards Matahuala, 
 sadly reduced in numbers, and almost disorganized. 
 The dead and dying filled the whole hacienda. 
 
 The American force engaged in the action of Buena 
 Vista was three hundred and thirty-four officers, and 
 four thousand four hundred and tw^enty-five men, ex- 
 clusive of the small command left in and near Saltillo. 
 Of this number, two squadrons of cavalry and three 
 batteries of light artillery, making not more than four 
 hundred and fifty-three men, composed the only force 
 of regular troops. The strength of the Mexican army 
 is stated by General Santa Anna, in his summons, to 
 be twenty thousand ; that estimate was confirmed by 
 subsequent information. The American loss was two 
 hundred and sixty-seven killed, four hundred and fifty- 
 six w^ounded, and tw^enty-three missing. The Mexican 
 loss in killed and w^ounded may be fairly estimated at 
 fifteen hundred, and probably two thousand. At least 
 five hundred of their killed were left upon the field of 
 battle. The number of deserters and dispersed men 
 from the ranks is known to have been very great. 
 
 Among the American killed and \vounded were 
 many officers of the regular army. Captain Lincoln, 
 assistant adjutant-general of General Wool, was killed 
 while attempting to rally some troops who had become 
 disordered ; Captain Steen, of the 1st dragoons, was 
 
1*22 GENERAL ZACHARY TAYLOR. 
 
 w'ourded in the same service. Other officers were 
 wounded and distinguished. General Taylor thus 
 spoke of his regulars, who, if they were few, were not 
 to be surpassed in other respects : 
 
 " 'I'he services of the light artillery, always conspicu- 
 ous, were more than usually distinguished. Moving 
 rapidly over the roughest ground, it was always in ac- 
 tion at the right place and the right time, and its well- 
 directed fire dealt destruction in the masses of the ene- 
 my. While I recommend to particular favor the gallant 
 conduct and valuable services of Major Miinroe, chief 
 of artillery, and Captains Washington, 4th artillery, and 
 Sherman and Bragg, 3d artillery, commanding batteries, 
 1 deem it no more than just to mention all the subaltern 
 officers. They were nearly all detached at ditTerent 
 times, and in every situation exhibited conspicuous skill 
 and gallantry. Captain O'Brien, Lieutenants Brent, 
 Whiting, and Couch, 4th artillery, and Bryan, topo- 
 graphical engineers (slightly wounded), were attached 
 to Captain Washington's battery. Lieutenants Thomas, 
 Reynolds, and French, 3d artillery (severely wounded) 
 to that of Captain Sherman ; and Captain Shover ana 
 Lieutenant Kilburn, 3d artillery, to that of Captain 
 Bragg. Captain Shover, in conjunction with Lieutenant 
 Donaldson, 1st artillery, rendered gallant and important 
 service in repulsing the cavalry of General Minon. The 
 regular cavalry, under Lieutenant-Colonel May, with 
 which was associated Captain Pike's squadron of Ar- 
 kansas horse, rendered useful service in holding the 
 enemy in check and covering the batteries at several 
 points. Captain Steen, 1st dragoons, was severely 
 wounded early in the day, while gallantly endeavoring, 
 with my authority, to rally the troops which were falling 
 to the rear." 
 
SERVICES OF THE REGULARS. X23 
 
 The volunteers fought as well as any troops in the 
 world. Twelve-months men met and beat back the 
 charges of veterans in a manner hitherto unprecedented. 
 1'he officers were conspicuous for their gallantry, and 
 earned the high commendation they have received. It 
 will also be remembered that of all the volunteers, one 
 regiment only, Colonel Davis's (Mississippi), had ever 
 been under fire. Colonels Yell, Hardin, McKee, and 
 Clay died on the battle-field. Colonel Davis was 
 severely wounded, yet retained his command. 
 
 General Lane was wounded, and a disproportionate 
 number of officers of every regiment of the army, in the 
 field, were killed and wounded. General Wool, who 
 had drawn up the battle, is highly and unsparingly com- 
 plimented by General Taylor, and staff officers of every 
 grade distinguished themselves. Major Bliss, Captain 
 Eaton, and Lieutenant Garnet exhibited that talent which 
 had caused their general, in the first instance, to select 
 them as his aids ; and even the civilian clerks of the 
 various staff departments, aware that it was a time for 
 every man to show himself, buckled on their sabres, and 
 figured as messengers and estafettes. 
 
 The battle was gained ; and had General Taylor been 
 at the head of two regiments of regular cavalry, in addi- 
 tion to the force which won the battle, there is little 
 doubt that he would have crossed the desert and captured 
 San Luis. It did not happen thus ; the term of service 
 of the men who had won the battle of Buena Vista, 
 began to expire, and regiment after regiment was dis- 
 charged from the service. The general was left almost 
 alone, and compelled to remain inactive. All opposition 
 to him w^as, however, destroyed, north of Saltillo ; and 
 he had but to bide his time. In the meantime, the Mex- 
 ican government concentrated its troops around the 
 
124 GENERAL ZACHAIY TAYLOR. 
 
 capital. General Taylor, from this time forth, was com- 
 pelled to remain nearly inactive. His rambling search 
 after Urrea, who, subsequent to the battle of Buena 
 Vista, sought to interrupt his communication, is worthy 
 of notice. He drove that officer before him on the 
 17th of March, having with him the Virginia regiment, 
 one from Ohio, a troop of dragoons, and two pieces of 
 artillery; but the Mexican succeeded in eluding all 
 pursuit. 
 
 After remaining inactive at Monterey during the 
 summer and autumn of 1847, General Taylor obtained 
 leave of absence, in order to return to his residence at 
 Baton Rouge, and pay some attention to his private 
 affairs. 
 
 His reception at New Orleans forms a striking feature 
 in the events of his life. 
 
 On the 3d of December, agreeably to previous 
 arrangements, the steamship Mary Kingsland was 
 despatched at nine o'clock in the morning, with the 
 committee of the Municipal Councils, to conduct the 
 general to the city. 
 
 About half an hour later a number of steamers, 
 many of them tastefully decorated, and filled with 
 passengers, darted forth from the wharves of the First 
 and Second Municipalities, and proceeded down the 
 river for the purpose of uniting in the triumphal progress 
 of the hero. As they passed the barracks their cannon 
 gave forth a joyous welcome. They then gracefully 
 rounded to, the majestic Missouri leading in the van. 
 
 Running close aboard the Kingsland, at the landing, 
 the Missouri threw out her lines, and enabled her pas- 
 sengers to exchange salutations for a few moments with 
 the war-worn veteran. He was standing on one of 
 the guards of the Kingsland, and with his stalwart form 
 
RECEPTIOir AT NEW ORLEANS. ^25- 
 
 distinguished from all others, his firm, erect, and mili- 
 tary position, his head uncovered, and his gray hairs 
 streaming in the wind, he looked, indeed, like a con- 
 quering hero of the olden time. The cheers that 
 greeted him could have been heard in the distant forest, 
 while tlie waving handkerchiefs and glancing smiles of 
 nearly a hundred ladies, testified the sincerity with 
 which they joined in the admiration that heroism and 
 bravery have ever won from those whose smiles the 
 soldier deems his best reward. 
 
 A grand salute of one hundred guns from each 
 Municipality, announced his landing and reception by 
 the Mayor and civil authorities in the Place d'Armes, 
 where the Mayor made him the following address : 
 
 General: In behalf of the city of New Orleans, 
 which I have the honor to represent on this occasion, 
 it is my pleasing office to welcome your happy return to 
 your country and your home ; and in behalf of the 
 Municipal Councils, I tender to you the hospitality of 
 this city, whilst it is your pleasure to remain among us. 
 
 No circumstance could have filled our hearts with 
 more joy than we now feel in having the opportunity 
 to express to you our gratitude for the distinguished 
 services you have rendered our country. The brilliant 
 achievements performed in Mexico by the fearless and 
 daring band that you have led from victory to victory, 
 have inspired us with feelings which no language is 
 sufficiently powerful to convey. For such achievements, 
 General, every true American heart, from one extremity 
 to the other of this republic, is filled with gratitude and 
 admiration. Wherever you direct your steps, upon 
 any spot where the star-spangled banner triumphantly 
 expands its folds to the breeze, you will find a nation's 
 love to greet you — you will hear a wiiole nation's spon- 
 
126 GENERAL ZACHARY TAYLOR. 
 
 taneous applause to extol the splendor of your deeds, 
 which your modesty would in vain endeavour to weaken 
 in your own eyes. 
 
 Again, General, I bid you a hearty welcome, in the 
 name of all the citizens of New Orleans. 
 
 The general was evidently and deeply affected by 
 his reception, but promptly made the following reply, 
 with much feeling : 
 
 Mr. Mayor : The welcome which I meet this day, 
 from the people of New Orleans, announced by you, 
 their honored representative, overwhelms me with 
 feelings which no words can express. 
 
 You have been pleased to qualify, with terms of the 
 highest approbation, the services of the army which I 
 have had the honor to command in Mexico. Could 
 those brave officers and soldiers, whose gallantry 
 achieved the successes to which you refer, be present on 
 this occasion, and witness the grand outpourings of 
 gratitude which their devotion has elicited, the measure 
 of my satisfaction would be complete. For them and 
 myself, I thank, from my heart, the people of New 
 Orleans, and accept, Mr. Mayor, the offer of their 
 hospitality. 
 
 The general retired to his private parlor, where a 
 crowd of friends and citizens paid their respects to him 
 until about seven o'clock, when he was conducted to 
 the grand banqueting hall of the St. Charles, where, 
 with a company of about two hundred and fifty guests, 
 he sat down to the splendid dinner given to him by the 
 city authorities. 
 
 We extract the following from the New Orleans 
 Times. 
 
 The committee of arrangements, with a taste that 
 really brought forth one burst of admiration from all 
 
RECEPTION AT NEW ORLEANS. 127 
 
 who contemplated their work, had caused to be con- 
 structed, in honour of the occasion, a Triumphal Arch 
 in the middle of the Place d'Armes, seemingly on the 
 model of those far-famed arches of antiquity, the 
 monuments of the glory, the taste, and the science of 
 past ages ; and of dimensions, as we judge, equal to 
 the colossal structure of the same kind at Paris, at the 
 Barriere de PEtoile. The summit was crowned with 
 an eagle, richly gilt ; in front and rear, just under the 
 entablature, extending the whole length, were the words 
 " Welcome !^^ and, on the other parts, the names of the 
 great battles which General Taylor had won, from the 
 opening of the present^ war. The American flag, of 
 course, floated from the summit ; a profusion of brush, 
 or evergreen, gave it a beautiful verdant appearance ; 
 and some young pines were placed erect on the top, 
 flanking the ever-glorious stars and stripes. Through 
 the central arch, the hero was conveyed to the cathedral, 
 modestly expressing his deep sense of the attachment of 
 his fellow-citizens, thus so conspicuously evinced. 
 
 At night, in each square of the municipalities, a grand 
 exhibition of fireworks took place, which attracted thou- 
 sands of our fellow-citizens of both sexes, affording an 
 apt conclusion to a most brilliant day, such as a free 
 people, proud in the consciousness of hs sovereignty, 
 is ever happy to accord to a public benefactor. 
 
 General Taylor, accompanied by a considerable 
 number of friends, including his stafT, members of the 
 committees, &c., visited successively the St. Charles, 
 the American, and the Orleans theatres, where he was 
 enthusiastically received by crowded audiences. The 
 orchestre, at each place of amusement, played the national 
 airs. The ladies, for here they are in their appropriate 
 places, in point of display, for grace and the thousand 
 
128 GENERAL ZACHARY TAYLOR. 
 
 nameless charms incident to beauty in full costume, 
 dispensed their applause without stint, on the veteran 
 champion of tiieir clime and race. 
 
 The New Orleans Delta thus describes the personal 
 appearance of General Taylor : 
 
 We found the general looking as sturdy and hardy 
 as ever. His long campaign has somewhat reduced 
 him in flesh, but still he looks healthier and younger 
 than when he passed through our city some two years 
 and a half ago. That good-natured, honest, and yet 
 determined expression, still characterizes a face in 
 which symmetry and comeliness are not sought after, 
 and therefore not missed — a face browned and rouffh- 
 ened by the exposure of a long and trying campaign, 
 during which he has never slept beneath a roof or within 
 walls. The general was dressed in his usual plain and 
 rather well-worn undress uniform, simple glazed cap, 
 and wore his bris^adier's sword. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 f 40 
 
\/ ••■'■■ 
 
 ^J^ ^•' 
 
 
 % 
 
 ■\,^ ^'tf ■ ¥ 
 
 « II 
 
 4 O • 
 
 
 
 
 "» o 
 
 ■^^c,V 
 
 V •" O'* ,•• 
 

 <^ ■>' . • •