iUuuuuy, MEMOif^m His M/^JB fk' WW :* < c U j', 5 J > J MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID. CHAPTEE I. EARLY LIFE. EMIGRATION TO AMERICA. EDGAR ALLEN FOE. To most of the world, Captain Mayne Eeid is known only as a writer of thrilling romances and works on natural history. It will appear in these pages that he was also distinguished as a man of action and a soldier, and the record of his many gallant deeds should still further endear him to the hearts of his readers. He was born in the north of Ireland, in April, 1818, at Ballyroney, co. Down, the eldest son of the Eev. Thomas Mayne Eeid, Presbyterian minister, a man of great 1 3: .*''. '•. / -ftlEMiDlL^ OF MAYNE REID. ;V Ifiarmng'/aaid -abiUty. His mother was the daughter of the Eev. Samuel Eutherford, a descendant of the " hot and hasty Eutherford " mentioned in Sir Walter Scott's " Marmion." One of Mayne Eeid's frequent expressions was : "I have all the talent of the Eeids and all the deviltry of the Eutherfords." He certainly may be said to have inherited at least the " hot and hasty temper " of his mother's family, for his father, the Eev. Thomas Mayne Eeid, was of a most placid disposition, much beloved by his parishioners, and a favourite alike with Catholics and Protestants. It used to be said of him by the peasantry, " Mr. Eeid is so polite he would bow to the ducks." Several daughters had been born to them before the advent of their first son. He was christened Thomas Mayne, but in MEMOIR OF MAYNE KEID. 3 after life dropped tlie Thomas, and was known only as Mayne Eeid. Other sons and daughters followed, but Mayne was the only one destined to figure in the world's history. Young Mayne Eeid early evinced a taste for war. When a small boy he w^as often found runnino' barefooted aloni^ the road after a drum and fife band, greatly to his mother's dismay. She cliided him, saying^, "What will the folks think to see xMr. Eeid's son going about like this ? " To,, which young Ma^me replied, " I don't care,. I'd rather be Mr. Drum than Mr. Eeid." It was the ardent wish of both parents- that their eldest son should enter the Church ; and, at the age of sixteen, Mayne Eeid was sent to college to pre- pare for the ministry of the Presbyterian Church, but after four years' study, it was 1—2 4 MEMOIE OF MAYNE EEID. found that his inclinations were altoo-ether opposed to this calhng. He carried off prizes in mathematics, classics, and elo- cution ; distinguished himself in all athletic sports ; anything but theology. It is recorded, on one occasion when called upon to make a prayer, he utterly failed, breaking down at the first few sentences. It was called by his fellow-students '• Eeid's wee prayer." Captain Mayne Eeid has been heard to say, "My mother would rather have had me settle down as a minister, on a stipend of one hundred a year, than know me to be the most famous man in history." The good mother could never under- stand her eldest son's ambition ; but she was happy in seeing her second son, John, succeed his father as pastor of Closkilt, Drumofooland. MEMOIR OF MAY^E REID. 5 In the month of January, 18 tO, Mayne Eeid first set foot in the new world — landing at New Orleans. We quote his own words : " Like other striplings escaped from college, I was no longer happy at home. The yearning for travel was upon me, and without a sigh I beheld the hills of my native land sink behind the black waves, not much caring whether I should ever see them again." Soon after landing, he thus expressed himself, showing how little store he set upon his classical training as a stock-in- trade upon which to begin the battle of life : " And one of my earliest surprises — one that met me on the very threshold of my Transatlantic existence — was the dis- covery of my own utter uselessness. I could point to my desk and say, ' There lie tlie proofs of my erudition ; the highest prizes G MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID. of my college class.' But of what use are tliey? The dry theories I had been taught had no application to the purposes of real life. My logic was the prattle of the parrot. My classic lore lay upon my mind like lumber ; and I was altogether about as 'well prepared to struggle with life — to benefit either my fellow-men or myself — as if I had graduated in Chinese mnemo- nics. And, oh! ye pale professors, who drilled me in syntax and scansion, ye would deem me unc^rateful indeed were I to give utterance to the contempt and indignation which I then felt for ye ; then, when I looked back upon ten years of wasted existence spent under your tutelage ; then, when, after believing myself an educated man, the illusion vanished, and I awoke to the knowleds^e that I knew nothino-." MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID. 7 We shall not here follow Mayne Reid through the ever varying scenes of this period — his life in Louisiana, encounters on the prairies with buffaloes, grizzly bears, and Indians on the war-path with their trophies of scalps ; his excursions with trappers and Indians up the Eed Eiver, the Missouri, and Platte — for all of these are embodied in his writinij^s, which contain more reality than romance. Mayne Eeid tried his hand at various occu- pations, both in the civilized and unciviUzed life of the new world. For a brief space he was " storekeeper " and " nigger driver," then tutor in the family of Judge Peyton Eobertson, of Tennessee'. Soon tiring of this, he set up a school of his own in the neighbourhood, erectino- a wooden building as school house, at his own expense. He was very popular as a teacher, 8 MEMOIR OF MAYNE EEID. but hnntino' in the backwoods beins: more to his taste, lie soon went in quest of fresh sport. At Cincinnati, Ohio, by wa}^ of a change, he joined a company of strolhng players, but very soon convinced, himself that play-acting was not his forte. This little episode in his life, the gallant Captain was anxious to keep from the knowledge of his family in Ireland. They, strict Presbyterians as they were, looked upon play-actors as almost lost to the evil one. However, the fact got into print some years later. Of all his varied adventures, the Captain would never tell us of his failure in this one line of business, though he would dwell on his talent as " storekeeper " and schoolmaster. Between the years 1842 and 1846 we hear of him as a poet, newspaper correspondent and. editor. In the autumn of 1842 Mayne MEMOIll OF MAYNE REID. 9 Eeid had reached Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Here he contributed poetry to the PiUsbunjli Chronicle, under the nom de plume of the " Poor SchoLar." In the spring of 1843 he settled in Philadelphia, and devoted all his energies to literature, the most ambitious of his efforts being a poem, '• La Cubana," published in " Godey's Magazine." Here he also produced a five-act tragedy, " Love's Martyr," which is full of dramatic power. During Mayne Eeid's residence in Phila- delphia he made the acquaintance of the American poet, Edgar Allen Poe, and the following account of the poet's life, written by Mayne Eeid some years later, in defence of his much maliij^ned friend, is of interest. " Nearly a quarter of a century ago, I knew a man named Edgar Allen Poe. I knew him as well as one man may know another, after an intimate -and almost daily 10 MEMOIR OF MAYN"E REID. association extending over a period of two years. He was tlien a reputed poet ; I only an humble admirer of the Muses. " But it is not of his poetic talent I here intend to speak. I never myself had a ver}^ exalted opinion of it — more especially as I knew that the poem upon which rests the head corner-stone of his fame is not the creation of Edgar Allen Poe, but of ElizabetJi Barrett Browning. In 'Lady Geraldine's Courtship/ you will find the original of ' The Eaven.' I mean the tune, the softly flowing measure, the imagery and a good many of the words — even to the 'rustling of the soft and silken curtain.' . " This does not seem like defend in o^ the dead poet, nor, as a poet, is his defence intended. I could do it better were I to speak of his prose, which for classic diction and keen analytic power has not been sur- MEMOIR OF MAYXE KEID. 11 passed in the republic of letters. Keitlier to speak of liis poetry, or his prose, have I taken up the pen ; but of Avhat is, in my opinion, of much more importance than either — his moral character. Contrary to my estimate, the world believes him to have been a great poet ; and there are few who will question his transcendent talents as a writer of prose. But the world also believes him to have been a blackguard ; and there are but few who t-eem to dissent from this doctrine. " I am one of this few ; and I shall give my reasons, drawing them from my own knowledge of the man. In attempting to rescue his maligned memory from tlie clutch of calumniators, I have no design to re- present Edgar Allen Poe as a model of what man ought to be, either morally or socially. I desire to obtain for him only strict justice ; and if this be accorded, I have no fear that 12 MEMOIR OF MAYNE KEID. those accordino- it will continue to res^ard him as the monster he has been hitherto depicted. Eather may it be that the hideous o^arment will be transferred from his to the shoulders of his hostile biographer. '• When I first became acquainted with Poe he was livhig in a suburban district of Phila- delphia, called ' Spring Garden.' I have not been there for twenty years, and, for aught I know, it may now be in the centre of that progressive city. It was then a quiet resi- dential neii]^hbourhood, noted as the chosen quarter of the Quakers. " Poe was no Quaker ; but, I remember well, he was next-door neighbour to one. And in this wise : that while the wealthy co-religionist of William Penn dwelt in a splendid four-story house, built of the beau- tiful coral-coloured bricks for which Phila- delphia is celebrated, the poet lived in a MEMOIR OF MAYNE EEID. 13 lean-to of three rooms — tliere may have been a garret with a closet — of painted plank construction, supported against the gable of the more pretentious dwelling. " If I remember aright, the Quaker was a dealer in cereals. He was also Foe's landlord ; and, I think, rather looked down upon the poet — though not from any question of character, but simply from his being fool enough to figure as a scribbler and a poet. "In this humble domicile I can sav that I have spent some of {he pleasantest hours of my life — certainly some of the most intellectual. They were passed in the company of the poet himself and his wife — a lady angelically beautiful in person and not less beautiful in spirit. No one who remembers that dark-eyed, dark- haired daughter of Virginia — her own 14 MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID. name, if I rightly remember — her grace, her facial beauty, her demeanour, so modest as to be remarkable — no one who has ever spent an hour in her company but "vvill endorse what I have above said. I re- member how we, the friends of the poet, used to talk of her high qualities. And when we talked of her beautv, I well knew that the rose-tint upon her cheek was too bright, too pure to be of earth. It was consumption's colour — that sadly- beautiful light which beckons to an early tomb. " In the little lean-to, besides the poet and his interesting wife, there was but one other dweller. This was a woman of middle age, and almost masculine aspect. She had the size and figure of a man, with a countenance that, at first sight, seemed scarce feminine. A stranger would MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID. 15 have been incredulous — surprised, as I was — when introduced to her as the mother of that angelic creature who liad accepted Edgar Poe as the partner of her life. • " Such was the relationship ; and when you came to know this woman better, the masculinity of her person disappeared before the truly feminine nature of her mind ; and you saw before you a type of those grand American mothers — such as existed in the days when block-houses had to be defended, bullets run in red-hot saucepans, and guns loaded for sons and husbands to fire them. Just such a woman was the mother-in-law of the poet Poe. If not called upon to defend her home and fauiily against the assaults of the Indian savage, she was against that as ruthless, as implacable, and almost as 16 MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID. difficult to repel — poverty. She was the ever-vigilant guardian of the house, watch- ing it against the silent but continuous sap of necessity, that appeared every day to be approaching closer and nearer. She was the sole servant, keeping every- thing clean ; the sole messenger, doing the errands, making pilgrimages between the poet and his publishers, frequently bringing back such chilling responses as ' The article not accepted,' or, ' The cheque not to be given until such and such a day ' — often too late for his necessities. " And she was also messenger to the market ; from it bringing back, not the ' delicacies of the season,' but only such commodities as were called for by the dire exigencies of hunger. "And yet were there some delicacies. I shall never forget hovr, when peaches MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID. 17 were in season and cheap, a pottle of these, the choicest gifts of Pomona, were divested of their skins by the delicate fingers of the poet's wife, and left to the ' melting mood,' to be amalgamated with Spring Garden cream and crystallized sugar, and then set before such guests as came in by chance. "Eeader! I know you will acknowledge this to be a picture of tranquil domestic happiness ; and I think you will believe me, when I tell you it is truthful. But I know also you will ask, ' What has it to do with the poet ? ' since it seems to reflect all the credit on his wife, and the woman who called him her son-in-law. For all yet said it may seem so ; but I am now to say that which may give it a different aspect. " During two years of intimate personal 18 MEMOIH OF MAYXE EEID. association with Edgar Allan Poe, I found in liim the following phases of character, accomplishment and disposition : " First : I discovered rare genius ; not at all of the poetic order, not even of the fanciful, but far more of a practical kind, shown in a power of anal^^tic reasoning such as few men possess, and which would have made him the finest detective police- man in the world. Vidocq would have .been a simpleton beside him. ^' Secondly : I encountered a .'c'.iolar of -rare accomplishments — especially skilled in the lore of Xorthern Europe, and more imbued with it than with the southern and strictly classic. How he had drifted into this speciality I never knew. But he had it in a high degree, as is apparent through- out all his writings, some of which read like an echo of the Scandinavian ' Sagas.' MEMOIE 01^^ MAYXE KEID. 19 " Thirdly : I felt myself in communica- tion with a man of original character, disputing many of the received doctrines and dogmas of the day ; but only original in so far as to dispute them, altogether " regardless of consequences to himself or the umbrage he gave to his adversaries. '* Fourthly : I saw before me a man to whom vulgar rumour had attributed those personal graces supposed to attract the admiration of women. This is the usual description given of him in biographical sketches. And why, I cannot tell, unless it has been done to round off a piquant paragraph. His was a face purely intel- lectual. Women might admire it, thinking of this ; but it is doubtful if many of them ever fell, or could have fallen, in love with the man to whom it belomred. I don't think many ever did. It was. '> «"» 20 MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID. enough for one man to be beloved by one such woman as he had for his wife. " Fifthly : I feel satisfied that Edgar Allan Poe was not, what his slanderers have repre- sented him, a rake. I know he was not ; but in truth the very opposite. I have been his companion in one or two of his wildest frolics, and can certify that they never went beyond the innocent mirth in which we all indulge when Bacchus gets the better of us. With him the jolly god sometimes played fantastic tricks — to the stealing away his brain, and sometimes, too, his hat — leavinof him to walk bareheaded through the streets at an hour when the sun shone too clearly on his crown, then prematurely bald. " While acknowledo'incf this as one of Poe's failings, I can speak truly of its not being habitual ; only occasional, and drawn MEMOIR OF MAYXE liEID. 21 out by some accidental circumstance— now disappointment ; now the concurrence of a social crowd, whose flattering friendship might lead to champagne, a single glass of which used to affect him so much that he was hardly any longer responsible for his actions, or the disposal of his hat. " I have chronicled the poet's crimes, all that I ever knew him to be guilty of, and, in- deed, all that can be honestly alleged against him ; though many call him a monster. It is time to say a word of his virtues. I could expatiate upon these far beyond the space left me ; or I might sum them up in a single sentence by saying that he was no worse and no better than most other men. " I have known him to be for a whole month closeted in his own house — the little ' shanty ' Supported against the gable of the rich Quaker — all tlie time hard at work 122 MEMOIR OF MAYXE REID. with liis pen, poorly paid, and hard driven to keep the wolf from his slightly- fastened door, intruded on only by a few select friends, who always found him, what they knew him to be, a generous host, an affectionate son- in-law and husband ; in short, a respectable gentleman. " In the list of literary men, there has been no such spiteful biographer as Dr. Eufus Griswold, and never such a victim of posthu- mous spite as poor Edgar Allan Poe." Mayne Eeid left Philadelphia in the spring of 1846, spending the summer at Newport, Ehode Island, as correspondent to the New York Uerald, under the name of "Ecolier." In September of the same year he was in N'ew York, and had secured a post on Wilkes' Spirit of the Times, but in November he abandoned the pen for the sword. The followino- extract from a letter of MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID. 23 Mayne Eeid to liis father tells sometliing of bis life in Philadelpliia : " Headquarters, U. S. Army, " City of Mexico, "January 20tli, 1848. " Can I expect that my silence for several years will be pardoned ? When I last wrote you I made a determination that our cor- respondence, on my side at least, should cease until I had made myself worthy of con- tinuing that correspondence. Since then cir- cumstances have enabled me to take rank among men — to prove myself not unworthy of that gentle blood from which I am sprung. Oh, how my heart beats at the renewal of those tender ties — paternal, fraternal, filial affection ; those golden chains of the heart so long, so sadly broken. " If I mistake not, my last letter to you 24 MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID. was written in the city of Pittsburgh. I was then on my way from the West to the cities of the Atlantic. Shortly after I reached Philadelphia, where for a while my wild wanderings ceased. In this city I devoted myself to literature, and for a period of two or three years earned a scanty but honour- able subsistence with my pen. My genius, unfortunately for my purse, was not of that marketable class which prostitutes itself to the low literature of the day. My love for tame literature enabled me to remain poor — aye, even obscure, if you will — though I have the consolation of knowing that there are understandings, and those, too, of a high order, who believe that my capabilities in this field are not surpassed, if equalled, by any writer on this continent. This is the under-current of feelinsf reoardino^ me in the United States ; the current, I am happy to MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID. 25 say, that runs in tlie minds of the educated and intelligent. Perhaps in some future day this under-current may break through ' the surface, and shine the brisfhter for havino- been so long concealed. " But I have now neither time nor space for theories. Facts will please you better, my dear father and best friend. During my trials as a writer, my almost anonymous productions occasionally called forth warm eulogies from the press. A little gold rubbed into the palm of an editor would have made them wonders ! Durino- this time I made many friends, but none of that class who were able and wiUing to lift me from the sink of poverty. " There are no Mascenases in the United States. I found none to forge golden wings for me, that I might lly to the heights of Parnassus. During this probation I fre- 26 MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID. quently sent you papers and magazines, containing my productions, generally, I believe, under the nom de plume of ' The Poor Scholar.' Have these missiles ever reached you ? As I have said, for three or four years I struggled on through this life of literature, and amid the charlatanism and quackery of the age I found I must descend to the everyday nothings of the daily press. I edited, corresponded, became disgusted. The war broke out with Mexico. I flung down the pen and took up the sword, I entered the regiment of New York Volunteers as a 2nd lieutenant, and sailinfT " o The letter is torn here, and the re- maining portion has unfortunately been lost. The regiment in which Mayne Eeid obtained a commission was the 1st New York Yolun- MEMOIR OF MAYXE REID. 27 teers, the first regiment raised in New York for the Mexican War, and of which Ward B. Burnett was colonel. Mayne Eeid sailed with his regiment in December, 1846, for Vera Cruz. CHAPTEE 11. THE mp:xican war. Shortly before liis death Captain Mayne Eeid conceived the idea of pubhshing his recollections of the Mexican war, and had commenced to roughly sketch out two or three chapters entitled "Mexican War Memories." From these the following account in his own words is taken. The ink was scarcely dry on the last pages when he took to the bed from which he never more arose. " During the first months of 1847, the look-out sentinel stationed on the crenated parapet of San Juan d'UUoa must have seen an array of ships unusual in numbers for that coast, so little frequented by mariners : MEMOIR OF MAYNE EEID. i:'9 equally unusual in the kind of craft and the men on board. For, in addition to the > half-score ships flying the flags of different nations, some at anchor close to the Castle, some under the lee of Sacrificios Isle, there was a stream of other craft out in the offinsf, not at anchor or lying to, but passing coast- wise up and down, beyond the most distant range of cannon shot : craft of every size and speciality, schooners, brigs, barques and square-rigged three-masters, from a 200-ton sloop to a ship of as many thousands. Not armed vessels either, though every one of them was loaded to the water-line either with armed and uniformed men or the ma- terials of war ; in the large ones a whole regiment of soldiers, in the less, half a regi- ment, a consort ship containing the other half, and in some but two or three companies, all they were capable of accommodating. 30 MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID. Some carried cavalrymen with their horses, others artillerymen with their mounts and batteries, while a large number were but laden with the senseless material of war- tents, waggons, the efl[ects coming under the head of commissariat and quartermaster stores. Not one out of twenty of these vessels was an actual man-of-war. But one might be seen leading and guiding a group of the others, as if their convoy to some known pre-arranged destination. Just this were they doing, escorting the transport-ships to their anchorage pre- determined. "Two such anchorages were there, quite thirty miles apart from one another, though in the diaphanous atmosphere of the Vera Cruz coast a bird of eagle eye soaring mid- way between could command a view of both. The one northernmost was the Isle of Lobos ; that south, Punta Anton Lizardo. To the MEMOIR OF MAYNE KEID. 31 first I shall take the reader, as to it I ^vas > first taken myself. " Lobos Islet lies off the Vera Cruz coast, opposite the town of Tuxpan, and about two miles. It is of circular form, and, if I remember rightly, about a half- mile in diameter. Its availability as an anchorage comes from a surrounding of coral reefs, with a gap in its northern side that admits ships into water the breakers cannot disturb. Chiefly is it a harbour of refuge against the dreaded norther of the Caribbean coast, and a vessel caught in one of these might run for it ; but not likel}', unless her papers were not presentable to the Vera Cruz custom house. If they were, the shelter under Sacrificios would be safer, and easily reached. In later times the contraban- dista is the man who has most availed himself of the advantages of Lobos, and in times 32 MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID. more remote the filibusters ; the Tuxpan fishermen also occasionally beach their boats upon it. But that neither buccaneer, smug- gler, nor fisherman had frequented it lately, we had proof given us at landing on its shore by its real denizens, the birds. These — several species of sea-fowl — were so tame they flew screaming over the heads of the soldiers, so close that many were knocked down by their muskets. They became shy enough anon. " We found the island covered all over with a thick growth of chajyjyaixd ; it could not be called forest, as the tallest of the trees was but some fifteen or twent}^ feet in height. The species were varied, most of them of true tropical character, and amongst them was one that attracted general attention as beins: the ' india-rubber tree"^' Whether it was the true siphonica elastica MEMOIR OF MAYNE EEID. 33 I cannot say, though likely it was that or an alUed species. " A peculiarity of this isle, and one making it attractive to contrabandista and filibusters, is that fresh water is found on it. Near its summit centre, not over six feet above the ocean level, is a well or hole, artificially dug out in the sand, some six feet deep. The water in this rises and falls with the tide, a law of hydraulics not well understood. Its taste is slightly brackish, but for all that was greatly relished by us — possibly from having been so long upon the cask-water of the transport ships. Near this well we found an old musket and loading pike, rust-eaten, and a very characteristic souvenir of the buc- caneers ; also the unburied skeleton of a man, who may have been one of their victims. "The troops landed on Lobos were the 1st New York Volunteers, S. Carolina, 1st and 2nd 3 34 MEMOIR OF MAYXE REID. Pennsylvania, &C.5 &c. One of the objects in this debarkation was to i^ive these new rec^i- ments an opportunity for drilling, such as the time might permit, before making descent upon the Mexican coast. But there was no drill-ground there, as we saw as soon as we set foot on shore — not enough of open space to parade a single regiment in line, unless it were formed alono* tlie ribbon of beach. o " On discovery of this want, there followed instant action to supply it — -a curious scene, hundreds of uniformed men plying axe and chopper, hewing and cutting, even the officers with their sabres slashing away at the chap- paral of Lobos Island: a scene of great ac- tivity, and not without interludes of amuse- ment, as now and then a snake, scorpion, or lizard, dislodged from its lair and attempt- ing escape, drew a group of relentless enemies around it. MEMOIR OF MAYNE EEID. 35 '• 111 fine, enougli surface was cleared for camp and parade-ground. Then up went soldiers' bell-tents and officers' marquees, in company rows and regimental, each regiment occupying its allotted ground. " The old buccaneers may have caroused in Lobos, but never could they have been merrier than we, nor had they ampler means for promoting cheer, even though restino' there after a successful raid. Both our sutlers and the skippers of our trans- port ships, w^ith a keen eye to contingencies, were well provided with stores of the fancy sort ; many the champagne cork had its wire fastenings cut on Lobos, and probabl}^ now, in that bare isle, would be found an array of empty bottles lying half buried in the sand. " Any one curious about the life we led on Lobos Island will find some detailed de- 3-2 3Q MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID. scription of it in a book I have written called ' The Eifle Eangers,' given to the public as a romance, yet for all more of a reality. " Our sojourn there was but brief, ending in a fortnight or so, still it may have done something to help out the design for which it w^as made. It got several regiments of green soldiers through the ' goose-step,' and, better still, taught them the ways of camp and campaigning life. " Mems. — A fright from threatened small- pox, trouble with insects, scorpions and little crabs. Also curious case of lizard remain- ing on my tent ridge pole for days without moving. No wonder at Shakespeare's ' Chame- leon feeding on air.' Amusements, stories, and songs ; mingling of mariners with soldiers. Xorther just after landing, well protected under Lobos. " La Villa Rica de Vera Cruz (the MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID. 37 rich city of the True Cross), viewed from the sea, presents a picture uninue and im- posing. It vividly reminded me of the visfnette enc^ravin^'s of cities in Goldsmith's old geography, from which I got my earliest lessons about foreign lands. And just as they were bordered by the engraver's lines, so is Vera Cruz embraced by an enceinte of wall. For it is a walled city, wdthout suburbs, scarce a building of any kind beyond the parapet and fosse engirdling it. Eoughly speaking, its ground plan is a half circle, having the sea-shore for dia- meter, this not more than three-quarters of a mile in length. There is no beach or strand inter venin^r between the houses and the sea, the former overlooking the latter, and protected from its wash by a break- water buttress. " The architecture is altoirether unlike that S8 MEMOIR OF MAYNE EEID. of an American or Englisli seaport of similar size. Substantially massive, yet full of grace- ful lines^ most of the private dwellings are of tlie Hispano-Moriscan order, flat-roofed and parapetted, while the public buildings, chiefly the churches, display a variety of domes, towers and turrets worthy of Inigo Jones or Christopher Wren. " From near the centre of the semicircle a pier or mole. El Muello, projects about a hundred yards into the sea, and on this all visitino^ vovaofers have to make landincf, as at its inner end stands the custom house {aduana): Fronting this on an islet, or rather a reef of coral rocks, stands the fortress castle of San Juan d'Ulloa, off shore ^bout a quarter of a mile. It is a low structure with the usual caramite coverings and cre- nated parapet, surmounted by a watch and flag- tower. MEMOIR OF ]MAYNE REID. 39 " The ancliorage near it is neither good nor ample, better being found under the lee of Sacriiicios, a small treeless islet lying south of it nearly a league, and, luckily for us, be3^ond the range of Ulloa's guns, as also those of a fort at the southern extremity of the city. " Hundreds of ships may ride there in safety, though not so many nor so safe as at Anton Lizardo. Perhaps never so man}^ nor of such varied kind, were brought to under it as on March 9th, 1847. " The surf boats are worthy of a word, as without them our beachins; would have been difficult and dangerous, if not impos- sible. They were of the whale boat speciality, and, as I remember, of two sizes. The larger were built to carry two hundred men, the smaller lialf this number. Most of them were brought to Anton Lizardo in two lar^^e 40 MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID. vessels, and so hastily had they been built and dispatched, that there had not been time to paint them, all appearing in that pale slate colour known to painters as the priming coat. Of course none had any decking, only the thwarts. '^Tlie commander-in-chief had made re- quisition for 150 of these boats, though only sixty-nine arrived at Anton Lizardo in time to serve the purpose they were in- tended for. " The capture of Vera Cruz was an event alike creditable to the army and navy of the United States, for both bore part in it ; and creditable not only on account of the courage displayed, but the strategic skill. It was, in truth, one of those coups in which boldness was backed up by intelligence even to cunning, this last especially shown in the way we effected a landing. MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID. 41 " The fleet, as already said, lay at Anton Lizardo, each day receiving increase from new arrivals. When at length all that were expected had come to anchor there, the final preparations were made for descent upon the land of Montezuma, and all we now waited for was a favourinor wind. I do not re- member how many steam vessels we had, but 1 think only two or three. Could we have commanded the services of a half score steam tugs, the landing might have been effected at an earlier date. " The day came when the wind proved all that was wanted. A light southerly breeze, blowing up coast almost direct for Vera Cruz, had declared itself before sunrise, and b}' earliest daybreak all was activity. Alongside each transport ship, as also some of the war vessels, would be seen one or more of the ijreat lead-culoured boats already alluded to. 42 MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID. "vvitli streams of men backing down tlie man- ropes and taking seat in them. These men were sokliers in uniform and full marching order. Knapsacks strapped on, haversacks filled and slung, cartouche box on hip, and gun in hand. In perfect order was the transfer made from ship to boat, and, when in the boats, each company had its own place as on a parade- ground. Where it was a boat that held two companies, one occupied the forward thwarts, the other the stern, their four officers — captain, first lieutenant, second and brevet — conforming to their respective places. " But there were other than soldiers in the boat, each having its complement of sailors from the ships. " A gun from the ship that carried our commander-in-chief gave the signal for departure from Punta Anton Lizardo, and MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID. 43 wliile its boom was still reverberating, ship after sliip was seen to spread sail ; then, one after another, under careful pilotage, slipped out through the roadway of the coral reef, steaming up coast straight for Vera Cruz, the doomed city. " While sweeping up the coast, I can per- fectly remember what my own feelings were, and how much I admired the strategy of the movement. Who should get credit for it I cannot tell. But I can hardly think that Winfield Scott's was the head that planned this enterprise, my after experience with this man o-uidinof me to recrard him as a soldier DO D incapable — in short, such as late severe critics have called him, ' fuss and feathers.' ' The hasty plate of soup ' was then ringing around his name. Whoever planned it is deserving of great praise. Its ingenuity, misleading our enemy, lay in making" the latter believe that 44 MEMOIR OF MAYNE EEID. we intended to make landing at Anton Lizardo. Hence all liis disposable force that could be spared from the garrison of Vera Cruz was there to oppose us. And when our ships hastily drew in anclior and went straight for Vera Cruz, as hawks at unprotected quarry, these detached garrison troops saw the mistake tliey had made. The coast road from Vera Cruz to Anton Lizardo is cut by numerous streams, all bridgeless. To cross them safely needed taking many a roundabout route — so many that the swiftest horse could not reach Vera Cruz so soon as our slowest ship, and we were there before them. We did not aim to enter the port nor come within rangje of its defendimr batteries, least of all those of San Juan d'UUoa. The islet of Sacri- ficios, about a league from the latter, whose southern end affords sheltering anchorage, was the point we aimed at ; and there our MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID. 45 miscellaneous flotilla became concentrated, some of the sliips dropping anchor, others remaininnf adrift. Then tlie Leachino; boats, castino^ off hawsers, were rowed straiHit for the shore, some half mile off. A shoal strand it was, where a boat's keel touched bottom long before reaching dry land. That in which I was did so, and well do I remember how myself and comrades at once sprang over the gunwales, and, waist deep, waded out to the sand-strewn shore. " There we encountered no enemy — nothing to obstruct us. All the antai^onism we met with or saw was a stray shot or two from some long-range guns mounted on the parapet of the most southern fort of the city. But we had now our feet sure planted on the soil of Mexico " CHAPTEE III. FIGHTING IN MEXICO. I GIVE now some accounts written by Mayne Eeid of the various engagements of the American army in Mexico. Some of these were written from the seat of war, and others subsequently. " The capture of Vera Cruz was an affair of artillery. The city was bombarded for several days by a semicircle of batteries placed upon the sandhills in its rear. It at length surrendered, and with it the celebrated castle of San Juan d'Ulloa. " During; the sieo-e a few of us who were fond of fighting found opportunities of being shot at in the back country. The sandhills — MEMOIR OP MAYNE REID. 47 resembling Murlock Banks, only more exten- sive — form a semicircle round Vera Cruz. The city itself, compactly built, and of pic- turesque appearance, stands upon a low sandy plain — semicircular, of course — the sea-shore being the boundar}^ diameter. Behind the hills of sand, for leagues inward, extends a low jungly country, covered with the forests of tropical America. This, like all the coast lands of Mexico, is called the tierra callente (hot land). This region is far from being un- inhabited. These thickets have their clearins^s and their cottages, the latter of the most temporary construction that may serve the wants of man in a climate of almost perpetual summer. There are also several villages scattered through this part of the tierra caliente. " During the siege the inhabitants of these cottages {ranchos) and villages banded to- 48 MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID. gether under the name jarochos or guer- rilkros, but better known to our soldiers by the general title rancher os, and kept up a desultory warfare in our rear, occasionally committing murders on straggling parties of soldiers who had wandered from our lines. " Several expeditions were sent out against them, but with indifferent success. I was present in many of these expeditions, and on one occasion, when in command of about thirty men, I fell in with a party of guer- rilleros nearly a hundred strong, routed them, and, after a strasfG'linof fii?ht of several hours, drove them back upon a strong position, the village of Medellini. In this skirmish I was fired at by from fifty to a hundred muskets and escopettes, and, al- though at the distance of not over two hun- dred 3^ards, had the good fortune to escape beincf hit. MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID. 49 " One night I was sent in command of a scouting party to reconnoitre a guerilla camp supposed to be some five miles away in the country. It was during the mid-hours of the night, but under one of those brilliant moonlights for which the cloudless sky of Southern Mexico is celebrated. Near the edge of an opening — the prairie of Santa Fe — our party was brought suddenly to a halt at the sight of an object that filled every one of us with horror. It was the dead body of a soldier, a member of the corps to which the scouting party belonged. The body lay at full length upon its back ; the hai^ was clotted with blood and standing out in every direction ; the teeth were clenched in agony ; the eyes glassy and open, as if glaring upon the moon that shone in mid-heaven above. One arm had been cut off at the elbow, while a larc^e incision in 4 60 MEMOIR OF MAYXE EEID. the left breast sliowed where the heart had been tora out, to satisfy the vengeance of an inhuman enemy. There were shot wounds and sword cuts all over the body, and other mutilations made by the zopilotes and wolves. Notwithstanding all, it was recognized as that of a brave young soldier, who was much esteemed by his comrades, and who for two days had been missing from the camp. He had imprudently strayed beyond the line of pickets, and fallen into the hands of the enemy's guerrilleros. " The men would not pass on without giving to his mutilated remains the last rites of burial. There was neither spade nor shovel to be had ; but fixing bayonets, they dug up the turf, and depositing the body, gave it such sepulture as was possible. One who had been his bosom friend, cutting a slip from a bay laurel close by, planted MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID. 51 it in the grave. The ceremony was per- formed in deep silence, for they knew that they were on dangerous ground, and that a single shout or shot at that moment misrht have been the signal for their destruction. "I afterwards learnt that this fiendish act was partly due to a spirit of retaliation. One of the American soldiers, a very brutal fellow, had shot a Mexican, a young Jarocho peasant, who was seen near the roadside chopping some wood with his machete. It was an act of sheer wantonness, or for sport, just as a thoughtless boy might fire at a bird to see whether he could kill it. Fortu- nately the Mexican was not killed, but his elbow was shattered by the shot so badly that the whole arm required amputation. It was the wantonness of the act that pro- voked retaliation ; and after this the lex talionis became common around Vera Cruz, 4—2 62 MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID. and was practised in all its deadly severity long after the place was taken. Several other American soldiers, straying thought- lessly beyond the lines, suffered in the same way, their bodies being found mutilated in a precisely similar manner. Strange to say, the man who was the cause of this vengeance became himself one of its victims. Not then, at Vera Cruz, but long afterwards, in the Valley of Mexico ; and this was the strangest part of it. Shortly after the American army entered the capital, his body was found in the canal of Las Vigas, alongside the ' Chinampas,' or floating gar- dens, gashed all over with wounds, made by the knives of assassins, and mutilated just as the others had been. It might have been a mere coincidence, but it was supposed at the thne that the one-armed Jarocho must have followed him up, with that implacable MEMOIR OF MAYXE REID. 53 spirit of vengeance characteristic of liis race, until at lenfyth, fnidinCT him alone, he had completed his vendetta. " Vera Cruz beinix taken, we marched for the interior. Puente Nacional, the next strong point, had been fortified, but the enemy, deeming it too weak, fell back upon Cerro Gordo, another strong pass about twenty miles from the former. Here they were again completely routed, although num- bering three times our force. In this action I was cheated out of the opportunity of having my name recorded, by the cowardice or imbecility of the major of m}" regiment, who on that day commanded the detachment of which I formed part. In an early part of the action I discovered a large body of the enemy escaping through a narrow gorge running dow^n the face of a high precipice. The force which this officer commanded had 54 MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID. been sufficient to Iiave captured these fugitives, but lie not only refused to go forward, but refused to give me a sufficient command to accomplish the object. I learnt afterwards that Santa Anna, commander-in- chief of the Mexican army, had escaped by this gorge. " After the victory of Cerro Gordo, the army pushed forward to Jalapa, a line vil- lage half way up the table-lands. After a short rest here we again took the road, and crossing a spur of the Cordilleras, swept over the plains of Perote, and entered the city of Puebla. Yes, with a force of 3,000 men, we entered that great city, containing a population of at least 75,000. The in- habitants were almost paralyzed with as- tonishment and mortification at seeinfy the smallness of our force. T]ie balconies, windows and house-tops were crowded with MEMOIR OF MAl'NE REID. 55 spectators ; and there were enough men in the streets — had they been men — to have stoned us to death. At Puebla we haked for reinforcements a period of about two months. "In the month of August, 1847, we num- bered about 12,000 effective men, and leav- in^^ a small garrison here, with the remainder — 10,000 — we took the road for the capital. The city of Mexico lies about eighty miles from Puebla. Half way, another spur of the Andes must be crossed. On the 10th of AuGfust, with an immense sieo-e and bac^o-af^e- train, we moved over these pine-clad hills, and entered the Valley of Mexico. Here halt was made for reconnaissance, which lasted several days. The city stands in the middle of a marshy plain interspersed with lakes, and is entered by eight roads cr cause- ways. These were known to be fortified. 56 MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID. but especially that which leads through the gate San Lazaro, on the direct road to Puebla. This was covered by a strons^ work on the hill El Piiiol, and was considered by General Scott as next to impregnable. To turn this, a wide diversion to the north or «outh was necessary. The latter was adopted, and an old road winding around Lake Chalco - — through the old town of that name, and along the base of the southern mountain \ridge — was found practicable. •'^ We took this road, and after a slow march of four days our vanguard debouched on the great National Eoad, which rounds southward from the city of Mexico to Aca- pulco. This road was also strongly fortified, and it was still further resolved to turn the fortifications on it hj making more to the west. San Augustin de las Cuenas, a village iixe leagues from Mexico on the National MEMOIR OF MAYNE HELD. 57 Eoad, became the point of reserve. On the 19th of August, General Worth moved down the National Eoad, as a feint to liold the enemy in check at San Antonio (strongly fortified) while the divisions of Generals Worth and Twi2"2fs, with the brigade of Shields — to which I was attached ^com- menced moving across the Pedregal, a tract of country consisting of rocks, jungle and lava, and almost impassable. On the evening of the 19th, we had crossed the Pedregal, and became engaged with a strong bod}^ of the enemy under General Valencia, at a place called Contreras. Kight closed on the battle, and the enemy still held his position. " It rained all night ; w^e sat, not slept, in the muddy lanes of a poor village, San Geronimo — a dreadful night. Before day- break, General Persifer Smith, who com- manded in this battle, had taken his measures, 58 MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID. and shortly after sunrise we were at it again. In less than an hour that army ' of the north,' as Valencia's division was styled, being men of San Luis Potosi and other nortJiern States, the flower of the Mexican army, was scattered and in full flight for the city of Mexico. " This army was 6,000 strong, backed by a reserve of 6,000 more under Santa Anna himself. The reserve did not act, owing, it was said, to some jealousy between Valencia and Santa Anna. In this battle we captured a crowd of prisoners and twenty seven pieces of artillery. " The road, as we supposed, was now open to the city ; a great mistake, as the sharp skirmishes which our light troops encoun- tered as we advanced soon led us to believe. All at once we stumbled upon the main body of the enemy, collected behind two MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID. 59 of tlie strongest field works I have ever seen, in a little village called Clierubusco. " The road to the village passed over a small stream spanned by a bridge, which was held in force by the Mexicans, and it soon became evident that, unless something like a flank movement w^ere made, they would not be dislods^ed. The bridcre was well fortified and the army attacked fruitlessly in front. " General Shields' brio'ade was ordered to go round by the hacienda of Los Portales and attack the enemy on the flank. They Cfot as far as the barns at Los Portales, but would go no farther. They were being shot down by scores, and the men eagerly sought shelter behind walls or wherever else it could be found. Colonel Ward B. Burnett made a desperate attempt to get the companies together, Ijut it was unsuccessful, and he himself fell, badly wounded. GO MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID. " The situation had become very critical. I was in command of tlie Grenadier Com- pany of Xew York Volunteers, and saw that a squadron of Mexican lancers were getting ready to charge, and knew that if they came on while the flanking party were in such a state of disorganization the fight would end in a rout. On the other hand, if Ave charofed on them, the chances were the enemy would give way and run. In any case, nothing could be worse than the present state of inaction and slauo'hter. " The lieutenant-colonel of the South Carolina Volunteers — tlieir colonel, Butler, having been wounded, was not on tlie field — was carrying the blue palmetto flag of the regiment. I cried out to him : " ' Colonel, will you lead tlie men on a charge ? ' MEMOIR OF MAYNE EEID. 61 " Before he could answer, I heard some- thing snap, and the colonel fell, with one leg broken at the ankle by a shot. I took the flag, and as the wounded officer was being carried off the field, he cried : " ' Major Gladden, take the flag. Captain Blanding, remember Moultrie, Loundes and old Charleston ! ' "Hurrying back to my men, reaching them on the extreme right, I rushed on in front of the line, calling out : ' Soldiers, will you follow me to the charge ? ' " ' Ve vill ! ' shouted Corporal Haup, a Swiss. The order to charo^e bein£? oiven, away we went, the Swiss and John Murphy, a brave Irishman, beino' the first two after their leader — myself. " The Mexicans seeine^ cold steel comino- towards them with such gusto, took to their heels and made for the splendid road leadino- 62 MEMOIR OF MAYNE EEID. to the city of Mexico, which offered un- equalled opportunities for flight. " A broad ditch intervened between the highway and the field across which we were charging. Thinking this was not very deep, as it was covered with a green scum, I plunged into it. It took me nearly up to the armpits, and I struggled out all covered with slime and mud. The men avoided my mishap, coming to the road by a dryer but more roundabout path. " As we got on the road Cajotain Phil Kearney came thundering over the bridge with his company, all mounted on dappled greys. The gallant Phil had a weakness for dappled greys. As they approached I sang out : ' Boys, have you breath enough left to give a cheer for Captain Kearney ? ' "Phil acknowledged the compliment with jMEMOIR of MAYNE REID. 63 a wave of his sword, as lie went swino-ing by towards the works the enemy had tlirown up across this road. Just as he reached this spot, the recall bugle sounded, and at that moment Kearney received the shot that cost him an arm. " Disregarding the bugle call, we of the infantry kept on, when a rider came tearing up, calling upon us to halt. '^'What for?' I cried. " ' General Scott's orders.' " ' We shall rue this halt,' was my re- joinder. ' The city is at our mercy ; we can take it now, and should.' " Lieut. -Colonel Baxter, then in command of the Xew York Volunteers, called out : " ' For God's sake, Mayne Eeid, obey orders, and halt tlie men.' " At this appeal I faced round to my followers, and shouted ' Halt ! ' Gl MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID. "The soldiers came up abreast of me, and one bii>* North Irishman cried : " ' Do you say halt ? ' " I set my sword towards them, and aiT^ain shouted ' Halt ! ' This time I was obeyed, the soldiers crying out : " ' We'll halt for you, sir, but for nobody else.' " CHAPTER lY. THE ASSAULT ON CHAPULTEPEC. Captain Mayne Eeid continues the account : " Thus was the American army halted in its victorious career on the 20th of August. Another hour, and it would have been in the streets of Mexico. The commander-in- chief, however, had other designs ; and with the bugle recall that summoned the dragoons to retire, all hostile operations ended for the time. The troops slept upon the field. " On the following day the four divisions of the American army separated for their respective headquarters in different villages. Worth crossed over to Tacubaya, which became the headquarters of the army ; 6 66 MEMOIR OF MAYXE RE ID. Twiggs held tlie village of San Angel ; Pillow rested at Miscuac, a small Indian village between San Angel and Tacubaya, while the Volunteer and Marine division fell back on San Augustine. An armistice had been en- tered into between the commanders-in-chief of the two armies. " This armistice was intended to facilitate a treaty of peace ; fcr it was thought that the Mexicans would accept any terms rather than see their ancient city at the mercy of a foreign army. No doubt, however, a great mistake was made, as the armistice gave the crafty. Santa Anna a chance to fortify an inner line of defence, the key to which was the strong Castle of Chapultepec, which had to be taken three weeks later with the loss of many brave men. " The commissioners of both governments met at a small village near Tacubaya, and MEMOIR OF MAYXE REID. G7 I tlie American commissioner demanded, as a necessary preliminary to peace, the cession of Upper and Lower California, all New- Mexico, Texas, parts of Sonora, Coahuila and Tamaulipas. Although this was in general a wild, unsettled tract of country, yet it constituted more than one-half the territory of Mexico, and the Mexican com- missioners would not, even if they dared, agree to such a dismemberment. The armis- tice was therefore abortive, and on the 6th of September, the American commander-in- chief sent a formal notice to the enemy that it had ceased to exist. This elicited from Santa Anna an insulting reply, and on the same day the enemy was seen in great force - to the left of Tacubaya, at a building called Molino del Eey, which was a large stone mill, with a foundry, belonging to the government, and where most of their cannon 5-2 68 MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID. had been made. It is a building notorious in the annals of Mexican history as the place where the unfortunate Texan prisoners suffered the most cruel treatment from their barbarous captors. It lies directly under the guns of Chapultepec, from which it is distant about a quarter of a mile, and it is separated from the hill of Chapultepec by a thick wood of almond trees. " On the afternoon of the 7th of Septem- ber, Captain Mason, of the Engineers, was sent to reconnoitre the enemy's position. His right lay at a strong stone building, with bastions, at some distance from Mo- lino del Eey, while his left rested in the works around the latter. " The building on the right is called Casa Mata. It is to be presumed that this po- sition of the enemy was taken to prevent our army from turning the Castle of Cha- MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID. 69 pultepec and entering the city by the Tacu- baya road and the gate San Cosme. All the other garitas, Piedas, Nino Perdido, San Antonio and Belen were strongly for- tified, and guarded by a large body of the enemy's troops. Having in all at this time about 30,000 men, they had no diffi- culty in placing a strong guard at every point of attack. " On the 7th General Worth was ordered to attack and carry the enemy's lines at Molino del Eey. His attack was to be planned on the night of the 7th and ex- ecuted on the morning of tlie 8th. "On the night of the 7th the 1st Division, strengthened by a brigade of the 3rd, moved forward in front of the enem}^ The dis- positions made were as follows : " It was discovered that the weakest point of the enemy's lines was at a place about 70 MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID. midway between tlie Casa Mata and Molino del Eey. This point, however, was strength- ened by a battery of several guns. "An assaulting party of 500 men, com- manded by Major Wright, were detailed to attack the battery, after it had been cannonaded by Captain Huger with the battering guns. To the right of this as- saulting party Garland's brigade took posi- tion within supporting distance. " On our left, and to the enemy's right, Clark's brigade, commanded by Brevet- Colonel Mackintosh, with Duncan's battery, were posted ; while the supporting brigade from Pillow's division lay between the assaulting column and Clark's brigade. " At break of day the action commenced. Huger, with the 24th, opened on the enemy's centre. Every discharge told ; and the enemy seemed to retire. No answer was ME3I0IR OF MAYNE REID. 71 made from his guns. Worth, becoming at leno'th convinced — fatal conviction — that the works in the centre had been aban- doned, ordered the assaulting column to advance, " These moved rapidly down the slope, Major Wright leading. When they had arrived within about lialf musket shot the enemy opened upon this gallant band the most dreadful lire it has ever been the fate of a soldier to sustain. Six pieces from the field battery played upon their ranks ; while the heavy guns from Chapultepec, and nearly six thousand muskets from the enemy's en- trenchments, mowed them down in hundreds. The first discharo-e covered the o-round with dead and dying. One half the command at least fell with this terrible cataract of bullets. The others, retiring for a moment, took shelter behind some maguey, or, in fact. 72 MEMOIE OF MAYNE REID. anything that would lend a momentary pro- tection. " The light battalion and the 11th Infantry now came to their relief, and springing for- ward amid the clouds of smoke and deadly fire, the enemy's works were soon in our possession. At the same time the right and left wing had become hotly engaged with the left and right of the enemy. Garland's brigade, with Duncan's battery, after driving out a large body of infantry, occupied the mills, while the command of Colonel Mackintosh attacked the Casa Mata. " This building proved to be a strong work with deep ditches and entrenchments. The brigade moved rapidly forward to assault it, but on reachino; the wide ditch the tre- mendous fire of muskets to which they were exposed, as well as the heavy guns from MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID. 73 the Castle, obliged them to fall back on their own battery. "Duncan now opened his batteries upon this building, and with such effect that the enemy soon retreated from it, leaving it unoccupied. "At this time the remaining brigade of Pillow's division, as well as that of Twio-ors' came on the ground, but they were too late. The enemy had already fallen back, and Molino del Eey and the Casa Mata were in possession of the American troops. The latter was shortly after blown up, and all the implements in the foundry, with the cannon moulds, havinsf been de- stroyed, our army was ordered to return to Tacubaya. "Thus ended one of the most bloody and fruitless engagements ever fought by the American army. Six hundred and fifty of 74 MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID. our iDrave troops were either killed or wounded, while the loss of the enemy did not amount to more than half this number. " The fatal action at Molino del Eey cast a gloom over the whole army. Nothing had been gained. The victorious troops fell back to their former positions, and the vanquished assumed a bolder front, cele- brating the action as a victory. The Mexican commander gave out that the attack was intended for Chapultepec, and had conse- quently failed. This, among his soldiers, received credence and doubled their confi- dence ; we, on the other hand, called it a victory on our side. Another such victory and the American army would never have left the Valley of Mexico. "On the night of the lltli of September, at midnight, two small parties of men were seen to go out from the village of Tacubaya, MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID. 75 moving silently along different roads. One party directed itself along an old road toward Molino del Eey, and about half way between the village and this latter point halted. The other moved a short distance along the direct road to Chapuitepec and halted in like manner. They did not halt to sleep ; all night long these men were busy piling up earth, filling sand-bags, and laying the platforms of a gun batter}^ " When day broke these batteries were finished, their guns in position, and, much to the astonishment of the Mexican troops, a merry fire was opened upon the Castle. This fire was soon answered, but with little effect. By ten o'clock another battery from Molino del Key, with some well-directed shots from a howitzer at the same point, seemed to annoy the garrison exceedingly. 76 MEMOIR OF MAYNE EEID. "A belt of wood lies between the Castle and Molino del Eey on the south. A stone wall surrounds these woods. Well- garrisoned, Chapultepec would be impregnable. The belief is that 1,000 Americans could hold it against all Mexico. They might starve them out, or choke them with thirst, but they could not drive them out of it. There are but few fortresses in the world so strong in natural advantages. "During the whole of the 12th the shot from the American batteries kept playing upon the walls of the Castle, answered by the ofuns of the fortress, and an incessant fire of musketry was kept up by the skirmish- ing party in the woods of Molino del Eey. Towards evening the Castle began to assume a battered and beleaguered appearance. Shot and shell had made ruin on every point, and several of the enemy's guns were dismounted. MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID. 77 " To enumerate the feats of artillerists on this day would fill a volume. A twenty- pound shot from a battery commanded by Captain Huger and Lieutenant Hagney en- tered the muzzle of one of the enemy's howitzers and burst the piece. It was not a chance shot. This battery was placed on the old road between Tacubaya and Molino del Eey. The gate of the Castle fronts this way, and the Calzada, or winding road from the Castle to the foot of the hill, was exj^osed to the fire. As the ground lying to the north and east of Chapultepec was still in possession of the enemy, a constant inter- course was kept up with the Castle by this Calzada. " On the morning of the 11th, however, when Huger's and Hagney 's battery opened, the Calzada became a dangerous thorough- fare. The latter officer found that his shot 78 MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID. thrown on the face of the road ricochetted upon the walls with terrible effect, and con- sequently most of his shots were aimed at this point. It was amusing to see the Mexican officers who wished to enter or go out of the Castle wait until Hagney's guns were discharged, and then gallop over the Calzada as if the devil were after them, " A Mexican soldier at the principal gate was packing a mule with ordnance. " ' Can you hit that fellow, Hagney ? ' was asked. " ' I'll try,' was the quiet and laconic reply. The long gun was pointed and levelled. At this moment the soldier stooped by the side of the mule in the act of tightening the girth. ' Fire ! ' said Hagney, and almost simultaneous with the shot a cloud of dust rose over the causeway. When this cleared away the mule was seen running wild along the MEMOIR OF MAYNE REIP. 79 Calzada, while the soklier lay dead hy the wall. " On the day when Chapultepec was stormed, September 13th, 1847, I was m command of the Grenadier Company of 2nd New York Volunteers — my own — and a detachment of United States Marines, actino- wdth us as light infantry, my orders being to stay by and guard the battery we had built on the south-eastern side of the Castle during the night of the 11th. It was about a thousand yards from, and directly in front of, the Castle's main gate, through which our shots w^ent crashing all the day. The first assault had been fixed for the mornino* c of the loth, a storming party of 500 men, or ' forlorn hope,' as it was called, having volunteered for this dangerous duty. These were of all arms of the service, a captain of regular infantry having charge of them. 80 MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID. with a lieutenant of Pennsylvanian Volunteers as liis second in command. " At an early hour the three divisions of our army, Worth's, Pillow's and Quitman's, closed in upon Chapultepec, our skirmishers driving the enemy's outposts before them ; some of these retreating up the hill and into the Castle, others passing around it and on towards the city. " It was now expected that our storming party would do the work assigned to it, and for which it had volunteered. Standing by our battery, at this time necessarily silent, with the artillery and engineer officers who had charge of it. Captain Huger and Lieutenant Hagney, we three watched the advance of the attacking line, the puffs of smoke from musketry and rifles indicating the exact point to which it had reached. Anxiously we watched it. I need not say. MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID. 81 nor add, that our anxiety became appre- hension when we saw that about lialf-way up the slope there was a halt, something impeding its forward movement. I knew that if Chapultepec were not taken, neither would the city, and failing this, not a man of us might ever leave the Valley of Mexico alive. "Worth's injudicious attempt upon the intrenchments of Molino del Eey — to call it by no harsher name — our first retreat, during the campaign, had greatly demoralized- our men, while reversely affecting the Mexicans, inspiring them with a courage they had never felt before. And there were- 30,000 of these to our 6,000 — five to one — to say nothing of a host of rancher os in the country around and leperos in the city, all exasperated against us, the invaders. We had become aware, moreover, that Alvarez 82 MEMOIK OF MAYNE EEID. ivitli his spotted Indians {jJinios) had swung round in our rear, and held the mountain passes behind us, so that retreat uj)on Puebla would have been impossible. This was not my belief alone, but that of every intelligent officer in the army : the two who stood beside me feelino- sure of it as myself. This certainty, combined with the slow progress of the attacking party, determined me to participate in the assault. As the senior engineer officer out-ranked me, it was necessary I should have his leave to forsake the battery — now neediug no further defence — a leave freely and instantly given, with the words : ' Go, and God be with you ! ' " The Mexican flag was still waving triumphantly over the Castle, and the line of smoke-puffs had not got an inch nearer it ; nor was there much chan^'e in the situation when, after a quick run across the interven- MEMOIR OF MAYXE REID. 83 ing ground with my following of volunteers and marines, we came up with the storming party at halt, and irregularly aligned along the base of the hill. For what reason they W'ere stayini^ there we knew not at the time, but I afterwards heard it was some trouble about scaling ladders. I did not pause then to inquire, but, breaking through their line with my brave followers, pushed on up the slope. Near the summit I found a scattered crowd of soldiers, some of them in the grey uniform of the Volti^^eur EeCTiment ; others, 9th, 14th and 15th Infantry. They were the skirmishers, who had thus far cleared the way for us, and far ahead of the ' forlorn hope.' But beyond lay the real area of danger, a slightly sloping ground, some forty yards in width, between us and the Castle's outward wall — in short, the £>lacis. It was commanded by three pieces of cannon on the G-2 84 MEMOIR OF MAYXE REID. parapet, which swept it with grape and canister as fast as they could be loaded and fired. There seemed no chance to advance farther without meeting certain death. But it would be death all the same if we did not — such was my thought at that moment. " Just as I reached this point there was a momentary halt, which made it possible to be heard ; and the words I then spoke, or rather shouted, are remembered by me as thousi'h it were but yesterday : " ' Men ! if we don't take Chapultepec, the American army is lost. Let us charge up to the walls.' " A voice answered : ' We'll charge if any one leads us.' " Another adding : ' Yes, we're ready ! ' " At that instant the three guns on the parapet belched forth their deadly showers almost simultaneously. My heart bounded • MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID 85 with joy at hearing them go off thus together — it was our opportunity ; and, quickly com- prehending it, I leaped over the scarp which had sheltered us, calling out : " ' Come on ; I'll lead you ! ' "It did not need lookinGf back to know that I was followed. The men I had appealed to were not the men to stay be- hind, else they would not have been there, and all came after. "When about half-way across the open ground I saw the parapet crowded with Mexican artillerists in uniforms of dark blue with crimson facings, each musket in hand, and all aiming, as I believed, at my own person. On account of a crimson silk sash I was wearing, they no doubt fancied me a general at least. The volley was almost as one sound, and I avoided it by throwing myself fiat along the earth, only getting 86 MEMOIR OF 3IAYXE REID. touclied on one of the fingers of my sword- hand, another shot passmg through the loose cloth of my overalls. Instantly on my feet again, I made for the wall, which I was scaling, when a bullet from an escopette went tearing through my thigh, and I fell into the ditch." ***** Even as he lay wounded in the ditch, brave Mayne Eeid painfully raised himself, addressing the men and encouraging them. Above the din of musketry his voice was heard. " ' For God's sake, men, don't leave that wall' " Only a few scattered shots were fired after this. The scaling ladders came up, and some scores of men went swarmin^ over the parapet and Chapultepec was taken. "The second man up to the walls of the MEMOIR OF MAYXE REID. 87 Castle was Corporal Ilaup, the Swiss, when he fell, shot through the face, over the body of Mayne Eeid, covering the latter with his blood. The poor fellow endeavoured to roll himself off, saying, ' I'm not hurt so badly as you.' But he was dead before Mayne Eeid was carried off the field. " Mayne Eeid's lieutenant, Hypolite Dar- donville, a brave young Frenchman, dragged the Mexican flag down from its staff, planting the Stars and Stripes in its place — the standard of the New York reoiment. " The contest was not yet over. The advantage must be followed up, and the city entered. Worth's division obliquing to the right followed the enemy on the Tabuca Eoad, and through the gate of San Cosme ; while tlie volunteers, with the rifle and one or two other regiments, detached from the division of General Twisf^fs, were led aloivj: 88 MEMOIR OF MAYXE EEID. the aqueduct towards tlie citadel and the gate of Belen. Inch by incli did these gallant fellows drive back their opponents ; and he who led them, the veteran Quitman, was ever foremost in the fioht. " A ver}^ storm of bullets rained along this road, and hundreds of brave men fell to rise no more ; but when night closed the gates of Belen and San Cosme w^ere in possession of the Americans. " Durino^ the still hours of midnio-ht the Mexican army, to the number of some 20,000, stole out of the city and took the road for Guadaloupe. " Next morning at daybreak, the remnant of the American army, in all less than 3,000 men, entered the city without further opposi- tion, and formed up in the Grand Plaza. Ere sunrise the American star-spangled banner floated proudly over the Palace of MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID. 89 Moctezuma, and proclaimed tliat the city of the Aztecs was in possession of the Americans. " Chapultepec was in reality the key to the city. If the former were not captured, the latter in all probability would not have been taken at that time, or by that army. " The city of Mexico stands on a perfectly level plain, where water is reached by dig- ging but a few inches below the surface ; this everywhere around its walls, and for miles on every side. " It does not seem to have occurred to military engineers that a position of this kind is the strongest in the world ; the most diffi- cult to assault and easiest to defend. It only needs to clear the surroundino- terrain of o houses, trees, or aught that might give shelter to tlie besiegers, and obstruct the fire of the besieered. As in the wet Ground trenching is impossible, there is no other 90 MEMOIR OF MAYXE REID. way of approach. Even a charge by cavalry going at full gallop must fail ; they would be decimated, or utterly destroyed, long before arrivins^ at the entrenched line. " These were the exact conditions under which Mexico had to be assaulted by the American army. There were no houses outside of the city walls, no cover of any kind, save rows of tall poplar trees lining the sides of the outo'ohig; roads, and most of these had been cut down. How then was the place to be stormed, or rather approached within storming distance ? The eyes of some skilled American engineers rested upon the two aqueducts running from Chapultepec into the suburbs of the city. Their mason work, with its massive piers and open arches between, promised the necessary cover for skirmishers, to be supported by close follow- ing battalions. MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID. 91 " And they did afford this very shelter, enabHng the American army to capture the city of Mexico. But to get at the aqueducts Chapultepec need to be first taken, otherwise the besiegers woukl have had the enemy both in front and rear. Hence the desperate and determined struofSfle at the takins^ of the Castle, and the importance of its succeeding. Had it failed, I have no hesitation in giving my opinion that no American who fought that day in the Valley of Mexico would ever have left it alive. Scott's army was already weakened by the previous engagements, too much so to liold itself three days on the defensive. Eetreat would have been not disastrous, but absolutely impossible. The position was far worse than that of Lord Sale, in the celebrated Cabool expedition. All the passes leading out of tlie valley by which the Americans might have attempted 92 MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID. escape were closed by columns of cavalry. The Indian general, Alvarez, with his host of spotted horsemen, the Pintos of the Acapulco region, had occupied the main road by Eio Frio the moment after the Americans marched in. No wonder these fousfht on that day as for very life. Every mtelligent soldier among them knew that in their attack upon Chapultepec there were but two alter- natives : success and life, or defeat and death." The following are extracts from dispatches and official documents : From Major-General Winfield Scott, com- mander in-chief. "September 18, 1847. " The following are the officers and corps most distinguished in these brilliant opera- tions Particularly a detachment under Lieutenant Eeid, New York Yolun- MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID. 93 teors, consisting of a company of the same, with one of marines." From Major-General G. J. Pillow, com- manding division. "September 18, 1847. "Lieut. Eeid, in command of the one company of the New York Eegiment and one of marines, came forward in advance of the other troops of this command, Quit- man's, participated in the assault and was severely wounded." From Major-General J. A. Quitman, commanding division. "September 29, 1847. " Two detachments from my command not heretofore mentioned in this report should be noticed. Captain Gallagher and Lieutenant Eeid, who, with their companies 94 MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID. of New York Volunteers, had been detailed on tlie morning of the 12tli, by General Shields, to tlie support of our battery, No. 2, well performed the service. The former, by the orders of Captain Huger, was de- tained at that battery during the storming of Chapultepec. The latter, a brave and energetic young officer, being relieved from the battery on the advance to the Castle, hastened to the assault, and was among the first to ascend the crest of the hill, where he was severely wounded. . . The gallant New York Eegimeut claims for their standard the honour of being the first waved from the battlements of Chapultepec." From Brigadier-General Shields. "September 25, 1847. " The New York flao- and Co. B of that regiment, under the command of a gallant MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID. 95 young officer, Lieutenant Eeid, were among the first to mount the ramparts of the Castle, and then display the Stars and Stripes to the admiration of the army." From Captain Huger, chief of ordnance. "September 20, 1847. "As there were two companies in sup- port of batteries 2 and 3, I now allowed one of them, commanded by Lieutenant Eeid, New York Volunteers, his command, composed of volunteers and marines, to join its proper division, and he gallantly pushed up the hill and joined it during the storm- ing of the Castle." From Colonel Ward B. Burnett, com- manding New York Eegiment. " Order No. 35. " The following promotions and appoint- ments having been made ' upon good and 96 MEMOIE OF MAYNE REID. sufficient recommendations ' will be obeyed and respected accordingly : " 2nd Lieutenant Mayne Eeid, of Co. B, to be 1st lieutenant of Co. G, vice Innes, promoted." CHAPTER V. HE IS MOURNED AS DEAD. It was reported that Lieutenant Mayne Eeid had died of his wounds. This in- telHgence reached his family in Ireland, who mourned him as dead until the joy ful contradiction arrived. It may be interesting as evidence of his reputation at this time to give an extract from a contemporary notice in the Newport News* "The LAMENTED LlEUT. EeID. " Lieut. Eeid has been in this country some five or six years, and during that time 98 MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID. lias been moetly connected with the press, either as an associate editor or correspon- dent ; in this last capacity, he passed the summer of 1846 in Newport, E. I., engaged in writing letters to the New York Herald^ under the signature of ' Ecolier.' It was at this time that we became acquainted with him, and there are many others in the community who will join us in bear- ing testimony to his worth as a man, all of whom will be grieved at the announce- ment of his death. He returned to New York about the first of September, and shortly after sailed for Mexico with his regiment. He was at the battle of Monterey, and distinguished himself in that bloody affair. We published a little poem from his pen, entitled ' Monterey,' about three months ago, which will un- doubtedly be remembered by our readers ; MEMOIR OF MAYNE KEID. 99 towards the close of tlie poem, was this stanza : ' We were not many — we who pressed Beside the brave who fell that day ; But who of us has not confessed He'd rather share their warrior rest, Than not have been at Monterey ? ' Alas! for human glory! The deiDarted, probabl}^ little thought at the time he penned the above lines that he should so soon be sharing ' their warrior rest/ At the storming of Chapultepec he was severely wounded, and died soon after from his wounds. He was a man of singular talents, and gave much promise as a writer. His temperament was exceedingly nervous, and his fancy brilHant. His best productions may be found in ' Godey's Book,' about three or four years ago, under the signa- ture of 'Poor Scholar.' It is mournful that talents like his should be so early 7-2 100 MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID. sacrificed, and that his career should be so soon closed, far — very far — from the land of his birth and the bosom of his home, as well as the land of his adoption. But thus it is ! When the day arrives for our army to return, if it ever does, it will present a sad spectacle. The ranks will be thinned, and hearts made sorrowful at their coming that hoped to rejoice in the fullest fruition of gladness. Many a gallant spirit has fallen to rise no more ; and the wild note of the bugle cannot awake them to duty, or the sweeter call of friendship and home. The triumphs may be as splendid as ever crowned a human effort, but they have been purchased at the price of noble lives, and too dearly not to mingle the tear of sorrow with the shout of joy." The verses by Captain Mayne Eeid re- ferred to are : MEMOIR OF MAYKE KKl^. j i ' »' , !' vl^^l \ /A MONTEREY. We were not many — we who stood Before the iron sleet that day — Y'et many a gallant spirit would Give half his years if he but could Have been with us at ^Monterey. Now here, now there, the shot it hailed In deadly drifts of fiery spray, Yet not a single soldier quailed, When wounded comrades round them wailed Their dying shouts at Monterey. And on— still on our columns kept, Through walls of flame, its withering way ; Where fell the dead, the living stept. Still charging on the guns which swept The slippery streets of Monterey. The foe himself recoiled aghast, When, striking where he strongest lay, We swooped his flanking batteries past, And braving full their murderous blast. Stormed home the towers of Monterey. Our banners on those turrets wave, And there our evening bugles play ; Where orange boughs above their grave Keep green the memory of the brave Who fought and fell at Monterey. We were not many— we who pressed Beside the brave who fell that day ; * But who of us has not confessed He'd rather share their warrior rest. Than not have been at Monterey ? 1C2 MEMOIR OF jMAYNE EEID. At a public dinner lield in the city of Columbus, Ohio, to celebrate the capture of Mexico, Mayne Eeid's memory was toasted, and the following lines, by a young poetess of Ohio, were recited with great effect : DIEGE. Gone — gone — gone, Gone to bis dreamless sleep ; And spirits of the brave, Watcbing o'er bis lone grave, Weep — weep — weep. # * * # # Mourn — mourn — mourn, Motlier, to sorrow long wed ! Far o'er tbe migbty deep. Where tbe brave coldly sleep. Thy warrior son lies dead. Lone — lone — lone, In thine own far island home, Ere thy life's task is done. Oft with the setting sun. O'er the sea thy thoughts will roam. * # * # * Sound — sound — sound. The trumpet, while thousands die ! Madly forcing his way. Through the blood-dashing spray He beareth our banner on hi^li ! MEMOIR OF MAY^sE REID. 103 Woe — woe — woe ! Like a tliouglit he liatli sunk to rest. Slow they bear him away, In stern martial array, The flag- and the sword on his breast. High — h igh — h igh , High in the temple of fame, The poet's fadeless wreath. And the soldier's sheath, Are engraven above his name. Long — long — long, As time to the earth shall belong, The sad wind o'er, the surge Shall chant its low dirofe To this peerless child of song. Gone — gone — gone ! Gone to his dreamless sleep ; And spirits of the brave, Watching o'er his lone grave, Weep — weep — weep. The muse of the poetess perhaps required chastening, but the verses are not without power and at least show the love and ad- miration felt for the liero. CHAPTEE VI. MAYNE REID REMAINS IN MEXICO. CONTEM- PORARY NOTICES IN THE UNITED STATES. Mayne Eeid was laid up in the city of Mexico for some time. It was at first sup- posed that amputation of the leg would be necessary ; but on the doctors consulting, they came to the conclusion that this would be certain death, as the bullet had only just escaped severing the femoral artery. At last, under skilful care, he made a good recovery, and by the following December we find him on the eve of fio^htinsf a duel, but the dial- lenged one " l)acked out," his friend sending the followino[ letter : MEMOIR OF MAYNE EEID. 105 " City of Mexico, "Dec. 19tli, 1847. '• Sir,— " Captain McKinstry has received your note of yesterday, and has requested nie, as his friend, to inform you that he has not made any remarks reflecting upon you as a gentle- man and a man of honour. " Very respectfully, " Your obedient servant, "John B. Graysox, " Capt. 165 A. " Lieut. Mayne Eeid, " N. Y. Volunteers." The following letter from Mr. Piatt was addressed to Dr. Halstead, city of Mexico : "Mac-o-Chee, Dec. J 847. "Dr. Halstead, " Dear Sir, — "I address you with pain and regret 106 MEMOIR OF MAYXE REID. on account of the late intellisjence brouo^lit us by the papers of the severe wound received by Lieut. Eeid and his death. Whilst we look with pride upon the many gallant deeds he performed, it but poorly remunerates us for so severe a loss. And we should receive with sad but infinite pleasure any further account of him whilst wounded. It is with regret that we call upon you to give us this sad intelligence, as it may inconvenience you, but the deep interest we felt for Mr. Eeid has tempted us to trouble you with these inquiries, and remain ' " Yours respectfully, " A. L. Piatt." The Piatts were originally a Freiiv-h family, and the elder Mr. Piatt, the writer of the letter, was a great friend of Mayne Eeid. MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID. 107 It is not given to every man to read obituary notices of himself, but this happened to Mayne Eeid more than once. So mar- vellous, indeed, were his recoveries from the brink of death, that he came to be regarded bv his friends as bearino^ a " charmed life." Two or three weeks after the announce- ment of his death, the New York Herald published a contradiction of the report: " Through misinformation, it was cur- rently reported that Lieutenant Mayne Eeid, whose gallant behaviour at the battle of Chapultepec called forth a merited compli- ment from General Scott in one of his late dispatches, had died of his wounds. We are informed by one of our returned officers that although wounded severely by an es- copette ball in the left leg above the knee, he has since recovered, and intends to re- main. Of course he will be promoted." 103 MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID. In the National Gazette of Philadelphia was printed : — " We perceive in the list of wounded in the recent battles in Mexico, the name of Lieutenant Mayne Eeid, of New York. If we mistake not, the gentle- man named is favourably known throughout the country as a writer, and a contributor to our leading magazines. For several years he resided in Philadelphia. While in this city he won for himself many friends, as well as a high literary reputation. His first essays appeared as the compositions of the ' Poor Scholar.' Lieutenant Eeid is a ripe scholar as well as a ready writer." The following paragraph appeared in the Pittsburgh Daily Dispatch, in March, 1848 : — " Lieutenant Mayne Eeid, whose death was reported some time since,'^is about to b3 married to Signorina Guadaloupe Eozas, a beautiful lad}^, daughter of Senator MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID, 109 Eozas, and said to be the wealthiest heiress in the Valley of Mexico. He formerly re- sided here, and was known as the ' Poor Scholar.' " This report was untrue. Mayne Eeid had not yet "met his fate." He was equally distinguished in love and in war, and hy some fair Mexicaines was entitled the " Don Juan de Tenovior An American journal describes the gallant Captain as a " mixture of Adonis and the Apollo Belvidere, with a dash of the Cen- taur f' He possessed a faultless figure, and the grace of his manner was very captivating. It was one of Mayne Eeid's duties in Mexico to protect the inmates of a con- vent, and the nuns frequently sent him little delicacies in the shape of sweetmeats, made by their own fair hands, with his 110 ME3I0III OF MAYNE REID. initials in comfits on the top. In a letter he wrote : "During the campaign in which I had taken part, chance threw me into the com- pany of monks of more than one order. Under the circumstances that gave me entree of their convents, and an intimate acquain- tance with the brethren, even to joining them in their cups — these consisting of the best wines of Spain and her colonies, Xeres, Canario, Pedro Ximenes, with now and then a spice of Catalan brandy, opening the hearts and loosening the tongues of these cloistered gentry — I can speak to the char- acter of the present monks of Mexico as Friar Gage spoke of their fraternity more than a century ago." The following letter from Mayne Eeid to MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID. Ill the Ohio State Journal iu 1882, may be liere fitly introduced : " Sir, — Mv attention has been called to a letter which lately appeared in some American newspapers headed ' Mayne Eeid's Mexican War Experiences,' in which certain state- ments are made gravely affecting my char- acter and reputation. The writer says that in Pueblao, Mexico, ' Lieutenant Eeid, while reproving one of the men of his company, became very much heated, and ran his sword through the man's body. The man died the same night.' "Now, sir, it is quite true that I ran a soldier throuf^h with mv sword, who soon after died of the wound. But it is absolutely untrue that there was any heat of temper on my part, or other incentive to act, save that of self-defence and the discharge of my duty as an officer. On the day of the occurrence 112 MEMOIR OF MAYNE EEID. I was officer of the guard, and the man a prisoner in tlie guard prison — where, indeed, he spent most of his time — for he was a noted desperado, and, I may add, robber, long the pest and terror not onl}^ of his com- rades in the regiment, but the poor Mexican people who suffered from his depredations, as all who were then there and are still living may remember. Having several times escaped from the guard-house prison, he had that day been recaptured, and I entered the cell to see to his being better secured. While the manacles were being placed upon his wrists — long-linked heavy irons — he clutched hold of them, and, rushing at me, aimed a blow at my head, which, but for my being too quick for him, would have been dealt me with serious if not fatal effect. He was a man of immense size and strength, and as all knew, regardless of consequences. He MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID. 113 had been often lieard to beast that no officer dare put him in irons, and threaten those who in the hne of their duty had to act towards him with severity. Still, when I thrust out, it was with no intention to kill, only to keep him off, and in point of fact, in his mad rush toward me he impaled him- self on my sword. " The writer of the letter goes on to say : 'Lieutenant Eeid's grief was uncontrollable. The feeling against him, despite the fact that he had provocation for the act, was very strong in the regiment. . . If the regiment had not moved with the rest of the army toward Mexico the next day, Lieut. Eeid would have been court-martialled, and might have been shot.' " Li answer to these serious allegations, not made in any malice, I believe, but from misinformation, I have only to say that I 8 114 HEMOIR OF MAYNE EEID. was tried by court-martial, and instead of being sentenced to be shot, was ordered to resume command of my compan}^ for tlie forward march upon Mexico. And so far from the feelinof beinii: stronc^ asrainst me in the regiment, it was just the reverse, not only in the regiment, but throughout the whole army — the lamented Phil Kearney, command- ing the dragoons, with many other officers of high rank, publicly declaring that for what I had done, instead of condemnation I deserved a vote of thanks. This because the army's discipline had become greatly relaxed during the long period of inaction that preceded our advance into the Valley of Mexico, and we had much trouble with the men — especially of the volunteer regi- ments. My act, involuntary and uninten- tional thou oh it was, did somethinof toward bringing them back to a sense of obedience MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID. 115 and duty. That I sorrowed for it is true, but not in the sense attributed to me by the newspaper correspondent. My grief was from the necessity that forced it upon me, and its lamentable result. It is some satis- faction to know that the unfortunate man himself held me blameless, and in his dying words, as I was told, said I had but done my duty. So I trust that this explanation will place the affair in a different light from that thrown upon it by the article alluded to." 8-ii APPENDIX TO CHAPTER V, In February, 187(1, Mr. Henry Lee wrote to Captain Mayne Reid for some account of the Mexican axolotl, and received the following answer: Chasewood, Ross, Herefordshire, February 23, 1876. My dear Henry Lee, — You ask me to tell you what I know of that strange Protean — the a.volotl. Such know- ledge as I have is at your service. First, as to its name; which is a word purely Aztecan. The Spaniards, adopting it, have made some change in the spelling without materially altering the pronunciation. Their form is ajolote — the final syllable sounded, though with the accent on the penultimate. But, to one unacquainted with Spanish orthoepy, it may be observed that the " j " is pro- nounced as an aspirated " h " — in shoi't, as the Greek x — ^^^ so also is " X " in the Aztec orthograpliy. The final " tl " of the latter, common to many Aztec and Zapoteque words — as in ^6>/)e^^ (mountain), metatl (millstone), which the Indian linger- ingly lets fall from the tip of his tongue — cannot well be symbolized by any exponent of vocal sound in our language. The Spaniards represent it indifferently by "te," sometimes with the addition of a " c," thus, metate, Fopocatepec. The ajolote, however, is without the added '^ c," and pronounced, as nearly as possible, ah-ho-lodt-e, with emphasis on the " loat," and the terminating " e " barely distinguishable. So much for the name of the reptile-fish. As to its nature, I fear I can add but little to the information already before the public ; though, perhaps, something of its habitat that may be interesting. Your species, of the Brighton Aquarium, MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID. 117 dwells in the Laguna de Tezcoco — the largest of six lakes that lie in the Valley of Mexico. An ordinary map Avill indicate only five : Chalco, Xochimilco, Tezcoco, San Chris- tobal, and Ziimpango ; and of these alone does Humboldt speak in his '' Essai Politique." But there are in reality six — the sixth called Xaltocan. The two first-named are in the southern section of the valley — which, by the way, is not a valley, but a plain, w^tli a periphery of mountains ; an elevated plateau, slightly over 7,000 feet above the sea's level, the mountain rim around, composed of parallel and transverse sierras of the great Andean Cordillera, having several summits that rise from 8,C00 to 10,000 feet higher, with two — Popo- catepec and Ixticihuatl — that carry the eternal snow. Chalco and Xochimilco, as observed, occupying a southern position on this plain, are both fresh water lakes — if lakes they can be called, for at the present time their surface is concealed by a thick sedge of tulares — various species of aquatic plants — whose roots, entwined, form a floating coverture termed ciiita, which is in places so close and tough as to permit de- pasturage by horses and horned cattle. Here and there only are spots of clear water of very limited extent, while the vast morass, miles upon miles, is traversed by three or four canals — in the language of the country, acalotes — partly natural, but for the most part hewn out of the sedge, and kept open by the passage of the Indian boats and canoes navigating them. It was upon sections of this cinta that the famed chinampas, or "Floating Gardens," were constructed, and not, as erroneously stated by Humboldt, and other writers following him, on rafts of timber and sticks. I may here interpolate a fact not generally, if at all, known to Euro- peans : that these chinampas (of which I hope some day to give an account) are in existence at the present time. Several species of very small fish inhabit lakes Chalco and Xochimilco; indeed, the fish marker of the Mexican capital is chiefly supplied from them. But I have never heard of the axolotl being taken, or observed in either ; and 118 MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID. you surprise me by saying it has spawned in fresh water in the Brighton Aquarium. Tezcoco, from which I presume your Protean must have come, is altogether of a different character, being salt as brine itself — so much that a man bathing in it comes out with a scaly crust over his skin, while waterfowl are often caught upon it, unable to fly through their wings getting thus encrusted ! No fish can live in it, for tlie few minnow-like species there observed are found only by the estuaries of influent fresh-water streams. Even vegetation struggles in vain against the blighting in- fluence of its atmosphere, and around its shores are seen but the forms of plants belonging to species that grow in salitrose soil ; these so stunted and sparse as rather to heighten the impression of sterility, Tezcoco is, in truth, a Dead Sea of the Western world. Not so small, neither, since its area may be estimated at a hundred square miles, more or less. Once it was much larger — at the time of the Conquest — this being the lalve whose waters washed the walls of the ancient Tenochtitlan. At the present time its edge is, at least, a league from the suburbs of the modern city standing on the same site. At certain seasons, however, after a long spell of rain, but more from the effects of a strong east wind, the lake is brought nearer, by overflow of the adjacent plain, a phenomenon leadmg to the popular but erroneous idea that Tezcoco, like the ocean, has a tide. Once, too, if we are to credit Humboldt, this lake was much deeper than it is now. Writing of it in 1803, he states its depth then to have been from three to Ave French metres. I think the great German traveller must have been misinformed, as there has been no silting up to account for its p:|^sent shallowness. There is not a spot in Lake Tezcoco where a man, standing upright, would have his head under water. It is traversed by market boats of the bread-basket pattern, flat bottomed, and impelled by poling — just the same sort as Cortez found navigating it when he launched his brigantine on its eastern edge, which vessel was doubtless nothing more than a rude raft. The MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID. 119 periacjuas, and other craft which now ply upon it, bringing produce from Tezcoco, and other lake shore towns to the capital city, are all of the punt species, none of them drawing over eighteen inches of water. Notwithstanding, they have to keep to well-known ways, where the lake is deepest, guid- ing their course by certain landmarks on the shore, passing a wooden cross, " La Cruz," planted near the centre, coming in sight of which the devout— or rather, I should say, super- stitious — boatmen uncover, and offer up a prayer to "Al Virgen." This grand shallow sheet, then, so saline that fish cannot live in it, and vegetation withers under its blighting breath, is the congenial dwelUng-place of the axolotl, and, if I mistake not, its only one in the Valley of Mexico ; at least I am not aware of its existence in the other three lakes lying north- ward, their waters salt, too, but at times so low as to be almost dried up, or showing only a residuum of mud, its surface an efflorescence, akin to soda, and resembling hoar frost, called " tequiqzuite." Though in a sense the sole inhabitant of Tezcoco, the axolotl is not left to peaceful or undisputed possession of the lake. It has its enemies in the predatory aquatic birds — herons, cranes, and cormorants — while man is also among them. To tlie " Lake Indian " its capture is a matter of economic indus- try, its flesh being a saleable commodity in the market. It is not absolutely relished as an article of food, except by the Indians themselves ; who, as is well known, will eat anything and everything that lives, moves, and has being, be it fish, fowl, reptile, or insect. This, from ancient usage, originally a thing of necessity, not choice, when the Aztec, surrounded by Tlascallan, with other warlike enemies, was confined to the islands of this inland sea, and from it compelled to draw part of his sustenance — to eat indifferently frogs, tadpoles, newts, and such repulsive reptiles; as also the eggs of a curious water-fly — the axavacatl {Ahuatlea Mexiccmci) — a sort of '' caviar," still obtainable in the markets of the Mexican 120 MEMOIR OF MAYXE REID. capital, I have seen the axolotl of respectable dimensions — at least a foot in length, while specimens of fifteen and sixteen inches are occasionally exhibited. Fish or flesh, relished or not, it is often eaten by invalids, the Mexican medicos pronouncing it a specific for liver inflammation and pulmonary complaints, as we do cod-liver oil ; while it is also supposed to be serviceable in cases of hectic fever, and as a food for children. A mucilaginous syrup, compounded of its gelatinous portions and certain medicinal herbs, is sold in the boticas of the apothecaries as a balsam for colds, coughs, and other bronchial maladies. I refrain from touching on the zoological character of this creature, so strangely abnormal, as I could add nothing to what is already known to you. Besides, that is a question -for the scientific naturalist, to whom I leaA e it. But it may not be generally known that, in addition to your Brighton Aquarium species — which is, I suppose, the Siredon Hum- boldtii, or S. Harlanii, of Laguna de Tezcoco— there is a new and quite distinct one recently discovered, inhabiting Lake Patzcuaro. This large sheet of water, lying centrally in the State of Michoacan— more than a hundred miles from the Mexican valley, in a direction nearly due west — has also Its axolotl. Its discoverer has named it Siredon Dumerilii, after the accomplished French herpetologist ; while its local vulgar name on the shores of Patzcuaro is " achoque de agua," or " water achoque," to distinguish it from a sort of land lizard called " achoque de tierra "—the Bolitoglossa Mexicana of Dumeril and Bibron, also common around the edges of the Michoacan Lake. The Patzcuaro species differs from yours of the Brighton Aquarium in several respects. In size it is somewhat the same; but its colour, instead of being blackish, or white, as in the Albino varieties of Humboldt's Siredon, is of a violet-red, slightly blemished with grey, the gills only being black, while the neck, throat, and breast are of a pale, whitish hue. Without dwelling longer on this subject, I will venture MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID. 121 to say that when all of the great Mexican saline lakes— such as Chapa'a and Cuitzoc — are searched, there will be found other species of axolotl, distinct from any of those yet known to science. Mexico is a tine field for the scientific explorer ; its paths hitherto but little trodden by the naturalist, because unsafe from being- so much frequented by the '' Knights of the Itoad, " ycleped salteadove^. Mayne Reid. CHAPTEE VII. WHO WAS FIRST INTO CIIAPULTEPEC ? Captain Mayne Eeid returned from Mexico to the United States in the spring of 1848. He spent the autumn and winter at his friend Donn Piatt's house in the valley of the Mac-o-Chee, Ohio. Here he wrote the greater part of " The Eifle Eangers," in which he gives us pictures of his Mexican life, returning to New York in the spring of 1849. The ques- tion was then going the round of the news- papers, " Who was first into Chapultepec ? " The following is an extract from a letter written by Mayne Eeid in reference to the storming of Chapultepec, and in which he inclosed some testimonies of his part in the affair : MEMOIR OF MAYNE REIT>. 123 " These documents were hastily collected in New York in the spring of 1849, when I heard of other individuals claiming to have been first into Chapultepec. I do not claim to have been first over the w^alls, as I did not get over the wall at all, but was shot down in front of it ; but I claim to have led up the men wdio received the last volley of the enemy's fire, and thus left the scaling the wall a mere matter of climbing, as scarcely any one was shot afterwards. " While collecting this testimony I was sud- denly called upon to take the leadership of a le™n organized in New York to assist the revolutionary struggle in Europe, and I sailed at the latter end of June, '49. Otherwise I could have obtained far more testimony than contained in these scant documents here. " Mayne Eeid. " P.S. — General Pillow was at the time 124 MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID. using every exertion to disprove ni}^ claims, it being a life and deatli matter with liim, having an eye to the Presidency, to prove that the men of his division were the first to enter Chapultepec." The following testimony was given to Mayne Eeid, and, as he says, " generously given, as only one of these officers was my personal friend, the others bsing almost un- known to me." Testimony of Lieut. Cochrane, Second Eegiment of Voltigeurs. " On the morning of the 13th of Septem- ber, 1847, the regiment of Voltigeurs, to which I was attached as subaltern officer, was ordered to clear the woods and the western side of the wall, extending from Molino del Eey to the Castle of Chapultepec, of the Mexican Infantry (light), and to halt at MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID. 125 tlie foot of the hill, in order to allow the storming party of Worth's division to scale the hill. " We drove the Mexicans as ordered, but in so rapid a manner that, along with some of the infantry of the Fourteenth, Fifteenth, and Ninth of Pillow's division, we kept driving the enemy under a heavy fire from the Castle, and a redan on the side of the hill, clear into their works — the storming party coming up rapidly. "After driving them from the redan, I pushed for the south-western corner of the Castle with all the men about me, and scarcely ten yards from the wall, an officer of infantry, and either an officer or sergeant of artillery — judging from the stripe on his pants — were shot, and fell. They were the only two at the time that I saw in advance of me along; the narrow path, the rock of which we were 126 MEMOIR OF MAYNE EEID. scrambling. On collectinof under the wall of the Castle there were some thirty or forty of us infantry and Yoltigeurs at the extreme corner of the Castle, and several other officers were there at the same point. The main body had halted at the scarp of the hill, some forty yards from the wall, awaiting the arrival of the scalincr ladders before makinsf the final and decisive assault. - " I ordered two men of the Yoltigeurs to go back a httle way and assist the ladders up the hill. As they proceeded to do so they passed the point where the infantry officer above alluded to lay wounded, who, with evident pain, raised himself and sang out above the din and rattle of musketry : " ' For God's sake, men. don't leave that wall, or we shall all be cut to pieces. Hold on, and the Castle is ours ! ' or words to that effect. MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID. 127 " I immediately answered from the wall : ' There is no danger, Captain, of our leaving this. jS'ever fear' — or words to that amount. " Shortly after the ladders came — the rush was made and the Castle fell. " In the course of a casual conversation about the events of that memorable morn- ing, while in the city of Mexico, this inci- dent was mentioned, and the officer who was wounded proved to be Lieut. Mayne Eeid, of the New York Volunteers, who had been ordered to guard the battering guns upon the plain, and had joined the party in the assault on the Molino del Eey side of the Castle. I spoke freely of this matter, and was quite solicitous to become acquainted, while in Mexico, with the gallant and chivalric officer in question. This is a hasty and im- perfect sketch of this transaction. I heard that Lieut. Eeid had made a speech to the 128 MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID. men of all arms, which had induced them to ascend ; but, as a party were fiercely en- gaged at the redan for a few seconds, I could not have heard his remarks above the din, as I was one of the redan party. It may be possible that the above speech is the one alluded to, though from what I heard said of it, he must have made other remarks at an earlier moment. '' Of course, I have not given the exact words, as some eighteen months have elapsed since that never-to-be-forgotten day, but I have given the fact and the substance of the words, which shows far more — the fact^ I mean — credit and honour to his courai?e and his gallant conduct than the mere words could. "Theo. D. Cochrane, " Late Second Lieut. Ee^rt. of Yoltio-eurs. "Columbia, Pa., May 20, 1849." MEMOIR OF MAYNE REIL>. 129 "Cleveland, 0., June, 1849. "Capt. Mayne Eeid, "Dear Sir, — "Very much surprised was I yesterday, when Mr. Grey, of the Plain- dealer^ honoured me with a call, and com- municated to me some lines of your letter to him, wherein it is stated that you had sent me about fourteen days ago a letter, with inclosure to Upman. I never have received your letter, and can obtain no information at the post office about it. Nevertheless will I testify to what I have seen of your military bravery and valour at Chapultepec — the only place where I have personally observed your gallant conduct. " When our regiment — Fifteenth Infantry — had charged through the cypress trees on the foot of the Chapultepec Ilill, and after our skirmishers had taken the first redan, and 9 130 MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID. chased the Mexicans out of it, I saw a young officer on my right hand side collecting about thirty or forty men of different corps, and encouraging the same with an address, which the roaring of the cannon and the musketry hindered me from understanding. Shortly after I saw the little band of heroes, with their brave leader in front, charge the right side battery, where a howitzer was posted ; and they tried very hard to climb the mud walls, which were about twenty feet high. Soon after I perceived through the dense smoke, caused by the last discharge of the battery towards that small command, that the officer had scaled the wall and fell, what I then took for dead. " All this was done in half the time I take to write it, and I was too much occupied with the command of my own detachment to enter into more particulars of that deciding moment. MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID. 131 My earnest admiration was paid to the dead hero ; and onward we went to the left corner of the fortification. How we entered the Castle, and what great excitement prevailed in the first half-hour of that glorious victory, is too well known for further description. But one thing I must add, that my first inquiry after the abating of the excitement was, ' Who was that young officer leading the charge on our right ? ' and one of my men gave me the answer : ' It is a New Yorker by the name of Mayne Eeid — a hell of a fellow.' That name T had heard several times before very favour- ably mentioned, without being personally acquainted with the man ; and just as I was going to see if he was really dead, or wounded, Gen, Cadwallader addressed the troops from the window of the Castle, and gave orders to rally the different companies and be prepared for further orders. I had to stay with my 9—2 132 MEMOIE OF MAYNE EEID. company, of course, and could not satisfy my great desire to ascertain the fate of that brave j^oung man. One thing more I wish to say, namely, that this same brave conduct of yours helped on the left a great deal, because it turned the fire of the infantry in our front and gave us time to storm the walls the right moment. " Yours most respectfully, " Charles Peternell, " Captain Fifteenth Infantry." Donn Piatt received the followuig state- ment, made on affidavit by Lieut. Marshall, of the Fifteenth Infantry : "I was in command of our company ordered to the attack of Chapultepec (Capt. King being indisposed), and had approached, under cover of trees and rocks, to the brow of the hill upon which the Castle stands, MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID. 133 where we halted to await the coming of the scaling ladders. At this point the fire from the Castle was so continuous and fatal that the men faltered, and several officers were wounded while urging them on. At this moment I noticed Lieut. Eeid, of the New York Volunteers. I noticed him more particularly at the time on account of the very brilliant uniform he wore. " He suddenly jumped to his feet, calling upon those around to follow, and without looking^ back to see whether he was sus- tained or not, pushed on almost alone to the very walls, where he fell badly wounded. All the officers who saw or knew of the act pronounced it, without exception, the bravest and most brilliant achievement performed by a single individual during the campaign ; and at the time we determined, should oc- casion ever require it, to do him justice. 134 MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID. I am satisfied that his daring was the cause of our taking the Castle as we did. Nor was it an act of bhnd courage, but one of cool self-possession in the midst of imminent danger. Lieut. Eeid had observed from the sound that the Castle was poorly supplied with side guns, and knew that could he once get his men to charge up to the walls they would be almost upon equal footing with the defenders. What makes this achieve- ment more remarkable, Lieut. Eeid was not ordered to attack, but volunteered." He also received letters from Captain D. J. Sutherland, of the United States Marines, and Captain D. Upman, of the United States Infantry, to the same effect. The chief honours of the assault on the Castle at Chapultepec were undoubtedly his. CHAPTEE VIII. HE SEEKS TO AID THE REVOLUTIONARY AGITATIONS IN EUROPE. About the middle of June, 1849, Captain Mayne Eeid, in company with the revolution- ary leader Hecker, and others bent upon the same errand, sailed in the Cunard steamship "Caledonia " for Liverpool, to aid the revolu- tionary movements then disturbing Europe. The men composing the legion raised in New York, were to follow in another steamer. On arrival at Liverpool, Captain Eeid and Hecker received the intelligence, which had just arrived, that the Bavarian revolution was at an end. They were therefore to proceed direct for Hungary, so soon as their men 136 MEM OIK OF MAYNE EEID. should arrive. Their plans had been to make, for Baden first, and then on to Hungary. Taking leave of his friend Hecker, Captain Mayne Eeid appointed to join him in London in about a week or ten days. Mayne Eeid then took the first boat leaving for Warren Point, to visit his native home before embarking on his perilous expedition. He landed in Ireland on the morning of July 12th, and at once took a car to Eathfriland, some twenty miles distant, reaching it about mid-day. Here he dispatched a messenger to Ballyroney to break the news of his return to his family, who were in ignorance of his having left America, fearing: the shock that his sudden appearance might have upon his mother, for la joie fait peur. The Captain quickly followed on the heels of his messeno[er. We leave the reader to imas^ine this reunion after so lon^r an MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID. 137 absence. He had left home a mere youth. He returned a man who had passed through many fires, and bore their scars upon him. There was a glad welcome for him in his native place, but the rejoicings were saddened with the reflection that he must so soon depart on the errand of war. All the neigh- bours vied each with the others in doing honour to the hero. Captain Eeid, amongst his luggage, had brought over from America a quantity of Colt's revolvers; the sight of these weapons caused no little consternation at Ballyroney. The time agreed upon with Hecker ex- pired, and Mayne Eeid bade adieu to his home, and arrived in London at the besin- '&' ning of August. He at once threw all his enerories into the Hunofarian cause. Shortly after liis arrival in London a public meeting was held at the Hanover 138 me:moir of mayne reid. Square Eooms to advocate tlie recognition of Hungary as a nation. Mayne Eeid was present, and the following is a report of liis part in the proceedings : " Colonel Eeid, United States, moved the next resolution, and announced himself to be at the head of a band of bold Americans, who had arrived in this metropolis on their way to Hungary, to place their swords and lives at the disposal of her people. The resolution he moved was as follows : ' That the immediate recomition of the a'overnment de facto of the kingdom of Hungary by this country is no less demanded by considerations of justice and policy and the commercial interests of the two States, than with a view to putting a stop to the effusion of human blood, and of terminating the prospect of the fearful and ibloody sepulchre of a soldier.' ' Gentlemen,' he said, ' let us hope that MEMOIR OF MAYXE REID. 139 this result may never be — let us pray that it may never be ; and before I resume my seat I will offer a prayer to the God of Omnipotence, couched in a paraphrase upon the language of the eloquent Curran : May the Austrian and the Eussian sink toerether in the dust ; may the brave Magyar walk abroad in his own majesty; may his body swell beyond the measure of his chains, now bursting from around him ; and may he stand redeemed, regenerated, and disenthralled by the irresistible genius of universal emanci- pation.' " But Captain Mayne Eeid was not destined to fight in the cause of Hungary, any more than in the Baden insurrection. Fate held different purposes for him to fulfil. Before the expedition had started came the news of the defeat at Temsevar, on August 9th, 1849. Kossuth had been com- 140 MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID. pelled to abandon his position and flee into Turkey, and the subjugation of Hungary was soon after completed. There was now no use for the legion, and Captain Eeid helped them in returning to America. To raise sufficient funds for this purpose he sold most of the Colt's revolvers he had brought over. n» ^ ^ ^ Captain Mayne Eeid now finally sheathed his sword, once more took up the pen, and began those marvellous tales of adventure which have made his name famous. CHAPTEE IX. HIS FIRST ROMANCES. Captain Mayne Eeid now sought to find a publisher for his first romance, " The Eifle Eangers," which he had written at Donn Piatt's house in Ohio, and to which he had now put the finishing touches in London. To find a pubhsher for a book by an unknown author was no easy task. Event- ually the work was published by William Shoberh Great Marlborouoii Street, in two volumes, at one guinea, on an agreement to pay the author half the profits. The preface to " The Eifle Eangers " is as follows : "The incidents are not fictitious, but allow- ance must be made for a poetic colouring 142 MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID. which fancy has doubtless imparted. The characters are taken from living originals, thousfh most of them fiorure under fictitious names ; they are portraits nevertheless." The book was dedicated to his friend, Lord Dudley Coutts Stuart. " The Eifle Eans^ers " became at once a success, and the reviews in the press were of the most flattering description. The Observer^ April 7th, 1850, says : " Two extraordinary volumes, teeming with varied Mexican adventures, and written by no everyday man. Of Captain Mayne Eeid may be said, according to his own analysis of him- self, what Byron wrote of Bonaparte : ' And quiet to quick bosoms is a hell ! ' " The volumes contain some wild love passages, and many descriptions of manners and scenery." Of this book a writer in an American .AIEMOIR OF 3IAYNE EEID. 143 journal says ; " In London he found a publislier, and awoke to a world-wide fame. The book that could not be pub- lished here, was transkated and repubUshed in every language in Europe, and returning to this country, found thousands of delighted readers. Your correspondent, calling once to pay his respects to Lamartine, found that gentleman with Mayne Eeid's book in his hand, and the eminent Frenchman loud in its praise. Dumas, senior, said he could not close the book till he had read the last word." This was followed by his second romance, the world-famed " Scalp Hunters," which was written by Majne Eeid in Ireland, at Ballyroney, in the old house in which he was born. On its completion he returned to London, and the book was published in 1851, by Charles Street, in three volumes. 144 MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID. It at once became one of the most popular books of the season, and has maintained its popularity ever since. Over a million copies have been sold in Great Britain alone, and it has been translated into as many languages as " The Pilgrim's Progress." The preface to " The Scalp Hunters " is dated June, 1851 : "My book is a trapper book. It is well known that trappers swear like troopers ; some of them, in fact, worse. I have endeavoured to christianize my trap- pers as much as lay in my power. I, however, see a wide distinction between the impiety of a trapper's oath and the immorality of an unchaste episode." There was not an adverse criticism in any of the press notices. David Bogue, publisher, of Fleet Street, proposed to Mayne Eeid to write a series MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID. 145 of boys' books of adventure, the books which earned for him the title of the "Boy's Novelist." The first of these was " The Desert Home," or " English Family Eobinson." It was published by Bogue at Christmas, 1S51, in an illustrated cloth edition at 7s. 6d. The Globe, February 2nd, 1852, says: "Captain Mayne Eeid offers to the juvenile community a little book calculated to excite their surprise and to gratify their tastes for the trans- atlantic, and the wonderful. The dangers and incidents of life in the wilderness are depicted in vivid colours." In addition to his literary work Captain Mayne Eeid now established a Eifle Club. His military ardour was not quite quenched. The Belvidere Eifle Club was the title. The preliminary conditions for obtaining recognition by the Crovvni were stated by 10 146 MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID. the Marquis of Salisbury, Lord Lieutenant of Middlesex, to be that the numbers of a Volunteer Eifle Corps should exceed sixty, and that particulars of the names of the members, and of the mode of training in arms practised, should be supplied. The Christmas of 1852 saw the pro- duction of "The Boy Hunters." "For the boy readers of England and America this book has been written, and to them it is dedicated ; that it may interest them, so as to rival in their affections the top, the ball, and the kite — that it may impress them, so as to. create a taste for that most refining study, the study of Nature — that it may benefit them, by be- getting a fondness for books, the antidotes of ignorance, of idleness, and vice, has been the design, as it is the sincere wish, of their friend the author." CHAPTEE X. KOSSUTH. "the times." During the year 1852 a strong friendship had sprung up between Captain Mayne Eeid and Louis Kossuth, the ex-governor of Hungary, who was at that time living in London. Captain Eeid entered en- thusiastically into the Hungarian cause and attended many public meetings on behalf of the refugees. In February, 1853, when the ill-fated insurrection at Milan took place, Kossuth was anxious to join the insurgents as soon as possible. Captain Eeid proposed that Kossuth should travel across the Continent dis^fuised o 10-2 148 MEMOIE OF MAYIsE EEID. as liis servant. A passport was actually got from tlie Foreign Office for tliis pur- pose, and bears date 24tli February, 3 853, " for the free passage of Captain Mayne Eeid, Britisli subject, travelling on the Continent with a man-servant, James Hawkins, British subject." All was in readiness for their departure, when a telegram in cipher was received by Kossuth that the rising had proved only an emeute. Fortunately for Captain Eeid, who was thus spared risking his life on the altar of friendship, as he was quite prepared to do. Capture in Austria would have been certain death for one, if not both of them. He remained a staunch friend to Louis Kossuth durino' the latter's residence in England, ever ready to defend him with the pen, as he had been with the sword. The Times of February ICth, 1853, MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID. 149 contained these lines at the head of its Notices to Correspondents : " At 2 o'clock this morning we received a letter, signed ' Mayne Eeid,' denying, in absurdly bom- bastic language, the genuineness of the proclamation which we published on the 1.0th inst., and which we introduced as ' professing to be addressed by M. Kossuth to the Hungarian soldiers in Italy.' Such documents are seldom very formal, but we had good reason for believing it to be genuine, and shall certainly not discredit it without better authority than that of 'Mayne Eeid.'" The letter to which the Times refers — or rather a copy of it — was sent by its author to the Sun. "Louis Kossuth and the Italians. " The followino' note has been addressed to 150 MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID. ourselves by Captain Mayne Eeid, inclosing, as will be seen, a somewhat remarkable com- munication addressed to one of our morning contemporaries. In our leading columns of this evening we have referred more directly to the very curious documents here subjoined : " To the Editor of the Sun. " 30, Parkfield Street, Islington. "Feb. 16th, 1853. " Sir, — I regret that I am a stranger to you, but I have a confidence that your sense of ' fair play ' will influence you to insert the accompanying letter in your journal of to- morrow. I need hardly add that the facts which it states have been drawn from an authentic source. ^' With high respect, sir, " I am, &c., " Mayne Eeid. MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID. 151 " To the Editor of the Times. " Sir, — In your journal of the 10th inst. appears a telegraphic dispatch announcing an insurrection in Milan ; and underneath, in the same column, a document which you state ' purports to be from Kossuth,' and to which is appended the name of that gentleman. " Now, sir, M, Kossuth either did write that document, or he did not. If he did, and you have published it without hi& authorization, you have committed, by all the laws of honour in this land, a dis- honourable act. If he did not write it, you have committed, by the laws of justice in this land, a criminal act. I charge you with the committal of both. You are guilty of the latter ; and the latter, like a parenthesis, embraces the former. " You have pubhshed that document with- 152 MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID, out any authorization from the man whose name is subscribed to it ; and upon the day following, in an additional article, you have declared its authenticity, as a proclamation addressed by M. Kossuth, from Bayswater, for the purpose of engaging the Lombard and Hungarian patriots in the late insurrection at Milan. -' As such, sir, in the name of M. Kossuth, / disavow the document. I pronounce it to he a forgery. "It remains with M.Kossuth to bring you before the bar of the law. It has become my duty to arraign you before the tribunal of public opinion. "I charge you, then, with having given utterance to a forged document, which was calculated to reflect with a damning influence upon the fame of its reputed author. Such conduct is in any case culpable. In yours it MEMOIR OF MAYNE REIU. 153 is inexcusable, since you daily tell us that * whatever is intended for insertion must be authenticated by the name and address of the writer.' "But this is not all, sir. In the editorial re- ferred to, you take occasion to speak of the man whose name has been thus abused in a tirade of vengeful invective, whose epithets I, as a gentleman, shall not condescend to re- produce. "Calling the false proclamation 'bombastic fustian,' you have charged M. Kossuth with aiding to incite the late insurrection in Milan, and thereby causing the wanton shedding of blood — of 'hallooing on the wretched victims to certain destruction, while he himself enjoys the most perfect personal security under the guardianship of British law.' " This is a serious charge, and, if not true, a slander which, by tlie mildest con- 154 MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID. struction, must be termed most cruel and atrocious. It is not true. It is a slander, , and I feel confident that all who read will pronounce it, as I have done, cruel and atrocious. "With regard to its first clause, I here affirm that M. Kossuth had not only no part in inciting the Italians to a revolution at this time ; but, that up to the latest moment, he op- posed such an ill-judged and premature move- ment with all the mio^ht of his counsel. He had weighty reasons for so doing. Perhaps you, sir, may know what these ' weighty reasons ' are ; but whether you do or not, I am not Gfoinsf to declare them for the benefit of Austrian ears. This is not the question now, but your charge is ; to which I oppose the affir- mation that it is not true. With regard to the latter clause of your quoted assertion, I have thus to answer ; that the moment in which M. MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID. 155 Kossuth received the news of the insurrection in Milan — and which came upon him as un- expectedly as upon any man in England — upon that moment he hurried to make pre- paration for his departure to the scene of action. Although filled with a prophetic ap- prehension that the affair would turn out to be an emeiite, and not a national revolution, he, nevertheless, resolved to fling his body into the struofo^le. I, who was to have had the honour of sharing his dangers, can bear testi- mony to the zeal with which he was hurrying to face them, when he was frustrated by the news that the insurrection was crushed. Were I to detail, as I may one day be called upon to do, the sacrifices which he made to effect that object, the slanders, sir, which you have uttered against him would recoil still more bitterly upon yourself. For the present I content myself with tlie assertion of the f^xct ; 156 MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID. but should you render it necessary I am ready with the proofs. "But no such explanation was needed to shield Louis Kossuth from your unmanly accusation. Shall I recall a circumstance in the life of that heroic man to refute you ? You, sir, must know it well. It has been recorded in the columns, and engraven in the tablets, of history. In August, 1849, upon the banks of the Danube stood Louis Kossuth. On one side was the avenging Austrian, thirsting for his blood ; on the other his weak and wavering protector, who had declared that unless he — Kossuth — and his associates would consent to abandon the religion of their fathers they must be yielded up, to what ? On the part of Kossuth, to death — certain death — upon the ignominious scaffold. In this perilous crisis, others, less compromised, accepted life upon the terms MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID. 157 proposed. Whiat did Kossuth, when it came to Ills turn to speak ? He uttered these words of glory : ' Death, death upon the scaffold, in preference to such terms for life ! Accursed be the tongue that could make to me such an infamous proposal.' " In such language, at such a time, there is no ' bombastic fustian.' I could believe that there were men incapable of comprehending the sublime courage, the heroic virtue of such an act ; but I did not believe there existed a man in all England who would have the effrontery — the positive and palpable mean- ness — to stigmatize the hero of that act with a charge of cowardice. " Such, sir, are the facts connected with this affair. I may at some future time treat you to a few opinions, and review more copiously the history of your conduct in relation to M. Kossuth. Meanwhile, I leave 158 MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID. you to purify your soiled escutcheon as you best may. " I am, sir, yours obediently, " Mayne Eeid. "February 15tli. " P.S. — February 16th. Sir, — In your journal of this morning, instead of publishing the above letter, you have noticed it in a short paragraph, worth}^ of the pen that would malign a patriot. But do not imagine that you are to escape thus easily from the unpleasant position in which you have placed yourself. In this country the character of a gentleman, though he be a stranger, is not to be wantonly assailed with impunity, and you, sir, shall be as amenable to the laws of honour and justice as the meanest citizen in the land. " You say, in. relation to your pseudo i^vo- clamation, that you ' had good reason for believing it to be genuine, and shall certainly MEMOIR OF MAYNE RE ID. 159 not discredit it without better authority than that of ' Mayne Eeid. ' ^'' If you had no better authority for pub lishing it than what is impUed by the tenor of the above paragraph, I fancy you will have some difficulty in explaining to your readers why you published it at all, and to your countrymen why — so long as a doubt existed in your mind as to its genuineness — you took advantage of the sentiments expressed by it to defame the character of its reputed author. You take occasion to characterize my letter as ' absurdly bombastic language.' It is before the public as above. Let them be the judges ; and the only favour I should ask of them would be, to read your editorial article upon the same subject. Having given yours a prior perusal, I feel satisfied that their ears will not be so delicately attuned as to be jarred by the ' absurdly bombastic ' of mine. 160 MEMOIE OF MAYNE EEID. "'Bombastic' seems to be a favourite phrase with you, and for the style itself no writer in E norland is more accustomed to its usaore than that mythical personage — the editor of the Times. " Your sneer at the ' authority of Mayne Eeid,' is equally characteristic. It is true I am but a plain gentleman, who make my living, like yourself, by literature. But I did not calculate upon the statement of a plain gentle- man having any weight with you. In my letter I offered you full proof of my asser- tions. You do not seem inclined to call them forth. " And now, sir, one word more. If you flatter yourself that by means of bold swagger and personal invective you can cover your misdeeds, you are sadly mistaken. You may insult the understanding of Englishmen, as you repeatedly do, with your wordy sophistry, 3IEM0IR OF MAYXE REID. 161 and mystify the masses, who ' run as they read.' I, sir, have a higher faith in the intelHgence of my countrymen, and a full confidence that the majority of them have heads clear enouuh to understand, and hearts pure enough to repudiate, an unprovoked and unproven slander. " I am, sir, &c., "Mayne Eeid." In the Morning Advertiser of February 19th, 1853, appeared the foUowifig : " M. Kossuth and 'The Times.' " To the Editor of the Morning Advertiser. " Sir,— " Your kindness in giving a place in your widely circulated journal to my former communication in relation to M. 11 162 MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID. Kossuth leads me to hope that you will also publish the inclosed document. "I am, sir, " With high respect, " Truly yours, " Mayne Eeid. " 301, Parkfield Street, Feb. 17th." " To the Editor of The Times. " Sir,— "You have refused to disavow the pseudo proclamation which you published over the name of ^I. Kossuth, ' without better authority than that -of Mayne ReidJ Perhaps you will be satisfied with the authority of the gentleman whose name is in autograph appended to the communication I now in- close you. "I am, sir, &c., "Mayne Eeid." MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID. 1C3 " To Captain Mayne Eeicl. "London, Feb. 18, 1853. "My Deak Sir,— " I feel myself under higli obligations for the generous and cliivalric manner in wliicli you stepped forth to do me justice, when you knew me to be wronged in that 'proclamation ' matter ; as also I feel bound to lasting gratitude towards you for the noble readiness with which you gave me at once your helping hand, at my request, to aid me to reach the field of that action which I did not approve, but which, of course, I must have been anxious to join. " Your o'enerous assistance, which vou so readily granted me, I can the more appre- ciate, as I am sorry to say with us there are many difficulties, even in reaching any field of honourable danger at all. We are not free to move. Evidence of it : That 11-2 164 MEMOIK OF MAYNE EEID. when not long ago my departed dear mother was on her death-bed in exile, a certain ' constitutional ' government would allow me to go to imprint the parting kiss of filial devotion on her brow upon the condition only that I should submit to the disgraceful profanation of being accompanied by a ' gen- darme ' to my dying mother's bed. " I thank you, sir, most affectionately, for that your assistance, as well as your chivalric defence. I was just about myself to pub- lish a formal disavowal of that ' Proclama- tion to the Hungarian Soldiers.' I hope you, as well as every Englishman, will appreciate my motive for not having done it earlier. " My motive, sir, was this : that my dis- avowal would, of course, have been tele- graphed to Austrian quarters ; and, suppos- ing the fight in Italy still pending, might have possibly done some harm to my beloved MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID. 165 brethren in oppression, the Italians. So I took it to be my simple duty rather silently to submit to any virulent indignity than to harm the chances of the straggling patriots at Milan, who, though inconsiderately and at an ill-chosen moment, risked their life and blood and their sacred honour to free their country from insupportable oppression, and that a foreign one, too; just as England once rose and risked blood and life and sacred honour — nay, more, sent one king to the- scaffold and one other into eternal exile — to free herself from oppression, though it was not a foreiij^n one. The history of past revolutions is but toa readily forgotten by those who now reap their fruits in peace and happiness. But I would like to recall it to memory now, when men will be but too ready to add bitter blame to the misfortune of the vanquished. 166 MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID " I certainly, sir, did highly disapprove of any idea of rising in Italy now ; but the failure of the unfortunate victims I will con- sider but as a new claim upon my compassion and sympathy. Men, in the peaceful enjoy- ment of freedom and prosperity, can scarcely imagine what aspirations and what thoughts can and must cross the hearts of a people suffering what Italy does. That should be borne in mind before we cast the stone of blame upon those who fell. " I, sir, am so much penetrated by this sen- timent, that, were it not for higher motives — which are entirely of no personal sus- ceptibility that I am not permitted to take upon myself the imputation of an imprudent act which I did not commit — I, perhaps, would have preferred to be injured by letting pass in silence the whole proclamation matter, and all the venomous slander connected with it. MEMOIR OF MAYNE EEID. 167 ; "JBut lor those higher motives I feel in- finitely obliged to you for having so gener- ously undertaken to vindicate my prudence, and my plain but lionest character. May be that this, your chivalry, will entirely release me from the necessity of any further public steps in that respect. That I shall see, and leave in the meantime my ready disavowal where it is. "However, as following the generous im- pulse of your heart, you may, perhaps, feel inclined to fight on the battle, if required, in which you so nobly engaged, I thought it would perhaps be as well to state to you some particulars. " I think anv intelligent reader of that purported proclamation may have at once become aware of its not beinc^ c^enuine on reading it. Because, to say in one and the same, document somethino- to this effect : ' I 168 MEMOIR OF MAYXE REID. send the bearer to you that he may inform me who amongst you are faithful and true, and inform me how you should organize ; ' and to say in the same document, as it were with the same breath : ' Else ! Strike ! The moment is at hand,' which is as much as to say, ' Don't organize ' — this is, indeed, too absurd a blunder in logic to be believed. " Do I then disavow the sentiments con- tained in that document? No, sir; ail my life is, and will be, summed up in this idea : my country's freedom — my country's rights ; and consistently with this, I am, and will remain, an irreconcileable enemy to Francis Joseph of Austria, who stole by perjury from my country sacred rights, freedom, con- stitution, laws, and national existence ; and beaten back in his criminal attack, robbed it by treason and by foreign force — and now murders it. Yes, sir, I avow openly these MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID. 169 my sentiments, and trust in God that the day of justice and retribution will soon come. And why should I not avow them? I am not bound to any allegiance to Francis Joseph of Austria. Not I ; not my exiled countrymen ; not our dear Hungary. He is no lawful sovereign of Hungar3\ Justice is at home in England, sir ; and, therefore, I defy any man to get up a jury, or to point out a court in all England which would find a verdict for Francis Joseph being a lawful sovereign of Hungary — or I and my country owing him allegiance. " Nor do I desire to be understood that I have never written anything like the con- tents of that apocryplial document. I, indeed, sir, never thought to have any claim to the reputation of a classical authorship. Bad as it is, sir, I have written worse things in my life. I may have written every 170 MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID. sentence of it; some of them at one time, some at another on different occasions — probably wlien I was a prisoner at Kutayah, for different exigencies, all past, long past, years ago, out of which writings the present document might have been patched up without my knowledge, and used on the present occasion without my consent. " All this is not the question. The ques- tion, sir, is — have I addressed this (or what- soever else) proclamation from English soil for the purpose of engaging the Hungarian soldiers, or whomsoever else, in the late in- surrection at Milan, or wherever else, in Italy ? " That is the question. Answering to this question, you disavowed the document as such, and pronounced it to be a forger}^ — and you are perfectly right. I neither invited, nor gave any authority to any one MEMOIR OF lilAYNE REID. 171 to invite, tlie Hungarian soldiers to join in any insurrection in Italy now. Nay, when- ever I heard anything said about the Lom- bard 2^3.triots being incapable of enduring longer their oppression, and that perhaps they might feel inclined to break forth at any risk, I condemned the very idea of thinking now upon an insurrection in Italy, declaring that, for the present, no revolu- tionary movement would succeed in Lom- bardy, but ' would turn out to be but a deplorable emeute ; ' and I, for one, declared every emeute, however valiantly fought, would but render impure the well-founded, legiti- mate prospects of the cause of liberty. "All this, sir, you have known, when you gave your chivalric dementi to that pur- ported proclamation of mine. You have known more yet ; you have seen a letter from one of the most renowned Italian 172 MEMOIR OF MAYNE EEID. patriots, dated on the lOtli of February, from the field of action, in which he categorically confesses that ' I in my views was perfectly right, and they have been wrong ; ' and in which he further, giving me the first notice of my name having been used ' clandestinely * at Milan, gives me himself full evidence that it was done without my knowledge, without my consent. " You have known all this, sir ; but one thing you may not yet know, and that is : '' I came to England about the end of June, 1852. Since that time I have been always on English soil ; and since I have been on English soil, I never addressed any proclamation to the Hungarian soldiers in Italy. " But stop. Yes, I have addressed a pro- clamation to them. A single one, dated Feb- ruar}^ loth, a copy of which I beg leave MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID. 173 to send to you ; and remain witli the highest regards and sincere gratitude, " Dear sir, " Yours affectionately and obedient!}-, " L. Kossuth. "P.S. — You may make any pubhc or private use of this my letter, and of the annexed proclamation, you may think proper. — Kossuth." "To THE Hungarian Soldiers quartered in Italy. " Gallant Countrymen ! — It is with in- dic^nation I learn that on the occasion of the troubles of February 6th, at Milan, an appeal has been circulated there in my name, calling on you to join in that abor- tive movement. " Soldiers ! that document was not o-enuine. I have not approved of an insurrection in 174 MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID. Italy for the present moment. I issued no appeal calling on you to take a part in it. " Once the time will come — and come it shall, undoubtedly — when I, in the name of our country, will desire you, wheresoever you may then be, to side w^ith the people around the banner of liberty. That is a sacred duty. Our enemy is the same every- where, and the people's cause is one and the same ; alike as there is but one God, one honour, and one liberty. " But this one I shall do at the right time. The present time was not the right one. " Of one thing you may rest assured, and that is, that I shall never play with your blood a wanton play. " Whensoever I shall say to you, ' Ye braves, the time is at hand ! ' I will tell you MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID, 175 this neither from London, nor from any distant safe place, but from headquarters. In person will I lead you on, and claim the first share in your o-lorious dansfers. Jo O " Never shall I invite you to risk any danger in which I myself do not share. " And as no one can be present in two places at once, should I, for that reason, not place myself at the head of your heroic ranks — because duty will call on me to do that in our own dear country, where I shall have to fis^ht for freedom and rio[ht in Hun- gary, while you will be fighting for it in Italy — my appeal will reach you by the hand of a gallant Huno^arian commander, whom I will charge to lead you on to the field of glory — fighting forward home to join the banner which I shall hold there. " Of this you may rest assured. Until then be prepared — but wait. Don't play 1".G MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID. your blood wantonly. The Fatherland, the world, is needing it. " For freedom and Fatherland ! "L. Kossuth. "London, Feb. 15, 1853." The " forged proclamation " correspon- dence elicited numerous editorials from the Press, all warmly in praise of Captain Mayne Eeid's able defence of Kossuth. From the Morning Advertiser of February 19 the following is extracted: " The Times — we say it with regret, because the character of the entire news- paper press is more or less affected by the misdeeds of one of its leading members — has earned for itself an unenviable notoriety by the frequency with which it gives cir- culation to calumnies against those to whom it is opposed, and then refusing to allow :\IEMOIR OF MAYNE REID. 177 the parties aflfected to prove that they are calumniated. "A striking case, illustrative of this, has occurred within tlie last few days. The Times, by some means or other, becomes possessed of a document purporting to be a proclamation from Kossuth, addressed to the Hungarian soldiers in that portion of the Austrian army employed to put down the insurrection in Milan. We do not charge our contemporary \^ith publishing this pro- clamation knowinsr it not to be o'enuine. We are willing to give The Times credit for believing in the perfect genuineness of the document when it opened its columns to its insertion. Nor do we blame that journal for inditing a leading article, in which the proclamation in question was made the oToundwork of a furious onslauijfht on Kos- suth, because we are still assumim? that 21ie 12 178 MEMOIR OF MAYNE REID. Times all this while believed the document to be an emanation from the pen of the illustrious Magyar. " But farther than this, in our allowances for our contemporary, we cannot go. The Times is told that the proclamation to the Hungarian soldiers in the Austrian army was not the production of Kossuth's pen, and that he was in no wise responsible for its sentiments or its exhortations. Captain Mayne Eeid writes to The Times, not only denying the genuineness of tlie document but producing facts and assigning reasons, which ought to have satisfied that journal that it had preferred a charge against Kos- suth as groundless as it was injurious. But instead of giving a ready insertion to Captain Mayne Eeid's vindication of the character of the Huno'arian chief from the calumnies which Tlie Times Dut into circulation, that MEMOIR OF MAYNE IIEID. 179 journal, without assigning, or being able to assign, any reason for still believing that the document was genuine, reiterates the asser- tion of its having proceeded from Kossuth's pen. " Fortunately for the character of the English press, there is not another journal of any reputation in the country that would act in this matter as The Times has done. However much a paper may chance to be opposed to a particular individual, we know of no instance, with this solitary exception of The Times, in which an editor, having preferred a groundless charge against a man whose character is everything to him, would refuse to allow a contradiction and disproof of the accusation. The force of injustice could no further go. To act in this way is to play the part of a moral assassin, and ought to draw down on the head of the 12-2 180 MEMOIK OF MAYNE EEID. journalist who could play so criminal a part the indignation and abhorrence of the public. " The Times has not yet forgotten its old OTud<^e a^T^ainst the Mas^yar chief, nor is it likely it ever will. It not only greatly damaged its commercial interests by the system of calumny which it pursued towards the Hun A'^ mi