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HISTORY OF THE WAR 
 
 BETWEEN 
 
 MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES, 
 
 WITH A PRELIMINARY VIEW OP ITS ORIGIN; 
 
 BY 
 
 BRANTZ MAYER, 
 
 FORMERLY SECRETARY' OF THE UNITED STATES LEGATION IN MEXICO, 
 AND AUTHOR OF "MEXICO AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS." 
 
 Ne dites a la posterite que ce qui est digne de la posteritJ. VOLTAIRE. 
 
 VOLUME I. 
 
 NEW YORK & LONDON. 
 
 WILEY AND PUTNAM 
 
 MDCCCXLVIII. 
 
 404 
 
Entered according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1847, by 
 
 BRANTZ MAYER, 
 in the Clerk's office of the District Court for the District of Maryland. 
 
 ' 
 
BOOK FIRST: 
 
 PRELIMINARY VIEW OF THE ORIGIN 
 OF THE WAR. 
 
 . 
 
HISTORY OF THE WAR 
 
 BETWEEN 
 
 MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES 
 
 BOOK I. 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Introductory views of Mexico The people arid government. 
 
 THE war which broke out between the United States of 
 North America and the Mexican Republic, in the spring of 
 1846, is an event of great importance in the history of the 
 world. Profound peace had reigned among Christian na 
 tions, since the downfall^ of Napoleon; and, with the excep 
 tion of internal discords in France, Belgium, Poland and 
 Greece, the civilized world had cause to believe that man 
 kind would henceforth resort to the cabinet rather than the 
 field for the settlement of international disputes. The re 
 cent conflicts between the French and the Arabs in Algeria, 
 and between the British and Indian races, have been cha 
 racterized by ferocity and endurance. But, it will be recol 
 lected these encounters took place between nations unequal 
 alike in religion, morals, law, and civilization. The tem 
 per or character of Mahomedans was not to be measured 
 by that of Christians nor had we just reason to hope for a 
 
b HISTORY OP THE WAR BETWEEN 
 
 pacific or temporizing spirit in people whose savage habits 
 have ever rendered them prompt to return invasion by a 
 blow, and make war the precursor of negotiation. It 
 was, thus, reserved for the Mexicans, whose blood is mixed 
 with that of an Arab ancestry, to exhibit the spectacle of 
 continual domestic broils, a%d, latterly of a positive warfare 
 against a nation whose friendly hand was the first to summon 
 them into the pale of national independence. 
 
 . The disorganized condition of our neighbor for nearly 
 thirty years, may, partly account for and palliate this 
 fault. With administrations shifting like the scenes of a 
 drama, and with a stage, at times dyed with blood, and at 
 others imitating the mimic passions and transports of the real 
 theatre, it may be confessed that much should be pardoned 
 by a forbearing nation whose aggregate intelligence and force 
 ar.e not to be compared with the fragmentary and impulsive 
 usurpations in Mexico. To judge faithfully of the justice or 
 injustice of this war, and to comprehend this history in truth 
 and fairness, we must not only narrate in chronological order 
 the simple events that occurred between the two nations ; but 
 the student of this epoch must go back a step in order to 
 master the scope and motives of the war. He must study 
 the preceding Mexican history and character; and, it will 
 speedily be discovered that when he attempts to judge the 
 Spanish republics by the ordinary standards applied to free 
 and enlightened governments, he will signally fail in arriv 
 ing at truth. He must neither imagine that when the name 
 of Republic was engrafted on the Mexican system, that 
 it accommodated itself at once to our ideal standard of 
 political power, nor that the dominant faction was willing to 
 adopt the simple machinery which operates so perfectly in 
 the United States. There are many reasons why this should 
 not be the case. The Spanish race, although it has achieved 
 
MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES. 7 
 
 the most wonderful results in discovery, conquest, colonial 
 settlement, diplomacy, feats of arms, and success of domestic 
 power, has proved itself, within the present century, to be 
 one of the few opponents of the progressive principles of our 
 age. A Castilian pride of remembered greatness, and a su 
 perstitious reluctance to cast off the bondage of the past, 
 have made the Spaniards content to cling devotedly to their 
 ancient edifice without bestowing on it those repairs or im 
 provements without which governments, must evidently 
 crumble and decay. Spain believed that what had pro 
 duced national power and greatness in one age must ever 
 continue to effect the same results, and, thus, she was 
 content to bear the evils of the present time rather than 
 disjoint a fragment of her ancient temple, lest the whole 
 should fall in indiscriminate ruin. The blindness of 
 national vanity was made more profound by the universal 
 glare of progressive civilization that surrounded this doomed 
 country, whilst superstitious influences clogged every avenue 
 to progress which might have saved and regenerated both 
 the parent and her colonies. 
 
 It may be urged by the apologists for Spain, that, being 
 nearly as deep in moral, political and social degradation as 
 France was at the period of the revolution, she naturally 
 contemplated such an event with horror, especially when 
 she remembered the sensitive and excitable race that peo 
 pled her vallies and sierras, and the likelihood that the bloody 
 dramas of Paris would be frightfully exaggerated in Madrid. 
 But I still believe that the true cause will be found more 
 deeply seated, in the nature of the people; and that Spain, 
 made up as she is of many nations, incompetent for self- 
 government, uneducated and bigoted, will ever be content 
 to find her ideal future in her traditionary past. 
 
 Spain and the Spaniards have few more zealous admirers 
 
8 HISTORY OF THE WAR BETWEEN 
 
 than the author of this history. The nation contains in 
 dividuals who in patriotism, love of liberty, and devotion to 
 science, literature, and art, are unsurpassed by any people 
 of the world. As Americans we owe a debt of gratitude to 
 the noble discoverers and conquerors of this continent. In 
 deeds of bravery, in chivalrous enterprise, and in intellectual 
 power, with what people may they not be matched in their 
 perfect period. But their golden age has passed, and mani 
 fold corruptions in church and state have preyed upon the 
 country with paralyzing influence. 
 
 For a long time we received from England with the sub 
 missive credulity of children, all her traditionary ignorance 
 and abuse of Spain, much of which was owing to political 
 animosity, as well as to the rivalry that grew up between 
 that country and the rest of Europe during the reign of 
 Philip the second. But the study of her language, history 
 and literature, has unveiled the legendary falsehoods with 
 which we were cheated. Whilst a large portion of her past 
 history should be admired and lauded, her present downfall 
 should be regarded with compassionate censure and sympa 
 thy. We should endeavor, in writing history, to make our 
 selves men of the times and nations we describe, and it is in 
 this manner alone, that we can establish the spiritual sym 
 pathy between ourselves and foreign countries, which will 
 enable us to enter into their feelings and motives, and thus 
 become not only merciful but true and discreet judges. 
 
 The two great impressions made on this continent by the 
 Spaniards were in Mexico and Peru. Avarice arid ambition 
 induced the conquest of the latter, while that of Mexico may 
 also be attributed to the same motives, although the hero 
 who added the Aztec empire to the Spanish dominions, 
 modified his victories by personal qualities which were infi- 
 
MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES. 9 
 
 nitely superior to those of the conqueror of Peru.* Yet, in 
 neither of these great adventures do we find any of the fruits 
 of peaceful acquisition, or of those well regulated advances 
 in civilization which always mark a people whose conquest 
 is undertaken under the immediate direction and legal re- 
 strair\ts of government. The conquests in America were, in 
 truth, chiefly individual enterprises, and, of course, could not 
 be conducted in a spirit of temperance and justice. The 
 exploits of Cortez and Pizarro, especially those of the latter, 
 are characterized by ferocity and barbarism which would 
 place them in the category with freebooters and bucaneers, 
 were they not saved from it by the splendor of their success 
 ful results. The Indians of the countries they subjected to 
 Spain, were utterly vanquished; yet, unlike the hardy and 
 warlike aborigines of the north, they remained on their na 
 tive soil, content to serve or mingle with their conquerors. 
 Wherever the white man came at the north, the Indian re 
 treated to his congenial wilderness ; he could not inhabit 
 the same country or breathe the same air with the intruder; 
 but, as the Spaniard advanced at the south, the semi-civili 
 zation of the enervated native, induced him to linger near 
 the homes of his ancestors, and, with a tame heart, to obey 
 his conqueror rather than to resist him or enjoy the fierce in 
 dependence of the forest. 
 
 The territory thus seized by violence was held by fear. 
 Loyalty can never be the tenure of conquerors, and, especi 
 ally, of the conquerors of an inferior race. The Spaniard 
 and Indian lived together in a spirit of lordly dominion on 
 the one hand, and of crushed dependence on the other, 
 whilst the Castilian derived from the native nothing but his 
 habits of savage life, and the Indian, in turn, learned noth 
 ing from the Castilian but his vices. 
 
 * See Prescott's Conquest of Peru, 2nd vol. pages 199: 245. 
 /& 
 
10 HISTORY OF THE WAR BETWEEN 
 
 A conquest thus achieved, an empire founded in blood 
 and terror, would naturally seem to have a doubtful des 
 tiny. It is unquestionably true that Spain made humane 
 laws, and that Charles the Fifth passed a decree by which 
 his American possessions were declared to be integral parts 
 of the Spanish kingdom. It is true, moreover, that he 
 sought to abolish the special grants to discoverers and con 
 querors by which they were invested with almost absolute 
 authority; and, by mitigating the system reparttmientos* 
 or of vassalage among the Indians, to raise them to the dig 
 nity of Spanish subjects. But, at the same time, these 
 humane laws were badly administered in a country so diffi 
 cult of access as America was at that period from Spain ; and 
 viceroys and governors acted as they pleased, with but little 
 regard to the people or the country, except for their individual 
 interests. Whilst this system of maladministration made the 
 royal and beneficent laws nugatory, Spain seems to have 
 been engaged in creating a colonial system which was cal 
 culated to paralyze the energies of Mexico and Peru. 
 She taught them to look exclusively to mining for wealth, 
 and to their Indians for labor. All the laws relative to the 
 
 *The word repartimiento means, division, partition, distribution, or ap 
 portionment. In the old Spanish historians and English books, such as 
 Zarate, Garcilasso de la Vega, Fernandez, Robertson, it is uniformly used 
 to denote the well known allotment of lands and vassal Indians (genuine 
 adscripti glcbce) granted to the first conquerors in reward of their services. 
 In some later writers, this word is applied to the monopoly of sales to the 
 Indians exercised by the vorregedores, under pretext of protecting the In 
 dians from imposition, by the official distribution of goods. N. A. Review, 
 vol. xx. p. 287. 
 
 "Indeed the Spanish court made no scruple of regarding the Indians in 
 the same light as the beasts and the soil, disposing of them as the rightful 
 property of the crown ; for it was not till 1537, nearly fifty years after the 
 discovery, that the Pope 'issued a mandate declaring them to be really and 
 truly men, "ipsosveros homines," and capable of receiving the Chris 
 tian faith." N. A. Review, vol. xix. p. 198. 
 
MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES. 11 
 
 natural development of a new country were disregarded, 
 and civilized existence in America began on artificial prin 
 ciples. The example of the last fifty years has proved that 
 America is capable of producing all the necessaries, and most 
 of the luxuries of life quite as abundantly as Europe. Yet, 
 Spain denied her colonies the privilege of an effort. For in 
 stance, she resolved at the outset not to allow them to be 
 independent in agriculture, commerce or manufactures. 
 She would not permit them to cultivate the soil save for 
 the merest daily necessaries. Wine and oil were to be made 
 in the old world. Cotton and wool were not to be woven 
 into the beautiful fabrics for which the ancient Peruvians 
 were so celebrated. The church aided the strong arm of 
 government by the weight of her exactions and the power of 
 superstitious control. The Inquisition put its veto on the 
 spread of knowledge by restraining the sale and publica 
 tion of books. Foreigners were not allowed to navigate 
 Spanish seas or enter American harbors. And these distant 
 shores were only visited at stated seasons by national ves 
 sels, carrying such produce at exorbitant prices, as Spain 
 might think proper to despatch from Seville or Cadiz.* 
 
 I have thought it proper to state in my introductory chap 
 ter, thus much of the laws and system under which Mexico 
 began her national existence ; for laws modify the charac 
 ter whenever they are not self-imposed. Let us now, for a 
 moment consider the population which was subjected to the 
 bad administration of such laws; and we shall then under 
 stand better the character of the belligerents. 
 
 The blood of the Spaniards, even at home, is a mixed 
 
 *The American trade was confined to Seville until 1720, when it was 
 removed to Cadiz, as a more convenient port. On the subject of these 
 oppressions and misgovernment, see Zavala's " Revoluciones de Mexico," 
 Introduction ; and North American Review, vol. xx. p. 158. 
 
12 
 
 HISTORY OP THE WAR BETWEEN 
 
 blood. But when we remember the various races that have 
 overrun, resided in, ruled, and incorporated themselves with 
 Spain, we cannot be surprised at detecting so many and 
 diverse characteristics in Mexico. The Celti-gallic, Celt- 
 Iberian, Carthagenian, Roman, Vandalic, Visigothic, and 
 Moorish blood have mingled again in Mexico and Peru with 
 the Indian, and in some cases have been dashed even with 
 the Negro.* Mexicans are thus, as I have observed else- 
 
 * The subjoined list shows the varieties of parentage and blood form 
 ing the castes throughout Spanish America : 
 
 PARENTS. 
 
 f European whites are called gachupines or 
 f WHITE < [chapetones. 
 
 1. ORIGINAL RACES < NEGRO. ( Whites, born in the colonies, are called Creoles. 
 
 f INDIAN. 
 
 PARENTS. CHILDRE^. 
 
 White father and Negro mother. .Mulatto. 
 White " " Indian " ..Mestizo. 
 White " " Mulatta " ..Quarteron. 
 White " " Meztiza " .. Creole, (only distinguisha 
 ble from the white 
 by a pale brown 
 complexion.) 
 . . Chino-blanco. 
 . . CJuintero. 
 ..White. 
 
 2. CASTES OF WHITE RACE. 
 
 White 
 White 
 White 
 
 [Negro 
 
 ] Negro 
 
 3. CASTES OP NEGRO RACE.-! Negro 
 
 China " 
 
 " Quarterona 
 
 " Quintera " 
 
 Negro father and Mulatta mother. Zambo-negro. 
 
 " Meztiza " ..Mulatto-oscuro. 
 
 " China 
 
 Zamba 
 
 Negro 
 
 ..Zambo-chino. 
 
 . .Zambo & Negro (perfectly 
 black.) 
 
 Quarterona) . dark Mulatto . 
 orQumtera ) 
 
 4. CASTES OF INDIAN RACE. 
 
 Indian father and Negro mother. .Chino. 
 
 Indian 
 Indian 
 
 Indian 
 Indian 
 Indian 
 
 Indian 
 
 Mulatta " 
 Mestiza " 
 
 China " 
 Zamba " 
 China-chola 
 
 . . Chino-oscuro. 
 ..Mestizo-claro (often very 
 beautiful.) 
 .Chino-cholo. 
 . . Zambo-claro. 
 ..Indian (with short-frizzly 
 hair.) 
 
 f Mulatto father and Zamba mother..Zambo (a miserable race.) 
 
 5. MULATTO CORRUPTIONS.] Mulatto " Zamba " ..Chino (rather clear race.) 
 (Mulatto " " China " ..Chino (rather dark.) 
 
 Besides these specified castes there are many others not distinguished by 
 particular names. The best criterion for judging is the hair of the women 
 
MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES. 13 
 
 where, grafts rather of the wild Arab on the American In 
 dian, than of the Spanish Don on the noble Aztec.* 
 
 When Mexico was completely conquered and emigration 
 began to fill np the land, the soil was divided, in large estates, 
 among the adventurers and the Indians, by a system of re- 
 partiamentos, were apportioned to the land holders, f This 
 created an absolute vassalage, and bound the Indian, virtu 
 ally and forever, to the spot where he was born. As it 
 became wearisome to the planters to dwell in the seclu 
 sion of these vast and lonely estates, they left them and 
 their Indians to the care of an administrador^ and retreated 
 to the chief cities of the provinces or to the capital. Thus 
 all the intelligence and cultivation of Mexico became com 
 pacted in the towns, whilst the original ignorance and semi- 
 civilizaiion remained diffused over the country. It is, there 
 fore, not at all surprising to find that out of a popula 
 tion of seven millions, four millions are Indians and only 
 one million purely white, while more than two millions, 
 of the rest, are zambos, mestizos and mulattos. Nor is it 
 singular that of this whole population of seven millions, not 
 more than six hundred thousand whites and eighty thousand 
 of other castes, can read and write.'J 
 
 Indeed it may be said with truth, as agriculture has re 
 ceived but little attention beyond the ordinary wants of life, 
 
 which is infinitely less deceiving than the complexion. The short -woolly 
 hair, or the coarse Indian locks may always be detected on the head or 
 back of the neck. This tabular statement exhibits at a glance the mon 
 grel corruptions of the human race in Spanish America, and forms an 
 interesting subject for students of physiology. See Tschudi's Peru, p. 80, 
 Am. Ed. 
 
 * Preface to 3d Ed. of Mexico as it was and as it is, p. 12. 
 t Zavala's " Revoluciones de Mexico," vol. 1. p. 15, gives an account of 
 the manner in which estates are divided in Mexico. 
 t See Mexico as it was and as it is, p. 301. 
 
14 HISTORY OF THE WAR BETWEEN 
 
 and as the great proprietors of estates have chiefly devoted 
 their attention to the raising of cattle, that the ancient 
 nomadic habits of the Indian and half-breed, have re 
 mained unchanged, and, consequently, that the great body 
 of this semi-civilized people is quite as much at home on 
 horseback with sword and lance as in the corral or haci 
 enda.* 
 
 The RANCHERO, who has played so conspicuous a part in 
 this war, is the natural offspring of such a state of society. 
 This class of men is composed of individuals, half Spanish 
 half Indian, who resemble the gauchos of the South Ameri 
 can Pampas. Gaunt, shrivelled and bronzed by exposure, 
 though hardy and muscular from athletic exercise, they are, 
 indeed, the Arabs of our continent. Living half the time in 
 their saddles, for they are matchless horsemen, they traverse 
 the plains and mountains, with lassof in hand, either search 
 ing for, or tending their herds. The slaughter of beasts and 
 preparation and sale of hides is their chief means of liveli 
 hood, varied occasionally by the cultivation of a small patch 
 of ground, or by taking part in the civil wars that are al- 
 .ways waging. Their costume generally consists of a pair of 
 tough leggings of skin and leathern trousers, over which is a 
 serape or blanket, with a hole in the centre large enough for 
 the head to pass through, whence it falls in graceful folds over 
 the chest and shoulders, leaving room for the play of hands 
 and arms. Add to this a broad sombrero, and the lasso, hang 
 ing ready for use at his saddle bow, and the reader will have 
 
 * Corral signifies cattle yard ; hacienda, plantation ; rancho, small farm. 
 
 f The lasso is a long rope, with a running noose at the end of it. The 
 Mexicans learn to fling this with great accuracy so as to catch a bull, a 
 horse, or a man with equal facility. All classes have some skill in the use 
 of this weapon, and I have seen children, with cords, attempting to lasso 
 chickens and even butterflies ! 
 
MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES. 15 
 
 a picture of the ranchero as he appears in peace or in the 
 ordinary pursuit of his occupation. Join to this garb a long 
 sabre, a horse as savage and untamed as himself, and a belt 
 plentifully studded with pistols and machetes, and the ran 
 chero presents himself ready either to join a troop of banditti, 
 or to serve in a body of cavalry. 
 
 Cowardly as they generally are in the open field when 
 encountering regular troops, yet, in ambuscade, a sudden 
 fight, or, as guerillas, they are both a formidable and cruel 
 foe. Their power of endurance is inexhaustible. Fatigue 
 is almost unknown to them, and a scanty meal, each day, of 
 jerked beef and corn or plantain, is sufficient to sustain them 
 on the longest marches. 
 
 Such are the rancheros, who, by discipline, might be ren 
 dered the best light troops in the world. These are the men 
 who form the material of the Mexican cavalry; and they 
 bear the same relation to the armies of that republic that the 
 Cossacks do to the Russians; ever on the alert, easily 
 lodged, capable of supporting fatigue or hunger, and un 
 tiring in pursuit of an enemy, when even the most trifling 
 plunder is to be obtained.* 
 
 Another large and formidable body in Mexico is that of 
 the Indians, amounting, as we have seen, to four millions ; 
 whose knowledge of their governors' language is generally 
 confined to such phrases as will enable them to buy and 
 sell, or perform the ordinary functions of life. Formerly 
 they lived, and usually still live, in narrow huts built of mud, 
 thatched with straw or palm leaves, and which have scarcely 
 the merit of being picturesque. In these miserable lairs, they 
 nestle with their families, their domestic animals, and a- table 
 or altar on which they erect a cross or place the figure of 
 
 * See Head's Rough Notes of a Journey over the Pampas. The Mexican 
 ranchero is somewhat superior to the gaucho of the Pampas. 
 
16 HISTORY OF THE WAR BETWEEN 
 
 a patron saint. Their food is mostly maize, and their 
 dress corresponds with this grovelling wretchedness. Five 
 out of every hundred may perhaps possess two suits of 
 clothes, but their general vesture consists of a large cotton 
 shirt, a pair of leatheren trousers, and a blanket. Even the 
 Indian women, who elsewhere, like their sex in civilized 
 countries, are always fond of personal adornment, exhibit no 
 desire to appear decent or to rival each other in tasteful 
 ornaments when they go abroad. They are as foul and ill- 
 clad on their festivals at church, as in their hovels at home, 
 so that few things are more disgusting to a foreigner than to 
 mingle in an Indian crowd.* It is impossible to imagine 
 such a population capable of becoming landed proprietors; 
 and, consequently, we find them contented with the annual 
 product of their small fields, amounting, perhaps, to thirty 
 or fifty fanegas of corn. When they live on the large es 
 tates of Mexican proprietors, they are, in reality, vassals, 
 although free from the nominal stain of slavery, f On 
 these plantations they are beaten when they commit faults, 
 and, if then found incorrigible, are driven beyond their 
 limits, a punishment deemed by them the severest that can 
 be inflicted, and which they bear with as much difficulty as 
 our Indians do their banishment from the " hunting grounds" 
 of their forefathers. When they have gained a little money 
 by labor, they hasten to squander it by making a festival 
 in honor of their favorite saint, and thus consume their 
 miserable earnings in gluttony, gambling, masses, fire works, 
 and drunkenness. When it is not absolutely necessary to 
 toil for the necessaries of life, especially in the tierras cali- 
 j or warmer portions of Mexico, they pass their time 
 
 * Mexico as it was and is, p. 144. 
 
 fid. p. 201 ; and see Stephens' Travels in Yucatan, where, he says, the 
 maxim is that " los Indies no oyen sino por las nalgas, 1 ' the Indians only 
 hear through their backs. 
 
MEXICO AND THE UNFTED STATES. 17 
 
 in utter idleness or sleep. Zavala declares that in many 
 portions of the country, the curates maintain such entire do 
 minion over the Indians, that they order them to be publicly 
 whipped whenever they fail to pay their ovenciones, or tri 
 butes, at the regular time, or commit some act of personal 
 disobedience. But the degradation of this class does not 
 stop even here, for the same author alleges that he has fre 
 quently seen many Indians and their wives flogged at the 
 village church door, because they had failed to come to 
 mass upon some Sunday or festival, whilst, after the pun 
 ishment, these wretches were obliged to kiss the hand of the 
 executioner!* 
 
 It will be seen from this sketch and description that the 
 vicious colonial system of Spain formed only two great 
 classes in America, the proprietor and the vassal, and that, 
 in the nature of things, it was utterly impossible for the latter 
 to amalgamate with the former except by creating an inferior 
 race, whose sympathies were with the Indian rather than the 
 Spaniard, and whose type is the nomadic ranchero. This 
 fact was proved in the revolution which broke out in Spanish 
 America. The war cry was against the Spaniardf and his 
 
 * Zavala Revoluciones de Mejico, vol. i, pp. 15, 16. " Este escandalo 
 estaba autorizado por la costumbre de mi provincia." Zavala was one of 
 the wisest and most illustrious patriots of Mexico. His History was pub 
 lished in Paris in 1831. 
 
 f It will be recollected that the outburst of the Mexican revolution was 
 not in favor of republicanism ; but only against misgovernment. It was not 
 against the form of rule, but against the men who ruled. Even the plan of 
 Iguala offered the crown of Mexico to Ferdinand, as a separate kingdom. 
 See Robinson's Memoirs of the Mexican Revolution. 
 
 " It is related that Hidalgo, the celebrated priestly leader of the revolu 
 tionary movement, was accustomed to travel from village to village preach 
 ing a crusade against the Spaniards, exciting the creolcs and Indians ; and 
 one of his most effective tricks is said to have been the following. Al 
 though he had thrown off the cassock for the military coat, he wore a figure 
 of the Virgin Mary suspended by a chain around his neck. After harangu- 
 
 3 
 
18 HISTORY OF 'THE WAR BETWEEN 
 
 pure descendants. The Creole* rose against the gachupinft 
 and the ferocity with which the soldiers of old Spain carried 
 on the war against the natives confirmed their hereditary 
 animosity. 
 
 The struggle for domestic power commenced as soon as the 
 independence of Mexico was achieved, and the people began 
 to establish a system of government upon a republican basis 
 after the downfall of the Emperor Iturbide. The Spaniards 
 had taught a lesson of privileged classes which was never 
 forgotten ; so that, when the revolution took place, THE 
 PEOPLE were only used to effect national emancipation rather 
 than to establish general political liberty. 
 
 The nobles or great proprietors, and the clergy, had, in the 
 olden time, formed the influential class of society which ruled 
 the land. The theory of republicanism was marvellously 
 
 ing the mob on such occasions, he would suddenly break off, and looking 
 down at his breast, address himself to the holy image, after the following 
 fashion : ' Mary ! Mother of God ! Holy Virgin ! Patron of Mexico ! be 
 hold our country, behold our wrongs, behold our sufferings ! Dost thou 
 not wish they should be changed ? that we should be delivered from our 
 tyrants ? that we should be free ? that we should slay the gachupines / that 
 we should kill the Spaniards ?' 
 
 " The image had a moveable head fastened to a spring, which he jerked 
 by a cord concealed beneath his coat, and, of course the Virgin responded 
 with a nod ! The effect was surprising and the air was filled with In 
 dian shouts of obedience to the present miracle." Mexico as it was and as it 
 is, p. 230. 
 
 *The term creole is a corruption of the Spanish word criollo, which is 
 derived from criar, to create or foster. The Spaniards apply the term 
 criollo not merely to the human race, but to animals born in the colonies, 
 if they are of pure European blood. 
 
 f See Robinson's Memoirs Mexican Revolution, page 15. The term 
 gachupin has been always used by the Creoles and Indians as a word of 
 contempt towards the Spaniards. Its origin and exact signification are un 
 known ; but it is believed to be an Indian, and perhaps Aztec, term of scorn 
 and opprobrium. 
 
MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES. 19 
 
 captivating so long as there was an European foe to subdue. 
 But, when the last remnant of Spanish power disappeared, 
 the men who had governed during the revolution were loath 
 to surrender power and subside into the insignificance of mere 
 citizenship. In such a country as Mexico, and in such a war 
 as had just occurred, this controlling influence in public af 
 fairs was, of course, to be chiefly found in the army ; so that 
 when the nation looked around for men to direct her' at a 
 period when Spain had not yet recognized her independence 
 and might again assail her, she naturally turned to the mili 
 tary chieftains whose valor sustained her cause so bravely. 
 Thus it was that in her first moments of peace, the army ob 
 tained an important ascendancy, which it has ever since 
 contrived to retain during all administrations. 
 
 It is not just to the Spanish colonies to blame them for 
 such a procedure, especially when we remember that even 
 our republic is beginning to manifest a marked partiality for 
 military men. The great deed rather than the great thought, 
 the brilliant act rather than beneficent legislation, arrests 
 and captivates the multitude. In republics, where an eager 
 strife for wealth, distinction or power, is constantly going on, 
 the notice and position that each man obtains must be won 
 either by intrigue or by the irresistible power of talents and 
 achievements. Ambitious parties sometimes even compro 
 mise for the weakest, rather than yield the palm to superior 
 merit of which they are meanly jealous. The great mass 
 of the country has no time to pause in the midst of its earnest 
 labor to meditate wisely on the political abilities and moral 
 claims of individuals. They cannot weigh them in the 
 golden scales of justice; but, by a more rapid and easy pro 
 cess, they yield their suffrages promptly to those whose mani 
 festations of genius or power are so resistless as to compel ad 
 miration. Thus is it that the brave soldier, performing his 
 
20 HISTORY OF THE WAR BETWEEN 
 
 noble exploit on the field of battle, speaks palpably to 
 the eye and ear of the greedy multitude. His is, indeed, 
 the language of action, and each new deed makes national 
 glory more distinct, and national vanity more confident. 
 But the more quiet and unobtrusive statesman, with a field 
 infinitely less glaring or attractive, exacts from his judges 
 a suspension of party feeling, an investigation of motive 
 and merit, a calm and forbearing justice, which the im 
 patient masses have seldom the time or talent to bestow. It 
 is, therefore, by no means surprising to find in history, that 
 the sword has commonly been mightier than the pen, and 
 that military chieftains become the natural heads of repub 
 lics which are created by long and bitter revolutions. 
 
 It must be remembered that the army in Mexico is not 
 what armies are generally understood to be in other countries. 
 In Europe they are designed to restrain the aggressive am 
 bition of rival powers, to act as military police, and, by their 
 imposing skill, discipline and numbers, to preserve the balance 
 of national power. But in Mexico, whilst the members of 
 an immensely rich hierarchy constitute a distinct order in 
 society, the army forms another. The policy of the existing 
 military chieftains was to sustain, foster and increase their 
 individual power and patronage. The mere domestic po 
 lice of the country could surely never require, in time of 
 peace, so large a numerical force under arms as that which 
 has always been supported in it; yet the military presi 
 dents, at once, sought to establish an army of officers, and 
 by the enlistment of a body of commanders, entirely dispro 
 portionate to the number of rank and file, they immediately 
 created a military order upon whose support they could rely 
 so long as they possessed the means of patronage. The of 
 ficers thus became armed and paid politicians, whilst the 
 common soldiers formed a military police ; the one an ele- 
 
MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES. 21 
 
 ment of all political revolutions, the other a tool by which 
 those revolutions were effected. The great practical idea of 
 government, it will be perceived, was derived from com 
 pulsory force. The church wielded the spiritual power, 
 whilst the army held the physical ; and, between the two, 
 the people, composed of merchants, professional men, far 
 mers, proprietors, and artisans, were refused all participa 
 tion in authority, or progress in civil order which might have 
 placed Mexico among the foremost nations of the world. 
 In this mariner a central despot has always found means and 
 instruments to suppress federalism ; for whilst near thirty 
 revolutions have occurred in Mexico since her independence, 
 every one of her presidents has been a military chieftain.* 
 
 Macaulay, in his essay on the life of Lord Bacon describes 
 the condition of England when she was governed by war 
 riors whose rude courage was neither guided by science nor 
 softened by humanity, and by priests whose learning and 
 abilities were habitually devoted to the defence of power. 
 The description of that age in England is by no means in 
 applicable to Mexico in the nineteenth century. " On the 
 one side," says he, " the Hotspurs, the Nevilles, the Clif 
 fords, rough illiterate and unreflecting, brought to the coun 
 cil-board the fierce and impetuous despotism which they had 
 acquired amid the tumult of predatory war or in the gloomy 
 repose of the garrisoned and moated castle. On the other 
 side was the calm and placid prelate, versed in all that was 
 considered as learning; trained in the schools to manage 
 words, and, in the Confessional, to manage hearts ;^-seldom 
 superstitious, but skilful in practising on the superstitions 
 of others ; false as it was natural for a man to be whose pro- 
 
 * A federal government, similar to our own, was established in Mexico in 
 1824, and overthrown in 1835, to yield to a central constitution. In the 
 meanwhile, the centralists were almost always at war, openly or secretly, 
 against the federalists. 
 
22 HISTORY OF THE WAR BETWEEN 
 
 fession imposed on all who were not saints the necessity of 
 being hypocrites; selfish as it was natural that a man 
 should be who could form no domestic ties and cherish no 
 hope of legitimate posterity; more attached to his order 
 than to his country, and guiding the politics of England with 
 a constant side glance to Rome." * 
 
 And so it was in Mexico. The sojourner in her capital is 
 continually warned of this double dominion over the soul 
 and body of the people. The drum and the bell resound 
 in his ears from morning to night fall. Priests and soldiers 
 throng the streets; and, whilst the former enjoy the comfort 
 able revenues which are derived from the one hundred mil 
 lions of property owned by the church, the latter live upon 
 the labor of the people, whom they are paid to control and 
 transfer from one military despot to another. 
 
 The Mexican revolution, like the revolutions of Eng 
 land, but unlike that of France, was political rather than 
 social. The great foundations of society were therefore un 
 disturbed, and the priest and soldier took the ranks of the 
 ancient privileged classes, whilst the mixed people and the 
 native Indians remained what they had ever been the sub 
 jects of government. 
 
 Of all the officers who have commanded the army and 
 enjoyed the presidency, Santa Anna has occupied the most 
 distinguished position since the death of Iturbide, and it is 
 with him and the nation thus described, that we shall 
 deal in the following pages. 
 
 * Macaulay's Essays, vol. 2d, p. 356, Bost. Ed. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 Origin of the war considered True objects of contemporaneous history- 
 Motives for war No single act caused it Difference between war and 
 hostilities Mexican revolution Federalism and Centralism Operation 
 of the Constitution of 1824 History of our commercial and diplomatic 
 relations Bad conduct of Mexico in regard to our claims, compared with 
 that of other nations Commission Award of umpire Subsequent 
 course of Mexico History of the seizure and surrender of Monterey, 
 on the Pacific, by Commodore Jones in 1842 Secretary Upshur's cen 
 sure of his conduct 111 feeling in Mexico towards the United States in 
 consequence of this seizure. 
 
 AN artist in portraying a face or delineating a landscape, 
 does not imprint upon his canvass, each line and wrinkle, 
 each blade of grass or mossy stone, yet a spectator recog 
 nizes in the complete painting, those broad characteristics 
 of truth which establish a limner's fidelity. So it is with 
 the historian. Whilst seeking for accuracy in all his details, 
 he aims, chiefly, at exactness in his ruling principles and 
 general effect, but he leaves the minute inelegances and 
 tasteless incidents to those whose critical fervor delights in 
 detecting them. 
 
 It is not alone in the detail of facts that the historian is 
 liable to incur censure, especially when he writes a contem 
 poraneous narrative. It is almost impossible to suppose that 
 he will divest himself so completely of party feeling, as to 
 compose an unprejudiced work. Some critics have even 
 declared that a historian should possess neither religion nor 
 
24 HISTORY OF THE WAR BETWEEN 
 
 country, and would thus force us to believe it utterly im 
 possible to be impartial unless an author were an infidel or 
 a cosmopolite. 
 
 The age is so characterized by political rancor and so lit 
 tle by true statesmanship, that it is not surprising to hear 
 such opinions even from experienced and patient scholars. 
 Yet I have always thought that a writer who undertakes 
 the task of delineating national annals in no sectarian 
 spirit but with broad and Christian tolerance, honestly 
 seeking to do justice in politics and religion to all, may so 
 far separate himself from the strifes of the day as to pro 
 nounce opinions as honest, though perhaps not as learned, 
 as those that issue from the bench. 
 
 There is, too, a great advantage which should not escape 
 our notice in recording contemporaneous history and fixing 
 permanently the facts of the time as they occur. He who 
 describes events or periods long since past, is forced to throw 
 himself back, if possible, into the scenes of which he writes, 
 whilst he remains free from sympathy with their factions 
 and parties. But if a writer of the present day will place 
 himself on the impartial ground of religious and political free 
 dom, and make himself what Madame de Stael has so feli- 
 tously styled " contemporaneous posterity," I think he will 
 be better able than those who come after us to narrate 
 with vivid freshness the story of this sanguinary war. 
 
 The impression of public feeling both in Mexico and the 
 United States is still distinct in our recollection ; the political 
 motives influencing or controlling both the great parties in 
 our country, have not yet ceased to operate ; and the errors 
 that may innocently creep into a narrative may be cor 
 rected by intelligent men who took part in the war as sol 
 diers or civilians. A history thus dispassionately written, 
 must, it seems to me, have the truth and value of a portrait 
 
MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES. 25 
 
 taken from life, rather than of a sketch made from memory 
 whose coloring lacks all the freshness of vitality. 
 
 The very threshold of this history is embarrassed by the 
 party controversies to which I have alluded. The origin of 
 the war was attributed by the president and his adherents 
 to the wrong doings of Mexico, whilst the opponents of the 
 executive did not hesitate to charge its unnecessary incep 
 tion and all its errors directly on the cabinet. Documents, 
 messages, speeches, essays, and reviews, were published to 
 sustain both sides of the question, and the whole subject was 
 argued with so much ability and bitterness, so much zeal 
 and apparent sincerity, that an impartial mind experiences 
 extraordinary difficulty in detecting the actual offender. 
 That grievances existed in the conduct of Mexico against 
 us during a long series of years cannot be denied; but, 
 it is equally true, that, between governments well adminis 
 tered and entirely reasonable on both sides, none of those 
 provocations justified war. Yet, when offended power 
 on one side, and passion on the other, become engaged in 
 discussion, it requires but little to fan the smallest spark into 
 a flame, and thus to kindle a conflagration, which the stout 
 est arms may fail to suppress. It frequently occurs in the 
 affairs of ordinary life, that neighbors are the bitterest ene 
 mies. Men often dislike each other at their first interview, 
 especially if they belong to families in which mutual preju 
 dices have existed. They find it impossible to assign rea 
 sons for their aversion ; nevertheless it exists in all its mar 
 vellous virulence. A slight disagreement as to limits between 
 neighboring landholders, a paltry quarrel among servants, 
 the malicious representation of innocent remarks, a thousand 
 vain and trifling incidents, may effectually create a degree 
 of ill feeling and cause them never to meet without scornful 
 
26 HISTORY OF THE WAR BETWEEN 
 
 looks and quickened pulses. At length, this offensive tem 
 per is manifested in personal annoyance or insulting lan 
 guage, and blows are struck in the first encounter without 
 pausing to debate the justice of an assault. It is with na 
 tions as it is with persons. The boasted discretion of states 
 men, and the provident temper of politicians have, in all ages, 
 failed to control the animosity of mankind; and we thus find 
 as much littleness in the conduct of governments as in the 
 petulance of men. 
 
 I have therefore, in studying this subject carefully, been 
 led to the opinion that no single act or cause can be truly 
 said to have originated the war between the United States 
 and Mexico ; but that it occurred as the result of a series of 
 events, and as the necessary consequence of the acts, posi 
 tion, temper, passions, ambition and history of both parties 
 since our international relations commenced. 
 
 The reader will observe that I draw a distinction between 
 the war and hostilities. I shall- discuss the latter question 
 in the portion of this volume which relates to events on the 
 Rio Grande.* 
 
 In the preceding chapter I have glanced at the character 
 of the people of Mexico, and I trust that the sketch I gave 
 will be continually remembered as illustrating the people 
 with whom we are dealing. When our first envoy, Mr. 
 Poinsett, was despatched, he found Mexico pausing to recover 
 breath after her revolution. The bad government of Spain 
 had been followed by the turmoil and bloodshed of the rebel 
 lion, and that, in turn, was succeeded by the anarchy of a 
 distracted republic. Revolution has followed revolution so 
 rapidly since then, that the historian, at a loss to discover 
 
 *This river is known by various names in different authors. By some it 
 is called Rio Bravo, by others, Rio del Norte, and by others, again, Rio 
 Grande. I shall adhere to the latter throughout this work. 
 
MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES. 27 
 
 their causes, can scarcely detect their pretexts. For twenty 
 years past we have been so accustomed to hear of a new 
 military outbreak in Mexico that the familiarized act seems 
 to be only the legitimate order of constitutional change. Pas 
 sion, ambition, turbulence, avarice, and superstition, have so 
 devoured the country, that during the whole of this period, 
 Mexico, whilst presenting to foreign nations, the external ap 
 pearance of nationality, has, in fact, at home, scarcely ever 
 enjoyed the benefit of a real or stable government that could 
 make an impression upon the character of the people or their 
 rulers. It is true that, at first, she sought to adopt our fede 
 ral system ; but the original difference between the colonial 
 condition of things in the two countries, made the operation 
 of it almost impossible. The British provinces of North 
 America, with their ancient and separate governments, very 
 naturally united in a federation for national purposes, 
 whilst they retained their freedom and laws as indepen 
 dent States. But the viceroyalty of Mexico, when it revolu 
 tionized its government, was forced to reverse our system, 
 to destroy the original central power, and, subsequently to 
 divide the territory into departments, or states. Until the 
 year 1824, nothing of this kind existed in Mexico. The 
 whole country from the Sabine to its utmost southern limit, 
 was under the central rule of a viceroy, with the same laws, 
 religion, priests, judges, and civil as well as military au 
 thorities. The constitution of 1824, for the first time 
 broke up the consolidated nation into nineteen states, and 
 then, by the same legislative act, recomposed them in a fede 
 rative union. The constitutions of these nineteen states, 
 consequently, were creative of differences that never existed 
 before, and the unity of power, will, and action, which 
 previously existed was destroyed forever. This was, natu 
 rally the origin of jealousies, parties, and sectional feeling; 
 
28 HISTORY OF THE WAR BETWEEN 
 
 and the result was, that the revenues of the country became 
 wasted whilst their collection was impeded, and that a peo 
 ple unused to freedom and chiefly composed of illiterate 
 Creoles, were confounded by a scheme of government whose 
 machinery was too intricate.* 
 
 The state and municipal governments of Mexico were, 
 consequently, always quite as incompetent for self-rule as the 
 central authority. In addition to this, they were cordially 
 jealous of the national powers. This arose from the state- 
 fears of consolidation; and, as it was with these municipal 
 authorities, as well as with the corrupt government officers, 
 that our citizens were chiefly brought in contact in the ports, 
 it is not at all wonderful to find them soon complaining of 
 oppression and burthening the records of our legation with 
 their grievances. When our ministers sought to obtain re 
 dress, the Mexican government was reluctant to undertake 
 the investigation of the subject; and, when it did so, con 
 tinually encountered delay and equivocation on the part of 
 the local authorities. The distant peculator was anxious to 
 escape the penalty of his fault by procrastination, and the 
 Mexican secretary of state, ever willing to uphold his national 
 pride by concealing or not confessing the villainy of his su 
 bordinate, was ready to sustain him by an interminable cor 
 respondence. 
 
 The history of the diplomatic and commercial relations 
 between the United States and Mexico, as exhibited by con 
 gress in all the published volumes of national documents, 
 presents a series of wrongs, which the reader will find ably 
 recapitulated in a report f made by Mr. Gushing in the year 
 1842. Our claims, arising from injuries inflicted by Mexico, 
 
 *See the Natchez Daily Courier of 18th January, 1843, for an excellent 
 article on Mexico, signed EGO ET ALTER. 
 t Report No. 1096 to the H. of R., 27th congress, 2d session. 
 
MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES. 29 
 
 were no ordinary demands founded on mere querulousnss, 
 or contrived with a view to obtain money fraudulently from 
 that republic. They were brought to the notice of the min 
 istry of foreign affairs by all our envoys, and their justice 
 urged with ample proof; until, at length, upon the return of 
 Mr. Powhatan Ellis to the United States, in the year 1837, 
 after demanding his passports, they became the subject of a 
 message from President Jackson in which he alleges that ail 
 his efforts of pacific negotiation had been fruitless and that 
 he found it both just and prudent to recommend reprisals 
 against Mexico. This serious aspect of our difficulties im 
 mediately commended the subject to the notice of commit 
 tees in both houses of congress, and whilst they sustained 
 the president's opinion of the character of our wrongs, they 
 recommended that a forbearing spirit should still charac 
 terize our conduct, so that, " after a further demand, should 
 prompt justice be refused by the Mexican government, 
 we might appeal to all nations not only for the equity 
 and moderation with which we had acted towards a sister 
 republic but for the necessity which will then compel us 
 to seek redress for our wrongs either by actual war or re 
 prisals."* 
 
 " Shortly after these proceedings" says President Polk 
 " a special messenger was despatched to Mexico, to make a 
 final demand for redress; and on the 20th of July, 1837, the 
 demand was made. The reply of the Mexican government 
 bears date on the 29th of the same month, and contains as 
 surances of the anxious wish of the Mexican government 
 ' not to delay the moment of that final and equitable adjust 
 ment which is to terminate the existing difficulties between 
 the two governments;' tliat nothing 'should be left undone 
 which may contribute to the speediest and most equitable ter- 
 *See senate documents of that session. 
 
30 HISTORY OF THE WAR BETWEEN 
 
 mfhation of the subjects which have so seriously engaged the 
 attention of the United States,' that the < Mexican govern 
 ment would adopt, as the only guides for its conduct, the 
 plainest principles of public right, the sacred obligations im 
 posed by international law, and the religious faith of treaties,' 
 and that l whatever reason and justice may dictate respecting 
 each case will be done.' The assurance was further given 
 that the decision of the Mexican government upon each cause 
 of complaint, for which redress had been demanded, should 
 be communicated to the government of the United States by 
 the Mexican minister at Washington. 
 
 "These solemn assurances, in answer to our demand 
 for redress, were disregarded. By making them, however, 
 Mexico obtained further delay. President Van Buren, in 
 his annual message to congress of the 5th of December, 
 1837, states that 'although the larger number' of our de 
 mands for redress, and l many of them aggravated cases of 
 personal wrongs, have been now for years before the Mexican 
 government, and although the causes of national complaint, 
 and those of the most offensive character, admitted of imme 
 diate, simple, and satisfactory replies, it is only within a few 
 days past that any specific communication in answer to our 
 last demand, made five months ago, has been received from 
 the Mexican minister;' and that c for not one of our public 
 complaints has satisfaction been given or offered ; that but 
 one of the cases of personal wrong has been favorably con 
 sidered, and but four cases of both descriptions, out of 
 all those formally presented, and earnestly pressed, have as 
 yet been decided upon by the Mexican government.' Pre 
 sident Van Buren, believing that it would be vain to make 
 any further attempt to obtain redress by the ordinary means 
 within the power of the executive, communicated this opinion 
 to congress, in the message referred to, in which he said that 
 
MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES. 31 
 
 ' on a careful and deliberate examination of the contents,' of 
 the correspondence with the Mexican government, c and con 
 sidering the spirit manifested by the Mexican government, it 
 became his painful duty to return the subject, as it now 
 stands, to congress, to whom it belongs, to decide upon the 
 time, the mode, and the measure of redress.' 
 
 " Instead of taking redress irito our own hands, a new ne 
 gotiation was entered upon with fair promises on the part of 
 Mexico. This negotiation, after more than a year's delay, 
 resulted in the convention of the llth of April, 1839, 'for the 
 adjustment of claims of citizens of the United States of 
 America upon the government of the Mexican republic.' 
 The joint board of commissioners created by this convention 
 to examine and decide upon these claims was not organized 
 until the month of August, 1840, and under the terms of the 
 convention they were to terminate their duties within eigh 
 teen months from that time. Four of the eighteen months 
 were consumed in preliminary discussions on frivolous and 
 dilatory points raised by the Mexican commissioners; nor 
 was it until the month of December, 1840, that they com 
 menced the examination of the claims of our citizens upon 
 Mexico. Fourteen months only remained to examine and 
 decide upon these numerous and complicated cases. In the 
 month of February, 1842, the term of the commission ex 
 pired, leaving many claims undisposed of for want of time. 
 The claims which were allowed by the board and by the 
 umpire, authorized by the convention to decide in case of 
 disagreement between the Mexican and American commis 
 sioners, amounted to two millions twenty-six thousand one 
 hundred and thirty-nine dollars and sixty-eight cents. 
 There were pending before the umpire when the commis 
 sion expired additional claims which had been examined 
 and awarded by the American commissioners, and had not 
 
32 HISTORY OP THE WAR BETWEEN 
 
 been allowed by the Mexican commissioners, amounting to 
 nine hundred and twenty-eight thousand and twenty-seven 
 dollars and eighty-eight cents, upon which he did not de 
 cide, alleging that his authority ceased with the termination 
 of the joint commission. Besides these claims, there were 
 others of American citizens amounting to three millions three 
 hundred and thirty-six thousand eight hundred and thirty- 
 seven dollars and five cents, which had been submitted to 
 the board, and upon which they had not time to decide be 
 fore their final adjournment. 
 
 " The sum of two millions twenty-six thousand one hun 
 dred and thirty-nine dollars and sixty-eight cents which had 
 been awarded to the claimants, was an ascertained debt by 
 Mexico, about which there could be no dispute, and which 
 she was bound to pay according to the terms of the conven 
 tion. Soon after the final awards for this amount had been 
 made, the Mexican government asked for a postponement of 
 the time of making payment, alleging that it would be in 
 convenient to pay at the time stipulated. In the spirit of for 
 bearing kindness towards a sister republic, which Mexico has 
 so long abused, the United States promptly complied with 
 her request. A second convention was accordingly con 
 cluded between the two governments on the thirtieth of Jan 
 uary, 1843, .which upon its face declares, that, i this new 
 arrangement is entered into for the accommodation of Mexi 
 co.' By the terms of this convention, all the interest due 
 on the awards which had been made in favor of the claim 
 ants under the convention of the llth of April, 1839, was 
 to be paid to them on the 30th of April, 1843, and "the 
 principal of the said awards, and the interest accruing there 
 on," was stipulated to " be paid in five years, in equal instal 
 ments every three months." Notwithstanding this new con 
 vention was entered into at the request of Mexico, and for 
 
MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES. 33 
 
 the purpose of relieving her from embarrassment, the claim 
 ants only received the interest due on the 30th of April, 
 ] 843, and three of the twenty instalments. Although the 
 payments of the sum thus liquidated, and confessedly due 
 by Mexico to our citizens as indemnity for acknowledged 
 acts of outrage and wrong, was secured by treaty, the obli 
 gations of which are ever held sacred by all just nations, yet 
 Mexico violated this solemn engagement by failing and 
 refusing to make the . payment. The two instalments due 
 in April and July, 1844, under the peculiar circumstances 
 connected with them, were assumed by the United States 
 and paid to the claimants. But this is not all of which 
 we have just cause of complaint. To provide a remedy for 
 the claimants whose cases were not decided by the joint 
 commission under the convention of April the llth, 1839, it 
 was expressly stipulated by the sixth article of the conven 
 tion of the 30th of January, 1843, that ' a new convention 
 shall be entered into for the settlement of all claims of the 
 government and citizens of the United States against the re 
 public of Mexico which were not finally decided by the late 
 commission which met in the city of Washington, and all 
 claims of the government and citizens of Mexico against the 
 United States.' 
 
 " In conformity with this stipulation, a third convention 
 was concluded and signed at the city of Mexico on the 20th 
 of November, 1843, by the plenipotentiaries of the two go 
 vernments, by which provision was made for ascertaining 
 and paying these claims. In January, 1844, this convention 
 was ratified by the senate of the United States, with two 
 amendments, which were manifestly reasonable in their 
 character. 
 
 u Upon a reference of the amendments proposed to the 
 government of Mexico, the same evasions, difficulties, and 
 5 
 
34 
 
 HISTORY OF THE WAR BETWEEN 
 
 delays were interposed which have so long marked the policy 
 with that government towards the United States. It has not 
 even yet decided whether it would or would not accede to 
 them, although the subject has been repeatedly pressed upon 
 its consideration. 
 
 " Mexico thus violated a second time the faith of treaties, 
 by failing or refusing to carry into effect the sixth article of 
 convention of January, 1843."* 
 
 The allegations made in this message are unquestionable. 
 They rest upon the evidence of documents which are acces 
 sible to all in the published papers of the government.f The 
 outrages of Mexico consisted in seizure of property, illegal 
 imprisonment of citizens, deprivation of just rights, interfer 
 ence with our lawful commerce, forced loans, violations of 
 contracts, and arbitrary expulsion from the territory without 
 trial. All these misdeeds formed the exasperating burthen 
 of our complaint, and their perpetration was in fact proved 
 beyond the possibility of cavil by the awards in favor of our 
 claimants made by the Baron von Roenne, who, as Prussian 
 minister, was umpire between the Mexican and American 
 commissioners. 
 
 It must not be forgotten that we had claims also against 
 Spain, France, England, Denmark and Naples, which were 
 adjusted by negotiation and liquidated in strict accordance 
 with treaties. These, demands, however, originated during 
 the wars in Europe which followed the French revo 
 lution, so that it remained for Mexico to peculate on our 
 
 * President Folk's annual message to congress, 8th Dec. 1846, p. 6. 
 
 f See Doc. No. 139, 24 cong. 2d sess. H. of R. Senate Doc. No. 320, 2d 
 sess. 27 cong. Doc. No. 57, H. of R. 27 cong. 1st sess. Senate Doc. No. 
 411, 27 cong. 2d sess. Doc. No. 1096, H. of R. 27 cong. 2d sess. Doc. 
 No. 158, H. of R. 28 cong. 2d sess. Doc. No. 144, H. of R. 28 cong. 2d 
 sess. Senate Doc. No. 85, 29 cong. 1st sess. Senate Doc. No. 151, 29 
 cong. 1 sess. 
 
MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES. 35 
 
 commerce and persecute our people during a period of entire 
 international peace, and without any excuse save the direct 
 villainy of her government, or the corrupt ignorance of her 
 subordinate officers. 
 
 We must now retrace our steps, in order to narrate an event 
 of interest in the series of causes that originated this war. 
 
 It appears that the Mexican government, in anticipation of 
 some attack on its distant territories of California, had, in the 
 summer of 1342, sent a number of troops thither, under the 
 command of Don Manuel Micheltorena, who was appointed 
 commandant general and inspector of both the Californias. 
 These troops arrived at San Diego, the southernmost port on 
 the Pacific side of California, in the middle of October, and 
 were on their way to Monterey, the capital, when the occur 
 rences in question took place. 
 
 Monterey, on the Pacific, is a small village founded by the 
 Spaniards in 1771, at the southern extremity of a bay of the 
 same name, near the 36th degree of latitude, about a hun 
 dred miles south of the great bay of San Francisco, and about 
 three hundred and fifty miles north from the town of An 
 geles, where the Commandant Micheltorena was resting with 
 his troops when the events in question occurred. 
 
 Whilst Commodore Jones was visiting the port of Callao, 
 in September, 1842, he received from Mr. John Parrott, our 
 consul at Mazatlan, a copy of a Mexican newspaper of the 
 4th of June, containing three official declarations against the 
 United States," which he regarded as "highly belligerent."* 
 
 *This paper contained the circular of the Mexican minister of foreign 
 relations to the diplomatic corps, dated 31st May, 1842, (answered by Mr. 
 Thompson on the 1st of June,) relative to public meetings in the United 
 States favorable to Texas ; the aid furnished Texas by volunteers from the 
 United States ; and the trade in arms and munitions of war with Texas. 
 Doc. No. 266, H. of R., 27th congress, 2d session. 
 
36 HISTORY OF THE WAR BETWEEN 
 
 He also obtained a newspaper published in Boston, quoting 
 a paragraph from the New Orleans Advertiser of the 19th 
 April, 1842, in which it was asserted, upon what the editor 
 deemed authentic information, that Mexico had ceded the 
 Californias to England for seven millions of dollars. These 
 documents reached our sensitive commodore at a moment 
 when his suspicions were aroused by other circumstances. 
 For, on the 5th of September, Rear-Admiral Thomas, a Bri 
 tish commander, sailed from Callao in the Dublin having 
 previously despatched two of his fleet with sealed orders just 
 received from England. The whole fleet, he believed, was 
 secretly on its way to Panama to embark reinforcements of 
 troops, from the West Indies, to take armed possession of the 
 Californias in conformity with the allegation of the Boston 
 and New Orleans editors.* 
 
 Commodore Jones immediately hastened from the port of 
 Callao to Lima, where, in a conversation with the American 
 charge d'affaires, Mr. Pickett, he formed the decided opinion 
 that there would be war not only with Mexico but with Great 
 Britain also.f Accordingly, he lost no time in preparing for 
 sea, and on the 7th of September, sailed for the coast of 
 Mexico. 
 
 On the 19th of October, Jones arrived at Monterey, in the 
 frigate United States, accompanied by the Cyane, Captain 
 Stribling. They did not communicate with the shore or en 
 deavor, in any authentic way, to ascertain the state of our 
 political relations; but at four o'clock in the afternoon, Cap 
 tain Armstrong, the flag captain of the United States, landed, 
 and delivered to the acting governor, Don Juan Alvarado, a 
 letter from Commodore Jones, requiring the immediate sur 
 render of the place, with its forts, castles, ammunitions and 
 arms, to the United States, in order to save it from the hor- 
 
 - 
 
 *See. doc., No. 166, H. of R., 27th congress, 3d session, page 85. 
 fid. pages 15, 68, 73. 
 
MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES. 37 
 
 rors of war, which would be the immediate consequences of 
 a refusal to submit. Alvarado, upon this summons, consulted 
 the military and civil authorities; and, finding that the garri 
 son consisted of only twenty-nine men, that the artillery was 
 composed of eleven pieces, entirely useless from the rotten 
 ness of their carriages, and that the whole number of mus 
 kets and carbines, good and bad, did not exceed a hundred 
 and fifty, he surrendered the place, which was taken posses 
 sion of by the Americans early on the 20th of October. The 
 articles of capitulation signed on the occasion provide', that 
 the Mexican soldiers shall march out with colors flying, and 
 shall remain as prisoners of war until they can be sent to 
 Mexico, and that the inhabitants shall be protected in thir 
 persons and property, so long as they conduct themselves 
 properly, and do not infringe the laws of the United States. 
 Commodore Jones at the same time issued a proclamation to 
 the Californians, declaring that " he came in arms as the 
 representative of a powerful nation, against which the exist 
 ing government of Mexico had engaged in war, but not with 
 the intention of spreading dismay among the peaceful inhabi 
 tants," and inviting them to submit to the authority of a 
 government which would protect them forever in the enjoy 
 ment of liberty. 
 
 The evening and night of the 20th passed quietly; but, 
 on the next day, the commodore seems to have reflected on 
 the results of a bloodless conquest which was even more 
 easily won than the victories of Cortez and Pizarro three hun 
 dred years before. Learning that there was late and pacific 
 news from Mexico, and, forthwith despatching his private 
 secretary and chaplain to seek for it, they discovered, in the 
 office of the Mexican commissary, several packages contain 
 ing unopened files of gazettes, as late as the 4th of August. 
 ic The general tone of the articles," says the commodore, 
 
38 HISTORY OF THE WAR BETWEEN 
 
 "relating to the United States, in these papers, was pacific, 
 whilst the certainty that Mexico had not commenced hosti 
 lities against us, up to the 22d of A ugust, was established by 
 private commercial letters from Mazatlan." Thus, it seemed 
 to him, that the crisis had passed ; that his victory was barren, 
 that the reported cession of the Californias to England was 
 untrue and could not have been prevented even by his valor. 
 The war which had been recklessly undertaken upon sur 
 mises or newspaper articles, and stimulated by the sailing of 
 an English fleet with sealed orders, came to an end as it be 
 gan by Mexican journals. 
 
 Accordingly, on the 21st of the month, Commodore Jones 
 addressed another letter to the acting governor, Alvarado, 
 announcing that information received since the capture of 
 the place, left him no reason to doubt that the difficulties 
 between Mexico and the United States had been adjusted; 
 and that, being anxious to avoid all cause of future contro 
 versy, he was ready to restore the place, with its forts and 
 property, to the Mexicans, in the same condition in which 
 they were before the seizure. Monterey was therefore at 
 once evacuated by the Americans, and reoccupied by the 
 Mexicans, whose flag, on being rehoisted, was saluted by our 
 ships. 
 
 If the commodore of our squadron had prudently despatch 
 ed his secretary and chaplain on a pacific mission of inquiry 
 under a flag of truce, immediately upon his arrival, it is ex 
 tremely probable that they would either have discovered on 
 the 20th the newspapers they found on the 21st, or have re 
 ceived the commercial letter which terminated the capture. 
 This would have prevented an angry diplomatic correspon 
 dence; it would have allayed the irritation of national sensi 
 bility, and, whilst it saved us from the imputation of attempt 
 ing to intimidate a weak power, would not have subjected 
 
MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES 39 
 
 our forces to the mortification of mistake upon such grievous 
 subjects as peace and war. The Mexican papers, of course, 
 viewed the matter as a national insult; and the government 
 gazette, published in the capital, unequivocally asserted that 
 Commodore Jones attacked Monterey, agreeably to orders 
 from his government, with the view of conquering Califor 
 nia, but that finding the country in a state of defence, (for 
 which thanks were due to President Santa Anna and his effi 
 cient minister of war,) he was obliged to abandon his plan 
 and invent a story for his justification.* 
 
 It is scarcely possible for a citizen of the United States to 
 take a different view of the subject without a full knowledge 
 of the facts; for it could hardly be believed that the com 
 mander of a naval station, during a period of profound peace, 
 would venture to summon towns to surrender, to land forces, 
 take prisoners, and hoist our national flag on friendly soil, 
 without the authority or connivance of his government^ 
 
 * Diario del Gobierno Mexico, 1842. 
 
 f A correspondence relative to this seizure of Monterey took place at 
 Washington between Mr. Webster, secretary of state, and Gen. Almonte, 
 the Mexican minister; and, in Mexico, between Seiior Bocanegra, minis 
 ter of foreign affairs, and Mr. Waddy Thompson, our diplomatic represen 
 tative. Mexico complained bitterly of our insulting descent on her terri 
 tory, and our ministers apologized gracefully for the unauthorised act. 
 The correspondence between the governments and with Commodore Jones 
 will be found in document No. 166, H. of R., 27th congress, 3d session, 1843. 
 
 The recall of Commodore Jones by the secretary of the navy is the fol 
 lowing words : 
 
 "NAVY DEPARTMENT, January 24, 1843. 
 
 " SIR : Although no official intelligence of the recent occurrences at 
 Monterey has reached this department, yet the leading facts have been 
 communicated in a form sufficiently authentic to justify and render neces 
 sary my immediate action. In the opinion of this government it is due to 
 the friendly relations subsisting between the United States and Mexico, 
 and to the respect which every nation owes to the rights of other nations, 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 The origin of the war History of the pacification between Spain and Hol 
 land in 1609 Spain and Mexico should have followed the example 
 The Texas question Origin of the Texas revolution True history of it 
 Resistance to the Central despotism of Santa Anna Mexican war 
 against Texas Independence of Texas Santa Anna's retraction in 
 1846 of his anti-federative opinions. 
 
 THE student of Mexican history, at this period, will derive 
 instruction from a narrative of the connexion which once 
 existed between Spain and the Netherlands and its fatal 
 rupture. 
 
 After the fall of the duke of Burgundy in 14T7, his 
 daughter Mary brought the low countries to Austria by her 
 marriage with the Emperor Maximilian ; and his grandson, 
 Charles V, united these provinces with Spain. During the 
 reign of Charles, their ancient liberties were carefully re 
 spected, and the country prospered whilst the Protestant re 
 ligion spread throughout it in spite of stern opposition. But 
 
 that you should be recalled from the command of the squadron in the 
 Pacific. 
 
 "In adopting this course it is not designed to prejudge the case, nor even 
 to indicate any opinion as to the propriety or impropriety of your conduct in the 
 matter alluded to. That will of course be made the subject of proper in 
 quiry after you return to the United States, when full justice will be done 
 as between yourself and your own country. The present order has refer 
 ence only to the just claims of Mexico on this government for such a disa 
 vowal of the attack on Monterey as will fully recognize the rights of 
 Mexico, and at the same time place the conduct of this government in a 
 proper light before the nations of the world. Commodore Dallas will re 
 lieve you as so'bn as he can conveniently reach the station and you will 
 
MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES. 41 
 
 when his successor, Philip II, mounted the throne, all pru 
 dence in the government of the Belgic and Batavian pro 
 vinces seems t<rhave been abandoned, and unbridled perse 
 cution was let loose on the drV-il -and religious rights of the 
 people. Granvella and the bloody duke >f, Alva were the 
 monarch's instruments in this sad misgovernment, which re 
 sulted in a total renunciation of allegiance to the king of 
 Spain. Long and bitter was the rebellion, continuing from 
 the middle of the sixteenth century to the year 1 609, when 
 the Spanish claim to the sovereignty of the new republic of 
 Holland was virtually resigned under the form of a truce for 
 twelve years between the belligerents.* 
 
 The independence of the united provinces was thus, in 
 fact achieved, and it was recognized by all the great powers 
 of Europe except Spain ; still Holland went through the 
 thirty years war, before her nationality was secured by the 
 peace of Westphalia. 
 
 From this sketch it will be perceived that Spain, although 
 willing to forego the continuance of war, and to save the 
 point of honor between herself and the rebellious provinces 
 when it was impossible to recover her dominion over them, 
 nevertheless, clung with stupid pride to her abstract right of 
 reconquest for a long period after she had substantially ac 
 knowledged their freedom. The dismemberment of Spain 
 was, of course, an event which the monarch could not be- 
 
 return to the United States in such mode as may be most convenient and 
 agreeable to yourself. 
 
 "I am respectfully yours, 
 
 "A. P. UPSHUR. 
 
 "Com. THOS. AP. C. JONES, commanding Pacific squadron." 
 I believe that the commodore was not tried by a court of inquiry or a 
 court martial after his return, but that the affair has slumbered since the 
 date of the above letter. 
 
 * Arnold : s third lecture on modern history. 
 
 6 
 
42 HISTORY OF THE WAR BETWEEN 
 
 hold without regret, for it was natural that he should seek to 
 transmit his dominions to posterity uncurtailed of their fair 
 proportions. Yet, in the adoption of a diplomatic ruse, in 
 the truce of twelve years, there was a degree of wisdom 
 which it would have been well for Spain to recollect when 
 it became evident that the revolt of her American colonies 
 was about to terminate in their independence. The pas 
 sions between the belligerents would have had time to cool. 
 The common ties of blood and language might gradually 
 have bound up the wounds made by war. The intervention 
 of friendly powers would have obtained concessions from the 
 discreet parent, and thus Peru and Mexico might still have 
 shone as the brightest jewels in the Spanish crown. No 
 quarrel ever terminated in perfect re-establishment of amity 
 without tolerance or retraction on the part of one of the dis 
 putants. Superior force may overawe into silence or crush 
 by its ponderous blows, yet the non-resistance and taciturnity 
 which ensue are but the repose that precedes the hurricane, 
 in which the elements seem gathering strength to pour forth 
 their wrath with irresistible fury. 
 
 So was it with Spain and her American colonies. Instead 
 of soothing and pacific measures, tending to allay resentment 
 and bring back the rebel to allegiance, the utmost violence 
 was at once adopted both in deeds and language, and scenes 
 of barbarity were enacted by Calleja and his myrmidons 
 from which the heart recoils with horror.* 
 
 Severe as was the lesson taught by the conduct of Spain 
 to Mexico, that republic, nevertheless, resolved not to profit 
 by it when she, in turn, saw one of her States discontented 
 with her misrule and usurpations. If Texas had been 
 soothed ; if justice had been speedily done ; if the executive 
 had despatched discreet officers, and reconciled the differences 
 
 * Robinson's Memoirs of the Mexican Revolution, pages 20, 22. 24 
 
MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES. 43 
 
 between the North American emigrants and the Spaniards, 
 not only in civil and municipal government, but in religion 
 and temper, Texas might not have been lost to Mexico , 
 but, invigorated by a hardy and industrious population, 
 would have poured commercial wealth into her coffers, and 
 furnished her factories among the mountains with an abund 
 ance of that staple which the native Indians are as unused 
 as they are unwilling to cultivate. Had Mexico been even 
 as wise as Philip, in 1609, and saved her punctilious honor 
 by a twelve years truce, she would only have postponed the 
 settlement of her difficulties, until her internal affairs became 
 sufficiently pacific to enable a firm government to act with 
 discretion and justice. 
 
 Since the year 1843 the Texas question has been so much 
 a matter of party dispute in the United States that the true 
 history of the revolt seems to be almost forgotten. I shall 
 not hesitate therefore to recount some of the events connected 
 with it, because they are relevant to the issue between us and 
 Mexico, as well as necessary to the elucidation of the justice 
 of her quarrel. 
 
 It is an error that the Texan rebellion was conceived in a 
 spirit of sheer fraud upon Mexico; and writers who seek to 
 stigmatize it thus are entirely ignorant of its origin. 
 
 The contest that arose between the central and federal 
 parties in Mexico immediately after the establishment of in 
 dependence has been narrated in a preceding chapter. The 
 first federal constitution is an almost literal copy of our own; 
 but its equitable and progressive principles did not suit the 
 military despots who, whilst they commanded the army, held 
 the physical power of Mexico in their hands. The conse 
 quence was that during the administration of the first presi 
 dent, Victoria, there were pronunciamientos against federa- 
 
44 HISTORY OF THE WAR BETWEEN 
 
 tion and in favor of centralism, by Padre Arenas, and at 
 Tulancingo, under the "plan of Montayno." Quarrels 
 in the party lodges of the Yorkinos and Escossceses the 
 liberalists and centralists next arose; and, finally, the 
 revolution under the " plan of Toluca," destroyed the cher 
 ished constitution of 1824, by striking a death blow at the 
 federative principle. This plan vested the power in a central 
 government, abolished State legislatures, and changed those 
 States into departments under the control of military gover 
 nors, who were responsible to the chief authorities of the na 
 tion alone. These principles were embodied in the new 
 constitution of 1836, and were, of course, distasteful to every 
 friend of genuine liberty/* 
 
 Meanwhile, the beautiful province of Texas had not been 
 an unconcerned spectator of events. Bordering on the Gulf 
 of Mexico, and stretching along our Southern boundary, it 
 contained an extensive territory, fine rivers, wide prairies, and 
 a soil capable of maintaining near ten millions of people. 
 Such a country naturally attracted the attention of the peo 
 ple of the United States, numbers of whom are always rea 
 dy, with the adventurous spirit that characterises our race, to 
 seek new lands and improve their fortunes by emigrating 
 from the crowded places of their birth. The project of colo 
 nizing Texas, had, therefore, struck an intelligent citizen of 
 our country; and, on the 17th of January, 1821, Moses Aus 
 tin obtained permission from the supreme government of the 
 eastern internal provinces of New Spain at Monterey, to settle 
 a colony of emigrants in Texas. Accordingly, in the fol 
 lowing winter, his son, Stephen P. Austin, who undertook 
 the enterprize in obedience to a testamentary request of his 
 father, appeared on the Brazos with the first Anglo-Ameri 
 can settlers. 
 
 * Mexico as it was and as it is, pp. 336, 339. Foote's History of Texas. 
 
MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES. 45 
 
 In January, 1823, a national colonization law, approved 
 by the Emperor Iturbide, was adopted by the Mexican con 
 gress, and, on the 18th of February, a decree was issued au 
 thorizing Austin to proceed with the founding of his colony. 
 This decree, after Iturbide's abdication and the downfall of 
 the Imperial government', was confirmed by the first execu 
 tive council in accordance with a special order of the Mexi 
 can congress. 
 
 In 1824, the federal constitution was adopted and pro 
 claimed as the established polity of the land; and, at this 
 period, the character of Texas begins for the first time to as 
 sume an independent aspect, for, by a decree of the 7th of 
 May, it was united with Coahuila, and, under the name of 
 Coahuila and Texas, formed one of the constituent, sover 
 eign States of the Mexican confederacy. Up to this period, 
 whilst all was proceeding well in the capital, the scheme of 
 emigration, seems to have met with no discouragement. By 
 an act passed in August, 1824, another general colonization 
 law was established; and, by a State colonization law of 
 Coahuila and Texas, foreigners were invited to settle within 
 the limits of that especial jurisdiction. Thus it was that 
 State sovereignty first accrued to Texas and Coahuila under 
 the federal system, a system similar to the one under which 
 the colonists had formerly lived in our Union and under 
 which, by the adoption of their own State laws, they signi 
 fied their willingness to become members of the Mexican 
 confederacy. This State sovereignty was never resigned, 
 but, on the contrary, was always distinctly asserted. The 
 federation existed precisely for the same purposes that the 
 union of our States was formed ; and, as soon as the consti 
 tution was destroyed by intrigue and revolutionary violence 
 in 1835, the several States were remitted to their inherent 
 rights, independent of any military despot who succeeded in 
 
40 HISTORY OF THE WAR BETWEEN 
 
 seizing the central power. Meanwhile our people had 
 flocked to Texas under the belief that a constitution which 
 was a transcript of our own, would secure peace and pros 
 perity to settlers. Accustomed to find laws observed and the 
 constitution indestructible, they expected to encounter the 
 same regularity and firmness in that virgin State. They 
 were industrious in their pursuits, and willing to abide the 
 settlement of all quarrels in the capital ; nor was it until 
 long after the federal and centralist disputes commenced, 
 that they began even to notice the political convulsions 
 which were so ominous of disaster. The quiet and orderly 
 conduct of our emigrants was, nevertheless, not regarded so 
 favorably by the Mexicans. The rapidly growing strength 
 of the Texans and their strict devotion to republicanism, at 
 tracted the jealousy of the supreme government; and when 
 a Mexican begins either to fear or to doubt, the provocation 
 is quite enough to convert him into an oppressor. Accord 
 ingly, on the 6th of April, 1830, an arbitrary law was passed 
 by which the future immigration of American settlers to 
 Texas was prohibited. Military posts of surveillance were 
 established over the State, and ignorant and insolent soldiers 
 of another race, began to domineer over a people whom they 
 regarded as inferiors. At length the civil authorities of 
 Texas were entirely disregarded, and the emigrants hitherto 
 unused at home or abroad to an armed police, or to the sight 
 of a uniform except on parade days, suddenly found them 
 selves subjected to the capricious tyranny of military rule.* 
 
 On the 26th of June, 1832, the colonists took arms against 
 this despotic interference with their constitutional freedom and 
 beseiged and captured the fort at Velasco. The garrison at 
 Anahuac and that at Nacogdoches, were next reduced; and, 
 in December of that year, when hostilities were suspended 
 
 * Document No. 40, H. of R. 25th cong. 1st sess. p. 4. 
 
MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES. 47 
 
 between Santa Anna and Bustamante, the colonists were 
 again restored to the enjoyment of their rights guarantied 
 under the constitution. 
 
 In May 1824, Texas had been promised a separate State 
 constitution as soon as she was prepared for it, but upon ap 
 plication to congress in 1833, after framing a suitable instru 
 ment in general convention at San Felipe, her request was 
 denied. In 1835 the crisis at length arrived. The federal 
 constitution fell. The resistance of several States to this des 
 potism was suppressed by force. The legislature of Cohuila 
 and Texas was dispersed at the point of the bayonet. Za- 
 catecas, a brave stronghold of federalism, was assaulted by 
 the central chiefs and her people butchered. And, finally, 
 the whole republic, save Texas, yielded to Santa Anna. 
 
 As this state at once resolved to maintain her sovereignty 
 and federative rights, corresponding committees of safety and 
 vigilance were promptly formed in all the municipalities. 
 An immediate appeal to arms proclaimed the people's reso 
 lution to adhere to the constitution ; and at Gonzales, Goliad, 
 Bexar, Conception, Sepantillan, San Patrick), and San An 
 tonio, they were victorious over the centralists. In Novem 
 ber, 1835, the delegates of the Texan people assembled in 
 "general consultation," and declared that "they had taken 
 up arms in defence of the federal constitution of 1824, and 
 that they would continue faithful to the Mexican confederacy 
 as long as it should be governed by the laws that were framed 
 for the protection of their political rights; that they were no 
 longer morally or politically bound by the compact of union; 
 yet, stimulated by the generous sympathy of a free people, 
 they offered their assistance to such members of the confed 
 eracy as would take up arms against military despotism. 
 This patriotic manifesto declaring at once the freedom of 
 Texas and offering to other parts of Mexico a defensive alii- 
 
48 HISTORY OP THE WAR BETWEEN 
 
 ance m favor of constitutional liberty, found no response 
 from the overawed States, and thus Texas was abandoned 
 to the mercy of a military president, who signalized his cam 
 paign of 1836 by acts of brutality which must forever con 
 sign his name to infamy."* Notwithstanding Santa Anna's 
 successes at San Antonio and his frightful massacres, Gen 
 eral Houston, the commander of the Texan forces, met and 
 conquered the Mexicans on the 21st of April, 1836, in the 
 brilliant action at San Jacinto, and thenceforth, in the em 
 phatic language of an American statesman " the war was at 
 an end."f 
 
 " No hostile foot found rest " within her territory for six or 
 seven years ensuing this event, and Mexico, by confining her 
 assaults to border forays practically abstained from all efforts 
 to re-establish her dominion.! In this peaceful interval the 
 country rapidly filled up with emigrants; adopted a constitu 
 tion ; established a permanent government, and obtained an 
 acknowledgement of her independence by the United States 
 and other powers. It was then supposed that nearly one 
 hundred thousand people occupied the territory ; and, in 
 1837, they sought to place themselves under the protection 
 of our confederacy. But our government declined the pro 
 position made through the Texan plenipotentiary, upon the 
 ground that the treaty of amity and peace between the 
 
 * A full account of this campaign will be found in a work entitled " Pri- 
 mera Campaga de Tejas," published in Mexico in August 1837, by Don 
 Ramon Martinez Caro, who was Santa Anna's military secretary during 
 the campaign. He treats his former chief with unsparing severity, and 
 very clearly attributes to him all the ferocious acts of the war. In Thomp 
 son's " Recollections of Mexico," a conversation of the ex-minister with 
 Santa Anna will be found, in which his exculpation is attempted, pp. 68, 
 et seq. 
 
 f Mr. Webster's letter to Waddy Thompson, 8th July, 1842. 
 
 J Webster to Thompson ut antca. 
 
MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES. 49 
 
 United States and Mexico should not be violated by an act 
 which necessarily involved the question of war with the ad 
 versary of Texas.* 
 
 This brief history of the Texan revolt against centralism 
 seems to place the authorities of that country on a firm basis 
 of natural and constitutional right. In the constant con 
 flicts that have taken place throughout Mexico between the 
 federalists and centralists, or rather between democracy and 
 despotism, Texas attempted no more than any of the liberal 
 States of Mexico would have done, had not the free voice of 
 educated patriots been elsewhere stifled by military power. 
 The only difference between them is, that in Texas there 
 was .an Anglo-American population bold and strong enough 
 to maintain republicanism, whilst in Mexico, the mongrel race 
 of Spaniards and Indians was too feeble to resist effectually. 
 
 From 1836 to 1846 Santa Anna diligently persevered in 
 the support of his central usurpation. But in the latter year 
 the principles of the Texan revolution obtained a decided 
 victory over military despotism, and even Santa Anna him 
 self, who had been the originator of all the revolutions of his 
 country, the disturber of its peace, and destroyer of its politi 
 cal morality was forced to make a humiliating confession of 
 his errors. 
 
 It will be remembered that he was exiled from Mexico in 
 the year 1845, and resided in Havana until the summer of 
 1846, when a revolution against the government of Paredes 
 prepared the way for his return. On the 8th of March, 1846, 
 in writing to a friend a letter which has since been published 
 he declares that: " the love of provincial liberties being firmly 
 
 * Letter of Mr. Forsyth to General Hunt, 25th Aug. 1847. Doc. No 
 40, H. of R., 25th congress, 1st session. 
 
 7 
 
50 HISTORY OF THE WAR BETWEEN 
 
 rooted in the minds of all, and the democratic principle pre 
 dominating every where, nothing can be established in a 
 solid manner, in the country, which does not conform with 
 these tendencies; nor without them can we attain either 
 order, peace, prosperity, or respectability among foreign na 
 tions. To draw every thing to the centre, and thus to 
 give unity of action to the republic, as I at one time con 
 sidered best, is no longer possible; nay more, I say it is dan 
 gerous; it is contrary to the object which I proposed for myself 
 in the Unitarian system, because we thereby expose ourselves 
 to the separation of the northern departments, which are the 
 most clamorous for freedom of internal administration." * 
 
 In this remarkable retraction of Santa Anna's despotic 
 principles, Texas finds a perfect vindication of her revolt. 
 It would have been well for Mexico had her military presi 
 dent been willing to make the same concessions before the 
 memorable battle of San Jacinto ! 
 
 * Translation of a letter from General Santa Anna, in Mexico as it was 
 and as it is. 4th edition, page 414. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Origin of the war continued Proposed annexation of Texas to the United 
 States by treaty Efforts of several administrations to recover Texas 
 after the Florida treaty President Tyler's objects Mexican opinions 
 British intrigue British views relative to Texas Defeat of the treaty 
 in the senate French opinions. 
 
 THERE is no doubt that although the government of the 
 United States was anxious to preserve a strict neutrality be 
 tween the belligerents in 1837, and, thus, to avoid assuming 
 the war with Mexico by annexing an insurgent State, it, 
 nevertheless, refused the proffered union with regret. From 
 the earliest period, our statesmen contended that, by the 
 Louisiana treaty, we acquired a title to Texas extending to 
 the Rio Grande, and that we unwisely relinquished our title 
 to Spain by the treaty of 1819 which substituted the Sabine 
 for the Rio Grande as our western boundary.* But, divested 
 as we were by solemn compact with Spain, of what may 
 have been our territory under the treaty with France, it was 
 idle to regard Texas as a proper subject for restoration to 
 the Union whilst active hostilities were waged by Mexico. 
 Nevertheless, such was the evident value of the province, 
 
 * See Mr. Clay's letter on the Texas question, Raleigh, N. C., April, 
 1844. I shall discuss the boundary elsewhere in this volume. When 
 Texas offered herself in 1837 to the United States it was only two years 
 after Mexico had overthrown the federal constitution, and not even one 
 after the battle of San Jacinto. A great change however took place in 
 the general aspect of affairs between that period and the final annexation. 
 
52 HISTORY OF THE WAR BETWEEN 
 
 and such the anxiety to regain our ancient limits that be 
 fore the outbreak of the revolution, Mr. Clay, as secretary of 
 state under the administration of Mr. Adams, in March of 
 the years 1825 and 1827, directed Mr. Poinsett, our envoy 
 in Mexico, to negotiate for the transfer of Texas. This di 
 rection was repeated by Mr. Van Buren to our minister in 
 August, 1829; and was followed by similar instructions 
 from Mr. Livingston on the 20th of March, 1833, and by 
 Mr. Forsyth on the 2d of July, 1835. President Jackson, 
 however, was not contented with negotiations for that pro 
 vince alone; but, looking forward, with statesmanlike fore 
 cast, to the growth and value of our commerce in the Pacific 
 ocean as well as on the west coast of America, be required 
 the secretary of state, in August, 1835, to seek from Mexico 
 a cession of territory, whose boundary, beginning at the 
 mouth of the Rio Grande, would run along the eastern bank 
 of that river to the thirty-seventh degree of latitude, and con 
 tinue thence, by that parallel, to the Pacific. This demand, 
 if granted by Mexico, not only secured Texas, but would 
 have included the largest and most valuable portion of Cali 
 fornia together with the noble bay of San Francisco, in 
 which our navy and merchantmen might find a safe and 
 commodious refuge.* 
 
 Our anxiety to reannex Texas by peaceable negotiation 
 was not met, however, by a correspondent feeling upon the 
 part of Mexico. 
 
 Mr. Poinsett, on his return from Mexico, informed Mr. 
 Cl#y that he had forborne even to make an overture for the 
 repurchase of Texas, because he knew that such a negotia 
 tion would be impracticable, and believed that any hint of 
 our desire would aggravate the irritations already existing 
 
 * Executive document, No. 42, H. of R., 25th congress, 1st session, con 
 tains the letters referred to. 
 
MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES. 53 
 
 between the countries.* The events which subsequently 
 transpired in Texas, during the period when emigration in 
 creased from the United States, to that of the actual outbreak 
 of hostilities, prevented the formation, in Mexico, of any 
 party favorable to such an enterprise ; and, after the war be 
 gan, all hope of negotiation between us was dispelled. 
 
 "A leading member of the Mexican cabinet once remarked 
 to me," says Mr. Thompson, in his Recollections of Mexico,f 
 " that he believed the tendency of things was towards the an 
 nexation of Texas to the United States, and that he greatly 
 preferred such a result either to the independence of Texas 
 or any connection or dependence of Texas upon England; 
 that if it became an independent power, other departments 
 of Mexico would unite with it either voluntarily or by con 
 quest, and that if there was any connexion between Texas 
 and England, English merchandize would be smuggled into 
 Mexico through Texas to the utter ruin of Mexican manu 
 factures and revenue. 
 
 " In one of my last interviews with Santa Anna," con 
 tinues the American minister, " I mentioned this conversa 
 tion. He replied with great vehemence that he would ' war 
 forever for the reconquest of Texas, and that if he died in 
 his senses his last words should be an exhortation to his 
 countrymen never to abandon the effort to recover the pro 
 vince ; ' and, added he : * you know, sir, very well, that to 
 sign a treaty for the alienation of Texas would be the same 
 thing as signing the death warrant of Mexico, for, by the 
 same process, the United States would take one after another 
 of the Mexican provinces, until they possessed them all." : 
 
 Such were the feelings of Mexico in regard to annexation, 
 and such the anxieties in cabinets of .all parties in the United 
 
 * Mr. Clay's letter on annexation, ut antea, 
 f Recollections of Mexico, p. 238. 
 
54 HISTORY OF THE WAR BETWEEN 
 
 States to restore our ancient limits, when the presses of our 
 country intimated, in the year 1844, that President Tyler 
 was negotiating a treaty of union with Texas as an indepen 
 dent power. It was on the eve a presidential canvass; and 
 whilst the incumbent of the executive chair sought very 
 naturally to present himself to the people with the successful 
 results of a popular and beneficial negotiation, there were 
 other candidates who opposed the measure both on principle 
 and policy, as well as on account of the mode in which it 
 was to be effected. 
 
 I might very properly in this historical sketch pass over 
 the narrative of annexation, and, deal with the union, ulti 
 mately effected between Texas and the United States as the 
 only important fact. Texas, bound to the North American 
 confederacy by a solemn act of congress, the indisputable 
 constitutionality of which -is implied in its passage, is, in 
 deed, the only subject which the historian is compelled to 
 regard. Whatever results ensued, whether they were per 
 ceived and predicted by the statesmen of the time, or, were 
 entirely latent until developed during the last two years, 
 must be entirely attributed to the act of congress which con 
 summated annexation and reposed in the hands of a presi 
 dent the executive power of solemnizing the union. Never 
 theless, I believe it due to impartial history that I should 
 state concisely the causes which seem to have provoked an 
 nexation, and, indeed, rendered it almost necessary at the 
 time when it occurred. 
 
 We have seen that active hostilities by Mexico against the 
 insurgents had either ceased for nearly seven years, or had 
 been confined to such border forays as resembled predatory 
 incursions rather than civilized hostilities. Statesmen, in all 
 parties, regarded the war as ended ; for Mexico, impoverished 
 by the thriftless administrations that ruled and plundered her 
 
MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES. 55 
 
 during the short intervals between her revolutions, was in no 
 condition to carry it on with reasonable prospects of success. 
 France, England, Belgium and the United States, had ac 
 knowledged Texan independence and established diplomatic 
 relations with the republic. Emigrants settled the interior, 
 and invited accessions. The constitution and laws of the 
 nation were fixed upon a firm basis, while the government 
 was conducted with ability. A lucrative commerce from 
 foreign countries began to pour into the territory. New 
 towns sprang up every where, and Texas exhibited to the 
 world every evidence of an orderly, well regulated govern 
 ment, with infinitely greater strength and stability than the 
 military republic from which she was divorced. Mexico, 
 nevertheless, refused to recognize her independence notwith 
 standing her inability to make any effort for reconquest. 
 The leading men of Texas anxiously desired that their 
 national independence should continue, and the moral sense 
 of the world, in contrasting the superior progress of the 
 Anglo-American race with the anarchy and feebleness of 
 Mexico, was naturally solicitous to behold the infant colony 
 successful rather than to see it fall a prey to the passions of 
 a people with whom it had no sympathy, and, in whose vic 
 tory, they might witness the outpouring of a pent up wrath 
 which would never cease in its vindictive persecutions until 
 the province was entirely desolated.* This was not alone 
 
 * It was evidently the intention of Mr. Webster, whilst secretary of state, 
 to adopt some prudent scheme for the settlement of the war between Texas 
 and Mexico. In January, 1843, he addressed a despatch to Mr. Thomp 
 son, who was then our envoy in Mexico, in which he directs him to use his 
 good offices with the Mexican secretary to mitigate the animosity of the 
 government. "Mexico," says he, "has an undoubted right to resubjugate 
 Texas, if she can, so far as other states are concerned, by the common and 
 lawful means of war. But other States are interested, especially the United 
 States, a near neighbor of both parties, are interested, not only in the restoration 
 
56 HISTORY OF THE WAR BETWEEN 
 
 the common feeling in the United States, but it prevailed in 
 Europe also. The British minister of foreign affairs, Lord 
 Aberdeen, and that zealous partizan of liberty, Lord Brough 
 am, took occasion in the house of peers in August, 1843, to 
 express their solicitude as to the prospects of Texas. Lord 
 Brougham characterized it as a country as large as France, 
 possessing the greatest natural capabilities, but, at the same 
 time he perceived in it an embryo state, (a large portion of 
 whose soil was adapted to cultivation by white labor,) which 
 might become a boundary and barrier against the slavery of 
 the United States of America. If, by the good offices of 
 England, Mexico could be induced to acknowledge Texan 
 independence upon the condition of abolishing slavery, he 
 suggested the hope that it would lead to the extinction of 
 slavery in the southern States of our Union. 
 
 Lord Aberdeen replied to Lord Brougham, that England 
 ha(J not only acknowledged her independence, but had also 
 negotiated with Texas a treaty of commerce as well as one 
 for the abolition of the slave trade. He did not believe that 
 there was any importation of slaves into Texas by sea, but, 
 he alleged, there was a large influx of slaves from the United 
 States to that country. As soon as negotiations were com 
 menced with Texas, the utmost endeavors of England had 
 been used to end the war which prevented the full recogni- 
 
 qf 'peace between them, lut also in the manner in which the war shall be conducted 
 if it shall continue. These suggestions may suffice for what you are re 
 quested to say amicably and kindly to the Mexican secretary, at present ; 
 but I may add, for your information, that it is in the contemplation of this go 
 vernment to remonstrate, in a more formal manner, with Mexico, at a period not 
 far distant, unless she shall consent to make peace with Texas, or shall show the 
 disposition and ability to prosecute the war with respectable forces. Executive 
 document, No. 271, H. of R., 28th cong., 1st ses., p. 69. 
 
 For the opinions of French statesmen on this question see the debate be 
 tween Guizot, Thiers, Berreyer and others, reported in vol. 70, of Nilea' 
 Register, p. 25, 26. 
 
MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES. 57 
 
 don of the independence of Texas by Mexico; but all their 
 endeavors had been met by difficulties, although he was 
 happy to declare that an armistice had been established be 
 tween the two powers which he hoped would lead to the 
 absolute acknowledgment of her independence. In the ex 
 isting state of negotiations between the parties, however, he 
 thought it would not contribute to an useful end to express 
 any opinion as to the state of those negotiations, nevertheless 
 he assured his noble friend that the matter would be pressed 
 by every means in the power of her majesty's ministers. 
 
 The answer of Lord Brougham to this conversational 
 speech of the minister of foreign affairs, was brief but omi 
 nous. Nothing, he declared, could be more satisfactory to 
 him,, whilst the statement of his lordship " would be hailed 
 with joy by all who were favorable to the object of anti- 
 slavery societies."* 
 
 I do not design in this history to discuss either the slavery 
 question or the British project of propagating seditious 
 opinions upon negro servitude by means of diplomacy on this 
 continent. But, when we remember the guaranties of our 
 constitution and the preponderence of the black population 
 in our southern States, it must be conceded that it requires 
 no great degree of sensibility to alarm the white inhabitants 
 of that section and to render them anxious to counteract the 
 avowed machinations of Great Britain. The abstract ques 
 tion of the right of slavery is altogether distinct from slavery 
 as it exists in this Union, and as the foundation of property, 
 population, labor, and, even, existence in the south. 
 
 For many years past the fanaticism of freedom has been 
 
 * Debates in the British house of lords, Friday 18th August, 1843, re 
 ported in the London Morning Chronicle of the 19th ; and see executive 
 document, No. 271, H. of R., 28th congress, 1st session. 
 8 
 
58 
 
 HISTORY OF THE WAR BETWEEN 
 
 warring against slavery, until it has created in our country a 
 fanaticism of slavery which was quite as relentless in its ob 
 stinacy. It was therefore, natural that individuals who had 
 refused our own congress the right to interfere with slavery, 
 by denying the privilege of petition for the abolition of sla 
 very in the District of Columbia, should resist most ardently 
 the Jesuitical propagandist!! of a foreign power. 
 
 This was a question of grave importance to the south. It 
 was an avowal of European policy that struck a death blow at 
 American property ; nor was it therefore at all surprising to 
 see Mr. Calhoun, our secretary of state, who was a native 
 and inhabitant of that part of the union, at once seize upon 
 the project of prompt annexation as the only means of coun 
 teracting the evils of British diplomacy. If expressions, 
 similar to those used by Lords Aberdeen and Brougham in 
 the English parliament, had been casually uttered in the 
 warm debates of our congress, perhaps but little attention 
 would have been paid them by reflecting men ; yet the most 
 trifling observations of British statesmen always deserve no 
 tice, because they are well pondered and deliberately made. 
 The opinions of Lord Brougham, assented to by the silence 
 of Lord Aberdeen, had consequently an emphatic signifi 
 cance; and although the British minister of foreign affairs, 
 as well as the envoy at Washington, subsequently disclaimed 
 any attempt to interfere with the internal system of the 
 United States, yet there can be no doubt that they wished 
 to modify the condition and laws of a southern neighbor so 
 as to effect indirectly what prudence taught them to avoid 
 openly.* "Great Britain," said Lord Aberdeen, in a de- 
 
 * Ex. Doc. No. 271, H. of R., 28 cong., 1st sess. p. 48, et scq : In an in 
 terview between Lord Aberdeen and Mr. Everett, in November, 1843, the 
 secretary of foreign affairs told him that England had long been pledged to 
 encourage the abolition of the slave trade and of slavery, as far as her influ- 
 
MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES. 59 
 
 spatcli to the Hon. Mr. Pakenham, on the 26th December, 
 1843, "does not desire to establish in Texas, whether par 
 tially dependent on Mexico or entirely independent, any 
 dominant influence. She only wishes to share her influence 
 equally with other nations. Her objects are purely commer 
 cial, and she has no thought or intention of seeking to act 
 directly or indirectly, in a political sense, on the United 
 States through Texas." 
 
 It cannot be expected for it is not the nature or policy 
 of governments that statesmen should disclose to each other, 
 with perfect frankness, all their international ambitions, 
 projects or hopes. A wise diplomacy conceals these things 
 
 ence extended and in every proper way, but had no wish to interfere with 
 the internal concerns of governments. In reference to Texas, he said that 
 "the suggestion that England had made or intended to make the abolition 
 of slavery the condition of any treaty arrangement with her was wholly 
 without foundation." id. page 38. The direct interference of England in 
 the internal affairs of other governments has often been very distinctly 
 manifested notwithstanding Lord Aberdeen's disavowal. There is scarce 
 ly a country in Europe which has been unvisited by her arms or her diplo 
 macy, either when it became her interest to do so, or when she had the 
 necessary force to make success unquestionable. Her policy is, perhaps, 
 not so much one of ambition as of avarice or necessity. She must feed her 
 multitudes at home ; and an extension of her wide spread commerce, with 
 co-extensive privileges in new countries, will open new sources of wealth 
 to her people. Nations are not to be blamed for seeking such advantages ; 
 but the nearer neighbor should be equally blameless for grasping, if possi 
 ble, the benefit for herself, so as to keep off a dangerous rival and secure 
 the revenues which otherwise would flow into that rival's coffers. 
 
 The excursive philanthropy of England was admirably depicted by the 
 Frenchman, who, according to the London Times remarked that: " Your 
 Englishman knows all about Timbuctoo, or Hindoostan, or the frozen re 
 gions about the North Pole ; but ask him about Ireland, the country lying 
 next his own, and he is perfectly innocent of any information on the sub 
 ject. Africa he investigates Ireland he neglects. He weeps for the suf 
 fering of the negro, but allows his Irish fellow subject to live in ignorance 
 and filth, and often to die of starvation." 
 
60 HISTORY OP THE WAR BETWEEN 
 
 whilst in progress. But all governments take means to ob 
 tain secretly, as far as they are able, an insight into the views 
 of each other. The diplomacy of the United States, al 
 though generally very frank, is nevertheless employed some 
 times in this way, and, I believe our records will show, that 
 wherever it became necessary for our departments to get in 
 formation upon projects touching the interests of our country, 
 they have always found means to discover the truth. 
 
 It is fortunate for the history of this annexation question 
 that the commercial designs alluded to by Lord Aberdeen 
 have been revealed -to us. Some of the statements are made 
 anonymously, yet, from the very nature of such disclosures 
 whilst negotiations were pending, it cannot be expected that 
 the names of informants would be revealed. Their value 
 and character must be vouched for alone by the officers who 
 communicate them to the world, and deem them sufficient 
 to authorize the action of government. The authorities, to 
 which I allude, were communicated to congress by President 
 Tyler in May, 1844, and were submitted to him by Mr. 
 Calhouri, as secretary of state, on the 16th of that month.* 
 
 By a convention, concluded in London on the 14th of 
 November, 1840, between Her Majesty's government and 
 the republic of Texas, it was agreed that the queen should 
 tender her good offices to Mexico as mediator between the bel 
 ligerents. Mexico, however, saw fit to reject this offer. But 
 Texas, still animated by a desire for peace, sought to obtain 
 a triple mediation of the three great powers, the United 
 States, France and England, with the hope that under 
 their auspices a settlement might speedily be made. To this 
 arrangement, the governments of France and the United 
 States assented with alacrity ; while the government of Great 
 
 * Ex. Doc. No. 271, H. of R., 28th cong., 1st sess. p. 101, et seq. 
 
MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES. 61 
 
 Britain, though expressing an ardent desire to do all in its 
 power by private mediatorial efforts, inclined to the opinion 
 that it would be better, on all accounts, for each party to act 
 alone, though similarly in point of tone and argument, in 
 urging the Mexican government to recognize the indepen 
 dence of Texas. 
 
 This suggestion was communicated through Lord Cowley 
 the British ambassador in Paris, to the French government, 
 by whom it was approved.* 
 
 By this act of the British cabinet, it preserved its indepen 
 dence of all others, and abstained from combined action 
 which would, necessarily, have disclosed its motives as well 
 as its conduct. The objects of the ministers in retaining 
 their independence of all other cabinets will now become 
 more manifest. 
 
 If an abstract love of liberty is, indeed, the true cause why 
 England seeks to abolish slavery throughout the world and 
 has set the example of emancipation in her West India colo 
 nies, she may really deserve the high commendation of phi 
 lanthropists. But it cannot be denied that whilst she dif 
 fuses a spirit of individual freedom, she does not regret to 
 behold national dependence on herself established by interest 
 and necessity. We find among the documents transmitted 
 to congress by President Tyler, a number of private letters, 
 in which it is alleged that the primary object of Great Bri 
 tain's interference was to prevent absolute annexation to the 
 United States. Indeed, Lord Aberdeen, in May, 1844, de 
 clared to Mr. Everett that he " shared with Lord Brougham 
 the hope and belief that the treaty for annexation would not 
 be ratified by our senate. "f 
 
 If the independence of Texas could be secured on the 
 
 * Id p. 70. Letter of Mr. Van Zandt to Mr. Webster, 
 t Id. p. 100. Washington, 24th January, 1843. 
 
62 HISTORY OF THE WAR BETWEEN 
 
 only probable ground upon which Mexico would acknow 
 ledge it, a pledge that she would not subsequently join the 
 United States; and if so desirable a result, which appealed 
 directly to the ambition and vanity of the leading men of 
 Texas, could be effected by the secret negotiations of her 
 ministers, England foresaw that she would obtain a decided 
 advantage over us in future negotiations, without a positive 
 treaty stipulation to that effect. Texas, with every element 
 of prosperity in her people and territory, was war-worn, and 
 suffering from pecuniary embarrassments in which her revo 
 lution plunged her. For an agricultural and commercial 
 people, peace and stability, under almost any liberal govern 
 ment, are all that is requisite to insure progress. England, 
 a free, maratime and manufacturing country, deeply inter 
 ested in Mexico as a purchaser, and in the United States as 
 a rival, was precisely the nation to secure these advantages 
 for Texas, especially as that republic offered a point d'appui 
 which she could not find elsewhere on this continent. 
 
 The " free trade " policy of Great Britain was consequently 
 addressed to the cupidity of Texas as a bewitching allure 
 ment; and this was, perhaps, secretly coupled with pecu 
 niary offers which would enable her to struggle against ad 
 verse fortune during tbe first years of independence. 
 
 This liberal system, while it attracted to England the cot 
 ton of Texas in British vessels, would necessarily raise the 
 national duties of the republic to the highest standard on 
 American produce and provisions, at the same time that it 
 introduced the manufactures of England without imposts. 
 The schemers who had achieved emancipation in the Bri 
 tish West Indies* imagined that the same result might be 
 produced in Texas by sufficient inducements, and that white 
 labor or apprentices would supply the place of slaves, thus 
 
 * See Lord Brougham's speech, ut antea. 
 
MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES. 63 
 
 striking an indirect blow at slavery in the southern States of 
 our Union. Besides this, England would find a market for 
 her manufactures which might temptingly address itself to 
 the cupidity of the United States and of Mexico as well as 
 of Texas. For, with such an extent of frontier on all sides, 
 and with wastes between us, inhabited by a sparse or reck 
 less population, the greatest inducements would be offered to 
 convert Texas into a smuggling ground not only for our 
 Union but especially for Mexico, whence British fabrics are 
 almost excluded by exhorbitant tariffs. The policy of Eng 
 land would thus affect simultaneously our manufactures as 
 well as our commerce. Instead of sending her merchandize 
 to New York, she would find in Galveston a readier market 
 to supply our southern States through the medium of contra 
 band.* Her goods would naturally have been carried in 
 British vessels, and thus the labor and commerce of the 
 United States would be directly injured by England until 
 we could afford to navigate and manufacture at cheaper 
 rates.f 
 
 * Any one who is familiar with the condition of our Canadian frontier 
 v/ill understand the ease with which smuggling in British fabrics is carried 
 on between the countries. An extensive business has, doubtless, always 
 been sustained; and it is not unusual even for the ladies of certain towns 
 along the frontier, to shop in Canada, with the understanding that their pur 
 chases are to be delivered at the risk of the British vender, on the other side of 
 the American line ! 
 
 f Executive document, 271, H. of R., 28th cong., 1st sess. Letter of 
 Mr. Allen to Hon. R. J. Walker, and other letters copied on pages 103 and 
 105 of the same document. 
 
 The government of the United States entertained such views of the 
 grasping policy of England for reasons which are clearly set forth in an 
 able despatch from Mr. Calhoun to Mr. King, our envoy at the court of 
 France. " The question," says the secretary of state, " is, by what means 
 can Great Britain regain and keep a superiority in tropical cultivation, 
 commerce and influence ? Or shall that be abandoned and other nations, 
 suffered to acquire the supremacy even to the extent of supplying British 
 
64 HISTORY OF THE WAR BETWEEN 
 
 The impolicy of permitting our carrying trade and home 
 market, in such a country, to pass out of our hands into 
 those of a commercial rival, and the dangers of counteracting 
 or creating a contraband system which would almost imme 
 diately ensue, commended this annexation promptly to the 
 notice of President Tyler. He perceived in British supre 
 macy in Texas a multitude of evils. Collisions would arise 
 which must endanger our peace. The power and influence 
 of England would be intruded, geographically, on territory 
 lying between us and Mexico. A large increase of our mili 
 tary forces would be necessary, not only to protect the United 
 States from daily disputes with Texans, but to guard the 
 border inhabitants against hostile inroads from Indians. 
 Texas, he was authoritatively told, would seek the friend 
 ship of other nations if denied the protection of ours; and, in 
 a condition of almost hopeless abandonment, would natu 
 rally fall an easy prey to any power that would protect her, 
 should we refuse our alliance.* 
 
 markets to the destruction of the capital already vested in their produc 
 tion ? These are the questions which now profoundly occupy the attention 
 of her statesmen and have the greatest influence over her councils. 
 
 " In order to regain her superiority she not only seeks to revive and in 
 crease her own capacity to produce tropical productions, but to diminish 
 and destroy the capacity of those who have so far outstripped her in con 
 sequence of her error. In pursuit of the former, she has cast her eyes to 
 her East India possessions, to Central and Eastern Africa, with the view 
 of establishing colonies there, and even to restore, substantially, the slave 
 trade itself, under the specious name of transporting free laborers from 
 Africa to her West India possessions, in order, if possible, to compete suc 
 cessfully with those who have refused to follow her suicidal policy. Her 
 main reliance, however, is on the other alternative, to cripple or destroy 
 the productions of her successful rivals. There is but one Avay by which 
 it can be done, and that is by abolishing African slavery throughout this 
 continent ; and that she avows to be the constant object of her policy and 
 exertions." Senate doc. No. 1, 28th cong. 1st sess. p. 44. 
 
 * President Tyler's message to the senate, 22nd April, 1844. 
 
* 
 
 MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES. 65 
 
 Such were some of the reasons that induced the president, 
 in 1844, to direct Mr. Upshur, who was the secretary of state, 
 to negotiate a treaty of annexation between the United States 
 and Mexico, and thus, in his emphatic language, "to break 
 up and scatter to the winds the web of European intrigues."* 
 
 This treaty was transmitted to the senate on the 22nd of 
 April, 1844, and immediately became the topic of discussion 
 throughout the country. It was opposed and defended by 
 some of the most distinguished men in the country. General 
 Jackson pleaded that the golden moment might not be lost, 
 and that we should not throw Texas into the arms of Eng 
 land, f Mr. Clay, whose nomination as a presidential can 
 didate was expected to be shortly made, and Mr. Van Buren 
 whose name was also speedily to come before a democratic 
 convention assembled to select a candidate for the chief 
 magistracy, both published long and argumentative letters 
 against the project. The debate on the treaty in the senate 
 was eager, and able. The northern abolitionists regarded it 
 as a measure frought with danger to their cause, and as the 
 basis of perpetual slavery, whilst the southern slave owners 
 hailed annexation as a boon, which, at least for a season, 
 would stay the aggressive arm that was raised against their 
 rights and interests. 
 
 At leiagth, the senate finally rejected the treaty; but Presi 
 dent Tyler, by a message to the house of representatives, 
 dated the 10th of June, transmitted the rejected document to 
 the popular branch of the national legislature, so that, with 
 out suggesting the mode of annexation, the house of repre 
 sentatives might decide whether it should be accomplished in 
 any shape. 
 
 * Letter of President Tyler to the Richmond Enquirer in 1847. 
 f President Jackson's letter 17th March, 1844, written in consequence of 
 a private mission to him from President Houston of Texas. 
 
 9 
 

 
 66 HISTORY OF THE WAR BETWEEN 
 
 At that moment, however, new elements of political com 
 motion were introduced in the nomination of Mr. Clay and 
 Mr. Polk by the respective party conventions held in Balti 
 more, and the project passed from the national legislature to 
 the people for discussion during the presidential canvass. 
 
 NOTE. The opinions and arguments adduced by the president in support 
 of annexation have been singularly fortified by disclosures subsequent to 
 the union between Texas and the United States. The British cabinet, 
 mortified by defeat, has been silent upon the subject, but singular develop 
 ments were made in debate in the French chambers. On the 12th and 
 20th of January, 1846, a discussion took place between Messieurs Guizot, 
 Thiers, Berreyer and others, in which the Texas question, and the position 
 of France, in the event of war between the United States and England, 
 upon the Oregon question, was warmly debated. The minister, Guizot, 
 alleged that in all the negotiations with Texas, France had sought com 
 mercial relations in consequence of the advantages offered of markets for 
 French goods. He declared that it was his policy to interpose an, indepen- 
 dent State in the midst of the United States, and that he believed it to be advisable 
 to multiply the number of secondary independent States on our continent, as the 
 commercial and political interests of France would suffer materially by the 
 foundation of a governmental unity in America. He watched our progress 
 with a jealous eye, and he considered the policy of the United States in 
 refusing to be the ally of any European power both right and wise in our 
 view of the question. 
 
 M. Thiers, the former minister, replied to M. Guizot; and, after assert 
 ing fhat Texas had been annexed to our Union " to the great displeasure 
 of England, and, as far as could be discovered, to the great displeasure of 
 France," he declared that it was the true interest of his government to 
 place Texas under the patronage of a powerful nation like ours rather than 
 to abandon it to the influence of England. " You are aware," said he, 
 " that Texas is of great importance to the United States, and that its possession 
 was anxiously desired by that power: I will add that never was an annexa 
 tion made in a more regular manner. For more than ten years Texas had 
 been separated from Mexico, and all the powers, including France, had 
 recognised it." He regarded the union of England and France in diplo 
 macy between Mexico, Texas, and the United States, as adopted only to 
 redeem the faults of the French cabinet during the last five years, and as a 
 truckling peace-offering for its conduct on the question of the "right of 
 search." But, of all the French orators and statesmen, none denounced 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 Change of public feeling as to annexation Election of President Polk 
 Mr. Clay defeated by the abolitionists Almonte's threat President Ty 
 ler attempts to soothe Mexico His failure to do so Mexican projects 
 of reconquest Want of confidence in Santa Anna Loans Downfall 
 and disgrace of Santa Anna His expulsion to Cuba Herrera made pro 
 visional president Congress of United States reconsiders annexation 
 Joint resolution passed with an alternative of negotiation President 
 Tyler adopts the first clause, and why European intrigues France and 
 England operating on Texas and Mexico Mexico offers independence 
 provided Texas will not annex herself to the United States Defeat of 
 of the foreign scheme. 
 
 WHEN Congress met in December, 1844, a remarkable 
 change had come over the political world in the United States. 
 The extraordinary popularity of Mr. Clay induced reflective 
 men to believe, at the close of the last session, that he would 
 be elected president, and that the prospects of immediate an 
 nexation would probably be blighted by that event. The 
 great body of his partizans opposed the project of President 
 Tyler; but the Democratic convention, assembled in Balti- 
 
 the conduct of the cabinet with more zeal than the eloquent Berreyer. He 
 proved by facts and documents that it was at the instance of England, and 
 in subservience to her, that the French government interposed, (as will be 
 seen in the following chapter,) to maintain the separate independence of 
 Texas: "We have not limited ourselves" exclaimed he "to a wish 
 and a counsel that Texas should retain her freedom, but we have been led 
 to take a part in that which I regret I am compelled* to regard as nothing 
 else than an intrigue, which, unfortunately for our national dignity has 
 borne all the marks of an intrigue, and has met, at last, its humiliation." 
 Niles' Register, vol. 70, pp. 25, 26, 27, 28, and vol. 68, p. 290. 
 
68 HISTORY OF THE WAR BETWEEN 
 
 more, in May, inscribed the fortunes of Texas on its banner 
 together with the name of that party's candidate. The 
 south immediately rallied around it, whilst the north as 
 sumed strange grounds of objection to the course of Mr. 
 Clay. The Native American and Abolition parties in New 
 York professed to vote with the friends of that gentleman in 
 consequence of his opposition to annexation, and yet a suffi 
 cient number to defeat his election cast their ballots in direct 
 contradiction of their principles. This was but another lesson 
 of the danger of confiding in men or parties who have but a 
 single idea. The folly of fanaticism commonly leads to vio 
 lent inconsistencies, but perhaps a more palpable one was 
 never exhibited than in the result of the presidential election 
 of 1844. 
 
 When the project of annexation was first discussed in 
 1843 in the gazettes of the day, and before any decided ac 
 tion by the president or secretary of state, General Almonte, 
 who was then Mexican envoy at Washington, protested earn 
 estly against the act, and even threatened, by express order 
 of his government, that on sanction 1 being given to the in 
 corporation of Texas into the United States, he would con 
 sider his mission as ended, seeing that the Mexican govern 
 ment was resolved to declare war as soon as it received infor 
 mation of such a deed.* 
 
 But Mr. Tyler, disregarding the irascible temper of the 
 minister and his government, despatched pacific and soothing 
 instructions to our charge at Mexico, intimating a desire to 
 act justly towards that republic, and to settle all questions 
 growing out of the treaty as well as of boundary on the most 
 liberal terms. f 
 
 The Mexican* government, however, would listen to no 
 
 * Senate doc. No. 341, 28th cong. 1st sess. p. 95. 
 t Senate doc. No. 1, 28th cong. 2d sess. p. 53. 
 
MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES. 69 
 
 proposals of accommodation. The Texan question, as we 
 have seen, was always one of great annoyance to the Mexi 
 can authorities; for although they acknowledged, in effect, 
 that their dominion was really lost over Texas, yet their na 
 tional pride and public feeling forced them to project, if they 
 did not attempt, its reconquest.* Besides this, darkness was 
 gathering around the fate of Santa Anna, who dared not un 
 dertake negotiations upon a subject so unpopular. 
 
 When a new congress assembled in Mexico in January, 
 1844, it was disposed to aid the executive in his scheme of 
 reconquest. Four millions of dollars were therefore .granted 
 him ; but when he claimed ten millions for the same pur 
 pose, whilst it was notorious that the first grant had not yet 
 been collected, the members of congress absolutely refused 
 to sustain Santa Anna's measures for the recovery of the lost 
 territory. This refusal was not grounded upon any aversion 
 of the Mexicans from reconquest, but solely because they 
 believed the money would be extorted from the people only 
 to be plundered by the president and his myrmidons. The 
 politicians and country had alike, lost confidence in him; 
 and Santa Anna, observing the rising storm, obtained per 
 mission from congress to retire to his estate of Manga de 
 Clavo near the sea coast at Vera Cruz, whilst his friend Don 
 Valentin Canalizo took his place in the capital as president 
 ad interim. 
 
 Santa Anna hardly reached his estate when a fatal blow 
 was struck against his administration from the departmen 
 tal junta of Jalisco. This revolt was lead by General Pa- 
 iedes, and after a multitude of military and diplomatic 
 
 * General Almonte, the Mexican envoy, in a conversation in New York, 
 confessed to the writer, in the spring of 1843, that Texas was lost to Mexi 
 co, but that all then desired by his countrymen was to save the point of 
 honor before they acknowledged its independence. 
 
70 
 
 HISTORY OP THE WAR BETWEEN 
 
 mano2uvres, resulted in Santa Anna's downfall on the 
 4th of January, 1845. The ex- president fled towards 
 the sea-coast; but was captured by a detachment of 
 volunteers at the village of Jico, whence he was trans 
 ferred under a strong escort to the castle of Perote. It 
 is difficult even to imagine the bitter wrath with which the 
 Mexican people assailed the captured chief. He, who but 
 a few months before exercised despotic sway over the land, 
 was now a prisoner and at the mercy of the mob. His 
 friends interposed in this emergency to save his life both from 
 popular fury and judicial action which might make it the 
 penalty of his misrule. The strife was long and anxious, 
 but, at length, an amnesty was declared, under which Santa 
 Anna departed for Cuba on the 29th of May, 1845, accom 
 panied by his wife and daughter.* The fury of the people 
 against the exile may be imagined from the fact that they 
 exhausted every means by which they could manifest their 
 hatred of his deeds and memory. They thronged the streets 
 singing ribald songs, and hawking ridiculous caricatures; 
 they tore his pictures from the walls, and hurled his statutes 
 from their pedestals; and, with the fiendishness of hyenas, 
 they even snatched from the grave the leg he had lost in 
 battle with the French at Vera Cruz, and tossed it about the 
 streets of Mexico !f 
 
 The result of Santa Anna's downfall was the establish 
 ment of a provisional government under General Herrera, 
 president of the council. This person is represented to have 
 been a discreet officer, whose judgment naturally led him to 
 see the wisdom of a pacific course towards the United States, 
 but whose destiny was finally controlled by the rash and un 
 principled conduct of insurrectionary demagogues. 
 
 * Mexico as it was and as it is, 4th Ed. Letter xxv. p. 367. 
 t Id. page 382. 
 
MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES. 71 
 
 Meanwhile the congress of the United States reconsidered 
 the Texan question, and after a long and ardent debate, 
 finally passed a joint resolution for annexation, with an alter 
 native permission to the executive to negotiate-, -provided he 
 thought proper to adopt that course. This was a solemn de 
 cision of the question by the representatives of the people, 
 and it was sustained by the president who did not permit 
 himself to be influenced by the threats of Mexico or the hos 
 tile preparations made by that country. In fact, Mr. Tyler 
 had been careful to guard against military surprises, for, in 
 consequence of the early rrTenaces of Mexico, he deemed it 
 his duty, as a precautionary measure, to concentrate in the 
 gulf and its vicinity a large portion of the Home squadron 
 under the command of Commodore Conner, and, at the 
 same time to assemble at fort Jesup on the Texan border, as 
 large a military force as the demands of the service at other 
 encampments would allow. 
 
 Thus, the joint resolution for annexing Texas to the 
 United States, with its alternative power to negotiate, came 
 to President Tyler and was approved by him on the 1st of 
 March, 1845. On the fourth of the same month, James K. 
 Polk, who had been chosen president of the United States, 
 at the last election, was to assume the reins of government. 
 President Tyler believed that the necessity for annexation 
 was immediate and urgent in consequence of the reasons he 
 had already presented to congress in his several messages. 
 The only doubt therefore, that he experienced in making his 
 selection, arose from a point of delicacy to his successor. 
 The first section of the joint resolution authorized the erec 
 tion of a new State of our Union out of the republic of Texas 
 under certain conditions contained in the second section; 
 whilst the third authorized the president to negotiate with 
 that republic for admission either by treaty to be submitted 
 
72 HISTORY OF THE WAR BETWEEN 
 
 to the senate, or by articles of agreement to be presented to 
 our houses of congress, as the president might direct. 
 
 Under these circumstances a cabinet council was sum 
 moned for the 2nd of March, and the point was resolved by 
 informing the president's successor, Mr. Polk, of the proposed 
 action, and, if he desired it, submitting to his perusal the de 
 spatch to Texas. Mr. Calhoun, our secretary of state, at the 
 president's request, accordingly waited upon Mr, Polk, ex 
 plained to him Mr. Tyler's selection of the first and second 
 sections of the joint resolution, and expressed a readiness to 
 exhibit the despatch to Mr. A. J. Donelson, who had been 
 appointed charge to Texas.* Mr. Polk courteously declined 
 expressing an opinion concerning the executive action, ac 
 companying his remark with some complimentary declara 
 tion; and, on that evening, a bearer of despatches with the 
 requisite documents, was on his way to Mr. Donelson. f 
 
 This is a brief and accurate summary of the history of an 
 nexation so far as the action of our government is involved, 
 and as is necessary for this narrative. The terms of annexa 
 tion which were offered by the United States were accepted 
 by Texas, and the public faith of both nations was solemnly 
 pledged to a compact of union, which was finally consum 
 mated at the following session of congress, when Texas be 
 came a member of our confederacy. 
 
 There were other circumstances, however, which properly 
 induced the prompt course of President Tyler in sending the 
 joint resolution for the action of Texas; but, in order to un- 
 
 * House of Rep., doc. No. 2, 29th cong. 1st sess. p. 125. 
 
 f The election of the 1st and 2nd sections of the joint resolution made by 
 President Tyler was subsequently approved by President Polk, as he de 
 clares both in his negotiations and in his message to congress of the 2nd 
 December, 1845. H. of R., Doc. No. 2, 29th cong. 1st. session, p. 3. 
 
MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES. 73 
 
 derstand these perfectly, it is necessary for us to direct our 
 attention to the French and English negotiations between 
 that republic and Mexico. In 1840, as we have seen, Eng 
 land preferred separate action on behalf of Texas, but she 
 was now willing to unite with France against the aggran 
 dizement of the United States. Monsieur de Saligny and the 
 Hon. Mr. Elliott were the representatives of these European 
 courts in Texas, and to the former of them was entrusted the 
 active part of the diplomacy. Whilst the discussions were 
 going on in the United States Mr. Elliott was never at rest. 
 He was heard of in Charleston, in New Orleans, in Havana, 
 in Mexico, and, again, in Texas. The restlessness of the 
 agent denoted the anxiety of his government and of France. 
 The rejection of the annexation treaty by congress, in 
 1844, had almost deprived Texas of hope. She believed it 
 impossible to expect a union with the United States, and 
 was prepared to receive the mediation of France and Eng 
 land which would secure her independence. This was 
 surely gratifying to the emissaries of these powers and they 
 eagerly undertook the task of obtaining the coveted boon 
 from Mexico. The Mexican ministry, ever anxious to 
 thwart the union with our confederacy, was equally pleased 
 to avert it by any diplomatic ruse that would save the point 
 of honor, and place her erect before the world. Besides this, 
 the Mexicans relied on a hope that increasing difficulties 
 between the United States and England upon the Oregon 
 boundary question, would make us loath to undertake a war 
 with a southern neighbor whilst our north and our sea board 
 were menaced by Great Britain. This hope of a counter- 
 menace from England inspirited the Mexican cabinet and 
 made it solicitous to resist us successfully. Herrera's minis 
 try was composed of discreet and patriotic men ; but, in the 
 
 first moments of their power, they dared not oppose popular 
 10 
 
74 HISTORY OF THE WAR BETWEEN 
 
 prejudices. The revolution which overthrew Santa Anna 
 was one of the few that sprang from the popular branches 
 of the nation, and originated neither in factions, the army, 
 or the church, but derived its success from the universal feel 
 ing that existed against the oppressive misrule of the execu 
 tive.* Nevertheless popular feeling was against our country, 
 and the cabinet took its tone from its patrons. 
 
 There can be little doubt of the fact, that the notion of 
 probable difficulties between the United States and England 
 on the boundary question, was studiously fostered by emis 
 saries who were hostile to us. Herrera's cabinet therefore 
 hailed with delight the propositions which were brought to 
 Mexico by Mr. Elliott, and were presented by the Hon. 
 Charles Bankhead and Baron Alleye de Cyprey, the British 
 and French ministers. These propositions, Sefior Cuevas 
 laid before the Mexican congress on the 21st of April, 1845. 
 The preliminary conditions offered by Texas, under French 
 and English mediation, and transmitted from that republic 
 by President Jones, on the 29t]j of March, were the following : 
 
 1st. That Mexico shall consent to acknowledge the inde 
 pendence of Texas. 
 
 2nd. That Texas shall engage and stipulate in the treaty 
 not to annex herself to or become subject to any country 
 ivhatever. 
 
 3rd. The limits and other conditions shall be matter of 
 arrangement by final treaty. 
 
 4th. That Texas should be willing to remit disputed points 
 concerning territory and other matters to the arbitration of 
 
 umpires. 
 
 These spiteful stipulations, evidently aimed against the 
 
 United States, and bearing the marks of their European pa 
 rentage, suited the taste of Mexico precisely. Her congress, 
 
 * Mexico as it was a.nd as it is p. 390, 4th ed. 
 
MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES. 75 
 
 therefore, at once deemed it advisable to entertain the Texan 
 proposals, and to proceed to the celebration of a treaty. But 
 when the Baron de Cyprey announced this assent to the 
 president of Texas, on the 20th of May, it was already too 
 late for the success of European diplomacy. Our congress 
 had passed the joint-rosolution, our president had approved 
 it, and our minister, Mr. Donelson, was in Texas preparing 
 the cabinet to act favorably upon our propositions. Accord 
 ingly, when Mr. Elliott returned in June to Texas in a French 
 corvette, the public mind was already manifesting its anxiety 
 to accede to our liberal offers, which were finally sanctioned 
 by the Texan convention on the 4th of July, 1845. 
 
 Had the resolution for annexation not been adopted at the 
 preceding session of congress, the pretensions of Mexico, in 
 stead of being lowered, would have been raised still higher 
 than they were on the receipt of the propositions from Presi 
 dent Jones. The mediatorial powers of Mr. Elliott would, 
 in all probability, have been employed in negotiating truces 
 and treaties .until the foundation was laid for the operation 
 of those peaceful means by which Lord Aberdeen declared 
 it his intention to promote his philanthropic vie\vs. " Aban 
 doned by the United States, oppressed by debt, and wearied 
 by the increasing burthens and privations of war, Texas 
 would have been at the mercy of Britain, and her statesmen 
 would have accepted almost any terms to secure indepen 
 dence and peace."* 
 
 * Letter from Mr. Donelson to Mr. Buchanan, 2nd June, 1845, H. of R., 
 doc. No. 2, 29th cong. 1st sess. p. 52. I do not discuss the question of the 
 mode of annexation, whether by treaty, joint resolution, or negotiation, as 
 that would require almost a volume by itself to present a true sketch of 
 the debate that occurred upon it. It is my purpose rather to narrate 
 events than to discuss all the various subordinate questions arising from 
 them. "Annexation," is made one of the great motives or causes for war 
 by Mexico, no matter in what way it is effected or attempted. "Mexico 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 General Almonte demands passports and leaves Shannon and Rejon and 
 Cuevas Views of the Mexican cabinet and people Animosity Revolt 
 in Mexico Political condition of Mexico Her right of reconquering 
 Texas Mr. Buchanan despatches Mr. Slidell as envoy rejection of all 
 accommodation between us The reason why Mexico refused to nego 
 tiate, after promising to receive a commissioner from the United States 
 Subterfuges 111 feeling in Mexico on the Texas question Herera over 
 thrown by Paredes Paredes and the monarchical party Unpopularity 
 of his scheme Miserable state of Mexican affairs Review of the Texas 
 question. 
 
 IN March, 1845, as soon as congress passed the joint-reso 
 lution, Gen. Almonte demanded his passports and departed. 
 A correspondence which took place in Mexico oetween Mr. 
 Shannon, our envoy, and Sefior Rejon, the minister of fo 
 reign affairs, relative to the projected union resulted fruit 
 lessly; and, on the 2d of April, Sefior Cuevas, who had suc 
 ceeded Rejon in office, announced to our legation that his 
 government could neither continue diplomatic intercourse 
 with ours, nor maintain friendship with a republic that vio 
 lated her obligations and usurped a portion of Mexican ter 
 ritory. He declared, moreover, that the relations between 
 the two countries could not be re-established before a com 
 plete reparation of that injury should be made.* 
 
 would never agree to annexation;" said Sefior Cuevas, the Mexican secre 
 tary of foreign affairs, in April, 1845. Mexico as it was and as it is. p. 
 391, 4th ed. 
 * Mexico as it was and as it is see original letter in 4th ed. p. 387- 
 
MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES. 77 
 
 This violent and denunciatory language, together with the 
 hint to our minister to depart, was of course not calculated 
 to allay ill-feeling in either country. The Mexican congress 
 was not less bitter in its animadversions, thereby spreading 
 the animosity among the people. It promptly seconded the 
 wishes of the cabinet, and offered two projects, both of which 
 asserted the unalienated rights of Mexico over Texas, and 
 the national resolve to maintain them by force. 
 
 Meantime, however, domestic discontent was again brew 
 ing. A certain Gen. Rangel attempted to revolutionize the 
 government, and is said to have been favored by the parti- 
 zans of the late administration. The insurgents seized the 
 palace, capturing the president and three of his ministers of 
 state ; but they were speedily overpowered and the insurrec 
 tion suppressed. In June and July of this year all the 
 Mexican papers were loud in their clamors for vengeance. 
 The minister of war, Garcia Conde, wrote despatch after 
 despatch ; and, with the usual spirit of national gasconade, 
 denounced our " perfidy," and continually alluded to " the 
 war which Mexico waged against the United States," in 
 consequence of our " treachery." On the 16th of the latter 
 month, he despatched to the minister of foreign relations and 
 justice a note detailing a plan for covering the national fron 
 tiers, and asserted that Mexico would maintain her rights by 
 force, or fall in the struggle. " She will not consent," says 
 he, " to give up one half of her territory from the base fear 
 of losing the other!" 
 
 Patriotic and stirring as are these declarations, they cannot 
 but be regarded otherwise than as the most inflated bombast 
 when we recollect that they were made in defiance of the 
 United States, and after a failure for seven years to recon 
 quer even Texas, feeble as she was. What just hope could 
 distracted Mexico reasonably entertain of ultimate victory? 
 
78 HISTORY OF THE WAR BETWEEN 
 
 Several years before this period, her discreet statesmen and 
 reflecting citizens privately acknowledged that Texas was 
 lost forever. Pecuniary embarrassments, political misrule, 
 and repeated revolutions had still more impaired her national 
 strength, and yet, an obstinacy as inveterate as it was silly, 
 forced her to make declarations of intended hostilities which 
 only served to kindle and spread the excitement among the 
 masses. 
 
 It is just that we should concede to national pride and 
 honor all they reasonably demand of respect, yet I have 
 greatly misunderstood this spirit of our century, if it does 
 not require nations to be as reasonable in their quarrels as 
 individuals. Empires, kingdoms, states, republics, and men, 
 are equally amenable to the great tribunal of the world's 
 common sense; and all are obliged, if they consult their in 
 terests, to yield to the force of circumstances they cannot 
 control. What then becomes of the mere abstract and vision 
 ary " right of reconquest" which Mexico asserted, even if 
 she really possessed it after the central usurpation, and de 
 struction of the federal system in 1824? What hope was 
 there in a war with the United States, after a failure in that 
 with Texas ? It is true that Mexico had the power to annoy 
 us, and procrastinate her fate; she might oppose dnd resist; 
 she might develope all the evil passions of her people and let 
 them loose on our armies in irregular warfare ; but these, after 
 all were nothing more than spiteful manifestations of impotent 
 malice, 'disgraceful to the nation that encouraged them. The 
 cause of genuine humanity, which, I believe, in our age, 
 truly seeks for peace, demanded the pacification of Texas. 
 The cruelty with which the war was waged, and the brutal 
 treatment received by some of the prisoners of the Santa Fe 
 expedition in 1841 and 1842, convince us that a strong 
 power should have imposed peace on Mexico. National 
 
MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES. 79 
 
 propriety demanded it; for how long was the "right of recon- 
 quest" to continue? England, the proudest nation on earth, 
 acknowledged the independence of the United States after a 
 seven years war. The great powers of Europe interfered to 
 protect oppressed Greece. England has several times inter 
 posed in the affairs of Spain and Portugal ; and our geo 
 graphical as well as political affinity to Texas clearly indi 
 cated that it was our national interest to establish a firm and 
 friendly government on our border. 
 
 There can be no doubt that when General Herrera was, al 
 most unanimously, elected president in August, 1845, he saw 
 things in this light, and was prudently disposed to bend to 
 inevitable fate. Notwithstanding the warlike despatches, 
 speeches, and proclamations of the Mexicans in the earlier 
 part of the year, our secretary of state seems to have suffi 
 ciently understood their gasconading habits, to disregard these 
 inflated productions. He therefore authorized Mr. Black, 
 who remained in Mexico as consul, upon Mr. Shannon's 
 withdrawal, to propose that we should send an envoy with 
 full powers to adjust all the questions in dispute between the 
 two countries. Mexico, notwithstanding her open bravado, 
 secretly assented to our proposal, declaring that she would 
 receive " the commissioner of the United States who might 
 come to the capital with full powers to settle the present dis 
 pute in a peaceful, reasonable and honorable manner." 
 
 Accordingly, Mr. Slidell was hastily despatched so as to 
 be sure of meeting the same persons in power with whom 
 the arrangement had been made ; for in Mexico, the delay 
 of even a day may sometimes change a government, and 
 create new or unwilling negotiators. Nevertheless when 
 our minister presented himself in the capital early in Decem 
 ber, having travelled rapidly but unostentatiously, so as to 
 
80 HISTORY OF THE WAR BETWEEN 
 
 avoid exciting ill feeling among the Mexicans as to the pur 
 poses of his mission, he found the secretary unprepared to re 
 ceive him. It was objected that Mr. SlidelPs commission 
 had not been confirmed by the senate of the United States 
 and that the president had no constitutional right to send 
 him ; that Mexico agreed to receive a commissioner to settle 
 the Texas dispute, and not a resident envoy; that the re 
 ception of such an envoy would admit the minister on the 
 footing of a friendly mission during a period of concord be 
 tween nations, which would not be diplomatically proper 
 so long as our amity was in the least interrupted; and, 
 finally, that the government had not expected a commissioner 
 until after the session of congress began in January, 1846. 
 
 There may be some force in technical diplomacy, between 
 the mission as agreed on by Messieurs Black and Pefia, and 
 the one despatched by Mr. Buchanan, for the letter of cre 
 dence declares that Mr. Slidell is " to reside near the gov 
 ernment of the Mexican republic in the quality of envoy ex 
 traordinary and minister plenipotentiary, and that he is well 
 informed of the president's desire to restore, cultivate, and 
 strengthen friendship and good correspondence between us." 
 A point of extreme etiquette raised at such a moment, when 
 both parties were confessedly anxious for peace, naturally 
 excites some inquiry as to its probable origin. Accordingly 
 we find that it was a mere subterfuge, urged by a tottering 
 administration to avert its ruin. The violence of the cabinet 
 against annexation had done its work among the people. 
 When Herrera and Pefia accepted, in October, our proposal 
 to treat, they hoped the popular elections, as well as judi 
 cious overtures to the departments and citizens, would so 
 modify national opinion as to permit their independent and 
 liberal action. But such forbearance could scarcely be ex 
 pected from the watchfulness of Mexican intriguers. Herrera 
 
MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES. 81 
 
 was a federalist, but his failure to proclaim the federal sys 
 tem, and to throw himself on that party as soon as he at 
 tained power, alienated a large portion of it and made the 
 rest but feeble supporters. The church and the centralists 
 soon coalesced in hostility to his government; and, although 
 his measures were moderate, and all his efforts designed to 
 correct abuses, yet every political symptom denoted his speedy 
 fall. Of all the popular clamors, probably none was louder 
 in the mob and the army, than that which arose in conse 
 quence of his effort to negotiate a peace with our Union. 
 General Paredes took advantage of this unpopularity, and, at 
 the head of five thousand of the soldiery, pronounced against 
 the government of the president. 
 
 It will be perceived from this sketch how completely this 
 Texas question and the war with our country have been 
 made electioneering and revolutionary elements in Mexico: 
 not, however, with patriotic hopes, or reasonable expectations 
 of reconquest, but with the contemptible anxiety of usurping 
 a temporary power which, for a while, enabled the aspirant 
 to govern the country without the least prospect of settling 
 the difficulty with us or of regaining Texas.* 
 
 This revolution commenced with the army of reserve sta 
 tioned at San Luis Potosi, and was seconded by the military 
 men generally. On the 15th of December, 1845, Paredes 
 issued a bombastic proclamation! from his head-quarters; 
 and, in the latter part of the month the revolutionary forces 
 reached the capital, when a portion of the garrison pro 
 nounced in favor of the insurgent chief. This induced an 
 early accommodation between the parties, and finished the 
 outbreak without bloodshed. Yet Paredes, having over- 
 
 * See Mexico as it was and is, 4th ed. p. 396 and SlidelPs correspon 
 dence with our government. Senate doc. No. 337, 29th cong. 1st sess. 
 J See Mexico as it was and as it is, p. 400. 
 11 
 
82 HISTORY OF THE WAR BETWEEN 
 
 thrown Herrera, partly in consequence of his friendly dispo 
 sition for peace with us, could not now attempt negotiations 
 successfully. Mr. Slidell renewed his offers to the cabinet, 
 but was repulsed and left the country. The lame reliance 
 of Mexico upon bombastic proclamations was again adopted. 
 Yet the people were discontented with Paredes who soon 
 began to manifest the despotic tendency of his nature and 
 education. The military life of this chieftain naturally in 
 clined him towards centralism, but he was altogether unfit 
 either by character or habits for civil authority. As soon as 
 he assumed the reins of government, a party which had long 
 drooped began again to lift its head. The monarchists, led 
 by the Archbishop Manuel Posada y Gardufio, and the wily 
 Don Lucas Alaman, soon got possession of the insurgent 
 general. They were joined by a large portion of the higher 
 clergy, some influential men of fortune, a few soldiers, and 
 a number of silly citizens, who promised themselves a futu 
 rity of progress and felicity by calling to the Mexican throne 
 a monarch from beyond the sea. This party of royalists 
 was strengthened by dissensions at home, and by the ex 
 pected attack from the United States. Many reflecting men 
 cherished no hope of national progress so long as the turbu 
 lent army was unrestrained by paramount authority. They 
 desired at once to crush freedom and domestic despotism by 
 a foreign prince supported by European soldiery, whilst they 
 believed that the continental sovereigns would greedily seize 
 the opportunity of throwing their forces into America so as 
 to check the aggressive ambition of the United States.* As 
 soon as this scheme of Paredes was disclosed, his unpopu 
 larity increased. His intemperate habits were well Jmown 
 and destroyed confidence in his judgment. The financial 
 
 * Tribute a la verdad, Vera Cruz, p. 3. 
 
- 
 
 MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES. 83 
 
 condition of the country was exceedingly embarrassed, and 
 foreigners, who were the usual bankers of the government, 
 refused loans on any terms. Payment was denied by the. 
 treasury to all employed in the civil departments, while mo 
 ney was disbursed to none but the army. The freedom of 
 the press moreover was suspended; and, to crown the na 
 tional difficulties^; was at this very moment that Mexico 
 dreamed of overthrowing the republic at home and estab 
 lishing a monarchy in its stead, whilst it simultaneously en 
 countered our armies abroad in order to reconquer Texas ! 
 With such deplorable fatuity was Mexico misruled, and en 
 tangled in a double war upon the rights of her own people 
 and against the United States. It was unfortunate that she 
 fell at this crisis into the hands of a despot and drunkard, 
 whose mind, perplexed between ambition and intemperance, 
 gave a permanent direction to that false public sentiment, 
 which Herrera had been anxious to convert into one of peace 
 and good will towards the United States. 
 
 I have thus succinctly narrated the events that led to the 
 war between the United States and Mexico. The annexa 
 tion of Texas, without the previous assent of Mexico, may 
 have annoyed that government. It was mortifying to patri 
 otic pride, and we should laud the republic for manifesting a 
 proper sensibility. But true national pride is always capable 
 of manly and dignified opposition. It does not expend itself 
 in bravado, petulence or querulousness. It does not assail 
 by threats, but by deeds; and never provokes an attack until 
 it is prepared to return the blow with earnest force. It is 
 silent as the storm until it bursts forth in overwhelming wrath. 
 All other kinds of resistance are nothing but miserable exhi 
 bitions of mortified vanity, and invoke the world's contempt 
 instead of respectful compassion. 
 
 Our government, from the beginning, desired and at- 
 
84 HISTORY OF THE WAR BETWEEN 
 
 tempted to allay excitement, whilst that of Mexico, revolu 
 tionary, disorganized and impotent as it was at home, and as 
 it subsequently proved itself to be in the field of battle, did 
 all it could to foment animosity between the two countries. 
 This sturdy resistance of Mexico did not arise from prudence, 
 patriotism or courage, but from intestine fa^ons, exasperated 
 by rival usurpers. Our efforts to make peace and establish a 
 boundary upon the most liberal principles were rejected with 
 disdain/* The authorities, basing their refusal upon a fri 
 volous subterfuge of diplomatic etiquette, would not even 
 hear our proposals, or receive our minister. Our presidents 
 were disposed to concede every thing reasonable in negotia 
 tion that could have saved the honor of Mexico and placed 
 our future relations on the salutary foundation of alliance, f 
 Instead of meeting us with the pacific and compromising 
 temper of our age, her demagogue chieftains stimulated the 
 passion and vanity of the mob, until the stormy natures of 
 an ignorant people became so completely excited that they 
 were unable to control the evil spirit raised by their wicked 
 incantations. 
 
 Blundering onward and blinded by passion, this unfortu 
 nate nation reminds us of that passage in the JEnead wherein 
 the sightless giant is described : 
 
 " Summo quum monte videmus 
 Ipsum inter pecudes vasta se mole moventem 
 Pastorem Polypheum, et littera nota petentem; 
 Monstrum horrendum, informe, ing-ens, cui lumen ademptum ! 
 
 , B. 3, v. 655. 
 
 * See Wheaton's Elements of international law. ed. of 1836, part 2d 
 chap. 1, pp. 88, 89, 90, 91. On the right of interference of governments 
 for the pacification of belligerent nations. 
 
 t Mr. Slidell was fully empowered to negotiate on liberal terms. 
 

 BOOK SECOND: 
 
 MILITARY OPERATIONS IN TEXAS AND ON 
 
 THE RIO GRANDE. 
 
BOOK II. 
 
 MILITARY OPERATIONS IN TEXAS AND ON THE 
 RIO GRANDE. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Boundary of Texas defined by Almonte Description of Texas Rivers of 
 Texas Army of observation General Taylor Army of occupation 
 How formed Difficulty of landing in Texas Aransas bay Army lands 
 at St. Joseph's island Kinney's rancho Corpus Christi State of the 
 army during the winter sufferings of the troops Alarms of war Gen 
 eral Gaines's views Necessity of ample preparation our first aggres- 
 
 THE scene of our observation is now about to change from 
 the cabinet to the field. The theatre of war properly attracts 
 our attention, and the spot of earth which was the chief cause 
 of dispute between Mexico and the United States, and where 
 our armies assembled, justly demands our first notice. 
 
 Texas, until she attained the rank of an independent State, 
 seems to have been almost an unknown country even to the 
 Mexicans. This was natural for a people who are not es 
 sentially agriculturists, but pass their lives as herdsmen, 
 miners, or merchants, and whose central government is far 
 removed from its outposts. 
 
 In the year 1834, General Almonte was deputed by the 
 Mexican authorities to visit this northern province, and pre 
 pare a statistical report upon its extent and character. Ac 
 cording to this valuable document, Texas proper lies between 
 
88 HISTORY OF THE WAR BETWEEN 
 
 28 and 35 of north latitude, and 17 and 25 of longitude, 
 west from Washington. It is bounded on the north by the 
 territory of Arkansas; east by Louisiana; south by the Gulf 
 of Mexico and State of Tamaulipas; and west by Coahuila, 
 Chihuahua, and New Mexico. Almonte was informed, by 
 the State government of Coahuila and Texas, that instead 
 of the Rio de las Nueces forming the boundary between 
 Coahuila and Texas, as the map denoted, the true limit 
 commenced at the embouchure of the Rio Aransaso which it 
 followed to its source, whence it continued by a direct line 
 until it reached the junction of the Medina with the San 
 Antonio, and thence proceeded along the eastern bank of the 
 Medina to its source, terminating, finally, on the borders of 
 Chihuahua. The territory comprised within these limits is 
 estimated at near two hundred thousand square miles a sur 
 face almost as extensive as that of France.* But, since 
 Texas receded from the Mexican central government, these 
 confines have been changed. By an act of her congress, in 
 in December, 1836, the boundary was declared to begin at 
 the mouth of the Rio Grande, and thence to run up the 
 principal stream of the said river to its source; thence due 
 north to the 42 of latitude, and thence, along the boundary 
 as defined in the treaty between the United States and Spain, 
 to the beginning, f 
 
 The great body of the territory of Mexico is rich in upland 
 vallies, extensive plains, noble mountains, fertile soil, beau 
 tiful groves, and rich mines, but it is almost entirely deprived 
 of rivers, whilst Texas is singularly favored in this respect. 
 On the east, the Gulf of Mexico affords her an extensive sea 
 coast indented by the mouths of the Sabine river and lake, 
 
 * Almonte's report. Kennedy's Texas, chap. 1. 
 t Senate doc. 341, 28th cong. 1st sess. p. 56. 
 
MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES. 89 
 
 the Rio Naches, the Rio Trinidad, the Rio San Jacinto, Gal- 
 veston bay, the Rio Brazos, Matagorda bay, the Rio Colo 
 rado, the Rios San Antonio and Guadelupe, Aransaso bay 
 and the Rio Grande, besides numerous smaller streams that 
 drain her soil and almost cover it with an interlacing net-work 
 of water. 
 
 Texas presents to the traveller three distinct natural re 
 gions. Along the shores of the gulf from the Sabine to the 
 Rio Grande, a flat country extends from thirty to one hun 
 dred miles in the interior, widening towards its centre on 
 the Colorado, arid gradually diminishing towards the Nueces. 
 The sandy wastes and lagunes of the coast give place, at 
 some distance in the interior, to a rich alluvial country, di 
 versified by skirts of timber, insulated groves, and open prai 
 ries. A large portion of this part of Texas is described as 
 being singularly free from those large collections of stagnant 
 water, which, combined with a burning sun and prolific 
 vegetation, create malaria in our southern States. 
 
 Westward of this level skirt, begins the rolling region. 
 The land gradually swells in gentle undulations, "covered 
 with fertile prairies and valuable woodlands, enriched with 
 springs and rivulets." Farther westward still, these beautiful 
 hills tower up into the steeps of the Sierra Madre, that great 
 chain of gigantic mountains, which, broken at the junction 
 of the Rio Grande with the Puerco, takes thence a north 
 easterly course, and enters Texas near the source of the 
 Nueces. These elevations are of the third and fourth mag 
 nitude, and abound with forests of pine, oak, cedar, and an 
 extraordinary variety of shrubbery. Wide vallies of alluvial 
 soil, commonly susceptible of irrigation from copious streams 
 in the highlands, wind through the recesses of these moun 
 tains and afford a delightful region for the purposes of agri 
 culture. The table lands beyond these ranges have been but 
 12 ' 
 
90 HISTORY OF THE WAR BETWEEN 
 
 little explored, and still less is known of the northern region 
 extending to the 42 of north latitude, as well as of that 
 portion lying between the Nueces and the Rio Grande. But 
 such, in brief, is Texas from the gulf to the mountains; a 
 country adapted alike to the planter, the grazier and the 
 farmer, while it offers to commerce a wide extent of sea 
 coast whose harbors may be made perfectly secure by the 
 skill of modem science.* 
 
 I have already stated that in 1844 President Tyler sta 
 tioned an army of observation under General Taylor, at fort 
 Jesup, as soon as he negotiated the annexation treaty, f 
 This corps, but poorly sheltered from the weather, and in an 
 inhospitable climate, was, for a long time, left inactive on the 
 banks of the Sabine. In midsummer of 1845, after the 
 joint resolution was passed, and when our difficulties with 
 Mexico began to thicken, it was at length ordered to advance, 
 under the same commander, towards the southern frontier of 
 Texas. The army then consisted of but two regiments of 
 infantry, one of dragoons, and a single company of artillery, 
 in all about, fifteen hundred efficient men. As the climate 
 was known to the sickly, the war department despatched 
 only such an unacclimated force as was deemed absolutely 
 necessary to protect a tropical region in the month of July, 
 awaiting the colder months before its numbers were increased. 
 This body was called the army of occupation, whose ap 
 pointments seem to have been extremely imperfect. " The 
 dragoon regiment had just been formed from a rifle corps; 
 half of its men were raw, undisciplined recruits, and many 
 of them unable to ride, while their recently purchased horses 
 were small, weak and undrilled. The infantry regiments 
 
 * Kennedy's Texas, chap. 1. 
 
 t Senate doc. No. 341, 28th cong. 1st sess. p. 76. 
 
MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES. 91 
 
 were enfeebled by their long exposure, in miserable tents, to 
 the withering heats and drenching rains of a low southern 
 latitude ; and the artillerists were without their guns. To 
 wards the end of June, 1845, a company of the last men 
 tioned arm of the service, equipped as infantry, at fort Moul- 
 trie, was ordered to New Orleans. This body, armed only 
 with muskets, sailed from Charleston on the 26th of the 
 month, and on its arrival in Louisiana on the 19th of July, 
 found that it was destined for service in Texas. The in 
 structions to the commanding officer informed him that his 
 company was to be mounted and equipped as flying artillery 
 for the campaign under Taylor; that horses would be sent 
 him and a battery shipped from New York, upon the arrival 
 of which he was to join his general at the mouth of the Sa- 
 bine."* Fortunately for these troops they encountered Gen 
 eral Taylor in New Orleans, though they were obliged to 
 depart without their ordnance, which did not reach them for 
 two months afterwards, while their horses were even still 
 longer in attaining their destination. 
 
 The war in Texas, and the unsettled state of that country, 
 had prevented the preparation of an accurate map, or indeed, 
 even of a survey of the coasts or interior. It was difficult, 
 therefore, to find any one in New Orleans acquainted with 
 the harbors and rivers of the new State, or who was willing 
 to incur the responsibility of directing the army's steps. The 
 topographical bureau at Washington had, with infinite pains 
 and ingenuity, constructed a map of the country from the 
 scant materials in its possession ; but this chart has since been 
 proved to be almost entirely useless as a guide. 
 
 However, after considerable difficulty, General Taylor 
 procured a pilot for large wages, who professed a thorough 
 
 * An account of the army of observation and occupation, written by one 
 of its officers, in the Southern Quarterly Review for April, 1846. 
 
92 HISTORY OF THE WAR BETWEEN 
 
 acquaintance with the Texan waters, and a particular know 
 ledge of his destination at Aransas bay. This individual 
 was immediately put in charge of one of the transports loaded 
 with troops, and under his lead, the commander in chief 
 sailed from New Orleans with three ships and two steamers 
 in search of the port of his disbarkation. The blundering 
 pilot grounded his vessel among the breakers where it would 
 inevitably have been wrecked, had it not been extricated by 
 timely assistance, while the captain of another transport 
 coasted the low shores of the gulf for several days, in sight 
 of land, seeking an inlet, and when his ship was at length 
 anchored off St. Joseph's, he asserted that it was the island 
 of Espiritu Santo.* 
 
 This bay of Aransas was perhaps one of the most unsuit 
 able for the disbarkation of troops on the coast of Texas, and 
 was selected in utter ignorance of the country. Indeed we 
 seem to have committed two great and often fatal errors in 
 warfare when we contemplated hostilities with Mexico first, 
 in despising our foe ; and secondly, in failing to inform our 
 selves of his country's geography. 
 
 Aransas bay lies between the south end of St. Joseph's 
 and the northern point of Mustang island, quite close to the 
 latter, and almost at right angles with the coast. It has a 
 narrow but shifting sand bar at its entrance, upon which the 
 depth of water varies according to the action of the winds. 
 The bay is about twenty-five miles in length and twelve in 
 width, but is obstructed by a shoal and a range of islands that 
 traverse it.f 
 
 On the third of August our whole army had landed on St. 
 Joseph's island, about thirty miles from the Rio Nueces, 
 across which it was to pass to its proposed encampment on 
 
 * S. Q. Review, ut antea, p. 442. (April, 1846.) 
 f Kennedy's Texas, chap. 2d. 
 
MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES. 9,5 
 
 Corpus Christi bay, near a smuggling village known as 
 Kinney's rancho. As Corpus Christi and Aransas bays are 
 connected by a shallow and winding channel, it was at once 
 discovered that steamers were altogether inadequate for the 
 transportation of troops from the islets to the mainland; and 
 our forces would have remained where they disembarked 
 had not a few skiffs of light draft, together with some sail 
 and row boats, been obtained in the neighborhood at consid 
 erable expense. In these frail vessels a detachment of forty 
 men, armed only with muskets, crossed the Nueces, and 
 landed on the stormy coast as pioneers in a country asserted 
 to be Mexican. Had the authorities of that republic been 
 prepared to resist our landing, a few field pieces might have 
 prevented the alleged invasion, as our general was unable to 
 protect the disembarkation of his troops by cannon. In ad 
 dition to these mistakes, the 2d regiment of dragoons was 
 not despatched from fort Jesup in time to co-operate with 
 our forces when they first landed at Corpus Christi; and, as 
 the artillery had not yet been forwarded from our arsenals, 
 the campaign may be said to have commenced with infan 
 try alone. This was a novelty in military science, and in 
 dicated an ignorance of war, an unpardonable imprudence, 
 or a conviction that the whole drama was got up only to in 
 timidate an enemy we despised. 
 
 It is impossible to narrate every circumstance of interest 
 that occurred during the encampment of our forces west of 
 the Neuces, a position taken by General Taylor with the con 
 currence of the war department. But a history of this war 
 would be incomplete were not the position as well as the 
 condition of our army accurately stated. Our government, 
 relying probably on the acknowledged feebleness of Mexico, 
 and on the fact that she had not yet declared war, imagined 
 
94 HISTORY OF THE WAR BETWEEN 
 
 that the mere presence of American troops would pacify Tex 
 as or prevent hostilities. This was an unfortunate mistake, 
 especially in the unsettled condition of things ; for in May, 
 1845, Mr. Donelson, our charge to Texas, had warned the 
 government to be prepared for an immediate blow upon Mex 
 ico, if she should unfortunately declare war against us, and 
 that declaration might have been expected at any moment. 
 The details of the organization of our forces seem, never 
 theless, to have been sadly neglected. Sailing vessels, alone, 
 were relied on to convey despatches to General Taylor ; and, 
 from the wreck of one of them, a drummer boy, strolling 
 along the beach, on the 15th of August, rescued a valuable 
 package containing the proclamation of the Mexican govern 
 ment in which the people were summoned to unite in an 
 army for national preservation, under the sonorous title of 
 " Defenders of independence and the laws." * The day 
 after this despatch was received, the smugglers along the 
 coast reported that Arista was rapidly advancing to attack us 
 with three thousand choice troops. Without artillery to de 
 fend the camp, or dragoons to act as scouts, our general could 
 do nothing but order entrenchments to be thrown up. En 
 trenching tools, however, had not been furnished; and, with 
 only a few old and broken spades the troops labored briskly, 
 and erected, in a few days, a solid field-work a few yards 
 from the beach, protected in the rear by the bay. But the 
 battery had not yet arrived, nor was Gen. Taylor able to ob 
 tain from the sloop of war St. Mary's, which was on the sta 
 tion, any guns of a suitable calibre. Fortunately, however, 
 he procured three pieces, indifferently equipped, and a small 
 supply of ammunition, from the citizens of Corpus Christi. 
 These guns added materially to the strength of our position 
 
 * Niles' Reg. vol. 68, p. 305. 
 
MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES. 95 
 
 in case we were attacked, but were entirely unsuitable for 
 field service.* 
 
 The proclamation to which we have alluded, and the ru 
 mors of vigorous hostility on the part of Mexico, produced 
 great alarm in the United States, especially along our southern 
 frontier. In New Orleans, indignation was openly expressed 
 that our gallant men had been despatched on this forlorn 
 enterprize without the amplest means of defence and attack, 
 while our arsenals were filled with all the munitions of war. 
 A large force of volunteers was, therefore, ordered out in the 
 south, while two companies of artillery were immediately de 
 spatched to Taylor's succor under the command of Maj. Gaily. 
 
 The report of Arista's progress, however, proved to be false, 
 so that we were fortunately saved from attack. Yet the suf 
 ferings of our army did not cease with those military incon 
 veniences. " Two thirds of the tents furnished our soldiers 
 were worn out or rotten, and had been condemned by boards 
 of survey appointed by the proper authorities in accordance 
 with the army regulations. Transparent as gauze, they af 
 forded little or no protection against the intense heat of sum 
 mer or the drenching rains and severe cold of winter. Even 
 the dews penetrated the thin covering almost without ob 
 struction. Such were. the tents provided for campaigners in 
 a country almost deluged three months in the year, and more 
 variable in its climate than any other region, passing from the 
 extreme of heat to that of cold in a few hours. During the 
 whole of November and December, either the rains were de 
 scending with violence, or the furious " northers" which 
 ravage this coast were breaking the frail tent-poles or rending 
 the rotten canvas. For days and weeks every article in hun- 
 
 f S. Q. Rev. ut antea. Senate doc. No. 337, 29th cong. 1st sess. p. 93- 
 
96 HISTORY OP THE WAR BETWEEN 
 
 dreds of tents was thoroughly soaked; and during these ter 
 rible months, the sufferings of the sick, in the crowded hos 
 pital tents, \^4re indescribably horrible. Every day added to 
 the frightfulness of the mortality. At one time a sixth of 
 the entire camp was on the sick list, and at least one-half 
 unfit for service, in consequence of dysentery and catarrhal 
 fevers which raged like a pestilence."* The camp was with 
 out fires, and, being situated on the edge of a vast prairie 
 sparsely covered with muskeet trees, was but scantily sup 
 plied with wood even for the most needful purposes. The 
 quarter-master's department furnished only the weak and 
 stunted mustangs of the country ; and the Jittle and ineffi 
 cient ponies, geared in the large harness made at the north 
 for American horses, looked as if they would jump through 
 their collars instead of use them for traction. With such 
 teams only a sufficiency of wood could be drawn for cooking, 
 and none for camp fires to comfort the sick and suffering sol 
 diers. a As winter advanced, the prairie became a quag 
 mire, the roads almost impassable, and as the mustangs died 
 in large numbers, wood enough for cooking even, could not 
 be procured. The encampment now resembled a marsh, 
 the water, at times, being three or four feet deep in the tents 
 of whole wings of regiments. All military exercises were 
 suspended, and the bleak gloomy days were passed in inac 
 tivity, disgust and sullenness. The troops, after being tho 
 roughly drenched all day, without fires to dry them, lay down 
 at night in wet blankets on the soaked ground, as plank for 
 tent floors was not furnished by the quartermasters until 
 the rainy season was over. At times the men, at tattoo, 
 gasped for breath in the sultry night air, and, at reveillee, 
 found their moist blankets frozen around them and their 
 
 * S. Q. Rev. ut antea. 
 
MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES. 97 
 
 tents stiff with ice. A portion of the men were kept without 
 pay for six months, and the rest for four months, although 
 the law strictly requires payment every two months. 
 
 " Officers and soldiers, destitute of funds, were compelled 
 to borrow, upon the strength of pay due, of their more fortu 
 nate companions, or of the Shylocks, in search of victims, that 
 polluted the camp. Sick soldiers, directed by their surgeons 
 to return to the United States, had eit.her to remain and die, 
 or to submit to exhorbitant exactions from unfeeling villians 
 in their pension certificates and pay accounts, though the 
 law requires the paymasters to cash them in specie. 
 
 " On the first landing of the 3d and 4th infantry at Corpus 
 Christi, " Kinney's Rancho," though a lawless, smuggling 
 town, under the vigorous sway of its martial proprietor, was 
 as quiet and peaceful as a village in New England. But 
 every fresh arrival of troops was followed by some portion- of 
 that vast horde of harpies, that are ever to be found in the 
 train of all armies, ready to prey upon the simple and un 
 suspecting among the soldiers. In a short time, hundreds 
 of temporary structures were erected on the outskirts of the 
 "Rancho," and in them, all the cut-throats, thieves, and 
 murderers of the United States and Texas, seem to have 
 congregated. No sight could have been more truly melan 
 choly than that of their bloated and sin- marked visages, as 
 they lounged through the purlieus of this modern Pande 
 monium. The air, by day, was polluted with their horrid 
 oaths and imprecations, and the savage yells, exulting 
 shouts, and despairing groans of their murderous frays, made 
 night hideous. But, not content with confining their hellish 
 deeds to their own worthy fraternity, they laid their worth 
 less hands on the troops. Many of the soldiers, enticed to 
 their dram-shops, were drugged with stupifying portions, 
 and then robbed of their hard earnings, or murdered in cold 
 blood." 
 
OS HISTORY OF THE WAR BETWEEN 
 
 General Taylor, looking to the probability of a movement 
 against Mexico, warned the department that a ponton train 
 was indispensable in a country wherein streams abounded 
 and wood for bridges was scarce; but it was not despatched 
 until after the next meeting of congress. 
 
 "Six months after the army had taken the field, there 
 were not teams and wagons' enough to transport one half of 
 the troops; so that, in case of hostilities, had a forward move 
 ment been ordered, it could only have been effected by de 
 tachments, and, in consequence, that most fatal of all mili 
 tary errors would have been committed, of permitting the 
 enemy to attack and beat in detail. The few teams' fur 
 nished, it is natural to think, were the choicest to be found 
 in the west. For, it had been said, that though the " Army 
 of occupation" was small, the great celerity of its move 
 ments, from the superiority of the American horses, would 
 contribute, as well as the greater bravery of its men, to make 
 it more than a match for the largest Mexican force. Ninety 
 yoke of oxen and several hundred mustangs were therefore 
 bought, but not a single American horse! 
 
 " Three batteries of artillery were added to the one which, 
 at length reached the company from Charleston. Horses 
 were sent with two of them, to manoeuvre them rapidly on 
 the field of battle, and to transport them wherever the army 
 might go. But the third came unprovided with cavalry. 
 
 "When the New Orleans volunteers left Corpus Christi, 
 their artillery horses were turned over to the company from 
 Charleston. This company, having always acted as infantry, 
 had never even seen a flying artillery drill, half of the men 
 could not ride, many had never ridden at all, and, in 
 mounting for the first time, made Mr. Winkle's mistake as 
 to which stirrup to use. It was certainly an original idea, 
 
MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES. 99 
 
 to convert, in a single day, a company of foot into light ar 
 tillery. However, as horses had at length been given to the 
 company from Charleston., it was the ardent desire of the 
 lieutenant commanding, to teach his men to ride and drive, 
 and the sabre exercise. This the loyal quartermasters resolved 
 to prevent, and, at the same time, to show the world how 
 economical they were. They, therefore, refused to purchase 
 any more hay and told the dragoons and light artillery, that 
 they, themselves, must cut and haul the dry and sapless 
 broom straw of the prairie, and forage their horses on that."* 
 
 Such is a picture of the sufferings of our army of occu 
 pation, drawn by an eye-witness, and scarcely colored by the 
 warmth of his feelings. If the advice of military men, and 
 the opinion of persons whose experience as campaigners 
 entitled them to respect, had been heeded, this war would 
 have been speedily ended. Ever since the rumor of annex 
 ation in 1 843, but, especially, since the inaugural address of 
 President Polk in 1845, in which he pronounced so emphatic 
 an opinion as to our right to the whole of Oregon, our politi 
 cal firmament had been clouded. Prudent men thought it 
 probable that there would be war with Mexico or hostilities 
 with England, and that the two sources of irritation, by dis 
 tracting our powers, would materially increase each other's 
 virulence. 
 
 At this time, General Gaines, a chieftain who has become 
 venerable in the service of his country, and whose skill and 
 bravery on many a field have manifested his character in ac 
 tions that no citizen can ever forget, commanded on our 
 south-western frontier. The delicate character of our foreign 
 relations, to which allusion has just been made, attracted his 
 
 * Southern Quarterly Review, ut antea. These statements are made by 
 an able and distinguished officer of our army, who was on the field, and is 
 perfectly versed in all the matters he discusses. 
 
100 HISTORY OF THE WAR BETWEEN 
 
 anxious attention in 1845; and his responsibility as Chief on 
 a long, exposed frontier, compelled him to give timely warn 
 ing to the department. It seemed to this officer, if we en 
 gaged hastily in war with Mexico or England, at such a 
 crisis, and with no preparations either for an army or its in 
 struction, that the conflict would be disastrous or procrasti 
 nated, especially as the latter power had so far surpassed us 
 in applying steam to naval purposes. Long years of peace 
 had rendered us indifferent to war; and unvarying success in 
 other conflicts had made us confident. Accordingly, he re 
 commended the concentration of a large force of volunteers 
 on the borders of the probable theatre of war, where they 
 should be trained in military science, together with the regu 
 lars commanded by General Taylor, until the spring of 1846. 
 If war could not be averted before that period, we might 
 then be able to march against the enemy with a powerful 
 and disciplined army. He contended that the true policy 
 of our country, in such an assault, was to pursue with re 
 lentless energy the military bandits who swayed the destinies 
 of Mexico, whilst, on all sides, we protected the persons and 
 property of non-combatants ; so that in pushing onward to 
 the capital we would leave throughout the country tra 
 versed an indelible impression of our justice. Thus the 
 confidence of the best portions of Mexico would be secured, 
 the prestige of her army promptly destroyed, and peace ob 
 tained before she was able to rally. On the other hand, 
 General Gaines believed that if we began war without large 
 and instructed forces, we might count on a protracted strug 
 gle, as in the Seminole campaigns from 1836 to 1842. The 
 precipices upon the doubtful verge of whose summits we tot 
 tered during the war, prove the wisdom of these suggestions. 
 The faithful page of history admonishes that nations as well 
 as individuals who recklessly disregard the essential maxims 
 
MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES. 101 
 
 that prescribe their prudent duties, must sooner or later pay 
 the penalty of neglect. But politicians, uneducated even in 
 the pleasant discipline of militia trainings, do not view mat 
 ters in the same light as military men whose knowledge of 
 detail, and of the responsibilities of real service, make them 
 unwilling to engage in war, or even to threaten hostilities, 
 without the amplest preparation to perform all they promise. 
 Without such true and earnest discipline warlike array is but 
 a military cheat. 
 
 It is vain to predict what might have been the result had 
 the advice of the gallant and prudent Gaines been adopted ; 
 yet it cannot be doubted that a well equipped body of twen 
 ty-five or thirty thousand men would have marched to the 
 city of Mexico and dictated peace at the cost of one fourth 
 the blood and treasure that were subsequently expended. A 
 lingering policy of hesitation together with the acknowledged 
 inefficiency of Mexico, may palliate the errors of our cabi 
 net ; but wise politicians will not henceforth fail to be im 
 pressed with the necessity of military preparation which this 
 conflict has taught us. 
 
 A war which was originally supposed to be one exclusively 
 of defence, was suddenly changed to an aggressive conflict, 
 and is, perhaps, an additional excuse for our unpreparedness. 
 Most of the events in this narrative derive peculiar interest 
 from the fact that it is the first and only offensive war into 
 which we have been forced. With every known principle 
 of defence we had been long acquainted ; for, in the school 
 of Washington, we acquired a sound, practical knowledge, 
 which subsequent experience, under the most perfect system 
 of self-government, enabled us to improve. But it is to be 
 hoped that many years will elapse before our volunteers will 
 be again called from their peaceful duties to take part in an 
 
102 HISTORY OF THE WAR BETWEEN 
 
 aggressive war, and especially against a government whose 
 theory of rule is the same as our own. 
 
 NOTE. Genera] Gaines, who commanded the western division, was 
 censured by the War department for having made a requisition on the go 
 vernor of Louisiana for State troops to be sent to the army in Texas under 
 Taylor^ command, at the moment of apprehended danger described in this 
 chapter. General Taylor, for more than a year previous to September, 
 1845, commanded one of the brigades of Gaines 's division, and the latter 
 never knew by authority that the former had been disconnected from him, 
 except upon temporary service, until advised by the secretary of war on 
 the 13th of September. He never received a copy of the authority given 
 to Taylor to go to Texas until after the date of his requisition for Louisiana 
 volunteers, on the 15th of August, 1845 ; consequently he then considered 
 himself responsible for the strength and support of one of his own bri 
 gades, and b6und to succor it speedily when he believed it to be in immi 
 nent danger. See Senate doc. No. 378, for his correspondence, and espe 
 cially p. 48. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 Our position at Corpus Christi Instructions to Taylor as to the boundary 
 of the Rio Grande Taylor's views Review and history of the boun 
 dary question Letter from Mr. Adams Santa Anna's agreements with 
 Texas, &c. March to the Rio Grande ordered Justification in a mili 
 tary point of view of the occupation of the disputed territory Anecdote 
 of Frederick the Great War in Silesia and Austria Madison's conduct 
 to Spain in 1810 Right of declaration of war Justifiable causes of 
 vrar Opinion of Sir J. Mackintosh War and diplomacy contrasted. 
 
 ONE of the most inclement winters in the Gulf of Mexico 
 had passed in the comfortless manner described in the last 
 chapter. Our attempts to negotiate with Mexico were re 
 pulsed, and although our minister had not yet returned to 
 the United States having delayed at Jalapa with the hope 
 of finding Paredes more accessible than Herrera every 
 thing indicated an ultimate defeat of diplomacy. 
 
 Meanwhile our forces at Corpus Christi were gradually 
 augmenting, under the command of Generals Taylor and 
 Worth. In October, 1845, the troops amounted to near four 
 thousand, and General Taylor made every preparation, by 
 reconnoissances between the Nueces and the Rio Grande for 
 the ultimate defence of soil which had been claimed by our 
 government as part of Texas.* 
 
 * On the 15th of June, 1845, Mr. Bancroft, as acting secretary of state, 
 wrote to General Taylor as follows : 
 
 " The point of your ultimate destination is the western frontier of Texas, 
 where you will select and occupy, on or near the Rio Grande del Norte, 
 such a site as will consist with the health of the troops, and will be best 
 adapted to repel invasion, and to protect what, in the event of annexation, 
 will be our western border." 
 
 On the 30th of July, 1845, the secretary of war, Mr. Marcy, declared to 
 
104 HISTORY OF THE WAR BETWEEN 
 
 As a military man it was not his duty to affix the bounda 
 ries that were to be the subject of negotiation or war ; but 
 simply to ascertain precisely the extent of defence required 
 along a disputed territory, and to dispose his troops atcord- 
 ingly.* 
 
 In October, 1845, therefore, General Taylor reviewed the 
 instructions from the war department, and, seeing that he 
 had been ordered to select and occupy near the Rio Grande 
 such a site as would consist with the health of the troops, 
 and was best adapted to repel invasion, he ventured to sug 
 gest an advance of his army. This however, was done by 
 him whilst he felt great diffidence in touching topics that 
 might become matter of delicate diplomacy. Nevertheless, 
 taking a soldier's view of the topographical and not the dip- 
 
 him that "the Rio Grande is claimed to be the boundary between the two 
 countries, and up to this boundary you are to extend your protection, only 
 excepting any posts on the eastern side thereof which are in the actual oc 
 cupancy of Mexican forces, or Mexican settlements over which the re 
 public of Texas did not exercise jurisdiction at the period of annexation, 
 or shortly before that event. It is expected that, in selecting the estab 
 lishment for your troops, you will approach as near the boundary line 
 the Rio Grande as prudence will dictate. With this view, the President 
 desires that your position, for a part of your forces, at least, should be west 
 of the river Nueces." 
 
 This, and even more forcible language, was repeated in letters from the 
 same source on the 23d and 30th of August, and on the 16th of October, 
 1845. In the last letter the secretary of war states distinctly that the 
 western boundary of Texas is the Rio Grande. See Senate doc. No. 337, 
 29th cong. 1st sess. pp. 75, 77, 80, 81, 82. 
 
 * That this was General Taylor's view of the question is proved by a 
 remark in his letter to General Ampudia on the 12th of April, 1846, on 
 being warned by that officer to break up his camp and to retire to the other 
 bank of the Nueces. General Taylor says : I need hardly advise you that 
 charged as I am, in only a military capacity, with tKe performance of specific 
 duties, I cannot enter into a discussion of the international question involved in 
 the advance of the American army. id. p. 124. 
 
MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES. 105 
 
 lomatic question, he informed our government, that if it made 
 the Rio Grande an ultimatum in adjusting a boundary, he 
 doubted not that the settlement would be facilitated by tak 
 ing possession, at once, of one or two suitable points on, or 
 quite near, that river. At these spots, our strength would be 
 displayed in a manner not to be mistaken, while the position 
 of our troops at the remote camp of Corpus Christi, with arid 
 wastes between them and the outposts of Mexico, altogether 
 failed to impress that government with our readiness to vin 
 dicate by force of arms our title to the country as far as the 
 Rio Grande.* Moreover, General Taylor felt encumbered 
 by the orders from our war department of the 8th July, in 
 which he was told that Mexico held military establishments 
 on the east side of the Rio Grande, whose forces he should not 
 disturb until our peaceful relations were finally destroyed. f 
 
 Accordingly, on the 13th of January, 1846, our comman- 
 der-in-chief was directed to advance with his troops to the 
 Rio Grande.J This movement was made in consequence 
 of the anticipated failure of our negotiations, clearly indi 
 cated by the conduct of the Mexican government imme 
 diately upon the arrival of Mr. Slidell in the capital. But 
 before these orders were despatched to General Taylor, he 
 had already in August, 1845, been apprised of his duties in 
 the event of hostile demonstrations on the part of the enemy. 
 In case of an invasion of Texas by the Mexicans, he was 
 directed to drive them back beyond the Rio Grande; and, 
 although it was desirable that he should confine himself as 
 much as possible to defensive measures, yet, in the event of 
 such a repulse, he was authorized to seize and hold posses 
 sion of Matamoros and other places on the soil of Mexico. 
 
 This resolution of our government was made the subject 
 
 * See Senate Doc. No. 337, 29th cong. 1st sess. p. 99. 
 t Id. p. 75. | Id. p. 82. 
 
 14 
 
106 HISTORY OF THE WAR BETWEEN 
 
 of grave complaint by persons who opposed the war. The 
 order to advance from Corpus Christ! to the Rio Grande was 
 alleged to be an act of invasion, and consequently, that hos 
 tilities were commenced by us and not by Mexico. 
 
 It may be pardoned if we pause awhile to consider a sub 
 ject of such vital importance. The solution of the question 
 was placed by one party upon the determination whether 
 the Rio Grande was the boundary between Texas and 
 Mexico before the battle of San Jacinto; and, if not, whether 
 it has been made so since by competent authority. Up to 
 that period it was asserted to be a recognized fact that the 
 Nueces was the western boundary of Texas. Mr. John 
 Quincy Adams, in his controversy with Don Luis De Onis, 
 upon the Spanish boundary question, in March, 1818;* and 
 Messieurs Pinckney and Monroe, in their argument with 
 Cevallos at Madrid in April, lS05,f claimed the Rio Grande 
 as the true limit between the United States and Mexico, by 
 virtue of the ancient rights of France and the treaties between 
 that sovereignty and the Spanish king.* It was asserted, 
 
 * American State papers, vol. 4, p. 468. 
 
 t Id. vol. 2, p. 662. 
 
 J As it may be important that the reader should understand the title to 
 Louisiana under which the boundary of the Rio Grande was claimed, the 
 following is a summary of its history. Louisiana originally belonged to 
 France, but by a secret compact between that country and Spain in 1762, 
 and by treaties, in the following year, between France, Spain, and Eng 
 land, the French dominion was extinguished on all the continent of Ame 
 rica. In consequence of the treaty between this country and England in 
 1783, the Mississippi became the western boundary of the United States 
 from its source to the 31 of north latitude, and thence, on the same paral 
 lel to the St. Mary's. France, it will be remembered, always had claimed 
 dominion in Louisiana to the Rio Bravo or Rio Grande, by virtue 
 
 1st. Of the discovery of the Mississippi from near its source to the ocean. 
 
 2d. Of the possession taken, and establishment made by La Salle, at the bay of 
 St. Bernard, west of the rivers Trinity and Colorado, by authority of Louis XJV t 
 in 1685 ; notwithstanding the subsequent destruction of the colony. 
 
MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES. 107 
 
 therefore, that by the cession of Louisiana all the rights of 
 France over Texas, as an integral part of her territory, ac 
 crued to us; and consequently that when the State of Texas 
 was united to this country it was only re-annexed with what 
 were claimed to be its ancient limits. But this was not a 
 
 . 3d. Of the charter of Louis XIV, to Crozat in 1712. 
 
 4th. The historical authority of Du Pratz, Champigny, and the Count de 
 Vergennes. 
 
 5th. Of the authority of De Lisle's map, and of the map published in 
 1762 by Don Thomas Lopez, geographer to the king of Spain, as well as of 
 various other maps, atlases, and geographical and historical authorities. 
 
 By an article of the secret treaty of San Ildefonso, in October, 1800, 
 Spain retroceded Louisiana to France ; yet this treaty was not promulgated 
 till the beginning of 1802. The paragraph of cession is as follows: "His 
 Catholic majesty engages to retrocede to the French republic, six months 
 after the full arid entire execution of the conditions and stipulations above 
 recited relative to his Royal Highness, the Duke of Parma, the colony and 
 province of Louisiana, with the same extent that it already has in the 
 hands of Spain, and that it had when France possessed it, and such as it should 
 be, after the treaties passed subsequently between Spain and other powers." 
 In 1803, Bonaparte, the first consul of the French republic, ceded Louis 
 iana to the United States, as fully and in the same manner as it had been 
 retroceded to France by Spain in the treaty of San Ildefonso ; and, by vir 
 tue of this grant, Messieurs Madison, Monroe, Adams, Clay, Van Buren, 
 and Jackson contended that the original limits of the state had been the 
 Rio Grande. However, by the 3rd article of our treaty with Spain in 
 1819, all our pretensions to extend the territory of Louisiana towards 
 Mexico or the Rio Grande, were resigned and abandoned by adopting the 
 River Sabine as our southern confine in that quarter. See Lyman's diplo 
 macy of the United States. Vol. 1, p. 368, and vol. 2. p. 136. 
 
 The following extract from a valuable letter with which the author was 
 favored by Ex-President Adams, who, as secretary of state, conducted the 
 negotiations with Spain, will explain his. opinions and acts upon a subject 
 of so much importance. 
 
 QUINCY, 7th July, 1847. 
 **#**###* 
 
 "Whoever sets out with an inquiry respecting the right of territories in 
 the American hemisphere claimed by Europeans, must begin by settling 
 
108 HISTORY OF THE WAR BETWEEN 
 
 true statement of the controversy, for after our treaty with 
 Spain the aspect of the affair changed. The question then 
 was no longer what had been the boundary under the laws 
 between France and Spain, or between Spain and the 
 United States, but what were the limits either under the 
 
 certain conventional principles of right and wrong before he can enter 
 upon the discussion. 
 
 "For example what right had Columbus to Cat Island, otherwise called 
 Guanahani ? Who has the right to it now and how came they by it? The 
 flag of St. George and the Dragon now waves over it ; but who had the 
 right to take possession of it because Christopher Columbus found it, the 
 paltriest island in the midst of the ocean. European statesmen, warriors, 
 and writers on what are called the laws of nations, have laid down a sys 
 tem of laws upon which they found this right. Have the Carribee In 
 dians, in whose possession that Island was discovered by Columbus, ever 
 assented to that system of right and wrong ? 
 
 "You remember that Hume, in commencing his history of England by 
 the Roman conquest says "that without seeking any more justifiable rea 
 sons of hostility than were employed by the later Europeans in subjecting 
 the Africans and the Americans, they sent over an army under the com 
 mand of Plautius, an able general, who gained some victories, and made a 
 considerable progress in subduing the inhabitants." Then, no European 
 has ever had any better right to take possession of America, than Julius 
 Caesar and the Romans had to take possession of the island of Britain. 
 
 "What then was the right either of France or Spain to the possession 
 of the province of Texas ? To come to any question of right between the 
 parties upon the subject you must agree upon certain conventional princi 
 ples: where and when your question of right must become applicable to 
 the facts ; and, as between them, it was a disputed question, and had been 
 so from the discovery of the mouth of the Mississippi river by La Salle, 
 and from his second expedition to find the mouth of the Mississippi coming 
 from the ocean, in which he perished. 
 
 " Spain had prior claims to the country, but the claim of France was 
 founded upon the last voyage of La Salle, and by extending a supposed 
 derivative right, from the spot where La Salle landed half way to the 
 nearest Spanish settlement. 
 
 " Mr. Monroe and Mr. Charles Pinckney, in their correspondence with 
 Cevallos, assumed this as a settled principle between European nations, in 
 the discussion of right to American territory. It was not contested, but 
 
MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES. 109 
 
 colonial government of the Mexican viceroyalty, or under 
 the laws of Mexico, when she became an independent re 
 public. It was asserted that no map or geography existed 
 since the establishment of the republic that did not lay down 
 the boundary north of the Rio Grande. The map of Texas, 
 compiled by Stephen H. Austin, the parent of Texan colo 
 nization, published at Philadelphia in 1835, and setting forth 
 all the Mexican grants in Texas, represents the, Rio Nueces 
 as the western boundary. General Almonte in 1834, as I 
 have previously stated, alleged, upon the authority of the 
 State government of Coahuila and Texas that the boundary 
 between them was even east of the Nueces. This was pro 
 bably in accordance with the ancient Spanish division ; for, 
 in 1805 Cevallos declared to our ministers at Madrid that the 
 province of Texas, " where the Spaniards have had settle 
 ments from the 17th century, was bounded on the east by 
 Louisiana, and contains the extensive country which lies be 
 tween the river Medina where the government of Coahuila 
 ends, and the post now abandoned," Authorities to this 
 
 was not assented to on the part of Spain; and, having found it laid down 
 by Messieurs Monroe and Pinckney, 1 argued upon it, and it was never 
 directly answered by Don Luis De Onis, who could not controvert it with 
 out going to the Pope's Bull.f 
 
 " As between France and Spain therefore, I maintained that the question 
 of right, had always been disputed and never was settled, from which 
 opinion I have not since varied. That we had a shadow of right beyond 
 the Sabine I never believed since the conclusion of the Florida treaty, and, 
 it is from the date of that treaty, that Great Britain had not a shadow of 
 right upon the Oregon territory until we have been pleased to confer it 
 upon her." 
 
 ****** **# 
 
 " I am, dear sir, with great respect, your very obedient servant, 
 
 J. Q. ADAMS." 
 To BRANTZ MAYER, ESQ., Baltimore." 
 
 t Alexander Vlth's Bull of Donation, 
 
110 HISTORY OF THE WAR BETWEEN 
 
 effect might be extensively multiplied.* Brazos de Santiago 
 was a Mexican, port of entry, which continued to be held up 
 to the period of hostilities, and Laredo was a small Mexican 
 town, occupied by a Mexican garrison. If such was the 
 geographical division between Texas and Mexico on the 
 lower Rio Grande, near its mouth in the gulf, it was asserted 
 that there could be infinitely less right to, claim it as a limit 
 nearer its source, since Santa Fe, the capital of New Mexico, 
 had never been within the jurisdiction of Texas, and since 
 the boundaries of Chihuahua commenced near the head 
 waters of the Nueces. 
 
 These were some of the arguments used by individuals 
 who deemed the march to Point Isabel an invasion of Mexi 
 can territory. It is just that a few reasons should also be 
 presented on behalf of those who believed it to be lawful or 
 expedient. 
 
 When Santa Anna was captured after the battle of San 
 Jacinto in 1836, the leading men in Texas had great diffi 
 culty in rescuing him from popular vengeance for the massa- 
 
 * See " Matthew Carey's general map of the world," 29th map pub 
 lished 1814. Kennedy's Texas, p. 4. Mrs. Holley's Texas. History of 
 Texas, by D. B. Edwards, preceptor of Gonzales Seminary, Texas, 1836, 
 p. 14. He says: "Texas is bounded on the north by Red river, which 
 divides it from Arkansas, Ozark District, and New Mexico ; on the south 
 by the Gulf of Mexico and the' Rio de las Nueces, which divides it from the 
 States of Coahuila and Tamaulipas ; on the east by the eastern branch of the 
 river Sabine and the State of Louisiana ; on the west by the State of Coa 
 huila and the territory of New Mexico." 
 
 Accompanying the work is a map of Texas with boundaries, as laid 
 down above. In a note on one corner of the map, speaking of the 
 Rio Grande, he says : " If this river should ever become the western 
 boundary of Texas (as desired by the inhabitants) it will add a hundred 
 miles to its sea-coast and fifty thousand square miles to its superficies ; the 
 southern section of the surface is sandy, barren prairie, almost destitute of 
 water ; and its northern rocky, sterile mountains, nearly as destitute of 
 timber." 
 
MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES. Ill 
 
 cres he had committed. The victory over the central chief 
 the despot and dictator of Mexico was generally believed 
 to be a crowning measure of success, for the bitter persecutor 
 soon dwindled into the humble supplicant, and pledged 
 his name and his oath to secure the independence of the 
 rebellious State. Accordingly, with every appearance and 
 promise of good faith and honor, he executed contracts 
 with the Texan authorities which deserve consideration in 
 discussing this question. On the 14th of May, 1836, at Ve- 
 lasco, two of these documents wete signed by Santa Anna, 
 Burnet, Collings worth, Hard i mart and Grayson, the first 
 being a public, and the second a secret convention between 
 the parties. The third article of the first paper stipulates 
 that the Mexican troops shall evacuate the territory of Tex 
 as, passing to the other side of the Rio Grande, while the 
 fourth article of the secret agreement declares that a treaty of 
 amity, commerce and limits shall be made between Mexico 
 and Texas, the territory of the latter power not to extend 
 beyond the Rio Bravo del Norte, or Rio Grande. In con 
 formity with these contracts, Texas set free the prisoner, 
 whose " prompt release and departure for Vera Cruz," ac 
 cording to their tenor, " were necessary for the fulfilment 
 of his solemn oath" to obtairi a recognition of the indepen 
 dence of Texas, and to dispose the Mexican cabinet for the 
 reception of commissioners.* 
 
 Santa Anna returned to his country in disgrace after his 
 disastrous campaign, and lurked in retirement at his farm 
 until the French attacked Vera Cruz, when he threw him 
 self again at the head of the departmental forces. In the 
 action he fortunately lost a limb, and by the skilful display 
 of his mutilation in defence of Mexico, he renewed his 
 
 * Primer a Campana de Tejas: by Ramon Martinez Caro, secretary of 
 Santa Anna, pp. 122, 125. 
 
J12 HISTORY OP THE WAR BETWEEN 
 
 claims to national gratitude. Instead, however, of using his 
 influence to obtain the treaty, promised as the boon for his 
 life, he became at once the bitterest foe of Texas, and pledged 
 himself to fight " forever for its reconquest." Texas, mean 
 while, acting in good faith, and presuming to adopt the spi 
 rit and letter of the convention with Santa Anna, whom she 
 naturally regarded as the dictator of Mexico, passed the act 
 of December 19, 1836, establishing the Rio Grande as her 
 boundary from the gulf to its source. Besides this, her 
 congress created senatorial and representative districts west 
 of the Nueces; organized and defined limits of counties 
 extending to the Rio Grande; created courts of justice; 
 spread her judicial system over the country wherever her 
 people roamed, and performed other acts of sovereignty 
 which we are compelled not to disregard. It cannot be 
 contended that these acts and agreements were alone suffi 
 cient, under the laws of nations, to confer upon Texas un 
 questionable rights over the soil between the Nueces and the 
 Rio Grande, for a contract with the captive president and 
 general was not legally binding ; but it is equally clear that 
 all these arguments of the old authorities as to the original 
 boundary, and all the new claims set up by Texas, under 
 her statutes, as well as stipulations with Santa Anna, made 
 that territory a disputed ground whose real ownership could 
 only be equitably settled by negotiation. The strong language 
 of both the contracts, just recited, seems to concede the 
 fact that the president of Mexico regarded, at least the lower 
 Rio Grande, as already the real boundary between Mexico 
 and Texas, notwithstanding the opinion of Almonte in 1834; 
 and consequently that it was neither the subject of treaty or 
 agreement at that moment, nor could it become so after 
 wards when commissioners were appointed. 
 When Texas was annexed to the United States she was 
 
MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES. 113 
 
 received with these asserted limits, though she did not join 
 the Union with any specific boundaries.* It was thought 
 best by both parties to leave the question of confines open 
 between Mexico and our country, so as not to complicate 
 the national entanglements. After the congress of the 
 United States and convention in Texas had acted upon the 
 joint resolution it was impossible for us to recede. The 
 course of our presidents, therefore, was at once pacific and 
 soothing towards Mexico. For although they believed that 
 republic had no right to be consulted as to the annexation 
 of Texas, a free and independent State, they nevertheless 
 admitted all her natural and just privileges in regard to 
 boundary. Mr. Tyler and Mr. Polk therefore despatched 
 envoys to Mexico with the offer of liberal negotiations as 
 soon as a favorable opportunity presented itself. But the 
 charge and minister of Mr. Tyler were scornfully rejected, 
 while Mr. Slidell, as has been already related, was refused 
 an audience upon frivolous pretences at a moment when the 
 Mexican secretary was secretly craving to receive him.f 
 
 In such a juncture what was the duty of the United 
 States ? It is an easy matter for speculative philosophers or 
 political critics to find fault with the conduct of statesmen 
 
 * Mr. Donelson wrote to Mr. Buchanan on the 2d July, 1845, from Wash 
 ington, Texas, as follows: " My position is that we can hold Corpus Christ! 
 and all other points up the Nueces. If attacked, the right of defence will 
 authorise us to expel the Mexicans to the Rio Grande. It is better for us 
 to await the attack than incur the risk of embarrassing the question of an 
 nexation with the consequences of immediate possession of the territory 
 on the Rio Grande. * * * The government left for treaty arrange 
 ment the boundary question in the propositions for a definitive treaty of 
 peace. H. of R. doc. No. 2, 29th cong. 1st sess. pp. 78, 79. 
 
 1 1 am informed by Mr. Parrott, the secretary of legation who accompa 
 nied Mr. Slidell, that no form of letters of credence or evidence of pow 
 ers as " commissioner to settle the Texan dispute," would have secured a hear 
 ing for our envoy. The mob, the army, and Paredes were determined 
 that no missionary of peace should be received from the United States. 
 15 
 
114 HISTORY OF THE WAR BETWEEN 
 
 tfe 
 
 and to become prophets of woe after the occurrence of 
 events they deprecate. But such men are timid actors on 
 the world's stage, and especially in such a theatre of folly 
 as the Mexican republic. Governments have but two ways 
 of settling international disputes, either by negotiation or 
 war, and, even the latter must be concluded by diplomacy, 
 for nations rarely fight until one of them is completely anni 
 hilated. Negotiation, or the attempt to negotiate, had been 
 completely exhausted by us. Meanwhile Mexico continued 
 to excite our curiosity by spasmodic struggles in nerving 
 her people for the war, as well as by gasconading despatches 
 which breathed relentless animosity to our country for the 
 annexation of Texas. Nevertheless, this sensitive and 
 vaunting nation would neither make peace, establish boun 
 daries, negotiate, nor declare war. Was it reasonable that 
 such a frantic state of things should be permitted to con 
 tinue.? Could this perverse aversion to fighting or friend 
 ship be tolerated? Were our countries to conclude an eter 
 nal compact of mutual hatred and non intercourse? Was 
 such childish obstinacy and weakness to be connived at in 
 our country? Was it due to common sense, justice, or the 
 preservation of a good neighborhood that we should remain 
 supine under insane threats and dishonorable treatment? 
 We asserted that, upon the Texas question, we had rightly 
 no dispute with Mexico, except as to the boundary involved 
 in the territory our forces were then occupying or about to 
 cross. We did not design discussing our right to annex 
 Texas. That was an act accomplished and unalterable. It 
 was, doubtless, exceedingly convenient for Mexico to main 
 tain this pacific state of quasi-war and to reject, alike, our 
 amity and hostilities, as long as she owed us many millions 
 of dollars and refused either to pay principal or interest, or 
 to conclude a treaty for the settlement of unadjusted claims. 
 
MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES. 115 
 
 Whilst her government was able to enforce non-intercourse, 
 it was free from importunity and payment. But this adroit' 
 scheme of insolvency was unjust to our citizens, and only 
 served to augment the liabilities of Mexico. What then 
 remained to be done ? The reply may be found in a signi 
 ficant anecdote related by Mr. Adams in a speech in con 
 gress on the Oregon question, on the 2d of January, 1846. 
 "After negotiating" said he "for twenty years about 
 thi$ matter we may take possession of the subject matter of 
 negotiation. Indeed, we may negotiate after we take pos 
 session, and this is the military way of doing business. 
 When Frederick the Great came to the throne of Prussia he 
 found that his father had equipped for him an army of a 
 hundred thousand men. Meeting soon after the Austrian 
 minister, the latter said to him: "Your father has given you 
 a great army, but ours has seen the wolf, whilst your ma 
 jesty's has not." " Well well !" exclaimed Frederick, " I 
 will soon give it an opportunity to see the wolf!" Fred 
 erick then added, in his memoirs: "I had some excellent 
 old pretensions to an Austrian province, which some of my 
 ancestors owned one or two centuries before; accordingly I 
 sent an ambassador to the court of Austria stating my claim, 
 and presenting a full exposition of my right to the province. 
 The same day my ambassador was received in Vienna, I 
 entered Silesia with my army!" 4 
 
 * The claim of Frederick the Ilnd to Silesia was considered plausible. As 
 Bohemia renounced not only the possession, but all its rights to Silesia by 
 the treaties of Breslau and Berlin and other subsequent treaties, the kings 
 of Prussia pretended, that by virtue of the renunciation, they became sov 
 ereign dukes of the country and not subject to the emperor in their new 
 character. To this claim it was replied that Bohemia being an imperial 
 State, could not, of its own authority, destroy the feudal tenure by which 
 Silesia was attached to it, and through it to the empire. The question was 
 rendered more intricate, for one party considered Bohemia feudal only as 
 
116 HISTORY OF THE WAR BETWEEN 
 
 Such would- be a prompt and impulsive answer to the 
 manifold prevarications of seditious Mexico. But the army 
 we advanced and the country we occupied, were neither the 
 army of Frederick nor the pleasant vales of rich and popu 
 lous Silesia. A nearly desolate waste, stretched from the 
 Nueces to the Rio Grande, barren alike in soil and inhabi 
 tants, and tempting none to its dreary wilderness but noma 
 dic rancher os or outlaws who found even Mexico no place 
 of refuge for their wickedness. It was, surely, not a land 
 worthy of bloodshed, and yet, in consequence of its sterility, 
 it 'became of vast importance on a frontier across whose 
 wide extent enemies might pass unobserved and unmolested. 
 With the entire command of the Rio Grande from its source 
 to its mouth in the hands of our enemy, and the whole of 
 this arid region flanking the stream and interposing itself 
 between Mexico and our troops, it is evident that our ad 
 versaries would possess unusual advantages over us either 
 for offensive or defensive war. The mere control of the em 
 bouchure of the river was no trivial superiority, for, on a 
 stormy and inhospitable coa^f, it was almost impossible to 
 support an effectual blockade and thus prevent the enemy 
 from being succored along his whole frontier with arms and 
 provisions from abroad. By seizing, however, the usual 
 points of transit and entrance on the lower Rio Grande 
 many of these evils might be avoided ; and, if Mexico ulti 
 mately resolved on hostilities, we should be enabled to throw 
 our forces promptly across the river, and by rapid marches 
 
 to the electoral dignity, but as a kingdom free and independent of Ger 
 many. The Germans argued that Silesia was part of the empire, the 
 Prussians considered it a separate and independent State. Frederick took 
 advantage of these "state right" doctrines to sustain his claim, as Texas 
 took advantage of her state right sovereignty when the central despotism 
 of Santa Anna overthrew the federal constitution of 1824. 
 
MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES. 117 
 
 obtain the command of all the military positions of vantage 
 along her north-eastern boundary. 
 
 The foresight of Frederick the Great disclosed to him the 
 military value of Silesia in the event of a war with Austria, 
 and it was probably that circumstance, quite as much as his 
 alleged political rights, that induced him to enter it with an 
 army on the day when he commenced negotiations. He 
 began the war with Austria by surprising Saxony, and, 
 during all his difficulties, clung tenaciously to the possession 
 of Silesia. Saxony was important as a military barrier 
 covering Prussia on the side of Austria, while Silesia in 
 dented deeply the line of the Austrian frontier and flanked a 
 large part of Bohemia.* Thus Saxony and Silesia formed 
 a natural fortification for Prussia, just as the deserts of the 
 disputed land, when in our rear, covered the undefended 
 confines of Texas at the same* time that they gave us the 
 keys to the enemy's country at Point Isabel and Matamoros. 
 
 It may be asserted that, when vacant or nearly vacant 
 territory is in controversy between two nations, and forms 
 the only subject of real dispute between them, it would be 
 better for both to refrain from an attempt to occupy it, pro 
 vided they are willing to arbitrate the quarrel, or settle it by 
 diplomacy. But, when both parties assert claims, both have 
 equal rights to enter it, when negotiation fails. The deci 
 sion is then to be made only by intimidation or war. There 
 is no alternative by which collision can be escaped, and it 
 is the duty of the wiser of the disputants to place his na 
 tional forces in such an advantageous position as either to 
 defend his acknowledged territory or force himself to be 
 driven from the soil he claims. "I do not consider the 
 inarch to the Rio Grande to have been the cause of the 
 
 * Arnold's fourth lecture on Modern History. 
 
118 HISTORY OF THE WAR BETWEEN 
 
 war" said a distinguished statesman, "anymore than I 
 consider the British march on Concord or Lexington to have 
 been the cause of the American revolution, or the crossing 
 of the Rubicon to have been the cause of the civil war in 
 Rome. The march to the Rio Grande brought on the colli 
 sion of arms, but, so far from being the cause of the war, it 
 was itself the effect of those causes." 
 
 The power of declaring war is expressly reserved by the 
 constitution to congress, and, though the president is com 
 mander in chief of the army when called into actual service, 
 he should be extremely cautious in issuing orders" or doing 
 acts which may lead to hostilities resulting in war. Our 
 congress was in session in January, 1846, when Mr. Slidell 
 was rejected by Mexico, when our international relations 
 were complicated as I have described, and when the secre 
 tary of war, by the president's direction, gave the order for 
 Taylor's advance to the Rio Grande. This was an act that 
 brought the armies of Mexico and the United States in front 
 of each other; and although there can be no doubt that con 
 gress would have authorised the movement of our troops 
 under the military advice of General Taylor, provided the 
 Rio Grande was to be made an ultimatum in the ratification 
 of a treaty by our senate, it is, nevertheless, to be pro 
 foundly regretted that the question was not previously sub 
 mitted to our national representatives. At that moment the 
 public mind was distracted between Mexico and England; 
 but the Oregon question nearly absorbed the apparently 
 minor difficulties with our restive neighbor. Congress con 
 templated the solemn probability of war with one of the 
 mightiest nations of our age, and even some of our expe 
 rienced statesmen, as we have seen in the example of Mr. 
 Adams, recommended the most stringent measures of 
 
MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES. 119 
 
 armed occupation. At such a crisis, and with a confiden 
 tial knowledge of .all our foreign relations, it was the duty 
 of the president to represent these matters frankly to con 
 gress and to ask the opinion of his constitutional advisers, 
 as he subsequently did in the settlement of the dispute with 
 Great Britain. This prudent act would have saved the ex 
 ecutive from needless responsibility, whilst it indicated a 
 sensitive devotion to the behests of our constitution. Con 
 gress met whilst our troops were encamped at Corpus 
 Christi, as an army of observation, whose hostile, though 
 protective character, was unquestionable ; yet our represen 
 tatives neither ordered its return nor refused it supplies. 
 This denoted a willingness to sanction measures which 
 might either pacify Mexico, or impose upon that republic 
 the immediate alternative of war. It is not improbable that 
 congress would have adopted such a course, because, ac 
 cording to the pretensions of Mexico, our troops had already 
 invaded her domains. This is an important view of the 
 question which should not be passed by silently. Mexico, 
 it must be remembered, never relinquished her right to re 
 conquer Texas, but always claimed the whole province as 
 her own, asserting a determination to regard its union with 
 our confederacy as justifiable cause of war. The joint-re 
 solution, alone, was therefore a belligerent act of the con 
 gress of the United States, sufficient, according to the doc 
 trine of Mexico, to compel hostile retaliation. But, more 
 over, as the entire soil of Texas, from the Sabine to the 
 Nueces or Rio Grande was still claimed by Mexico as her 
 unsurrendered country, the landing of a single American 
 soldier anywhere south of our ancient boundary with Spain, 
 was quite as hostile an invasion of Mexican territory as the 
 4 passage of our army from Corpus Christi to Point Isabel. 
 
120 HISTORY OF THE WAR BETWEEN 
 
 Occasions upon which the eminent right of self protec 
 tion has been adopted as a principle of action in the United 
 States, are not wanting in our political history. The circum 
 stances in all, are of course not precisely the same, but the 
 policy is identical. The conduct of our government in re 
 gard to General Jackson's invasion of Florida for the sup 
 pression of Indian cruelties may be referred to. But con 
 gress might have found a still more analogous case, in the 
 dispute between Spain and the United States as to the east 
 ern limits of Louisiana. Spain alleged that Florida ex 
 tended to the Mississippi, embracing what was then a wil 
 derness, but, now, forms the populous States of Alabama 
 and Mississippi; while our government asserted that all the 
 territory eastward of the Mississippi and extending to the 
 Rio Perdido belonged of right to us by virtue of the treaty 
 concluded at Paris on the 30th of April, 1803. By acts of 
 congress in 1803 and 1804 the president was authorized to 
 take possession of the territory ceded by France, to establish 
 a provisional government, to lay duties on goods imported 
 into it; and, moreover, whenever he deemed it expedient , to 
 erect the bay and river Mobile into a separate district, in 
 which he might establish a port of entry and delivery. 
 
 In 1810, President Madison believing that the United 
 States had too long acquiesced in the temporary continuance 
 of this territory under Spanish domain, and that nothing was 
 to be gained from Spain by candid discussion and amicable 
 negotiation for several years, solved the difficulty by taking 
 possession of Mobile and Baton Rouge and extending our 
 jurisdiction to the Perdido. This possession, he took means 
 to ensure, if needful, by military force. Mr. Madison's con 
 duct was assailed in congress by the federalists who regarded 
 it as an unjustifiable and offensive demonstration against 
 
MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES. 121 
 
 Spain, but it was defended with equal warmth by the oppo 
 sition, especially by Mr. Clay, and the Rio Perdido has 
 ever since continued to form the western limit of Florida.* 
 
 When nations are about to undertake the dread responsi 
 bility of war, and to spread the sorrow and ruin which al 
 ways mark the pathway of victorious or defeated armies, 
 they should pause to contemplate the enormity of their en 
 terprise as well as the principles that can alone justify them 
 in the sight of God and man. Human life cannot be law 
 fully destroyed, assailed or endangered for any other object 
 than that of just defence of person or principle, yet it is 
 not a legal consequence that defensive w r ars are always 
 just.f 
 
 " It is the right of a State," said that profound moralist 
 and statesman, Sir James Mackintosh, " to take all measures 
 necessary for her safety if it be attacked or threatened from 
 without : provided always that reparation cannot otherwise 
 be obtained ; that there is a reasonable prospect of obtain 
 ing it by arms ; and that the evils of the contest are not 
 probably greater than the mischiefs of acquiescence in the 
 wrong; including, on both sides of the deliberation, the 
 ordinary consequences of the example as well as the imme 
 diate effects of the act. If reparation can otherwise be ob 
 tained, a nation has no necessary, and therefore no just 
 cause of war ; if there be no probability of obtaining it by 
 arms, a government cannot, with justice to their own nation, 
 embark it in war ; and, if the evils of resistance should ap 
 pear on the whole greater than those of submission, wise 
 
 * Waite's State papers, 1809-11, p. 261; and Clay's speech on the line 
 of the Perdido. 
 
 f Puffendorf, Lib. VIII, c. 6. Note by Barbeyrac. 
 
 16 
 
 
122 HISTORY OF THE WAR BETWEEN 
 
 rulers will consider an abstinence from a pernicious exercise 
 of right as a sacred duty to their own subjects, and a debt 
 which every people owes to the great commonwealth of 
 mankind, of which they and their enemies are alike mem 
 bers. A war is just against the wrongdoer when reparation 
 for wrong cannot otherwise be obtained ; but is then only 
 conformable to all the principles of morality when it is not 
 likely to expose the nation by whom it is levied to greater 
 evils than it professes to avert, and when it does not inflict 
 on the nation which has done the wrong, sufferings altogether 
 disproportion^ to the extent of the injury. When the rulers 
 of a nation are required to determine a question of peace or 
 war, the bare justice of their case against the wrongdoer 
 never can be the sole, and is not always the chief matter on 
 which they are morally bound to exercise a conscientious 
 deliberation. Prudence in conducting the affairs of their 
 subjects is in them a part of justice." 
 
 These are the true principles by which Mexico should 
 have judged the controversy between us, before she rejected 
 all our efforts to negotiate, and forced our government to 
 prepare for hostilities 
 
 The idea of war, for mere conquest, seems now to be ob 
 solete among civilized nations. To political dominion, as 
 exhibited in the various governments of the old world, and 
 in most of the new, geographical limits are definitely as 
 signed. This fact must, hereafter, greatly modify the objects 
 of war, by narrowing them to principles instead of territory. 
 Principles, however, are always the fair subjects of contro 
 versy for the diplomatic art. Yet such is the perversity of 
 human nature, that, although we are convinced of the pro 
 priety and possibility of adjusting our disputes by reason, 
 
MEXICO AXU THE UNITED STATES. 123 
 
 we nevertheless go to war for these very principles, and, 
 after having done each other an incalculable amount of in 
 jury, at last sit down like cripples, to negotiate the very 
 matters which ought to have been treated and terminated 
 diplomatically at first. It is, perhaps, the folly of mankind 
 to believe that there is more wisdom in negotiators and 
 diplomacy when nations are lame and weakened by war than 
 when they are full of the vigorous energy and intelligence 
 of peace ! 
 
 NOTE. It may be useful to record the following proclamation of General 
 Woll, before annexation, in order to show, that the agreements between 
 Santa Anna and the Texans in 1836, are not the only Mexican documents 
 in existence which seemed to open the boundary question between Texas 
 and Tamaulipas. 
 
 " Headquarters of the Army of the JVbrtfi, Mier, June 20, 1844. 
 
 "I, Adrian Woll, general of brigade, &c., make known: 
 
 "1. The armistice agreed on with the department of Texas having ex 
 pired, and the war being, in consequence, recommenced against the inhabi 
 tants of that department,- all communication with it ceases. 
 
 "2. Every individual, of whatever condition, who may contravene pro 
 visions of the preceding article, shall be regarded as a traitor, and shall 
 receive the punishment prescribed in article 45, title ]0, treatise 8, of the 
 articles of war. 
 
 " 3. Every individual who may be found at the distance of one league from the 
 left bank of the Rio Bravo, will be regarded as a favorer and accomplice of the 
 usurpers of that part of the national territory, and as a traitor to his country ; 
 and, after a summary military trial, shall receive the said punishment. 
 
 " 4. Every individual who may be comprehended within the provisions 
 of the preceding article, and may be rash enough to fly at the sight of any 
 force belonging to the supreme government, shall be pursued until taken, 
 or put to death. 
 
 " 5. In consideration of the situation of the towns of La Reda and Santa 
 Rita de Ampudia, as well as of all the farm houses beyond the Rio Bravo, I 
 have this day received, from the supreme government, orders to determine 
 the manner by which those interested are to be protected; but, until 
 the determination of the supreme government be received, I warn all 
 those who are beyond the limits here prescribed, to bring them within 
 the line, or to abandon them ; as those who disobey this order, will infalli 
 bly suffer the punishment here established. ADRIAN WOLL. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 Army marches from Corpus Christi Taylor prepares the Mexicans for his 
 advance Description of the march Beautiful prairie and desolate sand- 
 wilderness Rattlesnakes Chapparal The Arroyo Colorado First 
 hostile demonstrations of the Mexicans Expected fight Cross the Colo 
 rado Worth and Taylor separate True nature of discipline Charac 
 ters of Mexican and American soldiers contrasted. 
 
 ON the 8th of March, 1846, the joyous news ran through 
 the American camp, at Corpus Christi, that the tents were 
 at last to be struck. The worn out soldiery had nothing to 
 regret in quitting a spot where their eyes were only relieved 
 by looking from the dreary sea in front to the desolate prai 
 rie in the rear. General Taylor had already taken means to 
 prepare the Mexicans for his advance, although he scarcely 
 expected resistance. Respectable citizens from Matamoros 
 had frequently visited his camp; and to all of those who 
 were represented as possessing influence at home he pro 
 claimed the unhostile feelings of our government towards 
 their country, and that when our army marched southward 
 it would not pass the Rio Grande unless Mexico provoked 
 war. He invariably apprized these strangers of his resolu 
 tion to protect the peaceful inhabitants in all their rights and 
 usages, as well as to pay for every thing needed by his forces 
 instead of plundering the country for support. 
 
 Accordingly, on the morning of the 8th of the month, the 
 advanced guard, composed of the cavalry and Major Ring- 
 
MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES. 125 
 
 gold's light artillery, the whole under the command of 
 Colonel Twiggs, and numbering twenty-three officers and 
 three hundred and eighty-seven men, took up its line of 
 inarch towards Matamoras. This corps was succeeded by 
 the brigades of infantry, the last of which departed on the 
 llth followed immediately by the commandej: in chief with his 
 staff. The weather was favorable; the roads in tolerable 
 order; the troops in good condition notwithstanding the 
 winter's hardships ; while a general spirit of animation per 
 vaded the whole body, inspired as it was with the hope of 
 adventure in the neighborhood of an enemy. All, therefore, 
 departed on this day from Corpus Christ] by land, except 
 the command of Major Monroe, who was to reach the Bra 
 zos de Santiago in transports under convoy of the United 
 States brig Porpoise and the Woodbury. This officer was 
 to embark with a seige train and field battery, in season 
 to reach his destination when the army would be in the vi 
 cinity of Point Isabel. 
 
 The last adieus of our forces to their dreary winter quar 
 ter were by no means tearful, as with colors flying and 
 music playing, they crossed the sandy hills that concealed 
 it forever from their sight. The first day's march passed 
 through alternate patches of prairies and timber to the 
 Nueces ; but, on the two next, these sad wastes were ex 
 changed for splendid fields blossoming with flowers of every 
 hue. A delicious fragrance filled the air, and the whole 
 surface of the earth as far as the eye could reach, seemed 
 covered with a beautiful carpet. The edge of the horizon, 
 in every direction, was crowded with wild animals. On 
 one side thousands of mustangs curvetted over the gentle 
 elevations of the rolling prairie; on another herds of deer 
 might be seen standing for a moment filled with wonder at 
 the unwonted sight of human beings, and then bounding off 
 
126 HISTORY OF THE WAR BETWEEN 
 
 until they were lost in the vast distance. Beautiful ante 
 lopes, nimble as the wind, were beheld in countless num 
 bers, while pecarys and wild bulls rushed in droves across 
 the path of our men. But, on the fourth day of the march, 
 this scene of enchantment suddenly vanished. Uncultivated 
 prairies and immense herds of savage beasts had already 
 testified the abandoned state of the country; yet the region 
 our forces now entered disclosed the frightful "nakedness 
 of the land." The water became exceedingly bad, and 
 there was scarcely fuel enough for culinary purposes. The 
 blooming vegetation of the preceding days was exchanged 
 for sands through which the weary men and cattle toiled 
 with extreme difficulty. Salt lagunes spread out on every 
 side. At each step the fatigued soldier plunged ankle- deep 
 in the yielding soil, while a scorching sun shone over him 
 and not a breath of air relieved his sufferings. At times, a 
 verdant forest loomed up along the heated horizon, fringed 
 by limpid lakes, and our wearied columns moved on gaily, 
 cheated, again and again, by the hope of shade and water. 
 Suddenly the beautiful groves dwindled into jagged clumps 
 of thorns or aloes, and the fairy lakes changed to salt and 
 turbid lagunes. " The wormwood star had fallen on every 
 thing and turned the waters to bitterness." The plant 
 whose piercing spines and sword-like leaves have entitled it 
 to the name of the " Spanish bayonet," was the hermit 
 shrub of this dreadful Zaharah. Around its roots the snakes 
 lurked arid crawled. Whenever the soldiers' path was un 
 impeded by these annoyances, scarifying his limbs as he ad 
 vanced, the ground seemed heated and sinking like the 
 scorice of Vesuvius. Man and beast sank exhausted and 
 panting on the earth. The want and value of delicious 
 water are never known till we pass a day like this under the 
 burning rays of a tropical sun, toiling on foot over a scorched 
 
MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES. 127 
 
 and arid soil without refreshment! At length the word ran 
 along the line that it was approaching a lake whose waters 
 were not salt. " Under the excitement of hope the faint and 
 exhausted infantry pressed onward with renewed life, while, 
 some miles ahead, the artillery were seen to halt enjoying 
 the luxury of water. As the soldiers reached it all discipline 
 was forgotten; their arms were thrown down, and they 
 rushed boldly in, thrusting their heads beneath the waves in 
 their desire to quench the thirst that was consuming their 
 vitals."* 
 
 Such is the natural aspect and character of the desolate re 
 gion between the Nueces and the Rio Grande, a chequered 
 wilderness of sand and verdure, fit only for the wild beasts 
 that inhabit it, and properly described in former days, as a 
 a suitable frontier between the great republics of North 
 America. 
 
 On the 21st of March, all our forces concentrated on the 
 Arroyo Colorado, a salt stream or lagune nearly one hun 
 dred yards broad, and so deep as to be scarcely fordable, 
 situated about thirty miles north of Matamoros. Had the 
 enemy attacked us here his assault would have been for 
 midable, wearied as were our troops with the distressing 
 marches of previous days. Bold, bluff banks, twenty or 
 thirty feet high, hem in the stream, whose borders, on both 
 sides, are lined, for a considerable breadth, with impervious 
 thickets of chapparal. These thorny groves are to be found 
 in all sections of the south, varying in size from a few yards 
 to a mile in thickness, so closely interlaced and matted with 
 briers and bushes as to prevent the passage of animals larger 
 than a hare. They are the sorest annoyances of travellers 
 in Mexico, and often force the wayfarer to make a long cir- 
 * Army on the Rio Grande, p. 13. 
 
128 HISTORY OF THE WAR BETWEEN 
 
 cuit to pass their limits, though they reward him for his 
 trouble by supplying an abundance of the tuna a luscious 
 fruit of the prickly pear, which grows luxuriantly on these 
 natural and impenetrable walls. 
 
 Such, with the barrier of the stream, was the fortification 
 nature had interposed for the safe guard of Mexico at the 
 Arroyo Colorado. But the inert natives seemed indisposed 
 to take advantage of those rare defences, though not without 
 some hostile demonstration which the resolute conduct of 
 Taylor soon overcame. 
 
 When our advanced corps encamped near the banks of 
 the stream on the 19th, an armed reconnoisance was sent 
 forward to examine the country. On reaching the river, our 
 scouts discovered that the opposite side was lined with a 
 body of rancher o cavalry, from whom they learned, although 
 no opposition was made to our examination of the ford, 
 that we should be treated as enemies if we attempted to pass 
 it. Impossible as it was to ascertain accurately the amount 
 of the opposing force, our men were prepared for the worst, 
 and, at an early hour of the 20th, the cavalry and first bri 
 gade of infantry were thrown in position, at the ford, while 
 the batteries of field artillery were formed so as to sweep 
 the opposite bank. All was now anxiety and eagerness 
 among our gallant men. Far along the borders of the river, 
 above and below, the bugles of the enemy were heard ring 
 ing out in the clear morning air. But the hope of frighten 
 ing our men by overwhelming numbers was of no avail. 
 Our pioneers worked steadily on the road they were cutting 
 to the brink of the river; and, when all was ready for the 
 passage, the adjutant general of the Mexican forces appeared 
 on the ground for a final effort of intimidation. With Span 
 ish courtesy, he informed our general that positive orders 
 were given to his men to fire upon our forces if they at- 
 
MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES. 129 
 
 tempted to cross, and that our passage of the river would be 
 considered a declaration of war. At the same time he placed 
 in Taylor's hands a warlike proclamation issued by Mejia 
 at Matamoros on the 18th, containing unequivocal manifes 
 tations of the intention of the Mexicans to molest us. 
 
 Our commander-in-chief, however, was not to be deterred 
 by these threats from the fulfilment of the orders he had re 
 ceived to pass the Rio Grande. He answered the officer 
 that he would " immediately cross the river, and that if his 
 hostile party showed itself on the other bank after our pas 
 sage was commenced, it would unquestionably receive the 
 fire of our artillery." In the meantime the second brigade, 
 which had encamped some miles in our rear, came up and 
 formed on the extreme right ; and, as the road to the river 
 bank was by this time completed, the order to advance was 
 given. 
 
 It was a moment of intense excitement. What forces 
 might not lurk behind the dense walls of chapparal, ready 
 to dash upon our ranks as they deployed on the other side? 
 Our artillerists stood to their aimed and loaded guns. The 
 Mexicans were doubtless eager and panting for resistance 
 in the rear of the bristling plants that lined the lofty parapet 
 of the river's bank. Every eye was strained upon the first 
 daring rank that was to plunge into the stream .as a " forlorn 
 hope." Mexico would fight now if ever; for her mettle 
 was as yet untried ! For an instant, profound silence reigned 
 along the anxious line which the next moment might be in 
 volved in the fire of battle. Suddenly the gallant Worth 
 spurred to the head of our troops, and dashing boldly into 
 the flood, waved them on to the further shore. But not a 
 shot was fired by the recreant foe, and as our men rose 
 shouting from the water and rushed up the steeps of the op 
 posite bank they beheld the valiant Mexicans in brisk retreat 
 
130 HISTORY OP THE WAR BETWEEN 
 
 towards Matamoros! The fugitives were unmolested; a 
 laugh of scorn and pity ran through our ranks; and, before 
 nightfall, the first and second brigades of infantry, with a 
 train of two hundred wagons had crossed the stream and 
 encamped three miles from its banks. 
 
 This was an important affair, as it was the first in which 
 the Mexicans showed themselves in a decidedly hostile atti 
 tude; and it furnished an excellent opportunity to try the 
 mettle of our men both in spirit and discipline. Not a sol 
 dier faltered. 
 
 On the morning of the 23d of March, General Taylor 
 departed with his whole army from the camp near the Colo 
 rado. After a march of fifteen miles he reached, on the 
 24th, a position on the route from Matamoros to Point Isa 
 bel, distant about eighteen* miles from the former and ten 
 from the latter, where he left the infantry brigades under 
 the command of General Worth, with instructions to press 
 on in the direction of Matamoros until a suitable position 
 for encampment was obtained, at which he might halt, hold 
 ing the route in observation, whilst the commander-in-chief 
 proceeded with the cavalry to Point Isabel. At that post 
 General Taylor expected to meet the transports from Corpus 
 Christi with the force under Major Monroe, and to make the 
 necessary arrangements for the establishment and defence 
 of a depot. 
 
 As soon as the army left the Colorado a new object, of 
 more interest in natural history than military memoirs, pre 
 sented itself to .the notice of our troops. The soil was co 
 vered with a long wiry grass among which glided immense 
 numbers of huge rattlesnakes, more appalling to our soldiers 
 than the Mexicans. The country literally swarmed with 
 serpents. From the Colorado to within a few miles of Point 
 
MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES. 131 
 
 Isabel their warning rattle was heard on all sides. They 
 crept between the ranks as our men marched through the 
 long herbage, and at night coiled themselves comfortably 
 under their blankets for warmth, 
 
 Familiar as we are with the campaigns of Frederick and 
 Napoleon, and willing to record as classical the great 
 deeds of the old world's heroes, we are still often loath 
 to do justice to the brave men in our own country who have 
 served the State so zealously in Florida and Mexico. It is 
 not simple bravery in battle that commends a soldier to ad 
 miration, for few are cowards when the excitement of action 
 hurries them headlong among their foes amid the shouts and 
 thunder of actual carnage. But it is the preparatory disci 
 pline that tests a military character. The camp and the 
 march are the soldier's training. The dreary winter- quar 
 ter passed in patient service, and the wearying advance over 
 burning plains or snowy mountains, are the real touchstones 
 of courage, and prove those powers of endurance and sub 
 ordination which make resistance staunch and stubborn. 
 These are the sources of discipline ; and it was with troops 
 that had borne the winter hardships at Corpus Christi, I 
 have described, and made the short but arduous march to 
 Point Isabel, that Taylor felt sure of victory. They had 
 encountered extraordinary fatigue, and yet were ready at a 
 moment's notice for battle without flinching. With such 
 schooling an army becomes a gigantic instrument moving 
 with the accuracy of clock-work, put in motion by the gen 
 eral's genius. It can endure as well as perform all he re 
 quires, and he knows that the result of a battle depends 
 alone on his nurnbers, his position, or his individual skill in 
 military combination. The common soldier and the officer 
 
132 HISTORY OF THE WAR BETWEEN 
 
 thus react upon each other, and the electric chain of mutual 
 confidence makes success an impulse. 
 
 The American and the Mexican soldier are essentially dif 
 ferent, though both, according to the report of distinguished 
 officers, are almost equally brave. In the anglo-saxon race 
 bravery is the balance between prudence and courage, exer 
 cised with an indomitable resolution to achieve a desired end. 
 The American soldier is fearless, yet he values life and seeks 
 to protect it. His object is to subdue or slay his foe, still 
 he determines to avoid, if possible, a fatal catastrophe. This 
 renders him intrepid while it teaches the importance of dis 
 cipline and obedience to resolute and skilful officers. He 
 perceives at once the object to be secured or the thing to be 
 done, and he marches on with the mingled caution and spirit 
 requisite for success. 
 
 It may be said that a certain degree of timidity is neces 
 sary in every balanced character in order to ensure reflec 
 tion, for natural courage, unaided by sensitiveness, would 
 render it rash. But the Mexican soldier seems to be guided 
 by a different system, and to be brave without either pru 
 dence or enduring discipline. He is trained in manoeuvres ; 
 and, believing that when he masters his manual he is equal 
 to all military emergencies, he supposes that a battle is little 
 more than a parade. As Mexican troops are rather politi 
 cal engines, designed for the domestic police of cities, than 
 for actual service in the field, the soldier is more of a play 
 thing than a tool or weapon. Vague, ideal notions of Ro 
 man patriotism, are infused into his mind by the demagogues 
 of the army in bombastic proclamations, and he imagines it 
 better to perish than surrender to his foe. But this murder 
 ous doctrine of "revenge or death" serves rather to animate 
 him before battle than to carry him steadily through its perils. 
 He has the ability to perceive the beauty of abstract virtue, 
 
MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES. 133 
 
 but lacks the sustained energy, the profound endurance, to 
 realize it. He rushes onward without deliberation, or re 
 gard of consequences. An international war is, in his esti 
 mation, a personal not a political quarrel. A brutal ferocity 
 marks every headlong movement, and deprives him of the 
 control of reason. Besides this, life, has not the same value 
 to a Mexican as to an American warrior, for the objects and 
 hopes of their lives are incapable of comparison. One lives 
 for practical liberty and progress, the other's existence is a 
 mere strife for bread under military despotism. A Mahome- 
 dan fatalism derived, perhaps, from his Moorish kindred 
 tinges the nature of a Mexican, and the impulsive blood of 
 a tropical climate subjects him almost exclusively to his in 
 stincts. Hence Spanish wars have been long and sanguin 
 ary butcheries, while their civil dissensions are the feted fer 
 ment of corruption. 
 
 The Mexican, hot and fretful in controversy, is ever quick 
 and sometimes secret, in ridding himself of his foe; the 
 American is equally prompt with his pistol, but gives his 
 insulting enemy an equal chance. A sudden conflict with 
 knives ends a Spanish rencontre or dispute; while periods 
 of deliberation and cool arrangements precede the fatal field 
 between our countrymen. The American officer is scienti 
 fically educated in military schools and leads his men to 
 battle. The Mexican is ignorant of all but ordinary drills, 
 and either follows his impulsive squadrons, or, flies at the 
 approach of personal danger. The one has nerve and en 
 durance, the other impulse and passion; hence, while the 
 Mexican strikes his blow and retreats to his lair if foiled, the 
 American, equally unchanged by victory or defeat, moves 
 onward with indomitable purpose until his object is suc 
 cessfully accomplished. The one dwindles too often into 
 
134 HISTORY OF THE WAR BETWEEN 
 
 the cruel assassin or relentless persecutor, the other, as 
 frequently, attains the dignity of a clement hero. 
 
 These general observations apply, of course, only to the 
 masses, for truly brave and patriotic men exist in all coun 
 tries, and nowhere are the examples of heroic qualities more 
 conspicuous than among the Spanish races. The fault lies 
 more in temperament than in soul. An equipoise between 
 intellect and passion is alone deficient in the nature of the 
 Mexican people, for the savage has not been entirely extir 
 pated from the mingled blood of Indian and Spaniard. 
 
 When the remarkable energy of men, born in genial cli 
 mates, is tempered by self restraint, it produces that urbane 
 and chivalrous character which once made war the school 
 of gentlemen. But the modern ideas of liberty and patri 
 otism have deprived standing armies of all exclusive claim 
 to national protection; and, as long as each citizen feels that 
 the defence of his native land or of his country's rights de 
 pends upon himself, the volunteer as well as the regular will 
 be prompt to discharge his military duty with skill, alacrity 
 and irresistible resolution. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Character of Mexican diplomacy Genius of the Spanish language Pa- 
 redes 's proclamation Hostilities authorized by him Taylor goes to Isa 
 bel Description of the Brasos St. Jago and Point Isabel burning of the 
 custom-house Made a depot and fortified Taylor and Worth unite and 
 plant the American flag opposite Metamoros Worth's interview with 
 La Vega and Cesares Fruitless efforts of our generals to establish ami 
 ty Description of the country round Matamoros appearance of the 
 town. 
 
 The qualities which characterize the Mexican soldier, as 
 described in the last chapter, mark also the statesman of that 
 country. Their loud and vain-glorious professions of re 
 solve; their bombastic proclamations; their short, passion 
 ate and revolutionary governments; their personal rivalries 
 and universal anarchy, denote impulsive tempers utterly in 
 capable of sustained self-rule or resistance. To those who 
 are familiar with Mexican history, this is not a novel fact, 
 yet it has been astonishingly manifested in the war between 
 our countries. It would be a tedious task to recount the 
 various manifestos and despatches that were written to con 
 trol and satisfy public sentiment in regard to the pending 
 difficulties. Diplomacy is the weapon of weak powers, and 
 the pen is a most important implement when defeat, inac 
 tion or incompetency are to be excused to the Mexicans. 
 There is something perhaps in the genius of the Spanish 
 language that renders it peculiarly appropriate to appease 
 the vanity of those who speak it. The natural vehicle, of 
 eloquence, its magic words, its magnificent phrases and its 
 
136 HISTORY OP THE WAR BETWEEN 
 
 sonorous sentences march along in solemn and pompous 
 procession, and compel the attention of ever}' listener. 
 Simple sentiments, clothed in the expressions of this beau 
 tiful tongue assume new and striking shapes, and the judg 
 ment is charmed or swayed by sympathy with the ear. 
 
 The statesmen of Mexico are aware of these extraordi 
 nary advantages, and whether they have to account for a 
 lost battle, tranquillize a passionate mob, or satisfy an im 
 portunate diplomat, they are equally ready to resort to the 
 armory of their resounding language for defence. 
 
 We have already seen that Paredes overthrew Herrera's 
 administration by means of the Texan question and oppo 
 sition to negotiation with our government. When Gene 
 ral Taylor advanced towards the Rio Grande this chieftain 
 was still president and quite as unable to fulfil the promises 
 to repel us as his predecessor's had been in 1844 and 1845. 
 Feeling, under the peculiar views of the controversy they 
 entertained, that the honor of their country required our ex 
 pulsion from Texas, they had announced and pledged this 
 auspicious result to the people. But at the moment when 
 all these extraordinary boasts were made, they were, doubt 
 less, designed only to serve a temporary purpose, under the 
 hope that some fortuitous circumstance might occur which 
 would exhonerate them from war. I have heretofore stated 
 that the Mexicans were encouraged in resistance by the be 
 lief of impending difficulties with England. In addition to 
 this, Paredes probably relied on foreign interference in con 
 sequence of his monarchical schemes; nor was it until the 
 spring and summer of 1846, that all these prospects were 
 blighted by the energetic course of our senate and the dis 
 cretion of the British cabinet in regard to Oregon. But it 
 was "thjn -too late to retreat, for hostilities had already 
 commenced. 
 
MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES. 137 
 
 Loud as were the Mexicans in their fulminations against 
 our alleged usurpation, I am inclined to believe they never 
 seriously contemplated the invasion of Texas, but hoped 
 either to let the question sleep for many years in the port 
 folios of negotiators whilst a rigorous non-intercourse was 
 preserved, or to solicit, finally, the mediatorial influence of 
 Great Britain and France in order to prevent war if our con 
 gress intimated a disposition to declare it. This opinion is 
 founded upon the remarkable proclamation issued in Mexico 
 on the 21st of March, 1846, by General Paredes.* His lan 
 guage is still decided in regard to Mexican rights over 
 Texas; but he asserts that "the authority to declare war 
 against the United States is not vested in him" and that the 
 congress of the nation, which is about to assemble, must 
 consider what is necessary in the approaching conflict. 
 This proclamation was issued in the capital after it was 
 known that our army was advancing to the Rio Grande, and 
 on the very day when Mr. SlidelPs passports were sent him 
 at Jalapa by the Mexican government. But between the 
 21st of March and the 23d of April the provisional presi 
 dent's opinion of his rights underwent a change, for, on that 
 day, he published another proclamation in which he asserts 
 that he had "sent orders to the general in chief of the divi 
 sion of the northern frontier to act in hostility against the 
 army which is in hostility against us ; to oppose war to the 
 enemy which wars upon us;" though, in conclusion, he an 
 nounces that still he "does not declare war against the gov 
 ernment of the United States of America."! Thus, under 
 the masked name of hostilities, the Mexican government au 
 thorised the first war-like blows to be struck, because, as it 
 alleged, we had invaded the national domain by marching 
 
 * See Mexico as it was, &c., 4th ed. p. 407. 
 f Diario oficial April 24. 
 
 18 
 
138 HISTORY OF THE WAR BETWEEN 
 
 to Matamores. It was the forced realization of all those 
 gasconading manifestos, which for the last two years had 
 breathed war and defiance against the United States. Such, 
 then, was the actual origin of the collision, for the troops 
 and officers of General Taylor religiously abstained from 
 acts of military violence, and confined themselves exclu 
 sively to the defence of the territory they were directed to 
 hold. That mere protection was the undoubted purpose of 
 our government, will not be questioned by the reader when 
 he recollects the smallness of our army, and its entire want 
 of preparation to molest or invade a nation of more than 
 seven millions of inhabitants. 
 
 In the last chapter, General Taylor was left on his way to 
 Point Isabel, while Worth moved in the direction of Mata- 
 moros.* During the march of our column towards the sea 
 shore it was approached, on its right flank, by a party of 
 Mexicans bearing a white flag, which proved to be a civil 
 deputation from Matamoros desiring an interview with the 
 commander-in-chief. General Taylor apprised the represen 
 tatives of Tamaulipas that he would halt at the first suitable 
 place on the road to afford them a reception ; but it was 
 
 * I desire it may be remembered that the important facts related by me 
 in regard to our military and diplomatic movements are all given upon the 
 authority of official papers published by congress. The reader who wishes 
 to verify them will do well to provide himself with the volumes of execu 
 tive documents, for I shall not deem it necessary to incumber the margins 
 of my pages with continual references. I have been scrupulously accu 
 rate in all my quotations from American authorities, and have observed 
 the same course in regard to the Mexican reports, proclamations and mani 
 festos. See especially, (for this volume,) Senate doc. No. 337, 29th cong. 
 1st sess. H. of R. doc. No. 197, id. Senate doc. No. 378, id. Senate 
 doc. No 388, id. H. of R. doc. No. 4, 29th cong. 2d sess. H. of R. doc. 
 No. 19, id. H. of R. doc. No. 42, id. Senate doc. No. 107, id. H. of R 
 doc. No. 119, id. 
 
MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES. 139 
 
 found necessary to pass on to Point Isabel without delay in 
 consequence of the want of water elsewhere on the route. 
 The deputation, however, declined accompanying our forces 
 towards their destination, and halting a few miles from the 
 Point, sent a formal protest of the prefect of the northern 
 district of Tamaulipas against our occupation of the dis 
 puted country. At this moment it was discovered that the 
 buildings of Point Isabel were in flames. The retreating 
 Mexicans had set fire to the edifices to prevent our occupa 
 tion; and, as General Taylor considered this a direct and 
 vexatious evidence of hostility, and was unwilling to be 
 trifled with by the tools of the military authorities of Mata- 
 moros, he dismissed the deputation with the information 
 that he would answer the protest when he was opposite 
 the city. 
 
 The cavalry was forthwith pushed on to the burning town 
 in time to arrest the fire which consumed but three or four 
 houses ; yet the inhabitants had already fled, and the officer, 
 who committed the incendiary act under the orders, it is 
 said, of General Mejia, was nowhere to be found. 
 
 As our troops entered the village they were gratified to 
 find that the transports from Corpus Christi had exactly an 
 swered their land movement, and that the steamers had ar 
 rived in the harbor with the convoy close in their rear, only 
 a few hours before our forces entered from the desert. 
 General Taylor immediately directed the engineers to ex 
 amine the ground with a view of tracing lines of defence 
 and strengthening a position, which he decided should form 
 the great depot of our forces. 
 
 Point Isabel is approached from the sea through the Bra 
 zos de Santiago. It is a wild and desolate sea coast, de 
 fended by bars and strewn with wrecks. In former years, 
 
140 HISTORY OF THE WAR BETWEEN 
 
 a small Mexican village and fort, containing a couple of 
 cannons, stood upon the Brazos Point, but during one of 
 those terrific storms which ravage the Mexican coast, the 
 sea rose above the frail barrier of shifting sand, and when 
 the tempest subsided, it was discovered that the village 
 and fortification had been engulphed beneath the waves. 
 Few places are more inhospitable on the American coast 
 than the bar of Brazos. There is no friendly shore under 
 whose protecting lee ships may seek safety during the awful 
 hurricanes that so often descend upon them without a mo 
 ments warning. But when a vessel has fairly passed the 
 entrance, she moves along securely over the waters of the 
 bay, and anchors under cover of the sand hills to the left 
 whilst her passengers and freight are landed in boats or 
 lighters. 
 
 On a bluff promontory jutting out into the bay and slop 
 ing gradually inland, stands the village of Isabel. Its 
 houses denoted the character of its people. The spars of 
 wrecked vessels, a few reeds, and the debris of a stormy 
 shore, thatched with grass and sea weed, formed the mate 
 rials of which they were built, while a vagabond race, fifty 
 or sixty in number, constituted the official but smuggling 
 population, which was prepared to protect the revenue of 
 Mexico or receive bribes from contrabandists, as their inter 
 ests might dictate. A certain Senor Rodriguez was the 
 captain of this important port at the period of our occupa 
 tion; and, being a person equally ready to take pay from 
 importers or exporters of goods as well as to receive further 
 compensation for concealing his roguery from the govern 
 ment, he deemed it his duty, as a faithful officer, to destroy 
 the custom house by the conflagration that incensed General 
 Taylor against the prefect of Tamaulipas.* Such was 
 * Our army on the Rio Grande, chap. y. 
 
MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES. 141 
 
 Point Isabel and its vagrant inhabitants, when abandoned to 
 our forces, and adopted as a depot. 
 
 While the engineers were engaged in fortifying a position, 
 which was soon to become of so much importance in the 
 war, General Taylor rejoined the division under Worth's 
 command, and on the morning of the 28th of March, the 
 order was given for all the columns to advance towards 
 Matamoros. At half past six the movement began. The 
 arms were closely inspected, and every man was directed to 
 be on the alert in case of sudden attack. Yet no symptom 
 of fear was exhibited in our ranks, while the squadrons 
 pressed on gaily, with merry songs and pleasant chat. 
 About a mile from the Rio Grande they saw the first house 
 on their route of more than one hundred and fifty miles from 
 Corpus Christi. The dark eyed Mexicans were lounging 
 with apparent indifference about their doors, and returned 
 civil answers to our inquiries. Soon after, the city of Mata 
 moros came in sight; and, with bands playing, and regi 
 mental colors flying to the wind, we arrived opposite the 
 town at noon. From the head quarters of General Mejia, 
 the Mexican standard was displayed, and, in a short time a 
 temporary flagstaff, prepared by the eighth regiment, under 
 the superintendence of Lieut. Col. Belknap, was raised aloft 
 bearing the American ensign; but no other manifestation of 
 joy was given than by the national airs which were pealed 
 forth from our regimental bands. The moment our flag was 
 displayed, it was saluted, from Matamoros, by the consulate 
 flags of France and England ; while the absence of our own 
 banner from the opposite shore denoted the departure or re 
 straint of the commercial representative of our Union.* 
 
 As soon as our colors were raised on the eastern bank 
 * Army on the Rio Grande, chap. ii. 
 
142 HISTORY OF THE WAR BETWEEN 
 
 of the Rio Grande, General Worth and his staff descended 
 to the water's edge, bearing a white flag and a communica 
 tion from the commander-in-chief, announcing formally the 
 purpose of our advance to the dividing stream. General 
 Taylor believed that this would be the means either of es 
 tablishing friendly relations between the posts, or of eliciting 
 the final decision of the Mexican government. As soon as 
 Worth and his companions were perceived from the oppo 
 site bank two cavalry officers crossed with an interpreter. 
 After some delay in parleying, it was announced that Gen 
 eral La Vega would receive our messenger on the right 
 bank of the river, to which he immediately passed, accom 
 panied by his aid-de-camp Lieutenant Smith, and Lieute 
 nants Magruder, Deas, and Blake, attached to his staff, and 
 Lieutenant Knowlton as interpreter. 
 
 On arriving at the Mexican quarters, General Worth was 
 courteously received by La Vega and introduced to Don 
 Juan Garza, oficial de defensores, and to the Licenciado 
 Cesares, who represented the authorities of Matamoros. 
 La Vega informed General Worth that he had been directed 
 to receive such communications as might be presented, and 
 accompanied his tender with the remark that the march of 
 the United States troops through a portion of Tamaulipas 
 was considered by his country as an act of war. 
 
 This was no time to discuss the international question, 
 and Worth, properly refraining from conversation upon so 
 vexatious a topic, proceeded, as an act of courtesy, to read 
 the open document he bore, which he afterwards withdrew 
 inasmuch as it had not been received personally by General 
 Mejia the commander-in-chief at Matamoros. 
 
 A demand to see our consul was refused by the Mexicans, 
 and although we learned that he was not under restraint but 
 still continued in the exercise of his official duties, all com- 
 
MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES. 143 
 
 munication with that functionary was peremptorily denied. 
 Thus terminated, unsatisfactorily, another effort on our part 
 to employ diplomacy in the establishment of harmonious 
 feelings with the local authorities of Matamoros; and not 
 withstanding General Worth was assured that "Mexico had 
 not declared war against the Union," and that "the coun 
 tries were still at peace," he returned to the American camp 
 with gloomy forebodings for the future.* 
 
 If there was little to hope from the people of Mexico, or 
 little attractive in the prospect of social intercourse between 
 the camp and town, there was much to gratify the eye of 
 our fatigued soldiers in the scenery that lay before them. 
 On their long and toilsome march they had been relieved 
 from the dreary wastes of Texas as soon as they beheld the 
 blue haze hanging over the distant windings of the Rio 
 Grande. The city of Matamoros, as seen from the oppo 
 site side of the river, skirts the stream for more than a mile 
 with its neat and comfortable dwellings. As the trade of 
 this town is chiefly carried on with the interior, there has 
 been no need of encroaching with wharves and walls on 
 the margin of the river. Hence the city is somewhat re 
 moved from the banks, and embowered amid extensive 
 groves and gardens, from the midst of whose luxuriant fo 
 liage its towers and dwellings rise in broken but graceful 
 lines. There is but little timber near the river, which tra 
 verses beautiful prairies as it approaches the sea. The hand 
 of culture has taken these waving meadows under its pro 
 tection ; and, on all sides the landscape is dotted with abun 
 dant vegetation. The grass covered banks are screened by 
 shrubbery or grazed by cattle; while the stream, winding 
 
 * See Senate doc. 337, 29th cong. 1st sess. for a memorandum of General 
 Worth's spirited interview with La Vega and Cesares. 
 
144 HISTORY OP THE WAR BETWEEN 
 
 along in easy curves, is so narrow near the city that conver 
 sation may be easily carried on from its opposite sides. 
 "The rich verdure of the shores, the cultivated gardens 
 scattered around, the clustering fig and pomegranite trees," 
 contrasted with the desert through which our troops had 
 passed, converted this land into a scene of enchantment. 
 The fatigued soldiers were repaid for all their toils. Exis 
 tence, alone, in so beautiful a climate and with such deli 
 cious prospects, was sufficient recompense for our men, and 
 they gazed with delight at the hostile shore as martial don 
 and gay donzella poured out in crowds from the walls of 
 Matamoros to behold the foreign flag and the bold intruders 
 clustered beneath its folds. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 Military and civil proclamations against the United States at Matamoros 
 in April, 1846 General Taylor's pacific policy Desertion from our 
 army promoted by Ampudia and Arista Shooting of deserters, seen 
 swimming the river, ordered Construction of the fort opposite Mata- 
 moros^-Guerillas on the left bank Ampudia and Arista arrive Death 
 of Colonel Cross Expedition of Lieutenants Dobbins and Porter Death 
 of Porter Surprise and surrender of Captain Thornton's party of dra 
 goons Ampudia and General Taylor on the blockade of the mouth of 
 the river Fort capable of defence ; left under the command of Major 
 Brown Walker's men surprised on the prairie Taylor goes to Point 
 Isabel Cannonade heard^ from Matamoros May with his dragoons and 
 Walker sent to the fort for tidings Their adventures Return to Point 
 Isabel Taylor calls on Texas and Louisiana for reinforcements cha 
 racter and quality of the Texan R-anger. 
 
 THE months of March and April, 1846, were fruitful in 
 civil and military proclamations at Matamoros, manifesting 
 a hostile spirit against our country, but General Taylor per 
 sisted in his pacific conduct and directed all under his com 
 mand to observe a scrupulous regard to the municipal rights 
 and religious usages of the quiet Mexicans whom they found 
 in the neighborhood of the Rio Grande. In order that no 
 pretext of ignorance might be pleaded by our adversaries, 
 in this respect, his orders were published in Spanish as well 
 as English, and freely distributed among the people. It Is 
 to be regretted that a similar forbearance was not exhibited 
 by our opponents. As soon as our forces appeared in the 
 vicinity of Matamoros they began to intrigue with our subal 
 terns. It was known that our army, made up at random 
 from a population of natives and emigrants, contained indi 
 viduals bom in Europe ; and, to the religious and political 
 19 
 
146 HISTORY OP THE WAR BETWEEN 
 
 prejudices of this class, the authorities addressed them 
 selves.* 
 
 In consequence of these seditious appeals, the evil of de 
 sertion increased to an alarming extent, and the most effec 
 tual measures were necessary to prevent the contagion from 
 spreading. As our deserters, by merely swimming the nar 
 row river, were at once within the enemy's lines, pursuit 
 and apprehension, with a view to trial, were out of the 
 question. General Taylor, therefore, deemed it his duty, 
 warranted by the hostile attitude of the Mexicans, to order 
 that all men seen swimming across the river should be hailed 
 by our pickets and ordered to return, and, in case they did 
 
 * The following document was circulated by Mexican emissaries and 
 spies among our troops : 
 
 " The commander-in-chicf of the Mexican army to the English and Irish under 
 the orders of the American General Taylor : 
 
 " KNOW YE : That the government of the United States is committing 
 repeated acts of barbarous aggression against the magnanimous Mexican 
 nation ; that the government which exists under " the flag of the stars" is 
 unworthy of the designation of Christian. Recollect that you were born in 
 Great Britain ; that the American government looks with coldness upon 
 the powerful flag of St. George, and is provoking to a rupture the warlike 
 people to whom it belongs, President Polk boldly manifesting a desire to 
 take possession of Oregon, as he has already done of Texas. Now, then, 
 come with all confidence to the Mexican ranks, and I guarantee to you, 
 upon my honor, good treatment, and that all your expenses shall be de 
 frayed until your arrival in the beautiful capital of Mexico. 
 
 " Germans, French, Poles, and individuals of other nations ! Separate 
 yourselves from the Yankees, and do not contribute to defend a robbery 
 and usurpation which, be assured, the civilized nations of Europe look 
 upon with the utmost indignation. Come, therefore, and array yourselves 
 under the tri-colored flag, in the confidence that the God of armies protects 
 it, and that it will protect you equally with the English. 
 
 PEDRO DE AMPUDIA. 
 
 FRANCISCO R. MORENO, Adj. of the commander-in-chief. 
 
 Head Quarters, upon the Road to Matamoros, rfpril, 2, 1846." 
 
 Another and similar appeal was made by Arista on the 20th of April. 
 
MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES. 147 
 
 not obey this summons, they should be shot. These strin 
 gent orders were verbally given to the several comman 
 ders, about the beginning of April, and checked the prac 
 tice, though it is believed that only two men, privates of 
 fifth and seventh infantry, from France and Switzerland, 
 fell victims to the fatal command. Thus failed so dastardly 
 an attempt to interfere by intrigue with the morale of our 
 army. Taylor was undoubtedly justified in resorting to the 
 most efficient means to prevent the decimation of his scant ' 
 forces ; and although some sensitive politicians in our Union 
 were scandalized by the severity of his orders, yet, when 
 they learned that the men who were induced to desert had 
 been used in subsequent actions against us by the Mexicans, 
 their philanthropic clamor was drowned in the universal 
 voice of approval. 
 
 The manifestly warlike appearance of the Mexicans, and 
 the attempts they were making to fortify the right bank of 
 the river, induced General Taylor to strengthen the position 
 of his camp on the opposite side. 
 
 Accordingly on the 6th of April a battery for four eigh 
 teen pounders, bearing directly on the public square and in 
 good range for demolishing the town, had already been com 
 pleted and the guns mounted, whilst the engineers were 
 busy in laying out a strong bastioned field fort for a garrison 
 of five hundred men in the rear of the battery. But the 
 Mexicans did not leave us long in doubt as to their ultimate 
 designs. Their chief embarrassment seemed to consist in 
 a want of troops and efficient commanders, yet this was 
 remedied by the arrival of considerable reinforcements in 
 the course of the month. Meantime, however, the chappa- 
 rals and lonely prairies of the left bank of the Rio Grande, 
 swarmed with ranchero cavalry, not authorized perhaps by 
 
148 HISTORY OF THE WAR BETWEEN 
 
 the powers in Matamoros to attack us directly, but whose 
 predatory habits and Arab warfare were encouraged against 
 small bodies of our men until the main army should be en 
 abled to strike a decisive blow. 
 
 On the 10th of April, Colonel Cross, a deputy quarter 
 master-general mounted his horse and proceeded to ride, as 
 usual, for exercise, but the night passed without his return, 
 nor was his fate known until ten days after, when a skele 
 ton,, found on the plains, was identified as that of the un 
 fortunate officer. The mode of his death or the names of 
 his slayers have never been discovered. But it was gene 
 rally reported and believed that he had been captured by the 
 lawless band of Romano Falcon, a ranchqro bandit, and, 
 after being robbed of every thing valuable, was shot with a 
 pistol by the robber captain. 
 
 With a view to check the depredations of these guerillas, 
 Lieutenants Dobbins of the third infantry, and Porter of the 
 fourth, two bold and hardy soldiers, were authorised to 
 scour the country with a body of picked men, and capture 
 or destroy any such parties they might encounter. It ap 
 pears that they separated in quest of the enemy, and that 
 Lieutenant Porter at the head of his own detachment sur 
 prised an armed troop, numbering nearly one hundred and 
 fifty, engaged in jerking beef. Upon the approach of our 
 officer one of the Mexicans snapped a musket at him, a salu 
 tation which Lieutenant Porter returned by the discharge 
 of his double barreled gun. Upon this the Mexicans fled to 
 the screen of the chapparal. Porter took possession of the 
 horses and blankets of the fugitives, and, mounting his men, 
 started for head quarters. At this moment, however, the 
 rain began to pour down with the violence that is only wit 
 nessed in tropical climates, and whilst the Lieutenant and 
 his party were passing through a dense copse of chapparal 
 
 
MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES. 149 
 
 they were fired on by the enemy from an ambush. Shot 
 followed shot from the secret foe in rapid succession, but 
 our unfortunate men were unable to sustain the contest, as 
 their powder had been soaked by the sudden shower. They 
 wisely retreated, therefore, to the chapparal, and, separating 
 into three parties, found their way to camp ; but the luckless 
 Porter, having been wounded in the thigh, was seized by 
 the Mexicans as soon as his men departed, and despatched 
 with their knives whilst they shrieked and yelled over his 
 mangled body like a band of infuriate demons. 
 
 Acts like these, characteristic of the worst periods of bor 
 der raids, denoted the approaching storm. The country 
 east of the Rio Grande bristled with irregular troopers. It 
 was unsafe to go beyond the hail of sentinels, and the 
 peaceful aspect of nature which had charmed our men so 
 greatly upon their arrival was changed for the stem alarums 
 of war. By the joyous peals of the church bells, the shouts 
 of acclamation, and the report of spies, we learned that 
 General Ampudia had arrived in Matamoros, and that, some 
 days later, he was followed by Arista, who immediately as 
 sumed the chief command and apprised General Taylor, in 
 courteous terms, that he considered hostilities commenced 
 and was resolved to prosecute them. 
 
 Among all these notes of war-like preparation, none per 
 haps were more significant than the adventure which must 
 be now recorded. On the 24th of April a squadron of dra 
 goons, sixty-three in number, under the orders of Captains 
 Thornton and Hardee, and of Lieutenants Mason and Kane, 
 was despatched by General Taylor to reconnoitre the river 
 for thirty miles above the camp in the direction of La Rosia. 
 When the troopers arrived within three miles of the post 
 they learned that the enemy had crossed and occupied the 
 
150 HISTORY OP THE WAR BETWEEN 
 
 country in considerable force. This was about twenty-eight 
 miles from our camp, and as soon as the news was received, 
 the guide, by name Capito,- refused to proceed any further. 
 It appears from all the documents I have been able to ex 
 amine that Captain Thornton exercised a wise precaution on 
 the march and in the disposition of his troops, by throwing 
 out advance and rear guards although it was impossible to 
 avail himself of the advantage of flankers in consequence 
 of the nature of the road which was often a perfect defile, 
 admitting, at times, of the passage only of a single horse 
 man. As he had reason to doubt the fidelity of his guide, 
 he resolved to advance without him, redoubling, however, 
 his vigilance, and increasing his van guard, under the com 
 mand of Lieutenant Mason, whom he ordered not to fire 
 upon the enemy unless assaulted. The rear was assigned 
 to Captain Hardee, and, in this order, the party cautiously 
 proceeded until it reached a large plantation bordering the 
 river and hemmed in by a fence of lofty and impenetrable 
 chapparal. Captain Thornton endeavored to approach the 
 houses at the upper end of this enclosure by entering its 
 lower extremity, but failing to accomplish his object, he 
 passed around the thicket and reached the field across a pair 
 of bars which served for gateway. The edifice was situ 
 ated about two hundred yards from this narrow aperture in 
 the bristling wall, and, towards it, the whole command di 
 rected its steps in single file, without placing a sentinel at 
 the bars, or observing any other precaution to prevent sur 
 prise. It seems that Captain Thornton, though a skilful 
 and brave officer, as his campaigns against the Indians in 
 Florida had proved, was prepossessed with the idea that the 
 Mexicans had not crossed the river, and that even if they 
 had, they would not fight. It was a fatal mistake. Cap 
 tain Hardee, as has been stated, was charged with the rear 
 
MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES. 151 
 
 guard and was therefore the last to enter with his horsemen. 
 As he approached the dwelling he perceived the troopers 
 who were already within the enclosure scattered in every 
 direction seeking for some one with whom to communicate. 
 At length an old Mexican was discovered, and, while Thorn 
 ton was conversing with him, the alarm was given that the 
 enemy were seen in numbers at the bars. This was a be 
 wildering surprise. Yet the gallant commander immediately 
 gave the order to charge and personally led the advance to 
 cut his way through the Mexicans. But it was too late; 
 the enemy had already secured the entrance, and it was im 
 possible to force their serried lines. Cooped and hampered 
 as were our men within the impervious walls of chapparal 
 and aloes, their flight was almost hopeless. The Mexican 
 infantry had been stationed in the field on the right of the 
 road while their cavalry lined the exterior fence, so that our 
 retreat was entirely cut off. Seeing this, Thornton turned 
 to the right, and skirted the interior of the chapparal with 
 his command, whilst the enemy poured in their vollies in 
 every direction. By this time disorder was triumphant. 
 Hardee dashed up to Thornton and urged that the only hope 
 of safety was in concentrated action and in the destruction 
 of the fence ; but, though the order was immediately given, 
 he could neither stop his men nor his horse. Our troop 
 ers, perfectly ensnared, seem to have become frantic with 
 rage, and consequently to have lost the control of dis 
 cipline. Like so many animals at bay, each one sought 
 safety for himself, by attempting to traverse or leap the 
 thorny boundaries of the farm. Yet all efforts were useless, 
 for, by this time, the enemy had gained on our men with 
 great numbers, and, completely surrounded as the plantation 
 was, nothing remained but to surrender according to the 
 usages of civilized nations. General Torrejon, who com- 
 
152 HISTORY OF THE WAR BETWEEN 
 
 manded the Mexicans, received the submission of Captain 
 Hardee ; and, together with Lieutenant Kane, who had also 
 been captured, he was conducted to Matamoros on the 27th, 
 where they were lodged with General Ampudia and treated 
 most graciously by Arista. Forty-five of our cavalry were 
 taken prisoners in this disastrous affair, but the brave Mason 
 was slain during the conflict. Sergeant Tredo, a valiant 
 soldier, fell in the first charge; Sergeant Smith was un 
 horsed and killed, and the bodies of seven men were 
 found on the field of strife.* 
 
 This was a disheartening event for the Americans, and a 
 subject of exultation for the Mexicans. It was neither a 
 battle nor even an affray; yet, bearing to warfare the same 
 relation that trapping does to sportsmanship, it nevertheless 
 afforded material for Mexican gasconade. "This," said 
 Arista in his letter of acknowledgment to Torrejon, "has 
 been a day of rejoicing to the division of the north which 
 has just received the joyous news of the triumph of your 
 brigade. The delighted country will celebrate this prelimi 
 nary to the glorious deeds that her happy sons will in future 
 present her!" For some days it. was supposed that Thorn 
 ton had been slain, but on the 29th his comrades were de 
 lighted to hear that he had cut his way through the enemy, 
 and after running the gauntlet of his foes, had been captured 
 only in consequence of the fall of his horse. 
 
 * 
 
 As soon as Ampudia assumed the command he ordered 
 all Americans to leave Matamoros within twenty-four hours 
 for Victoria, a town in the interior of Tamaulipas ; and 
 on the twelfth of April he addressed a note to Gene 
 ral Taylor requiring him, within the same peremptory 
 
 * Captains Thornton's and Hardee's reports to General Taylor. H. of 
 R. doc. No. 119, 29th cong. 2d sess. pp. 19 and 20. 
 
MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES. 153 
 
 period of time to break up his camp, and retire to the other 
 bank of the Nueces, whilst their respective governments 
 were deciding their quarrel by negotiation. He informed 
 our commander that if he persisted in remaining on the al 
 leged soil of Tamaulipas, arms, alone, could decide the 
 dispute, but that the war, which would necessarily ensue, 
 should be conducted, upon the. part of Mexico, conformably 
 to the principles and rights established by the civilized 
 world. General Taylor did not delay his reply. On the 
 same day he answered the Mexican chief, that inasmuch as 
 he was charged with the military and not the diplomatic 
 duties of the controversy, he could not discuss the interna 
 tional question involved in the advance of the American 
 army, but that he would unhesitatingly continue to occupy 
 the positions he held at Isabel and opposite Matamoros in 
 spite of all menaces. The hostile declarations and alterna 
 tive presented by Ampudia induced Taylor to order the 
 stringent blockade of the Rio Grande, so as to stop all sup 
 plies for the city, and the naval commander at the Brazos de 
 Santiago was directed to dispose his forces accordingly. 
 A body of Texan rangers, under the command of Captain 
 Walker, a tried and daring soldier of the frontier, was sta 
 tioned on the road to Point Isabel. During the night of the 
 27th and 28th of April, the troops, at the latter place, consist 
 ing chiefly of two companies of artillery, under the command 
 of Major Monroe, were in momentary expectation of attack 
 in consequence of rumors from the enemy, for it was known 
 that large bodies of Mexicans had crossed the river and 
 were striving to interpose themselves between Isabel and the 
 fort opposite Matamoros in order to cut off supplies for the 
 garrison. Several teams that departed from the depot for 
 the fort were forced to return, and, on the morning of the 
 20 
 
154 HISTORY OP THE WAR BETWEEN 
 
 28th the camp of Walker was surprised on the prairie by a 
 party of bold rancheros who killed five of our rangers and 
 dispersed the rest, while the officer of the company and half 
 of his command were absent on detached service. 
 
 By this time the works opposite Matamoros were well 
 advanced, yet, owing to the peculiar nature of the country 
 and our deficiency in the proper description of light troops, 
 we were kept in ignorance of the enemy's movements on the 
 left bank. It was ascertained, however, with sufficient cer 
 tainty, that they were continuing to throw considerable 
 forces on the eastern shore, with the design of attacking 
 our command; and General Taylor received information, 
 upon which he could rely, that Arista had prepared to pass 
 the Rio Grande, below Matamoros, in order to effect a junc 
 tion with his forces from above. It was not believed, how 
 ever, that he would assault the position opposite that city 
 even with four thousand men, and hence our commander- in- 
 chief supposed that the depot at Isabel was the object of his 
 movement. This impression was strengthened by the fact 
 that since a rigid blockade of the river was maintained, pro 
 visions had become exceedingly scarce at Matamoros ; and, 
 therefore, hastening the completion of the field work, he 
 was able by great exertions on the part of our troops, to 
 bring it to a good state of defence by the first of May. The 
 seventh infantry under Major Brown, Captain Lowd's and 
 Lieutenant Bragg's companies of artillery, together with the 
 sick of the army, were left in the work ; and, on the after 
 noon of that day, General Taylor moved with the main force 
 under his immediate command in the direction of Point Isa 
 bel. At eleven o'clock, the army, by a rapid march, was 
 enabled to bivouack on the prairie at a distance of ten miles 
 from the depot, and on the next day, it reached its destina 
 tion without encountering the enemy, though the scouts 
 
MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES. 155 
 
 surprised and shot several men belonging to the Mexican 
 pickets. 
 
 On the morning and during the day of the 3d of May, a 
 heavy canonnade in the direction of Matamoros announced 
 to General Taylor that an attack had probably been com 
 menced on the American fort. This was a different result 
 from his anticipations, and made him extremely anxious for 
 the fate of the small but brave command that had been left, 
 with slender supplies of rations and ammunition, in the in 
 complete field work. 
 
 Accordingly, on the evening of that day, a squadron of 
 one hundred dragoons under Captain May, accompanied by 
 Walker and ten of his daring rangers, was despatched to 
 pass, if possible, through the hordes of Mexican guerillas 
 that lined the road. They were ordered to proceed within 
 a few miles of Fort Brown and reconnoitre the country on 
 the left towards the river: next to take a position on the 
 edge of the chapparal, and, if the commander heard no firing 
 from our fort, he was then to despatch a small command un 
 der Walker to communicate with Major Brown. After this 
 he was to await the return of the gallant rangers,. and repair 
 to Point Isabel. 
 
 May and his troopers, alert for such an adventurous en- 
 terprize, stole onward towards Matamoros, under cover of 
 night, and, about nine o'clock, beheld the enemy's camp 
 fires on the field of Palo Alto. Avoiding the outposts and 
 cautiously circling the Mexican front, he passed the foe, and 
 galloped towards the American fort, until, hearing no sound of 
 cannon in that direction, he halted with his command under 
 the protecting screen of an extensive chapparal, about seven 
 miles from Matamoros. Here he detached Walker and six 
 of his rangers, best skilled in woodcraft, to communicate 
 
156 HISTORY OF THE WAR BETWEEN 
 
 according to orders, with Major Brown, while he awaited 
 their return in his concealed position. 
 
 It was between two and three o'clock in the morning that 
 Walker crept up to the bastions of our fort and was hailed 
 by the sentinel. As soon as he was recognized his party 
 was placed in a secure position, and the bold ranger admit 
 ted by a ladder to the fort. Major Brown reported the facts 
 of the assault from Matamoros and the condition of his de 
 fences, as speedily as possible, and Walker and his men, 
 mounting fresh horses, dashed off towards May so as to pass 
 the enemy's lines before day-light. But, as he approached 
 the thicket where he left the command, he found the troopers 
 gone; and returning to the fort, which he reached before 
 reveille, he awaited the approach of night before he again 
 attempted to perform his dangerous service. 
 
 Meanwhile May and his men had remained in their sad 
 dles until about half an hour before day, when, from the 
 protracted absence of the ranger, they believed that the ene 
 my's scouts had detected him. Walker had been already 
 away about six hours ; and as May's force was unable to 
 cope with the supposed numbers of the Mexicans, and 
 peremptory orders had been given to retire to Isabel, he im 
 mediately passed down the enemy's lines at a brisk gallop 
 over the prairie. About twelve miles from our camp he 
 suddenly discovered a hundred and fifty lancers drawn up 
 across the road to dispute his passage, but speedily forming 
 his line, he charged the troop, and, driving it towards the 
 Mexican camp, followed the fugitives for three miles on his 
 wearied horses. Fearing, however, that larger forces might 
 be lying in ambush in the fields, and perceiving that the 
 enemy's cavalry was fleeter than his own, he abandoned the 
 pursuit and reached Point Isabel about nine o'clock. 
 
MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES. 157 
 
 But Walker was not to be defeated in his gallant effort to 
 bear tidings to Taylor of the fortunes of the fort. As soon 
 as it was dark on the 4th, he remounted with his trusty 
 band and concealed on his person the despatch which Major 
 Brown had prepared in the interval. Every copse and 
 thicket along the road, suitable for an ambush, was filled 
 with foes anxious to cut off his return to camp, for, as it 
 was subsequently ascertained, the Mexicans had obtained 
 information of his purposes. But Walker passed unhurt 
 through all these impediments, and brought the cheerful 
 news that all was as yet safe in the staunch little fort. 
 
 Late in April, and while the events, related in this chap 
 ter, were occurring, by which it became evident that serious 
 hostilities were, at length, intended, General Taylor pru 
 dently began to strengthen his army by demands for rein 
 forcements under the discretionary powers vested in him by 
 government. In March, he had already called the notice 
 of the war department to the necessity of sending recruits 
 to fill up the regiments even to the extent of the existing 
 feeble establishment; but, in April he authorized the raising 
 of two companies of mounted men from Texas, and called 
 upon the governor of that State for four regiments of volun 
 teers, two of which were to act as cavalry and two to serve 
 on foot. As some delay might occur in collecting these 
 troops, he, moreover, desired the governor of Louisiana to 
 despatch four regiments of infantry as soon as practicable, 
 and, with this auxiliary force of nearly five thousand men, 
 he hoped to prosecute the impending war with energy, or 
 to carry it, if needful, into the enemy's country. 
 
 On the sixth of May, Lieutenant McPhail reached Point 
 Isabel with some recruits for the army; and, after filling up 
 the permanent garrison with the men who were still too raw 
 
158 HISTORY OF THE WAR BETWEEN 
 
 to encounter the dangers of actual field service, General 
 Taylor determined to march on the following day with the 
 main body of the forces to open a communication with Major 
 Brown and to throw forward the needful supplies of ord 
 nance and provisions. The language of our chief did not 
 betoken the fears which, at that moment, were felt through 
 out the country for the fate of his brave command, sur 
 rounded as it was believed to be, by an imposing army of 
 Mexicans led by their bravest generals. "If the enemy 
 oppose my march, in whatever force," said Taylor, " I shall 
 fight him!" It was this little phrase that inspirited the 
 anxious heart of his country and denoted the energetic cha 
 racter of the hero whose skill and genius were so soon to be 
 developed in active warfare. When he inarched from the 
 banks of the Rio Grande on the 1st of May, the Mexicans 
 believed that he fled to secure his personal safety at Point 
 Isabel, whilst he abandoned the infantry and artillery in the 
 fort opposite Matamoros as an easy prey to their valiant 
 arms. Accordingly, the bells of the city rang their merry 
 peals, and repeated bursts of military music denoted that it 
 was a gala day in the ancient city. At that moment the 
 great body of the Mexican army crossed the stream under 
 the orders of General Torrejon, and these were the forces 
 that Walker and his rangers had eluded while bearing to 
 Isabel the cheering despatch from Major Brown. 
 
 At the close of this chapter, and while we are preparing 
 for graver subjects, it may not be uninteresting for the reader 
 to obtain a careful picture of those TEXAN RANGERS, whose 
 services had already proved so useful, and who were to play 
 an important part in this bloody drama. 
 
 These were the bold and reckless children of the frontier, 
 who lived forever in warlike harness, prompt to suppress the 
 
MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES. 159 
 
 savage raids of the Indians and mongrel Mexicans who har- 
 rassed the settlements of western Texas in the neighborhood 
 of the Guadalupe, La Vaca and San Antonio. Organizing 
 themselves in regular companies for mutual protection along 
 a ravaged border, they were continually prepared alike for 
 camp or battle, and opposed themselves to the enemy at the 
 outpost barriers of civilization. 
 
 It must not be supposed that men whose life is passed in the 
 forest, on the saddle, or around the fire of a winter bivouack, 
 can present the gallant array of troopers on parade, hence the 
 Texan Ranger is careless of external appearance, and adapts 
 his dress strictly to the wants of useful service. His first 
 care is to provide himself with a stalwart and nimble horse, 
 perfectly broken and capable of enduring fatigue in a south 
 ern climate. His Spanish saddle, or saddle frame, is care 
 fully covered with the $kins of wild animals, while, from its 
 sides depend some twenty or thirty leatheren thongs to which 
 are attached all the various trappings needed in the woods. 
 No baggage is permitted to accompany the troop and en 
 cumber it in the wilderness. A braided lariat and a cabaros 
 of horse-hair are coiled around his saddle-bow, the latter to 
 be unwound at nightfall and laid in circles on the ground to 
 prevent the approach of reptiles which glide off from the 
 sleeper when they touch the bristling hair of the instrument, 
 while his horse, tethered by the long and pliant lariat trail 
 ing along the ground, wanders but little from the spot where 
 his master reposes. 
 
 Stout buckskin leggings, hunting shirt, and cap, protect 
 the ranger's body from the sharp spines of aloes, or the 
 briars and branches of the matted forest. His weapons, 
 next to his horse, exact his attention. His long and heavy 
 rifle carries from fifty to sixty bullets to the pound ; around 
 his waist is belted a bowie-knife or home made hanger, and 
 
160 HISTORY OF THE WAR BETWEEN 
 
 sometimes, a brace of revolving pistols is added to this 
 powerful armory. Across his right side are slung his pouch 
 of balls and powder-horn, and the strap by which they are 
 suspended is widened or padded over the shoulder to relieve 
 the weight and presure of his gun. A practised shot, he can 
 hit his mark unerringly in full career. He may be called a 
 " picked man," though not in the sense of the phrase as or 
 dinarily used in military affairs. Nevertheless he is a choice 
 soldier, for none but men of equal stamp and hardihood find 
 their way to the border and congregate naturally for the 
 hazardous life they endure. 
 
 From .the period of 'the battle of San Jacinto to the year 
 1841, when they formed themselves into regular squadrons 
 of rangers, these were the hardy woodsmen, who defended 
 the frontier as independent troops, free from the control of 
 State or government. Whenever Indians or Mexicans ap 
 proached the settlements, runners were quickly despatched 
 along the streams to sound the alarm, and in a few hours the 
 wild huntsmen were roused for a campaign of months. All 
 they needed for the foray was their horse, their weapons, 
 their blankets, their pouch with fifty balls, and their bushel 
 of parched and pounded corn. In hot weather or cold, in wet 
 or dry, they carried no tents, and required no fresh food save 
 the game of the forest. Such was the Texan Ranger at the 
 outbreak of this war, light in heart, indomitable in courage, 
 capable of vast endurance, and sworn in his hatred of In 
 dians and Mexicans. His life was one of continual anxiety 
 and surprises which made him alert and watchful. He was 
 neither a troubadour nor a crusader, yet his mode of exist 
 ence had charms for multitudes of adventurers. It was 
 not disgust with society or disregard of its comforts that 
 forced these knights errant to the forest and kept them in a 
 state of continual excitement; but there was a certain de- 
 
MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES. 161 
 
 gree of romance in their wandering career that entitled them 
 to respect and consideration even from the more sentimental 
 inhabitants of cities. A life without restraint, except need 
 ful subordination when on actual duty, is always attractive, 
 and the forester realizes it completely. Thinking much and 
 speaking little, he considers his officer of no more value or 
 importance than himself. Hence he yields obedience only 
 because he knows the necessity of discipline in a hazardous 
 service, while, off of duty, he is as familiar with his com 
 mander as with a private. 
 
 Thus the Ranger's existence has ever been a scene of fierce 
 independence ; and though approaching the ranchero in 
 some of his restless habits, he has, nevertheless, always 
 been distinguished from that vile compound of ferocity, 
 treachery and cruelty, by the remnants of civilization he has 
 borne to the solitudes of \ the wilderness. He was destined 
 to be of infinite value to the regular army in a country where 
 it was important to obtain information by reckless means 
 among an almost Arab population. Subsequent events 
 proved that no scouting service was so severe, no adventure 
 so dangerous, that he would not risk his life and exercise 
 the cunning of his craft in performing it either on the thorny 
 banks of the Rio Grande or among the mountain defiles of 
 Monterey. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE BATTLE OP PALO ALTO. 
 
 ON the night of the 7th of May, with a force of over two 
 thousand men and a supply train of two hundred and fifty 
 wagons, General Taylor bivouacked on the plains about 
 seven miles from Point Isabel. The whole of the country 
 is extremely flat in the neighborhood of the river and on 
 the road to Matamoros. In some places, broad thickets 
 cover the levels, in others, wide prairies spread out dotted, 
 here and there, with bushes avid ponds. Early on the 
 morning of Friday, the 8th, our camp was broken up and 
 the little army set in motion towards the fort. About noon 
 the scouts reported that the Mexicans were drawn up in our 
 front, covering the road with all their forces ; and as soon, 
 therefore, as we reached the broad field of Palo Alto, a halt 
 was ordered to refresh our men, and form our line of battle 
 with due deliberation. Far across the prairie, at the dis 
 tance of three quarters of a mile, were discerned the glitter 
 ing masses of the enemy. Infantry and cavalry were ranged, 
 alternately, on the level field and stretched out for more than 
 a mile in length, backed by the wiry limbs of the tall trees 
 from which the battle ground has taken its name. The 
 left wing, composed of heavy masses of horse, occupied the 
 road, resting on a thicket of chapparal, and flanked by pondsj 
 while large bodies of infantry were discovered on the right, 
 greatly outnumbering our own force and standing somewhat 
 
MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES. 163 
 
 in a curved line, ready, as it were, to embrace our advancing 
 columns. 
 
 Orders were directly given on the American side to form 
 the array for action. On our extreme right were ranged the 
 fifth infantry under Colonel Mclntosh; Major Ringgold's 
 artillery; the third infantry commanded by Captain L. M. 
 Morris ; two eighteen pounders drawn by twenty yoke of 
 oxen and commanded by Lieutenant Churchill, and lastly, 
 the fourth infantry under Major Allen. The third and fourth 
 regiments, formed the third brigade under Lieutenant Colo 
 nel Garland, and all these corps, together with two squad 
 rons of dragoons led by Ker and May, composed the right 
 wing under the orders of Colonel Twiggs. The left was 
 composed of a battalion of artillery commanded by Colonel 
 Childs, Captain Duncan's light artillery, and the eighth in 
 fantry under Captain Montgomery, all constituting the first 
 brigade under the orders of Lieutenant Colonel Belknap. 
 The train, meanwhile, was packed near a pond under the 
 direction of Captains Grossman and Myers, and protected 
 by the squadron of Ker's dragoons. 
 
 It was about two o'clock in the afternoon that our march 
 against the enemy began by heads of columns, whilst the 
 eighteen-pounder battery followed slowly along the road. 
 During our advance it was deemed especially important 
 to ascertain with accuracy the number and calibre of the 
 enemy's cannon, and for this hazardous reconnoissance on 
 an open plain, Lieutenant Blake, of the topographical engi 
 neers, immediately volunteered. Passing the advanced 
 guard at full speed, he dashed over the long grass that con 
 cealed the opposing forces, until he approached within about 
 eighty yards of the line where he had a distinct view of the 
 enemy. The Mexicans gazed with surprise at this daring 
 act, while Blake alighted from his horse, surveyed the whole 
 

 164 HISTORY OF THE WAR BETWEEN 
 
 array with his glass, counting the squadrons and ordnance 
 carefully, and then galloped down their front to the other 
 wing of their extended line.* 
 
 Scarcely had this gallant officer reported to our general 
 when two of the enemy's batteries opened on us vigorously. 
 Taylor immediately ordered our columns to halt, and de 
 ploying into line, our artillery returned the fire, whilst the 
 eighth infantry, on our extreme left, was thrown back to se 
 cure that flank; and, thus, with the distance of only seven 
 hundred yards between the opposing lines, the battle began 
 with rattling vollies of ball and grape bounding over our 
 heads. The first fires of the enemy injured us but little, 
 while the heavy metal of our eighteen-pounders, and the 
 smaller shot of Ringgold's battery, quickly dispersed the 
 masses of cavalry on the left. Duncan's battery, supported 
 by May's dragoons, was then thrown forward on that flank, 
 and for more than an hour the incessant thunder of a can 
 nonade raged along both fronts, making sad gaps in the 
 battalions, rending the prairie, filling the air with dust and 
 smoke, killing and wounding a .few, yet, producing no de 
 cided effect. The Mexicans, unskilled in gunnery, fired 
 without precision; but, at almost every discharge of the 
 American ordnance, the shot told with wonderful precision 
 among the Mexicans. Our artillery was directed not only 
 to masses and groups of the enemy, but often to particular 
 men, so that the officers felt as certain of their aim, as if 
 firing with rifles. 
 
 * Lieutenant Blake died about the time our fight commenced at Resaca 
 de la Palma, on the 9th, from a wound inflicted by one of his own pistols. 
 He had thrown his sword, to which his pistols were attached, on the ground 
 on entering his tent. One pistol was discharged accidentally in the fall, 
 and the ball entered his thigh, but was cut out of his breast. He died three 
 hours afterwards. 
 
MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES. 165 
 
 Meanwhile our infantry had been hitherto rather specta 
 tors of the artillery's prowess, than active combatants ; but as 
 the battle thickened the manoeuvreing of the enemy to out 
 flank, us commenced. With infinitely smaller forces than 
 the Mexicans, our policy had been to act on the defensive 
 as much as possible, and to fed the enemy before we en 
 gaged at closer quarters. Hence we awaited their first 
 assault, made by a regiment of Mexican lancers led by 
 Torrejon and supported by two pieces of artillery, which 
 threatened our right flank by moving through the chapparal 
 in the direction of our train. The fifth infantry was imme 
 diately detached together with a section of Ringgold's bat 
 tery and Walker's Texans, to check this dangerous move 
 ment. The gallant regiment was thrown into a square with 
 the Ranger and twenty of his troopers on its right, and thus 
 stood ready to repulse 1fae charge. On came the advancing 
 squadrons in splendid array, moving in solid masses of men 
 and horse, each lance tipped with its gay and fluttering pen 
 non. Ringgold, from his advanced position, galled them as 
 they trotted onward ; Ridgely, from his closer ground, poured 
 into them rapid vollies of grape and cannister; still they 
 surged onward in spite of all resistance. At length, when 
 within shot of the impervious square, suddenly, a sheet of 
 deadly flame burst from the regiment, and breaking their 
 array, forced them to recoil in confusion. Nevertheless the 
 daring troop was not dismayed by the carnage. Form 
 ing rapidly from its ruins an imposing mass, again it dashed 
 towards the train, until the third infantry on our extreme 
 right, under the orders of Colonel Twiggs, crippled its ad 
 vance so completely, that it was impossible to rally. This 
 was the last effort of the brave lancers. Repulsed in every 
 eifort, they began to retreat rapidly but in order ; yet Ring- 
 gold, Ridgely, and the regiments of infantry, still hung upon 
 
166 HISTORY OF THE WAR BETWEEN 
 
 their flank, and with their terrible discharges of grape and 
 bullets, mowed wide openings in the flying ranks until they 
 reached their line. Meantime the incessant blaze of our ar 
 tillery had set fire to the withered prairie, whose tall grasses 
 touched the very muzzles of our guns, and for a while the 
 armies were concealed from each other in the mingled smoke 
 of the recent battle and of the burning field. 
 
 There was a pause in the conflict, as if the two comba 
 tants, like gallant boxers, stopped a moment to take breath 
 and survey each other with looks of defiance. The enemy's 
 left had been driven back in confusion; and, as their can 
 nonade ceased, the road remained free for the advance of 
 our eighteen-pounders close to the first position that had 
 been occupied by the Mexican cavalry. This was promptly 
 ordered by General Taylor who caused the first brigade to 
 take a new post on the left of that formidable battery. The 
 fifth was also advanced to the extreme right of our new line, 
 while the train was moved accordingly to suit the altered 
 front. As the battalion of artillery advanced slowly over the 
 field it came up to a private of the fifth, a gallant veteran of 
 the old world who had escaped the fires of Austerlitz and 
 Waterloo to die at Palo Alto. He was one of the first who 
 fell in the action, and as his fellow soldiers paused a mo 
 ment to compassionate his sufferings, when they saw the 
 blood gushing with each pulsation from his shattered limbs 
 he waved them onward "Go on companions, regardless 
 of me," shouted he, "I've got but what a soldier enlists 
 for, strike the enemy; let me die?" Such were the ex 
 clamations of Napoleon's soldiers, at Marengo, when the 
 advancing squadrons of cavalry hesitated to leap over the 
 heaps of wounded Frenchmen: "Tread on me comrades; 
 make a bridge of my body! Long live France! Vive la 
 
MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES. 167 
 
 liberte!" The romantic fervor of warlike enthusiasm de 
 prives battle of half its horrors, and makes death on the field 
 a glorious exit from the sufferings of humanity. 
 
 The movements we made in changing our line were an 
 swered by corresponding alterations of the Mexican front, 
 and, after a suspension of action for nearly an hour the bat 
 tle was resumed. The effect of these changes was to edge 
 our right flank somewhat nearer Matamoros, and to enable 
 our forces to hold the road against the Mexicans who rested 
 their lines on the thickets in their rear. 
 
 The attack was recommenced by a destructive fire of ar 
 tillery. Wide openings were continually torn in the ene 
 my's ranks by our marksmen, and the constancy with which 
 the Mexican infantry endured the incessant hurricane of shot 
 was the theme of universal admiration. Captain May, de 
 tached with his squadron to make a demonstration on the 
 left of the enemy, suffered severely from the copper grape 
 of the Mexican artillery. Whilst passing the general and his 
 staff with his troopers, the enemy concentrated the fire of 
 their batteries upon him, killing six of his horses and wound 
 ing five dragoons. Nevertheless he succeeded in gaming 
 his desired position in order to charge the cavalry, but 
 found the foe in such overwhelming numbers as to render 
 utterly ineffectual any assault by his small command. The 
 fourth infantry, which had been commanded to support the 
 eighteen-pounders, was also exposed to a galling fire by 
 which several men were killed and Captain Page mortally 
 wounded. The great effort of the Mexicans was to silence 
 that powerful battery, whose patient oxen had dragged it 
 into the midst of the fight. Hence they directed their aim 
 almost exclusively upon these tremendous pieces and upon 
 
168 HISTORY OP THE WAR BETWEEN 
 
 the light artillery of Major Ringgold, who was fatally struck 
 by a cannon ball at this period of the conflict.* 
 
 Meanwhile the battalion of artillery under Colonel Childs 
 had been brought up to support the artillery on our right, 
 and a strong demonstration of cavalry was now made by the 
 enemy against this part of our line, while the column con 
 tinued to advance under a severe fire from the eighteen- 
 pounders. The battalion was instantly formed into square 
 and held ready to receive the charge ; but when the advan 
 cing squadrons were within close range, a storm of canister 
 from the eighteen-pounders dispersed them. A rattling dis 
 charge of small arms was then opened upon the square, but 
 well aimed vollies from its front soon silenced all further 
 efforts of the Mexicans in that quarter. It was now nearly 
 dark, and the action terminated on our right, as the enemy 
 were completely driven back from their position and foiled in 
 every attempt either to break or outflank our gallant lines. 
 
 While these actions were occurring on our right under 
 the eye of General Taylor, the Mexicans had made a serious 
 attempt against our left. The smoke hung densely over the 
 field and bushes so as almost to obscure the armies from 
 each other, and under cover of this misty veil and of ap 
 proaching night, the enemy suddenly rushed towards that 
 wing and the train with an immense body of cavalry and in 
 fantry under the command of Colonel Montero. The move 
 ment was rapid and daring, but it did not escape the quick 
 eye of Duncan, who dashed back with his battery to the left 
 flank in full view of the enemy and engaged them within 
 point blank range of his deadly guns. So sudden and un 
 expected was this gallant manoeuvre to the enemy, who, a mo 
 
 * Ringgold died the day after the battle, but Page survived some time 
 though he was shockingly mangled by the ball which shot off the lower 
 part of his face. 
 
MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES. 169 
 
 ment before, saw this batteiy disappear in the opposite di 
 rection behind the smoke of the burning prairie, that their 
 whole column halted in amazement before a shot had been 
 fired or a gun unlimbered. But they were neither repulsed 
 nor dismayed. A strong body of infantry, supported by two 
 squadrons of cavalry, debouched from the extreme right of 
 the chapparal, and moved steadily forward to attack us. 
 One section of Duncan's battery began to play upon them 
 with round shot, shells, and spherical case, so well directed 
 that the whole advance, both horse and foot, fell back in 
 disorder to the bushes. Meantime the other section opened 
 upon the masses of cavalry that halted at the first sight of 
 our approaching guns, and although these shots were well 
 delivered and each tore .a vista through an entire squadron, 
 the enemy remained unshaken. At every discharge the 
 havoc was frightfully destructive, but the gaps in the Mexi 
 can ranks were immediately closed with fresh horsemen as 
 they pressed on to assail us. 
 
 The column of cavalry and infantry, driven back into the 
 chapparal by the other section, re-formed in the thicket, and, 
 a second time, dauntlessly advanced in order. After it ap 
 proached about a hundred yards from the screen of bushes, 
 the section that was previously ordered to repel it, re-opened 
 a deadly fire and drove the foe head long into the forest. 
 The supporting cavalry rushed back upon the ranks that 
 hitherto withstood our shot, and the hurried retreat became 
 a perfect rout. Squadron after squadron joined tumultuously 
 in the race, and the whole right wing of the Mexicans was 
 soon in rapid flight, while our relentless sections continued 
 to send their vollies into the broken and scampering columns 
 until they disappeared in the chapparal or were lost in the 
 darkness of night. Thus ended the brilliant affair of Palo 
 Alto. The enemy retired behind a protecting wood, and 
 22 
 
170 HISTORY OF THE WAR BETWEEN 
 
 our army bivouacked on the ground it had won and occupied 
 during the protracted fight 
 
 Both parties slept on the battle field. It had been a fierce 
 and dreadful passage of arms, yet it was not a decided vic 
 tory. We had repulsed the Mexicans, fatally, in every at 
 tempt ; we had gained a better position, enabling us to press 
 onward towards Matamoros, and had inflicted serious injury 
 on the foe; but the enemy still rested on their arms and 
 seemed disposed to dispute the field with us again on the 
 morrow. They were sadly crippled though not defeated, 
 and had exhibited a degree of nerve, mettle, and firmness 
 that was entirely unexpected from the vanquished soldiery 
 of San Jacinto. 
 
 Wearied by the excessive labor of nearly six hours fight 
 ing, our infantry and artillery sank on the ground wherever 
 they found a resting place, whilst the alert dragoons circled 
 the sleeping camp and rode on their outposts, among heaps 
 of the enemy whose dying groans were heard on all sides 
 from the thickets to which they had crept. All night long 
 the medical staff was busy in its work of mercy, while the 
 officers who felt the dangerous responsibility of their situa 
 tion collected in groups to discuss their prospects. Some 
 were doubtful of success, some anxious to obtain reinforce 
 ments, some full of hope and animation, but all were satis 
 fied that it was prudent to hold a council on the impending 
 fortunes of the army. After a full examination of the diffi 
 culties and a proper display of their resources, the enthu 
 siasm of the young and the experience of the old, alike, 
 sanctioned the heroic determination of Taylor to advance 
 without succor. This brave resolve reassured the army, and 
 all prepared with alacrity and confidence for the dangers of 
 the 9th. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE BATTLE OF RESACA DE LA PALMA DEFENCE OF FORT BROWN 
 H THE GREAT WESTERN. 
 
 When the sun rose on the morning of the 9th a mist of 
 mingled smoke and vapor hung over the battle field of Palo 
 Alto, but, as the haze lifted from the levels, the Mexicans 
 were perceived retreating by their left flank, in order, per 
 haps, to gain a more advantageous position on the road in 
 which they might resis'$ our progress towards Matamoros. 
 This movement inspirited our troops, who, craving the in 
 terest of a new position, w^ere loath to repeat the battle of 
 yesterday on the same field. Accordingly General Taylor 
 ordered the supply train to be parked at its position and left 
 under the. guard of two twelve-pounders and the fatal eigh- 
 teens which had done such signal service on the 8th. The 
 wounded men and officers were next despatched to Point 
 Isabel, and we then moved across the Llano Burro towards 
 the edge of the dense chapparal which extends for a dis 
 tance of seven miles to the Rio Grande. The light compa 
 nies of the first brigade under Captain Smith, of the second 
 artillery; and a select detachment of light troops, all com 
 manded by Captain McCall, were thrown forward into the 
 thickets to feel the enemy and ascertain the position he 
 finally took. 
 
 In our advance we crossed the ground occupied by the 
 Mexicans on the 8th where their line had been mowed by our 
 
172 HISTORY OF THE WAR BETWEEN 
 
 artillery. Shattered limbs, riven skulls, slain and wounded 
 horses, dying men, military accoutrements, gun stocks and 
 bayonets lay strewn around, the terrible evidences of war 
 and havoc. As our men pressed on they encountered, at 
 every step, appeals to their humanity, from the famished and 
 thirsty remnants of the Mexican army whose wounds did 
 not permit them to advance with their compatriots; but it 
 may be recorded to the honor of the troops, that our maimed 
 enemies were in no instance left without succor, and that 
 officers and men vied with each other in relieving their wants 
 and despatching them to our hospitals. 
 
 About three o'clock in the afternoon a report was sent 
 from the scouts that the enemy were again in position on the 
 road, which they held with at least two pieces of artillery. 
 The command was immediately put in motion, and, about 
 an hour after, came up with Captain McCall. 
 
 The field of Palo Alto was an open plain, well adapted 
 for the fair fight of a pitched battle, but Resaca de la Palma, 
 which we now approached, possessed altogether different 
 features. The position was naturally strong, and had been 
 judiciously seized by the Mexicans. The matted masses 
 of chapparal, sprinkled in spots with small patches of prairie, 
 formed an almost impassable barrier on both sides of the 
 road along which we were forced to advance. The Resaca 
 de la Palma, or,. Ravine of the Palm, fifty yards wide and 
 nearly breast high, crosses the road at right angles, and 
 then bends, at both ends, in the shape of a horse shoe. The 
 low portions of the gully are generally filled with water, 
 forming long and winding ponds through the prairie, whilst, 
 in the rainy season, these pools unite across the ridge which 
 forms the road and flow off towards the Rio Grande. Along 
 the banks of this ravine the thickets of chapparal, nour 
 ished by the neighboring water, grow more densely than 
 
MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES. 173 
 
 elsewhere, and, at the period of the battle, formed a solid 
 wall penetrated only by the highway. 
 
 It was along the edges of this hollow that the Mexicans, 
 led by Arista and Ampudia, had posted themselves in two 
 lines, one under the front declivity, and the other en 
 trenched behind the copse of chapparal which shielded the 
 bgnk in the rear. In the centre of each line, on the right 
 and left of the road, a battery was placed, whilst other bat 
 teries, were disposed so as to assail us in flank. In this 
 strongly fortified position, supported by infantry, cavalry and 
 ordnance, several thousand Mexicans stood around the 
 curving limits of the ravine, ready to rake us with their ter 
 rible cross-fires as we advanced by the road between the 
 horns of the crescent.* / 
 
 It will be perceived, from this description, that the char 
 acter of the action was Essentially changed from the affair 
 of the 8th. Almost entrenched as were the Mexicans be 
 hind the ravine and chapparal, they now stood on the de 
 fensive resolutely awaiting our assault, whilst, at Palo Alto, 
 they had assumed an offensive attitude, aiming either to 
 capture or destroy our army. 
 
 In the passage of our troops between Matamoros and 
 Point Isabel, the practiced eye of our military men often re 
 marked the value of this ravine as a point of strength ; and 
 it had been already supposed that when the enemy halted, 
 to resist our march, they \vould avail themselves of it for a 
 battle ground. Hence this excellent position was not un 
 known to General Taylor, and he promptly prepared a com 
 bined attack of infantry, artillery and cavalry by which he 
 might succeed in driving the American army like a wedge, 
 through the narrow but only aperture that admitted its transit 
 to Our fort. 
 '* Army on the Rio Grande, p. 93, and see plan of the battle. 
 
174 HISTORY OF THE WAR BETWEEN 
 
 Accordingly, as soon as Captain McCall received his or 
 ders, in the earlier part of the day, he advanced with his 
 men, and directed Captain C. F. Smith, of the second ar 
 tillery, with the light company of the first brigade, to move 
 to the right of the road, whilst he proceeded on the left with 
 a detachment of artillery and infantry. Walker and a small 
 force of rangers was despatched to make a hazardous 
 reconnoissance of the road in front, while Lieutenant Ple- 
 santon, with a few of the second dragoons, marched in rear 
 of the columns of infantry. 
 
 After following the trail of the enemy for about two miles 
 and a half across the Llano Burro, and learning from Walker 
 that the road was clear, McCall pushed the rangers into the 
 chapparal, within supporting distance, and soon dislodged 
 some parties of Mexicans. On reaching the open ground 
 near Resaca, the head of his column received three rounds 
 of canister from a masked battery, which forced his men to 
 take cover, after killing one private and wounding two ser 
 geants. They rapidly rallied however, and Captain Smith's 
 detachment being brought to the left of the road, it was pro- 
 ' posed to attack by a flank movement, what, at the moment, 
 was supposed to be only the rear guard of the retiring army. 
 But after a quick examination of the field by Dobbins and 
 McCoun, who discovered large bodies of Mexicans in mo 
 tion on our left, while the road, in front, was held by lan 
 cers, McCall resolved to despatch three dragoons to the 
 commander in chief with the news and await his arrival. 
 
 'It was about four o'clock in the afternoon that General 
 Taylor came up with the skirmishers and received an exact 
 report of the enemy's position. Lieutenant Ridgely, who, 
 upon the Major's fall, had succeeded to the command of 
 Ringgold's battery, was immediately ordered to advance on 
 the highway, while the fifth infantry and one wing of the 
 
MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES. 175 
 
 fourth were thrown into the chapparal with McCall's com 
 mand on the left, at the same time that the third and the 
 other wing of the fourth entered the thicket on the right with 
 Smith's detachment. These corps were employed to cover 
 the battery, to act as skirmishers, and engage the Mexi 
 can infantry. The action, at once became general, spirited 
 and bloody, for although the enemy's infantry gave way be 
 fore the steady fire and resistless progress of our own, yet 
 his artillery was still in position to check our advance by 
 means of the fatal pieces which commanded the pass through 
 the ravine. 
 
 This was the moment, however, when the centre was des 
 tined to be penetrated and broken Ridgely, as has been 
 stated, had been ordered to the road, and, after advancing 
 cautiously for a short distance, he descried the enemy about 
 four hundred yards in 'Advance. Pressing onward until 
 within perfect range of his guns he began to play upon the 
 foe with deadly discharges. But the resolute Mexicans 
 were not to be repulsed. Returning shot for shot, their 
 grape surged through our battery in every direction, yet 
 without repulsing the intrepid Ridgely, who, as soon as the 
 opposing fire slackened, limbered up and moved rapidly for 
 ward, never unlimbering unless he perceived the enemy, in 
 front or found from the fire of their infantry that they still 
 hung upon his flank. During this fierce advance into the 
 jaws of the Mexican crescent, he frequently threw into it 
 discharges of canister when not over one hundred yards 
 from the opposing batteries and their support. 
 
 After hammering the centre for some time w^ith this iron 
 hail, and keeping the wings of the Mexicans engaged with 
 the other troops, a movement with dragoons was planned 
 for the final onslaught. May, with his powerful corps, was 
 directed to report to the general, and immediately received 
 
176 HISTORY OF THE WAR BETWEEN 
 
 orders from Taylor to charge the enemy's battery. Thrid- 
 ding the mazes of the chapparal and of the road with his 
 dense squadron he came up with Ridgely, and halting a mo 
 ment while that gallant soldier poured a volley into the 
 enemy, which was answered by a shower of rattling grape, 
 he dashed at the head of his troopers, like lightning from 
 the midst of the cloud of smoke, over the guns of the aston 
 ished Mexicans. As the dragoons rushed at full tilt, with 
 gleaming swords, along the road, the artillerists leaped upon 
 their pieces and cheered them on. The infantry in the 
 chapparal took up the shout, and before the combined thun 
 der of cannon, huzzas, and galloping cavalry had died away, 
 May and his troopers had charged through the seven oppos 
 ing pieces, and rose again on the heights in rear of the 
 ravine. Graham, Winship and Pleasanton led the move 
 ment on the left of the road, whilst the captain, with Inge, 
 Stevens and Sackett, bore off to the right. But, after gain 
 ing the elevation, only six dragoons could be rallied, and 
 with these May charged back upon the gunners who had 
 regained their pieces, drove them off, and took prisoner the 
 brave La Vega who stood to his unwavering artillery during 
 the heat of the dreadful onslaught. 
 
 Meanwhile Ridgely, as soon as May had passed him, 
 followed the charge at a gallop, only halting on the edge of 
 the ravine where he found three pieces of deserted artillery*. 
 Here the Mexican infantry poured into him a galling* fire at 
 a distance of not more than fifty paces, and a most despe 
 rate and murderous struggle ensued, for the charge of ca 
 valry had not been promptly sustained by the infantry in 
 consequence of the difficulty it experienced in struggling 
 through the masses of chapparal. It was about this time 
 that the eighth regiment was encountered by May who in 
 formed Colonel Belknap of the exploit which had been ren- 
 
MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES. 177 
 
 dered almost unavailing for want of supporting infantry. 
 Belknap promptly ordered the regiment to form on the road 
 with a part of the fifth, whence, it was impetuously charged 
 on the enemy's guns. This admirable assault was executed 
 with the greatest celerity; the battery was secured; the in 
 fantry sprang across the ravine amidst a sheet of fire from 
 front and right, and drove the supporting column before it, 
 destroying in vast numbers the troops that pertinaciously 
 resisted until forced headlong from the fatal hollow. Mont 
 gomery with his regiment pursued the Mexicans vigorously 
 into the chapparal on the opposite side of the Resaca until 
 from their rapid flight, further attempts were utterly useless. 
 
 Thus was the centre of the enemy's lines completely 
 broken. The task would be endless were I to recount the 
 valiant deeds of the American and Mexican wings in the 
 thickets on the right and left of the road. It was a short 
 but severe onset, disputed on both sides, with an intrepidity 
 that resembled rather the bitterness of a personal conflict 
 than a regular battle. The nature of the ground among the 
 groves was such as to forbid any thing but close quarters 
 and the use of the bayonet, knife, or sword. Officers and 
 men fought side by side, supporting more than leading each 
 other upon the opposing ranks. Bayonets were crossed, 
 swords clashed, stalwart arms held foes at bay, and Ameri 
 can and Mexican rolled side by side on the blood stained 
 earth. 
 
 I have dwelt upon the action in the centre because it con 
 trolled the road, dispersed the foe and won the day; but the 
 effort would be invidious were I to relate instances of indi 
 vidual hardihood and skill, when all the valiant actors in the 
 drama were fearless and unfaltering. The charge of May 
 was not unlike the assault at Waterloo of Ponsonby's victo 
 rious cavalry, supported by Vandeleur's light horse, upon the 
 23 
 
178 HISTORY OF THE WAR BETWEEN 
 
 twenty-four pieces of D'Erlon's battery ; in regard to which 
 Napoleon was heard to exclaim, in the heat of the battle, 
 "How terribly those gray horsemen fight!" But in that 
 conflict, Frenchmen opposed the Anglo-saxons, and Mil- 
 haud's steel clad curiassiers, charging Ponsonby's brigade 
 after it had carried the guns and attacked even a third line 
 of artillery and lancers, readily overcame the exhausted 
 troopers and slew their gallant leader. 
 
 At Resaca de la Palma, however the result was different. 
 The artillery battalion, which, with the exception of the flank 
 companies, had been ordered to guard the train on the morn 
 ing of the 9th, was now ordered up to pursue the routed en 
 emy ; and the third infantry, Ker's dragoons and Duncan's 
 battery followed the Mexicans rapidly to the river. Shout 
 ing, singing, almost frantic with delight at their eminent suc 
 cess, our men rushed after the flying Mexicans. The pur 
 suit became a perfect rout as they pressed on to the banks of 
 the Rio Grande, and numbers of the enemy were drowned in 
 attempting the passage of the fatal stream. The pursuing 
 corps encamped near the Rio Grande, while the remainder 
 of the army rested for the night on the field of battle. The 
 want of a ponton tram* prevented us from following the foe 
 across the river on the night of the 9th ; but, as the govern 
 ment had failed to provide General Taylor with that use 
 ful equipage, notwithstanding his frequent warnings of its 
 need, he was deprived of the first chance in this war to an 
 nihilate the Mexican army and to seize all the arms and 
 ammunition collected in Matamoros. The capture, how 
 ever, of Arista's camp and its equipage was a recompense 
 
 *In May 1846, after these battles, an act of Congress was finally passed 
 authorising the organization of a company of sappers, miners and ponto- 
 niers. The war department had not the right to form such a corps pre 
 vious to this enactment. 
 
MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES. 179 
 
 for our men who had fought so bravely. The Mexican 
 chief had gone into the campaign with every comfort around 
 him, and was evidently unprepared for defeat at Resaca de 
 La Palma, for, at the moment of our victory, his camp-ket 
 tles were found simmering over the fires filled with viands 
 from which he had doubtless designed to make a savory 
 meal after our capture. The food however was destined to 
 other uses ; and, after a communication with the fort which 
 held out staunchly against the enemy during both contests, 
 our men sat down to enjoy the repast which the Mexicans 
 had cooked. 
 
 Unable as we were to secure the best results of victory, 
 from the cause already narrated, these battles were, never 
 theless, of great importance. We had achieved success in 
 the face of brave foes outnumbering us more than two to 
 one, and had conquered an army of Mexican veterans, per 
 fectly equipped and appointed. In the battle of Palo Alto 
 our force, engaged, had been one hundred and seventy-seven 
 officers, two thousand one hundred and eleven men, or an 
 aggregate of two thousand two hundred and eighty-eight ; 
 in the action of Resaca de la Palma we brought into the 
 field one hundred and seventy-three officers and two thou 
 sand and forty nine men, or, an aggregate of two thousand 
 two hundred and twenty- two, while the actual number en 
 gaged with the enemy did not exceed seventeen hundred. 
 In the first affair we had nine killed, forty-four wounded* 
 and two missing; but in the second, our loss was three offi 
 cers and thirty-six men killed, and seventy-one wounded. 
 Lieutenant Inge fell at the head of his platoon while charging 
 with May ; Lieutenants Cochrane and Chadburne likewise 
 
 * Page and Ringgold died subsequently 
 
180 HISTORY OF THE WAR BETWEEN 
 
 met their death in the thickest of the fight ; while Lieuten 
 ant Colonels Payne and Mclntosh ; Captains Montgomery 
 and Hooe ; and Lieutenants Fowler, Dobbins, Gates, Jor 
 dan, Selden, Maclay, Burbank and Morris, were wounded 
 on the field of Resaca de la Palma. 
 
 The Mexican army, under Arista and Ampudia, amounted 
 to at least six thousand men, having been strongly reinforced 
 with cavalry and infantry after the battle of the 8th; and it 
 is highly probable that the whole of this force was opposed 
 to us in their choice position. In one of his despatches, 
 after the battles, Arista confesses that he still had under 
 arms four thousand troops exclusive of numerous auxiliaries, 
 and that he lost in the affair at Palo Alto four officers and 
 ninety-eight men killed ; eleven officers and one hundred 
 and sixteen men wounded, and twenty-six privates and non 
 commissioned officers missing ; while in the battle of Re 
 saca de la Palma, six officers and one hundred and fifty-four 
 men were slain ; twenty-three officers and two hundred 
 and five wounded, and three officers and one hundred and 
 fifty-six missing, making a total loss of seven hundred 
 and fifty-five. Eight pieces of artillery, several colors and 
 standards, a great number of prisoners, including fourteen 
 officers, and a large quantity of camp equipage, muskets, 
 small arms, mules, horses, pack-saddles, subsistence, person 
 al baggage, and private as well as regimental papers, fell into 
 our hands. The plan of campaign, as alleged to have been 
 developed by Arista's port-folio, was based upon the "re- 
 conquest of the lost province," into which the Mexican 
 forces were to have been pushed as soon as our army was 
 demolished on the Rio Grande. If it should be necessary 
 to secure the fruits of victory by further military efforts, it 
 was arranged that ample reinforcements were to be brought 
 into the field, and subsequently that- President Paredes, 
 
MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES. 181 
 
 himself, should march an army of occupation into Texas 
 and bear his conquering eagles to the Sabine ! 
 
 After this narrative of our actions in the field let us recur 
 for a moment to the gallant garrison which had been shut 
 up in the fort since the begmning of the month, and in re 
 gard to whose fate the liveliest anxiety was experienced. 
 
 When the cornmander-in-chief departed on the 1st of 
 May to open the line of communication with Point Isabel, 
 prevent an attack upon the depot, and, finally, to succor the 
 fort with subsistence and munitions, the field work, though 
 capable of defence, was not completed. The events of the 
 few preceding days had denoted a resolution on the part of 
 the Mexicans to assail us immediately, and warned our 
 small garrison to prepaife for all emergencies. Accordingly 
 the labor of ditching anti embanking on the unfinished front 
 was resumed; but neither the draw-bridge nor the interior 
 defences were yet commenced, and to all these works, 
 Mansfield, with his engineers and detachments of infantry, 
 devoted themselves unceasingly during the whole of the 
 bombardment, which began at day-break, on Sunday, the 
 3d of May. 
 
 The Mexicans had been engaged for some time erecting 
 fortifications along the river front of their town opposite 
 our field work, and by this time had prepared them for ac 
 tion. They commenced their attack from the fort and mor 
 tar battery called La redonda, which they had placed under 
 the orders of a French officer of artillery, who manifested a 
 perfect knowledge of his profession during the conflict. 
 Nine pieces of ordnance, four mortars, and the remainder 
 six and eight-pounders, poured into our works an inces 
 sant shower of shot and shells ; -but our batteries returned 
 the fire so effectually, that in thirty minutes, La redonda was 
 
182 HISTORY OF THE WAR BETWEEN 
 
 abandoned. Passing from this fortification to another lower 
 down, the enemy again opened upon us from Lafortina de 
 lajlecha, as well as from intermediate batteries and a mor 
 tar in their vicinity. It soon became evident that our six- 
 pounders produced no serious effects in consequence of the 
 distance ; and, desiring to husband his resources for greater 
 emergencies, Major Brown ordered the firing to cease en 
 tirely on our side of the river. The garrison had been left 
 with only one hundred and fifty rounds of ammunition for 
 each eighteen-pounder while the six-pounders were as badly 
 provided ! 
 
 The silence of our guns in the presence of an assailing 
 foe, disheartened our men for an instant, but they immedi 
 ately betook themselves energetically to their task. on the 
 defences, though the enemy's shells exploded in every di 
 rection about them. On the 4th the Mexicans again re 
 sumed the fight and continued their vollies until midnight. 
 At nine o'clock on that evening irregular discharges of 
 musketiy were heard in our rear apparently extending a 
 mile up the river, and continuing until near the termination 
 of the cannonade. Every soldier in the fort therefore stood 
 to his arms all night long, manning each battery and point 
 of defence in expectation of an assault from the forces that 
 had crossed the river and filled the adjacent plains and 
 thickets. But the anxious night passed without an attack 
 at close quarters, and, at day-light, on the 5th, the enemy 
 again commenced their fire from the distant batteries. The 
 sound of war was gratifying to the Mexicans, but its con 
 flicts were safer from behind the walls and parapets of their 
 forts, with an intervening river, than in dangerous charges 
 against the muzzles of our guns ! As soon as the cannonade 
 re-commenced, it was irfmediately returned by a few dis 
 charges from the eighteen-pounders and six-pounder-howit- 
 
MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES. 183 
 
 zer; and the voice -of our guns once more exhilerated the 
 men, though their shots were ineffectual. Both batteries 
 ceased firing simultaneously, and our indefatigable soldiers 
 again set to work on the defences, completed the ramparts, 
 and made rapid progress in the construction of a bomb-proof 
 and traverse in rear of the postern. 
 
 These were anxious days and hours for a garrison short 
 of ammunition, assailed by an enemy equipped with every 
 species of deadly missile, probably surrounded by superior 
 numbers concealed on the left bank of the river, and yet 
 forced to labor on the very fortifications which were to keep 
 off the foe. During all this time, however, no one desponded. 
 Day and night they toiled incessantly on the works amid the 
 shower of shot and bombs, nor was a sound of sorrow heard 
 within the little fort uiitil its brave commander fell, mortally 
 wounded by a shell, on the 6th of May. The game was 
 kept up during all this day: mounted men were seen along 
 the prairie, while infantry were noticed creeping through the 
 thickets ; but a few rounds of canister, from Bragg's battery, 
 dispersed the assailants. 
 
 About four o'clock of this day a white flag was observed 
 at some old buildings in the rear of our work, and a parley 
 was sounded by the enemy. Two officers were soon de 
 scried approaching us, and an equal number were despatched 
 by Captain Hawkins, (who had succeeded Major Brown in 
 the command of the fort,) to meet them within two hundred 
 and fifty yards of our lines. A communication from General 
 Arista was delivered by the herald, and the Mexicans were 
 requested to retire a short distance and await the reply. 
 
 In this document Arista declared that our fort was sur 
 rounded by forces adequate to its capture, while a numerous 
 division, encamped in the neighborhood, was able to keep 
 off all succors that might be expected. He alleged that his 
 
*.* 
 
 184 HISTORY OF THE WAR BETWEEN 
 
 respect for humanity urged him to mitigate as much as pos 
 sible the disasters of war, and he therefore summoned our 
 garrison to surrender, in order to avoid by capitulation, the 
 entire destruction of the command. This mingled mission 
 of humanity and revenge demanded the immediate notice of 
 our troops, and, accordingly, a brief council was held in 
 which it was unanimously resolved to decline the philan 
 thropic proposal. Hawkins, at once despatched his cour 
 teous but firm reply, and the enemy acknowledged its re 
 ceipt by a storm of shot and shell which was literally show 
 ered into the works. 
 
 It would be but repeating a narrative of one day's scenes 
 were we to detail the events of the 7th, 8th and 9th of May. 
 The bravado contained in Arista's despatch, had failed 
 in its effort to intimidate us; nevertheless we were com 
 pelled to undergo the severest task that a soldier can suffer 
 in passive non-resistance, whilst the enemy, from afar, strove 
 to bury our fort under the weight of their projectiles. Bombs 
 and shot were, however, unavailing. The defences proved 
 equal to our perfect protection ; and all continued to work 
 cheerfully in the trenches until the distant sounds of battle 
 were heard booming from Palo Alto and Resaca. Anxiety 
 was dispelled, and hope ripened into certainty as the can 
 nonade "grew louder and drew nearer the river, until, at last, 
 on the evening of the ninth,' the Mexican squadrons raced 
 past the fort and received the reserved shot of the eighteens 
 which poured their masses of grape among the flying 
 groups. As our pursuing forces rushed out from behind the 
 thickets and beheld the American flag still aloft in the works, 
 they sent forth a cheer which was answered by the rejoicing 
 garrison, and the valley of the Rio Grande reverberated with 
 the exultation of delight. Victory and relief; a routed foe 
 and succored friends, enlivened every heart, and even the 
 
MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES. 185 
 
 foremost and bitterest in pursuit halted a moment to ex 
 change congratulations upon the events of the glorious day. 
 Thus the separate forces of the United States were again 
 brought together; and FORT BROWN, which now received 
 its name from the brave Major who died on the 9th, -w r as 
 found to have lost but two by death and only fourteen 
 wounded during the whole bombardment. 
 
 Every war produces its singular characters whose influ 
 ence or example are not without their due effect upon the 
 troops, and, at the conclusion of these chapters, which are 
 so stained with blood and battle, it may not be useless to 
 sketch, even upon the grave page of history, the deeds of a 
 woman whose courageous spirit bore her through all the 
 trials of this bombardrjaent, but whose masculine hardihood 
 was softened by the gentleness of a female heart. Woman 
 has every where her sphere of power over the rougher sex, 
 but the women of a camp must possess qualities to which 
 their tender sisters of the saloon are utter strangers. 
 
 Some years ago, in the far west, a good soldier joined 
 one of our regiments, with his tall and gaunt wife, whose 
 lofty figure and stalwart frame almost entitled her as much 
 as her husband to a place in the ranks of the gallant seventh. 
 Unwilling to abandon her liege lord upon his enlistment, 
 this industrious female was immediately employed as one of 
 the laundresses, three of whom are allowed to draw rations 
 in each company, and are required to wash for the soldiers 
 at a price regulated by a council of officers. The " Great 
 Western," for by this soubriiquet was she known in the 
 army, arrived at Corpus Christi with her husband, and up 
 to the period of our departure for the Rio Grande performed 
 all her appropriate duties, keeping, in addition, a "mess" 
 for the younger officers of the regiment. When the army 
 24 
 
186 HISTORY OP THE WAR BETWEEN 
 
 advanced, the women, with some exceptions, were de 
 spatched by sea to Point Isabel, while a few procured po 
 nies to follow the soldiers in their tedious march. The hus 
 band of the Great Western was sent in one of the transports 
 to the Brazos, but his hardy spouse did not deign to accom 
 pany him in this comfortable mode of transit, declaring that 
 " the boys of her mess must have some one to take care of 
 them on their toilsome march." Accordingly, having pur 
 chased a cart and loaded it with luggage, cooking utensils, 
 and supplies, she mounted behind her donkey with whip in 
 hand, and displayed during the wearisome advance, quali 
 ties which the best teamster in the train might have envied. 
 Throughout the whole journey she kept her boarders well 
 provided with excellent rations; and, when her brigade 
 reached the banks of the Colorado she was one of the first 
 who offered to cross m the face of the resisting enemy. 
 After calmly surveying the scene, which has been described 
 in another chapter, she remarked, with great coolness, that 
 "if the general would give her a stout pair of tongs she 
 would wade the river and whip every scoundrel Mexican 
 that dared show his face on the opposite side!" 
 
 When Taylor marched to Point Isabel on the 1st of May, 
 the Great Western was of course left behind with the sev 
 enth infantry. Together with the eight or ten women who 
 remained, she moved, at once into the fort, where her mess 
 was soon re-established in a tent near the centre of the 
 works. The enemy's fire began on the 3d, as she was 
 commencing her preparations for breakfast, and the women 
 were, of course, immediately deposited for safety in the 
 almost vacant magazines. But it may be recorded to their 
 honor that they were not idle during the siege. Nobly did 
 they ply their needles in preparing sand bags from the soldiers' 
 and officers' tents to strengthen the works antl protect the 
 
MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES. 187 
 
 artillerists whilst serving at their guns; yet, the Great Wes 
 tern, declining either to sew or to nestle in the magazine, 
 continued her labors over the fire in the open air. After the 
 discharge of the first gun all were at their posts, answering 
 the shot from the Mexican forts ; and, when the hour for 
 breakfast arrived, none, expected the luxury that awaited 
 them. Nevertheless the mess was as well attended as if 
 nothing but a morning drill, with blank cartridges, had oc 
 curred, and, in addition, a large supply of delicious coffee 
 awaited the thirsty, who had but to come and partake, with 
 out distinction of rank. To some of the artillerists who 
 were unable to leave their guns, the beverage was carried 
 by this excellent female ; and, as may readily be believed, no 
 belle of Orleans, ever taet a more gracious reception. The 
 fire of the artillery wasrkept up almost incessantly until near 
 the dinner hour, when the Great Western again provided a 
 savory soup which she distributed to the men without 
 charge. 
 
 Thus did she continue to fulfil her duties during the seven 
 days that the enemy kept up an incessant cannonade and 
 bombardment. She was ever to be found at her post; her 
 meals were always ready at the proper hour, and always of 
 the best that the camp af%rded. When the despatches, sent 
 by Walker, were made up for General Taylor on the even 
 ing of the 4th, a number of officers and men wrote to their 
 friends at Point Isabel ; and among them this courageous 
 woman found time to communicate with her husband who 
 had not been despatched from the depot to Fort Brown. 
 In this document she expressed her full confidence in the 
 ability of the garrison to sustain itself, and only regretted 
 the absence of her spouse. To supply his place, however, 
 she applied, early in the action, for a musket and ammuni 
 tion which she placed in security, expressing her determina- 
 
188 HISTORY OP THE WAR BETWEEN 
 
 tion to have full satisfaction whenever the enemy dared to 
 approach within range of her piece. This they never did, 
 and our indomitable heroine must rest contented with the 
 reflection that she nobly performed her duty, and will long 
 be remembered by the besieged garrison of Fort Brown. 
 
 NOTE. The reader who desires to verify the accounts of the actions nar 
 rated in the two last chapters, will find all the authentic papers upon which 
 they are founded, in the nationgl documents relative to the war published 
 during the two sessions of the twenty-ninth congress. 
 
 It will be observed that the name of General Worth does not occur in the 
 account of these recent transactions on the Rio Grande. This excellent 
 soldier had left Florida in September, 1845, and was early on the ground 
 at Corpus Christi in command of the first brigade consisting of one artil 
 lery battalion and the eighth regiment of infantry. His march and acts on 
 the Rio Grande have been recounted in the preceding chapters ; but soon 
 after nis arrival he received the mortifying intelligence that he had been 
 superceded in rajik by an arrangement announced from the war depart 
 ment. He, therefore, deemed H due to himself as an officer to demonstrate 
 his sensibility by resigning at once, especially as he was convinced that 
 there would be no engagement between the armies, and that the war would 
 be concluded by despatches and bulletins instead of arms. Nevertheless 
 he left the American camp with regret, (tendering his services " out of 
 authority," to the general in command,) and travelled with despatch to 
 Washington. On arriving there he learned that hostilities had actually 
 commenced; and waiving all his personal feeling, he immediately with 
 drew his resignation, with a request for permission to return forthwith to 
 the command of the troops from which he was separated, by army orders, 
 in April, 1846. His wish was granted by the secretary of war as soon as 
 it was made known on the 9th of May, and Worth hastened back to Mexi 
 co, where his bravery and skill were subsequently so conspicuous. See 
 Niles's Register, vol. 70, p. 313. 
 



 
 

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