BANCROFT 
 LIBRARY 
 
 <> 
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
HEROES and INCIDENTS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 MEXICAN WAR, 
 
 CONTAINING 
 
 * Expedition. 
 
 THE CAUSE OF THE WAR WITH MEXICO. A DE 
 SCRIPTION OF THE PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS AT THAT 
 TIME. A SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF DONIPHAN. 
 TOGETHER WITH SKETCHES AND PORTRAITS OF 
 THE HEROES OF THAT STRUGGLE. 
 
 Illustrated With Fine Engravings. 
 
 By ISAAC GEORGE. 
 
 Member of Doniphan's Expedition, Co., B, First Regi 
 ment of Missouri Cavalry. 
 
 Written from dictation by J. D. BERRY. A. M. 
 
 PRINTED BY 
 
 REVIEW PUBLISHING CO., 
 
 GREENSBURG, PA. 
 
 OCT. 1903. 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 Publisher's Notes. 
 
 The author of this work is a well known and 
 highly respected citizen of Latrobe, Westmoreland 
 county, Pennsylvania. He is a retired farmer, 
 having formerly owned and occupied a valuable 
 tract of land near Beatty, some three miles from 
 Latrobe, but which he sold some time ago and 
 purchased a fine residence in Latrobe. 
 
 The allotted life of man is "three score years 
 and ten," or seventy years, but the writer of this 
 work has passed that period and has arrived at 
 the ripe old age of eighty-one years, and although 
 he is an octogenarian, his eye is still bright, his 
 mind clear, while his step yet retains much of the 
 elasticity of youth, in fact, the burden of eighty- 
 one years rests lightly upon his shoulders, and is a 
 better man physically, than many who are but half 
 his age. The excellent health and digestion he en 
 joys is largely attributable to a temperate life, having 
 never contracted bad habits of any kind. He has 
 lived a life of peace with his fellow men, and hav 
 ing wrought faithfully during his earlier and 
 later manhood, he can now, in the sunset of life, 
 enjoy the reward of his labors. 
 
 Mr. George, in common with others wh'o reach 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 3 
 
 old age, can distinctly remember the incidents of 
 the distant past. It seems that memory, in the 
 minds of the aged, is inclined to search its store 
 house for the records of the long ago, which it 
 brings forth for inspection, and often things that 
 have been forgotten are brought to mind, and like 
 gazing upon the exhibition of a moving picture, 
 we seem to again live in the past. 
 
 To some it is almost impossible to realize what 
 it is to live for eighty years. We read in history 
 of the election of James K. Polk, as tenth President 
 of the United States, and of his inauguration on 
 the 4th of March, 1845, which was fifty-eight years 
 ago. We also read of the Mexican War, which 
 occurred during President Folk's administration, 
 and it seems a long distance back in the past, yet 
 distant though it be, the author of this book was 
 twenty-three years of age when President Polk 
 was inaugurated, and in the flush of his young 
 manhood he took part in the war which followed, 
 serving in the "Army of the West," as a member 
 of the Missouri Volunteers, under Col. A. W. 
 Doniphan, whose expedition into the enemy's 
 country forms the title, and supplies the incidents 
 for this work. 
 
 In the work of the historian, time is only 
 given to a brief illusion to men and incidents, that 
 in themselves would form a relation of fact that 
 would prove stranger than fiction, and worthy 
 men, who were the heroes of noble deeds in the 
 long ago, are forgotten, and the purpose of the 
 author in this work is to recall the trials and strug 
 gles of himself and comrades which occurred a half 
 century ago, under the command of one of the 
 brightest minds this country ever produced, and 
 one who was the peer of the noblest of her sons. 
 
 As we contemplate the task of gathering to- 
 
4 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 gether the data furnished us by the author in order 
 to incorporate it into a readable volume, it seems 
 to us that we are forming a link that will connect 
 the distant past with the immediate present, a link 
 that will span the abyss of over half a century, 
 and while we could, perhaps, make the work more 
 interesting to some by drawing upon our imagina 
 tion, we shall defer to the wishes of the author 
 and state only what are facts, and use as terse 
 language for the purpose as we can command. By 
 doing this we hope to make this work one of value, 
 as well as a work of interest. The sources of in 
 formation from which we derive material for this 
 work are authentic, and before we shall draw from 
 them, they will be carefully scanned by the author 
 and by him endorsed, and as he was not only pre 
 sent, but an active participant in many of the inci 
 dents recorded, he is amply qualified to pass judge 
 ment upon the truth, or untruth of other writers 
 on this subject. 
 
 Some weeks ago we were in the city of 
 Washington, and upon our return we left the 
 nation's capital in the early morning. As we 
 rapidly sped away the city seemed to sink from 
 sight amid the shadows, while the great marble 
 shaft, erected to the memory of the "Father of His 
 Country," seemed to loom up in greater proportions 
 as we receded farther and farther, and as we were 
 now turning our attention to the scenes and inci 
 dents of the struggles of our country during Presi 
 dent Folk's administration, the name, character 
 and personality of "Doniphan," and the brave and 
 noble men under him, as well as other noble heroes 
 who took part in that war, seem to rise in the dis 
 tance above the shadows of the past, and assume 
 proportions that challenge the respect and admira 
 tion of the world. Col. Doniphan was a hero and 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 5 
 
 commanded a band of heroes who wrote their names 
 in crimson-colored indellible characters upon the 
 history of their country, and now, as we can better 
 appreciate the results of their noble work in the 
 value of the territory acquired, we can the better 
 appreciate their efforts when that territory was a 
 comparitive wilderness, and to each of the very 
 few surviving members of Doniphan's band of 
 heroes, and other heroes of that war, we can cheer 
 fully accord the honor and reverence which is their 
 due. 
 
 In writing and compiling this work we will 
 depart from the usual custom of entering into 
 details, and select such incidents as we deem worthy, 
 a kind of selecting the grain from the chaff, mak 
 ing each incident complete by itself. We hope by 
 this method to make the story one of interest, and 
 at the same time the reader will be able to form an 
 intelligent idea of the sufferings and trials of Doni- 
 phan and his men during their wonderful march, 
 a march of a single regiment of undisciplined 
 troops, through five populous states of the Mexi 
 can Republic almost annihilating a powerful 
 army and finally returning home, after having 
 covered nearly six-thousand miles, crowned with 
 the trophies of victory. 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 Life of the Author. 
 
 Adam George the progenitor of the Unity 
 township Georges, came out of Germany, and first 
 settled in York county, Pa., and afterwards about 
 the time of the opening of the land office (1769) 
 came into Westmoreland and located upon the place 
 known in frontier times as "George's Station" 
 which is now owned and occupied by Peter George 
 and which is but a short distance from the present 
 "George Station" on the Pennsylvania Railroad. 
 The name of Adam George appears in the list of 
 signers to the petitions of 1774 to Governor Penn 
 for military protection from the Indians. In the 
 Revolution he was a soldier under the immediate 
 command of Washington; he also served on the 
 frontier, and although he escaped serious personal 
 injury yet it seemed as by miracle. He died at an 
 advanced age, and was buried on his own farm. 
 One of his sons, Conrad George, was in the Fort at 
 Hannastown when the village was burned. John, 
 the second son grew up with great hunting procliv 
 ities, and spent much of his early manhood in the 
 chase on the Alleghenies. He married in Somerset 
 county, Miss Eleanor Campbell, about the year 
 1800. They lived together until the death of Mrs. 
 

 
 
 ISAAC GEORGE. 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 7 
 
 George in 1860, a period of sixty years, and had 
 a family of six sons and seven daughters all of 
 whom, except one daughter, grew to maturity. 
 After his marriage, he lived in Mercer county until 
 the spring of 1811, when he settled on the farm 
 later occupied by his son Isaac, whose portrait 
 accompanies this sketch, situate in Unity 
 township, near Beatty Station. He died Sept. 4th, 
 1863, and was buried in Unity Church cemetery. 
 
 Isaac, the eleventh child of John, was born 
 October 4th, 1822, in Unity township on the fann 
 which he owned, until December 6, 1902. He grew 
 up on his father's farm until he reached the age of 
 eighteen, when he went out from the home roof 
 to learn his trade. After serving an apprentice 
 ship of three years at the carpenter trade, he went 
 to May's Lick' Ky., where he worked at his trad* 
 for one year; thence to Lexington, Mo., where he 
 continued to work at his trade with good success. 
 At this time occurred the war with Mexico, and 
 under a call for volunters, Mr. George enlisted in 
 the company of Captain Walton, (Company B.), 
 in the regiment which, under the command of Col. 
 Doniphan made that famous march which has im 
 mortalized all those who participated in it. 
 
 This regiment was raised in Western Missouri 
 near the border of Kansas. They assembled at 
 Fort Leavenworth and began their celebrated march 
 across the plains to the confines of Mexico on the 
 26th, of June, 1846. The regiment was called the 
 First Regiment of Missouri Mounted Riflemen; 
 Its colonel was A. W. Doniphan, and it was attach 
 ed to the division of Gen. Stephen W. Kearney. 
 The march of this regiment called "Doniphan's 
 March," or "Doniphan's Expedition," is one of the 
 most memorable in modern warfare, and the bold 
 ness of its conception, and the success in which it 
 
8 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 terminated, brought forth the commendation of all 
 military men and the plaudits of the people 
 throughout the Union. The march will be cele 
 brated to all time, in the military history of the 
 nation. 
 
 After a march of one thousand miles across 
 the plains through a hostile region the regiment 
 took Santa Fe, on the i8th of August, 1846, fought 
 the battle of Brazito, which secured El Paso, 
 crossed the Rio Grande into Mexico proper, 
 marched on toward Chihuahua, which, after the 
 brilliant battle and victory of Sacramento, they 
 captured, Feb. 28th, 1847. From there the com 
 mand was ordered by Gen. Taylor to report to 
 Gen. Brook at New Orleans, they being allowed to 
 put in the rest of their time in marching homeward, 
 an honor conferred upon them in recognition of 
 their distinguished services to the country, which 
 the general commanding regarded to be so effec 
 tual as to be thus publicly acknowledged. 
 
 From Camargo, on the Rio Grande, ten men 
 from each company volunteered to take the horses 
 of the regiment overland by way of Texas to their 
 homes. Returning home by way of New Orleans, 
 he, with about one-half of his comrades, landed in 
 Lexington, Mo., July ist, 1847, having been honor 
 ably discharged. His parents being now advanced 
 in age, he visited them, and out of a sense of duty 
 to them took charge of their affairs. He bought 
 their farm and continued to own and reside upon it 
 until about one year ago. In addition to farming- 
 he has been rather extensively engaged in the lum 
 ber manufacture and for years has carried on saw- 
 milling, profitably. 
 
 On the 26th, of Dec., 1853, Mr. George mar 
 ried Miss Mary Ann, daughter of Hon. Samuel 
 Nixon, of Fayette county, a man of honorable 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 9 
 
 standing who served three terms in the Legislature 
 of the state, and ten years as Associate Judge of 
 Fayette county. Mrs. George, a woman of energy 
 and piety, has contributed not a little to her hus 
 band's success. They have raised a family of two 
 sons and three daughters. 
 
 While in Kentucky, Mr. George united with 
 the Disciple church. His wife was a member of 
 the Cumberland Presbyterian church. After their 
 marriage they attended the Presbyterian church of 
 Unity, with which they also united with their child 
 ren. Mr. George is a man of quiet manners, of 
 consistent morals, and of liberality. He makes 
 himself useful in church work when he is called up 
 on to lend a helping hand. He is exact, and scrupu 
 lously honest in his dealings, has keen discern 
 ment and quiet energy. No man in his neighbor 
 hood has had better success in any calling, than 
 Mr. George has had in his. The fruits of his dil 
 igence, tact, and Christian uprightness, which he 
 now enjoys, are a liberal and increasing worldly 
 portion, the esteem of his neighbors, and a virtuous 
 and intelligent family. 
 
 (From the history of Westmoreland County, 
 by G. Dallas Albert.) 
 
10 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 Author's Preface. 
 
 As many of my friends who read this book, 
 will think it strange that a native of Westmoreland 
 county, Penn'a., should figure as a member of the 
 Missouri Volunteers, I wish to say, by way of ex 
 planation, that I was born near Latrobe, in 1822. 
 I learned the carpenter trade in Uniontown, Fayette 
 county, and in 1844 I went to Lexington, Lafayette 
 county, Missouri, where I followed my trade up 
 to the time of my enlistment, on the sixth day oi 
 June, 1846, at which time I became a member of 
 Company B., First Missouri Cavalry, Captain Wil 
 liam Walton, in the regiment commanded by Colo 
 nel Doniphan, and a part of "The Army of the 
 West," under General Kearney. After being mus 
 tered out of service I returned to my home, near 
 Latrobe, Westmoreland county, this state, where 
 I have since resided. 
 
 During my service in the war of which "Doni- 
 phan's expedition" was a part, I kept a diary, which 
 together with my recollection of the incidents of 
 that wonderful trip furnished the data for this 
 work. It has long been my desire to group all 
 the facts connected therewith into a volume, in 
 order that the present generation could learn of 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 11 
 
 the struggles and trials of the upholders of the 
 stars and stripes at that time, but it is only recently 
 that I have been able to begin the accomplishment 
 of my desires, and in this work which I am at 
 tempting, I can only briefly allude to many things 
 that, in themselves, would require a volume to pro 
 perly describe. 
 
 To my remaining comrades of the "Mexican 
 War." I send an affectionate greeting. According 
 to the laws of nature we have nearly crossed the 
 Great Plains of life, and are now resting in the 
 shadows of the trees which fringe the river of the 
 Jordan of Death, where we await the command of 
 the great General-in-chief to cross to the other side. 
 To some of us the march through life has been over 
 rugged mountains and on thorny paths, while to 
 others the way has been more pleasant, and to all 
 of us, we trust, the hope of one day meeting to 
 gether after we have reported at headquarters 
 across the river, is a pleasant one, and while time 
 may have dimmed the glories won a half -cen 
 tury ago, so far as earth and earthly things are 
 concerned, we trust that as each old veteran is 
 summoned into the presence of the King of Kings, 
 he may hear the welcome plaudit, "well done." 
 Respectfully, THE AUTHOR. 
 
12 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 Origin of the Mexican War. 
 
 In the beginning of this work we deem it per 
 tinent to briefly allude to the cause of the war be 
 tween the United States and Mexico, as we remem 
 ber it. 
 
 It might be said that the annexation of Texas, 
 as an integral part of the Union, was the prime 
 cause, although the relation between the two coun 
 tries at that time were not as friendly as might 
 have been, and when Texas became a state it at 
 once caused a rupture. Although the independence 
 of Texas had been recognized by the United 
 States, England, France, and other powers, 
 Mexico still claimed the state as part of its terri 
 tory, and soon after Congress, in March, 1845, 
 had adopted the joint resolution for the admission 
 of Texas into the Union, General Almonte, the 
 Mexican Minister at Washington, demanded his 
 passports, which act was soon followed by a proc 
 lamation by General Herrera, then President of 
 Mexico, declaring the rights of that country and 
 his determination to defend them. 
 
 An immediate cause of the war might be at 
 tributed to the action of President Polk in sending 
 General Zachary Taylor, with a force of fifteen- 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 13 
 
 hundred men, to occupy a strip of disputed terri 
 tory between the Rio Grande and Nueces rivers. 
 This force was called the "Army of Occupation," 
 and its purpose was the defense of Texas. Gener 
 al Taylor occupied this territory from September} 
 1845, unt il tne spring of 1846, when he received 
 orders to advance toward the mouth of the Rio 
 Grande, opposite the city of Matamoras. The 
 cause of this order was the fact that Mexican troops 
 were being assembled near there with the evident 
 intention of invading Texas. 
 
 General Taylor reached the point to which he 
 had been directed where he erected a fort naming 
 it in honor of Major Brown. General Taylor had 
 left his stores at Point Isabel in the care of Major 
 Monroe with four hundred and fifty men, and 
 while erecting Fort Brown a considerable body of 
 Mexicans got between him and the camp at Point 
 Isabel. Taylor, leaving a regiment of infantry and 
 two companies of artillery to defend the fort, 
 marchd to the relief of Point Isabel. While there 
 the Mexicans attacked Fort Brown, but were re 
 pulsed. General Taylor then marched to the relief 
 of the fort and meeting the Mexicans, six thous 
 and strong at Palo Alto, a battle was fought, and 
 although General Taylor had but two thousand 
 men, in a hot fight of five hours the Mexicans were 
 routed with a loss of six-hundred men, while the 
 Americans lost fifty-three. The next day, May 
 Qth, the march was resumed toward Fort Brown 
 when the Mexicans were discovered strongly posted 
 in a ravine called Resaca de la Palma. A short 
 and bloody conflict ensued in which the Americans 
 were again victorious. The Americans lost one- 
 hundred and ten men while the Mexican loss was 
 over a thousand, together with a General and one- 
 hundred men who were made prisoners, eight 
 
14 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 pieces of cannon and a number of military stores. 
 
 In the meantime a knowledge of the critical 
 situation of the "Army of Occupation" had arous 
 ed the whole country, and prior to the news of the 
 battles to which we have referred, Congress, on 
 May n, 1846, declared that, by the act of the Re 
 public of Mexico, "a state of war existed," and the 
 President was authorized to raise 50,000 men, and 
 ten million dollars were appropriated for carrying 
 on the contest. General Scott and the Secretary 
 of War quickly planned a campaign greater in 
 some respects than any that had been recorded in 
 history. It embraced the operation of a fleet to 
 sweep around Cape Horn to attack the Pacific 
 coast of Mexico, a division known as "The Army 
 of the West" was designed to invade New Mexico 
 and co-operate with the fleet. The "Army of the 
 Center" was to invade Old Mexico from the north, 
 and as Mexico had made a formal declaration of 
 war May 23, hostilities between the two nations 
 became active. 
 
 The "Army of the West" was given into the 
 command of General (then Colonel) Stephen W. 
 Kearney, with orders to proceed against New 
 Mexico and California. He left Fort Leaven- 
 worth in June, and after a wonderful march of 
 nearly a thousand miles over the Great Plains, and 
 amid the Rocky mountain ranges, he reached Santa 
 ; Fe, the capital of New Mexico, on August 18. 
 He took possession of the city, and then started 
 toward California but was met by a messenger 
 from Lieutenant-Colonel Freemont, with the infor 
 mation that California was subjugated. General 
 Kearney sent the main body of his troops back to 
 Santa Fe, and with one-hundred men pushed on 
 and joined Commodore Stockton and Colonel Free- 
 niont who had captured Los Angeles on August 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 15 
 
 17. In the meantime, while General Kearney was 
 on his way to California, Colonel Doniphan, with 
 one thousand Missouri volunteers, had been de 
 tailed to subjugate the Navajo Indians and com 
 pel a treaty of peace. He succeeded on Novembei 
 22, after which he marched toward the city of Chi 
 huahua, which place he reached after a couple of 
 battles, and of which he took possession. This 
 city had a population of forty-thousand. Doniphan 
 and his command rested here for some six weeks, 
 after which he marched to Saltillo and camped on 
 the battle ground of Buena Vista, and joined Gen 
 eral Wool. He then returned to New Orleans, 
 having made a march of over five-thousand miles 
 amid dangers and perils that would daunt the 
 stoutest heart, and it was the incidents in that 
 connection which form the theme of this work, 
 known as "Doniphan's Expedition." 
 
16 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 Doniphan's Life. 
 
 We are indebted largely to a sketch of the 
 life and character of Col. Alexander W. Doniphan, 
 written by D. G. Allen, Esq., of Missouri, for the 
 information relative to the life of this great soldier 
 ^and statesman, who was born in Mason county, 
 Kentucky, July Qth, 1808. 
 
 John Doniphan, his father, was a native of 
 ^Virginia but had gone to Kentucky prior to 1779 
 iand remained there a year or more. While there 
 ihe was engaged in teaching school, and he was the 
 {first man "who taught the young idea how to 
 shoot" on the "Dark and Bloody Ground." Re 
 turning to Virginia prior to the seige of Yorktown, 
 he entered the Continental army and remained in 
 it until the conclusion of the revolutionary struggle. 
 Marrying Anne Smith, he returned to Kentucky in 
 1790, and made his home in Mason county. Miss 
 Smith was a lady of extraordinary mental powers 
 and brilliant wit. She was an aunt, I may add, to 
 the late Gov. William Smith of Virginia. 
 
 Joseph Doniphan was for a great many years 
 prior to his death, the intimate friend of the famous 
 Simon Kenton. It will be seen, therefore, that the 
 subject of this sketch was born during the genera- 
 
COL. A. W. DONIPHAN. 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 17 
 
 tion immediately succeeding the conclusion of the 
 struggle for independence by the colonies and the 
 wresting of the soil of Kentucky from the savages. 
 He was born amid the odors of the forest. The 
 first tales poured into his ears when he was old 
 enough to be intelligent, were those of stern conflict 
 for liberty and civilization. The first names by 
 him lisped were those of Washington, Wayne, 
 Marion, Lighthorse Harry Lee, and the whole im 
 mortal host of the Revolution. He was born when 
 American manhood was at its acme, and the same 
 profound feeling of patriotism thrilled every bosom 
 from the Atlantic coast to the deepest recesses of 
 the Western wilderness. 
 
 Joseph Doniphan died in the year 1813, and 
 his son was left to the watchful care of his 
 mother. She was adequate to the rearing of the 
 young eagle. At the age of eight years she placed 
 him under the instruction of Richard Keene, of 
 Augusta, Kentucky, a learned though eccentric 
 Irishman, who was a graduate of Trinity College, 
 Dublin. Mr. Keene was of that very considerable 
 body of educated Irishmen ardent followers of 
 Robert Emmet who found their safety in emi 
 gration to America at the conclusion of the Irish 
 Rebellion in 1798. Ardent, enthusiastic, boiling 
 with courage, entertaining the most romantic ideas 
 of freedom, they were a dynamical process in the 
 history of every young mind brought in contact 
 with them. An examination into the history of 
 our country will develop the fact that these young 
 Irish teachers were an intellectual power and bles 
 sing all over the then settled portion of the United 
 States. Col. Doniphan never ceased the expression 
 of his gratitude to Mr. Keene. 
 
 One who was familiar with the absolute ease 
 and accuracy with which Col. Doniphan wreaked 
 
18 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 his thoughts upon expression would be as 
 tonished at the declaration that he ever lacked for 
 words. He said, however, that in his youth his 
 vocabulary was limited and his expressions clumsy 
 and difficult. Mr. Keene assured him that only 
 through acquaintance with the great poets could 
 exact, powerful, brilliant expressions be acquired. 
 Through knowledge, said he, of the poets could 
 alone come the precise meaning of words, the per 
 fect pronounciation of them, the melody of speech, 
 and the majestic declamation of the orator. By 
 Mr. Keene's advice he carefully studied the poets, 
 and results in the pupil went very far to prove cor 
 rect the theory of the master. 
 
 At the age of fourteen years, he was entered 
 a student of Augusta college, in Bracken county, 
 Kentucky. He graduated there at the early age 
 of eighteen years, with great distinction, particu 
 larly in the classics. While at Augusta College, he 
 had the benefit of the training and molding influ 
 ences of several very able instructors. 
 
 In his youth the predilection of Col. Doni- 
 phan was for the law for a life-profession, and this 
 was largely through the influence of his mother, 
 who was a woman of great and far-reaching 
 mind. Upon quitting college, therefore, for the 
 purpose of legal study, he entered the law office of 
 Hon. Martin P. Marshall, of Augusta, Kentucky. 
 In the opinion of the pupil, his legal preceptor was 
 one of the most learned and able of all the members 
 of the famous Marshall family. In the course of 
 study recommended by Mr. Marshall and required 
 by him of his pupil is to be discovered the first in 
 stance, it is alleged, in this country, of the strictly 
 historical method in the study of the law. First of 
 all he required his pupil to read and carefully study 
 portions of the classical authors of the English 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 19 
 
 language. In this occupation he expended six 
 months. It was, as Mr. Marshall phrased it, to 
 fructify and chasten the pupil's imagination and 
 give him wings for more arduous flights. Second 
 ly, he required him to read the histories of England 
 and America and cognate works so that he might 
 see, historically, the evolution of our system of law. 
 And, thirdly, he required of him a most careful 
 study of those text-books of the law which were 
 then considered necessary in order to admission to 
 practice. These studies consumed near three years 
 and were under the eye of and with recitations to 
 the preceptor. The progress of the pupil was 
 great; and when the preceptor is learned and skill 
 ed and the pupil brilliant, we must measure progress 
 in study by genius and not by time. 
 
 In 1833 he removed to Liberty, Missouri, 
 where he made his home for the succeeding thirty 
 years. 
 
 For the little town of Liberty, almost a ham 
 let then, a fortunate circumstance occurred. In 
 1827 the post of Fort Leaven worth was established. 
 At that post there always had been a greater ac 
 cumulation of troops than at any other in the 
 Union. Liberty was the nearest town to it. To re 
 lieve the tedium of station life there resorted to 
 Liberty for many years the choice and prime young 
 officers of the army the Rileys, the Kearneys, the 
 Sydney Johnstons who were from time to time 
 stationed at that post. The wives and daughters 
 of officers went there for shopping purposes. The 
 sons of officers were often sent to Liberty for aca 
 demic education. The officers of the Fort and 
 their wives and daughters were almost as much a 
 part of the social life of the town, as freely united 
 in public amusements, balls, parties and the like, as 
 its inhabitants themselves. From the union of 
 
20 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 local intellect with the brilliance of the army the 
 society of Liberty became exceptionally charming 
 and elegant. 
 
 Into such society and into the midst of such 
 people Col. Doniphan went from Lexington in 
 1833. He was young, ambitious, highly cultured, 
 and his mind expanded with ease to meet the mag 
 nitude of each new occasion. The faculty of 
 ready, powerful and tempestuous speech, the flashes 
 of brilliant thought, had come to him. Already 
 the people of the state had recognized in him the 
 orator. 
 
 From 1830 to 1860 he continued in the active 
 practice of his profession. His fame was greatest 
 as a criminal lawyer, and during that period there 
 was no criminal case of magnitude in northwest 
 Missouri in which he was not retained for the de 
 fense. He never prosecuted. The reputation of 
 a great advocate usually absorbs that of the coun 
 sellor. And this was to a greater degree, perhaps, 
 sixty years ago than now, because then the jury was 
 more often demanded. He was employed to make 
 the great, the decisive, argument on the side by 
 which he was retained. No client would think for 
 a moment of excusing him from speaking. He was 
 employed and paid to speak he must speak. A 
 silent Doniphan in a cause, would have meant de 
 feat anticipated. As a natural result of this, the 
 work and labor of the cause, the preparation of the 
 pleadings, the gathering of the testimony, the inter 
 rogation of the witnesses, etc., devolved on his 
 associate counsel. Occasionally, in examining wit 
 nesses, he would interject some far reaching ques 
 tion. In the councils of war which precede great 
 trials, his view of the line of defence or attack was 
 always adopted. He saw by a flash of intuition the 
 strong points. 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 21 
 
 Not one of his oratorical efforts as a criminal 
 or civil lawyer has been preserved. Opinion, 
 therefore, of their power and splendor can only be 
 formed from old tradition. All traditions and 
 opinions concur as to their brevity, wonderful com 
 pression, vast force and dazzeling brilliance. Two 
 of his orations in criminal defences, may be recall 
 ed and one opinion given in each. They are that 
 of Thomas Turnham, indicted in Clay Circuit 
 Court, Missouri, for the murder of Hayes and 
 tried in November, 1844, which resulted in his con 
 viction of manslaughter in the fourth degree, with 
 a fine of $100; and that of John H. Harper, in 
 dicted in the Jackson Circuit Court for the mur 
 der of Meredith, and tried in Platte Circuit Court, 
 Missouri, in November, 1847, (whither the case 
 had been taken by change of venue), which re 
 sulted in Harper's acquittal. There can hardly be 
 a doubt that Turnham's case was one of murder. 
 After great pressure, he was admitted to bail and 
 his bond fixed at $8,000, an enormous amount in 
 those days. Col. Doniphan was constantly afraid 
 that his client would disappear. The prisoner's 
 father, the late Maj. Joel Turnham, of Clay county, 
 was a stern old-fashioned man, "more an antique 
 Roman than a Dane," plainly educated, well ad 
 vised, however, as to all current events, of strong, 
 penetrating sense, familiar with the great speakers 
 of Missouri and Kentucky, possessed with a will 
 and courage of adamant; but none the less, not 
 at all conscious of the fact that his was the only 
 name in the state which could be found among the 
 paladins of Richard Coeur de Leon when he charged 
 the Paynim hosts on the plains of Palestine. 
 Everything melted away before Col. Doniphan's 
 oratory. At the conclusion of the speech Maj. 
 Turnham was asked what he thought of Doniphan's 
 
22 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 speech, and his answer was : "Sir, Aleck Doniphan 
 spoke only forty minutes, but he said everything." 
 
 The case of Harper more easily admitted of 
 defense. Meredith had 
 
 Loved not wisely, but too well. 
 
 Harper believed, whether with or without 
 good reasons, that Meredith had invaded the sanc 
 tity of his home. Such a circumstance in the 
 hands of a genius like Col. Doniphan's was suffi 
 cient to enable him to stir to the uttermost all the 
 passions and to "call spirits from the vasty deep. ' 
 The occasion was great. He had only returned a 
 few months before from his wonderful Mexican 
 campaign, and the whole country was full of his 
 glory. Everybody lawyers and all, had gath 
 ered in Platte City, where the case w r as tried, 
 to hear him, and expectation of his eloquence was 
 on tiptoe. By universal agreement he even sur 
 passed expectations. James N. Burnes, of St. 
 Joseph, heard it, and declared that it determined him 
 to become a lawyer. He, also, declared that he 
 never heard or read any speech in defense of a 
 criminal which equalled Col. Doniphan 's in that 
 case. 
 
 On December 2ist, 1837, Col. Doniphan was 
 married to Miss Elizabeth Jane Thornton, of 
 Clay County. It was a perfect union of heart and 
 intellect. She was a highly intellectual, cultivated 
 woman, and her grace in manner and charm in 
 conversation made her the delight of society. Save 
 when public duty of business imperatively demanded 
 it, he and she were constantly united. At 
 home or abroad they were together. He knew 
 and loved no place like home, neither the mys 
 tery of lodges nor the joviality of clubs had any 
 power to draw him thence. Heaven withdrew her 
 from him in 1873, but it was decreed that he 1 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 23 
 
 should remain a pilgrim many years thereafter be 
 fore he felt the stroke of the invisible spector. 
 
 Of his marriage there were born only two 
 children both sons. They were youths of rare in 
 tellectual promise, and their father might well hope 
 to prolong his life and fame in those of his children. 
 One of them died from accidental poison, at Lib 
 erty in 1853, and the other beneath the angry 
 waves of a West Virginia brook in 1858. From 
 blows so severe as these, it can be well understood 
 why the life of Col. Doniphan, during more than 
 thirty years before its close, was void of ambition. 
 
 Of the Mormon war in 1838, Col. Doniphan 
 was present, in command of a brigade of state mi 
 litia, at the surrender of Joe Smith, the so-called 
 prophet, at Far West in Caldwell county, and af 
 terwards defended him in the criminal proceedings 
 which were instituted against him and other Mor 
 mons. 
 
 In 1846 the war with Mexico began. In May 
 of that year, Governor Edwards requested Col. 
 Doniphan to assist him in raising troops, in the 
 western counties of the state of Missouri for the 
 volunteer service. He acceded to the request. The 
 enthusiasm of the people was extremely high, and 
 in a week or so, the eight companies of men had 
 volunteered, which upon organization at Fort 
 Leaven worth, formed the famous ist Regiment of 
 Missouri Mounted Volunteers. Col. Doniphan 
 volunteered as a private in the company from Clay 
 county, and was afterwards elected colonel of the 
 regiment almost by acclamation. There never was 
 in the service of the United States a regiment of 
 finer material. It was composed of individuals 
 from the best families in the state, and they were 
 young men in the prime of life, equal physically 
 and mentally, to every duty of the soldier. They 
 
24 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 were, mainly, the sons of pioneers of Missouri, and 
 had the courage and manliness, and possessed the 
 endurance and virtues of their fathers. This 
 regiment formed a portion of the column known 
 as the Army of the West, commanded by that 
 chivalric soldier, Gen. Stephen W. Kearney. All of 
 the troops of the column rendezvoused at Fort 
 Leavenworth. The volunteers having undergone 
 a few weeks of drilling, the Army of the West 
 commenced its march to Santa Fe on June 26, 
 1846. 
 
 It would be impossible to express in words 
 the feelings, apprehensions and hopes of the peo 
 ple and of those volunteers when Gen. Kearney s 
 army moved to the conquest of northern Mexico. 
 .The knowledge then, of the American people, of 
 Mexico, was very limited. The people of 
 Missouri knew more than any others, for their 
 traders, at least, during over twenty years pre 
 viously, had laboriously tracked and retracked the 
 dangerous trail from Independence to Santa Fe, 
 and thence to Chihuahua. The geographies of 
 that day old Onley and Mitchell showed little 
 beyond outlines delineating Mexico and the coun 
 tries west of Missouri. They indicated, however, 
 very clearly, the Great American Desert, extending 
 long and wide between Missouri and Mexico. The 
 regions between our states and Mexico were Indian 
 country, and dangerous, and those beyond were 
 Indian and Mexican, and still more dangerous. 
 The volunteers must have felt that every mile of 
 their march would reveal surprises and wonders. 
 And we may liken their expectations of encounter 
 ing the marvelous to that of Sir Francis Drake, 
 when three hundred years ago, he weighed his 
 anchors and turned the prow of his ship toward the 
 South Sea. 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 25 
 
 On August 1 8, 1846, Gen. Kearney's army en 
 tered Santa Fe without firing a gun. In Novem 
 ber, 1846, Col. Doniphan, with his regiment was 
 ordered into the country of the Navajo Indians, 
 on the western slope of the Rocky Mountains, to 
 overawe or chastise them. He completed this 
 movement with great celerity. His soldiers toiled in 
 snow 3 feet deep on the crest and eastern slope 
 of the mountains. Having accomplished the ob 
 ject of the expedition, concluding a satisfactory 
 treaty with the Indians, he returned to the Rio del 
 Norte, and, on the banks of that stream, collected 
 and refreshed his men, preparatory to effecting 
 what was then intended to be a junction with Gen. 
 Wool.. He was then reinforced by two batteries 
 of light artillery. In December, 1846, he turned 
 the faces of his little column to the south and put 
 it in motion toward Chihuahua. In quick succes 
 sion following his brilliant and decisive victories 
 at Bracito and Sacramento, the capture of Chihua 
 hua, the plunge of his little army into the unknown 
 country between Chihuahua and Saltillo, and its 
 emergence in triumph at the latter city. 
 
 After his arrival at Saltillo, inasmuch as the 
 period of enlistment of his men would soon expire, 
 his regiment was ordered home. Its march there 
 fore was continued to Matamoras, where it took 
 shipment to New Orleans. The men of the re 
 giment having been discharged at New Orleans, 
 arrived at home about July ist, 1847. The march 
 of this regiment from Fort Leavenworth to Santa 
 Fe, Chihuahua, Saltillo, and Matamoras a dis 
 tance of nearly 3,600 miles is called Doniphan's 
 Expedition. 
 
 In January, 1861, he was appointed a mem 
 ber of the peace conference, which assembled at 
 Washington with a view to prevention of civil war. 
 
26 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 During his absence in attendance on that body, he 
 was elected a member of the state convention 
 called by the legislature, January 2ist, 1861. In 
 the convention he maintained the position of a con 
 servative union man, and did not let himself lose 
 sight of the supremacy of the constitution or the 
 reserved rights of the states. In 1863, during the 
 heat of the civil war, he removed from Liberty 
 to St. Louis. Family reasons compelling, in 1868, 
 he removed from St. Louis to Richmond, Mo., 
 and resided at the latter place until his death. 
 
 The oratory of Col. Doniphan at the bar con 
 stitutes only a part of the basis of his fame as an 
 orator. From his immigration to Missouri until 
 the close of 1860, in every canvass he responded to 
 the wishes of the political party to which he was 
 attached, and on the hustings in various parts of the 
 state; he advocated and defended his party's prin 
 ciples in addresses of surprising logic and flaming 
 eloquence. Enormous crowds met him wherever he 
 spoke, and the people were never weary of listening 
 to his accents. And this was not all. His ad 
 dresses on various public occasions, educational 
 social and patriotic, from his arrival in the state 
 until 1872, were numerous. And yet of all his 
 magnificent orations, so far as known, but two re 
 main complete, and they were delivered on occa 
 sions social or festive. In so far as the record of 
 time the gravings of history and legislative pro 
 ceedings extend, his name is secure. But what 
 of the power and magnificence of his oratory? It 
 rests only in tradition. 
 
 It must always be a matter of regret that not 
 only in equal degree are the efforts of genius trans 
 mitted to after times. The mighty historians and 
 poets are secure in their immortality. Homer, 
 Virgil, Milton, Thucydides, Tacitus, Gibbon, will 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 27 
 
 always be read. The great Greek historian, in 60 
 pages of moderate size, sketched the Athenian ex 
 pedition against Syracuse, the embarkation, the 
 passage of the sea, debarkation, the beleaguering 
 of the city, the assault, the repulse, the retreat, the 
 overthrow and capture, with an amazing clearness 
 and power which have made his place in the temple 
 of fame as stable as the world itself. The sculptor 
 secure in his marble, may reasonably hope that the 
 visions of loveliness or majesty, born of the brain, 
 may transmit his name some thousands of years. 
 Even the painter is assured that the divine concep 
 tions which he has limned may be admired and 
 judged by the eye and his name repeated for a 
 few centuries after he has passed away. 
 
 In the absence of mental efforts preserved 
 which can be studied and meditated in order to a 
 proper measurement of the intellect of Alexander 
 W. Doniphan. and due appreciation of his genius 
 some one is needed who was familiar with him in 
 his prime, that is to say from 1835 to 1855, and 
 who was himself of matured mind during that 
 period. 
 
 Great men only appear after long intervals. 
 Eight centuries prior to the Saviour of men, the 
 mightiest poet of the antique world sang the tale 
 of Troy; more than seven centuries elapsed before 
 the Mantuan bard sang of Aeneas ; and sixteen 
 centuries more rolled away before time was prepar 
 ed for Shakespeare. Three hundred years inter 
 vened between the great Macedonian conqueror 
 and imperial Caesar; and eighteen hundred be 
 tween Caesar and Napoleon. Between Thucydi- 
 des and Tacitus are near five hundred, and be 
 tween Tacitus and Gibbon, near seventeen hundred 
 years. From Demonthenes to Cicero were three 
 hundred years, and from Cicero to the majestic 
 
28 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 line of Chatham, Sheridan, Burke, Fox, Clay, 
 Webster, Calhoun and Doniphan were eighteen 
 hundred years. 
 
 The genius of Col. Doniphan can only be esti 
 mated, in all its height, depth, breadth and splen 
 dor, by one who had known him in his prime, and 
 under all circumstances and conditions. He must 
 have known him in the field of Sacramento, when, 
 six hundred miles in the enemy's country, he led 
 his little army of Missourians to the assault of 
 works manned by four times their number; when, 
 in the defense of some prisoner, charged with the 
 greatest offense known to the law, in order to suc 
 ceed, he called into action all of his intellectual 
 powers, and thundered and lightninged in adressing 
 the jury; when, before a great audience of his 
 fellow-citizens, assembled to hear him on some mo 
 mentous occasion, he brought into play the whole 
 range of his stores of thought, sentiment, eloquence 
 and wit, transported his auditors from grave to 
 gay, from tears to mirth, with a certain divine 
 ease and rapidity, and molded their opinions and 
 hearts to his will with a thoroughness only possi 
 ble to the greatest orator ; and when, the cares of 
 the forum and politics laid aside, at his own or a 
 friend's fireside, or, beneath the spreading 
 branches of some monarch of the forest, he re 
 laxed his gigantic intellect to the needs and uses 
 of social converse, and charmed all listeners with 
 a flow of wisdom, humor, anecdote strong, yet 
 airy and graceful so rich, so varied, so flashing, 
 that it would have made the literary fortune of a 
 dozen writers. 
 
 It is and has been the clear opinion of all who 
 have known him well, that, in all the qualities of the 
 loftiest intellect, breadth of vision, foresight which 
 could farthest in advance discern matters that 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 29 
 
 would come to . pass, intuitive percention, rapidly 
 of determination, sharp analysis, precision of judg 
 ment, corroding logic, subtilty of thought, richness 
 and variety of fancy, aptness of illustration, pow 
 erful and unfailing memory, compression of words, 
 ease in mental action, and intense, nervous, crys 
 talline and electrical language, indeed in all the 
 elements of genius, he has never had a superior 
 in America. The opinion is accentuated by that of 
 a man well able to judge and whose opportunities 
 to form a safe judgment, were better than those 
 of any man living or dead. Gen. Atchison was a 
 man of education, of strong, judicial intellect, 
 trained thought, had been senator from Missouri 
 from 1843 to l &55> anc l ms observation of and ex 
 perience among men had been of the largest. A 
 few years prior to his and Col. Doniphan's death, 
 he said : "I was familiar with the city of Wash 
 ington in my early manhood. I knew all the 
 great men of our country in earlier days Clay, 
 Webster, Calhoun, John Quincy Adams, Clayton, 
 Crittenden and others. I have presided in the 
 United States Senate when Clay, Webster, and 
 Calhoun sat before me. I knew Aleck Doniphan 
 familiarly, intimately, since 1830, and I tell you sir, 
 when he was in his prime, I heard him climb high 
 er than any of them/' 
 
 His personal appearance was truly imposing 
 and magnificent. His was the grandest type of 
 manly beauty. A stranger would not have failed 
 to instantly note his presence in any assemblage. 
 In height, he was six feet and four inches. His 
 frame was proportioned to his height, and was full 
 without the appearance of obesity. His face ap 
 proached the Grecian ideal very closely, the essen 
 tial variance being the nose, which was aquiline 
 without severity. His forehead was high, full and 
 
30 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 square; his eyes of the brightest hazel; and his 
 lips symmetrical and smiling. When young, his 
 complexion was extremely fair and delicate, and 
 his hair sandy. 
 
 At the peace conference in 1861, when intro 
 duced to Mr. Lincoln, the latter said to him : "And 
 this is the Col. Doniphan who made the wild march 
 against the Comanches and Mexicans. You are 
 the only man I ever met who, in appearance, came 
 up to my previous expectations." 
 
 Col. Doniphan died at Richmond, Missouri, 
 August 8th, 1887, and was buried at Liberty, Mis 
 souri, with his wife and sons. 
 
 He united with the Christian Church in 1859, 
 and died in its faith. 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 31 
 
 Doniphan's Great March. 
 
 Before beginning a brief outline of the wonder 
 ful march made by Colonel Doniphan and his men* 
 we beg leave to remind the reader that we are tell 
 ing of the happenings of more than half a century 
 ago. At that time the old flint-lock weapons were 
 in use. At that period there were no telegraphs 
 over which to flash the news, and the only means of 
 communication was by couriers and the mails, and 
 as the iron horse was not available travel was 
 necessarily slow. 
 
 There is No Comparison. 
 
 Nowhere does history record a comparison 
 with the march of Doniphan. The expedition of 
 Cyrus against his brother, Artaxerxes, and the re 
 treat of the ten-thousand Greeks, conducted by 
 Xenophon and Cherisopus, forms the only account 
 in history that is nearly a parallel. In fifteen months 
 Cyrus and Xenophon conducted that expedition 
 about 3,450 miles, with the loss of several thousand 
 men, and finally returned to Greece with naught save 
 their lives and arms; but in thirteen months Doni 
 phan and his men marched 5,550 miles, and return 
 ed decorated with the trophies of war, and meeting 
 the hearty approval of their countrymen. 
 
32 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 Doniphan and his men scaled the granite 
 i heights of the Cordilleras, amid" fathoms of accumu 
 lated and eternal snows, in the depths of winter, 
 and after a campaign of three months and seven- 
 hundred and fifty miles against the Navajo Indians, 
 they began their grand march upon Chihuahua, and 
 both the capital and the state, with two-hundred 
 thousands inhabitants, became a conquest to less than 
 a thousand brave Americans. 
 
 The March to Santa Fe. 
 
 In May, 1846, Governor Edwards, of Missouri, 
 requested Col. Doniphan, to assist in raising troops 
 in the western part of the state to engage in the war 
 with Mexico. He assented and in a short time 
 eight companies of men had volunteered, and organ 
 ized at Fort Leavenworth, forming the First Regi 
 ment of Missouri Mounted Volunteers. Col. Doni 
 phan volunteered in a company from Clay county, 
 as a private, but was afterwards elected Colonel of 
 the regiment. The author of this work was a mem 
 ber of Company B., from Layfayette county, Capt. 
 William Walton. 
 
 A writer of recent date in speaking of this 
 regiment, says : "There never was in the service of 
 the United States a regiment of finer material. It 
 was composed of the best families of the state, and 
 they were young men in the prime of life, equal, 
 physically and mentally, to every duty of the sol 
 dier." This regiment formed a portion of the col 
 umn known as the "Army of the West," commanded 
 by General Stephen W. Kearney. All the troops of 
 the column rendezvoused at Fort Leavenworth, and 
 after the volunteers had undergone a few weeks 
 drilling, the Army of the West commenced its march 
 to Santa Fe, June 26, 1846. 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 33 
 
 The march of the "Army of the West," as it 
 entered upon the great prairies, presented a scene 
 of the most intense and thrilling interest. Such a 
 scene was indeed worthy of the pencil of the ablest 
 artist, or the most graphic pen of the historian. 
 The boundless plains, lying in ridges of wavy green 
 and not unlike the ocean, seemed to unite with the 
 heavens in the distant horizon. As far as vision 
 could penetrate, the long files of cavalry, the gay 
 fluttering of banners, and the canvas-covered wagons 
 of the merchant's train glistening like banks of snow 
 in the distance, might be seen winding their tortuous 
 way over the undulating surface of the prairies. In 
 thus witnessing the march of an army over the 
 regions of uncultivated nature, which had hitherto 
 been the hunting ground of the wild savage, and 
 where the eagle and the stars and stripes never be 
 fore greeted the breezes, the heart could but swell 
 with sentiments of honest pride, mingled with the 
 most lively emotions. For the first time since the 
 creation, the starred and striped banner of a free 
 people was being born over almost one-thousand 
 miles of trackless waste, and the principles of repub 
 licanism and civil liberty were about to be pro 
 claimed to a nation fast sinking in slavery's arms ; 
 and fast closing her eyes upon the last expiring 
 lights of religion, science and liberty. 
 
 There were many obstacles which impeded the 
 progress of the army. There was no road not 
 even a path leading from Fort Leavenworth intg> 
 the regular Santa Fe trail. The army therefore 
 steered its course southwesterly with the view of 
 intersecting the main Santa Fe trail, at or near 
 the Narrows, sixty-five miles west of Independence. 
 In accomplishing this, many deep ravines, and 
 creeks with high and rugged banks, were to be en 
 countered. The banks had to be dug down, the 
 
34 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 asperites leveled, bridges built, and roads construct 
 ed before the wagons could pass. All this required 
 time and labor. The heat was often excessive; the 
 grass was tall and rank, and the earth in many 
 places so soft that the heavily loaded wagons would 
 sink almost up to the axle upon the level prairie, 
 The men were frequently compelled to dismount 
 and drag them from the mire with their hands. 
 The mules and other animals being mostly unused 
 to the harness, often became refractory and balky. 
 Numbers of wagons daily broke down. Time was 
 required to make repairs. Hence the march was of 
 necessity, both slow and tedious. 
 
 It may be proper here to observe, that for the 
 sake of convenience in procuring supplies of fuel 
 and water, which could only be obtained at certain 
 points, in crossing the Great Plains, Col. Kearney 
 very prudently adopted the plan of conducting the 
 march by separate detachments. These detach 
 ments (for convenience in traveling) generally con 
 sisted in a squadron of two or three companies, or 
 of an entire battalion. The companies of volunteers 
 were generally composed of 114 men each, includ 
 ing commissioned officers. Thus the march was 
 chiefly conducted to the border of New Mexico, 
 or the boundry line which separates between Mex 
 ico and the United States. 
 
 Col. Doniphan and Maj. Gilpin, with the second 
 battalion, and Col Kearney, with the battalion of 
 artillery, the corps of field and topographical engi 
 neers, and a small squadron of volunteers and dra 
 goons, followed closely in the rear. 
 
 At the outset of the expedition many laugh 
 able scenes took place. The horses were generally 
 dild,fiery, and ungovernable; wholly unused to 
 military trappings and equipments. Amid the flut 
 tering of banners, the sounding of bugles, the rat- 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 35 
 
 tling of artillery, the clattering of sabres, and 
 cooking utensils, some of the horses took fright 
 and scampered, pellmell, with rider and arms, over 
 the wide prairie. Riders, arms and accoutrements, 
 saddles, saddle-bags, tin-cups and coffee-pots, were 
 sometimes left far behind in the chase. No very 
 serious or fatal accident, however, occurred from 
 this cause. All was right again as soon as the af 
 frighted animals were recovered. 
 
 The Personnel of the Army.. 
 
 The "Army of the West/' was, perhaps, com 
 posed of as fine material as any other body of troops 
 then in the field. The volunteer corps consisted 
 almost entirely of the young men of the country; 
 generally of the very first families of the State. All 
 parties were united in one common cause for the 
 vindication of the national honor. Every calling 
 and profession contributed its share. There might 
 be seen under arms, in the ranks, the lawyer, the 
 doctor, the professor, the student, the legislator, 
 the farmer, the mechanic, the artisans of every de 
 scription, all united as a band of brothers to defend 
 the rights and the honor of their country ; to redress 
 her wrongs and avenge her insults. This blooming 
 host of young life, the elite of Missouri, was full of 
 ardor, full of spirit, full of generous enthusiasm, 
 burning for the battle field, and panting for the re 
 ward of honorable victory. They were prompted 
 to this gallant discharge of duty, and prepared to 
 breast every storm of adversity, by the remem 
 brance of the dear pledges of affection they left be 
 hind them. 
 
36 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 At last the Santa Fe trail was reached, and at 
 the break of day, July 2nd, reveille was sound 
 ed and the army was on the march ere the first 
 beams of the morning sun had kissed the glittering 
 dew drops from the prarie grass, bearing aloft their 
 streaming flags floating to the breezes, with their 
 "broad stripes and their bright stars." As the 
 troops moved off majestically over the green prarie, 
 they presented a martial and animating sight. The 
 long lines stretched over miles of level plain, or 
 wound serpentinely over the beautifully undulating 
 hills, with guns and sabres glittering in the sheen 
 of the rising sun, while the great American eagle 
 seemed to spread his broad pinions, and to the west 
 ward bear the principles of liberty. 
 
 A Strange Story. 
 
 The following interesting phenomenon was re 
 lated to the author by one who declared he was an 
 eye witness of the fact, and that twenty-eight others 
 would testify to the truth of his declaration. 
 "Early in the spring of 1846, before it was known, 
 or even conjectured, that a state of war would be 
 declared to exist between this Government and 
 Mexico, twenty-nine traders, on their way from 
 Santa Fe to Independence, beheld, just after a 
 storm, and a little before sun-set, a perfectly distinct 
 image of the "bird of liberty," the American eagle, 
 on the disc of the sun. When they beheld the in 
 teresting sight, they simultaneously, and almost in 
 voluntarily exclaimed that in less than twelve months 
 the eagle of liberty would spread his broad pinions 
 over the plains of the west, and that the flag of our 
 country would wave over the cities of New Mexico 
 and Chihuahua." The prediction was literally and 
 strikingly verified, although the story is, doubtless, 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 37 
 
 more beautiful, than true. Quite as much credit 
 is due to it, as to the wonderful story about the 
 chariots of fire, which the Romans are said to have 
 seen in the heavens after the assassination of Caesar 
 by Brutus and Cassius of the Roman senate. 
 
 On the plains the horses were the object of the 
 most special attention. Whoever was so unfortu 
 nate as to lose his charger, was necessitated to con 
 tinue the march on foot, or drive a wagon, both were 
 unpleasant to the volunteer soilder, to say noth 
 ing of the chagrin of losing his place in his company 
 as a cavalier. The horses were therefore secured 
 with all possible care at night, to guard against 
 escape. Great prudence was also necessary in 
 riding cautiously, and grazing carefully, to prevent 
 the stock from failing on the road. Chasing deer, 
 antelope, and buffalo on the plain will ruin a horse 
 and speedily unfit him for military service. When 
 a soldier, by ill luck happened to lose his horse, he 
 would purchase another at almost any cost, if there 
 chanced to be a surplus one in camp. His situation 
 enabled him fully to appreciate the force of the ex 
 pression which Shakspeare puts into the mouth of 
 King Richard, "A Kingdom for a horse!" No 
 wonder then that Alexander wept when Bucep 
 halus died. 
 
 Our march continued with but little worthy of 
 note until on July 29th, at which time we met Fitz- 
 patrick, a mountaineer, on express from Fort Bent 
 to Col. Kearney, with the following information 
 from Santa Fe; "That Governor Armijo had called 
 the chief men of counsel together to deliberate on 
 the best means of defending the city of Santa Fe; 
 that hostile preparations were rapidly going on in 
 all parts of New Mexico, and Col. Kearney's move 
 ments were to be vigorously opposed." Three 
 Mexicans were taken prisoners near Fort Bent, sup- 
 
38 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 posed to be spies, with blank letters upon their per 
 son addressed to Col. Kearney. This piece of in 
 genuity was resorted to, no doubt to avoid detection 
 by American residents and traders at Bent's Fort. 
 These Mexicans were conducted, by order of Col. 
 Kearney, through our camp and shown our artillery, 
 then peaceably allowed to retire to Santa Fe, and 
 report what they had seen. 
 
 The future was pregnant with consequences of 
 the greatest moment. An uncertain destiny awaited 
 us. Some anticipated victory ; others apprehended 
 disaster. Twenty days were to determine our fate. 
 We were already encamped in the enemy's territory. 
 Were we to be defeated and completely overthrown, 
 or were we to enter triumphantly into the capital 
 and plant the flag of our country on its adobe walls ? 
 These were questions in the minds of all, which time 
 alone could solve. 
 
 THE AMERICAN SAHARA. 
 
 We finally reached the vicinity of Fort Bent, 
 and after a rest of three days, on August 2nd, we 
 resumed our march following the course of the 
 river some twenty-four miles, at which point we 
 pitched our tents on a perfectly bare sand-beach, 
 with scarcely a spear of grass or a shrub for our 
 famishing animals. The gale from the inhospitable 
 desert on the south, over which we were to resume 
 our march the next day, furiously drove the sand, 
 like pelting hail, upon us. After spending a com 
 fortless night, on the morning of the 3rd, we struck 
 off at right angles with the river. The army was now 
 upon the Great American Desert. The wind and 
 driven sand continued to annoy both man and beast. 
 The parched earth appeared as though it had not 
 been refreshed by a shower since the day of Noah's 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 39 
 
 flood. The wagons moved heavily, the wheels uni 
 formly sinking over the felloes in the sand or pul 
 verized earth. A toilsome march of twenty-five 
 miles brought us to our camp, on a bare sand bank, 
 totally destitute of green grass or other vegetation 
 for our animals. The water was scarce, muddy, 
 bitter, filthy, and just such as Horace in his Brundu- 
 sium letter pronounced "vilissima rerum." 
 
 The American desert, is, perhaps, not less 
 sterile, sandy, parched and destitute of water and 
 every green herb and living thing than the African 
 Sahara. In the course of a long day's march we 
 could scarcely find a pool of water to quench the 
 thirst, a patch of grass to prevent our animals per 
 ishing, or an oasis to relieve the weary mind. 
 Dreary, sultry, desolate, boundless solitude reigned 
 as far as the eye could reach, and seemed to bound 
 the distant horizon. We suffered much with the 
 heat, and thirst, and the driven sand which filled 
 our eyes, and nostrils, and mouths, almost to suffo 
 cation. Many of our animals perished on the de 
 sert. A Mexican hare, or an antelope, skimming 
 over the ground with the utmost velocity, was the 
 only living creature seen upon the plain. The Ro 
 man army under Metellus, on its march througn 
 the desert of Africa, never encountered more ser 
 ious opposition from the elements than did our army 
 in its passage over this American Sahara. 
 
 The march was continued on the 4th with 
 little or no alteration. The wind still drove the sand 
 furiously in our faces; the heat was oppressive; 
 and the sand was deep and heavy. After a progress 
 of twenty-seven miles we again encamped on the 
 vile, filthy Timpa, the water of which was still bitter 
 and nauseating. Our animals perished daily. 
 
 Vigorously pushing forward on the 5th, having 
 made twenty-eight miles during the day, we passed 
 
40 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 out of the desert, crossed the river Purgatoire, and 
 encamped on its southern bank. This lovely, clear, 
 cool, rippling mountain stream was not less grateful 
 to our army, after four day's unparalleled marching 
 on the desert, than was that stream to the Israelitish 
 army, whioh gushed from the rock when struck by 
 the rod of the prophet. The lofty Cimarron and 
 Spanish peaks were distinctly visible to the south, 
 and west, towering in awful grandeur far above 
 the clouds, their summits capped with eternal snow. 
 
 Wise Use of Prisoners. 
 
 We marched on, crossing the Cimarron Ridge 
 of mountains, which difficult task caused great fa 
 tigue, and finally encamped, August 16, on the 
 Pecos, near San Jose. That night a number of 
 Mexican soldiers were captured. On the morning 
 of the 1 7th, these prisoners were, by order of Gen. 
 Kearney, conducted through our camps and shown 
 our cannon. They were then suffered to depart, 
 and tell their own people what they had seen. 
 To color and exaggerate accounts is a truly Mex 
 ican characteristic. They therefore returned to 
 their comrades in arms, representing our number 
 as 5,000, and declaring that we had so many pieces 
 of cannon that they could not count them. This 
 highly colored account of our strength, no doubt 
 spread dismay through their ranks, and increased 
 the desertions from Armijo's standard, which were 
 already going on to an extent well calculated to 
 alarm him. 
 
 Mexico as it Was. 
 
 Fifty years ago Gold was the god of the Mex 
 icans. They had no motives but those of profit; 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 41 
 
 no springs of action but those of self love; no de 
 sires but those of gain; and no restraints but those 
 of force. The eternal jingle of cash was music to 
 their ears. Virtue, honesty, honor, piety, religion, 
 patriotism, generosity, and reputation, were to them 
 pompous and unmeaning terms ; and he whose con 
 duct was shaped by principles of fair dealing, was 
 regarded as incomparably stupid. Vice, fraud, de 
 ceit, treachery, theft, plunder, murder and assass 
 ination, stalked abroad in open daylight, and set 
 order, law and justice at defiance. The virtue of 
 females was bought and sold. Such was the mor 
 al and social system in Mexico, a half-century ago. 
 
42 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 Capture of Santa Fe. 
 
 When Gov. Don Manuel Armijo learned more 
 certainly that we were approaching Santa Fe, the 
 capital of New Mexico and seat of his official re 
 sidence, he assembled by proclamation, seven 
 thousand troops, two thousand of whom were well 
 armed, and the rest more indifferently armed, and 
 marched them out to meet us at the Canon, or Pass 
 of the Galisteo, about fifteen miles from Santa Fe, 
 intending there to give us battle. He had written 
 a note to Gen. Kearney the day previous, stating 
 that he would meet him somewhere that day, or 
 the day following. The letter was very politely 
 dictated, and so ambiguous in its expression that it 
 was impossible to know whether it was the Gover 
 nor's intention to meet Gen. Kearney in council or 
 in conflict. The General, however, hastened on, 
 and arrived at the Canon about noon on the i8th, 
 with his whole army in battle array. Here, again, 
 no enemy appeared to dispute our passage. The 
 Mexicans had dispersed and fled to the mountains. 
 This Canon is nothing more than a deep fissure, or 
 chasm, through the ridge of the mountains which 
 divides the waters of the Pecos from those of tKe 
 Rio del Norte. Here the Mexicans had commenced 
 fortifying against our approach, by chopping away 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 43 
 
 the limber so their artillery could play to better ad 
 vantage upon our lines, and throwing up temporary 
 breast- works ; but they lacked either courage or una 
 nimity to defend a position apparently so well 
 chosen. 
 
 It is stated upon good authority tha Gov. Arm- 
 ijo, Gen. Salezar, and other generals in the Mexican 
 army, disputed for the supreme command, and that 
 the common people being peaceably disposed to 
 wards the Americans, readily seized upon the dis 
 sensions of their leaders as a pretext for abandoning 
 the army. Thus Gov. Armijo was left without sol 
 diers to defend the Pass. However this may be, 
 one thing is certain, that an army of nearly seven 
 thousand Mexicans, with six pieces of artillery, 
 and" vastly the advantage of the ground, permitted 
 General Kearney, with his less than two thousand 
 Americans, to pass through the narrow defile and 
 march right on to the capital of the state. 
 
 Thus on August i8th, 1846, after a weary 
 march of nearly one-thousand miles, in less than 
 fifty days, General Kearney, with his whole com 
 mand, entered Santa Fe, the capital of the prov 
 ince of New Mexico, and took peaceable posession 
 of the country, in the name of the United States, 
 without the loss of a single man or the shedding of 
 one drop of blood. 
 
 GEN. KEARNEY'S ADDRESS. 
 
 On the morning of August iQth, General Kear 
 ney assembled the citizens of the town, near the 
 goverment building, and through an interpreter 
 addressed them as follows : 
 
 "New Mexicans, we have come amongst you 
 to take possession of New Mexico, which we do 
 in the name of the government of the United States. 
 
44 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 We have come with peaceable intentions and kind 
 feeling toward you all. We come as friends, to 
 better your condition and make you part of the 
 Republic of the United States. We do not mean to 
 murder you or rob you of your property. Your 
 families shall be free from molestation ; your women 
 secure from violence. My soldiers will take nothing 
 from you but what they pay you for. In taking 
 possession of New Mexico we do not mean to take 
 away your religion from you. Religion and gov 
 ernment have no connection in our country. There 
 all religions are equal; one has no preference over 
 another; the Catholic and Protestant are esteemed 
 alike. 
 
 "Every man has a right to serve God according 
 to his heart. When a man dies he must render to 
 his God an account of his acts here on earth, whether 
 they be good or bad. In our government all men 
 are equal. We esteem the most peaceable man. 
 I advise you to attend to your domestic pursuits 
 cultivate industry be peaceable and obedient to 
 the laws. Do not resort to violent means, to cor 
 rect abuse. I do hereby proclaim that- being in pos 
 session of Santa Fe, I am therefore virtually in pos 
 session of all New Mexico. Armijo is no longer 
 your governor. His power is departed. But he 
 will return to be as one of you. When he shall 
 return you are not to molest him. You are no 
 longer Mexican subjects : you are now become 
 American citizens, subject only to the laws of the 
 United States. A change of government has taken 
 place in New Mexico, and you no longer owe allegi 
 ance to the Mexican government. I do hereby pro 
 claim my intention to establish in this Department 
 a civil government, on a republican basis, similar to 
 those of our own States. It is my intention ,also, 
 to continue in office those by whom you have been 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 45 
 
 governed, except the governor, and such other per 
 sons as I shall appoint to office by virtue of the 
 authority vested in me. I am your governor, 
 henceforward look to me for protection." 
 
 The general next proceeded to inquire if they 
 were willing to take the oath of allegiance to the 
 United States' government, to which having given 
 their consent, he administered to the Governor ad 
 interim, the Secretary of the State, the Prefecto, 
 the Alcalde and other officers of State, the follow 
 ing oath : "Do you swear in good faith that under 
 all circumstances you will bear allegiance to the laws 
 and government of the United States, and that 
 through good and evil you will demean yourselves 
 as obedient and faithful citizens of the same, in the 
 name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the 
 Holy Spirit. Amen." Here shouts and huzzas 
 were raised by the Mexicans for Governor Kearney. 
 A very aged Mexican embraced him and wept. 
 
 Gen. Kearney having administered a similar 
 oath to various delegations from the different Pue- 
 bloes who came to offer submission, tranquility and 
 universal satisfaction, seemed to prevail. He next 
 ordered a flag-staff, one hundred feet high, to be 
 erected in the public square, from the top of which 
 the American flag streamed over the capital. 
 
 The Effects of Kind Treatment. 
 
 The beneficial effect of kind treatment and hon 
 esty was readily seen on our march. When we 
 came to Mexican ranchos or farm houses, we found 
 abundance of grass and thousands of horned cat 
 tle, and plenty of sheep and goats scattered upon the 
 
46 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 hills and mountains. These flocks had each of them 
 its respective shepherd. We did not molest them. 
 We took nothing, not even a melon, an ear of corn, 
 a chicken, a goat, or a sheep, from these poor people, 
 for which we did not pay the money. This gen 
 erous and Christian conduct on the part of the 
 American army completely secured the good will 
 and friendship of the Mexicans ; for they supposed, 
 and were even taught by rulers and others, to 
 believe that they would be robbed, plundered, and 
 murdered; and the whole country ravaged by the 
 invading army. By this means the rulers hoped to 
 stimulate the common people to oppose the Ameri 
 cans. Their appliances, however, failed of success. 
 The kind treatment the Americans uniformly ex 
 tended toward those people is worthy of the highest 
 praise, and doubtless, before the tribunal of a com 
 munity of men, who could justly appreciate the 
 moral force of such an example, did the command 
 more credit then the gaining of ten victories. 
 
 New Mexico of the Past. 
 
 New Mexico, the climate of which is generally 
 bland and salubrious, embraced within its ample ter 
 ritory limits more than 200,000 square miles. Of 
 this vast area, which included a wildness of bleak, 
 desolate, unproductive snow-capped mountains, 
 many of whose summits were 13,000 feet above the 
 level of the sea, only the valleys which were suscep 
 tible of irrigation from constantly flowing streams, 
 could be cultivated with any degree of success. It 
 is traversed by numerous mountain ranges, the 
 principal of which are the Sierra Madre, or Cor 
 dilleras, and the Sierra Blanco. Between these 
 spread out the magnificent, basin-like valley of the 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 47 
 
 Del Norte, coursed by a broad, bright zone of water, 
 and dotted by towns, villages, ranchos, and farm 
 houses. This valley contains the principal wealth 
 of the state. Gardens richly blooming orchards 
 surcharged with ripened fruit vineyards bending 
 under the clustering grape fields of wheat waving 
 their golden harvests before the wind shady 
 groves of alamos, all irrigated by canals of clear, 
 pure rippling water, strongly contrasted with the 
 gigantic granite peaks, which, blue as amethyst, 
 tower high into the heavens. These moun 
 tains contained inexhaustable stores of mineral 
 wealth. Besides gold, silver, lead and copper, bi 
 tuminous, anthracite coal, black oxides, brimstone in 
 its pure state, salt, and vast quantities of gypsum, 
 were known to abound. Corn, wheat, rye, beans, 
 pulse, pepper, and onions, were the staple product 
 ion of the country. Immense herds of cattle, 
 droves of horses and mules, and innumerable flocks 
 of sheep and goats fed upon the mountain pastures. 
 The New Mexicans were emphatically a pastoral 
 people. The bold unfailing mountain streams, 
 with their foaming cascades and dashing cataracts, 
 presented fine facilities for manufacturing, and 
 seemed to invite enterprise. 
 
 New Mexico contained, according to a census 
 taken in 1844, a mixed population of 160,000; of 
 which number one third were Pueblo Indians, the 
 original proprietors of the soil, who submitted to the 
 Spaniards in the early conquest of the country 
 professed the Catholic faith and had their churches 
 and ecclesiastics. They yielded unforced obedience 
 to the laws of the state, but lived in villages, or 
 Pueblos, isolated from other New Mexican settle 
 ments, and enjoyed a social system of their own, 
 refusing for the most part, to intermarry with their 
 Mexican neighbors. They still retained rancorous 
 
48 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 hatred toward their conquerors. More recently, 
 however, New Mexico, owing to her remoteness 
 from the central government, had been subjected 
 to the desolating incursions of the bordering tribes, 
 and prostrated by feuds and intestine broils. Many 
 bloody tragedies had been enacted there. Thus 
 distracted and unsupported, she fell an easy prey to 
 the victorious American arms. 
 
 Santa Fe, the capital of New Mexico, occupies 
 the site of an ancient Pueblo, and contained an es 
 timated population of six thousand. It is situated 
 on Santa Fe creek, a beautiful clear stream, issuing 
 out of the mountains toward the east, hav 
 ing its source in a lake. From this creek various 
 canals parted above the town and led through the 
 fields, gardens and orchards, for the purpose of 
 irrigation. Families use the water of the canals. 
 Their houses, generally flat-roofed, and one story 
 high, built of sun-dried bricks, called adobes, in the 
 Spanish language. In the city there were six 
 Catholic churches, but no public schools, the busi 
 ness of education being entrusted to the ecclesias 
 tics. The streets were crooked and narrow. The 
 whole presented very much the appearance of an 
 extensive brick yard. The public square was about 
 ninety yards from north to south, and one hundred 
 from east to west. The governor's residence or 
 palace was situated on the north side of the Plaza. 
 The architecture was of the rudest order. 
 
 For many years, Santa Fe had been the port of 
 entry for American goods, and the great emporium 
 where the merchants of central Mexico annually 
 met the American caravans, to purchase their 
 stocks. It was a city of considerable trade. 
 
 The New Mexicans were generally under the 
 medium size, and were of a swarthy, copper com 
 plexion; though every shade of color might some- 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 49 
 
 tiires be met with, from the fair Castilian to the 
 darkest hue of the aborigines. They were hos 
 pitable, but ignorant and treacherous. The women, 
 with few exceptions, were neither fair nor hand 
 some, yet their dark, penetrating, lustrous, beaming 
 eyes, peeped out most captivatingly from the folds 
 of their rebozos, and their black, glossy ringlets of 
 hair, which constituted their greatest beauty. 
 They seemed to possess more intelligence than the 
 men, and were infinitely their superiors in vivacity 
 and gracefulness of demeanor. 
 
 The New Mexican, both male and female, 
 had a great fondness for jewelery, dress, and 
 amusements. For amusement, the fandango ap 
 peared to be the most fashionable place of resort, 
 where every belle and beauty presented herself at 
 tired in the most costly manner, and displayed her 
 jewelry to the best advantage. To this place of 
 recreation and pastime, which was generally a large 
 capacious saloon, or interior court, all descriptions 
 of persons were allowed to come, free of charge, 
 and without invitation. The fandango generally 
 commenced about nine o'clock in the evening and 
 the tolling of the church bells was the signal for 
 the ladies to make their appearance at the saloon; 
 which they did almost simultaneously. The New 
 Mexican ladies dressed gaudily, but with little taste. 
 They mostly wore dresses without bodies; having 
 only the skirt, and long, loose, flowing scarf or 
 wrapper dextrously thrown about the head and 
 shoulders, so as to supersede both the use of dress 
 and bodies and bonnets. There was but little order 
 maintained, and few rules of etiquette. A kind of 
 swinging, gallopade waltz was their favorite dance. 
 If you were to read Lord Byron's graphic des 
 cription of the Dutch waltz, and then use your ima 
 gination, a faint conception of the Mexican fandan- 
 
50 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 go may be formed. Such familiarity of position 
 was repugnant to those accustomed to good society, 
 but among the people of New Mexico, nothing was 
 considered a greater accomplishment than to pass 
 gracefully through all the mazes of the waltz. The 
 fandango had one republican feature in the fact that 
 all classes rich or poor, met and intermingled on a 
 common level. 
 
 Incidents at Santa Fc. 
 
 Our army was quartered at Santa Fe for some 
 time during which an express, born by five men 
 was sent to Fort Leavenworth, to be forwarded 
 from thence to Washington. This message con 
 tained a full account of General Kearney's conquest 
 of New Mexico and asked for further instructions 
 from the War Department. The bearers of this 
 express encountered the most severe trials on the 
 plains during the inclement winter weather, but 
 managed to return to Santa Fe shortly after Christ 
 mas. About this time an incident occurred that will 
 give the reader an idea of the oppression under 
 which the people of that country had suffered. 
 
 On December 2Qth, General Kearney, having 
 occasion to transfer some public property into the 
 hands of the public functionary, took a piece of 
 blank paper upon which he commenced to write. 
 The Alcalde, who happened to be present, remarked 
 to the general that an instrument of writing was not 
 legal unless it was drawn up on paper stamped 
 with the government seal or coat-of-arms, for the 
 State or New Mexico. He then stepped out and 
 brought a few sheets of government paper to Gen. 
 Kearney, politely observing "that the government 
 sold it at only eight dollars per sheet, a very moder- 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 51 
 
 ate sum to pay for having an important document 
 strictly legal." Without ceremony Gen. Kearney 
 changed his purpose for the moment and wrote, 
 in substance, as follows. "The use of the "stanp 
 paper" by the government of New Mexico, is here 
 by abolished. Done by the Governor, 
 
 S. W. KEARNEY, Brig. Gen." 
 
 "I will now," continued he, "take it at its real 
 value, just as other paper." The Alcalde was as 
 tounded, for his prospects of further extortion were 
 blasted. The common people who had been com 
 pelled to pay the exorbitant sum of eight dollars 
 for a sheet of paper, when an instrument of writing 
 was wanted which required a seal, rejoiced that 
 they were now relieved of a burdensome tax. It 
 was thus, by acts of tyranny on the part of the 
 government, that New Mexico had been the abode 
 of misery and slavery, instead of happiness and. 
 liberty. 
 
 In consequence of certain rumors which were 
 almost daily brought to Gen. Kearney, that the mal 
 contents, principally the friends and adherents of the 
 deposed Governor Armijo and some Pueblo Indians 
 were rallying and concentrating a large armed force 
 somewhere in the vicinity of Alburquerque, with 
 the view to make battle, and recover the capital 
 from the hands of the Americans, he determined to 
 silence these reports and disperse the "rebels" 
 against his authority, by marching thither in per 
 son, which he did at the head of a considerable body 
 of troops, reaching San Tome, about one hundred 
 miles distant from Santa Fe, and returning after an 
 
52 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 absence of twelve days, after having subjugated all 
 malcontents v/ithout bloodshed or loss of life. 
 
 In the capital was found upon the arrival of 
 Gen. Kearney at that place, a small printing-press, 
 which was used for printing public laws, notices, 
 advertisements, proclamations, manifestos,pronun- 
 ciamentos, and other high-sounding Mexican 
 documents, in the form of pamphlets and handbills. 
 With this poor apology of a printing press, and such 
 worn type, and indifferent ink, paper and other 
 materials as chanced to be about the establishment, 
 the constitution and laws of the territory, which 
 had been drawn up by Colonel Doniphan, were 
 published. As the Spanish had no "W", a difficulty 
 presented itself, in regard to the type, which was at 
 length obviated by the substitution of two V's for 
 one W. In this manner were the constitution and 
 laws printed, both in the Spanish and English lan 
 guages, in double column, placed in juxta-position 
 on each page. The arduous and difficult task of 
 translating the laws into .the Spanish language, 
 was assigned to Captain David Waldo, whose thor 
 ough acquaintance with the language and customs 
 of the Mexicans, as well as accomplished general 
 scholarship, not only qualified him for the under 
 taking, but rendered him eminently useful on several 
 subsequent occasions during the campaign. 
 
 General orders No. 30, Sec. 2. 
 "When all the companies of Col, Price's regi 
 ment shall have reached here, Col. Doniphan will 
 proceed with his regiment to Chihuahua, and report 
 to Brigadier-general Wool for duty. 
 
 By order of Brig. Gen. S. W. Kearney. 
 (Signed,) H. S. Turner, Capt. A. A. A. Gen." 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 53 
 
 In explanation of the above order we beg leave 
 to say that the Col. Price referred to had been sent 
 to Santa Fe with a body of troops to support Gen 
 eral Kearney. These troops were on their way 
 over the same route we had taken, and were expec 
 ted at any time. As to the part referring to the re 
 porting to General Wool, no one doubted but that 
 he would take possession of Chihuahua long before 
 Col. Doniphan would reach there. 
 
 On the 25th, Gen. Kearney with a very inade 
 quate force for such an enterprise, set out from the 
 capital Santa Fe for the distant shores of the Paci 
 fic, leaving Col. Doniphan in command of all the 
 forces in New Mexico. The Col. was now actively 
 employed in pushing forward preparations for his 
 contemplated descent upon Chihuahua. Supplies 
 were being procured for the men. Every soldier 
 endeavored to mount himself on a safe and durable 
 animal, for the march was known to be long and 
 perilous, passing through desert tracts of country. 
 
 Wagons for transporting baggage and pro 
 visions, were speedily being repaired. Harness and 
 teams were put in readiness for the draught. It 
 was the colonel's intention to begin his great march 
 as soon as Col. Price should arrive at Santa Fe 
 with his troops, and succeed him in command at 
 that place. 
 
 The author may perhaps be pardoned for mak 
 ing, at this point, a few brief remarks in commenda 
 tion of his comrades who served their country in 
 the Mexican War. He has observed his comrades 
 in arms, after performing the severest toils during 
 a long and fatiguing march of nine hundred miles, 
 
54 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 bearing with fortitude the burden and heat of the 
 day, some times half faint of thirst and hunger, 
 subsisting the greater part of the time upon half 
 rations, refuse to pluck the ears of corn that grew 
 thickly and invitingly around them. This exhibited 
 a degree of moral firmness and a regard for the 
 rights of property which was truly characteristic 
 of the American people at that time, and is worthy 
 of the highest praise, and was doubtless, one of the 
 happy results of our benign institutions. 
 
 There was a national feeling in the army of the 
 west. Every soldier felt that he was a freeman; 
 that he was a citizen of the model Republic; 
 and that he ought to look upon the disgrace of the 
 American arms as individual dishonor. Hence 
 their high -moral sense and conscious 
 superiority over the Mexican people. As 
 the American soldier walked in the streets of the 
 capital, and met a group of Mexican ladies and 
 gentlemen going to the plaza with marketables, or 
 in more gaudy attire passing up the walks to the 
 Catholic churches, he paid them the same compli 
 mentary marks of courtesy and civility, with which 
 he had been accustomed to greet his own fairer 
 country-women and men in the streets of St. Louis, 
 Cincinnati, New York, or Philadelphia. This hon 
 orable feeling was never once forgotten or lost sight 
 of by the citizen soldiers, with, perhaps, 
 a few exceptions, in individual instances. 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 55 
 
 Doniphan's Navajo Campaign. 
 
 An express which reached Santa Fe October 
 nth, 1846, brought an order from General Kearney 
 written at his camp on the Rio del Norte, near Lay 
 Joya, to Col. Doniphan, instructing him that for a 
 time he should delay his contemplated movement 
 upon Chihuahua, and with his regiment, to proceed 
 into the country inhabited by the Navajos, a large, 
 populous tribe of Indians, and chastise them for de- 
 predat^TTiPtliey had recently committed on the 
 western ^frontiers of New Mexico, arfd for refusing 
 to come to the capital when sent for. The following 
 is a copy of the order : 
 
 Headquarters Army of the West. 
 Camp on the Rio del Norte near Lajoya, Oct. 2nd, 
 
 1846. 
 
 I. As the chiefs of the Navajos have been 
 invited to Santa Fe by the commanding general, 
 for the purpose of holding a council, and making 
 a peace between them and the inhabitants of New 
 Mexico, (now forming a part and under the protec 
 tion of the United States,) and as they have promis 
 ed to come, but have failed doing so, and instead 
 thereof continue killing people and committing de 
 predations upon their property, it becomes necessary 
 to send a military expedition into the country of 
 these Indians, to secure a peace and better conduct 
 from them in the future. 
 
 II. For the reason set forth in the foregoing 
 paragraph, Col. Doniphan, of the ist regiment 
 
56 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 Missouri mounted volunteers, previous to comply 
 ing with paraghaph II. of orders No. 30, dated 
 Sept. 23rd, will march with his regiment into the 
 Navajo country. He will cause all the prisoners, 
 and all the property they hold, which may nave been 
 stolen from the inhabitants of the territory of New 
 Mexico, to be given up and shall require of them 
 security for their future good conduct, as he may 
 think ample and sufficient, by taking hostages or 
 otherwise. 
 
 III. After Col. Doniphan has fully complied 
 with these instructions, he will proceed with his 
 regiment to report to Brigadier-general Wool, as 
 directed in orders No. 30. 
 By order of Brigadier-General S. W. KEARNEY. 
 
 H. S. Turner, Capt. A. A. A. Gen. 
 
 Four months' pay was now due the soldiers, 
 and many of them would be soon destitute of com 
 fortable clothing, yet Col. Doniphan had neither a 
 military chest, nor a paymaster, nor had he a dollar 
 of government funds to silence the just complaints 
 or satisfy the reasonable wants of his men. They 
 looked upon it as a hardship, and with reason, 
 that they were ordered against the Indians, without 
 pay, and with little less than their summer cloth 
 ing to protect them from the cold in a country 
 where they would be compelled to climb over the 
 tallest mountains, and often encamp in the midst 
 of snow and ice, and rocks, and where it was impos 
 sible to procure either wood for tire, water to drink, 
 or forage for horses or mules. 
 
 Now, besides these difficulties, the nature of the 
 country is such, that it is impracticable for artillery, 
 baggage or provision wagons, or even the lighter 
 carriages; so steep and abrupt are the rocks, hills 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 57 
 
 and mountains. Only pack mules and small 
 donkies can be used with advantage. For this rea 
 son Maj. Gilpin sent all his baggage wagons bacK 
 from Abiquiu in to the Del Norte valley ; Lieutenant 
 colonel Jackson did the same thing from Cebolleta; 
 and Colonel Doniphan the same. They also threw 
 away their tents, that being light-armed and un 
 embarrassed, they might make their marches with 
 greater expedition amongst the rocks, ravines ana 
 steeps of the mountains. Morever, the soldiers 
 thought, as they had been previously ordered 
 against Chihuahua, that some portion of the troops 
 which were idle at Santa Fe, might have been sent 
 on this service. 
 
 The detachment now, with Col. Doniphan, 
 marched on the 30, of October down the country, 
 keeping the river of Del Norte on the right, and the 
 mountains of the craggy hills on the left; and ar 
 riving about sunset at the village Sandia, the men 
 stayed there during the night, encamping on the 
 ground without much system, but wherever each sol 
 dier preferred to lie ; for now there was no danger, 
 and the men were tired of marchings, and watch- 
 ings, and mounting guard. That night much rain 
 fell, and the men endured it all; for by this time 
 few of them had any tents, and some of those who 
 had did not take pains to pitch them. It was here 
 that a Mexican came into camp, and reported "that 
 Gen. Wool had taken possession of Chihuahua with 
 6.000 men, and much heavy artillery, and that the 
 Mexicans made but feeble resistance." This did 
 not prove true. 
 
 The next day the march was continued down 
 the river; the men encamping on a "brazo" during 
 the night. There was now plenty of provision in 
 camp for the soldiers ; but wood was so scarce that 
 it was a difficult task for them to prepare anything 
 
58 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 to eat at supper. Some of them collected together 
 a few little bunches of dry brush, while others as 
 they could picked up withered grass and weeds and 
 dry ordure from the cattle, and with these made a 
 fire and broiled their meat and boiled their coffee. 
 
 It was here that the colonel received information 
 from a caravan or merchant train, which had ad 
 vanced as far down the valley of the Del Norte as 
 the ruins of Valverde, for the purpose of grazing 
 their mules and other animals to better advantage, 
 that they apprehended an attack from the Mexicans 
 almost daily, who were said to be advancing, seven 
 hundred strong, with the view of plundering the 
 merchant's wagons. In this perplexity, Col. Doni- 
 phan, that he might accomplish all his purposes, 
 and fail in none, dispatched the three companies 
 which he had with him, to protect the traders and 
 their merchandise. Of this squadron Capt. Walton 
 had the command, ranking the other two captains, 
 Moss and Rodgers. Capt. Burgwin (having been 
 sent back by Gen. Kearney with about two hundred 
 men) being previously apprised of the critical 
 situation of the merchants, had already gone to af 
 ford them succor. Thus in a short time there were 
 five hundred mounted men, besides three hundred 
 merchants and teamsters at Valverde, ready to op 
 pose any hostile movement the enemy might choose 
 to make. The merchants had also corraled their 
 wagons in such a manner as to receive troops within 
 and afford them shelter against an emeny, so that the 
 besieged could fight with as much security as though 
 they were in a fortress. 
 
 As to Col. Doniphan, he took his staff (that 
 part of it which happened to be with him), and 
 attended by three or four other men, proceeded with 
 great haste to Cuvarro, not far from the river 
 Puerco, making great marches and encamping on the 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 59 
 
 ground wherever nightfall chanced to overtake 
 him. He arrived at Cuvarro on the 5th, of Novem 
 ber, where he found the detachment under Lieuten 
 ant-colonel Jackson. On November I5th, Colonel 
 Doniphan and Lieutenant-colonel Jackson took up 
 the line of march for the Bear Spring, with 
 about one hundred and fifty men under Capt. Par 
 sons and Lieutenant DeCourcy; Capt. Hughes zind 
 the other sick men being left at Cuvarro. This 
 detachment was also scarce of provisions, and had 
 neither tents nor baggage wagons, but made use of 
 pack mules to transport provisions and cooking 
 utensils. 
 
 For two days the* march was conducted up 
 through a rich valley country, in the direction of the 
 sources of the Puerco. The grass was moderately 
 good for grazing purposes ; but wood was scarce 
 and the water muddy and filthy, This district of 
 country was occupied by that canton of Navajos, of 
 whom Sandoval was the chief. On the evening of 
 the latter day they encamped on a rivulet, whose 
 water came leaping down in foaming cascades, from 
 the mountain, and then disappeared in the sands ol 
 the valley. Having no tents, the soldiers quarter 
 ed on the naked earth, in the open air ; but so rfrich 
 snow fell that night, that at dawn it was impos 
 sible to distinguish where they lay, until they 
 broke the snow which covered them, and came out 
 as though they were rising from their graves; for 
 in less than twelve hours the snow had fallen 
 thirteen inches deep in the valleys and thirty-six 
 in the mountains. 
 
 On the 1 7th they marched north-westerly, leav 
 ing the heads of the Puerco to the right, and passing 
 directly over the Sierra Madre. The march was 
 difficult in the vallies ; but when they came to ascend 
 the steep spurs and bench lands, which lead up to 
 
CO INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 the mountains, a horrid, dreary prospect opened 
 above them. The men and their commanders were 
 almost up to their waist, toiling in the snow, break 
 ing a way for the horses and mules to ascend. The 
 lowest point in the main mountain, rose to a sublime 
 height ; and to the right, still towering far above this 
 projected stupendous, colossal columns of ragged 
 granite, and iron-colored basalt. After superhuman 
 efforts they arrived at the Bear Spring on the 
 morning of the 2ist; Major Gilpin, as already 
 noticed, having arrived there on the day previous, 
 with a number of the Navajo chiefs, who dwell in 
 the country to the west and to the north-west of that 
 place, commissioned to bind the nation. 
 
 Treaty at Bear Spring. 
 
 There were now present at the Bear Spring, 
 where the treaty was made, about one hundred and 
 eighty Americans and five hundred Navajo Indians, 
 including all the head chiefs of each of the cantons, 
 composing the powerful tribe of Mountain 
 Lords and scourges of New Mexico. The 
 parties being all present, to whom power was del 
 egated to conclude a lasting peace between three 
 nations, the Navajos, Mexicans, and Americans, 
 the treaty was commenced on the 2ist, Col. Doni- 
 phan first stating explicitly, through an interpeter, 
 T. Caldwell, the objects of his visit, and the designs 
 and intentions of his government. One of the 
 chiefs, Sarcilla Largo, a young man, very bold and 
 intellectual, spoke for them. "He was gratified to 
 learn the views of the Americans. He admired their 
 spirit and enterprise, but detested the Mexicans. 
 Their speeches were delivered alternately during tn< 
 whole day. At sunset the parties adjourned to meet 
 the following morning at which meeting the follow- 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 61 
 
 ing treaty of peace was concluded and signed by 
 both parties: 
 
 Art. i. A firm and lasting peace of amity 
 shall henceforth exist between the American people 
 and the Navajo tribe of Indians. 
 
 Art 2. The people of New Mexico and the 
 Pueblo Indians are included in the term American 
 people. 
 
 Art. 3. A mutual trade, as between people of 
 the same nations, shall be carried on between these 
 several parties; the Americans, Mexicans and 
 Pueblos being free to visit all portions of the Navajo 
 country, and the Navajos all portions of the Ameri 
 can country without molestation, and full protection 
 shall be mutually given. 
 
 Art. 4. There shall be a mutual restoration 
 of all prisoners, the several parties being pledged 
 to redeem by purchase such as may not be ex 
 changed each for each. 
 
 Art. 5. All property taken by either party 
 from the other, since the i8th, day of August last, 
 shall be restored. 
 
 Thus after almost unparalleled exertion a 
 treaty of peace was concluded between the Navajos, 
 New Mexicans, and Americans, in a manner honor 
 able to all parties. This was a novel, highly im 
 portant and interesting proceeding. The Navajos 
 and New Mexico had been at war from immemor 
 ial time. The frontier between them had been the 
 continual scene of bloodshed and rapine. At this 
 crisis, the Americans, the enemies of one, and 
 strangers to the other, stepped in and accommo 
 dated their differences by a triple league, which 
 secured peace between all three. 
 
62 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 The March to Chihuahua, 
 
 Col. Doniphan, upon his return from the 
 Navajo country, dispatched Lieut. Hinton from 
 Socorro to Santa Fe,, with orders to Col. Price, 
 commanding the forces at the capital, to send him 
 ten pieces of canon, and one hundred and twenty- 
 five artillerymen. Col. Doniphan especially reques 
 ted that he would send Capt. Weightman's company 
 of light artillery, leaving it discretionary with 
 Major Clark whether he would remain at Santa Fe, 
 or accompany the expedition against Chihuahua. 
 He chose the latter. 
 
 The camp at Valverde was made the place of 
 rendezvous at which all the detachments and par 
 cels of the regiment were to be reorganized. Lieut. 
 DeCourcy was appointed adjutant in place of Geo. 
 M. Butler, who died at Cuvarro; Sergeant-major 
 Hinton resigned, and was elected in De Courcy's 
 stead; and Palmer, a private, was appointed Ser 
 geant-major. Also, surgeon Penn, and assistant 
 surgeon Vaughan, having previously resigned and 
 returned to Missouri, T. M. Morton now became 
 principal surgeon, and J. F. Morton and Dr. Moore, 
 assistant surgeons. 
 
 With indefatigable labor and exertion, Lieuts. 
 James Lee, and Pope Gordon, assistant quarter- 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 63 
 
 master and commissary, had procured an outfit 
 and supply of provisions for the expedition. These 
 they had already at Valverde, or on the way thither, 
 when the detachments returned from the campaign 
 against the Navajos. The merchant trains had 
 received permission to advance slowly down the 
 country, until the army should take up the line of 
 march, when they were to fall in the rear with the 
 baggage and provision trains, that they might be 
 more conveniently guarded. 
 
 About the 1st of November, Dr. Connelly, 
 Doane, M'Manus, Valdez, and James M'Goffin, 
 proceeded to El Paso, in advance of the army, and 
 contrary to orders, to ascertain upon what conditions 
 their merchandize could be introduced through the 
 custom house in to the Chihuahua market. They 
 were, immediately upon their arrival at El Paso, 
 seized and conducted under an escort of twenty-six 
 soldiers to the city of Chihuahua, where they re 
 mained in surveillance until liberated by the Ameri 
 can army. 
 
 While Col. Doniphan was yet in the moun 
 tains, Lieutenant-colonel Mitchell of the 2nd regi 
 ment, and Capt. Thompson of the regular service, 
 conceived the bold project of opening communica 
 tion between Santa Fe and Gen. Wool's army, at 
 that time supposed to be advancing upon Chihuahua. 
 For this purpose a volunteer company, consisting 
 of one hundred and three men, raised from the dif 
 ferent corps at Santa Fe, was organized under the 
 name of "Chihuahua Rangers" commanded by Capt. 
 Hudson, and Lieuts. Todd, Sproule, and Gibson. 
 This force having advanced down the valley of the 
 Del Norte some distance below Valverde, and hear 
 ing of a strong Mexican force near El Paso, durst 
 not venture further, but returned and joined Col. 
 Doniphan's column, which was then about being put 
 
64 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 in motion. All things were now ready for the 
 march. 
 
 Accordingly, for the sake of convenience, in 
 the march over the "J orna cl a del Muerto," or 
 Great Desert, which extends from Fra Christobal 
 to Robledo, a distance of ninety miles, the colonel 
 dispatched Major Gilpin in the direction of El Paso 
 on the 1 4th of December, in command of a division 
 of three hundred men; on the i6th, he started Lieu 
 tenant-colonel Jackson with an additional force of 
 two hundred; and on the iQth he marched in person 
 with the remainder of his command, including the 
 provisions and a part of the baggage trains. 
 
 In passing this dreadful desert, which is em 
 phatically the "J ourne y f tne Dead," the men suf 
 fered much, for the weather was now becoming 
 extremely cold, and there was neither water to 
 drink nor wood for fire. Hence it was not possible 
 to prepare anything to eat. The soldiers, fatigued 
 with marching, faint with hunger, and benumbed 
 by the piercing winds, straggled along the road at 
 night, (for there was not much halting for re 
 pose,) setting fire to the dry bunches of grass and 
 stalks of soap-plant, or palmilla, which would blaze 
 up like flashes of powder, and as quickly extinguish, 
 leaving the men shivering in the cold. For miles 
 the road was most brilliantly illuminated by sudden 
 flashes of light, which lasted but for a moment, 
 then again all was dark. At length, toward mid 
 night, the front of the column would halt for a little 
 repose. The struggling parties would continue to 
 arrive at all hours of the night. The guards were 
 posted out. The men without their suppers lay 
 upon the earth and rested. The teamsters were 
 laboring incessantly, night and day, with their trains 
 to keep pace with the march of the army. By day- 
 dawn the reveille roused the tired soldiers from 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 65 
 
 their comfortless bed of gravel and called them to 
 resume the march, without taking breakfast; for 
 this could not be provided on the desert. Such was 
 the march for more than three days over the Jor 
 nada del Muerto. 
 
 On the 22nd, Col. Doniphan overtook the de 
 tachments under Lieutenant-colonel Jackson and 
 Major Gilpin, near the little Mexican town, Don- 
 anna. Here the soldiers found plenty of graii}, 
 and other forage for their animals, running streams 
 of water, and an abundance of dried fruit, corn-meal 
 and sheep and cattle. These they purchased. 
 Therefore, they soon forgot the sufferings and pri 
 vations which they had experienced on the desert. 
 Here they feasted and reposed. 
 
 The army now encamped within the boundries 
 of the State of Chihuahua. The advanced detach 
 ments under Lieutenant-colonel Jackson and Major 
 Gilpin, apprehending an attack from the Mexicans 
 about the 2Oth, had sent an express to Col. Doni 
 phan, then on the desert, requesting him to quicken 
 his march. 
 
 Captain Reid, with his company, had proceed 
 ed about twelve miles below Donanna for the pur 
 pose of making a reconnoissance, and of acting as 
 a scout or advance guard. While encamped on the 
 outskirts of a forest, on a point of hills which com 
 manded the Chihuahua road, on the night of the 
 23rd, one of his sentinels hailed two Mexican spies, 
 in the Spanish language. The spies mistaking the 
 sentinel for a friend, advanced very near. At 
 length discovering their mistake, they wheeled to 
 effect their escape by flight. The sentinel leveled 
 his rifle-yager, and discharged the ball through 
 the bodies of two of them. One of them tumbled 
 from his horse, dead, after running a few hundred 
 yards, and the other at a greater distance. Their 
 
66 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 bodies were afterwards discovered. The Sentinel 
 was Frank Smith, of Saline. 
 
 On the morning of the 24th, the whole com 
 mand, including Lieutenant-colonel Mitchel's escort, 
 and the entire merchant, provision, and baggage 
 trains, moved off in direction of El Paso, and, after 
 a progress of fifteen miles, encamped on the river 
 for water. The forage was only moderately good, 
 Therefore the animals, which were not tethered 
 rambled and straggled a far off into the adjacent 
 bosquets and thickets, during the night. 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 67 
 
 The Battle of Brazito. 
 
 On the morning of the 25th of December, a bril 
 liant sun rising above Organic mountains to the east 
 ward burst forth upon the world in all its efful 
 gence. The little army, at this time not exceeding 
 800 strong, was comfortably encamped on the east 
 bank of the Del Norte. The men felt frolicsome 
 indeed. They sang the cheering song of Yankee 
 Doodle, and Hail Columbia. Many guns were fired 
 in honor of Christmas day. But there was no need 
 of all this had they known the sequel. 
 
 At an early hour the colonel took up the line 
 of march, with a strong front and rear guard, the 
 rear guard under Captain Moss, was delayed for a 
 considerable part of the day in bringing up the 
 trains, and the loose animals which had rambled off 
 during the night. A great number of men were al 
 so straggling about in search of their lost stock. 
 These were also delayed. 
 
 While on the march the men most earnestly 
 desired that, if they had to encounter the enemy at 
 all, they might meet him that day. They were grati 
 fied: for having proceeded about eighteen miles, 
 the colonel pitched his tent at a place called Brazito, 
 
68 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAlv. 
 
 or the Little Arm, on the east bank of the river, 
 in an open level bottom prairie, bordered next the 
 mountains and the river, on the east and the south 
 east, by a mezquit and willow chapparal. Here 
 the front guard had called a halt. 
 
 While the men were scattered everywhere in 
 quest of wood and water for cooking purposes, and 
 fresh grass for their animals, and while the trains 
 and straggling men were scattered along the road 
 for miles in the rear, a cloud of dust, greater than 
 usual, was observed in the direction of El Paso, 
 and in less than fifteen minutes some one of the ad 
 vance guard, coming at full speed, announced to the 
 colonel "that the enemy was advancing upon him." 
 It is said that Col. Doniphan and several of his offi 
 cers and men, were, at that moment engaged in play 
 ing a game of three-trick loo. At first he observed 
 that the cloud of dust was perhaps produced by a 
 gust of wind, and that they had as well play their 
 hands out. In another moment the plumes and ban 
 ners of the enemy were plainly in view. The colonel 
 quickly sprang to his feet, threw down his cards, 
 grasped his sabre, and observed, "Boys, I held an 
 invincible hand, but I'll be d nd if I don't have to 
 play it out in steel now." Every man flew to his 
 post. Assembly call was blown. The men, dashing 
 down their loads of wood and buckets of water, 
 came running from all quarters, seized their arms, 
 and fell into line under whatever flag was most con 
 venient. As fast as those come up in the rear, they 
 also fell into line under the nearest standards. The 
 officers dashed from post to post, and in an incredi 
 bly short time the Missourians were marshaled on 
 the field of fight. 
 
 By this time the Mexican general had drawn 
 up his forces in front, and on the right and left 
 flanks of Col. Doniphan's lines. Their strength was 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 69 
 
 about one thousand three hundred men, consisting 
 of five hundred and fourteen dragoons, and an old 
 and well known corps from Vera Cruz and Zacate- 
 cas, and eight hundred volunteers, cavalry and in 
 fantry, from El Paso and Chihuahua, and four 
 pieces of artillery. They exhibited a most gallant 
 and imposing appearance; for the dragoons were 
 dressed in a uniform of blue pantaloons, green 
 coats trimmed with scarlet, and tall caps plated in 
 front with brass, on the top of which fantastically 
 waved plumes of horse-hair, or buffalo's tail. 
 Their bright lances and swords glittered in the sheen 
 of the sun. Thus marshaled, they paused for a 
 moment. 
 
 Meanwhile Col. Doniphan, and his field and 
 company officers, appeared as calm and collected as 
 when on drill ; and in the most spirited manner, en 
 couraged the men by the memory of their fore 
 fathers, by the past history of their country, and 
 by the recollection of the battle of Okeechobee, 
 which was fought on the same day in 1837, an d by 
 every consideration which renders life, liberty, and 
 country valuable, to cherish no other thought than 
 that of victory. 
 
 Before the battle commenced, and while the two 
 armies stood front to front, the Mexican comman 
 der, General Ponce de Leon, dispached a lieutenant 
 to Col. Doniphan, bearing a black flag. This mes 
 senger, coming with the speed of lightning, halt 
 ed when within sixty yards of the American lines, 
 and waved his ensign gracefully in salutation. 
 Hereupon Col. Doniphan advancing toward him a 
 little way, sent his interpreter, T. Caldwell, to know 
 his demands. The ambassador said: "The Mexi 
 can General summons your commander to appear 
 before him." The interpreter replied : "If your 
 General desires peace, let him come here." The 
 
70 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 other rejoined: "Then we will break your ranks 
 and take him there." "Come then and take him." 
 retorted interpreter. "Curses be upon you, pre 
 pare for a charge, we neither ask nor give quar 
 ter." said the messenger; an waving his black flag 
 over his head, galloped back to the Mexican lines. 
 
 At the sound of the trumpet the Vera Cruz 
 dragoons, who occupied the right of the enemy's 
 line of battle, first made a bold charge upon the 
 Americans' left. When within a few rods the 
 yagermen opened a most deadly fire upon them, 
 producing great execution. At the same crisis, Cap 
 tain Reid with a party of sixteen mounted men (for 
 the rest were all on foot) charged upon them, 
 broke through their ranks, and hewed them to 
 pieces with their sabres, and thereby contributed ma 
 terially in throwing the enemy's right wing into 
 confusion. A squad or section of the dragoons hav 
 ing flanked our left, now charged upon the commis 
 sary and baggage train, but the gallant wagoners 
 opened upon them a well directed fire, which threw 
 them into disorder and caused three of their number 
 to pay the forfeit of their lives. 
 
 The Chihuahua infantry and cavalry were 
 on their left, and consequently operated against our 
 right wing. They advanced within gunshot, and 
 took shelter within the chaparral, discharging three 
 full rounds upon our lines before we returned the 
 fire. At this crisis Col. Doniphan ordered the men 
 to "lie down on their faces, and reserve their fire un 
 til the Mexicans came within sixty paces." This 
 was done. The Mexicans supposed that they had 
 wrought fearful execution in our ranks, as some 
 were falling down, while others stood up, began now 
 to advance and exultingly cry out "bueno, bueno," 
 whereupon our whole right wing, suddenly rising 
 up, let fly such a galling volley of yager balls into 
 
INCIDENTS 0* THE MEXICAN WAR. 71 
 
 their ranks, that they wheeled about and fled in 
 the utmost confusion. 
 
 By this time the Howard company, and others 
 occupying the centre, had repulsed the enemy with 
 considerable loss, and taken possession of one piece 
 of his artillery, and the corresponding ammunition. 
 This was a brass, six-pound howitzer. Sergeant 
 Calaway, and a few others of that company first 
 gained possession of this piece of canon, cut the dead 
 animals loose from it, and were preparing to turn 
 it upon the enemy, when Lieut. Kribben with a 
 file of artillerymen, was ordered to man it. 
 
 The consternation now became general among 
 the ranks of the Mexicans, and they commenced a 
 precipitate retreat along the base of the mountain. 
 Many of them took refuge in the craggy fastnesses. 
 They were pursued by the Americans about one 
 mile; Capt. Reid and Capt. Walton, who by this 
 time had mounted a few of his men, following them 
 still further. All now returned to camp, and con 
 gratulated one another on the achievement. The 
 Mexican loss was seventy-one killed, five prisoners, 
 and not less than one hundred and fifty wounded, 
 among whom was their commanding officer, gener 
 al Ponce de Leon. Also a considerable quantity oi 
 ammunition, baggage, wine, provisions, blankets, 
 a great number of lances, some guns and several 
 stands of colors, were among the spoils. A number 
 of horses were killed, and several were captured. 
 The Americans had eight men wounded none 
 killed. In this engagement Col. Doniphan, his offi 
 cers and men, displayed the utmost courage, and 
 determined resolution to conquer or perish in the 
 conflict. Defeat would have been ruinous. There 
 fore all the companies vied with each other in en 
 deavoring to render the country the most impor 
 tant service. The victory was complete on the part 
 
72 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 of the Americans. The battle continued about 30 
 minutes, and was fought about three o'clock P. M. 
 on Christmas day, at Brazito, twenty-five miles 
 from El Paso. 
 
 Not more than five hundred of Col. Doniphan's 
 men were present when the battle commenced. The 
 rest fell into line as they were able to reach the 
 scene of action. Those who had been far in the rear 
 during the day, when they heard the firing, came 
 running in haste with their arms in their hands, to 
 bring aid to their comrades, who were then engag 
 ed with the enemy. This created such a dust that 
 the enemy supposed a strong reinforcement was 
 marching to our support. This circumstance, also, 
 contributed to strike terror into the Mexican ranks. 
 
 By this defeat, the Mexican army was com 
 pletely disorganized and dispersed. The volunteer 
 troops returned with the utmost expedition to their 
 respective homes ; while the regular troops continu 
 ed their flight to Chihuahua, scarcely halting for re 
 freshments in El Paso. On the retreat many of 
 the wounded died. Several were found dead by 
 the road side, and the chaparral near the battle field 
 was stained with the blood of {he retreating foe. 
 The field was all trophied over with the spoils of the 
 slain and vanquished. Martial accoutrements, 
 sacks and wallets of provisions, and gourds of de 
 licious wines of El Paso, were profusely scattered 
 over miles of surface. These supplied our soldiers 
 with a Christmas banquet. The whole affair re 
 sembled a Christmas frolic. This night the men en 
 camped on the same spot where they were, when at 
 tacked by the Mexicans. Having ate the bread and 
 drank the wine which were taken in the engagement 
 they reposed on their arms, protected by a strong 
 guard. 
 
 On the following morning the dead were 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 73 
 
 buried, and the wounded Mexican prisoners com 
 fortably provided with means of conveyance to El 
 Paso. Every needful attention was given our 
 wounded by the surgeons. The column now, in 
 perfect order, with the baggage, provision, hospital, 
 ammunition, and merchant's train in the rear, and 
 a strong rear and front guard, and a party of flank 
 ers on the right and left, moved cautiously in the 
 direction of El Paso , apprehending another attack. 
 After an advance of fifteen miles, camp was selected 
 near a small salt lake, where there was a moderate 
 supply of natural forage, such as grass and rushes. 
 From this point Col. Doniphan sent back an express 
 for the artillery to hasten forward, for he anticipated 
 strenuous opposition at El Paso. 
 
 While encamped here one of the picket guards, 
 discovering a party of Mexicans passing along the 
 base of the mountains towards the east, in which 
 they had taken shelter during the day, endeavoring 
 to make good their retreat to El Paso, under cover 
 ing of the night, fired upon them. This produced 
 an alarm in the camp. The men were cooking their 
 suppers ; some of them had spread their beds for 
 repose. Col. Doniphan ordered the fires to be ex 
 tinguished. Whatever was in the vessels, on the 
 fire cooking, was now turned topsy-turvy in the ef 
 fort to put out the light. For a moment all was 
 confusion. Quickly, however, Col. Doniphan drew 
 up his men in line of battle, and waited the ap 
 proach of the enemy. Lieutenant-colonel Jackson 
 in the hurry to parade his men mounted his mule 
 bare-back, with his sword and shot gun. Many 
 of the men were in the ranks barefoot, and only 
 half clad; for they had been roused from their 
 slumber. Finally no enemy appearing, the soldiers 
 were ordered to repair to their tents, and sleep on 
 their arms, they ran, leaping, and hallooine*. and 
 
74 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 cursing the false alarm. Before day another false 
 alarm called them out in a similar manner. There 
 fore, this night the soldiers were much vexed. 
 
 The same order of march which had been adop 
 ted on the previous day was continued on the 2/th, 
 until the column reached El Paso. On arriving at 
 the Great Pass, or gorge in the mountains, through 
 which the river appeared to have forced its way, 
 debouching into the valley below, over a system of 
 rocky falls, in dashing cataracts; the colonel was 
 met by a deputation of citizens from El Paso, bear 
 ing a white flag, proposing terms of peace, offering 
 to surrender the place into his hands, beseeching 
 at the same time that he would use his clemency to 
 ward them, in sparing their lives, and protecting 
 their property. This the colonel was inclined to do. 
 It was now about six miles to the city. All moved 
 on, rejoicing in the prospect of rest, and something 
 to appease the appetite. Thus on the 27th the city 
 of El Paso was possessed by the American troops 
 without further opposition or greater effusion of 
 blood. It was now night. Therefore the soldiers 
 encamped and enjoyed the advantage of a little re 
 pose. 
 
 The men, at first were encamped on a bare spot 
 of earth, south of the Plaza, where the wind drove 
 the sand furiously through the camp, dreadfully an 
 noying both man and beast. In this comfortless 
 situation the soldiers remained for several days. 
 At length after great suffering from the driven 
 sands, which filled the eyes, nostrils, and mouth to 
 suffocation, the men were quartered in houses near 
 the square. 
 
 One of the first acts of Col. Doniphan, after 
 taking possession of El Paso, was the liberating of 
 three American citizens who, without crime, had 
 been immured in a dungeon for five months and 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 75 
 
 one day. Thus have Americans been deprived of 
 their liberty in Mexico. Col. Doniphan was their 
 deliverer. 
 
 These three American citizens, Hudson, Pol 
 lard, and Hutchinson, had started from Van Buren 
 in Arkansas, with the view of proceeding to Upper 
 California, where they intended settling, and arriving 
 safely in Santa Fe, they agreed to hire Graham, a 
 Scotchman, to pilot them through the mountains 
 to San Diego. Having purchassed an outfit at Santa 
 Fe, they were conducted by Graham down the Del 
 Norte to El Paso, who told them the best route led 
 from that place to Guadaloupe Calvo, and thence, 
 by San Bernadino, to the mouth of the Gila, 
 whence the could easily arrive at San Diego. They 
 followed their pilot. On reaching El Paso, how 
 ever, Graham become intoxicated and informed 
 against them, representing to the Prefecto of that 
 place, that they were Texan spies ; whereupon they 
 were apprehended and lodged in prison, where they 
 lay until delivered by the American army. 
 
 On to Chihuahua. 
 
 Col. Doniphan delayed at El Paso forty-two 
 days, awaiting the arrival of the artillery, under 
 Major Clark and Capt. Weightman, which he had 
 ordered Col. Price to forward him on the route to 
 Chihuahua, immediately upon his return from the 
 Indian campaign. Col Price having his mind turned 
 on quelling the conspiracy which had been plotted by 
 Gen. Archulette, and fearing that if he should send 
 the artillery away, that it would too much weaken 
 his force, and embolden the conspirators, hesitated 
 several weeks before he would comply with the or 
 der. At length, however, he dispatched Major 
 
76 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 Clark with one hundred and seventeen men, and 
 six pieces of cannon, four six-pounders, and two 
 twelve-pound howitzers; which after indefatigable 
 exertion, and incessant toiling through the heavy 
 snows, arrived at El Paso on the ist of February. 
 On the 8th, the whole army, the merchant, 
 baggage, commissary, hospital, sutler, and ammuni 
 tion trains, and all the stragglers, amateurs, and 
 gentlemen of leisure, under flying colors, presenting 
 the most martial aspect, set out with boyant hopes 
 for the city of Chihuahua. There the soldiers ex 
 pected to reap undying fame, to gain a glorious 
 victory or perish on the field of honor. Nothing 
 certain could be learned of the movements of Gen. 
 Wool's column, which at first was destined to open 
 against Chihuahua. Col. Doniphan's orders were 
 merely to report to Gen. Wool at that place, not to 
 invade the State. Vague and uncertain information 
 had been obtained through the Mexicans, that Gen. 
 Wool's advance had, at one time, reached Parras ; 
 but that the whole column had suddenly deflected to 
 the left, for some cause to them and us equally un 
 known. Thus was Col. Doniphan circumstanced. 
 With an army less than one thousand strong, he 
 was on his march, leading through inhospitable, 
 sandy wastes, against a powerful city, which had 
 been deemed of so much importance, by the gov 
 ernment, that Gen. Wool with 3,500 men, and a 
 heavy park of artillery, had been directed thither 
 to effect its subjugation. What, then, must have 
 been the feeling of Col. Doniphan and his men, 
 when they saw the States of Chihuahua and Dur- 
 ango in arms to receive them, not the remotest pros 
 pect of succor from Gen. Wool, and intervening, 
 and unpeopled deserts precluding the possibility of 
 sucessful retreat? "Victory or death," were the 
 two alternatives. Yet there was no faltering, 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 77 
 
 no pale faces, no dismayed hearts. At this crisis, 
 had Col. Doniphan inquired of his men what was to 
 be done, the response would have been unanimously 
 given, lead us on. But he need not to make the 
 inquiry, for he saw depicted in every countenance, 
 the fixed resolve "to do or die." Col. Doniphan's 
 responsibility was therefore very great. The un 
 dertaking was stupendous. His success was brill 
 iant and unparalleled! Who then will deny him 
 the just meed of applause. 
 
 A deep gloom enshrouded the State of Mis 
 souri. Being apprised of General Wool's move 
 ments, the people of the state were enabled to ap 
 preciate the full extent of the danger which threat 
 ened to overwhelm us. They saw our imminently 
 perilous situation. They felt for the unsuccored 
 army. The executive, himself, was moved with 
 sympathy, and fearful apprehension for its safety. 
 But neither he nor the people could avert the com 
 ing storm, or convey timely warning to the com 
 mander of this forlorn hope. He had therefore 
 to rely upon steel and the courage of his men. 
 This event is known. 
 
 The colonel took with him Ramond Ortiz, Pino 
 and three other influential men of the malcontents, 
 as hostage for the future good behavior of the in 
 habitants of El Paso. "By this means the safety of 
 traders and all other persons passing up and down 
 the country, was guaranteed; for they were fore 
 warned that if any depredations were committed up 
 on citizens of the United States, at El Paso, they 
 would be put to death." 
 
 Cupid Conquers Two Soldiers. 
 
 Since that time no outrage had been perpetrated 
 at El Paso, upon any American citizen. It was at 
 
78 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 El Paso that two American soldiers conceived for 
 two fair, young Mexican girls, an affection so strong 
 and ardent that they did not choose to march any 
 further with the army. Having marched with 
 their company one or two clays, they deserted camp, 
 at night, and returned to those they loved and in 
 a short time married them. 
 
 On the evening of the I2th the column reached 
 a point on the Del Norte, about fifty miles below 
 El Paso, where the road, turning to the right, 
 strikes off at right angles with the river across the 
 Jornada of sixty-five miles in extent, running 
 through deep sand drifts, nearly the whole way. 
 On this desert-track there is not one drop of water. 
 Here, therefore, the command came to a halt, and 
 tarried one day, that the men might prepare victuals 
 and such a supply of water, as they had means of 
 conveying along with them, for the desert journey. 
 
 Col. Doniphan now called upon the merchant 
 caravan to meet and organize themselves into 
 companies, and elect officers to command them. 
 This he did that he might avail himself of their sen- 
 vices, in the event that the troops, which he already 
 had, should not prove sufficiently strong to cope 
 with the enemy at Chihuahua. The merchants and 
 teamsters in their employ were quickly organized 
 into effective companies, under Capts. Skillman 
 and Glasgow, forming a batallion commanded by 
 Samuel C. Owens of Independence, whom thsy 
 elected as major. 
 
 This was a very effective corps, for both the 
 merchants and teamsters were well armed, and 
 were very brave men. Besides having a large capi 
 tal invested in merchandize, they had the double 
 incentive to fight bravely, first for their property, 
 and then for their lives. These numbered about 
 one hundred and fifty well armed men. Here all 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 79 
 
 the Mexican powder and other munitions of war, 
 which the Colonel had taken at El Paso, and for 
 which he had not the means of transportation, 
 were destroyed. The powder was burnt and the 
 cannister shot and arms thrown into the river. 
 
 Dishonorable Conduct of Traders. 
 
 A few days previous to this, Cufford and 
 Gentry, a strong firm, the former an Englishman 
 and the latter an American, both traveling with 
 British passports, secretly and dishonorably aban 
 doned the merchants caravan and, contrary to their 
 promise to Col. Doniphan, slipped off at night with 
 forty-five wagons, and hastened on to Chihuahua, 
 and from thence to Zacateccas. 
 
 Now, Harmony, a Spaniard, and Porus, a 
 Mexican, fearing lest Doniphan might be defeated 
 at Chihuahua, were loath to proceed with their 
 wagons any farther, and desired to turn back to 
 El Paso, and there make sale of their merchandize. 
 This could not be permitted without endangering 
 the safety of all ; for the only safety was in union. 
 Therefore Lieutenant-colonel Mitchell, Capt. Reid, 
 and Lieut. Choteau, with sixteen men went back 
 several miles to compell these men to bring up their 
 trains. At first they pretended that the Apaches 
 had stolen all their mules, wherefore they could not 
 move their wagons. But being threatened they 
 soon brought their animals from a place where they 
 had purposely concealed them, that they might De 
 permitted to remain. In a short time they were 
 brought up, and forbid to leave the army again. 
 
 Terrible Hardships Encountered. 
 Having buried two brave men, Maxwell and 
 Wills, on the I4th the army bade adieu to the Great 
 
80 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 River of the North,, and commenced its march upon 
 the dreadful desert. Some of the men, having no 
 canteens, or other ways of carrying water, filled the 
 sheaths of their sabres, and swung the naked blade 
 jingling at their side. 'C. F. Hughes, quartermas 
 ter-sergeant, had terrible work to force the trains 
 along through the heavy sand-drifts. Oftentimes 
 he was compelled to double his teams, and have a 
 dozen or more men rolling at the wheels, to induce 
 the wagons to move at all. The mules were weak 
 and sunk up to their knees in the sand ; the wagons 
 stood almost buried to the hubs. Thus were they 
 embarrassed. The teams could not move them. 
 The soldiers and teamsters would often leap from 
 their horses and mules and roll the wagons along 
 with their hands until they got where the sand was 
 lighter. Thus it was all through the desert. Af 
 ter an arduous march of twenty miles, the army en 
 camped upon the plain without food or water. 
 On the next day toward sunset the army passed 
 through a gap or canon in a range of mountains 
 which traverses the desert from north to south. 
 This mountain shoots up abruptly from the plain 
 into an innumerable set of knobs and rocky peaks 
 consisting of dark iron colored, masses of basalt 
 and pudding stone, and in some cases of volcanic 
 cinders. At this point Lieut. Gordon, and Collins, 
 interperter, with twelve other men, fell in com 
 pany with Kirker's scouting party, which had been 
 in advance several days. Kirker's party consisted 
 of eight men. The whole now, being twenty-three 
 in number, under Lieut. Gordon,- proceeded far in 
 advance of the army by direction from the colonel, 
 for the purpose of making a reconnoissance at Car- 
 rizal, where they had understood a body of Mexi 
 cans were posted. This place is on the other side 
 of the desert. Before their arrival there the Mexi- 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 81 
 
 can soldiery abandoned the place. Therefore they 
 entered it and took military posession in the name of 
 the United States' government, the Alcalde, with 
 out offering the slightest resistance, giving a written 
 certificate of submission, in which he claimed the 
 colonel's clemency and threw himself upon the gen 
 erosity of the American army. He was not dis 
 appointed in receiving the amplest protection. By 
 this time there was not a drop of water in the can 
 teens, and all were suffering extremely with thirst. 
 At this hour one of the artillery-men came up from 
 Santa Fe, having in possession the United States' 
 mail ; the only one of consequence which had been 
 received for six months. Though at this crisis 
 nothing could have been more refreshing to the body 
 as cool water, yet newspapers and letters from home 
 had a wonderful tailsmanic influence on the mind. 
 Not a word, however, could be learned of the move 
 ments of the army of Gen. Wool. After a toilsome 
 march of twenty-four miles, about midnight the 
 column halted to allow the men and animals a 
 little rest. But they had no refreshments; and the 
 men were again obliged to spend the night without 
 their suppers and without water. The animals also 
 were nearly perishing with thirst. It was now still 
 twenty-one miles to water ; over a heavy sandy road 
 and the teams were already become feeble and 
 broken down. Ortiz, the benevolent curate, al 
 though a prisoner, and under a strict guard, gen 
 erously gave many of the soldiers a draught of 
 water, which he had provided to be brought from 
 the Del Norte in a water vessel. For this and other 
 instances of kindness toward the Americans, we 
 made grateful acknowledgement. 
 
 Burning Thirst is Quenched. 
 The next morning by day-dawn the army was 
 
82 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 on the march. The mules and horses were neighing 
 and crying piteously for water. Some of them were 
 too weak to proceed farther. They were abandon 
 ed. Notwithstanding the eagerness of the men to 
 get to water, a strong rear and front guard were de 
 tailed as usual, to prevent surprise by the enemy. 
 Toward night when the columns had arrived within 
 five miles of the Laguna de los Patos, the men 
 could no longer be restrained in the lines, but in 
 the greatest impatience hurried on in groups to 
 quench their burning thirst. The commander . see 
 ing this, and knowing how his men suffered, (for 
 he too suffered equally with them) did not attempt 
 to prevent it, but taking his whole force hastened on 
 to the lake as quickly as possible, that all might be 
 satisfied; having left an order for Capt. Parsons, 
 who commanded the rear guard that day, to leave 
 the trains, that his men might have water and rest. 
 Tt was near sunset. Meanwhile the quartermaster- 
 sergeant, and the resolute and hardy teamsters had 
 the task of a Hercules before them in bringing up 
 the trains through the deep heavy sand drifts. 
 Having arrived within about ten miles of the La 
 guna, they found it impossible to advance farther. 
 The rear guard had left them with the view of get 
 ting water and then returning. They were some 
 times compelled to quadruple the teams to move a 
 wagon through the deep sand. The animals were 
 dying of thirst and fatigue. Thirty-six yoke of 
 oxen had been turned loose. Two wagons were 
 abandoned amidst the sand hils. Eight thousand 
 pounds of flour and several barrels of salt had been 
 thrown out upon the ground. Also some sutlers 
 threw away their heavy commodities which they 
 could not transport. The trains never could have 
 proceeded ten miles farther. But the God who 
 made the fountain leap from the rock to quench the 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 83 
 
 thirst of the Israelitish army in the desert, now sent 
 a cloud which hung over the summits of the moun 
 tains to the right, and such a copious shower of rain 
 descended, that the mountain torrents came rushing 
 and foaming down from the rocks and spread out 
 upon the plains in such quantities, that both the 
 men and animals were filled. Therefore, they 
 stayed all night at this place where the God-send had 
 blessed them, and being much refreshed, next morn 
 ing passed out of the desert. All were now at La- 
 guna de los Patos, where they stayed one day to 
 recruit and gain strength. This is a beautiful lake 
 of fresh water. It was here that W. Trolley, a 
 volunteer, who, as it is said, left a charming young 
 bride at home, drank so excessively of the cool, re 
 freshing element after so many days of toil on the 
 desert, that he soon died. He was buried near the 
 margin of the lake. Thus the army passed the 
 desert sixty-five miles in extent. 
 
 A Noah's Flood Theory. 
 
 On the morning of the i8th, the column and 
 trains were again in motion. C. F. Hughes, in con 
 sideration of the service he had rendered in passing 
 the desert, was now relieved from further duty by 
 Mr. Harrison. To the right, at the distance of sev 
 eral miles from the Laguna, rises a stupendous, 
 pyramidal rock, many thousand feet high. The 
 existance of such abrupt, detached, masses of moun 
 tains, shows that the earth by some wonderful 
 agency, has been convulsed and upheaved. Who* 
 will say the flood, which inundated the Old World, 
 may not have been produced by the sudden up- 
 heavement, and emergement of the Western Conti 
 nent, from the ocean, by some All-powerful Agency ? 
 
84 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 A march of eighteen miles brought the army to 
 Carrizal, where there was much cool and delightful 
 water, and where forage was obtained in abundance. 
 
 At meridian on Sunday the 2ist, the command 
 reached the celebrated Ojo Caliente, or Warm 
 Spring, where the men were again permitted to 
 rest a few hours, and make preparation for crossing 
 another desert forty-five miles wide without water. 
 From this place Capt. Skillman, with twelve vol 
 unteers, was dispatched to the Laguna de Encenil- 
 las, to keep up a close espionage on the movement of 
 the enemy, for it was now anticipated that he would 
 give battle at that place. The Ojo Caliente is at the 
 base of a ledge of rocky hills, and furnishes a vast 
 volume of water about blood-warm, which runs off 
 in the direction of the Patos. The basin of the 
 spring is about one-hundred and twenty feet long, 
 and seventy-five wide with an average depth of four 
 feet. The bottom consists of sparkling white sand, 
 and the water is perfectly transparent. No effort 
 by disturbing the sand, was sufficient to becloud, or 
 muddy the crystal water. Col. Doniphan, and many 
 of his officers and men enjoyed the most luxurious, 
 and rejuvinescent bathing. Thus refreshed, the 
 march was commenced upon the desert. Having 
 advanced twelve miles, the men were encamped up 
 on the plains, without food or water, indispensable 
 requisites for comfort in a military camp after a 
 hard day's march. 
 
 Continuing the march the next day a canon was 
 passed in a high and craggy range of mountains, 
 traversing the desert. The hugh masses of basalt, 
 which rise, in many places, two thousand feet almost 
 perpendicular, were capped with snow. Having 
 completed twenty-two miles, the men halted for the 
 night on a rocky, flinty spot of earth, where there 
 was neither wood, water, nor grass. Nor was it pos- 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 85 
 
 sible for the men to have the least comfort, for it 
 was extremely cold. They tethered their animals, 
 and wrapping themselves up in their blankets, lay 
 down on the earth without their suppers. 
 
 The next day we marched twelve miles, and 
 came to the Guyagas springs. These issue in leap 
 ing, gushing, cool streamlets, out from the western 
 base of a system of rocky bluffs, and refresh the 
 neighboring plains. Here the men and animals 
 slaked their burning thirst. Under the jetting 
 rocks and archways, of the mountain range, were 
 seen dependent spars, crystals of quartz, and the 
 most brilliant stalactites. Here a drove of twelve 
 or thirteen antelopes, which had been feeding on the 
 sides of the cliffs, seeing the men marching, and the 
 banners and guidons fluttering, were afrighted at the 
 unusual sight, and came bounding down from the 
 rocks, as though they would break through the 
 ranks, but as they neared tU$ lines the men fired up 
 on and killed them all while bounding along. 
 They were used for food. This evidence of marks 
 manship struck the Mexican prisoners with as 
 tonishment, and caused them more than ever to 
 dread the American rifles. Here in a narrow val 
 ley, with lofty, rocky ridges on either hand, the men 
 were dismounted and allowed to rest for the night; 
 during which M. Robards, a good soldier, died and 
 was buried. 
 
 The Return of the Spies. 
 
 From thence they marched the next day fifteen 
 miles, and again encamped on the plains, without 
 food or water. Here part of the spies returned 
 and reported that there were seven hundred Mexi 
 cans at Encenillas with artillery. Early the follow 
 ing morning (which was the 25th,) Col. Doniphan 
 
86 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 drew up his forces in order of battle, and marched 
 over to the north margin of the lake. He here al 
 lowed his men a short respite, and some refresh 
 ments. This lake is about twenty miles long and 
 three miles wide, and at the point where the army 
 first encamped, there were near the margin white 
 efflorescences of soda on the surface of the ground. 
 Either this efflorenscent soda, or the water of the 
 lake, when put in flour, will quickly cause it to rise 
 or leaven. It was used instead of saleratus. 
 
 While nooning, the fire from some of the tents 
 caught into the tall, dry grass, and by a high wind 
 was furiously driven over the plains, threatening 
 destruction to everything before it. In a short time 
 the fire which had broke out in similar manner from 
 the camp at the Guyagas springs, having almost 
 kept pace with the army, came bursting and sweep 
 ing terribly over the summits of the mountains, and 
 descending into the valley, united with the fire on 
 the margin of the lake. 
 
 A Successful Fire Fighter. 
 
 The flames rose in dashing- and bursting waves 
 twenty feet high, and threatened to devour the 
 whole train. The army was now put upon the 
 march, and the trains endeavored to advance before 
 the flames; but in vain. The winds blew steadily 
 and powerfully in the direction the army was march 
 ing. The conflagration, gaining new strength from 
 every puff of wind, came raging and sweeping like 
 a wave. The column of flame, displaying a front 
 of many miles, steadily advanced along the margin 
 of the lake. This was a more terrible foe than an 
 "army with banners." The fire now gained upon 
 the trains. The ammunition wagons narrowly es 
 caped. The artillery was run into the lake. Some 
 of the wagons still passed onward. 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 87 
 
 The road runs parallel to the lake, and about 
 two hundred yards from it. Col. Doniphan and his 
 men endeavored to trample down the grass from the 
 road to the lake, in a narrow list, by frequently rid 
 ing over the same ground. They also rode their 
 horses in to the water and then quickly turned them 
 upon the place where the grass was trodden down, 
 that they might moisten it, and thereby stop the 
 progress of the fire, but still the flames past over and 
 heedlessly swept along. Capt. Reid with the 
 "Horse Guards." adopting a different plan, upon 
 the suggestion of a private, ordered his men to dis 
 mount about two miles in advance of the trains, and 
 with their sabres hew and chop down the grass 
 from the road to the lake, on a % space thirty feet 
 broad, and throw the cut grass out leeward. This 
 was done. Fire was now set to the grass standing 
 next to the wind, which burned slowly until it met 
 the advancing conflagration. Thus the fire was 
 checked on one side of the road. 
 
 On the other side the volume of flames, in 
 creasing as the gale rose, rolled along the plain, 
 and over the mountains, roaring and crackling, and 
 careering in its resistless course, until the fuel 
 which fed it was exhausted. The men spent the 
 night on the bare and blackened earth, and the ani 
 mals stood to their tethers without forage. 
 
 On the south-western side of this lake, and near 
 its margin, stands the princely hacienda of Don An 
 gel Trias, governor of Chihuahua. On this estate 
 immense herds of cattle and flocks of sheep are pro 
 duced. But the Mexican soldiers, seven hundred of 
 whom on the morning of the twenty-fifth had been 
 seen at the hacienda, had driven them all off to pre 
 vent the Americans subsisting upon them. On the 
 night of the 25th, and before it was known that 
 the soldiers had evacuated the post, Capt. Reid, 
 
88 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 with twenty-five of the "Horse Guards," volunteer 
 ed to make a reconnoissance of the enemy, and re 
 port his position and strength. As, in the event 
 the enemy was still occupying his position at the 
 hacienda, a strong guard would most probably be 
 posted near the roads leading into the place from 
 above and below the lake, the scout, to prevent 
 falling upon the guards, and to take the enemy by 
 surprise , if it should be deemed advisable to attack 
 him, crossed the lake, which was near three miles 
 wide and both deep and boggy, and hitherto con 
 sidered impassable reaching the opposite side they 
 saw no sentinel. Therefore they approached 
 nearer. Still they saw no sentry. Cautiously, and 
 with light footsteps, and in almost breathless silence, 
 without a whisper or the jingling of a sabre, and 
 under covering of the dark, they advanced a little. 
 They heard the sound of music, and at intervals 
 the trampling of horses. Perhaps it was the mili 
 tary patrol. None knew. 
 
 A Bold and Daring Exploit. 
 
 They now rode around the hacienda; but the 
 high walls precluded the possibility of seeing within. 
 
 No satisfactory reconnoissance could, therefore, 
 be made. Not wishing to return to camp without 
 effecting their object, the captain and his men, 
 like McDonald and his mad-caps at Georgetown, 
 made a sweeping dash, with drawn sabre and clat 
 tering arms, into the hacienda, to the infinite alarm 
 of the inhabitants. They now had possession. 
 The seven hundred soldiers had started about an 
 hour previous for Sacramento. This was a bold and 
 
 hazardous exploit. Then they quartered in the 
 place, which contained several hundred inhabitants, 
 and were sumptuously entertained by the Adminis- 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 89 
 
 trader del Hacienda. The next morning they re 
 joined the army then on the march, having with 
 them several wild Mexican cattle. The whole force 
 now moved on to a fort called Sanz, on a creek dis 
 charging into the Laguna de Encenillas. Here they 
 camped. 
 
 The next day the army and trains, including 
 the merchant wagons, were drawn up in order ot 
 battle, ready to manoeuver expeditiously in the 
 event of a sudden attack. The enemy was known to 
 be at no great distance. Thus the march was con 
 tinued until night over a level, beautiful valley, 
 with a high range of mountains running along on 
 the left, and, and a greater distance, also on the 
 right. A short time before sunset Lieutenant- 
 colonel Mitchell, Lieutenants Winston and Sproule, 
 Corporal Goodfellow, the author and one other vol 
 unteer, having proceeded about nine miles in ad 
 vance of the column, and within five miles of the 
 enemy's fortified position at Sacramento, ascended 
 a high, rocky peak of the mountain, and with good 
 telescopes, enjoyed a fair view of the whole Mexi- 
 ccan encampment. The enemy's whole line of field 
 works was distinctly viewed; the position of his 
 batteries ascertained; and his whole probable num 
 ber estimated. The result of this reconnoissance 
 was duly reported to Col. Doniphan, whereupon he 
 immediately called a council of officers, and matured 
 a plan for the conduct of the march on the fol 
 lowing day. This night also the army encamped on 
 a tributary of the lake of Encenillas. 
 
 The Enemy in Sight. 
 
 On Sunday, the 28th of February, a bright and 
 auspicious day, the American army, under Col. 
 Doniphan, arrived in sight of the Mexican en- 
 
90 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 campment at Sacramento, which could be distinct 
 ly seen at the distance of four miles. His com 
 mand consisted of the following corps and de 
 tachments of troops. 
 
 The ist regiment, Col. Doniphan, numbering 
 about eight hundred men ; Lieutenant-colonel 
 Mitchell's escort, ninety-seven men; artillery bat 
 talion, Major Clark and Captain Weightman, one 
 hundred and seventeen men,, with a light field bat 
 tery of six pieces of cannon ; and two companies of 
 teamsters, under Capts. Skillman and Glasgow, 
 forming an extra battalion of about one hundred and 
 fifty men, commanded by Major Owens, of Indepen 
 dence, making an aggregate force of one thousand 
 one hundred and sixty-four men, all Missouri vol 
 unteers. The march of the day was conducted in 
 the following order : the wagons, near four hundred 
 in all, were thrown into four parallel files, with 
 spaces of thirty feet between each. In the center 
 space marched the artillery battalion ; in the space to 
 the right, the ist battalion, and in the space to the 
 left, the 2nd battalion. Masking these in front 
 marched the three companies intended to act as 
 cavalry, the Missouri horse guards, under Capt. 
 Reid, on the right, the Missouri dragoons under 
 Capt. Parsons, on the left, and the Chihuahua 
 rangers, under Capt. Hudson in the center. Thus 
 arranged, they approached the scene of action. 
 
 Ropes and Handcuffs Awaited Americans. 
 
 The enemy had occupied the brow of a rocky 
 eminence rising upon a plateau between the river 
 Sacramento and the Arroya Seca, and near the Sa 
 cramento fort, eighteen miles from Chihuahua, and 
 fortified its approaches by a line of field-works, con- 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAK. 91 
 
 sisting of twenty-eight strong redoubts and in- 
 trenchments. Here in this apparently secure posi 
 tion, the Mexicans had determined to make a bold 
 stand ; for this pass was the key to the capital. So 
 certain of victory were the Mexicans, that they had 
 prepared strings and handcuffs in which they meant 
 to drive us, prisoners to the city of Mexico, as they 
 did the Texans in 1841. Thus fortified and en 
 trenched, the Mexican army, consisting, according 
 to a consolidated report of the adjutant-general 
 which came into Col Doniphan's possession after 
 the battle, of four thousand two hundred and 
 twenty men, commanded by Major-general Jose A. 
 Heredia; aided by Gen. Gracia Conde, former min 
 ister of war in Mexico, as commander of cavalry ; 
 Gen. Mauricia Ugarte, commander of of infantry; 
 Gen. Justiniani, commander of artillery, and Gover 
 nor Angel Tries, Brigadier-general, commanding 
 the Chihuahua volunteers, awaited the approach of 
 the Americans. 
 
92 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 Battle of Sacramento. 
 
 When Col. Doniphan arrived within one mile 
 and a half of the enemy's fortifications, (a reconnois- 
 sance of his position having been made by Major 
 Clark,) leaving the main road which passed within 
 the range of his batteries, he suddenly deflected to 
 the right, crossed the rocky Arroya, expeditiously 
 gained the plateau beyond, successfully deployed 
 his men into line upon the highland, causing the 
 enemy to change his first position, and made the 
 assault from the west. This was the best point of 
 attack that could possibly have been selected. The 
 events of the day proved how well it was chosen. 
 
 In passing the Arroya the caravan and bag 
 gage trains followed close upon the rear of the 
 army. Nothing could exceed in point of solemnity 
 and granduer the rumbling of the artillery, the firm 
 moving of the caravan, the dashing to and fro of 
 horsemen, and waving of banners and gay fluttering 
 guidons as both armies advanced to the attack on 
 the rocky plains ; for at this crisis Gen. Conde, with 
 a select body of twelve hundred cavalry, dashed 
 down from the fortified heights to commence the 
 engagement. When within nine hundred and fifty 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 93 
 
 yards of our alignment, Major Clark's battery of 
 six pounders and Waightman's section of howitzers 
 opened upon them a well directed and most des 
 tructive fire, producing fearful execution in their 
 ranks. In some disorder they fell back a short dis 
 tance, unmasking a battery of cannon, which im 
 mediately commenced to fire on us. A brisk can 
 nonading was kept up on both sides for about fifty 
 minutes during which time the enemy suffered great 
 loss, our battery discharging twenty-four rounds to 
 the minute. The balls from our enemy's cannon 
 whistled through our ranks in quick succession, 
 many horses and other animals were killed, and the 
 wagons much shattered. Sergeant A. Hughes, of 
 the Missouri dragoons, had both his legs broken 
 by a cannon ball. In this action the enemy, who 
 were drawn up in columns four deep close order, 
 lost about twenty-five killed, besides a great number 
 of horses. The Americans who stood dismounted 
 in two ranks, open order, suffered but slight injury. 
 Gen. Conde, with considerable disorder, now fell 
 back and rallied his men behind the entrenchments 
 and redoubts. Col. Doniphan immediately ordered 
 the buglers to sound the advance. Thereupon the 
 American army moved forward in the following 
 manner, to storm the enemy's breastworks : 
 
 The artillery battalion, Major Clark, in the cen 
 ter, firing occassionally on the advance; the ist 
 battalion, commanded by Lieutenant-colonels Jack 
 son and Mitchell, composing the right wing ; the two 
 select companies of cavalry under Capts. Reid and 
 Parsons, and Capt. Hudson's mounted company, 
 immediately on the left of the artillery ; and the 2nd 
 battalion on the extreme left, commanded by Majc/ 
 Gilpin. The caravan and baggage trains under 
 Major Owens, followed close in the rear. Col. 
 Doniphan and his aids, Capt. Thompson, United 
 
94 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 States' army, adjutant De Courcy, Sergeant-major 
 Crenshaw acted between the battalions. 
 
 At this crisis a body of three hundred lancers 
 and lazadors, were discovered advancing upon our 
 rear. These were exclusive of Heredia's main 
 force, and were said to be criminals, turned loose 
 from the Chihuahua prisons, that by some gallant 
 exploit they might expurgate themselves of crime. 
 These men were posted in the rear to cut off strag 
 glers, prevent retreat, and capture and plunder the 
 merchant wagons. The battalion of teamsters kept 
 them at bay. Besides this force there were a thous 
 and spectators, women, citizens, and rancheros, 
 perched on the summits of adjacent mountains and 
 hills, watching the event of the day. 
 
 As we neared the enemy's redoubts, still inclin 
 ing to the right, a heavy fire was opened upon us 
 from his different batteries, consisting in all of six 
 teen pieces of cannon. But owing to the facility 
 with which our movements were performed, and to 
 the fact that the Mexicans were compelled to fire 
 plungingly upon our lines, (their position being con 
 siderably elevated above the plateau, and particu 
 larly the battery placed on the brow of the Sacra 
 mento mountains with the design of enfilading our 
 column,) we sustained but little damage. 
 
 Reid's Gallant Charge. 
 
 When our column had approched within about 
 four-hundred yards of the enemy's line of field 
 works, the three cavalry companies, under Capts. 
 Reid, Parsons, and Hudson, and Weightman's sec 
 tion of howitzers were ordered to carry the main 
 center battery, which had considerably annoyed our 
 lines, and which was protected by a strong bastion. 
 The charge was not made simultaneously, as inten- 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 95 
 
 ded by the colonel; for this troop having spurred 
 forward a little way, was halted for a moment un 
 der- a heavy cross-fire from the enemy, by the adjut 
 ant's misapprehending the order. However, Capt. 
 Reid, either not hearing or discarding the adjutant's 
 order to halt, leading the way, waved his sword, 
 and rising in his stirrups, exclaimed, "will my men 
 follow me?" Hereupon Lieuts. Barnett, Hinton, 
 and Moss, with about twenty-five men, bravely 
 sprang forward, rose the hill with the captain, car 
 ried the battery, and for a moment silenced the 
 guns. But we were too weak to hold possession 
 of it. By the overwhelming force of the enemy 
 we were beaten back, and many of us wounded. 
 Here Samuel C. Owens, who had voluntarily charg 
 ed upon the redoubt, received a cannon or musket 
 shot, which instantly killed both him and his horse. 
 Capt. Reid's horse was shot from under him, and a 
 gallant young man of the same name immediately 
 dismounted and generously offered the captain his. 
 By this time the remainder of Capt. Reid's com 
 pany under Lieut. Hiei-^in, and the section of howit 
 zers under Capt. Weightman, and Lieuts. Choteau 
 and Evans, rose the hill, and supported Capt. Reid. 
 A deadly volley of grape and cannister shot, ming 
 led with yager balls, quickly cleared the entrench 
 ments and the redoubt. The battery was retaken 
 and held. Almost at the same instant Capts. Par 
 sons, and Hudson, with the two remaining compan 
 ies of cavalry, crossed the intrenchments. at Reid's 
 left, and successfully engaged with the enemy. 
 They resolutely drove them back and held the 
 ground. 
 
 All the companies were now pressing forward, 
 and pouring over the entrenchments, and into the 
 redoubts, eagerly vicing with each other in the 
 noble struggle for victory. Each company, as well 
 
9G INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 as each soldier, was ambitious to excel. Companies 
 A. B. C. and a part of company D, composing the 
 right wing, all dismounted, respectively under com 
 mand of Capts. Waldo, Walton, Moss, and Lieut. 
 Miller, led on by Lieutenant-colonels Jackson and 
 Mitchell, stormed a formidable line of redoubts on 
 the enemy s left, defended by several pieces of can 
 non, and great number of resolute and well armed 
 men. A part of this wing took possession of a 
 strong battery on Sacramento hill, which had kept 
 up a continuous cross-firing upon our right during 
 the whole engagement. Cols. Jackson and Mitchell 
 and their captains, lieutenants, non-commissioned 
 officers, and men generally, behaved with commend 
 able gallantry. Many instances of individual 
 prowess were exhibited. But it is invidious to dis 
 tinguish between men, where all performed their 
 duty so nobly. 
 
 Meanwhile the left wing also dismounted, com 
 manded by Major Gilpin, a gallant and skillful of 
 ficer, boldly scaled the heights, passed the intrench- 
 ments, cleared the redoubts, and with considerable 
 slaughter forced the enemy to retreat from his posi 
 tion on the right. Company G, under Capt. Hughes 
 and a part of company F. under Lieut. Gordon, 
 stormed a battery of three brass four pounders 
 strongly defended by enbankments, and ditches 
 filled with resolute and well armed Mexican infan 
 try. Some of the artillerists were made prisoners 
 while endeavoring to touch off the cannon. Com 
 panies H and E, under Capts. Rodger s and Stephen- 
 son, and part of Hudson's company under Lieut. 
 Todd, on the extreme left, behaved nobly, and 
 fought with great courage. They beat the Mexi 
 cans from their strong places, and chased them like 
 bloodhounds. Major Gilpin was not behind his men 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 97 
 
 in bravery he encouraged them to fight by ex 
 ample. 
 
 Major Clark with his six pounders, and Cap 
 tain Weightman, with his howitzers, during the 
 whole action rendered the most signal and essen 
 tial service, and contributed much toward the suc 
 cess of the day. The gallant charge led by Capt. 
 Reid, and sustained by Capt. Weightman, in point 
 of daring and brilliancy of execution, has not been 
 excelled by any similar exploit during the war. 
 
 Gen. Heredia made several unsuccessful at 
 tempts to rally his retreating forces, to infuse into 
 their minds new courage, and to close up the 
 breaches already made in his lines. General Conde, 
 with his troops of horses, also vainly endeavored 
 to check the advance of the Missourians. They 
 were dislodged from their strong places, and forced 
 from the hills in confusion. 
 
 The rout of the Mexican army now became 
 general, and the slaughter continued until night 
 put an end to the chase. The battle lasted three 
 hours and a half. The men returned to the battle 
 field after dark, completely worn out and exhausted 
 with fatigue. The Mexicans lostvthree hundred and 
 four men killed on the field, and a large number of 
 wounded, perhaps not less than five hundred, and 
 seventy prisoners, among whom was Brigadier-gen 
 eral Cuilta, together with a vast quantity of provi 
 sions, six thousand dollars in specie, fifty thousand 
 head of sheep, one thousand five hundred head of 
 cattle, one hundred mules, twenty wagons, twenty- 
 five or thirty caretas, twenty-five thousand pounds 
 of ammunition, ten pieces of cannon of different 
 calibre, varying from four to nine pounders, six cul- 
 verins or wall pieces, one hundred stands of small 
 arms, one hundred stands of small colors, seven fine 
 carriages, the general's scrutoire, and many other 
 
98 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 things of less note. Our loss was Major Samuel 
 C. Owens, killed and eleven wounded, three of 
 whom subsequently died. 
 
 Thus was the army of Central Mexico totally de 
 feated, and completely disorganized, by a column 
 of Missouri volunteers. The Mexicans retreated pre- 
 cipiatately to Durango, and dispersed among the 
 ranchos and villages. Their leaders were never 
 able to rally them. 
 
 In this engagement Col. Doniphan was person 
 ally much exposed, and by reason of his stature was 
 a conspicuous mark for the fire of the enemy's guns. 
 He was all the while at the proper place, whether 
 to dispense his orders, encourage his men, or to use 
 his sabre in thinning the enemy's ranks. His cour 
 age and gallant conduct^ were only equalled by his 
 clear foresight, and great judgement. His effective 
 force actually engaged was about nine hundred and 
 fifty men, including a considerable number of ama 
 teur fighters, among whom Jas. L. Collins, Jas. 
 Kirker, Messrs. Henderson and Anderson, interpre 
 ters, Major Campbell, and James Stewart, deserve 
 to be favorably mentioned. They fought bravely. 
 It was impossible for Capts. Skillman and Glasgow 
 to bring their companies of teamsters into the act 
 ion. They deserve great honor for their gallantry 
 in defending the trains. The soldiers encamped 
 on the battle field, within the enemy's intrenchments 
 and feasted sumptuously upon his viands, wines and 
 pound-cakes. There they rested. 
 
 Col. Doniphan, not like Hannibal, loitering on 
 the plains of Italy, after the batle of Cannae, w r hen 
 he might have entered Rome in triumph, immedia 
 tely followed up his success, and improved the ad 
 vantage which his victory gave him. Early the 
 next morning,, (March ist,) he dispatched Lieut, 
 colonel Mitchell, with one hundred and fifty men 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXCAN WAR. 99 
 
 under command of Capt. Reid and Weightman, 
 and a section of artillery, to take formal possession 
 of the capital, and occupy it in the name of his 
 government. This detachment before arriving in 
 the city, was met by several American gentlemen 
 escaping from confinement, who represented that 
 the Mexicans had left the place undefended, and 
 fled with the utmost precipitation to Durango. 
 The Spanish consul, also came out with the flag of 
 his country, to salute and acknowledge the conquer 
 or. This small body of troops entered and took 
 military possession of Chihuahua, without the 
 slightest resistance, and the following night occupied 
 the Cuartel near Hidalgo's monument, which stands 
 in the Alameda. 
 
 Meanwhile Colonel Doniphan and his men col 
 lected the booty, tended the captured animals, re 
 fitted the trains, remounted those who had lost their 
 steeds in the action, arranged the preliminaries of a 
 procession, and having marched a few miles, en 
 camped for the night. On the morning of the 2nd 
 day of March, Col. Doniphan with all his military 
 trains, the merchant's caravan, gay, fluttering col 
 ors and the whole spolia opima, triumphantly entered 
 the city to the tune of "Yankee Doodle" and "Hail 
 Columbia," and fired in the public square a national 
 salute of twenty-eight guns. This was a proua 
 moment for the American troops. The battle of 
 Sacramento gave them the capital, and now the stars 
 and stripes, and gallant eagle of the Model Repub 
 lic, were streaming victoriously over the stronghold 
 of Central Mexico. 
 
 Col. Doniphan s Official Account. 
 Colonel Doniphan's official account of the 
 memorable battle of the 28th of February is here 
 subjoined : 
 
100 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 Headquarters of the Army; Chihuahua, 
 City of Chihuahua, March 4th, 1847. 
 
 I have the honor to report to you the movement 
 of the army under my command since my last of 
 ficial report. 
 
 On the evening of the 8th of February, 1847, 
 we left the town of El Paso del Norte, escorting the 
 merchant train or caravan of three hundred and 
 fifteen wagons for the City of Chihuahua. Our 
 forces consisted of nine hundred and twenty-four 
 effective men ; one hundred and seventeen officers 
 and privates of the artillery ; ninety-three of Lieu 
 tenant-colonel Mitchell's escort, and the remainder 
 of the first regiment Missouri mounted volunteers. 
 We progressed in the direction of this place until the 
 25th, when we were informed by our spies that the 
 enemy, to the number of one thousand men, were 
 at Encenilla, the country seat of Governor Trias, 
 about twenty five miles in advance. 
 
 When we arrived on the evening of the 26th, 
 near the point, we found that the force had retreated 
 in the direction of this city. On the evening of the 
 27th, we arrived at Sanz, and learned from our 
 spies that the enemy in great force had fortified the 
 pass of the Sacramento river, about fifteen miles in 
 advance, and about the same distance from this city. 
 We were also informed that there was no water 
 between the point where we were at, and that oc 
 cupied by the enemy. We therefore determined to 
 halt until morning. At sunrise on the 28th, the last 
 day of February, we took up the line of march and 
 formed the whole train, consisting of three hundred 
 and fifteen heavy traders' wagons, and our commis 
 sary and company wagons, into four columns, thus 
 shortening our line so as to make it more easily pro 
 tected. We placed the artillery and .11 the com 
 mands except two hundred cavalry proper, in the 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 101 
 
 intervals between the columns of wagons. We thus 
 fully concealed our force and its position by mask 
 ing our force with cavalry. When we arrived with 
 in three miles of the enemy, we made a reconnois- 
 sance of his position and the arrangement of his 
 forces. This we could easily do, the road leading 
 through an open prairie valley between the sterile 
 mountains. The pass of the Sacramento is formed 
 by a point of the mountains on our right their left 
 extending into the valley or plain so as to narrow 
 the valley to about one and one-half miles. On our 
 left was a deep dry channel of a creek, and between 
 these points the plain rises to sixty feet abruptly. 
 This rise is in the form of a crescent, the convex 
 part being to the north of our forces. On the right, 
 from the point of mountains, a narrow part of the 
 plain extends north one and a half miles farther 
 than on the left. The main road passes down the 
 center of the valley and across the crescent, near the 
 left or dry branch. 
 
 The Sacramento rises in the mountains on the 
 right, and the road falls on it about one mile below 
 the battlefield or entrenchment of the enemy. We 
 ascertained that the enemy had one battery of four 
 guns, two nine and six pounders on the point of 
 the mountain on our right (their left) at good ele 
 vation commanding the road, and three entrench 
 ments of two six pounders, and on the brow of the 
 crescent near the center, another of two, six and 
 four, and six culverins, or rampart pieces, mounted 
 on carriages, and on the crest of the hill or ascent 
 between the batteries, and on the right and left, 
 they had twenty-seven redoubts dug and thrown 
 up, extending at short intervals across the whole 
 ground. In these their infantry were placed, and 
 were entirely protected. Their cavalry were 
 drawn up in front of their redoubts in the intervals 
 
102 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 four deep, and in front of the redoubts, two deep, 
 so as to mask them as far as practicable. When we 
 arrived within one and a half miles of the entrench 
 ments along the main road, we advanced the cavalry 
 still further, and suddenly .diverged with the col 
 umns to the right so as to gain the narrow part of 
 the ascent on the right, which the enemy discover 
 ing, endeavored to prevent, by moving forward 
 with one thousand cavalry and four pieces of can 
 non in their rear masked by them. Our movements 
 were so rapid that we gained the elevation with our 
 forces and the advance of our wagons, in time to 
 form before they arrived in reach of our guns. 
 The enemy halted and we advanced the head of 
 our column within twelve hundred yards of them, 
 so as to let our wagons attain the highlands and 
 form as before. 
 
 We now commenced the action by a brisk fire 
 from our battery, and the enemy unmasked and 
 commenced also; our fire proved effective at this 
 distance, killing fifteen men, wounding many more, 
 and disabling one of the enemy's guns. We had 
 two men slightly wounded, and several horses and 
 mules killed. The enemy slowly retreated behind 
 their works in some confusion, and we resumed our 
 march in our former order, still diverging more to 
 the right to avoid their battery on our left, (their 
 right,) and their strongest redoubts, which were on 
 the left, near where the road passes. After march 
 ing as far as we safely could, without coming in 
 range of their heavy battery on our right, Capt. 
 Weightman, of the artillery, was ordered to charge 
 with two twelve pound howitzers, to be supported 
 by the cavalry under Capt. Reid, Parsons, and Hud 
 son. ' The howitzers charged at speed, and were 
 gallantly sustained by Capt. Reid; but by some 
 misunderstanding, my order was not given to the 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 103 
 
 other two companies. Capt. Hudson, anticipating 
 my order, charged in time to give ample support 
 to the howitzers. Capt. Parsons at the same mo 
 ment came to me, and asked permission for his 
 company to charge the redoubts immediately to the 
 left of Capt. Weightman, which he did very gal 
 lantly. The remainder of the two battalions of 
 the regiment were dismounted during the cavalry 
 charge, and followed rapidly on foot, and Major 
 Clark advanced as fast as possible with the remain 
 der of the battery; we charged their redoubts from 
 right to left, with a brisk and deadly fire of riflemen, 
 while Major Clark opened a rapid and well directed 
 fire on a column of cavalry attempting to pass to 
 our left so as to attack the wagons and our rear. 
 The fire was so well directed as to force them to 
 fall back; and our riflemen, with the cavalry and 
 howitzers, cleared the hill after an obstinate resis 
 tance. Our force advanced to the very brink of 
 their redoubts, and attacked them with their sabres. 
 When the redoubts were cleared and the batteries 
 in the center and on our left were silenced, the main 
 battery on our right continued to pour in a constant 
 and heavy fire, as it had done during, the heat of 
 the engagement; but as the whole fate of of the 
 battle depended on carrying the redoubts and center 
 battery, this one on the right remained unattacked, 
 and the enemy had rallied there five hundred 
 strong. 
 
 Major Clark was directed to commence a heavy 
 fire upon it, while Lieutenant-colonels Mitchell and 
 Jackson, commanding the ist battalion, were order 
 ed to remount and charge the battery on the left, 
 while Major Gilpin was ordered to march the 2nd 
 battalion on foot up the rough ascent of the moun 
 tain on the opposite side. The fire of our battery 
 was so effective as to completely silence theirs, and 
 
104 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 the rapid advance of our column put them to flight 
 over the mountains in great confusion. 
 
 Capt. Thompson of the ist dragoons, acted as 
 my aid and adviser on the field during the whole en 
 gagement, and was of the most essential service to 
 me. Also, Lieut. Wooster, of the U. S. army, who 
 acted very cooly and gallantly. Major Campbell, 
 of Springfield, Missouri, also acted as a volunteer 
 aid during part of the time, but left me and joined 
 Capt. Reid in his gallant charge. Thus ended the 
 battle of Sacramento. The force of the enemy was 
 1,200 cavalry from Durango and Chihuahua, with 
 the Vera Cruz dragoons, and 1,200 infantry from 
 Chihuahua, 300 artillerists, and 1,420 rancheros, 
 badly armed with lassos, lances, machetes or corn 
 knives, ten pieces of artillery, 2 nine, 4 eight and 2 
 four pounders, and 6 culverins, or rampart pieces. 
 Their forces were commanded by Major-general 
 Hendea, general of Durango, Cliihuahua, Sonora, 
 and New Mexico ; Brigadier-general Justiniani ; 
 Brigadier-general Gracia Conde, formerly minister 
 of war for the republic of Mexico, who is a scienti 
 fic man. and planned this whole field of defence; 
 Gen. Uguarte, and Governor Trias, who acted as 
 brigadier general on the field, and colonels and 
 other officers without number. 
 
 Our force was nine hundred and twenty-four 
 effective men, at least one hundred of whom were 
 engaged in holding horses and driving teams. 
 
 The loss of the enemy was his entire artillery, 
 20 wagons, masses of beans and pinola, and other 
 Mexican provisions, about three hundred killed and 
 the same number wounded, many of whom have 
 since died, and forty prisoners. 
 
 The field was literally covered with the dead 
 and wounded from our artillery, and the unerring 
 fire of our riflemen. Night put a stop to the car- 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 105 
 
 nage, the battle having commenced about three 
 o'clock. Our loss was one killed, one mortally 
 wounded, and seven so wounded as to recover 
 without the loss of limbs. I cannot speak too 
 highly of the coolness, gallantry, and bravery of 
 the officers and men under my command. 
 
 I was ably sustained by the field officers, Lieu 
 tenant-colonels Mitchell and Jackson, of the 1st 
 battalion, and Major Gilpin of the 2nd battalion ; 
 and Major Clark and his artillery acted nobly and 
 did the most effective service in every part of the 
 field. It is abundantly shown, in the charge made 
 by Capt. Weightman with the section of howitzers, 
 that they can be used in any charge of cavalry with 
 great effect. Much has been said, and justly, of 
 the gallantry of our artillery, unlimbering within 
 two hundred and fifty yards of the enemy at Palo 
 Alto ; but how much more daring was the charge of 
 Capt. Weightman, when he unlimbered within fifty 
 yards of the redoubts of the enemy. 
 
 On the first day of March we took formal pos 
 session of the capital of Chihuahua in the name of 
 our government. We were ordered by Gen. Kearny 
 to report to Gen. Wool at this place ; since our arri 
 val we hear he is at Saltillo, surrounded by the 
 enemy. Our present purpose is either to force our 
 way to him, or return by Bexar ; as our term of 
 service expires on the last day of May next. 
 
 I have the honor to be your obedient servant, 
 A. W. DONIPHAN, Col. ist Regt. Mo. Vol. 
 R. Jones, Adjt, Gen. U. S. A. 
 
 Major Clark's Report. 
 
 On the morning after the engagement Major 
 Clark, in reporting to Col. Doniphan the conduct of 
 
106 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXCAN WAR. 
 
 the troops under his command, holds the following 
 language : 
 
 Capt. Weightman charged at full gallop upon 
 the enemy's left, proceded by Capt. Reid and his 
 company of horses, and after crossing a ravine of 
 some hundred and fifty yards from the enemy, he 
 unlimbered the guns within fifty yards of the in- 
 trenchments, and opened a destructive fire of can- 
 nister into their ranks, which was warmly returned, 
 but without effect. Capt. Weightman again ad 
 vanced upon the intrenchment passing through it 
 in the face of the enemy, and within a few feet of the 
 ditches, and in the midst of cross-fires from three 
 directions, again opened his fire to the right and left 
 with such effect, that with the formidable charge 
 of the cavalry and mounted men of your own regi 
 ment and Lieutenant-colonel Mitchell's escort, the 
 enemy were driven from their breastworks on their 
 right in great confusion. At this time under a 
 heavy cross-fire from the battery of four six poun 
 ders, under Lieuts. Dorn, Kribbin, and Labeaume, 
 upon the enemy's right, supported by Maj. Gilpin on 
 the left, and the wagon train escorted by two com 
 panies of infantry under Qapts. E. F. Glasgow and 
 Skillman in the rear, Major Gilpin charged upon 
 the enemy's center and forced him from his in- 
 trenchments under a heavy fire of artillery and small 
 arms. At this same time the fire of our own bat 
 tery was opened upon the enemy's extreme right, 
 from which a continual fire had been keept up upon 
 our line and the wagon train. Two of the enemy's 
 guns were now dismounted on the right, that bat 
 tery silenced and the enemy dislodged from the re 
 doubts on the Cerro Frigolis. Preceiving a body 
 of lancers forming, for the purpose of outflanking 
 our left, and attacking the merchant trains under 
 Capts, Glasgow and Skillman, I again opened upon 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXCAN WAR. 107 
 
 them a very destructive fire of grape and spherical 
 case shot, which soon cleared the left of our line, 
 The enemy vacating his intrenchments and deserting 
 his guns, was hotly pursued toward the mountains 
 beyond Cerro Frigolis, and down Arroyo Secco la 
 Sacramento by both wings of the army under Lieu 
 tenant-colonel Mitchell, Lieutenant-colonel Jackson 
 and Major Gilpin and by Capt. Weightman, with 
 the section of the howitzers. During this pursuit 
 my officers repeatedly opened their fire upon the re 
 treating enemy with great effect. To cover this 
 flight of the enemy's forces from the entrenched 
 camp, the heaviest of his cannon had been taken 
 from the entrenchment to Cerro Sacramento, and 
 a heavy fire opened upon our pursuing forces and 
 the wagons following in the rear. To silence this 
 battery I had the honor to anticipate your order to 
 that effect by at once occupying the nearest of the 
 enemy's entrenchments, twelve hundred and twenty- 
 five yards distance, and not withstanding the ele 
 vated position of the Mexican battery, giving him 
 a plunging fire into my entrenchment, which was 
 not defiladed, and the greater range of his long 
 nine pounders, the first fire of our guns dismounted 
 one of his largest pieces, and the fire was kept up 
 with such briskness and such precision of aim, that 
 the battery was soon silenced and the enemy seen 
 precipitately retreating. The fire was then con 
 tinued upon the rancho Sacramento, and the enemy's 
 ammunition train, retreating upon the road to Chi 
 huahua. By their fire the house and several wagons 
 were rendered untenable and useless. By this time 
 Lieutenant-colonel had scaled the hill, followed by 
 the section of howitzers under Capt. Weightman, 
 and the last portion of the Mexican forces were 
 taken possession of by our troops ; thus leaving the 
 American forces master of the field. 
 
108 NCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 Col. Doniphan's Proclamation. 
 
 Col. Doniphan, now having actual possession 
 of the city of Chihuahua, and virtually possession of 
 the State; having quartered his soldiers in the pub 
 lic buildings near the plaza, and other houses va 
 cated by the families who fled at his approach ; 
 having stationed- his artillery in a manner to com 
 mand the streets and other avenues leading into the 
 square, for the perfect defence of the capital; hav 
 ing sent the Prefecto of the city to the battle-field 
 with a number of Mexicans to bury their dead; 
 and having set the curate, Ortiz, and the other hos 
 tages at liberty, issued the following proclamation 
 to the inhabitants of Chihuahua : 
 
 "The commander of the North American 
 forces in Chihuahua, informs the citizens of this 
 State, that he has taken military possession of this 
 capital, and has the satisfaction to assure them that 
 complete tranquillity therein. 
 
 He invites all the citizens to return to their 
 houses and continue their ordinary occupations, 
 under the security that their persons, religion and 
 property shall be respected. 
 
 He declares, likewise, in the name of his gov 
 ernment, that having taken possession of the capi 
 tal, after conquering the forces of the State, he has 
 equally taken possession of the State. 
 
 He invites the citizens of all the towns and ran- 
 chos, to continue their traffic, to come to this capi 
 tal to buy and sell as formerly before the late oc 
 currences, under the assurance that they shall in 
 no manner be molested or troubled, and as already 
 said, their property shall be respected; for if the 
 troops in his command should stand in need of any 
 thing, a fair price shall be given for the value there 
 of with the utmost punctuality. 
 
 He likewise declares, that the American troops 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 109 
 
 will punish with prompitude, any excess that may 
 be committed, whether it be by the barbarous In 
 dians or any other individual. 
 
 Lastly, we assure all good citizens, that we 
 carry on war against the armies alone, and not 
 against individual citizens who are unarmed. 
 
 We, therefore, only exact, not that any Mexi 
 can shall assist us against his country, but in the 
 present war he remains neutral; for it cannot be 
 expected in a contrary event, that we shall respect 
 the rights of those who take up arms against our 
 lives." 
 
 Preceding the battle of Sacramento, the 
 American residents and merchants in Chihuahua, 
 of whom there were tiut thirty, received ill treatment 
 from the Mexican populace. Indignities and in 
 sults were offered them. They were mostly kept 
 in custody, and not permitted to pass without the 
 limits of the city. They were tauntingly told that 
 when Col. Doniphan and his handful of men ar 
 rived there, they would be hand-cuffed and deliver 
 ed over to the populace, to be dealt with as their cap 
 rices should suggest, and their humor prompt them. 
 They even exulted in anticipation of the tortures 
 and the cruelties they meant to inflict upon the "pre 
 sumptuous northern invaders." 
 
 Col. Doniphan's Letter. 
 
 The following letter was written by Col. Doni 
 phan to Maj. Ryland, of Lexington, Mo.: 
 
 Dear Major: How often have I again and 
 again determined to send you my hearty curses of 
 everything Mexican? But, then I knew that you 
 had seen the sterile and miserable country, and its 
 description would be of course, no novelty to you. 
 
110 NCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 To give you, however, a brief outline of our move 
 ments, I have to say, that we have marched to Santa 
 Fe, by Rent's Fort; thence through the country of 
 the Navajo Indians to the waters of the Pacific 
 ocean; down the San Juan river, the Rio Colorado 
 and the Gila, back again to the Rio del Norte ; across 
 the Jornada del Muerto to Brazito, where we fought 
 the battle of which you have doubtless seen the ac 
 count; thence to the town of El Paso del Norte, 
 which was taken by us ; thence across two other 
 Jordanas, and fought the battle of the Sacramento, 
 and have sent you herewith a copy of my official re 
 port of the same. We are now in the beautiful city 
 of Chihuahua, and myself in the palace of Gover 
 nor Trias. 
 
 My orders are to report to Gen. Wool; but I 
 now learn, that instead of taking the city of Chi 
 huahua, he is shut up at Saltillo, by Santa Anna. 
 Our position will be ticklish, if Santa Anna should 
 compell Taylor and Wool even to fall back. All 
 Durango, Zacatecas and Chihuahua will be down 
 upon our little army. We are out of reach of help, 
 and it would be as unsafe to go backwards as for- 
 wards. High spirits and a bold front, is perhaps 
 the best and the safest policy. My men are rough, 
 ragged, and ready, having one more of the R's 
 than Gen. Taylor himself. We have been in ser 
 vice nine months, and my men, after marching two 
 thousand miles over mountains and deserts, have 
 not received one dollar of their pay, yet they stand it 
 without murmuring. Half rations, hard marches, 
 and no clothes ; but they are still game to the last, 
 and curse and praise their country by turns, but 
 fight for her all the time. 
 
 No troops could have behaved more gallantly 
 than ours in the battle of Sacramento. When we 
 approached the enemy, their number and position 
 would have deterred any troops less brave or de- 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. Ill 
 
 termined, from the attack ; but as I rode from rank 
 to rank, I could see nothing but the stern resolve 
 to conquer or die; there was no trepidation, and 
 no pale faces. I cannot discriminate between com 
 panies or individuals ; all have done their duty and 
 have done it nobly. 
 
 Col. Doniphan's Report to Gen. Wool. 
 
 Col. Doniphan had been ordered by Gen. Kear 
 ney, to report to Brigadier-general Wool at Chihua 
 hua. Instead of finding Gen. Wool in possession 
 of that capital as anticipated, he now had informa 
 tion that both he and Gen. Taylor were shut up at 
 Saltillo, and hotly beleaguered by Santa Anna, with 
 an overwhelming force. Notwithstanding this 
 state of affairs, Col. Doniphan felt it his duty to re 
 port to Gen. Wool, wherever he might be found, and 
 afford him whatever succor might be in his power. 
 Therefore on the 2Oth he dispatched an express to 
 Saltillo, bearing communications to Gen. Wool. 
 Besides a copy of his official report of the Battle of 
 Sacramento, was the following dispatch : 
 
 Headquarters of the Army in Chihuahua. 
 
 City of Chihuahua, March 20, 1847. 
 Sir : The forces under my command are a por 
 tion of the Missouri volunteers, called into service 
 for the purpose of invading New Mexico, under the 
 command of Brigadier-general (then colonel) Kear 
 ney. After the conquest of New Mexico, and be 
 fore Gen. Kearney's departure for California, in 
 formation was received that another regiment and 
 extra battalion of Missouri volunteers would follow 
 us to Santa Fe. The service of so large a force 
 being wholy unnecessary in that State, I prevailed 
 on General Kearney to order my regiment to report 
 to you at this city. The order was given on the 
 
112 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 23rd of September, 1846, but after the General had 
 arrived at La Joya, in the southern part of the State, 
 he issued an order requiring my regiment to make 
 a campaign into the country inhabited by the Navajo 
 Indians, lying between the waters of the Rio del 
 Norte, and the Rio Colorado of the west. The cam 
 paign detained me until the I4th of December, be 
 fore our return to the Del Norte with about eight 
 hundred riflemen. All communications between 
 Chihuahua and New Mexico was entirely prevented. 
 On the 25th of December, 1846, my van-guard was 
 attacked at Brazito by the Mexican forces from this 
 State; our force was about four hundred and fifty, 
 and the force of the enemy, eleven hundred ; the en 
 gagement lasted about forty minutes, when the 
 enemy fled, leaving sixty-three killed and since dead, 
 one hundred and fifty wounded, and one howitzer, 
 the only piece of artillery in the engagement on 
 either side. On the 27th we entered El Paso with 
 out further opposition ; from the prisoners and 
 others I learned that you had not marched upon this 
 State. I then determined to order a battery and one 
 hundred artillerists from New Mexico. They ar 
 rived at El Paso about the 5th of February, when 
 we took up the line of march for this place. A copy 
 of my official report at the battle of Sacramento, 
 enclosed to you, will show you all our subsequent 
 movements up to our taking military possession of 
 this capital. The day of my arrival, I had deter 
 mined to send an express to you forthwith ; but the 
 whole intermediate country was in the hands of the 
 enemy, and we were cut off, and had been for many 
 months, from all information respecting the Ameri 
 can Army. Mexican reports are never to be fully 
 credited ; yet, from all we can learn, we did not doubt 
 that you would be forced by overwhelming numbers 
 to abandon Saltillo, and of course we would send no 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 113 
 
 express under such circumstances. On yesterday 
 we received the first even tollerably reliable infor 
 mation, that a battle had been fought near Saltillo 
 between the American and Mexican forces, and that 
 Santa Anna had probably fallen back on San Louis 
 de Potosi. 
 
 My position here is extremely embarrassing. 
 In the first place, most of the men under my com 
 mand have been in service since the ist of June, have 
 never received one cent of pay. Their marches have 
 been hard, especially in the Navajo country, and 
 no forage ; so that they are literally without horses, 
 clothes or money, having nothing but arms and dis 
 position to use them. They are all volunteers, of 
 ficers and men, and although ready for any hardship 
 or danger, are wholly unfit to garrison a town or 
 city. "It is confusion worse confounded." Having 
 performed a march of more than two thousand 
 miles, and their term of service rapidly expiring, 
 they are restless to join the army under your com 
 mand. Still we cannot leave this point safely for 
 some days the American merchants here oppose 
 it violently, and have several hundred thousand dol 
 lars at stake. They have sent me a memorial, and 
 my determination has been made known to them. 
 A copy of both they will send you. Of one thing it 
 is necessary to inform you : the merchants admit 
 that their goods could not be sold here in five years ; 
 if they go south they will be as near the markets 
 of Durango and Zacatecas as they now are. I am 
 anxious and willing to protect the merchants as far 
 as practicable ; but I protest against remaining here 
 as a mere wagon-guard, to garrison a city with 
 troops wholly unfit for it, and who will be soon ruin 
 ed by improper indulgences. Having been originally 
 ordered to this point, you know the wishes of the 
 government in relation to it, and of course your or 
 ders will be promptly and cheerfully obeyed. I 
 
114 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 fear there is ample use for us with you, and we 
 would greatly prefer joining you before our term of 
 service expires. 
 
 All information relative to my previous opera 
 tions, present conditions, &c., will be given you by 
 Mr. J. Collins, the bearer of dispatches. He is a 
 highly honorable gentleman, and was an amateur 
 soldier at Sacramento. Very respectfully your 
 obedient servant, 
 
 A. W. DONIPHAN, 
 Col. ist Regiment Missouri Cavalry. 
 Brigadier-general Wool, U. S. Army. 
 
 Off For Saltillo. 
 
 It was Colonel Doniphan's intention, when he 
 dispatched the express to Saltillo, to move his for 
 ces to San Pablo, in the valley of the Conchos, or to 
 Santa Rosalia, according as he might find forage, 
 leaving only such a garrison in Chihuahua as would 
 be sufficient to afford protection to the American 
 merchants. 
 
 Conformably to his designs, on the 5th of April, 
 the 2nd battalion, under Major Gilpin, and the bat 
 talion of artillery, under Major Clark, (which now 
 consisted of two companies commanded by Weight- 
 man and Hudson, the latter having charge of the 
 Mexican pieces,) were ordered to proceed to San 
 Pablo. The ist battalion, under Lieutenant-colonel 
 Jackson, was soon to succeed them. On the Qth, 
 however, Colonel Doniphan, while at San Pablo, 
 received a communication from Hicks, an American 
 at Parral, advising him that a strong Mexican force 
 was on the march from Durango to Chihuahua, to 
 recover the capital, and seize the goods of the 
 American merchants. Col. Doniphan, not suspect 
 ing but such a project was in contemplation, from 
 
INCDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 115 
 
 the rumors and statements which had come to him, 
 determined to return and hold possession of the capi 
 tal, until he should hear from Gen. Wool. Jack 
 son's battalion did not leave the city. 
 
 "For fifty-nine days," observed an intelligent 
 volunteer, "we held full and undisturbed possession 
 of the city, keeping up strict discipline with a con 
 stant guard, and a patrol during the whole night, 
 visiting every part of the city. Various rumors 
 were afloat of the intended march of the enemy, to 
 attack us, and sometimes report said, that there 
 were several thousand on the road ; but it is certain, 
 that if we had remained in the place until this day, 
 they never would have approached it, with any 
 force, less than eight or ten thousand; and, having 
 the advantage of the houses and walls, a less number 
 could have never driven us from the city. The 
 rights of citizens there, as in every other place, were 
 duly respected; and their conduct after our depart 
 ure shows, that this treatment was not lost upon 
 them ; for several traders who remained there, were 
 well treated and there rights duly regarded." 
 
 Every preparation having been completed by 
 the indefatigable exertions of the quartermaster, and 
 officers of subsistance, which was necessary for the 
 long and arduous march to Saltillo, a distance of 
 six hundred and seventy-five miles, through the arid 
 and desolate country, the battalion and artillery com 
 menced the march on the 25th of April, and was 
 succeeded on the following day by the first battalion. 
 These were to await the rear, and the merchants and 
 baggage trains, at Santa Rosalia, one hundred and 
 twenty miles from Chihuahua. 
 
 On the morning of the 28th, a scene of the most 
 busy and animating nature ensued. The Americans 
 were actively engaged in hastening preparations for 
 their departure. The Mexicans, with their serapes 
 thrown around them, were standing at the corners 
 
113 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 of the streets in groups, speculating as to the future. 
 The long trains of baggage and provision wagons 
 were stretching out toward the south. Part of the 
 merchant trains were moving off in the direction of 
 New Mexico, taking with them little, however, ex 
 cept their specie, or bullion. The 2nd battalion with 
 colors thrown to the breeze, was anxiously awaiting 
 the order to march. 
 
 More of Cupid's Work. 
 
 Certain of the fair Mexican girls, who had con 
 ceived an unconquerable attachment for some favor 
 ite paramour of the Anglo-saxon race, with blue 
 eyes and fair hair, dressed in the habit of Mexican 
 youths, were gaily dashing through the streets on 
 their curveting steeds. They accompanied their 
 lovers on the march to Saltillo, and bivouacked with 
 them on the deserts. 
 
 About ten o'clock, Col. Doniphan, having de 
 livered over to the city authorities the Mexican pris 
 oners, captured at Sacramento, to be disposed of 
 by them as deemed advisable for the public good, 
 quietly evacuated the capital, leaving the govern 
 ment in the hands of its former rulers. About ten 
 American merchants remained, and trusted their 
 lives to the "magnanimous Mexican people." These 
 were chiefly such men as had great knowledge of 
 the Mexican customs and language, and had taken 
 the oatri of allegiance to that government. The 
 magnificent, architectural beauty of the city, was 
 left wholly unimpaired, and the property of the citi 
 zens uninjured. 
 
 Colonel Doniphan, by unparalleled marches, 
 overtook the advance at Santa Rosalia, on the ist 
 of May, having in four days passed Bachimbo, Santa 
 Cruz, Soucillo, and completed one hundred and 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 117 
 
 twenty miles. Santa Rosalia contained about five 
 thousand inhabitants, and is situated at the junction 
 of the Conchos and Florida rivers. Here the Mexi 
 can forces under Gen. Heredia had thrown up a line 
 of fortifications, entirely surrounding the city, ex 
 cept where the rivers and bluffs were impassable, 
 strengthened by an almost impregnable fortress. 
 On the outside of the embankments were intrench- 
 ments, impassable by cavalry. These embankments 
 were also strengthened by numerous bastions, in 
 which cannon were to be employed. 
 
 Some assert that these fortifications were 
 thrown up to defend the place against Gen. Wool, 
 who was expected to pass that way on his march 
 upon Chihuahua. Others aver that it was the in 
 tention of the Mexicans, if defeated at Sacramento, 
 to remove their public archives, and all their muni 
 tions of war, into this strong hold, and there make 
 a desperate stand : but that losing all their cannon 
 and means of defence in the action of the 28th, they 
 abandoned their purpose. It is true, however, that 
 extensive preparations had been made to defend the 
 city against an invading army. 
 
 On the 2nd, Lieutenant-colonel Mitchell, with 
 a detatchment of twenty-six men under Capt. Pike, 
 of the Arkansas cavalry, and seventy men under 
 Capt. Reid, left the main body of the army, and 
 proceeded in advance to Parras, a distance of near 
 five hundred miles. The movements of the main 
 column, however, \vere so rapid that the pioneer 
 party, in case of a sudden emergency, could have 
 fallen back upon it for support. The object of this 
 reconnoitering party was to obtain the earliest in 
 formation of either a covert or open enemy, who 
 might meditate an attack upon the trains, or seize 
 upon some favorable moment to surprise the army ; 
 and also to procure at Parras such supplies as might 
 be necessarv for the use of the men and animals. 
 
118 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 After a hasty march of sixty miles in two days 
 we came to Guajuqilla, on the Rio Florida, contain 
 ing an industrious and agricultural population, where 
 we obtained an abundance of forage. Here, also, 
 the soldiers purchased chickens, pigs, cheese, eggs, 
 bread, wine, and a variety of vegetables. 
 
 At this place there are a great number of beauti 
 ful canals, which convey the most lovely and de 
 lightful streams of water through the whole town 
 and neighboring fields and gardens. The fields of 
 green wheat and garden shrubbery, the quivering 
 leaves of alamos, and the rippling streams of cool, 
 transparent water, seemed to invite the war-worn 
 soldiers to linger amidst the charming scene, and 
 even awaken in his mind thoughts of home, and the 
 green bowers of his native country. This valley, 
 if properly cultivated, would yield a support for a 
 dense population. The soil is fertile, and the nature 
 of the ground is such that it is susceptible of com 
 plete irrigation. 
 
 Early the next day the commander moved his 
 forces up the river about six miles, to the Hacienda 
 Dolores. He allowed them a short respite, ordered 
 them to prepare provisions, and fill their canteens 
 with water before commencing the march over the 
 desert, upon which they were now to enter. This 
 desert is seventy-five miles over, extending to the 
 Santa Bernada spring; and the road is terrible by 
 reasons of the dust. The troops having taken a 
 few hours rest, and a little refreshment, launched 
 out in long files upon the Jornada, followed by all 
 the baggage, provision, and merchant trains, a great 
 cloud of dust hanging heavily and gloomily along 
 the line of march. 
 
 After sunset a sullen and lowering cloud arose 
 in the south-west, heavily charged with electric fluid 
 and with frequent flashes of lightning, and hoarse 
 distant thunder, swept majestically over the rocky 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 119 
 
 summits of the detached mountains, which every 
 where traverse the elevated plains of Mexico. 
 Heavy, gloomy, pitchy darkness enveloped the earth. 
 The road could only be seen, when revealed by a 
 sudden flash of lightning. The pennons continued 
 to stream and flutter in the wild gales of the desert. 
 These, together with the rising clouds of dust, 
 served as guides to the soldiers in the rear. The ar 
 tillery rumbled over the rocks, and the fire sparkled 
 beneath the wheels. At length heavy sleep and fa 
 tigue oppressed many; but the night march on the 
 desert was still continued. It was folly to halt for 
 no water could be obtained. . The soldiers were 
 greatly wearied ; some of them almost fell from their 
 horses. Some dropped their arms, and were neces 
 sitated to search for them, while the rest marched 
 by, wagged their heads, and made sport and laugh 
 ter. Some straggled off and lay down upon the 
 desert, overpowered by sleep. Some, gifted with a 
 richer fund of wit, a finer flow of spirits, a nobler 
 store of mental treasure, and more physical endur 
 ance, sang Yankee Doodle, love songs, and relate^ 
 stories to the groups that gathered around, as it 
 were, to extract one spark of life to aid them on the 
 march. About midnight a halt was ordered. The 
 tired and sleepy soldiers tethered their animals, and 
 lay down in the dark promiscuously, on the desert, 
 wherever they chanced to find a smooth spot ot 
 earth. They took no supper that night. 
 
 The Plague of Lizards. 
 
 There are a great many lizards in Chihuahua 
 and Durango, and it appeared as if the desert was 
 their headquarters ; for they crept into the men's 
 blankets and bedding and annoyed them greatly 
 while sleeping. Suddenly aroused from slumber 
 
190 NCIDSNTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 by these slimy companions, the soldiers would some 
 times shake their blankets, toss the scorpions and 
 lizards, and alacrans, upon their sleeping neighbors, 
 exclaiming angrily, "d n the scorpion family." 
 The others, half overpowered by sleep, would sul 
 lenly articulate, "don't throw your d n lizards 
 here." Thus they lay, more anxious to obtain a 
 little slumber, then to escape a swarm of these re 
 pulsive reptiles. 
 
 A Terrible .Experience. 
 
 The march was commenced early the next 
 morning. The dust was absolutely intolerable. 
 The soldiers could not march in lines. They were 
 now already become thirsty, and it was yet forty 
 miles to water. The dust rilled their mouths, and 
 nostrils, and eyes, and covered them completely. 
 They were much distressed during the whole day. 
 Many of them became faint, and their tongues swol 
 len. The horses, and often the stubborn and re 
 fractory mules, would fail in the sand, and neither 
 the spur nor the point of the sabre was sufficient to 
 stimulate them. Sometimes the volunteer, boiling 
 with ire, would dismount and attempt to drag the 
 sullen mule along by the lariat. How earnestly 
 he then desired once more to be in the land of the 
 gushing fountains, verdant groves, rail roads, steam 
 boats and telegraph wires . 
 
 The teamsters, and those with the artillery, and 
 the animals, suffered extremely. But they endured 
 it all with patience. After suffering every hardship, 
 privation and distress by marching, with men most 
 necessarily experienced in passing such a desert, 
 they arrived at the spring, Santa Bernada, at sun 
 set. Here is a grove of willows and alamos. These 
 afford a pleasant shade. There is also at this place 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN \VAR. 121 
 
 a copious gushing spring, which furnished an abun 
 dance of water for the men and animals. This spot 
 with its groves and springs, disrobed of all poetry, 
 proved in reality to be an oasis, a smiling, inviting 
 retreat in a desert, desolate, treeless waste of sand, 
 rocks and naked mountains. Here the soldiers took 
 rest and repose. 
 
 On the sixth of May the army advanced into 
 the state of Durango, at the Cerro Gordo. This 
 river terminates in Laguna de Xacco. The follow 
 ing day we arrived at the outpost, Palayo, where 
 our advance had the previous day taken some horses 
 and a few Mexican soldiers. This small military 
 station was about one league from the town of Jar- 
 rilito. Since 1835 the Indians had encroached up 
 on the frontiers of Mexico and laid waste many 
 flourishing settlements, waging predatory warfare, 
 and leading women and children into captivity: In 
 fact the whole of Mexico was a frontier. An ele 
 vated Table Plain extends from the Gulf of Mexico 
 to the foot of the Cordilleras, intersecting by in 
 numerable ranges of mountains, and clustering, 
 isolated and conical-shaped peaks, which were in 
 fested by bands of savages, and still fiercer Mexican 
 banditti. No effort of the Mexican government had 
 been able to suppress and oust these ruthless invad 
 ers of the country. 
 
 Excusable Foraging. 
 
 At Palayo some of the men killed a few beeves, 
 pigs and chickens, belonging to the Mexicans, and 
 feasted upon them at night. There was much to 
 palliate this offence. The regiment had been 
 marched at the rate of thirty-five or forty miles per 
 day, over a dusty, desert country, almost entirely 
 destitute of water. Most of the men had not had 
 
122 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 a pound of meat for the last three days. Besides 
 the exigency of the case, the State of Durango was 
 at that very moment in arms against us. Would the 
 most scrupulously moral man denounce his son as 
 a thief and a robber, because after traveling more 
 than three thousand miles by land, and having spent 
 the last cent of his slender resources for bread, cold 
 ly neglected by his government, he found it neces 
 sary to kill an ox or pig to satisfy hunger, or should 
 think proper to mount himself on a Mexican horse, 
 in a country which the prowess of his own arm had 
 been instrumental in subduing? It is one thing for 
 the philosopher to sit in his studio and spin out hi3 
 finely drawn metaphysical doctrines, and another, 
 and entirely different thing, to put them in practice 
 under very adverse circumstances. What is most 
 beautiful in theory, is not always wise in practice. 
 
 Good News Is Received. 
 
 On the 8th the command reached the Hacienda 
 Cadenas, twenty-four miles from Palayo. Here we 
 obtained the information of Gen. Scott's great vic 
 tory at Cerro Gordo. At such welcome tidings a 
 thrilling sensation of joy prevaded our camp. 
 Here we took possession of another piece of cannon, 
 which, although well mounted, Col. Doniphan re 
 stored to the inhabitants. On the gth a march of 
 twenty-two miles brought us to the city of Mapimi, 
 which had steadily manifested the greatest hostility 
 to the Americans. This was a mining town. It 
 had five furnaces for smelting silver ore, and one 
 for smelting lead ore. It was one of the richest 
 towns in the State, excepting the capital. The 
 Mexican forces, three thousand strong, fled from 
 Mapimi and Durango upon our approach, and left 
 the state completely in our power, had Gen. Wool 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 123 
 
 but permitted us to visit the capital. General Here- 
 dia, and Governor Ochoa, of Durango, wrote to 
 Santa Anna to send them twenty pieces of cannon 
 and five thousand regular troops, or the state of 
 Durango would immediately fall into the hands of 
 Col. Doniphan's regiment, if he saw proper to direct 
 his march against it. Upon our arrival at Mapimi 
 we obtained more certain intelligence of the victory 
 of the American forces over the Mexicans at Cerro 
 Gordo, in honor of which a national salute of 
 twenty-eight guns were fired by Weightman's bat 
 tery. Here, also, a copy of Gov. Ochoa's procla 
 mation was found, in which he earnestly exhorted 
 the inhabitants of Durango never to cease warring 
 until they had repelled the "North American inva 
 ders" from the soil of Mexico. 
 
 This day's march had been excessively hot and 
 suffocating, and extremely severe upon the sick. 
 Just before reaching Mapimi, 2nd Lieutenant Steph 
 en Jackson, of Howard, died of an inveterate attack 
 of typhoid fever. Lieutenant Jackson was taken ilJ 
 in the Navajo country, and had never entirely re 
 covered. He was not at the Battle of Brazito, be- 
 ine at that time sick in Saccorro ; but he afterwards 
 fought with great bravery in the more important 
 action at Sacramento. His corpse was interred (on 
 Sunday the Qth) with appropriate military honors. 
 Also, the priest of Mapimi in his robes, with the 
 Bible in his hands, and three boys dressed in white 
 pelisses, two of them bearing torches, and the third 
 in the center with a crucifix reared upon a staff, 
 proceeded the bier, first to the Catholic church, and 
 then to the grave, at both of which places the Catho 
 lic ceremonies were performed. 
 
 On the loth we made a powerful march of near 
 forty miles to San Sebastian on the Rio Nazas. The 
 heat and dust were almost insufferable. Don Igna- 
 cio Jermanez, who attemped to capture the express 
 
124 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 men, fled to the city of Durango. The army forag 
 ed upon him for the night, with the promise to pay 
 him with powder and balls at sight. The Rio Nazas 
 is a beautiful stream, full of fish, and empties into 
 the three lakes, Tagualila, Las Abas, and Del Ala 
 mo. During the fatiguing march, two men, King 
 and Ferguson died of sickness, heat and suffoca 
 tion. They were buried at San Sebastian. 
 
 Well Populated Town. 
 
 On the nth the command marched to San 
 Lorenzo, a distance of thirty-five miles, along a 
 heavy dusty road, hedged in by an immense and 
 almost impervious chaparral. The heat was abso 
 lutely oppresive water scarce. In this thick cha 
 parral, Canales, with a band of about four hundred 
 robbers, had concealed himself with the view of 
 cutting off stragglers from our army, and commit 
 ting depredations on our merchant and provision 
 trains. But our method of marching with our ar 
 tillery and one battalion in front and the other bat 
 talion in the rear of the trains and droves of mules, 
 anticipated his premeditated attack. After our ar 
 rival in San Lorenzo, a Mexican courier came to 
 the colonel with news that Canales had made an at 
 tack upon McGofrin's train of wagons, and that Mc- 
 Goffin and his lady were likely to fall into their 
 hands. A detachment of sixty men under Lieut. 
 Gordon was quickly sent to his relief. They antici 
 pated Canales' movement. This little village, San 
 Lorenzo, had an over portion of inhabitants. Every 
 house and hut was crowded with men, boys, women 
 and children. Almost every woman old and young 
 had a child in her arms, and some of them more than 
 one. Whether this superabundance of population 
 was the legitimate effect of the salubrious climate, 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 125 
 
 or was produced by some other circumstances, is 
 left for the reader to consider. The march that day 
 was distressing hot and dusty. A Mr. Mount, of 
 the company from Jackson county, straggled off 
 in the chaparral, and has never since been heard of ; 
 he was doubtless murdered and then robbed by lurk 
 ing Mexicans. 
 
 On the 1 2th early in the morning, the front 
 guard charged and took three Mexican prisoners; 
 they were armed and lurking in the mezquite chap 
 arral near the road, and were doubtless spies sent 
 out by Canales to obtain information of our move 
 ments, but no positive proof appearing against them, 
 they were released. As our animals were much 
 worn down by the previous day's march, and it being 
 impossible to procure forage for them, we only 
 marched 15 miles that day, to the little rancho, San 
 Juan, on a brazo or arm of the Rio Nazas. Here 
 both man and horse fared badly. As our next day's 
 march was to be over a desert region of near forty 
 miles without a drop of water, or even a mouthful 
 of food for our famishing animals ; and also as the 
 water had to be raised from a well into pools and 
 vats at El Poso, where the army was to encamp on 
 the night of the I3th, Lieut. Pope Gordon and fif 
 teen or twenty men were sent at midnight, in 
 advance, to draw water for the use of the army. 
 At 9 a. m., Lieut. Gordon and his advance arrived 
 at El Poso, where he found Capt. Reid, with four 
 teen men. Captain Reid, as elsewhere observed, 
 had accompanied Lieutenant-colonel Mitchell on his 
 way to Saltillo, with a detatchment of seventy or 
 eighty men. 
 
 Rescuing the Captives. 
 
 Upon their arrival at Parras (a city where Gen. 
 eral Wool had taken up his headquarters before he 
 
126 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 formed a junction with General Taylor, and which 
 had been very friendly to the Americans, in the way 
 of furnishing supplies and taken care of Gen. 
 Wool's sick men,) they found the inhabitants in 
 much distress. A band of Comanches had just 
 made descent from the mountains upon the city, 
 and killed eight or ten of the citizens, carried off 
 nineteen girls and boys into captivity, and driven 
 off three hundred mules and two hundred horses. 
 Besides this, they had robbed houses of money, 
 blankets, and the sacred household gods. They 
 besought Capt. Reid to interfere in their behalf; 
 that although they were considered enemies to the 
 Americans, it did not become the magnanimity of 
 the American soldiers to see them robbed and mur 
 dered by a lawless band of savages, the avowed 
 enemies of both the Mexicans and the Americans. 
 Capt. Reid undertook to recover the innocent cap 
 tives and chastise the the brutal savage. This is the 
 occassion of Capt. Reid's being at El Poso on the 
 morning of the I3th. Just as Lieutenant Gordon 
 and Capt. Reid joined their forces, the Indians, 
 about sixty-five in number, made their appearance, 
 advancing upon the hacienda from a canyon or 
 pass in the mountain toward the south. They had 
 all their spoils and captives with them. Their in 
 tention was to water their stock at El Poso, and 
 augment the number of their prisoners and ani 
 mals. Capt. Reid concealed his men (about thirty- 
 five in number) in the hacienda, and sent out Don 
 Manuel Ybarro, a Mexican, and three or four of his 
 servants to decoy the Indians into the hacienda. The 
 feint succeeded. When the Indians came within 
 half a mile, the order was given to charge upon 
 them, which was gallantly and promptly done. 
 Capt. Reid, Lieuts. Gordon, Winson and Sproule, 
 were the officers present in this engagement, all of 
 whom behaved very gallantly. The Indians fought 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 127 
 
 with desperation for their rich spoils. Many in 
 stances of individual prowess and daring were ex 
 hibited by Capt. Reid and his men, too numerous, 
 indeed, to recount in detail; the captain himself, in 
 a daring charge upon the savages, received two 
 severe wounds, one in the face and the other in the 
 shoulder. These wounds were both produced by 
 steel pointed arrows. This engagement lasted not 
 less than two hours, and was kept up hotly until the 
 Indians made good their retreat to the mountains. 
 In the skirmish we lost none. The Indians lost 
 seventeen on the field and not less than twenty-five 
 badly wounded, among the former was the Chief or 
 Sachem. We recovered in this battle all the ani 
 mals and spoils which the Indians had taken from 
 the Mexicans, and restored the captive boys and 
 girls to their friends and relatives. 
 
 Let those whose moral scruples induce them to 
 doubt the propriety of Capt. Reid's brilliant sortie 
 upon the Indians, consider that the Comanches had 
 rarely failed to murder and torture in the most" 
 cruel manner, without discrimination, all Americans 
 who had unfortunately fallen into their hands. 
 The Comanches were our uncompromising enemies. 
 Read the brutal treatment Mrs. Horn and others re 
 ceived of them, and you can but justify Capt. Reid's 
 conduct. In truth he deserves the gratitude of 
 both Mexicans and Americans, for the chastisement 
 he visited upon the heads of those barbarous 
 wretches. The people of Parras expressed their 
 gratitude to Capt. Reid and his men in the follow 
 ing handsome and complimentary terms : 
 
 Letter of thanks from the people of Parras to 
 Captain John W. Reed, and his men, after the bat 
 tle of Posso, translated by Capt. David Waldo. 
 
128 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 Political Head of the Department of P arras. 
 
 At the first notice that the Indians, after having 
 murdered many of our citizens and taken others cap 
 tives, were returning to their homes through this 
 vicinity, you, most generously and gallantly, with 
 fifteen of your countrymen, to combat them at the 
 Poso, which you most bravely executed with celer 
 ity* skill, and heroism, and worthy of all encomium, 
 meriting your brilliant success, which we shall ever 
 commemorate. You retook many animals, and 
 other property which had been captured, and libera 
 ted eighteen captives, who by your gallantry and 
 and good conduct have been restored to their fami 
 lies and homes, giving you the most hearty and cor 
 dial thanks, even feeling grateful to you as their 
 liberator from a life of ignominy and thraldom, 
 with the deep gratitude the whole population of 
 this place entertain in ever living thanks. One half 
 of the Indians being killed in the combat, and many 
 flying badly wounded, does not quiet the pain that 
 all of us feel for the wound that you received in 
 rescuing Christian beings from the cruelty of the 
 most inhuman savages. 
 
 All of us hope that you may soon recover of 
 your wound, and though they know that the noblest 
 reward of the gallant soul is to have done well for 
 his country, yet they cannot forego this expression 
 of their gratitude. 
 
 I consider it a high honor to be the organ of 
 their will in conveying to you the general feeling 
 of the people of the place ; and I pray you to accept 
 the assurance of my high respect. God and Liberty. 
 
 DON IGNACIO ARRABE. 
 Parras, i8th May, 1847. 
 
 On the evening of the I4th of May the army 
 reached the delightful city of Parras, handsomely 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 129 
 
 situated at the northern base of .a lofty range of 
 mountains running east and west, after having per 
 formed a fatiguing march of thirty-six miles, 
 without one drop of water, and almost without see 
 ing one sprig of green vegetation, save the pointed 
 maguey, and the bristling cactus. At Parras we 
 found a plentiful supply of good water and forage 
 for our perishing animals. We found Parras in re 
 ality to possess whatever of charm the imagination 
 had thrown around one of the most beautiful of 
 oases. We found a lovely alameda to screen us 
 from the scorching of rays of an almost vertical 
 sun ; besides a variety of fruit to satisfy the eager 
 appetite. Parras was famous for its pretty women, 
 and for the intelligence of its population generally, 
 many of the citizens having received an English 
 education in the United States. The people were 
 much inclined to favor the institutions and govern 
 ment of our country. Don Manuel Ybarro, the 
 proprietor of a large hacienda near Parras, was 
 educated at Bardstown, Ky., and acted a very 
 friendly part toward the American troops. 
 
 A Respite Granted. 
 
 Upon Col. Doniphan's reaching Parras, he re 
 ceived a communication from Gen. Wool, by the 
 hands of Ybarro, in which he was authorized to 
 purchase, on the credit of the United States, such 
 provision and forage as his men and animals re 
 quired; he was also instructed to allow his men 
 such a respite as their condition, after so much toil, 
 and so many distressing marches, seemed to demand 
 and to extend to the intelligent and hospitable citf- 
 zens of Parras kind treatment in reciprocation for 
 their numerous acts of benevolence toward the sick 
 Americans, whom he had been forced to leave at 
 
130 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 that place, upon his forming a junction with Gen. 
 Taylor, at Saltillo. 
 
 Bad Feeling Engendered. 
 
 Though the Missourians manifested the utmost 
 civilty toward the inhabitants of Parras, one incident 
 occurred to mar the general harmony and good 
 feeling which had prevailed. A few disaffected 
 Mexicans fell upon a man, Lickenlighter, in tlie 
 employ of the artillery, and with staves and stones, 
 bruised him so that he subsequently died in Mon 
 terey. This aggravated instance of cruelty, com 
 menced by the Mexicans, excited the artillery-men, 
 and all the Missourians, to such a degree that they 
 fell upon whatever Mexicans exhibited the least 
 insolence, and beat them severly. Some say that 
 two of them were killed, but of this nothing certain 
 is known. Nor were the officers able to restrain the 
 men. Capt. Pike and a portion of the advance un 
 der Lieutenant-colonel Mitchell, having halted at 
 this place, now rejoined the army. 
 
 On the morning of the I7th, the whole force 
 moved off in the direction of Saltillo, and in less than 
 five days having completed more than one hundred 
 miles the Missourians pitched their camp with the 
 Arkansas cavalry, at Encantada, near the battlefield 
 of Buena Vista, where there was an abundant sup 
 ply of cool and delightful water. 
 
 Crosses by the Wayside. 
 
 During this march they passed through a rug 
 ged, mountainous country, almost entirely destitute 
 of vegetation, producing only meziquite chaparral, 
 clusters of dwarfish acacia, Spanish bayonet, ma- 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 131 
 
 guey, and palmilla. This last often grows thirty 
 feet in height, and three feet in diameter, the body 
 of which is sometimes used as timber for the con 
 struction of bridges. On the top of the mountain 
 peaks, and sometimes by the way side, might be seen 
 the cross, the symbol of the national faith, an ob 
 ject of universal reverence, constructed in the rudest 
 and most primitive manner, with a small heap of 
 stones at its foot, and fancifully and reverentially 
 entwined with festoons of wild flowers. This 
 march passed by the Haciendas Ybarro, Cienega 
 Grande, Castanuella, the princely Hacienda de Pa- 
 tos, and the ruins of San Juan, where there was 
 much water. This last place had been destroyed 
 by the Americans. 
 
 A Complimentary Order. 
 
 On the 22nd of May, the regiment was received 
 by Gen. Wool in person, accompanied by his staff, 
 and the following complimentary order made, viz : 
 Headquarters, Buena Vista, 
 May 22nd, 1847. 
 
 The general commanding takes great pleasure 
 in expressing the gratification he has received this 
 afternoon in meeting the Missouri volunteers. 
 They are about to close their present term of mili 
 tary service, after having rendered, in the course of 
 the arduous duties they have been called upon to 
 perform, a series of highly important services, 
 crowned by decisive and glorious victories. 
 
 No troops can point to a more brilliant career 
 than those commanded by Colonel Doniphan; and 
 no one will ever hear of the battle of Brazito or 
 Sacramento, without a feeling of admiration for the 
 men who gained them. 
 
 The State of Missouri has just cause to be 
 proud of the achievements of the men who have re- 
 
132 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 presented her in the army against Mexico, and she 
 will without doubt, receive them on their return 
 with all the joy and satisfaction to which a due ap 
 preciation of their merits and services so justly en 
 titles them. 
 
 In bidding them adieu, the general wishes to 
 Col. Doniphan, his officers and men, a happy return 
 to their families. 
 
 By command of Brig. Gen. Wool : 
 
 Irwin McDowell, A. A. A. Gen. 
 
 On the 23rd the Missourians marched to Gen. 
 Wool's camp, where Capt. Weightman delivered up 
 his battery to Capt. Washington. The Mexican 
 cannon w r hich were captured in the action of Sac 
 ramento, they were permitted to retain as trophies of 
 their victory. These were subsequently presented 
 by Col. Doniphan to the State of Missouri, to be evi 
 dences through all time to come, of the valor, chiv 
 alry and good conduct of the troops under his 
 command. 
 
 The Missouri column, now passing Saltillo, 
 the Grand Canyon of the Rinconada, Santa Catarina 
 and the city of Monterey, arrived at the American 
 camp at the Walnut Springs, on the 26th, having 
 in three days performed a march of seventy miles, 
 during which two brave soldiers, Smith and Smart, 
 died, and was buried with becoming military hon 
 ors. Major-general Taylor, having reviewed the 
 Missouri troops on the morning of the 27th, issued 
 the following order : 
 
 Orders From Major-general Taylor. 
 
 Headquarters of Army of Occupation. 
 Camp near Monterey, May 27, 1847. 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 133 
 
 Col. Doniphan's command of Missouri volun 
 teers will proceed via Camargo, to the mouth of 
 the river, or Brazos island, where it will take water 
 transportation to New Orleans. 
 
 On reaching New Orleans, Col. Doniphan will 
 report to Gen. Brooke, commanding the Western 
 Division, and also to Col. Churchill, inspector gen 
 eral, who will muster the command for discharge 
 and payment. 
 
 At Camergo Col. Doniphan will detatch a suf 
 ficient number of men from each company to con 
 duct the horses and other animals of the command 
 by land to Missouri. The men so detatched will 
 leave necessary papers to enable their pay to be 
 drawn when their companions are discharged at 
 New Orleans. 
 
 The Quartermaster Department will furnish 
 the necessary transportation to carry out the above 
 orders. 
 
 The trophies captured at the battle of Sacra 
 mento, will be conveyed by Col. Doniphan to Miss 
 ouri, and there turned over to the Governor, sub 
 ject to the final disposition of the War Department. 
 
 In thus announcing the arrangements which 
 close the arduous and honorable service of the Mis 
 souri volunteers, the commanding general extends to 
 them his earnest wishes for their prosperity and 
 happiness, and for a safe return to their families 
 and homes. 
 
 By command of Major-general Taylor: 
 
 W. W. Bliss, A. A. A. G. 
 
 When Gen. Taylor received authentic informa 
 tion of the fall of Vera Cruz, the capitulation of 
 the castle of San Juand' Ullua, and the capture of 
 Chihuahua, he published the following order to tfte 
 troops under his command : 
 
134 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 Headquarters, Army of Occupation. 
 Camp near Monterey, April I4th, 1847. 
 
 The commanding general has the satisfaction 
 to announce to the troops, that authentic in 
 formation has been received of the fall of Vera 
 Cruz, and of San Juan de Ullua, which capitulated 
 on the 27th of March to the forces of Major-general 
 Scott. This highly important victory reflects new 
 lustre on the reputation of our arms. 
 
 The commanding general would at the same 
 time, announce another signal success, won by the 
 gallantry of our troops on the 28th of February, 
 near the city of Chihuahua. A column of Missouri 
 volunteers, less than one thousand strong, under 
 the command of Col. Doniphan* with a light field 
 battery, attacked a Mexican force many times 
 superior, in an intrenched position, captured its artil 
 lery and baggage, and defeated it with heavy loss. 
 
 In publishing to the troops the grateful tidings, 
 the general is sure that they will learn, with joy 
 and pride, the triumphs of their comrades on distant 
 fields. 
 
 By order of Major-general Taylor: 
 
 W. W. Bliss, A. A. A G. 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 135 
 
 Departure for New Orleans. 
 
 Having left our sick men at Monterey, after 
 a hasty march of thirty miles on the 26th of May, 
 during which we passed the rivers Agua Fria, and 
 Salinas de Parras, we encamped in the small town, 
 Marin, where there was but little forage, and not the 
 semblance of either green or dry grass. The next 
 day, passing through a country covered almost im 
 pervious mezquite chapparral, and over the ground 
 Gen. Urea's band captured Gen. Taylor's provision 
 train, and barbarously and inhumanly murdered the 
 unarmed teamsters, whose skeletons and half de 
 voured frames still lay scattered promiscuously 
 along the road, over which vultures* dogs and 
 wolves, were yet holding carnival, and having pro 
 gressed thirty-five miles, we encamped at a fine, 
 bold running spring, not far from Cerralvo. 
 
 Guerrilla Chief Executed. 
 
 The next day advancing about seven miles, to 
 Cerralvo, we halted to take some refreshments. 
 Here we witnessed the execution, by the Texan 
 
136 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAE. 
 
 Rangers, of a Mexican guerrilla chief, one of Urea's 
 men, who had been captured the previous night. 
 His captors promised to spare his life upon condi 
 tion that he would reveal to them, where his com 
 rades might be found. He refused to betray them, 
 averring that he had killed many Americans, and he 
 would kill many more if it were in his power. He 
 added : "My life is in the hands of my enemies ; 
 I am prepared to yield it up: only I ask not to be 
 tied, and that I may be allowed to face my execu 
 tioners." Having lighted his cigarrito, with the 
 utmost nonchalance he faced his executioners, (a 
 file of six Texan Rangers,) who were detailed for 
 the purpose. They were ordered to fire. Five 
 balls penetrated the skull of the guerrilla chief. 
 He instantly expired. 
 
 On the 3Oth we encamped in Mien situated on 
 the small river Alcantro, and famous for having 
 been the place where the Texans capitulated to Gen. 
 Ampudia. The next day we reached Camargo, on 
 the San Juan, where we obtained an abundant sup 
 ply of provisions, for this place had been converted 
 into a government depot. This river admits of 
 steamboat navigation. While here one of our com 
 panions, Tharp, who had performed much hard ser 
 vice, died of sickness. He was buried with the 
 honor due a brave soldier. 
 
 On the 1st of June, Major Gilpin, with a 
 small detachment of men started in advance of the 
 column, with the intention of proceeding to Rey- 
 nosa, to engage transportation for the army, by 
 steamboats, thence to the mouth of the Rio Grande. 
 After proceeding a few miles, one of his party, Ser 
 geant Swain, a good soldier, having imprudently 
 straggled on ahead, by himself, was shot by Mexi 
 cans lurking in the chaparral. To avenge his death 
 the party charged as soon as practicable, upon the 
 Mexicans* who were adroitly making their escape, 
 
INCIDENTS CF THE MEXICAN WAR. 137 
 
 and killed one of them. Four others were a short 
 time afterwards, captured by Capt. Walton, with 
 a small detatchment of men, at a neighboring ran- 
 cho, and carried to camp at Upper Reynosa, at 
 which place we found Col. Webb, of the i6th regi 
 ment U. S. army. The prisoners were delivered 
 over to him; but finding no positive evidence that 
 they were the same, who had committed the bloody 
 deed, although one of them had blood on his clothes, 
 they were discharged, and conducted out of camp by 
 a guard. But the company to whom Swain belong 
 ed, were so much enraged that, as it is said, they 
 went out from camp, and killed part of them as soon 
 as dismissed by the guards. Of the truth of this, 
 we are not certainly informed : for those who knew, 
 would not divulge the truth, lest they should be 
 censured by those in command ; but the fire of their 
 guns was distinctly heard. 
 
 The March Continued. 
 
 After resting a few hours and burying the dead 
 the march was continued down the river, through 
 the chaparral all day, and all the following night. 
 At sunrise the advance of the column arrived at 
 Reynosa, where we were greeted by the sight of 
 steam vessels ready to transport us to the Gulf. 
 
 Col. Doniphan, now taking the sick men on 
 board the first transport that could be obtained, 
 proceeded to the mouth of the river, to engage ship 
 ping, as early as practicable, for New Orleans, leav 
 ing Lieutenant-colonel Jackson, Major Gilpin, and 
 Major Clark to provides means of transporting 
 their respective battalions down the river. Certain 
 of the soldiers, impatient of delay, and anxious to 
 get home, censured Col. Doniphan for leaving them 
 at Reynosa, without providing them with immediate 
 
138 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 transportation, but they did not consider how im 
 portant it was that he should go in advance to Bra 
 zos Island, and have ships ready, engaged to convey 
 them without delay to New Orleans. Without 
 such precaution on the part of the commander, the 
 whole column might have been obliged to lie many 
 days on the beach, waiting for vessels in which to 
 cross the Gulf. This, therefore, eventuated most 
 opportunely, for ships were made ready in the har 
 bor before the men arrived at the Brazos. 
 
 Meanwhile the troops at Reynosa were obliged 
 to lie one or two days on the river banks in a com 
 fortless and miserable plight, (for it rained inces 
 santly, and the men had no place to lie, nor tents to 
 shelter them, but stood as cattle in the mud both day 
 and night,) before they could procure transports. 
 
 Saddles and Rigging Burned. 
 
 On the 4th and 5th, the men having burned 
 their saddles, and other horse rigging, and sent their 
 animals by land to Missouri, went aboard steam ves 
 sels, and on the 7th the whole force arrived safely 
 at the mouth of the river, where they disembarked, 
 and bivouacked on the margin of the stream until 
 the morning of the Qth, the intermediate time being 
 spent by the soldiers in bathing in the river and 
 Gulf. 
 
 Lieutenant James Lee, quartermaster, proceed 
 ed with his trains from Reynosa to Matamoras, and 
 turned over to the quartermaster at that place all 
 his wagons, mules, and commissary stores. 
 
 Gen. Taylor's order requiring a sufficient number 
 of men to be detailed at Camargo for the purpose of 
 conducting "the horses and other animals of the 
 company by land to Missouri," was not complied 
 with; for the volunteers did not choose to obey the 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 139 
 
 order, regarding the stock of but little value. 
 However, Sergeant Van Bibber, and about thirty- 
 five other men, voluntarily agreed to drive the 
 stock, (of such of such as would allow them a com 
 pensation for their pains) through Texas to Mis 
 souri, and deliver them in the county where the 
 owner resided. Accordingly this party, with about 
 seven hundred head of stock, leaving Reynosa on 
 the fourth, proceeded to Camargo, and thence in 
 to the United States, arriving in Missouri* with the 
 loss of nearly half the animals, about the I5th of 
 August. 
 
 The Army Embarks. 
 
 On the Qth we walked over to the harbor at 
 the north end of Brazos Island, whence we were 
 to take shipping for New Orleans, and on the fol 
 lowing day the artillery and about two hundred men, 
 embarked on the schooner Murillo, and Col. Doni- 
 phan with seven hundred men embarked on the 
 stately sail-ship Republic, and under a favoring 
 gale arrived safely in New Orleans on the I5th, 
 having in twelve months, performed a grand detour 
 through the Mexican Republic, of near four thous 
 and miles, by land and water. 
 
 This most extraordinary march, conducted by 
 Col. Doniphan, the Xenophon of the age, with great 
 good fortune, meets not with a parallel in the annals 
 of the world. 
 
 Our passage across the Gulf was speedy and 
 prosperous. One of our number only was commit 
 ted to a watery grave. This was Christopher 
 Smith, than whom none was a better soldier. 
 Ridge, also a brave soldier, died, and was conveyed 
 to New Orleans for interment. 
 
 We had now been in the service twelve months* 
 
140 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 had traversed the plains and solitudes of the west, 
 had waded through the snow in the mountains of 
 New Mexico, had traveled over the great deserts of 
 Chihuahua, Durango, Coahuila, Nueva Leon, and 
 Tamaulipas, half-naked, and poorly supplied with 
 provisions, and were weary of camp service, and 
 packing up baggage. Therefore we were anxious 
 to return to our homes and our families. When 
 the men came within sight of Balize when they 
 could but just discover, through the mist, low in the 
 horizon, the distant, green, looming shores of their 
 native country, they shouted aloud in the pride of 
 their hearts, and, Columbus-like, gave thanks to the 
 beneficient Author of all good, not only for the 
 prosperous voyage over the gulf> but the unparallel 
 ed success of the great expedition. 
 
 Welcome Extended. 
 
 The chivalry of the south is unsurpassed; the 
 generosity of the southern people unequaled. Their 
 feelings are alive to every noble and magnanimous 
 impulse Their breasts are swayed by sentiments of 
 true honor. Who will deny that the population of 
 the Crescent city inspires patriotism from very 
 proximity to the field immortalized by Jackson's 
 victory? New Orleans for months previous to the 
 arrival of Col. Doniphan, had been wound up to 
 the highest degree of military excitement, and had, 
 in truth, been the great thoroughfare for the de 
 parture and return of perhaps more than ten thous 
 and volunteers destined for the war, and returning 
 from their various fields of glory ; yet, the Missouri- 
 ans, rough clad, were received with unabated en 
 thusiasm, and a cordiality for which they ever 
 gratefully remembered their friends of the south. 
 As they passed up the Mississippi, the streaming of 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 141 
 
 flags from the top of the houses, and the waving of 
 white handkerchiefs by the ladies, as a token of 
 approval, from the windows and balconies of the 
 stately mansions which everywhere beautified the 
 green banks of the "Inland Sea," announced to them 
 that their return was hailed with universal joy; 
 that their arduous services were duly appreciated; 
 and that Louisianians are not only generous and 
 brave, but nobly patriotic. Such a reception was 
 worth the toil of a hundred battlefields. 
 
 Isolated from every other branch of the army, 
 barred by intervening deserts from all communica 
 tions with the government, thrown entirely upon its 
 own resources, compelled to draw supplies from a 
 hostile country, and in the absence of instructions 
 or succors, Colonel Doniphan's command was left 
 to cut its way through the country of a subtle and 
 treacherous enemy. Destitute of clothing* and the 
 means of procuring it not having received a dime 
 since the day of enlistment, and none then, save 
 forty-two dollars commutation for clothing the 
 men almost grew as did Nebuchadnezzar, being in 
 deed rough samples of Rocky Mountain life. Their 
 long grown beards flowed in the wind similar to 
 those of the rude Cossacks of Northern Europe, 
 while their garments were worn to shreds, bivouack 
 ing on the rocks and sands of Mexico. Their dis 
 hevelled hair, their long grown whiskers, their buck 
 skin apparel, their stern and uncouth appearance, 
 their determined and resolved looks, and their car- 
 less and nochalant air, attracted the gaze, and won 
 the admiration of all people. Though they were 
 somewhat undisciplined, yet they were hardy, un 
 shrinking, resolute, independent, chivalrous, hon 
 orable and intelligent men, such as, indeed* "would 
 not flatter Neptune for his trident, nor Jove for his 
 power to thunder." 
 
142 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 Discharge of the Troops. 
 
 We have hitherto considered in what manner 
 the troops under Col. Doniphan were conducted over 
 the great solitudes to Santa Fe; how they traversed 
 the snow-capped mountains in pursuit of the fearless 
 Navajos; how Gen. Kearney with a small force, 
 crossed the continent, and held California in quiet 
 possession; how Col. Price succeeded to the com 
 mand of the troops in New Mexico ; how Col. Doni 
 phan invaded and conquered the states of Chihua 
 hua and Durango ; thence traversing extensive des 
 erts, treeless, barren and waterless ; oftentimes sub 
 sisting his army on half-rations and less ; and how, 
 after infinite suffering and toil, he arrived at the 
 Gulf, and sailed for New Orleans. 
 
 The Missourians were now permitted to turn 
 over to the ordnance master, at New Orleans, the 
 arms they had used on the expedition, and with 
 which they had achieved signal victories. They 
 were forthwith mustered for discharge and payment 
 by Col. Churchill, which process was completed 
 between the 22nd and the 28th of June. Having 
 received payment, and an honorable discharge from 
 the service, they departed to their respective homes 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 143 
 
 in detached parties, each one now traveling accord 
 ing to his own convenience, and being no longer 
 subject to command. They generally arrived in 
 Missouri about the 1st of July, having been absent 
 thirteen months. 
 
 St. Louis Accords Hearty Welcome. 
 
 Anticipating the arrival of the returning vol 
 unteers, the generous citizens of St. Louis had made 
 ample preparations to give them a hearty, welcome, 
 cordial reception and testify to them the esteem in 
 which their services were held by their fellow citi 
 zens. But as the volunteer soldiers, who were now 
 become citizens, returned in detached parties, and 
 were very anxious to visit their friends and families, 
 from whom they had so long been separated, they 
 could not all be induced to remain and partake of 
 the proffered hospitality. However, the company 
 under Captain Hudson, having in charge the cap 
 tured Mexican cannon, and near three hundred offi 
 cers and privates of different companies being in 
 the city on the 2nd of July, it was agreed that the 
 formalities of the reception should be gone through 
 with. Accordingly the various military and fire 
 companies, of the city, were paraded in full uniform ; 
 the people collected in great crowds ; the Mexican 
 cannon, the trophies of victory, were dragged along 
 the streets, crowned with garlands : and an immense 
 procession was formed, conducted by T. Grimsley, 
 chief marshal, which, after a brief animating speech, 
 from the honorable J. B. Bowlin, and a still briefer 
 response from Lieutenant-colonel Mitchell* pro 
 ceeded to Camp Lucas, where the Hon. T. H. Ben- 
 ton delivered to the returned volunteers, and a con 
 course of more than seven thousand people, a most 
 thrilling and eloquent address, recounting, with as- 
 
144 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 tonishing accuracy, and extraordinary minuteness, 
 the events of the great campaign. 
 
 When the honorable Senator concluded, Col. 
 Doniphan was loudly and enthusiastically called to 
 the stand; whereupon he rose and responded in a 
 very chaste, and modest, yet graphic address, in 
 which he ascribed the great success and good for 
 tune, which continually attended him on his expe 
 dition, rather to the bravery and conduct of his 
 soldiers, than to his own generalship. 
 
 The Army is Honored. 
 
 For months succeeding the return to the State, 
 of the Missouri volunteers, sumptuous dinners, ban 
 quets, and balls, tables loaded with delicate viands, 
 and the richest wines* were everywhere spread to 
 do them honor, as thereby to compensate, in some 
 measure, for past hardships, and the immensity of 
 toil and peril, which they had experienced in climb 
 ing over rugged, snow-capped mountains; in con 
 tending with the overwhelming forces of the enemy ; 
 in enduring bitter cold, pinching hunger, burning 
 thirst, incredible fatigue, and sleepless nights of 
 watching, and in bivouacking upon the waterless, 
 arid deserts of Mexico. But their past dangers, 
 both from the foe and the elements, were now soon 
 forgotten, amidst the kind caresses of friends, and 
 the cordial reception which their fellow citizens con 
 tinually greeted them. The maxim which has de 
 scended from former ages and which has met the 
 sanction of all nations, that the Republics are un 
 grateful, had not in this instance proved true; for 
 there was then a campaign of feasting and honors. 
 On the 29th of July a public dinner was given 
 by the citizens of Independence, Mo., in honor of 
 Col. Doniphan* his officers and men, on which oc- 
 
INCIDENTS OF 'iHE MEXICAN WAR. 145 
 
 casion the ladies being anxious to testify their res 
 pect to the hero of Sacramento, and those who fol 
 lowed where he dared to lead, had prepared the 
 "Laurel Wreath," in all ages the gift of beauty to 
 valor for the victor's brow. After the welcoming 
 speech, by S. H. Woodson, and a chaste and thrill 
 ing response by Col. Doniphan, Mrs. Buchanan on 
 behalf of the ladies, delivered from the stand, in the 
 presence of five thousand people, the subjoined 
 eloquent address. 
 
 Mrs. Buchanans Eloquent Address. 
 
 "Respected Friends : Long had the world 
 echoed to the voice of fame, when her brazen trum 
 pet spoke of the glories of Greece and Rome. The 
 sun looked proudly down upon Thermopylae, when 
 Leonidas had won a name bright and glorious as 
 his own golden beams. The soft air of the Italian 
 clime glowed, as the splendor of a Roman triumph 
 flashed through the eternal city. But the mantle of 
 desolation now wraps the mouldering pillars of 
 Athens and of Rome, and fame, deserting her 
 ancient haunts, now fills our own fair land with the 
 matchless deeds of her heoric sons. Like the dia 
 mond in the recesses of the mine, lay for centuries 
 the land of Columbia. Like that diamond when 
 art's transforming fingers have polished its peerless 
 lustre, it now shines the most resplendent gem in 
 the coronal of nations. 
 
 "The records of the Revolution, that dazzling 
 picture in the Temple of History, presents us with 
 the astonishing sight of men whose feet had never 
 trodden the strict paths of military discipline, de- 
 fyingj conquering the trained ranks of the British 
 army, whose trade is war. Nor did their patrio 
 tism, their energy, die with the Fathers of the Re 
 volution their spirit lives in their sons. 
 
146 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR 
 
 "The star which represents Missouri, shone, 
 not on the banner which shadowed the venerated 
 head of Washington. But the unrivaled deeds of 
 the Missouri Volunteers have added such brilliancy 
 to its beams, that even he whose hand laid the cor 
 ner-stone of the temple of American liberty, and 
 placed on its finished shrines the rescued flag of 
 liis country, would feel proud to give the star of 
 Missouri a place amidst the time-honored, far-fam 
 ed "old thirteen." The Spartan, the Athenians, 
 the Roman, who offered on the alter of Mars the 
 most brilliant sacrifices, were trained even from 
 their infancy, in all the arts of war. The service of 
 the bloody god was to them the business of life, aye, 
 even its pastime; their very dreams were full of 
 the tumult of battle : but they who hewed asunder, 
 with their good swords, the chains of a British 
 tyrant, and they who have rendered the names of 
 Brazito and Sacramento watchwords to arouse the 
 valor of succeeding ages, hurried from the quiet 
 labors of the field, the peaceful halls of justice, the 
 cell of the student, and the familiar hearth of home, 
 to swell the ranks of the defenders of their native 
 land. 
 
 "Volunteers of Missouri : In the history of 
 your country, no fairer page can be found than that 
 which records your own heroic achievements. 
 Many of you have never welcomed the morning 
 light without the sunshine of your mother's smile 
 to make it brighter: many of you had known the 
 hardship of life only in name; still you left the 
 home of your childhood, and encountered perils and 
 sufferings that would make the cheek of a Roman 
 soldier turn pale; and encountered them so gallant 
 ly that Time in his vast calendar of centuries can 
 show none more bravely, more freely born. 
 
 "We welcome you back to your home. The 
 triumph which hailed the return of the Caesars, to 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 147 
 
 whose war-chariot was chained the known world, 
 is not ours to give, nor do you need it. A prouder 
 triumph than Rome could bestow is yours, in the 
 undying fame of your proud achievements. But 
 if the welcome of hearts filled with warm love and 
 well merited admiration, hearts best known and 
 longest tried, be a triumph, it is yours in the fullest 
 extent. 
 
 "The torrent of eloquence to which you have 
 just listened, the rich feast that awaits you, are the 
 tributes of your own sex ; but we, the fairer part of 
 creation, must offer ours also. 
 
 "Col. Doniphan : In the name of the ladies 
 who surround me, I bestow on you this laurel 
 wreath in every age and every clime, the gift of 
 beauty to valor. In placing it on the brow of him 
 who now kneels to receive it, I place it on the brow 
 of all, who followed where so brave, so dauntless 
 a commander led. It is true that around the laurel 
 wreath is twined every association of genius* glory 
 and valor, but I feel assured that it was never 
 placed on a brow more worthy to receive it than his 
 on which it now rests The hero of Sacramento." 
 
 The Author's Eulogy. 
 
 It does not become the author to extol in unmea 
 sured terms the gallant officers who led with such 
 marvelous success, nor the brave men who bore 
 with Roman fortitude and patience, the fatigues of 
 Western Expedition, beyond that which every can 
 did and generous mind will readily concede. 
 Equally the conduct of both is worthy of encomium. 
 They performed all, and more than all, the govern 
 ment expected at their hands. After the conquest 
 of New Mexico, Gen. Kearney, with one hundred 
 men, completed an astonishing overland expedition 
 
148 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 to the shores of the Pacific, one thousand and nine 
 ty miles distant from Santa Fe. This great march 
 was conducted over stony mountains, barren plains, 
 and inhospitable deserts. 
 
 Col. Doniphan and his men scaled the granite 
 heights of the Cordilleras, amidst fathoms of ac 
 cumulated, eternal 'snows, in the depth of winter, 
 when the wide waste of rocks, and horrid driving 
 snow-storms, were their most relentless enemies. 
 Having spent three months and performed a cam 
 paign of seven hundred and fifty miles in the most 
 rugged and inhospitable regions on the continent, 
 they returned to the valley of the Del Norte. Here 
 they refreshed themselves and recruited two days : 
 after which they commenced the grand march upon 
 Chihuahua, and gained immortal renown on the tro- 
 phied fields of Brazito and Sacramento. The capi 
 tal and the State* with two hundred thousand inhabi 
 tants, become the conquest to less than a thousand 
 Missourians. This march was near six hundred 
 miles through barren and waterless regions. ' 
 
 The nation almost trembled for the safety of 
 Gen. Wool's column, thirty-five hundred strong, 
 with heavy artillery, when he set out from San 
 Antonio on his intended expedition against Chihua 
 hua. Many apprehended his complete overthrow, 
 and argued that it would result in a prodigal waste 
 of means and a useless and wanton sacrifice of hu 
 man life, for so small a force to march against so 
 powerful and populous a State. But the stronghold 
 of Central Mexico was in possession of the hero of 
 Sacramento, with nine hundred and twenty-four 
 Missiourians, and the American flag floated in 
 triumph over its walls. 
 
 Leaving Chihuahua for more extended opera 
 tions, and a new theatre of action, they move off 
 through the states of Durango and Coahuila, tra 
 versing parched, arid, waterless wastes, for more 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 149 
 
 than six hundred miles, ready to succor Gen. Tay 
 lor, if beleagured in Saltillo, or to accompany him 
 over the Central Desert in his contemplated descent 
 upon San Louis de Potosi, having previously sent 
 fourteen express-men on a most perilous enterprise 
 to learn the General's wishes. 
 
 Their services being now no longer required, 
 the commander-in- chief dispatches them to the 
 United States, by the way of Matamoras and the 
 Mexica Gulf. They sailed for New Orleans* where 
 they were discharged; they returned to Missouri 
 from the eastward, graced with the trophies of the 
 vanquished foe, having in twelve months performed 
 a magnificent circuit of more than 3,500 miles, and 
 2,500 by water, with the loss of less than one hun 
 dred of their original number. 
 
 The expedition of Cyrus against his brother, 
 Artaxerxes, and the retreat of the ten thousand 
 Greeks, famous through all time, conducted by 
 Xenophon and Cherisopus, forms the only parallel 
 to Co. Doniphan's expedition, recordered in history. 
 In fifteen months Cyrus and Xenophon conducted 
 this expedition about 3,450 English miles, with the 
 loss of several thousand brave men, and finally re 
 turned to Greece, possessing nothing save their lives 
 and their arms. In thirteen months Col. Doniphan 
 and his Missourians, accomplished a similar expedi 
 tion* (except to its objects) of more than 5,500 
 miles, returning decorated with the spoils of war, 
 and meeting with the hearty approval of their 
 countrymen. 
 
 The distance over which Gen. Kearney marched 
 was perhaps greater than that over which Col. Doni 
 phan passed; but the former only conducted an 
 army to California, returning privately; while the 
 latter commanded, and provided for his men, and 
 that too without funds, until they were disbanded 
 at New Orleans. 
 
150 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 Thus terminated the most extraordinary and 
 wonderful Expedition of the age, attended through 
 out by the most singular good fortune, conducted 
 under the auspices of Col. Doniphan, who had been 
 very justly styled the great military pedestrian, the 
 victor and diplomatist. 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 151 
 
 Events at Santa Fe. 
 
 It will be remembered that on the 26 of Octo 
 ber, 1846, Col. Doniphan took his departure from 
 Santa Fe, on an excursion against the Navajo 
 Indians, and was rejoined at Santa Domingo by 
 three hundred of his own regiment, who had been 
 previously stationed at the grazing encampment 
 near San Miguel, but were now ordered to proceed 
 to the mountains, on a most serious and trying 
 campaign. Col. Doniphan returned no more to 
 Santa Fe. 
 
 The command of the troops in New Mexico 
 thenceforward developed on Colonel, afterwards 
 Brigadier-general Sterling Price. For the preser 
 vation of health and activity among his troops 
 which consisted of the 2nd regiment under his 
 own immediate command, an extra battalion under 
 Lieutenant-colonel Willock, a battalion of infantry 
 under Captains Angney and Murphey, one company 
 of light artillery under Captain Fischer, the Lac- 
 lede Rangers under Lieutenant Elliot, two hundred 
 of the ist dragoons under Captain Burgwin, (Major 
 Sumner having returned to the United States on the 
 1 8th of October,) and some additional artillery and 
 
152 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 miscellaneous troops under Lieuts. Dyer and Wilson 
 of the U. S. Army, making an aggregate of near 
 two thousand men and also for the preservation 
 of good order, quite, and entire submission on the 
 part of the malcontent New Mexicans and Pueblo 
 Indians, Col. Price at first thus disposed of his 
 forces : 
 
 Capt. Burgwin, with the ist dragoons, was sta 
 tioned at Alburqueque to mantain tranquillity on 
 the Rio Aba jo ; a squadron of two hundred men un 
 der Major Edmondson, was scouring about Cebol- 
 leta; a small force under Capt. Hendley was order 
 ed to the valley of the Mora, in view of finding for 
 age for the stock, and of preserving peace and sub 
 ordination in that quarter, as well as also to check 
 the predatory incursions of the border Indians, who 
 were becoming quite troublesome and deserving of 
 chastisement; the remaining forces were retained 
 at the capital as a garrison. 
 
 On the 28th of October, two days after the de 
 parture of Col. Doniphan from Santa Fe, Colonel 
 Price issued an order requiring the troops under his 
 command to appear on parade, for drill and discip 
 line, twice each day. The officers were required to 
 perform an extra drill, that they might be better 
 qualified to instruct the men. This discipline was 
 rigidly adhered to. Every one, the least acquainted 
 with military affairs, is aware how difficult a matter 
 it is to preserve good order and wholesome discip 
 line in a garrison composed entirely of volunteers. 
 The unrestrained, independent life to which the 
 citizen soldier has been accustomed, unfits him for 
 garrison service. He becomes impatient of discip 
 line, and desires active, useful, honorable employ 
 ment. For this reason regular troops are much 
 better for garrison than volunteers; but are none 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 153 
 their superior in an arduous and daring campaign. 
 
 A Conspiracy Formed. 
 
 About the ist of December, the most distin 
 guished of the malcontents began to hold secret 
 cabals and consulations, and to plot the overthrow 
 of the actual existing government. Oftentimes the 
 conspirators, like Catalin and his accomplices in 
 guilt, would withdraw into some retired room in 
 the capital, or on the flat top of some unfrequented 
 building, and there at the silent hour of midnight 
 machinate a scheme for the massacre of all tRe 
 Americans, the establishment of a new government, 
 and installation of new governors. The leaders 
 of this dark and desperate conspiracy were Don 
 Thomas Ortiz, who aspired to be governor of the 
 province; Don Diego Archulette, who had been 
 nominated as commanding general; and Seniores 
 Nicholas Pino, Miguel Pino, Santiago Armijo, 
 Manuel Chavez, Domingo Baca, Pablo Dominguez, 
 Juan Lopez, and many others, all men of great and 
 restless ambition and expectance of office if the con 
 spiracy should have a favorable issue. 
 
 The i Qth of December, at midnight, was the 
 time at first appointed for the revolt to commence, 
 which was to be simultaneous all over the depart 
 ment. In the meantime each one of the conspirators 
 had a particular part of the state assigned him, to 
 the end that they might gain over the whole peo 
 ple of the province. The profoundest secrecy was 
 to be preserved, and the most influential men, whose 
 ambition induced them to seek preferment, were 
 alone to be made acquainted with the plot. No 
 woman was to be privy to these things, lest they 
 should be divulged. 
 
 Each having pledged . himself to the other on 
 the cross that he would be faithful and vigilant 
 in consummating their designs, as speedily and sue- 
 
154 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 cessful as possible, departed, some into one place, 
 and some into another. For his part, Thomas Ortiz 
 who had been second in command to Armijo, the 
 late governor went to El Bado, that he might stir 
 up the people there; Diego Archulette hastened to 
 the valley of Taos, to make known his plans, and 
 solicit aid in that quarter; Domingo Baca departed 
 to the Rio Abajo to excite the inhabitants, and pro 
 cure assistance there ; Pablo Domingues, and Miguel 
 Pino, proceeded to the settlements on the river 
 Tesuca, to enlist them in the enterprise. 
 
 For the more certain success of the revolution, 
 the conspirators assembled in secret conclave in the 
 capital, on the night of the I5th of December, to 
 consult, mature their plans, and arrange the method 
 of attack. Don Sanchez, when apprehended and 
 brought before the tribunal, testified that Don Diego 
 Archulette commenced the discourse : "I make the 
 motion that there be an act to nominate a governor 
 and a commander general ; and I would nominate 
 Thomas Ortiz, for the first office, and Diego Archu 
 lette for the second." This was unanimously car 
 ried, and the act signed by every individual present. 
 After this was concluded, they commenced a dis 
 course relative to the method of surprising the 
 government at Santa Fe, and taking possession of 
 the place. They decided upon the following plan : 
 "On Saturday evening, the iQth of December, all 
 were to assemble with their men at the parish 
 church. Having divided themselves into several 
 parties, they were to sally forth, some to seize the 
 pieces of artillery, others to go to the quarters of the 
 colonel, and others to the palace of the Governor, 
 (if he should be there,) and if not to send an order 
 to Toas to seize him, because he would give the 
 most trouble. This act was also agreed on by all. 
 the sound of the church bell was to be the signal of 
 assault by the forces concealed in the church, and 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 155 
 
 those which Don Diego Archulette should have 
 brought near the city midnight was the time 
 agreed on, when all were to enter the "plaza" at 
 the same moment, seize the pieces of artillery and 
 point them into the streets. The meeting now dis 
 solved." 
 
 Owing to want of complete organization and 
 concert and that the conspiracy was not yet fully 
 matured, it was concluded to suspend the attack for 
 a time, and fixed on Christmas eve night for the as 
 sault, when the soldiers and garrison would be in 
 dulging in wine and feasting, and scattered about 
 throughout the city at the fandangos, not having 
 their arms in their hands. All the Americans, with 
 out distinction, throughout the State, and such New 
 Mexicans as had favored the American govern 
 ment, and accepted office by appointment of Gen. 
 Kearney, were to be massacred, or driven from the 
 country, and the conspirators were to seize upon and 
 occupy the government. This enterprise, however, 
 failed of success, being detected, exposed and 
 crushed, by the vigilance of Col. Price, his officers 
 and men. 
 
 A Woman Betrays the Plot. 
 The conspiracy was detected in the following 
 manner: a mulatto girl, residing in Santa Fe, had 
 married one of the conspirators, and had by degrees 
 obtained a knowledge of their movements and secret 
 meetings. To prevent the effusion of blood, which 
 would inevitably be the result of a revolution, she 
 communicated to Col. Price, all the facts of which 
 she was in possession, and warned him to use the 
 utmost vigilance. The rebellion was immediately 
 suppressed. 
 
 But the restless and unsatisfied ambition of the 
 leaders of the conspiracy, did not long permit them 
 
150 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR 
 
 to remain inactive. The rebellion had been detec 
 ted and smothered, but not completely crushed. 
 A second and still more dangerous conspiracy was 
 plotted. The most powerful and influential men in 
 the State favored the design. An organized plan of 
 operation was adopted. The profoundest secrecy 
 was preserved. While all appeared to be quiet and 
 secure, the machinations of the conspirators were 
 maturing, and gaining strength. Even the officers 
 of the State and the priests, gave their aid and 
 counsel. The people every v/here, in the towns, vil 
 lages, and settlements, were exhorted to arm and 
 equip themselves, to strike for their faith, their re 
 ligion, and their altars, and drive the "heretics," the 
 "unjust invaders of the country," from their soil, 
 and with fire and sword pursue them to annihilation. 
 On the 1 4th of January, Governor Charles Bent, 
 attended by an escort of five persons, among whom 
 were the sheriff, circuit attorney, and the perfecto, 
 left Santo Fe and proceeded toAaos. Upon his ar 
 rival there he was applied to by the Pueblo Indians 
 to release from prison two of their number, who for 
 some misdemeanor had been incarcerated by the 
 authorities. The governor told them they must 
 wait the ordinary process of the laws. 
 
 Governor Bent Murdered. 
 
 On the i Qtli of the same month, the governor 
 and his retinue, were murdered in the most cruel 
 and inhuman manner, by the Pueblos and Mexicans, 
 te the village of San Fednando. On the same day 
 seven other Americans, after standing a seige of 
 two days, were overpowered, taken and butchered in 
 cold blood at the Arroyo Hondo; also four at the 
 town Mora, and two on the Colorado. 
 
 The insurgents had assembled in strong force 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 157 
 
 at La Canada, under command of Generals Ortiz, 
 Lafoya, Chavez, and Montoya, with the view of 
 making a descent upon Santa Fe. Col. Price hav 
 ing ordered Major Edmondson and Capt. Burgwin, 
 with their respective commands from the Rio Aba jo, 
 on the morning of the 23rd, at the head of three 
 hundred and fifty-three men, which number after 
 ward augmented to four hundred and eighty, and 
 four mountain howitzers, marched against the in 
 surgents, leaving Lieutenant-colonel Willock, with 
 a strong garrison, in command of the capital. The 
 weather was extremely inclement, and the earth 
 covered with snow. 
 
 Battle of Canada. 
 
 "On the evening of the 24th, Col. Price encoun 
 tered the enemy at Canada, numbering about two 
 thousand men, under the command of Generals 
 Tofaya, Chavez, and Montoya. The enemy were 
 posted on the hills commanding each side of the 
 road. About 2 o'clock, P. M., a brisk fire from the 
 artillery under the command of Lieut. Dyer (of the 
 regular army) and Harsentiver, was opened upon 
 them, but from their being so much scattered, it 
 had but little effect. 
 
 The artillery were within such a short distance 
 as to be exposed to a hot fire, which either pene 
 trated the clothes or wounded nineteen or twenty 
 men who served the guns. Col. Price seeing the 
 slight effect which the artillery had upon them, or 
 dered Captain Angney with his battalion to charge 
 the hill, which was gallantly done, being supported 
 by Captain St. Vrain, of the citizens, and Lieut. 
 White of the Carroll companies. The charge lasted 
 until sundown. Our loss was two killed and seven 
 wounded. The Mexicans acknowledged a loss of 
 thirty-six killed, and forty-five taken prisoners. 
 The enemy retreated toward Taos, their strong- 
 
158 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 hold. Col. Price on the 2/th took up his line of 
 march for Taos, and again encountered them at El 
 Embudo on the 29th. They discovered in the thick 
 brush on each side of the road, at the entrance of a 
 defile, by a party of spies, who immediately fired 
 upon them. Capt. Burgwin, who had that morning- 
 joined Col. Price with his company of dragoons 
 hearing the firing, came up, together with Captain 
 St. Vrain's, and Lieutenant White's companies. A 
 charge was made by the three companies, resulting 
 in the total rout of the Mexicans and Indians. The 
 battle lasted about half an hour; but the pursuit was 
 kept up for two hours. 
 
 Battle of Puebla de Toas. 
 
 The march was resumed on the next day, and 
 met with no opposition until the evening of the 3rd 
 of February, at which time they arrived at Pueblo 
 de Toas, where they found the Mexicans and Indi 
 ans strongly fortified. A few rounds were fired by 
 the artillery that evening, but it was deemed advis 
 able not to make a general attack then, but wait un 
 til morning. The attack was commenced in the 
 morning by two batteries under the command of 
 Lieuts. Dyer and Wilson, of the regular army, and 
 Lieut. Harsentiver of the light artillery, by throw 
 ing shells into the town. About meridian, a charge 
 was ordered and gallantly executed by Capt. Burg- 
 win's company, supported by Capt. McMillan's 
 company and Capt. Angney's battalion of infantry, 
 supported by Capt. Burbee's company. The church 
 which had been used as a part of the fortifications, 
 was taken by this charge. The fight was hotly 
 contested until night, when two white flags were 
 hoisted, but were immediately shot down. In the 
 morning the fort surrendered. The old men, the 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 159 
 
 priests, and the matrons, bringing their children 
 and their sacred household gods in their hands, be 
 sought the mercy and clemency of their conquerors. 
 It was granted. In this battle fell Capt. Burgwin, 
 than whom a braver soldier, or better man, never 
 poured out his blood in his country's cause. 
 
 The total loss of the Mexicans in the three en 
 gagements, is estimated at two hundred and eighty- 
 two killed ; the number of their wounded is un 
 known. Our total loss was fifteen killed and 
 forty-seven wounded. 
 
 Learning of the insurrection movement on the 
 2oth of January, Capt. Hendley, who was in com 
 mand of the grazing detatchment on the Pecos, im 
 mediately took possession of Las Bagas, where the 
 insurgents were beginning to concentrate their 
 forces. He now ordered the different grazing par 
 ties to unite with him, and prepare for offensive and 
 defensive warfare. In a short time he was joined 
 by various dctatchments, increasing his number to 
 two hundred and twenty-five men. 
 
 Death of Captain Hendley. 
 
 Lieut. Hawkins, with twenty-five men was dis 
 patched on the 22nd to escort a train of wagons in 
 to Las Bagas, the Mexicans having sent out a party 
 to plunder them. He soon met Capt. Murphy, with 
 a train of wagons, convoyed by a detatchment of 
 Capt. Jackson's company, having in his possession 
 about three hundred thousand dollars in specie. 
 The convoy returned about one day's march to 
 guard the provision train, while the specie train 
 moved on escorted by Lieut. Hawkins. 
 
 Capt. Hendley, leaving the greater part of his 
 force at Las Bagas, on the 22nd, with eighty men 
 started for the Mora, where he had learned the 
 Mexicans were embodied two hundred strong. He 
 
160 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 arrived before the place on the 24th, ''found a body 
 of Mexicans under arms, prepared to defend the 
 town, and while forming his men in a line for attack, 
 a small party of insurgents were seen running from 
 the hills. A detachment was ordered to cut them 
 off, which was attacked by the main body of the 
 enemy. A general engagement immediately ensued, 
 the Mexicans retreating, and firing from the win 
 dows and loopholes of their houses. Capt. Hendley 
 and his men closely pusued them, rushing into their 
 houses with them, shooting some, and running oth 
 ers through with their bayonets. A large body of 
 insurgents had taken possession of an old fort and 
 commenced to fire from the loop holes upon the 
 Americans. Capt. Hendley with a small party had 
 taken possession of an apartment in the fort, and 
 while preparing to fire, he was struck by a ball from 
 an adjoining room, he fell and died in a few min 
 utes. Our men having no artillery, and the fort 
 being impregnable without it, retired to Las Bagas. 
 The enemy had twenty-five killed, and seventeen 
 taken prisoners. Our loss was one killed and 
 three wounded. 
 
 Thus fell the brave Capt. Hendley, almost in 
 the moment of victory; and while we lamented his 
 loss, it was some consolation to know that he died 
 like a soldier. His body \vas taken to Santa Fe, 
 where he was buried with all the honors of war." 
 
 On the ist day of February, the death of Hend 
 ley, as well as that of Messrs Waldo, Noyes, Culver 
 and others, was avenged by Capt. Morin and his 
 men, in the complete demolition of the village of 
 Mora. The insurgents fled to the mountains. The 
 dead bodies of the Americans who had been assassi 
 nated, were conveyed to Las Bagas for interment. 
 
 The battles of La Canada, Embudo, Pueblo de 
 Taos, and Mora, in all of which the insurgents were 
 vanquished with heavy loss, suppressed the insurec- 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 161 
 
 tion, and once more restored quiet, law and order 
 throughout the territory. On the 6th of February, 
 Montaya, one of the leaders of the conspiracy, who 
 had styled himself the Santa Anna of the North, 
 was court martialed and sentenced to be hung. He 
 was executed on the ^th, in the presence of the 
 army. Fourteen others, who were concerned in the 
 murder of Governor Bent, were tried, convicted, 
 and executed in a similar manner, in the neighbor 
 hood of Taos. 
 
 Leaving a detachment of infantry in the valley 
 of Toas, under the command of Capt. Angeny, Col. 
 Price returned to Santa Fe, where he continued to 
 discharge the highest civil and military functions 
 of the territory. At a subsequent period, however, 
 Capt. Angeny was relieved by Lieutenant-colonel 
 Willock's battalion of cavalry. 
 
 The leading instigators of the revolution hav 
 ing fallen in battle, being executed on a charge of 
 treason, or escaped the punishment merited by 
 their offences, by flight to the mountains,- the coun 
 try once more enjoyed a short repose. The insur 
 gent armies were dispersed. The people returned 
 from the hills and mountains, whither many of them 
 had fled for refuge during the excitement, to their 
 respective homes, and resumed their daily avoca 
 tions. Peace and harmony once more reigned 
 throughout the province. 
 
102 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 Holding the Territory. 
 
 After the suppression of the rebellion in New 
 Mexico, the troops were posted in almost every 
 part of the city. A greater degree of vigilance was 
 observed, and stricter discipline enforced. The 
 conduct of the Mexicans was watched with the 
 utmost scruinty. No house was permitted to retain 
 arms, or other munitions of war, nor was any Mexi 
 can cavalier suffered, as hitherto had been the case, to 
 ride with impunity about the country, and through 
 American camps, displaying his weapons and war 
 like trappings, making estimates of the American 
 forces, and keeping a strict espionage upon their 
 movements. The American soldiers roused to in 
 dignation by the brutal massacres and frequent as 
 sassinations which had already blackened the an 
 nals of the campaign, and thrown a dark shade over 
 the conquest of the country, scarcely spared the in 
 nocent and unoffending. However, no acts of viol 
 ence were perpetrated. 
 
 The soldiers slept upon their arms. They 
 never left their quarters, or rode out of the city, or 
 visited the villages, or passed through the coun- 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 163 
 
 try, without their arms in their hands. They were 
 always prepared, both night and day, for any sud 
 den emergency that might arise; with such suspi 
 cion and animosity did the Americans and New 
 Mexicans now regard each other. A suspicious 
 quietude reigned throughout the territory, but it 
 was only that the rebellion might break out afresh 
 on the first favorable opportunity. 
 
 Battle of Red River Canyon. 
 On the 26th of May, 1847, Major Edmonson, 
 with a detatchment of two hundred men, under 
 Capts. Holly and Robinson, and Lieuts. Elliott and 
 Hughes, was vigorously attacked by a large body 
 of Mexicans, Apaches, Comanche, and Kiawa In 
 dians combined, at the "Red river canyon," about 
 one hundred and twenty miles from Santa Fe. The 
 The enemy were supposed to number about five hun 
 dred. The action commenced about sunset, and 
 continued until dark. The defile was narrow, and 
 on either hand the spurs of the mountains were rug 
 ged and unaccessible to cavalry. The pass led 
 through a morass or quagmire, so difficult" of pas 
 sage that the horses stuck fast in the mud. The 
 cavalry could not act to any advantage. Major 
 Edmondson therefore dismounted the men, and cau 
 tiously advanced upon the enemy, under the heavy 
 fire. The enemy was repulsed; but gained fresh 
 courage and renewed the attack with more vigor 
 than ever. The Americans now slowly retired in 
 good order a few hundred paces and occupied a 
 more favorable position for defense. The retreat 
 was covered by Lieut. Elliott, with the Laclede ran 
 gers. It was now dark. The next morning Maj. 
 Edmondson led his forces through the canyon to 
 renew the attack ; but the enemy had retreated. In 
 this engagement the Americans lost one man killed, 
 and had several slightly injured. The Mexicans 
 
164 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 and Indians suffered a loss of seventeen killed, and 
 no doubt many more wounded. 
 
 On the 26th of June, the horses belonging to 
 Captain Horine's company of mounted men, station 
 ed under Major Edmondson, near Las Bagas, were 
 stolen by the Mexicans, and driven into the neigh 
 boring mountains. On the 28th Lieut. Brown and 
 privates McClanahan and Quinsenbury, together 
 with one Mexican as a guide, were dispatched in 
 pursuit of them. Not. returning on the following 
 day as they intended, their companions rightly con 
 jectured that they had been murdered. On the5th 
 of July a Mexican lady came into Las Bagas and 
 stated that three Americans and one Mexican had 
 recently been slain, and their dead bodies consumed 
 to ashes. 
 
 Major Edmondson, immediately after receiving 
 this information, posted out a strong picket guard, 
 with instructions to permit no one to enter the camp, 
 without being first brought before him. On the 
 same day, private William Cox, of Capt. Hollaway's 
 company, while out hunting in the mountains, dis 
 covered three suspicious looking Mexicans trying 
 to shun him, whereupon he captured and brought 
 them into camp. They were separately examined 
 by Major Edmondson, but not being able to extort 
 from them a satisfactory answer, one of them was 
 hanged by the neck several times, and until he had 
 almost expired. When let down the third time he 
 stated, that three Americans and one Mexican had 
 been recently murdered, and their dead bodies burn 
 ed near Las Bagas. When this confession was ex 
 torted, Major Edmondson pluckily ordered the de- 
 tatchment, which consisted of twenty-nine cavalry, 
 thirty-three infantry, and one twelve pound moun 
 tain howitzer, to prepare for the march, expecting to 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 165 
 reach town before daylight the next morning. 
 
 Capture of La Bagas. 
 
 Major Edmondson ascertaining that he would 
 not be able to reach Las Bagas as soon as he desir 
 ed, hurried on with the cavalry, leaving orders for 
 the infantry and artillery to follow in the rear with 
 all possible haste. On reaching the place he divi 
 ded his men into two parties, under the command of 
 Capts. Hollaway and Horine. They were now or 
 dered to charge at full speed on the right and left 
 at the same moment, and gain possession of the 
 town. The charge was gallantly made. The 
 Mexicans commenced a precipitate retreat toward 
 the mountains. A part of the Americans fired up 
 on them, while others entered the town. In less 
 than fifteen minutes ten Mexicans were slain, the 
 fugitives were captured, and the town with fifty 
 prisoners, taken. The Americans sustained no loss. 
 In this engagement Capt. Jackson and Lieut. Oxley 
 fought as privates. The dead body of Lieut. 
 Brown, having the cross suspended from the neck, 
 was not burned, but secreted among the rocks. 
 Much reverence is paid to the cross by the most 
 cruel men. The clothes, guns, sabres, holsters, 
 pistols, bowie-knives and trinkets of these unfort 
 unate men were discovered, secreted in various 
 houses. Their ashes were also found. The great 
 er part of the town was reduced to ashes, only a 
 sufficient number of houses being left to shelter the 
 women and children. Also the mills a few miles 
 from Las Bagas, which belonged to the alcade, who 
 was known to have participated in the murder of 
 Lieut. Brown's party, were consumed. 
 
 The prisoners, by order of Col. Price, were con 
 veyed to Santa Fe, where they were tried before a 
 drum-head court-martial, and six of them senten- 
 
106 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 ced to death. This sentence was, accordingly, 
 carried into execution in Santa Fe, on the third of 
 August, in the presence of the army. 
 
 On the 9th of July, a detatchment of thirty- 
 one men, belonging to Captain Morin's company, 
 stationed on the Cienega, eight miles from Taos, 
 were furiously attacked, two hours before daylight, 
 by two hundred Mexicans and Pueblo Indians com 
 bined. Five of our men were killed, and nine woun 
 ded. The remainder of the party retired under the 
 banks of the Cienega, which position they gallantly 
 held until Capt. Shepherd arrived with his com 
 pany, and assisted them in vanquishing the enemy. 
 
 In the spring of 1847, tne Indians, principally 
 the Pawnees and Comanches, infested the Santa Fe 
 road, committed repeated depredations on the gov 
 ernment trains, fearlessly attacked the escorts, kill 
 ed and drove off great numbers of horses, mules and 
 oxen, belonging to the government, and in several 
 instances, overpowered, and slew, or captured many 
 of our people. They openly declared that they 
 would cut off all communication between the West 
 ern States and New Mexico, and capture and en 
 slave every American, who might venture to pass 
 the plains. 
 
 In pursuance of these views, a large body of 
 Indians, on the 22nd of June, attacked a returning 
 government train near the grand Arkansas, drove 
 off eighty yoke of oxen, and in the sight of the 
 teamsters whose force was too weak to offer effec 
 tual resistance, wantonly and cruelly slaughtered 
 them for amusement, and for the gratification of 
 their savage propensities. 
 
 On the 26th, Lieut. Love's convoy, with 300,000 
 dollars -in specie, encamped near the Arkansas. He 
 was furiously assailed by a body of five hundred 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 107 
 
 savages, who had taken their position in the road, 
 and lain in wait to surprise him at dawn. They 
 succeeded in frightening the stock. One hundred 
 and fifty yoke of oxen, in a stampede, wildly scam 
 pered off, and crossed the river, followed by the 
 Indians, yelling and firing amongst the herd. 
 Twenty of Lieut. Love's men pursued to recover 
 the cattle, while the rest remained to protect the 
 train. They charged the Indians about one mile, 
 who retired; but this was a ruse to lead them into 
 an ambuscade. At this moment more than one 
 hundred Indians sallied forth from an ambush, in 
 tercepted their retreat, and fiercely attacked them. 
 They were now completely surrounded by savages. 
 The engagement became close and severe. At length 
 the Americans charged through the enemy's ranks, 
 and made good their retreat. The loss of Indians 
 in this action was twenty-five killed, and perhaps 
 double that number wounded. The Americans in 
 killed and wounded lost eleven. The savages were 
 mounted on horses, and armed with guns, pistols, 
 lances, shields, and bows and arrows. 
 
 On the 27th of October, 1846, Capt. Mann's 
 train of twenty-four government wagons was en 
 camped, thirty miles below the crossing of the Ar 
 kansas. The next morning two of the best mules 
 were missing. The captain and Yates started in 
 search of them. They had not proceed far when 
 they saw signs of Indians. They returned to 
 camp geared up and started off, leaving Wood- 
 son and Stricklin a short distance in the rear, with 
 one wagon. 
 
 At this crisis several hundred Indians came 
 yelling furiously from the hills, and some attacked 
 the train, while others surrounded the two men 
 with the wagon. The trains were halted and the 
 
108 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 wagons corraled. Woodson and Stricklin were 
 rescued, but the wagon which contained the Cap 
 tain's scrutoire and three year's outfit of clothing 
 was taken rifled and burned. The American loss 
 was one killed, and four wounded loss of the In 
 dians not ascertained. 
 
 The Indians now surrounded the corral; 
 night approaching, Capt. Mann and his men deter 
 mined to gear up, take the wounded and decamp. 
 Accordingly a white flag was hoisted, and the train 
 moved off. In a short time they were overtaken 
 by the savages, who told them they desired to be 
 friendly. A halt was ordered and the wagons again 
 corraled. About 10 o'clock at night, the Indians 
 came rushing and yelling, like a legion of devils, 
 and drove off two hundred and eighty mules, leav 
 ing only twelve behind. The party now decamped, 
 left the trains, and traveled on foot thirty miles, 
 carrying the wounded, where they overtook Capt. 
 Mcllvaine, who sent back for the wagons. Here 
 they fortified, four miles below the Crossing and 
 sent the wounded to Fort Bent. 
 
 About the first of July, 1847, a regiment of vol 
 unteer infantry, raised in Illinois, and commanded 
 by Colonels Newby and Boyakin, were outfited at 
 Fort Leavenworth, and dispatched across the plains 
 to relieve the troops under Col. Price, at Santa Fe, 
 whose term of service would soon expire. This is 
 the 6th Illinois regiment. 
 
 Also between the 5th and 2Oth of August, a 
 battalion of infantry, under command of Lieutenant- 
 colonel Easton, and a full regiment of cavalry, com 
 manded by Colonels Rails and Jones, and Major 
 Reynolds, all Missouri volunteers, departed from 
 Fort Leavenworth, destined for Santa Fe. This is 
 the 4th regiment, and the fourth separate battalion 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 109 
 
 of volunteers, Missouri had furnished for the war 
 with Mexico. 
 
 About the 27th of September, the fifth separate 
 battalion of Missouri volunteers, under Lieutenant- 
 colonel Powell, left Fort Leavenworth for its des 
 tination on the Oregon route. This is demonstrat 
 ed the Oregon battalion, and was employed in con 
 structing a cordon of military posts from Western 
 Missouri to the Oregon territory. 
 
 Between the ist and I5th of August, Gen. 
 Price, and the troops under his command, returned 
 to Missouri, where they arrived about the 25th of 
 September, having lost more than four hundred men 
 in battle and disease. A garrison of five companies, 
 three of volunteers and two of regulars, was left in 
 Santa Fe, under Lieutenant-colonel Walker. Gen. 
 Price was returned to Santa Fe. His force was now 
 about three thousand men and proved ample to re 
 tain the victories already won. 
 
170 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 A Graphic Oration. 
 
 The following extracts are from an able speech 
 made by Hon. Thomas J. Mackey, of South Caro 
 lina, at a reunion of Mexican War Veterans, in 
 Washington City, December 8th, 1883. 
 
 Mr. President and Comrades of the Mexican 
 War: 
 
 By your favor, I have been assigned the del 
 icate duty of reciting history in the presence of those 
 who have acted history. In so doing, I shall vio 
 late the prudent counsel of a distinguished teacher 
 of modern languages, who advised his scholars on 
 graduating, always to speak their French among 
 Germans and their German among Frenchmen. 
 
 The dust of more than a third of a century has 
 gathered over the curtain that fell upon the last 
 scene of that splendid drama in which you bore hon 
 orable parts on the stage of actual conflict. I can 
 but lift that curtain for a brief moment, while we 
 glance through the long vista of thirty-seven years 
 upon the scenes which to us are still living memo 
 ries, while others must glean them from the historic 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 171 
 
 page, or perchance, hear them recited at the house 
 hold altar, where 
 
 ''The broken soldier kindly bade to stay, 
 vSits by his fire and talks the night away ; 
 Weeps o'er his wounds, or tales of sorrow done, 
 Shoulders his crutch and shows how fields were 
 won." 
 
 Seventy-nine thousand , rank and file, consti 
 tuting that splendid army, charged with the duty 
 in connection with our grand old historic navy of 
 enforcing from Mexico indemnity for the past and 
 security for the future. That demand, history at 
 tests, they translated into action. 
 
 It was not an easy task assigned that army 
 and navy. 
 
 The republic of Mexico consisted of nineteen 
 States, having an aggregate population of nearly 
 nine millions. She had a standing army of seventv 
 thousand, and had called into the field an additional 
 force of nearly two hundred thousand. Her sol 
 diers were well equipped and magnificently unifor 
 med. We could say of her with literal truth, that 
 her "cohorts were gleaming with purple and gold." 
 
 Her coast defences were provided with good 
 armaments and well manned, and her principal sea 
 port, Vera Cruz, was guarded by the castle of San 
 Juan D,Ulloa, mounting four hundred guns, and 
 one of the strongest fortresses in the world. No 
 country on earth was better adapted by its topog 
 raphy for defensive warfare. 
 
 And it had a formidable ally in the deadly cli 
 mate of its coast, where the tropical sun shining 
 upon the ever decaying masses of rank vegetation, 
 burns up the blood with fever, alternating with the 
 icy norther that in an hour will often vary the tem 
 perature from summer's heat to winter's cold. 
 
172 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 Three lines of operation against Mexico were 
 now determined on : 
 
 1. General Taylor was to operate from Ma- 
 tamoros along the line of the Rio Grande. 
 
 2. A column under Gen. Kearney was to con 
 quer the Mexican territories of New Mexico and 
 California. 
 
 3. A column under Gen. Wool was to enter 
 the northern States of Mexico and conquer Chihua 
 hua. 
 
 Battle of Monterey. 
 
 In pursuance of this plan, Gen. Taylor advanc 
 ed upon the Mexican army, then in position at Mon 
 terey, September 5th, 1846. 
 
 His army numbered 6,600, and was composed 
 of 3,200 regular troops, of the ist, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 
 7th, and 8th Infantry, four companies of the 2nd 
 dragoons, five batteries of artillery and 3,400 vol 
 unteers, consisting of the first regiments from Ohio, 
 Kentucky, Mississippi, and Tennessee, two Texas 
 regiments, commanded by Brigadier-general Hen 
 derson, including Jack Hay's famous rangers, and 
 one battalion from Maryland and the District of 
 Columbia. 
 
 The Mexican forces consisted of 7,000 regulars 
 and 3,500 volunteers, with an ample supply of ar 
 tillery, in strong works, covering every approach 
 to the city. Their principal works were known as 
 Forts Diabolo, Teneria, Saldado, Independence, the 
 Bishop's Palace and the Citadel. 
 
 Our army attacked in three divisions, com 
 manded by Gen'ls. Worth, Twiggs, and Butler, of 
 Kentucky. 
 
 The enemy made a fierce and desperate resist 
 ance, raising the old Spanish war cry, of "War to 
 the knife, and the knife to the hilt!" The firing 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 173 
 
 was incessant from barricades in the streets, and 
 from the windows and roofs of the dwelling, as 
 our soldiers entered the city after carying all the 
 outer defences by assault. Our men had actually to 
 dig their way through the walls of the houses in ad 
 vancing. The attack began on September 2Oth, and 
 ended on the 23rd, with the surrender of the enemy. 
 
 Battle of Buena Vista. 
 
 Early in the following December all of the 
 regular infantry was withdrawn from General Tay 
 lor's army, and ordered to report to Major-general 
 Winfield Scott, who had assumed command in per 
 son, of the fourth great column of invasion, whose 
 object point was the capital of Mexico. 
 
 General Taylor's army was thus reduced to a 
 force of only 4,500 men of all arms, composed alto 
 gether of volunters, except three batteries of the 
 regular army, and two squadrons of the 2nd dra 
 goons. Its numerical weakness invited attack, and 
 General Santa Anna, the most renowned and skil- 
 full of the Mexican commanders, accordingly moved 
 his army against him. That army numbered, ac 
 cording to the official Mexican reports, 23, 400 men, 
 two-thirds of whom were regular troops. 
 
 General Taylor selected a position admirably 
 adapted for defence at the Rancho of Buena Vista. 
 The position was marked by narrow defiles, deep 
 ravines and rugged and high ridges that command 
 ed the valley below. 
 
 An army dislodged from such a position by 
 such a foe is lost, and well each American soldier 
 knew it. The battle began at daylight, on Febru 
 ary 23rd, 1847, by the attack of the enemy in force 
 upon our left flank. That attack was handsomely 
 repulsed by the fire of the 2nd Illinois infantry, and 
 the Kentucky cavalry, with Bragg's and Sherman's 
 
174 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 splendidly served batteries, a battalion of the 2nd 
 and 3rd, Indiana riflemen, and company of dis 
 mounted Arkansas cavalry. 
 
 About 9 o'clock in the morning, another heavy 
 column of Mexicans moved along the road against 
 the center of our position. This force was check 
 ed by the well directed lire of Washington's battery, 
 and diverged to our left where the enemy was con 
 centrating for a decisive attack. The extreme left 
 of our line was posted on a high and broad plateau, 
 and was composed of the 2nd Indiana and 2nd 
 Illinois infantry. The tremendous impact of that 
 attack compelled those regiments to retire after sus 
 taining for some time a terrible cross fire of artillery 
 and a heavy fire on their front by a greatly superior 
 force of infantry. At that crisis of the battle the 
 first Mississippi Rifles, commanded by Col. Jeffer 
 son Davis, doubtless saved the day by rapidity and 
 accuracy of their fire, delivered against the advanc 
 ing cavalry of the enemy then exulting in the pros 
 pects of speedy victory. Most gallantly did he up 
 hold the starry ensign of the Union, and for that, 
 though his fortunes have foundered since, in grate 
 ful memory, for the flag's sake, we respectfully 
 salute him now. The Mississippi Rifles were soon 
 gallantly supported by the 3rd Indiana, 1st, Illinois, 
 and 2nd Kentucky regiments, with a section of 
 Bragg's famous battery, and the ground lost on our 
 left flank was in great part recovered. At the base 
 of the mountains the right flank of the enemy was 
 held in check by the regular dragoons, and the In 
 diana and Arkansas troops, and the destructive fire 
 of our artillery, shattering that it might reach, and 
 reaching that it might shatter the dense line of the 
 enemy, of whose magnificent cavalry it may be said : 
 
 "The sheen of the spears was like the stars on the 
 sea, 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 173 
 
 When the blue waves rolled nightly on deep 
 Gallilee:" 
 
 At that moment, when his attacking force had 
 received such a disastrous check, Gen. Santa Anna 
 with characteristic cunning sent in a flag of truce, 
 and our fire was suspended. This expedient can 
 not be too much commended in the practice of the 
 art of war, although all writers upon grand strategy 
 have overlooked it in works upon military science. 
 Whenever your attacking columns are about to be 
 repulsed and shattered, hurry up a flag of truce 
 and demand the surrender of your exultant enemy; 
 and then, before he can recover from his astonish 
 ment at your sublime impudence, reform your 
 broken columns, and retire with dignity under the 
 shelter of the peaceful symbol. Santa Anna's de 
 mand for the surrender of Gen. Taylor's army was 
 promptly declined by "Old Rough and Ready," 
 without thanks The battle was soon after renewed 
 by the enemy who brought all his forces into action. 
 After a tremendous struggle they were again dis 
 astrously repulsed. The battle of the twelve ter 
 rible hours had ended, and "our flag was still 
 there!" Santa Anna retired rapidly with his army 
 into the interior, only taking time to send off a 
 bulletin to the capital, announcing that he had just 
 won a "glorious victory" over the "Barbarians of 
 the North, at Buena Vista." 
 
 This victory ended in a blaze of glory the bat 
 tle record of the army of occupation under General 
 Taylor. 
 
 Conquest of California. 
 
 In the mean time the army of the West, 2,500 
 strong, under the command of General Stephen 
 
173 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 W. Kearney, had been reaping a rich harvest of 
 laurels, winning victory after victory against vast 
 odcls, and almost unsttrmountable natural obstacles. 
 
 By a rapid march from Fort Leavenworth to 
 Santa Fe, a distance of 900 miles, in 35 days, New 
 Mexico was taken possession of without firing a 
 shot. Dividing his forces at Santa Fe, Gen. Kear 
 ney, with 150 dragoons, marched to California, de 
 feated the enemy in a warm engagement at San 
 Pasqual and formed a junction with the California 
 rifle battalion, and marines and sailors, from the 
 squadron of the navy, under the command of Com 
 modore Stockton, who had just succeeded the gal 
 lant commander Sloat, who had previously taken the 
 California port of Monterey. 
 
 Prior to the arrival of Gen. Kearney, however, 
 that gallant soldier and untiring explorer, John C. 
 Fremont, had hoisted the American Standard in 
 California. He was there under orders to ascertain 
 a new route to Oregon, further south than that 
 usually traveled by emigrants. Upon learning in 
 May, 1846, that the Mexican government had or 
 dered all American settlers from that province, and 
 had raised a force to expell them, he recruited Ji 
 body of 400 men, and defeated the Mexicans in 
 several engagements in the valley of the Sacra 
 mento before he had even heard that war existed 
 between the United States and Mexico, and un 
 der his leadership the Americans in California, 
 united with many of the natives, had declared their 
 independence of Mexico on the 5th day of July, 1846. 
 This is an excellent example. All Americans who 
 contemplate settling in Spanish-American coun 
 tries, should carry copies of our Declaration of In 
 dependence with them. "No family should be with- 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN \VAR. 177 
 
 Battle of Vcra Cruz. 
 
 Changing the scene, on the Qth of March, 1847, 
 the army of Mexico, under the command of Gen 
 eral Winfield Scott, that most regal of American 
 soldiers, never to be named by us, comrades, but 
 with uplifted hats, began its victorious movement 
 for the "Halls of the Montezumas." General Scott 
 on that day, effected the landing of his army at 
 Sacrificio?,, an island seven miles west of Vera 
 Cruz. The landing was made in sixty-seven surf 
 boats, each holding seventy-five men, under cover 
 of the guns of our fleet, commanded by Commo 
 dore Conner, with those brilliant naval officers, 
 Commodores Perry and Tatnall, in command of 
 squadrons of his fleet. Scott's army, upon landing, 
 numbered 13,000, rank and file. He established his 
 lines on the north and east front of Vera Cruz on 
 the same day. He planted five siege batteries, 
 built of sand bags, within a thousand yards of the 
 walls of the city. One of the batteries was mount 
 ed with 8-inch ship guns, and manned by sailors 
 from the fleet. A demand for the surrender of the 
 city having been made and refused, our guns open 
 ed fire on March 22nd, and for three days and 
 nights rained the red hot ruin of avenging war 
 upon it. On the morning of the 25th, General 
 Landero, commanding the Mexican garrison of the 
 city, and the castle of San Juan d' Ulloa, sent in 
 a flag of truce with overtures of surrender. 
 
 He at first proposed to surrender the city alone. 
 General Scott refused this, demanding the castle 
 also. This demand was finally acceded to, and the 
 surrender of the Mexican army at Vera Cruz, 8,- 
 ooo strong, was formally made on March 2O,th, 
 1847, when we entered in triumph the beautiful 
 city of the "True Cross." 
 
178 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 War Ended by a Treaty of Peace. 
 
 The Mexican war was ended by a treaty of 
 peace, concluded at the hacienda of Guadulupe 
 Hildalgo, on February 2nd, 1848. Peace was pro 
 claimed by President Polk, July 4th, 1848. 
 
 It was no holiday war. It was replete with 
 toilsome and weary marches, with blistering and 
 bleeding feet, through hot sand under a tropical 
 sun, and over jagged rocks and snowy mountain 
 ranges, where horses and riders perished with 
 cold. 
 
 It had its many dark days, when the soldier 
 was faint with hunger and his tongue parched with 
 thirst. It was full of nameless tragedies, both on 
 bloody fields, in front of many a battery's smoking 
 guns, and in the deeper gloom of the fever stricken 
 hospitals, where the living, in their anguish, envied 
 the deep repose of the dead. 
 
 I will not attempt to describe the grand scenery 
 of Mexico, its wonderful climate, or the endless vari 
 ety of its agricultural products. As early as 1804, 
 the great Humboldt wrote of it : "All the climates 
 and all the products can be found here." 
 
 Least of all will I attempt, in such an assem 
 blage of battle-scarred veterans, to describe the fair 
 women of Mexico. With them we had no battles, 
 but yet must confess that we had with them many 
 warm engagements in which we were always com 
 pelled to surrender to their arms. 
 
 But these things belong to the dear, dead sum 
 mers of the heart. They come back like bright 
 phantoms, robed in airy drapery, to visit the silent 
 nails of memory, where once again the veteran of 
 1846 beholds, with ardent gaze, the joyous "fandan 
 go" of Mexico. 
 
 "Where the glance of her virgins were ever archly 
 deep, 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 179 
 
 And their dark eyes ever full of passion and of 
 sleep." 
 
 In that memorable war, comrades, which last 
 ed two and a-half years, we fought seventy battles 
 and engagements without the final loss of a single 
 gun or American ensign. 
 
 Engaged always against heavy odds, we bore 
 the honor of this great republic triumphantly on 
 the points of our ever advancing swords and bayon 
 ets, on fields 
 
 ''Ploughed deep with hurrying hoof and wheel, 
 Shot-sown, and bladed thick with steel !" 
 
 Blended with this honorable reflection we 
 proudly recall the fact that we marched nearly 
 four thousand miles through the country of an 
 enemy, alien to us in race, language and religion, 
 and performed no act to wound the modesty of 
 woman or sully the sanctity of her person. The 
 blaze of no defenceless homestead lighted up our 
 line of march, and no vesper bell ceased to sound 
 because of our coming. 
 
 We were always merciful in the hour of vic 
 tory, and while we vindicated the prowess of our 
 country, we illustrated its civilization. 
 
 Thus should it always have been, and thus 
 may it ever be with the American soldier! 
 
 What have been the material results of that 
 victorious war? 
 
 By our arms, our country won the vast terri 
 tories of California, Utah, Nevada, Colorado and 
 New Mexico, and made it easy to acquire Arizona 
 for a merely nominal sum. We thereby added one 
 million square miles, or 840,000,000 of acres to 
 the United States, nearly doubling its area. Ac 
 cording to authoritative statistics there has been 
 
180 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 taken from the mines and rivers of the territories 
 thus acquired, since 1848, gold and silver of the 
 value of $3,000,000,000. Averaging the soldier at 
 140 pounds, this amount is sufficient to award to 
 every soldier, actually engaged in the battles of 
 Mexico, were even all now living, his weight in 
 pure gold. Of the 85,000 men who participated in 
 those battles, less than 6,000 survive. This fact is 
 attested by a most careful census of the survivers. 
 Yet we are told, in the discussion of the bill so long 
 pending, to pension the veterans of the Mexican 
 war, that "too many are still living" to warrant the 
 granting the pensions to aid in maintaining them in 
 their declining years. This is the base economy of 
 ingratitude. Such an objector could only be satis 
 fied by a proviso in the bill, that it should not take 
 effect during the lifetime of any veteran, and the 
 amount appropriated should be converted into the 
 treasury of the United States, upon the death of the 
 last survivor. May the feeblest of you comrades 
 survive the Congressman who makes this objection, 
 and live many years after he has beheld the slow 
 but certainty of justice of his country fully vindicat 
 ed against the fat-ribbed advocate of lean appro 
 priations for disabled veterans of the nation's wars. 
 
 A Blessing to the Nation. 
 
 A writer in the "Vedette," in speaking of trie 
 Mexican war, reviews its causes and then adds : 
 
 The patriotic spirit of the people of our coun 
 try was aroused to a degree that had never before 
 been seen since the Revolution of 1776. But the 
 old Tory element in our midst soon organized an 
 opposition party and wagged their venomous 
 tongues with fanatical vigor against appropriating 
 money or supplies for the men who had left their 
 farms and workshops to vindicate the honor of our 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 181 
 
 country and its flag. A leader of this faction in the 
 Senate of the United States, in arguing against an 
 appropriation uttered an expression that shocked 
 the senses of all true men. He said : "If I were a 
 Mexican as I am an American, I would welcome 
 the invaders of rny country with bloody hands to 
 hospitable graves." 
 
 With such enemies in the rear, and a ferocious 
 foe before them, the young men who had rallied 
 around the flag of the Union, uneducated in the art 
 of war, but filled with patriotic ardor and a high 
 sense of duty, being separated from their homes, 
 their wives and sweethearts, and braving pestilence 
 in a malarial climate, suffering privations that would 
 be regarded as incredible if related in detail, in their 
 desperation trampled and routed every army they 
 encountered, never yielding to the enemy, but al 
 ways driving them from their positions by bayonet 
 or sabre, until they finaly conquered a peace, with 
 "indemnity for the past and security for the future." 
 
 A fraction of more than two years of active 
 warfare placed the United States of America on an 
 equality with the greatest commercial nations of the 
 earth. In military renown her soldiers were recog 
 nized as invincible. In the acquisition of the ter 
 ritory, utterly useless to Mexico, we commanded the 
 great highway to the Pacific Oceon and the Oriental 
 market, for the older and more populous States 
 of the Union. 
 
 The success of the military operations in Mexico 
 excited the patriotism of the whole people in all 
 sections of the Union. Military companies in civil 
 life were organized in all the cities and towns of the 
 Union, to such an extent that within a dozen years 
 from the close of that war, the States of the North 
 and South were able to place over 3,000,000 of men 
 in the field with a practical knowledge of warfare 
 derived from experience in Mexico, producing 
 
182 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 heroes innumerable. The increased circulation of 
 gold and silver taken from the mines of California 
 and Nevada developed the resourses of the country 
 to a marvelous extent. "Enterprises of great pith 
 and moment" were projected every day. Clipper 
 ships and magnificant steamers gave an impetus to 
 commerce and civilization that surpasses any era in 
 the history of the world. The railroads accross the 
 continent were a direct result of the war with 
 Mexico. The twenty-nine States, sparsely settled, 
 when the Mexican war broke out, have been in 
 creased to fourty-four, with four more ready for 
 admission, and the population has swollen to a fabu 
 lous figure, being more than seventy millions today. 
 Not an acre of the million square miles achieved 
 was made "slave territory," and the charge so often 
 made that the war was prosecuted "in the interest 
 of slavery and slave holders" is without the shadow 
 of truth. In point of fact, the acquisition of this 
 vast territory destroyed the political power of the 
 slave States, by the admission of free States ex 
 clusively, and the final abolition of slavery was an 
 incident directly traceable to that historical con 
 flict. 
 
 Lincoln's Endorsement. 
 
 A senator from one the states acquired by 
 the soldiers of Mexico stated in a speech one day, 
 that when he arrived here in 1864 '65 and called on 
 President Lincoln, the great man took the Senator 
 by both hands and said : "I- am glad to see yo.u. You 
 come from a country which has given us the means 
 to preserve this Union. If it had not been for the 
 gold and silver we got from California, Nevada, 
 and the other Pacific States and Territories, we 
 could not have maintained our national credit, and 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE 'MEXICAN WAR. 183 
 
 all would have been lost. I feel grateful to the 
 pioneers of that country." 
 
 Who were the pioneers of that country ? Were 
 they not the volunteers who braved the storm of 
 battle and forced the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, 
 whereby the title of the United State was confirmed ? 
 
 The Battle of Palo Alto. 
 (Air "The Manner Hymn.") 
 
 A wild huzza a daring charge, 
 
 On Palo Alto's plain, 
 Is answered by shrill trumpet notes, 
 
 And echo'd back again 
 Is echo'd back again by foes 
 
 Who dare us to the strife, 
 Where thousands guard the chapparal, 
 
 And offer life for life. 
 
 Old "Rough and Ready" cheers his men, 
 
 And bids them follow him 
 Into the thickest of the fight, 
 
 At risk of life and limb 
 "At risk of life and limb," he cries, 
 
 "Come follow, follow all, 
 Where glory crowns the living man, 
 
 And weaves the martyr's pall." 
 "We'll take yon frowning battery," 
 
 Loud shouts the gallant May, 
 While Ringgold points his polished guns, 
 
 The foremost in the fray, 
 The foremost in the fray was he, 
 
 The valiant and the brave 
 And nobly lost his valued life 
 
 To win an honor'd grave. 
 
184 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 The day of strife and blood is o'er 
 
 The foe has fled afar 
 The weary soldier rests in peace, 
 
 But dreams of bloody war 
 He dreams of bloody war and frowns, 
 
 'Til angel faces come 
 To whisper mercy in his ear 
 
 And bid him dream of Home. 
 
 What Did the Privates Do? 
 
 Our dailies teem with daring deeds, 
 
 And books are filled with fame, 
 Brass bands will play and cannons roar 
 
 In honor of the name 
 Of men who held commissions, and 
 
 Were honest, brave and true ; 
 But still the question comes to me, 
 
 What did the privates do? 
 
 Who were the men to guard the camp 
 
 When the foes were hovering 'round? 
 Who dug the graves of comrades dear ? 
 
 Who laid them in the ground ? 
 Who sent the dying message home 
 
 To those he never knew? 
 If the officers did all this, 
 
 What did the privates do? 
 
 Who were the men to fill the place 
 
 Of comrades slain in strife? 
 Who were the men to risk their own 
 
 To save a comrade's life? 
 Who was it lived on salted pork 
 
 And bread too hard to chew? 
 If the officers did this alone, 
 
 What did the privates do? 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN \\'\\\. 18; 
 
 Who laid in pits on rainy nights 
 
 All eager for the fray ? 
 Who marched beneath a scorching sun 
 
 Through many a toilsome day? 
 Who paid the sutler double price, 
 
 And scanty rations drew? 
 If officers get all the praise, 
 
 Then, what did the privates do? 
 
 All honor to the brave old boys 
 
 Who rallied at the call- 
 Without regard to name or rank, 
 
 We honor one and all. 
 They're passing over, one by one, 
 
 And soon they'll all be gone 
 To where the books will surely show 
 
 Just what the boys have done. 
 
 Selected. 
 
 The Lesson of a Fandango. 
 
 "A narrow escape," said the adjutant, an old 
 campaigner, who was seated on a log during one of 
 the reunions of the glorious old Eleventh Pennsyl 
 vania Volunteer Cavalry during the late war, to one 
 of his brother officers, who was recounting a thrill 
 ing adventure in which he narrowly escaped with 
 his life from the enemy, "and reminds me of an inci 
 dent that befell myself during the Mexican war, and 
 which, but for 'Providence,' I might not now have 
 the honor of serving my country as your 'adjutant.' 
 God only knows what would have become of you 
 if such an event had occured at this interesting 
 period of my life ; but as I see a look of incredulity 
 flit across the younger portion of this otherwise 
 respectable assemblage I will proceed to my story. 
 
 "When the war broke out in Mexico I was a 
 student in a Southern college, and not yet sixteen, 
 
1S8 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 and the Southern heart was fired to such an extent 
 that studies were out of the question and breaches of 
 discipline the rule, and which resulted in the scaling 
 of the college walls and the embarkation for our 
 homes by twenty-four youths to fame and fortune 
 quite unknown. 
 
 "Deemed too young by my friends to enlist 
 a place was obtained for rne as a clerk in a sutler's 
 store. One evening while strolling about through 
 the city I met with a friend who requested me to 
 accompany him to a 'fandango, 'or dance house, 
 "which was situate beyond the barricade, outside the 
 city, and which was kept by an old woman, whom 
 the soldiers nicknamed 'Mother Broadhorn' because 
 of her immense size and weight. 
 
 "This house was famous for games of chance 
 (such as 'monte,' faro, etc.), as well as the terpsich- 
 orean art, and to those who were willing to run the 
 gauntlet a considerable fun could be procured at 
 little or no expense; but the Mexicans at that time 
 were so treacherous and blood thirsty that it was 
 dangerous for an American or soldier to venture out 
 after dark, ?.*id so I protested against my friend's in 
 vitation, as my arms were at the store and it was not 
 safe to go without them, but he promised me faith 
 fully to see me home at any time I might desire ; so, 
 yielding to his solicitations, I consented, and we 
 were soon admitted to 'Mother Broadhorn's abode, 
 where my friend was soon immersed in the fascinat 
 ing game of chance. After strolling about and 
 watching the dancers, I returned to the room where 
 my friend was playing I was induced to take a hand 
 also, when I won $100 in gold pieces, and as I arose 
 from the table I beheld two villainous-looking Mexi 
 cans watching me. A feeling of uneasiness came 
 over me, and I hastened to my friend and begged 
 him to accompany me home, telling him that it was 
 late and I was unarmed, but he would not leave, so 
 
INCIDENTS OF Till'] MEXICAN WAR. 1ST 
 
 I concluded to run the risk alone, and as I opened 
 the outer door the faces of the two Mexicans 
 flashed upon me, and I was conscious that I was be 
 ing watched, and hurried out into the darkness. 
 But I had not gone far ere I found I was followed, 
 and hastened my footsteps, but saw that the Mexi 
 cans were gaining on me, when I begun to count the 
 distance between the barrier. One, two, three, four, 
 five, six, the barriers gained and I should be saved, 
 when a hand was laid upon my shoulder, which drew 
 from me one long, sharp cry of pain, and I was 
 thrown to the ground while the two Mexicans were 
 astride of my body, and in their uplifted hands a 
 gleaming knife. With a cry of murder ! help. ! and 
 a hasty 'God help me !' I closed my eyes and could 
 in imagination feel the murderous knife, when a 
 shot was fired and the Mexicans relaxed their hold, 
 while their brains bespattered my face, and a cheery 
 voice was heard, saying, 'Well ! stranger ; are you 
 clone for ?' and who proved to be two Kentucky cav 
 alry men who were on their way to the barrier and 
 who had arrived on the scene just in time to hear 
 my cry and v/ith the above result. Rising to my feet 
 and assuring myself that I was not hurt, I thanked 
 my kind preservers, who saw me safely home. In 
 conclusion, gentlemen, I will say that this was my 
 first and last game of chance, and that before the 
 war ended I was enrolled in my country's service 
 for the term of the war." 
 
 NATHAN H. ROBBINS, 
 Adjutant Eleventh Pa. Vol. Cavalry. 
 
 Taking of the Belen Gate. 
 September, 13, 1847. 
 
 (The Tacubaya causeway, three-quarters of a 
 mile in length, was the direct road from Chapultepec 
 
188 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 to the City of Mexico. It was fringed with trees 
 and on each side were marshy grounds and deep 
 ditches. Along the center of the causeway ran an 
 aqueduct raised on massive stone arches, conveying 
 water from the hill of Chapultepec. The Garita 
 Belen was an immense gate, defended on one side 
 by a parapet and ditches, and on the other by a zig 
 zag redan. It was also commanded by guns from 
 the Paseo, the Citadel, and a battery at the entrance 
 of a street. On the causeway, to the left, was pos 
 ted a battery of four guns, and beyond this, on the 
 right, was the fortified village of Romita. All these 
 works swarmed with troops.- General Quitman, 
 who was posted here on the I3th of September, 
 1847, na< l received discretionary orders to advance 
 upon the city by this route after the taking of Chap 
 ultepec, and it was known that there would be hot 
 work where he commanded. The order was pass 
 ed, "Quitman's division to the city!" and down the 
 slope of hill, out of the smoke and dust of Chapul 
 tepec, his troops poured on. Their advance was 
 fiercely resisted. The trees on each side were shiv 
 ered with balls ; huge pieces of stone broken from 
 the angles of masonry were dashed down upon the 
 advancing columns. The arches of the acqueduct 
 afforded the only shelter from the fiery hail. By 
 keeping under cover of these arches, and springing 
 from one to the other, the assailants, aided by 
 Drum's howitzers, succeeded in silencing the inter 
 mediate battery, over which poured the column, 
 headed by Smith's Rifles and the Palmetto Regi 
 ment. Now all the batteries opened fire at once, 
 sweeping down whole ranks, while a sharp flank fire 
 from Romita proclaims that the storm has shifted, 
 and is bursting forth from a new direction. The 
 assailing column sorely thinned, wavers. The crisis 
 of the day is approaching, when the rumbling of 
 Drum's artillery is heard. A few discharges sends 
 
The above is a photograph of the old Spanish flag cap 
 tured at the National Palace, Mexico, at the time of General 
 Scott's occupation in 1847. It is said to he the flag carried 
 by Cortex in his invasion of Mexico in 1519. The gentleman 
 above on the left, is James C. Carleton, President of Mexi 
 can War Veterans' Association, the other gentleman being 
 C. F. Sargent, Vice President. 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 189 
 
 the Mexicans flying from their guns, and the Ameri 
 cans stand before the Belen Gate. With a shout 
 and a mighty rush the line dashes on. The differ 
 ent commands are mixed together in inextricable 
 confusion. The foremost rank leaps the ditch, 
 followed by their General. One final volley is 
 given; the glim of steel shines through the 
 smoke; then a short, sharp, hand-to-hand strug 
 gle; and the next moment a figure rises through 
 the dense cloud. It is Quitman waving a hander- 
 kerchief as a signal that the Belen Gate is won.) 
 
 It is an aged soldier, 
 
 All seamed with ghastly scars 
 A wreck cast upon the beach of peace 
 
 From the foaming surge of wars. 
 He is resting, in the noontide, 
 
 Beneath a beechen tree, 
 And the village school-boys gather 'round 
 
 Or clamber on his knee; 
 For they love the good old soldier 
 
 With his tales of long ago, 
 Of the battles won and the high deeds done 
 
 On the plains of Mexico. 
 
 "They tell me, boys, the moments 
 
 With doubts and fears are rife, 
 And patriot virtues cannot thrive 
 
 In the air of civil strife. 
 But it matters not; when danger 
 
 Assails our native land, 
 Mark then how quickly faction flies, 
 
 And brave souls take their stand. 
 A freeman's hardy courage 
 
 Needs but a foreign foe; 
 And so we proved before the world 
 
 In the war with Mexico. 
 
190 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAI',. 
 
 They were martyrs, those who perished 
 
 For their country's trust and fame; 
 And glorious in the after years 
 
 Shall be each sainted name. 
 They were strong to toil and suffer, 
 
 They were strong to dare and bleed, 
 They were hearts sent forth from the hand of 
 God, 
 
 To meet the time of need!" 
 
 The eldest of the children 
 
 Is a noble, fair-haided boy 
 And he drinks the word with willing ear 
 
 And a kindly smile of joy; 
 And his little eyes are widened, 
 
 As at a trumpet's call : 
 Now tell us of the hottest fight, 
 
 And the bravest deed of all." 
 
 "Ah!" cried the old man grimly, 
 
 "We had enough to do; 
 For ne'er unstained with native gore 
 
 The starry banner flew; 
 But we owed the most to valor, 
 
 And the least to favoring fate, 
 At the taking of the Belen Pass, 
 
 And the storming of the Gate 
 
 "We had gone through fire and labor 
 
 For many a night and day. 
 From Palto Alto's mournful field 
 
 To the heights of Monterey. 
 We paused at Buena Vista, 
 
 Contreras felt our blow, 
 And at last we saw the distant spires 
 
 Of the vale of Mexico. 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 11)1 
 
 "Chapultepec is taken ! 
 
 Upon her ruined walls 
 A hugh and smoky canopy, 
 
 Like a shroud of honor falls. 
 The bee-like swarms that clustered, 
 
 For life and home to strive, 
 Are routed from their broken halls. 
 The guns that woke the morning 
 
 Are dumb beneath our tread, 
 As on we march, in serried files, 
 
 Though a desert of the dead. 
 
 "All faintly in the distance 
 
 Are heard the foe's alarms; 
 And hot and grimed with blood and dust, 
 
 We are resting on our arms. 
 On every war-worn visage, 
 
 Stern grief with triumph blends : 
 For each has sought among the ranks 
 
 And missed his kin or friends. 
 The voices that were dearest, 
 
 We shall ne'er hear them more; 
 Our butchered comrades lie behind, 
 
 And Vengeance stalks before. 
 
 ''Well may we halt our column, 
 
 On the steep so deadly won; 
 Much has been dared, and much is gained, 
 
 But more must yet be done. 
 Well may we halt our column, 
 
 To catch a moment's breath; 
 For the road in front is leading o'er 
 
 To the very jaws of Death. 
 
 "It is a narrow causeway 
 
 Accross the dark morass, 
 With heavy arches frowning down 
 
 Upon the fearful pass ; 
 
192 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 And at the giant portal 
 
 The City takes her stand, 
 Hurling defiance back upon 
 
 The invaders of the land. 
 
 "Like a grim and surly watch-dog 
 
 Stares forth each deep-mouthed gun; 
 And plumes and helms, and burnished steel 
 
 Are gleaming in the sun. 
 We have chased the wounded tigress 
 
 To the entrance of her lair; 
 And, mad to battle for her young, 
 
 She turns upon us there. 
 
 "And loudly rings the war-cry, 
 
 And wide the flags are cast, 
 And Mexico will make this hour 
 
 Her proudest, or her last; 
 For all of savage valor, 
 
 And all of burning hate, 
 That have outlived the shocks of war, 
 
 Are at the Belen Gate. 
 
 "He comes, our mighty leader, 
 
 Along the wasted van ; 
 There is no heart in all the ranks 
 
 That does not love that man! 
 He passes 'mid the columns ; 
 
 And it is a glorious sight 
 To see him form them for the fray, 
 
 But his brow is dark as night 
 He is thinking of his brave ones 
 
 Who sleep the eternal sleep, 
 Among the slaughtered enemy, 
 
 On yonder bloody steep. 
 He is thinking of the succors, 
 
 That should have come ere now; 
 Such thoughts may dim the brightest eye, 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN \\All. 193 
 
 And cloud the fairest brow. 
 But he gazes o'er the causeway, 
 
 And he hears the foeman's cry; 
 And the old stern look is on his face, 
 
 And the fire is in his eye. 
 
 "Forward!" and at the signal, 
 
 Beneath the General's glance, 
 With dauntless mien and measured tread 
 
 The lengthened lines advance. 
 
 "There comes a blaze of lightening 
 
 From gate, and wall, and spire, 
 As though the city had put on 
 
 A girdle all of fire! 
 There comes a burst of thunder, 
 
 As though the teeming earth 
 Were laboring with volcanic throes, 
 
 O'er some sulphurous birth! 
 There comes a pattering shower 
 
 Of iron down the pass, 
 'Neath which the solid masonry 
 
 Is chipped like broken glass! 
 It was as though the Demons 
 
 Had risen against our plan, 
 And brought the guns of hell to bear 
 
 Upon the march of men! 
 
 "But where's the invading army, 
 
 That stood so proudly there? 
 Has it all so soon been swept away? 
 
 Has it melted in to air? 
 No: far beneath the arches, 
 
 At the signal of command, 
 Protected by the friendly stones, 
 
 Behold each little band. 
 But onward, ever onward! 
 
 No time to pause or doubt ! 
 
194 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 The glancing shot that skip within 
 Bespeaks the storm without. 
 
 We are near upon our foemen, 
 
 We can count their fierce array, 
 
 The bayonet now must do its part, 
 And end the fearful fray. 
 
 "Charge!" and we break from cover, 
 
 With the panther's spring and yell ! 
 Cannon and musket from the gate 
 
 Peal back the challenge well. 
 And now a bullet strikes me, 
 
 And I stagger to my knee; 
 While past me rush, in headlong race, 
 
 The champions of the free. 
 I rise and totter forward, 
 
 Although with failing breath; 
 For who would follow such a chase 
 
 So far and midst the death? 
 The smoke has covered all things 
 
 In its darkest battle-shroud, 
 Save when your living line of fire 
 
 Lights up the murky cloud; 
 And there our gallant fellows 
 
 Are raging in the strife, 
 Before that stern and dangerous Gate, 
 
 Whose toll is human life! 
 They are chafing like the billows 
 
 Upon a midnight shore, 
 With a tempest driving on behind, 
 
 And a wall of rock before! 
 
 "I see our gallant chieftain 
 
 In the hottest of the fire; 
 I see our soldiers gather near, 
 
 Like children 'round their sire; 
 I see him at the portal, 
 
 Still calling on his men : 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 195 
 
 And now the hot blood from my wound 
 Has blinded me again. 
 
 "I hear our fellows cheering, 
 
 As though to rend the skies; 
 And hastily I wipe away 
 
 The blood-gouts from my eyes. 
 And I, too, stand uncovered, 
 
 And shout with joy elate; 
 For the Stars and Stripes are waving high 
 Above the Belgen Gate!" 
 
 Harpers'- Magazine, 1857. 
 
196 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 Battle of the Alamo. 
 
 We publish the following sketch in connection 
 with the song which we find in the United Service 
 Magazine : 
 
 The famous struggle for the Alamo (cotton- 
 wood) of San Antonio is not forgotten by the Amer 
 ican, especially the Texan-American. And are its 
 heroes remembered also? 
 
 Colonel Bowie's death was as heroic as his life 
 had been lawless and daring. When the war of 
 Texan independence broke out he joined the patri 
 ots and became one of their ablest leaders. Retreat 
 ing with one hundred and eighty men before an 
 overwhelming force of Mexicans, commanded by 
 General Santa Anna, he made his way to San An 
 tonio de Bexar and took up a position behind the 
 walls of the Alamo, a fort of considerable strength 
 and which commanded the city. The Mexicans, five 
 thousand strong, laid si-ege to the place, constructed 
 batteries and began to play away against the fort, 
 while masses of infantry rushed forward to scale 
 the wall. Many a daring feat was performed by 
 Bowie and his men, who, surrounded on all sides, 
 neither thought of capitulating nor asking quarter 
 in any extremity. 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 197 
 
 Such was the extent of the fort that it required 
 the incessant vigilance of all the besieged at the dif 
 ferent points of attack. There was no time for sleep 
 ing. The night was dark, and the exhausted patri 
 ots sought to obtain a few hours' sleep. "The Mexi 
 cans are upon the wall !" were the startling words 
 which made every Texan spring to his feet and 
 grasp his rifle. The enemy, taking advantage of the 
 darkness, had crept up to the fort unperceived by 
 the drowsy sentinel, and were in possession of the 
 wall. The struggle was desperate. The patriots had 
 no choice between death and victory. Hundreds of 
 the enemy were either pitched from the wall or put 
 to death by the bowie knife or bayonet. At last the 
 Mexicans rushed forward, and surrounding the pa 
 triots on all sides, cut them to pieces. Not a man 
 escaped. 
 
 On the night of the attack, Colonel Bowie was 
 confined to his room by sickness. When the Mexi 
 cans broke over the wall, some of them rushed to 
 his apartment. He was up in time to take his stand 
 at the door, and with his terrible knife he for some 
 time kept the enemy at bay. When his mighty arm 
 grew tired with the work of death, he fell upon the 
 heaps of the slain which he had piled up around 
 him, and was instantly hacked and stabbed to death. 
 
 Colonel Bowie's second in command at the 
 massacre of the Alamo was Colonel David Crockett, 
 many of whose quaint sayings are household words 
 in this country. As a hunter and backwoodsman he 
 had no equal. He served one term in Congress, and 
 was a candidate for re-election, but was defeated. 
 He then emigrated to Texas and joined the pa 
 triot army. He escaped from the massacre of 
 Colonel Fannin's command, and reported to Colonel 
 Bowie for orders. He was with the little army dur 
 ing the retreat to San Antonio, and with it entered 
 the Alamo, which became the grave of the entire 
 
108 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 command. The only persons in the fort who es 
 caped were a servant woman and her child, which 
 was aftenvard adopted by the Republic of Texas 
 and educated at the public cost. That Crockett fell 
 when the Mexicans rushed over the wall is all that 
 is known ; by whom or how, no one was left to tell. 
 But the imagination can well picture him hurling 
 whole squadrons from the wall, or heaping up pyra 
 mids of the slain where the struggle was most des 
 perate. 
 
 Another noted duelist, Colonel Travis, who was 
 admitted to be the best pistol shot in the United 
 States, also fell at the massacre of the Alamo, but 
 how he met his fate is unknown. His body was 
 found under a heap of Mexican dead, showing that 
 he had fought with desperate courage until over 
 powered by numbers. Next day the bodies of the 
 fallen patriots were collected and reduced to ashes. 
 
 This wholesale butchery sent a thrill of horror 
 throughout Texas. General Sam Huston issued 
 a stirring call for volunteers. He took the field at 
 the head of a small but gallant army. Santa Anna, 
 with a greatly superior force, marched against the 
 patriots. Huston retreated to San Jacinto, where 
 he determined to make a stand. The two armies 
 met, and victory declared for the Texans. Santa 
 Anna was taken prisoner. This battle ended the war 
 and secured the independence of Texas. 
 
 The night was starlit, but the clouds 
 
 At sunset swept across the sky 
 In fleecy folds, like snowy shrouds 
 
 Ready for men who soon must die. 
 
 We held the heights at Alamo, 
 
 A little, warlike, Texan band ; 
 
 The lights of San Antonio 
 
 Around us lay upon the land. 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 190 
 
 The army of the Mexican 
 
 Was in the field not far away 
 Where Rio Grande's waters ran 
 And might attack us any day. 
 
 They stole upon us, scores to one, 
 Their Spanish faces grim and swart, 
 
 As sent the sentry's signal gun 
 A bullet through a hostile heart. 
 
 The Texans flew at once to arms, 
 Our souls afire to stem the foe ; 
 
 While on the walls they swung in swarms, 
 Each shot a sign for blood to flow. 
 
 Brave Bowie from his sick-cot sprang; 
 
 "Steady, boys ! steady !" were his words ; 
 The rattle of our Springfields rang, 
 
 As flashed our newly crimsoned swords. 
 
 Bold Crockett kept them well aloof, 
 In terror of his good right hand 
 
 That flung them from the gory roof, 
 While we the bristling turrets manned. 
 
 The gallant Travis drove them back 
 Or broke their ranks as on they fought, 
 
 To drum-roll of the musket's crack 
 And outcries of the deadly sport. 
 
 And Santa Anna at their front 
 
 Swore many a soldier-oath that night, 
 
 To see our heroes breast the brunt 
 And make his men the red dust bite. 
 
 Of all the patriots, not a lad 
 Who bled at San Antonio town 
 
200 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 Gave up the battle, till he had 
 
 Got many a wound to bring him down. 
 
 But Bowie, Crockett, Travis, fell 
 
 Where ball and bayonet laid them low; 
 
 And not a Texan lived to tell 
 The tragic fate of Alamo. 
 
 The night was starless, for the clouds 
 At midnight draped the mournful sky, 
 
 And warriors slept without their shrouds, 
 In the death that brave men love to die. 
 David Graham Adee. 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 201 
 
 Reminiscences by Indianian. 
 
 Portland, Ore., July 14, 1884. 
 
 The letter of Comrade Rufus Sumerlin in May 
 brings to mind old reminiscences of that long-ago 
 perilous time when I was a boy soldier in the in 
 vading army of Mexico. I belonged to Company 
 E, Fourth Regiment, Indiana Volunteers, General 
 Joe Lane's brigade. Willis A. Gorman was colonel 
 of the regiment, John W. Crooks was captain of 
 the company, C. C. Graham first and John F. Brit- 
 ton second lieutenants. We were performing a 
 forced march from Vera Cruz to reinforce our army 
 at the City of Mexico. 
 
 Let me take up the train of thought suggested 
 by Mr. Sumerlin in his article of March 30. I see 
 the scene now as I did on that memorable morning 
 alluded to by your correspondent : As we passed 
 over the hill some miles distant from the city, Pueb- 
 la lay bathed in the bright sunlight (for it was yet 
 before noon), the tall spires of the churches here 
 and there shooting toward the sky, and the smoke 
 from occasional volleys of musketry and from the 
 thundering boom of the enemy's cannon seemed, 
 from our position, to float lazily around the church 
 
202 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 steeples for a while and then to drag itself into long 
 cirrostrata forms toward Popocatepetl, and grad 
 ually to disappear in the distance. The landscape 
 was lovely, a perfect picture, rolling hills and inter 
 vening valleys, beautified by haciendas, with orange 
 and lime trees here and there, and fields of waving 
 corn just on the verge of ripening, while beyond 
 the great peaks of the Cordilleras arose so high 
 above the surrounding country that the summits 
 were covered with perpetual snow. Upon the right 
 hand of the city, on the opposite bank of that beau 
 tiful stream whose waters sparkle like glass as they 
 ripple along from regions of snow to tropical vales, 
 standing upon an eminence commanding the beau 
 tiful city, was the fort (I forget the name) in which 
 the gallant Colonel Childs with his brave men had 
 been shut up for twenty odd days by General Santa 
 Anna, with all communications with the city shut 
 off, and who were at the time living upon mule meat 
 (and very poor, thin mules at that). Amid the 
 smoke that arose from the cannon and musketry 
 in the fort, which, however, was but occasional, 
 could be distingugished the tattered and riddled 
 flag of our country, which had bidden defiance to 
 the enemy for more than twenty long and weary 
 days, still proudly waving in the morning sun. And 
 as our column filed over the distant brow of the 
 hill, first Captain Lewis' dragoons, then our four 
 pieces of artillery, then the Fourth Regiment of 
 Indianians, then a small detachment of regular in 
 fantry, then a Pennsylvania regiment, then the 
 Fourth Ohio, I was told afterward by a soldier in 
 the fort that a salute was fired by the garrison and 
 that it was with much difficulty that the men could 
 be restrained from rushing out through the gates 
 to meet us. And when we passed near them, before 
 entering the city, though keeping up a continuous 
 fire and driving the enemy before us, we took time 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR, 203 
 
 to return the cheers of greeting from the brave men 
 in the fort. And in less than two hours from the 
 time our cannon opened fire, and Captain Lewis 
 made his first grand dash into the ranks of the en 
 emy, lie was flying before us like the wind, and our 
 greatest danger then was from occasional shots 
 from windows or from roofs of houses. I remem 
 ber vividly the picture General Lane made as he 
 rode by our regiment on the brow of the hill when 
 we came in view of the city. Our regiment was 
 his pride and was from his own State, and he was 
 personally acquainted with nearly every man. He 
 called us : "My boys, my boys !" said he, "remem 
 ber your wives and sweethearts at home; there's 
 the enemy ten to one (pointing toward the city), 
 with us it is death or victory." He rode on and on 
 soldier who heard him faltered, each felt that there 
 was no quarter to be given, none asked for, and with 
 a wild yell we charged. 
 
 More anon. Oliver Perry Mason. 
 
 Remember the Alamo. 
 
 The following was the war song of the Texas 
 Rangers, during the war with Mexico, and by which 
 they could always work their grit up to a fighting 
 heat by singing it : 
 
 (Air: "Scots wha ha'e wi' Wallace bled.") 
 
 When on the widespread battle plain, 
 The horseman's hand can scarce restrain 
 His pampered steed that spurns the rein, 
 
 Remember the Alamo! 
 
 When sounds the thrilling bugle-blast, 
 And "Charge !" from rank to rank is passed ; 
 
204 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 Then, as your sabre-strokes fall fast, 
 
 Remember the Alamo ! 
 
 Heed not the Spanish battle-yell ; 
 Let ev'ry stroke ye give them tell, 
 And let them fall as Crockett fell 
 
 Remember the Alamo! 
 
 For ev'ry round and ev'ry thrust 
 On prisoners dealt by hands accurst, 
 A Mexican shall bite the dust 
 
 Remember the Alamo! 
 
 The cannon's peal shall ring their knell, 
 Each volley sound a passing bell, 
 Each cheer Columbia's vengeance tell 
 
 Remember the Alamo ! 
 
 For it, disdaining flight, we stand, 
 And by the issue hand in hand, 
 Woe to each Mexican brigand 
 
 Remember the Alamo! 
 
 "Then "Boot and saddle!" draw the sword! 
 Unfurl your banners bright and broad ! 
 And as you smite the murderous horde 
 
 Remember the Alamo! 
 
 Abolition of Slavery. 
 
 A writer to the Vedette, in the January num 
 ber of 1880, claims that the war with Mexico was 
 the primal cause of the abolition of African slavery 
 in the United States. In the article a representative 
 of Vermont is justly censured for his opposition to 
 the pension bill giving the Mexican war veterans 
 a pension. Among other things the writer said : 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 205 
 
 Let us ask these sapient statesmen right here: 
 What did the Southern States gain by the acquisi 
 tion of the vast territory to the west of the Rocky 
 Mountains that did not add vastly more to tRe 
 wealth and political power of the North? When 
 the Mexican war began, Texas was already a State 
 in the Union. Hence every foot of the 960,000 
 square miles, 614,400,000 acres of land, nearly 
 enough to give to every man, woman and child in 
 the country a farm), was and still remains free 
 territory, and we have since had six or eight Repub 
 lican party senators, representing (or pretending 
 to represent) State? carved out of that very terri 
 tory, and voting with the howling dervishes of Ver 
 mont against granting a pitiful stipend of eight 
 dollars a month to the old veterans through whose 
 valor this immense domain was acquired, notwith 
 standing the fact that the people whom these West 
 ern senators pretended to represent had earnestly 
 besought them, through their State Legislatures, 
 to vote and use their influence in favor of the 
 measure. 
 
 Fortunately for the downtrodden classes of hu 
 manity, the hisses from Vermont during the first 
 act of the grand drama still being performed by 
 this generation did not amount to a "mess of beans," 
 so to speak. The patriotic people of the country 
 allowed the army and navy in Mexico to proceed 
 in the glorious performance of their duty until they 
 extended the boundaries of the nation to the shores 
 of the Pacific, making it equal in magnitude to the 
 continent of Europe, and acquired the inexhaustible 
 resources in gold and silver then known to exist 
 and since developed, which made the visionary 
 dream of the unpractical Vermonters not only a 
 possibility, but a reality. Had it not been for the 
 enlargement of the field of human liberty under our 
 form of government, directly resulting from the 
 
206 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 Mexican war, the "slave power," as the Vermonters 
 called it then, would have been stronger politically 
 today than it ever was before the war with' Mexico, 
 and little Vermont would have been more insignifi 
 cant in the sisterhood of States. 
 
 But in the very nature of Jjiings the consequent 
 struggle to rid the country of its "inherited evil" 
 of human slavery came in due time, and the brave 
 men who, under the inscrutable guidance of Divine 
 Providence, opened the road and paved the way for 
 this grand historical consummation fighting side 
 by side, under the same flag, on the fields of Mex 
 ico were to some extent divided in the second act 
 of the drama, by influences they could not control, 
 to lead the contending armies in the Civil war, 
 which all wise men of the North and of the South 
 foresaw would result in the abolition of negro 
 slavery. 
 
 To bring about the grand results achieved by 
 the war for the whole country and all mankind, it 
 required two parties to make up the game, and the 
 enfranchised slaves and their pretended sympathiz 
 ers should learn to take a broad, magnanimous view 
 of all the circumstances surrounding the situation 
 at the time hostilities began. Jefferson Davis, Lee, 
 Jackson, Longstreet, Bragg, Beauregard, Early and 
 and others were eminently qualified, it is true, by 
 the lessons they learned in the Mexican war, to 
 organize and lead the men of their section in the 
 desperate and unequal contest in which an unrelent 
 ing destiny had precipitated their neighbors and 
 friends. They conceived it to be their solemn re 
 ligious duty to remain with their respective States 
 in the unfortunate contest. Their motives were as 
 holy, perhaps, in the abstract, as those which ani 
 mated the winners. 
 
 Grant, McClellan, Sherman, Thomas, Hancock, 
 Halleck, Heintzelman, Bumside, Morgan, Meade, 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 207 
 
 Hooker, McDowell, McReynolds, Pope, Logan, 
 Denver and a long list of other generals, with hun 
 dreds of regimental commanders who led the North 
 ern host, were also veterans of the Mexican \var, 
 and were filled with the same sense of duty as the 
 others named to remain true to the section of the 
 Union where their lot was cast. 
 
 But when the former laid down their arms, 
 and accepted the results of the war, so far as devel 
 oped, the entente cordiale was exchanged and per 
 secution ceased, so far as the leading actors were 
 concerned. 
 
 The curtain has rung down on the second act, 
 and the chief actors mingle together, awaiting the 
 call for the grand denouement yet to be performed. 
 
 The abolition of negro slavery, we contend, was 
 not only a direct and inevitable result of the Mexi- 
 can war. but the disenthralment of wage-laborers 
 in the North from the iron heel of their despotic 
 taskmasters is also within the range of human pos- 
 sibililty, if not absolutely impending. The labor 
 problem, which in all history is the foundation of 
 social disturbance, many thinking people believe is 
 destined to be solved before this generation passes 
 off the stage, and that the workingmen of the Unit 
 ed States of America will inaugurate the grand 
 struggle. 
 
 Honoring Our Dead Heroes. 
 
 By F. McNerhany. 
 Bright flowers, sweet flowers, we lovingly strew 
 
 Where dreamlcssly slumber our heroic dead, 
 Alike, though they fought for the Stars in the blue 
 
 Or under the Bars that were blazoned with red! 
 
 The sunbeams that come from their homes in the sky 
 
208 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 Linger over, illumine and beautify all, 
 While the starlight and dews from the azure on high 
 Crown each, as with diamonds, where brightly 
 they fall. 
 
 The same zephyrs sweetly sing over their graves, 
 The same gen'rous Earth clasps all to her breast, 
 
 For they were all soldiers, and they were all braves, 
 From North and from South, from East and from 
 West ! 
 
 As nature around these dead heroes of ours 
 
 Her mantle of beauty thus tenderly throws 
 
 In springtime her blossoms, in summer her flowers, 
 In autumn her leaves, and in winter her snows, 
 
 So with bright garlands, on this cherish'd day, 
 We decorate all the green mounds of the brave, 
 
 While thus the dark memories of war fade away 
 In the light that streams down on each rose- 
 covered grave! 
 Newport, Ky., May 28, 1881. 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 209 
 
 Adventure With Guerrillas. 
 
 By Captain E. M. Daggett. 
 At the battle of Sequaltesplan I was close by 
 the side of General Lane. At the edge of the city 
 we found a Mexican officer coming out of a house, 
 and our Mexican guide seized the officer's arm and 
 held it across the pommel of his saddle. We went 
 into the town on a run, the officer dangling like a 
 wet blanket, who directed us to Jarauta's headquar 
 ters, where we had the hottest part of the fight. 
 Jarauta always contrived to go to bed in one place 
 and during the night slip out and rise in the morn 
 ing in some other place. On this occasion he had 
 retired in an old church, but hearing the charge of 
 troopers approaching, he broke out in his night- 
 clothes, and (as I subsequently learned from an 
 other priest) took refuge in a thicket close by. Thus 
 the fighting Jarauta became a fallen angel, or a 
 fallen saint! Apropos, it is related of this chief of 
 guerrillas that when he officiated in the Cathedral 
 at Vera Cruz, during the celebration of mass one 
 morning the bishop became fretful and annoyed at 
 some awkward movement of his sub-deacon (Jarau 
 ta) and roughly pushed him aside, which so roused 
 
210 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAK. 
 
 the ire of the irascible Jarauta that he knocked the 
 unsaintly bishop off his pins, creating a decided sen 
 sation among the d,evout catechumenists and neo 
 phytes constituting the audience. The sergeant-at- 
 arms made a break to arrest him, but Jarauta broke 
 out of a back door and ran like a frightened deer 
 (his offense involving the penalty of death and 
 damnation, or something worse) until he reached 
 the western gate of the city, where he unhorsed the 
 first man he met and skedaddled across the sand 
 hills to the thicket where a noted band of robbers 
 were encamped, with whom he enrolled as member. 
 Having the advantage of knowing how to read, 
 write and cipher, his pals made him their chief, and 
 subsequently combining other bands with his own, 
 he dignified them by the. comparatively respect 
 able name of guerrillas, which was a better 
 cloak for their transactions with their countrymen 
 than the proper name of "robber." 
 
 These facts I gathered substantially from a 
 good priest, when I forced n:y IT en inside of a cuar- 
 tel which surrounded his church. This priest was 
 very polite and kind to us when he found he could 
 not help hin^self. I gave him assurance that we were 
 not robbers and would not irolest him, or anything 
 that belonged to his quarters, but that I was deter 
 mined to have shelter from the night's storm He 
 made delicious chocolate and invited me to sup with 
 him, which courtesy I accepted with thanks, and 
 was v/ell entertained with much that was interesting 
 about the guerrilla chief. He showed me the pallet 
 upon which Jarauta lay concealed after the San 
 Carles fight. 
 
 Hays, with eighty-four Rangers, had been 
 prowling through the mountains and valleys, mak 
 ing terrible hard rides by day and heavy marches 
 or runs by night, for several consecutive days, try 
 ing to overtake Jarauta. We got pretty near him 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 211 
 
 once, about four miles distant, while going past San 
 Carlos to a town about ten miles further up the 
 mountain, where our Mexican spies reported him to 
 have been encamped at dark, and that the inhabi 
 tants were fixing up things to give his men a fan 
 dango that night. But it was his old trick over 
 again he left the place and went back to San Car 
 los. Arriving there, he learned that we were on the 
 road going to the town he had just vacated. So his 
 command immediately left San Carlos, scattering 
 in all directions, but he had a rallying place some 
 three miles off at a large hacienda, on reaching 
 which he made prisoners of all the occupants and 
 shut them up to prevent any outside knowledge of 
 his whereabouts. The Rangers in the meantime, 
 learning his tactics, returned to San Carlos nearly 
 on a run. But our game was gone from that place, 
 as before stated, and being greatly fatigued and 
 our animals needing rest, we went into a large cuar- 
 tel, leading our horses through the front door. We 
 felt perfectly safe, having no fear of an attack. But 
 Jarauta that morning had received a fresh batch 
 of recruits from Senobia, which augmented his 
 force to 350 men. He had spies in the garb of peons 
 everywhere, and they reported to him the small 
 number of the Rangers, comparatively, and that 
 we had all gone to sleep, with no guards out. Upon 
 this Jarauta gave his men a drink of aguardiente 
 and made a speech in which he represented that 
 we were all worn out with fatigue and all of us 
 asleep, and succeeded in working up a considerable 
 degree of enthusiasm. So they started for San Car 
 los, these 350 Lanceros, on a run, with his best 
 horses and bravest men leading the way. I was 
 lying on a bench near the ground and a noise caused 
 me to wake up. I asked an old woman what caused 
 the roaring sound that I heard, and she quickly re 
 plied that it was caused by our horses fighting in 
 
212 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 the cuartel. But I felt uneasy and went out the 
 door and saw the citizens looking down a street 
 and running away in terror. I mounted a block 
 which overlooked the high wall and saw the Lan- 
 ceros coming down on us under a lively run, and 
 I ran in among our men yelling like a panther or 
 a Comanche Indian. But our men seemed to be 
 dead asleep. So I quickly got my two revolvers, 
 bill did not liavr time to buckle the belt before in 
 came the guerrilla chief. I shot him in the wrist 
 and his sword fell. His lieutenant then shot into 
 my face, which powder-burnt me, but I kept my 
 six-shooter playing at random, and got a bullet into 
 the chief's beefsteak and another ball into the lieu 
 tenant's right shoulder. By this time our men on 
 the roof commenced firing, and Jarauta went out, 
 bleeding before and behind. The guerrillas tried 
 to rally, but had no leader. 
 
 This was my first time when I fought without 
 hope. I did not expect to live but a few moments ; 
 and if the feelings I experienced at that time were 
 the feelings of bravery, all brave men are to be 
 pitied. I had made up my mind, however, never to 
 surrender to a Mexican; I knew what that invol 
 ved. And when that resolve came to my mind I 
 determined to give them a "coon fight." A coon 
 never surrenders when there is a chance to run, 
 and there was no chance for me. The utter confus 
 ion of the rangers for the first few moments of sur 
 prise cannot be described. But they soon got to 
 work with good natural grace, and the guerillas 
 dispersed in every direction, and I was truly glad 
 they did. Jarauta's horse came back with blood 
 on his neck and rump and saddle. The horses of 
 every man whom we lifted out of his saddle came 
 to us as we were, for the time being, the occupants 
 of his old stable and quarters. Well, we didn't 
 hunt around much for the guerillas immediately 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 213 
 
 after this affair, and I, for one, was glad to get on 
 the road back to the city of Mexico. The priest 
 also told me we killed six and wounded fifteen of 
 the guerillas. One thing that contributed to save 
 our command in this affair was the holy awe and 
 superstition entertained by the untutored greaser 
 in regard to the "revolver." They understood the 
 term to mean a turning around and about a cir 
 culator ; and were led to believe the ball would re 
 volve in all directions after its victim, run around 
 trees and turn corners, go into houses and climb up 
 stairs, and hunt up folks generally. My old friend 
 the priest, gave me more general information than 
 all other Mexicans I ever came in contact with, and 
 we became good and fast friends at least we both 
 pretended to be such. I presented to him two fine 
 belt pistols and ammunition. He called on me fre 
 quently while I was with him to praise the honesty of 
 my company, and declared that he did not believe 
 a company of Mexicans could be found who could 
 keep from taking something if they had as good 
 chance as my men had. 
 
 Burial of a Volunteer. 
 By Park Benjamin. 
 
 'Tis eve! one brightly beaming star 
 Shines from the eastern heavens afar, 
 To light the footsteps of the brave, 
 Slow marching to a comrade's grave. 
 
 The northern wind has sunk to sleep, 
 The sweet south breathes, as, low and deep, 
 The martial clang is heard, the tread 
 Of those who bear the silent dead. 
 
214 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 And whose the form, all stark and cold, 
 Thus ready for the loosened mold 
 Thus stretched upon so rude a bier? 
 Thine, soldier, thine the volunteer ! 
 
 Poor volunteer ! the shot, the blow, 
 Or fell disease hath laid him low 
 And few his early loss deplore 
 His battle done, his journey o'er. 
 
 Alas ! no fond wife's arms caressed, 
 His cheeks no tender mother pressed, 
 No pitying soul was by his side, 
 As, lonely in his tent, he died. 
 
 He died the volunteer at noon ; 
 At evening came the small platoon; 
 And soon they'll leave him to his rest, 
 With sods upon his manly breast. 
 
 Hark to their fire! his only knell, 
 More solemn than the passing bell; 
 For, ah ! it tells a spirit flown 
 Without a prayer or sigh alone! 
 
 His deeds and fate shall fade away, 
 Forgotten since his dying day ; 
 And never on the roll of fame 
 Shall be inscribed his humble name. 
 
 Alas ! like him, how many more 
 Lie cold on Rio Grande's shore ; 
 How many green, unnoted graves 
 Are bordered by those turbid waves. 
 
 Sleep, soldier, sleep from sorrow free, 
 And sin and strife 'tis well with thee 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 215 
 
 Tis well; though not a single tear 
 Laments the buried volunteer. 
 
 New Orleans Delta, Feb. 13, 1848. 
 
 TRIBUTE TO COL. SCOTT. 
 
 The following tribute to a great and good man 
 we take from a copy of the "Vedette." It gives us 
 pleasure to be able to thus perpetuate the memory 
 of one so worthy as was this great railroad mag 
 nate, whose kindness to the old veterans shows that 
 his heart was in the right place. Although the inci 
 dents referred to happened some years ago, its 
 memory is still green in the breasts of recipitants of 
 his favor on the occasion mentioned : 
 
 Comrade Ernest C. C. Dreysse, formerly of the 
 Mountain Howitzer Battery, writes from Liberty 
 Hill, Texas, as follows : 
 
 "With much regret I learn the death of Colonel 
 Thomas A. Scott, late president of the Texas Paci 
 fic and Pennsylvania railroad. His magnificent 
 generosity and courtesy to the Texas veterans of 
 Mexico in extending a free pass to the Centennial 
 Exhibition and return in 1876, is still gratefully re 
 membered, and by none more than the writer. May 
 St. Peter grant our generous friend a free pass 
 through the gates of heaven ! God bless him ! 
 Who of the great railroad magnates will imitate 
 his noble example, and give us poor old vets, a free 
 ride to our anniversary of the I4th of September 
 at Cincinnati and to the Yorktown Centennial, which 
 takes place in October?" 
 
 We feel some pleasure in publishing the above. 
 Through the intercession of Senator Maxey, vice- 
 president of the National Association of Veterans 
 of Mexico for the State of Texas, Colonel Scott 
 granted a pass over the connections of the Pennsyl- 
 
216 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 vania railroad from Austin, Texas, to Philadelphia 
 and return, and through some miscalculation he had 
 to pay out of his own pocket a large sum of money 
 to some of the connecting lines. But he had pre 
 viously given his word to the secretary of the Na 
 tional Association, and did not fail to keep his 
 promise. 
 
 Colonel Thomas Alexander Scott died at his 
 residence, near Philadelphia, on the 2ist, ult., of 
 paralysis, aged 57 years. A full history of his 
 eventful career should be written for coming genera 
 tions. He commenced life a poor, friendless boy 
 worked for himself at $i a week, and died worth 
 millions. He was endowed by nature with an ex 
 traordinary capacity and fitness for business and its 
 rapid dispatch. He transacted an almost incredi- 
 able amount of work with perfect ease and elastic 
 facility. He dictated to his stenographer with 
 lightning rapidity. He fell a worker with harness 
 on his back. 
 
 No railroad manager in the country has pos 
 sessed the exact amount of knowledge of that great 
 business in all its details as Colonel Scott did. His 
 experience dates from from extreme youth, for he 
 held a responsible position before he was of age. 
 Last year he resigned the presidency of the Penn 
 sylvania Railroad Company, in whose service he had 
 labored for thirty years, and whose success is due 
 to his tireless energy and superb business tact. 
 When he retired from the high office of president of 
 the railroad, the company owned about 8,000 miles 
 of road, with a capital of over $350,000,000. Col. 
 Scott was president of the road through a very try 
 ing financial period, but he commanded the situation 
 and won general admiration by his indomitable pluck 
 and energy. His last years were devoted to his 
 favorite project of securing the construction of an- 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 217 
 
 other trans-continental railroad, and that road is 
 approaching completion today. 
 
 During his intense active life Colonel Scott 
 endeared himself to thousands by his numerous 
 benefactions, and it was only a few months ago 
 that he gave away several hundred thousand dollars 
 to various benevolent and literary institutions. 
 
 A GENERAL'S POVERTY. 
 
 The following letter was received at a meeting 
 of the Association of the Veterans of the Mexican 
 War, held at Indianapolis, Jan. 8, 1880. The let 
 ter explains itself and needs no comment. Its from 
 the pen of the gallant old chieftain, Major General 
 Joseph Lane, of Oregon, who commanded a brigade 
 chiefly composed of Indiana volunteers in the Mexi 
 can war: 
 
 Roseburg, Ore., December i6th, 1879. 
 
 Gentlemen : I have the pleasure to acknowl 
 edge the receipt of your card, inviting me to at 
 tend a meeting of the Association of the Veterans 
 of the Mexican War of the State of Indiana, to be 
 held at the city of Indianapolis, on Thursday, Janu 
 ary 8th, 1880, and to bring any veteran I may know. 
 I thank you for the kind invitation you have been 
 pleased to send me and other veterans of my ac 
 quaintance. There are but few of us in this State, 
 and with one or two exceptions, they are old, infirm 
 and very poor. I am unable to accept your invita 
 tion, and I deeply regret it, for I well know that 
 there will not upon any other occasion be as many of 
 the old veterans together as will meet on the 
 forthcoming occasion, and yet I am compelled to 
 forego this last opportunity I shall have of meet 
 ing my old campanions-in-arms, to whom I am 
 strongly attached. I witnessed their good and soldier 
 
218 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 like bearing under all circumstances, and especially 
 their gallant conduct upon many a battle field, and 
 the gratification it would afford me to meet them 
 again in life would be greater and above any other 
 earthly pleasure that could be conferred upon me, 
 but I cannot meet you or them. I have not the 
 money to bring me to Indianapolis and back to my 
 home. I have little hope of congress allowing me 
 a pension. We seem to be ignored, although our 
 services secured our great country all of California, 
 Nevada, Utah and New Mexico, an empire of its- 
 itself, and, to our country, worth more than money. 
 And yet the remaining few of can hardly expect a 
 pension. Well, my friends, we will not very long 
 need that little that is so justly due from our Gov 
 ernment. We served her faithfully, honestly, intel 
 ligently, and gallantly, and under all circumstances 
 did our duty, and if Congress will not recognize us 
 we must do as best we can without its aid. 
 
 My dear sirs, you will please accept my kindest 
 wishes and honest prayers for the health, prosperity 
 and contentment of yourselves, the association, and 
 all old veterans of the Mexican War. I am with 
 much respect, your friend and obedient servant, 
 
 JOSEPH LANE. 
 
 GENERAL LANE'S MISTAKE 
 
 (By David Wooster, M. D.) 
 
 In January 1848, Col. Jack Hays was ordered 
 by General Scott to pursue Santa Anna toward the 
 cost of the Gulf of Mexico, by way of Peubla, and 
 thence toward Oaxaca, and to capture him if pos 
 sible. Col. Hays arriving at Peubla from the City 
 of Mexico, invited Gen. Joseph Lane (afterward 
 candidate for President, and nominee for the vice- 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 219 
 
 presidency), his particular friend, to accompany him 
 on the expedition. 
 
 I am not certain whether the march to Tehua- 
 can, the first object point, occupied two nights or 
 three, but my impression is that we were three 
 nights out as the distance was nearly one hundred 
 miles by the route we took. The whole day of the 
 22nd of January was passed in an adobe hacienda. 
 No one was allowed outside the gate of the sur 
 rounding walls during the daylight and all comers 
 were admitted and detained until the last trooper 
 left the gate long after the head of the column was 
 out of sight. When some miles from the hacienda 
 on the night of tiic 22nd, while we were moving 
 with as little noise as possible, we met a pretentious 
 carriage drawn by four mules in fine harness, con 
 taining a Mexican gentleman and his attendants. 
 Hays promptly arrested him ; whereupon he called 
 for interpreter and said he had a safe-conduct from 
 Gen. Persifer F. Smith, commanding the district, 
 permitting him to travel anywhere in the district 
 with armed servants, a definite number understood r 
 unmolested by American troops. A match was struck 
 a candle lighted, and the safe-conduct scrutinized. 
 It was all correct and the question arose, in a quite 
 informal and friendly manner between Lane and 
 Colonel Hays, v/hether the safe conduct should be 
 respected. 
 
 Colonel Hays rather insisted on detaining his 
 prisoner, saying that it could do no harm, and he 
 would be released in a few hours at most, and if 
 released he would find some means of warning 
 Santa Anna of our approach in time for him to 
 escape with his escort, as we had many miles yet 
 to go. 
 
 The Mexican acknowledged he had just came 
 from Santa Anna and that he was lying in security 
 in Tehuacan, some fifteen miles or more further on. 
 
220 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 All the gentlemen several of us amateurs 
 near the general, composing his volunteer staff, 
 murmured with the freedom of friendship among 
 ourselves that the prisoner should be detained. Just 
 then, some minutes having elapsed in a sort of a 
 familiar conversation between Hays and Lane, the 
 latter spoke quite seriously : 
 
 "Do you know, Colonel Hays, the penalty for 
 violating a safe-conduct? It is death. 
 
 "That's all right," responded Hays; "I'll take 
 the chances." 
 
 "I would rather you would set him at liberty," 
 said Lane. 
 
 ''If you order me to do so, General, of course 
 I will obey." 
 
 "Well, then, if you prefer it in that form, Col. 
 Hays, I order you to let the Mexican re-enter his 
 carriage and go undisturbed on his way." 
 
 The column moved to the side of the road 
 (pursuant to the orders passed down the line from 
 Hays), as well as it could in the dim starlight. 
 
 This was the great mistake of General Lane's 
 life. No sooner was the Mexican beyond our hear 
 ing than he detatched his fleetest mule and sent a 
 servant with orders to ride for his life and inform 
 Santa Anna that he was lost if he did not immedia 
 tely escape to the mountains. 
 
 Had the prisoner been detained, Santa Anna, 
 his staff, and a portion of General Valencia's cavalry 
 and many officers of rank would have been captured, 
 thus would have been achieved a splendid climax 
 to the glorious epic of the second conquest of Mexi 
 co. But fortune would not permit this crowning 
 triumph of the "Marion of the war." Lane was an 
 upright man and the peer of the bravest. He had 
 the honor of the army and the nation near and dear 
 to his heart. He thought there was something dis 
 courteous, apparent lacking in courage, and insub- 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 221 
 
 ordination, in even temporarily violating a safe-con 
 duct which might tend to bring the word or guaran 
 tee of an American officer into disrespect. He risk 
 ed his last chance and lost. No one was hurt by it 
 but Lane. The war was not thereby prolonged. 
 The army suffered nothing in loss of prestige. San 
 ta Anna never afterward appeared in public life. 
 
222 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 The Man and the Mule. 
 
 (From the "Vedette," Nov. 5th, 1883. 
 
 The Mule. 
 
 "Lieut. W. A. Mobbe, of the 3rd artillery, who 
 is stationed at Mt. Vernon barracks, Alabama, has 
 reported to the War Department that he has at 
 that post a white mule, 45 years of age, named 
 Mexique, which had been for many years in the ser 
 vice of the United States, but which at last had been 
 ordered to be sold. The officers of the post, and 
 Lieut. Mobbe, said they desired permission to pur 
 chase the animal and keep and care for him at their 
 own expense. Maj. F. L. Gunther, of the 2nd ar 
 tillery, to whom the petition was referred, reported 
 that the mule was originaHy left at Key West bar- 
 ricks in 1848 by a portion of the army returning 
 from Mexico at the close of the war. 'During the 
 time,' Maj. Guenther says, 'that I served at Key 
 West, from 1875 to 1880, the mule did not miss a 
 day's work from any cause. He is very old and has 
 been worn out by his long service in the Quarter- 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 223 
 
 master's Department. If there is any way of pro 
 viding for him, I shall be glad to have it done, as the 
 expense to the Government would be little or noth- 
 ing."' 
 
 The petition went through the regular chan 
 nels until it reached Quartermaster General Hola- 
 baird, who endorsed it as follows: "To promote 
 the sentiment of kindness toward animals that are 
 so intimately associated with man, it is recommended 
 in this special case that this mule be kept in the de 
 partment and left to the care of those whose kindly 
 feelings are so deeply enlisted in its behalf." Gen. 
 Sherman submitted the case to the Secretary of War 
 with the following report: 
 
 "I have seen that mule; and whether true or 
 false, the soldiers believe that it was left at the Big 
 Spring, where Mt. Vernon barracks now are, at 
 the time General Jackson's army camped there 
 about i8i9-'20. 
 
 "Tradition says it was once a sorrel, but is is 
 white from age. The Quartermaster's Department 
 will be chargeable with ingratitude if that mule is 
 sold or the care or maintainance of it thrown on the 
 charitable officers of the post. I advise that it be 
 kept in the department, fed and maintained until 
 death. I think the mule was at Fort Morgan, Mo 
 bile Point, when I was there in 1842." 
 
 The Secretary of War thereupon made the fol 
 lowing order: 
 
 "Let this mule be kept and well cared for as 
 long as he lives. 
 
 The Man. 
 
 John C. Spinning served in the 6th U. S. In 
 fantry, during the Mexican war, and immediately 
 after his discharge, in July, 1848, reinlisted in the 
 
224 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAK. 
 
 1st U. S. Dragoons, serving in that regiment almost 
 continuously, until April 9, 1881. He had about 
 32 years of service on the frontiers, and through 
 the late civil war. The life of a trooper is not 
 "gay and festive," to any measurable extent, as 
 the "Vedette" can certify to by personal experience, 
 and we are not sui prised that Spinning, after his 
 long spun term of service, should tumble from his 
 horse into the hospital. The Post Surgeon, doubt 
 less with a view to economizing the appropriations 
 for hospital expenses, discharged the old trooper and 
 left him to the mercy of the Pension Bureau, in 
 another department of the Government. Spinning 
 filed his application for pension in May, 1881, 
 where it has ever since hung fire, because of some 
 petty informality in repairing replies to official in 
 quiries. The other day we received a letter from 
 Spinning, dated at Walla Walla, W. T., in whir 
 he says : 
 
 "Dear Sir: I have the honor to state for tRe 
 last three months I have been dependent on my 
 poor wife, (who is almost as feeble as myself), 
 for support, anxiously waiting to hear from my 
 pension case. I am wholly destitute of any means 
 of support and the winter coming on my condition 
 demands immediate attention. 
 
 I am sir very respectfully, 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 Late of Co. K, ist Cav. 
 
 We would like to have the honorable the 
 Secretary of War cut out this statement of facts 
 and transmit it to Post Surgeon at Walla Walla, 
 W. T., and endorse thereon, as he did in the case of 
 the worn out mule: "Let this soldier be kept and 
 well cared for as long as he lives;" and include 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 225 
 
 rations for his faithful spouse who has cared for 
 him since he was turned out to die on the gth of 
 April, 1 88 1. The Head of the War Department 
 has no feather in his hat that would honor him more 
 than this simple act of justice, and we charge him 
 nothing for the suggestion. Vedette. 
 
 STRONG DRINK A POISON. 
 
 (By Dr. S. Compton Smith.) 
 
 Dr. S. Compton Smith, of the Texas Rangers, 
 proves by cases that come under his observation, 
 that alcohol is a remedy for the bite of venomous 
 serpents, on the principal of "simila similibus 
 curantur," which theory, also, proves strong drink 
 to be a poison. The learned physician tells of a 
 number of cases which he witnessed among which 
 are the following: 
 
 I state this incident as illustrating a fact in 
 medicine : that a drunken person will bear with im 
 punity the bite and sting of most poisonous rep 
 tiles, which might prove immediately fatal to a 
 sober man. 
 
 As a further corroboration of the above, I would 
 cite the case of a drunken soldier in Florida, who, 
 while on a debauch, had staggered off outside of the 
 camp, and tumbled into a clump of bushes, and 
 was soon fast asleep. Some of his comrades were 
 sent out in search of him, as Indians were known 
 to be prowling in the vicinity. 
 
 They found him lying in a drunken lethargy 
 where he had fallen; the weather being excessive 
 ly warm, the soldier was clothed only in cotton 
 shirt and overalls. The shirt had become hitched 
 up to his shoulders leaving the back down to his 
 waist entirely naked. 
 
226 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 When found, the man was lying flat on his 
 back; and, on raising him from the ground, they 
 discovered to their horror, that he had thrown him 
 self upon the opening of a den of rattlesnakes. 
 He had actually fallen on three of those venomous 
 reptiles, which, struggling in vain to escape from 
 the weight of the soldier's body, had literally 
 covered his back with the punctures of their poison 
 fangs. 
 
 Instead of taking the drunken man to the 
 guard house, as was usual on an occasion of 
 drunkeness, his comrades bore him to the hospital 
 and reported his case to the surgeon : while they 
 awaited his death, which no one doubted was in 
 evitable. 
 
 The next morning, however, to the surprise of 
 the surgeon, the man who had slept off the effect 
 of his debauch, and was still ignorant of what had 
 occurred, begged to be returned to duty. He ex 
 perienced no more uneasiness from the bites of the 
 serpents then would naturally result from so many 
 simple punctures of needles. 
 
 The attention of the medical officers was call 
 ed to this fact ; and in a short time alcohol in large 
 doses was resorted to in every case of poisoning 
 from the bite or sting of the venomous reptiles and 
 insects, so common in the swamps and everglades of 
 Florida. 
 
 While on this subject, I will relate several cases 
 that fell under my own immediate observation, 
 where this remedy proved a complete antidote to 
 the sting of that most disgusting and poisonous of 
 all venomous reptiles of hot climates the tarantula. 
 
 While stationed at Cerralvo, an infantry sol 
 dier, belonging to a fatigue party, gathering wood 
 for fuel, was bitten in the wrist by one of these fear 
 ful looking and vicious creatures. He was brought 
 immediatelv to the hosoital the time between re- 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 227 
 
 ceiving the bite and his arrival not exceeding fifteen 
 minutes yet the hand and arm to the elbow, had 
 become black and livid with ecchymosis and having 
 the appearance of gangrene. He described the 
 agony he endured as being most excruciating. 
 
 I immediately directed my steward to get the man 
 "dead drunk" as soon as possible, at the same time 
 applying to the hand and arm a poultice of charcoal, 
 bread and yeast, and to keep the man well wrapped 
 up in blankets. He recovered without further 
 pain, and without sloughing of the parts except in 
 immediate contact with the bite. 
 
 On an other occasion, at the same post, an 
 Ohioan received a bite from a tarantula, which had 
 taken possession of his boots. The man on drawing 
 it on was bitten in the great toe. I heard him cry 
 out, and ran to his tent in time to kill the reptile. 
 
 I forthwith prescribed the usual remedy, and 
 the foot fomented in hot alcohol. In about two 
 hours the man was under the complete influence of 
 the liquor, and being wrapped warmly in blankets, 
 was allowed to sweat out the alcohol at the surface. 
 
 Again I tried the same remedy for the bite of 
 the tarantula on a Texas ranger with the like good 
 result. 
 
 In these cases there remained but little irri 
 tation of the nervous system, save what would natur 
 ally arise from the excessive overdosing of the 
 liquor. 
 
 The modus opcrandi may probably be explain 
 ed in this way : the alcohol is a diffusable stimulant, 
 while the venom of the reptile is a powerful sedative. 
 They enter directly into the circulation in their pure 
 and uncombined state of absorption, or, is some 
 times the case of venom, by direct injection or 
 transfusion into the venous system and coming in 
 contact, one poison neutralizes the other; perhaps 
 
228 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 upon the homoepathic theory of "simila similibus 
 curantur." 
 
 A Great Change. 
 
 (By Col. W. B. Lane, U. S. Army). 
 
 In 1887, Col. Lane, in speaking of his travels, 
 said in part : 
 
 "I have been on the move almost constantly 
 for some years, and last summer traveled over New 
 Mexico and a small portion of Texas on the Rio 
 Grande Elpaso, &c. I took a look from my sleep 
 ing car window at some of my old stations of 
 twenty-five or thirty years ago. I think I like the 
 view from a railroad train much better than I did 
 from a pack train. What a change in twenty-five 
 years ! Then we were about a thousand miles from 
 the railroad and telegraph station, and now they 
 have them everywhere, and the Indians are nowhere 
 in particular." 
 
 'Old Burnsides" 
 
 From the Skowhegan (Me.) Review. 
 
 They tell a good story of Sergeant Poine, of 
 the Eleventh Maine. He was a sergeant in the 
 Mexican war under Burnside, then a lieutenant, and 
 the two were great chums. They did not see each 
 other from the close of one war to the opening of 
 the next, but then they both went to the front, Burn- 
 side as a full-fleged brigadier-general. When 
 Sergeant Paine learned that he was in his old 
 friend's command, he marched right up to head 
 quarters and right in the presence of a group of 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 229 
 
 staff officers, challenged the sentinel with, "Is old 
 Burnside here?" 
 
 "What?" gasped the astounded sentinel. 
 
 "Is old Burnside here?" 
 
 By this time the general had heard his voice 
 and came out to see what the excitement was. 
 
 "How are you, old Burnside? Don't you re 
 member me?" said the sergeant, as he advanced 
 his hand with all the familiarity imaginable. The 
 general looked puzzled. 
 
 "Why, I'm old Paine." 
 
 And then General Burnside knew him, and they 
 shook hands and cried like babies. And as "Old 
 Burnside" and "Old Paine" talked over their cam 
 paign in Mexico, the officers stood around in horror- 
 stricken amazement, for Paine called their com 
 mander "Old Burnside" all through the chat, "and 
 I'll be shot if I ever called him anything else," he told 
 the boys afterwards. 
 
 Faithful to Duty. 
 
 (By Gen. M. L. Bonham.) 
 
 General Bonham, in telling the following 
 story, refers to the time when he was the colonel 
 of the Twelth U. S. Infantry, in 1847 : 
 
 "\ r ou will remember the large convent I occu 
 pied with my regiment, near the heart of the city of 
 Mexico. The officers entered, usually, through a 
 back door at the rear. One night I had gone out 
 for the evening, forgetting to take the countersign. 
 At 12 o'clock, (it was a brilliant moonlight,) as I 
 approached the door, the sentinel challenged. I re 
 plied that I had forgotten to get the countersign. 
 
 He said, 'You can't, then pass.' 
 
 It nettled me, and I replied a little sharply, 
 
230 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 'But you know who I am?' 
 
 'Yes, sir,' in a rather modified tone, 'I do; but 
 your orders are that no one can pass in at this door 
 without the countersign.' 
 
 I touched my hat to him and replied, 'You are 
 right ;' and am not sure but I added, 'and have done 
 your duty.' 
 
 I walked around the square and went through 
 the guard house. Next morning I sent directions to 
 his captain : 'compliment the sentry for the perfor 
 mance of his duty." 
 
 STORMING CHAPULTEPEC. 
 
 (By Captain Mayne Reid.) 
 The famous novelcst and brave, Irish soldier, 
 writes of the storming of Chapultepec, on the morn 
 ing of September 13, 1847, as follows: 
 
 On the day when Chapultepec was stormed 
 (Sepetember I3th, 1847), I was ln command of the 
 grenadier company of the Second New York Volun 
 teers my own and a detatchment of United States 
 marines, acting with us as infantry, my orders being 
 to stay by and guard a battery we built on the 
 southern side of the castle during the night of the 
 nth, and which did good work on the I2th. It was 
 about 1,000 yards from and directly in front of the 
 castle's main gate, through which our shot went 
 crashing all that day. The final assault had been 
 fixed for the morning of the I3th, a storming party 
 of 500 men, of "forlorn hope," as it was called, had 
 volunteered for this dangerous duty. They were 
 not exclusively regulars, as the letter-writer asserts, 
 but of all arms of the service, a captain of regular 
 infantry having charge of them, with a lieutenant of 
 Pennsylvania volunteers as his second in command. 
 At an early hour the three divisions of the army, 
 Worth's, Pillow's and Quitman's, closed in upon 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 231 
 
 Chapultepec, our skirmishers driving the enemy's 
 outposts before them some of these retreating up 
 the hill and into the castle, and others passing around 
 it and on in the direction of 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 in 
 charge of it Lieutenants Huger and Hagner we 
 three watched the advance of the attacking line, the 
 puffs of smoke from musketry and rifles indicated 
 the exact point to which it had reached. Anxiously 
 we watched it, I need not say or add that our anx 
 iety became apprehensive when we saw that about 
 half way up the slope there was a halt something 
 impeding its forward movement. 
 
 Now, sir, for the motive that led me to act as 
 I did, and which the newspaper correspondent has 
 so misconstrued. I knew that if Chapultepec was 
 not taken neither would the city be, and, failing in 
 this, not a man of us might ever leave the Valley of 
 Mexico alive. Worth's injudicious attempts up 
 on the entrenchements of Molina del Rey to give 
 it no harsher name our first retreat during the 
 campaign had greatly demoralized our men, while 
 reversely affecting the Mexicans, inspiring the lat 
 ter with a courage they had never felt before. And 
 there were 30,000 soldiers of them to our 10,000 
 three to one, to say nothing of a host of rancheroes 
 in the country around and leperos in the city, all 
 exasperated against us, the invaders. We had be 
 come aware, moreover, that Alvarez, with his spot 
 ted Indians (Pintos), had swung around in our rear, 
 and held the mountain passess behind us, so that re 
 treat upon Puebla would have been impossible. 
 This was not my belief alone, but of every intelligent 
 officer in the army, the two who stood beside me 
 feeling as sure of it as myself. And this certainty 
 
232 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 it was, combined with the slow progress of the at 
 tacking force, which determined me to take part in 
 the assault that and nothing else. As the senior 
 engineer officer outranked me, it was necessary to 
 have his leave to forsake the battery, now needing no 
 further defense. Leave was freely and instantly 
 given with the words : "Go, and God be with you." 
 The Mexican flag was still waving triumph 
 antly over the castle, and the line of smoke puffs 
 had not got an inch nearer. Nor was there much 
 change in the situation when, after a quick run 
 across the intervening ground with my following of 
 volunteers and marines, we came up with the storm 
 ing party at halt and irregularly aligned along the 
 base of the hill. For what reason they were stay 
 ing there we knew not, though I afterwards heard 
 that it was some trouble about scaling ladders. I 
 did not stop to inquire, but, breaking through their 
 line with my brave followers, pushed on up the 
 slope. Near its summit we found a scattering of 
 soldiers, some of them in the gray uniform of the 
 Voltiguer regiment, others Ninth, Fourteenth, and 
 Fifteenth Infantrymen. 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 sloping ground some forty 
 yards in width, between us and the castle's outward 
 wall in short the glacis. It was commanded by 
 three pieces of cannon on the parapet, which swept 
 it with grape and cannister as fast as they could be 
 loaded and fired. There seemed no chance for us 
 to advance further without meeting certain death ; 
 but it would be death all the same if we did not, such 
 was my thought and conviction at that moment. 
 Just as I reached this point there was a momentary 
 lull, which made it possible to be heard, the words 
 I then spoke, or rather shouted, are remembered by 
 me as thoueh it were but yesterday : "Men ! if you 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 233 
 
 don't take Chapultepec the American Army is lost. 
 Let us charge up to the walls !" 
 
 A voice answered, "We'll charge if anyone 
 leads us !" another voice adding : "Yes, we're 
 ready!" 
 
 At this moment the three guns on the parapet 
 belched forth their deadly shower almost simul 
 taneously. My heart bounded with joy at hearing 
 them go off thus together. It was our opportunity, 
 and, quickly comprehending it, I leaped over the 
 scarp which sheltered us, calling out : "Come on ! 
 I'll lead you !" 
 
 It did not need looking back to know that I 
 was followed. The men I had appealed to were 
 not the sort to stay behind, else they would not have 
 been there, and all come after. When half way 
 across the open ground I saw the parapet crowded 
 with Mexican artillerists, in uniform of dark blue 
 with crimson facings, each musket in hand, and all 
 aiming, as I believed at my own person. There was 
 a reason for their so concentrating their fire which 
 I need not here enter into. The volley was almost 
 as one sound and I avoided it by throwing myself 
 flat upon the earth, just in the nick of time, only 
 getting touched on one of the fingers, of my sword- 
 hand, another shot passing through the loose cloth 
 of my overalls. Instantly on my feet again, I made 
 on to the wall, there to get tumbled over by a bul 
 let of an escopet, about an ounce in weight, that went 
 tearing through my thigh. But only a few scattered 
 shots were fired afterwards, the scaling ladders now 
 came up ; some score of men went swarming over 
 the parapet, and Chapultepec was oiirs. My lieu 
 tenant, Hypolite Bardonville, a young Frenchman, 
 modest as brave, dragged the Mexican flag down 
 from its staff. He died some fourteen years ago 
 in the city of New ifork, without any record of the 
 deed or word said about it save in an obituary 
 
234 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 penned by my own hand in an obscure magazine 
 of which I was the editor. 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAK. 235 
 
 Capture of Santa Anna. 
 
 (As told by his captor.) 
 
 The Galveston News, commemorating the anni- 
 versity of of the natal day of Texas independance, 
 April 21, 1836, published a number of historical 
 statements, gathered from various sources, and not 
 to be found in the ordinary records of Texas history. 
 Among these is a personal narrative by Captain 
 James A. Sylvester, who died in New Orleans, of 
 the special incidents of the capture by him of Gen. 
 Santa Anna, after the battle of San Jacinto. It is 
 here presented : 
 
 On the morning of the 22nd of April, 1836, 
 news came to camp that some of our cavalry had sur 
 rounded General Santa Anna and a portion of his 
 officers in a motto of timber, and called for rein 
 forcements in order to capture them. Col. Edw. 
 Burleson, commanding the ist Regiment, called for 
 volunteers, when a number of soldiers forming the 
 different commands immediately volunteered, and 
 mounting such horses that were under their control, 
 set out in search of the Mexican chief. After 
 marching from the camp near Lynch's Ferry to 
 
236 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 Vince's Bayou, where the bridge burnt recently by 
 Deaf Smith impeded our further progress, and, be 
 sides, not knowing where our services were requir 
 ed, Col. Burleson called a halt. Some of the party 
 were anxious to proceed by fording or swimming 
 the bayou, while others thought it useless to proceed 
 further after a ingis fatuus, when Col. B. ordered 
 myself to take charge of such as were disposed to 
 return to camp, and the others proceeded toward the 
 Brazos in search of Mexican soldiers. The squad 
 under my command, proceeding back to camp, left 
 the main road and took down the bayou. We had 
 not proceeded far before some of them proposed to 
 skirt the timber in search of game. I took the 
 straight direction promising to await their arrival at 
 a certain point. Leaving the party, pursuing my 
 course alone, I suddenly saw an object coming to 
 ward me near a ravine. I immediately turned and 
 made an effort to attract their attention. When I 
 looked for the object again it had vanished. Riding 
 in the direction where it was seen I rode nearly on 
 the figure of something covered with a Mexican 
 blanket, which proved to be a Mexican. I ordered 
 him to get up, which he did very reluctantly, and he 
 immediately caught hold of my hand and kissed it 
 several times, and asked for General Houston and 
 inquired if he had been killed. I replied that he 
 was only slightly wounded and was in camp. I 
 then asked who he was and he replied that he was 
 a common soldier. I remarked the fineness of his 
 shirt, although he tried to conceal it, and told him 
 he was no common soldier ; if so he must be a thief. 
 He then stated that he was an aid of General Don 
 Antonio Lepoez de Santa Anna. To affirm his 
 assertion, he drew from his pocket an official note 
 from Gen. Urea, dated on the Brazos, informing 
 Santa Anna that he would be able to form a junc 
 tion at or near Galveston, and should immediately 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 237 
 
 take up line of march to Valasco. I was satisfied at 
 the time that in his official capacity of aid such a 
 paper might have been retained by him. At that 
 time a portion of the squad came up, anxi as near as 
 I can recollect, consisted of Messrs. Miles, Vermilion 
 and Thompson. The general complaining very 
 much of fatigue, asked to ride a part of the way. 
 I think Mr. Miles proposed to dismount and walk 
 to a point of timber, while we (with Santa Anna 
 mounted on his horse) went around the head of the 
 ravine. When we again formed a junction, Mr. 
 Miles requested him to dismount, but Santa Anna 
 refused to do so unless I required it. I told him 
 I had no control over the horses and that he would 
 have to dismount, which he did very reluctantly. 
 I then took him behind me and we all proceeded to 
 camp, where I left him with the camp guard. He 
 was immediately recognized by his own soldiers, 
 who were prisoners in the camp, and sent to General 
 Houston's headquarters. When I returned to camp 
 (being sent for by Gen. Houston) I was ordered to 
 report to General Houston in person. I proceeded 
 to the place a wide spreading oak, and on present 
 ing myself to the general (Houston), Gen. Santa 
 Anna immediately arose and came forward and em 
 braced me, and turning to General Houston and offi 
 cers, returned me thanks for my kindness and told 
 me I was his savior. 
 
 (The following is from a collection of poems 
 by Major Theo. J. Eckerson, U. S. A.' formerly 
 stationed at Fort Adams, Newport, R. I.:) 
 
 In the redoubt at Monterey, 
 
 Where many a shell had burst, 
 Our powder blackened fellows lay, 
 
 September twenty-first; 
 
238 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 All day the battle fierce had raged 
 Till this earth-work we won, , 
 
 And hundreds in the morn engaged 
 Lay dead ere set of sun. 
 
 Night had closed down, and now the rain, 
 
 In ceaseless torrents fell, 
 While from the Black Fort mortar train 
 
 Screeched now and then a shell, 
 Which, circling o'er the city's length 
 
 In meteoric sport, 
 Would plunge at last, and spend its strength 
 
 In the ditches of our fort. 
 
 Our war-worn boys were scattered round, 
 
 Some on the ramparts lay, 
 While 'neath the guns, on the wet ground, 
 
 Some tired ones snored away; 
 Others more wakeful than the rest, 
 
 Ope'd now and then an eye 
 To watch the shells, which from the west, 
 
 Trailed out across the sky. 
 
 My tour on post at two expired, 
 
 To be resumed at six, 
 And hungry, wet, and very tired 
 
 (A soldier's common fix,) 
 Under a caisson, on the ground 
 
 I found a muddy bed, 
 And there a sleeping comrade found 
 With blanket-covered head. 
 
 I nudged him, but he wakened not 
 Then shared his blanket warm 
 
 I lay awake, and wrapped in thought 
 I quite forgot the storm. 
 
 Poor boy! how soundly, silently, 
 
 He slept how straight each limb! 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 239 
 
 Oh God ! I thought how glad I'd be 
 If I could sleep like him ! 
 
 Day broke I heard th' unwelcome shout, 
 
 The warning word, "Relief !" 
 I siezed my musket and crawled out 
 
 At summons of my chief. 
 My comrade of the cold, wet bed. 
 
 No sign or token gave, 
 But stretched beneath the blanket laid 
 
 As quiet as the grave. 
 
 I pulled the blanket down, and lo ! 
 
 A ghastly, bleeding head, 
 And rigid whitened features show 
 
 Too surely he is dead ! 
 Upon his breast a paper shred 
 
 Torn from a note-book lay! 
 On which in pencil rough I read 
 
 These words, and turned away ! 
 
 "W . G. Williams, Engineer, 
 Killed in the final charge!" 
 
 Thus had I lain with the dead alone 
 
 Four hours in rain and mud, 
 'Till startled by the corporal's tone 
 I left that pool of blood ! 
 
 Long years have flown since with the dead 
 
 I spent that fearful night, 
 And I have marched, and fought, and bled 
 
 In many a stirring fight; 
 I've quailed before the leaden storm, 
 
 But with not half such dread 
 As when unblanketing the form 
 
 Of Captain Williams, dead ! 
 
240 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 COL. JACK HAY'S LOVE STORY. 
 
 (By Captain Frank Bishop.) 
 
 The following incident gave Texas one of the 
 most famous rangers in history. It is written By 
 a gentleman who was given the facts by Captain 
 Bishop, who was the bosom friend of Hays. This 
 incident occurred prior to 1836, at which time Hays 
 first went to Texas. Hays was born near Hermi 
 tage, Old Hickory's place, in Tennessee, and Cap 
 tain Bishop was born and raised on the adjoining 
 farm. His father served under Gen. Coffee, for 
 whom Jack Hays was partly named (John Coffee 
 Hays was his full name), and Frank Bishop and 
 Jack Hays were boys together, sharing in the same 
 sport, attending the same school in winter, hunting 
 squirrels, coons and 'possums together, and growing 
 up to manhood in close companionship and enter 
 taining for each other the warmest friendship, which 
 was only broken by the death of Colonel Hays. 
 
 When Hays was about 22 years old he fell in 
 love with Miss Bettie Donaldson, the daughter of 
 a neighboring farmer, and for a time the young 
 lady seemed to return his ardent attachment. For 
 a year or more she received his attention and plight- 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 241 
 
 ed her troth. Preparations for their marriage were 
 being made when there appeared in the neighbor 
 hood a young man named Talbot, from Mount 
 Vernon, Ky., who was reputed to be immensely 
 wealthy, and who, besides being well educated, was 
 a handsome and accomplished gentleman of pleasing 
 address and polished manners, well schooled in all 
 the arts which go so far in helping a man to win the 
 good opinion of the fair sex. 
 
 Now, although Hays was a handsome young 
 fellow, and was considered the best rider, the best 
 dancer, the best shot, among the youth of the coun 
 try, Miss Donaldson took great pleasure in showing 
 him that the attentions of Mr. Talbot were not dis 
 tasteful to her in fact that she rather perferred 
 them to those of young Hays. Now Jack Hays 
 was not the man, even at that early age, to tamely 
 submit to a slight or a wrong from either man or 
 woman. He was a man of ardent temperament, 
 and could not brook the idea in being second in 
 anything. As was said of him a good many years 
 later, "he never failed a friend or foe," and he quick 
 ly informed Miss Betty that he would have no 
 double dealings; she must either remember her 
 .plighted word to him, and cease to receive atten 
 tions from Mr. Talbot, or she must recall her vows, 
 and coquette and marry whom she pleased. Miss 
 Donaldson was a young lady of spirit, and besides 
 being piqued at being taken to task by her lover, 
 was, after the manner of women, much taken with 
 the handsome face, fine words, and pleasant manners 
 of young Talbot, and so it only required a few 
 moments and a few sharp words to give Mr. Jack 
 Hays his conge and to announce her determination 
 of marrying Mr. Talbot. 
 
 Hays recognized her right to do as she pleased 
 in this matter, and there would have been no trouble 
 about it had not Mr. Talbot, elated by his success 
 
242 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 in winning the affection of Hay's sweatheart from 
 him, boasted of his conquest on every occasion. 
 At a party in the neighborhood shortly after the 
 rupture of the engagement between Hay's and Miss 
 Donaldson, Talbot taunted Hays with his defeat 
 and the result was Talbot was knocked down and 
 soundly whipped by the dissappointed lover, who, 
 though much smaller than his successful rival, was 
 more than a match for him in agility and grit two 
 characteristics which afterwards rendered him 
 famous. 
 
 Smarting under his chastisement, Talbot sent 
 a challenge to Hays, which was, of course, prompt 
 ly accepted, and the preliminaries of the meeting 
 were quickly arranged. Hays selected rifles as the 
 weapons, and Captain Frank Bishop, my informant, 
 acted as his second. 
 
 The duel took place at sunrise on a bright June 
 morning, and about two miles from Hermitage, in a 
 secluded spot. The distance was twenty paces, 
 and Talbot was shot through the heart, never speak 
 ing after the crack of Hay's rifle, and dying almost 
 instantly. 
 
 Hays and his second, Bishop, left the country 
 immediately, and after a great deal of wandering 
 finally landed in New Orleans, where they remain 
 ed nearly a year, and, as Bishop says, "had lots of 
 fun." They were well supplied with money, and 
 they won a great deal while in the Crescent City 
 both at cards and at horse racing, a penchant foi 
 the latter sport being always a noted characteristic 
 of Jack Hays, though he foreswore cards, and it if 
 said he was never known to hazard a cent at an* 
 game of cards during his career in Texas. 
 
 After remaining nearly a year in New Orleans 
 Hays and his companion went home. Hays re 
 maining there a little over a year, was not indictee 
 or arrested for the killing of Talbot. It seemed t< 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 243 
 
 be the impression of the people of the community 
 that he had done the fair thing in the matter, and 
 he was not molested. Captain Bishop says Miss 
 Donaldson and her family made overtures to Hays, 
 but that the latter would not hear of it, saying Miss 
 Betty had been the cause of his killing a fellow man, 
 and that he could never be happy with her or make 
 her happy. Captain Bishop says Hays suffered 
 keenly from remorse for the killing of Talbot, a 
 spirit of unrest seemed to take possession of him, 
 and he finally decided to come to Texas and seek 
 in this new country forgetfulness of his early 
 troubles in the home of his youth. Whether he 
 ever found "surcease of sorrow" is not known, but 
 that he found adventure in plenty and that he went 
 through enough to make any one almost "cease to 
 remember," is a matter of history. Certain is is, 
 that the unerring aim which enabled him to kill 
 his first antagonist never failed him in his hour of 
 need, and that he sent many an Indian to the happy 
 hunting grounds; and many a Mexican went to 
 the presence of his maker without the benefit of 
 clergy, when Jack Hays drew a bead on him, and 
 his finger pressed the trigger; though he never, so 
 far as is known, slew a man save in fair and manly 
 battle. . 
 
 Captain Bishop, who furnished this scrap of 
 history in the life of Jack Hays, came to Texas with 
 him, but did not follow him through his adventur 
 ous career in Texas, though he served in Hay's regi 
 ment during the war, at the close of which he re 
 turned to his old home in Tennessee. 
 
 The Mexicans Dodge Bullets. 
 
 Comparisons are said to be odius, but in justice 
 to the remaining veterans of the Mexican War, we 
 
244 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 feel inclined to publish the following, which was 
 made by M. C. Bandleman, who was a veteran of 
 both the War With Mexico, and of the Civil War, 
 losing a leg in the latter. Mr. Bandleman was much 
 incensed at one of a series of resolutions passed by 
 the Grand Army, at Rock Island, 111., in 1887, when 
 that body was censuring the President for vetoing 
 a disability bill. The resolution to which the old 
 veteran of both wars took offence, was as follows : 
 
 "i. Because it endeavors to institute a com 
 parison between wars which were comparatively 
 mere skirmishes and the bloodiest struggle the 
 world has ever known. We will only instance the 
 Mexican War, where the killed were five or six 
 hundred, and the wounded ten of twelve hundred. 
 In the war of the rebellion the killed and wounded 
 were numbered by the hundred of thousands." 
 
 In reply to the above resolutions, I naturally 
 wonder if the committee who framed said resolutions 
 were not near relations of Tom Corwin, of congress 
 notoriety. I am a soldier of the said skirmish war, 
 and also of the late war, which, by the resolutions, 
 lays all other wars of this nation in the shade for 
 important results, the revolutionary war not excep- 
 ted. My brothers G. A. R. seem to blame the 
 Mexican war veterans, or rather make light of the 
 number of the enemy killed in battle. As I tried 
 both wars and know what it cost me to be a partici 
 pant in each, with one leg now in the grave, I wish 
 to offer an apology why we did so poorly in the 
 killing business. First our guns were the flint 
 lock, which gave the enemy good time to dodge. 
 We had neither navy revolver nor Winchester 
 rifles, no chaplains to the regiment to pray for 
 straight shooting, no whisky ration to cheer us on 
 the march or in the fray, no aspirants among officers 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 245 
 
 or men for military rank or future civil office. All 
 stood shoulder to shoulder in support. No officer 
 neglected his duty to his country to speculate in 
 fiber lint. No base to fall back upon. Defeat 
 meant the fate of Maximilian. In that war there 
 was no retreat. No bandboxes were carried there. 
 No kind mother or loving sister to soothe the dying. 
 No delicacies ever reached the sick from loved ones 
 at home. Password ; "Remember the Alamo !" 
 Being few in number, we had to stand together. 
 No millionaires were made from that frolic, but 
 many since from the empire acquired. It is painful 
 for a father to hear the pouting son chide the old 
 man with a big "I" and a little "u." 
 
 We did the best we could under all the circum 
 stances, with those two grand old Generals to head 
 our movements Scott and Taylor who were sol 
 diers and gentlemen in every sense of the term, 
 who had a heart and soul each as big as a white ox. 
 We had no drafted men, no substitutes, no bounty 
 jumpers in the way. We have done all we coufd 
 for you in our weakness. We gave you an empire 
 of untold wealth and resources ; we made it possible 
 to span the continent from the Atlantic to the 
 Pacific Ocean with the steel bar; we unlocked the 
 door of prosperity to this nation and reversed the 
 incoming trade of the world ; we have now only left 
 a few of us of that jingo war to answer roll-call a 
 little longer. 
 
 But what is the matter with you Grand Army 
 boys that you think we stand in your way? Why 
 don't you like men, call on the Government to make 
 good that depreciated currency it paid you? No. 
 you don't dare do it, because you have a master in 
 the wood-pile. Such a payment as that would bring 
 good times. As a parting word to my comrades of 
 the G. A. R., we will soon be out of your way, and 
 the G. A. R. will soon become a thing of the past, 
 
246 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 like the jingo war veterans. It's only a question 
 of time. M. C. Randelman, Carlisle, Iowa, Feb. 
 24, 1887. 
 
 STEALING A GRAVE. 
 
 (By Captain W. L. Craig.) 
 
 The experience of all nations in all ages has 
 demonstrated that during war times the average 
 soldier cannot be intrusted in the enemy's country 
 with any article outside of his regular equipment 
 of less weight than a red-hot stove. In fact it may 
 be safely assumed that the love of appropriation in 
 creased in proportion to his thoroughness in compre 
 hending his soldierly duties. Not that this unhappy 
 trait is encouraged by the rules of war ; on the con- 
 tary, the most delicate sense of honor and respect 
 for the rights and property of others is inculcated 
 and enforced as rigidly as possible, but it is, never 
 theless, a remarkable fact that just in proportion to 
 the moral restraint brought to bear on the average 
 soldier, the greater does his desire seem to be to 
 take unto himself the goods and chattels of others. 
 I have in mind a most remarkable instance which ill 
 ustrates this singular propensity in a forceable man 
 ner. During one of my campaigns, the command 
 to which I was attached had for several months been 
 subjected to the most fatiguing marches. We were 
 short of tents, clothing, and most of the things which 
 make a winter campaign endurable. To cap the 
 climax of our discomforts there came a heavy fall 
 of snow. The poor fellows stood on picket duty 
 with the snow above their shoe-tops and with insuf 
 ficient clothing. Their tents were nothing more 
 than rags and tatters, and when the snow melted 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 247 
 
 a vast sea of mud extended throughout the encamp 
 ment, so that there was scarcely a dry spot upon 
 which to rest their tired bodies. As a consequence, 
 sickness became so prevalent that at surgeon's call 
 almost the entire comand came crawling toward the 
 hospital tent. Many, very, many of the poor fel 
 lows died, and the effect of the "Dead March" be 
 came so depressing on the sick that an order was 
 issued doing away with the services of the band at 
 burials. One morning I received an order from 
 the colonel for a detail to dig a grave, as one of 
 my company had died in the hospital. A sergeant 
 and six men wer ordered to the burying ground 
 near by to prepare a resting place for their departed 
 comrade. Other regiments were encamped in the 
 immediate neighborhood, and the death-rate with 
 them was as great as it was with us, so there was a 
 common burial ground for all. I saw che detail 
 depart with spades and picks, and, with a sigh, 
 turned to my tent brooding over the fate of those 
 who died thus ingloriously. Presently I looked out, 
 and the sergeant and his men were coming towards 
 camp on a run. Straight they went to the hospital, 
 and in a few moments they were seen escorting an 
 ambulance containing a coffin toward the grave 
 yard. There was a mystery about their proceedings 
 as they had not been absent long enough to dig a 
 grave. After reaching the burial place, the ambu 
 lance halted, the deceased was lowered into the 
 earth and the cortege returned in unseeming haste. 
 Just as they reached camp another procession was 
 seen to move with solemn pace from our neighbor's 
 camp toward the cemetery. They headed for the 
 same spot where the burial had taken place a few 
 moments before. Reaching it they halted, and 
 there seemed to be something wrong. After a few 
 minutes consultation a party returned to camp and 
 was seen approaching with spades and picks. Then 
 
248 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 the truth dawned upon me. My men had found a 
 grave already dug, and true to their thievish in 
 stincts, they had stolen it and therein planted their 
 man. 
 
 ADDRESS OF GENERAL SHIELDS. 
 
 Those who visit the capitol building at Wash 
 ington City will note an admirable painting which 
 adorns the western wall at the head of the stairs 
 leading to the senate gallery. This picture re 
 presents the "storming of Chepultepec." 
 
 The central figure of the group of officers, to 
 wit, the one dismounted in shirt sleeves, with a 
 wounded arm slung in a handkerchief, apparently 
 addressing the Division Commander, (General 
 Quitman,) represents General Shields obtaining 
 permission to storm the outer wall of the Castle, 
 which his gallant volunteers subsequently accom 
 plished, though with great slaughter. 
 
 The following is a synopsis of an address, made 
 by General Shields, at the Sixth Annual Reunion 
 of the National Association of Veterans of the 
 Mexican War, held in Baltimore, Md., Feb. 22nd, 
 1879. The following account is written by one 
 who heard the General on that occasion : 
 
 Gen. Shields was then introduced to the audi 
 ence. His address was entirely extempore. He 
 began to give a detailed account of the operations 
 of the American army in Mexico, and spoke of the 
 many deeds of valor from the commencement at 
 Palo Alto until the capture of the City. He refer 
 red in eulogistic terms to his commander, General 
 Winfield Scott, and said, with reference to the cap 
 ture of Cero Gordo, that if the commander-in-chief 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 249 
 
 had not been a general of consummate skill, the 
 bones of his little army would have whitened the 
 hills of Cero Gordo. It was one of the most re 
 markable battles in one of the most remarkable 
 wars on record. The Americans never suffered 
 defeat, never experienced a reverse, or met with 
 even an accidental disaster. The commander-in- 
 chief had remarked in the hearing of the speaker 
 that he preferred to win his battles by strategy rather 
 than by making himself a butcher, and that the 
 needless sacrifice of the life of one of his soldiers 
 would cause him to regard Ijjmself as a murderer. 
 Military men of today consider Cerro Gordo os one 
 of the great battle fields of the world. On the 
 loth of August, of the year of which Cerro Gordo 
 was captured, 10,000 soldiers entered the Valley of 
 Mexico, leaving behind them their supplies, rein 
 forcements and communications. Isolated and cut 
 off from all reinforcements, the little army fought 
 battle after battle, and on September I3th, with 
 6,000 men crossed the ramparts of Mexico and en 
 tered a city with 200,000 inhabitants defended by 
 an army of 30,000 men. Why, an Englishman, a 
 resident of Mexico, asked whether that was the 
 advanced guard, and when told it was the army of 
 occupation, replied that the Americans were not 
 only the bravest, but the most impudent soldiers in 
 the world. If the Americans had as great histor 
 ians as other nations, this victory would have been 
 heralded around the world as one of the greatest 
 of modern times. Troy would have been conquered 
 by an American army in six months. Enough 
 territory had been acquired to make a new republic, 
 and enough mineral wealth to enrich any country, 
 and it has changed the monetary system of the 
 world. A short time ago a cry was raised from 
 Europe that the Bonanza mines would pour out a 
 deluge of silver. Instead of complaining about it 
 
250 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 he would wish that some of it would come in the 
 way of Mexican veterans. The war gave the 
 United States control of the Pacific, the finest ocean 
 in the world, so that now this country is washed on 
 the east by the broad Atlantic and on the west by 
 the golden Pacific. All this has been acquired by 
 the war, and here is a little wreck of those who help 
 ed to acquire it, lifting up their hands to see if they 
 can get some little pittance for the great service 
 they have rendered their country. He hoped that 
 this country would not do as other countries have 
 sometimes done erect monuments to the very men 
 whom they allowed to starve while on earth. 
 
 It is said that figures don't lie, but in Washing 
 ton there are no greater liars than figures. There 
 have been many attempts to obtain returns of the 
 survivors of the Mexican war from every State in 
 the Union, and the returns which have been obtain 
 ed by the association concerned are as accurate as 
 any returns can in all probability be in such cases, 
 and what are these returns? 
 
 That in the whole Union at this day there are 
 not eleven thousand Mexican veterans alive. I need 
 no report from any Government Bureau to enlighten 
 my mind on a point like this. 
 
 I cannot call the death-roll of the American 
 army that served in Mexico, but I can call the death- 
 roll of the general officers who served in that army : 
 Scott, Taylor, Wool, Worth,Twiggs, Kearney, Quit- 
 man, Pillow, Pierce, Crushing, Cadwalader all 
 gone, all dead ! I, the youngest of them all am left 
 to make an appeal to Congress ; to make it with 
 heart and voice; to do something; to do it speedily; 
 if it is deferred a few sessions longer it will come too 
 late; for then the action of Congress will not come 
 to cheer living men, but will fall on silent graves. 
 They confront me with exaggerated estimates of the 
 Pension Bureau. But I can give figures of my own. 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 251 
 
 One of the regiments of my brigade, "the Palmetto," 
 of South Carolina, stood in Mexico 1,077 strong, 
 all gallant boys. When the war was over, when 
 the City of Mexico was taken, that regiment muster 
 ed what? Three hundred and sixty-nine men. 
 That number was all who were left to carry back the 
 Palmetto flag to the old State of South Carolina. 
 And how many are now left? Just eight. A dele 
 gate has come here to attend this convention, and 
 he tells me there are only eight men of that regi 
 ment left alive. And now comes a Congressional 
 Bureau and says that 50,000 veterans are still alive. 
 The estimate is no doubt swelled by adding to the 
 number those who were mustered in to service, but 
 never left further than to be in sight of their chim 
 neys. He hoped the committee appointed by the 
 Association would go to work at once, and he 
 thought that even during this session of Congress, 
 brief as is the time, the pension bill may be passed. 
 But if not, it will be certainly passed the next 
 Congress. He said he had come to Baltimore en 
 tirely unprepared, but it does not require much 
 preparation to speak on this subject, for, as Henry 
 Clay once said, "I was thar.". 
 
252 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 AT BENTS OLD FORT. 
 
 (By Agustus Allen Hays.) 
 
 For more than 800 long, toilsome miles from 
 the bustling town of Westport on the Missouri to 
 the royal city of New Spain, stretched the old Santa 
 Fe trail. At its initial point on the great muddy 
 river there were usually a gathering of men, cattle 
 and wagons, for the making up of the numerous 
 trains soon to be dotted along its whole length, 
 steadily marching westward, or resting at Council 
 Grove, Pawnee Fork, the Cimarron Crossing or 
 Las Vegas. Now, however, all ws strangely quiet 
 at Westport and along the trail. No longer pro 
 cessions of white topped wagons lighted up the 
 yellowish green buffalo grass; no crack of whip 
 nor merry wagoner's song sounded along the banks 
 of the river ; no smoke of camp fires rose in the clear 
 air. A great change had come over the old Santa 
 Fe trail, for it was July, 1846, and war in Mexico 
 had been declared, and waiting in New Spain were 
 not eager buyers of merchandise, but war-like part 
 ies ready, as reported, to welcome the Gringoes 
 "with bloody hands to hospitable graves." Not 
 wholly deserted, however, by any means was the 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 253 
 
 great route along the tortuous course of the Arkan 
 sas, for on it was marching the finest "Army of the 
 West," under General Stephen Kearney. Starting 
 from Fort Leavenworth and making their way with 
 much difficulty over the rough country between that 
 point and the trail, they the staff, the regulars (in 
 fantry, dragoons and two batteries,) and the famed 
 First Regiment of Missouri Cavalry had passed 
 Pawnee Fork, and were concentrating on a point 
 not for from the junction of the Tampas river with 
 the Arkansas. Near this point, too, on the left 
 bank, was the fort owned by, and named for, one 
 of the family of Bent, those celebrated frontiersmen 
 and trappers. It was a commodious structure of 
 adobe, with large central enclosure and rude ac 
 commodations for man and beast. 
 
 It was near sunset on or near the 28th day of 
 July when a detatchment of Doniphan's regiment, 
 with the headquarter's staff, halted for the night be 
 yond the "big timber," or grove of large cotton 
 trees, where the valley opens out and the river banks 
 slope gently down to it, a day's march east of the 
 fort. A group of officers gathered around the 
 camp fire, and sat waiting for their supper. Ere 
 long one of the surgeons joined them, lighting his 
 pipe as he took his seat. 
 
 "How are the sick men, doctor?" asked the 
 major. 
 
 "The engineer officer is better, but still very 
 weak," replied the surgeon ; "the lieutenant of cav 
 alry is worse and I fear he cannot last long." 
 
 "Poor fellow," ejaculated the major. "He is 
 a good and a brave man. It is hard for him to die 
 here, and of a miserable fever, before a shot has 
 been fired. More than one heart will ache in St. 
 Louis when they get the news of his ending. Can 
 nothing be done for him?" 
 
254 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 "Nothing," said the doctor. "He is quite un 
 conscious, and will probably pass quietly away dur 
 ing the night, and without coming to himself." 
 
 So it was ; and at sunset next day the Pawnees 
 and Comanches lounging about the entrance of 
 Bent's fort heard the volley of the firing party, then 
 saw the little detatchment marching with a rapid 
 pace back to the camp. Outside, and close under 
 the walls of the fort at the northwest corner, and 
 among the graves of not a few traders, trappers, 
 and ruffians, who had died "with their boots on," 
 was a simple headboard placed, on which was in 
 scribed : 
 
 LEONARD HAMLIN, 
 
 Lieutenant First Missouri Cavalry, 
 Born in St. Louis, Aug. 10, 1821. 
 Died near Ben't Fort, July 29, 1846. 
 
 Then on went the Army of the West on to 
 Las Vegas, Santa Fe, Old Mexico, and California 
 to do famous deeds of valor; to bring new glory 
 to the starry flag, and to wrest from the foemen 
 a princely addition to the territory of the United 
 States. Eastward again went no army with ban 
 ners, no dragoons with lance and saber, no batterieS 
 with bright field pieces and heavy caissons. There 
 went only one man a courier, who rode like the 
 wind, changing his horses at frequent intervals and 
 dodging the Sioux and the Osages as he covered 
 league after league of the long route. At last he 
 galloped, safe and sound, into Westport, and the 
 river being high, was not detained on the steamer. 
 When he arrived at St. Louis the news he brought 
 spread rapidly, and people stopped to discuss it at 
 street corners, and the papers under flaming head 
 lines, told how the gallant little Army of the West, 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 255 
 
 with so many of the sons of Missouri enrolled there 
 in, had gone gallantly on to the border. Only in 
 two houses were there stricken hearts and sore dis 
 tress and weeping for him who would never return, 
 but lay sleeping under the walls of Bent's Fort. A 
 father appeared at his post of duty with the hag 
 gard look of one who had grown suddenly older by 
 years; a mother sat speechless and with streaming 
 eyes at a Western window, and pretty Ruth Chan- 
 dreu, on whose finger shown the diamond of an 
 engagement ring, forsook society, and, clad in som 
 ber garments of woe, gave herself wholly to works 
 of charity and mercy. 
 
 The years rolled on, and Time, with healing 
 touch, soothed the suffering and comforted the 
 mourning. 
 
 Nearly forty years had passed : and what won 
 drous change had they wrought? Near the spot 
 where the rough frontiersmen used to pack the great 
 wagons and make up the trains for the route to 
 Santa Fe stood the large, prosperous, busy, growing 
 metropolis of western Missouri, Kansas City. 
 From its commodious Union Depot went trains of 
 a far different character from those of old times. 
 To them were attached no patient oxen or refrac 
 tory mules, but great engines; and on them were 
 not the white canvas-topped "ships of the plains," 
 but long cars, bright as to color and luxurious as to 
 interior. Hour, after hour, forth went these trains 
 bound, on schedule time, oved what had not long 
 ago been a wild and Indian-haunted stretch of land, 
 f he snow range and the Spanish peaks ; to the 
 Wahsatch, the Sangre de Cristo and Sierra Nevada ; 
 to Denver, San Francisco, Paso del Norte and the 
 city of the Montezumas. 
 
 It was a beautiful July morning, and there was 
 a tremendous bustle at the station, but, above all 
 the roar and rattle, the noise of the shouting, the 
 
256 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 babel of tongues, one heard plainly the cry 
 
 "Thunderbolt express for Pueblo and Denver, 
 through without change. All aboard." 
 
 And then, with quick puffs of white steam and 
 clanging of bell and gathering speed, the locomotive 
 drew the long train out of the yard and whirled it 
 away upon the prairie. The engineer, with quick 
 hand on the throttle and quick eye ahead, settled 
 himself sideways on his bench; the express mes 
 senger, girded with cartridge belt, began checking 
 his weigh bill, and the Pullman porter, with prac 
 ticed eye took account of the passengers in the 
 new sleeping car, "Wohatoya." "Golly!" said he, 
 under his breath, "if dere ain't ole Uncle Dick Rux- 
 ton goin' out agen. I'll strike him for a quarter 
 to-morrow mornin,' an' no mistake. An' sakes 
 alive, 'aint dat a pooty gal in the opposite section? 
 She ain't one of dem consumptive kind dat goes out 
 to de springs. Reckon she and her ma's agoin' for 
 a cool summer in de mountains." 
 
 Pretty, indeed, was Daisy Robinot as she sat 
 in her light traveling dress by her white haired 
 mother. Her own glossy hair was as brown as the 
 water in the mountain streams, and the big eyes 
 under those long lashes shown as bright as the glow 
 worm in the prairie twilight. Uncle Dick Ruxton 
 stopped to speak to the pair before he went to the 
 smoking compartment to enjoy a cigar with a 
 friend, whom he discovered, as was his wont. 
 
 "Of course she's pretty," said he. "I don't 
 know no likelier lookin' gal this side of the moun 
 tains, but I'll just tell you one thing, and that is 
 that she can't hold a candle to what her mother 
 was when I first knowed her. Blame me, ef sKe 
 didn't jest lay over the whole crowd in St. Louis 
 when I was a youngster and used to trap for her 
 father, old Flandreau. Lots of the boys was mash 
 ed on her, but she didn't care for no one but a 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 257 
 
 young fellow named Hamlin. When the call came 
 for troops fur the Mexican war, he got a commis 
 sion in Doniphan's regiment, an' blame me, ef he 
 didn't strike a streak of mighty bad luck, fur he 
 took sick and died before ever they got to the Raton 
 Mountains. She was jest everlastingly broke up, 
 poor gal! She lived on for years not seeming to 
 take no interest nor care for nobody; but after a 
 while, when she was no longer young an' was kind 
 o' lonesome, that fellow Robinot came along an' 
 wouldn't take no for an answer, an' she married 
 him. He passed in his checks five years ago, leav 
 en' her this one little girl, an' mighty well fixed. I 
 allow they can go where they like an' do what they 
 please. The gal's a daisy, you bet ! She was along 
 with her uncle when the General took those English 
 swells out on the plains. He had me for scout, an' 
 I seen all that was agoin' on. There was a young 
 captain in the escort that was mighty sweet on her, 
 an' I allow she liked him, and would have been 
 glad to see more of him, but his regiment's gone 
 out to Fort Lewis, and I reckon he couldn' get no 
 leave along of them Indian troubles." 
 
 The frontiersman stopped and scraped a match 
 to relight his cigar. The train was running at full 
 speed "on the iron trail" over nearly the same route 
 as that taken by the wagons in old days, but con 
 suming only hours in progress which cost them 
 days. How changed was everything on the road! 
 Where, only a few years before, the wagoner and 
 the dragoon, the Sioux and Comanche, had found 
 naught to break the view in the desolate region 
 stretching to the horizon, where now were seen not 
 only houses and barns, but school houses and 
 churches. The young girl and her mother, the 
 tourists, the emigrants all the passengers making 
 the journey for the first time looked with interest 
 and surprise at the wonders wrought by the hand 
 
258 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 of man ; and still the train sped on toward the set 
 ting sun, until that orb sank, in a blazing light, under 
 the rim of the prairie, and the solemn, silent night 
 threw its mantle o'er the near and distant scene. 
 Through its long hours, as through those of day, 
 the untiring iron horse, with inexorable strength, 
 whirled the long train toward the mountains. 
 
 It was early in the morning that a sudden stop 
 was made. Uncle Dick went to recconnoiter and 
 soon came back to report. Miss Daisy and her 
 mother were sitting in their section when he ap 
 proached. 
 
 We've struck a streak of bad luck now," said 
 he. "Something broke on the engine, an' they've 
 got to telegraph ahead for another. She can't be 
 here for three hours at least." 
 
 "Where are we?" asked Mrs. Robinot. 
 
 "Well, by this new fangled way of reckonin' 
 they call this mile post 549, but I know every inch 
 of the ground, and we're just across the river from 
 a place I've had many a good time Bent's old fort." 
 
 To the surprise of her daughter, Mrs. Robinot 
 started sharply, rose almost to her feet, turned pale 
 and then flushed to her eyes. Only with a great 
 effort did she command herself sufficiently to speak. 
 
 "Can we not visit that fort?" she asked. 
 
 "Well, it aint fur away, and it's only a matter 
 of crossing the river if we kin get some kind of a 
 boat or raft. I'll go an' see," and he left the two 
 women by themselves. 
 
 The mother took her daughter's hand and turn 
 ed to her. 
 
 "My child," she said, in a low tone, "many 
 years ago I lost a dear friend, who died far, far away 
 as it then seemed; and the place where he was 
 buried has been to me, through all the part of my 
 life which has passed since then, as if in some other 
 world. Now, what you may call chance has arres- 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 259 
 
 ted our progress near a spot of which I hear the 
 name repeated for the first time since the courier 
 brought the sad news to me, a young girl like you. 
 It would make me happier to look for once at that 
 lonely grave." She sat silent for a time, closely 
 pressing the girl's hand, and then Uncle Dick re 
 turned. 
 
 "It warn't such a bad streak of luck arter all," 
 said he, with a broad smile on his honest face. 
 "Thar's a couple of officers and a squad o' men 
 that's been camping near here takin' some photo 
 graphs. They're over thar to the fort now, an* 
 we'll hail 'em an' git 'em to send their raft for us." 
 
 They walked down the sloping bank, and when 
 they pushed their way between the cottonwood 
 trees, which obstructed their view, there was the 
 ancient fort, ruined and dilapidated but preserving 
 something of its old form and dimensions. A hail 
 brought a raft, poled by two soldiers, and a few 
 moments Mrs. Robinot, guided by Uncle Dick to the 
 northwest corner, found the grave of him who had 
 been laid there nearly forty years before. The 
 wood of the headboard was as hard as iron ; no van 
 dal hand had invaded this humble imitation of God's 
 acre, and the name could still be deciphered. Mrs. 
 Robinot was overcome for a moment and she held 
 her handkerchief to her eyes while Uncle Dick was 
 speaking. "Yer hadn't orter to take on, now, really, 
 ma'am," said he. "He was a good man and a brave 
 man, and he went to glory nigh on forty years ago. 
 I allow you ain't got no call to grieve for him now ; 
 an' here's the captain come to pay his respects." 
 
 Mrs. Robinot removed her handkerchief from 
 her eyes only to start more violently than before, for 
 facing her, cap in hand and smiling, was the living 
 counterpart of him who had come, when they were 
 both very young, to bid her good bye, and in uni 
 form, too. And then, stranger still, it was her own 
 
260 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 daughter who, coloring to her eys, introduced to this 
 breathing remains of the past. 
 
 "Mamma," said she, "this is an old acquaintance 
 of mine. I told you I met him on the plains, but 
 perhaps I did not mention his name Captain 
 Leonard Hamlin " 
 
 "Of the th Cavalry, very much at your ser 
 vice," said the officer, "and namesake and nephew 
 of one whom, if I mistake not, you knew well in the 
 past years." 
 
 As a matter of course the rest of this little 
 story is easily told. In a new generation the disap 
 pointment of a former one was redressed ; the even 
 ing of the mother's days were cheered by the hap 
 piness inaugurated with such poetic justice of 
 her daughter; and the curious traveler may see for 
 himself what loving care has done for the lonely 
 grave at Bent's old fort. 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 261 
 
 POEM BY GENERAL PIKE. 
 
 The following poem was read by General Al 
 bert Pike, before the first National convention of 
 Mexican War Veterans, held in Washington city, 
 on January i6th, 1874. The venerable philosopher, 
 poet, gentleman and soldier, completed three-score 
 years and ten on the 2Qth day of December, of that 
 year. General Pike was an able lawyer, and prac 
 ticed his profession before the Supreme Court in 
 Washington city. 
 
 "When California was a foreign land!" 
 How many shadowy, ghost-like figures stand 
 Between that Then and Now! forms of dead 
 
 Years, 
 
 Old, meager, pale; and four all blood and tears, 
 With faces full of pain and agony, 
 And sitting bowed in speechless misery : 
 And three the farthest from us, laurel-crowned, 
 The Years for victories over foreign foes renowned. 
 
 Comrades and Friends, the glorious Past recall ; 
 Live it again ; in memory up6n all 
 Your well-known fields of battle stand again, 
 Young, hopeful, eager, proud, as you were then 
 
262 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 Rebels, against the tyranny of time: 
 Ride through the hills, the mountain passes climb ; 
 Camp on the streams through fertile vales that flow, 
 From the broad beds of everlasting snow ; 
 Hear once again the Aztec eagle scream; 
 See once again Santana's lances gleam; 
 The toils and hardships of the march endure ; 
 Win glory, and your country's thanks secure. 
 
 "When California was a foreign land!" 
 If time's not measured by the dropping sand 
 That counts the silent moments as they flit, 
 But by the great deeds that are done in it, 
 Then, Comrades, 'tis a century or more 
 Since Yankee arms the flag of glory bore, 
 From PaloAlto, and from Vera Cruz, 
 Destined the day upon our field to lose, 
 To the Belen gate ; and on its very fold 
 Have new glories added to the old; 
 By Taylor's legions won at Monterey : 
 On Buena Vista's memorable day; 
 Where Kearny led to victory his command. 
 And Stockton's sailors learned to fight on land ; 
 At Sacramento, where the brave troops, led 
 By Doniphan, the foe discomfited; 
 On Cherubusco's bloody causeway won ; 
 By deeds of valor at Contreras done; 
 When Worth and Quitman stormed Chepultepec, 
 And Mexico lay stranded like a wreck. 
 
 After Resaca, when the Motherland, 
 With sword uplifted in her mighty hand, 
 Called on her sons to meet the braggart foe, 
 And bear her banners into Mexico, 
 Her trumpet-call, in every hamlet heard, 
 The North and South alike inspired and stirred, 
 Then from the icy hills of pine-clad Maine, 
 And the great lakes, rang out the same refrain, 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 263 
 
 To the Mexique Gulf and farthest Arkansas 
 "Ready!" and "Forward to the seat of war!" 
 Then from the cities reigning by the sea, 
 And inland marts of earnest industry, 
 From the lone homes of hardy husbandmen, 
 Came forth the toilers with plow and pen. 
 
 Idler and artisans, to volunteer; 
 To all alike their country's honor dear. 
 Little they cared the cause of war to know ; 
 Enough for them that in far Mexico, 
 Our little army, then the nation's pride, 
 Faced gallantly red war's advancing tide, 
 And if not shortly reinforced would be, 
 It and the Nations flag, in jeopardy: 
 The flag that tyrrany abhors and hates. 
 Whose golden Stars the symbols were of States, 
 Each Star a sun, with its own light shoen, 
 Not planets, with reflected light alone, 
 And making with their stellar harmony 
 The Constellation's radiant unity. 
 Then, one by one, the days of glory came, 
 That neither North nor South alone could claim, 
 Nor wished to ; whose immortal memories are 
 The common heritage of every star; 
 Until the conquest of nations crowned 
 Our arms, the golden California found 
 No tyrant, by the right of conquest Lord, 
 To rule her by the tenure of the sword : 
 But Freedom, ruling by her right divine, 
 Making her, too, a Star, with ours to shine. 
 Nor did we take her by the sword alone, 
 But by fair purchase made her all our own. 
 
 England remembers, with no lessening pride, 
 The old fields by her sons' blood sanctified ; 
 Remembers Agincourt, and Crecy, too, 
 And Poitiers, as well as Waterloo. 
 
264 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 Shall the old glories of our arms grow pale, 
 Eclipsed by the latter ? Shall the names grow stale, 
 And dim, like stars veiled by an envious cloud, 
 Of which their country once was justly proud? 
 Let us, at least, in reverence hold their names, 
 And guard with jealousy their worthy fames; 
 Honoring, as then we honored, all the brave, 
 When Illinois strewed flowers on Butler's grave, 
 When Indiana mourned the fate of Yell, 
 And Mississippi wept when Hardin fell; 
 Remembering that we all were Yankees there, 
 And in the common glory had a share, 
 Consenting not that any one state should claim 
 Exclusive right to any hero's fame. 
 
 Enough! But I must try your patience still, 
 Or a reluctant promise not fulfill, 
 To read the story of one glorious day, 
 Writ when its echoes scarce had died away. 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 265 
 
 STORY OF TWO BATTLES. 
 
 (Official report of General James Shields.) 
 Headquarters First Brigade Volunteer 
 Division, San Augustine, Mexico, 
 August 24th, 1847. 
 
 SinOn the iQth instant, about three o'clock 
 in the afternoon, pursuant to the orders of the gen 
 eral commanding this division, I marched from this 
 place with the New York and South Carolina re 
 giments of volunteers toward the battle-field of 
 Contreras. On reporting to the commander-in-chief 
 who occupied, on my arrival, a position which over 
 looked the field, he described to me, in a few words, 
 the position of the contending forces, pointing out 
 the route of my command, and briefly instructed me 
 as to the dispositions which would render my force 
 the most serviceable. 
 
 Directing my march upon the village near Con 
 treras, the troops had to pass over ground covered 
 with rocks and crags, and filled with chasms, which 
 rugged ravine, along the bed of which rolled a rapid 
 stream, was passed, after dark with great difficulty 
 and exertion; and to rest the wearied troops after 
 crossing, I directed them to lie upon their arms 
 
266 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 until midnight. While occupying this position, 
 two strong pickets thrown out by orders, discover 
 ed, fired upon, and drove back a body of Mexican 
 infantry moving through the field in in a direction 
 from their position towards the city. I have since 
 learned that an attempt had in like manner been 
 made by the enemy to pass the position on the main 
 road occupied by the ist regiment of artillery, and 
 with a like want of success. About midnight I 
 again resumed the march and joined Brigadier Gen 
 eral P. F. Smith in the village already referred to. 
 
 General Smith, previous to my arrival, had 
 made the most judicious arrangements for turning 
 and surprising the Mexican position about daybreak, 
 and with which I could not wish to interfere. This 
 cast upon my command the necessity of holding the 
 position to be evacuated by General S., and which 
 was threatened by the enemy's artillery and infantry 
 on the right, and a large force of his cavalry on the 
 left. About daybreak the enemy opened a brisk fire 
 of grape and round shot upon the church and vil 
 lage in which my brigade was posted, os also upon 
 a part of our own troops displayed to divert him on 
 his right and front evidently unaware of the 
 movement in progress to turn his position by the left 
 and rear. This continued until Col. Bennett Riley's 
 brigade opened its fire from the rear, which was de 
 livered with such terrible effect that the whole Mexi 
 can force was thrown into the utmost conster 
 nation. 
 
 At this juncture I ordered the two regiments 
 of my command to throw themselves on the main 
 road, by which the enemy must retire, to intercept 
 and cut off his retreat; and, although officers and 
 men had suffered severely during the night, and 
 from exposure without shelter or cover to the inces 
 sant rain until daybreak, this movement was exe 
 cuted in good order and with rapidity. The Pal- 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 267 
 
 metto regiment, crossing a deep ravine, deployed on 
 both sides of the road, and opened a most destructive 
 fire upon the mingled masses of infantry and caval 
 ry; and the New York regiment, brought into line 
 lower down, and on the road side, delivered its fire 
 with a like effect. At this point many of the enemy 
 were killed and wounded; some 365 captured, of 
 which 25 were officers, and among the latter was 
 General Nicholas Mendoza. 
 
 In the mean time the enemy's cavalry, about 
 8,000 strong, which had been threatening our posi 
 tion during the morning, moved down towards us 
 in good order, and as if to attack. I immediately 
 recalled the infantry to place themselves in position 
 to meet the threatened movement ; but soon the cav 
 alry changed its direction and retreated towards the 
 capital. I now received an order from General D. 
 E. Twiggs to advance by the main road towards 
 Mexico ; and having posted Captain J. F. Marshall's 
 company of South Carolina volunteers, and Cap 
 tain J. P. Taylor's New York volunteers in charge 
 of the prisoners and wounded, I moved off with the 
 remainder of my force and joined the positions of 
 the 2nd and 3rd divisions already enroute on the 
 /main road. On this march we were joined by the 
 general-in-chief, who assumed command of the 
 whole, and the march continued uninteruptedly un 
 til we arrived before Cherubusco. Here the enemy 
 was found strongly fortified and posted with his 
 main force, probably 25,000. 
 
 The engagement was commenced by the 2nd 
 division under Twiggs, soon joined by the ist un 
 der Worth, and was becoming general, when I was 
 detatched by the commander-in-chief with my two 
 regiments and Pierce's brigade the Qth, I2th, and 
 1 5th with the mountain howitzer battery and or 
 dered to gain a position, if possible, to attack the 
 enemy's rear, and intercept his retreat. 
 
268 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 Leaving Coyoacan by a left-hand road, and ad 
 vancing about a mile upon it, I moved thence with 
 my command toward the right, through a heavy 
 cornfield, and gained an open but swampy field, in 
 which is situated the hacienda De los Portales. On 
 the edge of this field beyond the hacienda, I discover 
 ed the road by which the enemy must retire from 
 Cherubusco, and found his reserve of about 4,000 
 infantry already occupied it, just in rear of the 
 town. As my command arrived, I established the 
 right upon a point recommended by Captain R. E. 
 Lee, engineer officer, in whose skill and judgment 
 I had the utmost confidence, and I commenced a 
 movement to the left, to flank the enemy on his 
 right, and throw my troops between him and the 
 city; but finding his right supported by a heavy 
 body of cavalry of some 3,000 strong, and seeing 
 too, with his infantry he answered to my movements 
 by a corresponding one towards his right flank, 
 gaining ground faster than I could, owing to the 
 heavy mud and swamp through which I had to 
 operate, I withdrew the men to the cover of the 
 hacienda, and determined to attack him upon his 
 front. I selected the Palmetto regiment as the base 
 of my line, and gallant moved forward firmly and 
 rapidly under a fire of musketry as terrible, perhaps, 
 as any soldier ever faced; the New York, I2th and 
 1 5th, deployed gallantly on the right, and the Qth 
 on the left, and the whole advanced, opening their 
 fire as they come up, and moving steadily forward. 
 The enemy began to waver, and when my order to 
 charge was given the men rushed upon and scatter 
 ed his broken ranks. As we reached the road the 
 advance of Worth's command appeared, driving the 
 enemy from his stronghold of Cherubusco. I took 
 command of the front, and continued in pursuit until 
 passed by Harney with his cavalry, who followed the 
 routed foe into the very gates of the city. 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 269 
 
 In this terrible battle, in which a strongly for 
 tified enemy fought behind his works under the 
 walls of his capital, our loss is necessarily severe. 
 This loss, I regret to say, has fallen most severely 
 upon my command. In the two regiments of my 
 own brigade, numbering about 600 in the fight, the 
 loss is reported 240 in killed and wounded. 
 
 In this last engagement my command captured 
 380 prisoners including 6 officers. Of this number 
 42 had deserted from the American army during the 
 war, and at their head was found the notorious 
 Riely, who had fought against our troops at Monter 
 ey and elsewhere. A particular and detailed report 
 of the loss, as also of the prisoners captured by the 
 command, accompanies this report. 
 
 Pierce's brigade, under my command in 
 this action, lost a considerable number in killed 
 and wounded. Amongst the latter the gallant Col. 
 G. W. Morgan, of the I5th. This command hav 
 ing immediately joined its division immediately after 
 the action, I have, as yet, received no official report 
 of its loss. 
 
 In closing this report, I beg to offer my thanks 
 to the many gallant officers of my command for 
 their zealous and fearless support during the con 
 flict. To Colonel Ward B. Burnett and Lieuten 
 ant Colonel Baxter, of the New York volunteers; 
 to Lieutenant Colonel J. P. Dickinson and Major 
 A. H. Gladden, South Carolina volunteers; as also 
 to many of their gallant subordinates every praise 
 is due. Colonel Burnett was severely wounded at 
 the head of his regiment ; and Lieutenant Colonel 
 Dickinson also severely wounded whilst in com 
 mand of his regiment, and while bearing gallantly 
 forward the colors of his corps. My thanks are due 
 to the medical staff of the command Doctors J. 
 C. Halstead and C. J. McKibbin, of the New York, 
 and Doctors Clark and Bland, of the South Carolina 
 
270 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 regiments; as also to Doctor Ebenezer Swift, U. 
 S. A., for their devoted attention to the wounded. 
 It affords me pleasure, and I but perform my 
 duty, too, in acknowledging my great obligations to 
 Captain R. E. Lee, engineer corps ; as also to my par 
 ticular staff, Captain F. N. Page, A. A. G. ; Lieuten 
 ant R. P. Hammond, 3rd artillery, aid-de-camp; 
 and Lieutenant G. T. M. Davis, of Illinois, acting 
 as aid, for their gallant services and fearless ex 
 posure in encouraging the troops, and conveying 
 my orders during the different engagements. 
 Lieutenant J. L. Reno, commanding howitzer bat 
 tery, deserves great creadit for the handsome manner 
 in which he brought his guns into action, and con 
 tinued to serve them. From Official Records. 
 
COLONEL JOHNSTON. 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 271 
 
 COL. JOHN WILLIAM JOHNSTON. 
 
 John W. Johnston, the ninth son of Alexander 
 Johnston, Esq., deceased, of Kingston House, on 
 the Loyalhanna, in Unity Township, was born at 
 the homestead of his father, on the 22nd of May, 
 1820. His father removing to Greensburg in a 
 few years thereafter, the first schooling he received 
 was in the county town, which at that time offered 
 superior advantages for a good and substantial edu 
 cation. About the time he attained his majority 
 he entered into the mercantile business in Clarion 
 county, Pa., in which he continued about one year, 
 when he came back to Kingston. He remained 
 there on the farm a short time, when being appoin 
 ted deputy sheriff under Michael Hays, he removed 
 again to Greensburg. He continued in this capacity 
 from 1843 to J 846. In 1846, the war with Mexico 
 occurring, he volunteered in the company raised in 
 the county for service, called the "Westmoreland 
 Guards," and was unanimously elected its captain. 
 As its commanding officer, his public service in that 
 campaign, are so identified with the services of the 
 company, that to give one, would be to give the 
 other from necessity. 
 
 After the close of the war Capt. Johnston enga- 
 
272 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 ged in the wholesale grocery business in Pittsburg, 
 but not continuing any length of time in this calling, 
 he left it, when he become a contractor in the con 
 struction of the Allegheny Valley railroad. On 
 this road he continued some two years, when he 
 took a more extensive contract in the construction 
 of the Iron Mountain railroad, in Missouri. On 
 this road he was engaged for five years. 
 
 Returning to Pennsylvania in 1858, he remain 
 ed at Kingston House, until the breaking out of 
 the civil war. On the first call for volunteers he 
 enlisted with his neighbors in the company raised 
 about Youngstown, for three months' service. He 
 asked for no office, but the out-spoken choice of his 
 comrades, with whom he was personally acquainted, 
 for their captain, was for him. As captain of Com 
 pany G, Fourteenth Regiment, Pennsylvania Vol 
 unteers, he took the command to Harrisburg, where 
 they were sworn into service, and where the regi 
 mental officers were elected. 
 
 On the organization of his regiment, he was 
 made its colonel. This regiment was attached to 
 Gen. Patterson's command, which had control of 
 the Shenandoah Valley. The only place in which 
 the army was engaged in the campaign was at Fall 
 ing Water, and here the Fourteenth first manifested 
 that soldierly bearing, which they afterwards sus 
 tained on many hard-fought fields, in various com 
 mands. 
 
 At the expiration of the three months' service, 
 Col. Johnston entered the ninety-third Pennsylvania 
 Volunteers (raised chiefly in Lebanon county) as 
 its Lieutenant-colonel. He was offered its colonelcy 
 but this he declined in favor of Col. McCarter, un 
 der motives of personal considerations. He served 
 under the last enlistment over two years, and then 
 resigned. The service of this regiment, during 
 the time Col. Johnston was connected with it, part 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 273 
 
 of the time of which it was under his personal com 
 mand, are traceable through the services of Gen. 
 Couch's and Gen. Casey's divisions in the Army of 
 the Potomac. 
 
 Since his services in the army he has resi 
 ded at the old homestead, Kingston House, and 
 has settled down to the quieter and more peaceable 
 occupation of the farmer. 
 
 The wife of Col. J. W. Johnston, was Miss 
 Rebecca Byerly. They were married in 1867, and 
 have a living family of two children, a son, and a 
 daughter. 
 
 The above account was taken from the History 
 of Westmoreland County, written by G. Dallas Al 
 bert, Esq., since which time Col. Johnston passed 
 the line which separates Time from Eternity, having 
 died at his home at Kingston, on December 17, 1902, 
 and was laid to rest in the new St. Clair cemetery, 
 near Greensburg. 
 
 Having been on friendly terms of acquaint 
 anceship with Colonel Johnston for over fifty years, 
 we can bear witness to his honesty, integrity and 
 and good citizenship, as well as to his courage and 
 gallantry upon the field of battle. Col. Johnston 
 was a good man, and the world was better that he 
 lived. 
 
 (By the Author.) 
 
274 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 BACK IN MEXICO. 
 
 In February, 1901, the author accompanied by 
 his grandson, Mr. Homer George, a Pittsburg 
 business man, left the Smoky City for a trip through 
 Mexico, with the intention of visiting the battle 
 fields where he had fought some fifty-four years 
 before. The trip was taken by the way of New 
 Orleans, which place was reached without accident 
 worthy of note. While at this famous city we 
 had the pleasure of witnessing the celebration of 
 the Mardi Gras. 
 
 We spent several days in New Orleans viewing 
 sights of interest, among which was the old Spanish 
 prison and Spanish court, where we saw the old 
 wooden stocks that are still used at times. The 
 old buildings are wonderful specimens of architec 
 ture, and are well preserved, although the date of 
 the laying of their corner stones is lost in the dim ob 
 scurity of the distant past. We, also, visited the 
 barracks, which are situated a short distance from 
 the city, along the Mississippi river. These bar 
 racks are quite different to those I had seen some 
 fifty-four years before, being more modern and bet 
 ter suited for the purpose intended. 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 275 
 
 We left New Orleans by the way of the "Sun 
 set. Route," through Texas, finally arriving at San 
 Antonio. Leaving the main line there, and taking 
 a southern course, we entered Mexico by the way 
 of the Eagle Pass. This being our first entrance 
 into a foreign country, the first thing in order was to 
 submit to an examination of both ourselves, and 
 our baggage, by Mexican custom house officers, 
 who attended to this duty in old time style. 
 
 After the officials were satisfied that we had 
 nothing contraband or dutiable with us, we were 
 permitted to continue on our way, but before go 
 ing farther we exchanged some of Uncle Sam's 
 good, sound dollars for Mexican money, which we 
 used while in that country. We might say here, 
 that in making this exchange of currency we were 
 given nearly two dollars of Mexican money for 
 one dollar of United States money, and we might 
 farther, state that when we returned to our own 
 country, we had to make another exchange, giv 
 ing nearly two dollars for one. 
 
 After having supplied ourselves with the coin 
 of the realm we continued on toward Monterey, 
 reaching that city nine days after leaving Pittsburg. 
 Monterey is a city of some 75,000 inhabitants, and 
 has many points of interest, but as we wished to 
 reach Saltillo that night, we made but a brief stop 
 there. 
 
 When we reached Saltillo, we felt that we were, 
 indeed, "strangers in a strange land," and after con 
 siderable trouble we found a place to lodge, and 
 where we enjoyed a goods night's rest, which re 
 freshed us for enjoying sight-seeing the next morn 
 ing. The first place to engage our attention was 
 the battle field of Buena Vista, which is located 
 some three miles from Saltillo. The only manner 
 of reaching this point from the city was to drive or 
 walk, and we chose the former, riding there in an 
 
276 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 old time coach, drawn by a pair of burros not much 
 larger, seemingly, than good-sized goats. 
 
 Arriving at the battle ground we found that it 
 is owned and occupied by a Mexican ranchman, 
 who received us with the utmost cordiality, and who 
 kindly escorted us over the once bloody fields. One 
 of the most important points of this interesting ter 
 ritory, is embraced in the ranchman's garden, and 
 it was at this point that the hardest contested fight 
 occurred. In the center of the garden there is a 
 spring which furnished water for General Wool's 
 command. We enjoyed a draught of the cool, re 
 freshing waters, the same as I had enjoyed 54 years 
 before, when the surroundings were stained with 
 the blood of friend and foe.. 
 
 This garden had been freshly plowed for 
 what we at home would call our "spring crop," and 
 in looking over the ground we could see here and 
 there, the remaining bones of some of the fallen 
 participants of the battle, which had occurred over 
 a half-century before. After fully satisfying our 
 curiosity by all that is to be seen on the battle field, 
 and as we were about ready to return, we met a 
 woman who, as we were told, had already passed 
 her one-hundred and eighth year, and who looked 
 to be able to pass fifty more. This aged lady makes 
 a business of hunting relics on the battle field, which 
 she sells to visitors. 
 
 After partaking of a dinner served in Mexican 
 style, we left our host and returned to Saltillo, where 
 we remained over Sunday. One of the principal 
 Sunday amusements in Saltillo, is the bull fight. 
 On this occasion it was something beyond the ordi 
 nary, as it was for the championship. We will not 
 enter into the disgusting details, but the reader can 
 infer that it was a warm affair, when we state that 
 one gladiator was killed outright, several injured, 
 while six bulls and ten horses were sacrificed. 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 277 
 
 These brutal displays are attended by all classes of 
 the people, the lovely senoras displaying their fine 
 feathers, as they are, usually, clothed in bright col 
 ored silks. 
 
 Leaving Saltillo, we passed back through Mon 
 terey, arriving the next morning at Terreon, where 
 we met the Rev. Mr. Wallace, a missionary who was 
 born and raised in New Alexandria, Pa. Mr. Wal 
 lace was the first American we had met, and we be 
 gan to be comforted with the thought we were 
 not altogether lost. We enjoyed our stay at Ter 
 reon very much, as our host, Rev. Mr. Wallace, 
 and his friend Linn, a Chinese M. D., who could 
 speak the English language, took much interest in 
 showing us the country, and making life pleasant 
 for us. 
 
 Leaving Terreon in the evening we took a 
 night train for Chihuahua. Our way lay through 
 the sand-hills, which proved to be a most unpleas 
 ant portion of our trip. The sand is so fine that it 
 can penetrate the smallest crevice of the car win 
 dows, and proves very annoying. It has one pecu 
 liarity, however, which makes it different from the 
 sands of many other places, it will not stick to cloth 
 ing, but is readily brushed off. 
 
 We arrived in Chihuahua in the morning, which 
 was bright with clear sunshine, the thermometer 
 registering at 125 degrees. After enjoying a rest 
 until noon, and partaking of some food, we pre 
 pared to make an excursion to the battle field of 
 Sacramento. This was the point we desired to 
 reach the next day, which was the fifty-fourth an 
 niversary of that battle. 
 
 In the city of Chihuahua, we met Rev. James 
 D. Eaton, of the American Board of Foreign Mis 
 sions, who, together with members of his family 
 accompanied us to the territory made famous by the 
 struggle of a band of heroes, pitted against many 
 
278 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 times their number. The next morning we rode out 
 on a train to our destination. The hills have not 
 changed, and I could readily locate the route of the 
 inarch myself and comrades, under Colonel Doni- 
 phan, had taken fifty-four years before. The re 
 doubts were still there, thirteen in number, and al 
 most as perfect as when Colonel Doniphan and Tiis 
 brave men came marching down the valley, bearing 
 the Stars and Stripes. 
 
 Meeting a Former Foe. 
 
 After finishing our sight-seeing on the battle 
 ground, we went to the nearby town of Sacramento, 
 where we met an old Mexican soldier, who owns 
 the ground of the battle field. We found him a 
 pleasant and agreeable gentleman and through Rev. 
 Mr. Eaton, who acted as an interpreter, I had quite 
 a social chat with my old time foe. This man's 
 name is Lerandro Talvera. He was born on March 
 13, 1822, which makes him my senior by a few 
 months. After a pleasant talk together, we sat down 
 upon chairs, on the same ground where a half- 
 century before we had striven to take each other's 
 life, and had our portraits taken, a copy of which 
 appears in connection with this article. 
 
 This incident was one of extremely rare oc 
 currence. Two men, representatives of two nations, 
 and of two armies, who had met as deadly foes, 
 in the battle of Sacramento, on February 28, 1847, 
 now meet after fifty-four years had sped their way 
 into the eternity of the past, as friends, to talk over 
 the incidents of that conflict, and not only to meet, 
 but to meet on the very ground which was the 
 arena of the struggle. 
 
 My old foe and myself had long since buried 
 every feeling of resentment and met as friends, 
 and while in the Mexican's heart he may have re- 
 
Old Toes Meet svs Friends. 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 279 
 
 gretted that the Mexican army had not been victor 
 ious, he showed his good will, by making our brief 
 stay as comfortable as possible, and when we were 
 ready, had us conveyed to the station, some three 
 miles away, in his carriage. When we had arrived 
 at the station, which is named, "Coroll," Rev. Mr. 
 Eaton ordered a Mexican lunch, which consisted of 
 torqueoious freols, haut tamalies, which were ser 
 ved on a wood pile, and which did not look very 
 clean or inviting, but which tasted quite sweetly to 
 hungry men. We then returned to Chihuahua, 
 where we spent several days sight-seeing. Among 
 other things of interest we found the old bull-pen 
 which we had used as headquarters at the time of the 
 war, and I could readily point out the spot where 
 I had slept many nights during that time. This 
 bull-pen is still used for the amusement of the peo 
 ple of the city, and as there was to be a bull fight 
 on the coming Sunday we received a pressing invi 
 tation to be present, but as we had seen one of these 
 brutal encounters between man and beast, we did 
 not care to witness another, and respectfully de 
 clined. We also visited the old acqueduct which 
 was used for the purpose of furnishing the city with 
 water at the time of the war, and for which purpose 
 it is still used. It is well preserved and is a quite 
 ancient specimen of architecture. Chihuahua is a 
 progressive city, having ice plants, electric light 
 plants, and everything which characterizes an up- 
 to-date people. 
 
 While there we visited Hidalgo's monument, 
 which is an imposing shaft, and which was erected 
 on the very spot where he was executed. We found 
 the Mexicans warm hearted and impulsive. If they 
 take a liking to an American, they will do all pos 
 sible for him, but if, on the contrary, they take a dis 
 like, they will act in a manner directly opposite, 
 and do all possible to injure him. The senoras, 
 
280 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 the ladies, of Mexico are of small stature, dark com 
 plected with rosy cheeks and dark eyes. They 
 possess deep passions, and when they love they are 
 devoted, but when they hate, they do so with all the 
 intensity of their natures. 
 
 While visiting Rev. Mr. Eaton, who is a master 
 of the Spanish and Mexican languages, and who 
 possesses a well filled library in these tongues, he 
 read us an account of the battle of Sacramento, 
 from a Mexican stand point. This he read from a 
 Mexican history and which he translated into Eng 
 lish for our benefit. The historical writer tolls of 
 the preparation that had been made to capture the 
 Americans, and how absolutely certain they were 
 of an easy conquest, and then goes on in lamenta 
 tion of their utter route and defeat. Among other 
 preparations, the Mexicans had provided two wag 
 ons, loaded with ropes, cut into suitable lengths, 
 for the purpose of tying the Americans, so that in 
 that condition they could be driven into the city of 
 Mexico as prisoners. He, also, told of the number 
 of men in the Mexican ranks, and seemed to think 
 it a matter of deep regret, that they had been con 
 quered by so few Americans. 
 
 We left Chihuahua and began our homeward 
 journey, leaving Mexico by the way of El Paso, 
 where we had to run the gauntlet of Uncle Sam's 
 Custom House officials, who carefully searched us 
 in the most scientific style. We came home by the 
 way of the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe route, 
 stopping at various points of interest along the 
 road, and finally arriving at Pittsburg after a very 
 pleasant trip. 
 
 A FEW BRIEF YEARS. 
 
 A few brief years and I shall lie 
 
 Beneath yon calm and peaceful sky, 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 281 
 
 Whose breast is bright with notes and bars, 
 And laughing music of the stars 
 
 Whose bosom, spread from pole to pole, 
 In silence will my grave console. 
 
 With straightened limbs my shade will rest, 
 My head against my coffin pressed ; 
 
 And hour by hour, and day by day, 
 My wasted bones will pass away. 
 
 This hand that writes will then be cold. 
 
 And shrunk and eaten with the mold 
 Of time and death and dark decay, 
 
 Till joint by joint returns to clay. 
 
 The dread, the fear, the torment sore, 
 
 Will rend my heart-strings never more ; 
 
 No human wiles nor worldly strife, 
 To barely win the bread of life, 
 
 Will ne'er within my narrow bed, 
 
 Disturb or wake my wearied head. 
 
 A thousand years will pass me by, 
 Without a change in land or sky ; 
 
 Nor winter's snow, nor summer's heat, 
 Will e'er disturb my winding sheet. 
 
 At evening's close I'll meet no more 
 
 The smiles that waits me at the door; 
 
 The hills and dales and streams will be 
 All mute for evermore to me. 
 
 No morn will wake me at its dawn ; 
 
 No more on mead or field or lawn, 
 When landscapes smile beneath the sun, 
 
 Will romping childhood to me run. 
 
232 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 My span of life, my humble lot, 
 
 Like friendship's vows will be forgot; 
 
 And all the world will live the same 
 As if I never had a name. 
 
 Hugh F. McDermott. 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 283 
 
 LOOKING FORWARD. 
 
 "The sunset of life gives me mystical lore, 
 And coming events cast their shadows before." 
 
 The above language of the poet may be quoted 
 in this connection, as it is my wish to here make a 
 prediction, that before many cycles of years have 
 rolled around, the United States will have extended 
 her borders sufficiently to embrace the country of 
 Mexico. 
 
 The causes that will operate to this end are now 
 in full force : Many Americans are settling in that 
 territory, while many have their capital invested 
 in Mexican railroads and other improvements. 
 These Americans will always feel a sympathy for 
 their native land, and realize the great advantage 
 of being part and parcel of the "greatest nation on 
 earth," when they have gained sufficient power and 
 numbers, they will naturally influence others, and 
 the result will be annexation, and when that time 
 shall have come and not until then, when the Ameri 
 can Eagle shall scream the notes of liberty from the 
 mountain tops, and the Starry Banner shall wave 
 through the length and breadth of the land, guaran 
 teeing to all the blessings of freedom and equality, 
 
284 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXCAN WAR. 
 
 we repeat, not until then shall Mexico enter upon 
 an upward career that will make her one of the most 
 beautiful lands under the sun. 
 
 This is inevitable, as we view it, and it is our ear 
 nest belief that there are persons now living who 
 will see this prediction verified. 
 
 Several Recollections. 
 
 That the Mexicans are not ungrateful for kind 
 ness shown, was evidenced by the actions of a 
 couple to whom the author had been able to extend 
 the courtesy of charity. We had captured the city 
 of Santa Fe, and had a number of prisoners over 
 whom I was stationed as a guard, with orders to 
 permit no one to hold communication with the men 
 in the guard-house. While standing there, a fair 
 senora came up and asked the privilege of speaking 
 a few words with her husband. At first I sternly 
 refused, but when she wept, and plead with me 
 through her tears, my heart overcome the discipline 
 of the soldier, and I told her to pass in. After a 
 few moments conversation with her husband, she 
 left, after giving me her warmest thanks. 
 
 A few days later, after I had forgotten the 
 occurrence, I was walking along the street, when 
 I met the same woman and her husband, who had 
 been discharged from prison. They came to me 
 and made the utmost protestations of their gratitude, 
 and seizing me by the arms, insisted that I should 
 accompany them. I yielded, and our way led us 
 to the outskirts of the city, and as I went along I 
 began to wonder if it were wise on my part, to thus 
 place myself in their power. However, upon reach 
 ing their home, my mind was soon relieved, as the 
 kind hearted creatures gave me the best possible meal 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 285 
 
 in their power, and assured me of their undying 
 friendship. 
 
 While in Monterey, on our journey home 
 ward, an incident occurred which shows how de 
 plorable the men under Col. Doniphan looked in 
 their ragged costumes, with long, flowing hair and 
 beards. 
 
 A squad of us were passing along the street, 
 when we were halted by a guard, who inquired who 
 we were. When he was told that we belonged to 
 Doniphan's command, he refused to believe it, and 
 charged us with being Arabs and scalawags, at 
 tempting to pass ourselves as Americans. 
 
 We certainly presented a sorry looking specta 
 cle after our long march, without money or clothing; 
 and the guard's mistake was but natural. 
 
286 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 HENRY T. OGDEN. 
 
 Henry T. Ogden of Company C, First Missouri 
 Cavalry, was born in Bracken county, Kentucky, 
 March 13, 1823. At an early age he learned the 
 art of printing, at Lexington, Kentucky. In 1844 
 he was connected with Basil D. Crookshank, in pub 
 lishing "The Spirit of '44," a Democratic campaign 
 paper, at Maysville, Ky. From there he went to 
 Liberty, Clay county, Misssouri, where he establish 
 ed the "Liberty Tribune." In the spring of 1846, 
 volunteers were called for, when he enlisted in the 
 First Missouri Cavalry, under Colonel Alexander 
 W. Doniphan. 
 
 He was promoted from a Second Sergeant to 
 a Lieutenancy, the following September, and parti 
 cipated in all the battles in which his regiment was 
 engaged. He was mustered out of service at New 
 Orleans, in 1847. He did not return to Missouri, 
 but went to Cincinnatti, where he engaged in the 
 printing business. He was married in Cincinnatti 
 in 1850, at which city he is now located. He was 
 among the pioneers in the formation of the Typo 
 graphical Union, having been the president of the 
 old Franklin Society, and was also president of 
 No. 3 of the new order. For some forty years he 
 
PRESIDENT J. T. OGDEN. 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 287 
 
 was manager of the printing business of the well 
 known Robert Clarke Company, the chief book pub 
 lishing house of Cincinnatti. 
 
 Mr. Ogden has retired from active business 
 and resides in Norwood, the chief suburb of Cin 
 cinnatti. In 1903 he served very acceptably, as 
 president of the National Association of Mexican 
 War Veterans. 
 
288 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 BATTLE OF SAN JACINTO. 
 
 The battle of San Jacinto, and the capture of 
 Santa Anna, which secured the independence of 
 Texas, was a remarkable conflict in which a small 
 body of men met and defeated many times their 
 number. The following brief account of this bat 
 tle we glean from the biography of General Sam 
 Houston, who commanded the Texans. : 
 
 Houston was in Arkansas in 1832, when the 
 movement for independence by Texas attracted him, 
 and he joined the revolutionists, and was made 
 General of a military district and later Comman- 
 ded-in-chief of the Texas army. March 10, 1836, 
 found him Commander of an army of 347 men, un 
 organized, poorly armed and without supplies. 
 The Mexicans had just taken the Alamo and mas 
 sacred its garrison of 170 men, and 5,000 were ap 
 proaching under Santa Anna. At first there was 
 a panic, but it ended by Houston's masterful in 
 fluence. He retired to the Colorado, and ordered 
 Col. Fannin, stationed at Goliad, with 500 men, 
 to join him. Fannin attempted to do so, but was in 
 tercepted and 357 of his men massacred. Santa 
 Anna marched on, burning as he moved. At last 
 Houston was able to meet him on the San Jacinto 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 289 
 
 with 783 men and two little six-pounders. The 
 Americans attacked with fury and utterly routed the 
 Mexicans, of whom they killed 630 and captured 
 about 800, with a loss of only 8 killed and 25 woun 
 ded. Santa Anna, himself, was captured in the dis 
 guise of a common soldier, and brought before 
 Houston, who protected him from the wrath of the 
 Texans, but compelled him to sign a treaty which 
 secured the independence of Texas. Houston be 
 came President of Texas, and held that office dur 
 ing the stormy and turbulent years of the new Re 
 public's beginning. His arministration was remark 
 ably firm and successful, and it was through his in 
 fluence that Texas became one of the United States. 
 
290 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 RESULTS OF THE WAR. 
 
 The author has about completed the work he 
 has undertaken, and the word "finis" will soon be 
 written as a close to "Incidents of the Mexican 
 War," but before laying his pen asside he desires to 
 briefly notice the results of that struggle. 
 
 President Polk, in his message of December 
 5, 1848, said : "Within less than four years the an 
 nexation of Texas to the Union has been consum 
 mated; all conflicting titles to the Oregon territory 
 south of 49th deg. of the North latitude have been 
 adjusted, and New Mexico and California have been 
 acquired by treaty. The area of these several ter 
 ritories, according to a report carefully prepared 
 by the Commissioners of the General Land Office 
 from the most authenticated information in his pos 
 session, contains 1,193,061 square miles, or 763,359,- 
 040 acres ; while the area of the twenty-nine States 
 and the Unorganized territories east of the Rocky 
 Mountains contains 2,050,513 square miles or, I,- 
 318,126,058 acres *' * with the addition of the last 
 acquisitions, flie United States are now (in 1848) 
 estimated to be nearly as large as the whole of 
 Europe." (Doc. No. i. 3Oth Congress.) 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 291 
 
 Soon after their annexation, however, the value 
 of his acquisition was revealed to the conqueror. 
 Rich mines were exploited and their wealth was di 
 rected in all the channels of enterprise and labor. 
 Their valleys were soon teeming with harvests; 
 flocks grazed upon their mountains, cities sprung 
 up with manufactures and with commerce spreading 
 out among the nations on the Pacific ; and railroads 
 stretched their long lines across the continent and 
 brought the vast gold productions of the West to 
 nourish and enlarge the multiplied industries of 
 the East. New paths and highways were opened 
 around the world for commerce and the traveler, 
 and vast populations grew up with the variety of 
 enterprise and labor and all conveniences of social 
 life. Besides these other productions, more than 
 $4,000,000,000 of the precious metals, have been 
 poured from their mines into channels of industry 
 extending and ramifying through all the correspon 
 dences of the world ; nor has this been done after the 
 tedious toil of ages, nor by oppressed generations ; 
 but before our very eyes this pleasing transformation 
 has been going on. Unlike ancient conquerors 
 who found gardens before and left desolation be 
 hind, our armies conquered a wilderness, and be 
 hold it is transformed, as if by enchantment, into an 
 outstretched empire, with cities and fields and gar 
 dens and all the arts of civilized life. The wisdom 
 of the policy of President Polk that inspired the an 
 nexation of Texas has been verified and sanctioned 
 by the wonderful results that have grown out of it. 
 The Mexican veterans, men with scars of honor, 
 and their dead comrades, were the chief factors in 
 that war, so bloody in action, and so fruitful of 
 grand results. Their achievements are as pearl's 
 set in the casket of history. Its pages are brighten 
 ed by the gallantry and glory associated with the 
 names of Palo Alto, Reasaca de la Palma, Gordo, 
 
292 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 Cherubusco, Contreras, Molino del Rey, Chapult- 
 pec, Sacramento, and the gates around the city of 
 the Montezumas. 
 
 The results of this policy of Mr. Folk's admin 
 istration, coupled with the achievements of our 
 soldiers in Mexico, and subsequent developements, 
 have made prophetic the remarks of the gifted 
 statesman, Thomas H. Benton, who, standing on 
 the banks of the Mississippi, and pointing toward 
 the setting sun, said : "Yonder is the road to the 
 East!" Truly, the Pacific, and not the Atlantic, is 
 now the highway of the East. In length and breadth, 
 almost half of a continent, their strong arms and 
 brave hearts secured to our Government. In height 
 of mountain and depth of valley; in the variety of 
 soil and climate and in beauty and grandeur of 
 scenery, it is unsurpassed. This policy and grand 
 achievements unlocked the coffers of Nature's 
 richest and grandest bank a bank that has always 
 paid in coin the reward of labor, at its honest coun 
 ter, and never suspends. Yes, a policy and achieve 
 ment that opened the golden lips of California, and 
 unloosed the silvery tongue of Nevada, that they 
 might clink their praises to the echo, as music for 
 future history. Such grand material results have 
 not been surpassed by the prowess of men and the 
 policy of government in ancient or modern times. 
 
 Although Alexander, with his flaming sword 
 of conquest, swept, comet like, to Indus through the 
 gorgeous East, gathering coin in untold millions, 
 capturing countless prisoners, and subduing vast 
 empires, yet his coin was squandered in bacchana 
 lian revels, his captives became slaves, and conquer 
 ed empires, though desolated, soon passed from un 
 der his dominant scepter, and although by this dar 
 ing enterprise Asia and the East were interwoven 
 with Europe and Greece, yet the rebound crushed 
 the free Greek communities and entombed Demo- 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 293 
 
 cratic progress and liberty; and without universally 
 diffusing Hellenic culture in the East, Macedonia 
 and Hellas became Asiaticised. 
 
 This conquest, vast as it was, is not comparable 
 in extent of territory or boundless wealth with that 
 conquest upon the toil and suffering of the Ameri 
 can soldiers in the Mexican War. Instead of op 
 pression, it extended protection and peace to the con 
 quered, while the uncultivated territory it subdued 
 sprung like magic into an Hesperides, with its gol 
 den fruit. Napoleon, too, crushed empires and 
 made toys of kings, and his genius and ambition, 
 riding upon the waves of conquest, brought into 
 France power and extended domain yet they van 
 ished with the man ; and while Marengo, and Lodi, 
 and Austerlitz shine in the galaxy of military 
 achievements, their fruits were evanescent. But 
 Monterey, Buena Vista, Cerro Gordo, and battles 
 around the city, brought with them an empire in 
 territory, and with it prosperity and permanent 
 peace. Hannibal, in all his grand campaigns and 
 brilliant strategy, even with the aid of Punic faith, 
 never so enriched Carthage as did the scarred vete 
 rans of the Mexican war, and their dead comrades 
 enrich this favored land. 
 
 The war with Mexico, with its privations and 
 hardships, is but little understood, and too frequent 
 ly misrepresented. An instance of this kind occur 
 red in the publication of the following, under the 
 head of "A Picnic War," in the "Ohio State Jour 
 nal :" 
 
 "The Mexican war was looked upon by those 
 who took part in it as rather a pleasant sort of a 
 picnic. The service was not severe. The climate 
 was mild, and there was no exhaustive marches, and 
 comparatively few suffered from the casualties of 
 the war." 
 
294 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 To which the Cleveland Voice, the best and 
 most influential Sunday journal in Ohio, responded 
 as follows: 
 
 The editor of the Journal must have a very 
 forgetful memory of history to call the war with 
 Mexico "a pleasant sort of a picnic." The war lasted 
 from 1846 to 1848, including about two years of 
 time, during which period more than fifty bloody 
 battles were fought, in every instance, with superior 
 forces, and often with an enemy strongly entrenched 
 behind heavy fortifications. Many of our troops 
 marched several thousand miles over hot sand and 
 lava beds, and this, too, in a foreign country, in a 
 hot climate, where often there was little or no water 
 to quench the thirst of man or beast; yes, where 
 fleas were constant terror to sleep; the tarantu 
 la, the rattlesnake and the scorpion were a daily 
 and nightly menace, where yellow fever and black 
 vomit were an epidemic and constantly depleted 
 the population ; where diseases were contracted that 
 in a few years after the war had taken from their 
 homes more than half of those who returned. In 
 deed, a fine "pic-nic" it was ! Whether or not a 
 pension is to be given the men, who, in this war, 
 faced death in a hundred ways, does not belittle the 
 hardships, the privations and the service they en 
 dured. 
 
 The War between our Government and Mexi 
 co established the boundry of Texas and gave to 
 us California, Nevada, Colorado, Utah and New 
 Mexico. It gives us a direct road to China and the 
 East Indies. It rounded out the symmetrical pro 
 portions pf our country. It gaves us territory from 
 the mines of which we acquired more than $3,000,- 
 000,000 in gold and the precious metals. It gave us 
 the finest harbor in the world. Such was the work 
 of the "Mexican war veterans." 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 295 
 
 The Journal should read history to a better 
 purpose, or not read it at all. 
 
 In the matter of pensions we honor our country 
 for her liberality to the soldiers of her wars. She 
 has bestowed pensions on the soldiers of the Revo 
 lution, on those of the war of 1812, and on those of 
 the Civil War. And she is now yearly bestow 
 ing many millions on the survivors or the families of 
 the soldiers who served in these wars. Yet the 
 soldiers of the Mexican war have received but a 
 crumb of the country's bounty, though time has re 
 duced their number to a few thousand, and age is 
 weakening the energies of the needy for exercising 
 the means for comfortable subsistence. 
 
 Whilst we honor and love our country and re 
 joice at the liberality that rewards the soldiers, who 
 have exposed their lives in her service, we would 
 respectfully inquire of those who dispense her 
 charity, what has been done in the Mexican war, 
 to cause her discriminating neglect of its soldiers? 
 
 Those who direct the destinies of our country 
 may see a broad and enlarged patriotism in the 
 brotherhood of the surviving soldiers of the Mexi 
 can war. This brotherhood has no partisan feel 
 ing, no sectional hate. Its spirit is abroad with 
 healing and binding sentiments in all the correspon 
 dences, that strengthen the unity and enlarge the 
 greatness, glory, and happiness of our people. It 
 points to deeds that are the glory of all ; and to con 
 quests that have opened the Western gates of our 
 commerce, and is greeting the old civilization of 
 the East, and transferring them in the unity of the 
 peacefully conquering Christian civilization from 
 the West, and is constantly pouring millions in its 
 channels of distribution to nourish, instruct, and 
 Ucss nianlcin-:. 
 
296 INCIDENTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 The author, while realizing that the shadows of 
 his life are rapidly lengthening, hopes to live to see 
 the services of himself and surviving comrades of 
 the Mexican War, appreciated sufficiently by his 
 country, to insure them a pension of one dollar per 
 day. This amount, considering the few who yet 
 survive, would be but a trifle compared to the 
 wealth to the nation won by that war, and it would 
 prove a God-send and blessing to many a bent and 
 feeble frame, whose sands of life are well nigh run 
 out.